Rectifying Origin
by Vyntresser
Summary: 3. With Tessa's future reign over Sugar Rush hanging in the balance, she takes refuge in Dead Zed's racetrack-riddled jungles with a new band of fun, energetic brothers. In the quest to gaining back her future kingdom, she discovers the key to The Arcade's biggest kept secret is just under her nose. In order to rejoin sovereignty, she must go back to Sugar Rush's humble beginnings.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: WAHHHH YOU GUYS IT'S HERE! Are you so stoked? Well good - you should be, cause third time's a charm ;) As for the Defying Code sketchdump, if you have a scene you'd like drawn, from the ENTIRETY of Defying Code, leave a review here and it will be added. I am ALMOST done with the sketchdump - it will be a VERY large sketchdump because of how many requests I've gotten, how many gems I'm adding, and how much more is likely to come. I will let everyone here, in Rectifying Origin, know when it is posted. It hasn't been forgotten! **

*****For those of you just joining... UHHH xD Go ahead and go to my bio and read Wrecking Limits and Defying Code first, in order for this story to make sense!*****

 **ALSO, I am aware you guys have no idea what Tessa and Zed's new abode looks like - I've drawn a proper floor plan sketch and some other doodles to give you guys a feel for what the 'story' and their 'castle' looks like. It's not posted yet, but I will let you guys know when it is. It will likely be put into the Defying Code sketchdump!**

 **NOW, without further ado...**

* * *

 ****Rectifying Origin****

 ***Chapter 1***

 **Song Listened To :** **Colors by Halsey**

Flickers of memories whipped by silver circuits, as if to revisit lifetimes of warm home videos. Blips in the coding mixed with her original syntax, as if to surpass all knowledge of anything her mainframe had ever harbored. Like put on pause, she felt the halt of confusion without the mix of the saddened loss of time. Like flying blind through fog on wings that knew just where to go, she somehow trusted that she was in good hands; she knew hope was all she ever had. Like lost in a bubble full of helium balloons, familiar voices eased in and out of existence. Similar to doing cartwheels underwater, the sand in her ears couldn't grasp her bearings. With all senses heightened, and sight taken out of the equation, her mind made up scenarios she only could hope weren't real.

"Tessa, stay with us," A deep voice urged, the splashes of blue assured her that at least one of the Kalivar boys had his steady hand on the situation, though she began to feel oddly detached as the situation worsened, and her in-body experience quickly turned to out-of-body, "Stay with us!"

"I... I am, I'm fine," Tessa muttered, as if to be merely woken from a nap. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the sheer fact that her voice wasn't getting across, and her vision wasn't staying put, "Zed? Stop... Moving... Just, hold still!"

"It'll be okay," Came another deep voice, which Tessa was now confident was Finn's voice, and though she tried to turn her head to see him, her line of sight didn't cooperate, "Keep her in the center of the room, Zed."

"Guys, this is ridiculous, chill out, this is just a false alarm," Tessa laughed, though as she went to move, she realized she was in no control whatsoever.

She furrowed her eyebrows harshly in dire confusion, and as if someone had set a ten-ton weight on her chest, she jolted, a residual sleep paralysis she was unaware could even happen to her. She largely flinched, covered her face, and felt a rush of adrenaline hit her system. She barked a nervous noise of pain, and as if her temples were on fire, she grappled her head and loudly grimaced. She shook her head, and nearly felt as if her coding was on fire. She swung around and immediately began to beg for Zed and Finn, whom of which she could've sworn were in the room with her, though like a sick nightmare her brain had full control over, it painted weird blobs of silver coding across the canvas of her mind. She back stepped a few times, though in the strange movement, she could somehow still feel the bed underneath her, as if it were all merely a trick of the mind, and a piece of her so desperately wanted to wake up.

"Tessa, please," Zed suddenly begged, and to her massive surprise, he was in a full sob. He looked down to something precious he cradled in his arms, though it all moved in and out of reality; his deep, sorrowful voice was the only thing constant, "He's beautiful, Tessa... He's beautiful... You have to wake up, we need you... He needs you!"

"I'm right here!" Tessa demanded loudly, though in the vein-bulging yell, the coding on her temples suddenly flared with searing heat, and with a room that was already spiraling into a dark void, everything powered down, and she sunk into a tired comatose.

* * *

With nervous footsteps, Zed approached their bedroom door to leave. His exhausted, scared eyes followed the welcoming light that dosed the hallway, and as he froze in hesitation, he could hear his brothers calmly chatting. It had been nearly twelve hours since the incident, though he hadn't left the room once, even to visit the bathroom. His blue stare slowly slid back to his and Tessa's large, beckoning bed, though the view from across the room had him left simply just a bag of bones. Tessa lay calmly in their bed, though through the traumatizing event everyone was unprepared for, she had fallen into an indefinite sleep. Hooked up to intelligent leads, which safely monitored all of her vitals and kept her hydrated, she lay unconscious. Zed slumped his shoulders and nearly felt like the worst person ever, with the mere thought of leaving her like this, though Finn's encouraging words floated through his head again.

 _She just needs sleep, and lots of it... I'm sure birthing a human is something our little mainframes couldn't ever dream of handling._

Through a shaky sigh, he finally dragged his exhausted gaze to the small source of overwhelming heat in his arms. Even through all the turmoil, one simple look at the newborn cradled in his arms was nearly enough to forget all of his worries. An unconditional smile graced his tired cheeks, and as his fingers tidied the small, thin patch of dark blue hair atop his new baby's head, he leaned down and placed a firm, warm kiss into his forehead. Ace stirred, a warm murmur escaped his cuddly, bundled figure. His hands, which were a little larger in proportion to his body, grappled for Zed's thumb. Graced with fresh, dominant wrecking traits, Zed's eyes bulged a little as Ace's squeeze was a few notches stronger than what was anticipated. His little eyes remained tightly closed, as if to beg to keep the noise to a minimum. With one last peer across their glorious bedroom, Zed braved stepping towards the door.

For the first time all day, his legs took more than three steps at a time. He could feel his knees tremble, the lack of food, water, bathroom breaks or sanity had him immediately understanding just what fatherhood would be like. He mentally promised Tessa he'd be back in two minutes; he knew he had to at least somehow prove to his brothers that he was still sort of alive, after said event. He squeezed Ace deeper into his warm, strong chest and lovingly twiddled his thumb, which was still strongly gripped by Ace's little hand. He scoffed a small chuckle and nuzzled his nose into Ace's.

"C'mon, bud," Zed quietly croaked, "I guess I should probably give you a better tour of the house... That bedroom isn't going anywhere."

With great uncertainty, Zed nearly tip toed to the gape of the hallway, that lead to his and Tessa's bedroom. He peered out to their warm, massive home. As much as Tessa wanted to recreate Sugar Rush's castle, she was heavily advised against it, for fear of spiralling into a void of false hope and back-tracking. Dead Zed's castle was large, though it held onto a homey feel. With warm walls, high ceilings, and royal, gaping windows and sky lights, where Tessa could get away with, their fresh abode was built for her new, royal family. With beige, glossy, marble swirled tiles that mapped the entirety of their home, Zed let his eyes trace the black grout all the way to, what his brothers like to call, the sky room. A massive, dome of a room, which was nearly entirely glass. The glorious stars could be seen putting the setting sun to shame, alongside the hot orange display of clouds to go with. Inside this room was a long, swooping crest of a couch, that could easily fit Lickity's body, sans tail, three times over. His heart nearly jolted clear out of his skin as a soft voice was present to his left.

"Hey, stranger," Lickity breathed quietly, though her eyes quickly traveled to the bundle in Zed's arms; even though everyone had already met their new addition, each encounter, from the past twelve hours, still felt wholly brand new. Lickity carefully approached, as she could tell Zed was tense, with the way he drew Ace even tighter into his chest and arms, "How... How is Tessa doing? And, this little guy?"

"She's still asleep," Zed worried, his tired eyes glossed the sky room and counted each of his brothers lazily sprawled on different portions of the half-circle couch, they quietly chattered and bickered. He finally brought his eyes back to his and Lickity's gentle conversation, "Ace is doing just fine... I was able to get him fed."

"Really? Tessa's not even awake, how did you do that?" Lickity innocently wondered, though Zed scoffed a quiet laugh.

"It was no easy task," He smiled, which felt very foreign, though he smiled down to Ace, who was full of milk and wholly a happy camper, "He's fed, burped, changed..."

"World's best dad," Lickity eased in a knowing calm, she flattened her ears and gave Zed a kind smile, though it sunk once Zed shot her a nearly scared look of delight and exhausted dread. Lickity shook her head and squinted her eyes, "... Tessa will wake up, Zed. I wouldn't worry..."

"Yeah," Zed scoffed in an attempt to hold back tears. He urgently peered down to Ace, who only lightly squirmed.

"Go, you go," Lickity stated in a motherly tone as she reached out the wrist of her wing and began to nudge Zed closer to the sky room. She heaved a small giggle and, as Zed merely took a few steps forward and looked back to Lickity, she lowered her head and nudged her snout into his rump to get him to continue forward, "Gooo... I'll keep Tessa company. Stretch your legs. Get something to eat. I'll keep an eye on your to-be bride."

"Thank you," Zed eased in whole humility and gratefulness.

He finally heaved a gentle sigh and peered back to the sky room. As a new father, he felt numb to the universe, he knew he was holding the whole product of his very being, mixed with the love of his life, he softly gazed back down to Ace; he could swear he could never get over the squeeze of adrenaline and love from merely looking at his new baby. He cuddled Ace deeper into his chest and braved the tiles closer to the sky room. His eyes nervously scanned the room, and he counted each and every single one of his five brothers. Each boy was dressed in comfortable clothes for the night reset, they lazily, and quietly, chit-chat. As he stepped into the calm lighting, that were secretly housed in the main frame of the dome, he caught eyes with Finn. Zed was delighted to see Finn keep his still composure, upon seeing Zed standing, once and for all. His heart throbbed, as if he suddenly didn't want attention, though his feet kept on moving forward. With his actions, he suddenly felt all eyes hone in on him and his vulnerable new addition.

"There he is!" Jax called from down the bend of the couch, though Zed flinched once everyone suddenly tensed into action and stood.

"You doing okay?" Duke largely wondered as each boy quickly stumbled to get to their feet, though with the way Zed suddenly tensed and drew Ace up his chest, everyone halted their jolting movements and immediately brought it to a crawl.

"Guys," Finn urged in a protective way; his eyes looked nearly just as tired as Zed's. He held a small digital pad that read all of the information coming from Tessa's coding, including her vitals and other important information. In being Zed's right-hand man, he felt it his duty to rein their younger, excited brothers in. Finn wagged his hand lightly and motioned for the four to calm down, "Take it easy, don't crowd..."

"Is Tessa alright?" Tej worried, though as if puppies on leashes, they tugged closer to Zed as carefully as they could.

"How's Ace doing?" Jax quietly wondered as they each honed their curious eyes to their new nephew.

"Ace is fine," Zed's voice finally croaked, "Tessa's... Still asleep... Lickity's in there, keeping an eye on her."

"She seems to be doing just fine," Finn eased as he braved stepping closer to Zed, he knew he had spent the last half a day with Zed and Tessa, to help control the situation at hand. Finn stood closest to Zed and showed him the small digital pad, in which he thumbed through, "Everything looks normal... She's just in a very deep sleep... Her brain code, and activity, reads totally normal."

"When do you think she'll come out of it?" Orph finally spoke up, though his curious eyes peered down to Ace, who murmured a few cute noises.

"Who knows... But, we should really get you fed," Finn finally chuckled as he lugged a brotherly hand to Zed's shoulder, "I'll bet you're starving."

"I'm actually not," Zed's voice shook, he looked wholly exhausted, "I'm sort of on 'fight or flight' mode, right now."

"Naw, lemme make you one of my famous sandwiches," Jax waggled his eyebrows and gave Zed a cheesy side-eye, "You'll change your mind."

"Hey genius, try not to use expired meat, this time," Orph mumbled as everyone slowly began to make their way out of the sky room in a gentle mosey, "Your so-called famous sandwich gave me the shits something fierce."

"Information I didn't need," Tej muttered as he pushed ahead of everyone.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: WHOA what an overwhelming response to my very first chapter! I am SO STOKED that you guys are so excited. I am too, for sure! There's a TON to come. And yes, do NOT worry, the original WIR gang WILL have a big part of this story! It'll all make sense soon enough. PROMISE.**

 **C'mon, have I ever let you guys down? ;)**

 ***Chapter 2***

Through a few hard flinches, Tessa threw her arms out and tensed her stomach. She uttered a hard yell, as if the silver circuits of angry snakes were potentially real, though in the depths of her mind, she knew they were just a figment of her imagination. She largely shook her head, in whole confusion, though as she finally felt reality come back to her circuits, she inhaled a sharp, dry gasp and sat up in a hard reel of realization. She choked a few louder, harder gasps and clutched her chest. In dry panting and hard squinting, she tried her hardest to see just where she was, though even the firmest of blinks couldn't make so her eyes would properly work. Her skin plagued with goosebumps as Lickity's voice suddenly, though calmly, called to her.

"Tessa, you're awake," Lickity urged in surprise as she stood, from her curled position on the ground, though she froze and tilted her head a little harder, "Tessa, look at me..."

"Lickity!" Tessa shrieked as she continued to near hyperventilate, she nervously rubbed at her eyes before she began to claw at them, in a crazed way, "Wh-why is it so dark in here!"

"A-Are you... Are you blind?" Lickity asked in a nervous, incredulous tone, as if the reality of everything hitting her was too much to push past, as if remaining calm was beyond the two girls. Lickity stood on her hind feet and bent over the bed a little, to get a better look at Tessa's face, but before she could really look into Tessa's foggy eyes, Tessa ripped the comforters and blankets off of her body. Lickity perked her ears in hard surprise and gestured one of her paws out, "Wait, wait, wait! D-Don't... Move!"

"Where's Zed?" Tessa choked through her scared breathing, her skin looked positively ghostly.

As she stumbled to her feet, from their lofty, lovely bed, she was yanked back by the leads she was attached to. The single monitor and digital pad, she was hooked to, suddenly blipped a confused jolt of an alarm. Her blind eyes dragged down to the floor in discombobulated anger, though it wasn't until her hands messily grappled for the wires did Lickity largely scramble over the entirety of the bed; it croaked at the sudden amount of great, forced weight.

"Tessa, no-no-no!" Lickity rushed as she flung her grappling hands and the dew claw of her wings towards Tessa, though Tessa's quick gestures ripped all the leads from her body in zero seconds flat. Lickity largely flinched, and with a shove of Tessa's larger hand into Lickity's snout, she quickly stumbled towards the door. Lickity grunted a hard noise and practically flopped to the ground, on the other side of the bed from where she was. Her wings and tail crashed onto both nightstands, on either side of the bed, sending whatever was on them crashing to the ground in chaos. With a sharp grunt and a cough, she messily scrambled to her paws and outreached for her disappearing patient, "Wait, Tessa, WAIT!"

* * *

"A Mr. Ace Von Thaddeus Kalivar," Tej uttered quietly, though he wrinkled his nose with a teasingly kind smile towards his oldest brother, across the kitchen island, "Obnoxious names reign on."

"Go big or go home," Zed croaked with a tired smile, he sat comfortably perched on one of the bar stools.

With halls, rooms and space wide and high enough for the bumbling paws of Lickity, and the preparation of her new born hatchling on the way, the castle's ceilings held a vast amount of warm height. A mansion nearly half the size of Sugar Rush's castle, the trickery of space and layout made it seem cozier than it's size really spoke for. The five boys sat comfortably splayed across the vast, airy kitchen which also was conjoined with the main living room. On glossy, beige tiles, their surroundings were cradled in birch cabinets, stark white counters and a vast amount of well cared for, potted greenery Tessa had gotten accustomed to. Something she was certain she picked up from her uncle Rancis. Down the small step or two, into the soft carpeted living room, their large television droned on a muted infomercial, likely a channel with something interesting displayed, that they had forgotten about hours prior.

The lights were dim, and all through the sky-lights and airy windows, Dead Zed's stars gladly peered in, as well as peeks of towering jungle trees in the area, as if to gratefully welcome the new life that had graced the core of the game. Zed's center was slumped, though he kept his arms strong, a sturdy cradle he'd never get tired of; he lovingly jostled Ace, the slightest amount of movement to lull him to sleep. Zed couldn't take his eyes off of him, and as the massive feeling of success coursed through his body, over the fact that he had comfortably rocked Ace to sleep, he felt his spine begin to want to relax once and for all.

"You sure you're not hungry?" Jax asked Zed with a mouth full of the delicious sandwich he had made, though he peered to Orph in a quick curious glance, to see if he was enjoying his food as well. Jax ruffled his light blue hair into an even messier crumple of bed head and continued to happily chew his creation.

"I'm sure," Zed mumbled sleepily, though his eyes peeled open in a pop of surprise as Ace's little body suddenly shook a sharp, adorable hiccup.

"Y'know what we do to outrageously cute things, 'round here, don't you?" Orph muttered as he gestured his sandwich to Zed and Ace, from across the kitchen; he paced around the island, towards Zed, in a sleepless, hungry routine. Each boy easily let out soft, knowing chuckles as Orph continued on, in a playful tone, "We punt said cute thing."

"He IS about the size of a football," Duke played along, Zed grinned and rolled his eyes.

"Blue forty-two... FORGET IT," Zed stated firmly, though quietly, so not to disturb Ace; everyone eased into more laughter, which Zed somehow joined in on.

"Just teasing," Orph stated quietly through a soft smile as he set his half-eaten sandwich down on his plate, which was near Zed. He continued to chew, though he put his hands on his hips and carried on, "I can't wait until Ace is big enough to learn how to race, and such."

"Don't let Zed teach'im," Finn muttered as he sleepily rubbed his face, his dark, greyish blue dreads began to fall out of the messy bun atop his head, though he knew he was beyond trying to upkeep his appearance for the time being, "We don't need TWO unbeatable jerks, in the game."

"One is more than enough," Jax wagged his messy sandwich in Zed's direction, though just as Jax was about to carry on, the sharp pangs of hollering and rapid, angrily shuffling could be heard echoing from the direction of the sky room.

Everyone immediately froze as they listened to their new castle tell the rest of the story. As urgent yells began to reverberate louder and louder, Zed felt his heart suddenly begin to race. Just as his spine tensed, so to move into action, Lickity's loud voice was present in a rush of scared surprise that carried through the brand new glossy tiles.

"Quarter alert! We got a live one, we got a live one!" Lickity bellowed as her claws, paws and tail scrambled to find stability in chasing after Tessa, though just as Tessa skid to a sudden halt out of the large, high-ceilinged dome of a hallway, that lead from the sky room, Lickity spread her wings and came to an extremely abrupt stop directly behind her.

With ears perked high atop Lickity's head, and fur and feathers sprawled in agitated adrenaline, the whole castle fell still with the two girls. Zed uttered the quietest, smallest huff of a breath, and as he merely caught sight of Tessa, his heart sank to the depths of the coldest soil miles beneath their feet. Dressed in a loose white t-shirt and a pair of comfortable shorts, that came to her knees, her figure looked wholly drained. With the ghostly white of her skin, and the strange gloss of grey over her eyes, Zed nearly fell out of his chair with just what he was staring at. Not a single word was uttered, nor did anyone dare to move, let alone breathe.

"Where is Ace," Tessa coldly asked, though more in the form of a stern demand, as if she had remembered every horrible thing that had happened on her stumbling way to the kitchen. Each boy dragged their scared eye contact straight to Zed, as if to express that he was totally done for.

"Tessa," Zed uttered in a shaky tone, though everyone flinched as Tessa's fists clenched, her body reeled in an overflow of protectiveness, the sheer power of a lioness to her new cub.

"Where is my baby!" Tessa suddenly yelled, though it was in that raw moment that Zed realized she wasn't totally stable, in this stumbling first few moments of wakefulness.

"Ace is right here, he's just fine... He's safe with me," Zed stated calmly, he knew exactly what needed to be done in order to get her to think rationally.

He barely glanced to Orph's body posture and back to Tessa, who was across the sprawling gape of tiles; he was immediately grateful for the distance.

"Can I please have him?" Tessa's voice shook, as if it were simply her final plea, though Zed furrowed his eyebrows and felt a wave of weirdness fall over him.

"Tess," Zed's deep voice started in growing confidence, he finally stood and faced Tessa from across the large gap of tiles. He hugged Ace closer to his chest and carefully held the back of his head; mannerisms he was certain he had no idea where they originated. He squinted lightly and felt his heart drop, "Can you... Can you see?"

"No," Tessa whimpered as she gestured her hand out in an urgent way, as if to ask for him to come closer.

"Give the baby to Orph," Finn quietly demanded, to Zed, under his breath.

Zed furrowed his eyebrows in hard confusion and merely glanced at Finn, as if to test his knowledge, though as his eyes peered back to Tessa, he double took on her figure and watched her attempt to map her way to the group of boys. As she grew closer, her ghostly, lost stare grew spookier, though he also noticed strange markings near her temples, and all down her throat. As she grew a stumbling few steps closer, he noticed said markings were simply burns, circuit marks that made permanent, red tattoos into her flawless, fragile white skin. He felt his heart race with uncertainty, and though he knew Tessa had clear, full rights to her newborn, he also knew she wasn't totally in her right mind.

With swift action, and with all the tenderness he could muster, Zed softly moved Ace into Orph's arms. Before Orph could protest or move away, he largely scooped his nephew into his nervous arms and tucked the new bundle protectively into his grip. Orph opened his mouth to ask a billion scared questions, though before anyone could get any sort of intelligence out, Zed sharply pushed to Tessa's bubble and gripped his palms to her upper arms. As she opened her mouth to nervously and sadly fight Zed's strange decisions, she was suddenly flood with the exterior coding of Zed's silver pixels. He let his hands and inner wrists flare with their beautiful, rare coding, and much to his delight, Tessa gasped a sharp inhale of a refreshing breath and flinched. Like a demon being released from her skin, she finally looked as if her demeanor had sunk to normality. As pink came back to her flesh, Zed's trembling hands remained glued to her arms, and though he noticed the burns on her temples fade from an angry red, he couldn't help but be wholly spooked by the clear fog that glossed her eyes, even still.

"Hold her still," Finn's stern voice was quiet and wise, though he pushed into their bubble and shoved two fingers into the side of her jugular in search for her pulse.

"What's... Happened to me?" Tessa's voice shook, she began to tremble all over, like she had come out of a trance and reality had only finally hit her body. Zed held her still, like instructed, as Finn studied her heart rate.

"We're not sure, hun," Zed stated nervously through a dire frown, though he squinted and felt his heart continue to sink, "Y-you had the baby, and... It nearly fried your system."

"I'm seriously surprised you came out of it with only blindness as your downfall," Finn raised his eyebrows, and though he pushed a small smile to his cheeks, he removed his fingers from Tessa's throat and gestured to quickly find her a place to sit, "C'mon... Let's sit you down. Your heart rate is through the roof..."

"C-Can we fix my blindness?" Tessa worried as Jax quickly moved across the kitchen to help Zed and Finn, as well. Tessa's footing was lightly stumbling, though each of the three boys continued to confidently help her along, "I... I just want to see my baby."

"You will," Zed assured in a shaky tone, though he knew his words held no foundation of certain truth; he knew he had to somehow bluff his way through this negative mess, "Don't worry... You'll see'im."

As the three boys easily steadied Tessa closer to the comfortable, sprawling couch that was littered with soft, cotton covered pillows, Zed nervously peered over his shoulder and drew his sharp attention to the one brother that held onto Ace in his strict, terrified posture. Zed snuck a smirk of a knowing smile, and as he made sure Tessa was comfortable on the couch, he gently motioned for Orph to make his way over with the baby, so Tessa could hold him. Orph raised his eyebrows in dewy, nervous surprise, and as if he was holding an activated time bomb, he began to shakily step across the gap of tiles between everyone. Tej largely began to snicker with Duke, at the kitchen island; their scared, stiff postures finally grew lazy once more, as Tessa's strange behavior was calmed.

"Orph, he's not going to explode if you move faster, y'know," Zed prod with tired eyes that lazily dazed alongside raised, blue eyebrows.

"H-How do you hold this thing," Orph mumbled, though not to be disrespectful. His bashful, nervous eyes finally caught with Zed's, though he sharply furrowed his silver brows, as if to express he wasn't about to show vulnerability, "I-I mean... He's squirmy. Can't hold him still."

"You're fine," Zed gave him a playful side eye and, with easier mannerisms than that of Orph's confused grapplings, Zed carefully transitioned Ace out of Orph's arms and finally honed his whole attention down to Tessa, who patiently awaited her newborn.

Tessa's trembling hands outstretched, and through teary, white eyes of growing impatience, Zed tenderly moved Ace into his mother's arms, once and for all. With the wash of relief that draped over Tessa's frantically still aura, he paid every single ounce of his attention to the raw situation at hand. Tessa scoffed a noise of nervous disbelief, though for the first time in days, Tessa beamed a genuine smile and, as if the last piece to a jigsaw, Ace sunk into Tessa's larger hands, as if it were merely destiny. Cuddled deep into her warm chest, Tessa leaned down and pushed her mouth and nose to Ace's soft skin of his forehead, and the tuft of dark greyish blue hair atop his head. As tears streamed her cheeks, she seemingly let out a long sigh of relief, as if she was suddenly given everything she could ever hope for. She shook her head, just barely, and with a few loving kisses pushed to Ace's cheeks, she so desperately tried to focus her blind eyes.

"I-I wish I could see him," Tessa lightly whimpered as more tears welled in her eyes.

With her silent plea, Zed tenderly sat down next to her and rested a hand on her thigh. As a pang of sorrow struck his heart, and tears nearly welled in his eyes, he anxiously peered up to Finn with an overflow of silent questions. Finn raised his eyebrows as if to express he was wholly uncertain of this raw outcome, whether Tessa would get her sight back or not. Finn just barely shrugged, a silent way of assuring Zed he would try his very hardest to work alongside their band of brothers, and do everything they could to put everything back to normal.

"What color is his hair?" Tessa quietly wondered, her fingers ever so softly fiddled the adorable tufts of thin hair atop Ace's small head.

"Blue," Zed assured with a wide, though weak smile, and although he tried his ultimate hardest to keep his composure, his voice trembled a sigh of a breath as a tear escaped down his cheek. He huffed an exhale as if to express to himself that he blew his cover, though he wiped his cheek, shook his head and finally shoved his pointer finger and thumb into his closed eyes; he grit his teeth and begged himself not to outwardly cry. He choked a silent scoff as his back and shoulders lightly trembled in his hunched position. After a hard moment of the most painful silence, Jax gripped Zed's shoulder in a firm, brotherly squeeze of understanding. Zed inhaled a silent draw of composure and finally re-glued his gaze to Tessa and Ace, though his voice largely cracked, "I-It's a dark blue... Similar to Finn's."

"I knew it," Tessa whispered as she nuzzled her nose into Ace's little nose.

He murmured a small noise, scrunched his face and began to stir a little as if the voice of his mother was just what he needed to finally feel one with the world. Zed furrowed his brow and felt his heart jump to the sharpest, highest degree he had ever known as Ace's little eyelids began to flutter. Zed gasped silently and froze as if making any sudden movements would make this moment false. In the instant it took him to believe this raw little first, of Ace's, was real, he held his breath. Ace's new eyes finally opened, he squinted and peered to the world once and for all.

"Wh-What color are his eyes?" Tessa pressed above a delighted whisper, her larger hands perfectly cradled him, her thumb stroked his cheek just barely, though Ace's gaze drew firmly hooked straight up to Tessa.

"H-He..." Zed trailed off and, as he squinted and got a good, long glance at his son's eyes, and for the thousandth time since Ace even existed, he felt his heart fall in love with him all over again. He knew, in these moments, he was wholly done for. He scoffed a shaky, elated chuckle and shook his head in disbelief, "He has your eyes..."

"Hazel," Finn stated quietly as he, too, leaned down a little to get a good look into Ace's eyes once and for all. He beamed an excited smile and just barely pet the back of Ace's head, "Handsome little dude... Good job, you guys."

"He's a keeper," Jax softly teased as he finally released Zed's shoulder with a gentle nudge. Zed smiled and finally felt his heart settle to an excited throb.

"I can't wait to see him," Tessa concluded, her voice was laced with soft sorrow, though Zed was thrilled to hear a touch of hope.


	3. Chapter 3

**Song Listened To : Bright by Echosmith**

 ***Chapter 3***

Through a snore that woke him up in abrupt fit of still, quiet embarrassment, Finn smacked his lips and bashfully peered his tired eyes about the warm room he was in. Tessa and Zed's comfortable bedroom was dim, only illuminated by a single lamp from Ace's nursery, which was directly attached to their bedroom. The lamp splayed dim, adorable little constellations upon the dome of the cream ceiling, in which eked into Zed's and Tessa's main room. Finn grunted a quite noise as he brought himself to a sitting position. His line of sight followed Zed's legs, he noticed his older brother was totally consumed by exhaustion. With his mouth hung open, and lay diagonal across his and Tessa's bed, he knew it was the sight of the pure epitome of an exhausted, new father. Finn smiled at the endearing sight and removed himself from the bed, his mind immediately began to wonder what time it was, and where Tessa lay off to, to name a few things.

Cold tiles lead out of Tessa and Zed's nest, their warm green walls held the game in suspended animation, as if to wait for the world to soak in the raw feeling of what the homiest of homes would feel like. Finn lazily rubbed his eye and was surprised to find that it wasn't quite morning yet. He dragged down the hallway, which led from Tessa's and Zed's room, to the sky room. Before he could continue to worry about Tessa's location, he spot her sat comfortably in the middle of the endless, glass dome. The stars kept her wonderful company, alongside Lickity's sleeping figure curled around her. They sat on the ground, though Lickity allowed Tessa to lean into her side for the cushion. Her strong, sturdy tail was protectively wrapped around her sister, a tight, woven draw that made it apparent that Lickity was the ultimate guard dog.

Finn gently yanked his hair out of the messy bun it was knotted in. His dreads fell to the back of his neck and only barely kissed the tops of his bare shoulders. He attempted to tidy his hair before he finally gave up and threw it back into the tight, messy bun it was in. He scratched his chest, yawned and felt his whole body harshly scold him for being off of his sleep schedule; he knew it was for the sake of his brand new nephew. As Finn's tall, stoic figure made his way around the bend of the large couch, in the sky room, he assessed Tessa's demeanor. Sat quietly cradling Ace, awake and gazing outwards, it was clear her attention was anywhere but where her blind eyes suggested. With careful fingers, she pet the back of Ace's head. Finn smiled a calm, warm smile, and as tenderly as he could ease, so not to startle anyone, he spoke up.

"Hey, Tessa," Finn called quietly, though he nervously jolted as Lickity's eyes shot open, her ears immediately honed to Finn's every movement as she shot out of her sleep. Her deep ears were like satellite dishes that picked up any and every single bounce of information the universe had to give. He was relieved to see Lickity relax, once she saw just who was approaching; one of the more harmless ones, of the brothers.

"Finn?" Tessa wondered, though Finn raised his eyebrows in confusion as Lickity quickly moved a bit of the blanket, Ace was bundled in, further up Tessa's chest, to cover her up. It was then Finn realized what he had accidentally walked in on.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, I-I just wanted to see how you were doing," Finn uttered bashfully, he began to backstep.

"It's okay, please don't leave," Tessa urged quietly, though Finn cocked an eyebrow and nervously shot his eye contact to Lickity, as if to ask her permission to approach.

"Keep quiet," Lickity's soft voice stated in a stern tone, though it was ultimately Finn's green light to approach. Finn gave her a bit of a smirk, as if to contend with her words.

"When am I ever not quiet?" Finn chuckled softly as he moved across the gap and stood before the two. Tessa smiled, though her spooky eyes held solid across the room, a white gloss of blindness he was certain no one would ever get used to.

"He's got a point, girl," Tessa stated as she pat the side of Lickity's head. Lickity huffed a soft sigh and finally relaxed, once more. She lay her chin on her paws and attempted to drift off.

"How's he doing?" Finn asked softly as he sat outside the comfortable curl of Lickity's tail. As warmly as he could, he began to stroke the down-weave of Lickity's gloriously soft, short, tan fur, as if to hopefully get her to warm up to him.

"Hungry," Tessa complained as she slumped her shoulders, though she drew the blanket over Ace's head even farther, as he continued to feed; soft murmurs, hiccups and whimpers of delight muffled from underneath the blanket, alongside his slightly squirmy, little legs. Tessa smiled and rubbed her forehead, "This is his third meal in the span of a handful of hours."

"It'll slow down," Finn's deep voice was confident, wise, one that could coat a room with knowledge from just a single breath. Like a wizard in hiding, his intelligent eyes dragged from the cute sight of Ace's little feet, peeking from the blanket, to Tessa's lost stare, and though her fogged eyes looked sad, her demeanor read an uplift, as if she was excited to have this responsibility. Finn tenderly carried on, "Soon, he'll want solids, and then..."

"Then I'll blink, he'll rush off to Academy, and he'll want nothing to do with us," Tessa teased quietly, the two shared a laugh.

"That's not true," Finn croaked quietly as he relaxed, he looked up and, through a throaty sigh and a head lazily tilted up, so to see the stars the four were encompassed in, he shook his head in disbelief, "Growing up in a castle like this... He'll never want to leave. I know I don't."

"Touche," Tessa whispered as she adjusted Ace a little, "I've noticed my hearing has been getting better, as the day went on. I heard you snoring."

"What?" Finn stammered as he jolted his attention to Tessa's cheeky smile. His face immediately bruised a hard red.

"I think Zed was talking, too," Tessa giggled.

"He was," Lickity quietly uttered, she remained still with her eyes closed, though she finally showed her sharp teeth in a smile, "I specifically remember hearing something about him finally wanting one of Jax's sandwiches."

"Who wouldn't be dreaming of those sandwiches?" Finn beamed, everyone shared a laugh for a moment before settling. Finn furrowed his brow and assessed Tessa's skin. He noticed the burn marks on the side of her face and near her temples. They were still an irritated red, though without the ghostly white of her skin, they looked as if the flare had gone down. He tenderly reached out, so not to startle her, and curiously touched the circuit marks. He was thrilled to see that Tessa felt no pain from them, "These burns are so strange..."

"Burns?" Tessa prod, and as spooky as it was, her stare idly locked with his. White orbs that looked as if they had seen it all, and died because of said notion. Finn shivered at the mere sight.

"Y-yeah," Finn muttered as he tried to relax, "... I guess, because of Ace's powerful User coding, giving life to him nearly fried your system. I'm surprised you weren't deleted, or given anything worse than temporary blindness and a few battle wounds."

"Temporary?" Tessa urged with a peak of a hopeful smile, Finn shrugged, though out of habit, he quickly realized she couldn't see him.

"I did a bit of looking into it, in your coding," Finn eased, "It looks as if it's trying to repair itself, your sight coding that is."

"Good," Tessa sighed as she continued to cradle Ace, while he quietly suckled, "I'm really interested to see just what this little guy looks like. Hopefully he doesn't think my eyes are freaky looking, or anything... Zed told me they're practically all white."

"Likely not," Finn assured, "He's so little, right now, his eye sight is probably not all that great, as well. So, you're in good company, I guess."

"Mine sucks, join the club," Lickity spat, as if little tid-bits of snaps, here and there, was all she wanted to afford for conversing with one of Zed's brothers present.

"Really?" Finn curiously wondered, though Tessa nodded with a knowing smile.

"Her breed is derived from your typical bat... Horrible sight, incredible hearing," Tessa stated knowingly.

"I see," Finn concluded through a sigh as he slumped his shoulder.

Tessa heaved a tired sigh, and though she looked as if the only thing she wanted was sleep, she seemed perfectly content skipping sleep to spend time with her favorite little bundle. Finn assessed her, ruffles and waves of her long, auburn hair draped the front of her chest and down to her side. The shaved half, on the left side of her head, had begun to grow out a little. Finn knew it was because she hadn't found time to trim it down. Finn fiddled his fingers and allowed the glass of the dome to encompass his whole being and flood his veins with the flawless display of stars the game had to provide. He allowed the group to fall into a comfortable silence for a few moments, though Tessa's itching thoughts broke it.

"Finn," Tessa hissed as she squinted, "...What, exactly, happened to me? I... I hardly remember going into labor, having Ace. I just remember waking up and... I had no baby in my arms."

"Poor timing, on Zed's part," Finn eased, the two shared a chuckle as he continued on, "Welp... We were all helping you make breakfast, on Saturday, before game day. You passed out, hit your head, and... You went into labor early."

"THAT'S why I can't seem to kick this headache of mine," Tessa lightly complained.

"We're thankful you missed the counter top, you fell right next to it," Finn worried, "We... We rushed you to the code room, your loading bar said 'finishing' and, very shortly after, Dead Zed gave Ace to us. For how much trouble it gave your body, it was a pretty quick birth."

"... I remember trying to talk to you guys, and get your guys' attention," Tessa wondered nervously, "Could you guys hear me at all?"

"No, you were totally unconscious... You must've been awake, in some part of your mind, to where you sort of had memory of it all," Finn explained, "But, no, you didn't say anything. You were out cold, for all we thought."

"So strange," Tessa eased, "I wish I would've had warning that child birth would've been that disastrous."

"Well, it's actually... Not supposed to go like that, at all," Finn remained collected as his eyes sadly glossed Tessa's, "The reason you had such a horrible, taxing experience is because Ace's coding is so incredibly powerful... And, not to cut you at the knees or anything, but a faux-code giving birth to someone who has more powerful coding than that of a User-made gamer?"

"Catastrophe," Tessa said through a hard sigh, "I guess I didn't even think about it... I knew Ace was conceived outside the Arcade, but... I just figured everything would transfer over and line up."

"It's a miracle you both are alive, to be honest," Finn's tired voice began to show it's apparent, verbal wear, "Quite frankly, I think you might've had an easier time if you gave birth in Sugar Rush... Where your coding originally lies."

"If only," Tessa quietly stabbed, though she knew Finn wasn't trying to pry at open wounds; he scoffed an apologetic noise, anyhow.

"Forgive me," Finn uttered, though Tessa beamed.

"It's okay," Tessa assured in a dip of the gentlest certainty though she began to fumble with Ace, as well as her shirt, underneath the privacy of the blanket that covered her chest. Before too long, she pulled her shirt to normality and brought Ace's little body out of the blanket; he looked positively smitten, his drooly chin was glossed in milk, his eager eyes squinted to get a good look at his sudden, brighter surroundings.

"There he is," Finn immediately beamed, his heart grew sore at the mere, innocent sight of his adorable little nephew. He reached a finger out, wrinkled it into his little chest and was thrilled to feel Ace's strong, little wrecking hand grip tight around Finn's long finger, "Did you get taller, little buddy?"

"I can feel more hair becoming present," Tessa giggled as she traced her delicate fingers up the back of his neck and to the top of Ace's little head. A prominent, proper faux-hawk of dark blue hair stuck into different, messy directions.

"A true Kalivar," Finn chuckled as he wobbled his finger around a bit, which still had Ace's whole hand gripped to it. He leaned down a little, to lock eyes with Ace's innocently dewy eyes, "I can't wait until he starts smiling."

"User, I hope I have my eyesight back before that," Tessa sighed through an annoyed giggle, she softly began to pat Ace's little back, in order to hopefully get a burp out of him. Finn curiously assessed Ace's little facial expressions, in which he was certain he didn't have total control of just yet. He grinned an endearing smile and waggled his finger about again, for Ace's enjoyment.

"Tess, I came here to tell you something," Finn's deep voice glossed the four in enteral warmth. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows, and as best as she could, she tried to give Finn eye contact; something she so wished she could also receive.

"Is everything okay?" Tessa wondered, she continued to methodically pat Ace's back in a firm, though still gentle, manner.

"Yeah, everything is fine," Finn sighed with a smile, "Zed and I were talking earlier... A long time ago, us brothers were considering beginning a sort of... 'line of stature' of sorts. Since Zed is the head of the game, we assumed he had a handle of things, and any woman he'd bring alongside him, would technically be considered his equal in running the game... And alas, here you are."

"Here we are," Tessa corrected with a kind smile and a gloss of a knowing giggle as Ace uttered a small, confident noise; she continued to pat his back in hopes of getting a good burp out of him, so to avoid him fussing about it later.

"Right," Finn chuckled as he tenderly stroked Ace's cheek, his finger was still held in Ace's baby death grip, "It was assumed I'd automatically be placed as a right-hand man, to Zed and his bride. An all seeing eye, I was assigned to keep the game stable and sort of play a proverbial 'back-up' head of the game."

"That sounds right," Tessa eased, as if she knew the game was beyond safe in Finn's careful hands, if anything were to happen to Zed.

"After Radex ruined Zed's memories, Zed shunned us out of code room rights and, well... Family rights. Really, that notion went down the drain and we all sort of just dropped it," Finn's words were laced with what could potentially be a painful conversation, though Tessa could hear his kind smile grow wider, "Though, after a long talk, Zed decided to put said structure back in motion."

"Yeah?" Tessa beamed, as if he was potentially expressing promotion within his own game. She chuckled and, just as she was about to continue, Ace's little figure uttered a hard burp. Tessa and Finn laughed and quietly encouraged Ace for accomplishing said task.

"Yeah," Finn chuckled, though he softened, "... Zed was telling me that, if you had a similar choice to make, you would likely choose Penny, to have at your right-hand... He said you two are cousins, but were practically sisters."

Tessa heaved a gentle sigh and, as Ace mumbled a tiny inquiry of a noise and tested his whereabouts in the world, by lightly kicking his legs, Tessa easily cradled him frontways in her lap, so he was facing her head on. She furrowed her eyebrows and nodded.

"Penny would immediately be at my right hand, if I was Queen of Sugar Rush," Tessa stated with a hint of sorrow, "She's a powerhouse of protectiveness... There's no one else who could do that job better than Penny. Maybe as good as, but not better... Not in a million lifetimes."

"I was told," Finn's eyes bulged, though he gave Tessa loving smile, "I know no one will ever replace Penny, or her love for you and the kingdom... But, Zed set me out on a task."

"What's that?" Tessa wondered.

"To obliterate that notion," Finn dared with a kind smile, "He said you'd probably laugh in my face, but... It's now my job to be the game's 'knight', if you will."

Tessa eased a small, knowing smile, and as much as she wanted to laugh in Finn's face and applaud Zed for being so spot on, she heaved a long sigh through her nose and let her walls come down. She shook her head and tenderly stroked Ace's cheeks with her thumbs.

"Lickity is the only sister you've got," Finn continued to tread lightly, "You're surrounded by forces to be reckoned with, that's for sure... Aside from Zed's power, in the game, I've been handed the second-most powerful position, underneath you two."

"You deserve it," Tessa stated honestly, her voice was honey-sweet.

"Thank you," Finn uttered humbly as he looked down to his lap, he could swear his heart couldn't handle the feeling of the importance of sticking together, a protective duty to take extra care of the ones he loved, "Tess, I know we haven't really known each other for very long, but... You're the little sister I've alway wanted. I'm sure those four other boys could agree."

"Finn," Tessa quietly droned with a loving smile.

"Honest," Finn chuckled, "We're all floored you're here. I'm probably the only one who will admit it, but... Life would be very boring without you, Ace, and Lickity."

"You're the best," Tessa huffed through a knowing laugh, she shook her head and felt her eyes begin to grow heavy, and with the sound of Ace's murmurings dwindling to sleepy cooings, Tessa knew they were slowly falling into a routine with each other.

"Quite the contrary," Finn uttered as he shook his head, "I'll keep my word... I promised to make sure nothing bad happens to you guys."

Tessa slumped her shoulders and continued to gratefully bask in Finn's loving words, though the two jolted as Lickity suddenly uttered a hard purr of a groan, as if to be slightly disgruntled, though she lifted her massive, strong tail, swooped it over and around the back of Finn, and with a hard tug, Lickity welcomed Finn into the tight, cuddly circle they were currently a part of. Finn chuckled and sunk into Lickity's side, alongside Tessa. Finn curiously peered to Lickity's face, and with a sneaky smile that harbored her sharp fangs, and closed eyes that looked wholly complete, the four melted into each other as the sky's stars began to lovingly welcome the brand new morning sun.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Few, quick things!**

 **1\. The Defying Code sketchdump is POSTED and it's MASSIVE and it's on my deviantART! username Vyntresser. I also drew fanart of this scene, on my deviantart, titled 'Await The Sun'**

 **2\. I have created a , which involves a new way for how Rectifying Origin 'sketch-dump' requests will work! Please check it out and consider supporting me and my artwork for my Wrecking Limits Trilogy! My username, on , is Vyntresser! I so badly wish I could post links... lol**


	4. Chapter 4

**Song Listened To: Pajama Party + Holiday by Swimming With Dolphins**

 ***Chapter 4***

"Tessa?" Zed croaked, his groggy voice barely carried. He rolled over and softly groped the bed, where Tessa would lay. His hand finally found a curve of her body underneath the blanket, though he largely scrunched his tired face and desperately tried to open his eyes, which were stuck with sleep. He squinted and, as the sound of Ace's soft, wakeful cries could be heard coming from his nursery, Zed half sat up and pat the figure under the blanket, "Love?"

"Yes, dear?" Lickity's sharp voice sudden crackled in a high pitched mockery of Tessa's voice; she largely flinched as Zed exhaled a hard, startled yell and nearly fell off his side of the bed.

"Lickity, what the hell!" Zed barked as he clutched his chest. He scrambled to his feet, leaned over his side of the bed and tried to steady his heart. His and Tessa's bed loudly croaked as Lickity rolled off the lovely comforters and bounced on her feet a little. Zed finally scoffed a small laugh as Lickity's contagious laughter was hard to resist, "My User, Lickity, that sucked, what in Arcade are you doing?"

"I'm bored, and Ace started crying, so I figured I'd come in here and pretend to be Tessa," Lickity uttered. Zed stood and covered his face with both of his hands. Through a hard, wakeful yawn, groan and stretch, he finally slumped his arms to his sides and gave Lickity an exhausted, incredulous, mopey frown.

"So you figured torturing me was the best way to wake me?" Zed muttered, his hot blue hair stood on end. Lickity ducked about a bit, in a hyper way, and perked her ears.

"Yeah! C'mon, get Ace up, I want to see if he'll crawl today," Lickity urged, though Zed furrowed his brow and made his way over to the wall closest to Ace's nursery.

With a soft touch of his fingertip, which he used his new glitching powers, a small screen awoke and laid out a few options for the room, which included the windows, heater, air conditioning, and a few other options. With a single push, the blinds, from across the room, began to slowly peel open. They revealed his and Tessas private balcony.

"It's only been a week," Zed mumbled as he squinted and rubbed his eyes once more. He was shirtless and wore a pair of black boxer briefs. He poorly attempted to tidy his hair, "I-I don't think he'll learn to crawl that quickly. I'd give it probably another week."

"Aw, c'mon, he's a User!" Lickity quietly complained as Zed began to push closer to Ace's room. She eagerly followed, though her voice got quieter and quieter, "He'll be talking and running and taking over the Arcade in no time."

"Fight me, Lickity," Zed snapped through an exhausted tone, though it only caused Lickity to laugh in a pop of noise. Ace continued to cry, his little voice settled once he sensed the presence of one of his parents. Zed felt all of his worries softly slip away as he approached Ace's comfortable crib, the soft, cream linens housed him in the utmost coziness. Zed tenderly reached in and lifted Ace out of his bed, and as he held him upright, into his chest and shoulder, Ace's crying slowly turned into curious cooing. Zed chuckled and firmly rubbed up and down Ace's little back, "Well, there's something for you, Lickity. He can hold his head up on his own."

"Lil man, welcome to the club!" Lickity eased quietly as Ace's curious eyes honed in on Lickity's big, green orbs. He naively gestured his hand towards her, and once she was within his little arm's reach, he idly pat her snout, as if to map his surroundings.

"C'mon, booger," Zed mumbled, he snuck a firm smooch into the side of Ace's head and began to move out of Ace's dim nursery.

"Don't call me that," Lickity muttered as they both stepped back into the main bedroom.

"I was talking to Ace," Zed laughed as he crossed the room and pulled open a drawer, with one arm holding Ace steady to his chest and left shoulder, he skillfully and quickly began to pull out clothes for him and Ace. He furrowed his eyebrows as the reality of the day finally began to hit him, "So, if you're not Tessa... Where is she?"

"Oh, right, I probably should've started out with that, huh," Lickity uttered sheepishly as she made her way over to Tessa's and Zed's bed and began to fumble in making it, "All five guys, and Tessa, went to uh... This one park, I guess. They said it was a few miles North of here, I guess there's a basketball court, n'Tessa said she wanted to get out of the house."

"Oh, Echo Park," Zed stated, he made his way towards the bed and laid Ace on the neatly made downs. He furrowed his eyebrows down at Ace and noticed, aside from his usual squirmings, he seemed oddly content. He gestured towards his baby and gave Lickity a confused look, "Why... Why is he so... Calm?"

"Oh, Tessa told me to tell you that she fed him before they left," Lickity gestured, "Which wasn't too long ago. But she told me to warn you, we might want to meet up with them soon here. He'll be hungry in a bit."

"Ticking time bomb, we are, huh," Zed's deep voice cooed down to his gummy, squirmy baby. Through a loving smile, he dressed Ace in comfortable summer clothes and began to dress himself, as well. He stumbled into a pair cargo shorts and peered to Lickity, "You okay flying, girl?"

"Yeah, why?" Lickity questioned, she held out the dew claw of her wing to help steady Zed.

"I-I just know you're getting close to your due date," Zed stated tenderly, "Whenever you're finished flying us around, and want to just stay cooped up, we'll understand."

"I know," Lickity stated kindly as she tucked her wings back to her body, "I have, what... A few weeks left? I'll be fine... Tessa's so lucky. Her gestation period was so short. Why does mine have to be two months?"

"Cause you're an entirely different species, maybe?" Zed stated through a chuckle as he pulled a faded orange t-shirt over his head. He furrowed his eyebrows and peered down at the logo on the shirt, though he rolled his eyes, grappled the chest of his shirt and shook it around as his dull stare caught with Lickity's, "Number two... What is Jax's shirt doing in my drawer?"

"Don't look at me, I didn't put it there," Lickity garbled, "Though, I will tell you, the mother of your child IS blind... I can't imagine blindly doing laundry, in a home of six men, who are all about the same size, is easy."

"Poor Tess," Zed sighed through his teeth, though he smiled and picked Ace back up into his strong, loving arms. He held Ace out a little, so he could get a good look into his face, "Alright, bud, ready for your very first flight?"

"You sure he'll be alright?" Lickity wrinkled her snout, more so than it already was, and eyed Zed with a curious smile.

"Well, if he vurps all over me, at least this isn't my shirt," Zed cocked an eyebrow and beamed as he lugged Ace into his chest. He exhaled a final breath and smiled, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Let's go, I want to go pop their basketball and pretend it was an accident," Lickity excitedly bound out of Tessa's and Zed's room, and as easily as she could, she peeled out of the hallway, out the sky room and towards the kitchen.

"For User's sakes, Lickity, maybe YOU should have wrecking power," Zed called through a hard laugh, and as he reached the kitchen, he grappled for the blue, cotton sling on the kitchen's island.

"Yeah, you don't utilize yours," Lickity snapped as she stopped at the glorious front door, which was housed just out of the comfort area of the living room. She tilted her head curiously as Zed fumbled with the sling, while holding Ace, though Lickity took this as a large opportunity to immediately bound over to the two, "Here, lemme help! Can I hold him, please oh please?"

"Yes please," Zed mumbled, and for a split second, he felt a wash of weirdness fall over him; the fact that he didn't even question handing over his newborn to Lickity.

He knew he trusted Lickity with his life, though he raised his eyebrows in hard surprise at the hard fact that he wholly trusted her with his own child's life. Without question, he softly moved Ace into Lickity's massive, clawed paw. She so tenderly cradled him, the black paw pads on her hand were soft and squishy. She beamed a wide, toothy grin and, as she stood on her hind legs, she easily doubled in height. She softly tickled Ace's tummy with the claw of her other hand, her curious green orbs eagerly peered down at him with all the delight in the world.

"Whose your favorite auntie?" Lickity cooed obnoxiously, "ME. Aunt Lickity. I don't care if I have an extra set of legs."

"You also have an extra set of wings, two extra pairs of tail fins and uh," Zed fingered his lip, "Oh yeah. A tail?"

Zed chuckled, eyed the two, and typically would be extraordinarily terrified that his new son was in the clawed paw of a dragon eight feet off the ground, though he shook his head and lazily fastened the hot blue sling over his body. The comfortable wrap draped diagonally across his left shoulder and chest, and tightly around his back. He furrowed his eyebrows and adjusted the soft, single cotton sling, so to be able to hold Ace without having to use his hands. Once he was ready, he gently held his hands out to cue to Lickity that he wanted Ace back. Ace uttered a happy wail of a noise, though the two froze as it sounded so extremely close to a laugh. Lickity beamed a genuinely excited smile.

"User, he almost laughed!" Lickity barked, she peered back down at Ace and grinned; Ace flailed his little arms and uttered a high-pitched wail of a noise, yet again, though Lickity softly moved him back into Zed's arms, "Maybe it's because I'm funny looking."

"It wouldn't be the fact that you're a one-ton dragon, no, not at all," Zed scoffed sarcastically, he lugged Ace into his chest, facing him, and tightened the sling. He then gestured his arms outwards and beamed, Ace's whole little body was safely tucked away, "Okay, NOW I'm ready."

"Finally, c'mon," Lickity pressed, "We've got a game to ruin."

"Please tell me you're talking about the basketball game and not Dead Zed," Zed muttered as the two stepped outside, the late summer heat was accompanied by a welcoming breeze. Zed armed the whole castle of a house, with a single command of his silver coding, and turned to Lickity.

"No, I want to light Echo Park on fire, and then have at it with the rest of the jungle," Lickity stated dully as Zed carefully climbed aboard Lickity's spine. She spread her wings wide and let air fill every single last nook of feathers and fur, "You should know by now that I am on a war-path."

"Very funny," Zed uttered, though as gently and cautiously as Lickity could, she eased into a few strides of a gallop and leaped into the air.

Zed gripped the handles of her saddle and eagerly kept his sharp gaze down to Ace. Fastened tight to his chest, Ace rested the side of his head just over Zed's heart. He was safely strapped tight to his body, with little squirming room, though he clearly had enough room to worm his arm to his face to suck his thumb. Zed smiled with relief and, as he tenderly held the back of Ace's head, he laid a firm smooch into the top of Ace's head. Lickity held her large ears at sharp attention in Zed's direction, though she flapped her wings a little harder and caught high altitude.

"Everything alright?" Lickity inquired, for Ace's benefit, Zed pat the back of Lickity's neck and finally focused his hands to the reigns of her saddle.

"Yep, he's just fine," Zed assured, "It's just a few miles North. Should be a quick trip."

"Aye, aye," Lickity chirped as she banked and redirected her route for North-bound.

As Lickity flew the two safely over high patches of glorious jungle trees, Zed squinted through the warm current, that pushed into them, and searched for their destination through the thick foliage on the horizon. He knew they'd stumble upon the park eventually, though just as he felt his spine begin to want to relax, he furrowed his eyebrows, dazed off into the distance and wholly froze. He held his breath, and in the split seconds he had with his thoughts, Lickity had immediately caught onto why Zed was suddenly so agitated. Her large ears flipped back, so to hear sound from behind her. With a tender hand to the back of Lickity's neck, to silently communicate to her to remain constant, Zed just barely glanced over his shoulder. He felt his heart dip in cold fear at just what he caught in his peripheral. Through a long sigh out of his nose, he suddenly gripped Lickity's saddle reigns and gazed down at the back of her neck in contemplation.

"We've got a follower," Zed uttered quietly, and as strangely as those words sounded, the large, flying creature that trailed the two from a quarter of a mile back uttered a call of a noise, which was nearly aggressive.

"Whatever it is, they've got a rider," Lickity muttered over the wind, though with her findings, Zed dared to look over his shoulder once more, though he desperately tried not to be obvious, "...Zed, they're gaining."

Zed sighed, glanced down at Ace, and felt his heart throb in confusion. With a quick tug of the sling, it secured the tight positioning around Ace and Zed's body, for extra safety. Zed slowly lowered his upper body to be lined with Lickity's spine, though with the way Lickity held her wings in a glide, he knew she was simply waiting for sharp orders. As gently as he could, he pushed Ace's back to Lickity's spine and held him solid between the two rocks that were him and Tessa's dragon. Ace mumbled a small, sleepy noise and nuzzled his face into the warmth of Zed's broad chest. Once he secured their spots on Lickity, he gripped the reigns and hovered his head level with the top of Lickity's. He squinted his eyes and uttered a sharp whisper of a command.

"Lose 'em."

* * *

 **A/N:** **If you would like to see any of these scenes drawn, so far, please consider checking out my and supporting me and my craft! Username - Vyntresser**

 **Thanks guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Song Listened To : Jet by F(x)**

 **March Into The Sun by Echosmith**

 ***Chapter 5***

Lickity hissed a silent, celebratory 'yes', and without further questions, she yanked her wings tight into a strict, taut form and immediately dove. She knew that, with Zed's ultimate cue to do anything and everything to get out of this predator's sight, it meant she had full control of wherever they went, however they would get there. She squinted her eyes, let her second eyelid come in handy, flattened her ears and with a sudden, ninety-degree hair-pin turn, she banked into a patch of massive, towering trees. With the sight of oncoming branches, Zed's heart dropped in total fear. What would usually be sat in the pit of his heart was excitement, the thrill for rushing around and dodging huge objects, though the fact that his brand new child was strapped to his body had his stomach doing all sorts of nervous backflips. He knew Ace was safe to game over inside Dead Zed, though he also knew literally nothing got past Tessa, and the beat down would be worse than a billion game-overs in the span of ten minutes.

Zed scrunched his face, grit his teeth, and held his arms taut so to keep his positioning aboard Lickity strict and solid. He made certain Ace didn't jostle too much, though as they dipped underneath the jungle canopies, and the wind had quieted down, he eagerly kept an ear out for any complaints from the innocent life aboard the rocket they were on. Zed flinched as he could suddenly hear the canopy, from behind them, rustle with the invasion of their aggressive follower. Vines and branches whipped around as they moved through the motions in catching Lickity, though they were a lot clumsier about it. With the sharpest agility and unmatched speed, Lickity tucked her wings tight to her stomach, alerion rolled through a tight thicket of branches and popped out the other side unscathed. Zed gently peered up and, through harsh squinting, he eagerly watched where Lickity was taking them. In hard surprise that she was still on a war-path, he knew her ears were still perfectly honed to the destination of their follower, and the only reason she would stop would be because they were successful in dropping off the unknown flyer's radar.

Even through the blinding speed and the fact that such a beast, as Lickity, rocketed through the tight enclosure of jungle, not a single leaf was scathed, and not a single soul knew of her silent existence. With feathers trained to every aspect of the jungle, and trees that she was basically raised with, she bobbed and weaved in perfect formation, in which she also took Zed and Ace into high consideration, when it came to dodging branches and vines. Before Zed could suggest changing direction, to further throw off their follower, Lickity immediately banked a tight, hard left, took a nose dive down a massive tree trunk, and easily dodged huge planks of branches on the way down. She spiralled downward, around the gargantuan tree, and in hopes that Zed still had all of his sharp bearings, she popped her wings open, carried for a few seconds and, with her legs, paws and claws outstretched and prepared for an extremely abrupt landing, she caught with two strong branches and spread her wings out as wide as she could, so to make the sudden stop a bit cushioned.

"Sh," Lickity quickly hissed, and as everything suddenly fell eerily silent, Zed held his breath and jolted his eyes open in hard surprise.

He largely held his hand firm to the side of Lickity's rib cage, and though her heart pounded straight out of her scales, he took note that she was holding her breath. He bit his lip, and before he could open his mouth and silently question, Lickity gently pointed up to a clearing far up in the canopy; their follower largely drifted off and headed West in confusion. Lickity held a claw up to her mouth, to insinuate continued silence. Zed finally exhaled a slow, silent breath through his nose and, as Lickity was perched nearly upright against the two branches, he gently shoved his knees into Lickity's saddle, knelt back and assessed Ace's wellbeing; he largely sucked his thumb with his eyes half closed, as if nothing was wrong at all. Zed beamed a wide, curious smile and held the back of Ace's head. He peered down at him a little harder, in growing curiosity, though his heart jumped as Lickity finally spoke.

"Lost 'em, captain," Lickity grumbled quietly, though Zed uttered a breath of a silent laugh.

"I'll say," Zed scoffed.

"How's the munchkin?" Lickity wondered as she kept her sharp gaze in the direction of their enemy.

"Just dandy," Zed shook his head in a delightfully annoyed way, "Not a single inch of him is phased."

"Start 'em young," Lickity's body finally began to expand and cave in as she took in a massive amount of much-needed recovery breaths of air.

"Who was that?" Zed wondered, though he wrinkled his nose with a wide smile as Lickity let her tongue lightly hang out of her mouth, to cool herself down.

"It was a lykata," Lickity panted through long breaths of trying to catch up with herself. Zed furrowed his brow and peered up to the clearing in the sky as Lickity continued on, after a few moments, "Flying mutts... Typically a creature us dragons will have a stand off with, if we cross paths."

"That's why it was coming after you?" Zed worried, he fastened Ace a little tighter to him.

"Well no, they're smaller creatures than us, and are generally associated with the same behavior as wolves," Lickity gently shrugged, "Most likely because of their looks, but they won't fight if they don't have to... This one was taking orders... It wasn't the lykata following you, it was it's rider."

Zed furrowed his eyebrows in hard confusion, his eyes gently glossed the glorious jungle leaves and vines that patiently hung around. The more they sat in the jungle's embrace, the more the song birds and wildlife crept back into their senses. Zed shook his head and couldn't think of a single soul that could potentially be looking for him, nor who would ever have the chance to capture and tame a lykata. Zed shook his head, gripped the reigns of Lickity's saddle and held on tight.

"We need to get to the park," Zed urged quietly, "I need to talk with my brothers. See if they have any idea who that could've been."

"Would suck if all he was trying to do was sell us cookies or something," Lickity mumbled playfully, though as she climbed over the branch she had abruptly stopped on, she softly let her wings carry her into the air once more, though this time around at a much slower, lofty speed.

"Cookies disguised as bombs," Zed grumbled as Lickity hung near the underside of the canopy for further safety, so said predator wouldn't see them on the horizon, "You heard the sound of that lykata... I don't think it was just it's rider that was hunting us down."

"You're right," Lickity eased, she furrowed her brow and scanned the maze of jungle out before her in confusion, "I can't imagine what stopping and confronting them would've caused... Maybe they would've seen we had a baby with us and left us alone?"

"If someone is out for blood, they don't care what blood is spilled," Zed uttered, "Innocent or not."

* * *

Out of habit, Tessa squinted. After a second, she largely slumped her bare shoulders and glowered her blind eyes across the massive court of grass and many stomping, excitable feet. The hot sun coat her existence and popped new freckles on her soft skin, or so she could feel. She sat on a loved, green bench underneath the overhang of ancient jungle trees, though their shade hung elsewhere because of the noon sun. She fiddled her fingers and, after awhile of swaying her feet above the ground and taking in all the sounds of her surroundings, she decided to let her bare feet touch the cold concrete underneath her. She focused all of her attention to the vibrations of the earth, and as easily as she could, she attempted to assess just where each of her five new brothers were, on the court far before her, using nothing but her skin and her live-wire coding.

With the distractions of a few children running by, Tessa tried her very hardest to first find where Tej was. She squinted out of habit, yet again, though she didn't stop herself this time. Anything to make it seem like everything was back to normal was where she felt most comfortable. With Orph's sharp voice begging Tej to become 'open' to catching the ball, Tessa wholly focused all of her attention to just which feet would fumble and be the most thrown off. She grinned once she found Tej and kept her focus on him, though the stampede of boys halted as Tessa could feel the dribble of the ball leave the hands of Orph and, with Tej's nervous hands that attempted to catch the ball, to continue the play, it slipped and flew out of the boundaries of the court. Everyone's feet relaxed as Orph suddenly began to berate Tej for missing the catch. After a few moments of the drifting sounds of Orph becoming more heated than he probably should, Tessa furrowed her annoyed glare and cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Grow up, Orph! Get over it!" Tessa bellowed, though she felt a sense of accomplishment come over her as each boy fell silent and she could practically feel their gazes slide over to Tessa from across the court.

"Can she see us?" Orph barked, as if to be annoyed, though he knew, deep down, if she had gained her sight back, he'd be ecstatic.

"No," Finn eased, though he wrinkled his nose and smiled, "I think she can see us with her other senses, though."

"Enough to see that you're a flaming asshole," Tej deeply snapped, his strong hand suddenly shoved into the center of Orph's chest as he stormed away, in Tessa's direction.

"Oh, go cry to mommy," Orph muttered. He wobbled, caught his footing and crossed his arms, though Duke nudged him as well.

"Stop being so hard on him," Duke glowered, though he wiped his forehead with the bottom of his shirt, he bent down a little.

"Y'okay?" Tessa called as she could feel the vibrations of someone's footsteps approaching, she was hoping said person was indeed Tej.

"I'm fine," Tej muttered, though as he approached Tessa, he politely slowed, "May... May I sit?"

"Yeah, sorry," Tessa scoot over on the old, green bench to make room. She sat with her larger hands gripped to the edge of the seat she was on, she continued to try out her new skill; she found that the four boys had continued playing without Tej.

"It's okay," Tej's voice was soft and kind, his quiet demeanor practically coat Tessa's racing, excited mind with a lull of calm. Tessa smiled and glanced at him, to somehow prove she could sense his presence. Tej groaned and gestured outwards, "He's such a jerk. He takes these games too seriously."

"Orph just really gets into whatever he's doing, I've noticed," Tessa giggled and shook her head, "He beats me up with words sometimes too... Just fight back."

"Easy for you to say," Tej muttered through the crackle of his deep, warm voice. He finally leaned his back to the bench and crossed his arms, "I hate being the youngest of all these guys. No one takes me seriously."

"Well, if it helps, you're not the youngest anymore," Tessa chimed kindly, though Tej beamed and rolled his eyes.

"Ace doesn't count," Tej finally gripped his emerald stare to Tessa's foggy gaze. He furrowed his eyebrows and assessed her spooky, solid white eye's blink.

"He will, eventually. One day, he'll be out here getting verbally beat up by Orph as well... By all of them," Tessa gestured outwards, towards the beautiful court, which was housed by the greenest grass and peeks of silver earth that was dregs of the mountain range they were on.

Tej heaved a soft sigh and nodded, as if to agree with Tessa's notion, though he barely flinched as Tessa softly nudged his elbow and leaned in a little closer.

"And, I wasn't talking about Ace," Tessa's voice was soft, "... I was talking about myself."

"You?" Tej wondered in confusion, though he raised his eyebrows in a knowing way and let a soft sigh escape through his nose, "Right... You're a faux-code."

"Don't forget it," Tessa snapped with a girly smile as she stiffened her spine and side-eyed Tej, "And I'll continue to stay that way, even after Ace is full grown. I'll be the only faux-code left, out of you boys."

"Besides Lickity's child?" Tej pressed kindly, though he looked on in curiosity, "Wait... Isn't Ace a faux-code?"

"No, he's a... User," Tessa uttered, as if to be nervous of said notion.

"Right, I forgot," Tej eased, he rubbed his forehead free of sweat and, with a gentle grapple of the chest of his shirt, he began to fan himself to keep cool.

"Here comes Zed," Tessa's voice pricked in excitement, she pointed to her left and furrowed her eyebrows, "Either that, or a really massive bird."

"How can you tell?" Tej gawked as Lickity was seen soaring over the jungle trees just across the way.

"I could hear the flap of Lickity's wings," Tessa smirked, "She may have silent flight, when gliding, but her down-flap gives her away."

"Maybe to blind people who have had a week to perfect their hearing," Tej teased.

Tessa slowly stood, and as she sunk her hands into the pockets of her lazy shorts, the air around her whipped about as Lickity's massive wings helped her come to a landing nearby. Tessa smiled and felt her heart jump with excitement for seeing her true family again, though the second she felt Zed's feet touch to the ground, she furrowed her brows and assessed his demeanor. He moved nervously, as if anxious about something. Lickity's still posture gave off a frazzled feel as well, though just as she was about to open her mouth and inquire about it, Zed's brothers lightly began to approach Zed and Lickity.

"Y'made it," Finn chimed kindly, he softly dropped their basketball and let it roll towards the court. He gestured his hand a little, towards Lickity, and gave Zed's shoulder a brotherly pat, "How was the flight, with Ace?"

"Totally fine," Zed inquired in a mild stupor as he peered down to Ace, who was still tightly strapped to him, his little face was warmly nuzzled deep into the left side of his chest. With a tender hand, he stroked the back of Ace's head and finally drew his delightfully humbled attention to Tessa, "Not a single peep out of him."

"I'm surprised," Jax motioned his hand before running his fingers through his messy light blue hair, "You'd think it'd upset him, flying about like that."

"Why are you wearing Jax's shirt?" Duke uttered with a curious, wide smile, though Zed grit his teeth and nervously motioned to Tessa, as if to insinuate she did the laundry and mixed up the clothes.

"I-I wasn't looking when I grabbed clothes from the hamper," Zed fibbed with a sheepish smirk; Jax immediately burst out laughing.

"You can just say I screwed up the laundry again," Tessa barked, though she beamed Zed an enthused smile, "I can't help it. It doesn't hurt my feelings."

"It would've been funnier if Ace threw up all over you," Duke laughed as he grappled for his shirt and yanked it off of himself, because of the heat.

"Yeah, that would've been hilarious," Zed mumbled, though he smiled and began to pull Ace out of the sling he was comfortably snug in.

"I'm surprised he's not crying, or anything," Duke wondered as he took a few steps closer.

"He will once he sees me," Tessa giggled as she began to cross the gap as well.

"How come?" Finn asked though Zed beamed and made it so Ace was facing only him, and away from finding his mother, once and for all.

"Cause the second he sees me is the second he remembers that he's probably hungry," Tessa chuckled, though Orph waved his hand about.

"I don't think that'll change with age," Orph cocked an eyebrow, though Tessa rolled her eyes and gestured to Zed.

"Watch," Tessa chirped. Ace remained a quiet, lightly cooing bundle of joy as Zed gave him a firm smooch on the side of his nose, though as Zed turned him around, to face the world, and outward in Tessa's direction, his brilliant, little hazel eyes finally landed on Tessa's. With a bit of a squirmy complaint, he finally erupted in full wail. Everyone burst out in laughter as Tessa finally made her way over to Zed and Ace. She reached her arms out for him and shook her head, "The world is ending! What ever will you do during the few minutes you're without a meal?"

"That was hilarious," Jax wiped his eye and, as the four watched Tessa begin to head back to the security of the jungle tree shade so she could feed Ace, who continued to loudly cry. Zed raised his finger and felt a pang of nervousness fall over him, with the sheer fact that he had news he didn't really know how to approach. Just as he was about to lay a serious tone over everyone's day of fun in the sun, Tessa called to them over her shoulder.

"Guys, I hope you were done playing because Lickity is about to pop your ball," Tessa called, though just as everyone's nervous eyes scanned the court for Lickity, and their precious ball, there was suddenly a loud pang of an explosion. Tessa heaved a hard laugh and continued walking, "I told you!"

"LICKITY!" Orph bellowed in extreme annoyance; Lickity perked her ears, sat on her rump, and curiously peered at the saggy remains of the basketball that dangled off of her snout.


	6. Chapter 6

**Song Listened To: Come With Me by Echosmith**

 **Drifter Transit by Ben Prunty**

 ***Chapter 6***

Through the gentle flicker of jungle leaves that somehow escaped their trees, they dot the shade before catching fire with Dead Zed's late summer sun. Glistening greenery sprawled for miles beyond the thicket of jungles that hung on the mountain range, though it thinned as the mountain range could be seen fading to wide open plains. Tessa and Zed lightly and slowly strolled around a sidewalk paved with careful groundwork of cold, sleek concrete. It encompassed the entirety of the park, which lazily housed two basketball courts, a playground, and grass for days. The sound of the breeze through Dead Zed's towering foliage was enough to put anyone in a calm mood. Tessa let her ears soak in every single sound she could possibly gain, though she could sense agitation in Zed's footwork, even still. After a few minutes, they were out of earshot of Zed's five brothers, who continued to bicker and fight about who would have to go all the way back home to get another basketball.

Zed and Tessa stayed in toe of each other, the slowest, aimless mosey they fell into, on the sweetest of afternoons. Zed assessed Tessa, she calmly held her head high, her blind gaze lost on the horizon, and her strong arm cradled Ace snug into her chest. With his light blanket draped over the front of her chest and shoulder, and over Ace, he quietly fed all while his little squirmy feet didn't quite know what to do with all the concentrated delight. Zed chuckled quietly and let his finger softly wrinkle over the tops of Ace's tiny feet, though it was clear that once he grew into his paws, he was likely to be a decent force of wrecking power they surely underestimated. Zed softly glanced over his shoulder and peered to his brothers. After explaining everything to Finn, of what happened on the way over, he knew the rambunctious, dorky looking group of naive chaos was anything but. Their exterior showed playful nature, though Zed knew, after his small tale of events that took place with him and Lickity, that everyone was secretly on a very strict, watchful lookout.

"So, was the flight over here really that uneventful, or is there something you're not telling me?" Tessa quietly asked, so not to seem too abrasive. The two slowly moseyed so to make feeding Ace a little easier.

"I didn't want to worry you," Zed stated in a tone of guilt as he looked down to his bare feet, he was glad to be out of his shoes. He glanced back to Tessa and noticed her fumble with the light baby blanket that covered her chest, shoulder and Ace. Zed quickly reached over and adjusted the blanket for her privacy, "I-I'm not even sure of what happened, really."

"All I could feel was Lickity's pulse straight through her footsteps," Tessa giggled, she eased closer to Zed's presence, "A lazy flight three miles North isn't something to get her heart racing that quickly..."

Zed scoffed a noise, as if he wanted so badly to tell her what an awesome, wild ride it was, though merely saying they were avoiding someone would equally express the same notion. He stammered on his words and didn't know how to approach the topic.

"So, you guys either went on a high-speed joy ride, and are leaving me out of it for really rude reasons, orrr," Tessa lulled her head to the side and smiled a little off into space, "You were in actual trouble and you're surprised Ace survived the chaos?"

"How...?" Zed continued to stumble on his words, in a baffled manner. He finally scoffed a hard laugh and rubbed the back of his head, "It's like you're spying on us, or something."

"I never understood when my mother would say 'it's just a mom thing' but, now I can finally use it on you," Tessa snapped with a snotty smile as she tilted her head and gave Zed her spooky eye contact, "It's just a mom thing."

"Yeah, but Vanellope has had her code room mapped for over two decades," Zed complained, "You're out here in a park, nowhere near our code room, in a game you've only JUST become familiar with."

"Tough cookies... Mom always told me this 'mom' talent only gets stronger," Tessa choked a laugh, shrugged, and adjusted Ace once more. He murmured a soft few noises between feeding.

"That's not fair," Zed mumbled, he crossed his arms, "So are there any 'dad' talents?"

"Besides awful dad jokes and uh, maybe behind closed doors when Ace is asleep?" Tesa squinted sarcastically and shook her head, though she made sure to keep a joking air about herself, "Not likely."

"'Course," Zed huffed, though he finally felt a smile creep across his face as Tessa nudged his elbow.

"I'm only teasing," Tessa assured softly, though she still kept her sharp attention on him, "But really... What happened?"

Zed huffed a long, tired sigh and stopped his gentle footwork, which cued Tessa to stop as well. She gently held her hand out and groped for Zed's arm, so she could gauge exactly where he was. She remained close to him, closer than what she usually would when simply conversing with him. With the lack of sight, she felt the need to soak in every single other sense his notions had to offer her. He tenderly held the underside of her arm, which was still gripped to his. As he adjusted the blanket over her chest, once more, his fingers slid to lovingly tidy the hair on her forehead.

"Someone was following us, in the sky," Zed calmly stated, though as Tessa furrowed her eyebrows, he rushed to carry on, "We immediately lost them, and... They sounded aggressive, from what Lickity could tell."

"Who were they?" Tessa snapped, she immediately felt a protective darkness drape over her.

"We have no idea, but they were on a lykata," Zed calmly explained, though Tessa glared to Zed's face.

"What's a lykata?" Tessa quietly demanded. He squeezed her arm to insinuate that she should likely calm down.

"They're similar to Lickity, in size... They're not technically dragons, but rather..." Zed trailed off, in search for proper words, "I believe Lickity said they're something like 'flying mutts'."

"Dogs? Wolves?" Tessa worried.

"I'm guessing," Zed shrugged and shook his head, "Lickity knows more about the fauna, around here... I only really know a lot about Dead Zed's race tracks and cities."

"Did it have a rider?" Tessa pressed urgently, though with the sigh that Zed let out of his figure, she received her answer. She frowned down to the ground and shook her head, "What do you think would've happened if you guys stopped? What do you think they wanted?"

"I don't know," Zed shook his head, "We didn't stick around to find out... I'd be proud. I was treated to a master class in flying, today."

"Lickity may look bumbling and slow, but shit," Tessa huffed a small laugh, "I can only imagine how fast that cat flies when it's wholly detrimental."

"It's numbing, I'll tell you that," Zed's eyes bulged though he lovingly reached out and let his fingers find Ace's small back. Zed began to lightly scratch up and down as Ace continued to feed, "Ace was a trooper through it..."

"Should... Should we head home?" Tessa worried as she pushed even closer to Zed. He eased a small chuckle as she was practically in his arms, at this point. He filled the gap and wrapped his strong arms safely around his child and to-be bride.

"I think we're okay here, for the time being," Zed assured as he rested his chin atop Tessa's head. She closed her eyes and eased into his warmth.

"I'm sure it was nothing," Tessa finally tried to convince herself, though her heart continued to race.

"If we see him again, I'll make sure I'm without Ace, and I'll confront him myself," Zed stated through a confident nod.

"What... What if it's someone we know?" Tessa inquired, as if to seem hopeful, though Zed furrowed his brow and frowned down to the ground.

"That's... Doubtful," Zed eased as gently as his words could, "Our home, as well as Ekreth, is nearly seventy miles North of the entrance to Dead Zed. If someone had come in, to find us, I doubt they'd know to come all the way out here."

"I guess..." Tessa droned on, though she smiled just barely, as if to somehow push to remain hopeful, "Anything's possible, though."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure if it were anyone we knew, who wanted to get back in touch with us, they'd be flagging me down, yelling my name and such," Zed carried on in an annoyed tone, "Not whooping aggressive calls in our direction and chasing us below the canopy of the jungle."

"I'm sure they would've been even MORE done for if they had a basketball with them," Tessa teased, the two continued to stroll onward, close in step with each other, "Clearly, Lickity has a vendetta for those."

* * *

As the bright, Sunday afternoon came to a gentle close, the clouds painted the sky a delicate array of orange splashes, alongside the stark blue the Dead Zed sky so desperately tried to hold onto. As the six brothers, including Lickity and Tessa, weaved through the thin foliage, they chit chat in an idle mosey towards the five brother's bikes. Tessa heaved a soft yawn and cuddled Ace deeper into her arms. Bundled in a warm, small blanket, he was fast asleep for the evening. Tessa gently rocked him, so to keep him comfortably snoozing. The brothers talked quietly, a respect for Tessa's sanity in hopes of finally getting a good night's sleep, without Ace being fussy. As she gently tidied the small hairs atop Ace's head, all six boys chat about how they would see each other shortly, and what arrangements for dinner would be. Orph stumbled past Tessa and awkwardly bounced in a poor attempt at fixing his shoe.

Tessa beamed a curious smile in Orph's direction, and just as she was about to softly wonder if he was okay, due to feeling his stumbling vibrations, the jungle trees about them began to tremble in a knowing way. Tessa largely steadied her footing, though before she could assess just what was going on, she uttered a hard noise of nervous inquisition, and as Dead Zed's jungles claimed reign over everyone without a code room, it shapeshifted, to their dismay. Tessa's ears were filled with the sound of deep, jungle noises, foreign bugs and birds alike, as opposed to the light and airy sound of a breeze and swings continued to be used, in the distance. She scrunched Ace closer to her chest, though she immediately flinched as Orph suddenly let out an annoyed cry. Tessa side-stepped, and as she did, she was grateful to find she had bumped into Lickity.

"What... What happened?" Tessa urged quietly, her nervous voice shook, "Did the jungle just shapeshift?"

"I have an inkling," Orph started, he wagged his finger and peered about their suddenly darker surroundings. The canopy reached to the heavens, and the dark coverage of the sky was enough to block out the dregs of sunlight altogether. Orph nervously peered to Tessa and Lickity, whom of which he was left with, "I have a feeling if you're standing in a certain spot for way too long, or if you're in a part of the grid for an extended amount of time, the jungle just... Shapeshifts. Just to mess with you."

"Where are we?" Tessa began to panic, though Orph gestured his hand a little and looked about.

"I-I don't know," Orph stammered as he back stepped and squinted through the darkness, "Wait a minute... This is close to my tracks."

"Your tracks?" Tessa worried, she practically smothered Ace in her chest, though she felt relief as Lickity's wing came around the back of her.

"Yeah, my race track, for game day," Orph uttered as he stood on tip-toes, though he scratched the shaved part of his head and wrinkled his nose, "Why... Why did it bring us here?... One of these days, I'm going to crack the code for these random teleportations. I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me."

"H-How did you find your way back?" Tessa felt a pit of fear form in her stomach, "A-Are we far from home?"

"From my race track?" Orph ogled, "Yeah... We're far. Though, Zed knows what to do. They'll just go to the code room and teleport us back. Easy."

"You sure?" Tessa urged, though Lickity set her annoyed sights to Orph, and even though this wasn't his fault, she still glared him down like it potentially was.

"Yeah, no biggie, lookit," Orph's smile could be heard, which put Tessa a little more at ease, though he began to peel from her. She immediately jolted forward to keep up with him. He waved her over and pointed, even though he was aware she couldn't see, "My tracks are right over there. We can just hang out by the road and wait."

"O-Okay, that sounds good," Tessa stammered, though she was relieved Orph had laid off any teasing or rudeness for the time being, during this predicament.

The two slowly began to stroll together, with Lickity on their heels. He scoffed a small noise and gestured behind himself.

"I-I mean, we COULD take Lickity outta here, but by the time we're in the sky and have our bearings, Zed probably would've teleported us back, anyhow," Orph chuckled, and though Tessa smiled, she furrowed her brows and dared to be sassy.

"That is, if she'd let you on her," Tessa mumbled, though with the way Lickity let out a hot chuff of steamy air through her nostrils, Orph scrunched his face in closed eyed-annoyance.

"Right," He uttered, he finally slumped his shoulders as the two approached the tracks. He gestured his hand a little and curiously peered towards Tessa, "Hey, uh... C-Can you give me some light? I have to uh... Go to the bathroom."

"You can't hold it?" Tessa blurted with a small laugh, Lickity wrinkled her nose in annoyance, though the both of them flinched as Tessa held up her palm and showed her beautiful, iridescent silver coding. It lit up the area enough to see properly. Orph wiggled a little and began to step away, in search for a proper place to do his business that was out of Lickity's line of sight.

"No," He stammered, "I-I'll be right back."

Tessa heaved a soft sigh and shivered, though she felt a bout of warmth from behind her head. Lickity leaned in close and encompassed her wings around Tessa and Ace. She nuzzled the back of Tessa's shoulders and flattened her ears.

"I can feel y'shaking," Lickity chuckled in a whisper, "You're in no danger. This sort of thing happens often... We'd better just get used to it."

"I wish we could figure out what causes the jungle to shape shift, like this," Tessa whispered back, "I'd like to avoid it as much as possible."

"He's right. Teleportation is much faster than flying outta here," Lickity stated softly, though she cocked an eyebrow, "No amount of bribery could get that idiot on my back."

"I figured as much," Tessa hissed an annoyed giggle and shook her head, she gently adjusted Ace as he stirred slightly.

"Let the light go out, I wanna see him try'an pee in the dark," Lickity whispered, her hot breath coat Ace's head and the front of Tessa's body. Tessa rolled her blind eyes and, with a stare that fell into a shaky idle, she couldn't help but beam a confident smile.

"I think Zed might want us home in one piece, there, Lickity," Tessa whispered, "Orph would never make it out of this jungle alive. Regeneration or not."

"Good," Lickity hissed with a toothy, mean grin and flattened ears.

"My favorite part was when you started talking to yourself!" Orph called from a far away bush, in which he did his business in, "I didn't know blindness eventually made you crazy!"

"I'm not the one peeing on poison oak!" Lickity easily mocked Tessa's voice, though she ducked her head and flinched as Tessa swat her free hand over Lickity's snout, though in a gentle manner so to avoid waking Ace. Lickity wheezed a hard giggle and squinted, "Few more inches to the left an'we will have to start calling him Orphina."

"I-It's not poison oak," Orph barked as he began to make his way back over to the two, "... I-I mean, if it was, it didn't affect me."

"So this is your track, huh?" Tessa tried to hide the fact that her heart continued to race. She inwardly scolded herself; any other time, any other circumstance, aside from holding her newborn, would she be thrilled to be on this detour of an adventure, though she figured this was one of her first tests in parenting.

"Yeah, I really need to fix it up," Orph gestured, the two moved through knee high foliage before, once and for all, they were graced with asphalt. Orph continued on as Tessa's bare feet finally found the familiar pavings, "It winds all the way South, down that way, and uh... There are a few twist and turns. Once you uh... Get your sight back, it'd be fun to maybe race you. See exactly where you'd fall in the line up. Though seeing if you could beat Zed would be interesting."

As Orph droned on, Tessa felt her heart thud to a slow. She furrowed he brows, and as she mapped the grid of track she was on, she could swear she could smell the immediate, harsh scent of burnt rubber. She squinted and froze, as every single sense suddenly became heightened, and in her minds eye, she could swear her eyesight came back to her. She flinched as hot sunshine beat down on her skin, pink clouds boasted their joyous scent and sight. The whipping noise of her mother's cart flashed before her eyes, the mind-numbing sound of powerful engines roared her core to jelly. She scoffed a nervous breath and snapped out of it, she shook her head and began to feel anxious; a strange sweep of guilt coursed her system.

"Yeah and, down THAT turn, my course goes through this one really watery patch," Orph continued on, though Lickity flattened her ears and kept her sharp eye on Tessa; she knew something wasn't quite right. Orph obliviously carried on, "And, like through a waterfall sort of thing. It's what immediately throws off my opponent. I get excited whenever we go around that bend, cause usually that's the bend where I know I have the race in the bag."

Tessa nodded, as if to somehow, someway show she was still listening, though every word that Orph uttered just got lost amidst the sound of scary, grumbling turbo-charged engines that wanted to so badly encompass her being. She began to feel as if she was hyperventilating, though just as she was about to back step and find the jungle soil, to hopefully ease her mind, a sharp cry from the jungle far behind her reverberated in the back of her skull. A familiar voice called her name, begged for her to sink into the jungle's maze and ease her worries. Tessa whirled around in hard confusion and gripped Ace tighter to her. She panted, and as easily as her mind would allow, she attempted to see the jungle for every single leaf and every single pixel particle that it was.

"...Penny?"

* * *

 **A/N: I drew fanart for the end of this chapter titled 'Labyrinth's Grace' - it's on my deviantART, username Vyntresser :)**

 **Don't forget to check out my , as well! If you'd like sketches (even spoilers) for Rectifying Origin! username Vyntresser**


	7. Chapter 7

**Song Listened To: The Iceberg by Adam Young**

 **Together We Map The World - HTTYD2 soundtrack**

 ***Chapter 7***

Tessa scoffed a noise of annoyed disbelief and, as she peered back to the jungle from which they crawled from, past Lickity, she squinted, as if to somehow be able to see. She shook her head, furrowed her brow and awaited some form of clarity to come to her.

"You... Okay?" Orph gently pressed, he peered in the direction in which she was fixated on.

"I-I... I thought I heard someone calling my name," Tessa uttered darkly, she glared down the jungle, as if to beg for it not to taunt her in this way, though just as she was about to relax, an echoey cry was heard, yet again. She largely pointed and gasped, "Y-You hear that? I-It... It sounded like..."

"I don't hear anything," Orph uttered quietly.

"Tess," Lickity dared, she knew talking in front of Orph wasn't something she wanted to be doing, though she suddenly began to eye Ace, as if Tessa was now wholly consumed in something different than him as a priority.

"Shh, listen," Tessa snapped in a sharp whisper. Orph and Lickity froze, and for the first time in their lives, they peered to each other in confusion and lay on the same page.

Tessa felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, though as she suddenly heard a muffled cry for her name, once again, she widened her eyes, bundled Ace a little bit tighter and began to ease him closer to Lickity's chest. Lickity uttered a noise of question, though she brought Ace into her strong arm and paw with no questions asked. She flattened her ears, glanced down at Ace and dug her stare into Tessa's lost soul.

"Tess!" Lickity darkly snapped, though the second Tessa began to push out of their bubble, Lickity perked her ears and felt adrenaline course her system.

"I'll be right back," Tessa muttered, though as quickly as a mere apparition, she sunk into the foliage of the jungle and took off at a stumbling run.

"Tessa!" Lickity barked, though Tessa pushed on without a single hesitation.

"Penny?" Tessa urgently called, her eyes did everything they could to look around, though in the staggering moments she realized her eyes weren't working, and she was merely hallucinating, she referred back to her feet, which harbored coding that did all the seeing for her.

"Tessa, help!" Penny cried, though with Tessa's heightened hearing, she could swear Penny's voice was on surround sound.

"Penny, I'm coming, where are you!" Tessa urged as tears suddenly streamed her cheeks, "Penny, I'm here!"

"Tessa!" Penny urged in dire need, though just as Tessa thought her sight would never sit straight, she was suddenly graced with a high definition of eye sight. She flinched, stumbled and held her hands out. She largely looked about and blinked a few times.

"I-I can see, I can see!" Tessa cried in disbelief, though just as she peered straight ahead of her, she saw a mere whisk of Penny's figure duck behind a massive tree across the way, and through the criss-cross of jungle trees that hung in her way, she gasped with a hard jolt and immediately took off running in the direction in which she finally saw her long lost cousin, "Penny, wait! I'm over here!"

Penny's voice came in and out of existence, as if she was merely in a dozen places at once, and her voice was simply reverberating off of concrete walls. Tessa panted, and in a frenzy of overloaded senses, she began to stumble over branches in which were hidden, the dark grasp the night had on the jungle made it impossible to see anything but silhouettes of trees and the attempt to make out a figure of Penny fleeing from her very being. Tessa felt as if this was all good and pure until Penny's voice began to eerily, and lazily, sing their infamous Sugar Rush tune, an off-key drone of letters to spell the word 'sugar'.

"She's dead to us, what's the use," Oliver's voice dribbled into her existence, like a long lost voice she was certain she forgotten the sound of.

"I corrected the coding," Tessa stammered, as if she was attempting to yell to someone, anyone, though her vision bobbed in and out of working and hallucinating figures. She stumbled over a few bushes and low lying branches.

"You left your whole kingdom to rot," Vanellope suddenly stated, and with Tessa's clumsy footwork, she whirled around and was suddenly graced with the very image of her mother. She choked a small noise and, no matter how much she tried, any attempt at getting closer to Vanellope was in vain.

"Y-you kicked me out," Tessa uttered shakily, she groped her hand outward, and like a child seeking comfort from their one and only source of ultimate comfort, Vanellope's figure continued to fade. Tessa choked and jolted forward in hopes of finally reaching her mother, she sharply inhaled and began to feel her circuits go mad, "YOU KICKED ME OUT!"

"If only Sweet Streets never got unplugged," Vanellope's voice echoed in and out of the vicinity at the most quietest tones, "None of this would have ever happened..."

With a faint giggle from what Tessa thought was Penny, Tessa felt her heart throb in confusion, and with a heightened frenzy of footwork, and a jungle that suddenly fell eerily silent, she knew, no matter what, she should press on. She grappled at low-hanging vines, and as she whirled around, she came face to face with Penny's figure. She let out a hard, scared holler and fell to her behind.

"How could you?!" Penny shrieked, though just as Tessa covered her face in a rush of overloaded fear, she took a stumbling scoot backwards, along soft soil and mossy leaves, she angrily peered out to the small clearing and was terrified to find that Penny had fled, once again.

"What?" Tessa stammered as she shakily got to her feet, though she felt her hands about in a trembling manner. For the first time in this experience, she began to feel scared, "Penny, a-are you mad at me?"

"Of course I'm mad at you!" Penny barked from behind Tessa, which caused her to whirl around in a sweaty, hot draw of a sharp inhale. She tucked her larger fists to her chest and shakily back-stepped.

"Wh-Why?" Tessa stammered nervously, tears streamed her sweaty cheeks. She shook her head and attempted to assess Penny, though she bobbed in and out of existence; angry red and yellow coding swarmed her, as if it couldn't decide which code to surface first, "I did everything I could to save Sugar Rush! I-I left the Arcade for everyone, I did everything humanely possible!"

"I'm not letting you undo all my hard work," Penny's voice creepily dribbled away from anything Tessa was used to.

With a roll of hard chills that plagued her, she felt her vision tunnel as Penny's glare became cubed, and bouts of angry pixels swarmed her. Penny's head lulled to the side in a lazy fashion, though as her skin dribbled all sorts of beautiful mixtures of red and yellow cubed coding, she lost all pigment in her skin and hair. Vivid streaks of messy black circuit lines suddenly plagued her grey skin, Tessa widened her eyes and felt the entirety of her core turn to jelly. Just as Tessa was about to back step, Penny leapt for Tessa with her hands and arms outstretched. Tessa uttered a hard cry, and just as she was about to swing away, with full wrecking power unleashed, she felt two strong hands grip her upper arms and flood her with coding she craved. Tessa gasped a hard noise, opened her eyes, and was surprised to find her blindness had set in, once again. Tessa trembled, though the second she let the exterior coding register with hers, she uttered a hard cry and nearly fell to her knees in gratefulness.

"Tessa, what in the HELL are you doing, have you gone mad?!" Zed firmly urged in her face, and though Tessa began to crumble, he held her solid in her stance against him. He gently shook her once and felt tears sting his eyes, "Whatsamatter with you?!"

"Penny! I-I...!" Tessa stammered, though as quickly as she wanted to tell Zed everything, the quicker she realized it was all in her mind. She shook her head in whole and total shock at herself, "I-I... I could've SWORN-"

"Don't you EVER scare me like that again, you hear me?" Zed suddenly yelled in her face. She flinched and felt as if she had finally come back down to the planet, though she continued to largely tremble. Zed's hands began to shake against their silver-circuit plagued skin, "You were bugging out so much, I couldn't even get a reading on you, in the code room. We nearly lost you altogether, Tessa, what were you doing?"

"Penny...! Penny was out there," Tessa uttered, though the more she spoke of it, the more ridiculous it sounded, "She... I-I could've sworn she was in trouble."

"Penny isn't here, Tessa, none of them are," Zed urged, his voice trembled as Orph and Lickity largely pushed into the clearing.

"You found her," Orph said through a hard, scared sigh.

"None of them want us back, what makes you think they're going to come all the way out here just to screw with you in a dark jungle, Tess?" Zed pleaded, he continued to keep their raw, comforting coding alive on both of their smushed skin, "I know this is hard for you, but you have to keep your head! You have a child to care for, right now!"

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Tessa begged, though she covered her face and shook her head, "Orph was showing me his race track... I-I don't know what came over me...!"

"Come on," Zed snapped, he quickly grabbed her hand and, with all of the love in the world, his stern demeanor glared into Orph's shaken aura. Lickity flattened her ears, bowed her head, and knew just when Zed meant business, "Hold still."

Orph nodded once, and with a nervous pop of her ears, Lickity glanced down to Ace in her strong arm. He was pushed into her protective scales and fur, and not a single inch of him was disturbed from the chaos. Zed assessed the wellbeing of his child, thanked User that Lickity was around for this mess, and before he could outwardly thank her for keeping Ace safe, all five beings were suddenly zipped to the safety of the code room. Orph flinched, and in a hard, incredulous look about, he scratched the back of his head and beamed.

"I sure did miss THAT being a thing!" Orph laughed, though as they were graced with Finn's questioning presence, Zed heaved a hard, nervous sigh and kept Tessa's hand grappled in his.

"Thank you, Lickity," Zed eased towards her, as softly and as kindly as he could. He outstretched his free arm and insinuated for Lickity to fill the gap. As easily as she could, she moved Ace's sleeping, bundled figure into Zed's protective grip.

"You're welcome," She uttered quietly, though as Zed safely tucked Ace to his chest, he pulled Tessa out of the code room.

A dark, though welcoming hull of a void, the fresh code room hummed in a nervous way, as it's main, silver orb hung in curious wait. The double, automatic doors whirred open as Zed approached, though as him and Tessa stepped into the long hallway, the door easily fastened behind them. Orph coughed a nervous noise, glanced at Lickity and dug his worried, silver stare into Finn's.

"That sucked," Orph uttered in a humbled tone.

"What exactly happened?" Finn worried, he gestured for the orb to power down, once and for all, "I know the jungle shapeshifted and all, but... Did she get lost?"

"She ran off, I don't know," Orph let his eyes glance back to Lickity, and as much as he wanted to continue hating her, he somehow felt a strange sweep of camaraderie in this weird situation, albeit very minor, "She thought she heard a voice calling to her. She gave Ace to Lickity and just... Ran off... Which, I don't know why she handed the baby to the DRAGON of all things."

"She probably just handed Ace to the being nearest her," Finn calmed, though Lickity flattened her ears and, though her gaze was beginning to soften towards Orph, it immediately sharpened once more. Finn quickly moved through a few options on the glowing silver orb in front of him, "First, Zed gets chase down by someone on a lykata and then this? I really don't know what to make of it."

"Well, all it really sounds like is that Zed might've been flying over someone's home, which bugged them, and Tessa went on a full blown hallucination trip," Orph grumbled as he waggled his hand about, though Lickity uttered an annoyed growl and began to saunter towards the exit of the code room, "You don't need to make it into such a huge, life-altering deal."

"That's it," Finn snapped his fingers, "Maybe Zed flew over native territory... Those people are really strict about their land... But, we've checked this map. For a ten mile radius, there isn't a single soul."

"Who knows. We've been gone from this area for almost two years now... And aren't those kinds of tribe people really seclusive about being found?" Orph rushed with a shrug, "It's a wide stretch of jungle, up here. I know we're not the only ones who share it."

* * *

As a safety measure, Zed made sure the only access to the code room was through his and Tessa's bedroom, and via their own, silver coding only. As they silently walked through the long corridor, which lead from the code room to their bedroom, he nearly felt the need to seethe. They shuffled on, though Tessa's near panicked breathing could still be heard. It was in these raw, silent moments of walking with her did his heart immediately begin to soften. He was aware of her massive struggle, and though he was frustrated over Ace not wholly being put first, he knew the two had a lot to work on. As the next pair of double doors neared, he pushed through this set with a little bit more gentleness. As he pulled Tessa into their bedroom, he stepped away from her and left her in the middle of their marvelous bedroom.

With lights dimmed for the evening, their warm, green walls eked all the comfort in the world. The lovely beige and cream swirled tiles glistened under the gentle ceiling lights, though Tessa's scraped up bare feet stood solid on their massive, circle rug in the dead center of their room. She hugged her arms to her chest, and though her arms shook and tears continued to stream her cheeks, the bottoms of her feet glowed a hot silver, and the floor easily sprawled with her's and Zed's coding. It wormed it's way, on the grid of the tiles, and once the gorgeous display of circuits found the soles of Zed's feet, he knowingly braced himself for the small heap of coding that jolted up his legs a little; he knew it was her way of telling just exactly where he was, in the room, and though her hearing was wonderful, he was certain that she needed the overload of assurance.

"Tessa," Zed started, his voice was strained and dripped with concerned annoyance. He shook his head slightly and, as he laid down one of Ace's fuzzy grey baby blankets on their bed, he tenderly laid Ace on it, and in hopes of trying to keep him dozing, he began to carefully undress him, "Tess, I understand that you're hurting..."

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and kept her hot coding underneath Zed's feet, to read his every emotion, to see his facial expressions with the lack of eyesight. She honed onto him like a hawk; Zed was aware she was so concerned over his outward emotion, for this situation, purely because she began to feel guilty with realization.

"But... What would you have done if you were out there, by yourself, and you were the only one holding Ace?" Zed uttered, and though he knew he likely had no room to talk, because of the high speed chase he endured with Ace strapped to him, he knew this situation still held a decent amount of difference. Before the cooler air could encompass Ace's little body, Zed quickly dressed him in a dark blue onesie he could sleep in, "Would you have just rushed off, unknowingly, into the forest, shouting and screaming for... Someone who isn't even there?"

"No," Tessa snapped, he knew now that he had gauged her reaction properly, that now would be the best time to begin to tread lightly. Before Zed could rush to continue to speak his peace, Ace uttered a grunt of a small whine and scrunched his face. Tessa slumped her shoulders and tried her hardest to hide the snide smile she wanted to send in Zed's direction, "Almost got away with it..."

"I knew my luck would run out," Zed muttered, he bundled Ace in the blanket, lugged him upright to his shoulder and began to move towards Tessa, though the silver glowing circuits underneath his feet began to bob about and, like heat-seeking missiles, they eagerly awaited every single footstep he took. He heaved a hard chuckle and nervously wagged his foot around while he balanced on the other, "Tess, you're freaking me out, here."

"I-I'm sorry," Tessa shook her head and dropped her magic act; the circuits undertow quickly flickered away, "I... I just want to see you. I miss you. I haven't seen you in two weeks..."

Zed frowned, slowed his walk across the stretch of room and assessed Tessa. With her arms still nervously hugged to her figure, she looked skinnier that usual. Her eyes held in an idle shake, the gloss of white held and saw no depth of anything. As if in a permanent squint, he felt his heart slowly sag as he came to the hard realization that she had not once, ever, seen just what their child looked like. Through a slow draw of sorrow, he glanced his sight to Ace; an adorable, chubby, healthy baby with a sprout of soft blue hair and the most curious, hazel eyes this world has ever known. His heart jumped at the sight, and though Ace continued to complain in his own way, he drew his slow attention back to Tessa.

"I know, babe," Zed heaved as he finally moved over to her. As if anticipating it, she unfolded her arms to receive her baby, though as Zed slipped Ace into Tessa's arms, he quickly wrapped his arms tight around her shoulders and brought her into a large hug, "I'm sorry... I'm trying to understand."

"I-I could've sworn... I would bet a very large amount of money, right now, that Penny and my mom are out in those jungles, right this second," Tessa uttered through tears that escaped her figure. She inhaled sharply, though with the bundling warmth between his parents, Ace's complaints grew to soft mumbles of drowsy delight, and his eyes began to grow heavy once more. He sucked his thumb for good measure.

"I think the blindness is messing with you," Zed uttered over the top of her head, "If one is in the dark, you at least know a small amount of light will aid in escaping... But if you're blind, I'm sure the darkness is something that knows it's most powerful felt."

"I don't know what came over me," Tessa whimpered as she rested the side of her head against Zed's chest, "I-I just... I just have to set things straight. I need to go back to Sugar Rush."

"We can't go back," Zed croaked dryly, though only for the fact that they were locked out via forcefields, "Believe me... If I could storm the castle right now, I would."

"All of us would," Finn's voice stated quietly as him, Orph and Lickity hesitantly made their way from the code room corridor to Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, "I don't care if it was during game day... You know every single one of us would drop what we were doing to set things straight."

"I don't want Ace to grow up in a world where he doesn't know where his wrecking origins came from," Tessa softly complained, though Zed and Finn nervously caught eyes as she continued on through the muffle of the side of Zed's throat, "I know my dad would eat this up... He was absolutely smitten, when Oliver was born..."

"Let's not worry... W-We can't dwell on what could be, or what was," Zed finally stated after a few moments, though their soft silence was suddenly broken by the reverberating sound of a looming thunderstorm approaching; his three brothers, far on the other side of the house, could be heard whooping and getting excited over said storm. Zed, Finn and Orph quickly caught stares, though Zed squeezed Tessa tighter to him, "... You guys go, have fun."

"Zed, come on," Orph suddenly complained, though he tried his hardest not to be totally selfish in this moment, "W-We always go for rides in storms, we haven't had you join us for... For..."

"Years," Finn muttered, though he raised his eyebrows in dewy surprise as Zed shot him a look as if to wonder whose team he was on.

"I'm sorry, guys... This storm hunt is going to have to wait," Zed quietly urged, "I'm staying back to care for Tessa. We live in the middle of a jungle. Thunderstorms aren't uncommon."

"C'mon, he's right," Finn finally eased as he lugged his hand to Orph's shoulder and began to pull him out of the room.

"Yeah, you just HAVE to say that cause you're his whipping boy," Orph muttered, though him and Finn suddenly flinched in a hard stumble as Lickity let out a deep, threatening snarl; Finn was surprised to feel a sense of protectiveness coming from Lickity, for his own sake. Orph largely clenched his fists, hunched over and pretended to look big and scary, "Oh GRRR, GRRR Lickity, he's not the only one who can be a 'whipping boy', I still have my old whips!"

"Guys, can it," Tessa suddenly dared as Ace began to fuss, though Lickity flattened her ears harder and dug her unforgiving stare into Orph's eyes. She knew Orph was just blowing smoke, though she was certain her feathers were about to melt off from all the anger.

"You guys go, have fun," Zed chuckled as he began to shoo everyone out of their bedroom, "I'll take a raincheck..."

"Quite literally," Orph muttered, though in a second or two of ogling glance he had at Tessa, he felt guilt pang his heart. He knew he shouldn't be acting so coldly towards her in this hard time, though he dared to wonder just exactly how much turmoil she had been put through.


	8. Chapter 8

**Songs Listened To : Misery by Maroon5**

 **A Wondrous Place (Score) Tarzan Soundtrack**

 ***Chapter 8***

After a few days, the restless Dead Zed sky gave the new, full family's cliff top what for. With fresh jungle leaves that gave off the richest, freshest scents, the rain never let up and made certain the atmosphere remained humid. As the sun made it's way into the sky, although heavily fogged by the constant rain clouds, Orph and Jax slowly crawled down their open-ended spiral staircase, from the room they shared, and together, in pure nervousness, they peered out into the dim kitchen and livingroom their hallway was attached to. To their right was a small archway that led to Ace's nursey; it also doubled as a second entrance to Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, though it was strictly used for Ace and quick, convenient access to the kitchen. Orph's eyes scanned the soft, grey-clad walls of their still surroundings. He found Tej on the couch, far across the gap. He thumbed through his small digital pad, and though he was dressed for the game day, it was clear he was enjoying the morning alone. He munched on a few pieces of bacon that everyone in the house could likely smell.

"Is she out there?" Duke suddenly hissed, which caused Jax and Orph to jump clear out of their skin; Duke flinched and held up his hands in defense.

"Man, I KNOW you're not sneaking up on us while she's loose in the house," Orph snapped in a hard whisper, though Jax snorted a chuckle and covered his mouth. Orph awkwardly began to put on his dark grey hoodie; it was clad with his proper racing number, name and logos of all sorts.

"I don't think she's out and about, yet," Jax whispered as he dared to step farther out of the archway, "You think the coast is clear?"

"Yeah, I think we're good," Orph whispered as him and his two brothers began to step out into the kitchen. Once they were there, they gently relaxed, though Orph carried on in a strict whisper, "We should just... Get whatever food and head out to the tracks."

"Three hours before quarter alerts, Orph?" Duke glowered, he brought his voice to normality, which cued Tej's attention from across the way.

"She's awake, guys," Tej stated softly, "Just... To warn you."

"Where?" Orph heaved through a scared breath as the three froze.

"I think she and Lickity were in the garage," Tej whispered, though just as the three boys were about to pry more information from Tej, there was a fuzzy static of information that suddenly joined the room.

Near the entrance to the sky room, appropriately placed so it was out of the way, was a teleport pad which only led from said point to Finn's room, which was a dozen or so yards behind the back of the main house. Orph, Duke and Jax easily scrambled to get away from what they thought was the very Queen they were trying to avoid, though the second Finn caught his nonchalant gaze with his three terrified brothers, in the kitchen, he slumped his shoulders in hard dismay and rolled his eyes.

"Guys, she's not going to eat you," Finn garbled in an annoyed tone, though he flinched once Duke, Jax and Orph loudly shushed him.

"But she can still HEAR you!" Jax whispered sharply.

"What's the big deal?" Finn argued, though Orph ogled in an exaggerated way.

"You can't take one single step in this house without those... Those...!" Orph waggled his wrists and hands.

"Silver snakes," Jax shuddered, though Tej heaved a soft laugh, from across the way. Before Jax could get any more words out, he was suddenly swarmed with hot silver coding underneath his feet. He barked a hard, startled noise, and as quickly as he could, he scrambled up into the counter of the kitchen island. Every lightbulb in the house suddenly dimmed, flickered and returned to normality. Everyone immediately drew their scared attention to the entrance of the Sky Room and froze as their frazzled queen bee put a tense, cold front in the room.

"It's my way of seeing," Tessa darkly snapped, her fogged eyes stabbed straight into Jax's terrified gaze, "Excuse me for being useless."

"I-I-I...I didn't..." Jax largely stammered his words, waved his hand around and desperately looked to Orph and Duke for help, "N-No I meant they're... Pretty! A-And what really looks cool is when-"

"Right, let me write this all down so I can pretend to read it all later and bore myself to the tears I can't feel," Tessa's slick words were laced with the meanest of tones. She rolled her eyes, waved her hand about and let her silver coding follow along the tiles, so to help her see. She finally drew her attention to Finn, though much to everyone's surprise, his spine stiffened and, with his eyebrows raised in dewy, scared surprise, she pointed to him in mild aggression, "You left the telescope on last night, Finn."

"O-oh, I... I'm sorry Tess," Finn stammered, each boy remained frozen, "It won't happen again. I-I must've... Accidentally fallen asleep while it was-"

"Powered on and using a decent percentage of the game's RAM," Tessa snapped as she began to march towards the front door.

"Right," Finn huffed in nervousness as each boy held their scared attention to their strict new figure-head, "Y-You... Where are you going?"

"I'm going on a flight around Ekreth," Tessa heaved through a tone that could potentially show signs of easing up, though it quickly dripped back to pure sourness, "Zed's idea. You can thank him for the lack of silver snakes."

Finn raised his hand, and before he could get any proper words out, he stammered on a few noises. Tessa mocked him in a goofy way, flapped her hand a little and, as she left the house, she muttered something under her breath and slammed the door. Finn eased a hard breath through his already opened mouth and waved towards the door in growing agitation he only mildly showed.

"Wow, you guys got the easy end of that deal," Zed suddenly uttered as he slunk out of Ace's nursery, right off the kitchen. Ace was finally to a size where he could be carried with one arm and rested on the side of his carrier's hip. All five heads drew their outraged attention to him, and before Zed could take any more steps out into the kitchen, he froze, tucked Ace's body further up the side of his body and furrowed his eyebrows in hard confusion, "What, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong!" Orph cried, him and Jax began to laugh, though Jax held his scared, curled position on the counter. Orph wildly gestured to him, "Tessa scared Jax onto a counter top for crying out loud!"

"This is the third time I've become very uncomfortably familiar with this counter top," Jax muttered as he nervously began to climb off of it.

"Like stated, you guys got the easy end of that drama," Zed muttered, though Finn waved his small digital pad around, and just as he was about to gain hope, in said situation, and ease everyone's worries, Orph loudly let his voice carry.

"She just about scared the pixels outta me, the other day," Orph bellowed, all five of his brothers laid their curious eyes on his outburst, "There I was, minding my own business... Turn around and she's just standing there, like a ghost! Swear to User she was readin' my mind, or something."

"She can't mind read," Zed corrected through an annoyed chuckle; he tried to carry on, defending Tessa, though he was interrupted.

"She bugs the walls out, if she can't hear you... Silver circuits, just snaking into the room, wherever you are," Jax worried, he gestured his hand a little before he slid his careful palm to the wall he was near, "It's so she can find you."

"Sh-she's just anxious, y'guys, she can't see anything. She has to rely on her other senses... How would you feel if-"

"User forbid you get within a twenty foot radius of Ace's room, she'll just about steal your soul with that white stare of hers," Duke's lower voice interrupted Zed as he crossed his arms, "I was just heading to the kitchen, it's not my fault his bedroom is down the hallway I have to pass!"

"I had a nightmare about her, last night," Orph started as he pointed to Duke, as if everyone was now excited to share stories about their quivering, fragile, new Queen bee, "She was-"

"Enough!" Zed barked as he clenched his free fist, the fresh, wrecking force came to the forefront of his mind; a trait he was glad Tessa now shared with him, "Put yourself in her shoes! Not only is she a new mom, she's lost any form of family she ever had... If there's anyone who understands that feeling, it's me!"

All five of Zed's younger brothers froze and held their nervous gazes to the head of the game; their humble castle sat in hot silence.

"A new baby, a lost family, a kingdom torn from your grip, and temporary blindness? All of that in the span of three weeks, I'd be nearly over the edge too!" Zed urged, a vein in his forehead began to bulge; he knew he had his fair share of tribulations, through this mess, though his heart felt sore for the mother of his child, "She's a wreck right now. In a world where her family turned their backs on her, we need to band together and be there for her. No matter how 'scary' she may seem, for right now."

"She'll go back to her old self," Finn softly concluded; his attentive, stoic gaze, on the escalating situation, was his usual stance. A watchful eye to make sure no one got too heated, "But for now, Zed's right. She's on the path to corrupting her own brain code. If we don't act now, Sugar Rush's future Queen will become Sugar Rush's future virus."

"We're her family, now," Zed urged as he looked each of his brothers in the eye, though his stern stare held a delightful hint of a smirk, "I know you idiots always wanted a sister."

"I want one I can banter with and... and...!" Orph gestured his hands outward, and just as he realized he was opening himself to maybe being seen as vulnerable, he furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, "I don't know. Put glue in her shampoo or something."

"I don't even need to tell you how that one would end," Jax muttered, though Orph shot him an annoyed glower.

"She's corrupting her own brain code?" Tej quietly asked as he finally strolled up, though with nervous emerald eyes, he held tight with Finn's knowing stare. Finn heaved a raspy sigh, powered on the digital pad in his hand and began scanning through it.

"Yes," Finn worried, though he fell quiet as everyone's eyes fell to Zed's. Ace babbled in high pitch tones, his little legs kicked every now and then.

"How is that even possible?" Tej worried as him and Zed finally began to melt into his group of tight-knit brothers. Everyone gathered around the kitchen island as Zed stood at the head and sat Ace on the counter before him. Ace idly pat his hands to the cold counter, and before too long, he began to scoot about in slow stretches of crawling attempts.

"This is what I've discovered," Finn stated, he gently laid the pad on the counter before him, and as all six boys hovered about the pad, Finn tabbed at a few options and pulled up a 3D hologram of a complicated, mesmerizing display of Tessa's brain coding. Everyone's eyes lit up as they leaned in closer to the hypnotizing draw of beautiful silver coding. Finn crossed his arms, though he lazily gestured his hand a little, "Tessa's brain code is unlike anything we've ever seen... Not only is she a faux-code, which is the complete mixture of Ralph and Vanellope's coding, and now Zed's... But she is also... The obvious."

"A woman," Orph muttered, though everyone grinned and eased knowing chuckles of understanding.

"A vast amount of knowledge, lightning-speed multitasking at it's finest, her brain fires on more cylinders than we could ever dream of," Finn's quiet voice was stoic and kind, he hooked his complimentary gaze into Zed's, "You picked well. She's extremely smart..."

"It was out of my hands... But I am forever grateful for her," Zed mumbled, though he peered down to Ace's dewy eyes with a humbled smile. Ace uttered a soft, urgent call of a noise and gestured his arms up to Zed's figure, to quietly ask to be picked up again. Zed easily bowed to Ace's needs and scooped him up into his loving arms.

"This aggression is not the Tessa we know and love," Finn encouraged, his voice was laced with delicate sadness as he scanned through Tessa's coding. He probed to an area that read 'visual input/output, "This blindness of hers is not only causing her great grief, it's causing, as we know, migraines, incredibly mean, short temper... As well as hallucinations."

"You're saying she's... Going insane?" Tej quietly worried, everyone drew their scared attention straight to Finn's dark blue stare.

"She can't be going turbo... Can she?" Duke's deep voice croaked, everyone froze in a few prolonged seconds of silence.

"I hate to say it, but... Yes," Finn said through a long breath of a sigh, he finally caught eyes with Zed and nodded once, as if the two had already discussed this topic. Zed hugged Ace a little tighter and let his eyes nervously gloss Tessa's brain coding.

"How is that even possible?" Orph argued, "She was born a good being, a simple faux-code..."

"Viruses aren't born," Finn stated as he laid his fingertips to the counter, he peered at Orph across the haze of Tessa's brain coding displayed in the center of everyone, "They're made..."

"This isn't what she wants," Jax urged as he crossed his arms, he finally began to show agitation, "So, let's give her a hard reset... Re-write her new eye coding. Something! We can't just sit back and watch her coding eat itself alive."

"Well," Finn started, though before anyone could see the curl of his lips into a confident smile, Orph loudly interrupted.

"Nor can we just sit back and continue to take this abuse," Orph argued.

"I want to be able to hold my nephew without feeling like Tessa's going to jump on me," Duke complained, "Not even Lickity shows that much concern about it. And you KNOW how protective Lickity is of Ace."

"I can re-write her new eye coding," Zed started, though his voice was nervous, "... It'd take me a very... VERY long time."

"You'd be at it for weeks," Orph mumbled.

"Months," Duke added, though Finn waved his hand a little.

"It won't take you as long as you think," Finn stated confidently, though everyone glued their curious gazes to him.

"To re-write such incredibly detailed coding, Finn?" Zed argued quietly, "We discussed this last night... I-I mean, I'll take that route if I absolutely must, but you even agreed... By the time I have the coding finished, Tessa's sanity would be long gone."

"Listen to me," Finn urged deeply, he placed his hand over his chest and, as he tilted his head down, his eyes remained locked to the oldest boy of the bunch, "I was up all night because I couldn't just let this go..."

"Is that why you left the telescope on?" Jax dully wondered, though everyone eased hard chuckles, "You looked to the stars for help?"

"That was just me being careless, I fell asleep on my work," Finn defended with an annoyed smile, "You'll be thrilled to find that I have found the answer to Tessa's blindness."

"You have?" Zed wondered soft, enthusiastic tone, though Finn cocked an eyebrow at his oldest brother, crossed his arms and let a cocky smile grace his cheeks.

"Zed..." Finn started, and with a simple glance and a nod towards Tessa's brain coding, he cocked an eyebrow and gave Zed his knowing smile, "When is the last time you swapped codes with Tessa?"

The whole room fell silent in a growing bubble of heat and painful wondering of which boy was going to crack the first joke. Before too long, everyone easily burst out into hard laughter. Zed beamed an annoyed smile, Ace loudly wailed in excitement along with everyone's laughter. As everyone finally settled, Zed scoffed a hard noise, shook his head and peered down to Ace in thought.

"The last time was a day before this little dude was born," Zed stated honestly, though he heaved a hard sigh at the impossible task at hand.

"Bro, good luck getting all THAT temper to agree to swapping with you," Orph howled with laughter, everyone easily joined.

"Ew, get that thing away from me," Jax mocked in a high-pitched voice, "I'm glad I can't see!"

"Put your pants on, I'm not cleaning up this mess!" Orph wiped his eye free of tears.

"You want to put WHAT, WHERE?" Jax ogled, everyone continued to attempt to stifle laughter.

"You'd have an easier time asking Lickity to cut her own wings off," Duke muttered across the counter, though Zed's dull stare slid to Finn's in a growing plea of concern.

"You know I'd never survive the event," Zed stated in a dull tone, though his red cheeks proved otherwise.

"You're going to have to try," Finn argued with an eager smile, though with his gentleness, he swiped at the brain coding, "Zed, I think we all looked beyond it because... It just seemed too easy of an option. You share your coding with another being. A fragile being. A faux-code... You defied all logic, all coding, and as a result, you're left with something you have to maintain."

"Should we be taking notes?" Orph sarcastically stabbed, though Finn hooked his dominant gaze straight into Orph's insecure soul.

"If you want to properly care for a woman one day, Orph, then yes, I suggest you shut up and find a pen," Finn snapped; the room fell silent. Orph furrowed his disgruntled brow into a glare and, through a tight-lipped glower, he finally fell silent. Finn squinted his eyes a little and held his attention to Orph, for good measure, "This isn't a joke. Yeah, Tessa's temper is funny and scary for the time being, but... Our second head of the game, Zed's pick in life... The mother to our nephew, is in dire need of our help."

Orph finally slid his gaze to the counter and held in suspended, humbled silence. Zed cocked an eyebrow, glanced at Finn and into Tej's eyes. Tej raised his eyebrows, as if to convey to Zed that he wasn't aware Finn was an unlikely force to be reckoned with. Zed gave Tej a small, knowing smile and drew his attention back to Finn in a string of gratefulness; Zed knew Orph didn't mean harm, and hoped one day he'd understand.

"Zed's help," Duke stated quietly, though it was ultimately his way of breaking the tension in the room. Everyone eased soft, knowing laughter in Zed's direction, which caused a wide grin to grace his red cheeks.

"THAT is her hard reset," Finn confidently stated as he pointed to the clear corruption in Tessa's sight coding, on display, "THAT is her way to coming out of this funk."

"I-I've just avoided that aspect of our relationship because, well... She's been going through so much," Zed waved his hand a little, "And Ace doesn't have a snooze button."

"She needs that TLC," Finn continued, "No matter what chapter you two are in, together, this bizarre form of coding, you two have created together, isn't something to let sit dormant. You've got to stir the pot. Keep everything updated."

"It's like you've given yourself a new operating system that constantly needs resetting," Jax teased, though Finn gestured to him.

"That's exactly what it is," Finn chuckled, "That's no joke. You put stress on a computer, what does it need after a long day of working?"

"Long WEEKS of working," Tej added.

"That's her reset, dude," Duke chuckled, as did Jax, "It's probably any girl's reset, let's be honest."

"You taking notes, Orph?" Finn stabbed, though Orph broadened his glare and finally felt confidence come back to his skin.

"I laid off the jokes, dumbass," Orph barked, "You're not one to talk. Zed's the only one of us idiots who doesn't have his original, blue coding."

"Find Sugar Rush and it'll open up doors to you guys, I promise," Zed rubbed his face with dregs of sleepiness.

"Does she have more cousins, or something?" Duke chuckled.

"Yeah, she has another cousin, Tammy," Zed shrugged, "She also had Academy friends. I'm sure if you guys are nice and prove to Tessa you're worthy, she'll speak nicely of you to said 'other girls'."

"Point and case," Finn gestured to Zed gently, "Just... Try it. It's bound to do the trick."

"And... If it doesn't work?" Zed worried, though Jax uttered a hard laugh.

"Then you got some!" Jax cried in an annoyed tone, "You can go about your day feeling good about yourself, man, what down-side is there?"

"In all seriousness," Duke started, he side-eyed Zed and gave him a cheeky smile, "Just HOW in Arcade are you EVER going to wrangle in all that anger and get it to agree to settle for the time it takes you to find it's happy place?"

"I have... NO idea," Zed heaved a hard sigh, everyone but Orph eased up and laughed.

"Here's the plan, since this is a time-sensitive issue," Finn gently powered down the digital pad on the counter, "Why don't we watch Ace for the night... You do whatever it takes to, well... Get the job done."

"As politely as you can," Tej quietly reminded.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Zed muttered as he adjusted Ace in his arms once more, "I'll write my will, while you guys are tending to the quarter alerts, then..."

"It was nice knowing you," Duke muttered through a teasing smile.

"Oh! When you die, can I get the code room?" Jax's eyes lit up.

* * *

 **A/N: I drew fanart for this piece, titled 'The Walk' - check out my deviantART, username Vyntresser :)**

 **Also, I just uploaded a new painting to my deviantART of all of Zed's brothers and etc., for those of you who still ask me what these boys look like ... xD It's the first picture on my deviantART account, username Vyntresser :D ( Titled 'But First...')**


	9. Chapter 9

**Song Listened To : Together We Map The World - HTTYD2 Soundtrack**

 ***Chapter 9***

Crowded around the massive, comfortable couch in the main living room, just off the kitchen, all six brothers sat lounged about in all sorts of different spots. Sat between Duke and Orph, who were lazily sprawled about, Zed's lazy posture properly held Ace in a cradled position. He calmly fed him a bottle, and while everyone's attention was honed to the excitement of the tv, Zed's eyes were warmly glossed over every single feature of Ace's brand new chubby, adorable face. Zed lovingly smiled and tilted his bottle up a little farther so to avoid Ace swallowing air bubbles. His world was calm, though every now and again someone would yell an incredulous or annoyed remark at the television. An epic battle of a 'real-life' Pac-man game was on display, between contestants that battled for a top prize.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Orph shouted with a hard gesture, everyone loudly groaned in unison.

"He literally saw Blinky from a billion miles away," Jax argued, everyone laughed; Zed raised his eyebrows and finally honed his attention to what was happening.

"He just lost his first-place title," Duke mumbled as he rubbed his face in growing agitation, though he softly removed himself to the couch and moseyed over to the kitchen.

"Yeah yeah, we get it, everyone's a schmuck," Orph waggled his hand about in reference to the program showing their favorite contestant getting eliminated, "Why did he suddenly start playing dumb towards the end, like that?!"

"He probably realized running around in the dark, chasing dots, isn't really for everyone," Tej suggested calmly, though he sneakily smiled to Jax and Orph; they easily laughed.

"I've been in those hallways," Zed finally spoke up, "That game isn't as easy as it looks."

"It's essentially Tapper's," Orph strained through a hard laugh, which cued Tej's and Jax's hard laughter as well, "Except you wish there was alcohol."

"Queen Bee alert," Finn eased softly under his voice from across the couch; he was lazily slumped in a recliner with his nose buried in a book; everyone nervously stiffened and began to obviously look about, which cued Finn to slump his book to his chest and gaze up at the ceiling in dire annoyance, "I stated said quiet 'Queen Bee' alert to avoid you guys looking about like a bunch of newborn meerkats."

"Hey Tess," Zed softly called, he adjusted Ace a little as he looked over his shoulder; Tessa strolled into the kitchen with Lickity, though as soon as she made her presence closer to Duke, he politely dropped what he was doing and looked for any excuse to get out of the vicinity, "Wanna sit with us? We're watching the Pac-Man tournament."

"Great, let's all sit around a noisy box I can't see," Tessa snapped, though Lickity flattened her ears and gave Zed an apologetic smirk.

"Good job, dumbass, suggest watching tv with a blind girl," Orph said through the clench of his teeth.

"Just to be in our company, babe," Zed eased patiently as he continued to feed Ace.

"Whose winning?" Tessa finally showed signs of slight normality.

She strolled up behind the back of the couch, put her hands on her hips and let her blind eyes lazily gloss in the direction of their large television. Zed cocked an eyebrow and politely sized her up. He swallowed a nervous gulp and assessed her body, she wore a comfortable black tank top and a pair of cotton grey shorts with a proper Dead Zed logo along the thigh. He slumped back into the couch and finally tore his eyes away from her, though he dragged his eyes to Ace's little figure and was surprised to see his eyes were open and attempting to seek any sort of visual information he could get his coding on. He eased a silent chuckle, shook his head, and silently berated himself; he knew one of the reasons why he was cuddling said newborn was because his mother was too darn hard to resist.

"Well, it WAS Lightning-Jo," Jax complained loudly, he waved his hand as if to be displeased, "Now, that one... Sonic resident chick has the first place title."

"I'm surprised Lightning-Jo is still in this running," Tessa snapped, though Zed nervously dart his eye contact straight to Orph's. He was surprised to catch Orph's sharp stare, and the two glared each other down in growing heat as Tessa continued, "That guy should be called anything but."

"I think he's really quick, he just sometimes makes rash decisions," Finn rationalized, for the sake of Orph's temper, and the reasoning behind Orph's favorite player.

"Rash?" Tessa scoffed with a snotty smile, "A nice way of saying 'stupid'?"

"Zed, uh, isn't there something you needed to show Tessa?" Orph urged in hard annoyance, Zed flinched and furrowed his brow in an agitated, embarrassed way.

"Oh for User's sake don't do it in here, please," Jax mumbled; Tej and Finn easily broke out into hard laughter.

"Lightning-Jo definitely had a good, long run," Duke started softly, in hopes of getting on Tessa's good side, "But maybe his time has come."

"Came and went," Tessa crossed her arms and lightly shook her head, "Like his dignity. Y'ever see that guy in an interview? He constantly cuts people at the knees. Says a lot coming from a guy who is right in Q*bert's height range..."

"Alright, you give me THIS," Orph started in a cheeky, falsely happy voice. He delicately began to gesture his hands towards Ace, to suggest he was going to take over feeding him now, "And uh, wasn't there something you needed to show Tess, in the code room? Like uh, maybe, NOW?"

"It may or may not involve pants," Jax muttered under his breath, to which Tej caught; both boys stifled laughter.

"I-I... I uh-!" Zed's nervous eyes dart about as he was cut off.

"Look, I'm feelin' some type of way," Orph growled as Zed gently laid Ace in Orph's arms, with much of Orph's help. He continued to feed Ace his bottle, though his dominant, silver stare stabbed into Zed's, "I don't care if you come back with seven more of these babies, just... Do whatever you have to do, I don't care."

"Hey, cupcake, get your panties out of a knot, all that cryin' you're doing will make your mascara run, girl," Tessa barked in a snotty tone down to Orph, though she seductively slunk away, whether trying or not.

Duke, Tej, Jax and Finn all fell into sharp silence with eyebrows raised high. The tv droned on calmly, as the tournament hit a lull in conversing, though everyone dragged their heated stares straight to Zed's soul. Orph practically seethed, though he was tender in his actions towards his delightfully squirmy, feeding nephew. Zed choked a hard chuckle and scrunched his shoulders, though once his eyes glossed with every irritated brother in the room, his smile turned sheepish.

"Zedian Thaddeus," Orph started in a deep tone as he closed his eyes and reeled in a breath to so desperately try to calm himself, "If you dont-"

"I'm going, I'm going," Zed urged as he finally stood, though he nervously pointed down to Ace and stammered on, "Y-You sure you-"

"Bottle-feeding a baby isn't rocket science, Zed, just GO," Orph argued.

"I-If he gets fussy, let Lickity rock him to sleep," Zed continued to stammer on as he nearly stumbled over the coffee table. He waved his hand a little as he finally began to step away, "A-And if he-"

"GO!" Every brother suddenly urged all at once.

Zed flinched and wobbled backwards, though he stopped in his tracks and nervously watched Tessa round the corner from the kitchen in towards the Sky Room. Zed puffed his chest, inhaled a deep breath and with a nervous nod, he began to march after her. He could hear his brothers continue to stumble upon quiet conversations, likely trying to ease Orph's worries. Zed heaved a shaky sigh, rubbed the back of his head, and caught eyes with Lickity. She softly sat on her hindquarters, honed her ears to him and cocked an eyebrow muscle.

"Good luck," Lickity chuckled quietly, though Zed slumped his shoulders in hard annoyance. Before he could get too swept away in worry, he put his hands on his hips and beamed.

"Hey, this'll be a piece of cake," Zed eased smoothly, though Lickity could tell he was bluffing, "I can be a snake charmer."

"You're up against Queen Cobra, dude," Lickity uttered, she stifled a laugh through her fangs and flattened her ears.

"Y'coming, Lickity?" Tessa called from down the hall, which caused Lickity to flinch and shoot her nervous eye contact to Zed's.

"Y-Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," Lickity fibbed, though she lightly gestured the hand, of her wing, and tilted her head on towards the archway of the Sky Room, "Go... I'll make sure Ace gets to sleep. You do whatever you need... Just... Please remember I have super-sonic hearing."

"If I'm going to do whatever it takes, then all bets are off, girl," Zed stated in a knowing tone as he began to back-step in the direction Tessa escaped to.

"Oy," Lickity grumbled, she rolled her eyes, scruffed her large paw over her face in an agitated swipe and finally peered her irritated eyes into Zed's, "Fine... Might I suggest the code room? Lots of privacy to, uh..."

"Hear my name over and over?" Zed blurted confidently, though Lickity wrinkled her snout in annoyance.

"Gah, just get out of here, User almighty," Lickity garbled as she shook her head and gestured both her wings towards him, to get him to leave the room faster.

"If I'm not out and about come tomorrow morning," Zed called quietly, "Hope you're okay adopting Ace!"

"I already got a bundle of four paws to prepare for!" Lickity teased as Zed chuckled and finally slipped away.

As Zed's gentle bare feet mapped the glorious sprawl of tiles, in which Tessa had slyly snuck down moments prior, he began to feel more and more vulnerable. He swallowed a choke of a breath, tried his hardest to find his spine and came around the bend of the Sky Room. With the hard patter of the jungle's rainstorm encompassing the dome of glass all about him, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. With the reverberating pang of thunder on the black horizon, he felt heightened; he knew his system was alright to go without swapping, for this stretch of time, though with Tessa's downward spiral of issues, he knew he had to do everything he could possibly accomplish to get her to agree to swap with him. He bit his lip in nervousness as he came down the small alcove of a hallway, which directly led to their romantic bedroom.

As he pushed into the half opened, large, round door, he scanned the area for Tessa. With tiles that resembled the glossiest of birch wood, the warm, dim overhead ceiling lights glistened on the floor and eased their green room with the utmost of comfort. With their bed messily unmade, from which they previously slept, he squinted out of curiosity and pressed farther into the room, as Tessa's figure was nowhere to be found. His heart jolted as a sudden noise came from their bathroom, across the gap of room to his left. He finally caught a glimpse of her arm; she was clearly doing something with her hair, she stood underneath the gentle bathroom lights and tried so hard to give the illusion that she could still somehow see herself in the mirror's reflection.

Zed cocked an eyebrow and tenderly began to push across the room. He held his breath, and as slowly and silently as he could, he approached the bathroom. He clutched his chest lightly and felt his heart jump in a heightened frenzy of terrified delight. Underneath the glow of the warm lights, Tessa's curvy body stood on girly tip toes as her sensitive fingers scanned about a shelf of their bathroom. Zed let an easy smirk sprawl his face, he shook his head and wondered how he could've gotten so incredibly lucky. With a long, ogling once-over of his to-be bride, his mind prepared him to begin a typical ritual he knew well, though he raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and was very quickly reminded just how incredibly difficult this time around would be. With every single step to his routine mating dance planned accordingly, he suddenly realized he'd have to throw everything he ever knew to the wind, and rush in just as blindly as he assumed she would. He bit his bottom lip and ran a raw, unrehearsed, slapped-together script through his brain, and before he could properly gain confidence, he took a deep breath and wondered just how far down the deep end truly went.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Alright guys, check the rating! Got some info to throw your way.**

 **1\. This is probably the FASTEST I've ever ever EVER changed the rating of any of my stories xD For those of you that follow me on Instagram (username - Vyntastic), my 'Rectify and Chill' post, of my conversation with me and Michaela... Y'thought I was joking didn't you! LOL. This story is taking a quick turn from being rated 'T' straight to 'M', starting with THIS chapter ;)**

 **2\. For those of you concerned, or even excited or whatever, this isn't going to be the only sex scene. This will LIKELY be maybe one of... Three? or four? This does not include 'make-out' or 'hot'n heavy' scenes. You guys will likely be over the MOON to know, that yes! There will, indeed, be a RalphxVanellope swap scene :D And it will be freaking BAMF because of everything the plot entails and I'm sure you guys will be floored.**

 **So hold onto your panties and get ready for a sexy-ass awesometastically wild ride of a story! Cause the fun drama doesn't stop here ;)**

 **Song Listened To : Candyman by Zedd**

 **Five More Hours by Deorro and Chris Brown**

 ***Chapter 10***

"My favorite part was when you thought you could sneak up on me," Tessa snapped in a tone that could potentially be read as sly, girly happiness.

"I-I... I wasn't trying to sneak up on you," Zed nervously stammered as he reached the frame of the bathroom. He tried to nonchalantly lean against it.

"Right, with all that mouth-breathing you were doing," Tessa quipped as she continued to attempt to put her hair into a ponytail.

"I wasn't mouth-breathing," Zed defended with a wide, annoyed smile. He shook his head and knew he had to side-step any opportunity for her to stab at him. He cleared his throat and, with reddened cheeks, he allowed himself ogling glances down Tessa's beautiful, curvy body. He sneakily grinned and tried to carry on in such a way that didn't reveal too much about his heightened mood, "So, uh... Whatcha up to?"

"Oh, y'know," Tessa said through a huff of a sigh as she finally let both of her hands find the counter top. Her larger fingers suddenly began to grope for something before or around her, "I wish I could see myself. The hairs, on the shaved part of my head, have grown out a little bit and it's getting itchy..."

"O-Oh, here, I can help with that," Zed quietly insisted as he jolted into the bathroom, though he immediately had to remind himself to calm down.

He bit his bottom lip and froze, though he was floored to find Tessa grapple the buzzer and softly hold it up, to insinuate that she was willing to let him help. He continued to push into their larger bathroom, and once he delicately took the buzzer from Tessa's grip, he stood half a foot directly behind her. Just as he was about to fumble for the on switch, he cocked an eyebrow and let his eyes daze to the middle of her upper back, between her bare shoulder blades. His heart dipped in a slope of sadness as he noticed her skin was riddled with faint burn marks, in the shapes of the very circuits underneath her skin. Delicate swirls and patterns of her mainframe, the motherboard of her whole entire coding system burned straight into her skin. He winced lightly, though with the cool effect all along her skin, he dared to let a delighted smile sprawl his face. As a whole avalanche of emotions came rushing to his mind, ones of sorrow, gratefulness and desire, he heaved a soft sigh through his nose, and as delicately as he could, he slid the buzzer to the counter before her and dared to let his fingertips and palms find the front of her bare hips.

His heart pound clear out of his chest, though not in the heightened, happy rush he was so used to; he bit his bottom lip in nervousness and wondered just when he'd be slaughtered. He knew somehow, someway, he had to at least attempt to seduce her into this raw act, though whether she was going to comply, or not, was wholly a mystery to him. Just when he thought he had this all mapped, he was sat even further beyond square one. With itching confidence that he so desperately wanted to give her, he remained neutral. With the softest movements, he budged the front of his chest and hips into her upper back and rear. He lugged her into his body and, through a gentlemanly hum of a breath onto the side of her neck, he finally pushed his warm smile to her skin.

"You are so beautiful," Zed's honest, deep voice glossed her skin, he shut his eyes and hung near her ear; he was floored to feel a small giggle escape her figure.

"Through the eyes of the beholder? Orrr...?" Tessa cheekily wondered, and for the seconds Zed had of hope, she pushed back into his embrace.

Zed furrowed his eyebrows and fell silent; he wondered how she could side-step his every single word and twist it to her scheming delight. He huffed a soft, faltered sigh through his mouth, though just as he was about to come back with an equally as cheeky remark, she softly moved out of his embrace and slipped out of the bathroom with a victorious laugh. Zed grumbled the dregs of his outward sigh and slapped his hands to his thighs. He watched her walk away in a sudden pang of mild annoyance, though he glanced down to her rear and legs and felt confidence quickly flood his veins, once more. He jolted to keep up with her, and though he pressed to accomplish said cheeky come back, she changed subjects.

"Considering the fact you came in here all by yourself, I'm wondering just which brother you left Ace with, for the time of your small absence?" Tessa wondered, her tone was girly and snotty; something he knew she would never dream of becoming - girly or snotty.

"He's with Lickity," Zed fibbed, though he heaved a cough of a noise as she quickly looked over her shoulder and zipped her fierce, silver coding straight for the soles of his bare feet all along the ground. With circuits that snaked up his bare calves, Zed stood on tip toes and wobbled backwards a little.

"He's with Orph," Tessa corrected with a sly side-eye, "What's with the white lies?"

"I-I'm sorry," Zed urged quietly, he furrowed his tired eyebrows and stepped away from the leftovers of her sprawling grid lines that melted through the tile's grout, "I just didn't want to worry you."

"Ace is fine with Orph," Tessa chuckled, she moved over to their long, spacious, birch wood dresser, "I'm more worried about Orph's safety with Lickity in the room, while he's holding Ace."

"You know those two will never get along," Zed eased, he bit his bottom lip and assessed her body language. She rummaged through one of Ace's drawers and began neatly folding his small shirts.

"I'm thinking tomorrow we should go into Ekreth, I think we should do a bit of rearranging in the city. There's too much crime, going on," Tessa chimed quietly, though Zed largely shook his head and ogled at her in dire confusion.

"...Ekreth?" Zed stammered, "Wait, why? W-We'd have to go undercover, we'd be swarmed if someone noticed me."

"They won't notice me," Tessa shrugged, "Why don't I just go with Lickity?"

"I-I don't think that's wise," Zed eased, though he flinched once her white hot stare glued to his general direction.

"You saying my decision making isn't wise?" Tessa snapped quietly, "I'm the new Queen of Sugar Rush."

"...S-Sugar Rush, Tess?" Zed uttered in a near frightened tone.

"Dead Zed, you know what I mean," Tessa urged darkly as she continued to neatly fold Ace's clothing; almost too neatly.

"Tess," Zed heaved, he shook his head and wondered just how he was ever going to convince the robot, that Tessa had become, to fall into such a raw, primal act with him, "Wh-Why don't we just... Relax. We haven't had a night with just you and me, for a few weeks. My brothers and Lickity have watch over Ace, let's just... Lay down and cuddle, or something."

"Well, I was going to go into the code room and see what I could do about the energy output of Finn's stupid behemoth of a telescope," Tessa snapped, though Zed cocked an eyebrow.

"... Tess, that telescope was YOUR idea," Zed chortled.

"Yeah, well, we all make mistakes," Tessa barked as she continued to fold Ace's clothes, nearly in a compulsive way, "It's using too much energy on the game."

"Tess, it's not a war-head, it's just a..." Zed huffed a long sigh of air through his lips, as if to tell himself this little battle wasn't worth it. He knew Tessa wasn't in her right mind, and anything to get her to the code room was enough to keep his magic working. He shook his head and smiled in a drop of wanted defeat, "That's... Fine, Tess, you... You headed to the code room now? I can help you."

"I don't need any help, I'll be okay, thanks," Tessa eased quietly as she reached the bottom of the pile of messy shirts.

Zed squinted lightly and held his now frustrated gaze at his queen from across the dim room. Through a silent huff of a breath through his nose, he peered across the room and noticed some clean laundry messily piled at the end of their comfortable, large bed. With a gentle glance back to Tessa, he stepped over to the bed, picked up a dark blue shirt of his and rung it into his fists. He gazed down at the folded long-ways fabric in both of his hands, for a moment, and fell into a small bout of knowing. He realized his coding was exactly what Tessa needed, his share of the molten silver binary they both now knew by heart. He knew his brothers had been tortured by her fleet of silver snakes for the past few weeks, though he cocked an eyebrow and now wondered just what it would be like in her shoes, what it would look like to see her receive a taste of her own medicine.

"Well, I'll still come with you because there's a few things I need to check up on," Zed rushed kindly as he began to blindfold himself with his shirt. He knew he would now have to play her part and map the world the way she does, though he suddenly beamed at the challenge and was excited to get under skin for once. He fastened the fabric tight, around the back of his head. He held his palms out a little, just before his chest, as he continued on, "You're right about Ekreth. We should really do something."

"Glad you see it my way," Tessa started, though just as she was about to continue folding the very last of Ace's clothing, she hiccuped a sharp noise and, with knees that suddenly buckled, she collapsed against the dresser, caught herself and largely whirled her gaze over her shoulder. Her spine and legs easily flared with Zed's share of their delicious silver coding. She gasped and tried to get her footing, though her face immediately bruised a hard red, "Hey! What... Gives!"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Zed snapped with a wide smile, though he nervously mapped the grid in their room and, in his minds eye, he could still see his surroundings.

Like looking into a dull, dark room in which only the grout illuminated the place, he ogled the new way of seeing things. He began to quickly back step towards the secretive entrance to the corridor, in which lead to the code room, though he furrowed his eyebrows through the blind-fold and finally felt a wash of whole confidence drape the room to his liking.

"Don't... You have something to do?" He trailed seductively, he slowly sent his coding for her again, which splayed the floor and sent a sudden, sharp shock wave up her legs.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tessa urged quietly, as if to be offended, though she clutched her chest and nervously brought her wobbly knees to a stand. She furrowed her brow and finally sent a retaliation shock wave straight for the sole's of Zed's feet. Once she got a good, coded look at him, she blindly side-eyed him, though she couldn't understand why she felt drawn to him. She pushed through the room in a march of urgent annoyance she was somehow delighted to be sat in, "Why are you wearing a blind fold?"

"I'm meeting you half way," Zed eased, though with their powerful coding all over the grout and grid lines of the tiles, the secretive gap in the wall, behind Zed, suddenly whirred open as he neared. It ducked into a massive stretch of a corridor, only lit by a few small lights on the ground. He eased into the corridor and was wholly thrilled she prominently followed him, "I like this way of doing things. You can still see without, y'know... Seeing!"

"Yeah, it's a ton of fun, isn't it," Tessa snapped in hard agitation, though she couldn't help but let a small smile grace her cheeks as her feet continued to meet with the eager circuits that had resided underneath Zed's skin.

"It can be," Zed stated quietly, he was floored in his success to get her into the code room corridor.

The doors whirred behind her and locked the two in, though he knew he was far from finished with this quest. He kept an overload of his coding honed to her every step, as if to greet her mainframe with reminders of why he loved her, reminders of who she used to be without being too aggressive about it. Zed beamed an accomplished smile and sent a sudden, thrilling shock wave through her body, all up her neck and shoulders. She uttered a sound that nearly sounded like a giggle, though he was aware she was desperately trying to hold onto a cold front.

"Is that a smile?" Zed loudly wondered, his smile broadened as he could practically hear Tessa grinning, "I thought maybe I heard a giggle?"

"Zed," Tessa complained, though she finally heaved a genuine laugh; Zed felt his heart surge with an overflow of nostalgic love. He craved her old self, he lived for her bright smile and innocent, lovely eyes.

"Damn, girl," Zed hissed darkly, his coding continued to climb all over her, and though she stopped physically showing signs of it affecting her, he knew it was doing the trick. He cocked an eyebrow and, as he back stepped down the narrow corridor, she slowly followed his lead. The two held in blind, suspended, coded turmoil of coy retorts and seductive lines of binary that plagued their beings, "Hope you're not answering to anybody. I might take you home with me, tonight."

"I'm not seeing anyone," Tessa chimed, though she wagged her finger and uttered a soft laugh; Zed nearly felt his skin slide off of his body as he could sense her aura returning to normality. He nearly felt tears sting his eyes with the powerful surge of information hitting his body, the Tessa he knew and love slowly came crawling back to the surface. Zed uttered an incredulous laugh and shook his head as she continued to waggle her hand a bit, "See what I did there?"

"No," Zed choked; the two fed on each other's laughter, though before they could carry on, the second pair of double doors suddenly whirred open, revealing the dark dome of a code room.

The silver orb, the main computer of the whole entire game, hung in the center of the room, and just as it was about to intelligently show it's brightness and welcome the two into it's domain, it surged with an overload of their coding, which was laced with purpose and drive. With a pop of electricity, the orb dimmed and slowly vanished, as if it knew to give the two the ultimate amount of privacy, the safest spot in the entire game. Zed's ears pricked as he suddenly realized the main computer of the game had minimized to the background, and the floor was all his. With a dark smirk, he dropped his snaking circuit act and fell off of Tessa's radar. As the double doors whirred to a gentle close, ultimately closing them into the code room's warm embrace, Zed knew he was wholly successful; the last step was to properly rock her coding to the next level.

"Zed?" Tessa worried, she caught her breath, held in the center of the smaller code room and furrowed her brow.

Just as she was about to let the warmth of Zed's coding slip from her, and allow her cold front come back to her skin, she jolted and felt Zed's sneaky presence hover behind her. He tenderly slid his hands to her hips and held her close, he hovered his mouth near her ear and smiled just over her skin.

"Hmm?" He eased, a gentlemanly cue to insinuate he was certainly up to something, and though he was aware he hadn't wholly won her over just yet, he still stuck to his guns and kept her close to him.

"...D-Didn't you have something to do?" Tessa quietly wondered, she raised her eyebrows in surprise and felt her heart begin to thud out of her chest, and as much as she wanted to snap that they had work waiting on them, she somehow couldn't ease out of Zed's gravity.

"You forgot already?" Zed chuckled teasingly, though he lovingly planted a few kisses on her neck which, to his surprise, had her easing the back of her body more firmly into the front of his, and deeper into his embrace. Zed's dark gloss of seduction draped over her as they both remained blind in their pitch black code room, "Let me refresh your memory..."

Tessa uttered a soft noise of nervous inquisition, as if she wanted to likely question just what he was up to, though just as it hit her skin, and realization crawled down her body in the form of angry goosebumps, Zed gripped her hips a little tighter. Before she could willingly show that she was likely interested in his sexual advances, she was graced with a blip of eyesight she was already used to, though it wasn't under her own doing. Zed flared their coding on her hips, with his hands, and was eager to keep her flooded with their warm, unified coding; he knew something so rare and so sought after wasn't to be trifled with, and caring for it was at the very top of their list of priorities. He bit his lip in contemplation and, before Tessa's knees could wholly crumple with delightful weakness, he shifted his bare feet a little, in such a way that shot a wave of coded information along the code room floor.

Upon his trickery, he gently shoved on her hips and back, ultimately pushing her upper body to rest on a strict frame of tangible information, a temporary plank of a counter to aid in his ventures. Tessa gasped, and as if everything from here on out was bound to come out of left field, she attempted to keep up with his swift actions. As Zed pushed into her body, which pushed her body into the counter a little harder, he grinned a sneaky smile on the skin between her shoulder blades, and as if he was quick to keep her from filling in the blanks, he pushed warm kisses to the burn marks between her shoulder blades. Upon letting his skin melt into hers, he seized her body with their silver coding, and the more she writhed in a stir of passionate want she didn't even knew could still surface, he eased his thumbs into the rim of her small shorts and uttered a small noise of an inquiry, to politely ask if she was on the same page as him.

Through a grunt of a small giggle, she rested on her elbows and dared to push her rear back into Zed's hips. Zed choked a small chuckle of urgent surprise, he cocked an eyebrow and opened his eyes underneath his blind-fold, out of habit. She flicked her ponytail over the back of her shoulder and gave him her blind glance with a girly shrug. He furrowed his brow, and as his fingers delved further into the side of her shorts and down the sides of her thighs, he had to wonder if the virus, that she was becoming, had some form of attention disorder. He figured he should move fast, and nervously wondered if she would likely remember her other tasks she had planned. His heart jumped as she dared to let the coding on her spine flare with his skin, and with a dose of delightfully negative coding, he choked a small noise and felt worry wash through his system. His heart sank, he knew he had to hurry with this process, and as selfish as he worried it would be, he knew he'd have to give her his coding first, without any form of interior transfer from her, in order for this mess to work.

Through a strange mixture of nervousness and excitement, he gently untied the soft, cotton string of his sweat pants and fumbled a bit, he glared through the blind-fold and finally pulled himself to correction. He steadied Tessa's body against the pillar of a counter her upper body was slumped against, it was about at the same height as her lower hips. He bit his bottom lip in concentration and as he pulled her shorts down her upper thighs and only slightly out of the way, he gently, though dominantly began to budge into her. His strong, shaking hand largely gripped her hip and as he pushed into her, he shoved her into the counter a few times, and with the shaky exhale of a few groans that escaped her figure, Zed felt a hard shiver plague his body. He mapped out her body with nothing but the sight of his mainframe, the coding that only helped him see via touch, the glistening silver silhouette of her voluptuous body made his brain turn to goo.

As he finally gave her a good shove, his heart burst into an open flame, and in that moment of their impending recoil, and the well-deserved gasp of his name that escaped her figure, he instantly began to curse the large amount of stamina he was so very proud of himself for. He grit his teeth, silently begged for mercy and felt a wash of weirdness fall over him. Never in his life would he ever hope an act as awesome and wonderful as such would be over quick, though the irony of it all had him concentrating too hard. He shook his head and attempted to get lost in the chaos, the firm push and pull of his body into hers, the way her rear cushioned his vigorous digs, he cocked an eyebrow and now wondered if he was contradicting himself. He knew flaring their coding would help speed things along, though as he let his hands, arms and lower body grow with their waves of coding, his raw coding suddenly caught with hers, ultimately ending whatever loose, delirious thoughts were in his mind.

He continued to move, though the weird coldness of her coding, that fell over his figure, had him extremely worried. Just as he was about to slow his movements and wonder why he suddenly wanted to do weird, dictating things not only to his game, but to everyone in his family, he largely shook his head free of thoughts and knew he had to fight the very beginnings of a virus he called his lover. He upped the voltage on his side, of the code giving game they played, and bit his lip in hard, dire focus. His sweaty hands gripped her skin, and as his loving, exterior coding flood her entire body, her spine stiffened and, much to his delight, she began to claw the counter she was messily slumped over. He finally hovered over her back, gripped the counter's edge on either side of her and leaned his mouth near her ear. She softly called his name, and as he whispered sweet nothings into her ear, kind quips of seductive sarcasm, she eased a groan of a giggle and wholly surrendered to him.

Zed chuckled and, through a sweep of success, he kept her cold, virus-ridden exterior coding at bay. He white-knuckled the counter and continued to plow into her, as their writhing bodies plagued the whole code room with hot, passionate breaths and gasps of recycled air, he furrowed his blue eyebrows into the sweaty blindfold strapped tightly to his face. He gasped a small noise, and though he began to worry about winning this race, he felt his heart thud faster and faster. The way Tessa's body reeled, the desperate grapples for the counter underneath her upper body, her raspy voice desperately calling for him, he knew all the signs. He choked a small noise and, though he usually was polite and treated her to typically winning these code-swap races, he knew he had to be completely selfish this time around, a notion he wasn't totally used to. He dragged his hands down her back and finally sunk it into the bottom of her shirt, and just as he was about to map out her body, so to give his mind an added boost of encouragement, he widened his eyes underneath the blind-fold and felt his coding finally, and largely, sneak up on him.

He choked a noise, and as he desperately tried to keep the surprise of his under wraps, he grappled for her hips and lugged her firmly into him. Before he could comprehend the entirety of this wild ride, his body finally let go of all his interior coding. He gently tilted his head up, grimaced and was grateful he took gold this time, like planned. As his body plagued hers, both inside and out, he heaved a hard choke of a groan, hovered his mouth and sweaty hair over her spine and, with trembling hands, he held her sides. He heaved hard breaths of delight onto her skin, though he furrowed his brow through the blindfold as she squirmed and, to what he could swear, maybe mumbled an inquiry or two. He knew his coding was just what she needed to be wholly refreshed, through this whole mess, but he had no idea the immediate outcome. He clumsily lifted the blindfold, peered down at her and was floored to find the entirety of every single circuit mark, on her skin, waved and flowed with a beautiful display of their silver coding. As her rigid body finally understood just what was going on, she slowly went limp against the counter she was shoved against. Once her knees buckled even further than they already were, Zed stumbled, furrowed his brow in confusion and gripped Tessa's inner waist.

"Tess?" Zed panted nervously, though he leaned over to assess her face. He was floored to find he had somehow delivered her an ultimate shut down.

With a hard chuckle, he awkwardly stood on his trembling legs, and as easily as he could muster, he corrected their clothing and steadied Tessa's body against the counter top. He pushed his palm to the center of her lower back, and as gently as he could, he threw the blind-fold away from him, swiped his sweaty hair, let his eyes bulge and shook his head in growing surprise. He scoffed a small laugh and assessed the funny sight below him. He nervously began to pick Tessa up, so to properly move her out of the code room and to their bed, though before he knew to leave, he titled his head up once in a cue of getting his core's attention, once and for all.

"You're welcome, for the show," Zed quipped through a wide smile as he continued to try and catch his breath, though his pupils suddenly shrank as the ominous silver orb finally made itself present again. Zed laughed gently and motioned for it to come closer, "Please bring up Tessa's stats."

"Stats for Tessa Von Schweetz," the orb's gentle, robotic voice chimed deeply. It lulled in a slow draw of information as it grew brighter and brighter, back to it's normal state. It finally brought up every single bout of information to Tessa's existence, "Heart rate is abnormally high, though slowing. Asleep for a normal night's reset, and a recent interior coding refresh has occurred."

"Didn't need the stats to connect those dots, eh?" Zed prod with a cheeky smile as he lovingly held Tessa bridal style in his arms, she lulled her head against his shoulder and the nook of his neck. The orb flared in an embarrassed, agitated way.

"Stabilizing code room air contaminants and temperature," the orb stated in a near embarrassed way, though Zed flinched as the gentle hum of the code room's air conditioning picked up speed and the air levels dipped from musky heat to a refresh of cool, clean air the game's code room needed to run properly.

"I promise not to make these code-room swaps a habit," Zed mumbled quietly, though he gave the orb an annoyed smile a curious side-eye, "Can you tell me what the status is of Tessa's eyesight?"

"Visual in and output for Tessa Von Schweetz is currently pending for use after a proper reset, sir," the orb gently assured, though Zed beamed a victorious grin.

"Check and mate."

* * *

 **A/N:** **This is off topic, but I just wanted to let you guys know, I've posted a video of myself, to youtube, answering the AGE OLD QUESTION I get FOUR THOUSAND times I day - am I applying to calARTS still? Check out my vid titled 'Is Vyn Applying To CalARTS Again?' - username Vyntastic**

 **Thanks guys! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Song Listened To : Rain by Hans Zimmer**

 **Easy Love by Sigala**

 ***Chapter 11***

Through a deep, long, refreshed inhale through her nose, she kept her eyes closed and soaked in every sound that came to her. She sleepily stirred in hers and Zed's flawless, white fluffy downs. She wrinkled her nose, rolled over, and smiled into the security of her puffy pillow. As she got situated again, to hopefully try and fall back asleep, she groped her hand on the bed next to her. She noticed Zed's spot was empty, and cold, though she figured, on this lazy arcade day Sunday, he was likely out helping his brothers make breakfast. No sooner had she thought that, she recognized the scent of Jax's infamous cinnamon pancakes fill the air. She furrowed her eyebrows, and as a new sense of delight hit her coding, she somehow knew it would be a great day.

Though she lazily tried to drone off to sleep, once more, she couldn't help but soak in her surroundings, as if her senses were trying to tell her something. She could hear that her's and Zed's balcony sliding glass door was open with the way it let in a warm breeze, her floor to ceiling length curtains quietly rippled in the breeze and set a calm air about their relaxing bedroom. The sound of distant, jungle song birds could be heard singing their morning chants, all equally exotic and alluring. She shifted in her sheets, found a cold pocket, and finally decided she wanted to wholly consume herself in the idea of drifting off, once more, though some nagging feeling kept tugging at the back of her brain. She furrowed her eyebrows and now wondered why the inside of her eyelids displayed a dark pink, as opposed to not seeing any color at all, though before she could begin to convince herself it was a lie, she jolted her eyes open and froze.

With the few seconds her brain had to register the plain, beautiful eye-sight she was graced with, she heaved a large gasp and sat up in a jolt. She clutched her chest, over her lazy white tank top. Her shoulders rose and fell with her rapidly increasing breath as her eyes largely soaked in every single pixel of information they could get their coding on. She gaped in a mild stupor of total confusion, though with the mere sight of their beautiful room, soaked in natural jungle-kissed light, the glistening beam of their gorgeous marble tiles, the stark contrast of their flawless white sheets against the backdrop of their warm, light green walls; Tessa all but fainted. She gawked and slowly let her eyes sweep the room she so desperately wanted to see again, and for split seconds, she begged to User, to anyone, that this wasn't all a dream.

Through the delightful kiss of confusion, she peered to her left and across their bedroom to Ace's nursery. She noticed his bedroom door hung open, and no noise was present. As her mind continued to fill with questions, she suddenly heard the gentle reverberation of Orph's bellowing laugh, followed by all of the other boys she had come to know and love. Through a nervous, excited, gap-toothed grin, she swiped at her blankets and jumped out of bed as quickly as she could. Dressed in lazy grey sweats and her loose white tank top, which revealed her sun-kissed shoulders, she didn't care if she looked like a bit of a wreck. Her hair likely poofed in different directions, though she was eager to get her bearings and to see everything there was to see. She immediately peeled out of her's and Zed's bedroom, though as soon as she came around the bend between the Sky Room and the corridor that lead to the kitchen and living room, she suddenly grew extremely bashful; she knew she had been nothing but nasty to every single being in the room she was approaching, sans Ace and Lickity.

She slowed to a speed that was just above a tip toe, though she couldn't help but continue on. She bit her lip in a growing squeeze of delightful anxiousness, though as soon as her new family came into her sight, she froze and took everything in. Every boy was shirtless, minus Tej and Finn, and dressed in comfortable, lazy sweats. With colorful bed head galore, delightfully grumbling, deep, sleepy voices and the smells of a delicious breakfast that was being prepared, Tessa felt her heart swell to the size of a hot air balloon. She cupped her fists to her chest in girly delight and, out of everyone she so desperately wanted to see, she immediately scanned for Ace's whereabouts. Once she spot Zed, of whom had his back to her, she slumped her shoulders and decided to make her presence even more known by stepping out of the archway.

Duke continued on with his loud story, he waved his hand about in between stirring pancake batter. With flour that messily dot his bare chest, he swiped at it just barely and merely glanced in Tessa's direction. He immediately double took and halted his story entirely, which cued the attention of every boy baited on his exciting tale. Duke raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and froze, his gaze glued straight into Tessa's, across the way. With the few seconds of confused silence, everyone finally whirled around to follow Duke's line of sight, and the sheer amount of excited tension that draped the whole building was unbearably enthusiastic. Tessa raised her eyebrows high in a nervous, dewy kind of way, as if to somehow politely ask if she was allowed to join their breakfast club.

Zed was the last to turn around, at the kitchen island, though he hugged Ace upright into his chest. With one hand tucked under Ace's rear and the other held steady to his middle back, he slowly peered across the gap and felt alien that his eyes glued to Tessa's hazel orbs once and for all. He choked a small noise of shocked inquisition, though he shook his head and let a wide grin slowly creep across his face. As a million and one questions, thoughts and statements filled his circuits, he knew Tessa was itching to finally and properly meet someone. He scoffed a small chuckle, and as every single one of his younger brother's held frozen in total silent anticipation, Zed was the only one to break formation and get closer to filling the gap between him and Tessa.

"Tessa," Zed eased shakily, his heart thud straight out of his chest, as if this was the first time seeing her in years. His hands lightly began to show an excited tremble, though he confidently stepped over to her and cautiously watched her, "You... Your eyes...!"

"I-I can see," Tessa finally eased with a hard giggle, which cued every single boy at the kitchen island to jolt from their positions and rush over to Zed, Tessa and Ace like exciteable puppy dogs.

"Like, fully? You can see like how you used to?" Finn wondered as everyone dropped what they were doing and pushed into their bubble.

"Maybe even better," Tessa's voice suddenly crackled as tears of overwhelmed joy filled her eyes, she eagerly peered to each boy and took in every single little aspect about her new brothers.

"Good to have you back," Jax said through a hard, annoyed sigh, though he kept a kind air about himself; everyone largely agreed in mumbles of past grievances with Tessa's previous attitude problem.

"There's someone you should see," Zed stated gently, though what seemed to be something that was years in the making, he delicately maneuvered Ace so that his back was rested against Zed's chest, so to see Tessa once and for all.

Tessa covered her mouth with the fingers on both her hands and furrowed her eyebrows in growing, delightful anguish. She uttered a small noise of a giggle and fixed her whole attention to her baby; with eyes as dewy and as innocent as the light from the sun, Ace's fragile, hazel orbs delightfully hooked to Tessa's eyes, once and for all. His larger hands waggled about a bit as he uttered a small murmur of an inquiry, though before anything else could interrupt the raw moment between him and Tessa, he suddenly let loose the widest, gummiest smile as his figure shook a genuine giggle. The air fell still in a dull stupor of disbelief, though it was quickly filled with the gentle gasps and excited calls of each one of Ace's uncles.

"H-He just laughed!" Jax uttered in a hard, incredulous tone.

"I believe that was one of his first smiles, too," Finn urged as everyone continued to hone their whole entire attention to the escalating situation before them, though they fell back into a gentle lull of a calm as Tessa eased a shaky giggle of disbelief.

"He saved it for you," Zed eased through a crack in his voice, in which he was largely holding back the feeling of welling up. He uttered a hard chuckle of disbelief, as well as a bit of a cough to clear his throat, though he couldn't take his eyes away from the raw situation unfolding before him.

"My sweet boy," Tessa eased with a wide smile as she finally closed the gap and opened her hands for her son.

Ace continued to beam his adorable, toothless smile and he finally arched his body and began to lean out of Zed's arms, so to politely ask for his mother's embrace. Zed gladly moved Ace into Tessa's arms, and like every single problem finally came to and end, Tessa scooped Ace's little body into her chest and held him tight. She nuzzled her face into the top of Ace's little shoulder and, with a tight squeeze and a few kisses, she eased after a moment and eagerly peered to Zed's delightful, ever-so-handsome blue eyes. He grinned of pure delight and, just as he was about to reach his hand for hers and join in on her's and Ace's tender moment, she met him half way and softly gripped his arm. With a simple tug, the two melted into a big, tight hug.

"I missed your handsome face as well," Tessa mumbled into Zed's collar as he held her and Ace in his strong, protective arms.

"I KNOW you missed mine, too," Orph urged, though he jolted as everyone finally began to grapple each other into a massive group hug.

"We all do, cause it's still not there," Finn largely joked, though everyone heaved hard laughs as they squeezed into a family dog-pile.

"Where's Lickity?" Tessa wondered, though no sooner had she asked that, a massive pair of wings came around the entirety of the group.

"I'm right here, this is a one-time deal, though," Lickity grumbled as she tightly encompassed everyone under the strength of her wings; the boys easily laughed, though as Lickity finally pulled away, everyone else eased out of the hug as well.

"My hashbrowns!" Jax suddenly jolted away from everyone to tend to the smoking hot pan on their stainless steel stove top.

"Please don't set off the fire alarms again," Zed mumbled, though he held his arm tight around Tessa's waist and eagerly peered down into her beautiful hazel eyes.

"Am... Am I allowed to join you guys?" Tessa gently wondered, every single memory, of how snotty she was, came back to her tenfold. She winced as Zed slowly led her to the kitchen island.

"That's not even a question," Duke mumbled with a loving smile as he sat directly across the island from Zed, long ways.

"Allowed?" Finn ogled as he took a seat on the barstool adjacent to Duke's left, "That's silly, Tess. You're family."

"I-I know, but," Tessa heaved a soft sigh and adjusted Ace on her hip so she could see him. She assessed his handsome, chubby face and couldn't take her eyes off of him, "I... I was so mean to you guys."

"You went so far as to call me 'cupcake'," Orph muttered as he continued to stir the batter.

"You were nice to me," Tej said as he shrugged his shoulders through the black Dead Zed shirt he wore.

"That's cause you don't do anything to merit attention, y'dunce," Orph nagged; Tej furrowed his emerald green eyebrows into his captivating, though playful, glare.

"You told me I should be a Christmas tree topper," Jax laughed from the stove, though he kept his eyes on trying to correct the mess he made.

"What?" Tessa hissed with a giggle, everyone laughed.

"You said his hair was bright enough to light the world," Zed mumbled as everyone's laughter continued to grow.

"Surely I was joking," Tessa stammered as she shrugged, her fingers fiddled with Ace's soft, dark blue hair.

"Not in the least," Finn sleepily mumbled as he rubbed the entirety of his face, "Pretty sure you insulted all of us in some way or another."

"I'm exempt," Lickity called as she began to stroll into the hallway that lead to the Sky Room.

"'Course you are, you flew her around and kept her away from us!" Zed called through a hard laugh, though Tessa smiled a nearly saddened, humbled smile to the counter tops.

"I'm sorry, guys... I really have no clue what came over me," Tessa started, though she wrinkled her nose and gave Zed her innocent, curious stare, "But... I don't remember a thing about last night, how did you correct my eyesight?"

Before Zed could open his mouth to answer, each boy suddenly blurt out in hard, knowing laughter as well as comments and quips about how ironic this whole situation was.

"Y'swapped the swap," Orph said cooly, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow.

"Reeked like a dog, afterwards," Jax said in loo of Zed's return after said event.

"Made the house lights flicker," Finn mumbled into his hands as he continued to rub his eyes sleepily, "It was then we knew things would likely go back to normal."

"We swapped?" Tessa chuckled, she adjusted Ace further up her hip as he continued to babble and utter cute noises, "Was I... Conscious?"

"Yes, for User's sake," Zed uttered, Orph largely nudged his shoulder and gave him a knowing laugh. Zed clumsily nudged him back and swat at his arm, "You were conscious... In your right mind? Likely no, but... Look, I took care of you, that's all that matters."

"Took... Care..." Jax exaggerated with obnoxious air quotes and a cheesy, gaping wink to boot.

"You had a blast, it's fine," Zed eased coolly.

"What he's saying is, he had to awkwardly beat you to the punch or else your sight coding wasn't going to go back to normal," Finn muttered through a cheeky, tired smile.

"Aww man, you didn't let me win?" Tessa complained, though she knew she only egged on the topic to freak her new brothers out.

"Please don't go into detail, I have an appetite and I don't want it to go away," Orph barked as he gestured down to the batter he finally was finished with.

"No," Zed scoffed with a bashful smile as he looked down to the counters, though he finally gave Tessa his gaze and was floored to receive hers, once and for all, "But we definitely showed the code room what-for."

"Zed, did you-"

"Yes," Zed quickly cut Finn off and heaved an exasperated chuckle, "I ran the air filtering system afterwards."

"Wait, did you also-"

"Refresh the game and check your vitals, yes," Zed rushed to cut Tessa off this time, he waggled his hands about and shook his head, "It's not like I'm head of the game or anything."

"You were the head of somethin'," Tej muttered through a sneaky smile, though he choked a hard laugh as Orph suddenly flicked flour at him.

"Welp, we got over another hurdle... A big one, at that," Duke stated with a kind smile, though he nervously eyed Tessa, "Last situation to move through is... Lickity's due date."

"Which is in a week," Zed eased as everyone's voices softened. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and peered over her shoulder towards the direction in which Lickity laid off to. Zed quietly continued on, "She's been nesting a lot, in the Sky Room... I think she's about ready."

"I think we should make a proper room for her," Tessa eased quietly as she finally brought her attention back to her brothers, "As much as we all would love to play with a newborn, baby dragon, Lickity will need her privacy for awhile... And we all know how protective she is."

"We can give Lickity her own space," Zed assured as he, too, glanced over his shoulder, "Then she can finally feel comfortable and prepared."

"I'll do that today," Tessa stated, though she kindly eyed each boy at the kitchen island, "Gunna need some volunteers..."

"Oy," Orph uttered as he slumped his mixing spoon into the large bowl he had, though he lulled his head back and forth and looked up to the high ceilings, as if to contemplate, "I'm sure I can find some time in my long day of doing nothing..."

"We'd be happy to help," Finn stated in loo of Orph's lack of compliance.


	12. Chapter 12

**Song Listened To : Aladar and Neera - Dinosaur Soundtrack (score)**

 ***Chapter 12***

As Dead Zed's calm, blue sky dimmed for the evening, the calls of the jungle's night life began to make itself apparent. Out of a brand new entrance right off of the Sky Room, Tessa sat calmly in the cool grass along the side of the castle's newest branch of space. Lickity's new abode could be seen across a stretch of small field from Tessa's and Zed's bedroom patio, as well as the Sky Room. A large enclosure built just for her and her new baby, to be arriving, it was safely tucked in a thin patch of massive, sprawling jungle trees. Tessa grunt a small noise and sat up, from her strenuous work. She wiped her forehead, with the back of her hand, and gently peered to Ace, who calmly sat and entertained himself a few feet away. His larger hands grappled at the brilliantly green grass about him, his large eyes looked about at all the sights, and though he wasn't totally mobile just yet, Tessa knew to keep an eye on any scooting away he may attempt.

She gently dug at the fertile soil she was knelt before. She had a bag of seeds of wild flowers, as well as a few sprouts of trees she was prepared to plant, so to make the front of Lickity's new space a little bit more inviting. Tessa let her mind ease in and out of thoughts, and though her eyesight, and the motor skills that went with it, came back to her with great ease, she couldn't help but take in every single color of the environment around her. She found herself staring, just gawking in pure awe at just what she was missing out on. Often she'd stop for stretches of time to gaze up to the sky, and though it grew a gentler, paler purple, she remained. Her ears would only prick away from her still concentration any time Ace would utter cute noises, or Zed's and Lickity's conversations could be heard from deep inside her new home.

"Hey Tess," Jax eased from across the field; the quiet of their patch of jungle clearing made any noise heightened.

"Oh, hey," Tessa chimed kindly as she sat up again, glanced at Ace, and fixated her attention on Jax. He strolled up, dressed in his racing gear and was slopped with a good layer of dirt and mud all along his lower legs; after a few hours of everyone's help, with Lickity's enclosure, the boys decided to take their bikes out, "Good run around the game?"

"Oh, yeah, the usual," Jax sighed as he finally yanked off his dirty helmet and came within a few feet of Tessa and Ace. Ace's little eyes did everything they could to get a good look up at his uncle. Jax lightly waggled his fingers and gave his baby nephew a kind, exaggerated smile for his liking. He was thrilled to get a wide, gummy smile out of Ace, though he softened his demeanor once he gave his full attention back to Tessa, "You guys did good... I'm sure Lickity will feel a lot better about her situation, now."

"Yeah, she loves it," Tessa chuckled as she peered up at the enclosure. With massive, high walls made from the very wood of the jungles, and finely accented with the trees all around, as well as enough sky light for Lickity's liking, she knew it suited her well, "Been out here for hours..."

"Are you planting trees?" Jax asked in an incredulous tone, though he raised his eyebrows and peered over his shoulder as the rest of the boys could be heard from across the lot, bantering back and forth with each other, as they moved from the outside garage to the main entrance of their home.

"Yeah, I know I could do all of this from the code room, but..." Tessa heaved a hard sigh and dusted her hands free of the wet soil. She finally gave Jax her kind gaze and shrugged, "There's something about actually planting trees and flowers that feels rewarding. Doing everything, from inside a code room, takes the fun out of actually watching your handiwork grow, y'know?"

"I see," Jax eased politely with a gentle nod as he lugged his scraped up light blue helmet underneath his arm, "That's pretty cool, I would've never thought about it that way... I didn't know you had a green thumb."

"Yeah, well," Tessa said through a breath, shrugged and let her eyes gloss to the small baby tree she had just set snug into the soil. Her eyes glossed the fragile, vulnerable fern, and though her heart panged in nostalgic nervousness, she eased through the motions of grieving and nodded once, towards the cute little tree, "My... My uncle Rancis was incredible at gardening... The castle's whole back lot was dedicated to him and his flora. His garden was something straight out of a fantasy."

"No kidding," Jax uttered, though he cocked an eyebrow and realized he might be treading on a sensitive topic he was unaware he had gotten himself into. He cleared his throat and assessed Tessa's demeanor. She seemed collected, so he dared to prod it further, "He... Taught you?"

"Well, I wouldn't really say 'taught'," Tessa chuckled as she looked up to Jax with a smile that silently assured him that he was safe to continue on with this topic, "I just have been watching him do it my whole life, and... Y'sort of catch on. His daughter, my cousin, Penny, would often join in as well. She was way into flowers and everything girly, so of course she took interest in that."

"That's great you can apply that here," Jax tenderly carried on, he eyed her as if to wonder if he was still safe to keep going, "... A way to keep him sort of 'around', in everything you do."

"Yeah," Tessa hissed through a tired sigh, she nodded and peered back to the fern with a heavy heart, though she knew somehow the grieving would get easier, "I try to keep all of my family around, in everything I do, somehow..."

"Well, I didn't mean to, uh... Touch on such a heavy topic," Jax stated through an uneasy chuckle, though Tessa kindly beamed and waggled her hand about in a reassuring way.

"N-No, it's okay... I don't want you guys to be scared of me, anymore," Tessa pleaded through a nervous smile, "I'm... I'm sorry for how I treated you guys, these past few weeks... You guys can talk to me about anything. I'm an open book."

"Bah, you couldn't really help it," Jax uttered as he scratched the back of his head, "And most of it was pretty hilarious, to watch. Humbled us down, quite a bit. I guess we all needed that kick in the pants."

"I do what I can," Tessa eased with a gentle giggle.

"Oh, uh, Tess," Jax rushed as he pointed down to Ace.

"Hmm?" Tessa mumbled as she quickly drew her attention to her child, only to find him shoving fist-fulls of fresh soil into his mouth. Tessa gasped through a hard giggle and immediately jolted in her position, "Baby, no!"

Ace flinched in hard surprise as Tessa suddenly, though gently, swiped the soil out of his hand and hooked a finger into his little mouth to get the dirt out. With his little tongue sagged out of his drooly, soil covered chin, he realized his fun was quickly over, and with such, he grimaced a hard inhale, as if to warn Tessa that she had hit the panic button. Tessa laughed and softly began to pat his larger hands clean, though once he had enough air in his little lungs, he yelled a hard, loud cry of sorrowful defiance, which only made Tessa's incredulous smile widen.

"That had to have tasted so bad!" Jax held his stomach and laughed, though once Tessa had Ace's hands and mouth cleaned up, she picked him up by his sides, underneath his armpits, and lugged him into her chest and hip upright.

"I knew our peace and quiet wouldn't last forever," Tessa grunted as she brought herself to a stand and brushed soil off of Ace's chest. He continued to loudly wail as big crocodile tears gathered in the sides of his eyes, "Oh, for User's sake, bubby, it's just dirt! It's not going anywhere."

"Out of all the toys we have for you, the dirt is just too hard to resist," Jax chuckled as he finally drew closer to Tessa and Ace. He kindly waggled his finger to Ace's little chest, which heaved with his continued, sorrowful cry-fest.

"Lookit, we can play in the dirt tomorrow," Tessa cooed softly to him, she brushed some of his dark blue hair out of his eyes and pointed down to the soil. He loudly murmured a noise, looked down to where Tessa was pointing, and choked a hiccup. Tessa firmly smooched his cheek, hugged him a little closer, and she was thrilled he easily calmed, "We just can't eat it, okay?"

"Everyone okay over there?" Zed's concerned voice called from inside Lickity's enclosure.

"Your son was enjoying a nice meal of dirt," Tessa volleyed in a dull, sarcastic tone.

"With fists like those, I don't really blame him," Zed retort, in which Lickity's gentle laughter could be heard as well.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Tessa quietly eased to Jax through a wide, annoyed beam of a smile; Jax heaved a hard laugh and shook his head.

"I hope that's not what's for dinner," He chuckled as he brushed his left arm free of dried mud he only just noticed.

"Well, not on my watch, but don't let Ace decide," Tessa said through a small laugh, she lugged Ace deeper into her warm embrace as her and Jax slowly began to mosey on towards the main building of their home; they knew Zed and Lickity would soon follow suit.

As the warm night grew dark, and all sorts of nocturnal, jungle animal life could be heard, the seven adults of the castle lazily began to clear their plates; greasy messes from a good, full meal of delicious pizza and hot wings. As a small clap of thunder could be heard in the distance, Duke eased a lethargic groan, held his stomach and moved towards the kitchen sink with Tej. The two lightly mulled over the fact that no storm chasing would be happening tonight, due to full stomachs and content hearts. With so much warmth, Tessa took in every single aspect of her surroundings. She desperately tried to turn off her heightened hearing as well as her senses of touch and smell, though with a gentle sigh of delighted defeat, she soaked in everything. Her eyes dragged from their comfortable, large birch wood table to just where Ace was sitting. His legs kicked a few times, in his high chair, and though he entertained himself with a teething toy and his own little sounds, Tessa knew he was bound to become cranky and show signs of wanting to go to sleep.

As Tessa stood to approach Ace and run through the motions of having him say his little 'goodnight's to his uncles, the deep voices of delicate chatter was only softly broken as the sound of plates could be heard being put into the kitchen sink, though in such a way to make a loud statement. Tessa winced and whirled her attention to the kitchen island in time to see Orph heave a hard, disgruntled sigh and push out of the vicinity of the kitchen. Quietly, he stormed to his and Jax's bedroom, their spiral staircase that was just off of a hallway between the entrance of the Sky Room, Ace's room and the kitchen. Once Orph was long gone, Tessa quickly diverted her attention to the three boys that silently lingered at the kitchen island; her hands were outreached for Ace, though she was frozen in confused concern.

"Any ideas what that was all about?" Tessa mumbled quietly as her eyes dart between Tej, Jax and Duke. All three boys, at the island, shrugged, though as Finn strolled up, he breathed a hearty sigh, delicately set his plates in the sink as well, and swiped his face in mild agitation.

"I think I do," Finn grumbled, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and finally gave Ace her attention. She wiggled his little body out of his high chair and pulled him into her loving arms.

"He nearly broke his plate," Jax whispered with a confused, furrowed look, though Duke waved his hand about.

"Come to think of it, he hardly said a word at dinner," Duke mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, "He usually goes wild over pizza and wings... And is in a fantastic mood after the fact."

"He's just mad I snapped at him, last night," Finn stated in a gentle lull of a drone, as if he was potentially more annoyed than his stoic, still demeanor led on.

"What happened last night?" Tessa pressed as she began to move closer to the kitchen island, the warm lighting illuminated the boys' faces in such a way that nearly made Tessa's eyes well with tears of joy; the fact that she could see them, once more, had her certain she was in a dream, though she also was convinced anything prior to this morning was going to be legitimate news to her.

"Well," Finn said through a sharp sigh as he crossed his arms, though his eyes immediately dart to Zed's presence, which pushed into the kitchen, from the Sky Room, with gentle purpose, "We... We were all discussing the cure to your blindness, a proper code swap from Zed, of course... and Orph kept making sarcastic remarks."

"Y'guys talking about Orphs 'tude all night long?" Zed muttered in a dull tone as he gently approached Tessa and Ace; she peered to him through a grateful little smile.

"You noticed it too?" Duke wondered in flat annoyance, though Jax blew a hard raspberry and tugged his dark beanie further over his head and eyes. His light blue hair flattened, as such.

"Yep," Zed quipped as he gently budged into Tessa's bubble and prepared for her to hand Ace over to him; it was his night to give Ace his pre-bedtime bath.

"I'm sure all my mean remarks, from the past three weeks, haven't helped," Tessa stated quietly, her nervous eyes sunk to the glossy tiles underneath before she nervously dragged her eye contact to Finn's tired stare, just across the way.

"You couldn't really help it," Finn eased quietly, in which Duke, Tej and Jax all nodded in soft, broken form and mumbled small notions of calm, kind agreement.

"If there's one thing I've discovered, amongst being one of the boys," Tessa wrinkled her nose and gave each one of her brother's a knowing smile. She softened and, as Zed politely began to leave the vicinity with Ace, her eyes chased after his disappearing figure as she lazily crossed her arms, "I've learned that Orph has the gooiest center... This is something I'm quite accustomed to... My favorite Aunt Taffyta is the same exact way."

"What, rude and loud on the outside?" Duke mumbled as he rested his chin on his hands, and his elbows on the beautiful countertop underneath him.

"I've never met any of Sugar Rush's racers," Tej stated quietly.

"A hard, sour candy with the sweetest, warmest center," Tessa's soft voice glossed the room in gentle, nostalgic mystery. She shook her head and let her eyes get lost in the glossy tiles underfoot, which glistened with the warmth of their house lights, "I'm sure this new lifestyle is taking it's toll on Orph."

"New lifestyle?" Jax gently inquired.

"Yeah," Tessa shrugged and made her way closer to the opposite side of the island, in which Tej, Jax and Duke were stationed at, "Think about it... He's now living under a roof with a woman, a baby, and a dragon. Probably three beings he never thought he'd ever have to deal with. Three beings he probably finds most annoying. Especially Lickity... A dragon he used to own... A dragon he used to abuse."

"I'm surprised Lickity hasn't turned him into a midnight snack, yet," Finn grumbled through a chortle, each boy uttered agreeable laughs.

"Trust me, she's had to stop herself many times," Tessa said through a giggle she tried her hardest to conceal, though her brother's laughter was too contagious to resist.

"I just wish he'd be more open," Finn urged quietly, he gestured his hand in hard annoyance, "Y'try and ask him what's wrong, what you can do to fix a problem... And he just sinks away and tells you not to worry about it."

"Well, it's probably because you boys are related," Tessa shrugged, "It's harder to open up to people who are in your immediate bubble of relatives... Why don't I go try and talk to him?"

"Y'think he'd really let you in?" Duke wondered, Tessa looked down and sighed.

"It wouldn't hurt to try... I have to go apologize to him, anyways," Tessa frowned, "I said some pretty hurtful things, to everyone..."

"Hooo but you targetted him the most," Jax blurted with a hard laugh, "It was so funny to watch."

"I believe, at one point, you actually nearly made him cry" Duke stifled laughter, alongside Tej.

"That was the time you called him a princess," Jax continued to laugh, which caused Duke, Tej and even Finn to continue to stifle laugther, "He really hurt his knee, and you just stood over him and called him all sorts of degrading names."

"I did?" Tessa gawked in growing horror, though she furrowed her brow in nervousness and peered in the direction Orph had escaped to; a still, dim hallway that hung in anticipated wait, as if it knew Tessa was bound to trek the walk of shame down it, in a few minutes to come. Jax's excitable voice continued on.

"He nearly busted his knee cap out of it's socket on the kitchen table and you were telling him to stop being such a pretty princess," Jax rubbed his eyes free of tears.

"For User's sake," Tessa mumbled as she swiped her face in growing agitation, "I guess I'll take one for the team..."

"Good luck," Duke muttered as Tessa began to slink in the direction Orph had gone in, which was his and Jax's shared bedroom, "He's one tight clamshell. No one can pry information from him, when he's upset."

"I'm a natural born wrecker," Tessa reminded with a kind, though sly smile as she began to slip away, "I'm sure I'll be fine."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright guys, I have a serious question. I have been contemplating it for awhile now, but I have just been wary to follow through with this notion because, well, it's HUGE.

I am considering making Rectifying Origin into a FULL blown, fully colored comic! (Don't worry, it will still stay on fanfiction as well - the story will get updated faster than the comic, anyhow)

What do you guys think? I was also considering putting the first 10 pages on my deviantART, and then the rest on for my patrons to view only. Idk if that seems a little harsh, but for just a dollar a month you'd have the option to see the entire story in comic form. Anyone interested in this? I'm genuinely excited, and would love love LOVE to put all of these 'sketch requests' to rest, and just give you guys the ENTIRE story for you to see.

I just would want and need the support to do said task. I'd love to give it to you guys, just let me know if you'd be interested! I love all of my readers here and watchers on deviantART, AND the few patrons I've garnered over the small time I've been on . I would likely need more than 20 patrons to jump onto my to consider doing all this work. I've gotten so many inquiries over the past years, that I've been writing this story, stating that they'd love to see this whole thing in comic form... But that is a TON of pages and a TON of time! I just would need some support D:

Let me know if you guys are interested, I will let everyone know if/when this becomes a thing! Thanks again you guys. You're the BEST.

I'm Vyntresser on - I've already posted a few drawings and paintings there that haven't even seen deviantART yet! Please consider checking me out there!


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: ** Real quick - if you have a question, MOST LIKELY it has been answered in one of these Author's Notes! I can't tell you how many times I get the same questions over and over and over again, when I've clearly gone over said answer, in great detail, multiple times before.

I know no one cares about the author's notes and etc., but if you have a question that pertains to the plot, and it's a rather BIG question, please keep your eye on my author's notes, because I always try to make things as clear as day for you guys. If not, just PM me the question and I'll gladly answer it for you. There are a few people that will ask questions, and then have their 'reply' feature turned off, so I can't even answer their question directly.

ALL to say - YES, Ralph, Vanellope, Taffyta, Rancis and every single other butthead in Sugar Rush WILL be in this story. Will you get to see 'their side' of this drama until then? No! Because it will ruin the carefully thought out plot I have constructed! You will get to the scene where Ralph finally says WORDS and you will be like OHHHHHHH. IT MAKES SENSE.

So PLEASE, please please PLEASE sit tight, and please have some patience for me and faith IN me. I promise you guys won't be disappointed. There are still a few more things that need to happen before the Sugar Rush crew is brought back, and I will spell it out for you. I'm going to put two 'spoiler alert' alerts so no one loses their minds.

 **SPOILER ALERT**

 **SPOILER ALERT**

* * *

Lickity has to have her baby

Tessa goes back to Academy (not Game Central)

Ace continues to grow up (minor time hops) and gains a playmate

Tessa runs into someone from her past (not a hallucination this time lol)

Ace puts the pieces together in his little adolescent mind and everyone works towards finding a way to kumbaya once and for all.

And THAT isn't even the first half of the story! That's a fourth at BEST. Maybe even a fifth.

* * *

 **END SPOILER ALERT**

THERE. A little outline so you guys won't be so upset XD I hope this helped some of you, most of you, ALL of you. I really don't want unrest, I know everyone is anxious to see the old gang again. I promise it is coming I PROMISE.

 **Song Listened To :** **Silver Comforts Jim - Treasure Planet Soundtrack (score)**

 ***Chapter 13***

Up the flight of stairs that were glossed in a honey glaze, and warm, spiralling walls that were only illuminated by the kitchen's light from downstairs, Tessa hesitantly crawled closer and closer to the lion's den. She swallowed nervously and knew deep in her heart that every mean stab she had ever taken, to any of her new brothers, was almost entirely out of her hands. She furrowed her brow lightly and almost dared to wonder if said boys were making up these wild accusations, simply to stir the pot and cause drama. She knew the virus scare, in which she was previously nearly becoming, had everyone on edge, and had some damaging results, though she knew now was likely the best time to begin to mend the pieces back together. Tessa sighed silently and was aware, deep in her heart, that the starting point to this massive cure-all began with Orph. The toughest cookie of the bunch. She knew if he was hurting, it was guaranteed everyone else was, as well.

With delicate fingers on ironically larger hands, she pushed Orph's and Jax's massive door open. It just barely creaked, though as she got a good look around the bedroom, she assessed everything. On the wall to her left was Orph's bed, messy with grey sheets and stark white downs, his side of the room was a near disaster, though in such a way that was nearly charming. She took note that not a single piece of half-eaten food, or anything disgusting, seemed to be lying around. Simply books and all sorts of other items Tessa wasn't even sure Orph ever would take interest in. She logged it away for another time and let her eyes continue to gloss the room, clockwise. On the same, curving wall that was shared with Orph's bed, was a row of two massive sliding glass doors, in which lead to a glorious upstairs balcony. Kissed with the baby branches of the towering jungle trees that their abode was sunk deep into, Tessa was certain their day-time view was to die for.

Moonlight cast across their warm, cozy room, and though the sheer size of their space went on for miles, seemingly, it still held a tight and comfortable charm. Across from the doors, which lead to the balcony, was Jax's bed. Somewhat made white blankets, with a pop of red sheets, lay strewn about in such a way that looked as if he attempted to make his bed, but gave up half way through. With shelves about his area, that housed all sorts of racing gear, helmets and all kinds of jungle knick-knacks, Tessa had to wonder if they had potentially lived a life of 'jungle boys' while Zed had them kicked out of code room rights. Anything they had brought, from their previous slum life somehow carried over for nostalgic purposes. Jax's warm lamp was on, as well as a few dim ceiling lights, though for the most part, Dead Zed's two glorious full moons filled the atmosphere with a wicked, heightened and excitable nightlife Tessa was certain she underestimated.

Tessa's eyes finally came in contact with Orph's figure, across the room. He stumbled to put on a pair of comfortable black ankle socks, his silver hair was down from its usual mohawk positioning, atop his head, and lay plainly strewn across the left side of his bald scalp. He had changed into a pair of comfortable grey sweats with a dark grey racing stripe down the leg, all clad in his proper racing name and logos. He grunted a noise and pulled a tattered orange t-shirt over his head, though as soon as his head popped out of the neck hole, his boggled eyes fixated on the being across the room. He uttered a nervous noise, threw his hand out, and reverted to the strictly fearsome posture he had come to know over the course of the past three weeks.

"S-Sorry, I just... I didn't mean to startle you," Tessa rushed quietly as she put her hands up, as if to politely state she meant no harm, "Can... Can I come in?"

"Sure," Orph snipped in a strict, tight-lipped way. He fixed his sharp silver gaze straight into her soul and was now nearly terrorized by the fact that he was backed into a corner, with the only escape being the bedroom door in which Tessa stood in front of.

"I'm not going to eat you, Orph, will you relax?" Tessa finally eased through a small giggle, she was relieved to see Orph's shoulders just barely un-tense.

"Sorry, habit," he softly stabbed, he finally tore his eyes from his potential threat and glanced out the large sliding glass doors he was near, it had a view into nothing but pitch-black jungle, where only few branches and bits of the canopy were illuminated by the two moons.

"Orph," Tessa started as she eased into a comfortable five-foot distance from him. She crossed her arms, looked down at the shirt she was wearing, which was one of Zed's hot blue shirts; she fiddled with the end of the shirt with her fingers and furrowed her brows, "Are you... Mad at me?"

"No," Orph quipped, he squinted lightly and kept his sharp attention to Tessa's soul; Tessa darted her eyes back to his and was now feeling the sweep of defeat want to crawl all over her.

"Okay, let me rephrase that," Tessa started through an annoyed chuckle as she looked up to the ceiling in thought, "Orph... I KNOW you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you," Orph urged quietly, though he knew his facade wouldn't hold up forever.

"So, slamming dishes into the sink is just something you do for no reason," Tessa shrugged and innocently looked up and about, "Y'know... Staying quite all through your all-time FAVORITE meal is just, routine. Throwing side-eyes to Finn is just a typical Tuesday, yeah?"

"I'm okay, Tessa, don't worry about me," Orph pleaded, and though his voice finally dribbled to that of a sincere kindness, Tessa knew it was only his way of trying to get her to drop it.

"I said some really hurtful things to you, Orph," Tessa urged, her tone became serious and stern, a near pleading coat of the softest concern, "Please... Will you please let me speak my peace?"

Orph held his stern stare to hers, and though he looked as if he was closing himself more and more to her, the greater the gap of silence Orph held, the more Tessa began to feel confidence come back to her. Orph finally heaved a long, hot sigh through his nose, looked down and raised his eyebrows in baited knowing.

"All right," Orph's deep, gentle voice eased, and as bizarre as it was to hear the rare, soft side of Orph, Tessa so hoped she'd be able to get a closer look.

"I understand I sort of encroached on you guys," Tessa smirked and gave Orph a knowing side-eye; Orph wrinkled his nose, though Tessa carried on, "I'm sure the last thing you wanted was a random pregnant chick with a talking dragon around, to cramp your style."

"Tess, that's not even on my mind," Orph grumbled, though he couldn't help but let a small smile sprawl his face.

"I know this transition has been hard," Tessa's eyes glossed the warm beige carpet underfoot, though she finally dragged her eye contact straight into Orph's, "But it seems that it's digging the hardest... On you..."

Orph furrowed his brow, and as his chest expanded so he could continue on telling more white lies about how her notions weren't true, and that he was fine, he expelled the air he had just taken in and bashfully looked down and to the side. He rubbed the back of his head and gave the ground a sheepish frown.

"I've been told... That I have said some pretty hateful things to everyone," Tessa mumbled, "But, I guess you got the brunt of it."

"Some of it was pretty funny," Orph shrugged, and though he dared to push a smile to his face, it still held a vast amount of sorrow.

"Well, all of it was terrible, and not true," Tessa urged quietly, she gestured her arm outward a little and frowned, "I honestly don't know what came over me, and... truth be told, I hardly remember anything over the past three weeks, minus all my bonding time with Ace."

"It's good you have those memories," Orph nodded once in gentle kindness, though his sorrowful gaze still held with the ground.

"Orph, I'm really sorry for all the mean things I've said to you," Tessa stated tenderly, her sincere gaze held with his for a few moments, though in the slow sweep of realization she had on the entirety of the situation, she furrowed her expression in a slow draw of knowing, "This... Isn't about me, is it."

Orph frowned and peeled his gaze back to the ground, from Tessa's wise stare. He grimaced slightly and shook his head, though not in the way of answering Tessa's inquiry. He squinted and finally gave Tessa his conflicted stare.

"I'm never going to gain anyone's trust, am I," Orph darkly stated, Tessa nearly flinched with the jolt of new issues that came rushing to her.

"...I don't follow," Tessa assured in the gentlest way. Orph shook his head again, though now as if to state that it was useless to carry on; he did, nontheless.

"Duke thinks I'm an asshole that cares for no one but myself, Tej hardly ever says two words to me and... I'm pretty sure I've driven a wedge between him and I, permanently," Orph stammered in hard annoyance, he didn't dare give Tessa eye contact in his rare bout of vulnerability. He dragged into a gentle lull of silence, in which Tessa was certain he was contemplating all of his growing worries, "... Finn thinks I'll never be able to keep a woman."

"Wait, what?" Tessa suddenly beamed an annoyed, incredulous smile, as if to wonder where that even came from.

"Don't even get me started on mine and Lickity's past, present and future relationship," Orph rushed, as if to gloss past his previous statement, "And now she's going to have a BABY?"

"Wait, go back to what you had just said," Tessa urged over his voice, which desperately tried to carry on, "What's this... Talk about a woman?"

"There is no woman," Orph snapped in sorrowful annoyance, "There never WILL be a woman, there never will be any mending of anything between me and anyone, okay? I know why you were so mean to everyone... You couldn't help it. But, even the virus-side of you knew to target me and save the rudest comments for ME... Y'know why?"

"Orph, that's ridiculous," Tessa tried to ease forward, though Orph largely interrupted her, his voice grew in strength.

"It's because like for like," Orph demanded, "You were the meanest to me because I am the meanest to everyone else. I-I can't help it. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Tessa shut her mouth and stared Orph in the face. She knew Orph had likely come to this realization long before her, though somehow, him spelling it out in front of her had her wondering if he was the medicine to his own illness. She patiently let him continue on, in hopes of him potentially finding his own conclusion, or even possibly letting her help him in this venture.

"I-I... I abused dragons, for no reason at all but to feel in control, I torture my youngest brother because somehow it makes me feel in charge," Orph stammered; Tessa could swear he was on the verge of letting his wall crumple to the ground, though she knew it wouldn't go down without a hard fight. He carried on in raspy nervousness, "Duke resents me for said notion and now Finn... Finn laid the final nail in the coffin, with his comment yesterday morning."

"What happened?" Tessa quietly meeped. Orph huffed a large, short sigh and rolled his eyes.

"While we were discussing what Zed could do to help reverse your blindness, I made a sarcastic remark that backfired at me," Orph grumbled, he finally began to pace within a three foot radius of his original standing point, as if all of this brooding neediness was too much for his body to handle in single concentration, "... I don't think anyone takes me seriously. I-I don't think anyone really... Gets that, I do... Sort of, have a heart... Y'know?"

"If I didn't think you had a heart, Orph, I wouldn't be coming up here to apologize to you," Tessa side-eyed him with a growing, cheeky smile, "You... You worried you might, oh I don't know, be deemed weak or vulnerable if you show your soft side?"

"You're the only one I've ever felt safe showing this side of myself, to," Orph uttered in hard annoyance, "Probably just cause you're a girl."

"And I'm not an intimidating older brother, or a dewy eyed 'looks up to you' younger brother," Tessa chortled, which caused a small smile to sprawl Orph's face, once and for all, "I know I'm the sister you've always wanted. You're just the only one who has never told me, to my face."

"Well, you are," Orph demanded sharply, though in a quiet and nearly embarrassed tone, "And I'm... I'm not really digging the fact that you're bringing all this out of me."

"Just wait 'till you have a girlfriend, hun," Tessa choked with a wide smile as she shook her head, "You'll be done for."

"I think I know how you can pay me back, for all those mean jabs you took at me, for the past three weeks," Orph finally smiled, his normal, cheeky-self flood his exterior once and for all. Tessa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"What's that?" Tessa mumbled, "An apology and a heart-to-heart isn't enough for you?"

"I guess one could probably consider it cheating, but..." Orph trailed off and, just as he was about to chicken out, he pierced his nervous gaze straight into Tessa's soul, "Can you promise me, if and uh... When we ever get back into Sugar Rush... Can you maybe put me at the top of your list of guys you set up with one of your crazy uh... female friends?"

"You want ME to hook you up with one of my cousins, Orph?" Tessa ogled with an enormous grin. She finally heaved a hard laugh, though Orph waved his hand in hard annoyance.

"Shush!" Orph hissed, "C'mon, please? All those guys, down there, think they're going to be the ones to get dibs on all your cousins and friends and whatever."

"Well, I only have two girl cousins, and that's Tammy and Penny," Tessa fingered her lip and looked up in thought, "Tammy would eat you alive..."

"What? In a good way?" Orph smirked, though Tessa took a step closer to him and swat at him.

"Oh shut up," Tessa barked, "In a bad way! Tammy's as tough as nails! Not to mention my Aunt Calhoun would have your head for so much as looking at Tammy."

"Alright, so uh, what's Penny like?" Orph wondered gently.

"Hmm, can I imagine you with Penny?" Tessa questioned as she squinted and got a good look at Orph, "She's petite, blonde, feisty, adorable."

"Blonde?" Orph questioned with higher hopes, as if that was the hair color he preferred in a girl, "You uh... You think she'd like me?"

"I'm sure she'd come around," Tessa sighed as she gave Orph a small, curious smile, as if she was uncertain Orph could ever achieve this level of genuineness, "... I'll put in a good word for you, to her."

"Thanks, Tess," Orph chuckled and looked down, though he sighed and shook his head, "I guess... It's all just a pipe dream until those forcefields come down. I'm sure that match-making is the least of your worries."

"Let's just... Be hopeful," Tessa eased quietly, "Once Sugar Rush's doors open back up to us, it'll be good all across the board."

"I'll hold you to it," Orph waggled his finger about, "You owe me."

"Fine, fine, I owe it to you," Tessa waved her hand, though she dared to take a step closer to Orph. She cocked an eyebrow and gestured her arms a little, as if to inquire if it were safe to approach for the potential of a hug, "C'mon... Bygones be bygones?"

"I don't know if I can forgive you for that 'cupcake' remark," Orph grumbled, though Tessa pushed closer to him anyhow.

"You can and you will forgive me," Tessa muttered in hard annoyance, though she came within a foot of him and lightly frowned, "C'mon... I don't get to hug my own brother anymore. Can you at least pretend we're wholly related for a moment and give your sister a hug?"

Orph raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise and suddenly felt guilt wash over him. Before he could even begin to think up an argument, he felt a wave of weird delightfulness fall over his figure as he willingly opened his arms for Tessa and welcomed her into his warm embrace. He scoffed a small noise of sorrowful knowing and gingerly wrapped his arms around her upper shoulders. He froze, as if he was uncertain of what to do from here, though with the tight embrace of hers, around the middle of his back, and the gentle snuggle of her face into the front of his shoulder, he finally beamed a loving smile and squeezed her a little tighter. Orph heaved a shaky sigh and felt his heart warm to a degree he was uncertain it could reach.

"I-I... I may not be able to fill Oliver's shoes... Literally and figuratively," Orph chuckled, Tessa eased a soft laugh as well, though he gently carried on, "...But I certainly can try."

Tessa opened her eyes and felt tears sting them; as much as she wanted to crumple farther into Orph's brotherly embrace and pray to User she could somehow see Oliver's familiar face, she shook her head, shut her eyes tight and pushed the past just where it belonged. She knew she was still grieving, though she squeezed Orph a little tighter and felt her heart finally begin to want to welcome in a broader spectrum of family. She heaved a shaky sigh into his shoulder and, as much as she fought it, a few tears escaped her eyes as she uttered a small notion to him.

"I-I love you, Orph," Tessa mumbled into the security of his strong shoulder.

Orph raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and felt his heart jump, he gazed across his warmly lit room and, as if time had stopped, he squeezed Tessa closer to him and was certain she was somehow a life-line. He scoffed a small noise, after a few moments and finally rested his chin atop her head. He eased a silent chuckle, closed his eyes and, with growing certainty, he rubbed her upper back with a smile that read his little life as becoming complete.

"... I love you too, Tess," Orph whispered, as if it was detrimental that she were to be the only being who knew of said sappy confession, "Please don't tell anyone that I gave you a free hug, because I won't hear the end of it."

"Free hug," Tessa spat in a whisper as the two held in their tight embrace. She finally rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Your secret is safe with me... And Zed."

"... Fair enough," Orph mumbled.

"And Lickity," Tessa daintily added.

"Really," Orph huffed in annoyance.


	14. Chapter 14

***Chapter 14***

Through groggy footsteps, Tessa's fuzzy grey socks held no grip with the glossy tiles undertow. She shivered, tugged her zip-up hoodie tighter around her cold body, and once she was fully into the dark kitchen, she lazily groped the wall near the fridge. With silver circuits that had a hard time coming to life, due to Tessa only just waking up, she sparked a few grid-buttons that finally appeared on the wall. She panned through the small screen that grew dimly present, as well, and adjusted their home's thermostat. She furrowed her eyebrows in tired confusion, peered around the still, empty kitchen and living room and wondered why the sudden dip in temperature. She raised her eyebrows, rubbed her eyes free of sleep and stumbled on towards the fridge. As she began to prepare herself a delicious, steamy cup of creamy coffee, for a morning pick-me-up, she felt the hairs on her neck raise, as if to intelligently warn Tessa that she was soon going to be joined by another being; Tessa smiled a sneaky smile into her hot coffee and let said individual ease into her reclusive bubble.

"What're you doing up?" Zed grumbled, his deep voice crackled with its first use of the day. He rubbed his face, grimaced a noise and finally let his arms and hands reach for Tessa's waist. Once he had her in his tired grip, he sleepily slumped into her and held solid, "Not even Ace is up, yet."

"I couldn't go back to sleep," Tessa stated softly as she let Zed lean against her; she gently stirred her coffee, though she snuck a warm smooch onto the bridge of Zed's nose; his head was slumped to her shoulder and upper chest, "I'm just anxious, I guess."

"'Cause of Lickity?" Zed questioned quietly, "I've been keeping her orb up and open, by our bedside, all night."

"I know, but I just... I feel so bad," Tessa urged quietly, her eyes finally grew to a wider spectrum of distance. The still, coolly lit house was only barely illuminated by the raw peak of the sunrise, which hadn't yet broken free from the jungle tree-ridden mountains.

"Bad?" Zed uttered curiously, he kept his eyes closed in tight sleepiness.

"Yeah... This is just such a sticky situation," Tessa stated tenderly as Zed's hug, around her waist, grew more confidence and strength, "Yeah, she can talk, and yeah, she's my best friend, but... Bottom line is, she's an animal. When animals prepare to have a baby, they typically hull away and want anyone and everyone away from the vicinity."

"I'm sure she'd let you, of all people, in," Zed grumbled quietly as he regained his footing and kept Tessa in his grip. He finally rested his chin atop Tessa's head and lulled his eyes closed, "You mean you want to go out there and help her?"

"We're going to have to anyways, aren't we?" Tessa wondered.

"Technically, no," Zed assured, "Animals give birth, in the game, all the time, without the help of, well... Me, or the code room."

"I guess that's a good point," Tessa eased under her breath, her eyes lightly scanned across their dim, still home, "You... You think she'd want our help?"

"It wouldn't hurt to try," Zed sighed, "She is, after all, without a mate for support..."

"...You think that bothers her?" Tessa worried as she began to feel the itch underneath her skin, one of wanting to throw on normal clothes and head out to Lickity's enclosure, just behind the main building of their home.

"I don't think so," Zed assured softly, he gave Tessa's waist a small squeeze and jostled her about a little. Once he got a small giggle out of her, he warmly leaned down to kiss the skin on her neck and shoulder, "Ease up, everything will be fine. Ace will have a buddy to play with, Lickity will finally be at ease, it'll be great."

"I never thought of that," Tessa stated in soft wonder as Zed loosened his grip and finally took a step back, so to gain eye contact with Tessa's sleepy figure; her auburn hair was wrought with tight curls of bed-head he was certain he'd never get tired of seeing each morning. Tessa carried on, though her stare of enchantment quickly dwindled to growing nervousness, "Oh boy... We're going to have to brace ourselves for when Lickity's baby starts learning how to fly and a certain blue-haired wrecker is itching to get into the sky..."

"Let's... Cross that bridge when we get to it," Zed stammered through a nervous, tired chuckle as he rubbed his hand all through his crazy, hot blue bed-head as well.

"Better brace ourselves now," Tessa eased into Zed's strong arms and finally let her arms slink around his neck.

Through a gentle nuzzle of their noses and a warmer, deeper embrace, the two shared a few short 'good morning' smooches. Before they could potentially begin to mull over the nice idea of slinking back to their bedroom, Finn's teleportation pad, from near the entrance of the sky room, buzzed in a soft, knowing way. Finn's blue pixels materialized into collection, brought Finn into the room and sparked him into existence, though before he could step off of the pad, he jolted and put his hand up in a gentle draw of surprise.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry... I didn't think anyone would be up, right now," Finn stammered.

"It's okay, Finn," Tessa eased as the two just barely relaxed their cuddly embrace.

"You couldn't go back to sleep either?" Zed wondered as Finn finally strolled up to the kitchen island, from which Tessa and Zed were on the opposite side of.

"I'm always up at this hour," Finn stated with quiet cheek, his smile read knowing delight. His dreads were down and lightly frayed with flyaway hairs, and as his comfortably clothed figure approached the island, he waggled the digital pad, in his hand, about in a light gesture, "I was coming to tell you guys that... I think Lickity is about to have her baby."

"What? Right now?" Tessa jolted, her whole figure now read of now total alertness.

"Well," Finn hissed through a sigh. He cued his digital pad, thumbed through a few options and brought up Lickity's stats, "Her heart rate is abnormally high... Her bar still reads loading, but the poor thing has been pacing her enclosure for the past half an hour. I think she's trying to find the best spot to settle down once and for all."

"We should head out there," Zed quietly urged, though Tessa immediately nodded and, with a gentle bounce, she eased out of Zed's arms and made a bee-line for their bedroom.

"Yay!" Tessa squeaked in a quiet, elated way as she hurried away.

"Alright, baby number two for Dead Zed's castle," Zed sighed, raised his eyebrows and let his eyes gloss the counter before him.

"We'll have to keep an eye on anything that could potentially, uh... Be flammable," Finn finished through a hard chuckle, which caused Zed's sleepy figure to shake a laugh as well.

"I'll keep an ear out for Ace, while you two are out there," Finn stated with a gentle nod in the direction Tessa left, "Hopefully this will be a quick process."

"We're all going into this blindly," Zed argued with a light smile as he began to head towards his and Tessa's bedroom as well, "If her baby talks and has Orion's wit, we're all done for."

"I guess I should be grateful that I've never met Orion," Finn called after Zed as the two shared a laugh.

* * *

"Keep up!" Tessa urged into the crisp, cool morning air; she gracefully glitch-hopped across the field, though she kept stopping so to let Zed catch up.

With a far more clumsier approach, his silver circuits riddled his body in growing chaos, as if he was uncertain where to direct his energy. With quick zips of a stammering glitch-hop, he finally caught up with Tessa, wobbled on his feet and gave her a sheepish smile. He hiccuped a small burp, caught his footing and was overcome by a burst of silver pixels. Tessa easily let out an annoyed laugh and gave him an incredulous smile.

"Remind me to give you more thorough glitch-jump lessons," Tessa mumbled, though Zed flinched as her quick agility took off without him, once more.

"I'm getting the hang of it," Zed argued to her quickly disappearing figure from across the gap, though he heaved an annoyed sigh and attempted to at least catch up with her, no matter how clumsy it may be, "Why is this so hard for me, now? When I would glitch, due to Radex's coding dug into mine... It was a breeze!"

"Well, you're saddled with a whole new set of coding, now," Tessa reminded as she pushed on, "It's like wearing a new pair of clothes... Not every strand of coding will fit the same."

As Tessa let the last of her silver wave carry her to the entrance of Lickity's enclosure, she softly froze and let her surroundings soak into her senses. As she drowned out the sound of Zed's fumbling attempts to gracefully glitch-hop, she honed in on the rustling sounds inside Lickity's jungle tree-ridden enclosure. She squinted through the dim lighting and finally braved approaching the lioness's den.

"Lickity girl," Tessa called quietly, and though she was positive Lickity could hear her and Zed approaching from beyond the stretches of the field, she pushed on once more and moved in the direction of the anxious noise of pacing, "Lickityyy..."

"You find her?" Zed finally stammered as he jolted directly next to Tessa, which bumped her off her careful course. She jumped, gestured her hand out in gentle annoyance and scoffed a small laugh.

"Does it look like I found her?" Tessa chuckled, though Zed looked about nervously and fixed his blue hair.

After a few moments of easing in and out of low shrubbery, in Lickity's abode, they finally stumbled upon her. Pacing in a clearing, not from the entrance, her wings were held tight to her body, her head was hung low and her bat-like snout sniffed the ground in pure, anxious agitation. The morning sun peeked through the hanging foliage, and as Zed stopped to let Tessa further approach her companion, the two could tell Lickity was well on her way to preparing for a very important moment.

"Lickity," Tessa finally eased with all the gentleness in the world, though Lickity's head flew up as she froze with a stiff, nervous posture. Her ears finally sagged with relief at the mere sight of Tessa's figure. Tessa heaved a small giggle and took that as her cue to continue approaching, "You... You alright?"

"I'm so scared," Lickity finally uttered in a rush, her eyes glanced to Zed's approaching figure and finally showed signs of wanting to begin to relax, once and for all.

"C'mon, let's take it easy," Tessa cooed quietly as she held her hands out, she gestured downwards, just barely, to insinuate potentially finding a soft spot to get comfortable, "No need to be scared... I'm here."

"Wh-What if I do this wrong?" Lickity's boyish voice trembled, she shook her head and, much to Tessa's surprise, she noticed Lickity's eyes well with tears, "I-I'm not geared to be a parent, this isn't something I ever thought would happen."

"I felt the same way, Lickity," Tessa's voice was glossed in a honey-warmth that was hard to resist relaxing from, she continued to carefully approach Lickity's stiff figure, "But, the moment that baby is place in your grasp... You will never want to look back."

Lickity held her teary eye contact to Tessa, in scared contemplation, though Tessa was thrilled to see Lickity's shoulder blades and the arms of her wings finally show signs of easing up. Tessa gently knelt down on one knee, swayed her hand over the soft grass under her bare feet and pat the ground once or twice. She peered up to Lickity in growing assurance and eased a soft chuckle as she continued.

"You won't be able to imagine life without him or her," Tessa stated quietly as Zed finally pushed into their bubble, albeit carefully.

"We'll be with you every step of the way," Zed assured softly, "The conditions have to be just right... We have to get your heart-rate to a lower level."

"Now, c'mon," Tessa prod with a snarky smile, though her demeanor still read all the patience in the world, "We got some work to do."

Lickity held her scared eye contact to Tessa's for a few long moments, though before she could complain and throw more excuses towards the two, she finally heaved a hot sigh through her nostrils, let her knees and wrists buckle and finally let her body come to rest with the soft ground underneath her. She hesitantly got comfortable and nervously wrapped her tail around herself, though as soon as Tessa and Zed knelt down in her bubble, she softened her posture and relaxed once and for all. Tessa kindly kept near Lickity's head and eagerly began to pet down Lickity's snout. Lickity huffed a breath of upset, as if to hiccup the beginnings of a complaintive, quiet cry. Her large eyes slid closed in growing nervousness as she rested her head in Tessa's lap, with a firm thud, though with Tessa's strong, loving strokes, she knew her warm, familiar touch would do the trick.

Zed carefully situated himself near Lickity's middle. He thumbed through the digital pad that Finn previously had, and he quickly brought up deeper options of Lickity's stats. He eyed her loading bar, on the inner curve of her belly, though he flinched once the bar finally blinked a gentle red of 'alert' and changed to 'finishing'. Zed widened his eyes, and to avoid bringing stress upon Lickity, he cocked an eyebrow, got Tessa's attention and nodded with a knowing smile and a thumbs-up. Tessa nodded once and continued to stroke Lickity's snout, though the two flinched once Lickity uttered a hard grimace of pain and flattened her ears. Her fangs showed through an agitated grumble, though Zed ducked and nervously held his hand out as Lickity's wings tensed outwards, slightly.

"C-Can... Can you please tell me this won't result in a game-over?" Lickity's voice shook, though Tessa heaved a gentle laugh and continued to stroke Lickity's head and snout.

"No, not at all," Tessa eased, though she furrowed her eyebrows, "I'm... I'm sorry to say, I really don't know what to tell you to expect. I don't remember a second of labor, with Ace."

"Boy I do," Zed grumbled, though he flinched once Lickity brought her wings back down to where they previously were.

"I guess we'll just have to have another baby, so I can finally, and properly, experience it for myself," Tessa said through a wistful sigh, though she beamed a cheeky, playful smile in the direction of Zed's dumbfounded, surprised demeanor.

"ANOTHER?" Zed urged, though he kept his tone quiet, for Lickity's peace of mind.

"For User's sake, let's birth one child at a time!" Lickity loudly griped through a hard grunt of growing pain.

"The game doesn't need another mini-me," Zed grumbled with a playful smile, though his face turned beet red as he eyed Tessa in a knowing way, "Let's... Let's save that for the fourth story, yeah?"

"Is it almost over?" Lickity's voice squeaked in a raspy, impatient way as she flattened her ears, grimaced and showed her fangs.

"Your body is going through the motions," Zed eased as he peered down to the pad in his grip, "Your baby's coding has to finish processing before we can fully download it to the game... This could take a few moments. You're almost at seventy percent processed."

"I'm just glad I can talk, or else this would be a million times more stressful," Lickity grunted and finished it with a forced exhale of pain.

"We're here for you," Tessa eased patiently as she lovingly stroked Lickity's snout, "You're almost there..."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** **Glad you guys caught onto Zed's sneaky '4th wall' break, with that last chapter... ;)**

 **Also, just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you! 15 chapters in and already this (baby) beast has 3k views, almost 100 reviews and 50k words! CRAZY NUTS. But I hope you guys are banking on more because, uh... We're not even close to being done xD**

 **Song Listened To :** **Here I Am (full score) by Bryan Adams**

 ***Chapter 15***

Lickity huffed a sharp breath and grimaced, yet again. Tessa continued to lovingly stroke the fur and feathers all along her head and neck, though she gently averted her gaze to Zed. He thumbed through the pad in his care and rested a tender hand on the inner curve of Lickity's stomach, just over her loading bar. Tessa squinted and assessed his demeanor; she knew Zed had ultimately endured the birth of his own child without her consciously there, though with his mannerisms, his gentle actions and his welcoming aura, Tessa was certain he had learned a thing or two. Before Zed could catch her staring, he delicately met Lickity's stomach with his live-wired, silver circuits, on his palm, and rubbed her gently. Lickity shifted, uttered an urgent grunt of growing pain and, with a hard thud, her tail flopped to the soft moss and grass they rest on.

"Relax, almost done processing," Zed stated after a few moments of their calm silence, though Lickity made sure to break the peace and make her pain known.

"A-And what, from then?" Lickity pressed through a hard wheeze, she bared her fangs and shut her eyes tight, "I-I feel like my coding doesn't agree with my own skin, or something."

"There will be a bit of discomfort," Zed shrugged softly and continued to run his calming coding along her belly, "I-I guess, the best way I've heard it described as, is a 'pulling' feeling, on your coding... But you will be just fine. This baby definitely wants out. I've heard the processing cycle could take hours, but this is flying by."

"You've probably been ready all morning, but with all your nervous pacing," Tessa quietly giggled and kept her loving touch to Lickity's snout, "You likely delayed the task at hand."

"Yeah, well, now I just want it to be over with," Lickity uttered through a crack in her voice as tears welled in her eyes once more. Tessa frowned and only softly leaned down, so to give Lickity tighter camaraderie.

"What are we expecting, here?" Zed chimed quietly, though Lickity's ears flattened a little harder.

"A loaf of bread," Lickity barked through painful sarcasm, though as soon as Tessa uttered a hard laugh, Lickity couldn't help but include a chuckle in on her anger, "A baby! What do you think?!"

"I mean, what kind of a birth!" Zed urged through a knowing laugh.

"What do you mean? A coded birth," Tessa eased, though she cocked an eyebrow, "Surely, this won't be like how humans and animals give birth, outside the Arcade."

"No, no, I mean... Lickity's breed is that of a bat, which are mammals, and Orion is a chameleon, which is a reptile," Zed gestured his hand lightly, "...Are we to expect an egg, or a live baby?"

"I never thought about that," Tessa stated quietly as she peered down to Lickity. Lickity huffed a hard breath and anxiously shifted her body and legs a little, "Guess we'll find out soon, huh?"

"Very soon," Zed uttered as he finally set down his digital pad and peered to Lickity in calm urgency, "Done processing... Hold tight, Lickity."

Lickity let out a worrisome groan, lightly looked over her shoulder, to get a glimpse of Zed, though as soon as her bar flashed the word 'finished', she grit her teeth and let her skull thud back into Tessa's lap, near her front paws. As Zed steadied his coding on her belly, he lightly began to tug on the willing, malleable circuits on her scaley skin, though him and Tessa flinched once Lickity uttered a hard grimace of sheer pain. She shifted her weight a little, looked as if she wanted to get up and leave, though she stopped herself and eased back into the grass. Her tail largely flicked and crashed to the ground in a rightful tantrum she knew she deserved. As the rosy gold circuits pulled off of Lickity's skin, the game's core did the rest.

As it sparked just between Zed and Lickity, the game's intelligent inner workings began to carve out, what looked to be, the shell of an egg, about the size of Zed's torso. Tessa eagerly kept her eyes to the unfolding situation, though as Zed's near trembling hands reached out to hopefully catch the egg, once it finished downloading to the game, once and for all, it suddenly began to crackle at the top. Bits of molten coding popped and fell away, the circuits of eggshell the game had just worked to create was now shedding once and for all. Zed furrowed his eyebrows as the game wrote for new code, a brand new baby to be welcomed to the world. He delicately let his hands just barely meet the underside of the large, hovering egg before him, though as soon as the last speck of egg dribbled away, the game hummed a soft jolt of electricity and finally sparked life into their new addition.

With a sudden grapple for their new, precious being, Zed reached for the finished product, Lickity's first born. Through shocked eyes, Zed peered down at just what was plopped in his arms. A cuddly, extremely warm and soft bundle of cream colored, fresh scales; so soft to the touch, he was certain he was suddenly hugging a cloud. With a tightly bundled posture and little, squirmy legs that hid underneath it's floppy, golden curl of a chameleon tail, Zed ogled just what had happened, though he scoffed an excited laugh and eagerly peered to Tessa with the utmost of glee.

"I-I'm an uncle!" Zed wheezed quietly, and though as much as Zed wanted to hold onto their new baby dragon addition, he was fully aware of it's rightful position, as of right now.

As tenderly as he could, he let Lickity finally take over. She eagerly sat up, and with adoring eyes, she gently opened her arm and paw for the bundle Zed quickly began to hand over. With ears perked high on her head, and eyes so alert towards her new child, Tessa softly scoot backwards and was surprised at how quickly Lickity had dropped all of her worries. Her large snout wrinkled over and over, as mother and child bonded for the first time. Lickity lapped at her baby's tender, warm snout a few times, nuzzled it's small face and tucked it safe into the nest of her arms as she remain knelt to the ground. She heaved a hard sigh and finally let her eyes come back to Tessa and Zed, albeit in a delightfully tired and humbled manner.

"You did it," Tessa assured through a soft giggle as she tried her very hardest to get a good look at the bundle.

"I'm an uncle," Zed meeped yet again, Tessa and Lickity laughed at his notion.

"Thank you," Lickity gratefully eased, to Tessa and Zed, through a long sigh of relief. Her attentive ears pricked to the sound of every single movement of her new baby, which was now snuggled deep into the nook of her left arm.

"Alright, let's pull up some stats for this pup," Zed breathed as he scoot closer to Tessa. He brought up a new menu, underneath Lickity's flow of options, and lightly snapped his fingers, "Welp... Looks like Ace will appreciate this. It's a boy."

"A boy," Tessa cooed with gentle delight as she barely leaned closer to the bundle in Lickity's arms; oh how badly she wanted to get a better look, though she now wondered just where she stood with the addition to their large brood.

"A healthy boy, more Lickity's breed than Orion's," Zed stated as he scrolled through the small amount of details Lickity's newborn had, "More a flyer than that of a tree dweller, breathes fire, warm blooded-"

"Lookit those cute markings on his head," Tessa just barely eased, and though Lickity eagerly peered down to her new son, she flattened her ears in calm knowing and finally gave Tessa a kind, humbled smile.

Before Tessa could lean in any closer, Lickity barely lifted her new baby up and, with slow, easing motions, Lickity wormed her newborn into Tessa's arms. Tessa jolted, widened her eyes in elated surprise and eagerly welcomed the new bundle into her lap. Before she could largely question Lickity if said notion was allowed, she let her wide eyes peer down to the adorably soft heap of love in her arms. She quickly tucked her hair behind her right ear and got a good hard look; cream scales and large, bumbling chameleon paws that were clenched into tight fists, his large curl of a tail gingerly began to unravel with Tessa's steady, welcoming embrace. Her larger hand delicately supported the back of his soft head, nubs of small spikes lined his spine and Tessa was certain you could fit his entire body inside his large, deep bat-like ears alone. With the softest of short fur that lined his even, fresh scales, Tessa ever so softly ran her fingers about the back of his skull. Just as Tessa was about to open her mouth and inquire his markings further, she silently gasped as his large, dewy eyes began to squint open.

"Aww, he's lookin' at you," Zed eased as him and Lickity leaned in to get a good peek.

"Lookit'you," Tessa stammered excitedly through a hiss of a silent giggle. She shook her head as his brilliant, innocent golden orbs finally opened, once and for all, as did his gummy mouth. Tessa eased a bit of a harder laugh and stroked his soft cheek with her thumb, "He has a chameleon tongue."

"This certainly makes for an awesome hybrid," Zed stated with a soft nod as he peered into Lickity's face; she wrinkled her nose with a knowing smile.

"I'm sure he'll be climbing all over everything in no time," Lickity mumbled, though her grateful smile led to believe every notion Tessa had stated, prior to his birth, was completely true. She furrowed her brow, softened her demeanor and ever so gently nudged Tessa's shoulder with the wrist of her wing as she continued on, "Tess... I want you to name him."

"What?" Tessa ogled quietly as she shot her attention straight into Lickity's soul, which caused her to flinch and bare her fangs in a kind smile.

"Y'heard me," Lickity eased, though Tessa clutched her chest with her free hand and nervously shook her head in growing, humbled agitation.

"L-Lickity, this is your baby, I-I... I can't name him," Tessa kindly complained through a growing smile, the gap in her teeth peeked past her lips in growing anticipation for something she thought she didn't deserve.

"Tessa," Lickity stated with a small laugh as Zed eagerly watched the show unfold, "... If it weren't for you, I would've never met that idiot, Orion... If it weren't for you, really... None of us would be here, right now..."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in growing defeat and gently gave her attention back down to the large, gloriously golden orbs that peered up at her with sheer glee to even be alive. Tessa scoffed a laugh of disbelief, shook her head, and continued to lovingly stroke the new bundle's soft cheek. Her heart jumped as he suddenly uttered a hiccup of a noise, a cute high pitched yelp. His little chest cavity expanded quickly, over and over, as his brand new snout began to smell all the different jungle smells. Tessa scrunched her face and desperately held back the tears that wanted to form.

"Give'im a name," Lickity encouraged through a whisper, "You deserve it."

"Lickity Split," Tessa griped quietly as she swiped her cheek, to hopefully avoid anyone seeing her tears escape.

"No, that's my name, you can't name him that," Lickity tenderly played along, she gestured towards her new born and chuckled alongside Zed's sudden laughter, "Go on. What do you think suits him?"

Through a sharp sigh of defeat she let out through her nose, she shook her head and kindly peered down to the new baby of the family. He eagerly kept his eyes honed to Tessa, and though he would look about every now and then, he kept his diligent eye sight locked to her in gentle, innocent happiness. Tessa giggled down at him as he uttered another cute noise, though her fingers lovingly stroked the soft skin atop his head. Alongside his glorious cream skin, the top of his head, as well as down his spine and tiny wings, was splashed with vibrant colors of gold, honey browns and vivid pops of crisp white. The top of his head was decoratively splayed with striking markings, almost resembling that of an artistic crown. Tessa squinted, rubbed her fingers along the spikes of the markings and let a cheeky smile grace her cheeks.

"Royal," Tessa confidently, though quietly stated. She peered up to Zed and Lickity, after a few moments, for hopes of reassurance.

"Royal," Zed tested, he shrugged with a bob of a nod and gave Lickity an eager smile, "Catchy. Nickname could be Roy?"

"Well, I realized..." Tessa gave her attention back down to the newborn, "He IS royalty, after all... He's the son of one of the heads of Sugar Rush."

"You two have that position in common... You two are the only one's, beside's Ace, that have Sugar Rush origin coding," Lickity eased knowingly as her soft paw came into contact with the top of her baby's head, though her claw gingerly marked out where she could see a crown, "He's got the accessory and everything."

"It's perfect," Zed stated kindly towards Tessa, though she was ultimately thrilled to see Lickity nod.

"Royal it is," Lickity concluded as Tessa's smile only widened.

"Is it safe to approach?" Finn suddenly, though softly, called from across the enclosure, which had everyone suddenly stiffen and gear their attention towards the addition to the group.

"Uh," Zed loudly started in Finn's direction, though he immediately whirled to Lickity to get her ultimate approval. With a gentle nod, she toughened her demeanor a little and now realized just how protective a mother truly could be; she knew Finn was harmless, though she also knew she'd eventually have to introduce her new baby to the other four brothers of the house. Zed turned his attention back to Finn's direction and happily called, "The coast's clear."

"Thank you," Finn stated after a few moments of him reaching the clearing the four were comfortably perched in, though much to everyone's surprise, he was holding Ace upright in his arms, "Ace told me that he really wanted to meet his first, new cousin."

"He did, didn't he," Tessa eased through a giggle, though their smiles only widened once Ace's bubbly attitude only broadened with the sight of his mother, father, and favorite aunt Lickity.

"It's a boy, too," Zed eased as Finn finally got within five feet of the group, "They're bound to hit it off."

"Perfect," Finn chuckled, "Tessa and Lickity are bound to forever be the only girls in the group."

"Hey, we're not complainin'," Tessa nonchalantly stated with a shrug as her and Lickity caught eyes in a knowing way, "We pull rank over everyone, anyways."

"Yes ma'am," Finn mumbled politely, though he tenderly set Ace to the soft soul underfoot, on his hands and knees.

Tessa beamed a knowing smile and, with a quick 'ok' from Lickity's standpoint, she gently set Royal to the soft grass, just across from Ace. Ace had his bearings, his eager eyes peered as to just who was in front of him. Clearly someone he knew nothing about, though he began to clumsily crawl towards Royal anyways. Like any newborn animal, Royal had his bearings a lot faster than anyone expected. He tried to get to his feet, though with the heaviness of his large, curly tail, his new body flopped back to the soil, which had every adult in the group in minor stitches. Royal suddenly called a soft yelp of quiet excitement as he opened his gummy mouth and flapped his ears about. With this, Ace quickly sat on his rump and heaved a hard, genuine giggle. Once Royal got his bearings even more, he quickly began to hobble over to Ace. As his new snout wrinkled over and over, he finally let his curious nose come into contact with Ace's face. With a good few laps of Royal's dark gold, curious chameleon tongue, Ace continued to happily laugh as his larger hands groped for Royal's massive bat ears.

"Fast friends," Zed huffed through a content sigh.

"I had no doubt," Finn urged as him and Tessa shared a laugh, though Finn gently gave Lickity his kind attention, "You did good, Lickity. He's adorable. Looks as if he is surely bound to out grow you."

"Both boys, for sure," Tessa quipped as she cocked her eyebrow, though Zed shot her a minor, gawking expression. Tessa choked a laugh and firmly gestured to Ace, "Zed, I'm sorry he took after my dad's wrecking genes, you're just going to have to deal!"

"It was hard enough having Oliver grow up to be twice my size," Zed mumbled, though he gave Tessa a kind side-eye, "I can't imagine the chaos that would ensue if Ace and Oliver ever meet."

"WHEN, they meet," Lickity quietly corrected, in which everyone kindly mumbled gentle notions of agreeing.

"When," Zed corrected kindly, "Surely a good day for wreckers everywhere."

* * *

 **A/N:** **I drew fanart for this chapter, if anyone is interested - titled 'Royally Flushed' on my deviantART :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Song Listened To :** **Dibs by Kelsea Ballerini**

 ***Chapter 16***

A week and a half had passed, and with usual quarter alerts and a smoothly running game, Tessa finally began to feel all the pieces of chaos slowly come together in her life. With two new babies successfully added to the game, and an abundance of business during arcade open-hours, Tessa, alongside everyone else, were thrilled that everything was finally on the up and up. With hot, late morning sunshine that flood the Kalivar castle on a perfect, late summer Sunday, the gang comfortably lazed about the living room and kitchen. The tv quietly droned on a commercial between shows, the boys' murmur, that softly reverberated all through the high-ceilinged wing, was enough to cozily nap to. Sat on their comfortable living room couch, Tessa and Orph sat side by side as Orph lazily thumbed through a colorful children's book, in which was properly displayed on the digital pad he held in front of the toddler in his lap. As much as Ace attempted to let his large fingers come in contact with the irresistible colors of Orph's touch screen, Orph's hand would gingerly hold onto Ace's larger fingers to remind him that touching the screen was off limits. Though Orph quietly pressed on, to read Ace's cute digital book aloud, he often would mumble confusing notions for the plot of said book.

"See, why would the elephant go near the water if he knows it's dangerous," Orph deeply argued to Tessa as he cut his cheery voice.

"Wabby," Ace's adorable, little voice urged through his binky as he pointed. He eagerly looked up to his uncle, "Oof!"

"Uncle Oof," Zed muttered, he sat on the ground, at the coffee table, to Orph's left, "He can say 'Orph' and not 'dada'."

"C'mon, Zed, cut him some slack," Tessa eased quietly, though her and Orph stifled a bout of laughter as Zed huffed a discouraged sigh and continued to tap away at a few left-over game running duties on his own digital pad, specifically designed for the code room.

"Out of everyone's name, I'm sure Lickity's will be the hardest for him to say," Finn stated through a sigh as he plopped down onto the couch with a book he was currently buried in. He eased his presence to Orph's left, just in front of where Zed's criss-cross positioning on the soft carpet underneath.

"Everyone knows 'mama' just so happens to be one of the easiest words to say," Tessa said kindly, in hopes of raising Zed's spirits; she knew, even though his first words were such, she hoped no one was rubbing it in too much, "The word 'dada' just requires harder consonants to pronounce for his age."

"He'll be fully grown by the time he recognizes you as a parental unit, Zed, don't you worry," Orph muttered nonchalantly as he waved his hand, and though Zed shot him an annoyed side-eye, Orph carried on with the story he was telling Ace, "Alright, bud, where were we... Ah yes, traipsing towards alligator infested waters. Good plan."

"Wabby!" Ace's little lungs emit, he beamed a gummy smile through his binky and waggled his hand about a little. Lickity, who comfortably napped with Royal behind the back-side of the couch, suddenly huffed a stifle of a laugh towards Ace's attempts at communicating.

"Yes, wabby," Orph encouraged in a playfully sarcastic tone; Ace giggled and waved at the screen in Orph's careful possession, "Whatever that means."

"Maybe it means 'dada'," Finn muttered, though he coughed a secretive laugh into his book as Jax, Duke and Tej could be heard snickering at the kitchen island; the three had a large display of a holographic map before them. They quietly conversed as they rearranged a few racetracks in the game.

"Maybe it means 'I'm saving the best for last'," Zed snapped as he furrowed his brow, and though he wanted to hold onto frustration, he attempted to give Tessa an understanding smile. She wrinkled her nose at him, shook her head and gave him a gentle, loving look as if to portray that patience was necessary in this time of Ace's little life.

"I agree," Tessa cooed softly towards her fiance, and though she held onto a smaller, daintier digital pad, she thumbed through an option and furrowed her brow down at it, "Hey, did you guys know these things can take pictures?"

"They can?" Orph asked in an incredulous tone as he swiped his finger on the pad he held, which ultimately turned the page in the picture book him and Ace were reading together.

"Yeah, look," Tessa urged as she held up the device, aimed it towards everyone on the couch and snapped a picture. Orph gestured his hand in hard annoyance.

"Really?" Orph argued, "I look like crap, I know you're not taking pictures of me while I look like this."

"There's really no helping that," Zed stabbed towards Orph, strictly for feeling sore over Ace's humble and unintentional short-comings.

"Well then here, I'll include myself," Tessa urged, though she jolted as suddenly Jax began to rush over, from across the room.

"Pictures?" Jax urged, though Tessa laughed as Lickity grumbled a noise of an inquiry as well.

"Alright everyone, smile," Tessa cued in a cheery voice as she leaned into Orph a little.

"Wait, get me in it," Zed urged as he finally snuck a genuine smile.

"Uhg... Y'guys," Finn jolted as everyone suddenly scrunched close together, Zed practically laid in Finn's lap as everyone struggled.

"No, it's okay guys, crush the baby, it'll be great," Orph loudly stated in a sarcastic tone, though Ace squealed an excitable noise and gestured towards the story book pad.

"Get me too!" Duke urged as he rushed up, though Tessa quickly snapped the picture.

"Wait wait wait!" Tej argued from across the room as he hustled over, though everyone suddenly relaxed away from each other as Tessa brought the pad closer to her.

"Oh my User, Orph, you couldn't sass the camera harder if you tried!" Tessa urged with hard laughter, and though Orph leaned over to get a good look, he largely rolled his eyes and waved his hand a little.

"For User's sake, delete it," Orph mumbled.

"You only got my chest in the picture," Duke mumbled as he stumbled around Lickity, as kindly as he could, and peered over Tessa's shoulder. Him, Tej and Tessa began to thumb through a few more options, as well as attempt a few more pictures, with just the three of them, though Tessa's attention quickly shifted once Ace started showing signs of cranky defiance. The binky finally sagged out of his mouth and fell to his little lap.

"Alright, I don't think uncle 'Oof' can save us, now," Finn sighed into his real book, he turned the crisp page and rubbed his forehead as Ace began to complain and cry, quite literally, over nothing.

"Hmm, I wonder who could," Zed barked sarcastically, though he got to his feet and gave Orph a playfully dirty look, "Oh, I don't know, maybe DAD?"

"Yeah, yeah, you made this chicken nugget, we get it," Orph waved his hand and leaned back a little, so to make Ace easier to grab from his lap. Zed gestured his hands out and gave his son a kind smile.

"C'mon bud, let's get you fed. Can you say 'dada'?" Zed urged happily.

"Mama," Ace stated confidently, as if to be certain that was the correct answer; everyone easily lulled into understanding laughter.

"Mama," Zed repeated in sarcastic pride with a gentle nod. He lugged Ace into his strong arms and began to mosey towards the kitchen; Orph and Tessa stood and began to follow as Zed continued on, "Going through a mom phase, aren't we."

"He'll go through a dad phase, don't be upset," Tessa encouraged as the three rejoined Duke, Tej and Jax at the kitchen island; they each moved over a bit to make plenty of room.

"I wonder when?" Zed eased curiously, he gently sat Ace on the counter top and made sure he didn't fall from the island. Zed finally glanced over to Lickity, who was sat curled behind the couch. She kindly flattened her ears and gave Zed an understanding smirk as she resituated Royal, who was more than comfortably smothered into Lickity's soft arms and chest. Zed waggled his hand towards Lickity and gave her an annoyed smile, "Lickity doesn't have to share Royal with anyone. Royal will always, and forever, go through a 'mom' phase."

"Yeah? Until Royal's fully grown, realizes he has a rider, and uh, I don't know," Orph fingered his lip sarcastically, "Takes off and never looks back?"

"For User's sake, please don't say that," Tessa griped as she opened the fridge and began to collect some food for Ace.

"Uh oh, Ace's got a partner in crime," Jax added with a playful smile, "That's worse than having a bad influence of a friend."

"What, a friend that can fly?" Orph barked, all the boys, but Zed, began to laugh.

"Say... Dada," Zed encouraged as he peered into Ace's glorious, innocent hazel eyes. Ace hiccuped a small giggle, through wanting to throw a tantrum, strictly from being hungry.

"Mama," Ace stated quietly, though his eyes confusedly dragged to where Tessa was in the kitchen.

"Dada," Zed urged happily, though it only made Ace laugh harder.

"Mama," Ace mumbled and blew a gentle raspberry with his drooly mouth, through bouts of giggling; Orph easily joined in on Ace's laughter.

"Yeah... I can't resist her either, kid," Zed stated through a hard sigh as he finally stood up straight and kept his hand close to Ace's side, so to be watchful in case he gets too close to the edge of the counter. Zed's eyes dragged to Tessa's, she was across the kitchen mashing up some fruit for Ace's small snack. She gently gave Zed a loving smile, a soft shot of cheeky eye contact, though she bashfully peered back down to what she was focused on.

"I think he's doing it on purpose," Orph stated as he leaned on the counter, near Zed and Ace. He rubbed his face and lazily peered up to Zed, "At least he can say Orph."

"Shut up," Zed muttered through an annoyed sigh.

"C'mon, boys, relax," Tessa urged quietly, to show her patience was running thin. She moseyed over to where Zed and Ace were with a small bowl of mashed up bananas for Ace. She stirred it with a colorful, baby spoon and gestured towards Ace, "He'll get there. It's not like he loves you any less, Zedian."

"Oh-... She pulled the 'full name' card," Duke muttered under his breath as the three boys paused their serious conversation. Zed furrowed his brow and gave Tessa a confused frown. He opened his mouth to continue to complain, though Tessa set Ace's food down and held up her hand.

"Listen to me, he now thinks it's a game," Tessa stated quietly, "Just relax. He WILL say it, eventually. You can't push him, you can't force it. I'm sorry 'mama' was the first word he said. It's one of the easiest words for babies to say. Not to mention, us moms deserve it, okay? You go through the crap I went through, to bring said child into Arcade, and then you can get your name said first."

"Yes ma'am," Zed eased quietly, though Tessa scoffed a small laugh, as if to assure that her tough talk was partly thoughtful banter. She reached for his forearm and lovingly squeezed.

"It'll happen, I promise," Tessa's loving voice coat the room in a honey warmth. She softly avert her attention back to Ace and began to spoon some food towards him, "No telling when, but you'll feel like gold when it happens."

"Maybe he simply IS saving the best for last, like you said," Duke chimed in, "Besides... He's not FULLY saying the word 'Orph' ... He's saying 'oof'."

"Hey, don't ruin this for me," Orph laughed; Duke largely shrugged.

"Just sayin'!" Duke argued with a wide smile.

"I can easily get your mind off of this 'name' drama," Tessa started in a serious tone, and though she calmly continued to feed Ace his small snack, while avoiding and quelling his grabby hands, she flinched as Orph let out a choke.

"Yeah, can you take the code-swapping business elsewhere?" Orph argued, everyone cued in hard laughter, even Finn from on the couch, across the room.

"What?" Tessa ogled, though she waved her hand in hard annoyance, "That's not what I meant!"

"Please take my mind off of it," Zed huffed through a long sigh as everyone settled again. Tessa furrowed her brows and concentrated on feeding Ace, though she peered into Zed's eyes in a break between Ace chewing and her gathering more food onto his spoon.

"I... I want to go back to school," Tessa stated confidently, though quietly, as if hearing those words out loud, for the first time, finally made her wants wholly real. She could tell, by the stunned look on Zed's face, that she had totally come into his thought-process from out of left field.

"School...!" Zed urged quietly as he continued to keep his strict posture next to Ace, for his safety, "...Not, Game Central Academy."

"End Of Line," Tessa corrected nervously, associated with the game station that Dead Zed had been fastened to for the past two months. Tessa sorrowfully shrugged and honed her attention back to spooning more food into Ace's mouth, she allowed a small smile to sprawl her face, "I-I don't know... I really miss learning. I loved Academy, while I was there. I know I can't go back to Game Central, for now, but... I just need to get out, I guess."

"Well, I don't see a problem with it," Zed finally smiled and gazed down at Ace in growing certainty, "End Of Line Academy is very different from Game Central... You sure you'd be alright with that?"

"It's all I've got," Tessa sighed, "Minus well make the most of it, right?"

"You're already smarter than all of us put together, you really gotta rub it in?" Orph teased, he gave Tessa a playful smile, once and for all, and waved his hand a little, "I think it's great... I wish I was a faux-code, Academy seems like a really interesting place to be."

"Y'gunna be able to handle the five hours by yourself, there?" Jax teased Zed, he gestured towards Ace, "You'll be all by yourself with this little dude."

"You guys act like he was just born yesterday, as was I," Zed argued in hard annoyance as the teasing began to finally show it's wear on his thick skin, "I'll be fine with Ace! He's my son, I know how to take care of him."

"I wasn't worried about that," Tessa reassuringly squeezed his forearm, yet again, which quickly calmed Zed's accelerating frustration, "If I was, I wouldn't suggest going back to school."

"Well, I think it'd be great for you," Zed stated through a hard sigh as he tried to collect himself for the sake of Tessa's exciting news, "Make some new friends and such... I'm sure being cooped up in Dead Zed could get old, after awhile."

"We seem to be doing just fine!" Jax barked with a goofy smile, though Duke nudged him with a sharp laugh.

"My point exactly," Zed muttered, Tessa laughed and fed Ace a big bite of food; he calmly chewed on the gums, and break of a few teeth, he had.

"Besides, this will give you good one-on-one time with Ace," Tessa encouraged, "Father-son time. It'll be great."

"Good," Zed assured with a nod as he smiled down to Ace, who confidently kept his eyes honed to Zed's brilliant, blue orbs, "We'll have fun, huh bud."

Ace held solid, his little chest rose and fell quickly as his eyes did everything they could to soak up every single last pixel of information Zed had to give off. Ace long blinked and he kept his strict attention to his father. Though Orph slowly took in a breath to continue on with their conversation, Ace finally showed the few teeth he had, alongside a sea of tongue and gums; his innocent smile was heart melting as his cute voice interrupted his uncle Orph.

"Dada," Ace confidently urged, though with small complication; as the whole room fell strictly silent, Ace raised his eyebrows in dewy nervousness, though as soon as Tessa cooed in elated awe, Ace beamed an even wider gummy smile.

"Whoa, that was easy!" Jax laughed, though Orph stood up straight and gawked at the surprising situation unfolding.

"Ace buddy," Zed shakily stated through a surprised chuckled. He knelt down a little and got to his son's eye level.

"Dada," Ace eased through a bashful giggle as his large hands grappled for his equally as large feet.

Zed beamed an excited smile and softly brought Ace into his embrace. Ace eagerly wrapped his strong, little arms half way around Zed's neck and sunk into his father's protective hug. He stood up straight and lugged his son deeper into his chest and shoulder, though he gave Tessa a humbled, dewy look of elated surprise.

"Told you," Tessa chimed, in sing-song, as she wagged Ace's empty spoon about.

"You will never be as cool as 'uncle oof' sounds, though," Orph playfully argued, though he shook his head and pat Zed's shoulder, "There. Y'happy now?"

"Very," Zed stated through a satisfied sigh as he squeezed Ace into a tighter hug.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I drew fanart for this chapter, titled 'But First...' - it's the first picture shown on the front of my deviantART page, username Vyntresser :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Song Listened To :** **Stars Appear by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 17***

"Wai-wai-wait, explain this to me again," Orph incoherently rushed with a wild hand gesture to Zed.

Amongst the six boys, Zed and Orph were the only ones remained solid in their stance at the kitchen island. Finn, Duke, Jax and Tej collectively talked amongst themselves, zipped their racing jackets and gathered their things for a proper race day. Another week or two had passed, and with Tessa preparing to head off to Academy, and Ace rapidly growing up, Dead Zed's humble castle was constantly bustling in the morning. Distant thunder could be heard plaguing the city of Ekreth far off, though everyone knew the storm would bypass them and their far away race tracks. Zed rolled his eyes and held his strong hands to the counter, he could feel the burn of wrecking frustration begin to sting the underside of his skin.

"Okay... Ace was born almost three months ago," Zed started, Orph obnoxiously nodded to show he was attempting to follow along, "In the real world, he would still be an infant... Humans, OUTSIDE the Arcade, aren't fully grown until they are eighteen WHOLE years old."

"We're talking YEARS," Orph ogled, "Four seasons times eighteen YEARS?"

"YES," Zed urged in a dire tone, "But because digital beings age much faster, Ace is technically considered three YEARS old, even though he only came into existence three MONTHS ago... He will be fully grown in only ONE Arcade year."

"... But Ace is a human!" Orph suddenly argued, which had all four other brothers groaning in pure annoyance at the fact that Orph wasn't coming to grips with the concept.

"But he was born into the Arcade, a digital being," Zed pleaded as a vein bulged on his forehead, "I swear to User I will wreck this counter if you don't tell me you understand."

"If you live outside a computer, you grow up extremely slowly," Finn urged as he grappled for Orph's upper arm and tried to tug him in the direction of the front door, so everyone could ready their bikes, "A concept you should understand well!"

"Yeah whatever," Orph snapped as he finally hobbled to his feet and began to follow his four other brothers towards the entrance of their large home, "Speaking of Ace, where are him and Tessa?"

"They're with Lickity and Royal, down by Tessa's garden," Zed huffed through a sigh as he tried to regain his composure; the mere thought of sitting in the small garden Tessa had built, just down the hillside from their castle, sounded like Heaven, to him, in this moment.

"Calm down, there, Wreck-It Zed," Finn chortled, though Zed forced an apologetic smirk.

"Doesn't Tessa start her first day of class today, though?" Tej quietly inquired as he fixed his thick racing collar. Zed cocked an eyebrow and idly looked down to the counter in contemplation.

"I nearly forgot," Zed chimed through a reviving breath.

* * *

"Y'watchin', bud?" Tessa kindly called in the direction of her young son and dragon of a nephew.

Ace and Royal sat comfortably in the grass, just on the outskirts of Tessa's marvelous columns of a garden. With fall just around the corner, Tessa knew it was just about time to rearrange her garden to grow plants, food and flowers that would cherish the crisper, cool weather. With Ace at a solid three digital years old, and Royal not far behind, the two sat and stared in Tessa's direction with concentration and attention far beyond their age. Royal, a hearty, healthy baby dragon, was easily twice Ace's size already. His larger, floppy paws and ears made it clear he was going to grow into himself very nicely. Ace's larger hands made the same notion obvious for his bumbling self as well. Lickity slowly came behind the two, in a calm mosey, and protectively took a solid stance just above them. Her massive, strong clawed front paws rested to Ace's left and Royal's right. Both boys dragged their attention upward and merely glanced up at Lickity, though Ace jostled the small bag in his lap and peered out to his mom in light confusion.

"Momma, the seeds!" Ace's adorable voice choked quietly, though Royal flattened his ears in confusion and sniffled the bag in Ace's lap.

"Pumpkin," Royal whispered as he got a hearty scent of the delicious smelling seeds, even from behind the sealed bag.

"We gotta go in order, baby," Tessa called as she finally began to mosey across the grass, so to make conversing easier. Once she was close, she knelt down in front of Ace and Royal and softly pointed down the stretch of thick grass she had just walked across, "See? We can't plant the seeds on top of the grass... We have to get to the soil so we can plant the seeds."

"Dig!" Royal urged, his gloriously piercing gold eyes honed straight into Tessa's soul with the utmost enthusiasm, though Tessa scoffed a loving laugh down at him and tenderly pet the top of his soft head and ears.

"Wreck," Tessa corrected, though she shrugged, "I guess you COULD dig... But, wrecking is faster."

"I wanna do it," Ace innocently inquired as he looked as if he was about to stand, though Tessa gently held his upper arm, to cue him to stay seated.

"Watch me first, love. You can try afterwards," Tessa encouraged, "Wrecking isn't something to play around with. You could hurt someone if you're not careful, so just watch me first, okay?"

"Mommy," Ace griped through a strain of a small giggle as Tessa wiggled her finger into Ace's belly.

"Watch," Tessa snipped with a playful smile as she stood and lined herself up with the row of previously wrecked soil, opened and ready for planting.

Once she was sure she was far enough away from the three, so to avoid them getting splayed with dirt, Tessa clenched her fists, brought her arms into a not-so-strict wrecking form, and thrust her powerful fists down with great force. Dirt, as well as confused brown and green pixels, began to explode outwards, lightly. She quickly powered down the long row of fresh grass, she wrecked it down to soil in perfect formation. Once she reached the end, she inhaled a reviving breath, brushed her hands free of dirt and peered back to the group she left behind. She uttered a soft laugh as Ace and Royal began to whoop and holler out of sheer excitement.

"Me next!" Ace loudly urged as he got to his feet and playfully began to throw lazy punches. Royal uttered a soft yelp of a holler and nudged into Ace; the two began to rough-house a bit, though Lickity bared her fangs in a smile and gave them a confused look.

"You next?" Lickity repeated in gentle thought, "You and your mom are the only wreckers here."

"You can't wreck, aunt Lickity?" Ace wondered as he finally gave his hazel eyes to Lickity's, though Royal bumped into him, amidst their play fighting, and the two fell to the ground with hard laughter.

"Nooo," Lickity sighed through a hard chuckle as Tessa finally approached. Lickity flattened her ears and gave Tessa a knowing smile, "If I could wreck, we'd be done for."

"Ain't that the truth," Tessa muttered, though she softly gestured for Ace's hand, "C'mon, bud, I'll show you what to do."

"Yay!" Ace stated excitedly as he grappled for Tessa's first two fingers and followed her to their destination, which was just a few feet down from the row of fresh soil Tessa just created.

"Alright, here's what you do..." Tessa knelt to his standing level and opened his larger palms. Proper wrecking hands Tessa was totally positive Ralph would be proud of, she lovingly held the backs of his hands in her gentle, though much larger palms. She lightly jostled his hands a little, "Wrecking is much more than breaking things, okay? You're only breaking the soil with your hands, though it's so we can plant yummy foods and pretty flowers."

"Can we plant pizza?" Ace wondered in total, humble and childlike excitement, though Tessa choked a small laugh and held his wide eye contact.

"No, but we can plant tomatoes to make the SAUCE for pizza," Tessa urged through a soft laugh at the endearingly charming things Ace was slowly picking up on, "If you come across a pizza seed, you be sure to let me know."

"Will we find any?" Ace gasped with a growing smile, he had nearly all of his teeth with a proper gap down the middle of his front teeth, a look that Tessa was floored he gained from his uncle Oliver and grandfather Ralph, as well as herself. Tessa lovingly brushed some of his wavy, dark blue hair out from his forehead and eyes.

"Who knows," Tessa teased as she lovingly nuzzled her nose to his; he scrunched his face with a bashful smile and lightly gripped Tessa's hands in growing cheek, though she finally stood and gestured out towards the path before him, "Alright... Your turn!"

"My turn?" Ace wondered as his eyes scanned the strip of lovely stretch of jungle grass before him, though before he could think twice about proper form and the clarity of it all, he clenched his fists and beamed an excited smile, "I'm gunna wreck it!"

Tessa raised her eyebrows and took a fumbling step backwards as Ace suddenly thrashed his fists into the ground, and much to her surprise, the ground trembled. With messy swipes, albeit powerful ones, he gained ten feet of perfectly tossed soil before he stopped and fell to his rear in exhaustion. Tessa choked an excited laugh and quickly hustled to catch up with him. She knelt down, tucked her hands underneath his armpits and brought him up into her arms. She lugged him against her hip, upright in her arms, and brushed the dark blue hair away from his face, yet again.

"Good job, bud!" Tessa giggled as she got a good look at the proud glimmer on Ace's face, "There's my wrecker."

"That was fun," Ace stated through uneven huffs of heavy breaths, though he beamed an excited smile through and through.

"It is, isn't it?" Tessa wondered as she readjusted him on her hip, though she softly moved out of the way so Lickity could make a proper line down the freshly unearthed soil; Royal comfortably sat on her back and kept his eager attention to the brand new wrecker of the group. Lickity's large tail dragged down Ace's handiwork, and though it stopped short with the rest of the garden, they left it the way it was, to portray to Ace a job well done.

"Daddy!" Ace suddenly hollered as he largely pointed over Tessa's shoulder.

She softly turned around, and amongst spotting Zed across the garden, she set Ace down; he immediately took off running towards Zed, who looked as if he had been standing there observing for quite some time. With a proud smile sprawled across his face, Tessa crossed her arms and assessed the endearing situation unfolding. She heaved a small laugh to herself as her and Lickity began to mosey on over to Zed.

"Was that you, out there?" Zed ogled playfully as he knelt down and prepared for a large, running-start hug from his son. Ace beamed an excitable smile and dove into Zed's embrace. Zed choked a grunt of a laugh and quickly stood, to scoop Ace into his chest, "I thought maybe a big bad wrecker was coming to finish off the entire garden for mom."

"It was me!" Ace cheerfully stated, his innocent eyes eagerly gripped Zed's, "Can you wreck, daddy?"

"I sure can," Zed eased, Ace's eyes lit up, "Though, not nearly as good as you. That was some fine wreckin'."

"We're going to plant pizza trees!" Ace boasted as Tessa and Lickity finally neared.

"Pizza trees," Zed droned as he gave Tessa a confused smile; Tessa rolled her eyes and waved her hand about.

"Only if we 'find the seeds'," Tessa played along, though Ace enthusiastically nodded.

"I see," Zed eased as everyone finally settled, and though Ace eagerly peered back to his handiwork in the garden, Zed carried on speaking to him, "Looks like it's just the boys, today. Mom's gunna be gone for a little bit."

"Why?" Ace wondered, his elated demeanor sagged to gentle, sorrowful confusion.

"I'll be back before your uncles come home," Tessa assured as she softly grabbed his hand and squeezed, "I'm going to school."

"School," Ace eased quietly, his intelligent eyes honed in on Tessa.

"A big place where you learn all kinds of things," Tessa stated kindly, though Ace finally beamed an excited smile.

"Can I come with?" Ace eagerly wondered, though Tessa scoffed a small laugh.

"When you're fully grown, you can come with," Tessa cooed, though Ace easily pout his lower lip; with such, Tessa snuck a firm smooch to his mouth and caused him to heave a hard, annoyed giggle and wipe his face, "No pouting. You'll have fun with dad and Royal, today, okay?"

"Yes mommy," Ace mumbled as he slumped deeper into Zed's protective and loving embrace. Zed gave Tessa a kind, knowing smile and glanced at Lickity.

"You gunna be alright, today?" Zed eased, Tessa heaved a soft sigh and nodded; they attempted to keep a light air about themselves, for Ace and Royal's sake.

"I'll be fine," Tessa stated, "It's definitely not Game Central... But it'll do."

"Game Central is the largest Academy in all of Arcade," Zed chuckled, "Nothing beats that."

"I'll go back one day," Tessa sighed, she shook her head and tried to remain positive, "For now... I just need to keep my mind on my studies."

"You'll do great," Zed assured as he opened a free arm to her. She softly sunk into their little group hug and squeezed her arms around Zed's middle. Zed pushed a firm kiss to the side of her head and squeezed his small brood closer to his chest, "We'll be waitin' for you when you get back."

"Alright, munchkin, be good for uncle Zed," Lickity chimed as she reached her paw back, grappled for Royal's grabby paw and softly hoisted him off of her back. Lickity tenderly placed Royal next to Zed's feet, though he beamed an excited smile up to Zed and curled about his legs.

"Are YOU gunna be alright, today?" Tessa eyed Zed as she pulled out of his embrace. He scoffed and shook his head in a way to state that she shouldn't even ask.

"Y'kidding? It'll be great," Zed confidently smiled, though Lickity flattened her ears and gave Tessa a nervous smirk.


	18. Chapter 18

**Song Listened To : Nova Scotia by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 18***

With a slow slide off of Lickity's soft scales, and with the aid of her massive wing, Tessa's bare feet met with the tiles that cozily lined the inner paving of Dead Zed's outlet. Just steps away from the beautiful blue tiles of End Of Line station, Tessa had her thoughts and eyes heavily buried in her schedule, map, and other loose sheets of information. Lickity flattened her ears, kept her intelligent eyes honed to Tessa's behavior and fell frozen in her stance. Before long, she tucked her wings tight to her body, stood from sitting on her rump, and assessed Tessa a little harder. She looked as if she was at war with herself, inside her mind. She mumbled small notions to herself as she messily thumbed through her papers. The long braid down her back, minus the hair on the shaved left side of her head, was perfectly tidy along a comfortable dark grey t-shirt she wore. She was also dressed in a pair of dark skinny jeans that were worn and ripped at the knees, and with a tattered brown sling bag loosely draped over her shoulder, of which Jax let her borrow for school, and one of Zed's hoodies lazily tucked inside, Lickity let a wide smirk sprawl her face; she knew, indeed, the way of messy, jungle lifestyle finally, and wholly, overtook Sugar Rush's first, proper heir.

"Yoohoo," Lickity cooed quietly, albeit obnoxiously. Tessa flinched and set her wild eye contact straight to Lickity's in startled confusion, though Lickity barked a laugh and slapped her large paw to the tiles underneath, "You good? You've hardly said a single thing to me this entire time. What, I'm supposed to send you off, to your first day back to school, like... 'Sir yes sir!'?"

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Tessa rushed nervously as she rubbed her eye, in an agitated manner. She flopped her pile of messy sheets to her hip and shook her head, "I'm just... So nervous."

"It's obvious, just relax," Lickity eased as she finally shrugged her large bat wing around Tessa and yanked her closer. Tessa uttered a soft yelp, stumbled into Lickity's chest and leaned into her for a tight hug. Lickity squeezed Tessa firmly before gripping the top of her shoulder with her paw, as best as she could, and got a stern look into her eyes, "You'll be fine. You only have two classes."

"For now," Tessa mumbled, as if having such a small amount of classes was something to be embarrassed over.

"C'mon, what're you nervous about?" Lickity complained as she nudged Tessa, though she softly began to stroll closer to the gaping exit of their outlet, "It's a lot smaller than Game Central Academy, right? You were just inside a few days ago, yeah?"

"Yeah, it's a lot smaller, and not nearly as nice," Tessa uttered sorrowfully, though Lickity shot her a subtle side-eye.

"You definitely grew up in the nicest station Arcade had to offer," Lickity stated, though Tessa furrowed her brow and sent Lickity a look of dismay. Lickity held up her paw, ogled the ground in a swipe of a brow raise and shook her head, "Hey! Don't look at me like that, living in a castle your whole life... Going to the best school? Anything lesser looks like a pile of garbage, I get it!"

"I don't think that," Tessa mumbled, though she furrowed her brow and glared at the massive stoop that lead to End Of Line Academy's doors, just at the very end of the station.

A humbled school set in the pale, stone-like walls that softly glistened with Arcade's flooding sunlight, students of all kinds began to mosey on towards the entrance. Humbled End Of Line Station was easily ten outlets shy of being able to compete with Game Central Station's glory. She glared down the beautiful symmetrical blue tiles that riddled the station in a cozy quirkiness. She knew nothing would ever even dream of comparing to her home station, the one place she'd kill to be, with gold arches and a warmth she so desperately craved; she knew she had no choice, and beggars couldn't be choosers. She puffed her chest for a deep inhale and knew she needed to certainly count her blessings, no matter how badly she'd rather crush her chances at staying positive.

"So, you know where your classes are?" Lickity eased into a different topic; she knew arguing with royalty would get her nowhere, and having an angry wrecker on her hands was the last thing the entirety of Arcade wanted.

"Uh, well," Tessa huffed through a sigh as she began to fumble with her messy sheets, once more, "My first class, Micro-Coding 7, is right on the second floor, easy to find... My second class is in a totally different section of the school, though."

"Geez, you skipped six years for that first class," Lickity ogled, though Tessa shrugged and glanced to Lickity.

"I-I guess I just tested really well. I think just because coding and code rooms, in general, come naturally to me," Tessa eased.

"Considering you have two code rooms mapped like the back of your hand," Lickity bobbed her head and looked up, "I don't see why you're not the one teaching... What's your second class?"

"Virus Science," Tessa darkly stated as she eyed Lickity a little harder, though she squinted, "I was told hardly anyone gets placed in that class... Only really students that have been studying at Academy for years... Even students that came from other Academies. I guess this is one of the hardest classes to get into."

"And... You said earlier it's one of the hardest to find," Lickity laughed, "Where is it, the staff lounge?"

"For all I know, it doesn't even exist..." Tessa shook her head and felt a wave of cold nervousness come over her, though she peered in the direction of the school in apprehension.

"Just ask your first-hour teacher, I'm sure they'll know," Lickity assured as she softly nudged Tessa outside of Dead Zed's outlet, once and for all, "Git... I'll be waiting here, for you, in a few hours."

"Thanks, Lickity," Tessa eased as she whirled around, back-stepped and waved a little, "I-I'll... I'll see you later."

"You'll do great," Lickity called kindly as Tessa continued onward, though once she was out of earshot, she slowly slunk back into Dead Zed's outlet and vowed to be back shortly, to pick up her favorite wreck of a sister.

With steady, albeit nervous footsteps, Tessa marched up End Of Line's stoop. Just days prior, she had visited this same stoop; a long day full of testing, just to see where she'd place, alongside proving all of her previous courses, at Game Central, to be true. She bit her lip and felt her heart jump in dread, once more. The raw conversation her and Penny used to have over their favorite school mascots, how Penny was certain being a Game Central Academy Piranha Plant was the most dreadful thing to be. Tessa furrowed her brow and glanced down at the papers in her hand. Stamped with a humble school logo, alongside a cute vector of her new school mascot, the Bob-Omb, she heaved a hard sigh and never imagined she'd be anything but a long-loyal Piranha Plant, 'till the end of her days. She shook her head and desperately tried to keep the past just where it belonged; as much as she wished she could see Game Central Academy's gorgeous inner workings, once more, she knew she couldn't dwell.

She finally pushed into End Of Line Academy and was greet with the humbled sight she had tried to get used to. With every academy, in Arcade, the same general shape and size, End Of Line was a lot smaller and only had two levels, as opposed to Game Central's massive swoop of five floors. She huffed a sigh through her nose and, instead of soaking in her gentle surroundings of loved, grey hexagonal tiles and modern white lights that hung in the secrets of appropriately placed foliage, she hurried to her first class, in which she was grateful she knew the exact destination of. She thumbed through her papers and desperately tried to calm her rushing thoughts, though in doing so, she only added on new tasks she could only hope to remember. Before she could overload her raw, silver coding, she stumbled down the calmly lit hall, littered with socializing students. With a gentle glance at the door number, to make sure she was in the right spot, she pushed into her first-hour class and was immediately relieved the second she stepped inside.

Amongst her was a group of maybe a dozen gamers, all easily a handful of years wiser than she. She bit her lip in a sudden, sharp stab of nervousness that just caught up with her. She stealthily shuffled to find a seat in the back of the class; a few gamers lulled their calm glances in her direction, though much to her relief, she was left alone, for the most part. Once she was sat down, she heaved a long, silent sigh through her nose and desperately attempted to un-tense every taut muscle in her body. She finally decided to let her senses come back to her body, and as quickly as she could soak everything in, she realized her super-sonic hearing, in which she had honed over the month she was blind, came into sharp existence. She flinched and could hear the chatter of younger gamers outside the door. She was immediately grateful she had the smarts to skip being in the same classes as said rowdy individuals. After a few moments, their teacher made himself present.

With a quick introduction to the small class's newest student, Tessa was relieved her teacher didn't make her stand and state her name and other random facts she was certain everyone would forget. She slumped into her seat, and though she was eager to continue learning, she couldn't help but let her mind soak back to Dead Zed, her jungle escape. With humid clouds that coat her entire being with drops of rain she craved, flights through the thick, but strangely crisp atmosphere; her mind quickly sank back to their humble abode, full of every single boy she knew she now couldn't live without. She shook her head and desperately attempted to stay focused. She knew this hype would eventually die down, though she couldn't help but feel alien at the mere thought that sooner or later, grieving over the loss of Sugar Rush, over the loss of her mother and father, her brother, aunts, uncles and cousins... Would eventually fade away, and be nothing but a distant memory. She nearly cringed at the thought, though she was certain one day she'd look back and wonder just where all the hurt went.

As much as it pained her to want to fall into a new normal, without anything Sugar Rush in her life, she knew she had to bite the bullet and move forward. She jot down a few notes in her planner, to remind herself of her new homework, though her mind idly glossed over her new responsibilities being plopped onto her plate. She felt a sudden, immediate smile sprawl her cheeks as the sound of Ace's cute, boyish voice eased through her thoughts. Her heart fluttered, a sure-fire sign that the road to recovery was finally at her feet. She flinched as the bell rang it's calm tune, a dainty chime to subtly state that passing period was among everyone. As the class lazily stood and gathered their things, Tessa rushed to shove her papers into Jax's sling bag. She lugged it over her shoulder, hugged her new textbook to her chest and subtly made her way to her teacher's desk. A short little thing with a pop of sharp attitude, her teacher stood a mere four feet tall. A mutt of a fox-hybrid, anthropomorphic of sorts, Tessa was immediately certain of her teacher's faux-code camaraderie with his newest student. Tessa gave him a kind, nervous smile and gently pulled out her schedule.

"Excuse me, Mr. Kitchi," Tessa stammered politely, she had suddenly wondered why her confidence was dampened. She gestured to her schedule and gave her teacher an apologetic smile, "Can... Can you possibly tell me where my last class is? I tried to find it when I was touring here, a few days ago, and... No one seemed to know where it was."

"Let's see," Mr. Kitchi chuckled, his grey whiskers perked with the scent of Tessa's freshly crinkled papers, in which his mangled clawed paws tenderly gripped. He furrowed his fuzzy brow and brought the page closer to his muzzle, though he gave Tessa an ogling, incredulous look, "... Virus Science," He nearly whispered, his voice was aged and crackled.

"Yeah," Tessa uttered as she rubbed the back of her head and nervously glanced at the few students left lingering in her class, "I... I don't know exactly where it is. I've been told it's tricky to find?"

"Yep, Tee is a bit of a sneaky soul to pin down, that's for sure. I don't even remember the last time I saw him in person," Mr. Kitchi chuckled as he handed the sheet back to Tessa, "He only has about a dozen students... For the entire seven hours Academy is open."

"... Twelve students for seven classes?" Tessa stuttered in an incredulous tone.

"Twelve students, two classes," Mr Kitchi softly tipped her paper with his claw and side-eyed her, "He's the highest paid professor here... S'been here almost as long as Academy's been in operation... Thirty some-odd years, now."

"That long?" Tessa ogled, though she worriedly peered down to her sheet, "I-I'm not too sure I'm confident of going to this class, now."

"You must," Mr. Kitchi rushed as he flattened his orange fox ears, which were lazily riddled with soft tufts of grey fur, "I-I've only ever met three students, in my entire teaching career, who tested high enough to be accepted into his class."

"Really?" Tessa furrowed her brow and dared to smile.

"Really," Mr. Kitchi eyed Tessa suspiciously, though he figured he shouldn't pry. He cleared his throat and gestured for Tessa to follow him. As soon as they stepped outside of his classroom, he pointed down the long corridor they were sat in, which was easily riddled with all sorts of students, "Alright... You're going to go down this corridor and turn left. You're going to go past the atrium... You'll see a normal exit titled 'roof access'. You'll figure out where to go from there."

"Roof access?" Tessa worried, "You... You sure about this?"

"Positive," Mr. Kitchi chuckled and softly nudged Tessa on her way, "Tee doesn't bite. Just don't... Stare... He'll call you out on it."

"Uh... Thanks, Mr. Kitchi," Tessa uttered in a slow draw of growing nervousness as she finally turned heel and moseyed away in further drowning hesitation.


	19. Chapter 19

**Song Listened To : Nova Scotia by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 19***

As Tessa's eyes scanned the long, high arch-ceilinged corridor, in which she slowly strolled down, she was met with the gaping entrance to the glorious atrium; a humble gathering spot for workrooms, staff offices and the like. The atrium was towered with trees and beautiful plants, alongside pretty sitting areas housed in comfortable, rose-kissed stone, worn with love. Tessa ogled the gorgeous sight for a minute, though it wasn't until her eyes slowly sagged around the corner, did she see the door she was certain didn't exist; 'roof access', plastered in small, worn off letters across the top of the subtly hidden door. Tessa cocked an eyebrow, and before she began to look too suspicious of a being, she marched towards the door, yanked it open, and stepped inside.

Tessa was greet with a quiet, still-air hallway that led to a single elevator. Next to the elevator was a closed door that led to stairs, she figured it was in case of a fire. Tessa eyed the elevator, with one button and one single, sliding door. It looked like a service elevator, and as much as she wanted to turn heel and drop this suspiciously placed class, she dared to let her nervous fingertips tap the worn, stainless steel button on the wall. After a few moments, the elevator chimed and the door slid open. Tessa eyed the inner elevator as she stepped in. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though the second she went to go push the next button and wonder just what floor she was headed to, she jolted and peered at the panel of options, or lack there of, on the inside of the elevator.

Precariously placed was a single button, on its own small panel. Next to the button read the floor name, titled 'T'. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and just as she was about to call it quits and step off the elevator, the door quickly slid shut and awaited its only instruction, the only floor it ever knew to go to. Tessa hugged Jax's bag closer to her and pulled out Zed's hoodie. Just as she finally tapped the single button on the wall, the elevator groggily jostled and began to lift her to User knows where. Tessa hesitantly put on Zed's comfortable dark blue zip up hoodie, she took note that the air inside the elevator, and the 'roof access' room, was incredibly cold. She felt her heart jump as suddenly the elevator chimed in a knowing way and slowed to a final stop, after a solid twenty seconds of traveling upward.

Tessa crossed her arms and braced herself for anything, everything, though the second the door slid open, she flinched and was greet with a kind surprise. Housed in a small alcove, the pad to the elevator eventually sprawled into a low-ceilinged room with a single bay window that overlooked the entire atrium. Flood with warm sunlight, and glossy grey tiles that glistened, Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and was thoroughly thrown through a loop. She hesitantly stepped off the elevator and was welcomed into the very back of the classroom, of which only five students were present. As each quietly speaking student fell silent, and landed their inquisitive gaze to the new being in the group, Tessa felt her throat tighten and her heart drop. She hugged her previous class's text book tighter to her chest, and just as she was about to stealthily find a seat at the back of the class, like what she did best, a voice at the head of the class broke her educated concentration.

"Fresh circuits," A deep, reverberating voice quietly chimed, "Don't worry, you're in the right spot. No matter how much of a deer in headlights you may appear."

"Thank you," Tessa eased quietly as her eyes finally locked to her new teacher.

A tall and slender man, ghostly skin and jet black hair to rival any night sky. With a little bit of the length that glossed the top of his right shoulder, Tessa was surprised to find that the left side of his head was also shaved down to just under an inch of hair. Just as Tessa was about to let a wide smile of camaraderie sprawl her face, she felt her heart dip in a pang of jolting fear she was uncertain of just what to do with. As her teacher moved closer, merely a wise, skinny old owl with the mannerisms of a well educated, though socially awkward individual, his horrifically startling white eyes and large, black square pupils immediately had Tessa understanding why Mr. Kitchi warned her not to stare. He reached for a welcoming hand shake and, even though his whole demeanor was simply the stuff of nightmares, he seemed to eke a warmth, as if deep down, he was the friendliest person you could imagine; though, with a lot of deep digging.

"Tessa, is it?" He urged kindly, his darkly deep voice was enough to shake your innards to mincemeat, though when spoken softly, it held a crackly, irresistible charm. He and Tessa shook hands firmly, "Remind me your last name?"

"It's uh... Kalivar," Tessa fibbed; she knew Zed's surname wasn't hers, quite yet, though she knew to sign all of her school forms as such. She almost felt bad about lying, though she also knew she wished for her true identity to remain hidden. Tessa felt her heart jump with uncertainty, for she knew she was mere spitting image of her father, though she was relieved to see her new teacher breeze past it.

"Well, welcome to my class, please sit anywhere... Except the back," He croaked with a sly smile, his scary, sharply square-pupiled eyes side-eyed her in growing, grandfatherly cheek as he finally turned heel and stepped away. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and nervously found a seat next to another student nearby, one desk from the front, "Now that everyone is finally here, we can begin. Tessa, to catch you up to speed, we are currently discussing the psychological and irreversible damage a simple tick of a virus can cause on a gamer's circuits."

"Right," Tessa eased, and just as Tee slowly gathered at his desk, his skinny fingers graced the loved oak as he inhaled a silent, long breath.

"Who here has met a virus?" Tee stated as he peered to each of his students; Tessa was surprised that each of the six students in the room, including herself, were that of human gamers. Everyone nervously peered to each other in dewy, lost surprise, though Tessa suddenly felt her heart dip in cold knowing; the sheer fact that she had almost become a virus, herself, not to mention the very thought of Radex floated into her mind. She dared to just barely raise her hand.

"Ah, a bright one, you are," Tee darkly chuckled, his terrifyingly hypnotizing gaze gripped Tessa's.

"I-I had a few health complications, a few months ago," Tessa stated softly as everyone eagerly peered to her, "My coding couldn't quite handle the issues, on it's own, and I nearly became a virus, myself."

The class fell silent in frozen dread, and it was in that moment that Tessa realized she should've kept her mouth shut. She raised her eyebrows in nervous surprise, and just as she was about to immediately correct everything she just stated and sugar coat the living daylight out of her intentions, Tee gestured towards her and huffed a deep laugh.

"Viruses come in all shapes and sizes, some are quiet lurkers while others will discover your coding and have a hay-day on the very mainframe you were born with," Tee's voice dribbled to a deep tremble, though Tessa nervously tried not to stare into his creepy, vibrantly terrifying gaze as he continued on, "There could be a virus sitting in this very room and you'd... never... know..."

The room fell painfully silent again as Tee suspiciously looked about, though he breathed in a sharp breath and let a wide, sarcastic smile sprawl his pale face.

"And I know what you're all thinking," Tee barked playfully, though Tessa slumped her shoulders as the class fell into lazy, knowing laughter, "I'm the creepiest looking being in this whole Arcade. It HAS to be Tee, huh."

"You'd live up to it, Tee," stated one student, everyone easily looked as if they were a tight-knit group of friends.

"This origin of a virus, you were plagued with... What exactly did it do to you? And why?" Tee wondered to Tessa as he came around the front of his desk and lazily leaned his lower back against it. He crossed his arms and gave his inquisitive, pixel-cubed stare to Tessa, totally undivided.

"Well... Y'see, I'm code-mates with a User-made gamer," Tessa quietly stated, though she flinched once everyone in the class whirled their attention to her, once more, in ogling surprise. They eagerly glanced back to Tee, in hopes of getting his response, though everyone was solid, in floored anticipation, as Tee's humored smile slowly sunk to a furrowed, confused grimace.

"That's impossible," Tee spat through a sharp, deep whisper, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow.

"I can prove it," Tessa retort as she held up her hand and let her palm show off hers and Zed's beautiful, iridescent silver coding; everyone gasped softly.

"No one in Arcade has ever accomplished a perfect swap, with someone that isn't their code-type," Tee urged quietly as he stood and took a few steps closer to Tessa, "Who... Who is this mysterious User-made gamer?"

"Zed, of Dead Zed," Tessa eased quietly as Tee approached and politely inspected her silver handiwork, in which she proudly displayed all over the back of her larger hand. Tee shook his head and ogled the sight.

"You hold the secret to the perfect swap," Tee chuckled, he eyed Tessa with a kind smile and cocked his eyebrow, "Care to tell the class?"

"Are we gunna be tested on this later?" Tessa retort with pure sass, "Is my sex life gunna be on the next pop quiz?"

Everyone stifled laughter for the sheer fact that Tee was put on the spot; something Tessa was certain likely never happened. His eyes shifted about the empty desks behind Tessa in growing embarrassment.

"Fair enough," Tee grumbled as he stepped away, "I don't suppose that's how you got your burn marks, then?"

"No, I... I got these burn marks during child birth," Tessa muttered, though her heart jumped; she knew keeping Ace's identity under wraps was a total must.

"You got a Mr. cranky Dead Zedian Kalivar to not only agree to swap with you, but to actually bear his child?" Tee huffed a hard laugh as he returned to his large desk and put his hands on his hips, "And I'm the Mayor of End Of Line."

"Our son was born three months ago," Tessa eased, her voice lazily rolled into her next fib, "I-I guess, since mine and Zed's coding doesn't originally agree, downloading a baby to the game was just a lot of stress..."

"I see," Tee urged quietly, though he squinted lightly, as if his scary eyes could see right through Tessa's fibs. Tessa swallowed nervously and was now praying that somehow the attention would be off of her, though confidence came back to her veins.

"And, he's not cranky," Tessa snapped with a playfully sassy smile, "He's just not keen on socializing with people outside the game."

"Great minds think alike," Tee quipped quietly as he lifted his head a little, though he peered at Tessa down his nose, as if to insinuate he felt the same way as Zed, "Alright guys, take notes. This next test will be on differentiating internal and external viruses. What causes a good gamer to develop a virus? Are viruses simply born, or manifested?"

Tessa furrowed her brow and knew she could easily answer said question, though with the way her classmates quickly jolted for their textbooks, flipped pages in a vigorous will to learn, and jot down notes at lightning speed, she could tell that she was likely going to ace this class. She snickered to herself and only lightly pulled out her notebook and a pen, though she eyed Tee in growing curiosity. As the class went on, Tessa found herself beginning to doodle in the corner of her notebook, and though her mind was totally paid in undivided attention to her teacher and his wise demeanor, she avoided letting her hand fly up to answer every single one of his questions. She cocked an eyebrow and gave her professor an inquisitive look as the passing period bell rang. Everyone largely stood and began to gather their things, though Tee heaved a gentle sigh and began to erase his white board.

"Alright guys, eat that up for dinner tonight, next test is this Friday," Tee droned, as if these final statements were beyond routine, at this point. Tessa slowly stood, closed her notebook and now switched gears. She was excited to get to see Lickity, as well as Ace, Zed and Royal, though the second she began to step towards the elevator and join the rest of her classmates, Tee cleared his throat, "Mrs. Kalivar, can you please sign these forms? The staff needs to make record of you actually being able to find my class."

"Oh, sure," Tessa eased, and as the five classmates of hers piled into the elevator, and the door slid closed, she realized she was now all alone with a teacher she had a hard time looking in the face; she knew she'd have nightmares.

Tessa slowly approached Tee's desk, in which he slumped into his chair and heaved a hard sigh. His long, slender fingers slid the papers to Tessa, from across the loved oak, though as soon as Tee handed her a pen, he tucked his hands underneath his chin, his elbows to the desk underneath him, and his shoulders sagged in growing debate. He huffed a soft breath and looked as if he was contemplating something, though just as Tessa was about to put pen to paper, to sign her name, Tee cleared his throat.

"If you write Kalivar instead of Schweetz, I'm going to have to throw the forms out, my dear," Tee grumbled; Tessa froze in cold knowing.

Tessa slowly reeled from her bent over position, set the pen down as delicately as she could and ran her tongue along the inside of her lower lip in irritated contemplation. Her and Tee locked eyes, and as much as a shiver wanted to crawl down her spine at the mere sight of his hypnotizing stare, she braved it. She squinted lightly, tucked one fist into Zed's hoodie pocket and took in a slow breath through her nose. As she let it out, she squinted harder and side-eyed Tee.

"Who are you," Tessa darkly snapped.

Tee uttered a sharp, quiet chuckle; his chair creaked as he leaned back in a roll of delightfully victory.

"Welp, I think you should really be asking YOURSELF, that," Tee urged in a grumble, though he smiled nonetheless, "You can't tell me you've forgotten," He playfully ogled through a crackly, grandfatherly whisper.

Tessa furrowed her brow and felt her heart pound, and though she so badly wanted to back-step and leave Tee's class for good, she remained solid as Tee slowly got to his feet.

"Oh, I don't know... Your mother is one of the greatest racers in all of history, your father saved Game Central Station of a cybug overload, new technology Hero's Duty had no idea how to properly control..." Tee carelessly carried on, a nonchalant dribble of reverberating tenor, "... You're kin of the greats, the first heir to Sugar Rush, and yet... You're hiding behind a last name that's not yours? No no, I..." Tee huffed a hard laugh, bent over, shook his head and waved his hand about, "You're right, though, I should really be concerned about myself, huh."

"How do you know all this?" Tessa quietly demanded.

"Sweets, I've been in this Arcade for over thirty years," Tee growled, "I know everyone..."

He softly leaned a little closer, his smile lazily sloped to an agitated frown of a grimace as he clenched his teeth to carry on.

"Everything."

"You still haven't answered my original question," Tessa irritatedly urged, "Who are you?"

"Well, I guess you've entrusted me with your mask of a secret, I can spoil mine, eh?" Tee chuckled as he leaned away a little, his demeanor read total, still delight as to just what was unfolding, "Can I trust the smartest drop-out in all of Game Central Academy?"

"Considering," Tessa urged in hard, quiet annoyance, though Tee heaved a hard chuckle. Tessa shook her head in confusion, "Thirty years...? You're not a faux-code, are you?"

"Most definitely not," Tee uttered with a hint of pride that he was hoping wouldn't hurt Tessa's feelings.

"So... What game are you from? What merits you this super secret high-society, top of the atrium classroom? Highest paid in all of Academy? Hardest to pin down? Head professor of Virus Science?" Tessa quickly listed through a hard laugh, though she gestured her hand about, "What tired-old game did you just so happen to originate from that earns you to have such a fancy title?"

Tee furrowed his brow and sent a suspicious glower in Tessa's direction, though just before she could let her ramblings of disbelief carry on, he darkly croaked his unsuspecting answer.

"TurboTime."


	20. Chapter 20

**Song Listened To :** **The Thunderhead by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 20***

With the roll of the simple words that dribbled from Tee's existence, Tessa had a hard time wrapping her mind around the entirety of it. Just as soon as the raw answer finally melted into her brain, like a molten brick of dread, her eyes softly widened in growing fear, and with pure instinct that plagued her circuits, she took a harsh few back steps, balled her fists and suddenly felt terrified of Tee's presence. Before she could begin threatening to wreck the sheer daylights out of her new professor, he scoffed an apologetic noise, put up his hand and straightened his posture.

"'Tee' doesn't stand for Turbo, stop freaking out," Tee urged in quiet irritation, though Tessa clenched her fists a bit harder.

"If you so much as come one step closer to me I will wreck the shit out of you," Tessa demanded as her jugular showed her tendons in extreme, rising tension.

"I'm no match for you," Tee quietly stabbed, "You really think a skinny, frail giant like me could stand a chance against the very blood of the strongest bad guy in all of Arcade?"

Tessa nearly seethed, though it all made sense. She assessed Tee's demeanor, and though his spooky aura read solid, he still seemed genuinely apologetic for freaking her out, like such. Tessa inhaled a shaky breath and kept her distance, though she cocked an eyebrow and curiously pressed on.

"Who are you?" Tessa demanded, once more. She furrowed her brow and gave Tee her solid eye contact, as if to prove she wasn't afraid.

"... My name is Throttle," He stated through a hard sigh as he slumped his shoulders. Tessa side-eyed him in careful contemplation.

"Are you one of Turbo's brothers?" Tessa rushed in solid concern.

"The Turbo Twins? No," Throttle scoffed with a wide smile, "They weren't even twins... All three of them were brothers."

"And you...?" Tessa waved her hand about, one that unwillingly unclenched from the tight fist, "Are... Someone from the stands, then?"

Throttle furrowed his brow and assessed Tessa quietly, as if to wonder if opening up to his brand new student was even wise to begin with. He finally unraveled his furrowed look, sorrowfully gazed down at his desk and huffed a breath, as if to express to Tessa that he didn't know where to begin. The second bell rang, stating to all of Academy that the next hour class was beginning. Tessa jolted and forgot that school was carrying on, though for this hour, the day ended for Tessa and Throttle. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gazed at him in suspecting wait.

"I was Turbo's racing coach," Throttle's deep voice crackled in even further growing sorrow.

"You..." Tessa stammered, though she shook her head and hesitantly took another step backwards, though just as she was about to suggest that she needed to leave, Throttle choked a hard, sorrowful laugh of irony and suddenly stiffened a march across the front of the room, as if to contemplate his impending decisions. Tessa froze and angrily peered at him.

"He, truly was, the greatest racer ever," Throttle hissed as he approached his bay window, "I made him into the speed demon he was..."

Tessa felt her heart nearly crawl up her throat as to just whose presence she was in. She shook her head in solid disbelief. She knew of all the stories of Turbo, merely the stuff of nightmares, the greatest virus in all of history. She knew his name was only ever mentioned in a negative light, underneath the cover of night with nothing but flashlights and spooky eyes that glossed over small children amidst telling their favorite, scary sleepover stories.

"I didn't realize... I was creating a monster," Throttle scoffed, he muttered something under his breath; the sound of him berating himself for the millionth time, Tessa was positive, "'You're Turbo... The greatest racer ever'... I thought I was helping."

"It's not your fault," Tessa finally dared to show softness, though Throttle whirled around in growing, crazed agitation.

"Not my fault I nearly single-handedly destroyed the Arcade! My own STUDENT!" Throttle shouted, Tessa flinched in hard surprise as he began to march over to her, "Precious minds I help shape... I so desperately avoid giving out too much praise to my students..."

Tessa heaved a shaky breath and shook her head in growing fear as his square pupils did everything they could to stab into her soul.

"Even the brightest of souls," He sorrowfully croaked, the back of his tender pointer finger finally met with Tessa's upper arm, a gentle wrinkle of mere regret the older generation had on his own life, "I never thought my words could backfire so quickly..."

"He went crazy," Tessa assured, though Throttle choked a forced laugh and slowly turned to approach his desk, once more.

"I don't take my chances, anymore," He scoffed in dismay as he shook his head and stood at his desk, once more, "When I saw that a 'Mrs. Tessa Kalivar' was joining my class... I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my identity a secret. But I knew who you really were... I may be cooped up in here, but I do have ears all around Arcade."

"None of the staff knows who you are?" Tessa wondered nervously.

"The professors of Academy know who I am," Throttle grumbled, "No one dares to seek me out... No one dares to invite me to pot-lucks, birthday parties, school formals... Academy is my home. Has been since Turbo caused TurboTime and Road Blasters to be unplugged... Alongside that one other... Weird, demo game that he hung around in."

"You've... You've been cooped up in here, all this time?" Tessa uttered sadly as she looked about Throttle's loved classroom, which she now could easily see as his home. Large, spacious, and held a hidden arch of a doorway she only now just noticed.

"I don't have a choice," Throttle croaked, "If I set foot in that station, I'll be killed... I, alone, created Arcade's greatest fear... The virus."

Tessa felt alien to be in such a raw, powerful presence. One who shared so many lifetimes, so much further knowledge beyond her own circuits. She shook her head in raw disbelief and peered out the windows in growing desire to go home and spill to the safety of Zed and Lickity, just exactly all she learned today.

"So, I teach," Throttle chimed, he largely swallowed, as if he could potentially be holding back the feeling of wanting to avoid being choked up, "I-I... I teach... Hopefully the generations after me will learn... From my mistakes..."

"You did all you could to encourage your student. It's not your fault the pride went to his head," Tesa's voice finally grew a bit of strength.

"I will always take blame for Turbo's downfall," Throttle grumbled, "Whether he helped himself to it, or not."

Tessa relaxed her stance and slumped her shoulders, though she subtly eyed Throttle in a growing warmth. She knew this must've been difficult for him to reveal, though she somehow felt as if this was the right time, with the right person. She wrinkled her nose and gave Throttle a kind smile.

"Y'still willing to have me as a student?" Tessa kindly, though softly wondered. Throttle furrowed his brow and gave her an inquisitive smile.

"After you go skipping back to the castle to tell mom and dad just who you ran into today?" Throttle harshly joked, though Tessa's warmth quickly slipped.

"... I've been banned from Sugar Rush," Tessa spat darkly as her demeanor quickly shifted to sourness, "If YOU want to go ahead and go merrily skipping to Sugar Rush and convince them to drop the forcefields for me, then maybe you'd be viewed as a hero. Problem solved."

Throttle's face washed flat in apologetic surprise. He uttered a scoff of a noise and looked down to his desk in growing humility. He cocked an eyebrow and, after a few moments of Tessa's heated silence, he slid his eye contact to her and frowned.

"You have ears all around Arcade, eh?" Tessa meanly joked.

"I apologize," Throttle uttered, though Tessa raised her eyebrows and just barely rolled her eyes to look away, as if to silently state that his apology was hesitantly accepted, "... You got kicked out?"

"I won't bore you with the details," Tessa muttered, though she gave Throttle a forced smile and gently bowed her head, just barely, "I really should get going. My ride is waiting."

"Ride?" Throttle ogled in hard confusion.

"I have a dragon," Tessa stated as she began to back-step towards the elevator. She softly fixed Jax's bag, over her shoulder and pointed to the un-signed forms on Throttle's desk, "I'll sign those tomorrow... Once I've decided if Schweetz is worth keeping, or not."

"Yes ma'am," Throttle croaked in growing dismay, though he caught eyes with Tessa in growing inquisition and raised his eyebrows.

"See you tomorrow, Throttle," Tessa stated with a touch of gentle kindness, though as soon as the elevator doors shut, Throttle huffed a long sigh through his nose and slumped into his creaky, loved desk chair.

* * *

Lickity perked her ears high, stood from inside Dead Zed's outlet and bounced on her feet, one or twice. She showed her fangs in an excited smile and spread her bat wings, just barely.

"Tell me everything, tell me, tell me, tell me," Lickity rushed, she hunkered down, puffed the feathers along her spine and shifted on her forefeet, her prominent shoulder blades peeked through her skin over and over.

"We can't talk here, let's get home, quick," Tessa stabbed as she yanked Zed's hoodie off of her body, shoved it into Jax's borrowed bag and zipped it. She gestured towards Lickity in growing nervousness and quickly looked back over her shoulder in cold, anxious excitement.

"What happened?" Lickity stood up straight and dropped her excited act, her ears flattened as Tessa quickly neared.

"I can't tell you here, we have to hurry home," Tessa hissed in a whisper as she began to climb aboard Lickity, though Lickity urgently peered out towards End Of Line Academy. She wrinkled her snout and shook her head.

"A-Are you coming back tomorrow?" Lickity pressed as Tessa adjusted herself to Lickity's spine, though she softly yanked on her saddle's grips in growing desperation.

"Yes... No... I-I don't know, we just need to get home, I'm bursting at the seams," Tessa rushed in a whine of anxiousness, though Lickity finally nodded and peeled her attention from Academy.

Within minutes Lickity rushed to the sky, massive wings held taut and trained to the high winds. She dart through puffy clouds and head for Ekreth, a fifteen-minute flight back home. Tessa hunkered down to Lickity and, even though she was dreaming of nothing but the sky all through her first-hour class, she now wanted to do nothing but rush home and give Zed every single last detail of her second-hour class. She squinted through the blazing sunshine and was thrilled the high altitude air wasn't nearly as hot or humid, as it would be on the ground. She was grateful the sky held onto early Fall weather, and though she knew their area of the jungle wouldn't have a proper, powdery sugar frozen winter, like what she was used to in Sugar Rush, she was still excited for cooler weather. She bit her lip in stewing dread, though somehow she felt a sense of odd relief come over her; she never knew she could feel such a strange camaraderie with the very being that practically created the greatest virus of all time.

Lickity remained quiet, she knew trying to pry answers from Tessa, in this instance, was useless; she could tell Tessa needed the flight to think, about what, she wasn't certain. She did everything in her power to find a jet stream and hang in it, so to fly faster. Her wings held strict in proper formation as she zipped the two home. Once they finally bypassed Ekreth and head for the mountains, she lowered closer to the jungle canopies and await the view of the code room's beautiful dome of a roof. Once the house was in sight, she dipped into the trees and was eventually greet with the front of their massive garage. The house was still, obviously because all five of Zed's brothers were still tending to game day. The jungle trees swayed with the breeze, an inviting welcome home for the two, though Tessa quickly slid off of Lickity's scales, softly thanked her, and began to quickly march towards their marvelous front doors, as did Lickity.

As Tessa held her palm to the reader, it chimed a positive response and unbolted their large, secure door. She pushed into her home, let Lickity in, and closed and locked it behind them. She quickly set her bag down, near the small pile of the boys' sandals that were lazily slopped to the tiles, though before she could question where Zed, Ace and Royal were, she could hear Ace loudly giggling from the downslope into Duke's and Tej's room, just underneath the spiral staircase that led upwards to Jax's and Orph's room. The two silently pushed through the living room, through the kitchen and to the large gape of an archway, the three-pronged fork in the hallway that led to Ace's bedroom, as well as the single spiral staircase that led up to Orph's abode, and down to Tej's. The two immediately pushed down the one roundabout down the stairs and entered Duke's and Tej's cool room.

With dark green walls, and surprisingly no need for light during the day, their room was as cool and as serene as the jungle floor. Birch wood tightly lined the room, though with their sky-light, that was level with the ground above, massive jungle tree trunks could be seen jutting from the very Earth their ceiling was level with. Flood with a decent amount of natural light, Tessa was immediately at ease, though she knew her mind was rushing with nonsense. She quickly assessed the room and noted Zed and Ace standing curiously just underneath the long sky light, that lined the end of the room, and though Zed looked confused, Ace laughed and laughed.

"Papa, he's right there," Ace said through hard laughter as he finally fell back to his rear and continued to wheeze with cute, boyish laughter.

"Royal, you're freaking me out, here," Zed called as he nervously peered around, though Ace continued to have a hay-day.

"Guess whose home," Lickity called, though once Ace peered over his shoulder and got sight of his mom, he immediately perked up and stumbled to his feet.

"Mommy!" Ace called with pure glee as he took off running.

Tessa beamed a smile that could push through any form of sorrow or confusion, the faces of her loved ones shone through the turmoil clear as day. She lovingly scooped Ace into her arms and lugged her into her chest to rest on her hip. She greet him tenderly through warm words of assurance, her motherly hands tidied his hair and shirt in calm order, a routine she wondered where she even obtained. She slowly moseyed closer to Zed, across the stretch, as Ace gently droned on about what him and his dad had been up to; these past ten minutes involved a game of hide-and-seek.

"You can't see 'im?" Lickity urged through a hard chuckle as the two approached Zed. He anxiously scratched the back of his head and eagerly peered to the ceiling, as if somehow he was floored his eyesight was failing him. Lickity huffed a sigh and honed her intelligent orbs straight to Royal's positioning, which was precariously hung from a beam on the ceiling, "Yep... He's discovered that whole camouflage bit."

"I was wondering if that'd ever be a thing," Tessa giggled, though Lickity hunkered closer to Zed, squinted and pointed to Royal, who finally exhaled a pent up, boyish giggle.

"Y'see?" Lickity chuckled, though Zed finally slumped his shoulders as he got a good look at the mere invisible-looking outline of Royal's back and wings, tucked tight to the beam his tail was fastened around.

"Yes, now I do," Zed urged with a hard laugh as he finally stepped underneath Royal and outstretched his arms. He flinched as color flood Royal's scales, once more.

"Gotcha good, uncle Zed," Royal mumbled in gentle, innocent pride as he softly unraveled from the beam and reached out his chameleon paws for Zed's patient being underneath him.

"Too good," Zed smiled as Royal finally plopped into his chest and arms; Zed grunted, though he straightened his spine and lovingly kept Royal safe in his arms.

"Hide and seek isn't just a simple game, any longer, huh," Lickity smiled wide, everyone eased knowing laughter, "Can't use that against us, bud."

"I know, mama," Royal mumbled as he nuzzled his head and floppy ears into Zed's chest and collar. He finally closed his eyes and let his snout bury into the base of Zed's neck, as if to burrow and find a comfortable spot to rest.

"It was good fun," Zed sighed, he lugged Royal deeper into his strong chest and eyed Ace with a smile, "This little booger could see Royal the whole time, and wouldn't tell me where he was."

"You could see Royal when he was hiding, like that?" Tessa inquired to Ace, his intelligent eyes eagerly peered up to his mom.

"Yeah!" Ace stated cheerfully, "Royal can't hide from me."

"You'll put that to good use," Lickity softly nuzzled her snout into Ace's warm, chubby face; he easily uttered a soft giggle and scrunched his shoulders.

"How was your first day?" Zed curiously asked Tessa through an eager smile as he wormed a hand free from the bundle in his arms and lovingly stroked Lickity's snout.

"I guess she has a bit of news for us," Lickity mumbled as she flattened her ears and closed her eyes in a relaxed state, though she peeked open one eye, after a moment, and side-eyed Tessa in bubbling curiosity, "... Certain news that had to wait to be shared until we were home."

"What's going on?" Zed began to feel worried with the way Tessa's eyes softly sunk to Ace's little face, and though she didn't show fear or dread, so not to worry the small child in her arms, Zed knew she was harboring some form of bizarre information he was nearly anxious to hear.

"Let's head upstairs," Tessa concluded, she gave Ace a kind smile to assure him that the air between everyone was still happy and pure, though she gave Zed a knowing look, "We should sit down."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I'm glad you guys are so thrilled about the introduction of some TurboTime characters and etc.,! I LITERALLY AM BURSTING AT THE SEAMS Y'GUYS. Oh and if you want some TT spoilers, go check my deviantART and see my most recent pic ;) Username - Vyntresser**

 **Song Listened To : Land Ahead by Adam Young**

 **I Wanna Know ft. Nico &Vinz by Alesso **

***Chapter 21***

As Tessa, Zed and Lickity easily moseyed into the sky room, Royal and Ace pushed past them with much excitement as they played and chased. Royal fumbled over his paws, his large curl of a tail and floppy wings did everything they could to get a straight run on the slick tile undertow. All three adults chuffed laughter at their playful attempts at tag, though they carried on their game down the bend of the sky room. Lickity easily sauntered in behind Tessa and Zed as she let out an impatient chuff; she eyed Tessa, as if to silently express she was about to explode. Zed plopped down on one of the sectionals in the room, it poofed with comfort as he sunk into it, though he kept his alert attention to Tessa, to signify that he was still deeply intrigued.

"Did you meet Santa? Did you kill someone?" Lickity suddenly barked, Zed choked a laugh and wrinkled his nose in growing delight as Lickity spread her wings and gestured her large bat hands, the skin between her long and slender fingers, of her wings, held taut for a second and showed a dull pink through the sunshine that beamed into the sky room's glass. She shook her head in ogling annoyance, "What is it!"

"Okay, okay," Tessa urged as she gestured her hand and tucked some loose hair behind her right ear. She huffed a breath, crossed her arms and tilted her head down, though she kept sharp eye contact to Zed and Lickity, "Guys, please promise not to freak out."

"I think, between the three of us, there are no surprises anymore," Zed barked quietly, "Lickity can talk, I'm a brainwashed bad guy, and you..."

Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gave Zed a look as if to insinuate he was about to have his mind changed.

"...Are going to top all those things, somehow?" Zed pressed, his voice squeaked to nervous curiosity.

Tessa heaved a hard sigh, looked away and shook her head, though before she could open her mouth, Lickity huffed a snort and flapped her head, causing her ears to make a bit of a flapping noise.

"Tell!" Lickity urged through a sudden dribble of a growl, though this only caused Tessa to clench her fists.

"My last hour teacher is Turbo's old racing coach," Tessa rushed through a nervous, girly tone, though she scrunched her face in impending doom and wondered just how the two would take the sudden drop of information. Tessa furrowed her brows harder as Lickity and Zed fell silent, though Royal and Ace continued to loudly play at the other end of the room.

"Throttle," Zed's voice croaked, he side-eyed Tessa in growing cheek and slowly got off of the couch and to his feet.

"You know him?" Tessa loudly urged, though Lickity sloped her shocked expression and dart her eyes between the two.

"Wait, THE Turbo?" Lickity barked.

"I know OF him," Zed answered quietly as he stepped closer to Tessa, he squinted his eyes in growing fear, "Your last hour teacher... Is the same guy that taught TURBO?"

"I-I know it sounds bad, but he's-"

"Different?" Zed urged, his tone began to grow protective, though Tessa scrunched her shoulders in defensiveness.

"He teaches, he deeply regrets everything that went down with Turbo," Tessa began to rush, as if somehow she now had to prove to Zed he wasn't a bad guy.

"Oh I'm sure he's so sorry for nearly destroying the Arcade," Zed spat, though Lickity perked her ears and eyed Zed in growing confusion, as did Tessa.

"Well, don't take it from me, maybe YOU'D like to have a word with him?" Tessa tried to keep from getting angry at Zed, in front of Ace and Royal, though she was grateful they loudly entertained themselves.

"I'm not about to set foot in that guy's classroom," Zed growled, "He'd get the daylights knocked out of him. I'm surprised YOU didn't swing away!"

"I nearly did!" Tessa urged loudly, "I could hardly believe it."

"What'd he do, tell the whole class? Is that how he introduced himself?" Zed argued, though Tessa began to feel her blood boil.

"No, I stayed back to sign some forms," Tessa spat, though Zed crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.

"What, permission to sabotage another perfectly good racer, again? This time, added bonus: future Queen of Sugar Rush!" Zed joked, though he scoffed, shook his head and gave Tessa a dumbfounded look of disbelief.

"They were forms to give to the staff, I had to sign my name to let Academy's staff know I found his class," Tessa rushed darkly, she gave Zed a dirty look, "I just so happen to be one of very few that tested high enough to get into his class."

"Is this class a secret, hidden class that no one knows about, or something?" Zed retort, Lickity flattened her ears and nervously watched the show.

"It's at the top of the atrium, it's Throttle's HOME," Tessa felt her veins bulge in growing anger, "He can't EVER leave Academy or else he will be killed, right in the station! You know how many people would jump at the chance to end HIS life?"

"I can name a few people," Zed's deep voice reverberated in a spat of a mutter, though Tessa largely squinted and took a step closer to Zed.

"He's scared for his life, up there, doing everything he can to teach Virus Science to gamers smart enough to know a thing or two about coding," Tessa growled under her breath, she sternly argued and tried her hardest to keep a level head, "I'm really thankful for this class... Maybe I can get an idea of just what happened to Radex, and possibly learn a thing or two about evading force fields, while I'm at it."

"Radex is dead," Zed urged a little louder, though Tessa gave him a deeper look of floored annoyance.

"It still doesn't change the fact that he RUINED my life," Tessa hissed as she gained another aggressive step closer to Zed, though Lickity held out her wing a little and nudged it into the center of Tessa's chest.

"Cool it, ham hands," Lickity garbled, she gave Tessa a knowing glower as Tessa shot her a bewildered stare, "You can argue and keep things civil."

"You can't go back to that class," Zed nearly demanded, though Tessa straightened her spine and gestured her arm a little.

"Oh thanks, DAD, I'm so thrilled you're here to tell me what to do," Tessa muttered as she crossed her arms; her eyes immediately dart across the room as Royal and Ace let out hollers of playful banter and excitement as they rough-housed.

"Your dad would probably be saying the same thing I am," Zed's voice grew louder with the verbal hit below the belt Tessa delivered, "No WAY I want you hanging around a guy that encouraged a virus? The largest virus this Arcade has ever seen?"

"He was merely praising Turbo's racing, he wasn't trying to cause harm!" Tessa pleaded, "It just went to his head, that's why Turbo went... Well...!"

"Turbo," Lickity finished as she cocked an eyebrow muscle and gave Zed a knowing look.

"You can't go back," Zed uttered.

"Zed," Tessa gawked.

"You have my answer," Zed's loud, stern voice pierced her skin.

"It's the wrong one!" Tessa shouted in his face.

She clenched her fists, quickly turned heel and stormed out of the sky room. Zed opened his mouth to continue arguing, though he bit his tongue and quickly reeled to find where Ace and Royal were. He cocked an eyebrow and was beyond thrilled both boys were oblivious to the quiet, stabbing argument that took place, though he largely flinched once Lickity huffed an annoyed breath. He gave Lickity his concerned, floored eye contact and, before long, he could feel the disappointed heat, of Lickity's glare, sink into his skin.

"You have to agree with me," Zed muttered as he firmly gestured to where Tessa lay off to, "She can't just... E-everyday she'd be... I-I won't allow-!"

"Zed, you'd be stupid to keep her from this class," Lickity's stern voice held much weight over his; he flinched and held his fearful, concerned gaze straight into hers, "This could be one of the only ways she potentially can learn how to evade forcefields."

"It's Virus Science, not Forcefield Science," Zed muttered as he finally softened his stance and crossed his arms; he knew Lickity held rank over him, in this situation.

"You never know what an old bat, like Throttle, would know," Lickity eyed Zed, flattened her ears and side-eyed him, "You can't tell me you'd really want Tessa to stay cooped up in Dead Zed for the whole day, minus ONE class..."

Zed huffed a hard sigh of sorrow and looked down to the tiles underneath. He shook his head and now let his sad gaze chase after just where Tessa had stormed off. He closed his eyes, after they lazily glossed with the tiles, and slumped his shoulders in growing defeat.

"Of course not," Zed eased as clarity flood his circuits.

"Throttle is a PROFESSOR at Academy," Lickity urged as the hand on her wing grappled for Zed's shoulder and shook him a bit, "Academy doesn't just let ANYONE teach... She's safe there, Zed... Trust me, this isn't technically news I'd want to hear, either, but... If it means she gets a higher education, and maybe a chance at learning a thing or two about how the Arcade ticks, from one of the oldest gamers here, well..."

Zed nodded and let his eyes glaze to the scales and small feathers that lined Lickity's powerful front and chest. He finally closed his eyes in defeat and huffed a long breath through his nose.

"Give her space," Lickity urged quietly, though kindly, "I'm sure today has been a rollercoaster, for her."

* * *

As humid air suddenly flood the garage and sent a good puff of a breeze into her face, Tessa wrinkled her nose and softly peered up from her hard work, hunched over her project car. She squinted through the goggles on her face, and as gravity finally brought the beads of sweat down her temples, she swiped her brow and only merely glanced at the five figures, aboard grumbling bikes, that entered their massive garage. She could feel the entirety of each pixel shake at the mere presence of all five powerful bikes that flood the vicinity with bass, core-shaking power, though her noise canceling over-ear headphones muted any sort of outside sound, disconnecting her brain from the thought of actually being able to process just what said bikes sounded like in that moment. The fact that her skin could differentiate the music from the reality of the bikes had chills reverberate down her spine. Before she could accidentally convey interest in speaking to anyone, she returned her attention to her chore before her; a widely popped hood with mechanical tools askew and blacked hands from motor oil and other slippery vehicle fluids.

"Hey, Tess," Jax chimed with a kind smile once all five boys shut off their now tidily parked bikes, though as Tessa remained oblivious to his greeting, the five boys stole nervous glances to each other.

"Her and Zed are fighting," Duke grumbled, Finn nodded as everyone dismounted their bikes. Their racing uniforms were splattered with mud and all kinds of dirty debris.

"How can you tell? She hasn't said a single thing," Jax mumbled as the five boys tiredly moseyed towards the exit of their massively sprawling garage. They each held their nervous attention to their Queen Bee at the far end.

"Jax, she's face deep in one of Dead Zed's most powerful race cars, with her headphones on," Finn gestured, everyone chuckled in a knowing way, "She only puts those on and works on a project in solitude if she's fighting with someone."

"How observant," Tej chuckled, though Finn shrugged and looked to Orph for help.

"It's true," Orph huffed as he yanked his helmet off. His silver hair was sweaty and matted to his scalp, "Notice she's not taking off her headphones to greet us? She doesn't want to talk. Sure-fire way of knowing a girl is mad."

"Take note, any future girlfriend of yours will appreciate that knowledge," Finn muttered, though Orph finally shot him an angry glare.

"Hey meat-head, just cause I'm an ass doesn't mean I don't know how to treat a lady," Orph dared as everyone finally came to the back door of the garage, which exited to a path that lead to the front of their home, "Get us racers back to Sugar Rush and I'll show you how it's done."

"Will you, now," Finn said through an exasperated sigh.

"Y'guys seen Tess?" Zed wondered as he popped the garage door open and nervously peered in, though he flinched once everyone began to file past him, one by one.

"She's got her headphones on, dude, y'know what that means," Duke muttered, he slapped Zed's shoulder in a brotherly fashion; Zed grunted and barely flinched in surprise.

"Y'know, motor oil stains clothes," Finn reminded as he pat Zed's shoulder as well, "Keep a five foot distance..."

"Oh, you're screwed," Jax ogled with an eager smile as he swat at Zed's chest and gave him a gentle shove; Zed grunted again and began to furrow his brow in deeper confusion.

"And not in the good way," Tej eyed Zed with boyish cheek he only ever felt comfortable showing his oldest brother.

"Might wanna remove her from the vicinity of the blow-torch and gasoline," Orph choked in a whisper of a pretend secret as he looked back to Tessa's positioning in the garage, "I don't think a code-swap could save yah now."

"Welcome home," Zed stated unenthusiastically as he dazed his eyes into the depths of the garage. Orph gave him one final, brotherly pat to the back before all five boys vanished with the quick shut of the heavy garage back-door.

White dust speckled under the large, crisp lights overhead, the concrete housing of echoey garage walls held a solid volume of loved coolness. Tessa's curvy body stood before the popped hood of her very first project race car. A gorgeous, hard-top beast clad in a beautiful matte charcoal brown and a flawless, sharp display of proper, aerodynamic form. With mean headlights and gaping exhaust pipes, he knew she was onto something, though he also knew said beast held a lot of her secrets; she constantly muttered her worries to the silent parts of the engine, a powerful rocket that quietly listened to the things that were bothering her that day. Zed squinted and assessed her; she had changed into her lazy black tank and cotton grey pants that were ripped and cut at the knees. Her hair was still tucked into a braid that had grown messy over the course of her exciting day. Her warm voice hummed a tune and daintily sang a few words here and there, her nice headphones blocked out anything but her music. Her demeanor reeked of a gentle, motherly understanding Zed was very well aware was simply a facade, in this moment. Her powerful hands were blackened with the work she had been successful at, tender fingers that were agile with everything she did, though he was certain that hours prior, she was prepared to wreck the daylights out of him. Zed let a nervous smile sprawl his face and finally dared to push through the kicked up dust that hung in the air.

"Love," Zed's deep voice cooed, though Tessa didn't hear. He tenderly let their silver circuits sprawl from his body, into the grid of the garage and worm their way over to her. Once they came in contact with the soles of her bare feet, she flinched and drew her hawk-eye attention straight into his soul, causing him to nearly flinch.

"What?" Tessa demanded in immediate annoyance as she slipped her headphones off of her head and to rest on her shoulders, around her neck.

"Dinner will be ready, soon," Zed stated calmly as he was likely the only being in Arcade to dare to continue to approach her.

"Kay," Tessa eased through her teeth as she snottily dared to sink the headphones back over her head, her attention quickly sank back into what she was working on, though Zed interrupted her process.

"How's it coming?" Zed prod, though Tessa hesitantly slumped the headphones back to her collar.

"Fine," Tessa stabbed, though her eyes finally gained the slightest degree of warmth as Zed gained a three-foot distance. He crossed his arms and peered into the hood of her engine bay.

"Beauty," Zed eased as he cocked an eyebrow and looked Tessa over briefly, as if to have her wondering if he was talking about her or the racecar, "What's wrong with her? Not running, just yet?"

"The air intake is wonky," Tessa huffed quietly, "Somehow there's too much air getting to the cylinders... Though once I adjust it, she keeps stalling. Forget getting out of second gear."

"Just a few adjustments and she'll be right as rain," Zed assured, he peered at Tessa through the corner of his eye, "Been telling the car all the awful things about me?"

"Yeah," Tessa admitted with a mean, bashful smile. She shook her head and, with her hands held out before her, she slid her fingertips along her palms and relished in the slippery oil on her hands, "She's not too keen of you, right now. Maybe she'll let you drive her in a few days..."

"Fast friends, I see," Zed muttered as he lovingly pat the front, driver side, near the headlight.

"Y'gunna restrain me from driving this race car, once it's finished, as well?" Tessa stabbed with mean delight, she gave Zed a squinty grin of billowing frustration, though Zed huffed a long sigh and stepped back a little.

"Well, if it has a bad influence on you and can single-handedly destroy everything you worked so hard for, then, maybe," Zed daintily shrugged, his strong shoulders peeked through his lazy grey t-shirt; it was clad with an outdated Dead Zed logo.

"What if looks are just deceiving?" Tessa prod; she knew, at this point, they were no longer talking about her race-car.

Zed furrowed his brow and hooked his whole attention to Tessa. He opened his mouth to retort, though he was aware that anything he had to say would be extremely hypocritical, and from giving off this vibe, he knew Tessa had cued to his insecurity.

"A Mr. Dead Zed, bad guy with only winning on his mind... Is a total jerk to anyone who thinks they're better," Tessa spat with a knowing smile as she side-eyed him, "I was totally duped the day Zane spilled the beans and revealed that he was, indeed, the meanest bad guy on the block."

"That's different," Zed mumbled, though he knew he was wrong.

"Not in the slightest," Tessa eased as she finally took a few steps away, reached for a clean work towel she had, near a fresh glass of water; she began to clean her hands off as she continued, "Zed, why do you think Throttle trusted me with his secret?"

Zed slumped his shoulders and kept his attention glued to Tessa's in growing defeat. He lightly shook his head, as if to quietly convey that he had given up arguing with her before he even started.

"The same reason you trusted me with yours," Tessa eased, "I'm of importance to Arcade... And even more so, I'm trustworthy. How many important gamers can you name have that same value?"

"Aside from your mom and dad," Zed sighed and looked away, "Really can't think of... Anyone..."

"I know Throttle has a lot he needs to tell me," Tessa stated as she finally removed the gunk from her hands, though her skin still remained stained until properly washed, "I left his class before I could really get a lot of insight... Not to mention, I cut it short due to wanting to have the last word..."

"Good job," Zed gently joked, though he cocked an eyebrow, as if to insinuate half of him wanted her to turn right around and get every single last drop of information Throttle had to offer.

"So I'm stubborn and don't think before I speak, sue me," Tessa huffed as she lazily slapped her hands to her sides, "I have to go back to that class, Zed... Who knows what Throttle knows about... About the virus problems Sugar Rush had? About forcefields? I could even get insight as to truly why Turbo went crazy, and what we can do to prevent anything like that from happening ever again."

"Well, I can tell you one thing, a code-swap will fix that right up," Zed chuckled, and though Tessa smiled, she rolled her eyes.

"Turbo never had a code-swap mate, there's no way a swap would've fixed his problems," Tessa grumbled, though Zed side-eyed her.

"Hey, y'never know, every gamer has a closet of skeletons," Zed beamed in cheeky delight, Tessa's smile broadened as her walls slowly came down.

"Yeah, the cockiest, douche-bag of a virus had a swap-mate," Tessa ogled as she waved her hands about, "I'd like to know just what girl, in her right mind, gave him the right."

Zed sighed, and just as he was about to eagerly ask Tessa to inquire about it, to Throttle, in tomorrow's class, he caught himself and knew that would ultimately be his move straight into losing this game. He was very aware he was losing either way, though he knew prolonging death made things a bit more interesting.

"I'll be sure to ask Throttle about it tomorrow, along with the other list of questions you want me to ask him," Tessa spat with a victorious smile, though it only broadened as Zed let out a long sigh and rubbed the back of his head.

"I apologize," Zed stated quietly, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms as he slowly carried on, "I just... I just am protective of you. Of this game, and what you mean to it."

Tessa let her bratty smirk slope to a genuine look of concern, and just as she shook her head and opened her mouth to inquire Zed's notion's further, he carried on.

"You're the only other person I'd want to share this game with," Zed's voice grew quiet and sincere, as if it were a secret, "I don't want anything bad to happen to you... There's too many people here, that rely on you."

Tessa's frown broadened gently, her eyes glossed Zed's chest and strong arms, though she brought her concerned eye contact back to his.

"You're worried Throttle will hurt me?" Tessa quietly asked, though Zed huffed a sigh and looked down.

"I guess I'm just worried you'll be too trusting and invite someone in that is eager to do harm... You can't blame me for being wary," Zed urged gently, "He's the sole reason we have anti-virus coding in our game."

"Maybe you should meet up with me, after school," Tessa inquired in a gentle eagerness that was quiet enough to be polite, "Leave Ace with Lickity and... Maybe we can talk to him together, get some good insight on maybe his take on the whole Radex drama."

"I'm not a self-programmed gamer," Zed worried, though his eyes lightly glossed with growing, nervous excitement, as if he was now floored to finally get to meet this guy, whether he was upset about it or not.

"That won't matter," Tessa shrugged, "You're not visiting Academy to take classes. Simply to talk to one of my teachers."

"Sounds fair," Zed assured, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave Tessa a nervous smirk, "This should be interesting."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Just want to make a quick 'apology' at the girth of this chapter, and the massive amount of exposition that goes on xD I promise the next chapter scoots the plot along further :)**

 **Song Listened To : One of the Family - Big Hero 6 soundtrack (Henry Jackman)**

 ***Chapter 22***

Tessa bit her bottom lip firmly as the elevator kindly chimed its destination. She inhaled sharply, held her breath, and let her retinas soak in the warm room that she was graced with. Her eyes immediately spot every single one of her five classmates, all casually loitering, two hung near Throttle's desk and discussed the test coming up at the end of the week. As Tessa slowly sauntered into the room, she caught eyes with Throttle. He cocked an eyebrow and, though he continued speaking to the two students in front of him, he gave Tessa a snarky smile, as if to silently convey that he knew she'd be stupid not to return. Tessa lightly furrowed her brow, as if to retort in her own way, to prove that she was going to return whether he had greater influence or not. She slowly sat down and got comfortable, though she unravelled her hoodie sleeves; Zed's bright blue zip-up proved to be of comfort in cold Academy classrooms, and though Throttle's 'top of the building', homey abode wasn't cold, she merely snuggled into the loved fleece for comfort.

As Throttle's invigorating class came to an end too soon, the bell rang and everyone began to slowly gather their things, as if to convey that they, too, didn't want their hot-topics and exciting conversations to end. Tessa heaved a hard sigh and messily shoved her notebooks into Jax's slingbag, once more, though she kept close tabs on Throttle's body language. Not once had they agreed to Tessa hanging back to sign forms, of any sort, though Tessa knew he was itching to ask her to stay behind the class. Tessa softly stood, moseyed to the elevator with everyone else, and only lightly peered back to Throttle. She hesitated, only barely, though Throttle's spooky eyes held solid to her. Before she could make an awkward excuse about likely forgetting something at her desk, and letting her five classmates take the one elevator down to the ground level, without her, she slipped into the lift with everyone and regretfully peered into Throttle's classroom.

As the elevator doors creakily closed, and Throttle's curious eye contact was the last thing she saw, she held her breath and now realized she was all alone with her discussion buddies, and as much as she wanted to jump into their heated topics that carried far beyond Throttle's classroom walls, she held silent and contemplated just how to ditch her classmates, so she could return to Throttle's perch. As the elevator reached the ground, and everyone piled off, Tessa lingered in the cold room behind the group. As the last of her classmates vanished through the heavy door, in which lead to Academy's sprawling atrium, she froze in her footsteps and waited for the door to suction shut. Once she heard the clack of the hinges, she bolted towards the elevator and eagerly pressed the worn, silver button before the doors could close. The creaky doors welcomed her into the lift, once more.

As she ran through the dizzying deja vu, she firmly bit her bottom lip, once more, as the elevator kindly chimed its destination. The doors slid open, and as she went to give Throttle a kind notion about pretending to leave something behind, she jolted and found the room totally empty. She froze, tucked her bag tighter to her chest and dart her eyes about the room, though it wasn't until her super-sonic hearing immediately cued to the numbingly silent presence behind her did she whirl around with a quiet, though sharp gasp.

"Boo," Throttle's deep, threatening voice was the stuff of nightmares, though his charming smile and kind half-moon eyes suggested he was simply all bark and no bite.

"A double-doored elevator," Tessa noticed as he stepped back into the second opening, in which apparently only he knew about. He kindly gestured his hand, to insinuate she should make herself at home. She pushed into the second half of Throttle's home and peered about as she carried on, "Who would'a'thunk."

"One half is my classroom," Throttle gestured, the elevator doors, that lead to his classroom, slowly slid shut. He finally motioned towards his home and smiled, "Other half is my home."

"Clever," Tessa chuckled, though just as she was about to slump her shoulders and ease into the warmth of his inviting home, she furrowed her brow and gave him a look of embarassed cheek, "I-I didn't want the other students to see me stay back, after class, a second day."

"No, we wouldn't want speculators," Throttle grumbled as he moved into his small home, in which was a single loft with yet another bay window that looked out the same side of the atrium, as did his classroom. He chuckled and stepped into his gorgeous, though small, kitchenette, clad with flawless white cabinetry and countertops, "I knew you'd come back, however."

"Why?" Tessa urged in gentle annoyance as she made her way to his small kitchen island, only large enough for two barstools. She set Jax's bag down and got comfortable.

"Let'see," Throttle choked with an incredulous smile, though he began to boil some water in a pretty bronze kettle he had, "You're the only student I've told my secret to. You're also the banished princess of Sugar Rush."

"Your point?" Tessa retort with a sassy smile.

"Don't mean to brag, but typically any dewy-eyed, 'eager to learn everything' student would be stupid to not be totally 'through the roof' to be in the presence of a TurboTime gamer," Throttle's voice trickled to deep crankiness as he turned on his gas stove; the flame sparked and he gingerly set the kettle atop the black grating.

"What if I said I actually just forgot that I need to sign those forms?" Tessa volleyed, though her heart jumped in surprise as Throttle beamed her a genuine, wide grin.

"Those forms were bullshit," Throttle chuckled, an almost boyish side Tessa was surprised came through his ghostly skin. She flinched and gave Throttle an incredulous grin of surprised stupor as he carried on, "I only made that up so I could talk to you in private without my other students getting suspicious."

"Guess I shoulda seen that coming from a mile away," Tessa's eyes dart to the bay window to her left, though she nervously peered to the back of Throttle's head as she remembered Zed would be joining them, "I... I hope you don't mind... Zed is going to stop by today."

"I knew I couldn't trust you with my secret," Throttle chuckled, though he nonchalantly peered back to Tessa, as if to merely state he was joking; Tessa stiffened nonetheless.

"Zed won't spill your secret," Tessa assured, "I kinda live with the guy and, y'know, have a baby with him and... No big deal?" She retort in a sarcastic way.

"No harm done," Throttle eased as he leaned against the counter, facing Tessa, and crossed his arms, "Just keep it as tight under wraps as you can... Y'sure Zedian will be able to find my class?"

"I told him where to go, he's pretty sharp," Tessa eased as she finally relaxed her arms onto the counter top before her.

"So y'have a baby?" Throttle stated quietly with a smile, his scary gaze was beginning to look more and more friendly as time went on, as ironic as it seemed. Throttle chuckled and shook his head, "And with a User-made gamer? Y'really defied all logic, with that one."

"So I've been told," Tessa sighed with a gentle smile, "Our son will be four months old in two weeks. His name is Ace."

"Congratulations," Throttle stated with deep, gentle kindness, though he just barely squinted. Tessa's heart dipped in growing nervousness, she knew Throttle was extremely intuitive and was very much aware that he could see through any form of lies or trickery, "So... Ace Kalivar. A simple faux-code, then?"

"Ace Von Thaddeus Kalivar... Yeah, a self-programmed gamer, just like me," Tessa fibbed cooly, though she was surprised at how easy that was, or so she thought.

Throttle furrowed his brow harder, and just as he was about to prod her further, the elevator door suddenly chimed, insinuating they had a visitor. Tessa reeled around, on her bar stool, and eagerly watched as the elevator doors opened and revealed Zed behind them. Her smile broadened and she quickly got to her feet as Zed's deer in headlights demeanor only just barely attempted to sink to cool understanding. His blue eyebrows furrowed in delightful confusion, the hominess of Throttle's abode was unlike anything anyone would ever expect from a virus-raising refugee.

"He IS sharp," Throttle chuckled as he removed himself from the counter and stepped around his kitchen island, "Your directions must've been very good, Tessa."

"Thank User there's only ONE ominous door labeled 'roof access'," Zed heaved a chuckle and finally looked Throttle in the eye. He nervously swallowed and reached his hand for a handshake, though as much as he wanted to jump Turbo's racing coach, he so desperately held a neutral ground, "Thank you for having me."

"Thank you for coming," Throttle volleyed in gentle cheek as the two men firmly shook hands, though everyone finally relaxed in a good distance from each other. Throttle raised his eyebrows and peered to Tessa, "Never thought I'd actually be in the presence of the elusive Dead Zed."

"... I can surely say the same thing about Turbo's racing coach," Zed mumbled nervously, though he nearly gave him a gentle glare, as if to insinuate he would like some form of explanation out of Throttle.

"Guess she's told you everything, then," Throttle's deep voice stabbed quietly as he began to turn heel, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gave Zed a look as if to politely ask him to calm down.

"Yeah," Zed curiously eased, he lightly eyed Tessa, as if to silently convey to her that he was a lot creepier than he ever thought. He tried to show that he was indeed calm, though he knew it was obvious Throttle's appearance wasn't the most comforting to look at, "Definitely was a shock..."

"I'm assuming you two have some questions for me, hmm?" Throttle wondered, his voice crackled. He made his way back to the kettle that began to whistle in urgency, stating that the water was fully boiled.

"Really, who wouldn't?" Zed wondered as him and Tessa slowly strolled to the island's two barstools. Zed got a good look around and beamed a curious smile, "I'll say, I'm surprised... I really don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this."

"Were you expecting a creepy cave of a dungeon and the tally marks, carved into the walls, of the amount of days I've been homeless?" Throttle's deep, worn voice glossed the two in a humbled roll of a knock-back.

"... Sort of," Zed admitted through the clench of his teeth, he eyed Tessa as if to wonder if he was maybe out of line to openly express that; Tessa rolled her eyes and gave him a kind, though annoyed smile in return.

"Totally understandable," Throttle chuckled, and though he began to steep delicious smelling tea for the three of them, he set the kettle back to the flameless burner and let his square-pupiled eyes gloss to the pretty, grey tiled backsplash of his kitchen. He shook his head and squinted, "It's been almost eleven thousand days..."

Tessa and Zed raised their eyebrows in curious, baited wait. They dared to steal glances to each other.

"Almost twenty nine long years," Throttle huffed through a sorrowful, though nearly angry sigh. He shook his head and finally brought the cups of lovely, steamy tea to the kitchen island, "I so wish I could go home..."

"TurboTime's unplug," Tessa stated knowingly, "That... That's also when RoadBlasters was unplugged, right?"

"Right... We had a five-year long run, TurboTime was the talk of the Arcade..." Throttle shook his head as he aimlessly gazed into his tea, "I never meant to cause all of this drama."

"You... You didn't mean to, though," Tessa urged quietly, she glanced at Zed; the two were in a constant string of silent conversation only the two could understand simply through eye contact and body language they were well versed in, "And, it's not like you could've helped any of it."

"Turbo was a fast learner, and though I had to sometimes reign him in and give him stern critique on how to be a better racer... He still got an overload of praise from me," Throttle sorrowfully grumbled, "I thought I was giving the other two boys the same attention, but really Turbo was the only one that went crazy... I can't imagine getting an over-inflated ego would cause all of THIS..."

"If I may," Zed started, his tone was gentle and patient, though he nearly flinched as Throttle's eyes pierced Zed's in a growing fit of dilemma, as if revealing his whole life story to these new souls was ultimately his downfall; Zed tenderly carried on, "If... If you made it out of the unplug, where did Turbo and the TurboTwins go?"

"Turbo's dead," Throttle stated without a single hesitation, he furrowed his brow and proceeded to slip into a more hesitant, uncertain demeanor, "I know his two younger brothers are still alive... User knows where."

"They're alive," Zed breathed nervously as him and Tessa eyed each other in growing fear.

"They're alive, yes," Throttle nodded, "I haven't seen them since the unplug, but a few teachers here, at Academy, stated they saw Nox hanging around EZ Living... They again saw Lash during the whole drama that Sugar Rush had with Turbo, a few years ago..."

"Nox and Lash?" Zed wondered.

"Whiplash," Throttle corrected, though he smiled in annoyed reminiscing and waved his hand about, "He preferred Lash... That's just what I stick to."

"So Turbo died in Sugar Rush," Tessa urged, she wondered just how long the three could sit and talk about said topic, "The whole cybug fiasco, when Hero's Duty was first plugged in."

"Yes, a handful of years ago," Throttle eased sorrowfully, "I had no clue Nox and Lash were alive... When we were unplugged, we all scattered. I took up this teaching job and... We all sort of went our separate ways."

"Where did everyone go?" Zed encouraged, the two remained simply sponges, just ready to soak up anything and everything Throttle had to say.

"Well," Throttle huffed through a sigh, "When TurboTime and RoadBlasters got unplugged, the entirety of Arcade was pretty pissed at us... I hid away in Academy, changed my identity, and taught to those who were masterminds at coding."

"Everyone else scattered?" Tessa asked softly.

"Nox ran away to EZ Living... I guess that's just where he's been ever since. Lousy beach bum," Throttle chuckled and shook his head, though he furrowed his brow in growing seriousness, "Turbo and Lash took refuge in this weird... Demo game that was just sort of a guinea pig for the Arcade. I-I forget what it was called, some sort of cutesy racing game we all thought was extraordinarily obnoxious. Likely geared towards girls..."

"I'm surprised he didn't try to take over THAT game," Zed uttered.

"Well, it was a demo," Throttle shrugged, "We knew it wasn't going to be around forever... What Turbo wanted was a 'forever home' to control. The demo game simply offered a place to lay their heads for the night."

"Surely Turbo had to have sunk away to Sugar Rush, after that," Tessa gestured her hand a little, as if to pray that Throttle had more information beyond just that, "From my understanding, he was very cleverly disguised as the King of Sugar Rush, for almost a decade and a half."

"I don't know the entirety of what happened," Throttle squinted, "I know the demo got unplugged, and after that, sightings of Turbo and Lash were scarce... I guess that's when Turbo disguised himself as King Candy, inside Sugar Rush."

"And, Lash?" Zed inquired.

"User knows," Throttle stated through a sigh, "He could be shacking up with Nox in EZ Living, watching the waves and the days go by. I know Nox and Lash definitely had their irks towards their oldest brother, Turbo... For constantly stealing the spotlight, but... I know his two younger brothers had a more level head, a better understanding of how to treat fellow racers and gamers."

"Do you know of anything after Turbo died?" Tessa finally broke the silence after a long sip of her delicious, hot tea.

"I don't," Throttle eyed her gently, "But, you did tell me, yesterday, that you were banished from Sugar Rush... I can hardly imagine the sweet, forgiving Ms. Vanellope Von Schweetz banishing her own daughter... Her own successor."

"We could hardly believe it, either," Zed mumbled as he gave Tessa an apologetic frown.

The three fell silent, it was clear Tessa's turn to talk was now upon them, and though Zed knew she needed the time to build courage, for said topic, Throttle nervously eyed Zed in growing contemplation, as if to silently wonder if everything was alright. Zed tenderly reached his hand out, tucked his fingers into hers and held her hand lovingly. Tessa finally inhaled a refreshing breath, huffed a sigh and grimaced.

"My uncle Rancis went 'turbo', and after a freak copy-paste incident, with his coding, he was literally split into two identities... A good and an evil," Tessa stated quietly, Throttle furrowed his brow and eagerly listened, "The evil side got Zed involved... He called himself 'Radex'."

"Wow, it stretches all the way to Dead Zed?" Throttle ogled with a growing, curious smile, "Never thought I'd see quite, shy Mr. Rancis Fluggerbutter go turbo."

"Before I was even born, Radex tried to involve Zed, and his brothers, in a game-wide take over, to claim Sugar Rush as theirs," Tessa continued softly, "But, once Zed finally realized it wasn't a smart idea, Radex brain-washed Zed and somehow copy-pasted his own coding into Zed's memory files."

"Game changer," Throttle, at this point, looked as if he was containing his sheer disbelief.

"Before Radex was killed, Radex brainwashed Zed and set him on a one-way path to seek out Sugar Rush's princess... To swap codes with her, ultimately drowning Sugar Rush in the virus that he was."

"So he could have control of the game from the inside, without having to do anything," Throttle's face sloped to curious, horrified knowing as he pointed to Tessa and back to Zed, "He... Wanted you two to swap codes for his own benefit."

"It worked," Zed muttered sorrowfully, though he gave Tessa an apologetic look alongside her cheeky smile of a scoff.

"From just looking at the strange coding in Zed's mainframe, it was just simple memory files that could be deleted," Tessa eased quietly, "We swore not to swap codes until it was all deleted... But we swapped source codes."

"Yikes, y'didn't think that'd do any harm, didja," Throttle muttered in a grimace which had Tessa and Zed chuckling out of the irony.

"But it did," Zed sighed and shook his head, "... We suddenly were strapped with a downgraded Sugar Rush, and a code room solely run by Radex."

"I have never heard of this virus before," Throttle wondered curiously, "Usually viruses are insanely dumb. They just sprawl wherever and whenever... But this one... This one sounds as if he has had time to plot and plan."

"We ended up fixing the game," Zed assured, though he nervously eyed Tessa.

"Oh, y'did?" Throttle eagerly peered to Tessa and begged, with his eyes, for her to carry on, "If it's all fixed, then... Why did they banish you?"

"No idea," Tessa uttered as tears threatened to well into her eyes. She shook her head and let her gaze gloss the flawless countertop underneath, "My uncle Rancis met me at the forcefield, over Sugar Rush's entrance, and was extremely sorry to tell me that my parents wanted me to have space from Sugar Rush..."

"I guess... From a parental stand point, risking your whole entire kingdom for the sake of one sexual urge is enough to have people pissed for awhile," Throttle shrugged, though he furrowed his brow and eyed Tessa, "How long has it been since you've been banished?"

"Four months," Tessa mumbled.

"I thought... I thought you said that's how old your son is?" Throttle inquired, though Tessa nervously eyed Zed and held her breath.

Tessa and Zed held solid eye contact, and though they knew to keep Ace's human identity under wraps, they both seemed as if they contemplated just what to do in this raw moment. Once Zed finally got the ultimate go-ahead from Tessa's slump in alerted eye-contact, he heaved a hard sigh and gave Throttle his whole attention.

"... Tessa and I had to fix Sugar Rush from the outside," Zed eased quietly, though Throttle stiffened a little.

"Outside as in..." Throttle gestured as if to wonder if he was correct in just where he thought this was going.

"We found Tron, left the Arcade, fixed the cabinet from the outside..." Zed shrugged a little and felt his face heat up, "We may or may not have had code-free victory sex on our first night as humans."

"For User's sakes!" Throttle barked a startled laugh and held his stomach. Tessa beamed an annoyed smile and shoved her forehead to the countertop, though Throttle reeled in his excitement as to just what Zed was insinuating, "Wait a second... You guys... You got her pregnant while you were outside of the Arcade."

"Yep," Zed chirped in a dull tone.

"You were... Humans," Throttle's eyes dazed across the room.

"Two for two," Zed quipped.

Throttle side-eyed Zed and squinted, though he lightly gestured his hand towards Tessa and chuffed a breath of a laugh, as if to state he was onto them.

"Your son is a human," Throttle eased quietly, though Tessa raised her head off the counter and lazily waved her hand about, as if to sarcastically congratulate Throttle's realizations.

"Three for three," Tessa added nonchalantly.

Throttle gawked, held his head in his nervous hands and paced about his stove for a moment. He huffed a hard sigh, gazed Tessa and Zed in the eye and squinted, yet again.

"... No one in Sugar Rush knows of Ace's existence," Throttle wondered, "They think you screwed up the game and are just simply banished until THEY come looking for YOU..."

"They have no clue they have an extra family member," Tessa chuckled, though she looked down to her half-full tea cup in a sorrowful manner, "They also put a forcefield over Game Central Station... I can't even get past the dock."

"Oh for crying out LOUD," Throttle argued, "You fixed the game...!"

"Radex is dead, the game was revert back to normal, everything went according to plan," Tessa mumbled, "... They just think it's a good idea to punish me and make me think about what I've done."

"Yeah, this just sounds like a family squabble that can't be reasoned with," Throttle's deep voice muttered into the lip of his tea cup as he took a long sip, "Good on'yah for fixing a game-wide virus situation nearly single-handedly."

"We got a cool human-User-baby as a souvenir," Zed chimed with growing, boyish cheek; Tessa heaved a genuine laugh.

"That had to have been so weird, a code swap... Without a transfer of any sort of coding or digital DNA," Throttle stated in growing wonder, "Is that how you got your coding to mesh? A User-made gamer and a faux-code?"

"Can we cut the derogatory term?" Tessa finally snapped with an annoyed smile, "I'm not fake coding...!"

"I apologize," Throttle eased sincerely as he corrected himself, "A self-programmed gamer."

"No, the key to that kind of a successful swap is, alongside the source-code placement, you have to uh... Well," Zed bashfully eyed Tessa, as if to wonder just how to state said action as politely as he could.

"Y'have to come to fruition, all at the same exact time," Tessa barked, she was clearly still mildly heated from Throttle's unintentional derogatory statement.

"Really!" Throttle wondered in growing cheek, Zed rubbed his face in embarrassed agitation, "It's THAT easy?"

"That is NOT an easy task!" Zed finally barked a hard laugh that everyone easily fell into.

"Touche, I've never had a swap-mate, I guess I wouldn't know," Throttle beamed a genuine smile and finally eased into the idea of opening up to his two new friends, "Welp... I can't tell you how to get through forcefields, nor can I go marching to Sugar Rush to convince them to let you back in, but... I'd still love to have you as my student. I know only a small bit about forcefields and maybe what you can do to understand it's coding. From there, I guess you can take the reigns. User knows the younger generation is so much quicker, than I, when it comes to new technology."

"I'd love to stay," Tessa eased, she gently peered to Zed, as if to politely convey that his opinion mattered here.

"You should," Zed finally stated, his hand tenderly met with hers, yet again, "Anything is better than nothing."

"I'd love to meet the little guy," Throttle dared to inquire, "I've... I've always wondered what it'd be like to be in the presence of a User."

"Well, as of right now it's very loud and damaging," Tessa chuckled, she gestured to her wrecking hands and cocked an eyebrow, "He may be a human, but he was born in the Arcade... And got the full force of mine and my dad's wrecking traits."

"Maybe when he's older," Zed eased tenderly with a shrug.

"I could probably bring him to one of your classes," Tessa shrugged as well, "Maybe once he's closer to being full grown. The poor thing won't be able to properly attend Academy. He'll have to learn through me, and the classes I take."

"He's always welcome in my class," Throttle set his cup down and eyed the two, "User knows my tip-top hull, in the atrium, is a hot-spot for misfits."


	23. Chapter 23

**Song Listened To : Inner Sanctum/Nesting Grounds by James Newton Howard (Dinosaur soundtrack)**

 **Stars Appear by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 23***

A few months came and went, the jungle so desperately tried to hold onto its summer heat and greenery. Though there was no proper rhythm with seasons, in the heart of their jungle, the game still kissed the land with a cool dawn and dusk that politely prepared all of its creatures for a mild winter. Tessa sat with young Ace, just an acre or so away from her blossoming garden, one of which they maintained together every single morning. They calmly sat in the stillness of the tall grass, just down a sloping hill that led to the backside of Lickity's enclosure, as well as the lookout from Jax's and Orph's second story balcony. The morning sun peeked through the swaying jungle canopies, of which were only just barely thinned out in their neck of the woods.

With the stillness they were embraced in, the jungle was lively with exotic song birds, the way the leaves ruffled it's hypnotic, lulling notions. Tessa's eyes glossed across the field of wild flowers they were in, some of which were gorgeous blossoms Ace had planted a few months prior, with Tessa's help. Ace, now at a budding age of seven months old, equalling seven years outside of the Arcade, sat with intelligent eyes honed to the individual prongs of the dandelion fuzzies he was prepared to make a wish on. Tessa furrowed her brow and felt a strange sensation come over her, the onset of a memory that so desperately wanted to visit her, and before she could angrily shove it away and mentally scold herself for even letting the thought of Sugar Rush cross her mind, her mother's tender voice rang proud and true, as if it were merely yesterday since she last heard it... Ace suddenly puffed a sharp breath onto the delicate plant in his larger hands, though Tessa held her breath as the fuzzies flit about the two, merely inviting them into a frozen memory...

 _"What did you wish for?" Vanellope softly wondered, the warmth of Sugar Rush's early fall breeze whisked about the two, enveloping them in a neverending supply of nostalgic wonder._

 _"Oh I dunno," Tessa_ _meeped quietly, she gently smushed her cheek into the side of her mother's; she lazily twirled the stem of the dandelion, in which had only a few small fuzzies left on the blossom of it, "Maybe for an endless supply of things to wreck."_

 _"M'yeah?" Vanellope mumbled as she shifted her slouched position to gain further comfort, with little Tessa in her lap, "I'm sure you could take that up with your father."_

Tessa scoffed a catch of a breath, her happy gaze softly drooped to that of cold knowing, a pang of a memory that was once happy, a snippet of old times she used to love to revisit, though now it were merely a stumble upon shattered glass. Tessa flinched lightly as Ace let a raspy giggle escape his boyish figure, though she blinked a few times and snapped back to reality. Dead Zed's cool, late fall breeze whisked about the two, enveloping them in a neverending supply of remembered magic.

"What did you wish for?" Tessa's voice lovingly rasped, she could feel the onset of a sore throat happening, with the cooler weather setting in. She let her idle gaze melt across the vast, jungle field they had found themselves in, though the second tears hit her eyes, she knew she had to work her hardest to keep her positive composure, so not to worry Ace.

"Oh, I dunno," Ace sighed gently, he lovingly nuzzled the side of his head into Tessa's jaw and got cozy; he lazily twirled the stem of the dandelion, in which only a few small fuzzies left on the blossom of it, "Maybe for an endless supply of things to wreck."

"...Oh yeah?" Tessa uttered through a breath that so desperately wanted to crumple to weeping, though she forced a giggle and shifted her weight a little, so Ace's sitting position, in her lap, was comfier. She slumped her shoulders, however, and scanned the swaying, tall, hypnotizing grass they were lost in. She continued on, though in a haze of a conversation she knew would go right over Ace's head, "I'm... I'm sure you could take that up with your grandfather..."

"A BIG pile of bricks," Ace stated, he grunted and clumsily pushed himself out of Tessa's lap to get to his bare feet. He whirled around and beamed a loving, boyish smile down to his mother, "I can build a big, tall building, and bring it to the ground!"

"How tall?" Tessa inquired with cheek, she squinted and gave her son her whole attention as she leaned back on her hands. She wrinkled her nose and immediately drew reference to the Niceland building.

"To the clouds," Ace assured as the two looked up, though just as he was about to carry on, he suddenly stiffened and whirled his head around, though he kept his feet planted. He froze and peered across the field in sudden nervous alertness, "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Tessa cued as she fixated her attention across the field.

She knew her hearing was far sharper than Ace's, due to her blindness the first month of his life, though she was surprised to see that somehow his hearing was nearly as great. She gently got to her feet and gained height over Ace, once and for all, though her heart dipped in a jolt of adrenaline as to just what she spot across the field. Tessa and Ace froze as they both fixated at the dewy pair of puppy-dog eyes at the far end of the field. A creature with glorious, tall ears and camouflage nearly as great as Royal's chameleon scales, a green-furred lykata pup perked an ear and lifted it's snout to smell the air, as if to silently wonder if it were safe to approach.

"Uh, mom?" Ace's little voice shook as he finally stumbled backwards and shoved into Tessa's bubble. He hid behind her leg and grappled the ends of her shirt.

His head was just about level with the middle of her stomach, and though Tessa was certain his height and size would greatly out-beat her someday, she was thrilled he was still at a cute age where hiding behind mom was the only form of protection he knew. Tessa's loving hand reached and held sturdy to his upper back and shoulder blades.

"It's okay," Tessa cooed, though she kept her sharp eyes honed to the creature across the field, she furrowed her brow and felt her heart begin to surge in uncertainty. Before she could begin to fear just where this pup's mother was, she was startled to find said pup was also playing a 'mom' role and was, indeed, hiding a small child behind it.

"They're alone," Lickity gently cued from a ways behind Tessa and Ace, which caused Ace to jump from her sudden appearance.

"You sure?" Tessa squinted, to attempt to get a better look, though the two remained solid in their stance in the shade of the morning sun.

"Positive," Lickity stated quietly as she and Royal kept a solid, frozen distance at least a dozen feet behind Tessa and Ace.

"Hello?" Tessa finally called, though she nearly smiled at the way Ace's larger hands grappled for Tessa's shirt a little harder.

"Mom," Ace worried, his voice trembled slightly, though Tessa furrowed her brow and peered down to him in a short glance of curious wonder.

Before Tessa could cue to Ace's concerns, the lykata pup began to slowly make its way out of the safety of the shade, as did the other small being with it. Once in the sun, Tessa squinted a little harder and noticed a small girl, likely around Ace's age. She had brilliant white hair that was tucked into a messy ponytail. She wore a tattered light brown tank top and dark pants in which bunched and stopped at the knees. Her nervous hands grappled to the fur of her pet, that seemingly was protecting her, though once the two grew near, Tessa tenderly lightened her stance, to hopefully not seem so threatening.

"Hello, what's your name?" Tessa inquired, she kept her voice light and airy for the sake of the nervous small child in her presence, though her heart raced with uncertainty as Ace stood nearly directly behind her.

"Hi," the small girl meeped bashfully, though her brilliant blue eyes looked as if she was practically a burning ball of fire, a scary bundle of energy Tessa was certain the game couldn't contain. Her girly smile broadened as she stood on tip toes, likely to get a good look at Ace, "I'm Libby."

"Libby," Tessa stated kindly, though she dug her motherly stare down into Ace's, once and for all, and lightly nudged him, "C'mon, son, don't be shy. Introduce yourself."

"A-Ace," he uttered, his shy eyes held glued to hers, though Libby beamed an eager smile and cupped her hands to her chest.

"Like a deck of cards... The ace of hearts is my favorite!" Libby giggled, she covered her mouth and lightly nudged her lykata. It whined a noise of agreement and began to pant, like an oversized puppy. Its ears perked atop it's head as it sat on its rump. A decent sized creature, clearly still an adolescent, though its gorgeous, feathery wings, which were tucked tight to its body, made clear said creatures likely grew to a large size, once fully grown. Libby carried on, her tone was adorable and girly, "This here is Balba. She's my best friend."

"I-Is she a dog?" Ace wondered as he finally took a step away from the protection of Tessa's shadow. Tessa crossed her arms and eagerly watched the show unfold, though her nervous eyes scanned the vicinity, as if to hope somehow Libby's parents would finally show themselves.

"She's a lykata! A winged wolf," Libby stated, Balba yelped a small bark and, with a flat, platypus-like tail that eagerly wagged, she finally let her agile footwork come closer to Ace. Her snout wrinkled over and over, and as Ace held out his larger hand, to let Balba smell him, he was floored once she started lapping at his skin. Libby firmly rubbed Balba's back and gave Ace an excited smile, "She likes you! Do you have a best friend?"

"I have Royal," Ace suddenly bragged, he finally came out of his shell, though his attentive eyes trailed back to Lickity, who was a good dozen feet away from the situation.

"Is Royal a lykata?" Libby gently wondered as she peered in the direction of Ace's line of sight, though she sunk into herself and frowned, "O-Oh... You uh... You have a dragon...! Dragons don't like lykatas."

"I won't bite," Lickity stated, and though Libby's statement was true, she finally bowed her head, came off of her high watch and stepped forward in a non-threatening way. Libby gasped and beamed an excited smile.

"A dragon that can TALK!" Libby's girly excitement was palpable; Tessa chuckled as Lickity came close.

"Yes, Lickity and Royal can talk," Tessa eased, she lovingly rubbed her hand to Lickity's snout, "Lickity is MY best friend."

"We each have one," Ace smiled, his gap-tooth smile, which was likely something he'd eventually grow into, was enough to make Tessa's heart melt.

"Poor Balba can't talk, though," Libby peered back to Balba, and though Balba seemed fine with said notion, Libby shrugged and sighed, "Oh well... I still understand her!"

"Royal isn't like any OTHER dragon," Ace continued to brag, though Tessa furrowed her brow lightly at this, as if to spot his pride and wonder when to interject. Tessa quickly was distracted by Royal, who was caught in her peripheral, pulling his camouflage trick.

"I'm a chameleon dragon," Royal's crackling, maturing voice stated as his skin finally dribbled from the secretive dark greens and greys, to his usual color, which was creams with the pop of royal gold.

"Whoa! I didn't even see you!" Libby chimed in hard excitement as Royal's eager, toothy smile shone through. Libby stuck out her hand and invited Royal to come closer. The highest point of his spine was nearly level with Tessa's shoulders; Royal was likely the first one, of him and Ace, to reach a growth spurt. His large chameleon paws still had a bit of a bumbling appearance, though Tessa was certain both boys would surpass her and Lickity in size, in due time. Libby exhaled another giggle, and as she let her gentle fingers feel the scales of Royal's snout, her eyes peered up to Tessa's in elated relief, "I'm so glad I found more friends. Balba and I were starting to get lonely."

"I'm Tessa," she introduced as she finally knelt down, to reach eye level with both children, "I'm Ace's mom. Where are your parents?"

"Oh, I don't have parents," Libby stated with a smile that was far to cheery to be paired with said sentence; Tessa flinched and furrowed her brow as Libby kindly carried on, her dainty shoulders shrugged through her tomboyish apparel, "I live with the tribe! I stay with Mimi. She thinks we need to shape up, so she sent me to the river to catch some fish..." Libby's girly smiled turned positively devious, though her charm was wholly irresistible, "Balba had other plans though... We decided to come on a jungle-wide adventure!"

"Sounds like fun," Tessa remained neutral, she knew if she were to going to keep getting information out of Libby, she had to remain on her side; like she was hoping, Libby's gorgeous blue eyes lit up.

"Can Balba fly?" Royal wondered, he sprawled his wings with pride, though he nervously glanced to Lickity as she flattened her ears.

"Not just yet," Libby wagged her finger, "But she is a pretty fast runner! Probably just as fast as all the other lykata in Dead Zed!"

"My dad is Zed," Ace bragged, he put his hands on his hips and seemed mighty proud; Tessa finally furrowed her brow and tenderly held Ace's upper arm, as if to insinuate what she was about to say should be taken to heart.

"Ace, let's be excited for the cool things in our life, but let's not try and one-up others and their accomplishments," Tessa eased quietly, "We can be excited that Balba is a fast runner and then share our own stories, without bragging."

"No one likes a bragger, silly," Libby stated with great cheek; Tessa cocked an eyebrow and smiled, as if to wonder just who here was going to keep Ace in line. She let go of Ace's arm and decided to keep her mouth shut, from here on out. She knew, just from the mere minutes she had with Libby, that she was definitely one to keep the boys in check. Tessa nearly felt grateful.

"M'sorry," Ace mumbled as he tucked his larger hands close to his center and nervously fiddled his fingers, his confidence easily slipped back to shyness, though he raised his eyebrows as Libby stepped closer, as if to wonder if the slip in confidence was suddenly the last thing on his nervous mind.

"Hey, why're your hands so freakishly big?" Libby asked, her smile was to die for. She inched closer and lightly held her hand to the top of Ace's. Tessa slowly stood with Lickity, crossed her arms, and so eagerly watched the two interact.

"I-I'm a wrecker," Ace mumbled, his face turned beet red with the gentle touch of Libby's innocent little hands on his. He eyed his mother, as if to quietly ask just what the heck to do or say next, though his scared, innocent eyes loudly said it all. Tessa silently chuckled and gestured her hand out a little bit. Ace stammered on a few words before he gave his shy eye contact directly into Libby's lively eyes, "I-I can break stuff really easily."

"Sounds fun," Libby giggled, though she whirled around to Tessa and suddenly gave Tessa a pleading gaze. She cupped her hands together, to her chest, and glanced back at Ace, "Please, Mrs. Ace's mom, can he play? Pleeeease?"

"I don't see why not," Tessa chuckled as she unraveled her hand from her crossed arms and lightly met with Libby's small hand, "You two could play while I'm at school. I'm sure Zed wouldn't mind."

"Wow, you can wreck too!" Libby stated in awe as she held Tessa's hand and ogled the size difference. Tessa chuckled and opened her palm, to show tenderness.

"Sure can," Tessa nodded, "Maybe I'll show you guys a demonstration once I get home, in a few hours."

"Yes!" Libby hissed in eager excitement as she peered back to Ace, though he immediately gave her a bashful smile and scrunched his shoulders to his head. He flinched once Libby flung her arm out, grappled for his hand and began to tug him up the hill a little, "C'mon, Ace! How about you wreck stuff, and I'll pretend to fix it!"

The two giggled and began to stumble away in a playful manner, and as Royal and Balba became acquainted as well, the four moseyed off amidst their adorable, childish banter. Tessa let her arms fall to her side as her and Lickity stood side by side and watched the strange scene trickle away from them. Tessa gestured her hand in hard confusion and gave Lickity a bewildered smile.

"What the hell just happened?" Tessa ogled, Lickity huffed a hard laugh, wrinkled her snout and eyed Tessa in growing contemplation.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Lickity mumbled as the two finally began to mosey on after the four bumbling spirits ahead of them.

* * *

"Dad! Mom said I could have my new friend over to play," Ace's boyish voice popped Zed's silence. Zed flinched, flung his attention to the four extra bodies in the room and gave Ace an incredulous gawk.

"What?" Zed uttered as he set down his mug of hot coffee, his electric blue hair was flattened down and wet to his scalp, having just gotten out of the shower.

"We found Libby and Balba out by the field, mom said it was okay to have them over!" Ace's excited voice only softly dribbled to uncertainty as his father finally faced the two children that moseyed into the kitchen, though before Zed could even think of something to say, Libby pushed a little closer and let her gorgeous blue eyes lay into Zed's.

"You're Dead Zed!" Libby urged in surprise, as if Ace's notions, from earlier, were false up until now.

"I-I am," Zed chuckled nervously as he gave his confused eye contact to the brand new being in his home, "And... You are?"

"I'm Libby!" She stuck out her hand for a handshake, and as Zed's larger hand apprehensively sunk into hers, he couldn't help but furrow his brow and grin a confused, delighted smirk as her contagious smile shone through, "This, here, is my lykata, Balba."

"A friend for Royal, as well," Zed finally softened as Balba politely trot forward and nuzzled her snout into Libby's side.

"Poppa, can Libby stay? Please?" Ace begged, his hazel eyes stabbed into Zed's eyes with the utmost, boyish plea. Just as Zed was about to anxiously agree, Tessa and Lickity slowly moseyed into the warmly lit kitchen. Tessa shrugged and gave Zed a bewildered smirk, as if to suggest that he wasn't the only one that was beyond confused.

"Sure, bud," Zed eased as he finally gave Ace his loving smile.

"Yes!" Ace hissed, him and Libby largely high-fived before suddenly peeling out of the kitchen with Royal and Balba hot on their tracks.

They began to loudly suggest games to play, with Royal butting in alongside Balba's playful barks. Tessa crossed her arms and only slowly began to stroll up to Zed, she eyed him as if to wonder if somehow she wasn't the only one going through the sudden rollercoaster of a morning.

"So, you go out to work in the garden and come back with a wild girl and her even wilder lykata?" Zed urged with an annoyed smile, "Of which are added to my group of beings to watch over?"

"I'm surprised Lickity isn't going bonkers over the fact that-" Tessa playfully gasped, cupped her cheeks and drew her sarcastic eye contact to Lickity's dull stare, "-there's a lykata in your presence!"

"She's an adolescent, totally harmless," Lickity spat with an annoyed smile, "Besides... Not ALL lykatas are sneaky, thieving deviants. Maybe Balba will be different, what with hanging around me and Royal."

"You think Libby and Balba will come back, tomorrow?" Zed wondered as he gave his curious gaze across the gap of the room, the four began to loudly vanish into the sky room.

"Likely," Tessa shrugged, "I want Ace to have a playmate. As well as Royal... We're so far from any form of civilization, besides Echo Park."

"All the people that go to that park are in preppy organizations," Lickity grumbled, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and nodded in equal annoyance, "With children equally as preppy. Besides. They take one look at me and Royal and are instantly 'too dangerous' to be hanging around."

"I guess it'd be good for him," Zed lazily shrugged, heaved a hard yawn and shook his head as he continued speaking through his gaping, raspy yawn, "Where're Libby's parents?"

"...She doesn't have any," Tessa stated quietly, Lickity flattened her ears.

"She doesn't?" Zed worried, his lazy demeanor barely filled with greater life and confusion.

"She said she lives with 'the tribe'... She ran away from home, for the day," Tessa shrugged, Zed gently brought his mug to his lips and took a sleepy sip of his creamy coffee.

"I'll do some digging, in the code room today... See what I can find," Zed mumbled as he held the mug close to him, for easier access to it, "Maybe we'll finally get some insight on why those native tribes are so elusive... Think there's one close to here, maybe?"

"She couldn't have traveled TOO far, do you think?" Lickity wondered as she lazily sat on her rump and tucked her wings tight to her body. Tessa heaved a hard sigh and leaned her back against the wall, near the fridge.

"She said Balba is a fast runner? Clearly she's not flying here," Tessa continued, she crossed her arms and sighed an already exhausted sigh, "Maybe, when she goes home for the night, we can see just what direction she lays off to... And go from there."

"I'll check it out while you're at school, as well," Zed stated confidently with a gentle nod, his kind, assuring eyes laid into Tessa's, "Hopefully I'll have some information for you when you get back."

* * *

 **A/N: I don't have any proper artwork of Libby and Balba, just yet, but I DO have a painting of adult Libby (and like the back/wings of Balba) in my deviantART gallery, the picture is titled 'Raised By Wolves' - username Vyntresser :)**

I also drew fanart for this scene, also in my deviantART gallery, titled **Dandelion Wishes**


	24. Chapter 24

**Song Listened To : Soft Spoken by Puppet**

 ***Chapter 24***

Tessa trudged uphill, a soft speckle of fireflies eased in and out of her path, to seemingly move aside for the Queen of Dead Zed, though also to kindly aid her in finding her way home. After a long day at Academy, of which nearly the entirety of it was spent having in depth conversations with Throttle, long after the class was over, Tessa sighed and was relieved her bare feet were now graced with the softest grass this arcade had to offer. She smiled, and though the weight of her sorrows still rested firmly on her shoulders, and the craving for Sugar Rush's sweet sky still hung true on her mind, her eyes soaked to the warm, homey appearance of their castle. The sky room was lit up like a bundle of daylight amidst the growing night sky, flecks of warmth flit from the chimney in the main living room. Tessa crossed her arms and, after leaving Lickity's enclosure, and her dragon companion promising to come indoors after a good, long hunt, Tessa finally let herself feel loneliness, though not in a sorrowful sense.

Tessa messily lugged Jax's sling bag tighter over her shoulder and as her feet were graced with hers and Zed's open, outdoor patio, which led to their bedroom, she held her hand to the reader in which was snuggly tucked into the rose stuco of their home. It kindly chimed, welcomed her home and unlatched the secure locks of their sliding patio doors. She let herself in, locked the house behind her and slumped her school bag into a comfortable, white lounging chair, which was accompanied by an inviting, massive bean bag chair. She lazily began to undress and got into more comfortable clothes. She knew she had likely overstayed her welcome at Academy, talking about anything and everything virus related, with Throttle. The sounds of her family could be heard reverberating all over their massive home's walls; two voices, of which, were Ace's and Libby's. She was surprised their added small child was still keeping said play date solid into the evening.

As Tessa pushed out of hers and Zed's room, and into the sky room, she beamed a happy smile at just what was taking place inside the massive dome of glass, which revealed glorious night stars. Zed, Orph, Libby, Ace, Royal and Balba all stood underneath a precariously placed paper target, which was somehow attached to the very tip top of the inner dome of glass, at least two stories over their heads. Suction cupped to the glass, near said target, was a pretend, toy arrow with the red suction cup tightly sealed to the dome, as if someone had aimed and poorly missed. Tessa dragged her eyes down to see just who shot said arrow; Orph uttered a hard, disgruntled noise as Ace and Libby lost their minds with laughter.

"Keep both eyes open, you're aiming all weird," Zed chuckled, Libby fell to her rear in hard, wheezing laughter, though Balba boucned on her hind feet, a little, and uttered a whine of a bark.

"Could YOU do better?" Orph argued, though both men couldn't help but join in on the children's contagious laughter.

"Orph... ACE could do better," Zed barked as Ace's grabby hands reached up for the toy bow and extra arrows. Zed swiped it from Orph's hands and gave them to Ace, "Here, son, show 'em."

"Yeah, clearly I will be beat," Orph rolled his eyes and, as Ace drew the arrow back, everyone kept their sharp attention upwards towards the target. As it hit the bulls-eye, both Ace and Libby hollered with glee and bounced about. Zed gave Orph a smug, tight-lipped smile, "Oh shut up."

"Y'guys look like you've been productive," Tessa giggled as she pushed into the room, though as she did, both children perked up in extreme delight; Ace was the first to take off running.

"Mom! I missed you!" Ace yelled in excitement, though a few moments after Ace bolted towards Tessa, Libby looked on in excited contemplation before she, too, bolted after Ace with their never-ending energy.

"Hey buddy, I missed you too," Tessa eased as she knelt down and gave Ace a big hug, though as Libby neared, she eased to a confused stop and stared at Tessa, as if to continue brewing over a decision. Tessa fixed Ace's messy, wavy hair and gave him a loving, motherly smile, though she gave her kind attention to Libby as well, "You two have fun today?"

"Did we!" Ace breathed in boyish excitement as his gap teeth showed through his bright smile, "Libby taught me how to fire my bow and arrow properly."

"She did?" Tessa wondered kindly as Ace pulled out of his mother's arms. Tessa gently dragged her curious eyes to Libby, and though she was a wild ball of energy, from the display of excitement earlier this morning, Libby's eyes suddenly grew shy, wanting, nearly pleading, though with her still ember of energy just waiting to overflow, once more. Tessa dropped her demeanor to a much gentler approach, and though she knew Libby was assertive and dominant, Tessa's intuitive, feeling senses suddenly dipped to that of approaching a weak, baby animal. One who somehow desperately needed maternal care. Tessa gingerly held out her hand to Libby and tilted her head as she continued on, "How about you, hun, did you have fun here at the Kalivar castle?"

"Yes," Libby's adorable, bashful smile finally grew.

Libby took a few dainty steps forward, on her tip toes, and before she could think about hesitating, she sunk into Tessa's motherly arms and tightly hugged her little arms and hands around Tessa's neck. Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise, and though she was expecting a much more animated side hug, quickly followed by peeling away and dragging Ace with her, Libby showed stillness and quiet pondering. Tessa gently rubbed Libby's back, and as the two finally pulled away, Tessa felt her heart jump with a strange sense of the feeling of walls stretching, as if the castle was simply begging to make room for one more soul; two, including Balba.

"You're welcome here anytime, Libby, okay?" Tessa pressed as she got a good look into Libby's kind, beautiful eyes, and as she lightly tucked some of Libby's white hair behind her ear, she could feel the warmth radiating from Libby's heart. Her smile stole the show, and with squinted blue eyes that held all the kindness in the world, Tessa knew everyone would agree with her own deciding notions.

"Thank you," Libby eased bashfully as she tucked her hands to her chest.

"We've had a good day," Zed eased as him and Orph moseyed into their presence. Balba and Royal chittered, in their own little form of grunts and chuffs, from deeper into the sky room; clearly fast friends, as well.

"I'm glad," Tessa stated softly, she stayed knelt next to the two children who hovered in her presence, as if two sponges that needed Tessa's motherly care after a long, fun filled, energetic day with dad. Tessa gently straightened Ace's shirt a little as she continued on, "Sorry I'm so late... Throttle and I had a good long talk. I can tell you more about it, later."

"Good idea," Zed nodded, and though the three adults kept a neutral, light-hearted air about themselves, so not to concern the two innocent souls in the room, Zed cocked his head towards the direction of the kitchen and gave Tessa a knowing look, "I did a bit of digging. I'm a bit stumped and uh... May need your expertise."

"Yeah?" Tessa wondered gently; she knew he was insinuating the research he had done on Libby's living situation, and origins, though she began to feel nervous. She was positive Zed was beyond well versed, when it came to coding. The fact that he needed her help had a lump gathering in her throat and her chest tightening with pure anxiousness. She slowly stood, pat both children's backs and raised her eyebrows with a happy smile, "Alright, guys, well get back to it, I'm going to go talk to the other boys about what to do for dinner... And then we should probably see Libby gets home safely, I'm sure her family is worried sick."

"I can get there by myself!" Libby stated nonchalantly, though Tessa frowned.

"Not at night, though," Tessa worried kindly, she eyed Zed and Orph, who both equally grew worried for the safety of Ace's new friend, "I'll take you and Balba home, hun, you just tell me where to go."

"Well, the chief says no one is allowed in or around the area of the tribe," Libby began to look worried, "I-I can make it home by myself... If he finds out I led an outsider to our tribe, he will be very mad..."

"Well, I don't think I feel comfortable letting you go home all by yourself, through the jungle," Tessa stated, she began to give Libby a motherly tone, as if to express she'd treat Ace the same, "Let alone at night, of all times..."

"Can she stay the night, mom?" Ace suddenly gasped with a wide smile; Tessa knew his notions were purely innocent, at the age both children were at. Libby immediately beamed an excited smile, as well. Ace cupped his hands and inched closer to Tessa, "Please mom, please please please?"

"I uh..." Tessa tenderly rested her hand on Ace's small yet strong shoulder, she gently averted her gaze to Zed, as if to hope he somehow had a general answer he could give both children, though he cocked an eyebrow and shrugged, as if to state they didn't totally have a choice. Tessa sighed and brushed some hair out of Ace's face, messy blue waves that indicated he was overdue a hair cut. Tessa smiled and glanced at Libby, who looked equally as pleading, "I guess I don't see a problem with that."

"Woohoo!" Ace hollered as both him and Libby beamed excited smiles at each other, as if to somehow be given an eternity of play time. They both loudly bantered back and forth, and before long, they began to stroll away, swapping ideas of just what games they could play into the night. Balba and Royal joined in on their chatter, as well.

"I'll expect to declare war on said secretive tribe in the morning," Zed mumbled, he rubbed his face firmly; Orph laughed.

"You've stolen their sacred princess!" Orph hissed teasingly, though Tessa slumped her shoulders in confusion as Orph playfully carried on, "Somehow I can see this tribesman chief dude banging down our door at four in the morning."

"I'm not answering it," Tessa chuckled as she began to head towards the kitchen, just where Zed left his opened research.

"It's a good thing they're at an age where funny business isn't on their minds, yet," Orph's voice dribbled away, as did Zed's annoyed chuckle.

Tessa stepped out of the sky room and into the warmly lit kitchen. Much to her surprise, Jax had dinner started with Duke alongside giving him a helping hand. Finn and Tej were comfortably stationed on their massive couch, which hugged the attention of the television. They lazily watched a show and flipped through the channels. As Tessa pushed into the kitchen, she was kindly greeted by her two brothers, both of which had their hands dirty with the cooking they were doing.

"Hey stranger," Duke stated, Jax chuckled and nodded in agreement as he stirred something delicious over the stove. Duke brushed his hands free of crumbs and gave Tessa a knowing smile, "How'd your date with Throttle go?"

"Date," Tessa scoffed in annoyance, "We got into this heated debate about Radex... Throttle seems to think Vanilla Lake is the culprit of Radex's smarts."

"The lake, in Sugar Rush, he got sucked into?" Duke wondered, as if to wonder if he had his facts straight. Tessa nodded with a sigh.

"The lake will drown you if you haven't rectified any wrongs you may have made," Tessa breathed as her tired eyes finally scanned to the small, open code-orb on the kitchen island. She immediately reached for it and furrowed her eyebrows as she continued on, "Somehow the lake let Radex keep all of his smarts, all while turning him into a hologram. I guess once my mom gave the game a hard reset, after their move from Disneyland, the two split and... Radex got to keep his brain."

"Hence all this bullshit you're sat in," Jax mumbled over the steam of the food he was preparing.

"Yep... I guess viruses are usually dumb and brainless, and will sort of act like a cybug and devour anything and everything in sight," Tessa cued to the orb, it lightly hovered in her hands; it was about the size of a grapefruit. Tessa curiously carried on as her eyes scanned the small yellow orb in her hands, "Viruses with sly purpose and brains behind their motives seem to be proven old, once good and innocent gamers that had just gone through something traumatic... And develop brain issues overtime."

"What did Turbo go through that was so traumatic he felt the need to take over Sugar Rush for practically four centuries?" Jax playfully exaggerated, though he cocked an eyebrow and eyed Tessa in frustration, though she dug her stare harder into the orb in growing confusion.

"... Libby has no parental sources," Tessa urged quietly, she eyed the entrance of the sky room and hoped Zed and Orph would keep the children entertained in the other room, while she thumbed through the growing nonsense. She bit her lip and eyed the orb, once more, "But... She's a child, and grows like a self programmed gamer."

"Zed said her status claims she's a User-made gamer," Duke shrugged, he pawed at his lazy wife beater and desperately attempted to get a few crumbs out of the tips of his nearly jet black-blue hair, "She's the same age as Ace, if not a week or two older."

"She has honeycomb circuitry," Tessa ogled quietly, though Jax and Duke quickly gave her their full attention in hard surprise.

"...Honeycomb?" Duke uttered softly, as if this were now an even more 'down-low' topic, "Isn't that like... Ancient coding structure?"

"Only gamers from long ago had honeycomb structured coding, as opposed to circuit-board and straight lined coding everyone has now... Which is more modern," Tessa hissed nervously as she continued to thumb through Libby's file, "My father had honeycomb circuitry until he swapped with my mother..."

"So pre-nineties games?" Jax frowned nervously, though Tessa finally gave both boys her incredulous stare.

"That'd be correct," Tessa mumbled in confusion.


	25. Chapter 25

**Song Listened To : California Trees by Walk Off The Earth**

 ***Chapter 25***

"Alright, alright," Zed mumbled as Ace continued to dig his hand into the gaping sleeve of Zed's hoodie. He chuckled and grappled Ace's larger hand in his, which had his son emitting a high-pitched squeal of excitement; Libby easily joined, though Zed shook Ace's hand about and eyed his son, "I think it's high time two little gamers head to bed."

"Poppa," Ace whined as he suddenly slumped his shoulders and gave his father the ultimate grimace of exhausted annoyance. Zed stood gently, from their slumped positioning on the couch. After a big, tasty meal, he was surprised he could even get to his feet, let alone playfully drag his son up with him.

"Don't 'poppa' me, c'mon now," Zed uttered in a stern tone, though it was clear he was only being playful. He kept his mean tone and began to teasingly poke at Ace's sides; Ace loudly began to laugh as Zed continued on, "I'll send those monsters, from under your bed, to getch'yah."

"Pshaw, Zeddy, those don't exist!" Libby chimed as she stood and bounced on her feet; Zed cocked an eyebrow and gave Libby an incredulous smile.

"He likes 'Zeddy-bear' better, love," Finn mumbled quietly to her; she covered her mouth and giggled as her beautiful blue eyes hooked into Zed's with delightful cheek.

"Har-har," Zed mumbled as he yanked Ace up from under his armpits; Ace immediately turned into dead weight and choked a hard laugh, as did Libby. Zed grunted and finally lugged Ace over his shoulder with a final swing, which had Ace laughing even harder, "C'mon, don't fight it. Or else I won't tell you guys the best bed-time story known to Arcade."

"Oh oh! Tell the story of the Golden Lykata!" Libby pleaded, she began to skip after Zed, with Ace's legs lightly flailing and his laughter never ceasing.

"The Golden Lykata," Zed contemplated, he peered across the kitchen and caught eyes with Tessa, who diligently cleared the dishes; her kind offer after Zed's long day with the children. Zed winked at her slyly and pressed closer to the direction of Ace's room, which was no longer conjoined with his and Tessa's room, "I hardly remember that one... Is that about the wolf that earns his wings?"

"HER wings!" Libby demanded with a trail of a giggle, Zed raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"Her wings, sorry," Zed mumbled, though he eyed Tessa once more as they came closer to the staircase that led to Ace's room; it was snuggly tucked in the small archway where the entrance to his nursery used to be, "Nah, tonight... I'll be telling the story about the greatest wrecker ever."

"You're talking about me, right?" Ace chirped in a playful, smooth-talk tone. He remained nearly upside down over Zed's shoulder, though he choked a hard laugh as Zed largely adjusted him over his shoulder and shook him around a bit.

"You'll find out," Zed spat with a victorious smile, though he lovingly peered to Tessa as the three began to vanish towards Ace's stairwell.

Tessa raised an eyebrow and knew that was ultimately her cue to not miss out on said bedtime story. Her heart raced with uncertainty; she knew Ace had no idea about his wrecking origins, nor did he know a single ounce of the drama Sugar Rush went through. She was eager to see just how Zed would present said notion to him. She figured it'd be small and vague, and leave Ace with excited questions and sweet dreams, though she couldn't help but scrub at the dishes a little faster.

"Alright, Ace's bed is big enough for a whole army, so I guess you two can share," Zed stated, once he was finally up Ace's spiral staircase and at the landing of his bedroom, he set him to his feet.

A generous amount of space for his age, and something he would grow into, Ace's beautiful, round room was accompanied by strong ceiling beams and a dome roof that made the upward vastness of the room look larger, as well as the cream tiles underfoot glisten with space. He had a skylight which beamed down a gentle touch of moonlight, it hugged the beige walls in a frozen kiss, the promise of a chillier winter than usual. His room was crowned with light wooden furniture, sturdy shelves and bookcases that housed all his favorite toys, knick-knacks and books. His bed was a mess, big billowy blue and cream comforters and sheets large enough to comfortably sleep both children. Zed eyed Libby, and knowing she didn't have anything with her but the clothes on her back, Zed glanced at Ace's dresser drawers, which were each lightly opened and revealed at least some form of articles of clothing, haphazardly.

"You can borrow one of Ace's t-shirts to sleep in, Libby," Zed stated quietly as he moved to Ace's drawers. He pulled out a larger orange shirt in which was strictly for lounging. He tenderly handed it to Libby and showed her to Ace's bathroom.

"Dad, I want Libby over every day," Ace's boyish voice whispered as Libby disappeared into Ace's bathroom, which was just across the gap from his bed. Her little feet could be heard stepping onto the cold tiles of his bathroom.

"Maybe she'll visit you, everyday, if you ask nicely," Zed's loving voice eased as he began to tug Ace's day-time shirt over his head; he threw it in Ace's dirty hamper.

"Maybe I can visit her home, too," Ace wondered, he flinched and wormed into the bedtime shirt Zed helped him into.

"Well, Libby is a part of Dead Zed's tribes," Zed whispered, he eyed the bathroom door, "They... They typically don't let in outsiders. We'll just have to wait until you both are old enough. Maybe then she can show you her home."

"Aw man, that's so far away," Ace complained quietly, his happy hazel eyes peered into his fathers with excited question.

"Only five months, bud," Zed said through a hard sigh, as if to wonder where all the time went.

Libby finally came out of the bathroom, Ace's large t-shirt went past her knees. She heaved a hard giggle and grappled at the ends of the shirt. Ace let out a hard laugh at the funny sight and waved his hand downward, as if to dismiss her nonsense.

"This shirt is like a dress, Zeddy," Libby giggled, contagious, girly laughter Zed's ears had a hard time adjusting to. He felt his heart grow sore, the idea of potentially having a second child with Tessa finally soaked into his mind, without the backlash of hesitation, this time around. He grimaced lovingly and gestured towards Ace's bed.

"You, my friend, are in cahoots with a wrecker," Zed stated warmly as the two crawled into Ace's bed and got snuggled into the fluffy downs. Zed sat on the edge of the bed, on Ace's side, and gingerly lifted Ace's hand, "Y'see?"

"Mom said my wrecking hands weren't supposed to be for destroying," Ace stated with a firm nod as he peered into Libby's captivating glance.

"That's right," Zed's deep voice glossed as he adjusted his sitting position and cleared his throat, "Once upon a time... There was a wrecker. The greatest wrecker this Arcade has EVER seen."

"Ace!" Libby hissed quietly; Ace blurt a hard chuckle and gave her a cheeky side eye.

"His name was Ralph," Zed eased, and though he knew said wrecker still very much existed, he was also aware this simple bedtime story would likely be a perfect way to somehow give Ace a general idea of his origin, "Every day, his duty was to destroy the Niceland building. A tall, towering building in which housed all the itty bitty Nicelanders."

"He was ruining their home?" Libby worried, though Zed wagged his finger.

"It was his coded destiny... To destroy the building, while his brother, Felix, fixed up after him," Zed carried on quietly, both children honed their whole attention to the master of their very game, "He did it so well, and so effortlessly, though the Nicelanders didn't enjoy it at all. Ralph was labelled the bad guy of the game, and all he wanted was some recognition. Recognition for doing his job, even though it wasn't really a job others agreed with."

"He didn't have a choice," Ace stated quietly, Libby nodded in agreeing kindness, though Ace furrowed his brow and gazed down at his wrecking hands.

"Ralph was so upset by this, he game jumped... He left his game," Zed's voice grew a bit more dramatic, which had both children ogling the adult in the room, eyes practically begged to continue on, "He risked his game being unplugged, just so he could somehow get a little bit of praise for being the arcade's best wrecker."

"A trophy?" Ace chimed excitedly.

"A medal?" Libby added.

"In his crazy adventures all through two games he had never been to, he accidentally set a virus loose," Zed explained, Ace and Libby's eyes widened nervously.

"Is this story real?" Ace suddenly wondered, as if to purely be fearful of the virus Zed had claimed.

"'Course it's real!" Libby jeered quietly, as if to assure Ace to keep his imagination constantly going, constantly believing.

"By game jumping and changing the routine of his game, he caused chaos and wrecked the natural flow of everything," Zed carried on quietly, he was thrilled he had their undivided attention, "But, y'know what he did?"

"He died?" Libby gawked, Zed stifled hard laughter.

"No," Zed chuckled, which caused Ace to erupt in quiet giggling.

"The end!" Ace chimed, both children were tossed into an excited fit of growing laughter.

"He knew he had caused a big mess... Because he wanted to be seen as a good guy, he jeopardized his game, and the whole arcade, simply to prove he wasn't just a bad guy that destroyed a building day in and day out," Zed waved his hands about, "He sacrificed his life to save the arcade of a whole virus outbreak... The one he caused. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to change the way he was, or who he was..."

"Why would you NOT want to be a wrecker?" Ace gave Zed a dumbfounded smirk and shook his head with his palms open; Zed nudged his arm and cocked an eyebrow with a playful smile.

"Because he saved the entire arcade of the horrible virus outbreak, he got the attention of everyone who had ever wronged him... They knew he couldn't help his own coding, and he was strictly doing what he was programmed to do," Zed continued softly, "Because of this, all the Nicelanders promised not to treat him any different than any other gamer, just because of how he looked or how he was made. He saved everyone's lives, and the Nicelanders knew they would never be able to repay him."

"Did he finally get the trophy?" Ace wondered, though Libby lightly elbowed him.

"Medal," She whispered, though Zed chuckled at their notions.

"No, but he did get lots of cake," Zed beamed a kind smile.

"So did he keep wrecking the building?" Ace asked, his eyes held constant to Zed's.

"Sure did," Zed nodded once, "And the Nicelanders were forever grateful... You wanna know why?"

"Why?" Both Libby and Ace chimed at the same time.

"Because even though he was a bad guy, he kept their game running!" Zed gestured, "Just because you think someone doesn't fit in, or doesn't seem to serve any good purpose doesn't mean it's true."

"Can I be as great of a wrecker as Ralph?" Ace's eyes lit up, though Zed now felt his heart race and quickly wondered where the brakes were.

"Y'sure can," Zed eased, he tried not to show neediness for this topic to come to a delicate close.

"Maybe you can tear down a whole jungle tree!" Libby's eager blue eyes glued to Ace's large hands, "Make all the birds mad!"

"Maybe they'll bring me a cake?" Ace snorted a hard laugh, Libby immediately joined in on his contagious laughter as Zed pat Ace's larger hands and began to stand.

"Alright guys, lights out," Zed eased quietly, and though he could tell Ace was wanting to protest, he somehow glanced to Libby and bit his tongue, as if being disobedient in front of her was something he didn't want to afford.

"Okay," Ace's little voice stated quietly.

Zed gently eyed him and reached for the lamp near Ace's large bed, and as the two children snuggled under Ace's comfortable blanket, he squinted lightly and assessed the two. Adorable, fast friends, Zed so desperately hoped this new, little friend of Ace's wasn't a one and done for the day. He scoffed a small noise, the two chattered quietly to each other as they lay their heads down; their innocent topics of wrecking, amongst other things, were a joy to watch. Not once did Zed hear any form of arguing or fighting from the two, for the entirety of the day. Libby giggled quietly as their little voices were now too soft to decipher coherent words, though as Zed turned the light out and head for the door, he peered back into the bedroom and smiled; their figures continued to softly speak under the gorgeous splay of moonlight that cast over them. As Zed moved out of the archway of Ace's bedroom, he left the door barely cracked. He turned around and jolted in a pang of fright as Tessa's still figure came into his line of sight. He clutched his chest and heaved a silent breath of expelled fear. He shook his head at her as she cupped her hand over her mouth and stifled a hard laugh.

"Scared the shit out of me," Zed whispered as the two slowly moved to the landing of Ace's stairwell.

Zed sighed and, as him and Tessa stopped their footwork, he furrowed his brow and gave her a loving smile. Through a contemplative grimace of kindness, and hazel eyes that glossed both hers and Zed's feet, she crossed her arms and finally gave Zed her eye contact.

"Thank you," Tessa eased quietly, though Zed tilted his head just barely and gave her a look of gentlemanly question, "This... 'Letting go of my family', thing... It's extremely hard, but... Hearing stories of events that have happened, in their lives, makes it a little easier."

"You haven't seen the last of them," Zed stated in a deep whisper as his strong arms slowly came around her shoulders. The two melted into a comfortable hug as Zed tenderly carried, "I just... I just really want Ace to know where he came from. I don't want him to grow up not knowing his wrecking origins."

"When do we tell him everything?" Tessa worried, Zed furrowed his brow.

"It might be best to wait until he's of age, when he can wholly understand all the crap that went down," Zed's voice crackled with tiredness that began to creep up on him.

"How do you think he'll handle knowing he's a human?" Tessa wondered above a whisper, her grip tightened around Zed's strong middle. The two snuggled deeper into a much needed squeeze.

"Hopefully with humility... We raise him not to believe he's invincible... Having a title of 'User' could easily go to his head if we're not careful," Zed grumbled, though he cocked an eyebrow and sneakily smiled. He began to push warm smooches into the side of Tessa's face and neck, "I'm the only unbeatable guy in THIS arcade..."

"Guess the humility thing stops before even you, huh," Tessa muttered, though she scrunched her shoulders and beamed a bashful, blushing smile as Zed's arms and hands slid further down her back.

"Not that you're complaining," Zed chuckled in her ear, Tessa heaved a giggle and pushed deeper into Zed's masculine embrace, "Don't we have important things to discuss? Libby's coding, being one?"

"I think we can spare a half an hour, yeah?" Tessa waved him off, eased out of his embrace and began to trot down Ace's stairwell, "Betcha I can beat you to the bedroom."

"You'll beat me at somethin'," Zed mumbled as he cocked an eyebrow and watched her figure head down the stairs, though he quickly began to follow.

* * *

"We should play hide and seek," Libby whispered, her little figure just barely sat up and peeked at the glow from underneath Ace's bedroom door; the lack of Zed's shadow had her confidence quickly emerging, once more.

"In my room?" Ace wrinkled his nose, he quietly chuckled as he, too, sat up. The two peered at each other through the calm moonlight, speckles of dust gently hung about the still, cool air.

"Well, what else? Y'got a deck of cards, a board game or something?" Libby kept her voice quiet, she sat up all the way and kicked the covers off of her. She drowned in Ace's large shirt, her white hair fell over her small shoulder as she shrugged and looked about Ace's dim bedroom, "I'm not sleepy."

"Me neither," Ace grumbled as he began to crawl to the end of his bed, Libby eagerly followed, "How about a game of go-fish?"

"Oh! Do you know how to play Speed?" Libby inquired, though she covered her mouth and silently reminded herself to keep her voice down; Ace winced and gave her a knowing smile, though he shook his head.

"No, but you could show me how to play, right?" Ace's boyish voice whispered, Libby eagerly nodded, her white bangs flopped about.

"I could play Speed in my sleep!" Libby hissed sharply, the two stepped their hurried bare feet across the glossy tiles of Ace's bedroom. They made their way to a low, round table in Ace's room. It was easily littered with toy race cars and small lego-like building blocks.

"Is this a game you play really fast, or something?" Ace chuckled, the two sat down at his table, though Ace's larger hands fumbled for the loose playing cards that were scattered about his beautiful, birch-wood table. He wrinkled his nose and gave the cards, in which he now hesitantly gathered, a sorrowful grimace, "I-I hope this deck has all the cards..."

"We can't play with a short deck," Libby worried as she sat on the edge of her stool and helped Ace gather the messy cards, "Lemme count."

"Boy, that story dad told about Ralph the wrecker," Ace scoffed a breath of a chuckle, and as he handed Libby his playing cards, he shook his head and found his smile grew brighter and more bashful as the two locked eyes, "I hope I'm as great of a wrecker, one day."

"Pshaw," Libby lazily waved her hand downward and beamed him a cheeky smile, "You will, no doubt about it. Maybe I can be a wrecker one day, too!"

"Really?" Ace largely furrowed his brow and assessed Libby's smaller hands, "How would that happen? Is that possible?"

"Well, yeah?" Libby shrugged her girly shoulders and began to tidily count Ace's playing cards, "I just use my strength!"

"Do you have that wrecking power, too? Is everyone born with it?" Ace's mind began to race with questions, though Libby equally looked confused.

"I think so," Libby furrowed her brow and kept her concentration mostly to counting, "I know you can get other abilities through a code swap."

"What's a code swap?" Ace innocently wondered, though Libby blurt a giggle and shook her head, she squinted her eyes and gave Ace an equally as innocent smile.

"I have no idea, I just know you can get special power-ups because of it... Mimi said it's grown-up stuff. Whatever that means," Libby chimed, though she finally got to the end of the deck and gestured her hands in sorrowful defeat, "Yep... You've got seven cards missing."

"Man," Ace complained as he slumped his shoulders, "We still can't play?"

"No," Libby sighed, though she sifted through the cards, as if to look for a specific one, "But maybe we can ask your dad if he can get us a new deck, tomorrow. Then I can teach you how to play Speed."

"You... You want to keep playing with me?" Ace wondered, his handsome hazel eyes pierced Libby's with boyish curiosity, a humbled, genuine demeanor he wore very nicely.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Libby scrunched her shoulders and gave Ace a girly, toothy smile, "I like you. And I know Balba does too."

"Y-You do?" Ace raised his eyebrows and suddenly felt an odd amount of heat hit his cheeks.

"I may even like-like you," Libby urged innocently, she gave Ace a nod and a 'matter-of-fact' smile, as if to state she was the only one allowed to such feelings. She giggled at Ace's bashful demeanor, though she softened her positioning and gazed down at the few cards in her hand, "Ace, lets make a promise."

"Okay," Ace stammered, he nervously swallowed and fiddled his fingers.

"I promise to keep visiting you, everyday, iiiif," Libby trailed off, waved around a single card between her fingers and gave Ace a cute smile, she carried on through the drag of her humble ultimatum, "You promise to be waiting for me in the field, by the fire flowers you and your mom planted."

"I promise," Ace rushed, as if to somehow hope this swear of theirs was solidified and would continue their daily overload of fun. Libby giggled and slipped the card, in her girly fingers, to Ace's larger, boyish ones.

"Good," Libby chimed, though once Ace had the card in between his fingers, he turned it over and raised an eyebrow. The ace of hearts, a tattered card in his incomplete deck, was her favorite, like he remembered.

"You keep it," Ace stated confidently as he slid it back to Libby, though her eyes grew delightfully sad, as if to suggest he didn't have to. Ace shrugged and chuckled, "My deck is incomplete, anyways. What's one more missing card? You said the ace of hearts was your favorite, right?"

"Yeah," Libby eased quietly as she took the card back and peered down at it. She hugged it close to her chest and gave Ace a calm, excited smile, "Thank you. I'll keep it forever... But, I don't have anything to give to you."

"Just come play, everyday," Ace warmly stated, their smiles broadened as he heaved a sigh of gentle content, "That's more than enough for me."

* * *

 **I AM THE QUEEN OF SPEED IF YOU HAVE NEVER PLAYED SPEED THEN YOU ARE MISSING OUT AND I WILL BEAT EVERYONE SWOL.**

 **I just had an energy drink, IDK how I was able to write such a dainty chapter as such :(**


	26. Chapter 26

***Chapter 26***

The next morning, all of Dead Zed's racers sat comfortably lounged about the living room and kitchen. A comfortable Sunday where the Arcade and Academy were closed, the game was still and quiet with the rising, morning sun. Tessa heaved a hard yawn and tucked her hood over her head. She was dressed in comfortable pajama pants and Zed's black pull over hoodie, clad in racing logos of all sorts. She rubbed her eyes and stumbled into the kitchen, and as her tired eyes got a good sense of what everyone was up to, she squinted through the sunlight, that came in through the bay windows of the living room, and attempted to find her place in the universe.

"Where's Zed?" Tessa mumbled, her crazy, wavy hair spilled out the side of the hood that was sloppily shoved over her head.

"He's seeing Libby off," Jax sleepily uttered, his deep voice croaked as he hovered patiently near the coffee machine, he was dressed in a lazy tank and equally as lazy sweats. His light blue hair shot in all sorts of directions, "Zed told me Lickity is going to try and follow Balba and Libby home, to see just where this mysterious tribe actually is."

"Oh good," Tessa hummed as she plopped down on a bar stool at the island. She flinched as Finn finally got the television on; the volume blared, though as everyone grimaced, he immediately turned it down to a gentle hum of a low volume, alongside a mutter of a soft apology to everyone's sensitive 'barely awake' ears.

"My favorite part was when you guys discussed Libby's peculiar coding to us, last night," Orph's sarcastic, deep voice grumbled, he leaned over the kitchen island, opposite Tessa, and eyed Jax's positioning at the coffee machine, as if to wonder when his turn would be. He cocked an eyebrow and gave Tessa a nearly annoyed, playful look, his silver hair was splayed along the left side of his scalp. He was shirtless with a loose pair of shorts, his masculine figure looked positively beat, though he huffed a sigh and carried on, "Clearly the bedroom needed to get the brunt of all yours and Zed's, uh... 'Brainstorming'?"

"Yeah, it did," Tessa choked in deep annoyance, she side-eyed Orph and squinted, "Gotta problem with it?"

"Leave her alone, Orph," Duke mumbled as he strolled up as well, he scratched the back of his scalp and moseyed towards the fridge.

"She's got honeycomb coding," Tessa eased as she finally sat up and attempted to open her eyes a little wider, "Maybe it's just a glitch in the game... You think freak incidents, like this, happen a lot?"

"Doubtful," Jax blurted quietly as the coffee machine finally started to drip delicious mana from the spout, "If it does, though, it goes unnoticed... I mean, if you would've never met Libby, you would've never even known about it."

"Fair point," Tessa mumbled, she tucked her fists into the sleeves of Zed's hoodie and, with elbows planted to the island, she nuzzled her face into her covered hands, "I don't know how much deeper digging we can really do, with her coding... She's so young, and hasn't harbored really enough 'life' information. We don't have much to even go off of."

"No parental sources, a usermade gamer that ages like a self-programmed gamer," Jax poured his coffee once and for all, which had Orph hovering near him in growing impatience. Jax scoffed a noise and, with tired footwork, the two boys traded places, only Jax was lucky enough to have the first cup of coffee. He raised his eyebrows, as the steam hit his face, and carried on calmly, "What about the fact that she's two weeks older than Ace... She came into existence around the time Ace was conceived... Seem coincidental, at all?"

"It does, but is it truly just a coincidence, or..." Tessa trailed off, furrowed her brow in hard confusion and shook her head, "It just doesn't make sense... If she were somehow maybe a strand off of Radex's coding, her orb would state the host. She has no host, no parental sources, nothing. It's as if she was made by one of the programmers of the game."

"Y'think Users can time-delay gamers to come into existence?" Orph wondered quietly.

"After the few years Dead Zed has been plugged in?" Duke chimed from the open refrigerator door.

"Fair point," Orph stammered, Tessa wagged her finger.

"What's even more awkward, is Libby has age-old coding structure," Tessa furrowed her brow in growing annoyance, "How can a brand new gamer be sat with ancient coding structure? It's like putting an old operating system on a brand new computer. Makes no sense at all."

"Well, has ANYTHING made sense, as of late?" Orph gently argued, he waved his hand about in hard knowing, which caused Tessa to slump deeper into her fists.

"No," She meeped in frustration, though everyone dropped the sensitive topic as Zed and Ace moseyed into the room. Tessa perked up and gave her son, and fiance, a kind smile, though Ace quickly pushed into his mother's bubble, "Hey bud. Y'see Libby off, then?"

"Yeah," Ace mumbled sadly, though his eyes peered into hers with a gentle amount of hope, "She said she'd come back tomorrow, though... Hopefully she keeps her promise."

"Oh, I'm sure she will, love," Tessa stated quietly as she tenderly stroked the side of Ace's head and pat his shoulder, "She's pretty great, huh."

"She is," Ace nodded, though his face grew an embarrassed shade of pink, which cued all of his uncles.

"Uh-oh, I smell a crushy-crush," Orph teased, though Ace raised his eyebrows higher in growing, bashful cheek.

"Yah kiss her, yet?" Duke joined, Ace beamed an annoyed smile and wrinkled his nose in a fake display of disgust he hoped he portrayed properly.

"Ew! Gross," Ace hissed, though he nervously eyed his mother and, as if to ask for her help, Tessa furrowed her brow and caught on.

"Baw, y'know, just on the cheek or something," Orph waved his hand, "You think she's pretty?"

"Pretty AWESOME," Ace retort, Tessa rubbed his upper back.

"She is, huh," Tessa eased quietly, though she gently gestured towards Ace's stairwell, "Why don't you go clean your room up, and we can go to Echo Park for a little while, what'doyah say?"

"Yeah!" Ace agreed eagerly as he quickly began to head towards the staircase that led to his bedroom. Zed ruffled the top of his head as he ran by, though he crossed his arms and gave Orph an annoyed look once Ace disappeared.

"We're going to have to cut the sleep-overs at the knees, riiiight about now," Zed raised his eyebrows and looked down at the kitchen island, as he approached it, "Homeboy's developed a little liking towards Libby."

"I think it's cute," Tessa stated as she sat up straighter, though Zed shook his head kindly.

"Oh, me too," Zed assured, "... But we won't think it's so cute once they are close to being of age and we're still allowing sleep-overs."

"What, you don't want to be grandparents, just yet?" Orph barked, the boys heaved hard laughter

"Ohh, for User's sake," Tessa groaned through a hard giggle as she sleepily slumped her forehead to the counter below her.

Before she could carry on, Lickity suddenly popped into the room, her wings were tucked to her body, though the fingers of her bat-like span were stiff and lightly trembling. Royal instantly burst in after her, a dewy look of pure thrill plastered to his adolescent face and fangs. His massive ears and paws, clearly still being grown into, were alert and excitable.

"Mom, that was so much fun, can we go again later?" Royal's deeper voice shook, his adorable golden orbs hooked to Lickity's, though Tessa assessed her companion's demeanor; Lickity flattened her ears, gave Royal a loving smile and gently ruffled her claws into the nook of his neck, where tufts of gorgeous cream and white fur grew.

"Sure, bud, you did awesome out there," Lickity nuzzled her snout into his, he scrunched into himself, in pure glee and sprawled his wings.

Royal was becoming, he was a handsome, decent sized dragon who was nearly almost Lickity's size already. He held onto cute, baby features, and was still a bumbling creature of delightful confusion, though before Lickity could continue to praise him, Royal's pigeon-toed stride, much like his father, Orion's, adorably began to fumble up Ace's stairwell. His tail thrashed around a bit. Lickity winced, and as everyone in the room began to drone into knowing laughter, Lickity bared her fangs in growing cheek and eyed Tessa.

"Welp, looks like the agility and grace ends with me," Lickity huffed a sigh and shook her head. Tessa giggled and opened her palm for Lickity's snout, a routine they had fallen into, a simple, loving hello.

"He's probably a strong flyer, no?" Tessa eased, though she eyed Orph as he silently made his way out of the kitchen; him and Lickity had fallen into a cycle of gentle ebb and flow, when one enters the room, the other kindly leaves, so to avoid conflict.

"Oh yeah, he's got a really powerful wing span. Could probably beat me, when it came to endurance," Lickity heaved a relaxed sigh, once and for all, and though she tried to avoid it, her large eyes watched Orph remove himself from the kitchen.

"He'll be just fine," Tessa sighed, she stroked Lickity's snout and gave her an assuring smile, "Both boys still have a bit of growing to do... Won't be long before they're both reaching for the stars without our help."

"Don't remind me," Lickity frowned, she finally slumped her large skull and jaw into Tessa's lap and closed her eyes. Tessa jolted, heaved an understanding chuckle, and began to firmly scratch the top of Lickity's head, all through the soft, thick fur and feathers. She relaxed, only for a moment, before her hypnotizing green eyes slid open with information she forgot she was withholding, "I lost Libby, in the jungles."

"...Lost her?" Zed worried, he cut his quiet conversation with Jax and butt into Lickity's and Tessa's.

"Lost her," Lickity repeated sorrowfully as she finally lifted her head and gave Zed a look of floored confusion, as if to state something like this could never happen, without good reason. Lickity shook her head and squinted, "Everyone knows I have the best hearing in the whole game... She fell off of my radar, as if she simply teleported. She was on Balba's back, they were easy to keep up with. One second, they're bolting through the jungle floors, and the next... Poof. Gone."

"Gone," Zed furrowed his brow in harder confusion and stepped closer to the kitchen island, in which he was opposite Tessa and Lickity, "You don't lose ANYONE."

"I know!" Lickity barked in agitated agreeing, she shook her head quickly and perked her ears, "I-I had to create some sort of diversion to get Royal from catching on... We don't want Libby knowing we're following her home."

"Right," Zed huffed as he looked down to his hands, "Not much we can do, at this point... Except hope, one day, she reveals to us just where she lays off to..."

"Sounds like a gap in the grid, a teleport point even she doesn't know about," Duke shrugged, he eyed Zed, "Wouldn't hurt to do some digging... Though it'd suck if you got lost, beyond even finding you in the code room."

"Makes me too nervous," Tessa sighed, "This might be the part, in the video game, where 'camping' comes in handy."

"Sit and wait for her to come to you," Lickity mumbled as her eyes glossed the ground, "We only have a handful of months to go..."

Before long, the brood of wreckers, racers and dragons alike lazily switched gears and head to Echo Park. What was once just a simple weekend idea, quickly turned into a routine. Every closed-Arcade Sunday, the group would mosey to the park for a day of sunshine and blue skies. The days came and went, and so did Libby and Balba. With the promise of returning the next day, only if Ace was there waiting, he was pleased their little deal had held true and grew into a commitment. A single month had passed, and both children were nearly three and a half months until their first birthday. The new year had passed, and Dead Zed's small, winter grip had squeezed and let go. The air remained crisp and cool, for the most part, though the only thing Tessa couldn't wait to get rid of was her horrible allergies. As the rest of her family enjoyed the day at Echo Park, she remained slumped into Lickity's side, on the cool grass under the shade of a massive, stoic jungle tree.

"Remind me, again, why you're not just correcting your allergies in the code room?" Lickity grumbled as Tessa let out a hard sneeze, for the fifth time in two minutes.

"I-I'm trying to fight it, on my own," Tessa's nose was heavily clogged. She rubbed her nose in hard irritation and shook her head, "My immune system is getting stronger. I-I just need to keep at it."

"I just find it hard to believe you're STILL down and out, from when you had Ace," Lickity closed her eyes, relaxed her paws and huffed a breath of reached comfort.

"Me too," Tessa mumbled, though her watery eyes dragged to where Ace and Libby could be seen near the swing set, just across the way.

She counted every single one of her family members. Each of her older brothers, as well as Zed, were crowded at the basketball court, as usual. Royal and Balba remained safely tucked away with Tessa and Lickity; the last time they were let loose in the park, acres of gamers and angry parents panicked. Tessa nearly chuckled at the memory, though she knew just how badly Royal and Balba wanted to join in on Ace and Libby's fun. Tessa leaned further into Lickity's warmth, inhaled a sharp sniffle and, as she squinted through her watery eyes, once more, she gave her whole attention to the children at the swing set. They loudly bantered, both adorable little gamers. Libby's long, white hair was like silk down her back, her cute, cream colored sundress was just tomboyish enough for her to enjoy. She wore an anklet, her lithe figure was becoming more and more girly by the day. Ace now held a decent amount of height over Libby, though they continued on like nothing was ever changing. His whole figure grew stronger, and more 'wrecker', every day, but still Libby had the courage and rank to rough house with him, their typical banter of shoves and boyish games. Tessa smirked and was thrilled Ace had the full spectrum of dynamic; a tomboy gal pal, one of which he could play with, and still give the utmost respect to, day in and day out.

"Ace, I think tearing down the swing set might make everyone mad," Libby mumbled through a stifled giggle as she covered her mouth; her white hair flickered in the spring time breeze, her blue eyes easily matched the skies above.

"I just have all this energy," Ace ogled, he clenched his fists, though before he could get out further excited notions, a group of three rowdy boys ran by, bumping into Ace in the process; they were, easily, his and Libby's age.

"Watch'it, meathead," Libby called with a victorious giggle, though Ace flinched as all three boys whirled their attention to the two.

Decent sized boys with tattered, faded jeans and baseball caps of which turned backwards, they ogled at each other in hard disbelief before they pointed to Libby in dry, nearly amused banter.

"You're not just gunna let a GIRL tell you what to do, are you?" A brown haired boy barked, he chomped on a small piece of gum at the back of his jaw.

"Use your eyes next time, it's not like I'm hidden or anything, are you blind?" Ace chuckled, as much as he wanted to retort, bare his fangs and show these boys just who was boss, he politely eyed Libby and tried desperately to keep a light air about himself.

"What'chyeh say to me?" A black haired brute of the group stepped forward a bit.

"C'mon, let's go, my mom's waiting. Just forget them!" The third boy called in annoyance, as if Ace and Libby weren't worth their time.

"I asked if you were blind?" Ace shook his head, he gave his challenger a dumbfounded look of incredulous annoyance, he scoffed a hard, silent laugh and put his hands on his hips, "My bad, I didn't realize you were deaf, too."

"Nice dress," He spat with a mean smile, his fingers suddenly snapped at the beautiful lace on Libby's chest. The ribbons snapped, Libby inhaled a sharp gasp and took a sudden step back.

"Hey!" Libby worried, she furrowed her brow in hurt contemplation and only had merely seconds of a glance towards Ace.

"Leave her alone," Ace quietly threatened as he suddenly shoved on the boy's shoulder; he jolted with the movement and gave Ace a look of shocked anger.

"What are YOU going to do about it, ham hands," He meanly joked as he firmly shoved Ace back, though Ace inhaled a deep breath and could feel every single ounce of his raw, wrecking blood bubble to the surface. Ace suddenly lashed out, grappled for the chest of the boy's shirt and clenched his other fist in preparation for a beat-down he was unsure of how to even follow through with; still, Ace delivered the meanest, gap-tooth scowl he could and growled his threat.

"I have WRECKING hands," Ace urged darkly, he shook with an overflow of anger he was uncertain even existed, though the very image of Libby's hurt frown coat his mind like a cloak of a nightmare he never wanted to see ever again. He inhaled a sharp breath and was thrilled he had his foe's startled attention, "-I'm gunna beat you up."

"And SCENE, awesome job. Moving performance, really," Zed suddenly stated sarcastically, he smoothly grappled Ace's wrist, and in a swift move of pure grace and force, he made Ace unhand his supposed enemy. Zed quickly shoved the two boys apart, glared down at the other three boys with a mean smile and cocked an eyebrow, "He's not lying, kid. Beat it."

"But sir, he was-!"

"Beat it!" Zed's stern voice glossed over the three in solid dominance, and with fumbling, scared steps, they quickly scattered. Zed heaved a hard, annoyed sigh, merely glanced back at his five brothers; they halted their game as Zed had removed himself from the court, without a single word. He huffed a scoff and adjusted his loose black tank, he quickly gave his whole attention to Ace and Libby. He lovingly bent down to Libby's level and, with solid eye contact given to her, he reached a tender hand out, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Libby's eyes welled with tears, "Th-they tore my dress..."

"Bah, easy fix," Zed's voice was quiet, his glorious blue eyes gazed into hers with the ultimate softness he knew she needed in this moment. With a continued show of tenderness, he gingerly swept her white bangs out from her eyes, tucked it behind her ear and proceeded to quickly find where Tessa was, way across the field, "C'mon. Why don't you go sit with Tessa and the flyers, I know she can fix your dress in the code room, when we get home, okay?"

"Okay," Libby nodded softly, and with a gentle sniffle, she subtly wiped her eyes and inhaled a reviving breath.

"You and I need to have a little talk," Zed stated sternly down to Ace, though with all of Ace's bubbling emotions, of which he had no idea how to handle, sorrow quickly flood his face.

"B-But dad, that's not fair!" Ace argued loudly, though Zed raised his eyebrows high, gestured his hand flat and kept a tight-lip of dominance over Ace.

"Enough," Zed's voice, although quiet, was deadly. Libby tucked her fists to her chest and kept still, though Ace largely wagged his hand in the direction the three boys ran off to.

"Dad, I-I wasn't... I wasn't REALLY gunna-!"

"Ace Von Thaddeus Kalivar," Zed rushed through the grit of his teeth, and though he was aware Libby was involved in this situation, he knew Ace was finally understanding the aggression behind wrecking; as well as the consequences, "We will discuss it alone. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Dad, y'can't just-!"

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Zed firmly repeated, his strong cloak of dominance nearly shook Ace's core, even with the quiet, stern tone it was kept at.

"Yes'sir," Ace mumbled, his voice shook and grew nasally as tears welled in his handsome, hazel eyes.

He nervously looked down to his feet in defeat and felt his fragile heart quiver. He knew his father was the epitome of banter, a playful nature and a loving shoulder to lean on, though Ace also knew just when things got real, and just when he knew he was in deep trouble; the dread of hearing his whole name sharply roll of his father's tongue. Libby sadly slipped her hand into Zed's, and though she knew Ace would be fine, and her dress would get fixed, she ate up the loving attention from Zed. He confidently escort the two children across the field, the dreaded silent walk of doom Ace knew was bound to end in punishment, somehow. He hiccuped a nervous breath as tears escaped his eyes, he knew there was no worse feeling that being in trouble; especially with his father.

"Hey baby, whatsamatter?" Tessa suddenly worried to Libby as teary expression came into view. Tessa held her hands out, an overwhelming urge to mother Libby had only gotten stronger over the past few weeks; Libby easily soaked it all up.

"Some mean boys snapped the ribbons on my dress, ma," Libby uttered. Though she knew Tessa wasn't her real mother, she still kept the nickname solid because of the lack of a maternal figure in her life.

"What?!" Tessa stated sharply, as if she, herself, couldn't gain control over the wrecking force that she was sat with as well.

Her spine stiffened in raw, motherly defense over Libby, and just as she was about to stand, clench her fists, and take over the whole world for the sake of never seeing Libby cry again, Zed sharply grit his teeth, gestured a 'knife to the throat' hand movement and eyed Ace. Tessa raised her eyebrows, softened her ballistic tendencies and finally caught with Ace's overflowing, guilty demeanor. His cheeks were an embarrassed shade of oncoming dread, and with wet eyes, Tessa finally realized just what was going on. She sat back into Lickity's side, who was also now on high alert, though Tessa gestured for Libby to come sit with her, once and for all.

"Alright, well, they're just dumb," Tessa huffed, as if stifling her urge to wreck was a chore in of itself, though she figured Ace was just now struggling with the same process, and though she could control it, from the sorrowful look on Ace's face, she cocked an eyebrow and quickly came to the realization that it was time for Zed to give him the run down on wrecking aggression. Something he fiercely struggled with, in the beginning of having Tessa's wrecking coding. Libby softly sat with Tessa as she carried on, "Ah, just a few pieces of the ribbons have snapped, it's okay... This is an easy fix. No tears, okay?"

"Thank you," Libby meeped gently, though all eyes suddenly landed to Ace and Zed.

"We'll be right back," Zed stated quietly, though he firmly gripped the top of Ace's shoulder and began to move the two away from Tessa, Libby, Balba, Royal and Lickity.

Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise, and though he knew he was right to stick up for Libby, he suddenly felt a wash of further impending guilt drape over him. His mind raced, details of just what would've taken place if Zed hadn't intervened. With Zed's powerful, yet loving, grip on Ace's shoulder, he knew he was in for a stern talking to, though he knew he'd do it all again for the sake of Libby's feelings. He just barely glanced back over his shoulder and, as if being taken to a dangling noose, he swallowed nervously and felt his heart race, he knew for certain Zed's stern voice and demeanor was a rarity, and whenever it came about, everyone knew the jokes fell and he quickly meant business.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Just real quick - this, and the next chapter, are indeed NOT filler chapters. They serve a purpose later in the story, bigger character building for Ace (which includes Ralph in said scenes) - just want to make that clear. I have been told that people will skim chapters that they deem 'filler' - and then 20 chapters later, they'll turn around and ask a billion questions of which have very VERY clearly already been answered in said chapters they thought were fillers, and skimmed ...**

 **'Filler' chapters generally will come quite a bit later in the story, likely towards the middle, (and even then, said filler-ish chapters will serve some form of purpose ) and you guys will know - but it'll be full of romance and humor and good times you all are desperately wanting so just bear with me PLZ and THX :D**


	27. Chapter 27

***Chapter 27***

"D-Dad, I was just-" Ace continued to nervously stammer on, once he knew the two were out of earshot of Tessa and Libby. As much as he desperately attempted to hold back his tears, cry-hiccups got the best of him. His chest heaved with growing worries, the narrow-minded fear of simply needing to be nudged in the right direction, from a parent; he attempted to carry on, with his nasally drag, "L-Libby was so sad, they ruined her dress, dad, I-I couldn't just... Just...!"

"Son," Zed stated, his voice held a tangible amount of warmth this time. They approached a loved, green bench underneath the cut of a gorgeous jungle tree; it was crowned with all sorts of beautiful red flowers. Zed attempted to hide a chuckle, the mere sight of Ace's little world crumpling before him, over something undeserving, was nearly amusing. Zed gestured towards the bench and felt his heart grow sore at the sight of his adorable, budding son, "Sit down, you're alright."

"Dad, I-I don't want to be in trouble," Ace groaned as he finally sat down, his large, wrecking hands grappled the bench underneath his thighs, his skin nearly shook with the dregs of his fresh adrenaline rush.

"You're not in trouble, son, I just need you to calm down, okay?" Zed eased, his voice still held a stern bite, though he knelt before Ace, and the bench, and got to Ace's eye level. He gently tapped underneath Ace's chin, and in the movement, he swiped a few tears away. Zed spoke, quietness and gentle understanding finally coat over Ace's quivering soul, "C'mon, bud, no more tears. You're tough. This isn't the end of the world," Zed finished with a chuckle he couldn't contain anymore.

Ace inhaled a deep, shaky breath and finally gave Zed his full, scared attention. His shoulders were tense, his little chest continued to heave just barely, the influx of wrecking genes, he wasn't even sure existed, continued to angrily swarm his growing figure. Ace long blinked, handsome blue lashes that held onto tears and clung together. Glassy, brilliant hazel eyes hooked into Zed's, and with this, Zed held his breath and could swear he was looking straight into Tessa's soul. Zed scoffed a noise, held his hands to the bench, near Ace's thighs and furrowed his brow.

"Why don't you tell me what happened," Zed eased, he remained a stoic, unmoving wall, though he made sure his eye contact held an unending amount of forgiveness. Ace inhaled yet, another, deep breath and gave his father a sorrowful frown.

"Th-those boys bumped into me, and w-we just were playing," Ace stammered through the clog of his nose and the continued drip of his tears, "Th-they ripped Libby's dress... I-I didn't want to hurt anyone, but they just made me SO mad."

"What do you think would've happened if you beat up that kid, like you said?" Zed wondered, Ace raised his eyebrows.

"You'd ground me," Ace meeped, though Zed choked a small laugh.

"What would've happened to the kid? How would you have felt about the situation, and yourself?" Zed continued, he cocked an eyebrow, "How would you have slept, that night?"

"...Terribly," Ace uttered, as if he didn't want to confess it. He shook his head and let his eyes gloss Zed's strong chest, "I was protecting Libby, dad, I don't want anyone to make her sad."

"No one wants that, son," Zed wiped a few tears that dangled on Ace's chin, "It's hard being a wrecker, huh bud."

"Yeah," Ace mumbled, he shakily sighed and gave his father his honest eye contact.

"You were right to stand up for your friend, but you can do so without violence," Zed stated firmly, though Ace grew confused.

"But... I'm a wrecker, dad, I could've really showed him what for," Ace rushed, "He would've REALLY left us alone."

"He would've had the ultimate game over, Ace, he wouldn't have been given a CHANCE to leave you alone," Zed blurt a laugh, which caused the peak of a bashful smile to curl at the edges of Ace's wet lips. Zed squinted and leaned in closer to Ace, "Being a wrecker doesn't mean violence is the answer to any problem that comes your way, bud..."

"What would Ralph the wrecker have done?" Ace innocently wondered, though Zed raised his eyebrows with the pang of nervous remembrance.

Zed heaved a soft sigh; he knew, if the situation were dire enough, Ralph would go to the ends of Arcade to protect the ones he loved. He gave Ace a kind smile, tidied his dark blue bangs and was floored Ace had adopted this very important trait; a heart of gold, the need to stand up for what was right. Zed shook his head, let his eyes gloss the bench for a moment, though before he could get too lost in contemplative thought, his thumbs and hands idly mixed with the bulky pockets of Ace's cargo shorts; his blue eyes dragged to his son's.

"He would've stuck up for his friend," Zed admitted, but before Ace could grow confused at Zed's words, he cocked an eyebrow, "But... He wouldn't have been violent, unless his life depended on it... If you feel your life is in danger, you wreck. You wreck away. I give you my permission."

"But, we're safe inside the game," Ace wondered, though Zed gave him a nearly annoyed smile.

"All the more reason to keep the wrecking to a minimum," Zed chuckled, Ace sunk into himself, "If the only thing in danger is your feelings, well, then, you either get an adult, or you deal with it in the best, most civil way possible. Being a wrecker doesn't give you permission to become a bully."

"I'm not a bully, dad, THEY'RE the bullies," Ace argued, he began to look offended, though Zed cocked an eyebrow and grimaced a smile.

"Bud, if I do recall, you were the one that started the physical side of that fight," Zed retort, which had Ace's eyes washed with guilt, once more, "I caught that whole act... And yes, they were wrong to mess with Libby's dress, and maybe that one shove was more than enough, but you can't feed to the anger you feel, as a wrecker."

"How do I get rid of the anger?" Ace worried, he shook his head, "I-I... I had never felt so angry in my whole life, dad."

"You can't get rid of it," Zed stated sorrowfully, his eyes glossed Ace's chest, as if he, too, had a long road of struggle, "You are a wrecker because of your mother... You ever wonder why I don't have wrecking hands like you or your mom?"

"Yeah," Ace furrowed his brow, as if subconsciously he had always wondered, though he never thought to ask until now.

"I never had wrecking powers, until I met your mother," Zed eased, though he suddenly realized just what topic they were traipsing into. He stammered on, nonetheless, "I had a hard time adjusting to the anger... You just want to destroy everything and anything that causes you grief. But you can't live like that. You have to solve your issues with a level head, and understand your wrecking abilities weren't given to you from violent sources."

"I'm sorry, dad," Ace's little voice wavered, he nervously peered to his dad, "I-I just got angry for Libby."

"She's pretty great, huh, bud," Zed eyed him, though he finally got a bashful smile, as well as an annoyed eye-roll, out of Ace. Zed nudged his arm and the boys shared a laugh, "Protect her... She's your best friend. You have every right to stand by her and keep her from harm, as she would do for you. But you can't let violence cloud your judgement. Girls don't like it when boys are mean and angry for no good reason."

"They don't?" Ace suddenly worried, his eyes glued to Zed's as if to beg to pour all of his knowledge onto his little soul.

"Not at all," Zed choked with a smile, "Imagine if you disagreed with Libby... Would you threaten to beat HER up?"

"What?" Ace ogled, he looked horrified, "No, dad, that's crazy!"

"See? Then why treat other people like that?" Zed chuckled, he shook his head and gave Ace an incredulous smirk; Ace sunk into himself, "You've got to be polite, and kind. You can be strong in other ways."

"Unless my life depends on it, right?" Ace wondered with a cheeky smile, his boyish demeanor finally surfaced once again.

"Then, by all means, you swing away, boy, and make us wreckers proud," Zed laughed, Ace blurt a giggle and clenched his fists a little.

Before Zed could carry on giving Ace just the right amount of advice, Ace gently lunged forward, on the bench, and grappled his arms tight around Zed's neck. Zed wobbled on the balls of his feet a little, though his strong arm tucked tight into Ace's back, and in the draw of their long squeeze, Zed shut his eyes, squeezed a little harder and snuck a firm smooch into the side of Ace's head; he was surprised Ace didn't squirm or get playfully annoyed, at said show of affection.

"I love you, daddy," Ace mumbled into Zed's shoulder. Zed scoffed a silent breath, his heart squeezed dry of any form of coherence. He shook his head and tugged Ace deeper into his powerful, fatherly embrace.

"Oh, bud, I love you more," Zed muttered through a gentle laugh as he rubbed the back of Ace's head, though as the two pulled away, Ace gave his father a cheeky, nervous look of pure, boyish innocence.

"Dad... If girls don't like when I beat people up, how can I get one to like me?" Ace wondered, though Zed suddenly gave Ace a dull smile, as if to express he was fooling no one.

"What you're REALLY asking is 'what can you do to get Libby to further notice you as more than just a little friend'?" Zed's monotone was easily interrupted by Ace's annoyed groan of a giggle.

"Not Libby," Ace fibbed, he gave Zed an annoyed smile and shook his head.

"Right, okay, so NOT Libby, sorry," Zed nodded, he finally stood and put his hands on his hips, "Huh, well... I'd say if you want Libby- I mean, SOMEONE, to like you... Just be yourself!"

"I've been doing that this whole time, dad," Ace slumped, Zed chuckled and gestured for him to stand, so they could reunite with Tessa and Libby.

"Well, I mean, that certain someone keeps on coming back to hang out with you, every day," Zed tilted his head and looked out to the glorious field before them, "You should give Libby one of the fire flowers from your mother's garden... Ask mom first, if you can have one, but... Girls love flowers. I'm certain Libby would love one, yeah?"

"Y'think she would?" Ace wondered, and by now, he knew he was fooling no one.

"Sure," Zed nodded, "Maybe present it to her, tomorrow when she comes to play for the day. Not only will you start the day out great, together, you'll make her really happy. It'll show her that you care. You DO care about her, don't you?"

"Yeah," Ace mumbled as his bashful eyes finally hooked to just where his mother and Libby were stationed, "Don't tell anyone though, it's a secret."

"Your secret's safe with me," Zed stated confidently, though he chuckled at the metaphorical neon lights Ace was nearly giving off, day in and day out.

* * *

Through the gentle patter of the jungle's dribble of rain, Ace and Royal sat comfortably perched in his high-up room. A single tower, off of the Kalivar castle sat nestled between the prettiest of jungle trees and vines. With his latch window hung ajar, the sound of water trickling from the jungle's sprawling leaves was enough to lull anyone into the sweetest sleep. Nightlife could be heard, all sorts of quiet, whooping creatures and nocturnal beings. Dressed in black boxers and a comfortable night shirt, Ace sat sleepless on his bed. Royal lay massively curled about his billowy sheets and easily took up the whole bed. Soft scales and what little feathers he had encompassed Ace's lounging body. His bumbling, chameleon paws, tail and wings were still, his belly rose and fell with rhythmic breathing. His ear twitched as Ace continued on, mumbling to himself in the dim lantern light he had on.

"I-I picked this fire flower for you," Ace rehearsed, he held up his nearly empty water bottle, as if to pretend it were a flower. He huffed a hard sigh and grimaced, "No, there are a billion in mom's field. It's not like I saw a single one and picked it because that single one reminded me of her."

"Just... Simply hand it to her," Royal grumbled, his deep voice nearly vibrated the glass of the window. He finally exhaled a gentle chuckle and curled his strong, massive tail tighter around Ace's slumped figure.

"I'm not a caveman," Ace retort as he gently elbowed Royal's arm, though he fingered his lip, "How about... 'Mom's trying to thin out the garden so I figured I'd-' nooo..."

"Yeah, don't make it seem like she's just a left over thought," Royal blurt a boyish laugh, his sharp fangs glistened in the moonlight that cast over the top of his head.

"For User's sake, I'll just forget it, then," Ace scold himself, he pushed himself off of Royal's lounging body and thumped his large bare feet to his glossy bedroom floor. He firmly set his water bottle on his nightstand and huffed a hard sigh, "What's the point, anyways. Not like she's going to like me any more or any less. She'd probably just say 'thank you' and suggest what to do for the day, anyhow."

"Isn't her coming around enough for you?" Royal wondered as he perked his ears and finally lifted his head.

"Of course it is," Ace mumbled, he looked down and straightened out his shirt, "I just... I just want her to know that I really like her."

"Then maybe TELL her," Royal garbled, his figure shook a deep purr of laughter, once more.

"I can't work up the courage, overnight," Ace sighed. He glanced at his clock in nervous contemplation, "It's already three in the morning... I-I guess I should at least attempt to sleep. I'm just too nervous."

"What's to be nervous over, it's not like you're asking her out on a date or anything," Royal flattened his ears and gave Ace a dull smile, though before both boys could continue on, Royal's ears honed to an unfamiliar noise outside the drop of his window.

As Royal's spine tensed, so to peer out the window, both boys froze as a small pebble suddenly soared into the room and clacked onto the cold tiles of Ace's bedroom. Royal's snout wrinkled over and over with his sniffling, his pupils shrunk from pure adrenaline that so desperately wanted to take over, his animalistic behavioral instincts begged him to push curiosity to the limit, though his logical side finally had his massive, golden orbs pierced straight into Ace's. Ace froze and kept his nervous eyes glued to Royal's, though before they could converse, Ace tip toed to his window and nervously peered out. He squinted through the darkness, though his heart nearly popped clear out of his chest at the sight two stories down his towering building.

"Just me," Libby hissed a soft whisper above the patter of tender, sprinkling rain. She gently slid off of Balba's back as her lykata suddenly flapped her head and body about, to free herself of water.

"Libby?" Ace whispered, his eyes nervously dart to Lickity's enclosure, which could be seen across the field, from his high up perch. He raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise and re-glued his attention to Libby, down on the ground, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"What, you've never snuck out before?" Libby's voice finally broke her whisper, albeit very quietly. She gestured her arm down and gave Ace an irresistible smile, "C'mon! Put some pants on and come down with Royal, I've got something to tell you."

"...How do you know I'm not wearing pants?" Ace retort in floored annoyance and embarrassment; Royal desperately tried to stifle a loud fit of laughter.

"Just get down here," Libby giggled, her voice became pleading and tired.


	28. Chapter 28

**Song Listened To :** **Fireflies - Owl City (Said The Sky remix)**

 **Okay guys seriously if you want to really get into this chapter, you will go to YouTube and look up the song listed above - sure a lot of you might not like that song, but the remix is seriously so wonderful and REALLY sets the tone for this chapter. (You can only find it on YouTube, I believe)**

 ***Chapter 28***

"Where's my hoodie, where's my hoodie," Ace rushed to Royal as he ducked back into his room, he gave Royal a crazed look, "Royal where's my hoodie!"

"Hell if I know!" Royal barked in a hard whisper as he glanced towards the window, "Seriously, you should be looking for pants, first!"

"I-I don't want to get caught sneaking out," Ace whispered as he rummaged through his drawers in a rushed manner. He finally began to stumble into a pair of cargo pants, he hobbled about, "Who am I kidding, I'm sure Aunt Lickity is already clued in."

"My mom may have the sharpest hearing, but she's also the deepest sleeper," Royal grinned in scheming delight, "Just... Make it quick, and once we're away from the castle, no one will know. We'll just sneak out... And sneak back in!"

"What does Libby even want to tell me anyways?" Ace whispered sharply as he tugged his grey zip-up hoodie over his larger hands and arms, "For User's sake, is she going to tell me she likes me?"

"We wouldn't want that, that'd just ruin your whole fire flower idea!" Royal teased, he shook his head and dumbfounded annoyance and gestured his larger chameleon paw towards Ace's gaping window, "C'mon, you won't find out in here."

Ace inhaled a deep breath, rushed back to his window and peered down. Libby was quietly tending to the gorgeous display of green feathers Balba's wings housed. Before Ace could try and figure out a way to get down his two story perched, he jolted as Royal shoved his snout underneath Ace's behind, lulled him over the top of his head and began to climb out of the window with Ace clumsily grappling the spines on his back. Ace uttered a hard, silent noise of confusion and only finally settled once Royal's feet touched the ground. Ace nervously swiped his blue bangs from his eyes and peered back up to his window. It was only lightly illuminated by the small lantern light that hung just over his bed. Ace figured it'd look as if he was still in his room, if a light was kept on. As he clumsily slid off of Royal's back and got to the ground, he flinched as Balba's happy panting became more prominent, and he was quickly overloaded with her puppy-like excitement.

"Hey, girl," Ace stated quietly, though he heaved a small chuckle as Balba's snout sniffled his face and she happily began to lap at his cheeks and face. Ace's hands melted into the soft fur on the front and sides of Balba's throat, he lovingly scratched and ruffled her fur and skin. She whined a small noise and gave Ace an overflow of affection, Ace desperately tried to stifle his laughter, the beautiful lykata, that was Babla, held about half a foot of height over him, "I-It's good to see you too, Balba."

"C'mon, hop on Royal and follow me," Libby whispered as she nudged Ace's arm, "We can't talk with Lickity's enclosure so close by."

Ace nodded once, broke free of Balba's never-ending greetings and climbed aboard Royal's back. Before he could get one last look at his home, in which he was currently playing hooky from, he tucked himself closer to Royal's spiny back, just between his shoulder blades and wings, and eagerly kept his eyes glued to Balba and Libby. Libby climbed onto Balba's feathery back, gestured her arm, and easily began to vanish into the dark jungles. Ace was glad Royal's eye-sight was sharper than his, and with this, Royal kept close on Balba's tail as the four ventured off into the mysterious, damp jungles. As the night-life and nocturnal beings, of the trees, grew louder and louder, Ace sunk closer to Royal's spine and nervously peered to Libby. She seemed confident, her posture aboard Balba was unwavering and brave, as if she had wandered through dark, dangerous patches of jungles before. Not a single inch of her was disturbed. She shone under the peaks of moonlight that came through the canopy, her beautiful blue tribal shirt, which stopped just above her belly button, was the perfect shade of blue and stuck out nicely against the moonlight; Ace was confident, now that his eyes had adjusted, that he wouldn't lose her strictly because of it.

"Please tell me where we're going," Ace worried softly, and though he tried to remain collected, he couldn't help but feel bad for sneaking out, against his parent's wishes or knowledge.

"Well, I was going to tell you earlier, but I didn't want Ma or Zeddy to freak out," Balba finally slowed and came alongside Royal; both creatures fell into a slower mosey with each other, their wings lightly bumped every now and then, fluffy feathers to slick scales and skin. Libby shrugged her shoulders and gave Ace a sly look of cheek, "Balba, just recently, learned how to fly."

"Oh, thank User, I'm not the only one," Royal rushed through a hard sigh, Balba uttered a playful, dog-like whine and nipped at Royal's ear, which caused a hard chuckle out of him.

"Royal flies every day, with Aunt Lickity," Ace stated with a wide smile, though he looked down at the back of Royal's head and felt a wash of knowing fall over him. He raised his eyebrows in high surprise and quickly gave his stare back to Libby,"You... You haven't flown Balba, yet, have you?"

"Not yet," Libby stated in ever-growing mischievousness, "Have you flown Royal?"

"O-Oh no, you're not gunna..." Ace uttered a nervous noise and attempted to carry on, though his heart began to race with all sorts of ideas and wants he had desperately been trying to stuff, "...Y-You want us to fly our flyers for the first time? Right NOW?"

"C'mon, Ace, why not? We're already here," Libby urged pleadingly, she slumped her shoulders and gestured to Royal, "It'll be great. I know the perfect spot we can take off, from."

"You've gotta be kidding," Ace mumbled, he pat the side of Royal's neck and shook his head, "N-No... My mom says I-I shouldn't fly Royal until he's ready."

"I AM ready," Royal stated through a nonchalant chuckle as he perked his ears, "Sounds like maybe YOU'RE the one that's not ready."

"I can take you back home, if you're not comfortable," Libby finally caved, she gave Ace a look of honest understanding, though Ace could sense the disappointment in her demeanor.

Ace slumped his shoulders and peered forward, the dark jungles, full of vines, criss-crossing jungle branches and glints of nocturnal eyes all stared him in the face, though he was anything but afraid. He breathed a sharp, long sigh and shook his head, and though he was aware he could be in deep trouble if he was caught sneaking out, to fly Royal of all things, he bit his bottom lip and weighed the pros and cons. Before Libby could speak, once more, he finally raised his eyebrows, in a wash of flat defeat and shrugged.

"I guess we're already out here," Ace muttered through a dry chuckle, "No sense in turning back now."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Libby rushed as she stiffened her riding position on Balba's back, she leaned deeper into Balba's spine and gripped her fur, "Alright... Follow me. And keep up!"

Ace jolted as Balba suddenly uttered a chuff of a growl and sprung forward with power, though before Ace could question her further, he positioned himself deeper into Royal's back as he cued to Balba's excitement and took off after her. Ace nervously peered over the top of Royal's head, the few spines, that lined directly down the middle of Royal's forehead, pointed the way and held solid to the view Ace had on Balba and Libby. Ace bit his bottom lip in hard contemplation and, even though he had ridden on Lickity a few times before, he knew his mom was always in control of the flight, and nothing ever got way too quick or vigorous. He wondered just how Royal would handle a being on his back; he was aware this was definitely Royal's first time with a passenger.

Ace flinched as the ride became quicker, and though Royal was a bit bumbling and clumsy, he still held a constant speed and surprisingly kept up with Balba's fast, cheetah-like gallop. The four carried on through the jungles, and as patches of moonlight became more and more current, Ace could feel his pupils dialate more and more with the further approaching light, and before he could question just where Libby was leading everyone, he choked a sharp inhale as Balba suddenly popped out of the jungle foliage. Royal followed with no hesitation, no second guesses, his strong stride bound after her with all the trust in the world, and before Ace could loudly question just where they were going to stop, his heart froze as the span of Balba's wings suddenly came into view, spread wider than he could ever imagine. The gorgeous, hypnotizing display of green and cream markings, all over her feathers, was merely a kind sight to see just before plummeting to their game-overs. As his eyes watched Balba take one last jump from the Earth, Royal spread his wings with expert precision Ace was uncertain of it's origin, and before Ace could react to everything that was happening all at once, he could feel Royal's body become weightless as he took one last leap from the cliff side, as well.

Ace uttered a hard gasp, scrunched tight to Royal's body and grappled at the fur on his neck. As his stomach sank with the rising elevation, and the powerful down-stroke of Royal's gorgeous, golden wings, Ace's eyes popped open in hard surprise. He flinched at the sudden kiss of whipping wind through his whole entire body, and without even understanding an ounce of this new realm, he suddenly felt as if he was home. He sat up straight as Royal tenderly banked, his eyes scanned his gorgeous home game out before him, and unlike anything he had ever known, he held his breath and squinted, the surreal, heavenly sights before him had him wondering if this was even reality. The Dead Zed sky was littered with stars, the splash of stardust and moonlight made it almost touchable, the very idea of soaring to the stars seemed as if it weren't too far fetched. Ace shook his head and took everything in, though Balba's loud howl of a whine brought him back to the situation at hand.

"Ace, we did it!" Libby hollered over the wind as Balba leveled out next to Royal, about two dozen feet away.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" Ace called back, though Libby waved her hand and shook her head, her white hair, tucked high in a ponytail, flickered in the moonlight.

"Doesn't matter, we're doing it now, that's all that counts," Libby stated with a wide smile as she rubbed Balba's back, "We got some awesome flyers, we should consider ourselves lucky!"

"Boy, do I," Ace retort, almost to himself, as he, too, pat Royal's back for a job well-done.

The four fell into a calm silence, nothing but the hug of the sky to welcome them to it's domain. Libby quietly pointed out the city of Ekreth far on the horizon, lit up like Christmas. As they came upon a vast amount of open field, Libby sunk closer to Balba's spine and gestured to get Ace's attention.

"Betcha I can beat you to that field!" Libby challenged, and though Ace felt his heart surge in nervousness, the fact that he had never even flown Royal before, he furrowed his brow and knew he couldn't say no to a race.

"You're on," Ace growled, as he grappled the tough fur on Royal's neck.

Royal exhaled a hard growl of competitive excitement and, with a sudden down stroke and a dip to the planet, the two rocketed forward, as did Libby and Balba. Through their hard laughter, and the whipping jungle breeze all about them, their little race quickly turned into a free-for-all of fun, a never ending display of wings, a metaphorical dance of lovers, with green and gold wingspans to boast underneath the raw moonlight. As the two rocketed down towards the field of tall jungle grass, Royal and Balba finally gained a closer proximity to each other and sharply banked upwards to miss the cut of the grass, just feet underneath their bellies. Ace wobbled lightly, though he largely flinched as their rushing presence awakened the critters of the tall grass, and a massive amount of lightning bugs quickly began to scatter in their presence.

"We can fly!" Libby hollered loudly with a hard giggle, though Ace eagerly peered to her and felt his whole world fall to the wayside.

With arms stretched out wide with Balba's wings, she tilted her head to the sky, closed her eyes and let out a loud cheer of the ultimate freedom. Ace found himself loosening his strict grip to Royal, and before he knew it, his tender, large fingers traced the shoulder blades of Royal's powerful wings, and with great courage, he sprawled his arms out wide and finally copied Libby's freeing stance aboard Balba. His heart jumped as Libby's cheerful smile and lively eyes finally graced his, Ace immediately beamed, he could swear all the lightning bugs, that went whipping past the four, were merely speckles of stardust, simply illuminating their raw bud of an evolving friendship. Ace finally heaved a hard laugh, threw his head back and shut his eyes tight.

"My mom's gunna kill me!" Ace yelled in a great amount of victory, as if getting in deep trouble, for said outing, was totally worth it.

Ace's smile only broadened as Libby's contagious laughter was sent his way, and before the two could rocket into the jungle trees at the end of the field, Royal and Balba caught air in their wings and hovered over the gorgeous splay of the jungle canopies.

"This will probably be the last time we'll ever see each other," Libby stated playfully as they soaked into the blue glow of the horizon.

With a bit more of an adventure to their hearts desire, and a good dose of the sky and stars, the four finally decided to take a bit of a small break. Amongst the highest of jungle trees, they found a patch of thick branches to relax on, underneath a few, large sprouts of treetops. Ace and Libby sat comfortably on a large branch directly above the two branches Balba and Royal each had to themselves. As the sky, on the horizon, began to show signs of wanting to show the sun, sometime soon, Ace's eyes gently dragged past the city of Ekreth and to the direction of his bedroom, which he had left unattended. He flinched as Libby's soft voice coat his whole soul.

"Hold still," Libby giggled, she shook her head and waved her hands about.

"Sorry," Ace mumbled.

With any other person, he'd likely forbid them from making him a dainty crown out of flowers, though with the way Libby's close presence hovered in front of his, her dainty hands that worked beautiful foliage into the crown of Ace's head, her playful eyes that dart all about her bored creation woven within Ace's dark blue hair, Ace knew to give her the world. He nearly chuckled as Libby muttered silent words to herself, her meticulous hands fumbled with the flowers in Ace's hair; he wrinkled his nose as one of the bright blue flowers, in his peripheral, suddenly lost a petal or two. Libby loudly gave it an annoyed scowl.

"These flowers are so delicate," Libby scold the creation Ace had nearly unwillingly let her put into his hair, though he heaved a hard sigh and grew more and more patient. He felt his heart softly pound, anything to enjoy her close presence was enough for him.

"Don't let me try and fix 'em, my hands can't handle it," Ace choked playfully, which got a genuine giggle out of Libby, though his heart jumped at the remembrance of just what had happened earlier in the day. He raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and gazed into Libby's eyes, though her line of sight was strictly fixed to the crown in Ace's hair, "Libby... I-I'm really sorry for earlier."

"What? What do you mean?" Libby wondered, her beautiful blue eyes only merely glanced to Ace's; his heart leaped, nonetheless.

"I... I shouldn't have threatened to beat that one other boy up," Ace mumbled in humility, his eyes scanned the beautiful, orange tribal design all over the front of Libby's blue shirt, "I hope... I hope you're not mad at me."

"You were sticking up for me, why would I be mad at that?" Libby wrinkled her nose, "Ma fixed my dress, anyways. Those boys deserved a good throw-around."

"I agree," Ace cocked an eyebrow and let his eyes adjust to the horizon directly past Libby, though he refocused his eyes back to hers, "I just hope you don't see me as a big bully, or something... I-I can't help that I'm a wrecker."

"You're not a bully," Libby's calm voice was kind and cute, she shook her head and only finally began to act as if she could pull away from Ace's flower crown, "You were just protecting me. I've never had a friend like you, Ace."

"Really?" Ace wondered, his hopes continued to soar.

"Really," Libby assured with a nod as she fixed a few petals on top of Ace's head, though she giggled and let her eyes scan his face for a moment, though she finally waggled her finger, lazily, and continued on, "There. I dub thee, Ace Von Thaddeus Kalivar... Prince of Dead Zed, now you have a proper crown."

"I love it," Ace stated kindly, and though he couldn't see what it looked like, nor did he particularly enjoy having flowers in his hair, he simply enjoyed her handiwork, her quirky ways. He wrinkled his nose and shook his head, though carefully, so not to destroy her hard work, "I'm ready to rule the world."

"No, wait, your look is missing something," Libby urged as she squinted and fingered her lip in contemplation, though Ace furrowed his brow.

"You're going to add more flowers?" Ace wondered, though he tried not to seem too unenthusiastic.

"Close your eyes, it's a surprise," Libby gestured towards him gently, though before Ace could argue, he heaved a soft sigh through his nose, slumped his shoulders and unwillingly let his eyes lull closed.

"If you start adding birds or something, I might have to draw the line," Ace mumbled, though just as he was about to carry on, he suddenly felt her warm presence eke into his.

He furrowed his eyebrows harder in growing concern, but before he could open his eyes to question her motives, he felt warmth on his face, and with a simple, innocent peck to his lips, his spine stiffened. He quickly opened his eyes, scrunched his shoulders in plucked, dewy surprise and kept his whole entire world focused to Libby. She giggled bashfully, covered her mouth with her dainty hand and squinted through blue eyes that looked just as adorably innocent as they did deadly playful. As Ace's face turned beet red, he could swear every single noise, every single scent of the jungle, everything in his whole existence became heightened. He was certain he looked like a love-struck fool, a smitten dork with a flower crown, not nearly ripened for the world and all of nature's ways, just yet. Ace's chest lightly heaved as he froze in his strict, spine-stiffened posture, though before he could begin to question just what had taken place or just what it meant, Libby gently sat on her knees and peered to Balba's positioning, below her. She slid off of the branch, her and Ace were on, and as she sunk into Balba's feathery spine, she tucked her hair behind her ear and gave Ace a sneaky smile of girly, excited delight.

"See you soon, Ace," Libby chimed quietly, her promising smile was brighter than the sun.

Ace stammered on a few words, though before he could properly carry on, Balba grunted a playful growl, leaped from the branch she was on and took to the skies. Ace reached out and uttered a noise, as if to ask her to stop and come back, though he blew a hard raspberry and watched Balba's gorgeous, bird-like wings carry the two into the heavens before them. Ace slumped his shoulders and finally let a love-struck smile sprawl his face, though his heart jolted at the mere fact that they, indeed, had an audience of one.

"Alright, loverboy, now you have to pick the BEST fire flower tomorrow," Royal suddenly barked with a hard laugh, "Don't think I didn't have a front row seat to THAT show!"

"Oh, shut up," Ace mumbled bashfully.

* * *

 **A/N: HNNNNNNNN I drew fanart for this chapter, titled 'Fireflies' on my deviantART - Username Vyntresser**

 **I'm also going to draw the scene where she pecks him - poor Ace and his girly flower crown xD**


	29. Chapter 29

**Song Listened To : A Way To Say Goodbye (ft. Sombear)**

 **A/N: I'm about to break all of your guys' hearts here and I apologize profusely for further ensuing uprising to end my tyranny over dramatic WIR FanFiction xD Oh User help my soul...**

 ***Chapter 29***

Ace slowly blinked his eyes open. Lay diagonal across his bed, sunlight glint into his room. A fresh day brought in the beautiful sounds of song birds and critters alike. Ace smiled, stretched in his bed, and felt his heart jump at the anticipating idea of seeing Libby once more, though before he could snuggle into his sheets and relive their first kiss, for the thousandth time, he could hear Lickity, Royal and Tessa bantering down in the field of fire flowers. He largely furrowed his brow, sat up and gave his window a hard glare; it was then he realized he overslept.

With a clumsy rush of lazy boxers and a wrinkled nightshirt, he flew to his window and peered out it. Royal and Lickity kindly helped Tessa ready her field for some new plants and vegetables, though Ace uttered a nervous groan and knew he was very late, his daily routine of leaving the house with the three was suddenly thrown. His exhausted hazel eyes scanned the field for any sign of Libby and Balba, though he was thrilled to find that they hadn't showed up yet. In a flash, he dressed into a nice shirt and clean shorts, he rushed to his mirror and attempted to somehow fix his explosion of dark blue hair. He silently cursed the fact that he had inherited his mother's crazy locks. He shook his head, to rid himself of the stuff he couldn't control, and quickly peeled out of his bedroom and down his spiral staircase. Just as he burst into the kitchen and swung around to head out the back door, which was recently built to make access to their garden easier, he caught eyes with his dad and felt his whole world come to a nervous pause at the very idea of being discovered sneaking out the night prior.

"What's the hurry?" Zed stated, his tone was a tad more sly than usual, which had Ace nearly certain his parents knew of his midnight adventures.

"I-I overslept, I hope I didn't miss Libby," Ace rushed, and to avoid being kept and berated for sneaking out, he moved to the back door as quickly as he possibly could. He flashed his father a nervous smile, as if to somehow convey that he knew he was in deep trouble, and politely asked to save it for later. Ace popped out the back door and called back to Zed, "I gotta pick the best fire flower!"

"Mhmm," Zed mumbled to himself as he cocked an eyebrow and watched Ace leave, as if to retort back to Ace that said punishment had only briefly been bookmarked for the sake of Ace following through with the fatherly advice he was given the day prior, "Youuu do that. I'll be waiting riiight here."

"Mom!" Ace called, he ran down the hill and across the gorgeous field of overflowing grass, as quickly as his feet could carry him. All three beings quickly gave Ace their eager attention as Ace approached, a panting mess, "Mom, quick. Can I please pick one of your fire flowers for Libby? Dad said I should ask you first, but I-I really want to give her one."

"Sure, bud, what's the occasion?" Tessa crossed her arms and side-eyed Ace with a sneaky smirk; Ace slumped his shoulders and quickly dart his eyes about for the nearest, prettiest fire flower, a big patch the three were surrounded by.

"W-Well, I just... I just want to show her that I like her, y'know, as just a friend," Ace fibbed in an exhausted rush, though he finally picked a flower, bent down and delicately removed it from the ground. As he rid the roots of clumps of soil, he prettied the petals and inspected his gift before he gave Tessa a flash of his handsome hazel eyes, "I'm glad I didn't miss her."

"Yeah, she hasn't showed up yet," Tessa wondered as she gazed across the end of the field, just where the start of the jungle trees began, their typical point of arrival, everyday. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gave Ace yet, another, sly smile, "Maybe she overslept too... Maybe she had, uh... A long night?"

"Guess so," Ace eased as he nervously removed himself from Tessa's gravity and marched towards the end of the field where he always patiently waited, Royal eagerly followed to avoid any heat from Lickity. Tessa raised her eyebrows with a wide, snarky smile and finally eyed Lickity.

"How long do we carry on the torture?" Lickity muttered under her breath as she flattened her ears. Tessa heaved a small laugh and waved her hand.

"Long enough to watch 'em sweat like mad," Tessa blurt, her and Lickity shared a knowing laugh.

"I'm so glad I didn't miss her," Ace whispered to Royal as they finally approached their spot and stopped. Royal flattened his ears and nervously peered over his shoulder, Lickity and Tessa continued to work.

"Dude, our moms are onto us," Royal whispered, though Ace rolled his eyes and dart his sharp gaze on just where Libby emerged from every day, a pair of jungle trees Balba enjoyed weaving through.

"I know, my dad nearly melted a hole through my forehead with his glare, as I left the house just now," Ace rushed through his teeth, "I just need to get this flower to Libby... My parents can punish me, all they want, afterwards. I just want to make sure I start Libby's day out right."

"Noble," Royal perked his ears and gave Ace a look down his snout, though he smirked with delight, "Y'think she'll kiss you again?"

"For User's sake, I surely hope so," Ace heaved through a long sigh as he finally caught his breath, he let a goofy smile sprawl his face.

"Y'like her so much, why don't you marry her?" Royal suddenly teased, though just as Ace was about to obnoxiously agree with his teasing, so to turn the heat around onto Royal, the bushes beyond them suddenly rustled and, with a bit of a stumbling run, Libby emerged. Ace perked up, swallowed nervously and held a kind smile, though it very quickly dropped with the vibe of urgency Libby was giving off.

"Libby," Ace eased with a confused smile, though the closer Libby got, the more his smile dropped.

"Ace," Libby called quietly, and as she finally got within half a dozen feet of him, Ace slumped his shoulders in dewy confusion and felt her aura soak over his with dread. She shook her head in confusion, tucked her fists to her chest and anxiously peered over her shoulder, as if she was simply being followed, "Ace I... I don't have a lot of time."

"What's going on?" Ace worried as he took a few steps closer to her, and though he peered to her direction of sight, into the jungles, he finally glued his whole attention to hers and shook his head, "Is everything okay?"

"Ace, I... I-I... I've been forbidden to come see you, every day," Libby whimpered, it was clear she had been crying, she panted and tried her hardest to catch her breath. Her gorgeous, sad eyes hooked into Aces with total sorrow, "M-My tribe doesn't know I left... I-I have to go."

"What?" Ace hissed in a sudden dip of confused sorrow, he shook his head and furrowed his brow, "No, Libby, that's ridiculous... You can do whatever you want, you're not limited to who you hang out with, every day, that's just stupid."

"I agree, Ace, but... The tribe has... Regulations, traditions," Libby pleaded as she looked over her shoulder for the fourth time in ten seconds, she anxiously rubbed her wrist, and it was only then did Ace notice hard bruises all up her right arm.

"Traditions?" Ace ogled, his heart began to pound in confusion, "S-Surely they can allow... One more day! One more, please!"

"I-I can't Ace, I-I... I came to say goodbye," Libby uttered sadly, she shook her head as tears finally spilled down her cheeks, "I will... NEVER forget you... I will always keep the ace of hearts, you gave me."

"Y-You'll come back, though, you have to come back sometime," Ace rushed, as if he was simply watching her slow death, and at any given moment, any one of his words could be the last he ever got to relay to her. He squinted his eyes and suddenly felt a strange sensation of protectiveness and grief hit his heart, "I-I... This can't officially be the last time I see you."

"I can't come back until a-after... After my birthday, in two and a half months," Libby desperately tried to seem positive, though her body language looked as if she needed to peel away, even though it was the hardest thing she had to do.

"Why your birthday, what's that have to do anything?" Ace urged as he took a step closer to her, to beg her to stay just a little longer.

"...I'm to be wed, on my birthday," Libby uttered, as if it were simply poisonous words being dribbled over Ace's heart, "I-I've been arranged to marry a suitor, he's... He's the chief's second born... A-A very high honor..."

"If it's such a high honor, why do you look upset about it?" Ace retort, he felt his heart suddenly jump with rage, though it immediately softened once Libby exhaled a cry-hiccup.

"Because this isn't what I want," Libby urged nervously, "But... I have to follow the ways of my people... I have to do this... I'll come back, one day."

"Wh-when?" Ace's voice quivered, his eyes welled with tears once and for all, "Libby, this isn't fair, I... I really like you, Libby."

"I really like you too, Ace," Libby whimpered as her face crumpled into a grimace of growing despair, "Please... Please promise me you'll be here, waiting, by the fire flowers... Like you promised."

"I'll wait for you, everyday," Ace uttered with growing confidence, "I'll be here. I-I may break a lot of stuff but promises aren't one."

"Don't forget me," Libby cried softly as she suddenly pushed into Ace's presence and slapped her arms tight around his neck in a hard embrace. Ace easily squeezed her around her back, and nearly didn't let her leave his grip.

"I could never," Ace's voice wavered as the tears billowed harder in eyes, he unwillingly unhanded Libby and, with one final stare of equally shared despair, Libby nervously peeled away from Ace, turned heel and began to run back to the jungle, from which she always would come and go, every day.

Ace slumped his shoulders and watched as she hesitantly looked back, as if to wonder if running away from home was something she could afford, though before she could convince herself to be brave and run back to Ace, she finally tucked away into the foliage and vanished once and for all. Ace froze. He could hardly believe everything that had so suddenly taken place, everything bad that could've possibly happened, happened. Royal exhaled a nervous breath, flattened his ears and hesitantly glanced at Ace. His golden eyes scanned for any sign of Balba, a beautiful creature in which he had grown fond of as well, though amongst the greenery, she was no where to be found.

Ace choked a nervous noise and kept his eyes honed to the jungles where Libby vanished, he firmly prayed that somehow it was all a joke, a massive prank that Libby so genuinely constructed, though after a few moments of hot silence, he finally dragged his eyes to the ground, let the tears fall down his cheeks and onto the petals of the gentle fire flower he was so prepared to give Libby. It's gorgeous, hot red petals were primed and ready for admiring, and though they were prettiest at night, when they let off a soft, firey glow, they still held a delicate charm during the day. Ace huffed a breath, as if to somehow convince himself he was going to be alright, though as his eyes dragged back to where his mother and Lickity were, his heart jumped at the mere sight. Both his mom, dad and Lickity stood frozen in equally collected confusion as they, too, watched the sorrowful show unfold before them. It was in this moment Ace knew he was officially off the hook for his adventures, the night prior; the growing look of concern, on both of his parent's faces, had him certain of their loving understanding.

Once and for all, Ace stumbled across the stretch of grass, to reach his parents. Royal hung his head low and kept pace with Ace, as if this was their walk of doom, the sudden change of plans, the drop of two friends they had so quickly come to know and love. Ace sniffled firmly, rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and, once he was within range of his parents, he nervously peered to them, as if to beg for forgiveness and wonder if they would potentially care for him in his sudden time of dire need. He scoffed a breath of an annoyed laugh, an incredulous berate towards himself as he gestured his hand out.

"Y-You guys can ground me for leaving the house last night, I know you guys know that we were gone," Ace grumbled, "I don't care what happens, just... Punish me and get it over with... Nothing can be worse than what just happened to me..."

Tessa furrowed her brow in sorrow and, as her and Zed caught eyes, they both conveyed the same understanding. Tessa inhaled a slow breath and gave her attention back to Ace, his broken spirits and wet face made it clear his heart was very quickly becoming ready for the real, hard life events of becoming an adult. He slumped his shoulders and so desperately tried to wipe the tears from his face.

"Ace," Tessa started tenderly, she looked back to Zed for assurance, and as he sent her a nod of approval, Tessa gave her attention back to Ace and lovingly slid a hand to his shoulder, "I'm sorry baby... I-I... I really have no idea what to say about what happened."

"Why couldn't she just visit me every day?" Ace blurt, his heightened eye contact finally glued to his mother's, "Why... Why does it have to be so difficult?"

"Well, Libby is from Dead Zed's native tribes, Ace," Tessa explained, as tenderly as she could, "They don't live life like everyone else... They are very proud people, they have strict rules and traditions, their way of life is extremely different from anything you're used to."

"Sh-She's going to get married? On her birthday?" Ace wondered, as if it were simply the stupidest idea he had ever heard of, "To a dude she doesn't even like?"

"An arranged marriage," Zed mumbled, he cocked an eyebrow and shook his head, "She's... She's probably forbidden from leaving so she can get ready to be married. These tribes don't treat a marriage like, say, your mother and I would. It's not for love, it's strictly for the well-being of the tribe. Simply for good house-keeping, bearing children and keeping a stable home while the men hunt, work and fight."

"This isn't fair," Ace mumbled, he shook his head and peered down at the delicate fire flower in his hand, "Sorry I picked one of your flowers for no reason, mom..."

"It's not for no reason," Tessa eased, she bit her lip and tenderly took the flower from Ace's lazy, uninterested grip, "We can put it in a vase, in the kitchen. Spruce up the place, a little. No harm done."

"It'll be okay, son," Zed's soft voice coat Ace's sorrowful soul, "Maybe one day, she'll come back... Maybe once she has a bit more freedom, she will come back to visit you."

"But, she'll be married," Ace looked down and, though his mind couldn't totally wrap around the idea of it all, he still tried his very hardest to hold back tears, sorrow in which he very easily understood just what it'd mean to be strictly Libby's friend, and only such.

"Hmm'welllll," Zed dragged, he looked up to the sky in growing cheek and crossed his arms, though Tessa furrowed her brow and swat at him gently. Zed chuckled and inched away from her larger hand, in which attempted to playfully swat at him once more, "C'mon, if she doesn't truly like the guy she's married to, then what's the point!"

"It's their tradition, you have to respect it," Tessa stated gently to Ace, though she gave Zed a playful stink eye, "I'm positive you'll see her again... Just be patient."

"This sucks," Ace huffed through his nasally drag of his crackling pubescent voice.

"Well... How about, we switch things up today," Tessa's voice perked, she glanced to Zed in growing hopefulness before she gave her gaze back to Ace, "Why don't you come to Academy with me, today. It'll get your mind off of everything that just happened."

"Will they let him into Academy?" Zed worried, though he realized just what he was starting to insinuate. He quickly back-tracked, "I-I mean because, he's not fully grown, yet."

"I can just pretend there was no one at home to watch him, and coming with me was the only choice," Tessa shrugged, "Both my teachers are understanding. Especially Throttle."

"Well, if you're sure neither of them will care," Zed tilted his head in contemplation and peered down to Ace, "Does that sound good to you?"

"That'd be fun," Ace's voice finally attempted to come back to normality, and though his demeanor still had a drag of sorrow, his eyes read with a glint of hope.

"Good," Tessa nodded with an assuring smile, "Let's get ready to go, then. It'll be fun showing you around school, bud. We'll have a good time."

"Will I get to meet the guy with the creepy eyes?" Ace wondered, a smile finally began to surface on his wet cheeks, both Tessa and Zed let out gentle, understanding laughter.

"Yep," Tessa nervously peered to Zed and continued speaking to Ace, "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to meet you."


	30. Chapter 30

**Song Listened To : How To Love (ft. Sofia Reyes) by Cash Cash**

 ***Chapter 30***

"Well, that's a game changer..." Zed grumbled in playful, quiet annoyance.

They watched their son slowly trudge up his staircase in order to change into a different pair of clothes, as well as grab a book bag for his first day shadowing Tessa at Academy. Tessa crossed her arms, huffed a long sigh and slowly looked over her shoulder. The living room was quiet and still, Zed's five younger brothers had left to prepare for quarter alerts not too long ago.

"You mean not being able to immediately punish him, or the fact that Libby was forced to bail on her friendship with Ace?" Tessa wondered quietly, so that Ace couldn't hear.

"Well, both, I guess," Zed shrugged, he looked down to the tiles underneath in contemplative thought, "It would sort of add insult to injury if we punish him for sneaking out with the one person he won't even be able to be around, anymore, huh..."

"I'll talk to him, today... I'll find a way to handle it," Tessa assured gently, she eyed Ace's stairwell. She knew he likely needed a touch of a mother's care, in this fragile and uncertain time. Zed nodded in understanding and began to head to the fridge.

"I trust you won't just let it slide," Zed cocked an eyebrow and gave her a nervous smile.

"No, but I definitely don't want him feeling like he can't rely on us when he's going through a hard time," Tessa retort gently, "Yeah, I'll make it clear what he did wrong and go from there... It's obvious he understood what he did was wrong, but... At least we now know that was the last of it because, well..."

"Libby won't be around to influence it," Zed said through a long sigh, as if his statement wasn't technically a statement of relief, "I'll definitely miss that wild child. She brought Ace's confidence out. He really shone whenever she was around."

"Bring on the teen angst," Tessa stated in an unenthusiastic tone as she waved her hand about, slightly, "We thought the 'terrible twos' were bad."

* * *

"Mom, are there going to be k-kids my age?" Ace mumbled nervously, he watched as his mother softly slid off of Lickity's black saddle.

She hopped to the cold tiles of their home outlet. Though Ace had been in and out of Dead Zed before, the occasional weekend trip to EZ Living, his curious eyes still wandered out of the security of their outlet, nonetheless. He finally slid his hand into his mother's as she helped him dismount Lickity's spine.

"No, bud," Tessa said through a nervous breath, she glanced out the outlet, to Lickity's curious eyes and back to Ace's anxious demeanor, "The thing about Academy is, everyone that goes here is fully grown. They enroll after their first birthday."

"Oh, so I can do that too, right?" Ace wondered, his feet hit the ground next to Tessa, though he hung near his aunt Lickity with growing apprehension. Tessa raised her eyebrows and felt her heart jump with nervousness. She knew, because Ace was a human, he'd likely never see the right of enrolling into Academy, which was strictly for self-programmed gamers.

"Well, you would," Tessa shrugged, she tenderly gripped Ace's shoulder and looked into his eyes, "Bud... The gamers that go to Academy are known as self-programmed gamers."

"I'm one of those, right?" Ace furrowed his brow harder and grimaced in even higher billowing anxiousness, "...Right?"

"No, bud, you're not," Tessa eased, she smiled to assure he was something so much greater, "You're not a self-programmed gamer. Your coding is a little bit different, and though you can always shadow me at Academy, I don't know if you will ever be able to totally enroll. The people at Academy are a little... Narrow-minded."

"But I can still learn, right mom?" Ace worried, Tessa peered down into his eyes with a vast amount of love.

"I'll make sure of it," Tessa nodded, "I'll teach you everything I know, don't you worry. Okay?"

"Okay," Ace nodded, Tessa was thrilled he didn't seem too pushy on the subject matter. She knew, in due time, her and Zed would reveal to him that he was, indeed, a human, but for now, she was thrilled he was satisfied with the answer he was given, "So, what are we going to learn, today?"

"Well, I have only two classes," Tessa eased, her and Ace began to slowly stroll away from Lickity, though not without saying a few quite notions of gratitude and gentle parting, "Micro-Coding and Virus Science."

"Viruses?" Ace uttered as the two fell into step with each other. The top of Ace's head was right in height with just underneath Tessa's jaw. He side-eyed her in growing fear, "Like... Like the ones Ralph the wrecker battled? Those kinds of viruses?"

"Yep, the class is just about the science and workings behind viruses and just what makes one tick," Tessa explained, though the two jolted as Ace gave Lickity a second glance, over his shoulder.

"I'll be right back, mom," Ace assured as he began to shuffle back into Dead Zed's outlet, where Lickity would kindly watch and wait for Tessa to disappear safely into Academy.

"Y'okay?" Lickity worried as she perked her ears and watched as Ace swiftly approached her, though she jolted as Ace lovingly tucked underneath her large jaw and gave her a tight hug around her neck. She scoffed a noise of curious delight, fastened her paw around Ace's back and squeezed him lovingly.

"I'm okay, Aunt Lickity... I-I just wanted to apologize for taking Royal out, last night," Ace mumbled into her soft scales, though he was surprised to hear a gentle giggle escape his aunt's figure.

"Yeah, stinker, I'm just glad you two came home safely," Lickity playfully growled as the two pulled away. She nuzzled her snout into his face, nibbled at the tufts of dark blue hair atop his head and nudged his arm, "I'm glad Royal is confident to fly you around, now... He IS your flyer, after all. You two gotta stick together."

"Right," Ace nodded, though before he could heave a sigh of relief, Lickity flattened her ears, poked a claw into his chest and grinned a toothy grimace.

"But, you can do so without breaking the rules, y'hear me? I may be fun 'Aunt Lickity' but the castle has rules, dude," Lickity urged, her motherly tone was slick, though gentle and strictly all bark. Ace immediately looked sheepish, though he nodded in understanding.

"Yes ma'am," Ace mumbled quietly, though Lickity firmly nudged her snout into his side and began to shoo him away.

"Now git, go learn everything you can, and listen to your mother, okay?" Lickity urged, and as Ace hobbled away with a boyish crackle of a maturing chuckle, she lovingly waved to Tessa and winked.

Ace lovingly slipped his hand into Tessa's, and as the two melted into End Of Line Academy's warm, grey, welcoming walls, Tessa could feel Ace's nervous demeanor inch closer and closer to her. She occasionally eyed him, made sure he was at least somewhat comfortable with his new surroundings. She was surpised how easily he took the gentle break of news, the very idea of him not ever being able to sign up for Academy. She knew Throttle would likely take Ace under his wing and welcome him to his class any time, any day, though it broke her heart that he wouldn't get the full experience. She figured, for the time being, she'd home school him and teach him everything he didn't learn during their few hours at Academy every day.

Tessa's first hour class went smoothly, she was thrilled her teacher, Mr. Kitchi, was grateful for the extra student and didn't seem to mind whatsoever. Tessa was surprised at the overflow of questions, from her classmates, about her own son; she quickly came to realize that typically self-programmed gamers stopped the chain, and any self-programmed gamer that continued to produce more gamers were a rarity. She welcomed the overload of questions, the kind surges of compliments to her and Ace, though once the bell rang, her and Ace quickly began to shuffle towards Throttle's classroom. As they approached the rusty door, off the beaten path, labelled 'roof access', Ace inched closer to Tessa's side in the creep of apprehension he thought he had gotten rid of.

"Uh, mom, where are we going?" Ace mumbled, he eyed his mom as she opened the door for him and welcomed him inside.

"This is where my last class is, bud," Tessa stated quietly as she stepped in after Ace and pushed the loved, metal elevator button, "Throttle likes to um... Stay hidden away."

"Really? Why?" Ace questioned, his curious hazel eyes hooked into hers as they remained still and patiently waited for the elevator to reach them.

"Well... He's not really liked," Tessa shrugged, "Throttle is a great guy, but he has a bit of a safety issue. A lot of people don't really want him around."

"What'd he do?" Ace furrowed his brow, the elevator kindly chimed and opened it's doors.

"Well, it's not technically what HE did, but... What one of his students did," Tessa gently explained, she knew Ace was not a little child anymore, and he would have to start understanding the hard facts of life. As the two stepped into the elevator, she knew she had Ace's full attention, "He used to teach racing, and was a racing coach to one of the greatest racers this arcade has ever seen."

"What did his student do?" Ace worried, though as the elevator doors closed, she began to lovingly straighten his shirt and crazy tufts of hair.

"His name was Turbo, and..." Tessa trailed off through a sigh before her hazel eyes pierced into Ace's, "He went crazy and turned into a virus. Some people think it was Throttle's fault, but... It wasn't. The only place he's safe from being harmed is here, in Academy."

"Throttle isn't a bad guy, is he?" Ace worried, his eyes dart to the elevator buttons, as if to silently wonder if heading to this class was wise, though he softened his demeanor once Tessa let out an understanding chuckle.

"No, not at all... He's pretty cool, and I'm sure you two will get along," Tessa nodded, "Just don't comment on his eyes, and you'll be golden."

"I'm scared," Ace blurt quietly through the draw of an annoyed chuckle, though Tessa easily joined in and nudged his chin.

"Toughen up, you're the son of a wrecker," Tessa firmly stated, though her motherly smile still held a vast amount of love, "Throttle wouldn't hurt a fly. Just make sure to keep up, he speeds through topics and lessons. Okay?"

"I'm ready," Ace nodded confidently, though as they came to their final floor, and the elevator doors creaked open, his body language clamored Tessa's for safety.

As Tessa stepped forward into the room, she felt Ace just barely lag behind. With a tender grip, she slid her hand to Ace's shoulder and brought him back to her side, and as they approached the seat where Tessa usually sat, a few seats shy of the front of the class, she caught eyes with Throttle and gave him a knowing smile. She softly glanced down to Ace, gave Throttle a nervous look and slowed hers and Ace's pace, as if to silently wonder if it were okay to bring Ace to class today. She immediately knew Throttle's response purely by the bemused, closed-lipped grin that sprawled his face. With one simple nod of assurance, he continued with what he was doing at his desk. Tessa took her cue and kindly showed Ace to the seat nearest her. He sat down, kept his hands to himself, in his lap, and nervously peered about. Tessa could tell it was taking all of him not to ogle Throttle, the very being his parents had been chatting about for months now.

"Just observe today, don't worry about anything, okay? Just keep quiet and you and I can go over everything, when we get home, okay?" Tessa assured quietly, and as the bell rang, the class of half a dozen shuffled to their respective seats.

"Alright, class, I hope you at least attempted to do your homework," Throttle's deep voice crackled, he stood and began erasing the notes from the class prior to this one, off of the white board. He turned around on his heel, his lazy black t-shirt and slacks were perfect, wrinkle free, he always looked very put together despite the fact that he never left his perch. He clapped his hands together and slyly eyed the class, terrifying black, square pupils that held a vast amount of boyish cheek, "...Because we're not going to discuss any of it, today."

"Really," One student loudly grumbled, the rest of the class groaned mild annoyances about the fact that they worked hard on said homework; Tessa chuckled and let out a long breath.

"Good, cause I didn't do it," Tessa chuckled, she lightly eyed Ace and hoped to get a smile out of him; his nervous demeanor only attempted it.

"Today, class, we have a guest, and a very special one, at that," Throttle's voice softened, and the way his attention drew to Ace, he could see Ace's spine begin to stiffen. He brought his loud, abrasive demeanor to a gentle crawl and, as much as he wanted to avoid scaring Ace with his eye contact, he gave it anyways and hoped that the new being, in the room, would be brave, "Tess, mind introducing to us our new classmate?"

"Sure," Tessa eased, she gently reached a hand to Ace and gripped his shoulder with motherly care, she squeezed a little and gave the class a kind smile, all while the two stayed in their seats, "This is my son, Ace. He's visiting, today. His father couldn't be home to watch him, today."

"Just today?" Throttle urged gently, he approached Ace's desk and eased into his quivering bubble, "You're welcome in my class anytime, my friend. It's good to finally meet you. The class calls me Tee."

"Thank you, sir," Ace's voice nearly shook, though he inhaled a deep breath and bravely gave Throttle solid eye contact. As Throttle reached out for a handshake, Ace gladly received it; it was only then did Ace begin to relax.

"Manners," Throttle's voice grumbled in delight, he eyed Tessa, "Looks like you've received a wonderful upbringing... Today, class, we are going to jump around a bit."

Throttle softly removed himself from Ace's presence and skulked slowly to the front of the class; all eyes held to him in nervous contemplation.

"We're going to talk about the complex pros, and cons, of having a swap mate," Throttle's voice attempted to carry on, though a student towards the back chuckled.

"This isn't Code-Ed., Tee," he stammered, the class laughed.

"Tell me something," Throttle wagged his finger gently, "Let's pretend, say, you have a swap mate, and your swap mate permanently dies... What do you do? Where do you go to get a refill of that special coding only one other person, in Arcade, shares with you... If said person is forever gone?"

"You suffer," Tessa mumbled, Throttle pointed.

"Silently, you suffer, there's nothing you can do, right?" Throttle eyed the class, though he moved to his white board, "So, what would happen, then, if you couldn't handle it? Day in, day out, you're stuck with someone else's share of the coding... You can't reboot your system with someone else's. Y'ever wonder why some people choose to remain withOUT a swap mate? The chances of one of you dying are likely, and then what?"

Throttle began to draw a sloppy diagram on the board, illustrating trapped coding underneath someone's skin, the messy blue lines, of the marker he used, were angrily scribbled on the frowning stick figure.

"Your coding begins to wonder where your other half went," Throttle continued to gently scribble, though he pointed the marker at Tessa, from across the room and gave her a sly smile, "I hope you don't mind things getting a little personal, here, Kalivar. Questions for young ears might get awkward, I hope you're okay with it?"

"I don't think you're giving me a choice, are you?" Tessa mumbled as she slumped her shoulders, and just as she suspected, Throttle shook his head 'no', to answer her, and cheekily carried on.

"Since you have made clear you have swapped with a User-made gamer, and, thus created life, a Mr. Ace, here," Throttle smiled and motioned towards Ace, "You went through this very scare, didn't you? The lack of a swap makes you go nuts... Almost like your coding wants to take over and do harm, right?"

"Well, my issue was I was temporarily blind," Tessa mumbled, her cheeks grew red, "I could sort of feel my coding begin to angrily 'itch', if you will, since I already had a health issue... It all went downhill."

"And how did it get fixed?" Throttle dragged, he side-eyed Tessa with a knowing smile and gestured his hands, "A code swap. A refresh set you straight, right?"

"Right," Tessa nodded.

"It is said, that a normal code-mate couple must swap a minimum of three times a week to keep so no one goes mad," Throttle slowly paced the front of the class, he wrinkled his nose, "So no one goes Turbo... Would you say that's true, Tess?"

"Yes," Tessa answered, though she grinned a bashful smile as Throttle slowly began to mosey to Ace's desk.

He sunk his palm to Ace's blank, wooden desk, slouched and gave Ace a knowing smirk. He gently motioned his thumb to Tessa and grinned a lazy, cheeky smile. The whole class began to chuckle in a knowing way as Tessa rubbed her forehead in growing embarrassment.

"Mom and dad must really REALLY love each other, huh," Throttle's deep voice stated softly to Ace, and for the first time all day, Ace let a wide, genuine smile plaster his face. He eased a gentle laugh and glanced at Tessa, "That's a'lotta lovin', there, Ms. Kalivar!"

"Please, say it louder," Tessa covered her face and continued to laugh into her hand, the class gently joined her in understanding.

"Without THAT, you start to itch," Throttle moved over to the white board once more, though he eyed Tessa knowingly, "And not in a good way. It's painful. It's sorrowful. It's dangerous, and even ugly, right?"

"Right," Tessa stated, she glanced at Ace and was floored his whole attention was strictly to the topic at hand. She smiled and gave Throttle a near grateful stare. She was thrilled this segue, into the infamous 'code-swap' talk, would likely be an easy transition, something they could calmly discuss at home and involve the things they learned in class.

"This is virus territory. Code-mates are rare, because it's a risky job," Throttle explained, "You're making a deal with death. You swap for the rest of your life, three times a week or more, strictly to keep from going insane. It takes the bravest of souls. It's a messy business."

"It doesn't help that swaps aren't reversible," One student, towards the front, inquired.

"Correct, buuut, there is a way your coding can be totally reset," Throttle wagged his finger and gave the class a knowing smirk, "No one in Arcade can achieve it... Only a User can reverse a swapped code."

"Through the terminal," Ace suddenly, though quietly blurt.

He scrunched his shoulders and only shortly realized he had said his words out loud. He furrowed his brow, froze and bit his lip, as if to merely wonder if he would be in trouble for speaking out. His heart stopped as the class froze. Throttle drew a slow slide of eye contact to Ace's humble, fragile being and cocked an eyebrow. He held eyes with Ace, an unwavering battle of uncertainty, on both ends. Throttle finally dart his eye contact to Tessa's and asked her the one silent question he had likely been dying to ask. Tessa felt her heart pound in uncertainty, she was aware Ace had no idea of his human title. She gently shut her eyes tight, shook her head just barely and hoped Throttle would keep his suspicions to himself. She held her breath and prayed that somehow, her fragile secret would be safe with Throttle.

"That's correct," Throttle's voice crackled in dark curiosity, "A player's terminal is only accessible by a User and only a User... How did you know that, son?"

"I-I..." Ace shrunk into himself harder and felt his heart begin to race. He suddenly furrowed his brow, shook his head and gave Throttle a wholly confused look, "I-I don't... Know... I just knew it somehow. The heart of all coding."

"The black void," Throttle eased, he furrowed his brow and bit his lip in gentle contemplation.

He tenderly glanced to Tessa and, through a different strain of eye contact, he suddenly felt humbled in her presence. And though a billion and one questions rushed his circuits, he knew to stuff it until later. Much later. He moved the topic along, so to avoid suspicion from his other students.

"Anyhow... If coding goes too long, without a refresh, the body's immune system is drastically weakened, and you are more susceptible to harm, such as illness, even blindness, deafness, paralysis, the list goes on..." Throttle paced the front of the class, he occasionally would look to Ace, as if to wonder if he had any other random bouts of knowledge to share, "All things that could drive a being to the point of intelligent, virus-born activity. Essentially, you go mad... Until either your swap-mate can convince you to the bedroom, orrr... Your terminal is accessed."

Tessa raised her eyebrow and stared Ace down in growing surprise. Even she wasn't aware of the terminal and it's power to reverse a swap-mate's coding. Ace heaved a shaky sigh and finally gave his mother his apprehensive eye contact. He forced a weak smile, and though Tessa gave one back, she suddenly felt her heart pound at the sheer fact that his human brain was recalling things she was uncertain he had ever learned, or ever could have learned. Throttle carried on and transitioned out of the sudden pluck of awkwardness with ease, though it took all of Tessa not to halt the class and shake Ace for more information. Information she was sure he had no clue the origin of.


	31. Chapter 31

**Song Listened To : This Is What It Feels Like ft. Trevor Guthrie by Armin Van Buuren**

 ***Chapter 31***

"Okay, smarty pants," Tessa grumbled with a kind smile, her and Ace slowly trot into the warm sunlight that coat the atrium with midday glow. She tapped his shoulder, in an inquiring way and gave him a sly side-eye; he beamed a bashful smile to his feet and shook his head, as if to already seem playfully annoyed. Tessa tapped his shoulder and chest a few more times, "So y'know things. How'd you learn all that, huh?"

"I-I wish I could tell you, mom," Ace chuckled, his masculine voice so desperately tried to break through the awkward stage of puberty he had found himself in, "I honestly... I don't know where that knowledge came from."

"Not your dad? Not one of your uncles?" Tessa squinted in bewilderment, she put her larger hands on her hips, "I certainly didn't teach you any of it..."

"I just thought it was common sense?" Ace stated quietly, though not in a demeaning way. He innocently peered into his mother's eyes, he began to look nervous.

"No," Tessa hissed a soft breath and took a subtle glance around, in hopes of avoiding wandering attentions, "What you stated, in there, was next level crap, Ace... That's... That's not even stuff I know."

"How could you not know it? You've... You've been going to school for years now, right?" Ace inquired, his tone continued to remain soft and humble.

"Years," Tessa giggled, she covered her face, took a lazy step away and beamed into her palm; she could hardly believe the short amount of time and age gap between the two, "Baby... I'm only a year and a half older than you. You were born a few months after I turned one."

"What!" Ace ogled, he beamed a cheeky, teasing smile, "Mom, why didn't you ever tell me!"

"Apparently, there's a lot I probably should tell you," Tessa huffed, she waggled her hand in hard dismay and began to gently lead the two towards the corridor that lead to Academy's exit.

"So, if you're a self-programmed gamer, and dad's a User made gamer... What exactly does that make me?" Ace inquired, he eyed his mom in growing anticipation as her silence began to grow deafening. Ace furrowed his brow and bent over slightly, to get a good look into his mother's idle gaze to their slowly moseying footwork, "Am I... A rare bird? A mutant? A god-?"

"Rare bird, let's... Keep it at that, love," Tessa cut him off with a nervous chuckle, "Rare bird... No self-programmed gamer really ever just... Starts a family with a User-made gamer."

"But you did," Ace pointed with a boyish grin, he chuckled and continued to confidently stride on, "And out came ME. So, what, do I have super powers? Can I shoot coding from my hands? From my EYES?"

"Uh, actually, you have a power similar, yes, but not anything you can shoot through your eyes," Tessa laughed, "I wouldn't say they were SUPER powers... Every gamer has their power-ups."

"I don't know how I came up with what I told Throttle," Ace finally softened, and as the two round the corner, to leave Academy's large double doors, he gave his mother a sorrowful grimace and furrowed his brows, "I-It... It's sort of like I've always known. Like, common sense," Ace shrugged and looked on, "Something everyone just... KNEW."

"Well I'm glad you know," Tessa stated gently, and though it nearly wanted to frustrate her, for the fact that her son was leaps and bounds ahead of her, she smiled and tenderly rubbed Ace's back a little, "You're related to two coding geniuses... Guess it's good to have a third, around, y'know?"

"I wouldn't say I'm coding genius, mom," Ace chuckled, he shook his head and fell into step with Tessa as the two finally reached the bottom of Academy's stoop and into End Of Line Station's glorious, sprawling blue tiles, "Maybe... Maybe yours and dad's knowledge just sort of wedged it's way into my coding and... I don't know... Manifested new information. M-Maybe when I was made, whatever your's and dad's coding harbored got passed onto me?"

"Your the product of love," Tessa teased, "I don't think we were intrigued by coding the day we made you, babe."

"I-I don't need details," Ace shuddered and playfully wagged his hands towards Tessa, which she retaliated with a gentle nudge to his shoulder. Just as Ace was about to complain about the topic at hand, he perked up and noticed that Royal had joined Lickity in picking Ace and Tessa up today. Ace beamed a wide smile and pointed, though as he peered to Tessa to inquire about Royal's presence, her knowing smirk said it all, "Mom... A-Are you going to let me fly Royal home?"

"C'mere," Tessa quietly eased as the two approached Royal and Lickity; both were strapped with saddles, though Royal looked positively smitten. Before Ace could jump aboard Royal's back and show an incredible amount of excitement, for the situation at hand, Tessa gently gripped Ace's shoulders and moved him so he was looking straight at her, "Alright, you're aware what you did last night was wrong..."

"Mom," Ace started to complain, as if even a single second of his fresh, precious memories with Libby were too painful to visit.

"I think I speak for every adult in the house when I say that what you did was incredibly stupid, and foolish," Tessa's voice grew stern, though she peered into Ace's eyes with understanding, "Just because you're safe to game over, inside Dead Zed, doesn't mean you can be reckless..."

Ace breathed a huff of a sigh, as if to insinuate that he has given up attempting to fight Tessa, as well as the feeling of wanting to well up at the mere fact that meeting up with Libby wasn't a part of his daily routine anymore. His eyes scanned the tiles undertow, though with a touch of love, Tessa hooked her finger under Ace's chin and made him avert his gaze to hers, once more.

"... But it's about time you learn how to fly like a pro," Tessa's soft voiced eased, "I'll make a deal with you..."

"I'm listening," Ace assured in a nearly annoyed mumble, though his eye contact remained solid to Tessa's.

"I'll teach you how to properly fly, all my skills and tricks," Tessa finally released Ace's shoulders and crossed her arms, "If you promise to cut the 'sneaking out' crap."

"I have no one to sneak out WITH, anymore, mom," Ace complained, his voice grew raspy with the onset of feeling the need to cry, once more. He shook his head and kept himself composed, "Royal and I aren't going to go out, if anything, I wasn't totally sure about sneaking out, anyways."

"Well, for the time being, you're still under the main roof of the castle," Tessa's voice grew stern once more, and though she put up a tough front, Ace knew her center was warm and forgiving, "Once you're of age, and can prove to your father and I that you can be responsible... We can cut you loose with a bit more freedom."

"Can I move out of the main castle?" Ace's eyes lit up as he glanced at Royal, "W-Would I get my own tower?"

"If you keep sneaking out, then, no!" Tessa retort with a small laugh, Ace finally calmed his eager smile to that of a sheepish smirk.

"Fine, fine," Ace chuckled, though he eagerly peered back to Royal, who looked equally as eager to get back into the sky.

"Alright, so your father and I came to this agreement, I teach you how to fly if you remember just who you're answering to," Tessa's tone grew dark, she pointed at Ace as he nervously back-stepped towards Royal, "I chose not to jump all over you, because of what happened with Libby, but... Your father will likely have some choice words with you, just a fair warning."

"Can we just, uh, fly around until he goes to sleep then?" Ace wondered sheepishly, he carefully climbed aboard Royal, with the help of the thumb of his wing.

"Nice try, we're flying straight home," Tessa laughed as she, too, climbed upon Lickity's spine. She gestured for the two to start out this journey in a slow walk down Dead Zed's game wire, "C'mon... Let's cover the basics before we get into the air. I'm assuming flying bare back was terrifying and you had no clue what to expect?"

"Pretty much," Ace wheezed through a chuckle as Royal huffed a scoff and shook his head about, like a dog freeing itself of water.

"First thing's first... What do you notice about Royal's walk? His posture?" Tessa motioned to Royal, who kept in toe with Lickity. The two moseyed down the wire as End Of Line Station finally vanished from the slow curve of the wire, "Y'see how he has a slight bow-legged stance? It'll help you, and Royal, out tremendously if you keep his body posture in mind."

"My feet sorta point inward," Royal uttered to the ground as he peered down at his fumbling chameleon paws, he finally bared his teeth in a smile and gave Tessa his boyish, golden gaze.

"You, my nephew, are related to a giant chameleon. You are more a reptile than you are a mammal, like Lickity, here," Tessa explained, she softly pat the back of Lickity's neck, though she gave her attention to Ace, "Royal is more lizard like, you notice the sway in his walk? The serpent slither, it's secretive and flowing?"

"Yeah, Lickity doesn't have that, does she?" Ace wondered as he peered to his dragon of an aunt. Lickity perked her ears and tried hard not to pay too much attention to how she was walking.

"Nope, Lickity has the posture of a mammalian creature, a frontwards more direct walk, her spine moves up and down when she walks," Tessa gestured for Ace to watch the way both dragons moved; it was clear Royal's was far more bumbling and, though it held boyish charm and clumsiness, everyone knew he was still growing into his features. Tessa carried on, "This will count, in the sky. Royal will likely be an extremely strong flyer, able to endure far distances, though with the lack of tail fins, he will have a harder time with agility and speed."

"I can climb," Royal added as he cocked his head a little and looked up, as if to inquire he had many other talents.

"Strong and able," Tessa concluded, "Royal will be able to be sharper in different areas that Lickity won't be, and vice versa... Both dragons are very different, in their own respects, and you have to be able to navigate that."

"How can I steer? Royal has a mind of his own... What if I want to go in a certain direction and he doesn't?" Ace wondered, though Royal blurt a gentle laugh.

"I can see this turning into a fight," Royal snapped with a wide grin, Lickity laughed a little.

"Well, don't you and Lickity ever disagree?" Ace gestured as the two finally came upon the opening of Dead Zed's glorious, jungle-tree ridden hill top.

"Sometimes, but it's easy to fix... It's either we work together or plummet to the ground. When you're that high in the air, you know you don't have a choice but to trust each other," Tessa explained, Lickity nodded softly in agreeing.

"You'll find your groove," Lickity shrugged, though she nudged Royal's shoulder with the wrist of her wing, "Y'ready for the flight back?"

"I'm ready," Royal smiled as he straightened his spine a little and prepped his wings.

"C'mon," Tessa encouraged as she hunkered down to Lickity's spine and braced for her own take off.

She knew Royal knew how to fly, and getting into the air would be easy, though once they were there, she knew the lessons would quickly begin. After a few moments of climbing altitude, the four reached a level high in the sky that was out of a sharp breeze, away from any distracting clouds and was a good enough range from the ground to where if anyone fell, being caught wouldn't be an issue. Lickity softly hovered just a little bit over Royal as the two paint the sky with their gorgeous wingspans. Tessa gawked down at the brilliant splashes of gold and cream that covered the dorsal of Royal's wings, his span easily stretched at least a few inches larger than Lickity's. Tessa beamed an excited smile and was eager to see just how large Royal was going to finally get. She was thrilled she caught Ace's attention, she softly called down to him.

"You'll find the position that's most comfortable for you... Just understand that leaning tight to the spine means you want to speed up. Sitting up straight means you want to slow down, and pull back on the reigns," Tessa pointed lightly, though Lickity softly dipped so she was level with Royal; she easily tucked her wings in a tight flap, inched closer to Royal and suddenly nipped at his back feet. Royal let out a sharp laugh and largely flapped his wings in a hard downstroke of playful dismay.

"Don't get lazy with your legs," Lickity eased, "Keep them dangling and you'll throw your rider... In this case, Ace. Keep your limbs tight to your body. It'll make maneuveruing easier."

"Sharp turns call for a tight tuck into the wing-blade of the direction you want to go in," Tessa instructed, Lickity came to Royal's side, in the air, as Tessa easily demonstrated. Ace nodded and peered down to Royal's strong back, just above the reigns of the saddle, "Royal will help you in decision making... You two need to respect each other, this high in the air. You guys are a team. That's how it always will be. Y'understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Royal politely stated with a small smile, Ace nodded in agreement and softly pat the side of Royal's neck; Tessa grinned.

"C'mon, let's have some fun," Tessa urged, though before Ace could agree, Tessa tucked into Lickity's spine and the two were off.

"Wait! Not fair!" Ace hollered through a laugh, though Royal flattened his ears.

"Big and bumbling," Royal grumbled as he hovered for preparation, "You'll see!"

Ace inhaled a sharp breath and nervously braced himself, though just as he hunkered to Royal's spine and leaned forward, Royal easily took his cue and, with a soft dip in altitude and a hard down-stroke, Royal easily took off soaring. His powerful wings did everything they could to catch up to Lickity, and though he was nearly close, Lickity's sharp tail fins and feathers made it so she was forevermore the master of the skies. Ace heaved a gentle laugh and peered up to Lickity's underbelly, she soared majestically through the clouds above him as they began to smoothly vanish into the white fluff of the sky. He flinched and peered forward, and as the two flapped through the cool, high altitude wind, Ace was certain they were in another world. The way both bodies gracefully soared through the air, the way Royal took notes from his mother, a master class in flying, Ace squinted through the glorious, hot sunshine and caught a glimpse of his mother; easily a master of the sky, as well.

Ace felt his heart jump as Tessa's hair flicked over her shoulder, she peered to him with all the love in the world, a motherly smile of pure appreciation and support. He pushed a grateful smile to his cheeks, though before he could finally let all of his worries soak to the abyss about him, somehow Libby's kind smile flood his mind, and his smile easily dropped. As Tessa and Lickity softly slipped in and out of the clouds, and Royal's sharp flight remained, he peered forward and was graced with the gorgeous sight of the castles of clouds about them, massive, billowing structures that surely looked indestructible, as if it were out of the question to fly into them. As Tessa's and Lickity's chatter and giggles could be heard vanishing into the otherworldly surroundings to Ace's left, he felt his mind softly leave the atmosphere and dip into an alternate reality he knew he'd only ever be able to grace in high altitude wonderings.

Ace softly pat Royal's neck, as if to cue him to not listen to any of his steering instructions, and as Royal kept a solid speed, Ace sat up, and much like Libby taught him in his very first flying lesson, he hesitantly spread his arms out wide. He slumped his shoulders, and as his dark blue hair whipped about, he gave the clouds a hard grimace and nearly asked for forgiveness, as if this was his only moment to relive the best night of his life. He shut his eyes tight, as the feeling of tears hit his eyes. He shook his head, and above the numbing sound of the whipping wind in his ears, he tilt his head back, inhaled a deep breath, and called out the words Libby so victoriously imprinted on his heart.

"We can fly!" Ace hollered with a wide smile, though as the tears streamed his cheeks, he opened his eyes and peered up to the heavens, a gorgeous set of puffy clouds alongside the brilliantly blue sky.

He inhaled a shaky breath and knew that even though the two were worlds apart, he found comfort in the fact that him and Libby shared the same sky. He finally lowered his arms and relaxed his stance aboard Royal; he knew Royal was cued to his lack of steering instructions and was keeping a steady sail above the game. He softly sunk his larger hands into the gentle tufts of grey and cream fur on the back of Royal's neck, and as Royal's large ears tilted back to listen to Ace, he gingerly peered over the shoulder of his wing.

"I miss 'em too, Ace," Royal mumbled apologetically, Ace scoffed a small noise of acknowledgement, wiped his face with the back of his hand and searched for his mother's whereabouts.

"One day," Ace's voice crackled, he nodded once and kept the determination in his heart ablaze, "We'll get 'em back... I'll make sure of it."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey, I don't usually do this with like every piece of artwork I upload, but I just uploaded a painting (that is totally irrelevant to this chapter) but it features Ralph with Zed and Oliver, and is 'mini' spoilers for what is to come in the near future! I'm extremely proud of it, so if you guys wouldn't mind and going to check it out, that'd totally make my day :D**

The piece is titled **'Game Changers'** \- it's on my deviantART, username **Vyntresser**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N:** Hey, so uh... FF is being a butt again and isn't letting me reply to reviews, so I guess I'll just do it here xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL yeah~ Tessa is definitely more of an easy going parent. - thank you!

 **chuckiboo:** That's true, good point! I never really thought about that. Tessa was more of a rebellious child, than Ace is. Ace is too nervous to get into trouble where as Tessa was sort of like LOL well F that. xD

 **Retrokill:** Well I put the spoiler disclaimer just in case. For some reason, I don't have a grey area in my readers. Half of you LOVE spoilers, half of you HATE them. So I put the disclaimer on nearly everything to avoid getting attacked haha

 **Alisi Thorndyke: (she just got married! CONGRATS!)** Yeahhh, even though I've made it clear Tessa is more of a lackadaisy parent, when it comes to punishment, I feel she'd still put up a fight and be stern if need be. The roles sort of reverse, as Ace grows up. Zed becomes more chill, and Tessa becomes more strict - just because, by then, he'll know he's a User and will have reunited with the whole rest of the Sugar Rush crew - I'd be anxious too xD

 **Kaori-Yuki:** Thank you! Your reviews are one of my favorites to read, you dissect the chapters so well! Yes, the reunion(s) are pretty emotional, though I try to keep it lighthearted. It'll be grand either way, and I can't wait to breathe that HUGE sigh of relief with you guys xD It's comin', I promise! I'm really glad you guys are seeing the same sort of pattern with Tessa and Ace, much like Vanellope was with Tessa. I'm glad that carried over. Vanellope was similar to Zed, when it came to strictness, where as Tessa and Ralph are more relaxed. Maybe it has to do with being a natural-born wrecker. lol! Thank you so much!

 **WildVirus:** I actually have never been able to respond to you because you review as a guest! xD Just want to say a massive thank you for always reviewing, I love each and every single one of my reviewers, even the ones I can't respond to every chapter. I love that everyone is aware of Lickity's breed! Even though I sort of added my own details to her, like bat ears, but it's just another way to tie in another fav fandom of mine (HTTYD)

 **Cheeto:** OMG thank you! xD Yeah, Zed definitely gives him 'the talk' - but it's not written, cause I feel that'd just be too awkward. Ace does, however, continue to have questions as chapters go on, that make life a little blush-worthy for the Kalivar gang haha

\- Thank you to ALL my reviewers! You guys are seriously the best :D

 **Song Listened To : Trajectory Burn by Adam Young (same guy that is Owl City lol)**

 ***Chapter 32***

Through the lull of the evening, the gentle wait period before dinner was close to being done, Tessa's attention was suddenly drawn to the powered-on digital pad on the kitchen island; an instant message that had come through. As an easier way to communicate through the house, Tessa and Zed had equipped every digital pad, in the castle, with such ability. With Zed hunkered away with Finn, in Finn's hide-out, which was merely a separate section of the castle only accessible through the teleport pad, Tessa's eyes softly glanced to Ace's whereabouts in a dip of cold knowing. She knew both boys had been avoiding each other; Zed tried to collect himself enough to find the right, fatherly words to rain down onto Ace, while Ace knew to steer clear, so to hopefully dodge punishment. Ace knew, by now, his father was understanding, and Tessa was thrilled he was stern when he had to be, though Ace knew both boys had a lot of discussing to do; likely about rules if and when Libby ever decided to come and hang around, once more. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and pawed at the pad lightly, she eyed it in delightful scheming.

 _Imdead: He still pouting?_

Tessa exhaled an annoyed, silent chuckle and glanced at Ace, once more. He was sat across the kitchen island from Tessa, his eager eyes dug through her school notes, most of which were from Throttle's class. He was shirtless and in a pair of comfortable sweats for the night. Tessa inhaled a slow breath through her nose and picked up the digital pad, to reply to Zed.

 _QueenB: I think he's trying to forget you exist. Want me to remind him?_

Tessa crossed one arm, fingered her lip and gazed at the digital pad.

 _Imdead is typing..._

Tessa glanced at Ace once more, and again to his rowdy uncles from the living room. The digital pad softly let out a short vibrate.

 _Imdead: Is dinner almost ready? Maybe I can just snag him after dinner..._

 _Orph4prez: Zedd if u don't jus givhim the talk now 1 of us is ging to end up doing it n I don't think u want that_

Tessa lowered the pad and gave Orph a hard glower from across the room; he largely avoided eye contact with the Queen of the castle.

 _QueenB: Orph, you know that these things have an auto-correct, right? How is your grammar so crappy? Is that even possible?_

 _Imdead: Anything and everything has given up on Orph. Can you send Ace down please? I'll just chat with him now and get it over with._

 _Orph4prez: Sure lets pnish the kid then teach him about the birds n the bees n force food down hiss gullit. :D !11 YAYYY_

"Hey, bud," Tessa started as she quickly discovered her mini-disput with Orph was going to go nowhere. Ace softly looked up from Tessa's notes in gentle wait as Tessa continued, "Your father wants to speak to you. He's down in Finn's office, the telescope room."

"...Now?" Ace worried quietly, he froze and gave his mom a nervous frown. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and motioned towards the teleport pad across the kitchen.

"Like a bandaid, my love," Tessa assured gently, though as Ace's nervous body language began to lift from the bar stool and trudge to the teleport pad a dozen steps away, Tessa eyed the digital pad.

 _QueenB: He's on his way down._

 _Imdead: Thank you babe_

 _Orph4prez: UR WELCOM SEXY ;) ;) ;) ;P *kiss*_

Tessa beamed an annoyed smile to Orph, once and for all; he grinned a cheeky grin back and was thrilled to finally get a positive reaction out of her.

Ace huffed a shaky breath and, as he approached the flat, black teleport pad on the ground, lined in a matte housing, he bit his bottom lip and began to feel an onslaught of fear. He knew he would always work himself up, and enduring Tessa's punishments were far more forgiving and quick, though somehow he knew that answering to the very core of the game, Dead Zed, was something to worry about in of itself. As he graced the teleport pad, he shut his eyes tight and braced himself for just what his sights would be when he opened his eyes. As the coding of the game softly transferred every last pixel of his being out of the kitchen and into Finn's telescope room, Ace flinched and, with a bit of an unseen shiver, he hugged his arms to his chest a little and took a nervous look about.

Finn's telescope room, which was underground to properly house such a beast of equipment, was quiet, dim and peaceful. The long, narrow room, in which was attached to a larger, round room to hold the delicate machinery, was crowned with all sorts of gorgeous jungle greenery and housed a thin work table directly down the middle. Placed accordingly above the table was several hanging lights, which illuminated the long table and pieces of the room. Sitting at said work table was Zed; he thumbed through his digital pad and, with Finn's constellation maps splayed all about, Ace knew the two were hard at work figuring out the sky above them, in which was something that was out of their control in the code room. Ace remained frozen on the teleport pad, though as he inched off of it just barely, the pad hummed a soft 'powering down' noise and cued to the two men in the room, even though Zed didn't make it aware. Finn gently lulled his attention over his shoulder, he was stationed at the farthest end of the room with his prized telescope. It jut out the ceiling, into a skylight that was level with the jungle grass outside. A beautiful, gold and brass work of art, Finn took wonderful care of it.

Ace stared his uncle down silently, as if to hope to gain clarity and camaraderie, though Finn gave him an apologetic smile and swiftly returned to his duties. Finn knew Ace and Zed needed to have a talk, and so to avoid being swept into it, Finn kept his far distance and made certain it was clear that his attention was taken. Ace swallowed a firm gulp and finally attempted to unravel his shaking hands and arms. Ace's eyes scanned the beautiful, dim, green room. Speckles of dust hung in the air and flit past the hanging lights far above Zed's head. Before he could let his brain wander to the serene, majestic work room Finn had acquired, he flinched as Zed softly pulled out the bar stool next to him, and without looking up, he pat the seat with his hand.

"Come sit, son," Zed's voice was quiet, in which Ace was thankful for.

He glued his eyes to his father's figure; he was also shirtless, it was clear that, with all of Zed's free time during the day, he had been working out. Strong chest and arm muscles boasted underneath the glint of light he was under. Ace felt his heart sink harder, the sheer strength he knew his father had, now both mentally and physically. Ace bit his bottom lip, and as his bare feet felt every step of cool wooden flooring, he finally approached his father's presence and took a seat atop the high bar stool Zed had pulled out for him. Ace glanced at Zed out of the corner of his eye and exhaled a slow breath, to somehow convince himself he wasn't nervous, though he could swear his heartbeat was on surround sound. Ace finally tried to glue his attention to just what Zed was doing. With Finn's careful star map, and a slew of code-work Ace didn't totally understand just yet, he finally found the break in nervousness.

"What section of the sky are you guys doing now?" Ace quietly wondered. He knew the two had bigger and better things to discuss first, though he was hoping his subtle bookmark, for the looming topic at hand, would somehow be welcomed for the time being.

"The southern skies," Zed relayed with an equal amount of quietness, he softly slid a few of the maps about so each one was displayed and easy to see. He tenderly pointed out a few sections for Ace and moved his digital pad out of the way, "We found new constellations over here... We're sort of hoping maybe these stars can route us to tribes similar to uh... Libby's..."

"W-We could find her again?" Ace wondered hopefully, though Zed grimaced and suddenly realized he maybe should've kept that detail to himself.

"Potentially," His father glossed, though as the two fell into a soft lull of silence, Ace knew he had likely run out of his 'get out of jail free' card.

Ace bit his bottom lip and honed his attention to the wrinkled and lightly tattered maps on Zed's work station. He twiddled his thumbs a little, and before he could convince himself that maybe he could potentially continue to shove the whole 'sneaking out' topic to the back burner, his ears pricked at the sound of Zed exhaling a hard, slow sigh through his nose. Ace softly shut his eyes and squeezed, he was aware both boys had a large amount of space for the day, and Zed likely would've been a lot harder on him if this conversation was being held hours prior, though the sting still remained and Ace was certain he would never be prepared for it.

"Ace, I am fully aware you are a good kid, and you are very quick to obey castle rules," Zed's deep voice coat Ace's existence in stern, fatherly care. He lightly stared at Ace in his peripheral and began to tidy the maps before the two as he carried on, "Your mother and I have been greatly spoiled..."

Ace huffed a soft sigh and slumped his shoulders. He watched as his father's strong, meticulous hands tenderly gathered the maps, layered them and set them aside for another time.

"I hate to keep Libby at the forefront of this conversation," Zed finally turned to face his son, though Ace only braved eye contact with the seams on the sides of Zed's lazy sweats, "Let me tell you a little something about these jungles, Ace... They shape shift. They can go from your backyard to clear across creation in five seconds flat. What would you do, son, if at three in the morning, you found yourself separated from your 'sneak-out' group, and the jungle shape shifted on you?"

"I-I'm sorry, dad," Ace eased too soon; he flinched as Zed's voice grew sharper.

"If you think you're invincible just because you can game over inside Dead Zed, son, you've got your head on backwards, then," Zed kept still, "You are incredibly lucky you, Libby, Balba and Royal all managed to stay together."

"I-I... I would've been lost, but," Ace's voice largely shook as he braved his clear authority, "Y-You would've saved me, by using the code room, right?"

"These aren't ordinary jungles, Ace... You get lost, deep enough, and you minus well be in a fun house of mirrors," Zed's voice crackled, Ace finally gave his father proper, terrified eye contact, "... When you were just a baby, the jungle shape-shifted on your mother, and I nearly lost her altogether."

"Mom?" Ace worried, Zed nodded.

"The jungle was so elusive, so dark and so confusing, she nearly hallucinated herself into another dimension," Zed ended with a bit of a chuckle, Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise, though before he could utter more worry, Zed carried on, "She had suffered temporary blindness, and that played a factor in all the nonsense, but... The point is, because she was so tucked into the depths of the jungles, eons away, I could hardly get a reading on her... That same thing could've happened to you."

"I-I would've been lost forever," Ace uttered as he glanced at the beautiful work table before him.

"Not even a game-over would've been able to save you," Zed worried, he furrowed his brow, leaned down a little and caught eyes with Ace, "You are now entrusted to Royal, as your flyer, and vice versa... You two rely on each other for safety, now that you're becoming a man. You need to be wise about the choices you make, and just who you're making them with."

"It won't matter anymore," Ace muttered darkly, he looked down to his hands in his lap, "I'll never see Libby again."

"I-I didn't mean to insinuate that Libby was a bad influence," Zed's voice softened for Ace's sake, the raw hurt of the situation at hand still largely hung over him, "We all are going to miss Libby, and Balba... But I do believe we will see them again."

"How can you be so sure?" Ace wondered, and though he tried to hide it, his eyes welled with tears. He quickly blinked them back.

"I'm not 'so sure'," Zed scoffed with a smile, Ace looked down once more. Zed furrowed his brow and tenderly hooked his finger underneath Ace's chin, he gently tilted Ace's head up and gained eye contact once more, "I'm hopeful... She knows where we live. Not only are you the son of Dead Zed himself, you're the nephew of all of the game's main racers. We're pretty unforgettable, if I do say so myself."

"She always did think that was cool," Ace finally smiled, though it was clear it was out of hard sorrow.

"She'll be back," Zed peered at Ace down the bridge of his nose, as if to seem contemplative in a squint of charming kindness that finally crept over his fatherly figure, "We're too cool to resist."

"I don't want you to think I'm going to sneak out, dad," Ace worried, "I-I only did because, well... She was THERE, and I had been wanting to fly Royal so badly."

"She shmoozed you right out the window," Zed shrugged, he beamed a cheeky smile across the room and rolled his eyes, "I'm almost scared for her to come back. She could've told you to go streaking, and I truly believe you'd do it."

"Dad," Ace beamed an embarrassed smile.

"You've got to make smart choices, son," Zed urged, though he tailed it with a chuckle he couldn't hide, "You're going to meet many people in your lifetime that are going to challenge your smarts. Libby was your first test... And yeah, you trusted her, and you trust yourself, but, the real issue at hand was the environment that was totally out of your control. These jungles are confusing as it is, imagine if you're lost at night? No one would come save you until we woke up and realized you were missing."

"...Well, so how did you know I got out, then?" Ace wondered with an annoyed smile; Zed cocked an eyebrow.

"Your uncle Finn is up with the sun. He saw your light on, went up to your room to turn it out, and you were gone," Zed mumbled.

"Don't bring me into this," Finn muttered playfully from across the room.

"That, and I think you forget that your Aunt Lickity has the sharpest hearing of any creature in this entire User-forsaken game," Zed gave Ace a dumbfounded look.

"We thought she was asleep," Ace grinned sheepishly.

"... She's a bat, Ace Kalivar, she's a BAT," Zed urged through a laugh that Finn joined in on, "What are bats? Nocturnal creatures. You caught Lickity likely as she was about to think about taking a nap."

"Oh, whatever," Ace garbled as he waved his hand; Finn and Zed continued to laugh, though as Ace tried his very hardest to hide a smile, he shook his head and avoided his father's teasing eye contact.

"Listen to me, we just want you safe... And if you wanted to fly Royal so badly, you should've said something," Zed nudged Ace's shoulder. He continued nudging and poking until a smile finally broke across Ace's face, "C'mon. Ask and you shall receive. It isn't better to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission... You forget just what crew you'd be falling to your knees before? You got a wrecker for a mom and a boss for a dad."

"And five blunt uncles," Finn added again, from across the room. He tilted his head and peered at Ace down the stretch, "I don't even need to remind you about Lickity..."

"Alright, alright... I know I messed up," Ace uttered through a frown as he finally gave his father his honest eye contact, "I'm sorry, dad... I-I seem to be messing things up a lot, lately."

"You're not messing things up," Zed's gentle, deep voice finally glossed Ace in the tender understanding he craved. Zed grappled Ace's shoulder and lightly shook it, "You're learning. That's all that matters, everybody flubs in life... Me, your uncles, your mother, Lickity, everyone. It's not just you."

"Thanks, dad," Ace mumbled with a grateful tone as his eyes softly glanced down to the table, though he wrinkled his nose and smiled, "What if Libby doesn't come back for a LONG time, and when she does, she still wants to sneak out... I'll be fully grown then, right?"

"Well, then you make that judgement call, you've already been warned about the dangers of the jungle," Zed shrugged and gave Ace a knowing smile, "Though, I don't think a full grown woman is going to try and coerce you into simply sneaking out, bud..."

"What do you mean? What else would she try to convince me to do to break rules?" Ace worried, as if he now suddenly needed to make a list of things to watch out for.

"Oh, User, here we go," Finn mumbled from across the room, Zed heaved a nervous chuckle and gave Ace a bewildered, knowing smile.

"Why don't we all go eat dinner, first," Zed stated warmly, "I'll tell you everything you need to know, afterwards."


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Oh my User WHY! Why fanfiction! WHY. I can't respond to your guy's reviews. Hell, they're not even showing up, for me! I'm going to reply to them, here again. TBH this is actually easier. And it gives you guys a cool shoutout. I might start doing it this way, from now on xD**

 **Retrokill :** I did! xD I mean, that's generally what 'the talk' means, right?

 **Xaehttium :** hahaha! Well, Ace doesn't know EVERYTHING - like said, Throttle doesn't teach Code-Ed.. He simply pulls the topic a bit because he's fascinated in Tessa's code-mate situation.

 **Alisi Thorndyke** : YES I saw your pictures, you two looked so fabulous! :D I'm sure you're exhausted tho! Congrats again! Yeah, Ace is definitely solid about being a good kid, though there are still a handful of things he does that gets him into trouble xD He is obedient, though he also is very much related to Tessa... hahaha

 **Architect Dreams :** LOL yeah I thought the chat dialog would be something fun to try. I might add it in again sometime soon. Definitely made for a quick, spontaneous bout of humor I definitely just rolled with xD Thank you!

 **WildVirus** : OMG okay I know you xD A lot of you guys have different usernames all over and I seriously can't keep up with you guys haha. Yeahhh the ever so famous 'talk' - doesn't happen on script, but Ace does still have lingering questions that come about! (hence, this chapter lol)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** AW yay thank you! I love writing for Zed as a dad. I originally envisioned him to be extremely lazy and lackadaisy, but I'm glad I went with this route. I never had a proper father figure in my life, so it's fun to write how I'd think a proper dad would behave. I'm glad it comes through well!

 **Dixie :** Not too long, for sure! And I can't wait to show you guys just what happens :D YAY Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** HAhaha Yeah the chat scene was REALLY fun to write. I act really obnoxiously on chat sometimes so it really just stemmed from previous old-times. Orph4prez - I thought it suit him to the ground! xD

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Thank you! Ace definitely comes out of his shell a bit more, once he's fully grown :)

 **Burgie :** Yeah, I'd definitely be panicked. I don't think I could handle that. I'd like want to move to a different game xD

 **gi Mac :** Aww I could never forget you! I appreciate how much you cherish my stories and such, I really am grateful for loyal readers, such as yourself. Thank you! You guys will definitely find out who Libby 'marries' - and you won't like him one SINGLE bit. (he's a part of the scene in which I drew a few days ago titled 'Game Changers')

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so much! Ace definitely has Oliver's personality, which will be cool to write the two together. They definitely are very much alike in that aspect. I also am diligent in the fact that Ace and Zed are so close and have a good relationship, because it comes into play once Ralph is back in the picture. Remember, Tessa's whole family was wary of Zed and didn't wholly agree with the idea of Tessa dating him, so the fact that Zed upholds a whole family and helps raise a good kid, all while keeping Tessa's heart and well-being safe, speaks a lot to Ralph - which will cause for some fluffy chapters :3 Thank you for the concern about my job and everything... I'm slowly bouncing back. I have to keep reminding myself that the only reason I didn't get promoted is because someone less fortunate got DEmoted... So, at the end of the day, I'm glad I'm not the one taking a step backwards. I'd much rather stay put than throw it into reverse lol. Also - your theory abuot game-ception had my brain hurting xD They don't have video games in their games. That's why the tv show was televising a 'live-action' pac-man game. The digital pads are only really equipped with chat abilities, a camera, basic tasks, like a calculator and photo albums - and also, wifi (which is much later on, but makes for some hilarious jokes) ;D

 **Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed and everyone who still lurks and reads in silence! I appreciate every single one of you! :D**

 **In this chapter, you get to meet a very VERY special character of mine... I'm really excited to introduce you guys to him!**

 **Song Listened To : On Top Of The World by Imagine Dragons**

 ***Chapter 33***

Ace huffed a soft breath and tidied the gorgeous petals of the fire flower he had prepared. Stood in the same tall grass he had promised to stand in every day, he wrinkled his nose and thought aloud, to himself.

"Day thirty five," Ace deep, soft tone mumbled, without tilting his head up, his eyes shot to the far end of the jungle field, the same bushel of foliage Libby had vanished into a month prior. He held up the fire flower, one of the many he had picked over the duration of upholding his promise to Libby, "You, my friend, are going with all the others. In the kitchen."

"Aunt Tessa's vases are starting to get really full of these," Royal mumbled, he grunted and got up from the comfortable sitting position he was in, in the grass. He flicked his ears free of stray jungle debris and stretched his tail all the way out. The gorgeous sounds of the jungle's morning wildlife, and song birds, made for the beginnings of a beautiful, crisp summer day, "Good thing they're resilient, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ace huffed, "Maybe, when Libby returns, in forty two decades, she'll have the whole jungle of fire flowers waiting for her."

"Let's stay positive," Royal grumbled as he lowered his head and began to saunter after Ace, who quickly turned heel from his strict positioning, the same spot in which he had lost Libby. Though Ace made a bee line for the house, Royal yawned and didn't attempt to keep up, "Your one year birthday is in three weeks. What are the plans?"

"I don't know," Ace's deep, now nearly mature voice grumbled. Standing a good half a foot over Tessa now, he had finally come into his own, and was wholly becoming; as well as Royal. Ace beamed his gap-toothed smile, one of which everyone was certain he'd never fully grow into, an adorable, boyish charm Tessa was thrilled he'd likely hold onto forever. He glanced at his large dragon, over his shoulder, and gestured for him to keep up, "You know the uncles... They'll probably throw me a party at EZ Living. Good food, just the family."

"Just sounds like a typical Sunday, to me," Royal urged as he finally picked up the speed.

The two head up the hill, in which lead to the backside of Lickity's large enclosure. The field was flood with a gorgeous amount of late morning sunshine, and though Ace was certain he had picked fire flowers for days, the field was out of control; at night, Ace could swear the light from this field of fire flowers was enough to power a building. Ace twirled the single flower in his larger fingers and cocked an eyebrow.

"Y'think she'll ever come back? I-I promised her I'd be here every day, waiting, but... It just seems so daunting," Ace mumbled as the two finally reached the top of the hill, "It's painful waiting here, everyday, and seeing that she's not going to come..."

"I'm sure she will, eventually," Royal sighed, he raised his eyebrow muscles and flattened his ears, "I miss Balba... She kept me groomed."

"Yeah, your fur has gotten all matted," Ace chuckled as he nudged Royal's side. Royal easily gave him a good shove with the wrist of his wing, which caused Ace to largely wobble forward with a hard laugh.

"Your FACE has gotten all matted," Royal barked with a fang-filled, playful smile, "Leave me alone, I'm hurting too, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Ace stated apologetically as he shook his head, "We'll get them back eventually... I'll pick the whole field clean, and then some, if I have to."

Ace softly pushed through the back door of the main castle, in which lead to the kitchen of his warm home. He softened his squint and, as Royal pushed through the door frame with a bit of a struggle, the two souls in the kitchen gave both boys their glancing attention. Tessa raised her eyebrows softly, gestured for Ace to give her the added flower and gave him a look as if to suggest she was beginning to become mildly annoyed with all the flower picking, strictly because the kitchen couldn't handle the bouquets that were becoming more abundant.

"I know, I know, I don't need the 'flower lecture'," Ace said through a sad sigh, he rubbed his forehead and peered to his father, who sat comfortably at the kitchen island.

"It's weird coming out to the kitchen at night," Zed uttered with a smile, he set down his digital pad and gestured to the bunches of fire flowers, appropriately placed, about the kitchen, "It's lit up, in here, like the Fourth of July."

"At this rate, we won't need electricity for lighting," Tessa teased, though she softened once she noticed Ace was quickly becoming sore over the underlying fact that the only reason the number of flowers were growing were strictly because Libby wasn't arriving to retrieve them; the duty he had held onto ever since the day she left. Tessa cleared her throat, nervously caught eyes with Zed's grimace, as if to state they should immediately lay off the teasing. She gestured her arm a little and smiled, "Well, since there's no school today, how about us three, with Royal and Lickity, hit up EZ Living? I want to go back to that cotton candy stand."

"That'd be fun," Ace said through a reviving breath, and as him and Royal began to mosey closer to Ace's room, so to get ready for their day of fun in the sun, Ace smiled back at his parents, "Even though it's Saturday, I know you'll do anything to get out of being teased by Throttle some more, eh mom?"

"Yeah, yeah, I should've never brought you," Tessa grumbled, though she gave Ace a loving, playfully annoyed smirk; he obnoxiously returned the gesture before vanishing.

* * *

"So, expand more on this... 'Throttle teases you' bit?" Zed inquired in a mildly irritated manner, as if to wonder just what Ace was suggesting before they left the house.

The three, including Royal and Lickity, slowly moseyed into EZ Living. A point of whole comfort, for Tessa, the only bit of 'home' she really had left, she soaked up every single pixel EZ Living had to offer her freckle-kissed skin. In attempt to swerve away from any sort of topic that held a long while of explaining, Tessa heaved a hard, long groan of a sigh, tilted her sunshades down and gave Ace an annoyed glower; he beamed sheepishly and tucked his face into the collar of his hot blue shirt, as if to express that would likely save him from the shade Tessa threw.

"It's nothing... Throttle is just beyond fascinated with the fact that I, a measly faux-code, chalked it up to a high and mighty User-made gamer, swapped codes, and together we made THIS dingus," Tessa flagged her hand to her right and caught Ace in the jaw with her fingers. He jolted, uttered a hard laugh and only attempted to duck, "Throttle likes to use me for lesson examples, sometimes, and it's embarrassing."

"Lesson examples?" Zed beamed, "So, our bedroom makes it's way to your Virus Science class?"

"Dad, you should see how red mom's face gets," Ace tried desperately to hide laughter.

"Yeah, and there may be nearly half a mile between my enclosure and your so-called 'sound proof' design of a bedroom, but uh, let me just tell YOU-" Lickity was largely cut off.

"Yeah cool, so we have a healthy sex life, and you can hear for miles and miles... Can we NOT start out our EZ Living day like this?" Tessa barked as she threw her hands up; everyone laughed, but Tessa. She skulked in a different direction from the four, down the sandy board-walk path, in which was littered with all sorts of noisy beach-goers. She began to step away, though she gestured for Lickity to follow, "I'm going to get me the biggest spool of cotton candy my mouth can handle."

"Well then why don't you get over here?" Zed volleyed with great cheek, though he largely flinched and attempted to swat away Tessa's grabby, annoyed swipes before she walked away, once and for all. Zed and Ace shared hard laughter as Tessa could be heard giving Lickity an ear full, "Y'should've never said anything. Tessa's not going to hear the end of it."

"I don't know why she's so embarrassed," Ace chuckled as him, Zed and Royal began to mosey in the direction of the beach, towards their usual spot, "It's all really informative. Throttle just feeds off of her 'you're making me blush' demeanor, really."

"It's just cause you're there, trust me," Zed eased, he nudged Ace's arm. Both boys were the same height, though Zed was certain it was something he would never get used to.

"Dad, I have a serious question," Ace started, the two walked down the sandy path, in which was delightfully shaded by palm and jungle trees, of all kinds. Ace furrowed his brow and gave his father a nervous, though sheepish look, "I-Is it true that you and mom have to swap three or more times a week or else... One of you could turn into a virus?"

"No, those are extreme cases," Zed stated with a downward wave of his hand, as if to brush away Ace's worries; Zed was thrilled to see Ace's shoulders relax, "Really it's safe to go about a week or so without a single swap, and it takes stable people, for sure. It just depends on the couple. Your mother and I aren't going to turn into viruses, bud. We're pretty happy, healthy people."

"Good, cause... That always freaked me out," Ace worried, his deep voice held the same depth as Zed's, a crackling dip of pure masculinity, though with his age just shy of fully grown, it still held an adorable, raspy, boyish characteristic. He carried on as Royal kept close, "Throttle said that swap-mates typically need to swap three to four times a week in order to keep both people sane."

"Maybe in different aspects, but that's a bit... Much," Zed scoffed through a hard chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head, "I-I mean, it's not necessary, but I wouldn't complain."

"You DON'T complain," Royal grumbled, as if to finally agree with all of Lickity's plights. Zed furrowed his brow and playfully pointed.

"I am having FUN. That is all that counts," Zed argued, Ace and Royal easily howled with laughter.

"Oh, I'm glad I don't have as great of hearing as Royal and Lickity," Ace wheezed as he rubbed his eye, Zed shook his head and gently lead the two off the sandy path they were on and onto the actual sand of the beach out before them.

"You're the only one in the castle getting some," Royal pushed, each boy continued to fumble all over themselves with laughter, "We all should be the ones complaining."

"No code swapping until you boys are of age," Zed tried to grow stern as he pointed at both Ace and Royal; their faces immediately grew sheepish, though Ace gave his father a hard, annoyed scowl.

"If it's not obvious, dad, the only girl interested in me bailed a month back," Ace stated loudly, and in a hard tone.

"Stop getting defensive, you know she'll come back," Zed volleyed back, with the same force.

He nudged Ace's shoulder as the three finally began to approach the last of the shade of jungle trees. Ace raised his eyebrows and, as if he didn't even want to allow himself false hope, he stuffed the very idea of ever seeing Libby again. Oh how the thought so desperately wanted to plague his mind, he knew he shouldn't string himself along with dreams that could very easily not come true. The beckoning sprawl of white sand on the underlying strip of the blue, endless amount of ocean was truly a sight to behold, though before they could let their feet hit the hot sand undertow, Ace flinched and came to an abrupt stop as something fell out of the tree and came to a hard thud, to the thick sand, just a few feet from him. Ace furrowed his brow and took a gentle step closer to just what was laying in the sand, in which cued to Zed's and Royal's attention as well.

"Ack-Sorry, friend! I-I... Can you possibly toss that back up to me?" Came a sharp crackle of a voice from high up a bend of a palm tree. Ace squinted and peered through the foliage, though he was uncertain just where said voice was coming from.

"Uh, sure," Ace uttered nervously as he approached just what had dug into the white sand near him.

A large tool of sorts, it looked as if it were merely a weaponized gardening tool. As Ace bent over to pick it up, he largely flinched, once more, as a sudden grunt of a holler was heard. Before he could look up and properly locate just exactly who was making such a scene, the evidence came thudding to the sand a few feet away from him. A guy of Ace's size with dirty, dark grey hair crumpled to the white sand, which billowed in a gentle frenzy. Ace raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and, just as he was about to approach the new being in their presence, he jolted as said strange person suddenly sat up, flagged his arm about and desperately tried to cover his face.

"N-No, don't... Look at me, just hand me my tool and I'll be going, I promise I'm not gunna take over your game!" He hollered warily, though Ace froze and heaved a hard chuckle. Ace swiped the tool in the sand and slowly approached him in cheeky, dewy concern.

"Are you okay?" Ace chuckled, though as Ace grew closer, said stranger finally stood.

He was about Ace's height, had a good sprout of dark charcoal-grey hair that was now lightly littered with sand, though the shade of the trees only glistened a tad bit of sunlight to his natural skin color; a smooth grey as clean as stone. His nervous, fumbling, masculine hands straightened out his bright blue shirt, though before Ace could give him a kind smile and hand him his tool, Ace froze in a prick of intrigued terror. The stranger's eyes, a solid, electric yellow, had the very distinctive solid black, square pupils amidst the glow. He seemingly tried to hide his face, likely because of the terrifying oddness of his eyes, though Ace squinted and took a brave step closer.

"I-I'm fine, I just am... Trying to harvest those seeds, up there," The stranger pointed up, though while Ace's attention was upwards, the strange swiped the tool from Ace's larger hands and began to stumble backwards.

"Wait, a-are... Are you alright?" Ace urged as he took a few steps closer, to attempt to fill the gap between them, "You look... Familiar."

"I-I don't know how, I've never seen you in my life," He retort, he began to grow defensive. Ace furrowed his brow, peered back to his dad and Royal, and finally gave the stranger a bemused smile.

"Are... Are you somehow related to a gamer named Throttle?" Ace braved.

The stranger finally relaxed his stance and froze. Ace swallowed as this stranger's golden eyes finally braved Ace's in whole, undivided attention. Ace froze; he was wholly certain this guy's stare was a thousand times creepier than Throttle's could ever dare. He felt a chill go up his spine as this stranger, once and for all, began to grow closer to Ace. Ace raised his eyebrows in determined surprise, and though he was uncertain of just what kind of attitude was going to come of this new being, Ace bit his lower lip and clenched his fists, as if to somehow convey that he was indeed equipped with hands that could obliterate in two seconds flat.

"How do you know Throttle?" The stranger's voice croaked in nearly delightful darkness, and though Ace became afraid, he didn't show it.

"Throttle is my mom's Virus Science teacher at End Of Line Academy," Ace stated boldly, he held his ground, "I-I just shadow her at school... Y-You look like you're from Throttle's game."

"For User's sake, that bag of bones is STILL teaching?" The stranger suddenly uttered a hard laugh, though he directed his nervous eye contact to Zed, who slowly approached from behind Ace, he furrowed his dark grey brows and looked off, he muttered to himself, "Y'think he would've stopped with, y'know... The one student that went sour?"

"We were told a certain TurboTwin has hulled himself away in EZ Living," Zed eased, he tried not to make it seem like it was three against one, "Is your name Nox?"

"Look, man, I'm just here to collect my seeds and catch some waves, I don't want any trouble," Nox beamed an annoyed smile and waved his hands in hard dismay, as if to somehow hope he wasn't going to be brought to other beach-goers attentions, "I-I usually wear my shades, to avoid questions like this, but I'm an idiot and left them at home."

"You're Turbo's brother," Ace gawked, as if he was merely in the presence of a celebrity. Nox cocked an eyebrow and scoffed a hard choke of a laugh.

"Psh'yeah, remind me to never put THAT on a resume," Nox's reserved exterior finally began to show a bit of warmth. He cockily tilted his head back and forth and peered off into space. He continued on in a goofy voice, "I'd like to work for your crappy beach shack. I'd make a perfect employee because I am related to Arcade's worst nightmare, if you can't tell from my creepy-as-shit EYES."

"They are creepy," Ace stated dully, though the knock back caught Nox's delightfully surprised attention. He beamed Ace a cheeky grin and widened his rightfully terrifying stare.

"It's why I avoid people," Nox hissed in a loud, sarcastic whisper; Zed chuckled.

"You don't have ANY friends? You just... Avoid everyone in the beach? Surely they notice your grey skin," Zed motioned, though he hoped he wasn't coming across as rude; he lightened said notion with an understanding smile, "I-I mean... The only human-like gamers I've ever known to have that color of skin were, well... Turbo and the TurboTwins."

"Yeah, I'm a rare bird, I try to stay out of the sight of the locals," Nox retort in boyish annoyance as he waved his hand downwards towards the sprawling beach, as if to dismiss every beach goer out there, "Sort of what happens when you're related to an asshole. I'm okay... I've got my waves. And the benefit of my creepy eyes?" Nox pointed to his terrifying side eye and continued on in yet another hard, sarcastic whisper, "I can see in the dark... Hello night surfing!"

"You can see in the dark?" Ace ogled, Nox beamed and put his hands on his hips.

"Clear as day," Nox wagled his finger, "Don't catch me in a dark alley way though. Can't tell you how many people I've nearly killed just on sight."

"Well... Why don't you hang out with us? Surely you won't be picked on if you're seen with a group of friends," Ace shrugged, his optimistic demeanor shown through in a flicker of hope.

"Friends?" Nox wondered quietly, he furrowed his brow and glanced between Ace and Zed, "... What game are you guys from, anyways?"

"Dead Zed," Zed eased, he gently gestured to Ace, "This is my son. We usually are here every weekend. You hang around this part?"

"Uh, depends," Nox eyed Zed with a knowing smile, "Are you THE Mr. Zedian Kalivar everyone so famously says hates other gamers?"

"I don't hate anyone! Why is that rumor a thing!" Zed urged through a hard chuckle in which had Nox and Ace laughing as well.

"It's always cool to meet other gamers that are either the core, or higher up, in their game," Nox reached out to Zed for a handshake, "Well... As you guys guessed, my name is Nox. Yes, I'm Turbo's brother, no I don't know where he is, no I won't reek havoc on your life and NO, I won't steal your girl."

"... Are these questions you get on the daily?" Zed uttered with a gentle side eye as him and Nox firmly shook hands.

"Used to... Before I sort of went into hiding," Nox shrugged, he finally avert his attention to Ace and showed his boyish demeanor a little harder, "I didn't catch your name."

"Ace," He stated confidently, he held out his larger hand, in which Nox went for, to convey a proper handshake, though he jolted and gripped Ace's wrist in a hard choke of ogling surprise.

"Holy User Batman, are you related to Wreck-It Ralph?" Nox beamed a wide smile and dangled Ace's larger hand about; Ace gave him a bewildered smile.

"Ralph the wrecker? No, not at all," Ace furrowed his brow and gave Nox an incredulous smile, as if to wonder if Nox was just pulling his leg.

"You have wrecking hands, my friend," Nox started dully, as if to state he could see right through Ace, though he glanced at Zed and furrowed his brow in hard confusion as Zed, out of Ace's line of sight, shook his head at Nox and silently begged him not to continue down that road. Nox stammered a bit and finally sunk his hand into Ace's, for a proper hand shake, "Bah, whatever... Nice to meet you. You two are the very firsts to not run away from me upon merely seeing me... Anyone to treat me this kindly, I've always promised myself, I'd hold onto."

"You're welcome to hang with us," Zed smiled, "I can promise you my fiance will probably be asking you all sorts of questions all day long."

"I got 'em all, fire away," Nox chuckled, though he continued to wipe his shirt clean of sand, and as he tucked his tool into the back pocket of his white board shorts, he swiped his hands free of debris and raised his eyebrows, "So uh... What do you two do here, at EZ Living?"

"I like to longboard," Ace smiled, though as Royal pushed into their presence, Ace raised his eyebrows in apologetic surprise, "I'm sorry, I nearly forgot... This is my dragon, Royal."

"Blimey!" Nox heaved a hard laugh and held his hand out, "You own a dragon?"

"Own," Royal spat with a wide, fang-filled grin. Nox raised his eyebrows and froze.

"A talking dragon?" Nox whimpered at the mere sight of all of Royal's teeth.

"You haven't seen anything, yet," Zed chuckled as he gestured for the four to begin heading to their usual spot on the beach, though this time, he kept a sharp eye out for some shade, so they could hopefully make Nox feel a bit more comfortable in public.

"Oh I can surely say the same thing to you guys," Nox retort with a sly laugh.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N:** **YAY I'm sooooo glad you guys like Nox so far! As you can see, he is indeed a good guy - he is my favorite, besides a certain other TurboTime guy... ;)**

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you very much! Yeah only Throttle and Nox are present for a little while, here :)

 **Nikki Firesong :** Yay I'm glad you like Nox! He's definitely going to be around quite a bit - him and Ace become fast friends :) Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha yeah Tessa usually gets shy about it. Ace sort of knocks off all the question-asking, because he eventually learns everything there is to know, but farther down the road he definitely begins to second guess himself LOL. That is, once Libby is thrown into the mix, once more.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you very much! Yeah, Ace and Nox become real good friends, he finally has another guy to hang out with that isn't one of his uncles, and Nox is just grateful for all the company.

 **StillAintBovvered :** He is! Nox is definitely more excitable and more hyper than Throttle, or even Lash. He's the youngest, so he still holds onto that child-like demeanor.

 **Xaehttium :** Unfortunately, you won't find out for awhile (why Turbo became a virus) but there will be tons of clues along the way. This chapter speaks to it, as well! :)

 **WildVirus :** Hahaha yeah I was hoping it'd have that effect on you guys! xD

 **Chuckiboo :** Nooo, that scene of the story, that's featured in the picture 'Game Changers', doesn't come for a little while longer. That picture doesn't include Nox, or any of the Turbo-related characters. But it's still definitely a shit-show worth watching! xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Poor Nox, just wants a friend haha - I mean, he DID almost run and hide, though that's just his default xD

 **Retrokill :** Yeah, Ace is 11 months old - that would translate to him being a late teenager, likely nearly 19 or 20. I know, it's never totally clear exactly how old 'faux-codes' are, when they're aging, but it's a fast process. And, he only met one of the TurboTwins, which is Nox :)

 **Song Listened To : Shy Violet by Owl City**

 ***Chapter 34***

"Do you mind telling me what he was like?" Ace inquired; him and Nox slowly began to wander down the beach, towards where they had left Tessa, Zed, Royal and Lickity.

The sun had begun to set, and beach-goers trickled away with the sight of the crescent moon on the horizon. The air was warm and fluid, the ocean breeze held a sting of crisp, cool nighttime enchantment. EZ Living was an old gem of the Arcade, a game in which was kept plugged in simply because it was a novelty, and only Litwak's employees had access to it. As the two moseyed past a few lounging beach bums, they ogled Nox in a knowing way, as if they were certain he looked similar to a certain virus gone awry. Just as Nox was about to fill Ace in on everything he had known, he cocked an eyebrow, extended his neck in hard annoyance and gestured in pure agitation.

"Keep staring! It'll definitely make my gaze a lot LESS creepier!" Nox barked in hard sarcasm to the people that whispered and pointed. Ace stifled a hard laugh as the two continued to trudge away from the group on the messy beach blanket, "Anyways... You're asking me what Turbo was like?"

"Well, yeah," Ace shrugged, "Mom's told me a little, but no one knew him like you or anyone from TurboTime... Surely he wasn't a friendly guy."

"That's where you're wrong," Nox inquired with a light smile, and though his brash, loud and sarcastic attitude was abundant, Ace was relieved Nox knew just when to present warmth; it definitely made it easier to look him in the eye, "Turbo was crazy for first place, all the time... But when it was just us three, hanging out after hours, and Throttle was done coaching us. Man... Those were the days. He was the coolest oldest brother anyone could ask for."

"Hard to believe," Ace eased, his eyes got lost in all the colors of the sunset on the ocean water miles beyond them, "Everyone just knows him as... The guy that went crazy after TurboTime's unplug."

"What? No, it wasn't the unplug that drove him mad," Nox started, he furrowed his brow and gently peered to Ace, whom of which was finally brave enough to hold eye contact, "There was this demo game that took us in... I-I forget what it was named. But, since it was a silly demo game, it got unplugged. Turbo sort of went crazy after that. User knows why... I bowed out shortly after, and, I've been EZ Living's number one bum ever since."

"You have a house here?" Ace inquired, his eyes finally scanned the jungle cliff sides, just before the sprawling shores.

"I guess you could say that," Nox mumbled through a tired sigh, he shook his head and peered off to the trees. He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "Tell yah one thing, it's definitely nice talking to people again. I haven't had a full on conversation with someone in years. Dare I say it's almost been a decade."

"You've avoided people for that long?" Ace worried as the two kept in step with each other.

"I have to... People know I'm here, and since it's been over twenty years that I've lived here, everyone knows I'm not going to cause harm... Though I'm as dangerous as a dormant volcano. People think I'm going to go bat-shit insane at any second," Nox's eyes dragged to the sand in growing sorrow, he kicked a sea shell to the side in a brush of dismay, "All because I'm related to the one guy everyone despises."

"You mean despised," Ace attempted to correct, though Nox furrowed his brow in hard dismay.

"Present-tense," Nox stated in a knowing tone, he cocked an eyebrow, "You guys all believe Turbo is dead...?"

"... Turbo's still alive?" Ace's voice quivered, though Nox's smile grew even more incredulous.

"Of course he's still alive," Nox uttered quietly, "Well... Actually, I'm not totally positive. The last time I saw him, he had been re-downgraded from the upgrade that that one demo game gave us. This was years ago. He was a tiny 'lil thing, like what we used to be... Wore some weird costume, once. Like an old man costume. I assumed it was for the Halloween bash, that one year, in Game Central Station."

"You guys used to be tiny?" Ace beamed in a knowing way, though Nox smiled, a charming smile full of happiness he so desperately wished was legal.

"Yeah, our original design was itty bitty," Nox chuckled, Ace joined in, "I'm glad we got upgraded. I'd much rather be away from our defenseless, tiny bodies. I'm doing just fine, how I am."

"Well, so what about Whiplash?" Ace inquired harder, he knew he could sit and talk to Nox all day long if he could; the very information he had learned from Tessa, Zed and Throttle had his mind working on overdrive. He could tell it was taking his mother every single last ounce of her willpower not to crawl all over Nox for answers, throughout the course of the day.

"I have no clue what happened to Lash," Nox's voice grew quiet and uncertain, "Some say he took off, with Turbo, but... Lash was always so quiet and brooding. I never knew exactly what he wanted out of life, after our unplug. All I knew is I could finally have an eternal vacation. It's why I escaped to EZ Living."

"I don't blame you," Ace urged as the two finally came upon Zed, Tessa and the dragons, "This place has it all..."

"How daring were you, this time around?" Zed called as Tessa, Lickity and Royal uttered kind chuckles of knowing.

"We almost made it to the pier before Nox wanted to turn around," Ace heaved through a long breath, and though Ace gave him a cheeky, forgiving smile, Nox wrinkled his face in playful dismay.

"You try being me, it's difficult," Nox muttered in a complaint. He gestured his hand out in annoyance as Tessa began to gather their things, a routine they knew well; once the sun began to set, it was time to head home. Nox carried on, "I'm usually more diligent about bringing my sunglasses. That way no one can see my eyes... But I don't really find myself around locals, often."

"I guess I don't blame you," Ace rubbed the back of his head and stepped forth to begin helping his mother pack up the stuff for their day of fun at the beach, "Nox got a lot of weird stares and even people pointing and saying stuff."

"What did that one guy say?" Nox beamed Ace an incredulous smile, though before they could conclude said notion, both boys bust out into wheezing laughter. Nox wagged his hand about and attempted to mock said individual through a deep, raspy voice, "That there critter went and got himself Turbofied."

"Turbofied," Ace repeated, both boys continued to laugh, which cued to Tessa and Zed as well.

"Whatever, it was a fun time," Nox heaved through a sigh. He nervously rubbed the back of his head and peered off towards the jungle cliffs, just past the beachfront foliage, "Well... I should really head back home. If you guys are ever in EZ Living again, be on the lookout for me, in this area. I'll come stop by for a chat, yeah?"

"We're usually here every Saturday, for future reference," Tessa encouraged, everyone looked on to Nox with welcoming smiles as Tessa continued, in the midst of folding their beach blanket, "You're welcome to hang with us anytime. I know Ace could use a buddy. Not many friendly folk out in our parts of Dead Zed."

"I'll keep a sharp eye out," Nox teased, he widened his creepy eyes and attempted to give a threatening stare, though it was only then cloaked with a warm smile and a wave of his fingers, "See yah guys later."

Everyone called their quiet goodbyes, and as Nox softly vanished into the mysterious, darkening trees and brush just behind their spot of camp, Tessa furrowed her brow and, without moving, she dart her eyes to Zed and cocked an eyebrow. Zed gave her a knowing look, though once everyone glanced to Ace, Lickity perked her ears higher and stood on her feet, once and for all.

"Got a reading on him, girl?" Zed asked Lickity, as if everyone was on the same page.

"Do bears shit in the woods?" Lickity mumbled sarcastically, which had Ace and Royal stifling laughter.

"Go get 'em," Zed grumbled, which immediately cued to Tessa.

At lightning speed, Tessa board Lickity, hunkered to her spine, and both were off. With a near silent take off of sheer galloping power, her wings tucked tight to her body, as did every single feather. She jumped into the trees, weaved about the jungle foliage in which she was used to and kept her strict attention to their disappearing friend. Tessa squinted through the darkness and was thankful Lickity's hearing was so grand. Every single branch and tree looked the same, though Tessa knew Lickity was fully honed to just where Nox had laid off to. What Tessa was uncertain of, at this point, was just how quickly Nox was moving for it to be taking this long for Lickity to catch up to him, though once she could hear slight rustling up ahead, she tucked tighter to Lickity's spine and let her follow through with her sharp investigation. Just as Lickity came to a clearing, she bolt out into the open, which was only dimly lit, skid to a hard stop and cut Nox off at the quick. He uttered a hard noise of concern and fell back to his rear.

"For User's sakes! You scared the crap out of me!" Nox's voice shook as he scrambled backwards, he nervously peered up at Lickity's powerful body through the dim setting.

Blue shadows cast about, making it near impossible to see, though as Tessa dismounted Lickity, she picked up a long stick, held it out before Lickity's face a few feet and squinted. Lickity inhaled a purr of a breath and, as tenderly as she could, she blew a gentle stream of molten hot fire to the tip of the branch Tessa held out, in which lit up the clearing nicely enough to calm the creepy glow of Nox's yellow eyes. Tessa cocked an eyebrow, reached her hand out to Nox and, after a moment of his hesitation, he finally allowed her to help him to his feet.

"Headed home, huh?" Tessa stated dully, though Nox huffed a hard breath.

"Yeah? Why... Why are you following me?" Nox retort, he began to grow flustered with the fact that he could sense Tessa smelled lies.

"You live this far up the cliff?" Tessa wondered as she gestured behind her, which was in the opposite direction of the beach, "There's no houses up here, for miles... I know you say you've lived in EZ Living for decades but I have this area of the game mapped. I practically grew up here."

"Fine, so you caught me, I don't have a home up this cliff," Nox barked, he began to grow defensive. Tessa gingerly lowered the torch she held, it crackled the dry wood, a warm kiss of heat for the nighttime surroundings. Nox huffed a breath and looked about, nearly in a craze, "I-I'm doing just fine, out on my cliffside. No one knows where I am. No one can vandalize my non-existent home, no one can steal from me, it's just... ME. I can take care of myself."

"...You're homeless, aren't you," Tessa's voice grew soft, she furrowed her brow and shook her head, "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because it's irrelevant," Nox gave her an annoyed scowl, though it was clear he was just sore, "You're one to talk, keeping secrets from your own son? Why don't you want him to know Wreck-It Ralph is his grandfather?"

"It's complicated," Tessa spat, she began to feel defense creep over her as well, "There's a lot more that goes into just simply telling him who his grandfather is... My family banished me from my home game, and Game Central Station, before Ace was born, okay? Now, do you want a place to stay or not?"

Nox raised his eyebrows and immediately felt guilt plague his skin. He stammered on a few words, looked down and fiddled his fingers. He finally heaved a hard sigh, looked away, grimaced and shook his head.

"I apologize... I don't need to be catered to, though," Nox urged quietly, though he finally gave Tessa his spooky eye contact, "I haven't left EZ Living in at least nearly twenty years... I-I can't imagine stepping into those stations and being welcomed."

"It's nightfall," Tessa urged, she still held onto the dregs of hurt from Nox's previous statement, "No one will see you. You can borrow my sunglasses, if you want. We also have two dragons with us... Not to mention, you'll be also surrounded by three wreckers."

"Why do you care?" Nox eased, not for the sake of argument; Tessa frowned.

"Why wouldn't I? I know what it's like to be homeless... I was taken in by Zed and his brothers," Tessa encouraged, "I know what it's like to lose everything you had, once. To have nearly no hope of getting it back. For losing your family and wondering if anyone will take you under their wing and nourish you back to happiness."

Nox slumped his shoulders, glanced to Lickity and back down to the ground again. Their shadows danced in the warm flicker of the fire on the branch Tessa continued to diligently hold out. He huffed a long sigh through his nose and peered back towards the path in which he came. He flinched once Tessa's voice pierced their silence, once more.

"We can make room for you, at the castle," Tessa encouraged, "You'll be safe with us... Maybe we can even help each other, with our issues. I want to get back to Game Central Station, and you...? I'm sure you miss Throttle, he was sort of like family, right?"

"Yeah," Nox choked in a breath as if to seem he was holding back welling up. He nodded, shut his eyes and smiled, "He was very much like an uncle, to all of us..."

"Come on," Tessa urged quietly, she gestured to Lickity and frowned, "Surely you miss laying your head on a pillow, at night."

"A pillow," Nox scoffed as he finally opened his eyes, "I haven't had such a luxury since TurboTime got unplugged."

"Then it's decided," Tessa concluded kindly as she waved the torch, just barely. She gave Nox a calm, excited smile, as if to convey the two, as well as Zed, had a lot of filling in that needed to be done, "Trade in the beach bum life... Being a jungle child is far more fun."


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Hey all! Really quick - Phoenix Comicon is in less than 2 weeks, so I'm going to be trying to stay on my schedule for as long as I possibly can, but the closer it gets to con, the slower my updates may be, and I apologize D: We're doing a lot of last minute stuff, for our cosplays, and it's taking up a lot of my free time! But, I have 6 ENTIRE days off, right after comicon, and you can bet your ass I'm going to be doing nothing but writing and drawing I am SO excited. I haven't had a vacation in like 3 years. I could cry I'm so excited lol.**

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** No worries haha - happens to me a lot. Yes, you guys will get to see Ralph pretty soon here, so it's definitely coming up shortly! :D

 **Retrokill :** Haha that was great xD You guys will learn more about Lash a lot later on, he's a more prominent character towards the end of the story.

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yes, Nox is one of my story's new main characters :) I'm so glad you guys like him, thus-far!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL aww they're not THAT strict, to Nox! They are wary of him, at first, but yeah xD Not too bad.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I love hearing your guys' theories and such. There's always that handful of individuals (not anybody specific, just usually a few sharp readers) who nearly get everything correct, right off the bat, and it's so funny to watch their reaction towards the end of the story haha. Like all their dreams came true xD Cause I will never tell anyone if they're totally right or wrong. Gotta keep you guys on your toes! xD Thank you so much!

 **MightNinja2000 :** Yeah, it's a LOT of exposition, though! Just hope you all are okay with it haha.

 **WildVirus :** Haha yeah I hate when people stare as well. Nox is definitely used to it, though it still irks him xD

Thank you SO MUCH for all your reviews and such, guys! :D

 ***Chapter 35***

"Don't open the door," Orph whimpered, he tucked the blanket higher up the bridge of his nose. He squinted and shook his head at the television; him, Tej, Jax and Duke huddled around their favorite television series, a mystery with touches of horror thrown in. Orph continued to shake his head as he uttered a high-pitched meep of a sound and whispered, "D-don't open the door...!"

"They can't hear you," Duke complained, though more so in a tone that would likely agree with all of Orph's plights, as if to show equal frustration at the characters on the tv.

"You KNOW he's going to pop out from behind the door, what else could it be!" Tej hissed, he covered his eyes as Finn huffed a hard chuckle from the kitchen island, as if to dismiss all his younger brothers' worries.

Just as the suspense built and built, the front door of the castle creaked open just in time for the climax, of their television show, to hit a loud peak. Thunder softly crackled outside and, as Zed stepped inside, Nox shortly followed. With all the lights out, and nothing but Nox's glowing eyes illuminating the front door foyer, all the boys on the couch largely began to holler in fear; blankets, soda, popcorn and the like went flying. As everyone nearly back-flipped off the couch and scrambled for safety, everyone in the front door froze. As Zed fumbled to switch on the front foyer light, everyone vanished to some form of hiding spot and or point of safety. Zed beamed a wide smile, heaved a hard laugh and peered back to Nox.

"Well, uh... Welcome home?" Zed stammered, Nox crossed his arms and peered to Finn across the stretch of room. He gave Nox an equally as frightened stare, though he contained himself and remained seated, as if to somehow convey he was brave.

"Wow, even the people in EZ Living aren't THAT terrified of me," Nox laughed as Ace and Tessa pushed into the house; Zed closed and bolted the large castle door behind them.

"Guys, we have company, get out here, he won't hurt anyone," Zed loudly called, and finally, one by one, each boy slowly peered from their hiding spot.

Tej and Jax grappled onto each other and slowly peeked over the kitchen island, in which they were hidden behind. Duke peered around the bend from the stairwell down into his room. Tej had scrambled up Ace's stairwell and, it wasn't until a potted plant rustled, atop the high kitchen cabinets, did everyone finally locate Orph. He peered through the branches, from his knelt position way high up, and held his terrified gaze to Nox's existence.

"Holy User," Finn finally hissed quietly, he was the first to stand and make his presence further known to the newcomer. Once he reached Nox, he tenderly held out his masculine hand for a handshake, "You're from TurboTime, aren't you?"

"Nox," He stated shyly, as if now meeting new people, who were happy or neutral in his presence, was beyond foreign.

"A TurboTwin," Finn concluded, he scoffed and shook his head, "It's really nice to meet you. I've never met anyone who has been in the Arcade since around the time it opened."

"That'd be me," Nox smiled, he nervously glanced to Ace who stayed close; the two had quickly bonded and had become fast friends.

"C'mon, c'mon, he won't bite," Zed urged in a near stern, playful tone as he finally reached for the tv remote, turned the tv off and cued for the house lights to glow to a comfortable warmth. As Tej, Jax and Duke began to nervously worm their way from the kitchen, Orph remained on his high perch; Zed beamed a wide smile and rubbed the back of his head, "Orph, how the crap did you get up there so quickly!"

"Adrenaline," Orph whimpered, everyone easily laughed and peered to his peculiar place in the house. He finally began to attempt to find a way down.

"Alright, so this castle may not be as grand as the castles of Sugar Rush, or even the Mushroom Kingdom, but it still houses an army," Zed stated to Nox with a smile, he gestured to each gamer with their introduction, "These are my younger brothers. From youngest to oldest, we have Tej, Jax, Orph... Who is now very intimate with that potted plant, there."

"It actually does smell nice," Orph uttered, his voice still held a bit of a shake; he finally made his way onto the counter underneath the cabinets.

"Next we have Duke and then Finn," Zed finished, he gestured out to them, "All Dead Zed's racers."

"Must be nice to have an eternal day off, huh?" Nox elbowed Zed's arm gently; Zed beamed a sheepish smile to his brothers, who began to loudly bark annoyed notions to him, "It's great to meet you all... As you've guessed, I'm Nox, and yes... I'm from TurboTime."

"Boys, we've decided to let Nox stay with us," Tessa eased as she made her presence a little bit more known, "He's been homeless, in EZ Living, for a long while now, so let's show a little hospitality."

"EZ Living, huh? Not a bad place to be homeless," Duke crossed his arms and gave Nox a knowing smile, in which Nox kindly returned.

"Wasn't too shabby, though I do miss having a bed, quite honestly," Nox stated as he humbly looked down; Tessa rested her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"We'll get you situated, we've got to make you a new wing in the castle," Tessa eased, "Won't take too long... Ace, would you like to do the honors?"

"Sure," Ace nodded, he gestured for Nox to follow him, and though Tessa and Zed were aware the two weren't going to go anywhere near the code room, they still gave Ace a decent amount of access to structural coding of the castle and the surrounding land, so to stretch his knowledge on the subject matter.

As the two boys slowly began to mosey towards Ace's room, everyone nervously watched the two pass by. Once both boys were out of sight and earshot, Orph huffed a hard noise through his nose and gestured towards Ace's stairwell. He marched closer to Tessa and Zed in a huff of concern.

"Yeah, let's bring Turbo's BROTHER to come live with us," Orph whispered sharply, "Brilliant!"

"He's harmless, relax," Zed urged in defense as Tessa slumped her shoulders to Orph's statement.

"We're going to put restricted coding on his wing of the castle, he's not going to be able to do any harm while he's here," Tessa gestured her hands, "Not that he would, but we understand just how... Nerve-wracking this could be, for you guys."

"Better make it so he can't even take a piss without asking permission," Orph glared, "I'm not about to let a homeless beach-bum, related to Arcade's worst bad guy, ruin it for us, and our game."

"Show some sympathy," Zed snapped darkly as he took a dominant step closer to Orph, "And show some respect... We're not going to let him have full game-rights or coding-rights, to the game, until he proves he's trustworthy."

"I'm sleeping with everything locked tonight," Orph muttered in annoyance.

"I think it's cool," Tej finally spoke up, him and Jax caught eyes with kind smiles, "Maybe he can teach us a thing or two about Turbo... Maybe about just why he went mad."

"He won't do so if we alienate him," Tessa's voice grew annoyed and stern as she eyed Orph; he huffed a hard sigh and began to move towards his bedroom in agitated defeat.

"Definitely the best souvenir you've brought back from EZ Living, to date," Finn cocked an eyebrow and gave Zed and Tessa a kind look, as if to state a job well done.

* * *

With the quietness of the house, and the sound of the roaring storm outside, the clock ticked well passed two in the morning. Tessa's bare footwork, as silent as ever, moved across the glossy tiled floors. Before she could enter the kitchen, from the wing of the Sky Room, she noticed a dim, yellow glow amidst the comforting light the orange and red fire flowers gave off. All neatly splayed about the kitchen in vases of all sorts, Nox sat at the kitchen island amongst them. Dressed in a new pair of comfortable clothes, in which Ace had essentially downloaded for him, his still, grey figure was as frozen as stone. Tessa merely gazed in a hold of serene delight, as if the Kalivar castle was now honored to house such a rare, ancient blip of a gamer, simply a wise, unbreakable being amidst mortals. As Tessa slowly moved into the kitchen, she tucked her black hoodie sleeves down her arms for warmth and raised her eyebrows in a cue of kind surprise.

"Couldn't sleep?" Tessa's quiet voice eased, Nox didn't even flinch.

"... You'd think, now that I finally have a bed, I'd be long gone well into lunchtime," Nox's quiet, deep voice chuckled. The hot yellow glow of his eyes looked terrifyingly stark against the solid black square pupil, in which emit no glow whatsoever. He squinted, gingerly shook himself from his comfortable stare and gave his spooky eye contact to Tessa's; she moved closer to the fridge with a glass for ice water, "You?"

"Thirsty," Tessa whispered, she gently waved around her glass before she lulled it into the nook of the fridge, the inner workings began to clank about in the act of giving her ice.

Nox heaved a gentle breath, gazed his tired eyesight to Tessa and furrowed his dark grey brow. He remained solid in his comfortable, slouched spot at the island, as if he was merely frozen in the lull of meditation, the sound of the soothing rainstorm outside kept his mind from thinking too strictly about anything. He glanced about the fire flowers and side-eyed the vase nearest him.

"Ace told me the deal with all these fire flowers," Nox quietly chuckled, as did Tessa, though she sighed in a sweep of growing annoyance alongside it.

"Poor boy," Tessa eased, she finally brought her glass of ice water to the kitchen island with Nox, though she stood on the opposite side of it so she could face him.

"I'm sure Libby will come around, eventually," Nox eased tenderly, his deep voice crackled with tiredness, though he beamed Tessa a boyish smile, "Boy, I hope I'm around for it."

"Well," Tessa sighed, she looked about the gorgeous fire flowers and gently began to tend to a few, "You're welcome here as long as you need. As long as you feel safe."

"Thank you, again," Nox stated, he humbly looked down to his grey hands and fiddled with his fingers, "I... I really can't repay you."

"No need, I'm just glad there's someone, that's not family, to keep Ace company," Tessa smiled with a shrug, "He really needs a guy friend, right about now."

"Happy to be of service, he's a pretty awesome guy," Nox bobbed his head in agreeing, "I... I hope you don't take any offense to this, but... He reminds me a lot of Turbo."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in a lull of surprise and tried her very hardest not to feel insulted. She knew Turbo must've had a good side, once upon a time, and those were the times his brothers remembered. She set her glass down, stared down at it in hard contemplation and shook her head gently.

"I'm not offended," Tessa eased honestly, "I'm sure there's a very different side to Turbo no one knows about."

"Really no one but Lash, Throttle and I," Nox sighed, he gazed off to a bushel of fire flowers behind Tessa, "He was honest, protective... Really funny. He had his outbursts and could get loud and crazy when no one, but us, were around... But for the most part, he was a relatively reserved and shy dude... Until Throttle's training somehow went to his head. We weren't too sure why it was all making him so arrogant. He never used to be that way."

"Did he have a social life outside hanging with you guys?" Tessa wondered, though Nox nervously shrugged.

"He was with us, most of the time, but... There was an occasion, or two, where he'd be gone a lot later than anyone expected," Nox shook his head and furrowed his brow, "We'd ask where he'd been, and he'd just nonchalantly state that he was taking a ride about the game."

"TurboTime?" Tessa inquired, Nox smiled and nodded.

"Though our game was small, it still was beautiful," Nox sighed, "A gorgeous city with towering white sky scrapers... You could swear they eventually became one with the clouds... I sure do miss it."

"I'm sorry," Tessa eased patiently, he waggled his hand and grimaced a smile.

"Bah, EZ Living made up for it, in it's own ways," Nox sighed, he gave Tessa a look of excited, though sleepy, hope, "Ace said Ekreth is a pretty cool city to visit... Maybe someday soon we can all go."

"Yeah, we've been a few times," Tessa carried on quietly, "It's hard to enjoy when you're undercover, though."

"I know that feeling all too well," Nox smiled and looked down, though he finally furrowed his brow and felt brave. He looked Tessa in the eye and inquisitively squinted, "Do you mind telling me... How did you get banished from Game Central Station?"

Tessa's gentle, innocent smile slowly dropped, and though she contemplated shutting Nox out and attempting to keep an old wound closed, for better healing, she braved it and let her eyes lull closed; Nox immediately frowned.

"Y-You don't... Have to tell me, if it's too painful," Nox worried.

"No, it's okay... It's been almost a year," Tessa grumbled apologetically to him, she shook her head and let her eyes get lost in the gorgeous swirls of marble counter underneath her glass of ice water, "Sugar Rush had a few virus issues, after Turbo's rise and fall... It spanned all the way to this very game. The virus is named Radex. He's some form of weird fifty-fifty split of my uncle Rancis."

"Rancis Fluggerbutter," Nox stated knowingly, Tessa nodded.

"Radex tried to get Dead Zed to join in his take-over of Sugar Rush, but Zed eventually wanted nothing to do with it. As revenge, he wiped Zed's memories clean, planted his brain coding into Zed's and reset the game. Radex was killed in Hero's Duty, but his coding lived on in Zed."

"Did Zed... Get his memories back?" Nox now wondered, as if Tessa's answer would change everything, "Did he accidentally give you Radex's bad coding when you swapped?"

"Yes, Zed got his memories back and, technically... No, Zed didn't give me Radex's coding," Tessa stated quietly, her eyes scanned the counter, as if she was uncertain if she should be giving Nox this much information, she knew Nox was under their supervision, and he had very limited abilities here in the game. She carried on with caution, "We swapped source codes, and that was enough to do the trick... We were in Sugar Rush, at the time..."

"Yikes... The virus spread to Sugar Rush," Nox worried, "So, did it get fixed? Is that why you were banished?"

"I fixed it, Zed and I fixed everything... They still banished us," Tessa frowned, she wondered how this story was becoming easier to tell. The sting still held, however.

"How did you fix it?" Nox wondered quietly, though it was at this point she began to wonder if the information train should come to a halt. She squinted and gently gave Nox a look as if to silently inquire that she was about to trust him with a lot of valuables.

"You're aware Tron is still plugged in, right?" Tessa questioned, he raised his eyebrows.

"...Welp. I certainly do now," Nox's voice was incredulous, "You... You found Tron?"

"We found Tron, and... We left," Tessa finally spilled, she scanned Nox for any signs of disbelief, though his innocent, humbled eye contact remained.

"You left the Arcade?" Nox inquired in growing surprise, albeit quietly. Tessa nodded and looked away.

"We did the unimaginable... I did everything to right every wrong I made," Tessa stated sorrowfully, "Sugar Rush and Dead Zed were reset back to normal, we fixed the game cabinets from the outside. We even met Mr. Litwak."

"You met THE Mr. Litwak?" Nox finally questioned in dark surprise, he ogled Tessa as if he was in the presence of a celebrity. She scoffed a laugh and shook her head.

"It apparently means nothing to my family," Tessa began to well up. She continued to shake her head, as if to convince herself she wasn't about to start crying, "They have no idea Ace even exists... I haven't seen them for a whole year now. I've been locked out of Sugar Rush... Hell, I've been locked out of the entire station."

"Have you checked recently?" Nox side-eyed Tessa.

"I went a few weeks ago, late one night," Tessa stated through a shaky sigh as she blinked down tears and quickly swiped them away. She continued to shake her head in disbelief, even after all this time, "There's still that angry, red force field over the entrance of Game Central Station."

"So, you had Ace very shortly after you were banished. Don't mean to pry, but... Doesn't it take nearly a dozen or two swaps to finally program a self-programmed gamer?" Nox wondered gently, though Tessa instantly slumped her shoulders and scanned the counter in an idle, silent fit of contemplation. She finally stabbed her eye contact into Nox's.

"You have to promise me you won't tell Ace what I'm about to tell you," Tessa stated as quietly as she could, Nox raised his eyebrows and felt a wave of concern come over him.

"I-I promise," Nox eased honestly. Tessa sighed, and with a gentle glance to Ace's stairwell, she finally unpacked the rest of her baggage.

"Zed and I were humans for an entire twenty four hours... We... Stayed at a hotel, outside of Litwak's, for the night," Tessa explained slowly, though Nox continued to hold his surprised eye contact to hers, "Ace was conceived when we were humans..."

"... He's a User," Nox's voice stated in a blip that was nearly below a whisper of ogling disbelief. He scoffed, shook his head and furrowed his brow, "How come you haven't told him?"

"We're waiting until he's fully grown," Tessa stated gently as she peered back down to the counter, "We wanted him to grow up without that kind of pressure or odd-ball status. We figured, if we weren't careful, it could go to his head. We were planning on telling him a few days after his birthday, which is in three weeks."

"Geez... I guess I picked the right time to bump into you folks, huh," Nox finally chuckled, as did Tessa. She smirked and continued to idly tidy a fire flower nearest her.

"Throttle knows," Tessa stated warmly, her eyes hooked into Nox's, "... Would you be upset if I told Throttle that you're here, when I go to class, tomorrow?"

"Sure, you can tell him," Nox shrugged, "Don't think it'll get him out of Academy, though. That guy won't leave his perch for anything."

"Well, what about you?" Tessa inquired in delight, "Would YOU go visit him?"

"I'll think about it," Nox stated positively, "I don't see why not. Though, if you'd allow me one day to sleep and recover twenty years of being homeless... I'd very greatly appreciate it."

"Fine, we'll bug you about it at the end of the week," Tessa smiled, she finally crossed her arms, "If... If you could, please keep this information to yourself. Zed and I will tell Ace shortly, here."

"It's safe with me," Nox chuckled as he finally began to sleepily stretch, "Though, now I don't know how I feel sleeping next door to a User."

"How do you think we all feel sleeping under the same roof of the brethren of Arcade's greatest virus?" Tessa retort, though Nox slumped his shoulders and looked up to the dark, high ceilings above.

"Fair point," He grumbled with a sleepy smile.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Also, I just painted a picture of Ace and Libby's first kiss, from chapter 28 - it's on my deviantART titled 'The Final Touch**

 **Username - Vyntresser :)**


	36. Chapter 36

**WildVirus :** LOL I catch myself doing that sometimes as well, I try and not do it while I'm with other people tho cause everyone's like omg shut UP xD

 **MightyNinja2000 :** That's true! Though, Orion had no good reason to be a hermit - Throttle literally depends on Academy for his life xD

 **Nikki Firesong :** Well, their situations are both extremely different, but they have similar traits :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** No... I've never stated that Nox and Lash are from Roadblasters xD You yourself said they're like your story's TurboTwins Jet and Set lol... I've never introduced any characters from Roadblasters. LOL yeah Nox is trustworthy, surprisingly. He's sort of like Throttle - after x amount of years, you're sort of like eh f**k it.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you! Yeah there's a lot you guys will learn about Turbo, via Throttle and Nox :) Nox is definitely a good companion for Ace, he keeps him in check for sure! xD

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! Well, it doesn't matter how long you've been drawing, you just always have to keep pushing yourself to try new things. I do that with every piece of mine. Also, the guy from the 'You're My Hero' drawing is... someone else. :)

 **TwizzleCreampuff :** Yeah, Orph is the kind of person that needs to warm up to strangers. He wasn't technically friendly with Tessa, or Lickity, at first either. xD

 ***Chapter 36***

"Alright, gimme another," Ace's deep voice muttered, he gestured towards his mother in a hype of well-contained nervousness.

"Alright, uh... List and describe the four phases of a virus," Tessa waggled her finger lightly.

As the two slowly moseyed up Academy's stoop, they lingered here and there to buy a few extra minutes of time. Throttle's end-of-the-semester exam was something he was allowing Ace to participate in, since he was now nearly two weeks shy to being of age. Ace uttered a hard, exasperated sigh and gave his mother a pleading look. He idly adjusted the collar of his blank, black t-shirt, nearly faded to a charcoal grey. Tessa lugged her book bag further up her right shoulder, in which Jax continued to let her borrow. She was dressed in slimming, worn jeans and a dark blue girly shirt she typically wouldn't be seen wearing, though she semi-hid it well underneath Zed's hot blue zip-up hoodie. She grappled for Academy's large handle, the double-door entrance that towered above them. As she let her and Ace inside, Ace finally huffed a readied breath and gave his mother nervous eye contact as their eyes adjusted to the dimer surroundings.

"There's... Dormant, the stationary phase in which the coding of the virus basically gets settled. Then there's uh... Propaganda?"

"Propagation," Tessa blurt through a giggle, which caused Ace to beam an annoyed smile.

"The phase in which the coding of the virus multiplies," Ace stated through the grin of his gapped-tooth smile. The two began to saunter down the corridor in which lead to their first hour class, both of their bare feet slapped against the gorgeous array of cold, grey hexagonal tiles Academy was lined with, "The third is triggering... Something activates the coding of the virus and it starts to cause physical and behavioral abnormalities."

"That or it can work alongside an already damaged area of coding," Tessa clued in, referring to her previous state of blindness when Ace was just a baby.

"Aaand fourth, the execution phase," Ace gestured his hands outwards, as if to express an explosion, "Bomb dropped, game over."

"Very good," Tessa urged quietly, she gingerly linked her arm with Ace's and the two began to now confidently march towards Mr. Kitchi's class, "You'll do great. I'm sure Throttle will be impressed."

"I can still attend Academy with you, after I turn one, right?" Ace gently worried, Tessa hooked her gaze into his with a smile.

"Of course, both my teachers have no problem with it," Tessa smiled, though she looked on in growing apprehension, "When I enroll in other classes, however, it might get a bit tricky... Since you're not a child anymore, there's really no reason why you'd need me to 'look after' you, day in and out. You're an adult now, you can do what you'd like."

"Typical," Ace's deep voice grumbled, he lovingly squeezed his mother's arm tighter into his and playfully bumped into her while they walked, "Y'think growing up will earn you all kinds of freedoms when, in reality, you lose a lot of it. Sort of backwards."

"Well, be thankful you and your father don't have quarter alerts," Tessa stated through a sigh, "Now you guys have Nox to hang with, not to mention the dragons. At least you have buddies to dude-about with."

"Nox is so cool, mom, he told me all about Turbo last night," Ace ogled, Tessa smiled lovingly.

"Yeah?" Tessa encouraged, she recalled the conversation her and Nox had a few nights prior, "He's pretty cool, huh. He could probably teach you a thing or two about the Arcade's origins, and the like."

"He has, a little bit," Ace stared off towards their classroom, in which they slowly were happening upon, "I think he gets tired of the topic, quickly."

"It's probably hard to dwell in the past, for too long," Tessa assured, "It also might be hard for him to recall. He IS over thirty Arcade years old."

"How many Arcade years old is dad and the uncles?" Ace wondered.

"Dead Zed and all it's gamers are about three Arcade years old," Tessa explained, though she began to feel a sweep of nervousness come over her as she could feel Ace want to push the topic harder.

"And you're a year and a half older than me?" Ace stated as he looked down to their bare feet. He furrowed his brow and let his handsome hazel eyes gloss into his mother's with care, "If you're a self-programmed gamer... Where are your parents?"

Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard concern and felt as if Ace was ready to hear the truth. She steadied her thoughts and wondered if she should potentially halt the conversation until after school was over, so not to distract him from Throttle's exam, though she desperately fought to find the right words to utter first. Before she could properly, and honestly, answer his innocent question, the two were gently waved over by an authoritative head of Academy. Tessa jolted, and though she noticed her classmates file into Mr. Kitchi's class and the corridor go quiet, she nervously eyed said staff member and gave him an inquiring look, as if to wonder if he was meaning to accidentally make them tardy for class.

"Mrs. Kalivar, if I may?" He uttered quietly, he gestured Tessa and Ace away from the classroom and gave an apologetic look, "I've told Mr. Kitchi to... Excuse your tardiness."

"Alright then," Tessa eased curiously as she stepped away from the classroom, Ace nervously kept in step with her, though he hung back in anxious wait.

"Mrs. Kalivar, we have a bit of an issue that has come about," the staff member stated sorrowfully, "We have had a total of seven self-programmed gamers permanently game over due to... Attempted code-swap with select User-made gamers."

"What? Recently?" Tessa hissed in a pang of sad surprise, she covered her chest with her palm in shock and nervously glanced to Ace.

"All within the span of this month," He stated as he gave Tessa a look of now dominant frustration, "...We have collected information from the loved ones, of said gamers, and, unfortunately, your name was brought up every time. A Mrs. Tessa Kalivar cheat the system, and they have been desperately attempting to follow in your footsteps, with no prevail."

"... Y-You're blaming me for the deaths of these seven gamers?" Tessa stated in a gentle growl of growing irritation she knew she should try and collect as soon as possible.

"You are not to blame for their deaths, though we are wary that your bad influence has brought a string of game-overs to the community," He stated as he folded his arms behind his back and took a dominant stance, "We are sorry to say we are revoking your right to attend Academy. You, and your kin, are forbidden to return to End Of Line Academy."

"... Wait, let me make sure I'm hearing this right," Tessa stated in a growing vat of dark sarcasm she knew to use well, she knew she had a sharp tongue, and even sharper wit, though she desperately attempted to soak that over her billowing mass of wrecking power that so badly wanted to come to fruition, "You're keeping me from learning... Because of my lifestyle?"

"You are continuing to be the talk of Academy, and we do not want to see the death-toll rise. We've had the most deaths last week than we have in the past three years... With those numbers rising, our school rating and everything we've worked so hard to achieve, will fall. It is for the school's best interest you bow out."

"W-Well, why can't I teach the safe way to make it work?" Tessa began to feel that creep of desperation fall over her, once more, the same cringing feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when she was kicked out of Sugar Rush, the rush of adrenaline to keep from her Uncle Rancis from walking away, "I-I know exactly how to keep from being deleted. I know the secrets, why don't I make it clear to everyone so it can be performed safely?"

"It's too much hassle, and it's just... Way out of social conduct. We already have Code Ed. teachers, who are doing a marvelous job at keeping the peace and keeping things... How they should be," The staff member muttered, he glanced to Ace in a near side-eye of disapproving disgust. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows hard in growing anger.

"Just because I made a forbidden code-swap work, suddenly I'm an outcast?" Tessa felt her voice want to raise, though she desperately tried to keep calm; a notion in which her mother reminded her, she always kept the title of Queen at the forefront of her mind, "No one is interested in learning just how it works so we can all avoid deletion together? I have the secrets right here!" She urged in sarcastic annoyance, she gently stabbed her two fingers to the temple of her skull to get the point across.

"I'm afraid I need to see you out, now," He stated firmly.

"C-Can I at least see my last hour teacher, quickly?" Tessa fumbled in hard annoyance, "W-We're good friends, I need to let him know where to find me."

"I'm sure Throttle knows you're from Dead Zed," He urged in darker irritation, "He'll come see you if he wishes."

"I'd really appreciate if you'd just let me have this one thing, and then I will leave," Tessa stated boldly as she peered straight into his eyes. She began to take a step in the direction of Throttle's class.

"I have very specific orders to escort you, and your child, out," He demanded quietly, though it wasn't until he gently grappled Tessa's upper arm did Ace finally make his brewing presence known.

Ace firmly stepped forward and in a swift swipe of grace and dominance, he yanked the staff member's hand from Tessa's arm, stood in between the two and nearly hovered his forehead before his authority.

"Keep your hands off of my mother," Ace growled, he gave the staff member a dark look of intimidation, one of which wasn't taken lightly; he nervously stepped back once or twice, from Ace and Tessa. He anxiously straightened out his flashy suit's sleeves.

"I must escort you two out," He demanded in a growing crumple of defeat.

"You had the chance to do so, and I would've gladly given you said right, though the second you put your hands on my mother is the second you lost it," Ace barked, his voice began to carry down the towering corridor, "I will be escorting her and myself out. You can take yourself, your grubby paws, and your black hole of a heart back to your elitist office in the atrium. You'll be sorry you expelled one of the greatest students you could ever receive."

Ace leaned forward slightly, so to show a greater stretch of dominance in the staff members face, though before too long, Ace gently grappled Tessa's hand and began to march the two down the corridor, in the direction of Academy's exit. The both of them stewed in silence as they head through Academy's silent halls, as if the school was simply saying a sorrowful goodbye too soon. Tessa gripped Ace's hand and let him lead her out of the building, her teary eyes glossed the now foggy tiles undertow, her heart sank in desperation; the one place she thought she'd be safe of rejection. She felt numb, and though she knew she still had the hope of potentially attending West Arcade Academy, she still felt as if she was simply now running from herself. As much as she wanted to destroy things, to show her anger, to boast just how powerful she was without the world on her side, she felt the creep of defeat turn into a plow of an overwhelming K.O.

"They'll be sorry," Ace muttered firmly as they jostled their way down the stoop of Academy and into End Of Line station, which was now only lightly littered with gamers due to the Arcade now being open. He shook his head and finally let Tessa's hand slip from his, though his firm march towards Dead Zed held strong; he fumed as he continued on, he was nearly talking to himself at this point, "How can they be so close-minded? They can't just DO something like that to a student who is just there to LEARN. That's what Academy is for."

"It's okay, bud," Tessa mumbled through the clog of her nose.

She blinked back tears and finally unglued her eyes from the ground. She peered down End Of Line's station; a humble station, not nearly as large or as glorious as Game Central, though it still held it's grand arches over head, a warm glow against the soft, pale blue tiles. Tessa's eyes dragged to the game titles that were written in bold, red, scrolling text above each outlet. How desperately she wished she could see Sugar Rush's title once more; even Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty or Tapper's would be enough to calm her now defeated soul. She shook her head in a lull of surprise she couldn't shake, though just as she dragged her teary eyes towards the train station across the way, her gaze glossed over a certain gamer, in which her brain registered as familiar looking. In a sweep of sudden confusion, her eyes confusedly double-took at the figure across the way.

Tessa suddenly froze in hard shock, a ripple-effect through her entire coding. Like a deer in headlights, she pierced her surprised gaze across the station and was floored to be holding eye contact with none-other than her Uncle Rancis. He was dressed in his proper racing attire, his clothes looked pristine, as if he had just reset everything about himself. Tessa immediately felt the dusty cogs, in that area of her brain, come to life. She kept her undivided attention to Rancis's, and in a flicker of confusion, she quickly assessed that he looked unapproachable. She gingerly took a step forward anyhow, a silent question to ask if it were okay to attempt to converse with him, though the second she took another step, Rancis's unapproachable demeanor remained as he sorrowfully shook his head, as if to express to Tessa they were not ready to have her home. Tessa froze and, even though she knew chasing after her estranged family would likely make them push her away even more, she so desperately wanted to bolt across the station and demand answers from her uncle.

Before Tessa could take another step and challenge her uncle, who had a higher standing in Sugar Rush at the moment, she bit her bottom lip and tried, with all her might, to keep her eyes glued to Rancis's figure, from way across the station. Before she knew it, gamers weaved in and out of her line of sight, and within mere seconds, Rancis had slipped away. Tessa froze and kept her eagle-eyesight in determined concentration, though after a few hard minutes of over-calculating silence, she jumped in hard surprise as Ace's deep voice burst her bubble.

"Mom, y'okay?" Ace urged, as if to be mildly annoyed that she wasn't listening to his complaints this entire time, nor was she following him any longer. Tessa jolted and tried to glue her boggled mind and attention to her son before her.

"I-I'm fine... I thought I saw someone I knew," Tessa urged, she tried so hard to remain nonchalant. Ace furrowed his brow harder and scanned the train station area, across the way, though he shrugged and shook his head lightly.

"Was it?" Ace inquired, and though Tessa was on the edge of spilling everything to Ace, a teary mess of fessing up and revealing the truth behind everything, she knew she was unstable, and it'd only cause a mess. She shook her head and looked down to Ace's strong chest.

"No, I don't think so," She fibbed quietly, she was thrilled Ace believed her; he took her hand in his, yet again, and began to lead the two home.

"C'mon... Surely Dad, Nox, Royal and Lickity will be up in arms about this whole mess," Ace grumbled as the two began to approach their home outlet, "Do you think dad could convince them to let us back in?"

"User-made gamers don't have much say, when it comes to Academies," Tessa stated through a shaky sigh, though her eyes wandered back to the train station; she wondered if it were merely her mind playing tricks on her, though she desperately tried to seek Rancis out, once more. She furrowed her brow and let her eyes finally gloss to the back of Ace's head, "I'm sure a User would have precedence, however..."

"Believe me, if I was a User, I'd storm the castle," Ace mumbled, merely a metaphor he was unaware hit Tessa's heart square in the weak spot.

She furrowed her brow and, though she continued to bite her tongue, she began to wonder just how much of an influence Ace could potentially have over all of her problems. Tessa knew his power wasn't to be abused, and he had the right to accept or deny any future inquiries of said 'castle-storming', though her mind raced with sudden, new possibilities. She bit her lip in contemplation and counted, in her head, just how many days she had left until Ace's first birthday.


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: Have a long ass filler chapter! Alright, boys and girls - sorry for the roller coaster, but you can rest easy knowing that everything from here on out, until Ralph and them come back, is going to be sad-free chapters. For the most part xD **

**Xaehttium :** Poor Tessa is definitely put through the ringer, with this story. Yeah, the only reason it may not have seemed 'dark' until now was because no one was killed off because of the forbidden swap D: But now...

 **ArchitectDreams :** No, Tessa also had classmates, in her first hour class, that knew of her User-swap with Zed. And then people gossip and etc. lol. Thank you for the review and kind compliments!

 **MightyNinja2000 :** LOL No he wasn't spying on her, he happened to be in End Of Line station for reasons you guys will eventually find out about.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Yeah... Academy, as well as the whole Arcade, isn't really 'with it' when it comes to swapping and etc. - it's not viewed as a necessity, but more an act of rebellion and sort of just an extra-activity people do. It's sort of frowned upon. And no, Rancis didn't see Ace because he was too far away from Tessa, he had kept walking to Dead Zed and Tessa had stopped to stare lol.

 **XxNightClassxX :** Hahaha I'm sorry you're so mad - you guys will definitely be surprised once everyone comes back in the picture :) Don't worry!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** lol yeah, they're more sympathetic towards Tessa, than up in arms. They sort of now treat her like a ticking time bomb xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Haha it keeps everyone on their toes, and you guys will thank me later! Trust me! Also, Tessa wasn't the one who killed Selka - it was Penny. She killed Selka with Rancis's double striped sword. But I'm glad you've come around - out of all my characters, Tessa is the one I cherish the most, character development wise. I appreciate you keeping up, and that my story is one of those special ones you stay tabbed on! It means a lot to me!

 **chuckiboo :** LOL I take that as a compliment! :D Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Yeah, the boys definitely are careful around Tessa no matter what. Yeah, the Academies aren't really up to par on the whole social aspect of swapping - it's not needed, for gamers, so it's just viewed as nothing but risky business only meant for rebels and daring folk.

 **WildVirus :** SPICY HAHAHHAHAAHAHAHHA I literally laughed REALLY loud when I read your review, and I was seriously in a quiet part of the hospital and all the nurses just looked at me and I was like ...! *meeps* my story's spicy! xD

 ***Chapter 37***

The week came and went, and the warm glow of a summer's Sunday morning rivaled the thriving fire flowers in the kitchen. Tessa sat in a sliver of a sunbeam, it showed the streaks of warm red in her hair, the auburn strands that messily dribbled down her left shoulder. She sat slumped at the kitchen island whilst her five older brothers lazily lounged about the television. Tessa's mind sat in a groggy state of billowing depression. She knew that when it rained it poured, though she was uncertain it could ever drown her to this extreme. Her tired eyes traced the delicate, quirky markings of the white marble kitchen island she sat at. Lounged in a Sugar Rush-esque shirt she hadn't changed out of in two days, and sweats that were garnering holes in the knees, she knew was on the verge of becoming a mess. She finally felt her finger want to trace the unique markings of the marble counter; she wondered if potentially spreading her wings and checking out West Arcade Academy should be something she puts on her to-do list for the day.

The drone of the television plagued Tessa's thoughts in a gentle murmur of comfort she had fallen into. She wondered if leaving the house, for the first time since she was kicked out of End Of Line Academy, would be good for her, though she also wondered just where she'd get the energy. She finally inhaled a deep enough breath to feel her rib cage expand to it's full potential, though it were merely as if she was dusting off an old, tired piece of machinery. She knew she had to be careful with the vat of depression that was trying to sink her. She was now vulnerable to viruses, whether subtle or loud. She was glad Zed kept a sharp eye on her coding, though even the act of swapping codes was a chore; happiness and pleasure seemed to only rise to the bones of her ankles and no higher, like previously. She long blinked, she was exhausted from exhaustion; not even the warm, happy glow of the Dead Zed sun could lift her spirit. It merely cloaked her in a hot sheen of false hope.

"Have you seen Ace?" Zed tenderly questioned her as he moved into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Tessa attempted to glance at him through her tired eyes.

"Out waiting for Libby," Tessa croaked, she remained still. Her heart jumped in a pang of physical hurt at the effort to pump more blood into her blood stream.

She squinted and nearly relished in the painful effort her body went through to keep up, the thought of having a girl friend around sounded nice, right about now. She knew she had Lickity, and heavily relied on her companionship, though there was nothing quite like having a sister-like friend of the same species. Tessa added that to her list of things to silently mope about and not cue anyone into her sufferings. She was aware she had nothing else to do.

"I knew that," Zed muttered in a scold to himself, as if he should've known, though he furrowed his brow, "It's well passed the time Libby would usually come about... He's been out there for an hour longer than usual?"

Tessa just barely shrugged and kept her eyes to the counter, she was too tired to look up, though in her peripheral, she noticed Zed slowly mosey towards the large window in which hung over the kitchen sink. Though it didn't show a whole view of the field of Tessa's fire flowers, it still showed a good chunk of it; enough to spy where Ace usually stood, day in and day out, waiting for Libby's return. Zed furrowed his brow and noticed Ace and Royal were missing from their usual spot. Zed sighed and returned his gaze to Tessa, at the kitchen island.

"He's not out there... I wonder if him and Royal went to Echo Park," Zed stated, to himself; he knew Tessa didn't have the energy to wholly care, just as long as Ace and Royal stuck together and were back before nightfall.

Zed picked up the stray digital pad, on the kitchen island. He powered it on, thumbed through a few options and brought up a map. He furrowed his brow, squinted into it and pin-point Ace's exact location. A small valley just a few miles northeast of Echo Park, a wallowing mud-pit infested haven for different species of Dead Zed's fauna to keep cool in during the summer's near unbearable heat. He gave the digital pad an incredulous smirk and noticed Ace had somehow goad Lickity to join him and Royal; something everyone knew was a situation in which Tessa had to be consulted with, first. Zed heaved a long sigh through his nose and, though he knew the three typically had no interest in the mud pits off of the path of Echo Park, he figured he'd go up there and find out just what was going on.

"I'll be back, I'm gunna go see what the three are up to," Zed stated casually as he began to leave the kitchen; Tessa merely glanced at him in a form of gentle, tired acknowledgment.

* * *

"C'monnn," Ace groaned, he threw his larger hands down and finally pointed to Royal across the mess of mud they had found themselves in. He clenched his fist and prepared to wreck the ground, once more, "You're holding back!"

"I don't want to hurt you," Royal stated through a hard, sudden growl.

Both boys were riled with their play, a mud-wrestle match they hadn't verbally agreed to, though the vast stretch of squishy mud was too hard to resist. Lickity dug through the mud; both dragons were slopped with a good dose of sticky mud that began to dry in the creases of their fur and feathers, though Lickity was likely going to be a much harder chore to clean, due to having a much vaster amount of fur. Ace's shorts, and the lower half of his shirt, were nearly indistinguishable of color or logos. He clapped his hand to his fist and finally held up a proper wrecking form.

"Y'saying I'm weak?" Ace barked through a boasting, brotherly smile to Royal. He pawed the mud firmly, as if to merely be a charging, powerful, matador-bull.

"I'm saying I'm too strong for you," Royal deeply urged as he bowed his head, flattened his ears and heaved a firey chuff of hot air through his nostrils.

Royal finally grunted a hard bark of a roar and lunged forward. He galloped across the stretch of mud, a slippery field everyone fumbled in, though before things could get too serious or dangerous, Royal and Ace heaved a hard amount of anticipated laughter as Royal lost his footing, crashed with a loud thud to the mud underneath and swiftly skid the rest of his course straight into Ace. He spun, caught Ace at the knees and he firmly plowed to the mud on his back. Lickity sprawled her wings, uttered a hard chirp of a noise of victory and stood on her hind legs.

"I would state the score but I lost track!" Lickity hollered to the two boys across the way.

Ace choked through laughter, though once he finally got to his feet, Royal slipped and caught him with his clumsy tail yet again, though this time behind Ace's ankles. Both boys crumpled to the mud once more.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to turn into mud, here, soon," Royal wheezed as he opened his mouth and attempted to spit out some dirt that got onto his tongue.

Before the boys could continue rough housing, like what they had always done growing up, the ground suddenly shook in a loud pang of wrecking power. Everyone froze and peered to the edge of the field they were closest to. With Zed's power, and control over the game, he had wrecked the ground beneath him, though with said coding routine, the mud immediately dried to hard, rock-solid surface that stretched a few feet away from Ace and Royal. Ace flinched, held his hands up in defense and was prepared to quickly switch gears, though it quickly sloped to dumbfounded, sheepish surprise.

"Dad," Ace heaved through a hard chuckle as he finally relaxed, as did Royal and Lickity, "You scared me."

"What're you guys up to?" Zed wondered, his bare feet carried him in a nonchalant saunter down the solid pat his coding and wrecking powers just created.

"We stumbled across this mud pit, I wish I knew of this place a long time ago," Ace gestured his hands out, "Join us, dad!"

"Were you going to jump in the river, afterwards, or were you planning on arriving home with mud coming out your ears?" Zed stated through an enthused chuckle as he sagged his hands into his lazy red board shorts.

Ace and Royal nervously peered into each other's eyes in a sudden slope of regret, as if they merely didn't think that far enough ahead. Ace gave his patiently waitinig father a bashful grin.

"Can we maybe, uh... Not tell mom about this?" Ace wondered with a cheeky smile and a pleading side-eye to Zed.

"I'm not the one who has to answer to her, about taking Lickity out, without her permission," Zed said through a hard laugh, as if to express that Ace was, indeed, doomed.

"Oh, for crying out loud, it's just a little mud," Ace muttered as he flailed his arm, lightly shoved on Lickity's snout, and stepped a few feet away. Royal let out a hard grumble, though Ace shot him an annoyed smile, "Oh, stop whining, Roy! It was practically your idea!"

"I don't know how I acquired so many idiots," Zed said in a sarcastic, incredulous tone as he averted his gaze from Royal, to Lickity, and on to Ace, who, in turn, furrowed his dark blue eyebrows.

"Am I one of said idiots?" Ace bellowed with a wide smile as he gestured to himself, "I mean, I don't know about these two bag of scales, but you had to have seen me comin' from a mile away."

"Surprisingly, no," Zed raised his eyebrows and looked down in a contemplative gaze as he sagged his hands into his baggy, surf shorts pockets, "All three of you chumps were a surprise. You, being probably the biggest."

"Dad," Ace complained, though he couldn't manage to hide a smile.

"Don't 'dad' me, now c'mon," Zed ordered with a soft chuckle as he pointed his finger down the trail they had messily made, "Let's walk home."

"Walk... When we have two perfectly good dragons," Ace wondered in a dull tone as he shot his eyes to both Royal and Lickity.

"Do you want me to help you come up with a cover story or not?" Zed snapped with an annoyed grin, in which Ace slumped his defensive demeanor and got a good look into his father's dominant, yet caring, eyes. Without much more time to pass, Ace finally heaved a hard sigh and lightly nodded.

"Yes, please."

"User knows your mother and uncles are probably in the code room laughing their asses off, at us," Zed muttered.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Ace started softly, he trudged through the mud and gingerly hoisted himself up on the solid platform Zed had created; Lickity and Royal slowly followed suit.

"Y'gunna ask how in Arcade you're gunna get the mud out of your existence?" Zed chuckled, he grappled Ace's shirt and rung it around lightly. Ace laughed and lazily swat his dad's arm.

"I was gunna ask if we could possibly try and look for Libby's tribe... I really want to see her again, y'think we'd get in trouble if we found her tribe?" Ace uttered, his tone didn't hold any serious depth, though it was clear that was a fail-safe for him, a way to hopefully act so nonchalant his heart and brain believed it.

"That's tricky, we don't even know where her tribe could be... Dead Zed could have hundreds of tribes," Zed shrugged as the four began to finally approach the shade of the jungle's canopies, "Whose to say the one we stumble across would be hers?"

"I guess," Ace sighed, he looked down to his dirty feet, which began to show his skin again, "I just... I really miss her, dad. She was my best friend."

"I know, bud... You have to be patient," Zed stated softly, he, too, looked down to his feet as the sound of Royal's and Lickity's sauntering walk held solid in a slow mosey behind them, "She asked you to wait for her... Certainly that means something."

"I wonder who her new dream guy is," Ace grumbled in a fit of growing jealousy, though Zed eyed him.

"Why? Y'getting protective? Maybe a little... Jealous?" Zed nagged, Ace beamed a blushing smile, rolled his eyes and looked off.

"No, dad, I just wish she could make her own decision," Ace stated firmly, though sheepishly, "Clearly she didn't WANT to marry this guy."

"Well, like I said, it's likely their tradition," Zed sighed with a shrug, "Nothing we can do about it... Disrespecting tradition could get her kicked out of her tribe."

"Good... Then maybe she can come live with us," Ace mumbled under his breath, he began to pick the mud from underneath his fingernails, which were clogged to the brim.

"In a perfect world, son," Zed eased as the two pushed on in a casual stroll, "Don't hold the situation with your fist... If she's meant to be in your life, she'll come back to you. I'm positive she misses you."

"I miss her, too," Ace said quietly, his eyes idly scanned the mossy ground underfoot, "I just want her to be happy..."

"She'll find her own way," Zed assured, he lovingly gave Ace's arm a nudge, "She's strong-willed. She'll find a way to break the rules, eventually."

"It's not something she'll maybe grow out of?" Ace worried, as if the wild side of Libby was what he cherished most about her, though Zed gave him a look of coy annoyance.

"Well, YOU certainly didn't," Zed gestured to the mud all over him and the two dragons, "What makes you think she will!"

"You're just jealous you didn't join in on our fun," Ace beamed, both boys laughed, as did Royal.

"I've had my fair share of mud pits," Zed stated nostalgically as he looked on and crossed his arms, "Eventually, the taste of mud starts to get old."

"I hear that," Royal grumbled as he grimaced in annoyance.

"So what should I tell mom, then?" Ace sighed, "It's not like I took Lickity for a flight around the game. She won't let anyone fly her."

"Damn straight," Lickity urged sharply, though she beamed Ace a fang-filled smile as he gave her an annoyed, playful scowl over his shoulder.

"Your mother might be too upset to even care, actually," Zed stated through a hard sigh as he rubbed the back of his head, though Ace nervously peered to his father in anxiousness over the event of being kicked out of End Of Line Academy.

"She's still upset about it, huh," Ace worried, he looked down to their mossy path, once more. It weaved through gorgeous jungle scenery, the tranquil song-birds of the jungle chimed in the wind, simply a song of ages.

"Her sleeping pattern is all messed up, too," Zed frowned, he grimaced and peered to Ace, "Maybe you should suggest to her that signing up for West Arcade Academy should be the next thing she does... She's tired of hearing of it, from me."

"I'll say something to her," Ace gave his father a nod of assurance, "I just hope I can shadow her..."

"Well, if not, you can still look through all her textbooks, notes and homework," Zed eased, he gave Ace a friendly smile and nudged his elbow, "All the more reason to hang out with us, for the day. Work on the Tron-flyer Nox and I have been fiddling with."

"You can't even get it off the ground," Ace stated with a gentle laugh, though Zed nudged him again, harder this time.

"I'd like to see you try," Zed mumbled with a smile as the four slowly vanished into thicker jungle foliage. Zed finally heaved a hard sigh, looked down to his feet and furrowed his brow, "I think, tonight, we should spoil your mother."

"What did you have in mind?" Ace wondered, though he suddenly grimaced, "Ehh, that could include me and not get weird."

"Oh darn," Zed muttered sarcastically, he gave Ace a good nudge to the arm as his son blurt out in bashful laughter. Zed chuckled alongside him, scuffed a rock away with his bare foot and shook his head, "She's really been thrown through the ringer... She does more than you realize, for all of us men, around the castle. I think it's time we give back."

"Are you suggesting we make dinner tonight, or something? Cause, really, only Uncle Jax is good at cooking. Uncle Orph managed to burn ice cream. ICE CREAM, dad," Ace ogled as he gestured his arms out, Zed bookmarked his idea and gave Ace an incredulous gawk.

"When did this happen?" Zed worried with an enthused smile.

"The other night... Baked Alaska doesn't go in the microwave, future reference," Ace muttered as he looked on; Zed easily doubled over with laughter, and Ace couldn't help but smile.

"Oh my User, I'm surprised your uncle Orph's game-over tally isn't higher than it is," Zed choked through laughter, he finally collected himself with a satisfied sigh and peered to Ace, "We'll be fine. We have the code room... Let's make tonight about your mother. She deserves it."

"Done deal," Ace assured.

* * *

"Wow, that was... Way too good," Tessa uttered as she felt a wave of weirdness fall over her, a smile somehow formed without effort. She eyed Orph and continued through disbelief, "You guys didn't use the code room, once?"

"Uhh," Orph furrowed his brow, peered down to his empty plate, though he caught eyes with Zed from across the kitchen, behind Tessa. He largely flailed his arms and hands before gesturing a knife-hand like movement across his throat. Orph choked a small laugh and gave Tessa an honest look he was hoping he conveyed properly, "Nope. We just followed the recipe."

"Well, it was really good," Tessa stated through a satisfied sigh, though she slowly stood from the table as everyone else slowly began to pick up and take their dirty dishes to the sink. Tessa picked up her plate, rubbed Ace's shoulder as she passed him, and head towards the kitchen with everyone else, "Thank you, guys, I really don't know what to say... That was wonderful. You can just, uh... Leave the dishes in the sink and I'll get to them."

"Cute story," Orph stated cheekily as he swiped Tessa's dirty plate from her right hand; she flinched and froze in her tracks.

"I'll take THAT," Nox meeped as he successfully yanked the near empty glass from Tessa's left hand. She uttered an annoyed laugh and softly grappled for her apron, which was lazily slouched to the bar stool at the kitchen island.

"You guys," Tessa complained as everyone began to try and keep her from the dirty dishes.

"Nope, that's mine," Jax eased nonchalantly as he swiped the apron out of her loose grasp. Tessa ogled him and began to laugh, though the second Jax unraveled the apron and put it on, everyone peered to him in delightful amusement. He put his hands on his hips, puffed his chest and read the words on the apron aloud, "I am KITCHEN QUEEN. HEAR ME ROAR."

"C'mon, kitchen queen," Duke stated through a hard laugh as he threw a dish rag to Jax. It messily slopped to the top of his head.

"More like kitchen dunce," Tej stifled a chuckle quietly, which cued everyone else into hard laughter.

"Y'guys," Tessa urged yet again as every one of her boys began to pile into the kitchen, though she flinched once Finn made his presence known next to her.

"Shoo, you go," Finn finally urged as he desperately tried to shuffle Tessa out of the kitchen.

"Wait, you guys cooked and stuff, I-I just-" Tessa was interrupted.

"Alright, m'lady, let's get one thing clear," Orph peeled himself from the kitchen sink; his yellow dish gloves were wet and soapy as he suddenly began to wave around a dish cleaning utensil, "You cook, clean, launder and care for..." Orph stopped to count all the men in the room, "... All EIGHT of us. I don't even think Snow White had such a crazy lifestyle. Now go before I bow out and follow Zed to a place I probably shouldn't."

"What?" Tessa choked through a giggle, though Ace tenderly grabbed Tessa's lower arm, turned her around and gestured towards the entrance of the Sky Room.

Tessa flinched, glanced at Ace and finally hooked her attention to Zed, who stood patiently waiting for her to join him. He stood with one of Tessa's fluffy white bath towels folded over his arm. He gently gestured in the direction of their bedroom, to insinuate that her spoils were far from over. Tessa gently gave her attention back to Ace in a draw of delighted surprise, though she peered into his eyes as if to question if they were going to be okay with all the chores she usually did.

"We love you, ma," Ace's matured voice eased, he gave Tessa a look of warm earnest as he gently began to nudge her towards Zed, "Go. I'll keep the house from catching fire, I promise."

Tessa uttered a concerned giggle, glanced back to the seven men in the kitchen and finally turned away for good. Before she could turn back around and demand that she help out, Zed grappled her hand and tugged her to their love nest. As Zed closed off their wing of the castle, he tightly shut their bedroom door behind them and lead her to their marvelous, pearly bathroom. He had drawn her a hot bath, one with candles and soapy, glittery bubbles. He knew Tessa wasn't one to pamper herself often, though when necessary, he made sure it was as glorious and as girly as possible. Before long, he coaxed her into their large bathtub, and though he was so tempted to join her, he kept himself out of the equation. He sat on the edge of their massive tub, directly behind Tessa's relaxing body, so to rub her shoulders and comb through her hair.

"I really don't know what I did to deserve this," Tessa mumbled as she peered to her knees, which peeked out from the glossy white bath water and pink soap bubbles. Little flower petals hung about and sat perfectly even with the surface of the water. She scoffed a small laugh, shook her head and slumped her shoulders as Zed worked at the knots. She continued on through a gentle groan of relief, "I should get kicked outta places more often, yeah?"

"You do a lot for us," Zed's calm voice stated, he furrowed his brow and kept his concentration on the thick, angry knots in Tessa's shoulders, "You've been through so much, and yet still you keep this castle afloat."

"I have help," Tessa shrugged, though she winced as it jostled Zed's hands on her slippery, soapy skin.

"Sure, but it's mostly just Ace and I," Zed eased, he warmly pulled her hair to the side and covered it over the front of her bare chest, so to have an easier time rubbing her shoulders, "The five are usually gone during game day... You make marvelous dinners for us, and Ace is good about helping you with dishes, afterwards... I know I drop the ball on that, a lot..."

"I don't hold it against you," Tessa sighed, "You do a lot around here, anyhow."

"Well, tonight's your night," Zed stated confidently as he began to work a little higher up her shoulders, to her neck. She eased another groan through a giggle as he loosened all her muscles, "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you," Tessa mumbled as she lulled her eyes closed and finally rested her head back in Zed's lap.

He eased his hands off of her shoulders and lovingly brushed the bangs out of her face. He caught a long, ogling glance of the front of her wet, bare body and felt his face heat up. He heaved a shaky sigh and, though he was well versed in their routines, the main act of love-making wasn't something new to him, he still could feel those silver-coded butterflies line his stomach in a boyish, giddy way he was glad he could never get over, the way she made his head swim with delight. He cocked an eyebrow and, though he was aware this night was all about what she wanted, he was somehow hoping it'd eventually include him in the bathtub with her. He placed a warm kiss on her forehead.

"I'm proud of you for keeping your cool, through this whole mess," Zed stated tenderly, Tessa cracked her eyes open.

"Through being dropped out of Academy?" Tessa wondered quietly, Zed shrugged.

"Well, yeah... How you handle being expelled from Academy, amongst... Other places," Zed tip-toed around the topic of Sugar Rush. He shrugged lightly and finally caught eyes with her, "You handle it with such grace... And, though you know it's all wrong and the politics in it are backwards, you don't let anger drive you. The Tessa I came to know, on our 'game-jumping' days to EZ Living, is not the Tessa I know now."

"I've become weak, huh," Tessa chortled, as if to potentially convey that she was being sarcastic.

"You've become mature," Zed stated, "Back then, you were Sugar Rush's princess."

Tessa furrowed her brows, closed her eyes and inhaled a shaky breath. She finally opened her teary eyes and glued them to Zed's as he carried on.

"You're ready to be Sugar Rush's Queen, my love," Zed eased knowingly, his deep voice was as soft as velvet.

"Get me the key in, and I'd prove my worth," Tessa's voice cracked as tears finally dripped down her cheeks, though Zed was quick to wipe them away.

"You have the key," Zed's voice softly stabbed after a few moments of silence.

Tessa grimaced, sat up and faced Zed in the water. Her hair covered her chest and the water came to just underneath her breasts. She shook her head, crossed her arms and gave Zed a look as if to wonder if he really meant what he said.

"Ace?" Tessa whispered, Zed cocked an eyebrow.

"Love, he's a User..." Zed stated tenderly, "Users can reverse codes, they can bring a permanent game-over back from the pixelated-dead..."

Tessa raised her eyebrows softly and eagerly peered to Zed's mouth as he continued on with what she knew he was going to say.

"They can bring down force fields..." Zed concluded, though Tessa scoffed a hard sigh and looked away.

"I can't use him, Zed, we can't DO that to him... He doesn't even know of his powers," Tessa complained lightly, though Zed gestured his hands down tenderly, as if to silently ask her to not get so worked up.

"We don't need to act now," Zed calmed, "It's something to think about... If you want to go back, I'm pretty sure, with Ace's ability... He could get you back."

Tessa stared Zed down in hard contemplation and knew, all along, she had known said fact, though she tried so hard not to admit it to herself. She heaved a hard sigh through her nose and finally began to pool water into her hands; a few flower petals swirled chaotically with the rippling water. She shook her head, rubbed some hot water on her bare arms and gave Zed a look of nervous delight.

"I'll think about it... We need to get over the hurdle, of telling him just exactly who he is, first," Tessa waggled her finger.

"I know he'll handle it well," Zed grumbled, he finally began to paw at the hot water, "Got room for a King somewhere, in there?"

"I'm not sure you're worthy," Tessa teased as she held her nose in the air, crossed her arms and gave him a smirk. Zed furrowed his brow with a wide smile.

"I can prove my worth, if you just let me try," Zed played, though just as Tessa was about to protest, Zed took off his shirt slowly and revealed all the hard work he had been putting into building muscle and strength. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and desperately attempted to find some form of cheeky retort to volley at him, though she fell short.

"Hello, your majesty," Tessa chuckled, Zed shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"That's all it took? If I would've known that, I would've ditched the shirt long ago!" Zed uttered in hard, playful annoyance.

* * *

 **A/N: I drew fanart for this chapter, the part in the mud pits titled 'Ace To Zed' - it's a bit deeper in my deviantART gallery because I drew it sometime last year ****\- username Vyntresser :)**


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: I might start slowing down, from here on out until next Monday - comicon will most definitely A. wipe me clean of energy and B. take up the entirety of my free time. I'll be picking the story RIGHT back up after I get home from comicon, though! So don't fear! :D**

 **For those of you that live in AZ and are going to Phoenix Comicon, be on the lookout for me! I'll be cosplaying, for the majority of the weekend, from WIR, Wrecking Limits and Defying Code - one day, however, I will be cosplaying Sokka with my best friend going as Katara from Avatar The Last Airbender xD So come say hi, if you happen to see us! :D**

 **I will be keeping my Instagram updated regularly, with pictures of us from comicon - my username is Vyntastic**

* * *

 **ArchitectDreams :** Those are valid guesses! But I can't wait for you guys to see how it goes down :D Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** This is true! xD She gets a good heap of added TLC, in the next few coming chapters - you guys will all get that huge sigh of relief shortly, I promise LOL

 **Xaehttium :** You mean 'broken' in the sense that he doesn't use his powers? He knows how to wreck and glitch, as of right now, but he doesn't know he's a User - that and he's never really been up against force fields or deleted people so he really wouldn't be able to know if he had the power of resurrection or etc. xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL omg that'd be so bad xD Ace would need brain bleach haha

 **JaySketchin :** Whoa there, friend xD You won't hate them in a few chapters, I can guarantee! That's some extreme heat risin' off your review, there LOL

 **Retrokill :** I know I can't wait either haha. You guys will definitely flip!

 **WildVirus :** RIGHT I'd kill for Tessa's setup haha. How awesome would that be?

 **TwizzleCreampuff :** Thank you for this! Unfortunately, the Rancis she saw in the station wasn't a hallucination - he was real :) I really appreciate your comments about character development. I sort of grow WITH these characters, so that makes the development easier on my part haha. And, don't you worry! Tessa gets to have her cake and eat it too :)

Thank you SO MUCH you guys! I LOVE reading and replying to all of your reviews :D

 **Song Listened To : When You Come Home by Trevor Dahl**

 ***Chapter 38***

"I worry for Ace," Tessa's voice finally crackled above the jungles hum of vibrant life. She hugged her knees tighter to her chest, inhaled a slow breath and only tenderly attempted to peer to Nox, who sat next to her. She carried on through the rasp of her voice, something she didn't use very often, anymore, "Those fire flowers thrive in colder weather, ironically... They're likely going to die off during the summer."

"They'll regrow, right?" Nox gently wondered as the two finally honed their attention to the lonely User in the field of fire flowers far below them.

"In the Fall," Tessa quietly assured as she rested her chin atop her knees once more.

Tessa and Nox relaxed in the morning sunshine, and the only clouds that could be seen were being kept at bay by the mountain range in which they were the crown jewel of. The two sat comfortably perched on Orph's and Jax's balcony, a wide bay of loved tan tiling hugged by thin rails that were overtaken by jungle ivy and flowers. The sprawl of field below was gorgeous, a pop of orange and red, due to the fire flowers, and the starkness of Ace's dark blue hair amidst it was like candy to the eyes. Tessa squinted lightly and held onto the spot of foliage in which Ace kept his sharp attention to every single morning. Tessa began to feel nearly as desperate as Ace was, for Libby to return. Tessa knew she herself was likely the perfect fit, the only girl, excluding Lickity, to be housed amongst eight men and Royal. Her tomboy spirit and tough attitude got her far with the boys, though deep down she longed for a girl to chit-chat with, someone to enjoy the latest gossip with, to share clothes and relate to on a female level. She finally sighed and gave Nox a gentle, apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry I've been so mopey, lately," Tessa stated quietly, Nox gave her his square gaze, something in which Tessa had just finally gotten used to. Out in the sunshine, his gaze was muted, though she was certain it was even creepier than when they held a dominant glow at night.

"Naw, it's understandable," Nox croaked sleepily as he waved his hand, to assure Tessa it was no issue. He was forever dressed down in lounging, comfortable clothes, an eternal vacation, away from his old homeless life, he ate up on the daily. He chuckled, leaned back on the bench him and Tessa shared and crossed his arms; the bench lovingly croaked with his weight as a breeze whipped their hair about, lightly, "You're going through a lot, right now... Are you and Ace going to go over to West Arcade Academy, tomorrow?"

"What's tomorrow, Monday?" Tess squinted, she felt a weird wave of time-loss sweep over her. She cocked an eyebrow and came to the quick conclusion that Ace's first birthday was in less than two weeks. She sighed through the rush of information to her brain and nodded lightly, "Yeah... I'll likely get off my ass and do something with my life... Starting tomorrow."

"It's always tomorrow," Nox grumbled, the two shared a laugh.

"Y'got words out of her," Zed's calm, deep voice melted over the breeze, he stepped out onto the deck and tenderly sunk his masculine hands to the tops of Tessa's shoulders. Tessa immediately tried to hide her bashful smile as she slipped one of her hands to the top of his. He squeezed her muscles softly as him and Nox caught glances, "You guys doing okay?"

"Just great, your game is beautiful," Nox praised quietly as the three peered down to the field and to the gorgeous, swaying jungle trees out before them. He nodded once and inhaled a deep breath of the fresh air, "We were just discussing Ace's dilemma... Those fire flowers, I guess, aren't going to last through the summer."

"Well, he has nearly fifty flowers, in the kitchen, to reuse," Zed shrugged, he was shirtless; his skin glistened from the shower he just got out of, his electric blue hair was now dark, wet and messily ruffled to his scalp.

"I think it's cute how he wont give up," Tessa's voice cracked, she gently shrugged, "... I just hope he doesn't run himself into the ground."

"He'll either ease his way out of it, in acceptance that she won't come back, orrr..." Zed trailed off in attempt to find a positive, though Nox cheekily beat him to it.

"Or she'll come back?" Nox smiled, both Tessa and Zed chuckled as Nox carried on, "I'd like to meet this chick. Ace has definitely talked her up, a lot. I guess she was a lot of fun to have around."

"Ohh she was," Tessa giggled, she felt weird smiling, though any bout of happiness that came her way, she didn't question it, "She was so hyper, but the amount of smiles and laughs she got out of Ace..."

"Out of all of us," Zed concluded, Tessa lazily nodded.

"It'll be a good day for everyone, if she comes back," Tessa sighed, "All we have to do... Is wait..."

* * *

Ace breathed a slow sigh through his nose as he moseyed through the field of fire flowers, a tired draw of knowing, Libby's arrival was to never come. He shook his head and glared down at the stark, empty patch of picked flowers he had cleared in the field. A good fifty flowers missing in a single bunch in a circle of about a five foot diameter. He eyed the one single flower that was left near the center of the circle. He smirked an annoyed grimace down to it as he came half a dozen feet from the circle; he scolded it. How could it be that the patch he stood in, for these two months, was now picked clean? He sighed at all the time lost, though he began to feel defeat. He finally slumped his shoulders and made a promise to the flower in anticipated wait.

"You, my friend, will be my last flower picked," Ace grumbled as he finally began to approach it, the flower's gorgeous, hot orange petals boasted all the sunlight Dead Zed could offer. He shook his head and finally came upon the circle of bare grass he had come to know and love, "After you, I will have given up... I-I guess... Waiting out here every day wouldn't hurt. I'm just tired of destroying mom's fire flower field..."

Ace finally heaved a calming breath through his nose and assessed the beautiful flower, he wondered if it felt lucky for being the very last pick of his important duty, in which he had valiantly upheld. In an attempt to gain clarity, he threw his gaze up to the stretch of field where he'd anticipate Libby every day, though the second his eyes caught with foliage that looked a bit different, his skin prickled in frozen fear. He raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and honed his eyesight across the field. Tucked underneath the shade of the towering jungle trees, near a few climbing limbs of wild foliage, he noticed a pair of bright, eager eyes peering back. The glistening turquoise he felt familiar, though he began to feel an itch of fear sprawl his coding once said creature stood and began to slowly saunter it's way out of it's hiding spot. Ace squinted in hard confusion and felt a sudden pang of adrenaline; the jolt to run and seek safety, the instinctive rush of fight or flight soaked over him, though the second sunlight cast upon said creature, he felt as if his eyes were merely deceiving him.

"...Balba," Ace whispered in a soft draw of a question.

He remained frozen in collective excitement and wonder, as if he was certain that this could possibly be a dream and he shouldn't get his hopes up. The familiar, green-furred lykata sauntered it's graceful being out onto the sprawl of the open field, as if to test if it were safe. Once she was a dozen or so feet from Ace, her demeanor lightened and the strict hold of her wings drooped in relaxation. Her snout wrinkled as she sniffled the air for the familiarity of Ace's scent. She was a gorgeous being, a creature of the most marvelous display of green speckled feathers, her turquoise eyes were simply a mirage of the sky, intelligence beyond anyone's knowledge. Her large, wolf-like ears finally perked atop her head as she stood to full height. The collar of her chest easily came to the tops of Ace's shoulders. She wasn't quite as large as Lickity, though her body still exuded speed and power. The second her puppy-dog demeanor came back to her, and her tongue flopped out of her mouth in a content pant, Ace heaved a hiss of a laugh and grappled his hair.

"Balba!" Ace uttered loudly, which cued Balba to yip an excited bark, garner a puppy-dog stance of bending down and outstretching her front legs, to signify she wanted to play. Ace laughed an excited, incredulous laugh and began to take a few quick steps to Balba, "Girly, is that really you?!"

Balba easily bounced once on her feet, jolted to Ace and, with a rush of her flat, wagging tail, she easily overwhelmed Ace with the hugest 'hello' she could muster. She largely lapped at Ace's face and neck in a frenzy of admiration, a reunion clearly she had been wanting for a long time now. Ace wrinkled his nose and, though he dodged her large tongue running over his mouth and face with some success, he largely hugged his arms around her thick neck, grappled her fur like he used to and scratched her neck like she loved. She whined a noise of happiness and continued to smother Ace in much needed attention she knew they both wanted.

"My User, Balba, you have grown so big!" Ace's deep voice uttered in a crack of delight, he could hardly believe he was in the presence of adorable, puppy-dog Balba. She finally settled somewhat, bounced on her feet and gave Ace an equally as happy and impressed look, as if to give the same compliment right back to him. Ace wiped his cheek a little, gawked and shook his head, "You're gorgeous, Balba, I can't... I can't believe you're here!"

"She really missed you," A warm voice chimed.

Ace whirled his attention to his left in immediate surprise and froze. Stood, just outside the circle of grass, bare of fire flowers, was none-other than the one girl he had longed to see. The tall grass swayed about, encompassing the three in an alternate universe of warmth. Dressed in an adorable, white summer dress and bare feet to match her wild-child spirit, Libby's eyes glued to Ace's in a look of total adoration, a warm smile of nostalgia cloaked her entire being. She was near flawless, a woman of height who easily was only a handful of inches shorter than Ace. Her brilliant white hair kissed the backs of her knees and flit about with the hot summer breeze. She tucked her fists to her chest and, in whole, girly delight, she finally beamed Ace a wide smile of success, as if coming back to their point of origin was a feat she had been attempting to conquer for awhile now.

"Libby," Ace eased, the name float out of his mouth without any effort, though he long blinked a few times, as if to wonder if this was simply a dream.

He shook his head and clutched his chest, to somehow check if he was potentially still alive. He scoffed a laugh, though the second Libby started laughing along with him, his goofy smile broadened. He could hardly believe his eyes. Just as he was about to take a running start to hopefully welcome her into his embrace, he caught himself as his eyes glanced down at the patiently waiting fire flower before him. He scoffed a noise, as if he was caught in an untimed performance he had been rehearsing for, for weeks now. He uttered an apologetic noise, grappled the end of the flower, gingerly picked it and stood. The two caught eyes in curious knowing, though Ace gingerly held it out for her as he stood in the circle of bare grass. He patiently assessed her and could swear his heart could burst right out of his chest.

"F-for you," Ace's deep, gentlemanly voice offered.

A grateful, bashful smile finally sprawled across Libby's cheeks as she tucked her hair behind her left ear. She barely giggled, and through her sky-blue gaze straight into Ace's unsure, elated hazel eyes, she gingerly reached for the fire flower, and in the moment it finally left Ace's grip and into the hands of the one woman he had been dying to see, he felt his whole world become complete. He heaved a shaky sigh and couldn't help but beam her the happiest smile he could. He desperately attempted to restrain himself from glomming onto her and never letting go, though his heart jumped at every single noise she uttered. She scoffed a small breath of surprise, and as she gingerly buried her nose into the flower to smell it, her eyes fluttered. She finally held the flower closer to her chest and gave Ace a look as if to wonder why she hadn't pushed the limit and come back earlier.

"You waited," Libby whispered as tears gathered in her eyes, Ace shook his head and furrowed his brow.

"I promised I would," Ace stated, as if she should know that their promises were unbreakable. He shook his head again and braved a step closer to her, as if to inquire in a bit more urgency that he was nearly about to pounce on her, "I've waited every day for your return."

Libby raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and, before she could convince herself to be strong, she scoffed a sigh, shook her head and finally filled the gap. She threw her arms around Ace's neck, dove into his embrace and squeezed him as tight as she could. Ace easily grappled his strong arms around her upper back and didn't dare to let her go. He shut his eyes tight and buried his face into her shoulder. Her white hair tickled his nose and the tops of his cheeks, though he relished in it and her familiar scent, one of which he nearly forgot. He inhaled a shaky breath, gazed across the field to the point in which she had finally arrived and squeezed her tighter to his strong chest.

"Don't ever let me go back into that jungle," Libby uttered through tears, though it was at this point Ace couldn't differentiate if she was crying happy or sad tears. He immediately frowned, squeezed her tighter and glared down the jungle that took her from him.

"I won't," Ace's deep voice quietly assured. He nodded once, to seal the deal and gave the jungle a look as if to dare it to try him, once more, "I promise."

* * *

 **A/N:** ***cue squee-ing in a pitch that only dogs can hear* - I drew fanart for this chapter, on my deviantART titled 'When You Come Home'**

 **Username - Vyntresser**


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: Thanks for your patience, guys! I'll probably be uploading chapter 40 sometime on Saturday, and then chapter 41 come Sunday night or Monday if I can. I'm going to try to stay as much on my schedule as possible! Thanks for understanding! :D**

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** YAYYY I'm glad everyone is excited! :D

 **Architect Dreams :** Hahaha the story is FARRR from over xD This is just one of MANY milestones, and one of many reunions. This whole story is just one big bag of reunions and patching up problems xD Thank you so much!

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Nope, she's there for good! Also - the reason no one has sought out Emery, or Otto, will be answered, and you guys will understand why Emery never came around. You also have to remember, the Kalivar castle is pretty far from Zed's old town, and the entrance to the game. Thank you! :D

 **Jay Sketchin :** Ohhh my god it is PAINFUL reading everyone's anger xD I understand everyone is up in arms, but you guys will actually be like LOL WHOOPS WHY WAS I SO ANGRY xD You'll understand the weight of everything once Ralph is reintroduced (properly)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha all those fire flowers will come to good use, somehow xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** No problem! I understand just how hectic life can be :) Thank you so much! Yeah, Libby definitely is withholding a ton of baggage, in which will all be revealed sometime around chapter 42 or so. Amongst everything going on, Libby's drama is probably the darkest, cause it involves a real-life problem a lot of people are saddled with, but are too scared to reveal. It'll be difficult to write for, because I myself have never had said issue, which will all be explained, but I'm excited for the challenge.

 **Xaehttium :** LOL only cause I revealed it in the artist's comments on the painting I uploaded to deviantART! xD I'm glad you're excited, nonetheless!

 **Burgie :** Why thank you! :D It definitely took a weight off my shoulders, as well. I've been waiting for this drama to come to a close for along time, as well xD

 **Nikki Firesong :** YAAAAS LIBBY RETURNNNNS

 **TwizzleCreampuff :** LOL Well everyone was freaking out and demanding when she would return, so I figured I'd at least give the chapter number so to calm everyone's tits xD But, I won't reveal to you when she goes back to Sugar Rush or etc. cause all those details are a bit messy and confusing, so I will remain cryptic on that! xP Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** I'm glad that last chapter brightened your day! That's all I ever want, for my readers :D LOL SPICY! xD Yeah, you can see that comin' from a mile away, can't you! haha. Now does my painting 'Game Changers' make any amount of sense? xD

 **Retrokill :** 'Awwwwwww' right back atcha! xD

 ***Chapter 39***

"That's..." Nox pointed nonchalantly to the field in a mind-numbingly confused tone. He scratched the back of his head and cocked an eyebrow, "Does, uh... Ace KNOW that strange green wolf thing that's coming up to him?"

Tessa and Zed's attention quickly flew to the field below, though just as Zed was about to say something, Tessa largely stood, grappled the railing and inhaled a deep gasp. Just as Libby began to make her way out onto the field, Tessa whirled around and caught Zed in a bewildered stare of disbelief.

"She's back...!" Tessa whispered, as if saying it too loud would make it false.

"Who?! Wait, what!" Nox garbled as he stood and, with quick reflexes, his attention dart from the field, to Tessa, and then to Zed. He gave both of them a crazed look, "Wait, is THAT LIBBY?"

"SHE'S BACK!" Tessa hollered as she suddenly shoved past Nox and Zed; both boys grunted as she nearly knocked them over, and before they could get their bearings, Tessa was long gone off of Jax's and Orph's balcony, and out of their bedroom. Nox ogled the direction in which she left and nervously peered to Zed.

"Is that Libby?" Nox uttered in confusion, though Zed quickly peered over the railing, got a good look at Ace and Libby hugging in the field, and beamed a knowing smile.

"Yep, that's her, alright," Zed stated proudly.

"She's back she's back she's back!" Tessa hollered, in a giddy tone, through the house as she skid into the kitchen. Jax and Orph largely looked up from the food they were preparing on the stove and gave her a bewildered look.

"Are you referring to your sanity, or is that still long gone?" Orph loudly joked, though Tessa's urgency quickly cued Tej, Duke and Finn from the couch, who were lazily slumped, though they jolted up in growing surprise.

"Libby's back, Libby's back! C'mon!" Tessa urged in excitement as she suddenly dove out the back door and left it hanging open.

All five boys sat in the house in frozen, whole confusion. The television continued to lightly murmur on a commercial, though Orph finally broke the silence after a few seconds of hearing Tessa's firm footsteps running away from the house.

"Does this mean I have to put on pants?" Orph grumbled.

* * *

As the two finally pulled away, Libby tucked the flower to her nose once more and smiled into the warm petals. She gently dug her irresistible gaze into Ace's and, through a broken smile, she shook her head lightly. Her white hair flicked about with the warm breeze, as did her adorable sun dress. She clutched the flower closer to her chest and looked Ace over curiously, just as she opened her mouth to daintily inquire about him.

"You're very handsome," Libby stated boldly, and though Ace knew not to be shocked by her matter-of-fact demeanor and attitude he had come to know and love so well, the compliment somehow made his head spin.

"Th-thank you," Ace attempted to ease, he bashfully rubbed the back of his head and felt his eyes trail her creamy skin, her flawless, white hair, everything about her was lithe and gentle, though he knew it was merely a cute, doily of a package that contained the most passionate, raging heart of a fire. He chuckled, his gap-tooth grin easily mocked Tessa, "You're very beautiful. Your hair is so long."

"The last time I saw you, it was hardly to my shoulder blades," Libby finally began to ease from the shyness the two attempted to crawl out of, though just as she was about to carry on, she flinched and noticed Tessa's rushing presence get closer and closer. She beamed a wide, excited smile and turned to welcome Tessa into her presence. She nearly looked on in a pleading way, as if she had been craving Tessa's motherly, and now sisterly care, for centuries. She eased a warm welcome, a plea she had nearly forgotten about, "Ma, I'm back!"

"You're back, you're back, you're back!" Tessa rushed as she finally glommed into Libby's arms, and both girls tightly embraced. Tessa heaved a hard giggle, lifted Libby a little and once she set Libby back to her feet, she unraveled from her embrace, grappled Libby's shoulders and peered into her beautiful eyes with a renew of energy she wasn't quite sure where it was being stored, "My User, girly, you're so tall! You surpassed me!"

"Not on purpose," Libby giggled bashfully, she scrunched her shoulders and held Tessa's forearms as both girls nearly 'squee-ed' in each other's presence.

"Please tell me you're here for good, we missed you so much," Tessa urged quietly as the two finally eased off each other.

Libby gave both Ace and Tessa a grateful smile, though after a few moments of hot silence between the three, Libby glanced down to the ground and finally gave her gaze back to the jungle, in which she emerged from. She furrowed her brow, hugged the fire flower closer to her and felt a wave of debate come over her. She finally flinched once Tessa tenderly grappled Libby's wrist.

"Love, what... What are these?" Tessa's voice wavered, she softly gestured to the multiple tiers of bruises down the inside of Libby's arm. It was only then did the two notice she had bruising in other places as well, such as her chest and just under her throat. Tessa's curious eyes dragged all over Libby's beautiful skin, tainted with what looked to be the work of man-handling. Tessa furrowed her brow and felt a protective heat build under her skin, her voice sank to a level of quiet depth, "... Whose face do I have to beat in?"

"O-Oh, this is... Nothing... Balba and I sort of had a rough time getting here," Libby clearly fibbed, though she nervously shook her head and glanced to both Ace and Tessa, "I... I've been banished from my tribe. I can't go back... I knew Balba and I could take refuge here."

"What?" Tessa hissed, though she suddenly felt a weird wave of enjoyment over the fact that she could finally share in someone else's pain, the sheer horror of being shunned. She shook her head and lovingly held Libby's hand, "What about... Your suitor? The chief's second born, to be your husband?"

"That's... Over with," Libby stated in an unsure manner, she glanced back at the jungle, as if she was nervous, "I'm... I'm really sorry, but I just don't feel comfortable talking about it. I knew I'd be safe here... That's really all I can say, for now."

"You're more than safe, here," Ace's deep voice assured sternly, he lovingly held eye contact with Libby and furrowed his brow, "If they come looking for you, they'll have to answer to me. We're not going to let anything bad happen to you."

"Thank you, guys, I... I knew I could trust you," Libby worriedly looked down, tears gathered in her eyes though she successfully kept her weeping at bay, "I was worried none of you would accept me back, after I practically ditched you those months ago."

"You didn't ditch us," Ace stated, though deep down he had felt ditched for a long while, he knew it wasn't something she originally wanted, "You couldn't have helped it. All that matters now, is that you're here. And we're not letting you go, this time... You belong here. You're happier here."

"MUCH happier," Libby assured, she slumped her shoulders and gave Ace and Tessa a look of floored gratefulness.

"Maybe... Maybe you two should leave the game, for the day," Tessa suggested quietly as she peered back to the jungle, "Why don't you and Nox show Libby around EZ Living. Get her out of the area for the time being. If anyone, from her tribe, comes looking for her, she won't be here. It'll help get your mind off of things, too."

"While we're gone, can you make Libby her own room?" Ace wondered, though Tessa gave him a knowing smile.

"Yes, bud... I got a little surprise for you, anyhow," Tessa waggled her finger at Ace. He beamed her a curious smile, though Tessa lovingly gripped Libby's hand in her right hand, and Ace's in her left, "C'mon, lets go inside and get you something to eat and drink. After that, you guys can have a fun day at the beach, and we'll keep a lookout."

"I doubt they'd come looking for me, here," Libby chuckled as she peered to the glorious Kalivar castle she had come to miss so deeply, "Not that they'd want me back... But I'm just thankful I found a safe spot."

"We're thankful you came back," Tessa shrugged, "'Bout time something interesting happened, around here."

As the three hurried back to the Kalivar castle, Royal and Balba largely skipped off in pure joy. It was easy to see that the entire game nearly glowed with excitement, the reuniting of young hearts, the addition to the castle only made everyone more at ease. The reintroduction back to the castle Libby had come to know and love was an easy transition, a quick glimpse of remembrance, and even though only two and half months had passed, it seemed nearly a lifetime, with all the growing Ace, Libby, Balba and Royal had done. Even though Ace had wanted to linger, spend hours reintroducing Libby to all of her uncles, and properly introducing her to his new friend, Nox, Tessa and Zed were quick to shuffle them out of the game. The way Libby's eyes nervously would shift to and from windows, as if to fear if her tribe was to come looking for her. Tessa drew to Libby's outward worries, and even though it was silent, Tessa was certain Libby was itching to get out of the game as a whole.

Before way too long, Royal and Balba were quick to get into the skies, with the precious cargo aboard their back. With Libby easily saddled to Balba, and Nox lazily strapped with Ace, aboard Royal, they headed for Dead Zed's glorious entrance. About a fifteen minute flight, they chit-chat along the way, though Ace could see Libby's anxious demeanor softly throw glance to behind their backs, as if she was certain they'd be followed sometime soon. Ace furrowed his brow, glanced in her line of sight, and once him and her were relieved of the silence behind them, he felt his heart pang with a higher intensity, the need to figure out just what Libby had on her mind, just what had made her banished. He furrowed his brow and assessed her beautiful figure, from a handful of yards away from Royal's wide wingspan; her eyes held ahead, as if she knew there was no turning back, her metaphorical escape seemed to be something she was more than ready for, though Ace was eager to get to the bottom of everything on her heart. He figured, in due time, she'd open up. The trail period of readjusting to their friendship was something that would take a bit of time, especially since they weren't children anymore.

The second the five were out of the game and amidst EZ Living, Libby immediately seemed more at ease. Her shoulders relaxed, her smile returned and her gaze softened to that of warm delight. Ace eagerly kept his undivided attention to her, as if all the lost time was an excuse to soak in this new, womanly being he was beyond excited to learn more about. As the hour went on, they slowly strolled down the board walk. Loud music, excitable gamers and all sorts of activities were abundant. Ace kept his footwork close to Libby's. Their arms would occasionally brush, and in the whirl of colors, sunshine and warmth, all it would take was a mere glance in her direction for him to feel his heart jump. He could hardly believe it was all real. The fact that his best friend was finally back in his life, and was someone he could hold onto and protect, for good. He was thrilled that her and Nox had become fast friends, as well.

"You know what I haven't had, since the last time I saw you?" Libby inquired, her gentle hand touched Ace's forearm as the three strolled on. Ace raised his eyebrows and gave Libby his gentle, questioning gaze. Libby slumped her shoulders and gave Ace a sheepish smile, "That cotton candy Ma would always go nuts for."

"What does this silly tribe of yours do with their time? You didn't have cotton candy, at all?" Nox barked in hard sarcasm, Libby easily laughed and swat her hand in his direction.

"We live off the land," Libby said through a laugh, Ace beamed a knowing smile and looked down to his bare feet as Libby continued on, "Cotton candy isn't a thing that grows on jungle trees."

"Ohh it is if you're drunk enough," Nox retort playfully, Libby rolled her eyes and peered forward, though Ace pointed to a stand not too far off.

"I'll getcha some," Ace assured, he pat his left pocket to make sure he had the few EZ Living dollars Zed had given him, before they departed.

"Really?" Libby inquired with a grateful, widening smile; Nox eyed Ace in a knowing way and cocked an eyebrow.

"Of course, c'mon," Ace urged, "You've really been missing out, if all you've been eating is the jungle fruit and vegetables."

"I really missed Ma's cooking, too" Libby eased, Nox furrowed his brow.

"How come you call Tessa 'Ma'?" Nox wondered genuinely, the quietness in his tone was laced with understanding he knew when to bring forth.

"Oh, well... I-I don't have any parents," Libby stated as the three weaved around a small group of rowdy people; Nox raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and felt a wave of sorrow hit him. He nervously adjusted the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I-I apologize, I didn't mean to, uh... Bring up a sensitive topic," Nox uttered softly, though Libby beamed and waved him off.

"No, it's okay!" Libby assured, "I've never had parents... Balba and I were found, abandoned in the jungle, by my tribe."

"That's right, you said someone named 'Mimi' raised you, right?" Ace pointed lazily, Libby nodded and glanced over her shoulder, to Balba and Royal, who confidently kept in toe in the crowd of other obscure and normal gamers.

"Did Mimi not have any other children? She just... Took you in?" Nox wondered, Libby nodded.

"Well, Mimi didn't have a mate, nor pups. She was the chief's lykata, and though I would live amongst the people of my tribe, day in and day out, I slept with Mimi and Balba, in their hut, at night," Libby explained softly, her dainty hand mannerisms had Ace still ogling the fact that she was a physical being next to him.

"Wait... Mimi is a lyakta-thing? Like Balba?" Nox stated in an incredulous tone as he gestured and glanced back to Balba. Balba lifted her head, uttered a gentle whine of a chirp and perked her ears, as if to give Nox a 'yes' answer.

"I didn't even know that," Ace blurt through a chuckle as both boys eagerly peered to Libby, who confidently marched in the middle of them.

"Mimi technically mothered Balba and I... Her real name is Marble, but... I called her Mimi for short," Libby shrugged, though the second her eyes trailed to the ground in a slow slope of sorrow, Ace raised his eyebrows and knew he should be quick to change the topic. He was certain Marble was likely the only creature or being she had regret leaving behind.

"It's no problem if you don't want to talk about it, anymore," Ace assured softly as Libby gave him a kind and grateful smile, "I'm sure this whole day has been one big roller coaster for you."

"It has," Libby huffed a hard sigh and gave Ace a sweet smile, she wrinkled her nose, and in the draw of a tease she had only just begun to feel comfortable in, her gentle hand gripped Ace's wrist and squeezed as she carried on, "I'm just glad I'll have a safe place to rest my head, tonight."

"Th-the Kalivar castle is impenetrable," Ace's deep voice kindly stated with a nod, though he merely caught glances with Nox's teasing, though delightfully helpful gaze. Ace furrowed his brow and, through a string of nearly annoyed eye contact, he silently asked Nox to cut the teasing right at the quick.

"There's the cotton candy stand," Nox gestured, though not before volleying a knowing glance back in Ace's direction. He furrowed his brow and peered about as Ace, Libby, Balba and Royal all came to a gentle stop on the side of the board walk, a few dozen feet away from the cotton candy stand, "I need a bathroom. I'll be right back."

"We'll be here," Ace called as Nox finally peeled away from them, though he turned about and gave Royal a nervous look, "It looks like that area, near the booth, is a bit crowded... You and Balba want to wait right here for us? We'll be right back."

"Yeah, we'll be here," Royal assured with a gentle nod as him and Balba kept close. Balba flattened her ears, bowed her head and wasn't shy to nuzzle her snout into the underside of Royal's jaw.

Ace gently lead himself and Libby away from Royal and Balba, who were safely tucked away from the light traffic of the board walk. The two fell into step, a rhythm that wasn't hyper or child-like, a running, jumping frenzy of frozen memories that still hung onto the child at heart. Ace knew they still very much had it in them, though he also knew this uneducated flail of a dance, that quickly trickled into a well-timed, mature slow dance, was something he was having a weird time adjusting to. The last thing he remembered doing with Libby was simply running about the field of fire flowers, in which were simply buds two and a half months back. They built forts from the couch cushions, made believe they were giants amongst Ace's toys. He was certain their new, matured minds would fall into a rhythm of similar delights, happy and playful nonetheless, though he couldn't help but wonder if their innocent, first kiss was still something she had thought about just as much as he did. He pondered if it still meant something to her, or if it were merely a childish experiment, a simple desire of an innocent, girly heart to experience the heart rushing squeeze of a first kiss. He figured, at this point, their gentle stroll to the cotton candy stand shouldn't warrant such a deep and heavy topic on his mind. He shook his thoughts and let his father's voice ring clear in his mind. _Don't hold the situation with your fist._

"If we're not careful, Balba's going to wind up with pups," Libby stated quietly, she tenderly leaned closer to Ace to reveal her inquiry. Ace blushed and furrowed his brow, though once he realized just what she was insinuating, he lightened up and chuckled.

"Oh, you mean... Roy?" Ace stated in a weird bout of thoughts that had just come to him. He gently glanced at the two creatures over his shoulder and beamed, "Balba DOES look pretty cozy with him, there..."

"Fall is the lykata's mating season," Libby muttered, she covered her face with a widening smile of cheeky, embarrassed delight, though she peeked through her fingers and gave Ace an apologetic smile, "Y'don't think Zeddy can work his magic, in the code room, and uh... Put a firewall on Balba, can he?"

"I-I... Yeah, dad can do that," Ace choked with a wide smile as they neared the cotton candy stand, "Y'really think Royal and Balba would... Well..."

"They're animals, Ace," Libby blurt with a hard giggle, Ace easily joined and rubbed the back of his head, "Sure, Roy can talk, but... He's a GUY. The second Balba is in heat, I doubt Royal's gunna say NO."

"I'll talk to my dad," Ace and Libby continued to laugh, she nudged his arm and the two wobbled in a gentle lull of friendly banter, "You think their coding would even match up?"

"Well... Lickity's mate wasn't of her species, was he?" Libby questioned as they slowly happened upon the line to get cotton candy. Ace furrowed his brow and gazed down at the ground in confusion.

"I don't think so... Mom always told me that he was this giant chameleon dragon... Thing," Ace carried on in contemplation, he peered up to the sky and bit his lip, "I guess if THEIR coding was able to make Royal, then..."

"I mean, I guess I have no clue what could happen, but this'll be the first 'mating season' Balba will experience as an adult," Libby worried, as if she was uncertain just what would happen to her flyer.

"Well, at least she has wonderful company," Ace winked, which caused a hard blush to form across Libby's cheeks, "I know Roy will take good care of her. No matter what happens. You worried?"

Libby softened her stance and gave Ace a curious look, as if to wonder if he was potentially insinuating something else. She side-eyed him, crossed her arms and smiled softly.

"Not anymore," Libby stated warmly, in growing confidence.

"I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Ace stated with a cheeky smile as he quietly ordered Libby's cotton candy, paid and stepped away. He gingerly handed Libby the gorgeous, fluffy, pink coil of cotton candy and gave her his warm eye contact, "If my dad gave Balba a firewall, the only thing her and Royal would share is codes. No big deal, right?"

"I guess that's true," Libby uttered through a giggle as she softly pulled the light cotton candy from it's top. As soon as it melted into her mouth, she fluttered her eyes and gave Ace a look of floored gratefulness, "Oh my User... I REALLY missed this. Want some?"

"Sure," Ace eased as the two slowly began to mosey on back to where they left Balba and Royal. Libby gently held the coil of cotton candy in his direction, and as he tore a piece for himself, he carried on, "What else have you been missing out on? We should be sure to snag it, while we're here. Maybe we can come back tomorrow, too."

"I'd love that," Libby stated with a nervous smile, as if to insinuate being in Dead Zed, for great lengths of time, made her nervous, "Y'think Ma would ditch Academy and join us?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you... Well, my mom has been-" Ace largely jostled into someone, stumbled backwards a bit and exhaled a grunt of a noise.

Just as he shook his head and tried to un-boggle his gaze, he was faced with a much larger gamer. Ace flinched, peered up and, as the crowd kept things moving along, and the opposite-direction moving traffic kept said gamer marching past him, he waved his hand just barely and stammered on a few nervous noises.

"I-I'm sorry," Ace eased.

"No biggie," He uttered.

Standing a looming nine feet tall, he sport an orange polo and torn overalls. With crazy auburn hair, and a smaller gamer sat atop his shoulder, Ace couldn't help but notice him and said stranger held curious eye contact for longer than any normal passing stranger. Ace stumbled backwards a little and was only finally nudged by Libby, who gently tried to remind him to keep his sights forward, so not to bump into anyone else. Ace finally turned his back and furrowed his brow in hard confusion. He glared down at the ground and felt confusion swipe over him. Before too much time and distance could pass, Ace quickly looked back over his shoulder to catch the sights of the stranger he had bumped into. With massive fists, likely built for destroying, Ace soaked in as much information as he could about the two gamers that moseyed on. He squinted and quickly noticed two tall, female gamers with him, both dressed in sharp black armor and strapped with dangerous looking machine guns.

"Are... You okay?" Libby chuckled as she grappled Ace's arm, yet again, to steady him. Ace finally dragged his eyes from the disappearing sight and felt a strange bout of confusion come down harder on him.

"S-Sorry, I'm alright," Ace mumbled. He bashfully glanced at Libby and desperately forced his attention to come back to her, "You... You remember all those stories my dad used to tell us, about Ralph the wrecker?"

"Oh yeah, those were awesome," Libby chimed as she peered to her cotton candy. The two finally moseyed through the tail end of the thick patch of crowd they were nearly drowning in a few minutes prior.

"Was he a real gamer?" Ace ogled as he peered back over his shoulder, in attempt to find exactly where said gamer had gone, "From all the descriptions dad gave about Ralph... That surely looked like him."

"Did he have a tiny little fixing blue man with him?" Libby stated through a sarcastic giggle, as if to think Ace's notions were simply falsified and far-fetched.

"H-He DID have a smaller gamer, dressed in blue, on his shoulder," Ace's voice became more urgent, "Was that... Him? Should I go back and ask?"

"Well, looks like y'lost him, now," Libby pointed back as they finally reached Balba and Royal. Nox had regrouped with the two flyers.

"What's going on?" Nox stated, though he strangely looked nervous as he stuck close to Royal.

"Well... Do you happen to know if Ralph the wrecker was a real gamer?" Ace prod, he continued to steal glances over his shoulder, in case he could potentially find Ralph, yet again.

"... Wreck-It Ralph," Nox eased knowingly, he glanced his nervous stare in the same direction Ace was, "Yeah. He's a real gamer."

"I-I... I think I just bumped into him!" Ace suddenly smiled, he scoffed a hard laugh and shook his head, "I thought that guy was just a thing of fairytales. My dad would tell us so many stories, about him."

"Y'saw him? Yeah, EZ Living seems to be the place to be, as of late," Nox stated with a cheeky smile, though it was clear he was becoming nervous. Nox adjusted his sunglasses and straightened out his shirt in anxiousness, he knew he wasn't to be the one to tell Ace the whole entire truth about his lineage, though he had to firmly bite his tongue to keep from it all spilling out. He cleared his throat and gave Libby a warm smile, "Is the cotton candy anything like you remember it to be?"

"Better," Libby huffed through a few bites and a girly smile.

Ace looked over his shoulder one final time and felt a creep of suspicion crawl over his skin. He furrowed his brow and was now beyond eager to get back home, he hoped his family would be just as floored to know that said bed-time story super hero was, indeed, alive and well.

* * *

"Mom," Ace called as he pushed into the house.

"She's over there," Duke mumbled as he pointed behind him, to the warmly lit kitchen.

Sat at the kitchen island, closest to the stove and sink, she thumbed through hers and Zed's digital pad. Lickity calmly sat with her and held her attentive gaze to the digital pad, in Tessa's hands, as well. Tej and Finn hung in their respective bedrooms, the evening was still young, though stars had begun to appear in the sky. Jax, Orph and Duke had made themselves comfortable on the living room couch. The television was off, for once, which left the house hung in a warm stillness that was palpable and irresistible.

"Ace, wait," Nox urged firmly as he stumbled into the house after him.

Libby softly came into the house behind the two boys, though she drew her anxious gaze back to the front patio of the castle and bit her lip. Once the last of Balba and Royal were inside the house, Libby firmly shut the door and locked it. She finally attempted to relax, her nervous gaze slid to the two boys on the couch, and as Ace stumbled into the kitchen to speak to his mom and dad, Libby's attention was caught with the three boys in the living room.

"Did you have a good time?" Duke questioned her kindly, Libby nodded with a wide smile.

"I had cotton candy for the first time, since I left," Libby rushed with a girly shrug, though she held up a small, light brown teddy bear and gave the three boys a sheepish smile, "Ace won this for me. Isn't it cute!"

"You should name it," Orph blurt with a sarcastic smile, though Libby wrinkled her nose and peered down at the adorable teddy bear.

"Give it a weird silver sprout of hair and name it Orph, maybe?" Libby retort, though Orph's face washed flat in annoyance.

"The number of women are gaining," Jax barked quietly through a happy chuckle, though he pretended to be nervous as he tucked his knees to his chest, "They're stronger in numbers, I tell yah!"

"Grr," Libby played as she formed her hand into a clawed, mangled paw of sorts; all the boys on the couch chuckled, though they flinched as the excitement of Ace's voice popped their quiet conversation.

"Dad, you remember all those stories you used to tell us about Ralph the wrecker?" Ace inquired with an eager smile, though with the mention of Ralph, everyone fell dead silent as Tessa's eyes immediately shot up.

"Of course, what about it?" Zed's voice wavered as he nervously glanced to Tessa; Lickity's ears drooped as she sagged her head and neck in nervousness.

"Ace," Nox begged quietly as he approached him, from behind.

"We saw him at EZ Living!" Ace urged in excitement, though he furrowed his brow as the hot silence in the room wasn't accompanied with equally as grand fervor, "H-He's a real gamer. Did you know this?"

Zed raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and froze. His mind raced with questions, though the fact that he could literally feel the tension radiating from Tessa's existence, he clearly didn't know where to start. He uttered a noise of a faltered inquiry and squinted.

"Y-You... Saw him?" Zed stammered, his deep voice was wavering with the billion questions that wanted to surface.

"Yeah! He had that little fixing guy with him... Ralph wears that orange shirt and dark overalls, right? Has a crazy amount of brown hair, HUGE wrecking hands?" Ace gestured his hands, though everyone suddenly flinched as Tessa firmly stood, the stool scraped against the tiles underneath.

Ace froze, raised his eyebrows and kept his attention honed to his mother's. Tessa's eyes dug hard into Ace's, as if she had a thousand things to say, and no words to say it with. She softly shook her head, tore her horrified eye contact from him and peeled herself away from the group. Ace held his breath as everyone watched Tessa excuse herself from the room, and as she vanished, Lickity huffed a long sigh through her nose and closed her marvelous green eyes. Ace finally lowered his arms and gave his dad a confused frown. Nox nervously peered to Orph, Duke and Jax on the couch; they gave Nox and Zed an equally as moved and scared expression right back.

"... Was it something I said?" Ace's deep voice innocently questioned in a draw of hot concern as Libby slowly came up beside him, though it wasn't until Zed slowly stood, powered down his digital pad and sighed did Ace feel his heart begin to throb in the ultimate form of confusion.

"Come with me, son," Zed's deep, dominant voice melted over the room, he gave Ace his diligent and wise eye contact as he continued through the thick silence everyone was dug in to, "...We've got a few things to discuss."


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: thank you SO MUCH for bearing with me, you guys! Comicon has been SO much fun, and we have two days left until I can get my writing schedule back on track. I'm glad you guys are excited for the return of the whole crew, cause it is definitely upon us! :D**

 **Architect Dreams : Hahaha did you just 'first' my chapter? XD **

**Xaehttium : unfortunately, no. This whole segment of the story is through the Kalivar POV - Ralph and the rest get their time to have it from their POV :) it'll all make sense eventually.**

 **Retrokill : OMG only 39 XD makes for suspense that keeps everyone on their toes - I DID promise id never let you guys down. What I DIDN'T promise is that it'd be a short, easy road! XD **

**Alisi Thorndyke : lol yeah things start speeding up, now that Ace is becoming aware of just wtf is going on lol**

 **Kaoru-Yuki : yay! Thank you so much. I definitely try to keep everything tasteful, no matter what is happening. I try to make each story have darker notes than the last. This story will likely touch on those and etc., especially with all of Libby's drama. You guys will learn more about it in the next few chapters. Anyways, I really appreciate the feedback and the compliments :)**

 **Chuckiboo : haha yes, lots of exciting stuff coming up! :D**

 **WildVirus : LOL YEEEEEE I'm so glad everyone is excited that Ralph came back XD I'm so sorry your iPod blue ballsed you!**

 **Nikki Firesong : aww. Yeah I DEFINITELY miss writing for them too! Even just this small snippet of them was enough for me to feel totally nostalgic!**

 **Alanshee The Guardian : yep, you will definitely get to read everyone's reactions! This includes Penny, Oliver, and another character you guys will get to meet and such :) congrats on the engagement, btw!**

 **TwizzleCreampuff : aww - she will be home soon enough, here :) also, EZ Living is in its own separate station, it's in a mini station directly before End Of Line. I've only ever explained that like once in this whole mess so I can see how it'd be confusing XD **

***Chapter 40***

With nervous footsteps that followed the head of the game, Zed's careful hands unlocked the long corridor that lead to the code room. Zed gently glanced back at Ace as the large, circular door slid open in a slow hum of security. The moment Zed stepped inside, he gestured for Ace and Libby to follow. Libby hung close to Ace, and for the first time in her life, she was allowed in the code room. She bit her lip and wondered just what all of this could mean, the high honor of being let into the very heart of the game, something Zed trusted likely only Tessa and Ace with. She smiled a little and eagerly honed her eyes to just what was at the end of the long, dim corridor. The final door that held the code room in total safety. Once the three reached it, and Zed cued for the door to open, they slowly stepped inside and were closed in. Though the code room wasn't much larger than Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, it still held a vast amount of trickery. The dark walls of the room made it seem as if they were in an endless void, though the second Zed fiddled with the silver orb, at the center of the room, the lights slowly filled the room to the brim with warmth, nearly creating the illusion of a soft, summer sunlight.

"Dad, what's going on? Why... Why did you bring us in here?" Ace worried, he glanced back at Libby, as if to inquire that he was floored his father had let an 'outsider' into the sacred heart of the code room.

"I just want us to have privacy, there's no private place like the code room," Zed stated softly as the orb hovered in his palms, he peered down at it's idle state in growing contemplation and felt his heart throb in nervousness.

"Is... Is mom mad at me?" Ace wondered sorrowfully, "Does she not like Ralph, or something? I mean... Only you have ever mentioned him."

"Your mother loves him," Zed started calmly, he heaved a soft sigh, let the orb float back to the center of the room and shrugged his hands into his short's pockets. He raised his eyebrows and let his eyes scan the beautiful, large white tiles underfoot before he gave Ace his steady eye contact, "... Ralph's her father."

Ace froze and squinted after a few moments. He gestured his hand out of the frozen shock he was suddenly plagued with, though he finally scoffed a gentle laugh of disbelief and shook his head. Libby covered her mouth in growing surprise and, as Ace glanced to her for clarity, she shook her head as if to insinuate she had absolutely no idea this was even a possibility.

"Ralph the wrecker... Is mom's father?" Ace stated in a dull tone, as if to state he didn't believe it. He shook his head, raised his eyebrows and let his eyes gloss the ground in a profound realization, "Then, that would mean..."

"Wreck-It Ralph is your grandfather," Zed's deep voice admitted quietly.

Ace's heart began to pound in further confusion, though he only could feel as if this all was a joke. He grimaced a nervous smile, as if to wonder when the joking would cease, though the second him and his father caught eyes, Ace slumped his shoulders and felt a chill go down his spine. The way his father's pleading gaze urged Ace to believe his words, Ace frowned and felt his blood pulse through his system a little harder than he was wanting. He shook his head, yet again, and took a step closer to his father.

"... So, the person I bumped into today," Ace carried on, he side-eyed his dad in realization that poured over him like molten lava, "Is my direct relative."

"Yes," Zed's voice of defeat eased, though he kept his dominant stance in the code room. Ace squinted.

"Sooo... Why is he never around? How come I've never met him?" Ace quietly urged, he glanced back to Libby, as if to wonder if she was possibly following along with this nonsense.

"We should sit down," Zed stated calmly, he gestured for the orb to approach him, and once it did, he materialized a slab of the flooring to raise, with enough room to seat Ace and Libby. He then raised a single slab of flooring for himself and sat across from his classroom of two. He calmly carried on as everyone hesitantly took a seat, "There's a very large amount of things your mother and I have been keeping from you, Ace, and I need you to understand... We only have reserved this information for your benefit. What I'm about to tell you... Won't be easy to swallow. And I need you to just be patient with me, okay?"

Ace and Zed held stern eye contact for a handful of moments. Ace began to feel scared, the thudding in his chest only escalated, though the way his father's loving, strong and confident gaze held fast to his, he knew, no matter what, everything his parents ever have done for him were strictly in his best interest. He finally released a soft sigh, and with a hesitant nod, he handed over his trust to his father.

"Yes, sir," Ace's wavering confidence stated through the politeness he was practically programmed with.

"Let me start from the beginning," Zed started, he relaxed a little, though it was clear he was just as stiff and nervous as Libby and Ace were, "Your mother, a self-programmed gamer, is the daughter of Wreck-It Ralph. Ralph, upon the perilous mission to save the Arcade from a horrible virus, befriended a gamer from a racing game called Sugar Rush. Years later, the game got an upgrade, and the two fell in love... They got married, honeymooned to Keppel Crest, in EZ Living, and... Tessa was their first child."

"Another racing game?" Ace inquired with a gentle smile, he knew he should attempt to grasp for the silver linings in this grand story.

"Yes, a fantastic one, with a huge hierarchy... Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz are the King and Queen of Sugar Rush," Zed continued to gently paint the picture for Ace, though he nervously would break to wonder if he was potentially moving too fast. The way Ace's undivided attention held glued to Zed's had him suddenly believing that he was possibly moving too slow for the sake of quenching all of Ace's worries, all at once.

"That makes mom..." Ace trailed off, his eyes scanned the ground in realization.

"A princess," Libby whispered in gentle shock as her and Ace locked eyes in bewilderment.

"Your mother is the rightful heir to Sugar Rush... This racing game is still plugged in, this very second," Zed stated sorrowfully, though Ace furrowed his brow.

"There's obviously a very good reason mom never mentioned any of this to me, right?" Ace demanded quietly, as if to state he was fed up with such a huge secret being kept from him. Zed heaved a hard, raspy sigh and nodded nervously.

"Tessa was banished, from Sugar Rush... It... Was partially my fault," Zed frowned and glanced into Ace's eyes, "Something your mother swears against, but I still hold myself accountable for all her sorrow..."

"What... Happened?" Ace prod, though he nearly wanted to call this conversation quits already. Zed finally smiled in mild embarrassment, looked down and got a bit more comfortable.

"Your mother and I had been dating, though we both tip toed around the idea of code swapping, because, well... I'm a Usermade gamer," Zed explained.

"The forbidden swap," Ace shook his head in gentle confusion, "She said... She got it to work."

"We did, eventually... Or else you wouldn't have been born,"Zed chuckled and gestured to Ace, he was glad it finally got smiles out of both youngins who looked like total deer in headlights, "... Sugar Rush went through a virus scare in which Dead Zed was unfortunately mixed up in. The virus, that wanted to take over Sugar Rush, nearly got me to agree to a kingdom take over. Dead Zed against Sugar Rush. Once I finally realized that it was a poor move, the virus, under the name of Radex, wiped my memories clean, dug his own DNA into my brain coding, and vanished."

"Did you get it out of your coding?" Libby quietly questioned, she knew this was strictly a conversation for Zed and Ace, though she felt comfortable enough to ask light questions here and there.

"We did, and your mother and I swore to never swap codes until all the DNA was free from my brain coding," Zed assured, though he cocked an eyebrow and looked down, "But, still... Temptation got the better of us."

"You swapped anyways, dad? Really?" Ace asked in hard annoyance, as if to suddenly take a parental role against his own father, though both boys blurt out in gentle laughter.

"We didn't, I'll have you know... We swapped source codes, which is the first step to the forbidden swap... We figured it'd be harmless," Zed's sad eyes trailed to the ground once more, he continued on sorrowfully, "We were inside Sugar Rush, when we swapped source codes... Since I didn't have any memory of Radex, I wasn't aware I had transferred the virus to Sugar Rush until it was way too late..."

"...They banished mom because of that?" Ace worried softly, though Zed shrugged in gentle confusion.

"We did everything we could. We fixed the game, wiped both Dead Zed and Sugar Rush clean of the virus, Radex, but... I guess her family thought she needed to learn a lesson," Zed stated in hard annoyance, "For some reason, they've banished Tessa for risking the safety of the game. They've closed her off from Sugar Rush and the game station it's in... To 'think about' what she's done."

"That's not fair, you guys saved the game," Ace barked quietly, he began to feel protective of his mother.

"You, and everyone that knows this story, agrees, bud," Zed stated through a hard sigh as he shook his head, "Your mother was pregnant with you when her Uncle Rancis gave her the news that she was to never return, until they were ready to have their princess back."

"Where are these assholes?" Ace suddenly barked, in which Zed and Libby flinched. Ace stood, clenched his fists and began to show a darker side than anyone had ever seen before, "I'll give them what for. You best believe if I ever see Ralph in EZ Living again, I don't care if he IS my grandfather. I'm giving him a piece of my mind!"

"You and everyone else under this roof," Zed stated with a hard chuckle, he gestured his hand downward to express to Ace to politely calm down. Ace only hesitantly inhaled a slow, seething breath and found his seat next to Libby, once more, "... Your mother and I knew it was pointless to tell you all of this, while you were growing up. We didn't want to fill your head with unanswered questions, and unnecessary worry."

"I understand," Ace sighed, though he furrowed his brow in hard confusion, "If... Mom was pregnant with me when she was banished, then you DID make the forbidden swap work? Amidst setting a virus loose in Sugar Rush?"

"This... Is where the details get tricky," Zed sat up a little, leaned his elbows on his knees and gazed down at the ground. He was quiet, in which Ace and Libby honed their silent attention to him as well. Zed shook his head, gave Ace nervous eye contact and held his hands together, "I appreciate you being so understanding through these details, but I need you to hold out a little longer. What I'm about to tell you is, uh...A bit of a game changer."

"What do you mean?" Ace worried, he shook his head and began to feel fear, "A-Am I adopted? Am I being banished too? Out with it!"

"No, neither of those things," Zed beamed an annoyed smile and sat up, he gestured his hands again, to strangely warn Ace to calm down, yet again; something he usually never had to do, "You're our son, by code and by blood. And no, we would never banish you."

"Then what," Ace whispered firmly with a gentle hand gesture, to politely beg his father to continue on. Zed sighed and glanced at Libby, who had a look of floored bewilderment written all over her mature face.

"In order to fix the games, we had to... Do so, from the outside," Zed stated carefully. He side-eyed Ace and nervously carried on, "You remember me telling you those stories about Tron? The protectors, the portal?"

"Yeah? Does that exist too?" Ace urged in annoyance, though Zed nodded and gave Ace a look as if to beg him to follow along with the nonsense. Ace beamed a sarcastic smile, through his arm up and looked away, "Course! Next thing you're going to tell me is that you actually left Tron, through said portal!"

Zed raised his eyebrows, sat back in his seat and crossed his arms with a smug grin, "Do YOU want to tell the story?"

"You LEFT the Arcade, dad?" Ace ogled with an annoyed smile, "How... How the hell!"

"I had a light disc, your mother, and a prayer," Zed shook his head and scoffed, "We left... It was the most unbelievable experience of my entire life."

"You were humans!" Libby exclaimed as him and Ace caught glances in excited disbelief; Zed smiled enthusiastically

"We were," Zed nodded, he squinted and looked down, "Your mother and I had no coding. We weren't merely a forbidden swap, any longer."

"You guys could've totally 'swapped codes' and it wouldn't have been a problem!" Libby giggled as she covered her mouth, though with the way Zed fell silent, both Libby and Ace drew concerned eye contact to each other and back to Zed. Libby hesitantly carried on, "You guys... Cheat the system..."

"Your mother and I stayed in a hotel that night," Zed's deep voice finally began to coat over Ace's existence, and once Ace's knowing gaze glossed to the tiles, Zed knew he was finally coming to grips with the obvious, "... We came back to Tron with a souvenir we never knew we needed."

Ace suddenly stood and stepped away in hard silence. He shook his head, grappled the hair on the sides of his head and distanced himself. Zed and Libby froze in hard knowing, they knew immediately to let Ace stew on the hard facts that came to him. Ace suddenly scoffed a laugh of disbelief to the code room wall, he had his back turned to Libby and his father. He shook his head and peered off towards the orb across the room. It confidently glowed, though Ace suddenly felt his heart race faster than ever before. As realization drowned him in the sheer fact of exactly just what he was, he slowly turned and peered back to his father. Through scared eyes, Ace shook his head and nearly gaped.

"What are you saying..." Ace's voice quivered, though his eyes glued to Zed's as he finally took a slow stand and sunk his hands into his pockets.

"You're a human," Zed's soft, fatherly voice concluded.

Ace scoffed a soft noise and had literally no idea how to feel about the statements coming out of Zed's mouth. He shook his head, grimaced an annoyed smile and started to stammer on a few words of disbelief, though once he noticed Zed's demeanor hold solid with truth, Ace slumped his shoulders and peered down to his hands. He furrowed his brow, frowned and felt a weird wave of sorrow, delight, power and weakness all flood his system. Before he could feel wholly lost in this world, Zed's hands suddenly, and lovingly, grappled Ace's. Ace flew his attention upward and was surprised to see Zed's strong demeanor coat Ace's with much-needed attention.

"But above all that, you are my son," Zed demanded quietly as the two held stares. Through Ace's floored gaze of billowing fear, his teary eyes dart between his father's. Zed gripped Ace's hands a little harder and shook them, just barely, "You are the product of light in the darkest times imaginable... Your mother and I were terrified... But we had each other to hold. And boy did we make THAT one work."

"Clearly," Ace's voice whimpered, he nearly panted, his chest rose and fell in near terror, "Y-You're saying I'm... I'm... A User, dad? A USER?" His voice shook as he raised it.

"Yes," Zed finally stated knowingly with a smile, which cued Ace to finally beam a smile as well. Zed shook Ace's hands firmly and squinted, "I can tell you can hardly believe it."

"I can't," Ace chuckled as tears finally slipped down his cheeks, and though he desperately wanted to wipe them away and prove to his father that he was strong, he shook his head and had never felt so vulnerable, even with the sheer power of a title he now held, "Dad, I... I don't want that kind of responsibility. I-I can't be a User, I... I'm just... Me!"

"You don't owe anyone anything," Zed stated gently, "You hold... An incredible about of power, intelligence and stature over every single program in this Arcade..."

"I-I can see now why you never told me," Ace stammered, though he nervously peered into his father's eyes, "I-I'm not even one year old, yet... What do I do with this new title of mine?"

"You've had it all along, son, it is nothing new," Zed urged as he finally gripped Ace's upper arms, "You just didn't know it. You've always been a human. You were born here, in Dead Zed, but you have such incredible, complex coding, because you were conceived when your mother and I were humans... You can do a lot of good with your powers."

Ace raised his eyebrows and began to feel as if he could likely attempt to believe he could get used to this massive change, though he frowned as his father carried on.

"You can also do a lot of harm, with it," Zed dared, he squinted and shook his head, "We have so diligently raised you to be the kind, loving, trustworthy gamer you are today... So we can one day trust you with this secret. We knew, one day, we'd hand over this news to you and, from there, your decisions, and the like, would be out of our hands. We were going to wait to tell you until after your birthday, but... With the way this all unfolded, I pulled rank and assumed, after the incident at EZ Living, today would be the best day to reveal it to you."

"I appreciate it," Ace eased, he sniffled and let his idle gaze fall to Zed's strong chest, "I-I... I won't let any of you down. I just... I just want to be treated the same. I just want mom to be able to go back home."

"I'm pretty certain she could use a big, long hug from you, after all this," Zed smiled, "You are the key to her getting back home."

"Why hasn't she asked me?" Ace begged, "I-I... I would do anything to make it so she's happy again."

"She's a very selfless person, bud," Zed sighed, "Sure, she is dying to go back home, but... Not at the cost of throwing her son's powers around. She knew to put your happiness first... And she greatly succeeded."

"I can give back, now," Ace rushed, as if he needed to immediately find Tessa, "I-I can get her back home. What am I up against?"

"Force fields, as far as my knowledge goes," Zed shrugged and gripped Ace's arms a little tighter, "Relax... It's not going anywhere. Take this night to clear the air with your mother, and sleep on all of this. No one is going to treat you differently son..." Zed assured, though he cued to Libby, who stood a few feet away. He smiled in her direction and chuckled, "Right?"

"Right," Libby begged with a kind smile as she took her cue and joined the two men, "This... This is crazy. I would've never guessed I've been best friends with a User this entire time!"

"Do you want my autograph?" Ace stated through a nervous chuckle as he finally wiped his eyes free of tears, Libby and Zed joined in on his laughter.

"Does... Everyone know of this?" Libby wondered to Zed.

"Yes, everyone knows, and has known. Your uncles, Lickity... Even Nox knows," Zed rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

"THAT'S why he gets so antsy when I open coding details for the castle," Ace urged in hard annoyance.

"Yeah, cause he knows, one wrong keystroke, he could be permanently deleted via his best friend," Zed rushed with a knowing smile, both Ace and Libby nervously chuckled as Ace looked down to his hands. Zed tenderly gripped one of Ace's hands, once more, and gained eye contact, "You have a heart of gold... I know you will take this information in stride, and utilize it for good."

Ace raised his eyebrows and softly nodded. He gently glanced to Libby and was surprised to see her unconditional, loving eye contact remain, as if she merely knew Ace had greatness in him all along, and every single one of her inklings were proven right, just before her eyes. Ace finally smiled a genuine smile and nodded. He squeezed Zed's hand, gave him his honest eye contact and breathed a solidified sigh of clarity.

"I won't let you down."


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N:** **Hey guys, I'm back from con! I had a TON of fun, and I actually FINALLY had a reader come up to me and say hi! For once! xD And I STILL got the onslaught of 'I saw you but was too shy' comments. uhg! But I'm glad I got to meet you, Elizabeth! Hope you stay in touch :D**

 **My writing schedule will be back on track, now. Thanks for all the support and patience, you guys! Castle-storming is to be had VERY shortly here! Just a handful of chapters :D**

 **Retrokill :** Haha well, Ace is very much like Oliver - very level headed, timid, patient and understanding. He can be a bit of a brute, and go all-out if he needs, but he's a pretty chill guy, much like Zed and Oliver. I'll take all that as a compliment, tho! ;D

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Oh awesome, that sounds really cool! As for Ralph and Vanellope, they both definitely get their time in with Ace, to ogle his 'power' and etc. :) it's all coming up soon, here! But not in any way you'd expect!

 **Architect Dreams :** No worries! Thanks for the review anyhow, and the compliment :D

 **Xaehttium :** Thank you SO much! I'm glad you guys all thought it went down well. Ace is pretty positive when it comes to receiving odd info - he typically keeps a level head, which will come in handy in the future for sure.

 **Chuckiboo :** Aww~ Yeah, Ace and Libby always have had a little something special towards each other - you'll see how it all unfolds :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha poor Ace - It might be tempting to storm the castle without her! But he wouldn't allow it xD Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** LOL yep! You guys are getting closer and closer, it is definitely upon us :D Thank you, for that! Ace is likely the calmest of the boys, excluding Tej and Oliver. But he's right there with them xD

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Ace holds a LOT of power, yes. More than I think anyone, including him, realizes. It's all mostly things you'd typically see someone using towards 'game cheats' - all things to make life sort of 'easy' if you will. Though, there's really no manual, so it's all trail and error, for Ace, from here on out haha.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so so much! :D Yes, it is coming up shortly here! Ace is definitely one to take hard news like a pro - he has a very calm and understanding demeanor. All his traits definitely help him out in the future, though even these 'good' traits of him cause him to stumble into issues xD

 **WildVirus :** Haha thank you! Yes, I had a lot of fun~ I'm glad you're enjoying it all, so far!

 ***Chapter 41***

As Ace, Zed and Libby slowly strolled out of the sky room and into the fork of the entrance to the kitchen, Ace's room and the spiral staircase of Duke, Tej, Jax and Orph's room, the three slowly lingered for a moment, as if to nervously inquire where Tessa had laid off to. Zed's eyes glossed the room and noticed that Tej and Duke had both gone to sleep, though Jax and Orph hung at the kitchen island, as if to seem nervous and stuck. Zed grimaced a smile and was the first, of Ace and Libby, to dig deeper into the kitchen. It was warmly lit by all of Ace's fire flowers, in which he only just realized Libby will likely be very confused about. He felt his face heat up, and his heart begin to pound with the rush of added emotions.

"You two happen to know where Tessa went?" Zed chuckled as the three eased up to the kitchen island, though Ace could see Libby ogling the beautiful flowers, in his peripheral.

"She's on our balcony," Jax stated through sad nervousness. He furrowed his brow and gazed harder into Zed's stare, "We peeked out there and... We were going to try and maybe convince her to come back into the house but... I think she was crying. We decided it'd be best to just let her have her space."

"Didja tell'im?" Orph wondered quietly to Zed, though Zed raised his eyebrows and gave his son his full attention, with a proud, exhausted smile.

"Yep," Zed eased with relief, "Took it like a champ."

"I oughta delete every last one of you for keeping something like this from me," Ace grumbled, though it was clear his intentions were strictly playful. He puffed his chest and pointed to his uncle Orph, "No more 'I'm your uncle so I'm the boss of you' nonsense."

"What's with all these fire flowers?" Libby suddenly uttered, she crossed her arms and finally gave Ace a knowing smile, which had Ace's stance of confidence immediately slipping to that of coy, boyish embarrassment.

"O-oh, uh... Uh I..." Ace stammered, though Orph, Zed and Jax easily stifled laughter.

"Yeah, but the women of the castle will always hold rank," Orph and Jax howled with laughter, "No matter if you're a User or not!"

"Did you pick these?" Libby wondered to Ace with a cheeky, though bashful smile. She tucked her long white hair behind her ear and tilted her head as her delicate fingers graced one of the glowing flower petals.

"I-I picked one, everyday, waiting for you to come back," Ace finally stayed with a gentle, upward slope of confidence that came back to him. He rubbed the back of his head and gave Libby a look of dewy innocence, "They're all, technically... For you."

"Really?" Libby cooed, she beamed her happy smile to the dozens of flowers that were properly scattered about the kitchen in beautiful vases. She tucked her fists to her chest and finally realized just how many there were. She took a gentle step or two about the kitchen island, "You picked one, and waited for me? Everyday...?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ace stated politely as he held his hands over his center, he bashfully glanced at his two uncles and father, who looked on in growing delight as to what could potentially be unfolding for the two.

"Y'got the unlimited powers, you get the girl, and you get to wreck crap," Orph suddenly popped the tender moment, though it was welcomed by a bout of laughter by everyone in the room, "Can you at least share some of the luck, or something?!"

"I gotta go find my mom," Ace's deep voice uttered through a chuckle, though Zed gestured to him as he began to back step.

"You going to be alright?" Zed wondered nervously, Ace nodded, though he reached the split between the handful of rooms and ogled the staircase, to his room, in confusion.

"What... Happened to my room?" Ace worried as he stopped and peered back to his father.

"Your mother and I have revamped it and it is now Libby's room," Zed smiled a she glanced back at Libby. She gasped quietly in elated delight.

"Okay," Ace eased, though he hoped his mild confusion didn't come across as disrespectful, "Uh... Where am I going to sleep?"

"Go find your mother," Zed's voice gently concluded as he tilted his head towards Jax's and Orph's room, where Tessa waited on their balcony, "She's got a bit of a surprise for you, as well."

Ace froze and suddenly felt his chest tighten in anticipation. He knew that meant his mother and father had been diligently working all day for the one surprise he was more than ready for; his own tower, his own little abode off of the Kalivar castle. A small branch of freedom and the final feeling of 'moving out'. He knew he was suddenly impatient to see just what kind of an awesome setup they had planned for him, though Ace also knew he needed to set this straight with his mother, first and foremost. He gently began to climb the staircase to Jax and Orph's room, and upon crossing their dim abode, he approached the open balcony doors. Through a silent, slow peek out onto the deck, he spot his mother.

Clad in a worn pair of grey sweats, properly slapped with Dead Zed logos of all sorts, Ace finally realized the importance of her favorite shirt. A cream tank with a cute graphic of an ice cream cone, on the front. He furrowed his brow and gazed at his mother as a whole. With arms crossed, and a diligent gaze straight out into the dark jungles before her, Tessa stood frozen in the hot breeze. Ace held his breath, though he knew for certain she had heard him. He bit his lip and was nearly too nervous to approach her, though, in the pit of his stomach, he felt a heat of desire, a molten pit of excitement that wanted to burst forth. He was the answer to all of her prayers; he slumped his shoulders, stepped out onto the balcony and almost wanted to shout that he wished he would've known all this nonsense earlier. He cleared his throat, lazily approached her and kept his irresistible warmth.

"Alright, mom," Ace started through a soft chuckle, he tenderly stood next to her at the railings and crossed his arms, "...Y'got any more secrets for me?"

Ace was thrilled he got a chuckle out of Tessa, though her lazy, idle gaze never wavered from the jungle trees before her. She shook her head and squinted, though Ace knew she wasn't simply answering his question; merely wondering where she could begin. It was clear she had been crying, the way her cheeks glistened with the sticky residue of tears that had dried, her irritated sniffles every now and then. With her arms crossed, she looked wholly closed off, though Ace knew, by the end of this drama, she was bound to open up eventually.

"Tell me where your father left off, and I'll pick up from there," Tessa stated through her nasally voice, though they both shared in soft laughter. Ace was thrilled said gentle banter was enough to get her to lighten up.

"Well, I learned that, not only am I practically royalty, I'm also in control of this whole entire Arcade," Ace stated nonchalantly, as if it were likely going to take a long while for it to fully hit him that said statement was, indeed, reality. He shook his head, chuckled and gave his mother his kind eye contact, though she didn't return it.

"Welp, you have one more uncle to add to all of the ones you already have, Royal is the son of one of Sugar Rush's leads and, uh..." Tessa trailed off and furrowed her brow, "I have a cousin that is practically a sister to me, so uh... Count that as, you finally have a normal, non-dragon aunt."

"Baw, but Lickity," Ace playfully complained, which continued to ease laughter out of Tessa, though it looked as if she were simply having a hard time opening up; she kept her arms tightly crossed.

Ace shook his head, looked out to the jungles before them and let the situation soak in, even farther. The reality of everything that he had been hit with, in one day. Libby's return, his wrecking origins, and now his ultimate fate. He slumped his shoulders and wondered if it were all even real. He scoffed a small noise and finally gave Tessa his stare, once more. Her gaze continued to stay glued out to the darkness before them, as if she simply was too exhausted to move, and the only thing he had to go off of was the tepid warmth of her occasional laughter. Ace squinted, his larger fingers finally met with the ivy-riddled railing before them. He attempted bravery.

"Mom... When were you going to tell me you're next in line for Sugar Rush's throne?" Ace asked, his voice was laced with the impending hurt of the bigger picture; his dark, hazel-grey eyes gripped her figure in curious anguish.

Ace held his breath and could feel the tension rise, though he was thrilled to hear Tessa intake a deep inhale through her nose, as best as she could.

"Going around, telling people you were kicked out of your own kingdom, isn't something I like to put on my daily to-do list," Tessa croaked as she remained solid, she peered out to the world with rigid, crossed arms. The mental exhaustion, that rose off of her, was more than palpable, though she pressed on, as coldly as she could, "It was something I used to strive for... I saved every last soul in that User forsaken game... This is how they repay me..."

"You can't get back in?" Ace dared to step closer, his larger hands gently reached for his mother's arm, as if to somehow gain the warmness she had always had around him, "They left you... By yourself?"

"Well, I had Lickity," Tessa scoffed, she dared to let a small smile sprawl her face as her eyes finally slid to the ground, and then slowly to his, with the twinge of warmness she knew Ace was looking for, "And, you... In a way. Though I had the littlest family unit, still in my grasps... I had never felt so alone. And I still do, sometimes."

"They don't even know we exist... Do they," Ace wondered, his deep voice was tender and soft, just like his father's.

"Not at all," Tessa grumbled as she finally looked away, coldness lulled over her existence, yet again, "What I'd give to smell Sugar Rush's sweet air, once more... I'd give anything."

"Mom, you can," Ace finally smiled, a nearly pleading one, at that, though Tessa sharply furrowed her brow and gave Ace a look of growing sorrow.

"Ace, please," Tessa stated, which caused Ace to flinch, though he felt his heart race, something he was now certain was a part of his coding.

"No, mom, listen to me," Ace dared to test her, he lovingly grappled Tessa's upper arms and peered firmly into her eyes. With a decent bit of height over her, he tenderly bent down a little and gained her terrified eye contact, "I knew to never argue with you when I was a child, over anything, cause I knew you'd win... But I'm not letting you win, this time."

"Ace, it's... Complicated, I-I can't DO that to you!" Tessa plead as tears finally streamed her cheeks. She inhaled a shaky breath and shook her head, "I-I promised I'd never... I-I'd never-"

"Let me HELP you, mom?" Ace begged, he tenderly shook her, "Mom... I can get you back to Sugar Rush. User knows how."

Ace furrowed his brow and looked off in hard confusion.

"How do I use that term, now?!" Ace playfully stated, Tessa choked a soft laugh and desperately tried to remain sad, though she knew her attempts were futile whenever Ace was around.

"Ace," Tessa started through an exhausted giggle, and though she was successful in leaving Ace's strong grip, he hovered in her gravity, "I-I have too many issues I left behind... They don't want me around."

"Then I will storm the castle, whether you're at my side or not," Ace dared, he glared into his mother's eyes and began to wonder if trying his 'User-status' on, for size, would be something he could possibly get away with in this situation, "I'm not going to let them waste another day... I'm not going to sit here, with all this knowledge, and let them get away with this betrayal. They betrayed you, mom, don't you see?"

"Of course I see," Tessa barked, she glared Ace down in return, though she knew he was strictly doing so out of love, "I can't go back... I can't, Ace. They don't want me back. If I step back in those gates, they'll delete me."

"Let them try," Ace growled as he clenched his fists, "They may have a code room, they may have a KINGDOM, they may have a whole entire army behind them!"

Tessa finally fell silent and gazed up at her son in billowing, nervous delight as to just whose side their very own User was standing with. She slumped her shoulders and began to accept defeat in Ace's presence, which was growing into a great, powerful warmth she was so thrilled she had a front row seat to.

"...They may have the entire Arcade on their team," Ace's voice growled, though he finally gave his mother a daring, cheeky smile and cocked an eyebrow. He gestured his wrecking hands out and finally let his palms come alive with his, Tessa's and Zed's glorious silver circuitry, "... But you, my lady... Have a User."

Tessa inhaled a slow breath and finally gave Ace the floor. She let a small smirk sprawl her face as her shy eyes looked down to the ground, as if she was embarrassed to admit that Ace was, indeed, correct. She scrunched her brow, wrinkled her nose and finally let the idea of storming the castle enter her mind. She flinched once Ace scoffed a small laugh and took a step back.

"Psh... Forcefields?" Ace ogled with a nonchalant smile, as if to state said problem was pathetic, "I mean, hey, I don't know how it'll come down, but it will. I'll wreck that thing down, if I have to!"

"Ace," Tessa laughed softly as he plucked a leaf off a nearby, dangling branch.

"What's this? A forcefield? The castle's front doors?" Ace dangled the leaf about, though he harshly blew it into the wind and puffed his chest, "GONE. Man, I'm good at this User-stuff. What do humans do with all this power, anyways?"

"The castle is certainly not going to know what hit it," Tessa stammered through giggling, though tears continued to spill down her cheeks.

"Blind-sided by their own grandchild," Ace stated with a wide smile, "I'm Sugar Rush's Prince. They can't say no to me. I won't let 'em."

Tessa giggled gently and fiddled her fingers, though once her and Ace caught eyes, the two relaxed. Tessa slumped her shoulders, looked down and shook her head in contemplation, as if she hadn't fully agreed to Ace's notions, though she knew he was likely going to follow through with his war-plan anyhow. She finally grimaced and uttered a soft hiccup of a cry as she continued on, quietly.

"Thank you, bub," Tessa uttered, her voice crackled. Ace furrowed his brow and gave his mom a loving smile.

"Mom... You've done so much for me. For all of us," Ace urged quietly, though he took a few steps closer to her, "Now I can give back. I'll getch'yah that crown, back, mom. I don't care whose hands I have to pry it from."

"Thank you," Tessa eased quietly, though she finally covered her face and silently wept, as if all of her prayers had been answered, and though she didn't ever want to come out and beg for Ace to help her with something he may not have been invested in, she was thrilled he was just as 'up-in-arms' as everyone else was.

"I owe you my life, mom," Ace eased nervously, though he finally pulled Tessa into his strong arms. He inhaled a shaky breath and felt guilt plague his system, once more, "You put your life on the line so that I could simply exists... Dad told me exactly where those burn marks, of yours, came from..."

"I-It's not like you meant to nearly fry my system during childbirth," Tessa mumbled as she rubbed her eye a little, she grimaced a small smile as Ace finally tugged her into his embrace.

He gently chuckled as she finally grappled her arms around his center and squeezed. With needy force, Tessa buried her face into Ace's shoulder and softly cried onto his shirt. Ace carefully kept her tight in his grip, and as lovingly as he could, he gently tucked his strong hand to the back of Tessa's head and held her firm into his warm chest. He rubbed her upper back with his other hand, and let her soak in all the comfort she could get her circuits on. He smiled a gentle smile and tucked his cheek to the side of Tessa's head. With a hard squeeze, he made sure the two didn't let go of each other.

"I love you, baby," Tessa meeped, words she had been saying to him for the entirety of his little life. Though, as foreign as her ears thought it was, his deep, mature voice that replied always confused her coding.

"I love you too, mom," Ace's routine didn't miss a beat, and though it wasn't the same little boyish voice Tessa was used to, for the majority of Ace's life, she still relished in his familiar character and squeezed him a little harder.

"I'm nervous," Tessa meeped after a few long moments of gentle silence. Ace tenderly pulled away from Tessa and gave her an incredulous smile.

"Nervous?" Ace chuckled, "What for?"

"I-I haven't seen my family in an entire year... So much has changed," Tessa worried softly, "I-I don't know if I'm ready."

"We've got some walls to wreck, though," Ace complained, as if he was merely a child waiting for Christmas morning, "C'mon, don't you want to show them what for?"

"I do... I just... I need to think on it," Tessa uttered as she rubbed her eye in pure exhaustion. She sighed and slumped her shoulders, "Why don't we... Go tomorrow night."

"Fine," Ace heaved a hard, annoyed sigh, though he knew to do just what Tessa felt comfortable with, "I guess that gives me more time to come up with badass one-liners."

"Like?" Tessa wrinkled her nose and smiled.

"I don't know, I need SOMETHING to yell while I'm wrecking crap," Ace shrugged, Tessa furrowed her brow and gazed down at the loved tiles of Jax's and Orph's balcony.

"How about 'I'm gunna wreck it'?" Tessa cheekily inquired, knowing full well that was her father's catch-phrase. Ace fingered his lip, looked up in contemplation and nodded a little.

"A bit obvious, but it could work!" Ace chuckled, Tessa rolled her eyes and shook her head with a broadening, eager smile.

"I can't wait to see that," Tessa eased through a kind, sarcastic chuckle.


	42. Chapter 42

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha not quite! Tessa doesn't technically allow it xD

 **Xaehttium :** LOL! Poor Sugar Rush is just like WTF I can't stand all this information all at once! xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Yes, Ralph and Ace definitely end up having an awesome relationship, very similar to Ralph and Oliver - Obviously with different aspects thrown in, but it'll be worth the wait :)

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Wow, you started with Defying Code? I'm surprised this all is making sense to you! xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, Ace has wrecking and glitching powers - he doesn't use his glitching powers nearly as much as wrecking, cause it's not his strong point, but Tessa and Zed were seen using their glitching powers when Lickity went into labor with Royal :) Ace and Vanellope eventually have a good chapter of glitching - he learns from the ultimate master :)

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! :D Yes, I will be doing a sketchdump requests once I upload chapter 50 - I've decided to stick with my routine :)

 **Nikki Firesong :** Oh wow! Really? That's awesome! Hopefully some of the chapters to come will top this! Thank you! :D

 **MightNinja2000 :** Ace won't have a roommate xD He's technically allowed now to 'move out' and was given his own wing of the castle. It's expanded more so on this topic after a few other certain things down the timeline.

 **WildVirus :** Aww haha! Yeah I sort of let that spoiler go long ago, huh xD There's definitely a lot more of a 'fun' element, to this story, once the whole Sugar Rush reuniting thing is ironed out. After that, it's just one big adventure with ALL the characters. Definitely something I'm excited to get to!

 *****WARNING***** This chapter contains very sensitive themes that a decent chunk of both women AND men suffer - I personally have never been a victim to said theme, but I do know people who were, and it is not to be taken lightly or as a joke. This special character of mine, Libby-girl, has a pretty rough 'past' and it brings certain elements out of the story that will be detrimental to the plot, further down the road. Please understand this theme is placed here not to bring about hard times for my readers, nor to bring up controversial topics or debates, or to seemingly make my readers feel uncomfortable - it is strictly for the plot of the story.

Also, I hope my piece of artwork 'Game Changers' will now make sense, after this chapter ;)

 ***Chapter 42***

Tessa huffed a hard sigh and rolled over, for what seemed to be the billionth time. She rolled her eyes and let her gaze gloss with the gorgeous tiles of hers and Zed's bedroom. The knowing glint of sunrise kissed the room, just barely. It nearly could be passed for harsh moonlight, though Tessa knew she was fooling no one. She sagged her body further into the heat of the spot she lay in, she hesitantly glanced at Zed, over her shoulder, and was nearly annoyed at how comfortable his snoozing figure looked. Tessa finally sat up and began to slowly saunter out of her bedroom. She knew she potentially needed a small midnight snack, maybe putting a tiny bit of food in her stomach would help ease her nerves.

As she rounded the corner, out of her bedroom, she glanced into the sky room and noticed Ace was where her and Zed had left him hours prior. Upon revealing to Ace that he would be getting his own separate tower of the castle, construction on it was still not completed, and until it was ready, he was assigned to the sky room's glorious, comfortable couches to sleep on; Tessa knew he had no complaints. Anytime anyone of the Kalivar residents could get away with sleeping in the sky room, they would do so without a single hesitation. She smiled at Ace's sleeping figure; she was glad that at least he was able to get sleep, even with all the bombs dropped on him the day prior. Tessa gazed up and out to the stars above, in the sky room. She noticed the sky had only begun to show it's pastel, sunrise purple, though before she could admire the sky further, she flinched and heard Lickity's presence in the entrance to the sky room.

Lickity sat on her hindquarters and anxiously peered into the kitchen. Tessa furrowed her brow and was surprised Lickity was even inside the castle at this time of the morning, which was typically when Lickity would think about heading to sleep. Tessa inched closer to Lickity and tenderly placed her palm on the wrist of Lickity's wing, which was sagged at about hip level to Tessa. The only part of Lickity that budged, with Tessa's presence, was her left ear, which tilted in such a way to show acknowledgment towards Tessa. Tessa furrowed her brow and peered to Lickity's line of sight. She was surprised to see Libby sat at the kitchen island by her lonesome. She was dressed in a pair of Tessa's comfortable clothes, though her hair was down and wet, like she had just showered. Tessa tenderly nudged Lickity, as if to silently state the two should join the lonely soul in the kitchen.

"Hey, love," Tessa chimed quietly, so not to startle Libby, though she failed anyhow; Libby flinched and peered over her shoulder in agitation, though it quickly sunk, and she inwardly scolded herself for being so jumpy. Tessa gave her an apologetic smile and held her hands up, "Everything alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine... I-I just... Couldn't sleep," Libby's tired voice eased. She shook her head and continued to tenderly pick at the fire flower she had removed from a nearby vase.

"You... Took another shower?" Tessa wondered through a gentle giggle, though she furrowed her brow in gentle confusion the second Libby began to look nearly insulted.

"Yeah... The, uh... Ride here was a bit rough. I keep finding dirt in my hair," Libby forced her fibs, she grappled her wet, white hair and dangled it about. She gave Tessa sheepish smile and shook her head, "I really should cut this drama, huh. I have so much hair."

"Join the club," Tessa muttered, both girls shared soft laughter.

"At least you don't have feathers," Lickity finally chimed as she slowly moseyed into the room, so to make Libby believe that her and Tessa weren't previously spying on her, "These things are pretty difficult to keep clean."

"Especially when mud pits are involved," Tessa playfully scolded, Lickity wrinkled her snout and stuck out her tongue.

"What are you two doing up?" Libby casually wondered, in hopes of getting the attention off of her.

"I can't sleep at all... Today has been crazy, huh," Tessa chuckled, Libby raised her eyebrows in tired knowing and looked down to the flower in her hands.

"It sure has been... I finally returned, Ace bumped into his grandfather..." Libby trailed off, as if she could hardly believe what she was about to say, "He's a... User!"

"I'm just glad you two took it so well," Tessa mumbled as she finally opened the fridge and peered into it, "If it weren't for you two being so understanding, I'm certain this could've been a very messy situation..."

"Ace goes crazy with power and deletes everyone!" Libby hissed dramatically, Lickity bared her teeth and quietly laughed.

"As stupid as it sounds, we did have those worries," Tessa nodded a little as she pulled out the jug of milk and closed the cold fridge behind her, "All of us... The uncles, Lickity, Zed and I."

"Really?" Libby wondered nervously, "I guess I can see your point. You never know what someone is going to turn into once they obtain limitless power."

"I'm glad Ace has a solid family unit, and friends, to fall back on, and to keep him in check," Tessa sighed as she poured herself a glass of milk and put the jug away, "That could've been ugly, User-forbid he decided he wanted nothing to do with us. Literally none of us, in the entirety of Arcade, could stop him if he went AWOL."

"Well..." Libby trailed off and tenderly continued to fiddle with the fire flower in her possession, "Looks like you've done a marvelous job, Ma. He's really excited to win back Sugar Rush, for you."

"Thanks, love," Tessa cooed quietly, and though a decent chunk of mental time had passed between her and Libby, she still held a motherly stance towards her. She knew it would eventually blossom to that of a friendship, though she knew somehow a maternal bond would always still stand. Tessa gave Libby a kind smile and carried on, "He's lucky to have been kept in place by you, growing up."

"I always kept him in line, didn't I," Libby and Tessa fell into growing laughter with each other as Libby carried on, "He'd always try to act all macho, and I was always like ... Bro, sit down."

"That's likely why he's so humbled and quiet," Tessa choked a giggle, which cued Lickity in as well, "He was too nervous to show off his brute-strength because you'd come flying in and tell him to knock it off."

"I feel so bad," Libby covered her face slightly, though she shook her head, "I just loved bossing people around, I guess. I hope I'm not still that way."

"You were a pretty hard-headed child," Tessa eased through a soft, reviving sigh; Libby beamed from ear to ear and shook her head as Tessa continued, "Oh, but that's what we loved about you. We all really missed you. Especially Ace, if you... Can't tell by the thousands of fire flowers."

"I-I noticed," Libby stated bashfully, though much to Tessa's delight, her face grew a shy shade of pink as she peered down at the fire flower in her hand, "I can't believe he waited for me... Everyday."

Tessa smiled down to her glass of cold milk as Lickity finally sauntered over to her and sat close to Tessa at the island. Tessa peered to Libby in growing curiosity and squinted a little.

"Everyday," Tessa concluded quietly, "We all thought he was going to drive himself crazy... But it was as much of a surprise to him as it was to us. We looked over the balcony and couldn't believe what we were seeing. You and Balba had come back. Definitely something we thought we'd never see, again."

Libby smiled, though it was clear she had quickly become nervous. She knew Tessa was on the brink of asking Libby just why she was banished from her tribe, though Libby was nearly praying Tessa would side step it. Libby bit her lip in nervous contemplation and began to tuck the stray fire flower back into the vase from which she picked it from. She heaved a long sigh and eyed Tessa anxiously, though just as she was about to steer the topic elsewhere, Tessa interjected quietly.

"... I can sense that you're not comfortable telling me just why you willingly left your tribe," Tessa dared, and though she knew to watch her step, she also knew the right way around this land mine so to get the information out of Libby in one piece, "... You weren't really banished, were you."

Libby frowned and finally gave Tessa her honest, scared stare. Libby huffed a long sigh through her nose and looked down to her hands, which rested on the counter.

"No, I wasn't," Libby quietly admitted, "I... Ran away from home."

"You ran from your tribe? You just... Had enough?" Tessa wondered tenderly, she crossed her arms and tried her best to give off a patient air about herself, "Maybe you missed the Kalivars a little too much?"

"That definitely had something to do with it," Libby pushed a nervous smile to her face, though it quickly sloped to a grimace of pure anxiousness, "I just... I don't know how to really... Tell you. I'm not even sure how to even wrap MY mind around what happened."

"Is it that bad?" Tessa worried, she shook her head, "Did you... Make someone mad, or something?"

Tessa frowned and held nervous contact with the top of Libby's head. The way Libby's sorrowful drag of eye contact glossed the counter, made Tessa believe this might be something she shouldn't keep prying at. Libby tapped her fingers to the counter top in a nervous kind of way, the way she inhaled a slow draw of a breath, as if to kindly insinuate to Tessa that she didn't even know where to begin.

"... I'm terrified to tell you," Libby nearly whispered, her glassy, gorgeous blue eyes finally met with Tessa's. Her tears glistened with the glow of the powerful fire flowers, though Tessa felt her heart sink.

"If you don't feel comfortable telling me, you don't have to," Tessa quietly assured, she side-eyed Libby nonetheless, "I just want to make sure you're alright... And if there's someone I need to beat up."

"That'd be cool," Libby widened her eyes down to the counter and shook her head, though she smiled a mean smile, "Balba got a good chunk outta him, though."

"Him," Tessa tip toed further into the topic, she assessed Libby's entire demeanor to make sure it was safe, "... The chief's second born, your to-be husband?"

"Not anymore," Libby quietly barked, she glared at Tessa for the sake of being angry at her once-was fiance, though she finally let her stare slope to Tessa's hands, "I can't go back now, even if I wanted to..."

"Because you ran away from the marriage?" Tessa wondered, she was thrilled the two were getting somewhere, though she watched as Libby drew a nervous glance over her shoulder, for likely the fourth time in a whole minute.

"I had no choice but to leave," Libby shook her head as tears slipped down her cheeks, "It's... So shameful..."

Tessa furrowed her brow and finally felt as if this game of hide and seek was becoming dizzying. She tenderly slid her foot to the tile directly underneath her and cued the coding of the castle. Before Libby could go on about this maze of elusiveness, Tessa slowly drew a silver-coded bubble of protection around the three, it domed over Tessa, Lickity and Libby with ease, though once the gently glowing bubble of safety solidified about them, Tessa leaned her elbows on the counter, drew Libby's hands into hers and cocked an eyebrow.

"There, no eavesdroppers," Tessa stated warmly, she gripped Libby's small hands and, with a good squeeze, she gave Libby a look of genuine concern, "Libby, you can tell me anything. You know I won't judge you or treat you any differently. I can tell something is deeply bothering you... And I know these bruises aren't something you get by just romping through the jungle," Tessa stated in a motherly tone as she lightly gestured to the hard and gnarly bruises up the insides of Libby's arms, as well as the more hidden ones around her jaw line and upper chest.

"I-I don't want Ace to think differently of me," Libby began to outwardly cry. Tears streamed her cheeks, and her chest cavity heaved out of rhythm with her chaotic breathing. Tessa tenderly shushed her and stroked her thumbs over the tops of her hands.

"It's okay," Tessa cooed quietly, "Just breathe... Trust me, love... No one in this castle has room to throw judgement. No matter the topic. We're all one big messy mosaic. So, if anything, your secret will only solidify the fact that you belong here."

"I-I highly doubt that," Libby finally scoffed a grateful laugh, nonetheless, though she continued to silently cry. She quietly contained herself, for the most part, though she could feel the blood painfully pulse into every single one of her bruises, as if to firmly remind her of her raw reality, "I... I was to be wed to the chief's second born."

"Right," Tessa patiently waited for Libby to carry on.

"He... He was very distant from me. He'd only really talk to me if it had to do with future living arrangements, how many children he wanted me to bear," Libby rolled her eyes a little and looked down to hers and Tessa's conjoined hands, "I'm honestly surprised he knew my name... I-I... I envisioned marriage to be a lot more grand, and wonderful. Like what you and Zeddy sort of have... I want that for my life. Not just some silly routine."

"Yeah, I agree," Tessa eased, she wrinkled her nose and dared to think of Ace in this situation. She gave Libby a kind smile and wrinkled her nose, "You had a good dose of 'normal life' when you came over, everyday... Not to mention, you have a best friend who would go to the ends of Arcade for you."

"Ace?" Libby inquired softly, her teary cheeks turned pink. Tessa chuckled and nodded.

"Ace," Tessa eased quietly, "You know what ever issue you're going through, Ace would defend you."

"Oh my User, I-I... I could never tell him what happened," Libby suddenly worried, "H-He'd... He'd totally view me differently. I don't want to ruin what him and I just got back."

"That's ridiculous... He was just named User of the Arcade, and YOU don't think differently of him, now do you?" Tessa squinted with a kind smile and shook her head, "You know he's the last person to take a judging stance on anyone... ESPECIALLY you, my dear."

"I don't know, Ma," Libby whimpered, her eyes welled with tears once more, "My situation is a bit... Different."

Tessa furrowed her brow and kept strict eye contact on Libby, and though both girls continued to grip each other's hands, Tessa felt Libby's demeanor slipping away, as if she was about to hermit all over again. Tessa squeezed her hands, a physical reminder that Libby was safe on this point of the grid. Tessa shook her head and desperately wanted to shake the information out of Libby, though she was surprised to feel her patience continue to hold out.

"... I have to beat the chief's second born's face in, don't I," Tessa suddenly mumbled, though she was thrilled it sparked a surprised giggle out of Libby. Libby sniffled, nodded and let her tears slap the counter top below her.

"Pretty much," Libby whimpered as she tried her hardest to catch her breath.

"Is that where all these bruises came from?" Tessa remained quiet, she knew not to jump all over Libby with questions, and she tried not to make it obvious that her mind was suddenly firing on a thousand cylinders.

Libby inhaled a sharp breath and uttered a small whimper, as if she was about to say something, though she faltered. She shook her head and, through her exhausted, teary gaze, she finally held solid eye contact to Tessa's. Both girls glued to each other, and Tessa could tell Lickity was on the edge of her seat as well. The silver dome about them promised protection from any listening ears, though even with Libby's soft whisper, Tessa could tell Libby was hardly ready to trust anyone with her darkest secret. Libby stammered on a few words before she finally squeezed Tessa's hands, in a pleading way.

"O-Our wedding was supposed to be yesterday... The day I turned one. The night before, he offered us to toast to our future," Libby's voice shook, "H-He... He made me a nice dinner, poured me a drink, and... And..."

Tessa held her breath and suddenly felt her skin go cold. She shook her head lightly and nearly didn't want Libby to finish this story, strictly because she knew exactly where it was going.

"Before I knew it, I-I... I was paralyzed," Libby whimpered as her tears, "I... I was forced to lay trapped in my own body while he... Undressed me."

Tessa held her breath harder and felt as if her ears couldn't handle everything Libby was saying. She shook her head and felt an indecipherable rage build at the very pit of her heart. Tessa squeezed Libby's hand as Libby freed one of her own hands and covered her eyes. With her elbow shoved to the counter, she rested her forehead into her free hand and quietly sobbed.

"H-He raped me," Libby cried quietly, and through her sobs, she desperately attempted to carry on, "I-If... If it weren't for Balba coming in and nearly ripping his head off, I... I don't know what would've happened."

Tessa gawked and gazed at Libby. The happy-go-lucky, adorable little ball of fire they saw day in and day out. She couldn't imagine someone taking advantage of her, like such. Tessa shook her head, removed herself from the opposite side of the counter and immediately approached Libby. As quickly as she could, she scooped Libby into a tight hug and held the back of her head. Libby's demeanor nearly begged for motherly attention as she rested the top of her head into the nook of Tessa's neck and grappled her trembling, bruised arms around Tessa's upper body. Tessa squeezed Libby tighter to her and glared across the room in seething rage. She knew if she ever had the chance to see this guy in person, he would very easy be obliterated, no questions asked. Tessa gripped Libby tight to her skin and let Libby cry to the world her sorrow. She patiently waited, and knew she would give Libby all the time in the world to collect herself. Tessa firmly pushed a motherly kiss atop Libby's head and rubbed her back, to continue to prove to Libby that she is, indeed, safe here.

"You're aware, if that sorry asshole ever steps foot on our property, looking for you..." Tessa trailed off and could hardly imagine the war-path the Kalivar castle would suddenly go on, "You have eight very strong men, a lightning-fast lykata, two fire-breathing dragons..." Tessa pulled away and eagerly peered into Libby's eyes, "... And you've got a mom that would go mama-bear on this guy's sorry hide, you hear me?"

"Thank you," Libby meeped as she desperately tried to wipe her tears, she shook her head and heaved a long sigh, as if it felt good to get this off of her chest, "I-I am thankful for one thing, though..."

"Thankful I wasn't present in this situation?" Tessa heaved a soft laugh, which cued Libby to finally smile, though she sighed and looked down to her hands.

"... I still have my original coding," Libby stated through an ease of gratefulness, "Balba broke up the party before... Before he could swap with me. I-I... I remember him being in a lot of pain, and not much after that... Kept yelling something about my coding and how it was... Burning him? I-I woke up the next morning deep in the jungles."

"Balba saved you," Tessa eased quietly, her eyes instinctively looked about the room for the gorgeous lykata, though she was reminded that Royal and Balba were out in Lickity's enclosure, behind the castle.

"She did," Libby nodded and looked down to Tessa's hands, which quickly grappled for hers, "She managed to grab my clothes on the way out. I woke up naked in the jungle, though. That was an experience."

"I'm sure," Tessa scoffed, she gripped Libby's arms and peered deep into her eyes, "Thank you, for trusting me..."

"I feel better," Libby nodded softly, "It'll... It'll take a ton of courage to eventually tell Ace, but... If you get the chance to maybe warn him about all of this before I do, I give you my permission."

"... You sure?" Tessa worried, "I'm sure he'd rather hear this from you, but... I'm sure it's not really something you want to keep talking about, huh."

"Not really... I really don't know how he's going to take it, but I guess if he takes it anything like how you did, I... I should be in the clear," Libby worried, her gorgeous, girly eyes nervously gripped to Tessa's in growing apprehension.

"If anything, he'll be even more up-in-arms than I am," Tessa raised her eyebrows and peered over her shoulder, to Lickity, who had remained quiet through this drama. She finally heaved a small laugh and smiled.

"Every single soul, under protection of the Kalivar castle, now has a hit-list, if anyone didn't already," Lickity stated darkly as she showed her sharp teeth, though Tessa and Libby gave her grateful smiles.

"You're protected, here," Tessa assured to Libby, "Take your time, and don't you worry... Karma will come back to this guy."

Lickity flattened her ears, bared her teeth harder and, as if to show her camaraderie with Libby, she hunkered down a little and slightly let steam out of her nostrils, "We'll all make sure of it."


	43. Chapter 43

**Reviews : **

**Alanshee The Guardian :** Wow, well I'm glad you're okay. I hope that everything will be alright. I appreciate your support!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Yeah I can totally understand how that could make you lose trust, huh :( I'm really glad everything panned out tho, for you and your husband! Oh my god I just about DIED laughing at your lactose bit at the end, there xD Fortunately for EVERYONE in the castle, Tessa can handle dairy! Hahahah

 **Retrokill :** Thank you for the support! I love Tessa's and Libby's relationship :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much. I really definitely tried to keep it all tasteful, I guess 3 stories later, and I should really start recognizing my strong points and stop worrying so much. Libby definitely shines through this mess, and it definitely makes for Ace's vying affection to be hard/put on hold, but the two work things out in the end, eventually ;)

 **MightNinja2000 :** Yeah, Libby's tribe has a lot of rules and secrets as such, which we will learn more about. I appreciate the support!

 **chuckiboo :** Wow, thank you! I definitely try my hardest!

 **Xaehttium :** Well, fortunately, I didn't write that chapter out of experience. I consider myself lucky. I just added it to the story for sake of Libby's character development, how hers and Ace's romance blossoms and to add a little bit more mystery to her 'old' coding. Thank you for the support!

 **ArchitectDreams :** No worries, I appreciate your reviews nonetheless! Yeah I was hoping somehow people would be braced. Don't worry - The Kalivars get their revenge ;)

 **WildVirus :** Yeahhh I'm definitely right there with yah! I'm glad I get to write the revenge chapter! *cracks knuckles*

 ***Chapter 43***

Tessa anxiously paced the sky room. With the afternoon sun slowly setting, and the arcade closing call on the brink of happening any minute now, Tessa began to feel her heart race faster than before. She fidgeted her fingers to her mouth, and every now and then, she'd nibble the skin on the edges of her fingers, near her nails; everything else had been chewed clean off. She finally huffed a hard sigh, threw her arms down and silently scolded herself for getting worked up. Before she could continue muttering to herself the words she had been dying to say to her mother and father, their game kindly chimed it's usual 'arcade closed' announcement. Tessa rolled her eyes and finally peered out to the world in terrified stillness. The jungle trees all hung in silent wait, as if the whole game knew something grand was about to take place. Before she could find a hiding spot and call the whole 'castle storming' bid off, she heard the front door largely swing open, from across the house. She shut her eyes tight and froze, though it wasn't until all five of Dead Zed's racers peeled into the house did Tessa begin to feel her heart pound harder and harder.

"And then maybe once Ace brings it down, we can all rush in on our bikes?" Jax loudly inquired as everyone eagerly, and sloppily began to file into the sky room. Tessa hung on the far end of the bend, she crossed her arms and held her breath as everyone gravitated to her. They knew she was ultimately the green light to this nonsense.

"Do you think our bikes will be... I don't know..." Duke trailed off and ruffled his dirty, nearly black hair, "Too... weak? I mean, one tap and we're gone. They're not like race cars."

"But they're faster, you think they can out-speed a code room?" Orph barked, everyone eased their attention to Tessa as they cautiously approached her.

"Y'ready?" Jax eagerly wondered, though Tessa gave him a nervous look and was thrilled to see their rowdy behavior had garnered the attention of Nox, Ace, Libby and the three flyers. They peered into the entrance of the sky room in a calmer demeanor, as if to wonder what all the fuss was about.

"I-I... Uh," Tessa stammered, though everyone largely continued to talk about just what kind of a racer they'd bring, and even went so far to wonder what kind of weapons were to be had in this adventure of rushing the castle.

Tessa furrowed her brow and nervously glanced to the three at the sky room entrance, alongside Lickity, Royal and Balba. She felt a wave of overwhelmed nervousness begin to crawl all over her as Zed pushed past them, once and for all.

"What are you going to tell your mom and dad, once you see them?" Orph wondered, everyone eagerly held their eyes to Tessa.

"I-I'm not even sure," Tessa worried, she began to grow frustrated.

"I'd give 'em what for," Jax threw his fists about, a little, "How dare them keep you banished for this long."

"But WE have a secret weapon," Orph waggled his finger.

"Guys," Zed urged in an annoyed fashion as the group towards the entrance began to push their way into the crowd of Dead Zed's five, excited racers.

"We're not going to use violence to get their attention," Tessa urged through an annoyed chuckle.

"Why don't we all like... Surround the castle, and then Ace can just jump in powers ablaze," Orph loudly suggested.

"Y'realize he's the only one safe from being deleted, right?" Finn reminded in excited annoyance, Orph gave him an irritated, though defeated glare.

"So who do you want at the front, and who do you want at the back?" Jax wondered, though Tessa inhaled a sharp breath and began to feel claustrophobic.

"N-No one, I... I don't know!" Tessa urged as she began to feel swallowed whole.

"Y'guys, chill out!" Zed raised his voice, though his brothers merely glanced at him and continued on.

"Can I carry a torch, or something?" Orph beamed Tessa an excited smile, though before Orph could get more words out, everyone nervously watched as Tessa finally raised her fists in a proper wrecking form.

Before Tessa's fists could reach the ground, everyone largely flinched, hauled a few steps backwards and covered their faces. Tessa slammed her wrecking force to the tiles underneath, creating a loud bang of destruction that was just enough to shut everyone up. She inhaled a hard breath, slid her fists from the rubble and kept them tightly clenched at her sides. She huffed a hard breath through the dust and debris and largely glared down the group before her. Everyone fell dead silent in a nervous draw of uncertainty; they knew Tessa didn't throw around her wrecking power, and if it were to ever be used, there was a pretty darn good reason.

"Alright, I'm demanding everyone to get at least twenty feet away from me!" Tessa hollered loudly, though much to her surprise, every single soul in the room immediately began to give Tessa a wide birth. Tessa seethed and carried on as the dust rose, "There will be no castle storming, there will be no fighting... There will be no torches, no pitch forks, no bullshit! They are STILL my family... And yes, they have wronged me, but... What the hell'sa-matter with you guys?!"

Everyone held their scared stares to Tessa and, one by one, each racer began to sheepishly glance at each other through looks of gentle regret. Zed was the first to break his stance in the crowd. He tenderly took a single step forward, as if to ask if it were okay to potentially approach Tessa. With the way she suddenly drew her dagger like eye contact directly to him, he froze and accepted the negative answer, from her end.

"I'm not even certain I want to do this!" Tessa bellowed, "I want to go traipsing back to the very place that banished me? 'Please let me back in! I promise I'll be good!'"

"Tess," Zed dared, he scoffed a noise as if to inquire that's not what this was about.

"If anything, I'm going back to show them ALL just how STUPID they should feel!" Tessa yelled as tears welled in her eyes, "I don't want fighting... I don't want anger. I want them to see the wonderful, handsome grandchild they missed out on watching grow up. I want them to regret the day they banished me. I want them to feel the deepest amount of sorrow they could EVER feel! I want to walk away from Sugar Rush with them on my heels, BEGGING me to be their Queen. I want them to rue the day they abandoned me..."

"Tessa," Zed urged again, and though his tone was softer, his words held a sharper bite.

"I-If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't going to go," Nox uttered quietly, though Jax and Orph largely turned around and gawked at him in hard annoyance.

"C'mon, man! You were going to be like... The sneak attack!" Orph hissed in a whisper.

"And have them confuse me for Turbo?!" Nox laughed quietly, "Yeah, right!"

"He has a point," Ace uttered quietly.

"I've decided what I'm going to do, and I'm sorry to say, it excludes every last one of you boys," Tessa growled, though the group of five racers groaned and griped in unison, "I've decided I'm going to Game Central Station's forcefield and no further."

"Well, what happens if you get in?" Zed inquired nervously.

"Then I'll come back and tell you guys all about it," Tessa's voice shook, it was clear she was extremely overwhelmed by decisions, "I'm too conflicted right now, and I don't think it's wise busting the castle's doors down with how uneasy I am, with all of this. It's just too much for one span of twenty four hours."

"C'mon, Tess, we'll be good," Jax quietly pleaded, he nervously peered to Orph and was now aware all the boys were likely getting too excited over something so fragile to Tessa.

"I'm taking a neutral party with me, and we will be back," Tessa's dominant voice glossed over everyone, "Ace, Royal, c'mon."

"Y'really gunna leave me here with these douche-nuggets?" Lickity muttered as she flattened her ears, though Royal and Ace nervously sauntered over to Tessa.

"Someone's gotta keep them in check," Tessa nodded to Lickity in determined kindness, though Lickity finally perked her ears and gave each of the racers a toothy grin as they looked on in pale nervousness.

"Tess, please don't do anything rash," Zed pleaded quietly as him, Royal and Ace slowly approached their Queen. Tessa lovingly rubbed her palm on Royal's larger snout as Ace climbed upon his back.

"I won't, I just... I just need to see if this force field can even come down, with Ace's abilities," Tessa trailed off and softened her demeanor for Zed's liking, "We'll be right back..."

"Be safe," Zed worried, though before the two could split ways, Tessa softly slid her arms around his neck and was delighted to feel Zed pull her into a tight embrace.

Tessa squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into Zed's shoulder, though before any of Zed's younger brothers could begin prodding Tessa for eager questions and concerns, she gingerly pulled away from Zed, board Royal's spine and looked up to the dome of the sky room. With all the powers of the code room, and the game at nearly her full control, she gestured her silver-coded hand and manipulated the sliding glass on the dome of the sky room. It easily opened at her command, a gape large enough for Royal to get through. As soon as she fastened her arms around Ace's center, Ace tugged up on Royal's lightweight saddle and with a huff of his powerful wings, the three were off in a flash.

The dust amongst the sky room wafted in a drift of disturbance before hovering, ultimately freezing everyone in a silent suspension of just what had taken place. Orph suddenly heaved a hard sigh, moseyed over to Zed and gazed upon the damaged area of tiling Tessa was previously standing at. Orph slumped his shoulders as everyone watched the last of Royal vanish into the afternoon sky. Zed huffed a long breath, glanced at Orph and turned around. In the center of the sky room was Zed's younger brothers Finn, Duke, Jax and Tej. Just a ways behind them stood Libby, Nox, Balba and Lickity. Zed rubbed the back of his head and, as much as he wanted to scold his younger brothers for getting Tessa so heated and riled, he knew he had the same negative feelings towards the Sugar Rush crew, as well.

"When she comes back, y'guys... Let's try and tone it down, a notch," Zed mumbled, Orph heaved a soft sigh and gave Zed an annoyed look of mild agreeing.

"I didn't realize she was still hurt over this drama," Jax worried quietly.

"She doesn't let it control her everyday life," Zed eased, though Lickity finally pushed deeper into the room.

"How could it NOT still hurt her?" Lickity barked, everyone jumped in surprise as Lickity's strong body sauntered closer to everyone, "Are you guys stupid? She was BANISHED. From her own kingdom! She could have a lifetime to grieve, and it'd STILL upset her! Do you boys know nothing?"

Everyone fell silent underneath Lickity's power, they hung their heads in gentle regret and, though a few of them were brave enough to glance their eye contact to Lickity, they held solid with their eyes to their feet.

"Zed, code-room this mess up," Lickity snapped in a protective manner over Tessa, "Jax, Duke and Tej, you three start dinner. Nox and Finn, check the perimeter for the nighttime castle check. Libby, you can come with me."

"...You're forgetting me," Orph muttered in dark annoyance, though Lickity glared him down and bared her teeth.

"Oh, believe me, I wish I could, son," Lickity suddenly growled, "Go find a hole to sit in and stay out of the way."

"Excuse me? I'm a part of this family... And YOU are...?" Orph bellowed, though Lickity straightened her posture and lightly sprawled her wings.

"I'm your worst nightmare," Lickity's voice largely dominated his and shook the building, though Zed largely flagged his hands about and stood between Orph and Lickity.

"Alright, cut it out! Orph, come with me, Lickity, knock it off!" Zed yelled, and though Lickity so badly wanted to argue, she knew only one person held rank over her, and that was Zed.

Lickity growled in hard annoyance, one of which that nearly shook everyone's insides to mincemeat, though with the flattening of her ears, as a show of defeat, she gently began to storm away. Once she reached Libby, she allowed Libby to climb aboard. She finally tucked her wings tight to her body and pushed out of the entrance of the sky room in the direction of the back door. Balba kept hot on Lickity's heels and puppy-dogged after her.

"You're going to have to get along with her, sooner or later," Zed muttered to Orph as everyone finally began to obey orders and mosey towards the direction of the kitchen.

"The day she stops treating me like a piece of shit is the day I'll get along with her," Orph growled, though Zed furrowed his brow.

"You used to abuse her, dude," Zed gently defended Lickity, though Orph rolled his eyes and waved his hands about.

"How long ago was this?! Over a year ago! I haven't threatened to abuse her, or anything, since!" Orph begged, though Zed shook his head in understanding and gestured for Orph to follow him.

"C'mon. Let's get this place cleaned up before Tessa comes back," Zed eased as Orph finally began to follow him to the code room, "Clean castle, happy subjects."

* * *

Ace nervously stumbled after Tessa down End Of Line station, and before long, Tessa had trailed a good two dozen feet ahead of Ace and Royal. Ace nervously peered to Royal and, in the small glimpse the two had of each other, they conveyed a lifetime of anxiousness. Ace furrowed his brow and finally peered down to his hands. He wondered just how he was going to be able to accomplish this, and in this massive mess, he suddenly felt a bout of dread him him. He began to worry; could he help his mother by bringing down the force field? He nearly began to sweat at the thought of all of this hype for nothing. He shook his head, rid his negative thoughts and took a few longer strides to keep up with his mother, who had largely trailed ahead of the two.

"Mom," Ace called quietly as he noticed Tessa board the train at the very end of the station.

Him and Royal quickly slipped into the opening, and as subtly as they could, they found an open area, towards the back of the train, to sit. Ace sat down next to Tessa, who immediately took a quick seat and tucked her fidgeting fingers in her lap. Ace tenderly reached for her hands, all while Royal huffed a hard sigh, sat on his rump and managed to jostle the train cart that begun to pull away from the station. The three uttered silent, nervous chuckles at the fact that said jostling made the train lights flicker.

"Don't be so worried, Aunt Tess," Royal's deep, comforting voice glossed over her and Ace; they both peered up to him, though Ace's expression was leaps more encouraged than Tessa's.

"I-I just... What do I even say?" Tessa hissed as she drew her eyes to Ace's, he tilted his head gently and gave her his attention, "What do I do...? Do I hug them? Treat them like strangers? I've missed every single one of them so much... I've rehearsed this moment every single day since the second you were born..."

Ace nervously dug his hazel gaze into his mother's, and for the first time in his life, he was seeing a very raw, anxious and needy side of his mother. One that so desperately needed assurance, love and care. He grimaced a small smile and grappled for Tessa's hand. Once he was successful in holding it, he gripped his other hand to the top of it and squeezed.

"Mom, I'll be right by your side," Ace tenderly reassured. Tessa glued her glassy eyes to Ace, as if somehow roles had reversed, and he was the wise, all-knowing parental figure Tessa craved, "I'm not going to let any more separation divide this new family of ours. We are whole with the Kalivar side of the family, yes, but... We're missing an entire fleet, here. Your side of the family. Sure, there's a ton of mending and fixing that needs to be done, but... It's not impossible. I know this will all get solved."

"What if they still don't want me around?" Tessa quietly urged, she tried her hardest to remain strong, though tears slipped down her cheeks once more. Ace only barely removed his strong hand to wipe her tears away, "What if... They banish me, again?"

"They won't... Not while I'm alive," Ace deeply assured, he nodded once and kept his gaze glued to Tessa's, "If they have any amount of processing power in their brain coding, they'll see my existence and understand what hardship you've been through. You've kept Dead Zed afloat. You've looked after an entire team of racers, you and Lickity raised me and Royal... You practically raised Libby and Balba, as well."

Tessa raised her eyebrows and was gently reminded of hers and Libby's conversation the night prior, though she looked down to the cold, dirty flooring of the train that wobbled them to their desired station; Game Central.

"C'mon, this trip... -This trip will be easy," Ace tenderly stated as he finally pat his mother's hand, the train kindly chimed that they were arriving to Game Central station, though Ace chuckled as Tessa sat up straight and exhaled a shaky breath, "We're here, mom... Let's just check the force field and then we'll head home and discuss from there. This will be easy, okay?"

"Okay," Tessa breathed, she nodded and gave Ace a look of nervous gratefulness, "Thank you, baby."

"Anything for you," Ace's deep voice glossed over Tessa, and though he was most definitely not a child anymore, he still allowed his mother to use the endearing term she would likely never let go of.

As the train wobbled to a stop, it huffed a hard bout of air off the brakes and relaxed. Once the doors slid open, Tessa held her breath and slowly stood. Ace and Royal made sure to let Tessa off first, for the sake of her taking this pace at her own comfortable speed. She slowly stepped off the train, as did Ace and Royal, though they lingered back and let Tessa soak in her glorious station. She held her breath and desperately tried not to blink tears down her cheeks. Game Central Station was glorious, everything she had ever kept in her thoughts before bed, every single last pixel was perfect, just the way she left it one year ago. She shook her head and, before she could get too close to the force field, in which she could feel it's angry energy, her eyes glossed down the station and hit with Sugar Rush's large, red logo. She finally hiccuped a small sob.

"I-I can't do this," Tessa meeped, and just as she was about to back away and push into Ace's arms, Ace gingerly slipped from her peripheral and approached the force field. Tessa whirled around in hard terror, threw her arm out and uttered a plea, "Ace, wait...!"

Ace held out his hand and slumped his shoulders, and though there were a few gamers that lingered near the train station, he still pushed on for the sake of his mother's throne. He bit his lip and tried his hardest not to think too hard about what was about to happen, though before he could feel confidence wholly soak into his being, he largely flinched as his knuckles crumpled against the force field, though much to Tessa's surprise, it easily had give. Ace widened his eyes, peered up at Game Central Station's glorious golden arches and cocked an eyebrow in contemplation. Before he could turn around to cue to his mother, or get her permission, he inhaled a slow breath and allowed his raw glitching abilities come to the surface of his skin.

As his arm riddled with all sorts of intense, complex circuitry, the silver coding desperately melted into the angry red force field and soaked it in it's love. The force field finally washed a kind white, as if it were simply a small gateway to heaven, and before Tessa could even begin to understand what just took place, the force field gave way to Ace's plea and allowed him through. Once Ace was standing in Game Central Station, he slowly turned around and peered to his mother through the vanishing lines of welcoming white. As soon as the force field went invisible, yet again, Ace cocked an eyebrow, gestured his arm out a little and kindly begged for his mother, and Royal, to join him.

"C'mon, ma," Ace's deep voice stated in kind confidence, "We got some wreckin' to do."


	44. Chapter 44

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Yeah I'm glad Tessa has Ace, and I think she realizes, that out of all the men, except maybe Zed, that Ace is the most calm/level headed. That and she needs him to get past the force field xD

 **Retrokill :** Haha sorry! Keeps you guys comin' back! ;D

 **Xaehttium :** Aww, no they're not that stupid - they're just excited. I don't blame 'em xD Orph and Lickity actually come a very great, long way, and towards the end of the story, they definitely have a good few chapters of bonding, over a dire situation. Obviously, you guys will find out :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha that WOULD happen. Yeah, I love Ace's and Tessa's relationship. It definitely is a more neutral ground, for Tessa. He keeps her grounded, just like Zed.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Haha shocker - he's not! It's actually someone you wouldn't expect, who hasn't gotten up in arms yet, about this drama. But sort of explodes once the moment is right. You'll see just how it unfolds in this, and the next chapter :)

 **ArchitectDreams :** It has been way too long. I finally officially wrote for Ralph, in the next chapter, and it felt so good to go back to my roots :D

 **Nikki Firesong :** Woohoo!

 **chuckiboo :** Most definitely! :D

 **Snake557 :** WOW you really mean that? Thank you so much! ;_;

 **MightyNinja2000 :** I'm excited for you guys to get there, as well! And yes, Orph and Lickity definitely have a weird, strained relationship xD It does take a very slow 180 tho! (eventually xD)

 ***Chapter 44***

Tessa shook her head, gawked and felt her entire skeleton go numb, though before she could argue with Ace, he gently dipped his hand back through the force field and gestured for her and Royal to come closer. Royal jolted slightly, as if to seem confident in Ace's ability, though he froze dead in his tracks as Tessa remained still. Royal softly sniffled Tessa's upper arm, an instinctive way to assess the situation, though he flattened his ears and nervously glanced back to Ace, as if to silently convey that Tessa was obviously scared. Ace heaved a soft chuckle, stepped in between the force field and gestured his arm a little harder.

"C'mon, mom, we need to remain inconspicuous," Ace stated through a quiet laugh as he nervously peered around; he was thrilled the few gamers, that lingered around, hadn't noticed the three, "Let's see if we can get you through... Maybe just try holding my hand, and we'll see where to go from there."

"I-Is it hurting you?" Tessa quietly wondered as she finally took a step or two forward, "Whenever I try to touch it, it shocks me really badly."

"No, it doesn't hurt at all," Ace eased gently, "It sort of feels like a cool shower on my coding. C'mon, let's see how you fair..."

Tessa finally was within arms reach of Ace, and once Ace gingerly grappled for Tessa's hands, he slowly eased her closer to the force field and kept his intelligent gaze wholly concentrated on his mother, before him. He grimaced lightly as Tessa shut her eyes tight and scrunched her shoulders, though with no effort at all, and silver coding that plagued both his and her arms, Ace slowly pulled Tessa through the give of the force field and, once and for all, her bare feet finally stepped to Game Central Station's beckoning golden tiles. Tessa peeked through one eye and, though the two were out of the force field's pull, the two still largely gripped hands, as if letting go would simply void everything. Tessa slowly slumped her shoulders and let her eyes soak into the reality she could swear was fake.

Tessa gripped Ace's hands and peered about Game Central Station. As tears billowed in her eyes, she could hardly believe everything that was taking place. The familiar noises of the gamers that passed by, the vastness of her home station far outweighed anything End Of Line could attempt. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she finally beamed a smile of relief. She could hardly even begin to believe this all was real. Her eyes finally glossed to Sugar Rush, and though she had promised her Kalivar family that she'd be back for them, she nearly bit her lip and took the warpath straight to Sugar Rush's doors. She held her positioning, however, and once Ace let go of her hands to let Royal come through the force field, she peered back at Ace and watched him successfully pull Royal into the station.

"Y'did it, auntie Tess," Royal eased as he finally bounced over to her, his eyes lit up with excitement. Tessa beamed him a teary smile and welcomed him into her bubble. She gently rubbed the undersides of his jaws as he nuzzled her face a little, though Tessa nervously peered to Ace, as if to maybe put this decision making on him.

"Wow, what a trip," Ace eased under his breath as he peered down at his hands. He scoffed and gave his mom grateful eye contact, "That was easy. I wonder what else I could do..."

"Let's not bring attention to ourselves," Tessa suddenly worried as her hands slid into Ace's. She peered up to Ace in nervousness and shook her head, "We should go back."

"Hey, mom... There he is," Ace pointed lightly, though he flinched once Tessa whirled around and held her breath.

Tessa grappled the collar of her shirt and peered across the station in a fit of terror. She felt her heart stop at just who was bumbling back to Fix-It Felix Jr. None other than Ralph himself, his head hung, his knuckles nearly dragging, he looked wholly begrudged. Tessa inhaled a slow breath through her nose and froze, she knew Ralph couldn't see her from the amount of space that held between them, and the amount of gamers, though she knew, even after a year of separation and betrayal that had taken place, Tessa nearly had to stop herself from taking a running start and begging him to welcome her into his strong arms once more.

"Dad," Tessa whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. She firmly wiped them, shook her head and peered back to Ace, "C'mon. We're not leaving just yet."

"M-Mom, wait, what are you saying?" Ace suddenly jolted, he attempted to grapple for Tessa's arm, though she was successful in suddenly moving on a steady march down Game Central. Ace and Royal largely kept up, though not without nervously peering about this strange, massive station, "Mom...! Are you going to go talk to Ralph?"

"You bet your ass," Tessa furrowed her brow and could feel the nostalgia and lovey feelings suddenly be replaced with growing, seething anger.

She shook her head, clenched her fists and kept on a steady march across the station. She could hear familiar gamers, of the like, chime her name in the background, as if to be confused, though Tessa pushed forward and hoped the wrecker behind her, as well as the one ton dragon that trailed, wasn't too much of a distraction from other gamer's usual routines. As they rounded the outlet to Fix-It Felix Jr., Tessa stopped and peered just across the way. She held her breath, kept a rigid posture and let her eyes gloss to Sugar Rush. She was stunned at just how close it was. She could hardly believe it to be true, though once Ace and Royal nudged into her peripheral, and glued their eye contact to Sugar Rush as well, Tessa felt alien. She heaved a soft chuckle and shook her head.

"No biggie, just my, y'know... Whole kingdom," Tessa stated in a nonchalant, sarcastic tone. Ace rolled his eyes and gave his mom a kind smile.

"C'mon, then... Let's... Sort things out with Ralph," Ace kindly gestured inwards to Fix-It Felix Jr., "Then you can show me around Sugar Rush... I'm dying to see what it's like."

"You'll gain cavities just by smelling the air," Tessa droned through a soft, nostalgic sigh, "Nearly everything is edible..." She softly eyed Royal with a kind, knowing smile and winked, "Including the clouds."

"You can eat the clouds?" Royal whined as they quickly pushed through the game's narrow, dark wire, "Oh, c'mon, can we please go? PLEASE."

"Yes, bub," Tessa giggled as Royal firmly nudged his snout into her back. She lovingly pat his snout and shook her head, "We'll go soon enough... I'll show both you boys everything... It'll be great."

"I'm excited for these edible clouds, what do they taste like?" Ace inquired as they approached the exit of the tunnel, and the entrance to Niceland.

"Cotton candy," Tessa smiled, both boys griped in a groan of anticipation, "There are some areas of Sugar Rush that have different themes, and the cotton candy flavor is different, but for the most part... Just regular, sugary cotton candy."

"Wait, mom... If Ralph is King of Sugar Rush," Ace trailed off once they finally approached the train station of the game; it was void of Nicelanders, "Then... What is he doing coming in here?"

"... That's a good question," Tessa stated quietly as they stopped to peer up at the Niceland building, and though Tessa was floored she was nearly home, she eagerly peered to Ace and Royal, who were simply having all their old bedtime stories come true right before their eyes.

"The Niceland building," Ace nearly whispered, he rubbed the back of his head and gawked in mind-blown surprise, "I... I can't believe it."

"It's huge!" Royal hissed in a whisper as he flattened his ears, both boys ogled the towering building, "Ralph destroys this thing... Day in and day out?"

"Yep," Tessa nodded proudly, though she peered about her familiar setting in search for where Ralph had laid off to, "My uncle Felix fixes it everyday, too."

"Oh, yeah!" Ace pointed, though him and Royal jolted to keep up with Tessa's suddenly onward moving figure, "He's the little guy in blue, right?"

"Right, again," Tessa eased, though she furrowed her brow and began to slowly saunter into the town just off of the path of the Niceland building. She rubbed the back of her head in confusion and shook her head, "This doesn't make sense... Dad only comes here for game day, and goes straight back to the castle for dinner, and to sleep and such... I don't know why he came back here."

"Where would he be?" Ace wondered, the streets were empty, like usual. Everyone typically hung out in the penthouse after game day, to celebrate Felix's fixing abilities with cake. Tessa knew Ralph would join said party, occasionally, though she also knew, after having a family and ruling over Sugar Rush, he typically could be seeing high-tailing it straight to his own kingdom.

"Well... Dad DID have a small bachelor's pad, of sorts," Tessa fingered her lip and eyed the street, she knew exactly where Ralph's house was, though she was uncertain anyone even still lived there, "He only had it before him and mom got married..."

"You... You think he's there, maybe?" Ace nervously pressed as Royal slowly shifted on his feet and looked about in a curious, anxious kind of way.

"This game is so... Old," Royal stated, though not to seem offensive, "Pixelly... It's kinda cute."

"Dad was around when the arcade opened," Tessa smiled, though she gestured for the two to follow her, "It's been over thirty years. This game still has one of the strongest code rooms. Older doesn't always mean weaker."

"No kidding," Ace gawked as he looked up at the adorable pixel stars and clouds, the pitch black sky against the glare of the cabinet's screen. He side stepped and ogled the square trees, and as cutesy as everything was, he flinched as he bumped into his mother after a few minutes of strolling. She had stopped directly before a single beckoning stoop. The large red door that hung in closed wait had Tessa's eyes anxiously glued to it. Ace cleared his throat and peered up the stoop in collective surprise as he leaned closer to his mother to whisper, "Is this is?"

Tessa held her breath and let the hot, blaring red of Ralph's front door burn into her retinas. She could hardly believe just where she was, just what game and station her being was present in. She inhaled a shaky breath, softly nodded and through a quiet meep of an answer, she spoke.

"Yep."

Just as Ace was about to potentially encourage her, or suggest maybe she try knocking, Tessa inhaled a deep, readied breath, puffed her chest, clenched her fists and put on her war-face. She confidently stormed up Ralph's stoop, hung near the door, and much to Ace and Royal's surprise, she left Ralph's door to shake underneath her loud, confident few knocks. She put her hands on her hips and glared down the peep hole. Ace and Royal nervously peered to each other, and in an uneducated shuffle of awkwardness, they eased to the left side of Ralph's stoop and hung back in baited wait. The two boys held their breath, though just as Royal was about to say something to Tessa, she let loose another few knocks of fury.

"C'mon, dad, open up. I know you're in there," Tessa barked to the door, she finally put her hands back on her hips and held her breath in growing impatience. She largely knocked a few more times, "Dad, open the door."

"I'm surprised she's not threatening to wreck it down," Royal merely whispered to Ace, though just as Ace was about to quietly agree, both boys jumped in startled surprise as she began to bang on the door.

"Dad, if you don't open this door right now, I'm seriously going to wreck it down!" Tessa hollered into the strong, red wood of his door, "Delivery! Sugar Rush's PRINCESS."

Ace heaved a soft, nervous chuckle and peered down the road in a glimpse of merely adjusting to his surroundings, though before he could reglue his attention to Tessa, he froze and felt his spine go rigid. Stood, just a few dozen feet away was Ralph, and though he was large and had two massive armfulls of leftover bricks, he stood frozen in delicate shock. Ace struggled to swallow as his heart suddenly jumped in collective excitement and fear, though he glanced to his mother and tenderly waved his hand.

"Mom," Ace uttered through a strain of a chuckle of delight, though him and Royal flinched once she largely pounded on the door once more.

"I swear to User, dad, you're not going to like what I'm about to do to your door! I'm counting to three!" Tessa bellowed as she clenched her fists.

"Mom, wait... Mom...!" Ace raised his voice a little and moved closer to his mother up the stoop, though because she was on higher ground, he eagerly peered up at her.

"One!" Tessa clenched her fists as tight as she could.

"...Mom," Ace urged louder.

"TWO!" Tessa bellowed, though Ace nervously continued to flag her down.

"Mom!" Ace finally raised his voice, though Tessa largely turned heel and glared down at her son.

"WHAT!?" Tessa hissed through the grit of her teeth, though Ace flinched and tenderly pointed his finger down the street, at just who was standing in shocked wait.

Tessa furrowed her brow, whirled around and finally got a good look at just who Ace was pointing at. In the collective, gentle heat of Fix-It Felix Jr.'s summertime breeze, the four stood in frozen, solidified knowing. Tessa slumped her shoulders and finally peered to her father in whole, stunned rage, happiness, uncertainty. She shook her head and assessed him. He looked lost, equally as confused and a touch of sorrow coat his figure. He had a large pile of bricks in both of his arms, though a few began to loosely dribble out and tumble close to where Tessa, Ace and Royal stood. Tessa inhaled a slow, deep breath, furrowed her brow and slowly stormed down Ralph's stoop. She kept her fists clenched, and her spirits high.

"Alright, what are you gunna do? You gunna banish me from Fix-It Felix Jr., too?" Tessa yelled as she began to slowly saunter closer to Ralph, though he remained frozen in shock, "What... You gunna tell mom to put a force field over the game? Dead Zed? The entire ARCADE?"

Ace and Royal looked on in stunned surprise as Tessa began to finally close the gap between her and Ralph, what was left was maybe a dozen feet of side walk and bricks that had dribbled from Ralph's pile in his arms. Ace flinched once his mother swiped one up in her grip and volleyed it in her hand, as if to be ready to throw it.

"You want to kick me out of EVERYTHING while you're at it?!" Tessa yelled as tears streamed her cheeks, she finally chucked the brick at Ralph, though he didn't budge. It awkwardly hit his arm and tumbled to the ground, though she hiccuped a soft cry and bent down to grapple for another brick, "Leave me stranded in the jungle for a whole year to have ANOTHER child you don't even know about?!"

Tessa swung her strong arm and yet another brick hit the back of Ralph's hand, though he continued to remain frozen. The brick awkwardly tinkered to the ground as a bit of dust flit about.

"You want to forget Sugar Rush has a princess and go on about your merry, sugary life, then why don't you!" Tessa nearly screamed, tears streamed her cheeks in dire anger as she loosely grabbed another brick, though she froze half a dozen feet from Ralph and waved the brick around, as if to threaten to throw it, "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Ralph shook his head, long blinked once, and before Tessa could throw the brick, he slowly let go of the pile of bricks in his arms and let them all fall to the ground. He gawked lightly, furrowed his brow and dared to let tears billow in his eyes. Tessa grimaced through her tears, gave her father a hard glare of hatred and held fast to her positioning, though before she could scream her heart out, fill Ralph's head with every single last byte of her worries, Ralph's voice shakily croaked the words that could nearly turn her head on a dime.

"...You're alive."

* * *

 **A/N:** **I drew fanart for this scene, titled 'Wreck-It Tessa', on my deviantART :)**

 **Username - Vyntresser**


	45. Chapter 45

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong :** Poor Rancis! He's constantly getting shit on xD

 **Xaeuhttium :** Good attitude! xD Thank you so much. I just loved watching everyone get so pissed at the whole Sugar Rush crew. I actually felt bad haha

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yep, poor Ralph thought they were all dead. It'll be explained :)

 **Retrokill :** LOL You'lllll seeee ;)

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Yep! How sad, huh? xD Aw well I'm glad I'm not too predictable haha

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Ace definitely still comes as a surprise to Ralph, as you'll see, cause they're introduced to each other in this chapter :) I'm glad I'm getting some good reactions outta you guys! I was worried people were going to be like OMG saw that from a mile away! xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha Ralph thought she was killed

 **Snake557 :** Yep! It'll all get explained in this chapter :)

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** NOOOO don't hate Rancis, I'm so sad that you all hate Rancis xD if you're going to hate anything about Rancis, hate Radex ;)

 **Wild Virus :** I can't see if you reviewed or not, cause I think I accidentally deleted it in my inbox, and guest reviews don't show up on Fanfiction for like 42 years, so I just wanted to put you here just in case, I didn't forget you! Merely had slippery fingers and fudged my inbox lol. I remember something about SPICY and died laughing again xD

* * *

 ***Chapter 45***

"Alive," Tessa repeated in a choke of a breath, she froze and held her nervous stare to Ralph's, as if the two were now on completely different wavelengths. Tessa shook her head, let her fists come unglued and slumped her shoulders, "Of course I'm alive... Who... Told you different?"

"You're alive," Ralph heaved through a shaky breath, though he grimaced and got down to one knee, as if to express to Tessa that he was desperate to approach her, but after the fight she had just put up, he figured it'd be best if she came to him. Ralph rested his elbow on his knee, buried his face into his palm and uttered a soft chuckle of a plea through tears that were beginning to be apparent, "I-I... I thought you were dead..."

"Who told you that!" Tessa hollered in the dregs of rage that continued to plague her, though she dared to take a step closer to her father.

She shook her head and desperately tried to hold back from crying, though the second Ralph peered up from his hand, she noticed his face was wet with tears. She flinched and held a draw of hard surprise; she knew he wasn't one to cry in front anyone, ever. Tessa stumbled about the bricks that had fallen and finally began to push closer to him in confidence.

"Dad, I-I... I'm alive, I've been alive this whole time," Tessa urged in hard annoyance, though her voice began to finally crumble with the onslaught of tears that wanted so badly to overcome her. She finally pushed into Ralph's bubble and grimaced in the fit of wanting to unload, "I thought you guys hated me...!"

"I can't believe you're alive!" Ralph uttered as he finally opened his arm for her, and the second she pushed into his chest, he grappled his strong, massive arms around her as tight as he could and didn't dare to let her go.

Tessa lugged her arms around Ralph's neck and buried her face into his shoulder. She exhaled a hard breath of shock, and before she could even fully comprehend just whose embrace she was in, tears spilled down her cheeks without effort. She sunk deeper into her father's chest, the way he tugged her harder into his embrace, she scrunched her eyes shut and uttered a soft few cries into Ralph's shoulder. Tessa felt her heart pound in hard excitement as she could hear her father scoff a noise of disbelief onto her shoulder, his hot breath coat her existence, putting all of her worries to rest, in nervousness that this couldn't possibly be real. With the safety of her father's large arms around her, she felt whole, as if he was simply the missing piece to her puzzle, and though she knew every single one of her family members had a special place in her crazy mosaic, she knew her father was the backbone of her infrastructure. Tessa nuzzled his warm shirt, inhaled his familiar scent and could hardly believe it. She finally let a small giggle escape her figure once Ralph gingerly pulled away and held Tessa behind her back and upper arms. He squinted and peered into her face, both of them were a crying mess.

"Lookit'you," Ralph hissed, he sharply sniffled and shook his head, "You're as beautiful as I remember..."

"Y-You didn't... Banish me?" Tessa pleaded as her smaller hands grappled for the tops of her father's arms. Ralph scrunched his face in dire confusion, shut his eyes tight and shook his head.

"Banish you...!" Ralph repeated, he finally peered into Tessa's wet eyes, his equally as drowned, "Your mother and I would never banish you... Who gave you this information?"

Tessa inhaled a sharp breath, shook her head, and just as she was about to answer, she long blinked tears down her cheeks and let her eyes aimlessly gloss the front of Ralph's chest. Information slowly hit her brain like a molten brick that sunk through her coding in hard dread.

"...Radex," Tessa eased quietly, though Ralph furrowed his brow as Tessa carried on. She side-eyed her father, "... Who told you I was dead?"

"Rancis," Ralph answered confidently, though he slumped his shoulders and kept his sharp stare dug into Tessa's. He finally heaved a hard sigh through his nose and shook his head, "Radex..."

"Radex survived the game-wipe Zed and I did... But HOW?" Tessa uttered as the two finally let go of each other, Tessa fingered her lip and let her eyes scan the ground, though she finally peered to Ralph as he remained knelt, "Is mom at the castle, right now?"

"I... I have no idea," Ralph mumbled, "There's this nasty force field over the entirety of the entrance... No one can get in, no one can get out. Even Felix, Calhoun and Tammy can't get in."

"It's... Not just me," Tessa hissed, her heart began to pound, "I haven't been banished... Radex kicked everyone out, that was a threat to him. They're trapped in Sugar Rush, dad? Did you know about this?"

"Of course I knew," Ralph uttered sadly, "The second Rancis told us you and Zed had failed the mission, and died outside of the Arcade, I went rushing to Tron to see if it were true... But when I came back to Sugar Rush, to get help from Vanellope, Taffyta and Rancis, I... I wasn't allowed back in. Every week, for the past year, I go to Dead Zed and poke about to see if I could find you... But the jungle is too large, and I had no clue where to begin searching."

"You were inside the game, once a week, for the past year, dad?" Tessa grimaced in dire annoyance as tears slipped down her cheeks, once more, "Dad... I've spent the last year thinking you all hated me! Rancis met me at the entrance of Sugar Rush and said that because I made such a poor mistake, you guys are banishing me, and to wait until you guys came looking for me."

"...Let's take a minute and think about all of what you just said," Ralph grumbled, he finally smiled, which made Tessa's heart jump. Tessa heaved an annoyed chuckle and desperately tried to remain sorrowful, though through Ralph's lightening, warm demeanor, she knew it was impossible, "You really think your mother and I... Would BANISH you, for something you fixed? Alright, Tess, I know you're hard-headed, but c'mon. REALLY."

"And what about you!" Tessa giggled through the nasally clog of her sniffles, she wobbled as Ralph nudged her shoulder, "You really think a little outside-world is gunna kill me? You know I'm tougher than that... That burger from In'N'Out really did a number on my complexion, though."

"I haven't been able to do anything, from the outside," Ralph grumbled as his smile softened, "I can't get back into Sugar Rush to save my life... I haven't for a whole year, now. User knows where your mother is. Taffyta, Oliver, Penny... They're all trapped inside."

"I hope they're okay," Tessa sighed, though she felt her face heat up the second Ralph's eyesight finally dragged to the two beings a good stretch of sidewalk behind Tessa.

Tessa whirled around and peered to Ace in growing, bumbling delight, though her hands began to shake a little. She tenderly gestured for the two to approach, and as they finally removed themselves from their post, Tessa gave her attention back to Ralph and lovingly placed her hand on his large forearm, which was still rested on his elbow in his kneel.

"I uh... I have a little surprise for you, dad," Tessa eased, though Ralph merely glanced back to Ace and gave her a kind, curious smile.

"More surprises?" Ralph chuckled, though the second Ace came closer into view, his whole demeanor grew solid in knowing shock. Tessa giggled and pat Ralph's forearm.

"There's, uh... Someone I'd like you to meet," Tessa's loving smile coat over Ralph's, though the second Ace's adorable, bumbling figure stood next to Tessa, and his shy eyes merely glanced to Ralph, Ralph choked a breath of disbelief and gawked a little.

"Tessa," Ralph started in a trail of soft surprise, though he grappled his chest and overalls, as if he could hardly believe it. Tessa beamed her dad a kind, teary smile and gently gripped Ace's upper arm as he stood next to her.

"Dad, this is Ace," Tessa smiled up to Ace, and though Ace gave her a kind smile, he dragged his nervous eyes up to Ralph's, the very hero of his bedtime stories all those months ago. Tessa exhaled a small chuckle and gave Ralph a knowing smirk, "Your grandson."

"I-It's nice to meet you," Ace desperately attempted to seem calm and confident, though he slowly held out his slightly trembling hand.

Ralph huffed a breath of surprise, as if he so desperately wanted to say words, though nothing could potentially come to the forefront of his shock. He shook his head, and as tenderly as he could, he reached his hand out and slowly stretched for Ace's fingers. Instead of shaking Ace's hand, he lightly examined Ace's wrecking hands, a new generation of wreckers Ralph had been dreaming of. Ace got the hint and went with the flow, though his chest heaved in growing nervousness at the very fact that he was standing in front of his own hero, the biggest, baddest wrecker of all time. Ace finally beamed Ralph a kind smile, shook his head and, through innocent, adorable hazel eyes, Ace let his confidence show through a little harder.

"You're my hero," Ace eased up, though Ralph continued to hold his shocked attention glued to Ace's. Ace gently returned the favor and held his palm flat into Ralph's. The sheer size difference had Ace's head spinning, though he re-glued his eyes deep into Ralph's, "My dad has told me so many awesome stories, about you."

"Zed," Ralph huffed quietly in surprise, his eyes glanced to Tessa, and the second she beamed him a kind, teary smile, he scoffed a gentle laugh and gave his stunned eye contact back to Ace, "I can't believe it..."

"You're a grandpa," Tessa giggled, she gestured her arm out, "Surprise!"

"Sugar Rush has another Prince," Ralph uttered with a smile, though he raised his eyebrows once Ace finally felt more confident in his own skin.

Ace tenderly pushed into Ralph's bubble and, through gentle hesitation, he finally eased into Ralph's arms for a proper hug. In pure disbelief, Ralph scoffed a small noise of acceptance and welcomed his first grandson into his arms. He squeezed Ace tight, and through a grimace of continued stunned knowing, he pat Ace's back firmly and shut his eyes tight. Before too long, the two pulled away, though Ralph gingerly took one of Ace's wrecking hands in his strong fingers and peered about Ace's arms and hands.

"Welp, you certainly got the wrecking gene, that much is obvious," Ralph laughed as a few tears escaped his eyes. He wiped them away quickly and tried so hard to compose himself, though he shook his head in continued disbelief and sighed, "But, boy, do you look so much like your father."

"It's the hair," Ace's deep voice stated through a chuckle, which had Ralph and Tessa laughing as well.

"You remember Lickity, right?" Tessa wondered gently, though Ralph furrowed his brow and gave Tessa a look of floored annoyance.

"Remember her? She was my kinda pet. Just the right size for me," Ralph chuckled as he glanced at Royal, though he held his breath and realized just what Tessa was about to continue unloading on him.

"This is Royal," Tessa gestured to Royal as he gently nudged his snout into Tessa's hand and gave Ralph a look of shy excitement. His tail just barely wagged, as if his puppy-dog demeanor was something he couldn't help. He flattened his ears and glanced to Tessa as she continued, "If you can believe it, this is Lickity's and Orion's son."

"Orion! You've gotta be kidding me!" Ralph laughed quietly, though Royal finally lifted his head and perked his ears.

"I-I've been told I get my talking ability through Orion," Royal nervously peered to Tessa, "I've... Obviously never met him, but... From what everyone has told me, he's sort of a grouch."

"Yeah, but it looks like Lickity knew all the right buttons to push," Ralph muttered with a kind smile towards Royal, he held his hand out and gently pat Royal's snout, "You definitely have his size and... The crown to boot!"

"It's why his name is Royal," Tessa giggled, Ralph gently nudged Tessa's arm and cocked an eyebrow.

"Anymore surprises? Anymore children or other announcements to be made?" Ralph wondered with a wide smile, though Tessa shrugged and peered to Ace.

"We got a load of surprises back at the house," Ace raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"I'm so proud of you, Tessy," Ralph's voice glossed over the two, and he quickly grappled for Tessa's hand in his free hand. He peered at the two with higher hopes than ever before, "You've made me a very happy wrecker. Now I gotta beat up Zed for all this drama."

"What!" Tessa laughed, Ace beamed a knowing smile and nodded.

"Yeah, wreck away!" Ace encouraged playfully, though Tessa swat at him.

"And what's this?" Ralph started in a stern tone, though it was clear he was being playful; Ace and Tessa continued to laugh as Ralph brought up Tessa's left hand, he ogled her engagement ring, "Wow, he got you pregnant and asked for your hand without consulting any of us? Where is this Zed cause, uh... He's dead!"

"Dad," Tessa complained as the three laughed it out, though Ralph shook his head to show he was strictly playing.

"I have a lot of thanking to do, to him," Ralph softened, he lightly glanced between Ace and Tessa, "He really took care of you when the rest of us couldn't."

"He's eagerly awaiting everyone's return," Tessa smiled softly, she glanced at Ace and lightly shrugged, "Why don't... You come back with us, for awhile. There's a lot we all should go over. Maybe then we can come up with a game plan, for finding mom and everyone."

"That sounds nice, I need a change of scenery," Ralph nodded, he eyed the Niceland building in hard annoyance, "I'm pretty sure your uncle Felix would love to see you, sometime... Maybe after their party dies down."

"They celebrating the weekend, or something?" Tessa giggled in gentle annoyance, Ralph easily stood, wiped his overalls clean and peered down at the two wreckers before him.

"Who knows, I feel as if they throw parties just for the sake of throwing a party," Ralph sighed, he gave the Niceland building a kind, nearly annoyed smile, though he furrowed his brow and peered back down to Tessa, "Where's Zed, then?"

"He's back at the castle with everyone else," Tessa shrugged, though Ralph gave her a confused look.

"Castle?" Ralph wondered, though Ace chuckled.

"Dad let mom have free reign on designing the house," Ace huffed, though Ralph raised his eyebrows in hard knowing and nodded as he finally stood up.

"Yyyep," Ralph grumbled, "You're Vanellope's daughter, alright."


	46. Chapter 46

**Reviews :**

 **MightNinja2000 :** I intentionally didn't reply to your previous review because what you said hurt my feelings and made me mad - I was avoiding outwardly getting upset towards you.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL yeah, Ace definitely gets some good bonding time in with his grandpa - though not before Zed does xD Thank you! :)

 **StillAintBovvered :** YAS WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR :D

 **Snake557 :** Ace still has a large amount of 'growing up' to do, even though it's not physical anymore. They get a good show of him coming into his own, which still counts for something :)

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! I'm glad it caught everyone by surprise, I was worried it was in neon lights lol. Yep, Radex is a toughy, that's for sure, but there is a good reason behind it.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** You are sharp - there's still a lot you guys don't know, and no one has ever guessed yet, but I am excited to finally fill it all in and surprise you guys some more :D Thank you very much!

 **ArchitectDreams :** Aww xD yeah I'm sure that's a sucky feeling, but I upload every other day, so hopefully that helps :)

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Zed definitely, uh... REACTS xD Thank you! Yeah, I always felt so bad whenever anyone stated they now hated the Sugar Rush crew. I had to bite my tongue so hard haha

 **Xaehttium :** HAhahahaha that was a really interesting sentence to wake up to xD Yeah, there's definitely a lot more going on to just simply blame Radex, but it'll all be explained in due time ;)

 **Retrokill :** That's practically my middle name. From my sensitive characters to the in-depth sex scenes - minus well be! xD

 **Jenniiee :** Hahaha wouldn't THAT be a weird situation xD

 ***Chapter 46***

Tessa jolted and peered to Ace in surprise as the four slowly materialized just before the Kalivar castle. She beamed her son a curious smile as Ralph, Royal and Ace all looked down to their hands and paws. Ace shot his eyes to his mother and smirked in hard confusion.

"Wow," Ace chuckled, "So, uh... I'm glad dad installed that teleportation thing, right at the entrance."

"What's extremely annoying is, if I would've known that was there, I could've found you guys a long time ago," Ralph grumbled as he brushed off his shirt, though he ogled the gorgeous arches of the front entrance of Dead Zed's castle. He slumped his shoulders and gawked, the beautiful pillars, the wild splay of jungle trees that hugged the entirety of their massive abode. Ralph gave Tessa a kind, loving smile and tenderly gripped her shoulder, "Wow... If the inside is anything like the outside, I'm in for a real treat."

"C'mon, I'm sure everyone is going to flip out," Tessa eased excitedly, though she furrowed her brow and only just realized, as her hand grappled for the digital lock on the door, that everyone was still angry at the entirety of the Sugar Rush crew.

She bit her lip and hoped to User somehow her family would remain calm. As she slowly pushed into the house, she flinched as Jax largely bolted from the door, to the kitchen and wailed a few things about wanting Tessa to wait, and the fact that he wasn't doesn't cleaning up for her. Tessa chuckled softly and peered about. All the men in the house were frantic in cleaning, though it wasn't until she caught eyes with Zed, across the way, did realization suddenly slope over the whole room. Tessa quivered as she could feel her father's heavy footsteps ease into the house behind her, though she suddenly felt as if she was merely plopped in the middle of a battle field. She immediately could sense Zed's uprising heat, his draw of a death stare, she immediately regret letting Ralph into the house without explaining to everyone that this whole mess was a massive misunderstanding.

"Holy flying User in the sky," Orph muttered under his breath as everyone stopped what they were doing, though he flinched as Nox was the first to high-tail it out of the room and out of sight.

"Y-You... You found him!" Finn ogled as Tessa slowly pushed into the house, and once Ace closed the door behind him and Royal, Ralph nervously took a few steps in as well, though it wasn't until all five brothers began to lightly approach did Ralph finally feel a little bit more comfortable.

"I wasn't planning on bumping into him, but... I-I decided to dive-bomb Fix-It Felix Jr. and see just what was up," Tessa stated sheepishly, though she anxiously peered about to her five older brothers that began to lazily crowd about the four.

"I'm just glad we cleared the air before mom started wrecking the Niceland building, herself," Ace chuckled as him and Royal pushed past the crowd and made their way over to the kitchen island, though they hovered about to watch just how everyone was going to take to Ralph.

"I-I'm not so sure storming the castle would've been wise, anymore," Orph mumbled, though Tej furrowed his brow and hissed him a curious inquiry. Orph gestured his hands outwards towards Ralph and gawked, "Because! Lookit the size of his hands!"

"Y'gunna take over our game, too?" Duke stated with a sarcastic smile, though just as everyone began to lighten up and ease into laughter with each other, everyone largely flinched as the bar stools, at the kitchen island, were suddenly thrashed to the ground in an easy, strong swipe of Zed's hands.

"I'd like to see him try," Zed barked, everyone nervously back-stepped and cleared the way for Zed. He huffed a hard breath, clenched his fists and glared Ralph down. He could feel his heart suddenly surge with the overflow of anger he had been desperately trying to stuff for so long now. He held his dominant stance and pointed his finger to Ralph in rising rage, "Y'got a lot of nerve to just nonchalantly waltz into MY house. Into MY game..."

Ralph raised his eyebrows, and though he knew this was just a massive misunderstanding, he was thoroughly aware everyone was likely hurt over this situation. Ralph felt the wave of wanting to fight back immediately gloss past him, and the very fact that he had to win back the trust of every gamer in the room flood his circuitry. Everyone silently gasped once Zed began to march in a dominant saunter closer to Ralph, and though everyone was expecting Ralph to largely fight back, Ralph hung his head, kept his eyes trained to his authority, and slowly bent down to one knee, so to give Zed higher ground. He huffed a hard sigh and winced as Zed's voice became more sharp.

"You're on my turf, buddy. You're playing by my rules, now. I don't care who you are... You made all of our lives hell, for the past year..." Zed side-eyed Ralph, though with a long pause of silence, Zed straightened his spine, gestured his arms out and gave everyone around the room a deathly sarcastic, toothy smile and chuckled in the meanest, dominant delight, "...But we're all big boys, right?"

Zed finally pushed a wide, grin to his face and looked about to his brothers, though each of them held a tight-lip look of nervous stillness. They didn't dare eye contact with Zed, and knew when he pulled rank, he pulled hard. Zed clenched his fists and, without even trying, his silver coding riddled his arms, he finally gave his enraged eye contact back to Ralph and returned to his warpath.

"The day you hurt MY Queen was the day you lost all of my trust. You left your only daughter, your heir to the throne... With no family! With nothing!"

"Zed," Tessa tried to quietly interject, though Ralph tenderly let his larger fingers grace her forearm.

"It's okay, Tess," Ralph breathed quietly as remained below Zed's eye level.

"This whole year of hurt, this whole year of pain, of tears, of despair! You had a grandchild you never even cared to know about!" Zed clenched his fists harder and finally gained a few feet of distance between him and the baddest wrecker of all time. With no fear, Zed got in his face, the veins on his forehead and arms largely bulged, "Where were you when your daughter had morning sickness! I don't know about you, but I was holding back her hair! Where were YOU when she nearly went blind during childbirth! You wanna know where I was? I didn't leave her side for over twelve hours solid the second Ace was born! Where were YOU when she nearly became a virus and all of us had to work together to keep her sane!?" Zed shouted, his forehead finally nearly touched Ralph's, "WHERE. WERE. YOU?!"

The room echoed the King's voice, the glass vibrated with his powerful, deep yell, and much to everyone's surprise, Ralph remained on lower ground with his calm demeanor as solid as still water. Ace stood across the room in hard, frozen fear; he knew he had witnessed his dad upset before, but never this enraged. He immediately counted his blessings for never ticking off the King to this extent. Before Ralph could quietly speak his peace, Zed uttered a hard grunt of dire frustration, threw his fists to the side and caught the wall to his right. It largely crackled, the castle trembled under his powerful wrecking strength, and much to everyone's surprise, the wall crumpled and gaped a hole that peered into the sky room. Everyone, but Ralph, took a few nervous steps backwards as Zed continued to keep his strong presence firm in Ralph's face.

"You're not the only one here with wrecking powers now, buddy," Zed spat, his pupils were nearly specks with rage. His muscles flexed as he firmly clenched his fists, yet again. He finally scoffed a noise of incredulous annoyance and looked Ralph over in exaggerated disgust through the firm wrinkle of his nose, "You left us all to pick up the pieces of your dear princess's heart... And now you're back thinking you can just step in and think everything is all okay? You may be the King of Sugar Rush, but I am the King of the jungle... The very jungle that will chew you up and spit you right back out, like the piece of filth you are... And things are gunna get wild if you don't learn your place, here, REAL quick. Do you hear me?!"

Everyone landed their eyes to Ralph and were nearly certain Zed was asking for it, though much to everyone's solid surprise, Ralph exhaled a shaky breath and just barely nodded.

"Yes, sir," Ralph eased quietly, though Tessa widened her eyes and nearly gawked at the situation unfolding, and though she knew Zed had every single right to be mad, she bit her lip and wondered just when she could interject with the ultimate truth, without things getting messier.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Zed stabbed firmly, his fists remained clench, and though he felt the anger rising higher and higher, he was unaware he had repeated the very words Tessa had yelled to Ralph not an hour prior. Ralph raised his eyebrows and sorrowfully gave Zed his nervous, though elated eye contact.

"... You're alive," Ralph uttered, and though he never thought he'd ever feel delightfully sore over seeing Zed again, he desperately tried to keep from tears escaping his eyes.

Zed furrowed his brow in hard confusion and, as his chest heaved through his enraged panting, he finally eased his dominant stance away from Ralph and shook his head, as if to state he needed space from this confusing time. He scoffed a hard noise, turned heel and prominently left the room to remain in hot, baited silence. Ralph slumped his shoulders and let out a shaky breath, though he nervously peered to Tessa and cocked an eyebrow.

"Boy, I thought I got the brunt of the drama with your brick throwing," Ralph's voice nearly trembled, though Tessa heaved a soft chuckle and let her nervous gaze chase after Zed's figure as it vanished around the bend of the sky room.

* * *

"So, this may seem weird, but... How does going to the bathroom work?" Jax loudly wondered, though everyone largely shoved on his shoulders and griped annoyed notions towards him. Jax laughed and swat his brother's hands way, "What! I wanna know!"

"It works just like everybody else, what do you think?" Ralph warmly laughed, as did everybody else.

Tessa giggled, crossed her arms and let her eyes gloss over the calm group in the kitchen. She drew attention to Libby, who stood nearly on top of Tessa. Their upper arms finally touched, and it was at this point Tessa was certain Libby needed a little extra dose of care. Without any hesitation, Tessa scooped Libby's arm up in hers and made it so the two girls were linked. Tessa warmly pat Libby's hand, gave her a kind smile, as if to silently remind her that she was indeed safe. Libby warmly smiled back, though Tessa could tell the weakness in her eyes was only just the beginning of her healing. Tessa finally re-glued her attention to her family, and though a half an hour or so had passed since everyone got to meet Ralph, and endure watching Zed nearly tear Ralph a new one, the tension in the air had only just finally settled. Tessa merely glanced to the wall across the room, where Zed had left the gaping hole. Her heart jumped at the visions that were left in her retinas; she knew Zed never mindlessly wrecked the building, and she also worried that it would typically take a great deal of rage to bring him to that kind of destruction.

"I thought MY hands were big," Ace chuckled as he leaned closer to his grandfather, he held out his palm and was pleased to see Ralph hold up his for comparison.

"I still think your uncle Oliver's might be bigger than yours, bub," Tessa chimed as she tenderly eased her and Libby closer to the kitchen island. She brought up the lone digital pad on the counter and began to thumb through it with her free hand.

"Oliver," Ralph eased, his eyes nervously glossed all the boys in the room.

"You... Haven't seen Oliver for as long as Tessa hasn't seen him, huh," Finn stated softly as everyone fell into a gentle lull of silence. Ralph nodded and heaved a soft sigh.

"Well, it should be no problem now that you have Ace," Orph stated nonchalantly, though Tessa bulged her eyes, and in the midst of her fixing the wall across the room, via the digital pad and castle coding in her hand, she grit her teeth and shook her head at Orph, though she shut her eyes tight as Ralph fixated his attention on his first born.

"What, you mean because he's a wrecker, too?" Ralph wondered casually, he eased a chuckle and looked about the group of boys before him, though he slumped his shoulders once everyone fell silent in hot suspension.

"Sorry, Tess, I-I... I shouldn't have assumed Ralph knew," Orph whispered quietly, though Tessa shook her head at him and shrugged, as if to state Ralph was going to find out about Ace's abilities sooner or later.

"Knew what?" Ralph worried, he grimaced a small smile and peered his attention to his grandson, who began to look as sheepish as ever. He grappled for the loose collar of his tank and cleared his throat in growing nervousness.

"I-I... Uh..." Ace waggled his hand about and desperately peered to his mother, as if to silently beg for help, "Where do I begin, then...?"

"Dad, I need to tell you something, and you're probably not going to enjoy this story," Tessa loudly rushed through an annoyed smile as she managed to worm out of Libby's arm and approach the head of the island counter. She planted her larger hands to the marble and gave her dad a cheeky smile, "You uh... You know how Zed and I left the Arcade, right?"

"Right, and I want to hear all about it," Ralph urged quietly, though Orph, Jax, and Duke loudly burst out into laughter, which had Ralph ogling them in hard confusion.

"Yeah, you'll only care about a few things, trust me," Tessa giggled, her face heat up at the fact that she had to run through the routine of telling this sensitive story, "When Zed and I left the Arcade, we became humans. Right?"

"Correct," Ralph stated nervously, he eyed the three boys that continued to stifle laughter.

"We were humans, without coding..." Tessa side-eyed her father in growing nervousness, "We weren't opposed codes, any longer."

"... Okay," Ralph muttered, though he furrowed his brow as if to suddenly guess where this was headed.

"Long story short, Zed and I rented a hotel room for the night, annnd," Tessa wagged her hand in hard annoyance and looked off, her face turned bright red as she motioned towards Ace, "This... Dunce hat was the result of the night full of code-free sex Zed and I got to enjoy."

The whole group, excluding Ralph and Ace, burst out in hard laughter, though Ace covered his mouth and tried not to largely laugh along. Ralph beamed a wide smile down to the counter for a moment before he gave Tessa his incredulous eye contact.

"A year ago, I'd be pissed," Ralph chuckled, the boys continued to howl with laughter as Ralph continued, "But, I can't say I'm surprised. Or that I blame you... I, too, was once child free, marriage free, and, well... worry-free."

"Yada yada," Tessa rolled her eyes and tried to swat at Orph, who continued to poke and prod at her with quiet notions and chuckles.

"At least your swap didn't create an Arcade-wide power surge," Ralph muttered, though Tessa's eyes bulged.

"What!" Tessa giggled, "Y-you and mom-?"

"Yeah, THAT was a riot," Ralph rolled his eyes, "The entirety of Game Central Station had to evacuate their games. If you can imagine your aunt Taffyta, in the middle of the station, in her pajamas, giving me and your mother a piece of her mind, in the middle of the night. Your poor uncle Felix, well, uh... Broke up the 'party' and threatened to wreck down my door... Much like you did, an hour ago."

"For User's sake," Tessa giggled, though she cocked an eyebrow and gently eyed Ace with her pun. He slumped his shoulders and gave his mom a bashful look of mild discomfort.

"So, how does it feel to be created outside the Arcade?" Ralph asked Ace, though the second the words left his mouth, he furrowed his brow and held his knowing eye contact to his grandson. Ralph froze as the information hit him like a brick wall he couldn't dream of wrecking down. He shook his head as the group slowly fell silent, "You're... You're a human..."

"Came as a surprise to me, too," Ace uttered through a humble tone as he rested his palm on his chest, as if to state camaraderie with his grandfather. Ralph huffed a soft laugh and shook his head.

"You're a User," Ralph ogled quietly, though he quickly drew his eye contact to Tessa, "You... You planned this?"

"Uh, dad... Zed and I were practically celebrating PROM, remember?" Tessa blurt into hard laughter, which riled the boys back up, "Zed and I fought for the first half of our trip and made it ALL up in a night full of pissing off our neighbors. Y'think we had babies on our minds? We hardly had marriage on our minds!"

"But he still proposed," Orph waggled his finger, Tessa continued to playfully swat at him and mutter curses at him under her breath.

"I'm a surprise from ALL angles," Ace put his hands on his hips and beamed, though Libby finally showed her smile and giggled. Ace beamed her a shy smile in return.

"Got that right, give'im a long night of taco Tuesday, and surprises come from all over!" Jax nudged Ace's shoulder, though Ace swat at him and beamed him a bashful grin of annoyance.

"So, you're a User... Do you have the powers of one?" Ralph questioned eagerly as he gripped his attention to him, though Ace shrugged.

"Well... I got mom, Royal and I through the force field, today," Ace shrugged, "I know I can get everyone back into Sugar Rush."

"Get us in... And get them out," Ralph eased as he drew his eye contact to Tessa, "User knows where everybody is... Last time I went to the force field of Sugar Rush, simply to see in, the castle was gone."

"What?" Tessa hissed in growing urgency, Ralph shrugged.

"Just... Gone. All that's there is snow. Even Diet Cola mountain is gone, the sea, the rainbow bridge, everything... It's just a vast amount of snowy wasteland," Ralph stated sadly, though Tessa looked down to the counter in contemplation.

"This doesn't make any sense... How is the game still plugged in, then?" Tessa worried, though Ralph shrugged.

"I have no idea... All I know is we need to find everyone and get them out," Ralph stated, though Orph threw his arm up in excitement.

"Woohoo, road trip!" Orph laughed, though Duke nudged him.

"Hey, genius, WE have a game day," Duke reminded, though Orph waved his finger.

"You're forgetting the week vacation that Litwak goes on, for Summer break?" Orph smiled a cheeky smile, "Closed Arcade!"

"You want to spend it traipsing across a game that you could permanently die in?" Finn argued, though Orph shot him a glare.

"A lot more fun than staying home and reading books, now isn't it?" Orph volleyed, though Finn gave him a disgruntled look.

"That should be our game plan, then," Ralph eased, "Why don't... Why don't you and Ace do some poking around Sugar Rush, tomorrow. Do it during game-day, so no one will see you sneak in and out. Try looking for your mother, and everyone."

"What if we don't find them before the game-day is up?" Tessa worried, though she peered to Ace in growing excitement as her heart began to pound.

"Then, come home... We can't risk losing you guys in there, as well," Ralph stated nervously, though Tessa heaved a hard sigh and shook her head.

"Sugar Rush is nearly endless," Tessa frowned as her eyes aimlessly glossed the marble counters, "This is going to take forever..."

"Welp, y'didn't give up on me, and it's been a whole year," Ralph stated with a warm smile, though he peered about the room in gentle silence, for a moment, before he cocked an eyebrow and glanced to Tessa, "I... I really should be heading back, now, but... I wanted to speak to Zed, before I go."

"Oh, for User's sakes, don't let him wreck anything else," Orph grumbled as he glanced towards the hole in the wall, across the room, though Tessa had successfully patched half of it. Orph gestured to it, nonetheless and gave Ralph a weak smile, "We made the whole castle spotless before you guys arrived."

"Don't worry, I will make sure nothing else gets wrecked," Ralph chuckled, though he nervously began to follow Tessa, who gestured to where she thought Zed could potentially be.

"Can't Ace just use his crazy User powers to fix the hole right up?" Jax wondered, though Ace gave his uncles a sheepish smile and began to follow after Tessa and Ralph; he was thrilled Libby kept in tow with him.

"Sorry guys, I think we got a bigger hole to patch, here," Ace chuckled as the four slowly began to vanish towards the sky room.

"Users," Orph muttered as the room fell quiet. Jax and Duke shook their heads playfully as Orph carried on, "Think they know everything."


	47. Chapter 47

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong :** omg LMAO! Wouldn't that be a sight! xD I was thinking more like a lion, but Tarzan works too! omg that was so funny

 **MightNinja2000 :** No worries, I appreciate it

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL I meant she was just extremely close to Tessa, like hovering xD But tiny palm-sized Libby works! Hahaha. Vanellope definitely has her own little form of a 'talk' with Zed, and it definitely doesn't include Zed wrecking things - he knows better LOL

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yeah, Sugar Rush definitely takes a hit, for sure, but it all comes back together :)

 **Snake557 :** I think at this point everyone's nightmare is coming true xD But yes, they go on a valiant search for everyone, and results in some awesome surprises I'm excited to show you guys :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Sugar Rush is MASSIVE, so Ralph only gets to see really just what's beyond the entrance and not much more. You'll see! :) It's still plugged in cause the tracks are all still there. Rearranged and in different parts of the map? Yes, but still there xD Yeah, Zed was bottling a lot of crap so to stay strong for Tessa, but then once he saw Ralph he was like aw hell naw. hahah. Thank you!

 **Burgie :** Thank you! :D

 **Retrokill :** That remains to be seen, but Ace DOES still have authority over him, and his uncles never fail to remind him that xD

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Dunno what Zed's outburst had to do with being a woman, but, alright! xD and yes, Nox is fearful he will be mistaken for Turbo lol

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Yeah, I think the community has collectively called their shipping name TeZed. I've also heard Zessa, which is a bit easier to pronounce xD Tessa and Zed get their bouts of alone time, there's a LOT of ground to cover, so I don't want to saturate the story with random love-chapter fillers lol. They come as needed, and will be more prominent as other couples become apparent. Also, Zed did have a monitor when removing Radex :) Albeit small. It was a terminal of sorts, nothing too in-depth.

 **Leafy :** OMG MY LOVVVVVVE YOU MADE IT YAYAYAYAYAYYAYAY. It's ok! I enjoy hearing what you have to say on Facebook and such, either way, it's cool xD It does boost my reviews, tho! I'm really glad you feel that way, because everyone was so upset and so up in arms, I knew I had to have SOME form of blow out, so I wasn't leaving everyone high and dry with all these angry feelings xD Zed's talk with Vanellope, however - he doesn't have the balls to get THIS riled with her lol!

* * *

 **Song Listened To : Hold On (The Break) by Walk Off The Earth**

 ***Chapter 47***

"Boy, Zeddy was pissed," Libby stated above a whisper, the four tenderly strolled through the sky room and on towards Tessa's and Zed's bedroom.

"He was," Ralph grumbled, though he gave Tessa a kind side-eye, "Got yourself a brave, strong defender, there."

Tessa bashfully smiled and peered down to the tiles. All four beings let their bare feet tenderly lap against the glossy floor. The cool, dim atmosphere of the corridor, that led to Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, housed them in the comfortable beige walls that finally domed to a glorious archway. Their bedroom door hung open a little, as if to state Zed's potential point of pouting was left agape just enough to express he was wanting someone to eventually find him. Tessa breathed a soft chuckle and pushed past their door, she politely let everybody in, though she knew said conversation was strictly for Ralph and Zed. She knew Ace and Libby would want to eavesdrop as well, and she didn't complain; she was just glad to have the company and camaraderie.

"Sorry about that, dad," Tessa barely whispered, she glanced across her bedroom and noticed their balcony screen was wide open, and Zed's figure could be seen stewing. He peered off their balcony and into the glorious field of grass, in which was their beautiful view. Tessa gently gestured towards the balcony and gave her father a nervous smile, "He... Still believes you guys just banished me. I'm sure he's cooled off, now, and you can explain what really happened."

"If he starts wrecking more stuff, though, I apologize in advanced for retaliating," Ralph grumbled quietly as he began to move closer to the balcony.

Ace, Libby and Tessa eased a small bout of quiet laughter, though once Ralph began to move closer to their balcony, they sunk closer to each other and eagerly looked on. They got to a comfortable enough distance to where it wasn't obvious they were eavesdropping, though they could still hear everything they were saying. Ralph inhaled a solid breath and let his eyes gloss the scene before him. Their gorgeous white curtains billowed in the jungle breeze, it was humid and warm. Ralph slumped his shoulders and felt his heart pang with sore remembering; every bout of decoration, every crown molding, every touch of home, that Tessa had wormed into their glorious castle, made him sorely miss Sugar Rush, as well as Vanellope's taste in style, which Tessa had quickly clung to. He shook his head slightly and tried to un-boggle his thoughts. He knew he had to focus on the task at hand.

Ralph tenderly stepped out onto the balcony, he quietly ogled the large, sprawling gape of outdoor tiles, seating and a high arch of ceiling. The scene was gorgeous, the jungle's nighttime touch of warmth, as well as all of it's nightlife, had him wanting to stay and explore this wild world. His eyes nervously glossed over Zed; he stood with his palms firmly planted to the concrete divide of their balcony, he was hunched slightly, and it was clear his gaze was out to the dimming horizon, as if he was wholly uncertain how to feel. He felt his heart grow sore, he knew Zed had stolen Tessa's heart, and once upon a time, they were a dewy, innocent couple traipsing into prom night with high hopes and wide smiles, though with all the turmoil and drama Ralph and his entire brood had been thrown into, Ralph saw a nearly destroyed man before him. One who so diligently took precious care of his daughter's heart, as well as his only child. Ralph shook his head and finally scoffed a quiet noise, to make his presence known; Zed didn't budge, though it was apparent he was aware of Ralph's soul.

"Guess I've underestimated you," Ralph stated warmly, he held a good distance between the two, for safety. Ralph shrugged his few fingers into his side pockets, straightened his spine and peered out to the horizon before them, "Not only do you have all those boys whipped, you've managed to check-mate the entire Arcade with Ace's existence."

"Yeah, it's probably for the better that no one in the Arcade likes me, anyhow," Zed stated dryly, though his tone was still dark and damaged. Ralph huffed a breath of disagreement.

"I'm glad to add more wreckers to the family," Ralph eased, he gently peered to Zed and hoped somehow he'd get Zed to ease up, eventually, "... This includes you."

Zed heaved a soft sigh and looked down to his hands. He lifted them, and through a lazy sprawl of his fingers, he finally drew them in to a lousy clench of fists and furrowed his brow in hard confusion, nearly as if he was disappointed. He gently brought his eye contact to Ralph's general direction and slumped his shoulders.

"I owe you an apology," Zed stated quietly, his eyes aimlessly glossed the ground before Ralph's large bare feet, "I just... Have done a lot of picking up."

"You don't need to apologize," Ralph grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, he peered down to the ground as well, "I'm sure seeing me, once and for all, triggered all sorts of emotions... After believing, for this whole time, we'd banish Tessa. Which isn't the case."

"Where's Vanellope, and everyone?" Zed wondered, though Ralph's heart jolted as Zed finally gave Ralph his electric blue stare.

"... In Sugar Rush," Ralph mumbled, he slumped his shoulders and peered about Zed's strong hands, "I've been kicked out of Sugar Rush... Just like Tessa. It's been a whole year since I've gone back, or anything."

"... It's a trick," Zed uttered as he finally faced Ralph in growing urgency, "It's Radex, isn't it."

"We believe so," Ralph nodded, "Radex told Tessa we all banished her to keep her at bay. The force field was for added measure... Radex... He told me that you and Tessa had died."

"Died," Zed repeated, he furrowed his brow and held eye contact with Ralph, "That's... That's why you stated that I was alive."

"Right," Ralph quipped as he looked down, he nearly didn't want to relive the pain of believing parts of his family were gone forever.

"You haven't seen Vanellope, or anyone, for as long as Tessa has, then?" Zed inquired, though he only just noticed Tessa's, Libby's and Ace's shadows hanging near the gape of the balcony door. He inwardly forced back an annoyed smile and kept his attention to Ralph.

"Nope," Ralph eased, he gave Zed a near pleading look and frowned, "I... I'm pretty sure, with your guy's game wipe, that you reversed all of our coding, too. Mine's gone back to factory setting..."

"You don't share codes with Vanellope anymore?" Zed worried, though Ralph held out his palm and shrugged.

"Well, I can't glitch anymore, and my code box, in the Fix-It Felix Jr. code room, is red again," Ralph gestured his palm closer to Zed, "You... You actually have more of Vanellope's powers in you, right this second, than I do. I have none. See for yourself."

Zed frowned and glossed his eyes over Ralph's large hand, which grew closer, though Zed also noticed Ralph's and Vanellope's gorgeous, cross-striped wedding ring still prominently glued to his left ring finger, as if he had sworn to never take it off. Zed frowned harder and tenderly slid his hand to the back of Ralph's, and with a gentle spark of power, Zed let his and Tessa's silver coding flare Ralph's, which confidently showed his original red coding. Zed finally took his hand away and shook his head.

"Well now I REALLY feel like an ass," Zed mumbled, though Ralph chuckled and shrugged.

"You didn't know... You were just protecting Tessa," Ralph side-eyed Zed and gave him a knowing smile, "... That really speaks volumes to me."

Zed shook his head bashfully and turned away, he gave the view before him a hard glare and, just as he went to return to his point of sulking, Ralph tenderly grappled for Zed's shoulder and brought Zed back to face him. Zed huffed a nervous sigh and only glanced up at Ralph, as if to state he wasn't worthy of any kind of tender attention Ralph had to give.

"You stood up to the biggest bad guy in this entire Arcade," Ralph gave Zed a playfully mean smile and squinted, "You may be tough and loud and fast, but I've been here since before your game was even a thought. You'd be a tough contender, Mr. Dead Zed, but you knew, when you went toe-to-toe with me, just then, that you were up against more than you could handle."

Zed huffed a long sigh and knew arguing was futile; he knew Ralph was right, and any amount of wrecking lessons Tessa had to give wouldn't amount to the sheer strength Ralph was programmed with, though he flinched once Ralph lovingly grappled his shoulder a little harder.

"But you showed me something I don't ever see, from anyone, that decides to get in my face," Ralph's warm voice glossed over Zed, and though Zed squinted in curiosity, Ralph shook his head in kind knowing and bent down a little further, "You showed true courage. You didn't have a single waver of fear, in your eyes... That took guts, kid."

"I'll do anything to protect my family," Zed stated firmly, though quietly, in accordance to Tessa, Ace, his brothers and anyone else under the protection of the Kalivar castle.

Ralph squeezed Zed's shoulder a little harder and eased a soft chuckle, he nodded gently and kept his gaze gripped to Zed's.

"The true mark of a King," Ralph eased through a soft breath, "One day, somehow, when Sugar Rush is finally done being plagued by all this drama... I know you will make Sugar Rush proud... It would be honored to have a King, such as yourself."

Zed raised his eyebrows and tried his hardest not to smile too wide, though he finally looked down to his feet so he could beam a bashful smile anyhow. Ralph chuckled and shook him a little harder, which forced a small laugh out of Zed.

"I will admit, I didn't like you at first, and I didn't think you were a good fit for my daughter... To be honest, your 'too cool for school' and 'tough guy' attitude really had everyone on edge," Ralph and Zed shared a good, quiet laugh, though Ralph continued to lovingly grip Zed's shoulder, "But you have come so far... Not only have you taken such good care of my daughter, when her family couldn't be there for her, but... You've also raised a fine young gentleman. How you've managed to raise a User, and keep him as humble as he is, is totally beyond me."

"I am pretty great, aren't I," Ace mumbled from behind the glass, though Libby and Tessa largely burst out laughing.

"Will you just get out here, already, you guys have been hovering this entire time and it's stressing me out," Zed barked to the doorway, in which Tessa, Ace and Libby all traipsed out of it in a messy load of kind laughter.

"Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves," Libby giggled as she crossed her arms and stayed close to Ace.

"Alright, group huddle, get in here," Ralph urged as he flagged the other three over, he lightly grappled for Ace's shoulder and gestured for Libby and Tessa to come into the tight bubble of beings.

"I get to be a part of the wrecker meeting?" Libby chimed with a wide, girly smile, she playfully went starstruck up to Ace. He wrinkled his nose and lightly nudged her arm, which had her nudging him back. Ace finally shook his head and draped his arm over Libby's shoulder, and as the five sunk closer to each other, he raised his eyebrows and peered down to her as she continued, "Am I an honorary wrecker?"

"Doesn't take much to become one," Tessa muttered, though she covered it with a gentle cough into her fist. Ace threw his attention to his mom, grit his teeth and gave her a look as if to ask if she had a death wish. Tessa giggled, covered her mouth and tried to avoid any swatting that came from Ace.

"Let's make a deal with each other, we're all pretty powerful people in this Arcade," Ralph gave Tessa, Zed and Ace his knowing stare, though he smirked and looked to Libby, "ESPECIALLY Libby."

"Hey, y'never know," Libby chimed slyly, everyone chuckled.

"There will be no more rumors of banishment, no more hurt, no more secrets, no more separation... Got it?" Ralph assured, everyone loudly agreed with the onslaught of annoyed sighs and mutterings alike.

"A year is too long to be away from all you guys," Tessa frowned, though Ralph hugged her a little closer.

"Well, it won't happen any more. Not as long as we all stick together, and figure out what kind of crap is happening over at Sugar Rush," Ralph mumbled, "DEAL?"

"Deal," Everyone affirmed, though they all jolted as Ralph suddenly scooped everyone into a massive group hug.

"I missed you guys," Ralph uttered as he finally let everyone to their feet.

"You have no idea," Tessa sighed in relief.

* * *

"Y'really gunna hide out whenever he's around?" Orph stated in hard annoyance as the five racers lazily began to file into the living room for their nightly routine of shouting at the television, though Orph hung in the kitchen with Nox, who nervously peered about.

"I-I really don't have a choice," Nox worried, his pixelled stare glossed over Orph's in growing urgency, "Pretty sure he'd beat me to smithereens if he saw me."

"Why!" Orph urged in hard annoyance, though Nox loudly shushed him and flailed his arms a little.

"Because!" Nox hissed, "Who do I look like, to you?"

"A yellow-eyed freak who needs to see a dermatologist," Orph mumbled, though Nox swat at him which had both boys largely shoving one another.

"I look like Turbo, you asshole!" Nox whispered loudly, though both boys laughed, "The second he sees me, he's gunna-"

"Dad, we forgot to introduce you to someone," Tessa giggled as everyone slowly rounded the corner, though Nox stood up straight, and just as he was going to attempt to find a getaway, he realized he was cornered, and his only exit was the front door, straight into the wild jungles. Nox raised his eyebrows in a fit of growing terror and watched as Ralph's eyes glossed over his figure in a lazy fashion of trying to let his brain register just who was in front of him. Tessa kindly gestured to Nox and gave him an apologetic smile, "Where've you been? I want you to meet my dad!"

"W-We've met," Nox muttered, though he could feel his spine turn to jelly once Ralph clenched his fists and bulged his eyes.

"YOU!" Ralph barked, though Nox immediately put his hands up in defense and took a few lazy step backwards.

"N-No I'm not who you think, I'm not who you think!" Nox urged loudly as Ralph's dominant, terrifying figure began to saunter closer to Nox.

"Tess, you understand you have a virus loose in the castle?" Ralph's loud voice drew everyone's attention over the safety of the top of the couch, from across the stretch of room.

"I'm not a virus, please... Listen to me," Nox pleaded with a sheepish smile as he nervously chuckled, though he lost his footing and fell to his rear. He began to attempt to stand, though the slippery tile made it difficult.

"Grey skin? Yellow eyes?" Ralph hunched over and got in Nox's face, "There's no other Turbo I know of!"

"B-But he did have brothers, you uh... Ever stop to think about that?" Nox dared, though he flinched once Ralph grappled for Nox's collar, brought him to a standing and kept his firm grip tugged on Nox's shirt.

"Lash? Throttle?" Ralph wondered rushed hard annoyance as he wrinkled his nose, though Nox rolled his eyes.

"Keep'it going," Nox lazily waved his hands.

"Nox," Ralph concluded, though Nox waved his hands in a cheeky, sarcastic manner.

"Woohoo, gold star for Ralph," Nox barked, though Ralph firmly shoved Nox away and pointed his large finger in Nox's direction. Nox uttered a soft choke, rubbed his upper chest and warily peered up to Ralph.

"What are you doing here," Ralph uttered in hard dismay, though he flinched once Ace gently grappled Ralph's forearm and maneuvered himself so he was between Ralph and Nox.

"Nox is harmless, we took him in because he was homeless in EZ Living for almost thirty years," Ace dared to suddenly challenge his grandfather, and much to Ace's surprise, Ralph softened his stance and peered down to his grandson in nervous contemplation.

"What about all that talk for 'teaming up' with Sugar Rush, all those years ago?" Ralph glared into Nox's eyes, though Nox shook his head and frowned.

"That was Lash," Nox's voice trembled, "I hid out in EZ Living..."

"Dad, Ace and Nox are good friends, Nox has been living with us for the past few weeks," Tessa interjected as well, and though Ralph relaxed, he gave his heated stare straight into Nox's quivering soul.

"Listen to me, buddy, I just earned half of my family back," Ralph quietly grumbled, "If you do anything to take that away from me... I will see to it your coding won't NEED a home, anymore."

Nox raised his eyebrows with Ralph's threat and swallowed through a trembling breath. He shook his head and felt his grey skin go cold, though he was thrilled to have Ace firmly stand before him, a brotherly stance the two boys now shared. Ralph looked about the room, to the group of misfits and cocked an eyebrow.

"As long as you guys trust him, I guess I have no choice," Ralph growled, though he peered to Tessa and nervously glanced back to Nox, "Will... I see you tomorrow?"

"Ace, Lickity and I will be over before game-day," Tessa assured, Ace lightly nodded and relaxed his stance before Nox, "We can go over just where we'll be looking, in Sugar Rush."

"You can also see your uncle Felix," Ralph finally tried to smile, and though he slowly wormed towards the door, he kept a nervous, glancing attention to Nox, "He'll be dying to see you."

"Will Aunt Calhoun and Tammy be there?" Tessa inquired with wide, excited eyes, though Ralph chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, I'll make sure of it," Ralph concluded quietly.

"I can't wait," Tessa smiled, though as everyone said their goodbyes to Ralph, and made sure he was safely teleported back to the entrance of Dead Zed, Tessa heaved a long sigh and felt everyone draw their apologetic stares to Nox, who stood with Ace near the kitchen.

"Thank you," Nox eased humbly to Ace, though Ace furrowed his brow and peered into Nox's creepy eye contact.

"For what?" Ace inquired lightly, though Nox shook his head and looked down.

"For sticking up for me, like that," Nox mumbled, he glanced to Ace and gave him a half-smile, "Never had anyone do that for me, before."


	48. Chapter 48

**Reviews :**

 **MightNinja2000 :** Everyone's coding got wiped when Tessa and Zed accidentally set Radex loose into Sugar Rush's coding , in Defying Code - the game downgraded back to how everyone was prior to all of their code swapping nonsense. Zed fixed Sugar Rush from the outside, but in doing so, wiped the upgraded version clean, thus keeping everyone's code color the same. This has only happened once - IDK where you're getting the whole '3 times' nonsense. Ralph's just briefly SHOWED red when him and Vanellope coded Tessa, on their honeymoon, but it wasn't reverted back to red. Also, her name is Lickity. Not Lickety. There are no E's in her name.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Haha yeah, Felix is definitely a fun character to write for. So sweet and gentlemanly, beyond any of the other gentleman of my little crew of characters xD

 **chuckiboo :** It's true, he won't :) And yeah, their search is sort of gruesome, but doesn't last way too long. Thank you!

 **Burgie :** Yes, I'm glad it's a thing everyone caught on to. Definitely aids in their whole lack of code-swap to virus mess. They delve in on that topic once they find Vanellope and everyone!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Naw, Nox can take care of himself, he bounces back pretty fast, but it definitely solidified his and Ace's brotherhood a little tighter :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yeah, Ralph understands everyone's frustrations, especially Zed's. But Zed is definitely in for in when he reunites with Vanellope :P

 **ArchitectDreams :** Aww wow, thank you so very much! That means a lot to me! I know, I'll be sad when it all comes to an end, but the end of Rectifying Origin doesn't technically mean the END end ;)

 **Snake557 :** Yeah, everyone that comes across Nox typically has the same, or similar, reactions as Ralph did. Very like WTF WAIT. Ralph's was likely the most dramatized and stressful, but Nox definitely knows when and where he's likely going to get heat for people thinking he's Turbo. Poor guy xD

 **Retrokill :** Do you want me to tell you? It's sort of been spoiled, by my most recent drawing 'Tables Turned' lol. I thought the red stripes, down his shirt, made it obvious xD

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Ohh hahaha I see. Yeah, I try to give everyone a good dose of the 'realness' factor, so no one is a mary-sue or a gary-stu. Thank you! :) I'm glad Nox is growing on you - he's a good character, and writing for him, and Throttle, has prepared me for the other two I will be adding in.

 ***Chapter 48***

As the night finally settled, and everyone found their way to their respective rooms, Ace found himself in the sky room to adjust his sleeping arrangements for the night. He knew construction of his tower as simply moving at a snail pace so to be presented to him as a birthday present, though he had no complaints. He knew, in about a week's time, that special tower would be his, and he'd be able to move in shortly after. For now, he fluffed his pillow and made sure the large couch, in which he had resided on to sleep, was comfortable, though just as he was about to turn to grapple his blanket and dim the lights, his figure jumped at the mere sight of Nox standing in the entrance way of the sky room. Ace stood up straight, clutched his chest and, just as he was about to angrily scold Nox for being eternally creepy, both boys began to quietly laugh.

"Bro, you've gotta knock off the sneaking around," Ace rushed in a tone of mild, playful complaint. Nox rolled his eyes and pushed into the room, "You almost scared somethin' straight out of me, man."

"Wouldn't that be a sight," Nox quietly stabbed, he smiled a cheeky smile and slowly eased closer to Ace, though he peered towards the entrance of the sky room, as if to suggest what he was about to say next should be kept under wraps, "Sorry to bother you, but... I-I was headed to my room for the night and I heard Libby in her room, crying. This was a little bit ago, and I don't think she's crying anymore, but... Just thought I'd let you know. You being her boyfriend and all."

"... Boyfriend?" Ace gawked as he slumped his pillow down to the couch in growing annoyance, "I'm not her boyfriend, who told you that?"

"I just wanted to see how red your face would get," Nox stated nonchalantly, though he side-eyed Ace in a knowing, brotherly way. Ace furrowed his brow and grimaced.

"She's not my girlfriend," Ace argued bashfully, though he gave Nox a look of worry, "She was crying...? I'm sure being banished from her tribe isn't something she can easily live with... Much like my mother thinking she was banned from Sugar Rush. I can't imagine."

"Yeah, it wasn't like... hysterical crying, or anything, but," Nox shrugged and peered to Ace, and after a few moments of gentle silence, he squinted inquisitively towards Ace, "Y'think something bigger happened?"

"What do you mean?" Ace worried.

"Well... You sort of grew up with her, yeah?" Nox questioned as both men shifted their weight and got comfortable in each other's presence. Ace nodded, in loo of Nox's question, "Was she always a real cleanly person? Never liked to get her hands dirty or anything?"

"God, no," Ace chuckled, though Nox furrowed his brow and grew confused.

"'God'?" Nox laughed, Ace gestured his hands in hard annoyance.

"I can't say User anymore, trust me, it's confusing me too, I have to move to the next deity in line," Ace argued, though Nox tilted his head up and smiled in elated surprise.

"Yes, your greatness," Nox playfully scoffed, though Ace huffed a hard sigh and, as both boys laughed and settled, Ace slapped his hands near his sides, shook his head and furrowed his brow.

"Libby was very much a tomboy, when we were growing up," Ace stated, he peered to Nox in question, "She was not afraid to run around barefoot, pick up... Strange bugs and threaten to put them in my hair."

"Wow," Nox scoffed through a smile, Ace rolled his eyes.

"Pretty sure she had something against my scalp. Maybe this hue of blue is just too hard to resist adding flowers and colorful creatures, for aesthetics," Ace laughed at the fond memories, though he gave Nox a confused smile, "How come you ask?"

"Well, you know how my room is right next to your old room, where Libby is staying right now?" Nox looked over his shoulder once more and carried on quietly, "That girl has taken at least three showers today. I don't understand it."

"Really?" Ace wrinkled his nose with a confused smile, "I guess that is a good point. Her hair looked wet this morning... And again throughout the majority of the day."

"She's in there showering right now," Nox ogled in confusion, "Your old bathroom shares a wall with my room. I've heard that knob turn more times this week than I can count. Not to seem creepy or anything, but after awhile I was like, dang, she must be a germaphobe."

"No... Not at all," Ace worried, though he shook his head in a confused way and shrugged, "I mean, unless she drastically changed over the course of the two or three months I haven't seen her. Weirder things have happened."

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I think something's up," Nox frowned, his gentle stare glossed the ground in contemplation, "Is it okay if I come wake you up, if I hear her crying again? I-I think maybe you should talk to her, or something."

"Y-You think she'd really open up to me, of all people?" Ace squinted politely, "I mean... I can see her maybe venting her worries to another girl, like my mom. Or even Aunt Lickity."

Nox inhaled a slow breath, softened his gaze even further, and as he let it gloss up to the dome of the glorious display of stars above the two, in mild, delightful annoyance, he finally landed his glowing, yellow gaze straight into Ace's soul.

"I see the way she looks at you, Ace," Nox stated quietly, his cheeky demeanor came and went in the easiest transition Ace had ever witnessed, "I think she needs you. You WERE her best friend, after all... After all those stories you told me."

Ace gave Nox a small smile and looked down to his fingers, in which he slowly and nervously began to fiddle before his center. Nox scoffed a small laugh of kind knowing, gave Ace's shoulder a brotherly nudge and shook his head.

"I'll keep an ear out, for you," Nox eased, "I don't want her spending another night trying to cry herself to sleep. I figured I'd let you know what was up. I can't imagine you wanting her to be so sad, for such a prolonged amount of time, either."

"Thank you for telling me," Ace nodded, his heart lightly jumped at the hopes of potentially easing Libby's worries, "I'll talk to her."

Nox nodded back in affirmation and slowly began to trail out of the sky room. Ace heaved a soft, long sigh once Nox left, pulled his shirt up and off of his body and plopped down to the couch before him. He grappled for the digital pad on the table next to the head of the couch and, with a small few gestures, he dimmed the lights completely off, and allowed the universe above him to flood his retinas. He huffed a long sigh and, as the thought of Libby hung on his mind, he tucked his arms behind his head and allowed his mind to delve into the idea of him and her. He wrinkled his nose and knew, deep down, he had always had a bit of a crush on her, though the pestering thought of adulthood slowly sunk into his brain, further and further each day. He wondered if they would ever have the prospect of a future romance, or anything along those lines. His heart fluttered at the idea, and he closed his eyes with a smile, knowing full well that he'd have to ultimately gain her trust first and foremost. With his heart beginning to spark at the mental challenge, he allowed himself to drift off with his kind thoughts.

Ace drifted in and out of sleep, as if the mere thought of Libby being up in her coop, crying herself to sleep, saturated his thoughts, and kept him from getting a good nights rest. Every now and then, he'd sit up and listen to the stillness of the castle, as if he could potentially hear out for Libby's cries, though half of the time, he was uncertain which gasp for air and sudden jolt to sitting upwards was real or merely a dream. As if the stars peered down at him and attempted to assure him that the universe held every single answer to his and Libby's worries, he would occasionally let his sleepy gaze gloss them, to beg for enlightenment, a shred of knowledge on the fragile situation at hand. Before he could roll over and question just the time of the night it was, he felt a nervous, gentle hand grapple his shoulder. Ace jolted and attempted to open his drowsy gaze, though he wasn't surprised to see Nox before him.

"I-I walked all the way in here with my eyes closed," Nox muttered with a wide, annoyed smile, "I'm just glad it was your shoulder that I grabbed, cause I can't see shit. You're welcome."

"Is she okay?" Ace rushed as he sat up, though Nox uncovered his glowy stare and nervously peered down at Ace.

"No," Nox worried, "She's crying again, but... She... Sounds like she's talking to someone."

Without a single hesitation, Ace jumped up and began to quickly hustle out of the sky room with Nox right on his heels. Both men scrambled up Ace's old stairwell in an educated, collected manner, though once the sounds of Libby's cries hit Ace's eardrums, he began to feel something in the pit of his stomach ignite, and he knew once it was lit and flaring, he was doomed. Fear plagued his skin, and before he knew it, he could feel his heart racing in pure urgency, the very images of their childhood flood his mind, the grotesque picture of Libby's tears, her innocent pale face in the most sorrowful frown amidst the three mean children that tore the lace of her dress. Ace clenched his fists and knew, if his father hadn't stepped in, he would've let his wrecking fury fly for the sake of never seeing Libby's sad face ever again.

Ace quickly approached his old bedroom door, in which Libby was behind and leaned closer to the wood. He winced as Libby cried aloud, though he huffed a nervous breath as she begged for something, someone, to stop amidst her sobs. Ace immediately grappled the handle, though the second it merely jostled and wouldn't let both men in, he felt the panic in his gut begin to sky rocket. He choked a noise, shoved the door and felt his eyes gloss over the wood in growing, dire urgency.

"It's locked," Ace rushed, though Nox gestured towards it.

"Wreck it down," Nox worried, though Ace furrowed his brow and grappled the handle harder.

"Libby," Ace called urgently, though he remained calm amidst the chaos, in hopes that his soft voice would potentially cloak her worries; Libby continued to cry, as if she couldn't hear him.

Ace's coding immediately flared to his palm, and as if he suddenly could recall old game cheats he had no idea it's origin, he shut his eyes tight and let his coding do all the seeing for him. Just as he gained visions of the door lock mechanism, every single last clank and screw inside the trap of the handle, his coding began to work at unlocking it. He bit his lip, kept his eyes clenched shut and just as he was about to crack the final tick of the lock, Libby suddenly let out a hard cry of terror. Ace choked a hard noise and could feel the metal door handle, in his grasp, begin to angrily pucker and crumple under his sheer strength, though he lost all concentration, and reasoning, once Nox grappled his forearm.

"Ace, wreck the door down!" Nox pleaded firmly, though before Ace could argue, he inhaled a sharp breath, clenched both his fists and barreled down the door.

The door easily crumpled underneath Ace's power, and as everything popped off the hinges and Ace's old room was finally accessible, Ace furrowed his brow in hard rage, kept his fists clenched and dominantly stepped in. He froze and was surprised to see that Libby was, indeed, speaking to no one. Libby remained curled on Ace's bed, her hands and arms covered her head in sheer terror, of what, Ace was uncertain. As Nox stepped in behind him, to be of aid, he froze in his tracks and realized he might not be needed too much, after all. Ace gestured firmly to the window and looked about his old room.

"Check the window," Ace quietly demanded, and as Nox rushed to Ace's old window and popped it open, Ace slid his foot to the tile underneath, sparked the castle's coding and, through intelligence he knew was coming to him strictly from adrenaline, he cued the code room's fragile orb.

Ace held his breath and knew questioning his power, at this moment, would make his concentration waver. He shook his head, and as his lightning fast fingers worked to bring up a map of the land surrounding the castle, he brought up pin points to every single being underneath protection of the Kalivar name. He furrowed his brow deep in his work, and just as he had everyone accounted for, no one more and no one less, he slumped his shoulders and huffed his power out of his finger tips. The orb largely disappeared, as if Ace finally let his concentration slip, and as easily as the adrenaline rush came, it passed. Ace felt his circuits wiggle to mere goo, though he nervously peered to Nox who firmly shut and locked Libby's window.

"There's no one," Nox assured quietly, though both boys finally drew their attention to Libby.

"What's going on?" Zed suddenly urged as he stepped into the room, with Tessa firmly on his heels, though they both froze as Libby's soul continued to sorrowfully sob to the world.

"Libby's having a night terror, of sorts," Nox worried as Zed and Tessa largely pushed into Ace's old bedroom.

Ace clutched his chest and, as his eyes nervously glossed Libby's fragile figure, he could feel Tessa's, Zed's and Nox's gaze urgently peer to him, as if he was the only one in the room that could quell the hurricane Libby was trapped in. Ace slumped his shoulders and so tenderly approached the bed in which Libby lay tightly curled in the center of. He swallowed a hard gulp and could hardly feel his mind try and comprehend the staggering cries that Libby emit, as if she was merely lost in a nightmare. Ace shook his head, inhaled a slow breath and gently bent over to reach for Libby.

"Hey," Ace's deep voice glossed, he long blinked and recalled every single last time his mother had to come into his room to shake him from a bad dream.

Every lesson in tenderness came back to him, and it wasn't until his eyes traced the back of his very own hands of destruction did he realize his mother and father had taught him a valuable lesson; one that would transcend friendships and relationships. He heaved a breath of collection and gently sat down on the edge of Libby's bed, though just as his hand touched the skin of her lower arm, he largely flinched as Libby instinctively yanked her arms away and uttered a plea of terror. Ace yanked his hand away as well, as if to wonder if he was potentially making it worse, though he shook his head and knew he had to pursue comforting her, somehow.

"Libbyyy," Ace cooed quietly, and just as his gentle fingertips merely tickled the hair on her arm, her skin flinched and she continued to reel away.

"No, no, no," Libby urged through her tears, her cute, high pitched voice was merely painful to listen to through her cries.

Ace shook his head and knew she was trapped in a bad dream, and as much as he wanted to shake her awake, he knew that would only make it a million times worse. Ace furrowed his brow and let more memories come to his mind; just like the kind of treatment he enjoyed, that would calm him down when he was young, he let the coding on his hand come alive. As his silver coding lit the area about them, he reached for Libby once more and finally let his live-wired palm grace Libby's forearm, and much to his surprise, she jolted awake and firmly sat up in a riled, panting mess. Ace flinched and held his terrified gaze to hers, though he knew he needed to remain calm for her sake.

"Easy, easy," Ace gestured his hand a little, though he felt his heart sink as Libby's terrified eyes peered into Ace's. He tenderly reached for her once more, he knew he needed to keep coded contact with her in order to fully calm her down, "You're safe, you're alright..."

Libby shook her head and with trembling hands, she grappled for the blankets and attempted to cover herself with them, though she also began to look as if she was about to scoot away, as if any single soul in the entirety of the Arcade wasn't trustworthy. Ace frowned and knew he shouldn't push the limit any farther than deemed worthy, though he bit his lip and pushed the envelope anyhow. As he adjusted his sitting position, he warmly slid his live-wired palm to her lower arm and kept skin contact with her. He inhaled a sharp, nervous breath as her electric yellow coding suddenly flood his with all sorts of angry, terrified visions of hurt and abuse. Ace shook his head and, as easily as he wanted to succumb to the fearful thoughts and horrific visions, his gaze pierced Libby's pleading stare. His chest rose and fell in growing neediness, and as quickly as he could remind himself just why he was here, he gave Libby a good taste of his positively enforced exterior coding.

"It was just a bad dream," Ace soothed, his deep voice glossed over the room like honey, and before he could feel Libby's terrified, hateful memories want to flood his, yet again, he pushed back with his glorious silver coding and shook his head with a loving smile, "I told you that you're safe, here."

Libby panted and kept her gaze glued to Ace's, as if it were her last lifeline. She uttered a soft cry and quickly covered her face, though Ace kept his touch to hers and made sure their code contact was strict. She wept into her hands, her fragile shoulders trembled. She finally allowed Ace to tenderly rub his hand up and down her arm, though before too much time had passed, she slowly leaned forward and shoved her face into Ace's upper chest. With no hesitation, Ace wrapped his strong arms around Libby's upper back and shut his eyes tight. She quietly cried into his bare chest, and with her arms tucked tight to her body, she easily allowed Ace to smother her into his warmth. He let every single inch of her skin, that was touching his, come to life with his powerful coding, and before he knew it, he could see the room about them glow in a glorious display of warm gold, as cheery as the summer sun.

Ace finally beamed a wide smile into Libby's shoulder and, with the kind glow about them, he was certain his positive thoughts transferred to her coding with much ease. Ace was aware the two had three eager onlookers, though he didn't care. He squeezed Libby tighter to him and easily doused her thoughts in every single good memory of their childhood, every single last laugh and smile they shared, every bit of hope that he could muster. As warm as a thousand waiting fire flowers, their coding largely sprawled their arms and shoulders in a gorgeous display of iridescent gold honeycombs and tender circuit lines. Ace nearly ogled the mess and was certain he had never seen anything like it.

Before too long, Libby had finally eased up, and without hesitation, she lay in Ace's embrace and allowed him to continue to flood her thoughts with everything he was made of. Every last fiber of their strong bond coat their skin with the onset of a flowering love, and with that, their string of silent conversation could seemingly carry on for hours. Ace warmly began to rub her upper back, and as the small amount of time gently drifted on, he felt his thoughts transferring all sorts of kind blips of information straight to her coding, the handful inside jokes they had garnered over the course of the few days she had returned to him, and it wasn't until she slouched her cheek to his collar and finally rest in his arms for good did he feel his heart begin to surge in rapid-fire overflow of bashful feelings. Libby heaved the gentlest giggle on his skin as her tears began to dry, once and for all.

After a long handful of warm silence, Ace felt his ears prick to the sound of his mother diligently coding a new door for his bedroom, and before he could question just where they were going, he peered to the doorway and noticed the three tenderly leave and close the door behind them. Ace furrowed his brow in stunned surprise and suddenly felt his face heat up. He peered down to the top of Libby's head and, before he could fully comprehend everything that was going on, he could feel Libby's thought stream slowly ease into a quiet snooze of gentle white noise. Ace slumped his shoulder and grimaced to the warm, dim room about him. He huffed a soft sigh and continued to hold Libby close, though he wrinkled his nose, smiled a wide, bashful smile, for he knew, come tomorrow morning, he wouldn't hear the end of this shiny escapade.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I drew this scene *flails* titled 'Honey' on my deviantART - Username Vyntresser. GO GO GO SEE THE FLUFF HURRY.**


	49. Chapter 49

**Reviews :**

 **Firstly, I'd like to give one HUGE shout out to ArchitectDreams for being my 400th reviewer for Rectifying Origin! congrats! And a HUGE thank you to every single last one of you that reviews - you guys are honestly the GREATEST.**

 **Xaehttium :** Aww thank you! I'm really glad everyone is taking to these two so well :D I always get worried adding new couples. I try to make every single last one of them different, but I never know which one is going to be the one people don't like xD So I appreciate it!

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** It's true xD They give Ace a hard time about it a lot, from here on out haha. Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** IKR? I wish I had coding like that. It'd make life so convenient xD Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yep, I'm glad you caught on! :D It definitely adds for some tension between Ace and Libby (in a good way) - the fact that her coding only really cooperates with his (though, Libby's coding could also cooperate with Nox's and his game-mates, as it's explained in this chapter - not saying that Libby and Nox get together, but once the gang is all back in the picture, it definitely is brought up again, in loo of Nox, for a certain other lady-friend he begins to like :)

 **Snake557 :** Thank you so much for your support! :D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL! Well, at this point, everyone's already feeling the tension between Ace and Libby - and it only gets worse. Nearly to the point where they want to get involved to move things along haha

 **chuckiboo :** Yeah, their whole relationship is the epitome of 'take it easy' - but Libby eventually comes around ;) Thank you!

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Thank you!

 ***Chapter 49***

Ace's eyes popped open in a lazy draw of confusion, his arms flinched as his larger hands attempted to keep his head up. His elbows skid on the marble counter, though as the cheery sunlight flood the kitchen, and the sound of his five rambunctious uncles hoarded his thoughts, he sagged his exhausted eyes into his bowl of cereal. All five of his uncles, Nox, the two dragons, and his mother loudly chat with the new day, everyone largely moved about the kitchen and shuffled around to make a delicious, quick breakfast before game day. Ace furrowed his brow and wondered just how hard he could glare into his soggy cereal, how he could potentially attempt to drown out the noise. He knew he had to stay awake for the sake of scouring Sugar Rush for the other half of his, and his mother's family.

"Dad, could you stop looking at me like that, please," Ace grumbled, his voice croaked a deep, tired pang of clear lack of sleep. He lulled his eyes closed and nearly into the back of his head as his dad heaved a hard chuckle, raised his eyebrows and poured himself a cup of coffee; the chatter about them continued on, though Tessa cued to their conversation in calm kindness.

"How many golden honeycombs did you collect last night, there, Mr. Banjo Kazooie?" Zed eased coolly with a wide smile of fatherly knowing, he gently poured cream into his coffee as Tessa tried her hardest to stifle laughter.

"None, DAD. Do you like the look of my silver coding?" Ace barked, he finally pried his tired eyes open, waggled his fingers and showed his father the silver circuitry he shared with Tessa and Zed.

"Dammit," Tessa sharply hissed in growing disappointment as she stepped away, though Ace eyed her in a vast amount of annoyed delight, as did Zed.

"You're the product of two master-swappers," Zed mumbled as he finally lulled his eyes closed and sipped his coffee, "Can't help but be nosy."

Ace huffed a hard sigh and now began to prod his soggy cereal with his spoon, though he furrowed his brow slowly and shot his father an annoyed side-eye.

"I'd like to point out that Banjo collected Jigsaw pieces, not honeycombs," Ace's voice crackled in growing irritation, though Zed volleyed the stare tenfold.

"He did TOO collect honeycombs, that was his life-blood," Zed retort knowingly, "He's a BEAR for crying out loud."

"Well, I'm a HUMAN, so leemme-alone," Ace mumbled, though his face turned beet red at the very idea his mother and father were insinuating through their teasing.

"Dude, did you not sleep at all, last night?" Orph wondered, his peppy, loud self made Ace wince in growing irritation, "Your eyes have bags for days."

"Yeah? Your hair is a fire hazard, cause of all that gel, and could likely stab someone's eye out, but I ain't about to point out your short comings off-handedly," Ace snapped, though Orph put his hands up in playful defense.

"Uh-oh, we got a badass," Orph mumbled, though Zed shook his head, as if to convey to Orph to kindly dismiss Ace's sour attitude.

"Running on no sleep, over here, tread lightly," Zed uttered, Orph cocked an eyebrow and slung his black pack over his shoulder.

"Thanks for that," Orph stated through the grit of his teeth as the five racers began to quickly head towards the front door in a slew of timely excitement.

"Bye, guys," Tessa lazily waved, and as each racer finally filed out the castle doors, their home grew a gentle air of quiet.

Balba huffed a soft sigh through her mouth and sat on her rump near Zed. He kindly began to stroke the top of Balba's head, which was bowed and level with Zed's upper chest. Zed furrowed his brow and assessed his young son; his tired eyes glossed to his inedible cereal below, his spoon clanked with the bowl as he aimlessly swirled it about. Zed scoffed a small laugh and peered to Ace's old stairwell. He knew Libby and Nox were likely still sleeping, though he wondered just what they'd be up to while they eagerly waited for Tessa to scour Sugar Rush. Zed's stomach churned with the idea of them aimlessly darting about Sugar Rush's now chaotic map, though he attempted to stuff his worries, so not to bring an onslaught of added drama to the kitchen. He lightly continued to pet the top of Balba's head as Lickity and Royal slowly approached the opposite side of the kitchen island, where Tessa stood.

"All jokes aside... I'm glad you got to comfort Libby, last night," Zed eased to his son, which had his curious, tired hazel eyes lazily glued to his father's. Zed raised his eyebrows and peered down to his mug, and though he knew of Libby's tragic backstory, he gave Ace a kind smile, "I'm sure she really needed that."

"That was some nightmare," Ace mumbled, he finally felt as if it were safe to open up without being teased, "... Her thoughts were so... Dark, dad. I really couldn't understand it. Did she really get banished from her tribe?"

Zed cocked an eyebrow and now felt a wave of worry slosh over him. He nervously peered to Tessa and held his breath, though Tessa gazed at Zed in return, as if to ask just what they should do or say from here. After a moment of long, hot silence, Ace finally huffed a hard sigh and rolled his eyes.

"My favorite part was when you guys continued to keep shit from me," Ace mumbled, though Zed furrowed his brow.

"Watch your language," Zed quietly pressed, though Ace raised his eyebrows in dewy surprise and felt defeat wash over him, though he still held onto grumpiness.

"Libby wasn't banished, Ace," Tessa stated tenderly, though she nervously eyed Ace's old stairwell and bit her lip in contemplation, "I'll... I'll tell you everything once we're in Sugar Rush, okay? We'll be doing a whole lot of nothing, I'm sure... If Sugar Rush is as much of a snowy wasteland as dad says it is."

"You guys are bringing warm clothes, right?" Zed wondered as Balba gently nuzzled her snout into Zed's hand for further attention-seeking.

"Yep, we'll be just fine," Tessa nodded, though she beamed an excited, bashful smile, "I can't wait to get into the air... You can sleep once we're flying, if you'd like, baby."

"I'd like that very much," Ace quietly and innocently griped as he gave his mother a pleading frown.

"It was noble of you to stay up to help Libby," Zed concluded gently, though he felt his heart jump the second Ace finally let his face wrinkle a genuine smile, "Y'know that speaks volumes to the ladies."

"I-I still have a lot to learn," Ace grumbled, and though his words made it clear he was being sincere, his hunched, still and defeated sitting position proved that he was nearly too exhausted to even begin trekking down that conversation.

"C'mon, why don't we all go to dad's game," Tessa inquired as she glanced to Royal and Zed, "I know Aunt Calhoun, Uncle Felix and Tammy would love to see you guys, as well."

"I certainly missed them," Zed peered to Royal, who gently bobbed his large skull in kind agreeing, "Why not. Royal and I can hang with Tammy for the game day, then. Maybe we can begin formulating a game plan for just what to do once we find the rest of the Sugar Rush crew."

"Good idea... You'll just have to convince Tammy to skip school," Tessa nodded, though the second her hand met with Ace's shoulder, he inhaled sharply, jolted and was startled out of accidentally falling asleep upright. Tessa flinched and reeled her hand back a little, "You... Gunna be okay for the flight, bub?"

"Yeah, I'll have no problem getting you into the game, I just could really use a nap," Ace's voice croaked, though everyone began to stand and ready themselves for the haul to Game Central Station, and to Fix-It Felix Jr.

"C'mon, lover boy, you'll get plenty of sleep tonight, once we're back home," Tessa assured with great cheek.

As Tessa, Zed, Ace, Royal and Lickity all vanished from the Kalivar castle, the humble palace was coated in a thick layer of late morning silence. Balba lay sprawled on the glorious tiles, as comfortable and as pleased as ever. Dead Zed's racers adhered to quarter alerts and the mid-morning sun finally began to peek into the gaping window of Ace's old bedroom. Libby inhaled slowly, stretched her legs and felt a smile grace her cheeks first thing. She fluttered her eyes and propped herself up on her elbow, from her laying down position on her side. She brushed her white hair out of her face and grimaced in kind confusion. She wondered why her coding felt so calm, why everything was laced with purpose and happiness. She felt relieved as the warm sunshine proved all of her feelings true, she wondered if grieving over just what had happened to her was suddenly becoming a lot easier than she thought it'd be.

Before too long, she put on a pair of cotton shorts, that cut just above her knees, and though she hesitated to do so, she finally convinced herself to throw on one of Ace's t-shirts. Having to borrow Tessa's clothes, until they can code Libby a new wardrobe, she was aware of Tessa's absence and figured Ace wouldn't mind one bit. A proper grey t-shirt with a faded logo of Tron's old game cabinet's graphic, Libby straightened out the large shirt over her body and slowly moseyed down Ace's stairwell. She crept silently, though she was surprised to find that the whole entire castle was silent as well. Not even the sound of Balba's slumbering breaths could be heard, though she could easily see Balba's long, platypus-like tail motionlessly poking out from the entrance to the sky room. She grinned in a small way, pushed into the kitchen and was thrilled to find Nox's also silent figure comfortably sat at the kitchen island. He had the digital pad in his hand and a glass of water in his other.

"G'morning," Libby quietly chimed; she knew her and Nox were only recently acquainted, though she tried her hardest not to seem too shy to the near-stranger.

"Good day," Nox sheepishly chuckled, both gamers volleyed knowing notions about how late they had slept in. Libby found her way to the back door of the kitchen, which lead to Tessa's garden. She peeked out the window of the door, to find exactly where the sun was, though Nox eyed her and continued, "Did you sleep well last night...?"

"I... I totally did," Libby gawked in kind confusion as she finally peeled herself away from the back door and positioned herself on the other side of the kitchen island, from Nox. The whole palace was draped in warm sunshine, the beige walls seemingly flood every single last pixel with dewy comfort, "I slept like a rock. I-I briefly remember having a bit of a nightmare, but... I think I rolled right over, after that. The rest is a mystery to me."

"You... Really don't remember?" Nox eyed her with his glowing, square-pupiled charm, though Libby furrowed her eyebrows in growing apprehension.

"Remember what...?" Libby muttered as she froze.

"Ace barreled down your door? He... He comforted you?" Nox wagged his hand a little, as if to hope she'd come to find her memory, though her facial expression grew more confused and more bashful, "You guys exterior swapped and everything!"

"...WHAT!" Libby cried with a hard, bashful giggle, "S-Swapped? No, no... We... Where are you getting this from?"

"Uh, I was watching!" Nox cried, though he realized just exactly what this all sounded like. He threw out his arm in hard defense and gave her an apologetic frown of rushed anxiousness, "N-NO I mean...! Not like creepily WATCHING I just... UH I mean...!"

"So what you're saying is, Ace barreled down my door for no reason, which is still intact, mind you... Just so he could... Exterior-swap with me?" Libby began to roar with laughter, though she eyed Nox, "You're hilarious."

"I-I was there," Nox demanded again, even though it sounded extremely out of place, "You... You were having a night terror. You locked your door... Ace barreled the door down because we thought you were hurt."

Libby's giggling finally subsided and her facial expression softly sloped to a genuine knowing, as if Nox's statements were finally lining up. Libby furrowed her brow and let her eyes scan the counter.

"I DID have a really bad nightmare, but... I-I didn't think the whole castle knew about it," Libby worried as her face turned red.

"We thought you were in trouble, quite frankly... You were so dug in, Ace woke you up via an external swap," Nox explained as he finally set the digital pad down and locked it to an idle state.

"... You witnessed this?" Libby wondered, though this time she wasn't defensive about it. Nox nodded gently.

"Tessa and Zed did, as well," Nox explained quietly, though he finally side-eyed the living room and dragged his creepy stare back to Libby in growing cheek, "Kinda cool, seeing what code color you guys would have, if you WERE to swap..."

"I-I don't remember any of this," Libby rushed, her face turned beet red, "I'm... I'm sure it was just a quick fix, I mean, right?"

"Well, from my understanding, Ace was with you nearly all night," Nox rubbed the back of his head, he continued to give Libby his kind, knowing smile, "He... He really cares for you."

"He said this?" Libby prod eagerly, though she furrowed her eyebrows and largely shrugged, and forced herself to look nonchalant, "I-I mean... He's my best friend, I guess it's safe to assume. That's what friends are for."

"Right, friends," Nox stated dully as he slumped his shoulders and gave Libby an annoyed grin, though he shook his head and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "You two definitely showed a certain type of coding that I haven't seen in another gamer... For a very long time."

"What do you mean?" Libby worried, her heart began to pound with the heat of the excitement under her skin, though she desperately tried to remain cool.

"... You have honeycomb coding," Nox eased quietly, though he shook his head and looked down to his palms, "I thought Lash, Throttle and I were the last beings to harbor such old, rare coding. But... I guess it's come back, because you and Ace definitely put on a good show of golden honeycombs, last night."

"Honeycomb coding?" Libby questioned, "You mean... You could actually SEE my coding?"

"Well, it was yours and Ace's combined, but... Yeah," Nox nodded softly, "But, the honeycomb aspect was coming from you. Aren't you a self-programmed gamer? Honeycomb coding is extremely old coding. Turbotime was the last known arcade cabinet to have such coding."

"I-I had no clue, I didn't even know what color my coding was," Libby shrugged nervously, "All I know is that it's my original coding."

"Huh," Nox eyed her quietly, though he finally smiled, "Well, welcome to the honeycomb club, then, I guess."

"Does that make us a colony of bees?" Libby giggled, Nox rolled his eyes and beamed her a kind grin.

"I guess the club DOES need a Queen. Congrats, you're the Queen bee of a colony of three worker bees," Nox wagged his hand, "I'd say four worker bees, but Turbo's long gone."

"Turbo..." Libby trailed off, she furrowed her brow and grimaced, "He was your brother... Right?"

"Right," Nox stated quietly, "He died, inside Sugar Rush, half a decade ago. The only ones of us left, from Turbotime, are me, my older brother Lash and Turbo's mentor, Throttle."

"Huh," Libby peered down to her palm in light confusion, "So... How were you guys able to see mine and Ace's coding, then? I can't even see my own coding. Hell, I didn't even know what it looked like."

"We could see it because Ace has glitching powers. He got them from Tessa, who... Got them from Vanellope, she's the Queen of Sugar Rush," Nox gently explained, though Libby nodded a little and looked off.

"It's going to be weird meeting Ace's grandmother," Libby giggled as she crossed her arms, "I wonder just what the rest of Tessa's family is like."

"Welp, looks like we'll be meeting all of them shortly," Nox sighed, he rubbed his temple in agitation, "I'll continue to get nearly slaughtered by everyone that first encounters me. Great."

"Well, you know Ace will stick up for you," Libby raised her eyebrows and gave Nox a knowing smile, "As would anyone else that knows you well enough."

"Yeah, what Ace did for me last night was real cool," Nox eased quietly, he glanced at Libby sheepishly, "Seems his generosity doesn't fail, around here, huh."

"Too true," Libby breathed a small giggle and bashfully looked away, though just as she was about to say more, Nox interrupted her.

"You should really give Ace a big hug, for what he did," Nox stated seriously, though he tried to remain light-hearted, "I... I'm not expert, on any kinds of swaps, but... Typically, our honeycomb coding is really, how do you say... 'Selective'... Any form of internal or external access to it is met with either electric shocks or burns."

"Burns," Libby stated, she furrowed her brow and peered down to her hands in growing thought, the very idea of her ex-fiance viciously having his way with her, the very cries she emit came rushing back to her thoughts, though she felt her heart jump at the fact that he, indeed, complained about a terrible burning sensation. She huffed a faltered breath and peered to Nox, who now gazed at her in growing confusion, "That's... Odd... How come it didn't burn Ace, then?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Nox chuckled and shook his head, "Only honeycomb coding is compatible with other honeycomb coding, I believe. Even though Ace has normal circuitry, you have to remember... He IS human. Maybe it overrides our nasty burning tendencies."

"Odd," Libby eased as her eyes scanned the counter in even harder, billowing thought, "Guess I'll... Talk to him about it, later... Won't THAT be awkward."

Nox eyed her in an annoyed fashion, though he smiled, "Ace cares about you... It won't be as awkward as you may think."

* * *

"Hey, dad," Tessa beamed, and as her and Ralph embraced, she choked a small laugh as his massive arms squeezed her as tight as he could without hurting her.

"I'm so glad yesterday wasn't just a dream," He sighed as the two pulled away, the six gently hung in the entrance of Fix-It Felix Jr., just before the pathway to the Niceland building. Just as Ralph was about to direct them towards where Tammy, Felix and Calhoun were anxiously waiting, he double took on Lickity, who hung patiently near the back of the group, though her eyes held to Ralph's in growing, puppy-dog excitement. Ralph scoffed a breath and wagged his hand a little, "Is that who I think it is?"

"Aww, that's right! You didn't get to see Lickity, yesterday," Tessa chuckled as the four lightly parted and gave Lickity room.

"Boy, did I miss this old bat," Ralph laughed as he bent down a little and gestured his hand, so to encourage Lickity to come forth.

Lickity finally bumped past everyone, as if she had been containing herself this whole time. She slumped into the front of Ralph's body, with hers, grumbled a hard noise, slapped her strong, massive paws up and over Ralph's shoulders and gave him a proper hug with him enveloped in her wings. Ralph laughed a hearty laugh and firmly pat her sides. She merely looked like a massive puppy-dog against Ralph's height. She huffed a hard sigh and flopped her ears in growing goo of delight as Ralph's large hands began to scratch at her neck and jaw.

"Here's surprise number three for yah, dad," Tessa put her hands on her hips and smiled, "Lickity can talk."

"Lickity can talk?" Ralph wondered, nearly as if he didn't believe Tessa, though he froze as Lickity exhaled a small laugh.

"Yeah, you can blame Orion," Lickity's boyish voice laced over Ralph's shoulder. The two quickly pulled away from each other, though Lickity stood tall with a wide, fang-filled smile as Ralph held the side of his head in his hands.

"Holy User! You can talk too?" Ralph barked with a wide smile as Royal finally joined the two, as if he wanted a good ear rub as well.

"Gotcha two talking pets," Tessa gestured to Royal and Lickity, who easily began to swarm Ralph for attention.

"Yeah, now it's a two-for," Lickity laughed as she firmly nuzzled her snout into Ralph's large hand, as did Royal his other hand, "We want attention AND we won't shut up!"

"Wow, talk about a head trip," Ralph laughed as the two large dragons finally swarmed him for attention. Zed, Ace and Tessa largely laughed at the adorable sight, "Well, I definitely can't complain. I've got all I've ever wanted... Only thing missing is..."

"The rest of our family," Tessa eased through a huff of a sorrowful sigh, in which Zed lightly placed his palm on Tessa's lower back.

"You'll find 'em," Zed assured quietly, "Who knows when, but... As long as they're still alive, I know you'll find them."

"Thanks," Tessa eased as she leaned into Zed's warm touch, though Ralph finally began to come up for air, amidst the two attention-seeking dragons.

"C'mon, we don't have a lot of time before game day, and the three are really eager to see you," Ralph kindly gestured for everyone to follow him, though he gave Tessa a look of sly charm, "Well... Actually, your uncle Felix doesn't know you've come back... Tammy, Calhoun and I kept it a surprise."

"So when I walk in the door, he's not going to know what hit him?" Tessa giggled, Zed clapped his hands together and rubbed them in growing anticipation as everyone began to quickly march towards the Niceland building across the tidy, worn cobbles.

"Awesome, I'm excited for THIS show," Zed beamed, Ace nudged his father's elbow a little.

"Shoulda seen mom yesterday," Ace chuckled as Zed drew his attention to him, "She started throwing bricks at Ralph."

"You're going to call your grandfather by first name basis?" Tessa argued playfully, though Ace scrunched his shoulders and felt his face heat up in growing bashfulness.

"I-I... I uh..." Ace stammered as he nervously glanced to Ralph, though Ralph lovingly nudged Ace's upper arm with his massive fingers.

"I don't think 'grandpa' suits me, anyways," Ralph grumbled, as if to agree with Ace's notion and quell any worries he may have; Ace immediately relaxed and gave his grandfather a grateful smile, "Just call me Pa. I know for a fact you're not going to be able to call Vanellope 'grandma'. Minus well stick with the trend, now."

"You might be able to get away with calling her 'mom' as well," Tessa shrugged, though she eyed Ace, "She's a tougher cookie to bite into."

"Boy, don't I know it," Ralph heaved a hard sigh and lazily gazed off in a love-struck type of way; everyone largely swat at him and loudly gripe, Ralph chuckled and attempted to playfully dodge everyone's love-taps.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, it's that time of the story again!  DRAWING REQUESTS!**

 **If you have a scene in mind, from just these 50 chapters of Rectifying Origin, that you would like to see DRAWN, by yours truly, go ahead and state your request in your review! I'm doing it one chapter early, but you guys can still request for chapter 50 if you'd like to see any part of that chapter drawn (when I upload it)**

 **ALSO. I will be taking ONE animation request. I will animate a small snippet of any scene you guys would like to see! (this excludes Zed's and Tessa's code swap scene - sorry!) If this scene involves talking, I will add voice to it, and upload it to my deviantART and youtube! It'll likely be only a 10ish second scene, but I will be taking votes. Whichever scene gets the most requests, I will animate it! :D**

 **So either put your request in a review to this OR the next chapter, and I will write it down. Once the sketchdump is finished, I'll post it to my deviantART and let you guys know about it here :) YAY Thanks guys!**


	50. Chapter 50

**A/N: WOW you guys, thanks for all the drawing requests! If you have a scene you'd like to see drawn, from these 50 chapters of Rectifying Origin, PM me or review on THIS chapter and I'll add it! :)**

 **I'm also doing an animation request, any ONE scene you'd like me to animate (WILL include voice-over :D) let me know which one you'd like seen animated (by yours truly) And I will pick the one scene that has the most votes! Thanks again guys! you ROCK :D**

 **Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong :** YAY I'm glad you guys are excited! :D No problem, totally PM me as many requests as you'd like :)

 **Architect Dreams :** Your animation request is being considered :) And, of course! I'm glad you enjoyed the shout out :D Thanks for helping me get to 400 reviews, that's so crazy! Also, poor Nox definitely gets the run around from everyone xD Things settle eventually~

 **MightNinja2000 :** Thank you :) Your request has been saved

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! Your request has been saved - Yeah, they definitely are in for a shock, once they enter Sugar Rush, for sure.

 **Karou-Yuki :** Awesome! I've written down all your requests and have considered your animation request - so far, the animation request for Ralph reuniting with Tessa seems to be the one that will likely win xD It has 4 votes over everything else, thusfar. Guess we'll see! :) Thank you so much! Yeah I definitely wanted to show the not-so friendly side to Ace - the morning grouch xD

 **Snake557 :** Awesome, your request has been added and your animation request is being considered! And YES I'm thankful people recognized the Banjo Kazooie reference. I grew up playing that game, and it's sequel, so that series is very VERY dear to my heart. Thank you! :D

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Yes, very true - all of the reunions are emotional for sure. I think the largest will be Tessa reuniting with her mother. I can't wait for that. :) Thanks for your requests, they've been added!

 **Xaehttium :** Your request has been added and the animation request considered! Thank you! And thank for offering for vocal help, for my animation! For the one I will likely be doing, it will only really require my boyfriend and I - but in the future, I will keep that in mind! Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Thanks for the requests! They've been added and your animation request has been considered :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** No problem! Hit me up once you think of one :) Haha aww, no but it definitely gives Libby and Nox good friend-bonding time. Nox becomes pretty protective of her, later in the series, because of Ace's 'relationship' with her. Sort of sticky details, but the three definitely form a stronger bond together :)

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey! Long time no see, thank you for the awesome review, and the list of sketch requests! I really appreciate it, and I'll add all of them to my list :D YAY! I really appreciate the support on my dad, and thank you for remembering! My dad and I are better than ever, he's actually taking me shooting this weekened, so I'm really excited for some father-daughter bonding. :D

 **If you reviewed as a guest, it's not showing up on FF because I think it's like a handful of days LATE. I accidentally wiped my inbox and I do not have the GUEST reviews anymore, but once they're posted to FF, I'll write down the requests the few guests had suggested! You haven't been forgotten, I promise! :)**

 **Song Listened To : Home We'll Go (Take My Hand) by Steve Aoki  & Walk Off The Earth**

 ***Chapter 50***

As Tessa slowly pushed into the Niceland building, she could feel Zed, Ace and Ralph follow suit. Royal and Lickity kindly stayed back, so to give the reuniting family their much needed moment together, outside of the smaller Niceland foyer. As soon as Tessa's eyes adjusted to the warmer, indoor lighting and she un-squinted her eyes, she slumped her shoulders and fixed her gaze on her one and only older cousin, Tammy. Tessa scoffed a small noise, and through a look of pure, elated glee, both girls lit up like the fourth of July. Tessa beamed a knowing grin, gestured her arms out to insinuate she wanted the biggest hug her favorite older cousin could ever give.

"I can't believe it's true, I can't believe it's true!" Tammy squealed through billowing tears. Both girls giggled as Tammy largely slapped her arms about Tessa's neck and buried her face into her long lost cousin's shoulder. Tessa did everything she could to squeeze Tammy into the tightest hug she could possibly muster.

"My User, Tammy, I missed you more than I could ever begin to explain," Tessa eased with a wide smile as she could feel oncoming tears, as well.

After a few long moments, Tammy pulled away and kept her hands firmly planted to Tessa's shoulders. Not a single thing about Tammy had changed. She still was tall, slender and sport her famous, short and sharp haircut, and though she was dressed more on the side of Hero's Duty, she still had her trusty golden hammer in the belt loop of her black skinny jeans. She scoffed a noise, shook her head, and peered her teary eyes into Tessa's. She lovingly held Tessa under her jaws and practically shone with overflowing excitement, both innocent and pure, a quality everyone knew she greatly inherited from Felix.

"Tess, you have no idea... You have NO idea how hard I cried when we were told you guys were killed," Tammy nearly began to crumple to tears. She shook her head and gently covered her own face, though she gently blurt a few more notions, "I must've cried myself to sleep for three months straight...!"

"I'm here, Tammy," Tessa cooed through a small giggle, her heart grew sore at the fact that her whole family had to suffer with the idea that they had wholly lost two people they cared about so much. Tessa lovingly pulled Tammy into a hug, once more, and rubbed her upper back, "Y'can't kill me, that easily. C'mon, you know I'm tough. Why, you practically helped raise me."

"That, she did," Calhoun finally pushed into their fragile bubble, and though Tammy kept glued to Tessa, Tessa gladly peered up to her aunt with an overflow of love. Calhoun firmly nudged Tessa's shoulder and gave her a wide, proud smile, "I always knew you to be the toughest of the bunch. No way I thought you were killed."

"It's true," Ralph grumbled as him, Ace and Zed slowly moseyed up. Ralph rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly, "Calhoun was the only one who had an inkling that you were still alive."

"Never doubted for a second," Calhoun snapped as she put her hands on her hips, though she merely glanced to Ace and double took, "Well. Looks like you did a lot MORE than survive, huh, wreck-it?"

Tessa raised her eyebrows and softly glanced to Ace as well, though she gave her aunt a sheepish smile. Tammy finally collected herself, kept a happy air about her demeanor and slowly wiped her tears. Tessa gingerly gripped Ace's hand and pulled him forth, Zed gently kept in tow as well.

"I guess I just couldn't help myself," Tessa chuckled, Zed eyed her with a knowing, cheeky smile, though he gently linked arms with Tessa as the two proudly peered to Ace, "Y'guys, this is our son, Ace. He turns one in uh... Wow... Less than a week."

"Oh my User," Tammy shook her head, took a few steps away and held her head in her hands. She scoffed a small laugh, peered back to the three and ogled them as the adorable little family unit they were, "You... You made the swap work! I can't believe it!"

"Wasn't easy," Zed mumbled, though Tessa wrinkled him a smile and nudged his ribs just barely. He breathed a soft chuckle and gingerly gripped Ace's hand in his, "Son, this is your great aunt Calhoun and, uh... Well, I guess Tammy would be considered your second cousin!"

"Aww, I can't be a GREAT cousin?" Tammy frowned, though she rejoined the group with a bashful smile.

"You're MY great cousin," Tessa shrugged, the two girls giggled as Tammy swat Tessa's arm, though Tammy finally gave Ace her whole attention.

"It's... It's really nice to meet you," Tammy eased as she held out her hand to Ace, though once the two shook hands, Tammy eyed him, "Lemme guess... Y'got the wrecking gene?"

"Guilty," Ace scrunched his shoulders and beamed a closed-mouth grin that easily mocked Ralph.

"You definitely got a whole-lotta Ralph in you," Calhoun laughed quietly, she put her hands on her hips; she was fully decked out and ready for the upcoming quarter alerts, "Can you glitch, too?"

"Sure can," Ace nodded bashfully, he gently showed his palm and let it swarm with his, Tessa's and Zed's silver coding. Tammy ogled the mess.

"Silver coding," Tammy stated knowingly, she eyed Tessa and Zed, "I'm still curious... How did you get the swap to work?"

"Y-Youuu... Want the details right now?" Zed choked with an annoyed smile, "Why don't I tell you when my son isn't present."

"Yeah, I don't need to hear about my parent's escapades, really," Ace rushed, though Tammy and Calhoun largely laughed.

"We have the whole game day," Tammy nudged Zed's shoulder, "I want to know everything about what you all have been up to."

"Good thing we have a handful of hours," Zed nodded, though before they all could carry on, the familiar, chiming noise of the bounce in Felix's step could be heard down the long corridor of the Niceland building.

"Alright, family, whose ready for those pretty quarter alerts?" Felix chimed happily as he tucked his hat tighter over his head, though the second Tammy and Calhoun stepped aside to reveal Tessa and Zed, Felix slowed his footwork and let his little gloved hands fall to his sides. He furrowed his brow, kept his gaze on the two and long blinked in hard disbelief, "Well I'll... Be..."

Tessa cupped her hands to her chest and beamed her uncle a wide smile. She could feel her heart swell for every reunion, every single look and gawk of disbelief sent her way, she knew she could hardly get enough of it, and though she missed her aunt, uncle and cousin, she nearly couldn't wait one more single second to get into Sugar Rush and find her mother; she knew, for certain, that reunion would be nothing short of epic. Tessa shook her head and dared to push out of Zed's comfort bubble and towards her small uncle.

"Uncle Felix," Tessa eased shakily with a wide smile, she gingerly knelt down and patiently waited for Felix to come to grips with the situation.

"My... Stars..." Felix hissed as his eyes largely gathered with tears. He took his hat off slowly and held it over his chest, "My... Tessy, is that really YOU?"

"It's me, uncle," Tessa heaved through a raspy giggle as tears billowed in her eyes as well. She shook her head and wondered just when the emotions in her heart would finally settle and keep her tears at bay. She sniffled, wiped her eye and opened her arms, "I'm back, Uncle Felix... I-I missed you guys so much!"

"You have no idea, my dear," Felix nearly whimpered as he slowly strolled over to her, though the closer he got, the quicker his pace became. Once he was in her bubble, he largely jumped into her embrace and slapped his littler arms around her neck. He huffed a scoff of a cry into her shoulder and grappled her, "Oh, my sweet Tessy-girl! You're just as beautiful as I remember."

"I have some good news for you, uncle Felix," Tessa whispered quietly to him, and when the two pulled apart to gaze into each other's glassy eyes, Felix kept his gloved hands to her shoulders and peered up at her in hard surprise. Tessa wrinkled her nose and gave him a knowing look, "You remember that one day, a long time ago... Where you begged Zed and I to eventually make you a GREAT uncle?"

"I most surely do, lovey," Felix whispered in pure wonder, though he froze once Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gently looked over her shoulder.

Tessa heaved a small giggle and peered her gaze into Ace's. He raised his eyebrows in collected anticipation, as if to question if he should make his presence known, though he quickly answered his own question and began to slowly saunter over to the two. Tessa finally stood and held her hand out for Ace as he neared, though Felix inhaled a slow gasp and tucked his hat, which was clutched in his hands, further up his chest. Tessa tenderly gripped Ace's hand and gave him a small smile; she knew this was bound to be overload for him, though she assessed him and was thrilled to find his never ending patience remained unfaltering, even while he was literally running on no sleep.

"My User almighty," Felix hissed as big tears gathered in his eyes, though he began to fan his face with his hat, "My little Tessy all grown up and having babies!"

"U-Uh, singular," Tessa stammered with a widening smile, the group behind them let out knowing bouts of laughter as Ace slowly knelt down to meet his great Uncle Felix.

"My name is Ace," He eased quietly, his gaze held loving to his great uncle's shocked, teary stare of bewildered disbelief, "I'm your, well... Great nephew."

"Great nephew indeed," Felix whimpered with a wide, cheery smile. He shook his head and clumsily wiped his tears, "I-I... You'll have to forgive lil 'ol me."

"It's a lot to take in, I'm sorry uncle," Tessa giggled as Ace remained knelt, though the rest of the group slowly joined the three, so to ease Felix's rushing heart.

"We wanted to surprise you," Calhoun crossed her arms and eyed her husband, she heaved a soft chuckle and shook her head, "Knew you'd babble like a baby."

"How could I not?" Felix hissed as he finally attempted to collect himself, he tenderly reached his small, gloved hand to Ace's and ogled the whole entirety of him. Ace gave him a warm smile and lovingly gripped his hand.

"There's been a huge misunderstanding, between everyone here," Ace started confidently, he knew he was nearly grinning and bearing the situation, due to being so sleep deprived, though he shoved his selfish emotions aside for the greater good of this raw situation, "I guess... Radex has been spreading lies about what is really going on, in Sugar Rush... And in this whole family... We're going to put an end to all of this."

"They're going to get into Sugar Rush," Ralph stated to Felix, who nervously glanced up to his much taller, bigger brother. Ralph heaved a soft sigh, and though he knew quarter alerts would be soon, he nervously glanced down the long corridor, to the foyer at the entrance of the Niceland building, "They'll spend the game day there."

"But how?" Felix worried as he gripped his floored attention to Ace, "There's... There's this nasty force field over the whole entrance."

Ace raised his eyebrows and gave Felix a kind, albeit nervous smile, though he lulled his eyes closed, directed his line of sight to his mother and gave her a questioning gaze, as if to wonder just who was going to be next to lay these oncoming surprises on Felix. Tessa rubbed her forehead and heaved a along, hard sigh, as if she didn't know where to begin, though she was thankful Zed's confident, cheerful demeanor stepped in. She knew he had the right way of wording things. Zed lovingly gripped Ace's strong shoulder, squeezed and gave Felix his sure, elated eye contact.

"We have a lot to fill you in on, in the few minutes we have left before the Arcade opens, so... How about I give it a shot," Zed shrugged, he glanced at Tessa, who gave him a grateful smile, "Long story short, Ace is... Not like us, gamers. He can get through the force field. That's how he got us into Game Central Station."

"Well, golly, how did you manage to get past it?" Felix ogled quietly, he peered up at the new souls in his sights, though Ace, Tessa, Zed and Ralph all stole nervous glances to each other; they knew this would be news to Tammy and Calhoun as well. Ace finally inhaled a deep breath, so to insinuate he was ready to find his footing in this mess.

"I'm a human," Ace carefully stated, his massive hand still tenderly stayed gripped with Felix's. Felix gave Ace a look of floored disbelief, "I... I was, well... Conceived outside of the Arcade. Mom and dad left the arcade to try and set things straight with Sugar Rush, and-"

"Hot dog, Tessa you bugger, you cheat the system!" Felix stated with a wide, cheeky smile, which had everyone immediately beaming ear to ear. The whole group eased as Felix finally sunk his hat back atop his head, though he gave his whole attention back to Ace, "You're a User... I-I can't believe I'm related to a User!"

"I just recently discovered this mess, myself," Ace mumbled as him and Felix shared a small bit of camaraderie.

"The Arcade will open in one minute," The game cabinet quietly chimed, a gentle reminder to tell everyone to find their marks. Everyone tensed and nervously peered to each other.

"Dammit, I wanted to go with you into Sugar Rush," Ralph worried as Ace finally stood, everyone peered to Ralph, though Tessa began to slowly push down the corridor and instructed everyone to follow suit.

"What about after game day?" Tessa inquired, "Surely we'll all be hanging out afterwards, right?"

"Damn straight, we've got a LOT to catch up on," Tammy ordered to Tessa, in which Tessa gladly obliged and rolled her eyes.

"You have NO IDEA," Tessa grumbled, "I've spent this past year living in a house full of seven MEN thank you very much."

"Ohh boys?" Tammy inquired eagerly, though Calhoun heaved a hard grumble and covered her face; Zed easily laughed.

"My five younger brothers," Zed stated, he shook his head and politely held the Niceland doors open for everyone.

"Hoo you shouldn't have said that!" Felix laughed as he nudged Tammy on the way out. Tammy continued to beam excitedly towards Zed.

"There are no boys at Academy, Tessa," Tammy rushed in a pleading way, though before she was to continue, Tessa waved her hand, held it to Tammy's shoulder and cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, cousin, I've got you covered. I've got boys out the wazzoo, so desperately waiting for another girl to come along that isn't me," Tessa chuckled, shook her head and rolled her eyes. She immediately thought back to her five honorary older brothers, and how excited they will surely be to be around one of Tessa's female family members.

"I am SO glad you're back," Tammy heaved a hard sigh, though Zed nudged her as well.

"I'll fill you in on all the details, don't you worry," Zed smiled, Tammy gave him a grateful smile, though Calhoun slowly began to saunter away, but not without grappling Tessa into a hug on the way out. Tessa giggled and, once they finally separated, Calhoun pointed with a knowing smile.

"Y'better be here after quittin' time," Calhoun called as she began to leave, "Don't go dying on us, again!"

"I'll do my best," Tessa called, the group laughed quietly as Calhoun finally left.

As the group quickly began to stroll out of the sight of the game cabinet screen, and towards Royal and Lickity, Zed nervously began to hang near Tessa, as if letting her and Ace traipse into Sugar Rush was going to be difficult. Zed quickly sunk his hand into Tessa's and stuck close as they continued to chat and walk. Tessa raised her eyebrows and softly peered to him.

"You okay?" Tessa worried, though as everyone regrouped about Lickity and Royal, Zed heaved a hard sigh and looked to Ralph and Tammy. He slumped his shoulders and finally gave Tessa his nervous gaze.

"I'm terrified," Zed stated through a tone above a whisper, he shook his head and gripped Tessa's hands, "If Sugar Rush is as much of a wasteland as Ralph says... I... I just don't want to... Lose you guys."

"Y'won't lose us, dad," Ace worried, he pushed closer to his parents and eased into their bubble. He eased a soft chuckle as Zed began to pull the two into a tight group hug, "I won't let anything bad happen to us, dad, I promise..."

"You take care of your mother," Zed quietly urged as the three clung to each other in a warm embrace. Zed shut his eyes tight and gently ruffled the top of Ace's head, in a loving, firm fashion. Ace heaved a hard chuckle and swat at Zed, though Zed pointed lightly and poked his finger into Ace's arm, "Hey, you guys should probably take Royal instead of Lickity."

"What!" Lickity barked in hard annoyance, though Tammy gasped and pointed in hard surprise.

"Whoa! I don't remember Lickity ever having the ability to talk?" Tammy urged with a wide grin, though Royal flattened his ears and eyed his mother.

"That's because she swapped with Orion," Ralph heaved a soft laugh and shook his head, Felix fixed his hat slightly and hung near Ralph a little closer.

"Golly, that's certainly a game changer," Felix nervously chuckled.

"C'mon, Lickity, you get to hang with Tammy and I all day," Zed gave Lickity a charming smile, though Royal perked up and flapped his wings.

"YAY I get to eat the cotton candy clouds?" Royal eagerly bounced on his feet, though Lickity let out a hard whine, drooped her ears and began to inch closer to Tessa.

"Don't let the mean man take me mommy!" Lickity whined playfully, which had everyone in stitches. Tessa easily laughed as well, though she cupped her hands underneath Lickity's chin.

"Zed's likely right... You're fast and sharp, my girl... But Royal has the endurance unlike anything we've ever seen," Tessa stated gently, so to avoid hurting Lickity's feelings.

"I can endure," Lickity stated half heartedly, as if she knew it were false. She slumped her wings and side-eyed Zed, "Y'had to open your fat mouth."

"C'mon, it'll be fun, now Tammy can get to know the REAL you," Zed gestured towards Tammy.

"Loud, obnoxious, hungry," Tessa listed, everyone laughed, though Lickity shot her a hard stare. Tessa giggled and pulled Lickity's face up a little, and in doing so, she planted a firm few smooches to Lickity's snout, "Hilarious, loyal and protective."

"Yeah, yeah, fine..." Lickity nervously eyed Royal, though he finally got the hint and tucked his snout into the underside of Lickity's jaw for a good nuzzle. Lickity beamed a genuine smile and softly slapped her wing over the top of Royal's back, "You be safe, bud... We can't afford to lose you, either."

"Love you momma," Royal grumbled as he finally nipped at Lickity's ear, which cued Lickity to release a genuine bout of laughter.

"We'll meet back here after game day," Tessa lightly shrugged, "Maybe sooner, if the search is unsuccessful."

"And... What if-" Ralph was cut off.

"No, no what-if's, dad," Tessa demanded quietly, "We WILL come back... There's no question."

"What will you do if you find Aunt Vanellope?" Tammy questioned quietly as Ace, Royal and Tessa began to slowly saunter away, though Tessa shrugged and beamed a wide smile.

"Then we'll come home with souvenirs!" Tessa giggled, though she finally waved, "We'll be back. Wish us luck!"

"Good luck," Zed called nervously.

"Go get 'em," Ralph urged deeply as the three finally began to vanish. Ralph heaved a huff of a hard breath and peered down to Zed, Tammy and Lickity, though he glanced to Felix, "... What are you guys going to do all day?"

"You don't have Academy, do you?" Zed wondered to Tammy, though Tammy furrowed her brow and nervously looked away. Felix tenderly rested his hand to the back of Tammy's, as if to somehow silently comfort her worries. Worries that Zed was certain would surface during their day of catch-up.

"I-I... I stopped going," Tammy admitted quietly, she gave her sad eye contact to Ralph, who gave her a look as if to remain empathetic. Zed raised his eyebrows in baited, nervous surprise.

"O-Oh," Zed stammered, "I'm... I'm really sorry."

"Guess we both have a lot to fill each other in on, then," Tammy finally pushed a small smile to her face, "Why don't we go to EZ Living and sit on the beach. We'll have plenty of time to catch up, there."


	51. Chapter 51

**Reviews :**

 **Twizzle CreamPuff :** Yes xD Poor Felix. But I'm sure the Sugar Rush crew will take the cake with the whole amount of bombs dropped haha.

 **Burgie :** Thank you! :D

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Yes, they do get sadder, but more grand. It'll be great :)

 **jonnyne :** WOW Thank you so so so much! You have no idea how much that means to me, and I greatly appreciate it!I'm really glad I can keep people captivated, I always worried things may get stale, but I'm just glad people are still sticking with me. So thank you! That means the world to me!

 **Snake557 :** Yes, Tammy stopped going - it's explained in this chapter :) Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** I've added your request! Thank you! :D

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you very much! That means a lot, I'm just glad the reunions aren't getting stale. I have like... 4 or 5 more to get through, so they're no where near being completed yet xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yes, a lot is explained in this chapter, concerning Tammy and the like. It will be a slow process, cause now I'm adding more and more bodies to this story, so each chapter will likely have a lot of exposition for awhile, until everyone gets on the same page xD It'll be a process, but it'll be worth it! Thank you! :D

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Yes, Litwak actually plays a very important part in the 4th story. You are correct about that! Thank you! A lot is explained in upcoming chapters :)

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yes! You do actually get to see the other racers of Sugar Rush, though it is a lot farther into the story, and isn't in such a way you'd hope or expect D: But it IS pretty humorous and adds some hilarious scenes. Thank you! :D

 **Retrokill :** Aww haha. I appreciate that! And yes, Tessa and them finally get their bearings and head to the sky in the next chapter :)

* * *

 ***Chapter 51***

"Clouds, clouds, clouds, clouds," Royal muttered excitedly to himself, to the rhythm of his clacky footsteps to the reveal of Game Central Station's tiles.

Tessa inhaled a shaky breath and slowed to a stop outside of her father's game outlet. She held her hand to her stomach, puffed her chest and tried to seem large in the eyes of Sugar Rush's loving, yet ominous game outlet that hung across the way. She bit her lip and ogled it in it's entirety. For so long now, so many dreams and nightmares, so many flits of worrying thoughts, blips of lost information, kisses of nostalgia... She could hardly believe all of that fell to the wayside with hers and Sugar Rush's reunion, in this very moment. She could feel her heart begin to pound in all sorts of emotions, though she could tell Ace cued to her worries. He lovingly slipped his hand into hers and bent over a little, to gain eye contact.

"Y'ready?" Ace's deep, gentlemanly voice pressed as him and Royal eagerly kept their eyes to her. She inhaled a shaky breath and nodded as the two boys began to lovingly lead her across the station, to lead her home again.

"Yes, I'm ready," Tessa nodded nervously, and once they sunk into Sugar Rush's outlet, her eyes scanned the familiar, graffiti-ridden walls.

The splays of artwork and words made her heart jump harder, she felt as if the whole entire station shook under the sheer importance that was taking place. As she walked, she gave her gaze to Ace's strong hand in hers. He gripped her with confidence, and for a moment, she realized she likely should have told Ace this whole drama a long time ago. Her eyes dragged up his arm and to his face. He peered ahead, his innocently happy demeanor seemed as if absolutely nothing could shake him. She knew he got this trait from Zed; strong and stable, an unwavering force of warmth and courage. She squeezed his hand and could begin to feel her limbs shake in growing apprehension, as if seeing Sugar Rush, for everything it was, and reuniting with the kingdom she so desperately fought to keep alive, was like stepping up to a parent you have wronged. She knew she still had a long road ahead of her, though with the gentle tug of Ace's unbreakable field of love, she knew she had just the right team on her side.

As they rounded the last bend of the winding wires of Sugar Rush's game cabinet, they approached the glowing entrance to Sugar Rush, one of which she knew Ace had never seen before. She inhaled a shaky breath and felt tears immediately sting her eyes, and though she could feel Ace's hand grip hers harder for added assurance, she began to feel nearly terrified. As if she was simply stepping into the lion's den, a place that could either mean refuge or death depending on how she played her cards. Once they gained ten feet from the seemingly palpable, invisible force field, Tessa halted and peered out to Sugar Rush's glorious land; it was exactly as Ralph stated. Nothing but vast fields, mountains and valleys of snow, and as glorious and as beautiful as it was, it was stark compared to the sight she was used to. With the castle sat use to sit nestled on the pink hills, diet cola mountain off to the east, and the touch of Starkrem's northern lights that kissed the horizon; she shook her head as tears immediately streamed her cheeks.

"It's okay, mom," Ace eased tenderly, though he glanced to the beautiful, snowy yet sunny sight, "Is... Is this what Paw said it would be?"

"Yep," Tessa meeped as she slid the back of her hand to her cheek to wipe her tears. She exhaled a small huff of a cry and shut her eyes tight, "The castle... Everything's gone..."

"Well," Ace glanced to Royal, he beamed an excited smile and nodded. Ace chuckled and tenderly gripped both of his mother's hands, "Let's go find it!"

"A-Ace," Tessa worried as he began to tenderly back step and take her with him.

"C'mon mom," Ace whispered, he squinted at her lovingly and shook his head with a kind smile, "Don't you want to go home?"

Tessa raised her eyebrows softly and, as Ace continued to slowly lead her closer to the buzzing force field over Sugar Rush, she felt her heart begin to pound with purpose, the fact that the air, the breeze, the scents and everything Sugar Rush was, was trapped behind the force field, and so desperately awaited her to rejoin. Tessa hissed a soft giggle as tears streamed her cheeks, and though her eyes glanced to Sugar Rush's gorgeous, snowy landscape, she kept her eyes gripped to Ace's. She shook her head in disbelief and gave him a look of nervous terror.

"More than anything," Tessa whispered through a gentle whimper. Ace chuckled and nodded, though Tessa flinched as his back softly dipped through the force field, a miraculous act she knew she could never come to grips with, and as their skin riddled with the lovely kiss of their silver circuits, Tessa flinched as she was gently pulled through the force field.

"Well, c'mon, then," Ace eased kindly as he pulled Tessa through the field, once and for all.

Tessa flinched, and before she could protest and ask for a moment, hold her breath and force herself awake from this sweet dream, she slowly let her entire being soak in the entirety of Sugar Rush. She scrunched her shoulders and winced as the force field lightly licked her entire being before she was pulled to the other side. She reopened her eyes and fixed them to Ace's adorable, gap-toothed smile. He squeezed her hands and scoffed a small, celebratory laugh through a hiss of surprise. He shook his head and inhaled a deep breath of Sugar Rush's deliciously sweet air, though the second it reminded Tessa to do so as well, her arms and skin crawled with her silver circuits. She huffed a small breath as Ace continued to lead her deeper into the game, onto the light swirling chocolate gravel they stood on, which eventually dribbled to pink, fluffy sugar grass, an area of the entrance snow had not just yet crept to.

"We did it," Tessa hissed in a shushed tone as she finally stood up tall and let her eyes peer to her land, she could hardly believe just where she was, and though she would prefer to see Sugar Rush's glorious castle in the distance, she figured just being in the game's circuits was enough for her, for now.

"YOU did it," Ace assured as he gently let Royal into the game, and within the moment Tessa had in her own personal bubble, she shook her head again, in disbelief, and long blinked tears down her cheeks. She inhaled a slow, steady breath and gave the distance a challenging look.

"I'm home, Sugar Rush," Tessa assured quietly as Royal and Ace slowly came alongside her, to show her camaraderie, "I won't let you down, this time."

"The Queen, has returned," Ace stated with a small laugh as he gently bowed to Tessa, in a gentlemanly way. Tessa and Royal easily laughed in howls of victory as they bounced about, though Tessa shook her head and swat at Ace in a playful manner.

"Princess," Tessa giggled, "I'm not Queen."

"You're Queen to me, mom," Ace mumbled sleepily as he gave her a dorky smile; Tessa shook her head and grappled his shoulder, though after a moment of the two held in shared, loving eye contact, Tessa gently yanked him into a big hug. He choked a small laugh and grappled his arms around his mom's waist, "Thank you, baby... You... Have no clue what this means to me."

"Anything, mom," Ace grumbled as he rested the side of his head on her shoulder, though he began to slump into her, "You can repay me with allowing me to nap."

"Aw, c'mon, what about the clouds?" Royal argued as he bounced on his feet, he peered up the to delicious, pink Sugar Rush clouds that lazily hung over head in their pop of hard, sweet saturation. Ace heaved a hard sigh and peered upwards, though the clouds seemingly put his sleep schedule back even farther.

"Those DO look really good," Ace mumbled with a smirk as Royal's tail began to wag.

"C'mon, let's get into the sky," Royal urged as he bounced on his feet.

"We gotta figure out which direction to go in, first," Tessa mumbled as she gently peered about, though she heaved a disgruntled sigh, "Not even sure which way anything is... There's literally nothing, for miles."

"It never used to look like this, did it," Ace worried as the three peered about for any sign of civilization, which there was none.

"Not even close," Tessa heaved, she shook her head and gave Ace a look as if to state she was pleased, nonetheless, "I'm just happy I'm in the game. Now we can get to the bottom of this."

"Lead the way, Auntie Tess," Royal perked up as he spread his wings and insinuated he was ready for the long haul.

* * *

"PIGEONNN," Lickity barked as she suddenly hauled down the beach.

Sand lightly splayed outwards and up, her massive, agile body dart about as a massive flock of seagulls began to frantically fly away. Zed and Tammy heaved a hard bout of laughter, and were immediately thankful they were further up the beach on a small hill of grass, in which sprout from the tail end of the beach. They were a good ways away from other beach goers, Zed was thankful they had quiet privacy, so to make conversing easier.

"Lickity, they're seagulls! Not pigeons!" Zed hollered to Lickity with a hard laugh as she skid to the sand, on her belly, and attempted to capture an unfortunate seagull.

"She is so much more rambunctious than I remember," Tammy stated as she bent her knees and rested her arms up on them. She lightly turned to Zed and gave her a kind smile, "I can't imagine she gets that from Orion."

"Who knows... There's a lot about Orion no one knows, still," Zed shrugged as he sat with his legs criss-crossed. He relaxed back on his hands and gazed out to EZ Living's glorious, sunny day sky, "I'm sure Lickity is the only one who really knows all the details, what with them having shared coding now."

"I'm surprised she's not going stir crazy," Tammy inquired lightly, "Don't swap-mates have to swap like... Once a week or something? In order for the code to refresh?"

"I don't think it counts for animals," Zed shrugged, "She's never stated anything about... Missing Orion, or needing a swap or anything."

"Guess that makes sense," Tammy chuckled, and though she lightly peered out to the horizon, she furrowed her brow in contemplation, "I learned about that at Academy, last year."

"... Did you attend for the semester after, well... You guys thought we died?" Zed wondered tenderly, he gently peered to her in billowing curiosity, though he held his breath as Tammy shook her head and shut her eyes tight.

"I dropped out," Tammy uttered sorrowfully, she looked down to her bare feet and inhaled a shaky breath, "I... I couldn't carry on with my studies. It was mom's idea, really. I just quickly went with it. And I'm glad."

"Did you tell Emery and Otto?" Zed asked softly, though Tammy furrowed her brow and peered to him.

"Emery is trapped in Sugar Rush," Tammy stated, as if she was surprised Zed didn't know this information, "Didn't you notice she was missing from Dead Zed?"

"O-Oh, well yeah, we did notice she never came back... But we figured, y'know... Since she swapped with Oliver, that she was sort of on everyone's side against us, for putting Sugar Rush in danger," Zed worried, "We didn't even know Sugar Rush was in disorder."

"That's true... I... Stopped going to Academy, because not only did I lose my favorite little cousins, Tessa, Penny and Oliver... I lost my best friend Emery," Tammy uttered, "I... I wasn't close enough to Otto to really tell her what happened."

"Wow, she probably assumes everyone got wiped off the face of Arcade," Zed sorrowfully chuckled, "One day, all five of her friends just stop attending Academy? She's probably more in the dark than any of us were."

"Too true," Tammy sighed, "I just... Couldn't carry on visiting the same place everyday. I knew Tessa's, Oliver's, Emery's and Penny's class route, I knew to meet them for lunch. Just not seeing them there every day... I couldn't handle it."

"I'm sure," Zed eased sorrowfully, though as warmly as he could, he reached out and rubbed Tammy's back as her eyes began to well with tears. Tammy shook her head and peered her glassy eyes to Zed's.

"You have no idea how much I cried, over you guys," Tammy whimpered as tears finally slid down her cheeks, "When... When Uncle Ralph stated that you guys were alive and were due to visit the next day, I didn't really believe him. I couldn't. I spent this whole year believing you guys were dead. It's just... A lot to take in."

"We're all going through this roller coaster together," Zed chuckled as he continued to comfort Tammy, both friends remained close.

"And THEN the fact that you guys had a baby?" Tammy's eyes finally lit up with glee, she wiped her tears and breathed a small giggle, "What a game changer."

"You're telling us. We were not planning on having Ace," Zed's eyes bulged, "He was most definitely a surprise."

"A good one, though," Tammy inquired, though Zed scoffed and nodded. He huffed a small sigh and shook his head.

"I can't imagine life without that kid," Zed breathed with a loving smile out to the ocean, "He changed the way I view everything, the way I live... Having him, with Tessa, was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. And through all this turmoil, I would never take that back."

"He seems sweet," Tammy smiled lovingly, "You two should be proud. I can't wait to get to know him, further. As well as all these boys you're harboring back home."

"For User's sakes, they're all dying to meet you," Zed mumbled as Tammy nudged him, he chuckled and wobbled, "Aren't you lucky. You get first pick over Penny."

"Yes," Tammy hissed as she rearranged her sitting position, "Okay. So tell me about each one. I want to know what I'm getting into."

"Welp," Zed sighed as he readjusted his sitting position as well, so to look at Tammy better, "All of them are wholly inexperienced in the romance department, so you'll have to forgive them."

"Eh, not much better than me," Tammy waved her hands.

"It all depends on what kind of guy you like," Zed shrugged, "All of them are so different."

"Hmm," Tammy fingered her lip and looked up, "I like confidence, smarts, humor..."

"Well, so far you've narrowed it down to two dudes, and that'd be Jax and... Dare I say, Orph," Zed stuttered through a laugh, "Finn can be pretty funny, sometimes, but he's very quiet..."

"Quiet as in dark and mysterious or... Aloof?" Tammy inquired softly as she side-eyed Zed, her face turned a delightful shade of pink.

"Eh... Quiet as in awkward," Zed sheepishly stated, though Tammy slumped her shoulders and gave him a wide smile, "He claims he knows a lot about the ladies. Twenty bucks he flubs the second you walk in the door."

"When can I meet these guys? I want to see this all for myself," Tammy wondered with a widening smile.

"Well, I guess it's safe to assume you can tonight, once Tessa comes back, and we all can go back to Dead Zed after game day," Zed carried on with kind eyes, "There's... Also a certain someone we've been harboring in the castle... Someone you guys may not like at first. Ralph met him last night."

"Nox?" Tammy inquired in an unsure manner, Zed nodded and raised his eyebrows in a dull way, "Uncle Ralph told us... TurboTwin survivor number one, I suppose. He also said that Ace has a little girlfriend?"

"Libby," Zed beamed a wide smile and shook his head, "They're not official. They sort of grew up together, and it's painfully obvious they like each other, but... Libby sort of has had a very weird past. It'll be a bit of a bumpy road for the two, but I'm sure it'll pan out eventually."

"How so?" Tammy wondered gently, though Zed inhaled deeply.

"Well.. Long story short, she is a native to one of the many illusive Dead Zed tribes. She would visit us every day, and sneak back into the jungle after game day was over, to go back home, her and her wolf creature, Balba," Zed explained patiently, Tammy glued her eyes to his as he continued, "I... I guess, one day, when Ace was around eight months old, she came back one last time and said she was forbidden to be with us every day, because she was to be wed by their chief's second born son."

"Wow... So she's married?" Tammy gawked, "Poor Ace, where's Libby's husband?"

"She's not married, she ran away from home the day before her wedding because... Well..." Zed trailed off and nervously rubbed the back of his head. He lightly eyed Tammy and frowned, "Her future husband raped her."

"What?" Tammy hissed in hard surprise as she gawked, "Oh, don't get ME within a five mile radius of this dude, I'll have his head!"

"You and all of us, as well," Zed choked with a wide smile, "She's fortunate she still has her original coding. We almost WANT this guy to show up, so we can hand him his ass."

"Poor Libby," Tammy worried with a frown, "Is... She doing okay?"

"This actually happened a few days ago, and she's living with us, now," Zed slyly smiled, as did Tammy.

"Much to Ace's liking, I'm sure," Tammy giggled, Zed nodded and rolled his eyes.

"But... Ace doesn't know what happened to Libby. Only reason I know is because Libby told Tessa," Zed heaved quietly as he looked down to the soft white sand before them, "Tessa is likely going to tell Ace, while they're in Sugar Rush today."

"He's going to be pissed," Tammy muttered, Zed cocked an eyebrow.

"Hope Tessa's prepared for that shit-show of a wrecking storm," Zed eased through the clench of his teeth.


	52. Chapter 52

**Reviews :**

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Yeah, it definitely becomes a show of who REALLY has what it takes xD Or so they think.

 **Xaehttium :** No worries, I appreciate your reviews nonetheless! Thank you :) And yes, that chapter will certainly be a good victory for everyone xD

 **Snake557 :** You'd be surprised, Calhoun actually gets a kick out of it - likely because the boys that are vying for Tammy's attention aren't really typically 'bad' dudes and are sort of uneducated and dorky about it xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yeah, Emery was trapped in Sugar Rush with everyone just because she's not a threat. You'll find out more about what happened in the next handful of chapters.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** No worries haha - Thank you!

 **ArchitectDreams :** I'm REALLY glad you feel that way actually, because this isn't going to be an easy fix, it's definitely not as simple as just finding the Sugar Rush crew. MANY a trip is taken into Sugar Rush to set things straight xD It becomes comical after awhile, every one takes turns going on the road trip. There's a LOT in store :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha yeah it definitely is a big scene of 'who is the coolest dude' - and Tammy is just so thrilled to have first pick, she doesn't really call any one out on it - but when PENNY comes into the picture. That's a different story xD Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Yeahhh he's not too happy about it lol

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you so much! Yes, my spoilers on deviantART have seemingly spread about haha.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey! I can always count on you for epic, long reviews :) I added your sketch requests to my list, as well! OK to answer your questions and inquiries :

\- After awhile, the SR crew sort of accepted Zed. They were extremely wary of him, at first, but finally just accepted that Tessa was an adult. They inquired about it, stating that they didn't want to say that Tessa couldn't hang out with 'Zane', and instead heavily warned her about who she is bringing in and out of SR. Told her to be careful with her code and to whom she gives it to. Zed eventually was around enough to where they were still inwardly wary, but, like any good family, you let your differences fall aside so not to alienate anyone.

\- As for Tessa getting upset over the fact that Ace and Libby didn't swap, I didn't intend for that to come across as insensitive. How my mind works, in this aspect, is sex, in this story, is EXTREMELY more indepth than just regular sex like we know. For these gamers, you're downloading a whole other person's soul, you know nearly every aspect about them, and THEIR emotions, traits, flaws and etc., are transferred to you. If Libby were to swap with Ace, it'd actually help her grieving ten-fold, and she'd actually 'heal' a lot quicker, because she would have Ace's comforting coding, words, thoughts, and happy self 24/7. It would be like a constant security blanket - only thing now, is to convince her to open up (it is explained further in this chapter) - Again, not trying to be insensitive, and Tessa just loves the idea of the two being together, because Ace and Libby are besties. Tessa understands how comforting it is to have someone else's loving coding in her system, and that's what she wants for Libby - cause she knows Ace could wholly deliver, in the aspect of comfort and being there for Libby. No one wants to see her grieve. It was just her being playfully disappointed.

\- Yes, Radex left Emery alone because she wasn't viewed as a threat, and isn't ever a threat. You'll understand why eventually.

\- I apologize you keep falling in love with the pairs that aren't main focus. I'm very particular in who I 'grip' to, and sometimes I don't even really have a choice, it just happens. I had every intention to give Candlehead and Gloyd the same attention that I gave Taffyta and Rancis, but it fell to the wayside, and I didn't want to force anything. I don't force ANYTHING when it comes to my stories, otherwise it'll turn out complete shit - We've all gambled on a fart and lost ;P

The main couples I will be focusing on is clearly Tessa and Zed, Ace and Libby, Ralph and Vanellope, Penny and a certain brother I don't want to spoil here, and Tammy and another brother I won't spoil. Nox also gets tossed into the mix with ANOTHER certain gamer that hasn't been named, yet. I have a LOT of side couples, this time around, and I am semi-terrified over it, but they will likely be minor to the main 3 couples, which are Tessa, Zed, Ace, Libby, Ralph and Vanellope. It just what has to happen. Again, I don't force anything, and I don't want this story to become a chore. It hasn't been, thusfar, and that is because I've stuck to my guns ;) I appreciate all your input, it really means a lot to me!

* * *

 **Song Listened To : Finding Dory (main title) by Thomas Newman (sounds weird lol but the soundtrack for that movie is TO DIE FOR go listen to it! Dx )**

 ***Chapter 52***

"Alright, go ahead and put this on," Tessa grunted, she yanked a thick, furry hoodie from the bag that was strapped to the back of Royal's saddle. She gently pushed it into Ace's arms and began to shiver, herself. She grappled for her own hoodie and quickly began to sink it over herself, "It's cold now, but it'll only get colder the higher in the air, we are."

"Definitely something I'm not used to," Ace grumbled with a sleepy smile as he fastened the hoodie over his body as well. He snuggled into it with a grateful smile and gave his mom and Royal an expectant look, "We ready?"

"Yep, let's get a move on," Tessa encouraged as she board Royal first, she figured if Ace were to want to nap, she would be the one flying Royal. She grunted and yanked Ace up aboard with him, though he pushed himself up and aided her in her venture. She heaved a hard sigh, dusted her hands off and grappled the reins of Royal's saddle, "Alright... So, for today, let's head North. We'll turn around once the game day is half way through."

"How can you tell when it's half way through?" Ace wondered as he situated himself behind his mother and lazily wrapped his arms around her center.

"The sun," Tessa called quietly as she pointed up, though the late morning sun wasn't wholly in the center of the sky, just yet, "Once it's on the other side of the sky, in it's same positioning, we'll know to turn back... Hopefully we'll just FIND them, though... And this will be quick."

"Do... You think they're okay?" Ace worried as Royal perked his stance and sprawled his wings a little, though Tessa huffed a soft sigh of concern.

"I can only assume... The game is still plugged in, right?" Tessa inquired nervously as she peered to Ace over her shoulder, though he shrugged and nodded a little.

Tessa softly peered out to her land and, with a deep inhale of the cold, crisp Sugar Rush air, she felt her heart begin to soar. She knew getting back into Sugar Rush's sky was something she had been dreaming of, and she knew she couldn't wait to take to the skies with Lickity, a wild ride of freedom she knew the two were itching for, but for now, she knew she needed to focus on the task at hand; finding her family.

"Alright, let's go," Tessa called to Royal quietly, he inhaled a deep breath and readied himself, "C'mon, bud, let's do this."

"Good thing I'm hungry," Royal urged with a happy laugh as he jolted forward, and with a hard few gallops down the slope of the pink frosted grass undertow, he leaped into the cold air, let his wings sprawl as wide as they could and caught with the delicious current.

Tessa inhaled a sharp gasp and, though she wasn't used to flying Royal, she still felt the rush of emotions course through her veins, an action in which confused her binary, as if her coding had simply forgotten it's origin. She long blinked a few times and was beyond thrilled to finally push into her game's sky, the sweet lick of the sugary air melted their souls into the game, as if any ounce of turmoil the game was in wasn't merely enough to drag the cheeriness out of it. Tessa inhaled a deep breath, let her eyes lull closed, and gave the game a silent promise of hope, a swear that she would forever take care of it, a pledge to the very game that gave her life. She shook her head and, as she could feel Ace's arms tighten around her, her heart leaped with the soft gasp that emit from his body, the raw beauty that held out before them was unlike anything Dead Zed could ever boast.

"How long does this snow go on for, mom?" Ace wondered with a nervous smile as she approached a massive puff of cotton candy cloud, they knew Royal had made a strict bee line to it.

"Who knows," Tessa hissed as she shook her head and grappled the reins, for she knew Royal was about to call the shots for the time being, "The snow biome, that was previously laid on the land, before this mess, wasn't nearly THIS large... And it included one of the tallest peaks in this game, Pepperfrost... But that peak is nowhere to be seen."

"Looks like this Radex character has rearranged everything," Ace mumbled as he slumped his chin to his mother's shoulder and shook his head.

"Yeah, we'll I'm going to rearrange his face when I see him next, so I guess it'll be a fair trade," Tessa spat in a sarcastically dull tone which had Ace's eyebrows raised in nervous surprise.

"Y'tell 'em, mom," Ace eased through a raspy chuckle as he lulled his eyes closed, though the two jolted as Royal let out a hard whoop of excitement, largely flapped his wings in growing fervor and dart into the deliciously, saturated hot pink cotton candy cloud.

Everyone laughed as Royal eagerly flapped about, though the second they came out the other side of the yummy cloud, Tessa shook her head and free her hair of leftover tendrils of cotton candy. Ace licked his fingers a little as Tessa bent over the top of Royal's saddle, she lovingly pat the top of his large head and gave him an eager smile.

"How was that for yah, bud?" Tessa called as Royal's ears tilted to hear her better.

"I'm going to make myself sick, if I keep that up," Royal stated as if that simply wasn't even an inconvenience. He smacked his lips, let his large chameleon tongue run over his snout and finally peered up to Tessa in a rush of delightful enlightenment.

"You're not truly of Sugar Rush until you make yourself sick from the sweets, at least once," Tessa laughed, Ace and Royal joined.

After a handful of minutes of flying, and innocent questions about Sugar Rush volleyed to Tessa from both boys, Ace finally lulled his eyes closed and sunk into his mother's spine. Before his brain could allow him to relax fully, he jolted his eyes open and remembered the topic that they had left the house with; the dilemma about Libby. He inhaled a choke of a breath and diverted his gaze to his mother. She seemingly forgot about the topic they had hanging in the balance, her eyes eagerly scanned her home for any sign of civilization, though there simply were none for as far as the eye could see. He knew she would never give up, nonetheless.

"Uh, mom," Ace started quietly as Royal leveled out and continued to soar across the snowy game. Ace eyed the ground, far below, and began to feel his heart grow sore, "So uh... What were you going to exactly tell me about Libby?"

"Oh, uh..." Tessa stammered, though she finally inhaled a hard breath and slumped her shoulders. She gingerly glanced to Ace over her shoulder, "It's... It's heavy news, Ace. I just need you to understand that, before I tell you."

"How heavy could it be?" Ace grumbled, he furrowed his brow, "Does... This have to do with her future husband?"

"Yes, it does," Tessa finally stated in a quiet tone, after a moment or two. Ace sat up straighter and felt his heart pound a little.

"Okay... So, they got into a fight or something and she ran away?" Ace prod, "Maybe... They disagreed and she was banished because of it?"

"She wasn't banished," Tessa repeated from earlier in the morning. She grappled Royal's reigns and began to feel a little nervous that they were having this conversation over five hundred feet in the air, "She ran away from home... Something happened to where she... Needed to escape."

"Was she... Attacked?" Ace began to worry, though his eyes scanned Royal's gloriously speckled cream and golden skin. He shook his head and felt his heart begin to sorely throb in growing anxiousness, "... That does explain all the bruises she had on her arms."

"Ace, can I ask you a personal question?" Tessa inquired, and though Ace's face got red, he nodded calmly. Tessa slumped her shoulders and peered out to the frosty, white, pink and charcoal colored land below. She shook her head and gave Ace her side-eye contact again, "When... You were in the external swap with Libby last night, what was her thought stream telling you?"

"Well... It wasn't really telling me anything specific," Ace uttered quietly, he knew this was a touchy subject, the very idea of any form of swapping, though he was thrilled his mother's teasing and playful notions were largely kept at bay for the serious topic at hand, "U-Uh... Before my coding sort of... Well... Mixed with hers, her thoughts were just really negative and scared... As if she was trying to run away from me. From anyone."

"Sounds about right," Tessa sighed, though she glanced at Ace once more, "And... After your code meshed with hers?"

"Oh, it was just like we always are," Ace shrugged, "It... It was happy, warm. I-I... I could swear I could hear her laughter."

Tessa smiled and looked down to the top of Royal's head. She knew Royal was largely cued to the conversation as well, though he kept quiet. Tessa giggled and threw her gaze out to the horizon.

"You and Libby have something very special. Something no one will be able to have," Tessa smiled lovingly out to the distance, though her smile slowly dropped, "It... It's not something that will come very easy, though, Ace... She... She's been through something that could make your venture, to her heart, very difficult."

"I just wish you'd come out with it," Ace grumbled in growing impatience, though Tessa huffed a sigh.

"I-I... I really don't know how to tell you," Tessa urged quietly, though she could sense Ace was beginning to slide to the end of his rope, especially with the lack of sleep he was suffering with.

"Just... Like a band-aid, I can take it," Ace argued, "Did she get into a physical fight with someone? Her future husband? She spoke out of turn and feared for her life, or something stupid? Disobeyed one of their backwards, whacky rules?"

"It's... Not anything like that," Tessa mumbled, though she flinched once Ace's voice grew stern.

"Then WHAT, mom, just say it," Ace urged as he began to scan the horizon in growing anger, a rare emotion Ace ever let surface. Tessa bit her lip and began to feel nervous.

"Sh-She was... Taken advantage of," Tessa stammered, though she flinched as Ace huffed a hard sigh.

"We need to land," Ace growled, though Tessa furrowed her brow and peered at him over her shoulder.

"Land?" Tessa urged in growing confusion, though she flinched as Ace suddenly pat Royal's side and called to him in stern anger.

"Take us down, Royal," Ace overrode Tessa's flight pattern. Tessa looked forward and nearly gawked, though Royal nervously looked over his shoulder and peered to Tessa; he knew she was in charge of the flight path, and she ultimately was the one he was answering to. Ace huffed a hard, sharp sigh of a growl and grappled Royal's reign, "Now, Royal, just LAND!"

"O-Okay," Royal uttered nervously, he slowly began to bank towards the ground and figured everyone would be safer to battle this out on the ground.

After a few moments of descent, Royal largely flapped his wings, caught the ground in a gentle gallop and came to a slow stop, though before he could fully stop, Ace tore himself from Royal's back and jumped to the ground in growing, heated rage. Tessa nervously peered after him as he began to firmly step away, though she knew he wouldn't go far. She heaved a nervous breath and slid off of Royal's back. Royal hung close to her and gave his scared, golden eye contact to Ace's disheveled, angry positioning across the field of gorgeous, glass-like rock candy trees they had found themselves in. Each rock candy tree towered a good twenty feet over head, their glistening greys, browns and greens were flawlessly speckled with the faint kiss of snowfall likely from earlier in the morning. Tessa crossed her arms and knew this was likely the breaking point, the final button pushed to throw Ace over the edge. They knew Ace had a long fuse, and was very hard to anger, though Tessa also knew he was extremely protective of the ones he loved, and said fuse was largely shortened if his loved ones well being was ever in danger.

"Ace," Tessa called from the small gap of two dozen feet Ace had been stewing in. He largely shook his head, clenched his fists and gave his mom a pleading look.

"Mom, I don't... I don't understand why this has to be so difficult, why does life have to suddenly just... Throw so much at me?" Ace pleaded, "First, Libby disappears... THEN she reappears, but at what cost? I find out I'm practically a god to the whole entire Arcade... I'm the grandson of my childhood hero, my own mother's lineage is haphazardly spewed across this snowy creation and... The girl I... The girl I love...!"

Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and assessed Ace as a whole in this raw moment. He was extraordinarily handsome, a big heap of bumbling love her heart grew absolutely sore for, his tender-hearted demeanor and terrifying eke of strength was just the sweetest kiss of irony she had ever laid eyes on, though in this bold moment, she could see a man coming into his own. His broad, powerful chest heaved softly with the realization that was pouring over him, the slow reveal of his gentle secret, his feelings for Libby, he knew he felt safe with his mother, though his eyes stabbed into hers with a good dose of innocent confusion. He shook his head and grit his teeth, though before he could spout more negativity, Tessa added fuel to the fire of love he unknowingly dipped into.

"You love her?" Tessa inquired kindly, though Ace grimaced.

"I-I... Mom, isn't it obvious?" Ace croaked as his eyes turned glassy, "O-Of course I love her... She's my best friend! But, with... With THIS now hung over her... I-I... I don't stand a single chance!"

"Ace, of course you do, no one said it was impossible," Tessa argued, though Ace squinted his eyes and shook his head firmly.

"What happened to her," Ace barked, as if he knew the answer, though he needed the raw truth in order to even begin to think about finding healing through it.

"Ace," Tessa stated, as if merely saying the proper word, for what Libby went through, was too much for her mind to even handle.

"Mother," Ace barked, his booming voice easily showed Zed in his actions. Tessa raised her eyebrows and felt her skin prickle with the new sight of her dominantly angered son.

"What will it help?" Tessa loudly argued, though Ace tightly clenched his fists and grimaced with a hard yell.

"Just SAY IT!" Ace hollered, the glass reverberated in pangs of wobbling, fragile nervousness.

"Sh-She was raped," Tessa nervously spat, her tone easily matched his, though before she could press on and desperately attempt to quell his broken heart, Ace grimaced a nervous cry and, with all the wrecking force Tessa and Ralph had generously blessed him with, he swung his arm out and clipped the bottom of a rock candy tree.

Tessa flinched, covered her head and shut her eyes tight as the rock candy loudly shattered and splayed in all sorts of directions. Tessa inhaled a scared, nervous breath and stepped closer to Royal, who eagerly shielded her, with his massive wing, from the shards of glass that came rocketing her way. She peered to Ace in growing horror as he loudly grunted and continued to swing away, his powerful wrecking force was unlike anything Tessa had seen, and in nearly a minute flat, he had very easily demolished over two dozen candy trees to bare stumps of jagged, dangerous glass. Tessa winced and noticed Ace's hands had begun to bleed because of the shards of rock candy. Tessa largely began to brave him, and once she came within a few feet of him, she glitch-hopped a few times, caught him by surprise and slapped her live-wired, silver circuited palms to his upper arms.

He uttered a hard cry and, before he could wreck his mother into oblivion, the silver coding largely swarmed his body; she comforted him through the very exterior swap trick he had used on Libby the night prior. All at once, Ace's adrenaline rush slipped from him, and as he slumped his arms and shoulders, Tessa shoved her forehead up to his and largely uttered a few lulling notions to him, to ease his mind, as if to worry if their external swap wasn't going to be enough. Ace grit his teeth, and through the small cuts that bled on his cheeks and nose, tears streamed his face in dire sorrow. He choked a small cry and shut his eyes tight, though before he could crumple to the ground in pure anguish, Tessa largely slapped her arms around his neck and welcomed him into her chest. He easily soaked into her body, he shoved his head and face into the softness of her upper chest and the nook of her neck. He quietly cried, out of rage, out of pure hate for the very thing that happened to his precious Libby. He shook his head and let his bloody, wrecking fists go limp. He inhaled a nasally gasp and continued to quietly cry into his mother's neck.

"How could this happen?" Ace hissed through his tears, he shut his eyes tight and let his body and heart feel the whole cloak of pain he was drowning in, "How could this happen..."

"There are sick people, out there," Tessa urged as she tucked her chin to the top of Ace's head, and as tears rolled down her cheeks as well, she glared across the demolished bit of forest they sat in, "Sick people that... That have no respect. No heart."

"H-How do I even... When can I... I-I can't even tell her...?" Ace stammered his shivering inquiries, as if he had no idea where to even begin. Tessa shook her head and pulled Ace away from her chest, though she grappled the tops of his shoulders and made him keep eye contact.

"You have not lost her, Ace," Tessa demanded quietly, "... If you love her, Ace... You have to respect this part of her life. She is forever left with this. It doesn't mean she can't overcome it, and welcome you into her heart one day, but you have to understand how painful it is to have that on your life. She won't be very trusting of anyone, including any men that become remotely interested in her."

"But... It's just me," Ace whimpered, he desperately peered to his mother, "I-I... I would never dream of hurting her!"

"Then prove it," Tessa hissed, she let a small smile curl her lips, "Prove it to her... No matter how long that takes you, Ace... You're her best friend for a reason. All those fire flowers was just the beginning of your journey... You PROMISED you'd wait for her. You made that vow, all that time ago."

"I-I'd wait for forever," Ace whimpered as he shook his head and long blinked more tears down his cheeks. He finally shut his eyes tight and felt relieved he was finally getting his buried secret out to someone he knew he could wholly trust it with. He slumped and felt the weight of the lack of adrenaline hit his knees, "Mom, I'd wait for forever, for her..."

"That's what makes you so great," Tessa smiled as she lightly squeezed his shoulders, "It will take some time... But I know she will come around, to you. You have to be patient, and you have to understand that she doesn't WANT to trust anyone, right now. She won't want to, for awhile. You just have to give her all of your patience."

"I-I will," Ace nodded sorrowfully, though he finally grit his teeth and gave his mother a hard glare, "Mom, if that guy ever shows his face... I don't care what dad said about not picking fights... I will rip his head from his shoulders."

"Everyone at the Kalivar castle gives you full permission... Especially your father," Tessa giggled quietly, though she shook her head and gave Ace a knowing look, "All of us would be lining up."

"Me first," Ace growled.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Last call for drawing requests! Review your request for this chapter and let me know what scene you'd like drawn :D**

 **Also, I'm starting a big list of character sheets, for each of my characters - so far I have Tessa and Zed's character sheet drawn and on my deviantART. Go check it out! Username Vyntresser**


	53. Chapter 53

**Reviews :**

 **Leafy :** Thank you! 8'D Writing these kinds of chapters is my specialty haha. I like writing for when someone goes all ape and then has to get calmed down. I think that's the part of me that needs comfort lol. YAY BIRTHDAY TRADES I'll reply to your message shortly here! I've been so busy getting my life together cause I'm going out of town, but I'll message you soon here. YAY.

 **WildVirus :** No worries, I totally understand! Thank you! Poor Ace baby D: Don't worry, he gets a good dose of Libby-love eventually :D

 **Nightclass :** Hey! :D I'll add all your requests to my list! Thank you!

 **MightyNinja2000 :** That won't be the last time, that's for sure!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you, yes I received it and added your requests! Thank you! :D And yesssss let the teasing commence xD

 **chuckiboo :** I knew you guys would want to see that scene drawn :) I added it, thank you! And you're definitely correct, in the aspect that Ace could be stronger than Ralph - it's expanded on later down the road

 **Snake557 :** Added it! :) Thank you! And yeah, if there's anything you guys should have learned through the course of this saga is - don't piss off a wrecker! xD

 **Karou-Yuki :** Thank you so much! :D I'm glad it tugged your heart strings as much as it always does for me. I'm always worried that I'm the only one that's emotionally invested, and then I get the reviewers that pour out, largely agreeing with me and I'm like OH GOOD xD haha. Always a relief. Thank you so much, I appreciate your kind words!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha something very similar does happen, to that extent. He doesn't fall asleep on the snow, rather while they're flying. But then stays that way xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yes, very true. Ace definitely is a firecracker in disguise! xD

 **Retrokill :** LOL The other certain gamer I was suggesting was a love interest for Nox... SO no, it wouldn't be Turbo xD And, in the picture, Turbo was hiding behind a gumball. Thought I made that clear D:

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you! Yes, every couple has those streaks of protectiveness xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :** Cop Car by Keith Urban

 ***Chapter 53***

Zed, Ralph, Tammy, Lickity and Felix all hung inside Sugar Rush's outlet, expecting Tessa, Royal and Ace's company sometime soon. After about an hour or so of waiting, quiet lounging and nervous, hushed chatter, a familiar flap of wings could be heard coming down the long, winding wire that lead into Sugar Rush. Everyone fell silent and perked up, they pushed to their feet and anxiously awaited the sight of their three heroes, and before too much time could pass, of each of the five holding their breath in baited wait, Royal came to a slow, moseying flight around the last bend of the wire. With a few hard flaps, he came to a final stop just where the wire's miniature train would dock. He huffed a hard breath, though he eagerly peered his loving, excited attention to Lickity, Ralph, Tammy, Calhoun and Felix. Much to everyone's dismay, they had not brought along anyone else from Sugar Rush.

"I-I need a little help, with this one," Tessa giggled as she removed the hood from her head and peered to her father. Ralph heaved a gentle laugh and worked his way up the small stoop of the blue loading dock, the railings and everything else were worn with love and age. He eagerly assessed the two, aboard Royal, and was delighted to see Ace deep in sleep, slumped against his mother's back. His mouth hung open slightly as the side of his face and jaw was pushed to the back of her neck. Tessa giggled and remained still, "Dad, I... I really don't want to wake him."

"No problem," Ralph eased through a quiet chuckle, though with as much tender care his massive hands could muster, he repositioned Ace and lulled him into his large arms and chest. As easily as ever, he lugged Ace across his upper chest and held him snug with one arm. He gently helped Tessa off of Royal's back and gave her a look of nervous dismay, albeit with an apologetic smile, "No luck, huh..."

"Nope," Tessa quipped in a sorrowful tone, though she winced as Ralph nervously peered to Ace's large hands, which were tightly wound and bandaged. Ralph also noticed the few cuts on Ace's face. Tessa heaved a gentle sigh as Zed, Tammy, Lickity and Felix quickly worked their way up to the two, though they remained quiet for Ace's sake, "Poor boy is out like a light... He always was a heavy sleeper, but THIS... I was practically shouting at him, earlier, and he didn't even budge."

"I'm going to go ahead and shoot in the dark, here," Ralph stated above the warmest whisper, he reached for Ace with his free hand and lovingly swept some of Ace's hair out of his face. Ralph's warm, brown gaze pierced Tessa's, "Zed filled us in on what exactly is going on back at the Dead Zed castle... I'm assuming you told Ace what happened to Libby...?"

"Is he okay?" Zed worried as he caught sight of Ace, in Ralph's arms; a strange sight, though Zed was floored at how easy it was for Ralph to carry a near full-grown person with no effort whatsoever, what with Ace being slightly larger than Zed himself.

"He's okay," Tessa breathed, though she easily leaned into Zed's warm, tight embrace he had pulled her into. She huffed a sigh into his shoulder and gripped her arms around his middle, "He took the news, of what happened to Libby, really hard... All that extra energy spent really wiped him out. We had no luck in finding anyone, or anything for that matter. It's literally nothing but snow... For miles."

"Sheesh," Ralph worried as he peered down Sugar Rush's wires, "Well... The tracks and the castle have to be SOMEWHERE. The game is still plugged in..."

"I'll try another direction tomorrow," Tessa stated quietly, "For now, I'd like to get home and... Have a hot cup of tea, or something. I'm spent... And COLD."

"Good thing you brought this," Zed chuckled, he warmly tidied Tessa's furry collar, of her hoodie, and leaned in to give her a warm few smooches to her cheek; Tessa blushed and scrunched her shoulders.

"I wonder if they... Still have their memory," Tammy worried, though everyone landed their gaze to her in growing nervousness, "You'd think they'd travel to come find the entrance, if they're that far lost. They had a whole year, right?"

"Who knows what's going on, in there," Ralph huffed as he continued to give his grandson his near-full attention, he lovingly held Ace close and relished in the fact that, even though Ace wasn't a child, and Ralph didn't have the opportunity to baby his own grandson while he was growing up, he figured this small snippet of tender loving care would tide him over until if and when Tessa and Zed decided to have another baby. Ralph smiled down to Ace's solid, sleeping figure and adjusted him with a small grunt, "I-I'm sure... I'm sure their memories weren't wiped. I don't think power like that can be done unless you're either, well... Me, or Vanellope."

"Rearranging the game is something anyone can do?" Felix worried up to his bigger brother, in which Ralph peered down to him.

"If you have access to the code room, yes," Ralph sighed, though he gave Felix a knowing smile, held out his large palm for him, and brought Felix up to his shoulder. His usual perch.

"Good job today, bud," Tessa eased to Royal, who hung tight in everyone's bubble. He flattened his ears and gently tucked into Tessa's warm touch with his snout, "You were a real trooper, today."

"Thanks auntie," Royal stated, his deep, powerful voice was tender and gentle as he lulled his eyes closed in mild exhaustion.

"I want a turn," Lickity pout as she gave Tessa a look of mild betrayal. Tessa giggled, glanced at Zed, who in turn shrugged and nodded a little.

"Alright, girly, you can take us on the flight tomorrow," Tessa smiled, "I'm positive you've got it in you, right?"

"DO I?" Lickity urged in hard annoyance, "Look, I may complain about flying for a long time... It doesn't mean I can't."

"Mom, those clouds were so tasty," Royal lulled his eyes closed, to show just how dire his need to go back was. He danced on his feet a little as Lickity nudged her son with the wrist of her wing, "Can I come with, tomorrow?"

"That sounds fun," Tessa smiled eagerly, though Lickity nodded.

"Then we can race," Lickity nodded, the three began to grow a very palpable twinge of excited.

"To tomorrow," Tessa cheered quietly as she rubbed Lickity's snout, she bared her teeth in an excited smile.

"Just don't lose sight of the sun," Zed warned through a quiet laugh as he hugged one arm loosely around Tessa's waist, "Which direction did you head in, today?"

"We head true North, today," Tessa stated quietly as she reached out and rubbed Ace's upper arm, "Tomorrow, I'll try South and see what happens, from there."

"Try each direction, from the entrance, until you find something," Ralph sighed, though he gave Tessa a knowing smile and glanced down at Ace's bandaged hands, "You uh... Encounter candy cane trees?"

"Rock candy trees," Tessa stated through knowing, dire annoyance. She rolled her eyes as everyone grimaced and winced at the very idea of Ace pummeling his fists into pure shards of glass, like he did, "He could've been surrounded by massive knives and that STILL wouldn't have stopped him, dad... He definitely is a wrecker after his Paw... You would've been very proud. I've never seen his full wrecking skill, until then. It was incredible."

"Aw, man," Zed complained quietly, though Tessa nudged him and giggled.

"Now that he has dad and grandpa wrecker, maybe you two can give him a lesson on how to control it," Tessa stated to Zed, to hopefully make him feel better about missing out on the show, even though it was out of pure anger.

"I'd like that," Zed chimed as he smiled up to Ralph, who nodded in agreement, "I could use a lesson in wrecking, myself, anyhow."

"Happy to oblige," Ralph sighed with a smile as he gazed down at Ace, once more, "C'mon. Let's get you guys home. Tammy won't shut up about boys, as well."

"Uncle!" Tammy giggled in hard annoyance, though Calhoun nudged her daughter's arm as Felix covered his innocent face with his hat.

"I'm excited for THIS show," Calhoun smiled knowingly, though Tammy nudged her mom back with a few stifled laughs.

"Y'realize Calhoun is going to wipe all of my brothers off of the map, right?" Zed stated dully as everyone finally began to mosey towards the exit of Sugar Rush's outlet.

"Oh, no," Calhoun gave Zed a sly smile, "I'm going to watch the show. Watch, and wait. That's what y'gotta do, in an ambush. Y'can't just rush in to unexpected prey, you have to learn everything about them. Their quirks, their weaknesses... You pounce when they're at their most vulnerable."

"Alright, Animal Planet," Tammy barked in hard annoyance, everyone largely laughed, though attempted to remain quiet for the sake of Ace, who was fast asleep against his grandfather's powerful chest.

"Kidding," Calhoun stated with a sly smile, "Nah, those boys will know not to step a toe out of line. Cause wherever they are, even if they think I'm not looking... I will always be watching."

"You're creeping me out, mom," Tammy argued dully, "I'm an adult, mom, please don't scare off any potential boyfriends of mine."

"You're screwed, Tams, my brothers are all chicken-shits," Zed blurt, everyone easily laughed as they approached Game Central Station's train dock, at the very end of the station, "They'll take one look at Calhoun's gun and freak out."

"I'll be good, I promise," Calhoun assured through an annoyed sigh as she waved her hand, and though she was dressed down for the after-arcade hours, she still sport her small pistol, which was strapped to her hip.

"You DO want grandchildren, one day, dear," Felix chimed quietly, though Tammy's face heat up.

"We would have the same last name," Tessa chimed with a girly smile, though as she linked arms with Tammy, Tessa felt her face slope to genuine surprise, "Well... Actually, my last name is still Schweetz."

"E-Eventually, you will," Zed stammered, though he immediately felt tension between him and Ralph. He was thrilled to hear Ralph utter a soft chuckle of understanding, though the second his dominant, honey-brown gaze pierced Zed's, Zed knew he was forever no match for the big, bad Ralph.

"You didn't ask my permission the first time around, son," Ralph teased, though Zed could very easily sense that his playful tone was simply a facade, so not to hurt Tessa's feelings. Ralph furrowed his brow and gave Zed a look of challenging dominance, "Hopefully this time around, you'll wise up. Or else her last name WILL forever be Schweetz."

"Y-Yes sir," Zed mumbled, he immediately felt small, and though the fighter in him wanted to bark back and stand proud, he looked away in defeat and figured battling for Tessa's hand, one day, after everything was ironed out, would be something he would never lose sight of. Just as he was about to quickly drop that topic, he was thrilled to feel Tessa's protective glare slide to her dad's.

"Dad... We share codes, we sleep in the same bed, we both run Dead Zed's code room, and we had a baby together," Tessa demanded through a small giggle, though Zed was surprised to see Ralph's stern aura slope to nervous knowing. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and called check-mate on her father, "A lot has changed, in the year we've all been separated. I would hope you'd let this man give me his last name. He DID take very VERY good care of your precious baby girl, while she was in a game she wasn't even originally programmed for."

"Tessy's got a point, my brother," Felix uttered nervously as everyone slowly piled onto the train, though Ralph slumped his shoulders as sorrow hit his skin, "A brave, valiant Mr. Zedian Kalivar, swept into this mess and caring for princesses better than Mario ever could."

"Uncle, if it weren't for Zed, you'd never have a way back into Sugar Rush, yah dingus," Tammy barked as everyone found a seat.

Zed rolled his eyes in hard, sorrowful dismay, took an empty seat near a window, and as everyone collected themselves on the train, he felt his heart jump in nervousness as Ralph contemplated where to sit. Before Zed could throw up a wall and give Ralph a look as if to politely ask him to sit elsewhere, Ralph huffed a soft, apologetic sigh and plopped himself down next to Zed. He continued to keep Ace in his strong, powerful embrace; he practically engulfed him in his massive arms. Tessa and Tammy sat together one row ahead of Zed and Ralph, while Felix and Calhoun sat ahead of them. Lickity and Royal found their typical spot at the back of the cab, like usual. There was more space for larger gamers, back there. Ralph ran his finger over Ace's forehead, to brush hair out of his eyes once more, though he assessed Ace's features. He had Zed's nose structure, the blue hue of his hair was clearly that of Zed's, as well, though he easily had Tessa's mouth structure. Ralph felt guilt pierce his heart as he finally gave his gaze to Zed, who was sat slumped. Zed angrily peered out the window of the train, which basically revealed nothing but the dark tunnel.

"I'm sorry, Zed," Ralph eased quietly to him, though Zed slowly peered up to Ralph in gentle surprise.

"F-For what?" Zed uttered, and though he knew exactly why Ralph was apologizing, he didn't want to make it seem as if he was aware Ralph was in the wrong. Ralph huffed a hard sigh, shook his head and peered back down to Ace.

"For being a jerk," Ralph breathed, "I'm... Obviously very protective of Tess. I guess I'm just sore, over the fact that you didn't ask mine and Vanellope's permission, before you proposed to Tessa."

"I honestly wasn't going to propose to Tessa without your permission," Zed stated genuinely, "I... I got swept up in the moment, when we were outside of the Arcade. I-I was terrified our plan wasn't going to follow through. I was surprised we even survived, up until that point... I proposed because, I wasn't even sure we were going to make it back alive. I wanted her to know just how much I cared about her. I love your daughter, sir. I would never do anything to step outside of the confines of respect you guys expect out of a future husband, for Tessa."

"I understand," Ralph chuckled, "You thought that was your only chance... Your dying wish. I likely would've done the same."

"I wouldn't dare do something like that, without your permission," Zed worried, "I knew it wouldn't be totally official until we came back and I could... Properly talk to you guys about it. But once we thought you guys kicked us out..."

"Y'went and had a baby with her to spite us," Ralph stated playfully, which had both men laughing quietly. Zed shook his head and peered down to Ace's bumbling, sleepy figure.

"Sorry... The opportunity to swap without our codes causing harm to each other, for once in our lives?" Zed gave Ralph a cocky look, "I know you don't like the thought, but I had to take Tessa up on that offer."

"Takes two to tango, I know," Ralph grumbled through a smile, "I'm aware she's not innocent in this mess. She always was a trouble maker."

"I have ears," Tessa stated dully, in the middle of her sentence to Tammy, though her and Tammy continued talking while Ralph and Zed stifled laughter.

"I owe you, a lot," Ralph eased as the two settled, "You took fantastic care of my daughter. And have taken such fantastic care of my grandson. I know Vanellope will be proud, as well... Once we find her, that is..."

"Thank you," Zed stated quietly, though he gave Ralph a look of earnest and dulled his voice to a decibel so Tessa couldn't hear, "When this whole mess is said and done... I-I plan on properly proposing to Tessa... That won't go without yours and Vanellope's permission, this time."

"Good, or else then I will have genuine reason to be upset," Ralph gave Zed a cheeky, annoyed smile, though Zed beamed and looked down a little.

"I understand the timing was weird, and then miscommunication screwed things up, but..." Zed trailed off and smiled to Ace's sleeping figure, once more, "I can't imagine my life without her. Though she doesn't have my last name, yet, I still swore to care for her as if she was my bride. And that's the standard we hold each other to."

"Does Ace know you guys aren't married?" Ralph wondered.

"Yeah, he knows," Zed nodded, "He's not concerned. Him, as well as my brothers, know just how strong our relationship is. Ace has never been worried that we might split, or anything. Everyone treats us as if we're married. I know it'll mean more, for Sugar Rush, eventually, however... If we actually WERE married."

"Welp... Let's finally end the drama," Ralph sighed, Zed nodded, "Then, you and I can talk about... Crowns and rings and wedding bells."

"C-Crowns?" Zed ogled nervously, though Ralph chuckled and shook his head.

"You're signing up to be next in line for Sugar Rush, right? You're wanting to marry Tessa, yeah?" Ralph chuckled and nudged Zed's arm, though Zed beamed a bashful smile and glanced to the back of Tessa's head; both girls loudly chat in a girly way.

"Yes," Zed breathed with a small laugh.

"Well, then, we gotta talk about crowns as well," Ralph grumbled with a knowing smile, which had Zed beaming to the ground in delightful annoyance, "Let's fix Sugar Rush's issues, then we'll chat. Deal?"

"Deal," Zed eased with confidence as him and Ralph tightly shook on it.

A talkative twenty minute train ride came and went, and before they knew it, everyone slowly moseyed into Dead Zed. As they hovered about the entrance, and Lickity and Royal began to lead everyone to the well-hidden teleportation pad just outside the entrance, Tessa began to slow to wait up for Zed. The jungle was riddled with the hot blaze of the setting sun, far on the horizon, and though it was nearly gone from the sky, it hung in the balance, as if to patiently wait to vanish once everyone was safe inside the Kalivar castle. Tessa turned and peered to Zed lovingly, he slowed to a small, sauntering stop as him and Tessa caught eyes, in a knowing way. Tessa cocked an eyebrow, looked him over and looked wholly renewed, as if getting the simple taste of Sugar Rush, was enough to tide her over for the time being. She gave him a loving, playful smile and slowly sunk into his embrace.

"King Zed," Tessa teased, she nuzzled her nose to Zed's, in a knowing way, and lovingly began to slide her arms around his neck. He breathed a bashful chuckle and lulled his eyes closed.

"I was trying to talk quietly, so you didn't hear me," Zed mumbled in an annoyed way, though Tessa giggled.

"You're already a King, to me," Tessa admitted quietly, with a loving smile. Zed raised his eyebrows in dewy surprise and gingerly wrapped his arms around Tessa's waist; he was aware her father was still within sight of the two.

"I want to make you proud," Zed assured nervously with a nod, "I want to do this right... I will ask for your hand, again. I'll ask every day, for the rest of my life, if I have to."

"You know my answer," Tessa squeezed her arms around his neck, though she frowned a little, "I-I'm sorry all this drama sort of... Stunted everything."

"I thought once we got everyone back, we'd be able to have a proper wedding, and everything would be gravy," Zed sighed, he shook his head, "I just... I just want us to be official, in your parents eyes. I'm sure I look like the douche bag that stole you away, got you pregnant and just left it at that."

"They don't think that, don't be so dramatic," Tessa hissed a small laugh as she hovered her mouth to Zed's, "You're doing just fine, holding your own... And, believe it or not, I am VERY proud of you. Look what you've accomplished."

"Thank you," Zed smiled lovingly as he glanced at Tessa's mouth, and just as he was about to lean in and fill their quivering gap, Calhoun's voice broke the silence.

"C'mon, love birds! We've got some match-making to do!" Calhoun hollered from down the small slope of the Dead Zed entrance.


	54. Chapter 54

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** No worries haha. Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, unfortunately, their wedding scene is far away - but you'll be excited to know that it is, indeed, in Rectifying Origin! :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha Calhoun chooses more to just sit back and torture them with the idea that she's always watching xD

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! I had to sneak that sweet lovey-dovey time in somehow, between Ace and Ralph lol - even IF Ace was unaware xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you, I'm glad you think so! I try to make the 'fillers' hold details that will progress the story along later down the road. Yeah, that first run wasn't very successful. They have more unsuccessful runs than they do successful xD

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Haha yep, the poor boys get a good, small taste of being in Tammy's powerful presence that's for sure. Calhoun doesn't even have to do work xD

 ***Chapter 54***

"Babe, why don't you take dad into our side entrance?" Tessa inquired quietly as the eight gamers began to mosey up to the Kalivar castle, "Coming in to the group of six guys, and Libby, might wake Ace up. You can just go straight to the sky room, from our balcony entrance, yeah?"

"Sounds good," Zed nodded as him and Ralph began to step away, "We'll meet you in there."

"Alright, let's see what these dunce hats are up to, then," Tessa giggled as Tammy kept hot on her heels, though she kept quiet in growing, shy contemplation.

As Tessa unlocked the massive front door, she pushed inside and let her eyes adjust to her surroundings. As she let Tammy, Felix, Calhoun, Lickity and Royal inside, everyone inside the kitchen grew quiet in a cloak of delightful anxiousness. Tessa giggled and peered to her five, eager older brothers, as well as Nox and Libby. They each held their nervously excited stares to the collection of new gamers in the front foyer of the castle.

"Alright, guys, got some new company to introduce you to," Tessa chimed happily, though Tessa wasn't surprised to see Libby be the first to remove herself from the group, to properly introduce herself first.

"Yay, you found more family?" Libby inquired with a wide smile, and though everyone knew of her tragic secret, she hid it very well. Her lithe, innocent figure was cloaked in one of Tessa's comfortable shirt and sweats, her glorious, long white hair was tucked into one long braid down her back. She neared Tessa and gripped her eyes to Tammy in growing happiness that there were finally more women to hang out with. She outreached her hand to Tammy and gave her a quirky, innocent smile, "I'm Libby."

"Tammy," She introduced as the two girls shook hands, "I'm Tessa's older cousin."

"I'm... Tessa's adoptive daughter," Libby rushed through a giggle of defeat, in which had everyone smiling to Tessa. Tessa nudged Libby's shoulder and smirked.

"Might as well be," Tessa said through an easy breath and a loving smile. Tessa tenderly linked arms with Libby, gestured for Tammy, Felix and Calhoun to come further into their warm home, and stepped over to the kitchen island, which housed all five of her older brothers. They each looked as if they were hiding a fit of terrified glee, "Alright boys, this is just another small portion of my family... This is my Aunt Calhoun, of Hero's Duty."

"Hey, boys," Calhoun eased, though her voice was stern, she eyed each and every single boy with a polite nod. They each tilted their head up and shyly waved a little, a casual greeting.

"My Uncle Felix, of Fix-It Felix Jr.," Tessa giggled as she gestured down to her uncle, everyone's eyes drew down as Felix waggled his gloved fingers.

"More racers," Felix nervously choked with a smile, though each of Zed's brothers chuckled in a knowing way as they waved kindly.

"And, this is my oldest cousin, Tammy... She's their daughter," Tessa gestured to Tammy, who peered to Tessa in nervous, girly delight.

"I'm Jax," He eased with all the smoothness in the world, he was the closest to Tammy; Tessa could tell each boy in the group sent Jax a massive amount of daggers at the fact that he was the first to jump at the chance to introduce himself. Jax gave her a kind smile, outreached his hand and tenderly shook Tammy's hand.

"Jax," Tammy stated with a cheeky smile and a wrinkle of her nose, though she diverted her attention to the teal-haired, shy-guy to Jax's left, "And you are..."

"Tej," He choked in the utmost shyness, though he kept his cool and gave her a gentlemanly smile as they shook hands.

"Then you have Orph," Tessa motioned, Orph was at the farthest end of the island, in which he was unreachable for a handshake. He gave a shy wave, though he eyed Jax in hard annoyance. Tessa glanced to Tammy, and back to her third oldest brother, "And, there's Duke."

"Nice to meet you," Duke eased quietly, as he, too, was too far for a handshake.

"Don't freak out, this is just Nox," Tessa gestured to the TurboTwin, who nervously hung at the counter between Duke and Finn. Nox nervously smiled and glanced about to the three new beings in the group.

"I-I'm harmless, I swear," Nox waggled his fingers, though Tammy beamed a wide smile and knew she had a lot of eager questions for him, about his origin and his game, which was long unplugged.

Tessa's eyes finally slid to Finn's, though he looked as if he was in terrified pain; as soon as their eyes dropped to him, he stuffed it with ease and gave a nervous half-smile.

"And, this is Finn. Finn is the oldest, except for Zed," Tessa explained gently, though Tammy was close enough to him for a handshake.

"Tammy," She eased politely as the two gripped hands and shook, though Finn huffed a shaky breath and delicately shook her hand.

"F-Finn," His deep voice uttered nervously as he forced a small, bashful smile, though he began to nearly tremble in painful awkwardness. Tammy giggled as the two pulled away, though Finn continued on in a rush of nervousness he suddenly had no clue how to quell, "L-Like what... Fish have..."

"Singular," Tessa muttered through a small giggle, though each guy at the table began to choke with laughter towards their older brother, who so seemingly used to preach about how smooth he was with the ladies, though clearly was out of sorts.

"Bloop, bloop, Finn..." Orph stabbed quietly, everyone largely stifled laughter.

"Ohhh I'm gunna like this," Calhoun muttered into her hand with a wide smile as they watched the show unfold.

"Or mermaids!" Libby gasped with a wide smile to Finn, hopefully to ease his nervousness; he shot her a near grateful smile and cupped his hands nervously into his lap, as if to state he was now going to sit and not say anything, in the most polite way he could, to further avoid showing just how vulnerable and nervous he had become in Tammy's presence.

"Finn's a merman," Duke stammered, it was clear at this point just who was the most nervous around the new, single woman in the Kalivar castle, and it was easy to give up dibs just for the fact that they had teasing rights on their older, most stoic brother.

"Baw, guys, cut the dude a break," Nox chuckled nervously as he nudged Finn's shoulder, the need to stick up for others stemmed from wanting others to do the very same for himself.

"He's got the name for it," Jax teased, though Tammy eyed the other boys in a knowing sort of way, as if to strangely and suddenly feel protective of the one vulnerable boy of the group.

"And the luscious locks!" Orph pretended to fluff long hair on the side of his head, in which he didn't have.

Tammy frowned and softly glanced to Finn, who began to look as if he was sinking farther and farther into his chair. Tammy glanced about to each handsome man in the group, all staggering in their vivid color of hair, their alluring eyes, their masculine figures, each one of them, including Finn, looked plucked straight out of a rare breed of exotic looks. She knew she loved handsome boys, though she also cursed her good-natured father for blessing her with something she knew she'd appreciate one day; the desire for a humble, genuine character, to seek a potential partner who didn't beat his chest and put others down. Though she knew this was just simply a show of brothers being brothers, excluding Nox, she felt this was likely her chance to show the boys just whose boss, here. Tammy furrowed her brow and felt her heart pang in a knowing way, and suddenly, it was clear just where her heart gravitated.

"Well, I like his name," Tammy snapped with a wide, dominant smile, and suddenly, the group of boys grew painfully silent. Tammy tenderly gazed to Finn and was thrilled to see a sweep of gentle confidence fill his nervous, sagging orbs, "In fact, I used to have a huge crush on a guy, at Academy, named Finn."

"I remember that!" Tessa giggled as she pointed, though each boy raised their eyebrows and peered to Finn in a mixture of conflicted feelings, of playful prodding and nervousness over the fact that Finn's pity card had worked to his liking.

Finn cocked an eyebrow at Orph and sent each of them a look as if to state that karma had come back for them quick.

"Well, shit," Nox muttered under his breath to Duke with a cheeky smile.

* * *

Ace grumbled a hard, silent noise and slowly sat up. He peered about in delicate confusion and felt refreshed. In plucked, dewy contemplation, his eyes came into contact with the stars above, the sky room gently smiled the universe down to him. He inhaled a slow breath and felt the stillness of the castle. He furrowed his brow in further, delightful confusion and peered out the entrance of the sky room, though in the slow glance to his parent's bedroom, he could tell mostly everyone had gone to sleep for the night. He drew his attention back to the glowing light that came from the kitchen, and in the gentle murmur of two voices that came from the kitchen, he knew he had night-owl company. He grunted quietly, got to his feet and began to stroll out of the sky room. He figured, after he had fallen asleep in Sugar Rush, he was carefully brought back home and straight to bed. He rubbed the back of his head and assessed his hands. He was thrilled to find either his mother or father had reset him to the Dead Zed grid, and all of his wounds had vanished.

"That's what I told him," Zed grumbled to Nox, both boys quietly chuckled, "Finn just thinks he's invincible, sometimes. I'm sure he was just nervous, around Tammy. I was the same way with Tessa, once upon a time."

"Poor thing, you shoulda seen how dejected he looked," Nox laughed, though he raised his eyebrows as Ace came into view, "Speaking of lover boys."

"What?" Ace mumbled as he rubbed his eye with the back of his hand, his face turned red.

"Hey, bud, you doing okay?" Zed wondered, though Ace chuckled and shook his head in confusion.

"Last time I saw, I was nearly a thousand feet in the Sugar Rush air," Ace slumped his shoulders and scratched his bare chest, he gave his father a wide, annoyed smile, "I woke up and... How long have I been asleep?"

"For quite awhile," Zed eyed him as he closed the fridge, "Your mother told us about your... Wrecking escapade. I guess it wiped you out, as well as your lack of sleep."

"O-Oh... Right," Ace felt his demeanor sink lightly, though his nervous eyes dragged to his old stairwell, "I... I totally forgot."

"I think Libby is still awake," Zed stated knowingly as he tilted his head towards Ace's old room, where Libby resided. Zed cocked an eyebrow and peered down to his scalding cup of tea, "Methinks she missed you, today... She kept visiting you, tonight, while you slept."

"Wh-what did I miss?" Ace stuttered with a bashful smile, in hopes to avoid trekking down the topic of him and Libby, "Did Tammy, Calhoun and Felix come over, today, after we got back from Sugar Rush?"

"Yep, all your uncles nearly jumped all over Tammy," Nox choked, him and Zed blurt into laughter as Ace curiously joined, "Y'shoulda seen it. It was hilarious."

"So which uncle won?" Ace grumbled as he leaned against the counter, with the side of his hip, and crossed his arms. He knew his uncles wouldn't ever shut up about the prospect of Tessa adding more women to the Kalivar castle.

"We think Finn will eventually win out," Nox chuckled as Zed pushed a cup of hot tea to Nox, as well. Nox gave Zed a thankful nod and began to stir it, his golden, glowing eyes peered down to it in sleepy curiosity, "Everyone sort of started picking on Finn and, well... Tammy didn't like that very much. So she stuck up for him."

"Awe," Ace chuckled as he looked down to the counter, "Poor uncle Finn... He always said he was so good with the ladies, though. I'm surprised he needed pity in order to gain attention."

"We think it was a front Finn always used to put up," Zed mumbled as he took a sip of his tea, "Methinks he's not as confident as he may state... But I guess that's the trick that's up his sleeve."

"Worked in his favor, didn't it?" Nox shrugged, "Girls either like a dominant jerk or a nervous, lovable dweeb. There is no in between."

"Well, then where do I fall in that?" Ace grumbled to Nox, with a wide smile, though Nox slumped his shoulders and gave Ace a look of floored annoyance.

"You're a USER for User's sake," Nox barked, Zed spat a hard laugh and covered his face as Ace beamed a curious smile, "Ace... You don't have to do shit. You're a GOD. Now, shut up and go away. Us mortals can't handle your cocky presence."

"Oh come ON," Ace growled with a hard laugh as Zed's contagious laughter continued to grow, "I don't use that to my advantage. I only found out a few days ago!"

"You're a lovable dweeb, son," Zed corrected through choked laughter as he desperately attempted to collect himself, so he could sip his tea. Ace slumped his shoulders and beamed his dad an annoyed smile as Zed continued, "Now... Go prove it, to Libby. She's still awake."

"... Libby?" Ace inquired, as if to hopefully try to shadow his true feelings for Libby with faked bewilderment, "I-I don't know what you're talking ab-"

"Oh for User's sake, Ace, you're making life difficult. Just go up there, look her in the face, tell her how you feel and... And...!" Nox wildly flailed his arms as his black pupils scanned the counter in a fit of growing heat. He choked a hard laugh and beamed Ace an annoyed smile, "Use your... Weird golden glowy honeycomb trick!"

"Worked like a charm, didn't it?" Zed muttered into his full mug of tea.

"We're not stupid, go tell Libby that you missed her today, or something, she wouldn't shut up about you, anyways. Got all googly eyed whenever you were mentioned," Nox rushed with a hard hand gesture.

"I-I... Really?" Ace gave Nox a curious, bashful smile.

"No, she hates you," Nox ogled sarcastically, which continued to have Zed in stitches, "Will you just go! While she's still awake!"

"O-Okay, okay, sheesh," Ace muttered as he began to stroll away, likely to get a shirt.

"Y'know, for a human, he's not too bright," Nox muttered playfully, to which Zed continued to choke laughter into his cup.

"I heard that," Ace grumbled down the hall.

* * *

"Balba, your fur has gotten so silky, lately," Libby eyed her gorgeous, lime green lykata. She sport all sorts of beautiful dark, forest green markings, "Been cleaning up for a certain chameleon friend?"

Balba huffed a breath through her dog like snout and curled her body tighter around Libby, they were comfortably sat with each other on Ace's bed. Libby giggled and combed through her wet hair, though she began to tidily braid it and even out and puffs or knots. She heaved a hard sigh and delicately nodded, as if to state she was victim to it, as well.

"I guess I'm not one to talk," Libby whispered, Balba perked her ears and nuzzled her cold, wet snout into the side of Libby's cheek. Libby giggled and gently pushed on Balba's soft, furry chest, "I-I admit it, okay, okay..."

Balba whined a small whimper and perked her ears higher on her head, as if to insinuate to Libby that she likely wanted her owner to spill. Libby huffed a small breath and slumped her shoulders, though she frowned with the onslaught of conflicting feelings she had. She gently eyed the single fire flower across Ace's room; he had put it there, the first night she came home, so to comfort her and assure her that he was there for her, however as subtly as he could. Libby felt her heart jump as she eyed it in growing curiosity, though she heaved another long sigh and looked down to her hands.

"I've got my own certain 'chameleon friend' I've been trying to tidy up for, as well," Libby heaved through a hard breath, she shook her head and peered across Ace's room, "... I don't even know where to begin. I just feel so... Detached, after what happened."

Balba hummed a small noise, as if to state she understood; so many times she would attempt to show farther intelligence than her coding would suggest, she so wished she could easily converse with her best friend. Balba lightly tucked her wings about the two and kept them cradled in a nest of billowing, girly love. Libby easily leaned into Balba's velvety soft body and slumped her shoulders.

"What do you think he'd say?" Libby whispered as tears stung her eyes, "You... You think he'd view me as filth?"

Balba grunted and gave Libby a look as if to state that said notion was ridiculous. Libby chuckled and shook her head.

"I-I'm sure Tessa's already told him what happened... I just hope he doesn't avoid me," Libby uttered sadly, though before she could get more words out, both girls perked up in hard confusion as a small pebble suddenly soared into the room and clacked to the white tiles of Ace's bedroom.

Libby froze as both girls glared down the pebble, though in the instance of confusion, Libby immediately felt her heart swell in hard knowing. She beamed the window a curious smile, and before she could think, she rushed out of Balba's comfort, jumped off the bed and flung herself to the window with a wide, girly smile. She raised her eyebrows high and peered down to the ground far below Ace's two-story drop, from his window.

"Just me," Ace whispered up to her with a wide, cheeky smile. Libby gawked and huffed a small, incredulous giggle.

"Ace?" Libby uttered curiously, though as strange and peculiar as this situation seemed, she felt a massive amount of deja vu hit her skin. She peered down at Ace's handsome figure and was floored to see Royal slowly budge into sight, his massive, golden eyes peered up at Libby in kind knowing. Libby tucked her hair behind her ear, in which her bangs had fallen out of her braid. She smiled bashfully and shook her head, "What're you doing out there?"

"What, you've never snuck out before?" Ace wondered, his gentlemanly voice was laced with a delightful, teasing dollop of dallying sass.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys... I just need you to understand something really quick. I am feeling a very VERY strange mixture of feelings right now. I learned, a long while ago, about Disney's green-light for Wreck-It Ralph 2. I've known for quite some time now. And I can't tell you how conflicted I am on the subject matter. On one hand, uh... Balls YES? BACKFLIPS I am SO FUCKING EXCITED. But..**

 **On the other hand, I'm terrified.**

 **I need you guys to bear with me, and I genuinely have taken a bit of a hit, to be honest with you. That first movie is all I, as well as everyone else, has ever known. I'm terrified this new movie will not only wipe my whole entire saga off the map, but will also fuck everything up that I've worked so hard to achieve. To continue the story in such a believable way... And now, with this sequel, it's just all moot.. and irrelevant. At least that's how I feel.**

 **I will likely be completed with Rectifying Origin by the time the sequel to the movie comes out, in 2018, but... Where does that leave my 4th story? A story in which I have very tediously planned out... One that I am very very excited for, but with this movie sequel, I'm really worried it's going to sort of just skew everything, and I'm going to have to work around it.**

 **Cause I'm NOT ABOUT going back and rewriting 500 chapters of saga I've spilled my heart into.**

 **I guess what I'm trying to say... I know a lot of you are very excited and are jumping up and down and can't wait to tell me, cause... I mean... Look at me.**

 **And I am so appreciative that I am the first person you guys think about, really, I am... I just am very sore, and very nervous. I know I'm just being sensitive, but this whole thing has become my baby, and I sort of feel side swiped, with this change.**

 **I certainly hope I'm wrong, in feeling this way... And I so desperately hope you guys will continue reading my stories even after the sequel comes out ;_; I'm really freaking excited, but... My stomach is in knots just knowing all my hard work is sort of down the drain.**

 **Cause in this sequel, my beloved characters won't exist... Nothing about them, Lickity, Dead Zed, none of them. And as weird as it is to think that my characters could EVER measure up to Disney's standards, it's just what I've grown used to, and it's all I've known. So seeing different, that IS canon, really freaks me out. Knowing I'll be going to this movie and not even a trace of Zed, or Lickity, or any of his brothers... None of them will exist.**

 **I guess that's the beauty, and tragedy, of fanfiction.**

 **Guess I'll never really swing with the big leagues, as Disney is where I want to be, but I just feel so small... And so insignificant.**

 **And as grand as I've built this story, it's bizarre standing next to it, in this moment, and feeling it's feather-like weight in my hands, all of the sudden. I hope you guys understand. I'm just sort of hurting. I'll get over it. And I'm not stopping this story, cause User knows I've invested my heart into it, and I know you guys would be upset if I stopped as well.**

 **I just sometimes feel small. Which is natural, but whenever it hits me, it hits me hard. And I sit and wonder if my skill will ever amount to anything.**


	55. Chapter 55

**A/N: WHOAAAAA I just want to say...! I am WAY overwhelmed by the amount of love I've been given, with that last chapter of mine. WOW. I mean I knew people loved my story and such but I had no clue it ran just that deep. WOW. I am floored by the amount of love I've been given, and I really GREATLY appreciate every single last one of you... I know this movie sequel won't stifle me, and won't put out my creativity. I AM very very VERY excited for it, I just feel like a candle in the wind, really. I am beyond floored you guys view my rambling, neverending saga as the true sequel... You have no clue how full you guys just made my heart, and this is why I am forever grateful for this awesome support team I have. You guys seriously are the best, and I would be very sad without all my friends here on FF. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart... I really don't know how I'll be able to repay you guys ;_;**

 **Reviews :**

 **MightyNinja2000 :** I actually have considered it... Once I find away about the copyright, I may just make these into books.

 **Nightclass :** Thank you so SO much. I have always appreciated your massive support with my artwork, on my instagram, and here with my story. It really means the world to me! I'm trying my hardest not to be cocky in this, but I really do view my story to be more sequel-worthy as well :( I really put all my effort towards making seem as close to canon as I possibly could. I'm sure I ballsed up somewhere down the road and could do better, but... I think just because it's my baby, has me feeling this way. But I SO appreciate the love I've been given by you and by everyone else, it really has encouraged me to keep going. It's really rad that everyone has rallied behind me, and though I won't ever have this thing up in lights, like what I'd like, it still is awesome to see people want to same goals as me. So thank you, so much.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** *hugs tight* Thank you for the comfort, I greatly appreciate it. And I love hugs! :D Yeah, it's really hard to see your work sort of be slumped to the side and barreled over by canon things that come out, and it's easy to let it keep you down, but I have to remind myself to keep my head up and keep going... Because so many of you love this story, as do I, and I'm not ever going to let it go. It's my baby, one of the few things I hold this dear to my heart, and I know us writers alike have that sense of pride that we never want to waver or falter... And when it does, it's a huge blow to the back of the knees, cause it's like... What else are you standing on other than the pedestal you've worked so hard to build for yourself? That doesn't amount to the sky scrapers around you. But we keep on, and I will keep going because of you guys and your encouragement... I don't think you guys understand just how tremendously it helps. So thank you, SO much.

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you, I have to keep reminding myself that I've built up this massive universe that encompasses the love for this movie, and that, in turn, makes it valid. I appreciate your support! And yes, Finn and Tammy definitely have a few good chapters together, some good character building on their end :)

 **Xaehttium :** Thank you! ;_; That means a lot to me. I'm really glad everyone views my stories to just as valid as anything Disney will create. Though I can only really make it come to life with my paintings and simple animations here and there, it's really nice to know that I have such a powerful support system. You guys are the best.

 **chris . low2456 :** That'd be awesome! Who knows if they'll ever make a 3rd one... Hopefully, if they do, I'm employed at Disney by then and I can have my hand in it. That'd be so awesome. Thank you so much!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Hahaha teary hugs all around! *big hug* Thank you so much. I know I can't compare myself to others, especially the greats, I just can't help it. I'm glad I can have WHOLE control over my own story and art, cause if this were a collab-effort, I probably wouldn't be as happy with the outcome as I am. Thank you for your unending support, it means the world to me.

 **Stargirl2535 :** Wow! Thank you so much, for that! Such a high compliment. I'm sure I have my weird grammar errors here and there, that drive people nuts xD But I appreciate your kind words nonetheless!

 **Snake557 :** Ohhh my gosh that thought crossed my mind. How awesome would that be? I would be so floored if they even briefly mentioned ANY aspect of my story. I wouldn't even be mad. I'd be so thrilled. I would do backflips I'm serious. And I am no gymnast xD I'd still figure that shit out! Thank you so much for your encouragement and your comfort. It really means the world to me! Thank you!

 **gi-mac :** omg THANK YOU ;_; you have no idea how much that means to me! Seriously I'm so floored you guys feel that way, cause I was certain that once the sequel came out, my story would just be a thing of the past and no one would cling to it anymore :( I really value your words and encouragement. I am very careful with character development and the like, so I'm glad it sticks out and shows!

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you very much I so greatly appreciate everyone, even if there are lurkers and people that don't review or make themselves known. It's always reassuring to see that so many people have backed me and will continue to come on this long journey of mine. Thank you so much for your support, and for reviewing each chapter of mine and being there for me. I can't tell you how much that means to me, and how much you guys encourage me. As for your review for the chapter, yes, Tammy, Felix and Calhoun have been warned that Nox is a part of their little 'family', and to not freak out xD It's explained in the next chapter a bit.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** That's true! I have thought of that... The sequel will bring in more writers and more readers, so ultimately that'll be good. I'm hoping more people discover my story and join along with the nonsense. As for your review, well, Calhoun, Felix and Tammy don't live at the Kalivar castle, they were just there visiting. They went home for the night - but eventually, everyone... and I mean EVERYONE moves in! The Kalivar castle definitely gets a makeover xD

 **Retrokill :** Thank you so much! That's true... I guess I'm just in my own category, and often it feels lonely and like I don't matter, but I'm just glad I have you guys to keep me grounded and make me feel loved through this journey. Thank you very much, I greatly appreciate it.

 **JaySketchin :** Awww. Thank you so much :( That really means a lot to me, that you guys hold this story in such a high stature. Thank you, you have no clue what that means for me.

 **TwizzleCreampuff :** I certainly hope I don't lose readers! I really appreciate the sentiment. Thank you so much.

 ***inhales for a long ass time and wipes my tears***

 **OKAY here's the chapter - thank you again you guys! ;_;**

* * *

 ***Chapter 55***

"Where's my pants, where's my pants," Libby hissed as she rushed away from the window and began to grapple through a few piles of her clothes on Ace's white tiles. She was only loosely draped in one of Ace's large shirts and underwear. She huffed a soft sigh and tucked her long hair behind her ear as Balba largely scrambled off of the bed, "Balba, where's my pants...!"

Balba whined a small noise, and in a hard swipe, she lapped her pair of jeans up into her mouth and lulled over the top of Libby's head. Libby grunted a small noise, wobbled, and immediately began to hop about the room to slide them on. She giggled a hard noise and peered to Balba in girly nervousness.

"I-I hope Tessa won't be upset that I'm sort of... Well... Sneaking out?" Libby uttered quietly to Balba, who eagerly peered across the room, to the open window. Though Balba largely slumped her feathery wings and gave Libby a look as if to seem delightfully annoyed. Libby inhaled a sharp breath, shook her head and began to nervously try and tidy her hair, "Who am I kidding. I'm leaving with a User. No one can save me now."

Balba grinned and showed her teeth in an effort to show human emotion through a playful smile. Before Libby could rush to the window and nervously question just when they'd be back, where they were going, what they were going to do, Balba eagerly scoot into her presence and nearly forced Libby to climb aboard. Once Libby was atop Balba's back, Balba gracefully perched herself up on Ace's large, gaping, round window sill and glided down to the lovely, dark grass below. Both of Dead Zed's moons brilliantly shone down on the two, as if to eagerly watch the show unfold.

"C'mon, walk and talk," Ace inquired kindly as Balba gently and finally landed near Royal and Ace.

Libby giggled quietly, scrunched her shoulders and peered back to Lickity's enclosure, which was far across the field of gorgeous, powerful fire flowers. Before she could feel as if she were still merely a child sneaking out, she raised her eyebrows in collective surprise and very slowly drew her attention back to Ace. Balba and Royal began to march forward in a confident march, a path that they had previously taken, and in this raw moment, Libby felt her heart slowly sink into a warm pit of honey, a honeycomb haven of delightful comfort. She slumped her shoulders and peered her elated, nervous gaze to the back of Ace's head. He was solid in his sitting position on Royal's powerful spine, both boys had very easily come into their own and filled out their bumbling features nicely. Libby bit her lip in gentle contemplation, and once the two were a good few acres away from the Kalivar castle, Libby tested the air about them with the gentleness of her girly voice.

"Alright, using my own trick against me, I see?" Libby grumbled as she finally straightened her spine and pat the back of Balba's neck, in a loving way. Balba whined a small noise of delight, as if to agree with her rider, though it wasn't until Ace turned and gave Libby a kind smile did her heart do a vicious back flip.

"I learn from the best," Ace cooed politely, though Libby raised her eyebrows in surprise before slumping in knowing agitation.

"At least this time we're not risking getting into trouble," Libby giggled, Ace eased a bashful chuckle as well and nodded.

"We also get to go home together, so... I think that's the best part about this," Ace eased coolly, though he instantly felt his face heat up at just what he could potentially be insinuating. He raised his hands in nervous defense and gave her an apologetic look, "I-I mean... You don't have to fly all the way home in the dark, all by yourself... Y-You know, like... You can just come back to my room... I-I mean like...! Wh-where you're staying!"

"You grew ten pairs of feet in that one sentence alone!" Libby largely laughed, which had Royal easily in stitches. Royal stumbled with laughter, which caused Ace to choke a small noise and grapple his reigns in confusion. Libby easily held her stomach and continued to laugh, "I got your point the first time!"

"I-I meant nothing... Weird by any of that," Ace choked, though he looked forward and grimaced himself a hard, silent noise, as if to beat himself up.

"So, how was Sugar Rush?" Libby eased through a reviving giggle, in hopes to calm Ace's nerves. She could tell something was itching the undersides of his skin.

"O-Oh, it was great," Ace assured as he peered to her, as if to thank her for switching the awkward topic, "The game is so beautiful, and so sweet."

"The clouds are so delicious," Royal added as he gave Libby a wide, kind smile.

"Yeah? Don't get Balba anywhere near there, she'll gain so much fluff, she won't be able to stand," Libby chimed as she largely scratched the back of Balba's scruff, which had her wings twitching in delight.

"I think that same notion goes for everyone with a brain stem," Ace chuckled, he gave Libby a heartfelt smile and shrugged, which had Libby grinning in a knowing way.

She nodded a little and, with a small sweep of lost confidence, she felt her heart begin to ache in a mild bout of anxiousness. She knew she had given Tessa permission to tell Ace exactly just what had happened to her, and she was near relieved Tessa was to do the honors, though she now found herself in the awkward position of letting everyone play telephone with her dreaded secret. She inhaled a short breath and nervously peered to Ace, as if to wonder if she could potentially question him about said notion without having to come out with it in a blunt manner.

"So, I'm assuming you and your mom had a good, flying day of fun?" Libby inquired with a curious smile as both Balba and Royal weaved through the glorious, sprawling jungle trees.

"Yeah, it was... Uneventful," Ace stammered, though he felt his breath catch as him and Libby caught gazes in a string of dolloped, pricked suddenness.

Ace inhaled slowly, long blinked, and fixated his gaze to the beautiful, raw being before him. The moonlight cast across her white hair, illuminating her mystical blue eyes, as well as the fainest trails of freckles kissed along the bridge of her nose. Her eyes hooked to his, as if to nearly beg forgiveness, seek camaraderie, and wonder if they were ever going to be alright, all in one fell swoop. Ace raised his eyebrows a little and felt his heart jump. He knew not to treat her as if she suddenly needed a hero. As much as he wanted to puff his chest and be the hero she seemingly desired, the words of his mother rung true in the back of his head. _Do not try to save her from her past. Come alongside her for the present... For the future._

"We... We had a good, long talk," Ace started quietly, he knew to likely tip toe from here on out, and he was certain mentioning said horrible topic was out of the question, though he could tell by the way Libby's terrified gaze gripped to his that she was desperate for some form of reassurance, to be promised that they'd somehow be alright through this mess.

"Yeah?" Libby inquired lightly, and though she wanted so badly to shove these horrible feelings away, and not open up to anyone any farther, she felt the jungle envelope the two in a gentle, humid hug of comforting warmth. She slumped her shoulders a little and gave Ace a hint of a knowing side-eye, "... I hope... Whatever was talked about, doesn't end up, I-I don't know... Skewing your view of, uh... Someone."

Ace scoffed a small laugh and peered ahead. He furrowed his brow and tore his gaze away from Libby, for fear of him largely blurting out every single last ounce of his love for her. He bit his tongue through a small smile and huffed a small breath. He delicately peered back to her, his gentlemanly gaze coat her existence with all of the universe's patience and tender loving care.

"No, not at all," Ace's deep voice assured with a gentle shake of his head. He squinted lightly, and through a warm smile he could tell Libby was desperate for, he overflowed her with all of his reassurance, "I know everything will be okay... We'll be just fine... Right?"

Libby gawked, just barely, as if she could hardly believe her luck. She knew this topic was only to be bookmarked, in this moment; she was highly aware it would resurface, if and when the closer her and Ace would ever become, though she felt a massive sweep of relief soak into her skin, the fact that the two were on the same page, she wondered if it were too good to be true. She relaxed aboard Balba and gently nodded, in agreeing to Ace's notion. Just as she opened her mouth to begin to inquire further about it, Ace grappled Royal's reigns, hunkered over the blades of Royal's powerful shoulders and grinned Libby a daring smirk.

"C'mon, we got some flyin' to do," Ace urged to her quietly, as if to take every single last one of her problems, her dark secrets, the very last byte of her damaged soul, and merely tuck it away safely, as if to set it aside for another time.

Libby flinched and could feel her heart ache in a rapid sweep of assurance she needed to feel complete; how easy it was for him to realize past problems and understand that life happens, even in it's darkest forms, and whatever shred of happiness he could slink out of her, he'd go to the ends of the Arcade to do so. Libby finally shook herself of her flitting daydreams and gave Ace a smile of assurance back. As if that was his raw go-ahead, he finally scoffed a hard chuckle, tugged Royal's reigns a little harder and, before Libby could even think, Royal was off. Libby largely jolted as it cued Balba to take off running after her best bud, as well.

Libby giggled and hunkered down to Balba's spine as her lightning quick lykata began to dart about the jungles, hot on Royal's massive curl of a tail. She tucked her hair behind her ears and eagerly peered ahead as Royal's powerful body began to jolt into a bit of a sprint, as the jungle began to thin out, the very same path Libby had taken Ace on all those months ago, the prospect of sneaking out and being free. Libby held her breath and watched everything unfold before her, the powerful lunge of Royal's legs, the massive sprawl of his gold speckled wings, the markings glowed in the moonlight, and with all the ease Royal could muster, alongside his running streak, he dove off the looming cliffside and into the star-soaked sky.

Balba huffed a small noise of excitement and, following Royal's lead, she sprawled her gorgeous, feathery wings and took to the sky. Libby gasped and grappled Balba's fur, and as she felt her heart jump with the change in elevation, she peered about in hard wonder. She slumped her shoulders and let the sight sink into her retinas. Royal gracefully glided on golden wings, the stark black Dead Zed sky boast more stars than they could even begin to imagine, and with the looming presence of Dead Zed's two moons, the horizon was painted with the promise of a soon-to-be sunrise of the prettiest blues and purples. The city of Ekreth could be seen in the valley they suddenly joined, and with the protective mountains all around, making the Kalivar castle the crown jewel, their spot on the grid was a massive haven of safety and beauty.

"You know how it goes!" Ace called to her as Royal and Balba banked in unison, their gorgeous splays of feathers and scales set the stars ablaze. Libby looked over her shoulder and beamed him a curious smile as he suddenly let go of Royal's reigns, threw his head back and called to the sky in the most triumphant way he could muster, "We can fly!"

"How could I forget?" Libby laughed as she largely opened her arms wide, with all the fervor of Balba's wings.

She heaved an excited laugh, and in that moment, she felt every single last one of her worries slip from the jet stream they rocketed through. Libby inhaled a sharp breath and closed her eyes tight as she trusted Balba to carry her forward without a hitch. She slumped her shoulders and, as the sound of Ace's gentle laughter coat her existence, she felt her heart solidify, the honeycombs swarmed her in warm knowing, as if Ace was simply the missing puzzle piece to her story, the jagged pieces simply mocked her and could've sworn she'd never find the last, snug fit. Libby opened her teary eyes and peered out to the gorgeous reaches of cliff sides and jungle trees out below her. She could swear, in this instance, Ace was giving her a taste of her own medicine; she knew she couldn't complain.

As the two soaked into the setting moons, trained wings found their way back to Kalivar grounds, on the highest peak of Ekreth's valley and mountain range. The sun so desperately began to show itself in the form of that infamous, pastel sunrise, though only barely. It hung behind the peaks of East Ekreth behind brooding, summer storm clouds. After a while of wings honed to the jungle's atmosphere, they hovered over the canopies for a short while before Ace's gorgeous fire flower field came into view. Libby gasped and, as she leaned over the side of Balba to point in sheer amazement, she immediately cued Balba to bank and prepare for a landing. Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise and, once Balba largely ducked out of their solid flight pattern, Royal perked his ears and silently wondered to Ace if he should do the same. with a nervously flitting heart, Ace gently pushed down on Royal's shoulder blades and cued him to follow the lightning quick lykata.

Once Balba's delicate paws came to the field, her wings remained sprawled as her feathers just barely kissed the warm, glowing fire flowers. Hundreds of them boasted every single last ounce of Dead Zed's nightlife charm. Libby gasped a slow inhale and gawked as she slid off of Balba's spine, once and for all. She tucked her fists to her chest, snuggled deeper into the hoodie she was wearing, which was Ace's, and let her beautiful blue eyes soak up every last byte of glowing love these symbolic flowers had to offer. Once Royal landed, with a bit less grace than Balba, Libby slowly looked over her shoulder and beamed Ace a curious smile.

"I knew this field was huge, but wow," Libby stated to Ace as he dismounted Royal and kept his gentlemanly distance from her, "... It is so pretty, when it's all lit up like this."

"I was lucky I had this view from my bedroom," Ace shrugged, "Albeit a far off view."

"I-I sort of avoid the window," Libby admitted in a near sheepish way. She scrunched her shoulders and giggled, "I-I guess the jungle just stresses me out, now. I don't want anyone from my tribe finding me."

"Rightfully so," Ace's voice deepened to a level of threatening protection, he tilted his head and looked her square in the eye, "They'd have to go through me. Wouldn't be pretty."

Libby raised her eyebrows and felt a loving smile sprawl her face. Ace dropped his threatening act, albeit slowly, and looked about the beautiful flowers. Balba and Royal began to prance away, their playful notions and nips at each other's heels were adorable and coy. Ace grew closer to Libby and finally found a comfortable half a dozen foot distance. He shrugged his larger fingers into his pockets and gave her a gentle smile, though he peered down to the beautiful fire flowers under tow. They looked as if they were near the point of wanting to wilt, though they held true through the summer heat.

"How many of these did Ma plant?" Libby gawked, though Ace felt his face heat up in impending nervousness, "There are so many!"

"Y-Yeah, well," Ace rubbed the back of his head nervously, "I-I... Mom kept having to plant more because, well... I kept picking them."

"I've noticed," Libby wrinkled her nose and gave Ace a small smile, "The kitchen looks good with all of them, in there..."

"Yeah, well, they're all for you," Ace suddenly barked with a growing smile, Libby flinched and gave him an equally as incredulous look as she whirled around, his outburst was strictly playful. He gestured down to them and hoped somehow his playful notions would help ease this nerve-wracking topic, "I picked one every day, and waited for you to come back to play. I gave this poor field a run for it's money, not to mention my mom's patience!"

"Ace," Libby began to loudly giggle, though she covered her mouth and burst out in harder laughter once Ace began to grapple for the stems of the fire flowers. He picked a handful and whirled around to pick a few more, "Ace! What're you doing!"

"I realize, you've been here for a good few days now and I've stopped picking the flowers," Ace ogled in a theatrical display of growing terror, "The fire flowers! They're gaining! Save yourself!"

"Ace, your mom is going to kill you!" Libby doubled over laughing, and though she took a few steps closer to his animated figure, she desperately tried to look for the break.

"I'll pick these every day if I had to," Ace barked, though he finally softened and gave Libby a wide smile as he gestured his arms out. Both his hands grappled four or five fire flowers each, they continued to glow in pride, they're yellow and orange petals gorgeously dot the jungle's air with specks of it's glowing pollen. Ace furrowed his brow in an incredulous way and shook his head, "What, you thought the picking would stop once you got here? This whole field is for you!"

Libby inhaled a nervous breath and with the gap filled, she gingerly pushed into Ace's bubble, and with one sweep of the last of her confidence, she tucked in for a refill. As if she merely couldn't help herself, she gingerly slid her hands to hold Ace's jaw loosely, and with all her courage mustered, she nearly paused the entirety of the game. With one simple intake of Ace's alluring scent, she pushed into his bubble with all the care in the world. Libby closed her eyes and gently placed a warm, innocent kiss to his lips. She fluttered her beautiful eyes in a daze, and before she could be brave and tuck in for more, she bit her bottom lip and gingerly took a small step backwards. Ace had seemingly froze, and with shaking hands, the fire flowers slowly dribbled from his grip and fell to the ground on either sides of himself. He huffed a small chuckle and gazed at her in a dewy pluck of surprised bashfulness.

"Thank you," Libby inquired lightly as her face turned red, she peered down to the gorgeous fire flowers undertow and felt her heart fill with all the love in the world. She softened her gaze and peered back to Ace's stunned figure, "For... For everything."

"Y-You're more than welcome," Ace's deep voice shakily uttered, he huffed a small breath of nervous conclusion and felt the widest smile want to burst from his face, though he desperately controlled himself. His heart nearly jolted out of his chest once an innocent, girly giggle fell from Libby's figure.

"I'm bushed... You've got a long day ahead of you, don't you?" Libby inquired lightly, as if to pretend to side-step just what had happened, though her aura largely held onto it, "You going back to Sugar Rush with Ma?"

"O-Oh, yeah," Ace shook his head, as if the thought of the entire world had to come back to him; he had largely blocked out anything and everything excluding Libby, "We're... We're going to continue looking for mom's family. We were unsuccessful yesterday, but... I mean hey, more time in Sugar Rush."

"Maybe once it's safe, I can go with," Libby perked up with a cheery smile, which had Ace beaming.

"You'd die over all the clouds, that's for sure," Ace assured as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"I will miss you, tomorrow," Libby stated quietly, she bashfully glanced to Ace's line of sight, "Today was fun, hanging out with Nox, but your presence was greatly missed."

"I missed you guys too," Ace slumped his shoulders, "But... Hopefully this won't be for long. Mom's family has to be somewhere, out there..."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys, I drew fanart for this chapter titled 'Press Start' on my deviantART, username Vyntresser :)**

 **ALSO I uploaded the first sketchdump for Rectifying Origin! GO CHECK MY DEVIANTART HURRY YAYYAYYAYAY**


	56. Chapter 56

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** No worries! I appreciate your reviews nonetheless :) Thank you for all of your support, it means the entire world to me, it really does. I'm glad we cleared everything up! I definitely don't want my readers to be confused or concerned about anything. Yes, you guys do end up seeing Finn's more romantic side. It will likely be filler chapters, but it'll be there nonetheless :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww yay! I'm really glad you thought it worked out well! thank you so much! :D They definitely have a long way to go, but they get there! Don't you worry ;)

 **Snake557:** Haha nope, nothing bad to happen - yet, at least xD Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha Tessa WOULD do something like that :P Thank you hun!

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Oh, my apologies! I DID see it, but I had already replied to everyone by the time you reviewed, and I posted the chapter before I could edit it to add your review D: I'm sorry! I really appreciate all your support, and I appreciate all your reviews and your love towards my story! :D

 **ArchitectDreams:** Thank you! Yeah, Ace and Libby DO eventually have a way WAY more in depth conversation about what exactly happened to her, but it's because of a certain event that takes place. It's actually coming up sometime soon! :D Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** YAY I'm really glad! :D Thank you!

* * *

 **Song Listened To : **

**All This Time by Fox Stevenson**

 **Endless by Fox Stevenson**

 ***Chapter 56***

After a good night's rest, on everyone's end, Tessa, Ace, Zed, Royal and Lickity made their way back to Game Central Station for a second run around Sugar Rush, in search for the rest of their crew. Zed has come along strictly so he could pick up Tammy, and so she could return back to Dead Zed for the game day. As everyone, including Ralph and Tammy, moseyed up to the entrance of Sugar Rush, the dreaded, angry buzzing of the force field could be heard, keeping it's strict posture over the gaping waffle cone entrance of the game. Once Ralph came within a few feet of it, he huffed a long sigh and nervously peered out to Sugar Rush's fluffy, snowy wasteland. As desolate as it was, it never failed to look inviting and cheery. Ralph slumped his shoulders and gently wobbled as Tessa wormed her way underneath his massive arm, and into his side for a cuddly side-hug.

"Cheer up, dad," Tessa eased tenderly, she hugged Ralph's belly with the entirety of her arm span, which didn't even encompass half of him. She nuzzled her face into the side of her father's chest and heaved a long sigh as well, "We'll find 'em."

"Hopefully," Ralph sighed nervously as he lugged his large arm tight around his oldest daughter. He gently snuck a firm smooch to the top of her head and squeezed her a little harder, "Please be safe... We can't afford to lose you guys, too."

"What do we do once we find them?" Ace inquired as him and everyone else slowly budged into their comfortable bubble. Tessa and Ralph loosened their stance and peered to Ace in nervous curiosity as Ace continued on. He began to pull his fur hoodie over his strong chest, "I mean... Surely we won't just scoop them up and drag them back here immediately."

"Hopefully they're all together," Zed mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head and peered out to Sugar Rush's vast land. He nervously eyed Ace as both boys stood close, "And... Hopefully they haven't been reset to default settings, or anything."

"I don't even want to think about it," Ralph grumbled as he rubbed his face in hard agitation. He grappled Tessa's and Ace's shoulders, in both of his hands, and made them look at him, "You guys be safe... I know you were safe yesterday, but this is a whole new day, and a whole new direction. So be on your toes..."

"We will, paw, don't worry," Ace assured quietly, he gave his grandfather a look of gentle affirmation.

Tessa nodded as well, though before too much time had passed, and too many more minutes of longing 'goodbye's could be used up, Tessa, Ace, Lickity and Royal made their way through the force field. As they waved their goodbyes, said farewell to their plot on the grid that wasn't in pure chaos, they took to the Southern skies and, in confidence, they gained altitude and prepared to cruise for a few hours.

"Mom, can you tell me what uncle Oliver is like?" Ace finally inquired after a few minutes of gentle silence between him and his mother.

Royal and Lickity kept their steady, lazy flight to a gentle hover of the skyline. Lickity bared her fangs in a nostalgic smile to the wind, the sweet clouds brushed past and around them a little bit; thin, wispy strands of cotton candy that were hardly tangible. Tessa chuckled softly, looked down to Lickity's fluffy shoulder blades and gingerly let her fingers worm into the velvety fur of her back. Lickity perked her ears a little, as if to inquire to Tessa just where to begin.

"Ohh, Olly," Tessa sighed with a wide smile as she peered out to the clouds as well. She finally gave her attention to Ace and softened her gaze, "Out of all of your uncles, my love, you are most like your uncle Oliver."

"In looks?" Ace mumbled with a knowing, annoyed smile. He gestured towards his large wrecking hands.

"Well, not only that, but personality-wise," Tessa chuckled, as did Royal and Lickity, "Oliver was very soft spoken, very caring... I surely do miss him."

"Did you guys ever fight growing up?" Ace inquired with a kind smile, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and beamed Ace a wide smile.

"DID we?" Tessa ogled, her and Lickity laughed together, which cued Ace and Royal to lightly join in, "We fought all the time. Couldn't keep us from arguing. Because Oliver was such a good kid, followed the rules and never really wanted to do anything that could be deemed 'dangerous' ... Where as I was a totally different story."

"So he would ruin all of your plans?" Ace chuckled as he readjusted his comfortable sitting position aboard Royal.

"Essentially," Tessa shrugged, "Once we both started attending Academy together, we grew up and things mellowed out. But there were a lot of times where Penny and I would try and sneak out of the castle, and he would eventually snitch on us."

"Sounds a lot like uncle Finn," Ace mumbled as he rubbed his face, everyone burst into knowing laughter.

"Exactly, they're both very similar in personality as well," Tessa agreed with a kind smile, "Oh, but there is no one more caring and more sweet than your uncle Oliver... Aside from dad, he gave the best, biggest hugs. I hope we find him... I really miss him. And I know he'll be over the moon and back when he knows of your existence."

"I'm going to have to start writing down everyone's names, because this is getting to be a bit much," Ace chuckled nervously, he rubbed the back of his head and gave his mother a sheepish smile.

"You'll be fine," Tessa waved her hand, though she peered up to the endless, mint blue sky overhead and beamed a knowing smile. She caught sight of the looming, billowy cotton candy clouds above and finally stole her attention back to Ace, "Wanna have a bit of fun?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Ace heaved a hard sigh as he, too, eyed the puffy clouds far above their heads; the both of them began to sit a bit more strict aboard their dragons. Tessa bit her bottom lip through an eager smile and shot Ace a daring, excited look.

"The higher the clouds, the yummier the taste," Tessa teased as she raised her eyebrows, though Ace and Royal largely began to look upwards.

"Well then what are we doing lolly-gagging down here, for?" Ace argued as the four tensed in the impending doom Sugar Rush had brought down upon them.

* * *

"I will never get over that whole teleportation... Thing," Tammy urged as she waggled her hand back to the teleportation pad her and Zed had just come from.

Tammy inhaled a sharp breath and peered to the glorious Kalivar castle. It's soft, pale exterior blended in well with the jungle trees that lightly surrounded it. With dark rooftops, it was easy to tell the castle was a good jewel of camouflage on the string of the mountain range they were nestled into. Tammy raised her eyebrows in delicate wondering and peered about, she tried to look inconspicuous, though she eyed the massive garage across the way. She finally dragged her eyes to Zed's figure as they came underneath the shade of the front door's massive, swooping patio. The looming front doors were easily a few feet taller than the tip top of Ralph's head. They were a bold, olive green, which was another good form of camouflage for their abode.

"So, uh... When will Finn and everyone be back?" Tammy wondered plainly, though she cursed herself for separating Finn's name from the group of Dead Zed racers. Zed wrinkled his nose and shot Tammy a knowing smile.

"After the Arcade closes," Zed stated, as if to wonder if Tammy knew this information or not. Tammy waggled her hand in hard annoyance as Zed gently let her into his massive home.

"I-I knew that, I just mean... Do they come straight home? Or...?" Tammy wondered, though her face turned red. She shook her head and gave Zed a look of pleading annoyance, "I just wonder how each game differs, after game day."

"No, they come straight home," Zed stated kindly, though he side-eyed Tammy, "Finn's room isn't accessible by any specific stairwell or wing of the castle, however... I can show you where it is?"

"N-No, that's fine, I just..." Tammy rolled her eyes and beamed Zed an annoyed smile the second Zed's knowing gaze grew heavier and more teasing, "Oh, shut up."

"They come straight home, they typically hit the kitchen before dispersing, so you should see Finn- I mean, all of them," Zed playfully stammered, though he choked a small laugh as Tammy firmly shoved on him.

"Forget it," Tammy giggled as her and Zed passed through the large living room, up the few steps of carpeted stairs and into the cold tiles of the kitchen.

"Oh great, more arguing," Nox mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes. He warily peered to Tammy and Zed as they neared, Nox and Libby were comfortably sharing their morning ramblings together at the island, both of them were dressed in comfortable clothes to sleep in. Nox finally sat up straighter and continued to rub sleep from his eyes, "First Finn and Orph, and now you two."

"What?" Zed inquired gently, he stationed himself next to Libby, who was stood at the island across from Nox's slumped, sitting position.

"Finn and Orph got into a big argument this morning and woke Nox and I up," Libby stated through a tired giggle. She slumped her shoulders and clumsily dropped her elbows to the counter in a mild display of growing agitation, "We're exhausted."

"What were they arguing about?" Zed wondered in an annoyed tone.

"Tammy," Both Nox and Libby blurt before they easily doubled over in kind laughter towards the fixer of the group; Tammy's face turned beet red.

"Me?" Tammy ogled in growing apprehension.

"I don't recall details, but yes, I heard your name at least a dozen times in that drama," Nox grumbled, Libby continued to giggle.

"Tessa always said that the day more ladies are added to the castle is the day that those five racers turn on each other," Libby laughed quietly, she began to gingerly straighten out her dry, white hair.

"At least Tessa doesn't have any sisters," Nox added quietly, in which Libby and Zed mumbled knowing notions towards.

"Well, she DOES have Penny," Tammy shrugged, "Penny was very much like a sister to Tessa."

"This is true," Zed pointed lightly, and lazily, though just as he opened his mouth to continue on with the conversation, the doorbell rang.

As the doorbell, of the castle, echoed into the quiet abyss, everyone froze and gave each other nervous, confused looks of growing fear. Tammy held her breath, furrowed her brow and, as everyone drew their nervous gazes to Zed, Zed scrunched his shoulders, and if to suddenly regret that he was solely the one in charge of the house, in charge of the game. Nox opened his mouth, shut it, covered it lazily with his fingers and peered to Zed through squinted eyes.

"I'm going to say it's safe to assume the Kalivar castle doesn't get visitors?" Nox whispered, though Zed tensed and began to move towards the front door.

"Not at all," Zed growled as he began to feel protective.

He began to strongly march towards the front door, as if to get over his dread of dealing with unexpected visitors and largely turn into the castle's all-powerful guard dog. As he neared the door, he nervously peered out the peep-hole, something he quite literally has never had a use for, though before he could slink away from the door and urge everyone to be quiet, like what Tammy, Nox and Libby would believe to actually happen, Zed softened his spine and peered back to the three, across the way, with a wide, curious smile. He quickly grappled the door handle and opened the door wide for whoever was stationed outside of it.

"Well, well, would you look who Academy choked up," Zed chuckled as he put his hand on his hip and leaned into the large, massive castle door.

"U-Uh... Pardon the intrusion... Is Tessa home?" Throttle uttered with a sheepish half-smile.

* * *

"Ace, don't go any higher than that!" Tessa called to Ace in a nervous way, she noticed Royal's massive wings begin to become stiff with the freezing air they soared into. She could swear that they were reaching the sky limit of Sugar Rush, which was essentially a dark, endless void of stars and cold memories, "Go too high and you'll likely get lost... Or freeze to death. Either way, I don't want to sit here and watch you find out about it!"

"Aw, c'mon mom," Ace grumbled as Royal finally leveled out, they hung above the massive, poofy, pink Sugar Rush clouds. Like brooding thunderheads, they held only the most delicious, sparkling, sugar-speckled cotton candy they could get their hands on. Ace slumped to Royal's spine, in a lazy fashion, and shook his head, "Just a bit of fun."

"Yeah, yeah," Tessa eyed Ace as Royal came back down to Lickity's height in the sky, "Say that when Royal's wings are frozen solid."

"Alright, I'll go lower," Ace shrugged, though before Tessa could scramble her hands and utter words to Ace, Ace gave his mother a playful smirk and slowly slid off of Royal's back in mid-air.

"ACE!" Tessa hollered in a hard panic, though she flinched once Royal largely tucked his wings and began to nosedive for Ace's plummeting figure.

Tessa inhaled a sharp breath as both her and Lickity largely sprung into action. Before Tessa could even begin to think about just what would happen to Ace if he hit the ground, and Royal didn't catch him, both boys began to spiral about each other in a lazy fashion. Ace sprawled his arms, mid-drop, and let out a loud whoop of victory, as did Royal. Tessa gasped and held her hand out in urgent fear, though before she could call to him, Royal popped his wings open, flung his tail out, and largely swiped Ace into his powerful, chameleon grip. Tessa gasped in startled confusion as this cued Lickity to fling her wings open as well, both dragons began to swiftly soar over the tops of the candy cane trees they had nearly plummeted into. They were gorgeous in their reaching, minty green and brown stretch.

"Ace-Von-Thaddeus... KALIVAR!" Tessa hollered loudly in a disoriented rush as Lickity largely flapped and began to nip at the backs of Royal's heels in a large amount of dismay. Ace let out a hard laugh and sat comfortably in the curl of Royal's large, protective tail.

"Mom, relax! Royal won't let me fall!" Ace called, though Tessa held her hand to her chest in such a way to convey that she nearly had a game-over by merely watching said stunt.

"Not once, auntie Tess, I promise," Royal panted and heaved a hard chuckle as Lickity continued to bite his ankles. Tessa huffed a hard breath and shook her head and both boys.

"Ace, lay off the stunts in Sugar Rush," Tessa barked in growing, motherly dominance. Ace slumped his shoulders and gave his mom an apologetic look, "If you die outside your game you don't regen-"

Tessa largely flinched as suddenly there was a loud whirring sound, and as soon as she could properly locate it, a thick arrow suddenly whizzed right past her head, which nearly stabbed Lickity in the wing. Tessa gasped, hunkered to Lickity's spine and peered down to the ground, in which they were now a lot closer to. As they neared a large cliff top, in which the drop was shroud by massive, billowy, white rain clouds, Tessa squinted and noticed a figure near the edge of the cliff with an obvious weapon, in which they were using against Tessa. Tessa furrowed her brow and gestured to Ace, who quickly got the hint and crawled up Royal's spine, so to properly sit on his saddle.

"Get out of here, I'll handle this," Tessa growled in a hard demand. Ace nodded nervously and, as Royal banked and tucked into the trees for safety, Tessa glued her angry attention to the foe on the ground, "Alright, Lickity, you know what to do."

Lickity snarled a wide grin, held her tail fins taut and, with all the smoothness and agility in the world, she tightly aileron rolled a few times. As her hard spin grew lightning fast, whatever arrows were sent her way were largely slapped away with the sharpness and vicious speed of Lickity's gaining, scaly bomb of raging ferocity. Once Lickity neared the ground in a dive bomb, she popped her wings open and coughed a small huff of fire towards their foe, though they largely jumped out of Lickity's line of fire to tuck and roll away. Said person skid in the snow and attempted to get to their feet, though the second Lickity's paws hit the ground, so did Tessa's bare soles. Tessa huffed a hard breath and, with all of hers and Zed's angry, protective silver coding, she brought her gaze of rage to their foe. With all the ease in the world, she used every single last byte of her energy to use her glitch-manipulation trick.

"I don't know who you think you are," Tessa growled as she neared her foe from about two dozen foot distance.

Her silver coding largely flood the whole mainframe of her foe's bow, and as Tessa manipulated it to jolt from her enemy's hands, the quiver and bows on the hang of this person's back largely went with it. Tessa jolted her hands down and to the side, which had the bow and arrows messily tossed to the wind and snow. She uttered a hard grunt and gripped every last ounce her attention to her new foe. Before Tessa could overload this whole person's body with her manipulating, silver-coded trick, her foe fell to the ground in a soft grunt of urgency. It was from this point Tessa could tell she was fighting a girl. Once Tessa realized her foe was defenseless and to her knees, Tessa rushed her and kept her fists clenched in true, fighting form.

"How dare you try and attack me and my own, do you know who I am?" Tessa barked in hard annoyance as she kept her fists up, as if glitching and silver-coded tricks were now out of the question, and this would now strictly be a wrecking-fist fight, "I'm the princess of Sugar Rush!"

Tessa trembled in fear, though mostly in anger. She gained on her foe, though as her enemy began to scoot backwards in growing fear, she held up a gloved hand and uttered a soft cry of compliance. She was dressed in warm, neutral colored clothing. She looked as if she was a nomad, someone who strictly lived off of the grid, a wanderer who was likely only trying to protect herself. Tessa looked her over once, not an ounce of skin showed.

"I-I'm sorry," She pleaded nervously as she attempted to grapple for her collar, which began to lightly choke her with all of the backwards scooting she was doing. She choked a small noise and attempted to get away from Tessa's growing rage.

"You'll be even more sorry," Tessa spat as she wrinkled her nose and set her protective, molten glare straight into his person's hooded face, "Show yourself!"

Both girls froze, the only sound present was the sound through the small, thick leaves of the mint candy cane trees they were surrounded by, though the howling of the sudden drop of the cliff they were near. Snow crunched underneath Tessa's bare feet, and as if she hadn't noticed just how cold it was, she continued to hold out for the sake of her safety, first and foremost. Tessa flinched and kept her fists balled as her foe ever so gently removed her hood. Tessa squinted in hard agitation and got a good look at this person, though she felt her heart suddenly jump out of her chest in hard, creeping realization that wanted so desperately to crawl over her. She gently huffed a fog of a breath, slumped her shoulders and only attempted to lower her fists.

"Tessa Von Schweetz," She uttered shakily, though a wide, nervous smile sprawled her face. Tessa felt her brain turn to goo and just how familiar her smile looked, her sweet, honey brown eyes, the unmistakable shade of nearly black hair.

"How... How do you know my name?" Tessa uttered shakily as she finally lowered her fists even farther, though her arms began to tremble with the cold.

"You're Sugar Rush's royalty," she stated confidently, her glistening, nearly hazel brown eyes hooked to Tessa's and began to grow suspiciously glassy. She smiled Vanellope's smile and shook her head in continued disbelief, "Sure, my tiara may be smaller than yours, but... Royalty's gotta stick together, huh?"

"Who are you?" Tessa hissed above a whisper as she began to take a few scared steps back, though her eyes widened in hard surprise as her supposed foe began to brush her legs free of snow. She finally pierced her loving eyes straight into Tessa's, her youth mocked Vanellope's easily, and it was clear Tessa was near crumpling to tears with just where her brain was trying to lead her to.

"I'm your little sister."


	57. Chapter 57

**A/N :** UH alright guys! Quick note, I hope you fucking enjoy the crap out of this chapter because, directly after I wrote it the first time around, it got **deleted!** _**IT ALL GOT DELETED AND I NEARLY THREW MYSELF INTO TRAFFIC.**_ I nearly wrecked my computer, I'm serious. And Michaela's just sitting on the couch terrified like ...

Let me play this out for you.

* * *

 _Omg Finn is going to freaking get it IN. GET SOME, BUDDY. Aaaaand save._

 ***isn't used to my new computer yet, swipes the wrong key, is an idiot and writes in the FF documents, whole thing gets deleted***

 _... Don't move, it smells fear._

 ***page refreshes like an asshole***

"ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEEE!" Tina yelled two inches from her computer screen. She threw her headphones to the kitchen island and, in a hard fit of unadulterated rage, she gestured her arms up to the ceiling and inhaled a hard breath, "What the flying fuck?!"

"Oh my god are you dying?!" Michaela hollered from across the room, though her positioning on the couch was cozy, she froze in terror and peered over the top of her laptop screen.

"I'm... I can't," Tina grunted, she slouched in her chair, her knees clumsily nudged into the cabinetry underneath, "I'm... Just going to tell my readers that I quit and that everyone dies because Litwak's burns down or something stupid. And that Tessa grows a second head because of it. The end. I have to leave the house... I'm taking Lickity, and I'm going to drive off the closed off ramp exit ramp of the 303. It was nice knowing you."

"I'll uhh.. . Fish Lickity out later then, I guess," Michaela muttered sarcastically, both girls laughed.

"Yeah, just leave me there to rot, I honestly don't think anything could be much worse than this," Tina griped as she firmly rubbed her face in writhing agitation.

The girls shared soft silence, the hum of the air conditioning spiked; Tina slumped her shoulders and rolled her eyes behind her furious face rub.

 _I'm sure the house is about to catch fire, because of me, and the air conditioning is its way of protecting itself._

"...Don't forget we have alcohol in the fridge," Michaela nervously pointed.

"Yes we do," Tina muttered, she firmly pushed herself off of the island's chair and trudged to the fridge, "Alright. Give me a minute. I can rewrite it."

"Uhhh how long is that going to take you?" Michaela worried, she beamed Tina a nervous smile from across the living room, and into the kitchen.

"Like an hour," Tina huffed, she firmly marched back to her computer, opened the bottle cap with her bare hand, and rolled her sleeves, "Seriously, just end me."

"Can't you just write it tomorr-"

"NO IT HAS TO BE DONE NOW," Tina hollered, Michaela sunk further into the couch.

"Okay, find chill," Michaela meeped.

Tina finished the chapter, after a long hour of seething and giving her computer's keyboard what-for. Tina huffed a long breath and looked up for the first time in over an hour, she flinched and finally noticed the sun was far beyond its normal, pastel early sunrise. Tina saved the chapter and irritatedly shut her laptop.

"Alright, I'm going upstairs and I'm showering the fanfiction off of me. Get it away from me," Tina growled as she trudged up the stairs.

"Kinky," Michaela stated cheekily.

* * *

So uh. Ignore any typos, I was definitely drinking when I wrote this chapter and I am PRETTY positive said exposition above included a billion more F bombs and yelling the word 'no' until kingdom come.

There is never a time in my life when I am MORE angrier than when one of my precious chapters gets deleted by accident. Seriously the redundancy of having to try and recreate emotion and mood, in myself, all over again, is nearly painful XD

But I tried my hardest to get it down to every single last word, and I came actually pretty damn close. So uh.. Pray for me! XD

 **Reviews :**

 **Firstly, I'd like to shout out to chris . low 2456 for being my 500th reviewer! CONGRATS! :D and a MASSIVE THANK YOU! **

**Burgie :** YAY I'm glad! I withheld practically ANY form of spoilers, on here and on my deviantART, so it could be a big surprise :D

 **poblok starwalker :** Hey! Thanks very much! :D I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I'm genuinely glad everyone knows who Koko is, it seriously warms my heart. Cause I only drew her ONCE, and even in that picture, it wasn't canon at all. It really makes me happy everyone paid such close attention, and nearly all of my reviewers here were cheering for Koko and getting so excited, and I'm like damn! I don't even have to reveal her name, everyone already knows her! xD Thank you so much for your continued support. You rock!

 **chuckiboo :** Aww haha thank you! I'm stunned I can render you guys speechless. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :D

 **ArchitectDreams :** Hahaha yeah I purposefully withheld all my fanart of her to hopefully surprise you guys :D I'm glad it worked!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you, YAY! Also, I wouldn't write off the fourth wreckling just yet ;)

 **Miss Mikayla :** WOOHOO I'm SO GLAD everyone knows her! seriously made my entire day!

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Yes, you would be correct! Once Vanellope is reintroduced, which is soon here, she explains it all. Thank you! :D

 **XxNightclassxX :** I'm literally convulsing I read your entire review upon just waking up and I was SO CONFUSED. I was like omg wait WAIT SHE'S DYING WTF. and then, I'm going to be real with you, I rolled over and went right back to sleep xD But then I reread it once I got to work, and had a few minutes before clocking in, and I was nearly peeing my pants cause you just sounded like you were in so much agony writing all of that. I'm so sorry I blindsided you so badly omg. Seriously I was like so stunned xD DON'T WORRY EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE DEEP BREATHS I PROMISE 8D

 **Xaehttium :** Yes, the reset brought her back :) It'll be explained more in the next few chapters, once Vanellope is reintroduced. Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** I'm glad you guys remembered that piece from so long ago, even though it wasn't canon! Thank you! :D And yes, Ralph did miss it, unfortunately... But they make up for lost time, don't worry. Awesome reunions are to be had!

 **Retrokill :** Yes, it was the reset :D YAY Thank you!

 **jonnye :** Hahaha I know, I'm cruel xD This chapter will hopefully help! Thank you! :D

* * *

 ***Chapter 57***

Tessa held her breath and took a few nervous steps back. As this familiar stranger got to her feet, she continued to brush off her legs to rid her thick pants of snow and dirt. She had dark chocolate brown hair that unraveled down her chest in a long, thick braid. Tessa gawked quietly and covered her mouth in billowing shock as she assessed this stranger's hands; they were a little smaller than Tessa's, but it was clear she was a wrecker. As she stood, her height came to the underside of Tessa'a chin. Her sparkling, honey eyes peered to Tessa's hazel ones in growing excitement, though just as this stranger was about to express said impending excitement, Tessa uttered a sharp few noises of interrupting stammering and flagged her large hand, a little.

"No, no, you can't screw with me like this, I've had a hard life as it is," Tessa barked with a widening smile, though her supposed sister beamed Vanellope's toothy smile, proud and true, and with a giggle that nearly mocked Tessa's, Tessa dropped her arm and continued to feel her spine crawl with chills.

"Alright, don't believe me? Test me, then," she crossed her arms and gave Tessa a look of delightful sass. Tessa furrowed her brow and crossed her arms as well.

"Whose my younger brother?" Tessa quietly questioned.

"Oliver Trey Von Schweetz," She retort.

"My younger cousin?" Tessa squinted as the two gained speed in their test of truth.

"Penny Fae Fluggerbutter," she spat with a widening smile.

"Who did Oliver swap with?" Tessa beamed as she side-eyed her sister.

"Emery Mae Colton," she lazily quipped.

"And our mother and father are...?" Tessa raised her eyebrows.

"For User's sakes. Vanellope Von Schweetz and Wreck-It Ralph," she dropped her arms in growing annoyance, though she began to approach Tessa in a knowing, sauntering kind of way, "Supposed King and Queen of this twistedly corrupt little game called Sugar Rush."

"A-And you are?" Tessa uttered with a growing, beaming, teary smile.

"Koko Bree Von Schweetz," She pressed kindly as she stopped a few feet before Tessa and put her hands on her hips. She shook her head as her eyes grew glassy as well, though she finally, and shyly, tucked her fists to her chest in girly delight, "I-I can't believe you're alive."

"I can't believe YOU'RE alive!" Tessa urged firmly as she reached out for Koko, as if to wonder if a hug was appropriate, "M-mom's loading bar survived...!"

"I-it's sort of a running joke," Koko wrinkled her nose and gave her big sister a wider smile, though tears welled in her eyes a little harder, "I'm the miracle child."

"Oh my User," Tessa choked as she finally tugged Koko into a much needed hug. Both girls grappled onto each other and embraced tightly, Tessa heaved a surprised, teary laugh into Koko's shoulder and squeezed her a little harder. She gently held the back of Koko's head and huffed a breath of foggy air to the blowing wind about them, "I-I can't believe it...!"

"Me neither," Koko whimpered in hard delight as she buried her face into Tessa's lower shoulder, she sniffled and held Tessa tightly around her back, "Boy, mom's gunna FLIP OUT."

"You're with mom?" Tessa urged in elated surprise as she unraveled herself from Koko and held her hands to the tops of Koko's shoulders.

"Sure am," Koko giggled as she scrunched her shoulders.

"Who else are you with? Any of Sugar Rush's racers?" Tessa urged, as if to somehow hope the castle was nearby, though Tessa slumped her shoulders as the twinkle in Koko's eyes diminished.

"No, we... We haven't seen the racers since uncle Rancis told mom and aunt Taffyta that you guys were dead, a year ago, before I was born..." Koko furrowed her brow and frowned, "We've... We've been trapped here, in Stone Crest ever since."

"We found Stone Crest," Tessa hissed in knowing delight as she peered past Koko's shoulder; the clouds barely parted, just enough to see a small peak of the glorious city of Stone Crest.

"The city is abandoned," Koko uttered as her gaze held firm to Tessa's, "It's just us... There's no power... It's so cold, so crops don't grow. Food and water is becoming scarce... I think mom is planning on moving us farther South, but we're not sure when that will happen."

"Who all is with you?" Tessa urged quietly.

"It's me, mom, aunt Taffyta, Oliver, Emery and Penny," Koko gently listed, though Tessa finally let go of Koko's shoulders and straightened her posture.

"I'm here to take you guys back," Tessa stated, Koko's eyes lit up.

"Please take us with you," Koko begged gently, Tessa lovingly slipped her hand into her little sister's, "We... We can't really handle this kind of life style much longer... Granted it's all I've ever known, I've heard so many stories about the castle, the code room... So many stories have been told about you and your boyfriend Zed. You were the stuff of bedtime stories."

"I-I was?" Tessa gawked sadly, she huffed a nervous breath and squeezed Koko's hands as tears streamed Koko's cheeks.

"You were," Koko meeped, "Not a day goes by where one of us doesn't cry over the fact that you were gone..."

"I'm here, I've been alive, it was all a massive trick played on all of us," Tessa urged as she grabbed Koko's other hand and held it firmly.

"We all assumed Radex," Koko nodded with a soft sniffle as a few more tears rolled down her cheeks, "I-I'm... I'm so glad you're here, Tessa. I'm so sorry to say that we... We gave up on hoping to ever see you again."

"Well, you thought I died, I'd probably give up as well," Tessa pressed as she lovingly cupped Koko's cheeks and wiped away her tears. Both girls eased knowing chuckles as they warmed up to one another, "I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the water works."

"I'll bank that Oliver cries the hardest," Koko giggled, though she furrowed her brow and shook her head in a knowing way, "... That or Penny... She... She never gave up on you, Tessa."

"What?" Tessa hissed as tears immediately billowed in her eyes. Koko uttered a small whimper as her cheeks were soaked once more.

"Penny never believed you were dead. She was firm in the fact that you and Zed were alive. While we all grieved and accepted it, she... She still believed," Koko shook her head and grimaced, "We all thought she was going crazy, but now... Now I-I feel so horrible for not following her way of thinking...!"

"It's not your fault, you had no way of knowing," Tessa comforted with all of her unconditional love.

"Tess, I hardly even know Penny... She... She avoids us," Koko whimpered, "I don't think she's even said ten words to me in my entire life."

"Where is she?" Tessa rushed, though Koko shook her head.

"She's in Stone Crest... User knows where," Koko frowned as she sniffled, "She only comes home once a week... She lives on her own, wants nothing to do with us. She only ever really talks to Oliver and Aunt Taffyta."

"Penny's... Penny's likely struggling the most, out of all of us," Tessa sighed as she eased her presence from Koko's.

"Because of Radex?" Koko nervously questioned, though Tessa squinted and gently nodded.

She peered into Koko's eyes and let out a long breath; she knew Vanellope had likely filled Koko in on every single little detail, though Tessa was certain all of Sugar Rush's issues, every single last heart Radex has broken, was likely only something you could believe if you saw it. She grimaced and was aware her little sister was in for a world of hurt, alongside everyone else, though her heart sang with the fact that she finally had begun to complete her family circle. Just as Tessa was about to wander deeper into her rushing thoughts, Lickity broke their calm.

"I think the award, for most family members gained in one week, goes to Ace," Lickity mumbled in hard knowing as Tessa and Koko whirled around and peered their eager attention to Lickity, who was a dozen or so feet away.

"I'd say you're right," Tessa laughed quietly as she kindly gave her son her attention; he was nervously perched aboard Lickity's spine, Royal was sat comfortably next to his mother, though his eyes held alert in growing excitement. Tessa giggled and turned back to Koko, "Well, I have someone you should meet. Not only did you gain a big sister, you also gained a nephew."

"I-I have a nephew?!" Koko beamed in hard, excited surprise as Ace gently dismounted Lickity and slowly moseyed over.

"This is my son, Ace," Tessa introduced with a bashful smile as Ace approached gently. Tessa lovingly pat his arm and peered to Koko, "He will be fully grown in a few days."

"Oh... My... User," Koko whispered as she covered her mouth, though she peered to Tessa in ogling surprise and scoffed, "The forbidden swap...?"

"Yes, we got it to work, yes, Ace is the product," Tessa waggled her hand, "We should keep tally with how many times I explain this to everyone."

"It's clear you get the wrecking gene from dad," Koko smiled eagerly, "And I'm going to assume the blue hair is something that runs in Zed's family?"

"Yes, all of my uncles, on my dad's side, have the whole spectrum of blue," Ace chuckled as he gently rubbed the back of his head, though he raised his eyebrows and opened up to Koko once she took a quick step forward and pulled Ace into a hug, in which he gladly obliged.

"I can't believe it," Koko hissed, and after a few moments, she pulled away and kept one hand tightly gripped in Ace's, "You understand everyone back at the house is going to fall over dead when we walk in the door?"

"I can't wait to see the look on everyone's faces," Tessa chuckled.

* * *

"Throttle?!" Nox barked in hard surprise as he stood from his stool, it loudly emit a hard noise against the tiles underneath.

"...Nox?" Throttle ogled as he slumped his shoulders and beamed his long-lost friend a wide smile, "What in Arcade are you doing here?"

"I befriended the resident human!" Nox laughed as he began to quickly mosey from the kitchen to the lovely carpet of the living room. Once he reached the foyer, he watched as Zed politely let Throttle in, though not without Throttle's urgent, quiet display of overflowing gratefulness to Zed, "They picked me up at EZ Living and I've been here ever since. What are you doing here?"

"W-Well, funny story, actually," Throttle heaved a hard breath, and as Zed gently closed the door behind himself and welcomed Throttle into the castle's living room, Throttle nervously eyed Nox and Zed, "I-I, uh..."

"Aren't you a teacher at End Of Line?" Nox argued gently as he waggled his finger, "Why aren't you there right now?"

"I-It's uh... Well," Throttle stammered on, though he jolted as Nox suddenly pushed into his body and, with a hard grapple, Nox hugged his arms tight around Throttle's middle and lifted him off of the ground just barely.

"Throttle, I sure did miss you!" Nox grunted as Throttle choked a hard laugh and put his hands firmly to Nox's shoulders. Once Nox let him down, Throttle breathed an easier chuckle and smiled a wide smile that Zed was certain he'd never see out of the long lost TurboTime coach, "It's been nearly thirty years since I've seen you."

"It's been too long, huh... I'm just glad you're still alive," Throttle urged quietly as Zed gently motioned for them to come inside, closer to the kitchen island, where Libby and Tammy continued to reside; their eyes were wide and eager, "You... Wouldn't happen to know where Lash is?"

"Not a clue," Nox frowned as he pat his bare chest a little and gestured to himself, "The last I saw of anyone, it was Lash and Turbo nearly half a decade ago... They, strangely enough, got downgraded and were dressed up in these weird Halloween costumes."

"Odd," Throttle furrowed his black eyebrows and peered into Nox's yellow gaze, and before the two boys could begin their eons of catching up, they had to do, Zed gingerly motioned towards the two women at the kitchen island.

"Throttle, this is Libby, she's Ace's best friend," Zed gestured to Libby politely. Libby kindly, and shyly waved, though both girls curiously ogled the new, peculiar being in the group as Zed motioned to Tammy, "And this is Tammy. Tammy is Tessa's older cousin. She's also the daughter of Felix Jr., of Fix-It Felix Jr."

"Nice to meet you two," Throttle eased with a nervous smile as he neared the kitchen island and relaxed his lower stomach against it. He huffed a small, nervous breath and pulled the collar of his shirt a little, though he eyed Tammy before he gave Zed his curious attention, "I'll take it Tessa found a way passed that sneaky force field?"

"Yes, she did," Zed chuckled, "She has Ace to thank."

"I knew it," Throttle smiled softly and glanced to Tammy with a kind smile.

"Tessa's gunna flip out when she sees you," Zed shook his head, straightened out his cyan blue hair and slumped his shoulders, "I'm sure a good game or catch-up is in order."

"You're telling me," Throttle muttered, he shot Nox a kind smile and dragged his eyes back to Zed, "Where IS Tessa?"

"Oy," Zed huffed as everyone let out knowing, exasperated sighs and chuckles, "She's... She's currently in Sugar Rush, with Ace, trying to find her mother and family. Supposedly, she wasn't kicked out of her kingdom. The game has a virus, and Tessa was tricked."

"For User's sake, the girl can't catch a break," Throttle grumbled.

"So, why aren't you at Academy anymore?" Nox wondered as he kept close to Throttle, his boyish smile peered up at his long-lost friend with the utmost excitement.

"Well," Throttle nervously rubbed the back of his head, his slick, black hair looked slightly disheveled, his charming, button down shirt was unbuttoned down the top a few times to reveal a lazy, white tank underneath. He huffed an apologetic breath and dragged his eyes to Zed's again, "I was fired."

"Fired?" Tammy, Libby, Zed and Nox all blurt at the same time, they're nervous, sorrowful gazes pierced Throttle's intimidating, square-pupiled glances.

"Fired," Throttle choked softly, as if he could harldy believe it.

"What in Arcade happened?" Zed worried, though Throttle sludged his eye sight away from Zed's this time, his face pushed whatever ounce of color to his cheeks that his skin pigment would allow.

"Zed, y-you... You have to believe me when I say, this rumor that I'm about to tell you is strictly that," Throttle pleaded quietly as his nervous gaze finally stabbed into Zed's, "Something I guess my students conjured up, strictly out of assumption."

"What is it?" Zed began to worry even more as Tammy and Libby stole expectant glances to Zed's nervous demeanor.

"I was fired because... The higher staff believed that," Throttle trailed off, and though he gave Nox an annoyed glance, as if to state he could hardly believe what he was about to say, "They believed Tessa and I were... Swapping codes after class."

"Oh for User's sakes," Zed barked as he rubbed his face in hard agitation. He beamed Throttle a wide, annoyed smile and shook his head, "And the staff just... Believed your students?"

"I tried to explain myself... I even included the fact that Ace would join her, every day, and there was no way HE would stand for anything like me stealing Tessa away," Throttle argued, his face mustered up an embarrassed blush.

"They didn't even ask to see your coding?" Nox wondered loudly, though Throttle largely furrowed his brow and shot Nox an annoyed, embarassed glare.

"YEAH, cause I want them to pry it out of me that I'm a retro gamer with his original coding," Throttle barked, which had Libby and Tammy in stitches. Nox furrowed his brow in growing agitation and shook his head, as if to wonder what the big deal was.

"So what! You're nearly a forty-year-old virgin as well," Nox laughed, though Zed covered his face and beamed, "...Not like we can really help it. Mostly because I am a stone wall and you, well... You hermit."

"ANYWAYS," Throttle urged as everyone continued to laugh. Throttle chuckled and shook his head, though he grew still in growing, nervous contemplation, "I... I was kicked out. My home, my classroom... I'm not allowed back."

"Ohhh Zed can he stay? Huh? CAN HE? PLEASE?" Nox loudly begged as he grappled Throttle's arm and shook it in a boyish way, his creepy, golden stare did everything it could to look as cute and puppy-doggish as it possibly could.

"Well... I was going to have to re-fit the castle, with more rooms, anyhow... Cause, if Tessa finds her family, they're going to need a place to stay, as well," Zed sighed, he gave Throttle a kind smile, "Kalivar grounds seems to be taking in the homeless."

"He can stay?" Nox wondered with elated surprise, though Zed chuckled and nodded lightly.

"Of course, who are we to turn down people who need a home?" Zed shook his head, though Libby scrunched her shoulders with a wide smile.

"I think I started it," She eased nervously, though Zed gave her a kind look and gingerly rubbed her upper back, as if to communicate that she wasn't a burden.

"I... I would GREATLY appreciate it," Throttle frowned, he gave Zed a look of the utmost gratefulness.

"More TurboTime residents," Tammy giggled as she crossed her arms, "You're collecting all the gamers, Zed."

"Kalivar zoo!" Nox cheered quietly, everyone eased into gentle, comforting laughter, though before much more could be said on the topic at hand, the teleportation pad, that lead to Finn's room, hummed in a knowing way.

Everyone diverted their attention to it in growing surprise, and before long, Finn stepped off of the pad. He was shirtless, his dark blueish grey dreads were tucked tight into a small bun atop his head. He wore lazy sweat pants and a tired facial expression, though once he noticed that all eyes were on him, he froze and peered at the new visitor in the kitchen.

"... Hey guys?" Finn inquired nervously, though Zed crossed his arms with a knowing smile.

"What are you still doing here?" Zed slyly wondered as Finn finally began to slowly approach the kitchen island, "Shouldn't you be out on the tracks?"

"Well, Mr. Dead Zedian, if there's any other racer in this game who even comes close to being able to ignore quarter alerts, such as yourself," Finn huffed as he stationed himself at the kitchen island, between Throttle and Tammy. He cocked an eyebrow and peered to Throttle as he finished his statement, "It's me. I decided to sleep in, today."

"Finn, this is Throttle, he's, uh... He WAS a teacher at End Of Line," Zed stammered, though Finn and Throttle firmly shook hands.

"I'm Finn, I'm Zed's younger brother, fifth on the roster," Finn stated with a kind, sleepy smile.

"Nice to meet you. I was Turbo's racing coach," Throttle uttered, though Finn raised his eyebrows in collective, nervous surprise.

"Wow, uh..." Finn eyed Zed in plucked apprehension, though Zed waved his hand a little.

"Throttle was fired from his position, at Academy... He's been teaching ever since TurboTime got unplugged," Zed stated sorrowfully, which had Finn offering Throttle his most disappointed look.

"Just what you need, huh?" Finn mumbled, though Throttle nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, it... Rendered me homeless," Throttle stammered, though the second Finn peered to Zed, as if to inquire if Zed had offered him to stay, Zed waved his hand, yet again.

"Throttle will be staying, I just need to make more room in the castle," Zed assured kindly, "Shouldn't be too long. I still have to complete Ace's new tower."

"Tower?" Libby wondered with a girly smile of excitement, Zed chuckled, gave her a knowing look and nodded with equal excitement.

"Well, good, the castle could always use more characters," Finn chuckled, he finally braved Tammy's eye contact and gave her a kind smile, though before he could give her a polite 'good morning', Zed cut him off.

"So, why did you decide to sleep in?" Zed inquired delicately, "Whenever the other four head off to race day, usually you're right behind them."

"O-Oh, well... I sort of had a long night. That and, Orph decided to pick a fight with me, first thing, this morning. Some wake-up call," Finn mumbled as he softly dragged his eyes to Tammy's. She bashfully peered up to him and raised her eyebrows in collective wait as Finn chuckled and softened his tone even farther, "Good morning."

"G'morning," Tammy volleyed politely, though the two peeled they're eyes away from each other in a bashful string of knowing.

"'Long night', eh?" Libby used her fingers for air quotes, though Finn furrowed his brow and shot her a disgruntled, nervous look.

"Y-Yeah... I was up all night with the telescope," Finn muttered, though Tammy perked up.

"Telescope?" Tammy eagerly inquired, though Finn raised his eyebrows in hard surprise.

"Yeah," Finn eased as he dart his eyes to Zed's, as if to politely ask his knowledgable, oldest brother just what the heck to do from here. Out of Tammy's line of sight, Zed tenderly gestured his hand and eyed Tammy, as if to convey to Finn to keep his cool and keep things smoothly rolling along. Finn stammered nervously and gave Tammy his whole attention, "Y-You see... We map the stars, here at Dead Zed. It's one thing we can't control, in the code room; the sky. I just can't seem to find any sort of rhyme for rhythm to it."

"That's odd," Tammy ogled, though just as she was about to continue, Finn furrowed his eyebrows and gave her a delightful smile of confusion.

"You... Like that sort of thing?" Finn inquired softly, though he flinched once Tammy beamed him an excited smile.

"DO I?" Tammy urged quietly, which had Finn beaming, "I took Outside-Arcade Earth Science and Astronomy for nearly three years straight, at Game Central."

"Shit," Throttle stated through the grit of his teeth; Nox choked a laugh at his notion.

"You did?" Finn ogled as he finally faced Tammy dead on, "You... You wouldn't happen to know anything about sky-maps, would you?"

"I do! That's probably why you guys are having such a hard time with your sky," Tammy pointed at Finn lazily, she rested on one leg and easily got lost in their conversation, "Are the stars the same each year? With the seasons?"

"No!" Finn hissed in hard annoyance as he rubbed the back of his head, "We can't figure out why!"

"It's because your game likely has a handful of sky-maps that get reused once every handful of years," Tammy stated quickly as she gestured her hands, "You just have to name each sky-map, and the next time the same set of constellations comes around, you'll be able to tell how many sky-maps Dead Zed has!"

"... Do you want to come down with me and look at the coordinates I have written down?" Finn wondered nonchalantly as he gestured towards the teleportation pad near the entrance of the sky room; everyone widened their eyes and peered to each other in elated surprise as to just what was unfolding.

"Of course!" Tammy beamed, though just as Finn softly gestured for her to follow, everyone froze and beamed the two the widest smiles as they vanished, though Finn jolted and turned around, just before his teleportation pad.

"O-Oh, it was nice to meet you, Throttle. Welcome to the castle!" Finn eased with a wide smile that was strictly that wide because of the new nerdy buddy he had acquired.

"Thank you," Throttle waved a little, though the second after Tammy and Finn's pixels had teleported out of the kitchen, everyone loudly began to howl with laughter.

"WOW! I think that's the fastest I've seen two people skip the first date, buying dinner, first base, second base AND third base," Nox listed with a wide smile, "He straight up used the 'bedroom' card and she took the bait!"

"I'm going to tell you now," Zed waggled his finger as Libby covered her face and loudly giggled; Zed carried on with a sly, knowing smile, "That guy is strictly running on luck and luck alone."


	58. Chapter 58

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you haha. Nope, I am most definitely NOT finished with Rectifying Origin xD Wanna know how much farther I am ahead of you guys? 0 chapters. 0! To the end of this chapter is as much as I have written, and I am 100% telling the truth. The excerpts you see on deviantART are simply snippets of the chapters to come, that will be added into the story later - they're of scenes in which I know are going to happen, so I just write little snippets of them anyways. I'll squeeze it into the actual chapter it goes with, when the time comes. I did that with Wrecking Limits and Defying Code, as well. When I first posted WL, I was about 70 chapters ahead of you guys, but after that, the most chapters I've ever been ahead of you guys is like maybe 35. As of right now, I am EXTREMELY busy and I only have time to write one chapter at a time. But it's fine, I'm able to stick to my schedule, and that's all I care about atm xD

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you! Yes, I'm really glad that I get to include Koko now, and I can't wait to throw her into the vat of Kalivar boys - you guys will be surprised where she lands ;)

 **poblok starwalker :** Baw, no me accidentally deleting a chapter won't set me back but for maybe like 30 minutes xD I'm back on track, don't you worry! Thank you! :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** LOL! Thank you so much! xD Yeah I definitely wasn't sober, writing that last chapter. I don't even totally remember writing it, as long as we're all being honest haha. I went back and reread it the next day and I was like... TOTALLY floored cause I was, for once, the 'reader' and was in your guys' shoes. I read the chapter and it was totally brand new information to me haha. I was like WOW, good to know I can write AND post chapters without it being complete garbage. It's honestly a Christmas miracle.

As for Penny and Tessa, they definitely have an awesome, emotional reunion, though they have a pretty rocky road ahead of them, as far as finding even ground with each other. Penny definitely... forgets what it is to be 'loyal' I guess you should say. She does and says a lot of hurtful stuff, just because SHE'S hurt. It all gets ironed out, of course, but the road to recovery, for Penny, is definitely a rocky one.

Yes, Throttle is added to the Kalivar group, the castle gets a HUGE makeover, in which I drew a whole map/floor plan that I will be uploading to deviantART sometime soon :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL yeah, Throttle got the short end of that stick xD And, no, Throttle isn't interested in Tammy, I didn't mean to portray it as such. The only other person that could be deemed 'interested' in Tammy (out of jealousy, of course) is Orph, and you'll get a good dose of that too xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! Yeah, Vanellope's and Tessa's reunion is pretty emotional - all of the reunions have their different tones, Penny's is likely the darkest, but Vanellope's probably takes the cake with the sadness factor. As well as Oliver's xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yes, the Kalivar castle is about to get MASSIVE xD And, yes! They are all together - Penny being the rogue 'wtf where is she' part of the group, but she's still 'with' them, per-say.

 **Miss Mikayla :** Haha Thank you! Yes, Tammy and Finn is a-go :) The castle gets a makeover, that's for sure xD

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** This is true! Schools are often like that, huh :( And yes! I'm very excited to pan these reunions out for you guys, I know everyone has anticipated them eagerly :D

 **Retrokill :** Oh my USER that would suck, I'm sure she was really pissed! D: and yes! My next character sheet is going to be Koko, on my deviantART - I'll keep you guys posted when it's up and viewable :)

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **When You Come Home by Trevor Dahl**

 **California Trees by Walk Off The Earth**

 ***Chapter 58***

With agile wings, both Lickity and Royal safely flew Koko, Tessa and Ace across the vast, sprawling city of Stone Crest. With the noon sun proudly shining down on the city, Tessa felt the whole scenario alien. Stone Crest, Sugar Rush's most humid, rainy city, looked as if it was desperately trying to hold onto its beautiful, jungle foliage. With an absurd amount of snow that covered trees needing an abundance of moisture and heat, the city sagged. Once a proud, gloriously futuristic city, carved into the ancient grounds of Stone Crest, Tessa felt her heart ache. Though the city looked haggard, abandoned and defeated, it still held its wonderful charm, as if to give hope towards the future, like this damage was reversible.

"I'm going to say it's safe to assume you guys don't have access to the code room here, huh," Tessa mumbled as Lickity and Royal banked through a few reaching, jagged cliff tops that hung near the infamous perch of Stone Crest. The very perch her and Zed stayed at, the night of prom... The night everything went awry.

"You'd be correct," Koko mumbled as she fastened her arms around her big sister a little tighter.

She uttered a small grunt of a giggle as Lickity finally landed, with Royal and Ace right behind her. Koko perked up and peered to the pathway that led up the small hill they were on. It was caked in snow, though there was clearly a path that wound out of sight, as if it were clear they were out here shoveling every day. Tessa grimaced and began to feel her heart sink; she had to wonder just what kind of living conditions they were all in, and she nearly dread the thought of finally coming face to face with it.

"So how should we do this?" Koko's elated demeanor didn't waver once; this assured Tessa that maybe it wasn't so bad. Koko's gentle, loving attitude and voice carried on as she slid off of Lickity's back, with Tessa's aid, "Maybe I should go in and say that I caught a huge dragon."

"Good idea," Tessa gawked with a smile, "Then have Lickity burst in or something."

"Myyy specialty," Lickity urged, "Then have Tessa come like 'whoops, caught me too'."

"Then use Ace and Royal as the finale," Koko giggled as Ace walked up, and once the three were together, they began to saunter up the sloping, stone, dirt and snow hill.

Tessa nodded as the three continued to chatter about grand entrances and such, and once they came up the spiraling path, Koko cued for everyone to stay quiet. They neared a wooden door, it was fashioned into the side of the massive pillar Tessa once used to call a home away from home. It was clear they didn't have power to the city, because the wooden door was messily shoved into a hole that looked as if one of the wreckers had created. As if that was their only way into this massive abode. Tessa swallowed and grew nervous as they approached the door, her heart began to race in anxiousness. She knew, everyone on the other side of that door was going to be beyond floored to see her, and vice versa, though she still felt butterflies line the inside of her stomach.

"Wait out here," Koko whispered with an excited smile as she scrunched her shoulders, "I'll cue for Lickity and then I guess we can go from there... Just come on in whenever you feel it's the right timing."

"Sounds good," Tessa nodded, though as her, Ace, Royal and Lickity tucked a few feet away, and out of the line of sight of their front door, Tessa inhaled a shaky breath as she could feel Ace's loving hand slip into hers.

"Breathe," Ace cooed quietly, "You've waited a long time for this, huh..."

"You have no idea," Tessa stated shakily as tears gathered in her eyes. She squeezed Ace's hand and peered to him in nervous delight, "Are you ready?"

"Beyond," Ace hissed with an excited smile as he leaned closer to his mother.

"Hey, guys," Koko eased casually as she pushed into the house. Tessa bit her bottom lip and leaned in closer, as if to wonder whose voices she could pick out first.

"Hey, Keeks," Oliver mumbled; sat slumped at their dining room table, which was still in nice condition from when the city thrived, Oliver had his head in his hands, his elbows planted firmly on the wood. He inhaled a shaky breath and tried to wipe the tears from his eyes as his little sister budged into the room, and though he was successful in drying them before Koko could see, he knew she could see right through him. He carried on in a whimper of an attempt to clear his throat, "You uh... Find any running water?"

"No, the river is still frozen over," Koko frowned as she neared the table.

"Looks like Vanellope's plan to move us might have to happen sooner than we thought," Emery worried quietly as she stood. She was previously sat next to Oliver to comfort him, though she kept her loving hand to his upper back as she began to idly tidy the dining room table.

"What happened to your arrows?" Oliver wondered as he squinted and peered to Koko gently, his eyes were still soaked and on the verge of letting more tears roll down his face.

"... Are you okay, Olly?" Koko worried quietly, though Oliver huffed a noise, waved his hand and forced a smile down to the table.

"The usual, Keeks, just... Thinking about Tessa, is all. I'm just fine," Oliver loving grumbled.

"Well, I lost my arrows, but I uh... I DID see a dragon," Koko stated casually as she began to attempt to take off her winter coat; Emery and Oliver were the only ones present, it was clear they had a fire going for quite awhile.

Oliver furrowed his brow with a smile of disbelief, though just as the cogs began to turn, his face sloped to hard knowing. He huffed a small noise of surprise and finally gave Koko his undivided attention.

"A dragon," Oliver hissed quietly, he squinted at her and felt his heart finally beat a solid beat, as if it were too good to be true, though it still hung on to any amount of hope it could.

"Yeah, big 'ol tan thing," Koko lazily waved her hand and moseyed over to the kitchenette, she reached into a pale of water they had, strictly for cleaning their hands. She rubbed her arms as well, she wore a tattered, dark green undershirt that had tight sleeves down her lower arms. She shook her head and scoffed a small giggle, "Looked like a massive bat, just lazily soaring away... Does Sugar Rush even have dragons?"

"Koko, you... Which way did it go?" Oliver barked quietly in growing suspense as he stood and began to excitedly march over to her, he wore a black tank that was cut off at the shoulders, as well as protective pants that had cargo-pants pockets on the sides. He shook his head and pierced his glassy stare to hers in dire urgency, "Sugar Rush doesn't have dragons that are native to the game, that could've been Lickity!"

"Olly," Emery warned quietly, as if to plead him not to get his hopes up; not again.

"Th-This could mean something, I mean right?" Oliver worried, he urgently peered back to Koko and began to swiftly step over to her. Once she turned around, and was within arms reach of him, he lovingly grappled his hands to her upper arms and made her look him square in the face, "Koko, which way did it go? We know Lickity is still alive, I'm sure... I'm sure she's GOT to be looking for us, she could be our way out of here!"

"I'm right here, chill out," Lickity suddenly barked as she pushed into the gaping door and hobbled into the house. Lickity perked her ears, stood up a bit straighter and gave Oliver a wide, beaming, fang-filled smile, "Can I at least get a nap in, before we head out?"

Oliver gaped and took a handful of clumsy steps backwards, in sheer, shell-shocked surprise. He waggled his large hand out, in defense, though his face read of near delighted terror. He shook his head, gaped and with his clumsy back-stepping, his lower back nudged the dining room table, and it wasn't until the backs of his lower legs met with the seat of the chair, that he was previously sat at, did he fumble back down into a clumsy sitting position at the table, yet again.

"Lickity," Oliver uttered shakily as his hands began to tremble in hard surprise, he looked beyond floored as he gaped and long blinked in her direction, as if the extraordinarily odd sight had him truly believing he was sat in a dream.

"Yeah, it's me, I get it, you're shocked, I can talk," Lickity rolled her eyes and fixated her gaze on Koko, who began to look wholly sheepish and excited. Lickity lovingly nuzzled her snout into Koko's center, which had Koko's tender hands rubbing her bat-like snout. Lickity reopened her eyes and peered to Oliver, out of her peripheral, "Orion gave me more than just the ability to talk, though, so I hope you're prepared for this."

"How...?" Oliver whimpered as Lickity and Koko beamed wide smiles to him and Emery; Emery was fashioned at the other side of the dining room table, she held a few dirty bowls but was wholly frozen, as if she was in the process of cleaning up, but was totally halted because of just who hung half way into their abode.

"Well, it's a long story, really," Lickity sighed as she tensed her tail fins and wings, they were sprawled as wide as she could inside their humble abode, and though her eyes scanned the ground for a moment, she dragged her loving stare to Oliver's sitting, frozen position and gave him a knowing look, "But, I'll have Tessa tell it."

Before anything else could be conveyed, Lickity gingerly closed all of her tail fins and wings, like closing a fan, though in the shrinkage of her sails, Lickity's tail gingerly moved away from the door to reveal none other than Tessa, stood humbly in the doorway, her thumbs hung into the loose pockets on her hips. Emery largely gasped, and in the process of quickly shoving both of her hands to her gaping mouth, she dropped all four bowls in her hands, sending them shattering to the tiles underneath. Tessa finally hooked her eyes into Oliver's teary ones and, for the first time in her life, she genuinely realized her whole, undying sisterly love for him. Tessa breathed a shaky giggle as Oliver froze and looked wholly rocked from the face of the Arcade. He uttered a soft hiccup of a noise of disbelief, but before he could wholly cover his face, he grit his teeth and nearly crumpled to agonizing delight. He rested his elbow on the table and shoved his hand over his face as he audibly choked a cry of surprise.

"Best damn thing I've ever nearly shot down, from the sky," Koko cheered with a hard laugh as Tessa joined in, though Tessa knew exactly just what Oliver needed.

With ginger, nervous footwork, she moved across the birch flooring, it's glossy state was largely tattered and worn, as was the whole building, though Tessa knew they wouldn't have to endure this lifestyle for much longer. As she closed the gap between her and Oliver, he uttered a nervous noise of whole disbelief and, through tears that easily streamed his face, he finally removed his hand and heaved a soft exhale of dire knowing, as if he was just given the best one-up, the last one-man to his existence. He shook his head, grit his teeth, squinted and, before Tessa could convince him to stand up and give her a hug, he largely stood and grappled her into his strong chest.

"Tessa," Oliver cried aloud, his voice was raspy and quiet. Tessa largely dug into his body and gripped her arms around his upper chest as his large arms tightly fastened around her upper shoulders and neck. He squeezed her into himself as tight as he could, he scoffed a hard breath of disbelief on her shoulder and uttered a few more cries of surprise into her neck, "I-I can't believe you're alive...!"

"I'm here, Olly," Tessa whimpered into his shoulder as, she took, largely overflowed his chest and shirt with all the tears her body could muster. She inhaled a deep breath, shut her eyes tight and clung onto him as tightly as she possibly could. She felt her heart grow a hotter degree of warmth as she continued to fill the gaps this horrid separation had left her with, and as Oliver largely tucked his massive hand to the back of her head and continued to weep, Tessa continued on through a shaky breath, "I'm here, Olly, I'm not going anywhere... Ever again..."

"I love you Tessa," Oliver uttered as his face was near drenched in tears, he didn't care who saw him bawl, at this point. He shook his head and, after a few moments of more loving exchange, he finally peeled himself from Tessa, grappled her upper arms and peered into her teary face as well, "I-I... I can't believe this..."

"I'm alive," Tessa heaved as everyone exhausted soft laughter at the endearing scene before them, "I'm here to take you guys back."

"H-How did you... When were you... I-I don't understand," Oliver whimpered, his nose was now largely stuffed up. He scoffed a hard cry and grimaced, "Tessa, you were dead!"

"Radex tricked you," Tessa urged as she lovingly slid her hands to Oliver's shoulders, though she finally cupped his cheeks, "It was all a massive lie... Zed and I lived."

"Boy, did they," Lickity muttered to Koko, she largely shot Lickity a wide smile as did Lickity return it.

"I-Is he here?" Oliver urged as he looked past Tessa, to Lickity, and to the gaping door of their tattered home, though Tessa shook her head.

"No, they're... They're back in Dead Zed. Dad, and everyone," Tessa urged, she beamed Oliver a widening smile as he continued to utter soft cries he so desperately tried to stifle. Tessa long blinked and gazed into his honest, humbled and defeated golden, honey brown eyes; they easily mocked their father's gentle, loving stare. She shook her head and smiled, as if to state to him that nothing, absolutely nothing, would ever come between them. She beamed a wider smile once Oliver shoved his forehead to hers and shut his eyes tight, "I'm not going anywhere, without you guys, Olly. I swear it... We won't ever be separated, ever again."

"Promise me," Oliver whimpered as he finally crumpled into tears once more, though Tessa beamed a widening, teary smile as well and finally slid her arms tight around his neck.

"I promise," Tessa whispered as she tightly hugged him, he swiftly fastened his large arms around her back once more as Koko and Emery largely pushed into their bubble.

Before too long, Tessa pulled away from Oliver so that Emery could quickly get a good dive at her. As the two girls tightly embraced and spoke excited, loving notions to each other, Tessa gripped Emery's hands and gave her a knowing smile.

"Fellow wrecker," Tessa stated knowingly, though Emery beamed a bashful smile and eyed Oliver.

"That's right... I haven't seen you since the night of prom," Emery stated as she squinted and peered to Tessa in raw disbelief, "I can't believe how many lifetimes ago, that night, feels..."

"So long ago," Tessa agreed quietly.

"Mom, it's cold out here," Royal suddenly quipped, though Ace's stifled chuckling could be heard outside of the door.

"You're both warm blooded, figure it out," Lickity snapped playfully, which had both boys laughing a little louder, out of sight.

Tessa scrunched her shoulders and, after she shot her gaze to the gaping entrance of their home, she slowly dragged her excited stare back to Oliver, as if she merely was just beginning to overload him with the surprises. Oliver furrowed his brow, stiffened his spine and shot Tessa a confused look.

"Wh-who else is out there?" Oliver urged quietly as he nervously peered into Tessa's eyes, though he felt the gears begin to work a bit harder as Tessa's bashful smile sprawled to that of excited knowing.

"Olly, there's... There's someone whose been dying to meet you," Tessa started, though Emery peered to Koko as if to silently ask her just who was outside. Koko scrunched her shoulders and beamed both Emery and Oliver excited looks. Tessa gingerly gripped Oliver's hand as he huffed a shaky breath and peered at her, as if to begin to know exactly where this was going, "This person... Hasn't even met you, and already greatly looks up to you."

"Who..." Oliver shook his head in confusion, though he tenderly covered his mouth in growing, elated surprise as tears billowed in his eyes once more, "What are you saying...?"

Tessa breathed a huff of a silent laugh and threw her gaze to the door across the gap, though she inhaled a slow breath and called to Ace.

"You boys can come in," Tessa stated knowingly, and before anything else could be said, Royal and Ace nervously and slowly sauntered inside, Ace's eager gaze glanced to Koko, Tessa and straight into his uncle Oliver's eyes.

Oliver huffed a hard scoff of a laugh and continued to cover his mouth, and as the tears continued to pour like rain, he squinted and shook his head. He firmly grappled Tessa's shoulder, shut his eyes tight and covered his forehead with his free hand, he hung his head, as if to call it quits, like the universe had easily called check-mate on his heart over and over, like the backlash was enough to keep him humbled into the ground for a very long time to come. He huffed a shaky breath and couldn't bear peering into the eyes of his brand new nephew, for fear of his heart stopping with the overflow of love that continued to pour into the room.

"Congrats, Olly-bear," Tessa cooed with a wide, teary smile as Ace gingerly tucked his presence closer to his mother. Tessa giggled and gripped Oliver's lower arm, though she wiped her continuing, falling tears prior, "You're an uncle."

"I'm an uncle," Oliver meeped as he finally wiped his tears, inhaled a stammering breath and peered to Ace in an overflow of surprised, loving urgency, "I-I'm... I'm an uncle...!"

"I'm an auntie!" Koko stated excitedly as she tucked her fists to her chest and bit her bottom lip in girly glee.

"I-I'm... My name is Ace," Ace stated tenderly, his hands shook a little. He bashfully peered to his mother, as if to question if he was presenting himself alright. Tessa nodded lovingly and rubbed up and down Ace's back in a firm notion, though Ace finally took a step closer to his brand new uncle, "I'm your nephew."

"Y-You look... SO much like Zed," Oliver stammered as he firmly wiped his eyes, he huffed a hard, short sigh at himself and peered his elated, wholly humbled gaze into Ace's existence, "I can't believe any of this is happening... I-I can't believe any of it."

"Out of all of my dad's brothers," Ace started bashfully, his intelligent eyes scanned the ground a little before he hooked his gaze straight into Oliver's, "Mom and dad always told me I was the most like my uncle Oliver... I couldn't wait to eventually meet you."

Oliver huffed a small breath, as if to pray that somehow he would eventually collect himself, though he figured, if there were any time to cry like a baby, it'd be in this raw situation. Before he could question if it was appropriate or not, he took a few steps forward, filled the gap, and lugged his arms tight around Ace's neck and shoulders. He pulled his nephew into the largest bear hug he could muster and squeezed, and much to his surprise, Ace heaved a small chuckle and pushed into his uncle's hug with the same amount of fervor. He was warned that Oliver was likely an even bigger softy than Ralph, himself, and in the two minutes Ace had in Oliver's presence, he was very quickly convinced. Ace smiled a wide, excited smile and dared to feel tears sting his eyes as well. Before too long, Oliver pulled away and kept his hand gripped to Ace's strong shoulder.

"I'm the uncle that's gunna teach you how to properly wreck, my friend," Oliver teased, his deep voice crackled as he continued to attempt to blink back tears, though he failed. He wiped his eyes with his large thumb and shook Ace about, just barely, in a loving way. Ace chuckled and gently gripped the underside of his uncles large, wrecking arm.

"You're the only uncle, of mine, that can," Ace volleyed, everyone in the group laughed a little, though Oliver released Ace and peered to Tessa.

"I need you to understand that mom is going to likely fall over dead, when she sees you," Oliver grumbled towards his sister with a loving smile, "Not to mention, when you reveal to her that she's a grandmother."

"Where are they? I want to get you all in the same room," Tessa urged excitedly as she peered about their small living space, which included the very room her and Zed had stayed in, the night of prom. Tessa bit her bottom lip and eagerly peered to Oliver, "I have SO much to fill you guys in on."

"I think mom and Aunt Taffyta are downstairs, looking at the map," Oliver croaked as he peered to Emery, she nodded in assurance.

"Or, trying to, at least," Emery giggled, Koko rolled her eyes.

"I keep telling them to light candles," Koko grumbled as she gestured for everyone to follow her, "C'mon. They're in for the biggest surprise of the century."


	59. Chapter 59

**Reviews :**

 **XxNightclassxX :** Awww my gosh! Thank you SO MUCH! No I don't mind the 'geeking out' at all! I'm actually grateful I have readers that are AS jazzed as I am! Seriously, it makes my ENTIRE life, I'm so thrilled you guys are enjoying my story so much! If that last chapter got you, I'm sure this one will slaughter ALL the feels xD I'm glad I get to sort of live this 'reunion' thing out, with you guys... It's been maybe half a year since I've written for the rest of the Sugar Rush crew, and it gets me all weepy and emotional as well. So, you guys aren't the only ones on this ride. I'm right there with yah.

 **Retrokill :** Thank you very much! :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! I'm really glad these reunions aren't becoming too redundant or overwhelming. I have one more major reunion to get through, and then that'll be it for reunions... Until the very end of the story, that is ;)

 **Miss Mikayla :** Thank you! :D Yeah, Oliver and Emery don't have a child (yet ;D) - they explain how they've gotten through the entire year without accidentally making new life. It's actually sort of sad, but it IS expanded on :)

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you! Yes, so so SO much sap and so much love. This next chapter tops it, and the love continues on past this chapter for sure :D

 **Xaehttium :** Aww, I'm glad it brightened your day! YAY! Well, you'll definitely get a GOOD dose of Vanellope's reaction, in this chapter xD Thank you so much for reviewing! 8D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL Thank you!

 **poblok starwalker :** Yes indeed! :D Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Yes, nearly too sweet to endure :D This chapter definitely tops it! Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** For sure, the reunions just become more and more emotional haha. Thank you so much!

 **WildVirus :** YIS ALL THE REUNIONS. Eh, it's okay. I survived xD Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so much! Yes, I'm glad everyone took SOOO well to Koko (and mostly all of you guys even remembered her!) Yes, she is definitely Vanellope's child. She's pretty excitable, and a ton more outgoing than Tessa or Oliver (which often gets her into trouble haha) As for Emery and Oliver, it is true, they don't get a whole ton of screen time, simply because I have ... *counts*.. about 5 MAIN couples I will be focusing on. Some more than others, and I'm trying to make everyone happy, but I ultimately have to do what's best for the flow of the story, and write in such a way where nothing is forced. So, whatever comes out, just comes out! And that's what it'll be and I hope to God you guys enjoy it either way xD And, thank you SO MUCH for the compliments about my drawing! I am EXTREMELY detail oriented. I go so far as to add the faintest of freckles to some of my pieces, particularly Tessa, that no one ever catches, but if I don't put it, I'll be OCD about it later xD

* * *

 **A/N: Okay guys, if we're gunna be real, real quick, I bawled my eyes out like a little baby when writing this chapter. If you really want to get into the FEELS, listen to 'I Will Always Return' by Bryan Adams.**

 **That whole entire movie's score gets me right in the heart, man. UHG WHY EMOTIONS WHY.**

 **Song Listened To :**

 **I Will Always Return by Bryan Adams**

* * *

 ***Chapter 59***

As the five gamers quickly head across the dome of a room, a massive abode that housed a kitchen, dining and living room under one roof, they came to what looked to be a stairwell that Oliver, with Emery's aid, dug down into the ground. A long, narrow stairwell that led to a dark room. As Oliver neared it, he peered down into it before he fixated his eyes on Tessa's in a curious, delighted way, though he looked as if he was growing sorrowful, albeit in an oddly nostalgic way, as if he still could hardly believe Tessa was in his presence. He heaved a shaky sigh and fixated his honey gaze straight into Tessa's, and as he reached for her hand, his tender voice spoke to her.

"You should go down first," Oliver eased quietly, though suddenly Vanellope's and Taffyta's soft laughter could be heard carrying.

Tessa bit her lip, gasped silently and fixated her tired, teary gaze further down the dark stairwell. It was clear there was some form of candle light down the end of it. In a slow draw of nervousness, she squeezed Oliver's hand as Emery, Koko and Ace came alongside the two. Lickity and Royal hung back in expectant wait, though their gazes were sharp and clued in on everything that was happening. Tessa froze, and as much as she wanted to tear down those stairs, dive into her mother's arms, she felt frozen, as if she couldn't bring herself to it, though she knew she was ultimately the only one who could. Oliver's tender voice broke her nervous thoughts.

"I know you're scared," Oliver eased tenderly, he squinted and, in the gentle shake of his head and the warm smile Tessa had been dying to see, he continued on, as softly as he could, "Go to her... Every day she expressed how she'd give up fighting for every single aspect of royal life, every single last title to her name... If it meant having you back in her arms."

"Really?" Tessa whimpered as tears rolled down her cheeks, Oliver, as well as Emery and Koko, scoffed knowing, whispers of kind notions towards Tessa.

"Go," Oliver urged quietly, "We're right here with you. Always will be."

Tessa smiled, and as she leaned into Oliver for one more hug she had been craving, she finally peeled from him and began to set her silent footwork down the makeshift stairs. A long stairwell that hugged the wall downwards, the massive, circular room her mother and aunt were far dug into was dark and cold, and though the candle light hardly even reached the stairwell, Tessa could tell there were massive black-out shades stiff in their positioning over long bay windows. Sunlight so desperately attempted to peek through them, though to no avail. Tessa scanned the room in nervous delight, and as what she was wanting to see, for hours, days, months now, finally came into view, Tessa inhaled a slow, sharp breath and held it in collective excitement. Tessa tucked her fists to her chest and ogled her mother and aunt, across the way. In the center of the room sat a big uprise, a massive, round island of sorts. A perfect gathering point for plans, preparations and the like. Vanellope and Taffyta quietly chit-chat with each other, they stood over the island, which was hip level, and out in front of them was a massive, tattered, sprawling map that they had seemingly been working on for the entirety of the year, now.

How archaic it all looked, how native and raw it all seemed. Tessa shook her head, and as tears hung in her eyes, she assessed the situation for everything that it was. Vanellope and Taffyta were both dressed in warm hoodies, both of which lacked any Sugar Rush logos or cheery colors. They looked a bit more toned, though with this, they looked slightly malnourished, as if their diet was slowly going down the drain, with the scarcity of food in Stone Crest. Tessa's heart skipped a beat as Vanellope's smile shone through the candle light from across the stretch of the map island, and as her mother tucked her long, black hair behind her ear, Tessa dared to approach the island. As she remained unseen, she allowed her soft presence to soak into her aunt's and mother's conversation. She budged into it, as if she was a part of this sub-par castle meeting, as if she hasn't been gone a single day... As if nothing at all had changed.

"I'm not sure that's such a great idea," Vanellope uttered softly as she pointed down to a point in the map, she had a few small props to use, in which indicated land marks, dangerous areas and potential places for food and water. She moved, what looked to be, a small crown piece; Tessa assumed it signified their group, "I think it we move farther South East, we'll eventually hit the warmer weather, and maybe one of Sugar Rush's seas. You remember those warm rains that came by, last month."

"Those were North-bound clouds, right?" Taffyta wondered, Vanellope nodded.

"Yeah, they were," Vanellope urged as she put her hands on her hips and peered down at the map, though she grappled for the candle, as well as the small holder, and moved it outwards, so she could see the map easier, "I just wish... There was a quicker way to move. Not to mention, we can't leave until Penny comes back."

"It's been three days already, she should be back, tomorrow," Taffyta mumbled, her dirty hands didn't hesitate to draw to her tired cheeks. She huffed a nervous breath and shook her head, "What am I going to do with her..."

"It'll be alright," Vanellope cooed, though her voice was flat, as if she had had to comfort Taffyta on the subject matter thousands of times in the past, "Maybe... Maybe we can scout out, and come back if it gets too dangerous."

"That's the story of our lives, right now," Taffyta argued, "Why don't we just DO IT. Just leave. There's nothing here for us, in Stone Crest, but shelter. We can always build another shelter."

"I just wish the city had power," Vanellope whimpered as she crossed her arms, though she slumped her shoulders and peered down to the map.

Tessa eagerly peered to them, and just as she was about to open her mouth to suggest something, she nearly forgot where she was. She furrowed her brow, shook her head at herself and let her fingertips grace the stone island she was sat at. There were delicate carvings about the entire island, once a gorgeous meeting place that let in a massive amount of sunlight. She knew that, because the city had no power, they couldn't access the electricity to draw the strict shades and let in sunshine. Tessa glanced down at the island in growing, bubbling ideas and finally let her fingertips grace the stone a little bit harder. Before she could stop herself, think twice about presenting herself, shrink into the shadows and chicken out, she inhaled a deep, readied breath and allowed Zed's comforting coding flood her main frame with their glorious silver circuitry. She smiled a knowing smile and watched as the etchings in the island caught like wildfire, it easily crawled with her delicious, silver code; the game grappled onto any form of true royalty it could get it's pixels on. Tessa huffed a small chuckle and dragged her eyes across the island, across the map, and to her mother and aunt, whom of which were directly across from her.

"Allow me to shed some light on the situation," Tessa humbly and quietly started as the whole island riddled with the gorgeous display of circuit lines.

Vanellope and Taffyta largely gasped and took a few scared steps back as the candle blew out, though with Tessa's effortless summons, the stiff, dusty shades behind Vanellope and Taffyta finally began to loudly shift, and in no time at all, they began to raise to let in the game's glorious, welcoming sunshine. It largely splayed over the tops of Taffyta's and Vanellope's figures and slapped Tessa straight into the sunlight. Tessa furrowed her brow and peered down at the map with a widening smile, she could feel the whole game go completely silent, and she knew, in this instance, her mother and aunt were now well on their way to believing this was just purely a dream.

"You COULD move South East, and though it'd be far, that's probably your best bet. If there are rain clouds that are heading Northbound, you'd likely hit one of Sugar Rush's seas, but... You also have to be careful of monsoons, during this time. So, if you don't account for that, then the trip is pointless... At least for the summer," Tessa fingered her lip and pointed, though with a pluck of delightful scheming, she tenderly picked up the little crown emblem and brought it up to her face.

Tessa peered to it in dewy curiosity, she could tell it was carved from wood. Tessa huffed a knowing chuckle, shook her head and, in a slow draw of growing delight, she dragged her eyes beyond the island and straight into her mother's gaze. Vanellope and Taffyta were wholly frozen, though Taffyta had both of her hands largely covered to her mouth in pure, writhing shock. Both women were dead still, though Tessa could tell that Vanellope was having a hard time coming to grips with just what was going on. Tessa eased a small, bashful smile, and as her trembling hand lulled the crown between her fingers, her eyes sagged down and to the side.

"Or... You can always come back, with me," Tessa eased quietly, her eyes stabbed into her mother's with a wide, knowing smile. The second Vanellope's shoulders slumped, Tessa could tell she was finally believing that this was truly real, "I... I can't promise I won't make mistakes. I can't promise I'll be a perfect head, but... I won't ever leave you guys behind. And I'm not leaving here without every single last one of you."

Vanellope slowly covered her mouth with one of her hands and huffed a soft sigh of sorrowful disbelief. She shook her head, furrowed her brow and felt as if her feet were numb. She gazed at her daughter, her gorgeous first born, soaking up the proud Sugar Rush sun, as if it begged Tessa to take the game back. Vanellope finally flinched as Taffyta firmly, yet slowly, grappled Vanellope's arm and squeezed. It was at this moment did Vanellope remember that she was still awake. Tessa heaved a soft, shaky giggle and gazed to her mother across the gap, and though there were now only merely a dozen feet between them, Tessa knew it was still way too much. The second Tessa began to step about the stone island, Vanellope huffed another scoff of disbelief and covered her mouth wholly in surprise, it was clear she was rocked entirely from the face of the Earth.

"My Tessa," Vanellope whispered as tears effortlessly fell down her cheeks, and as if she had to convince herself to not rocket herself across the map island, she stumbled in a fit of trying to get her feet to properly work. She jolted about the round of the island and began to run, in all of her speed, every single last byte of strength and effort her tired body had. She heaved a soft cry and outreached for Tessa as both girls quickly rushed to each other, "TESSA!"

Like worlds colliding, galaxies crossing, and every gorgeous star caught in the cross fire of the explosion, both girls dove into each other's arms, once and for all. Vanellope slapped her arms around Tessa's neck and tugged her into a tighter hug than even Oliver could deliver. Vanellope uttered a hard, sorrowful cry to the room and grappled her first born into the largest squeeze, she firmly held the back of Tessa's head and swayed her a little. Tessa uttered a soft noise, pushed her face into her mother's warm, welcoming shoulder and silently began to weep. She largely scrunched her face into Vanellope's furry hoody, the still, familiar, motherly scent coat Tessa's existence and made her whole, once and for all. Her larger, wrecking hands gripped her mother around her upper back and returned the squeeze with an equal amount of dire fervor.

"My baby!" Vanellope loudly uttered through a sorrowful cry to the room, the walls gratefully echoed the exciting overflow of love, and as if on a cue, everyone quickly began to surround them in gentle chatter of awe and disbelief, and though they wanted to come closer and glom into a group hug, they gave Tessa and Vanellope a respectful amount of distance for a few, aching moments longer. Vanellope loudly cried to the room, her hands grappled Tessa's hair as delicately and as lightly as she could, she swayed Tessa and kept her daughter as close as possible. She inhaled a shaky breath, shook her head and buried her face into the side of Tessa's soft, long hair, "My sweet Tessa...!"

"I'm home, momma," Tessa cried quietly, she shut her eyes tight and felt her knees go weak, the strange sensation rolled over her spine; for the past year, she understood what it was to be a strong, motherly figure for Ace, though in that struggle, she forgot what it was like to lean on her own mother. She slumped into Vanellope's arms and soaked in every single last ounce of her strength, the ultimate head, her rock when the ground is quicksand. Tessa huffed a hot breath on Vanellope's neck and felt as if the two squeezed each other any harder, they'd likely pop. Tessa finally giggled a little, in hard, teary disbelief and shook her head, "Momma, I missed you so... SO much."

"I'm never letting you out of my sight, ever again," Vanellope cried quietly, she inhaled a deep, shaky breath and, as if the two could stay in this hug for eternity, she knew she had one greater desire; to see her daughter's face. Vanellope ever so gently pulled Tessa back a little, though she kept her motherly arms about Tessa's neck and shoulders, she gingerly tucked Tessa's hair behind her ears and huffed a silent few cries of grimacing disbelief, "I can't believe you're here... I can't believe it's you..."

"I'm here," Tessa huffed through a hot sigh, she shook her head and blinked tears down her cheeks as she finally got a good, hard look into her mother's eyes; she could hardly even begin to understand just how real this all felt, all of the sudden, "I'm here..."

"My Tessy," Vanellope nasally laughed quietly, her long and dainty eyelashes glued together with her tears, though as she squeezed Tessa deeper into her chest, Vanellope pushed a few firm kisses to Tessa's forehead and the bridge of her nose, "I'm never letting you go... Ever again..."

"I love you, mom," Tessa meeped, though Vanellope scoffed a hard laugh and grappled her first born into another bear hug. Vanellope finally beamed into Oliver's, Koko's and Emery's eyes with adoring, teary glee.

"My USER, I love you more," Vanellope urged quietly, she firmly pushed a few more kisses into the shaved side of Tessa's head. Tessa gladly soaked in every single last byte of her mother's affection, though she knew she had a certain Aunt that she needed to give her love to, in this time, as well.

"I have WAY too much to tell you guys," Tessa beamed, her tears continued to trickle down her cheeks, though Tessa and Vanellope hesitantly pulled away from each other. Tessa lovingly peered into Vanellope's eyes, though in a slow glance over her mother's shoulder, she caught eyes with her aunt Taffyta.

"I-It's really you," Taffyta meeped quietly in hard surprise as she continued to hold one hand over her mouth, her teary eyes did everything they could to remain constant on Tessa's face.

"It's me," Tessa breathed in hard relief as Taffyta moved into hers and Vanellope's bubble, and as firmly as Taffyta could, she yanked Tessa into a large hug as well, her arms slapped tight about her niece's neck and shoulders.

"How... How...?" Taffyta trailed off, and though she opened her mouth over and over to begin to want to ask a billion questions, nothing coherent came of it. Tessa giggled, shook her head and buried her loving affection deep into her aunt's arms. She knew, in the past, her family had annoyed her, and there were times she wanted nothing to do with them, though in this moment, she knew she could stay in their arms, in their warm love, their unconditional embrace, for an eternity. Without a single complaint.

"I'm alive, and... Boy is it a long story," Tessa choked a small laugh as her mother hung close, like a lioness protecting a cub. Vanellope firmly rubbed Tessa's back as her and Taffyta remained locked in a tight hug.

"WE don't even have the whole story, yet," Oliver grumbled in a playfully irritated tone towards Tessa, which caused everyone to easily laugh at his notions, though once his deep voice coat everyone's souls, their bubble only tightened with love, and the group hug finally solidified.

Tessa giggled as everyone quickly began to glom into them with the impending roll of a tight group hug, and it only deepened when Oliver's large arms grappled about the group nearly as a whole. Oliver nuzzled the back of Tessa's head, she was wholly the epicenter. Tessa beamed into the nook of her mother's shoulder, though she reopened her teary eyes and peered into the soft, worn cloth in hard knowing. She felt her heart jolt at the mere fact that Ace wasn't included in this group hug, and the roll of anxious excitement rolled over her entire being once again, the reintroduction of her first born son, one of which her whole entire family had no idea existed. She gingerly leaned up and away, which cued everyone else to do so, amidst their excited notions of overflowing love.

"Mom," Tessa started, which made everyone shush their gentle, loving antics and hone their entire attention to the two before them. Vanellope tenderly gripped the top of Tessa's left shoulder and gave her daughter the whole world, her entire, undivided attention through teary, beloved eyes. Tessa heaved a nasally giggle and looked down to her feet. Her face turned red in delightful bashfulness, "You... You know how Zed and I are opposed codes? And how, the swap was too scary for anyone to think about, because of the fear of losing me?"

"Right," Vanellope nodded, she furrowed her brow a little and long blinked, "You... Did you-"

"GET SOME?" Taffyta barked, everyone flinched, though after a second, everyone largely burst into hard laughter; Tessa easily shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah," Tessa scoffed with a wide smile as she looked back down, though she finally hooked her eyes back to her mother's and grinned in a cheeky fashion, "...And then some."

"And then some," Vanellope wrinkled her nose and shook her head, and though she nearly began to open her mouth to inquire that she didn't want to know the details, she froze in hard knowing and stared Tessa down in growing, elated shock of the added information being thrown at her. Vanellope covered her mouth a little and gazed into Tessa's soul, a roll of shivers plagued Vanellope's spine as she stared at her oldest daughter as a whole, "Y-You... What are you saying?"

"You're going to have to tell my son just what you want him to call you," Tessa started through a gentle giggle as Oliver, Koko and Emery began to bounce about, just barely, in elated excitement. Taffyta largely covered her mouth, yet again, and uttered a hard noise of delighted surprise as Tessa continued to rock Vanellope from the face of this planet, "Because, I'm sure the term 'grandma' isn't something you'd tolerate."

"What are you saying?" Vanellope grimaced as large tears billowed in her eyes again, and before she could continue on questioning just what more Tessa could deliver, Vanellope grit her teeth, uttered a soft cry and covered her face with both her hands. She hung her head, scrunched her shoulders and wept quietly, as if to show just how grateful she was for all of these blessings that poured over her. Vanellope inhaled a long, winded breath, shook her head and peered her wet eyes deep into Tessa's glassy ones, "What are you saying!" she rasped happily.

"I hope you're ready for an extra title, to your name, mom," Tessa eased lovingly, the amount of delightful cheek that poured from Tessa's being was deliciously overwhelming, though as Tessa looked over her shoulder and saw Oliver and Koko kindly retrieving their new nephew, Ace gingerly bumbled into everyone's presence, tucked his larger fists to his chest in delicate, polite nervousness and beamed his new grandmother a knowing smile.

Everyone excitedly urged to Vanellope in a knowing way, they crowd around the cavity-inducing scene before them, the way the sunlight drew against everyone's skin, as if the promise of this new, bright and delicious day was the best day they all had endured in quite a long while. Ace inhaled a shaky breath, eased his gap-toothed smile to Vanellope and finally approached her shell-shocked figure. As tenderly a he could, he held out his hands to her and, though it was apparent that he was nervous, he didn't do anything to hide the tremble in his dangerous, wrecking hands. Ace peered deep into Vanellope's shocked eyes as she continued to hold her hands over her mouth in hard surprise, though before too long, she eased her little hands into his and felt every single last pixel of her line of legacy, the bizarre notion that he, too, was rightfully in line for the throne they worked so hard to protect.

"This isn't real," Vanellope shakily whispered as she shook her head and kept her eyes hooked into Ace's handsome, hazel eyes. Ace finally beamed a wide smile, nodded and chuckled as everyone about him nodded and laughed as well.

"It's real, mom," Koko urged excitedly, "We have another wrecker!"

"You are everything I could want in a grandson, and I don't even know your name," Vanellope uttered as tears rolled down her cheeks, she shook her head and, though the two remained with their hands held tight in each others, Vanellope itched to pull her own daughter's kin into her motherly arms, as if Ace was considered her baby, as well.

"Ace," He eased, his deep voice glossed over Vanellope, and though he glanced to his great aunt Taffyta, who looked equally as rocked from the Arcade, he hooked his gaze deep into Vanellope's and nodded once, "Ace Von Thaddeus Kalivar."

"Lookit'you," Vanellope hissed as she inhaled a soft sniffle, though she exhaled a soft, hiccup of a cry, squinted and desperately tried to hold back the urge to cry, though she failed miserably as her soft, dainty cries carried through stammering words, "You can call me whatever your little heart desires, my love."

"'Grandma' DOES sound a bit too matronly, huh," Ace chuckled, though Vanellopes eyes glossed into Ace's in pure wonder, and before he could get anything else out, she took a few firm steps forward and gripped her arms around Ace's neck; though he was about half a foot taller than her, she fought to make it work. Ace beamed a widening, loving smile and, without any hesitation, he eased his strong, masculine arms around Vanellope's upper back and squeezed her tight into his chest. He furrowed his brow and dared to bury his face into the top of Vanellope's soft shoulder, how motherly and warm she was, he soaked in every single ounce of it, as it quickly reminded him of Tessa's strong presence. He smiled in a bashful way and squeezed her a little tighter, "How about 'momma'? It's what my mom called you, anyhow."

"Anything for you," Vanellope urged into his broad shoulder, she squeezed him a little tighter, for a little longer before she pushed a firm smooch into the side of his head and dark blue hair. She gingerly leaned away and, as she slid her hands to his cheeks in growing hope that flood her demeanor, she peered her elated, hazel eyes deep into his and shook her head, "I knew today was going to be great... I just knew it."

"Didn't think it'd be THIS great, huh?" Oliver choked with a wide smile as everyone was largely overcome with happy tears, even still. They all laughed in a knowing way as everyone, in their own respects, messily wiped away tears that streamed their cheeks.

"Got anymore surprises?" Vanellope suddenly barked to Tessa in hard, playful annoyance; everyone's laughter only grew and persisted as Taffyta easily lulled her arm tight around Tessa's shoulders. Tessa scrunched her shoulders, leaned into Taffyta's embrace and, as she cocked an eyebrow, she bashfully held up her left hand and showed her mother her engagement ring. Vanellope's facial expression sloped from excited, loving happiness to that of a flat, dull protectiveness, "...So y'had a shotgun wedding, HUH?"

"Mom!" Tessa laughed with a wide smile, everyone doubled over in hard laughter as Tessa waved about her left hand, "This is an engagement ring! No wedding has happened, yet!"

"Oh my User, COOL!" Taffyta shouted to Vanellope, she nudged her sister's arm and beamed her a cheeky smile, "This one takes after me!"

"Okay, well after I give Zed a big hug, he'll be getting a BIG talking-to," Vanellope stated loudly, with great cheek, though it was clear her notions were playful.

Even with said happy demeanor, Tessa laughed nervously, caught eyes with Ace and cocked an eyebrow. Ace bulged his eyes, shook his head and beamed his mom a wide smile as he choked a stifled chuckle.

"Oh, dad's screwed," Ace muttered, which had everyone in continued stitches.


	60. Chapter 60

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Aww! I'm really glad you liked it so much, I was really worried it was going to be too heavy handed and too overload for everyone, but it seems it was just the right touch, and for that I am extremely thankful. No worries about Emery and Oliver - you'll really appreciate where their relationship heads, for the future installments, however ;)

 **gi-mac :** Thank you! Yeah, it's been so great writing for Vanellope and Taffyta again. I really missed them. They sort of were my comfort, cause writing for their dynamic is so easy and something I'm so used to, so it's definitely a breath of fresh air having them back; I'm sure everyone feels that way xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww haha! I'm so sorry xD Thank you so much, I'm really glad it hit all the right spots and such! :D Yes, more juicy reunions to come - especially the meeting of Ralph and Koko :'D

 **poblok starwalker :** Thank you! Yes indeed :D

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you so much. I'm really excited that everyone enjoyed that reunion so much! There's still a few more reunions left, but after everyone is under the same roof, it's party time xD

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! ;_;

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you, I'm glad you feel that way! :) I definitely had those scenes in mind, for sure!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you! :)

 **jonnyne :** BAW xD Yeah those pesky 'allergies' will getcha! ;) I'm really glad you enjoyed it, and I appreciate your compliments. That means the world to me!

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you very much! I really hope you feel better D:

 **Retrokill :** Yes, Penny is left! As well as the reunion of Ralph and Vanellope, not to mention Oliver and everyone, and Ralph meeting Koko for the first time :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :** **Into The Open Air by Julie Fowlis**

 ***Chapter 60***

After a long while of hugging, crying and more joyous, reuniting notions, the group made their way back upstairs and, to make clear that Vanellope was more than happy to drop all of their daily routines, house chores and preparations to move, she made sure everyone had a place to lounge about the make-shift fire pit in their old living space, just outside the dining area and kitchenette. She even moved furniture so Royal and Lickity equally had a place to laze near the roaring fire, in which Lickity made larger for everyone's comfort.

"So, where's dad and everyone?" Oliver urged, everyone was sat in such a way so that seeing Tessa and Ace, who sat right next to each other, were in full view, so to make telling their grand back-stories easier. Oliver beamed the two an eager smile, as did everyone else, "To be honest with you, the last time I saw him was... Was right before you and Zed left for Tron."

"Dad's been hulled away in Fix-It Felix Jr.," Tessa sighed as she shook her head a little and shrugged, "I just recently reunited with him."

"What?" Vanellope urged in hard curiosity, she squinted lightly, "You mean... You weren't with him all this time?"

"Mom, Radex put a force field over the game's entrance," Tessa complained sadly as she held her hands out, "He also put a force field over Game Central Station, and because Dead Zed's outlet was all wonky, Zed moved his game to End Of Line station... I had legitimately no way to get in, and neither did dad. I went to the entrance of the game, the day I came back to the Arcade, and that's when Uncle Rancis, er... Radex, met up with me."

"What did he say to you?" Vanellope urged quietly as she froze and gazed hard into her first born's eyes.

"He told me that... I was banished. To think about what I had done, the mess I caused," Tessa eased sorrowfully, she could tell Vanellope was beginning to seethe, "He said that... You guys would come looking for me when you guys were ready to have me back at the caste."

"... That asshole," Vanellope growled, "He lied to you... He tried to get you to believe we all hated you, so you'd stay away."

"It worked," Tessa muttered as she looked down and to the side.

"He wanted you at bay cause he knew..." Oliver trailed off and eyed his mother with a kind, knowing smile, "He knew he was screwed the second Tessa was even so much as let back into the game. He knew he didn't stand a chance."

"He doesn't," Tessa spat with hatred.

"Wait a second. If you couldn't get past the force field, well, then... How are you here now?" Taffyta inquired with a sharp side eye and a gape of delightful, curious wonder; Tessa held her breath and could feel as if her and Ace were now becoming superglued together.

"Walked right into that one, didn'tcha," Ace muttered to his mother with a cheeky smile, Tessa lightly elbowed him.

"Well... Y'see," Tessa gestured her hands a little, and before she could muster he courage to continue, she felt the whole entire game practically go silent and hone their attentions to Tessa and her son, who sat with a sheepish, nervous smile beamed to the large hands in his lap, "Well... You know how, uh... Zed and I left the Arcade and were gone for a night?"

"Well, to us, it was a whole entire eternity," Oliver choked, everyone easily laughed in a knowing way, though Tessa have him a sorrowful smile and shook her head.

"Well... We sort of... Took advantage of the whole 'no coding' thing, and uh," Tessa trailed off, and once her and Ace caught eyes, he nearly grinned at her, as if to tell her that his mother's and father's sex life was largely on display strictly for the fact that Ace exists. Both mother and son largely burst out into hard laughter, contagious chuckles that had the rest of the group following suit. Tessa nudged Ace, yet again, and furrowed her brow bashfully, "This is really embarrassing to explain in front of Ace."

"Mom, it's practically written in my code, I'm pretty much numb to it now," Ace muttered; Vanellope crossed her arms and smiled a delighted smile at just how many gentle and loving attributes she noticed in Ace, traits and mannerisms that largely mocked Ralph, Oliver, and even Koko and herself.

"Zed and I had sex, as humans, and well..." Tessa trailed off and gently hooked her gaze into her mother's, "... Ace was our little souvenir we took back to the Arcade with us."

Vanellope's annoyed smirk gently sloped to that of hard knowing. She let her arms unravel from their crossed position, over her chest, as she huffed a surprise noise. She quickly averted her gaze straight into Taffyta's before she locked eyes with her grandson.

"The reason we can get past the force field is because," Tessa unraveled her hands and felt her heart begin to pound as everyone seemingly hung on the edge of their seat. Tessa's eyes finally dragged to Oliver's surprised demeanor, into Taffyta's floored facial expression and straight into her mother's covered, gaping mouth, "Ace is a User."

"You're a human," Vanellope hissed in hard delight, and though she tenderly began to move around the large couch everyone else was sat at, she weaved her way around Royal, Lickity, the fire and came into Tessa's and Ace's bubble. Ace raised his eyebrows in collective surprise and watched his grandmother's every move, and though she held her surprised demeanor, she almost looked as if she didn't know what to do with this information, "What... What powers do you harbor?"

"Well, I... I really don't know," Ace urged sadly, though he held out his palms and showed Vanellope his glowing, silver circuits that sprawled his hands in glorious, bright delight, "I can glitch, and I can wreck... Mom and dad have taught me a few things, on their respective powers and such. Otherwise, I'm not sure I can really do too much, outside of an adrenaline rush and... Getting through force fields."

"He's a fantastic racer, and mechanic, too, but... We're not sure what kind of human-powers he has, I don't think they come naturally," Tessa lovingly pet Ace's shoulder and peered into his eyes.

"It might just be something you have to practice? Hone in on?" Taffyta inquired as her and Vanellope eagerly stole glances to each other.

"You can glitch," Vanellope eased in surprised delight as she tucked her hands to her chest and gave Ace a floored look of relief, "I'm so glad that got passed on."

"Well, Tess, he has your coding... How come you couldn't get through the force field, then?" Taffyta wondered in gentle confusion.

"I don't know, he's the only one who can get through," Tessa shrugged, "In order for everyone else to get through, you sort of have to have an exterior swap with him. I think it tricks the force field."

"So if he's your ticket in and out of the game," Emery wondered softly as her and Koko excitedly peered to each other, "We can get out, too!"

"That's exactly what we're here for," Tessa urged as Vanellope finally sat down on the bend of the couch near Royal's tail, though him and Lickity were largely coiled about each other.

As soon as Vanellope sat down, Lickity gently stretched a little and nuzzled her large skull into Vanellope's lap. Vanellope shook her head in the sorrows that seemingly wanted to grip tight to her, the fact that her kingdom was still in shambles, thigh her heart began to sing at the fact that everything was very slowly coming back together. She tenderly began to scratch the top of Lickity's head, and in due time, Tessa's massive bat of a dragon lulled her glorious, green eyes closed and began to rumble a deep, methodical purr. Vanellope giggled, shook her head yet again, in disbelief, and peered her teary gaze straight into Tessa's.

"Is that what all those burn marks are, on your face and arms?" Vanellope quietly and sorrowfully wondered, she squinted and shook her head, "Ace was born in Dead Zed?"

"Yeah... Giving birth to him... It nearly killed the both of us," Tessa admitted gently, and though she glanced at Ace, he reached a loving hand out to her, as if to somehow apologize for something he couldn't help. She quickly reached for his hand as well and met him in the middle, as if to assure him it wasn't his fault, "I went temporarily blind because of it and... Nearly turned into a virus, myself."

"You almost turned into a virus?" Oliver wondered in hard, scared surprise as him, Emery and Koko stole nervous glances to each other.

"Yeah, unfortunately... My brain coding had taken damage, and I turned into a raging bitch, quite frankly," Tessa heaved, Ace blurt a hard chuckle and shook his head. Tessa joined and nudged Ace's shoulder, "This one was too small to remember any of it, but Zed and his brothers had the extraordinary task of playing keep away, from me."

"So, how did you reverse your blindness and avoid turning into a virus?" Taffyta wondered in hard confusion, in which Tessa's face turned beet red in return. Ace heaved another hard laugh and covered his face.

"You keep setting yourself up for these awkward replies, mom," Ace laughed, everyone easily joined him in suspicious knowing.

"I'm assuming Zed had juuust the antidote," Oliver grumbled, in which cued everyone's laughter a little louder.

"Code swap got me back on track," Tessa muttered through a bashful smile.

"I'm still uncertain all of this is real," Vanellope croaked, "I still remember that split second of joy, we all felt... I had my loading bar back, everyone was upgraded to normality... We knew you had done it."

"When did Radex overthrow everything?" Tessa urged nervously as Vanellope peered to Taffyta, as if to silently tell her sister that she was having a hard time remembering all the horror.

"That very day, I believe... Who we thought was Rancis, dragged us to The Hull... He told us he had grave news, from Surge," Taffyta's soft, sorrowful voice dragged, "He... He told us you and Zed didn't make the re-entrance back into the Arcade, from the portal, and... You both died."

"He then told us that he was sorry it had to be this way, and before we knew it, Taffyta and I were teleported to Stone Crest... It wasn't until minutes later did he teleport everyone inside the city, away," Vanellope eased in dark sorrow as she looked down, "We knew, right then, that Rancis had rejoined with Radex."

"What?" Tessa hissed in dire, sorrowful confusion as she shook her head.

"Taffyta and I were all alone, up until Koko was born," Vanellope eased, though she wrinkled her youngest daughter a loving smile, "Shortly after, we found Oliver, Emery and Penny traveling and... Thank User for that."

"Dad has no clue about Koko, does he," Oliver stated as Koko scrunched her shoulders to her head in girly, excited delight. Everyone beamed knowing smiles at Koko as Tessa cheerfully shook her head.

"Not a chance," Tessa laughed quietly, "That'll definitely send him over the edge."

"You guys have just been without power this whole time?" Ace wondered softly after everyone settled.

"About a month after Koko was born, Radex took the power away from the city because he noticed Vanellope trying to hack the main frame of Stone Crest's code room... So he deactivated the whole city, rearranged the entire game, and set our land to have nearly an eternal winter," Taffyta pressed, Vanellope sorrowfully looked down to the top of Lickity's head as her sister continued, "... He put Vanellope's glitching powers on hold, and... I really don't know what he does with our quarter alerts. I'm thinking he's made dummies, computer players in replacement of me and Vanellope. We haven't had a single quarter alert since, well... Since last year, the day of prom."

"Are you serious?" Tessa argued in hard annoyance, "So where is this asshole? Where's the castle, the other racers?!"

"No one has a single clue," Taffyta shook her head in sorrowful dread and looked away through glassy eyes, "... Rancis is gone. Morphed again with Radex. We don't know what to do, from here. We're in a stalemate with our own game."

"I know what we're going to do, we're going to come here every single day, if we have to, and send scouts to find the castle... To find everyone," Tessa argued as she suddenly stood, which had everyone stunned in a sudden flinch of a recoil, "We have three perfectly good flyers, and Zed currently has a prototype for a Tron-flyer he's making."

"Tess, it's not that easy," Vanellope volleyed gently, though Tessa clenched her fists.

"Of course it is! I'm not going to sit here and do nothing, mom!" Tessa suddenly began to raise her voice, though Ace furrowed his brow and tenderly held his larger hand to Tessa's forearm.

"Mom," Ace cooed quietly, in hopes to ease her sudden, angry fervor; she barely glanced at him.

"You may have given up on the game, mom, but I haven't," Tessa barked, she continued to keep her fists clenched, and by the way Vanellope's eyes sorrowfully dragged to the top of Lickity's head, Tessa felt her heart sink at the sheer fact that she had spoken the truth without realizing it. Lickity gently perked her ears, lifted her head and gave Tessa a look of gentle confusion, "We're going to find that asshole, and figure out just what the hell is going on."

"And then what?" Taffyta spat, as if she had a little bit more life in her than Vanellope, "Y'kill him? What happens then?"

"I-I don't know," Tessa argued, though she gestured to Ace, "Maybe... Maybe Ace's powers can come in handy."

"I'm willing to try whatever I have to do," Ace murmured, as if he was uncertain just how he was going to accomplish any of their desperate pleas.

"You know I'll fight for my land, for my game," Vanellope croaked tiredly, "I think we all should reconvene and... Go from there."

"Well, then let's get Penny and let's go, I'm tired of remaining as sitting ducks. He's probably watching us, from the code room, right now," Tessa urged in hard annoyance, and though everyone tensed as if they were willing to get up, at the drop of a hat, and begin packing the things they'd need, they somehow slumped back into their positioning.

"You're going to be out there, for quite awhile," Taffyta grumbled in hard annoyance, "User knows where that girl lays off to."

"Fine, c'mon Lickity," Tessa tried to lower her voice, though once Lickity's large body began to stand, Vanellope slumped her shoulders and peered to Tessa in growing, tired annoyance.

"You're going to go searching for her?" Vanellope asked through a croak as Lickity wormed her way out of the group, as easily as she could. Tessa stood and, as she began to step towards the main front door, Lickity nervously fell into step with her and tucked her wings tight to her body.

"I don't have a choice, I want us out of here as fast as we possibly can get out," Tessa urged as she quickly mount Lickity's spine and peered over her shoulder, "I'll be back soon."

As the group remained silent, their sorrowful gazes watched as Lickity easily bound out of the gaping door, and with a hard flap of a sudden down-stroke and a leap off of the immediate cliff, right outside their front door, Lickity large body drifted across the skies and away from their hull of a safe point. Taffyta heaved a hard sigh, rubbed her face in agitation and shook her head.

"I forgot how hard headed she was," Taffyta grumbled as she stood, though she peered to Ace in a loving way, "Can't imagine she's much different back home?"

"Not much," Ace chuckled as he shook his head, though everyone slowly stood to begin tidying and packing the things they need. Ace twiddled his fingers and remained sitting, he suddenly felt like a fish out of water amidst a pack of family he only briefly just met, "Um... Dad really keeps her on the ground."

"I can't wait to meet this Zed person," Koko finally chimed as she peered to her nephew, "Is his hair really as blue as I've been hearing?"

"It's so blue, he nearly looks bald when we're flying on a cloudless day," Ace rushed through his teeth, which had everyone suddenly, though gently laughing, "My uncles all have their own different hair color. Each of them have environments in which we lose them altogether."

"I'm glad Zed reunited with his brothers," Vanellope eased, and as everyone slowly began to disperse, they all remained within earshot of the conversation that carried. Vanellope tenderly kept inside Ace's bubble, as he stood, and she lovingly held her hand to his shoulder, "I'm sure they're all pretty stressed out about this mess, as well."

"Yeah, they... They just want mom to be happy, and Sugar Rush to normality," Ace stated sorrowfully, though Koko cocked an eyebrow towards Ace and gave him a sly look.

"... Zed has brothers?" She urged quietly, though Vanellope shot her a look of hard, delighted surprise. Ace breathed a hard chuckle and looked down.

"Yes, five younger brothers," Ace looked back up and gingerly shrugged, "I also have a best friend that lives with us. His name is Nox."

"Nox," Vanellope suddenly blurt in hard, agitated surprise as she furrowed her eyebrows, "Y-You mean... 'TurboTwin' Nox?"

"U-Uh, yes," Ace stated as his confidence suddenly wavered, he realized just what Nox's home game was, and just what turmoil his brother, Turbo, had caused for Sugar Rush, all those years ago.

"Ohhh here we go," Taffyta mumbled from across the room in annoyed dread.


	61. Chapter 61

**A/N:** **OMG YOU GUYSSSS I'M SO SORRY I'M LATE! Uhh PokemonGo is taking over my entire life, my boyfriend's truck, Hank, got a flat tire and I was busy helping to get it towed and fixed, and I just recently wrapped up my house sitting adventures an hour from my house (for those of you that keep up with my personal account on Instagram) so I'm REALLY sorry but I tried to make this chapter larger than usual to make up for the time lost. Hope you guys enjoy! ALSO I am desperately trying to find a perfect opportunity to squeeze some Finn/Tammy lurve into these chapters, but I fall short - there's just too much 'reuniting with Sugar Rush' and my brain can't be torn in too many directions or else every single emotion will be spread thin. I have a lot of smarties to keep up after, right now, so just bear with me and know that there will be a decent amount of love for each pairing I introduce. Just please be patient with me :)**

 **Reviews :**

 **MightyNinja2000 :** It's in this chapter :) Hope you enjoy!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Poor Rancis! Don't worry - everything will become clear, and granted it won't be for quite a bit, it WILL come around, I promise. I'm glad I have you guys on the edge of your seat, tho! :D I LOVE writing for the old crew, they're definitely my comfort and my safety! It's like revisiting old memories, and it DEFINITELY feels good to have them back. I missed them just as much, if not more, than you guys. Don't worry, they're here to stay! :) I appreciate you clearing that up, I never take offence to those notions, it comes with the territory, and I appreciate the feedback nonetheless! Thank you again! :D

 **Snake557:** Uh oh is right xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** You'll actually be surprised about the whole Radex/Rancis thing :D You guys get to revisit HoneyDew Ridge because of said event in the timeline! I'm pretty stoked about it xD Thank you so much! And yes, the whole crew gets a lot of time to really chat with and warm up to Nox and Throttle - the poor guys LOL

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Sad! As said, you'll find out just what all the Radex/Rancis drama will entail - it may not be what you guys think ;) Thank you!

 **Xaehttium :** PM away! :D I love hearing your guys' theories and the like. A lot of the time, it reassures me that I'm not as predicable as I once thought haha. YES there is a LOT of ground to cover with this story. A lot. I don't know exactly how many chapters this beast is going to be, but I'm hoping it levels with Wrecking Limits, or even surpasses it. That'd be awesome.

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL Poor Ace, he's just like uhhh I'm along for this crazy ride! xD Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Let's see - she's A. an adult, B. not movie Vanellope, C. lost her entire kingdom, D. thought her first born was dead, E. had to give birth without a code room, F. ... Have you SEEN the shit they've all been through? xD I don't think Vanellope would be beaming ear to ear, cheerfully doting over her new grandson. Quite frankly I'd be like I don't give a flying fuck if you can sprout 4 dicks on command, I WANT OUT.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **The Calling (Instrumental) by TheFatRat**

 **Mid Ayr - My Mayhem**

 ***Chapter 61***

Through a long, hot sigh, Tessa's eyes scanned the desolate, glorious display of Stone Crest. With how eerily quite it was, the lack of the busy traffic down below, and the hang of the frozen, light pink snow clouds that waited on the cusp of the city, Tessa shivered with the icy feelings and hunkered closer to Lickity's spine. Before she could begin to start her search, push her frazzled thoughts to the back of her mind and attempt to convince herself she has this massive, abandoned city mapped, Tessa slumped all the way down to Lickity's back and buried her face into the soft fur of her scruff. Tessa lulled her teary eyes closed and hugged her arms loosely about Lickity's neck as her dragon companion shook a chuckle free from her lungs.

"I know this is hard, Tess," Lickity calmed, the whipping wind only barely calmed as Lickity slowed down her flying. She flapped a lazy few strokes and leveled out for Tessa's comfort, "You've been slammed with a lot, all at once... New sister, you reunited with your family, and now you have to wrangle Penny in and repeat the news of Ace, and his abilities."

"I'm exhausted," Tessa complained.

"Well," Lickity sighed, her intelligent eyes scanned the horizon, as still and freaky as it was, "You'll sleep well tonight. With everyone under the same roof."

"One of us has to go back for Balba, and maybe Zed's Tron flyer, if he even has it completed... We all can't get out of here on you and Royal, alone," Tessa griped as she sat up and peered her lost soul to the scenery below.

"So send Ace and Royal back for Balba," Lickity eased, "Or, me, rather... I AM faster."

"I thought you wouldn't ever let anyone but Zed or I fly you?" Tessa wrinkled her nose and shot the back of Lickity's head a wide smile.

"I won't," Lickity chuffed, "Whose to say Ace would be in control? He'd merely be a passenger."

"Have it your way," Tessa giggled as she shook her head, her glorious, auburn hair rippled in the strong breeze, "So then, after we find Penny, you'll take Ace back to Dead Zed to retrieve Balba and a Tron flyer?"

"Yep," Lickity softly nodded, "You can count on me."

"Sounds good," Tessa heaved a gentle sigh and slumped in her positioning, again. She shook her head and lovingly began to stroke calming circles into the fur of Lickity's scruff, though before she could let her tired eyes close, she furrowed her brow and gently glanced down to the city below her; she noticed Lickity began to lower closer to the tops of the sky scrapers, "So, uh... How do we even go about this? She could be hiding in a building, for all we know, and we could be out here for hours, to no avail."

"That's what you have me for," Lickity hissed quietly as she popped open her massive, bat-like ears and looked down to the ground, "Give me a second... If I go low enough, I'll be able to hear better."

"What would I do without you?" Tessa eased through a raspy sigh as she nuzzled her face into Lickity's scruff and closed her eyes, she could feel Lickity decent closer to the city, her flying turned into a slow, stiff glide, the air whipped past her as she merely float on silent wings, like a leaf in the wind.

"I try not to think about it too hard," Lickity quipped sarcastically, and though both girls let out gentle chuckles, they quickly fell quiet, once more, and allowed Lickity to continue scanning the city for any signs of life.

Tessa peered across the city, which spanned about fifteen miles in either direction; a massive, sprawling metropolis that housed reaching sky scrapers, all which crowned this ancient city with futuristic touches of ambiance, though all of which were completely lifeless. Tessa squinted and could see those pesky, north-bound clouds in which her mother and aunt were referring to, earlier. She wondered just how far they were able to travel, if they had even successfully reached the outskirts of the city. She was uncertain just what kind of condition Penny was in, and though she was eager to find her, her circuits eagerly expressed to Tessa that the overload of stimulus, that had been graced to her being for the day, was nearly enough for a lifetime. Just as she was going to close her eyes for good and very clearly hand over the reigns, and search, to Lickity, her companion largely flapped once and flattened her ears.

"Captain," Lickity chirped quietly, though Tessa's eyes flew open as she shot up.

Tessa held her breath and peered ahead, they were rapidly approaching a massive, reaching stature from the mountain, another cliffside that was perfectly flat on top, a pillar in which was a gathering point, a tranquil place to meditate, to nearly touch the sky without flying, it looked over the entirety of the city, and though Stone Crest had many of these mesa mountain tops, which were carved and delicately engraved with gorgeous tiers of artistic handiwork, Tessa knew reaching one of these peaks, without the aid of a flying beast, as very difficult. The breathtaking scenery was your reward for the climb; no one argued, the worth of it was believable. Tessa squinted a little and leaned down, though atop this particular mesa in the clouds was a shroud of gorgeous cherry-bomb blossom trees. Massive, reaching giants that were larger than the ones that were closer to the ground. These particular trees never got too tall, though the ones that did were a complete rarity, a true, awesome sight to behold.

"Do you see her?" Tessa worried as she scanned the foliage, though a lot of the delicate carvings of the massive mesa was lightly littered with the beautiful tree canopies.

"Nope, but I hear something, someone," Lickity stated quietly as she began to reach the cliffside, and just as her shadow largely came a few feet from the ground, Lickity reached out her paws, came to a galloping halt and hunkered closer to the ground, so to make sure their environment was safe.

Tessa and Lickity both fell silent in gentle, curious wait, and before they could open their mouths to wonder just where said being was on this clifftop, they suddenly heard the methodical shuffling of feet. Tessa gingerly dismounted Lickity and let her bare feet meet with the concrete of the mesa. The delicate carvings, of the gorgeous artwork and ancient markings, could be felt by the soles of her feet, and as much as she wanted to stop and ogle her beautiful surroundings, she felt her ears prick at the sound of the continued shuffling of feet. She furrowed her brow and peered ahead. The other edge of the mesa could be seen, far across the way, though through the gentle juts of ruins, as well as the wild, cherry-bomb blossom bushes and foliage that hung near the ground, she could suddenly see a being move in and out of her sight. She scrunched her shoulders, remained low and could hear Lickity easily keeping the same stance behind her, though both girls eagerly pushed forward. As Tessa pushed through the bushes and came to the other side of the clearing, Tessa held her breath and was beyond floored to see just what was before them.

A woman, with the utmost of grace, poise, agility and sharpness, moved in and out of a routine, a swift course of action she practiced, likely for self defense. She was tone, fit, wholly in shape; she was beautiful. She wore a tight, olive colored tank, messy pants that looked torn, though she wore sock-like runner shoes, likely for agility, and sport all kinds of tattered black wrappings. Her left arm harbored massive, nasty claw-marks of scars; it was clear the wild life attempted to claim her, many times prior. Her short, golden hair was choppy and jagged, as if she had been cutting it herself, though with the way the ends delicately held onto a curl, Tessa slumped her shoulders and felt a nostalgic smile sprawl her face. With the two, infamous swords that glistened in the sunlight, which glint down through the tree's canopies, the footwork this swords-woman moved through as near flawless, a masterclass of technique and honed skill, clearly her entire year was wholly dedicated to perfecting her craft.

Before Tessa could begin to wonder just how to get this woman's attention, she flinched as suddenly the master's deathly stance whirled around in a tight turn, her dangerous double striped sword suddenly swiped at the air and caught a daintily falling cherry-bomb blossom petal, slicing it clean in half. Her figure finally froze, and it was at this moment Tessa held her breath harder and wondered if she could step out and approach this woman she used to call cousin. Just as Tessa began to take a few steps out to the clearing, her eyes teary, she read her cousin's demeanor and, for a split second, she felt safe and calm. It immediately fell to the wayside the second Tessa's foot rustled a few leaves that were underfoot, the game came alive with searing hot action. Before Tessa could even think, Penny lulled her second sword in the air, turned in a tight circle, yanked a throwing knife from the sheath on her thigh and let the dagger fly, all while catching her sword, by the handle, in mid air. Tessa inhaled a sharp gasp, ducked and barely missed the flying weapon as it stabbed into the tree trunk directly behind her. Tessa whirled around and peered to it in terrified confusion, and though her eyes glanced to Lickity, she quickly whirled back around and peered Penny in the eyes in terrified confusion.

Tessa panted in pure, uprising fear as she crouched and gently peered her eyes from the safety of her arms and hands that covered her. She gave Penny a terrified, though nearly elated stare as both girls held eye contact. In the recoil of Penny's actions, as she prepared herself to lung for Tessa and deliver what could have been the nastiest game over ever, Penny slumped her shoulders and barely gaped. In the gentle lull of her arms becoming numb with shock, she dropped her arms and let her swords lazily fall from her strict grip. They largely clanged to the concrete underneath and settled, though Penny covered her mouth and peered to Tessa in horrified glee. Tessa heaved a gentle, nervous chuckle and finally stood, though she drew her eye contact back to the dagger that was stabbed into the tree directly behind her. She finally drew her gaze back to Penny's and cocked an eyebrow.

"You've been practicing," Tessa laughed quietly with a gentle nod, "I remember when you would claim that your arms weren't strong enough to hold these swords for too long without them going numb."

"Tessa," Penny shakily whispered as she dropped her hands from her mouth and slowly shook her head as tears welled in her eyes, "I-I..."

"I'm alive," Tessa completed with a wide, elated grin as she pushed closer to Penny with a wide, loving smile. She beamed through her tears as Penny grimaced and began to very quickly become emotional.

"I-I knew it!" Penny cried through a rasp as she covered her whole face, scrunched her shoulders and wept. She remained solid in her positioning, as if she didn't even know where to begin. Tessa gently giggled and pushed closer to Penny, to fill the gap for both girls, and once she was close, she firmly and quickly draped her arms around Penny's shoulders. Penny heaved a hard, silent cry and tenderly slid her shaking arms around Tessa's neck, "This isn't real, this isn't real!"

"It's real, Pens," Tessa giggled through her tears as she squeezed her arms tight around Penny, she was floored to feel Penny's grappling grip around Tessa's neck and shoulders tighten. Tessa heaved a shaky sigh as tears slapped Penny's shoulders. She lovingly nuzzled into Penny's exterior, from which she could tell has greatly hardened over the year, though Tessa could tell her one simple hug was enough to warm and reverse the damage, even though she knew it'd take quite a bit of time, "I'm here."

"Tessa," Penny wailed, her voice grew a dainty, raspy touch of girly delight as she sobbed into Tessa's shoulder. Penny's knees only barely buckled, which cued Tessa to grip Penny a little harder, and upon Penny going rather weak in Tessa's loving embrace, Penny only cried harder and grappled to Tessa as if she was her last life line, the last piece of her life to begin to grasp for hope, once more. Penny shook her head and inhaled a long, shaky, stammering breath of a few words as she carried on, "Tessa I thought I lost you, I thought I lost you... I was so scared, Tessa!"

"Shh," Tessa cooed tenderly as she firmly rubbed up and down Penny's back.

She beamed a wide smile as tears continued to roll down her cheeks and to Penny's shoulders. She finally pushed a firm kiss into the side of Penny's head, though her heart sank. With Penny's wail of a defeated cry, the shake of her limbs, the way her voice sounded disheveled and nearly unused, Tessa knew Penny was likely going to struggle with this weird, raw transition. She finally tucked her hand to the back of Penny's head and let her eyes gain distance, she peered off the far away cliff top and to the pink clouds they were leveled with. She shook her head and inhaled a shaky breath to conclude her notions to her baby cousin.

"I'm never leaving you, ever again," Tessa whispered.

* * *

"Zeddy?" Libby inquired nervously, she peered her head into the bend of the Sky Room.

Throttle and Nox had remained comfortably catching up in the kitchen, for hours it seemed, and while Finn and Tammy eased in and out of everyone's presence, every now and then, they were largely inseparable. Zed sat on the large, swooping, dark grey couch in the dead center of the Sky Room. He was dressed in comfortable clothes, and as the evening sun kissed the room with an irresistible warmth, Libby tucked her hair behind her ears and ogled the speckles of dust that hung in the still air. Zed gently cocked an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder, though his nose was buried into the larger digital pad he held in his careful palms. Zed smiled in her direction, once more, to assure to her that she was welcome. Libby volleyed him a smile in return and made her way into the Sky Room with Zed. She was dressed in comfortable black sweats and a pretty, dark purple tank top. Her white hair was tucked into a near flawless, long braid that wormed down her back.

"I... I'm worried about Tessa and Ace," Libby eased nervously as she finally moved into Zed's bubble and sat down next to him. Zed furrowed his brow and finally panned to the digital clock on his pad, though he scoffed and shook his head.

"Lost track of time," Zed ogled, though he gave Libby a kind smile, "Don't worry, just yet... It'll be okay. I have something that'll get your mind off of it, for now."

"What's that?" Libby wondered through a soft sigh as she peered down to the holographic mess Zed busied himself with, though he waggled it about a little and beamed Libby a cheeky smile.

"Y'know how Ace is getting a tower for his birthday?" Zed wondered, though Libby eagerly nodded and peered her elated eye contact into his, as if she could taste where this was going, "Well... He'll be excited to know his tower will house his two best friends, as well."

"Really, Zeddy?" Libby asked in high, girly cheer as she gingerly gripped his upper arm in gratefulness, "We get to move in with him?"

"Yes ma'am," Zed chuckled as he gave her a kind smile, "I... I'm glad you came in here, actually, because I have a question for you."

"I'm excited," Libby beamed, she readjusted her sitting position and eagerly glared into the digital pad.

With careful fingers, Zed zoomed in on the tower. It was four stories high, a gorgeous craft in which Tessa and Zed has so diligently worked on every so often, in hopes to have it done by his birthday; they knew they would definitely be successful. It housed a long, ogling spiral staircase that hugged the tall, cylindrical tower, though it was covered and draped with what looked to be tiers of gorgeous jungle foliage they were prepared to plant and code to the game. Libby bit her lip in ever more growing excitement and knew that if she leaned in any closer to the digital pad, her nose would mess with the hologram before her.

"So, there's four levels. The bottom floor is a gathering room, for you, Nox and Ace. It'll sort of be a common room you guys can convene in," Zed explained gently as he gestured to it, "Though this is Ace's tower, I wanted to give you first dibs on which floor you get... I-I... I WAS going to just stick you on the top floor, so you could feel further protected, or put you on the third floor so to feel secure between Nox's floor and Ace's floor. The choice is yours."

"Hmm," Libby hummed, she squinted a little and furrowed her brow, and though her heart surged in growing nervousness, she peered at the tower with elated happiness. She glanced to Zed and, through a nervous exhale, she nodded a little, "Yeah, I think I'd... I'd feel safe on the top floor. Y'know... J-Just in case the... Men from my tribe..."

"Exactly my thinking," Zed stated as tenderly as he could, "User knows Ace and Nox would protect you, hands down... Especially Ace."

Libby felt her heart jump, and though she tried to hide it, she failed and a broad blush coat her face. She looked down to her lap, in hopes of stifling her giddiness, though she willingly wallowed in it. She finally glanced to Zed and, through grateful eyes, she gave him a tender smile.

"I appreciate you putting my needs first," Libby stated quietly, and she knew, in this moment, Zed was aware of exactly what had happened to her before she escaped her tribe. Her hands began to shake, and though she knew Zed would clearly take no judging stance against her, she still tread lightly, "I... I would feel a lot safer if both boys had their floors underneath mine."

"You get the best view," Zed steered the topic away from the negative and gently gave her a loving nudge to her upper arm. Libby giggled and shook her head.

"I'll be Queen of the tower," Libby stated through a tired giggle, though Zed cocked an eyebrow and panned through the floors a little.

"Queen always needs a King, y'know," Zed stated in a knowing tone, as if to insinuate a certain dark blue haired, gap-toothed wrecker was a potential suitor; Libby raised her eyebrows and peered her whole attention into Zed's. Zed heaved a gentle, teasing laugh and powered down the digital pad, "C'mon. Game day is nearly over. Let's go find Ralph and wait at Sugar Rush's entrance for Tessa's and Ace's return."

"Y-You want me to come with?" Libby inquired bashfully as Zed began to stand, though Zed cocked an eyebrow and gave her a kind, teasing glance.

"Y'wanna see Ace, don't you?" Zed muttered as he helped her up, though Libby scoffed an annoyed hiss of a laugh in pure embarrassment she tried to hide.

"Psh'yeah! A-And Tessa, duh," Libby gawked quietly in mild, girly annoyance, though Zed titled his head up and peered at her down the bridge of his nose.

"Uh-huh," Zed mumbled, "C'mon. Let's take Balba, it'll be quicker, yeah?"

"Yep," Libby meeped, though she bit her lip in dire, bashful agitation as her and Zed began to push out of the Sky Room.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I (sort of) have fanart for this chapter, of Penny - it's titled 'Lone Believer' on my deviantART, username Vyntresser :)**


	62. Chapter 62

**Reviews :**

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Aww I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** LOL I wasn't talking about you. I was saying, if I was Vanellope, I wouldn't CARE if Ace had the power to do literally ANYTHING, I wouldn't care just WHAT he could do - I'd want out of Sugar Rush asap LOL. Yes, I was being sarcastic because, look at all the crap they've been through. I'm not going to write happy-go-lucky characters through this hard time xD How out of place would that be. and yes, Orph is the castle troll xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yeahhh, Penny definitely has a bit of character development that needs to happen LOL. Wow congrats! :D

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D YAY!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yeah, there's a bit of drama to come until Ace's birthday party, but everything gets ironed out... For the mean time xD Yeah the PoGo servers are a bit wonky, huh.

 **poblok starwalker :** Definitely! :D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you!

 **SonicReader1 :** Oh wow! Thank you so much! I'm really glad :)

 **Nikki Firesong :** Yeah, it all winds down after Ralph meets Koko and reunites with Vanellope and etc... And then you will eventually have Taffyta's and Rancis's reunion ;) Also, yes, I put up an animation request for chapter 50, remember? That scene won out. I'm half way finished with it, actually :) Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you, no issue! Yeahhhh Penny is only really excited to see Zed, Tessa and Lickity in this moment... She eventually comes around, after a verbal beat down, but Penny's hard, spiky exterior eventually falls to the wayside :)

* * *

 ***Chapter 62***

Once both Tessa and Penny pulled apart, Penny heaved a scoff of disbelief as their hands tightly slipped into each others. Penny smiled a crackled smile, as if it had been since long before Tessa left that she had even thought about it. Penny shook her head, her eyes looked tired, and though she was tone and fit, muscular and lean, she still looked beyond exhausted. Tessa assessed her quickly and quietly, she had bruises and scars, a hard tan line and freckles about her arms and face. She looked as if she was eating nicely; this immediately cued to Tessa, and she could feel herself becoming protective of the rest of their family Penny was likely neglecting. Tessa bookmarked the dregs of anger that came to her, though she knew this wound would likely get reopened.

"Y-You survived the entry back into Arcade," Penny hissed in hard disbelief, Tessa nodded and lovingly smiled.

"We did... Y-You guys have been deceived," Tessa stated through a soft sigh, her expressing lightly sloped as Penny peered at her in ogling confusion, "Radex is back."

"Well, that much is clear," Penny urged, her tone was dark, and her glare suddenly set upon Tessa's skin had Tessa nearly recoiling. Tessa squinted lightly as Penny quickly realized she was being too abrasive, "I-I... I've sort of given up hope ever seeing my father back to normal, ever again."

"Let's... Let's not give up hope," Tessa stated firmly as she squeezed Penny's hands, "... You didn't give up on Zed and I, now did you?"

"Not once," Penny squinted, she peered into Tessa's eyes lovingly, though as if she could somehow get Tessa on her side of the boat, she gave her a mean smile and shook her head, "I'm the only one, of those yuks, that did..."

"Penny, no one had proof that Zed and I were alive," Tessa dared to push their loving, tender feelings aside and potentially touch on Penny's now hard exterior, "You... You just held on a lot longer. It's no one's fault."

"S-So where's Zed?" Penny side-stepped the conversation, she gently peered to Lickity and felt her smile broaden, something she was extremely unfamiliar with, "Lickity, girl, you're here too!"

"Sure am," Lickity finally began to push closer to Penny, though it was in that moment she had totally forgotten that Penny wasn't aware of Lickity's talking abilities. Tessa beamed and peered back to Lickity in dire cheek, Lickity flattened her ears and glanced between both girls as Penny gaped and pointed.

"Y-You can talk?!" Penny uttered shakily as she took a step back from Tessa and Lickity as Lickity slowly sauntered up to the two.

"Sorry, I forgot everyone here doesn't know," Lickity chirped in gentle delight, Tessa lovingly rubbed her snout as Penny covered her mouth and shook a giggle from her figure.

"How did you gain the ability to talk?" Penny beamed, both Tessa and Lickity eyed each other for a long moment, though Lickity finally rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I swapped with Orion, and gained his talking abilities," Lickity garbled in a mutter, though Penny finally shook a harder laugh and approached Lickity with gentle footwork.

"No kidding," Penny smiled a teary smile and, once she rubbed her strong hand to Lickity's snout, she nuzzled into Penny's hand and closed her eyes, "I... I sure did miss you guys."

"We're getting you guys out of here," Tessa urged, "C'mon, let's head back and figure out what to do from there. There's also someone else I'd like you to meet-"

"I'm not seeing those jerks," Penny suddenly snapped in quiet, dark charm, her deathly daring figure finally snuck a mean smile. Tessa recoiled and froze as Penny continued, "You think I enjoy going back to that lonely mountain top? Just to see everyone welled with tears and sorrow?"

"Penny, that's not fair," Tessa urged quietly, "They're really struggling... I have the ticket out of the game. We just need to get more flyers, and we can all head out come sunrise."

"Out...?" Penny wondered, as if the idea sounded nice, though she'd never admit it, "Out of Sugar Rush?"

"Yeah... We have enough room at the castle, in Dead Zed," Tessa explained, she knew her whole situation would take hours upon days to sift through with everyone, though she also knew everyone was itching to get out of the game. She heaved a sharp sigh and was aware the finer details would be prod at sooner or later, "That's where Zed, his brother's and I have been for the past year. I was locked out of Sugar Rush."

"Locked out?" Penny worried, "Where's... Where's the entrance?"

"It's an hour or two North of here," Tessa gently glanced in the direction in which her and Ace had come, though Penny spat an annoyed laugh.

"I've head an hour or two North... There's nothing but candy cane trees," Penny urged in annoyance, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow.

"... An hour or two flight, Penny," Tessa began to feel that creep of protectiveness come over here, something she thought she'd never feel with Penny, "You have a dragon that you flew an hour or two North, or were you all by your lonesome on foot?"

Penny raised her eyebrows in defeat and looked down. Her tired eyes glossed the decorative concrete underfoot, though she gently nodded and shrugged a little.

"... I was on foot," Penny chirped quietly, and while Penny's eyes were down, Tessa and Lickity caught glances and conveyed an eager amount of nervous tension to each other. Tessa finally shook her head and lovingly gripped Penny's hand.

"C'mon... I've already reunited with everyone. We're all eager to make a game plan to get out of here," Tessa quietly pleaded, as if this was suddenly a weird negotiation she never thought she'd have to delve into; the bribery of coming into better living situations, for everyone. Tessa finally felt a genuine smile sprawl her face as her and Penny caught eyes. Penny looked lost, scared, though above all, she looked as if she was harboring a very great deal of pent up anger, "Now, grab your swords and your things... There's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Someone new?" Penny inquired in gentle nervousness, though she finally grappled for her swords, in which she had dropped. Tessa took note that both swords were, indeed, Rancis's double striped sword and Vanellope's cross-striped sword. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and, through this turmoil, she was glad she kept the heirlooms and looked as if she had taken great care of them.

"Yes," Tessa smiled as she slipped her hand into Penny's and lead her to Lickity, who was more than ready to take back to the skies, "You're not going to believe your eyes."

"I mean, I'm already there, what with seeing you," Penny barked, and for once, both girls shared genuine laughter.

* * *

"So, what's this mysterious Kalivar castle like? Does, uh... Ralph like it?" Vanellope prod gently, and much to Ace's surprise, her cheeks held a bashful pink at the very sound of Ralph's name leaving her mouth.

Ace cocked an eyebrow, eyed her and beamed her a Ralph-ridden smile; Vanellope felt her heart melt at the notion. Him and his grandmother diligently began to clean up dishes that were in the sink, he carefully helped her tidy while Emery, Oliver, Koko and Taffyta began to sort through things in the living room, of what to bring.

"Welp, the castle is homey, fits me, my mom, my dad, my five uncles, and my best friends Nox and Libby," Ace counted, he looked up, fell silent and quietly listed through everyone one more time, though he raised his eyebrows and gave Vanellope an urgent smile, "Oh! Almost forgot Lickity, Royal and Balba."

"Whose Balba?" Vanellope wondered, both of them quietly continued to work.

"Oh, she's Libby's flyer. Balba is what's known as a lykata, a winged wolf," Ace explained with a kind smile as they both looked down and took turns rinsing and cleaning the dishes, "She's beautiful..."

"... We talking about Libby or Balba?" Vanellope wondered casually, though she eyed Ace with a cheeky smile. Ace immediately raised his eyebrows and gave his grandmother a nervous smirk.

"This is a trick question and I don't like it," Ace mumbled, both him and Vanellope blurt out in hard laughter.

"I already know everything there is to know about Nox... Tell me about this Libby person," Vanellope inquired in a cute, girly manner. She scrunched her shoulders and gave Ace a kind, eager smile, "How long have you known her?"

"Oh, we go way back," Ace stated through a delighted sigh as he looked back down to the water him and Vanellope's hands worked in, "I met her when we were both about six or seven months old. She lived in Dead Zed's native tribes, though she would visit us every day, with Balba."

"Lived, as in... Past-tense?" Vanellope wondered, though Ace raised his eyebrows and fell nervously silent. Vanellope cued to him and, through a longing stare of apologetic surprise, she stammered a bit, "O-Oh, I... Am I digging too deep, here?"

"No, no... It's okay," Ace sighed quietly, he shook his head and gave Vanellope a loving, understanding glance, "She... She ran away from her tribe, and we took her in. When we were about ten months old, she... She sort of was forbidden from seeing me anymore, because she was set up with an arranged marriage. She finally returned a few days ago, actually."

"I'm enjoying all of this past-tense," Vanellope eased slyly as she nudged Ace, he blurt a bashful chuckle and nodded.

"She got out of it... It was a nasty situation," Ace stammered, and though he felt his heart began to pulse in neediness, he knew eventually every single last one of his new Sugar Rush family would know just what happened to Libby.

"So, you guys... Y'know...?" Vanellope inquired with a kind smile as she nonchalantly shrugged and looked down to the dishes they cleaned, though Ace furrowed his brow and sent his grandmother a wide, annoyed smile. She gawked and gestured her hand, "What! Do you want to know how uninteresting my life has been for the last year? I may have just met you, but I hold rank over not only you, but your mother as well. So tell me."

"No, we're not together," Ace muttered through an annoyed, bashful smile. He shook his head and let it sink, "It's uh... Rather complicated."

"Oh, how bad could it be," Vanellope whispered in hard annoyance, though just as Ace was going to nervously carry on, the front door opened.

Everyone froze what they were doing, and before anyone could be excited over Tessa's return, both girls stepped into the warmly lit home and stopped in the foyer. As everyone's hot, nearly begrudged gazes glued to Penny's, Penny gave it back ten fold. A stiff, angered and hardened woman, her fists clenched, as if to state she was a wrecker herself, an honorary title she felt she wholly deserved for truly believing Tessa and Zed were alive and well. Penny squinted in hard agitation, and though she merely only noticed Ace in the kitchen with Vanellope, her anger clouded her judgement, and she breezed past the fact that he was not only someone new, but her very own second cousin. Penny exhaled a gentle chuckle, and just as she was about to open her mouth to begin all of her hateful, annoyed remarks, Koko's sharp wit immediately beat her to it.

"Would you look what the cat dragged in," Koko's girly voice meanly spat, though Penny froze and honed her entire, scary, powerful gaze straight into her younger cousin's eyes. Koko held her ground as she gentle stood, though it was clear Koko wasn't much of a being that laid confrontation on others for the fun of it.

"So," Penny started in deathly delight as she tucked her hands behind her back and began to circle the living quarters.

She beamed a wide, nasty, close-mouthed smile and looked each person in the eyes, sans Vanellope and Ace, who were a bit across the space. Penny stopped her march and stabbed her eyes into her mother's; Taffyta furrowed her brow and glared into her daughter's eyes, though it was clear nearly everyone had given up on Penny. Penny inhaled a deep breath, puffed her chest and side eyed each one of her family members. She huffed a delightful chuckle full of mean, dark sass as she continued on.

"Who is going to be the first brave soul to step up and apologize to me? Tell me they were wrong?" Penny snapped as her fake, cheery smile immediately sloped to a hard, angry grimace as she continued on through the clench of her teeth, "I'm... Waiting..."

"Penny, that's hardly fair," Oliver dared to quietly protest, though he flinched once Penny set her unforgiving glare into Oliver's skin.

"Excuse me? FAIR?" Penny hollered.

Emery nervously sunk behind Oliver, and while Koko looked like she wanted to as well, she attempted to hold her ground near Taffyta. Ace raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise as he discovered Vanellope cautiously making it so she was slightly behind Ace's larger, taller and more protective figure. Ace furrowed his eyebrows and peered down this new being in the room, he felt his heart race, and though he knew that she was, indeed, family, he clenched his fists and began to feel protective of every scared soul in the room. Penny inhaled a raspy breath and pointed downwards.

"I was the ONLY ONE who had faith, I was the only one who believed!" Penny yelled sternly, and though Tessa was in the middle of this mess, she gawked and peered at the back of Penny's head in pure shock.

The look of sheer terror on everyone's faces, even her aunt Taffyta who looked nearly in shambles, having lost her husband and now the very precious, happy-go-lucky, kind-hearted daughter everyone had come to know and love. Tessa squinted and glared to the back of Penny's head, though she waited to find the right moment to properly interject.

"So, now that Tessa is back, we can all hop aboard Lickity! Fly on outta here! With the very person you believed DIED!" Penny hollered as she largely pointed back to Tessa, though she finally scanned the room and stabbed her hateful glare into her aunt Vanellope's wavering, watery gaze, "At least we now have a Queen to save us..."

Vanellope raised her eyebrows in hard surprise as the insult hit her dead on, and though she so desperately wanted to muster the energy inside of her to jump for Penny and near strangle her, Vanellope felt exhaustion coat her bones and she remained stanced half way behind Ace. Vanellope tucked her fingers to her mouth, tilted her head down and kept her teary, defeated gaze straight into her angry niece's. Penny inhaled a hard, raspy breath through her nose and squinted in hard, angered dishevelment.

"Gather your shit," Penny meanly snapped as she began to step for the door, once more, "I'll be waiting outside for whenever you assholes are ready to realize just what loyalty IS."

Tessa continued to gawk in hard surprise as Penny pushed out of everyone's presence, though the second that Penny reached for the door handle, Tessa felt her blood hit the boiling point. In a hard whirl of silent action, Tessa grappled for the small, tattered hand gun on the table, in which she was certain her family merely found from scavenging the city. With all the ease in the world, and all of Tammy's training that came rushing back to her, Tessa pulled the trigger three or four times, which sent the deadbolt, door handle and hinges in a loud, bouncing pang of destruction, rendering the door totally useless. Penny exhaled a nervous noise of surprise and barely ducked to cover her head, though the second she whirled around and peered her now terrified gaze into Tessa's, she flinched and was wholly shocked that said revolt had come from the one person she thought she was defending.

"SI'DOWN," Tessa's dominant, powerful voice suddenly shook the place as she pointed the barrel of the gun to the empty, tattered chair at the dining room table, "NOW!"

Much to everyone's surprise, Penny was frozen solid and her limbs began to shake. She peered to Tessa in whole, scared surprise, and as if she knew she couldn't get out of this one, tears finally welled in her eyes, her hard exterior began to look as if it had been impenetrable for far too long. Everyone was frozen solid, and as Penny's eyes nervously dragged to Oliver's, Koko's, her mother's and back to Tessa's, she finally succumbed to Tessa's livid demands. With trembling footwork, she made her way over to the dining room table, and as if her words came back to bite her, she knew taking a beat down from the Queen-to-be wasn't going to be easy to endure.


	63. Chapter 63

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LOL there will be plenty of those moments, so let the hate/love fest brew, cause it's only gunna get worse from here XD as for Penny, it's just difficult for her to think straight because she's so wrought with grief. She touches on it in the next chapter, (and Ace gives her a good dose of much needed love :) yeah, you're going to see a very different, bashful side to Ralph's and Vanellope's 'new' normal. Very much recalls back to the beginning of Wrecking Limits. Also, remember, they don't share codes any longer. So that'll be fun ;)

As for the advice for writing, I really don't know what to tell you... Everything I write is raw and nearly unedited. There isn't ever a time where I'll cut something out or change much of anything. I'll fix typos and reword stuff sometimes, but what you guys get is LITERALLY nearly unedited. No scraping, no give or take. It's just from my brain. I'm probably the last person to ask, because writing is extremely easy for me, cause I don't hold it with my fist :( Sorry if I'm no help in that aspect, as ironic as that is...

 **Xaehttium :** LOL insert snarky remark as stated in our PMs xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Pretty much, except Taff and Vanellope sit back and enjoy the show xD Thank you for your payment! I'll note you soon here to figure out further details :)

 **Snake557 :** VERY much in trouble xD Thank you!

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Too true, she's very much in for it lol. Thank you!

 **Architect Dreams :** Yep! Penny is never usually on the business end of Tessa's anger, so she definitely is shell shocked by it. Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yeahhh, Penny AND Tessa both do and say some unforgivable stuff, but I'm always one for reconciliation, so I guess you guys don't have much to worry about just yet xD Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Good job xD Yeah Penny's pissed, but Tessa's Queen at being pissed, sooo... LOL

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **The Gun (ft. Trinidad James, Dev & Chrish) by CashCash**

 **Silver Comforts Jim - Treasure Planet Soundtrack Score**

 ***Chapter 63***

As if the whole room was coat in hard, cold molasses, everyone watched the show unfolding, and they didn't dare to question Tessa and her motives; they knew Penny was now due for a total K.O., a show in which they unfortunately didn't mind watching in this moment. Through now shaking limbs, and eyes that only nervously glanced to Tessa, Penny's demeanor was that of a child that had done something horribly wrong. It was in this moment that it was very aware Penny knew just all of the wrongs she had made. Tessa inhaled a sharp, seething breath through her nose, and the second Penny's rear hit the tattered seat underneath her, Tessa largely chucked the gun across the room. It hit the wall, made a nasty indent and crumpled to the ground with the loose drywall and now cold and battered paint.

"Welcome! I'm SO glad you've finally decided to join us," Tessa's voice was loud, she coat the whole room in dominance, and as if Penny knew she didn't stand a single chance, she remained quiet with her hands nervously folded in her lap. Tessa exhaled a mean chuckle, and as the show continued to slowly escalate, she began to rip her hoodie off of her body, as if to state all the extra clothing was making it so she couldn't get her whole point across. She largely threw her hoodie to the ground, which revealed a bold red short sleeved shirt with the proud Dead Zed logo. Tessa approached the table and gently held her fingertips to it, "I hope you're comfortable?"

"I-I'm fine," Penny meeped quietly.

It was in this moment of a scared recoil did Tessa utter a hard grunt of anger, and in the sudden spike of adrenaline, Tessa largely grappled the sides of the table, swiped it to her left as hard as she could and sent the table firmly sliding across the room. Everything on top of the table came to a loud, crashing end on the other side of the room as the table clunked into a nearby wall, and though everyone largely flinched and took a few steps away, Penny was trapped, and her only defense was to barely coil in her chair. Penny exhaled a gentle gasp of fear, though she jumped and re-glued her entire attention into Tessa's eyes, fear coat her whole existence at this point.

"Good, I'm glad," Tessa growled as she took a step or two close to Penny and just barely bent down, "Let's see what we got here..."

Tessa sarcastically stood up straight, crossed her arms and fingered her lip. She finally looked over her shoulder and glanced to each one of her family members, though everyone could tell she was wholly unapproachable, the way her eyes were glossed a figurative red, the way her powerful, hard demeanor made it very clear she wasn't to be trifled with, by anyone, in this moment. Tessa scoffed a sarcastic laugh and finally peered her attention back to Penny.

"Hmm, just as I suspected... Would you look at that?" Tessa gestured to her whole family behind Penny, " A WHOLE group of people suffering over very different things, other than you! Wow, and here we thought you were the ONLY one having a hard time. Awe, how sad!"

"I-I... Just-"

"Y-You just... Just!" Tessa largely mocked Penny, slumped her shoulders and daintily flailed her fingers about. Tessa grappled her hair and continued on with her dramatic show of making fun of Penny, "Oh I just...! I was just defending myself! I'm just cool cause I'm the only one who believed!"

"I... I was just-"

"Being a bitch," Tessa barked as she clenched her fist and began to get in Penny's face, "Let's take a look around the room for a second, Penny. What do you see? Hmm?"

Penny's lip quivered as her eyes barely dared to catch the stares of her family behind Tessa, and though it was difficult to pull from Tessa's gravity, Penny so wished it was wholly possible. Penny inhaled a shaky breath and gave Tessa her terrified gaze once more.

"WELL?" Tessa yelled, Penny flinched.

"I-I... Uh..." Penny stammered quietly, "I see... M-My family."

"Your FAMILY, huh!" Tessa stood up straight again and sarcastically put her hands on her hips, "So THAT'S what you call it. I won't disregard your stance with me, it was very noble of you to believe I was truly alive, but let's... Let's sort through a few things first, before we merit if your thought process was called for... And, girl, you better stay seated, if you know what's good for you. You won't like me in 'mom' mode."

The whole group behind Tessa flinched as she suddenly drew her attention to each and every body, that wasn't Penny. Tessa's whole demeanor read of growing, stealthy anger that no one could take their eyes from. Penny looked wholly rocked from the planet, the whole Arcade spun on its head with the way Tessa wrecked the world. Everyone behind Tessa froze in dire nervousness as Tessa's eyes dragged to each individual in the room, as if she was contemplating something.

"Let's go down the line shall we, let's start with your OWN mother, my Aunt Taffyta," Tessa read in dark delight as she crossed her arms and faced Penny again, "A noble, strong, BRAVE woman in which I would NEVER disrespect, unlike how you just treated my mother. You had no right to say what you did, the way you did, to my own mother. And I hope to User almighty you find it somewhere in your heart to apologize," Tessa firmly pointed to her mother across the room, and once Penny and Vanellope caught eyes, the room fell painfully silent in wait.

"I-I'm sorry, Aunt Vanellope," Penny whimpered under her breath, as if it were difficult; Vanellope just barely nodded, as if to state it was alright, though everyone knew the true Queen was still hurt.

"Aunt Taffyta has been through hell. Not only has she lost a husband to a virus we've been so diligently trying to vanquish, for years now, but her own DAUGHTER, the only blood she has left, went AWOL and turned her back on her own family!" Tessa hollered as she bent down and lightly got in Penny's face, "You eat well, you hunt, you know the land... And you have the GALL to withhold this luxury from your family that is clearly struggling?!"

Penny raised her eyebrows as tears began to lightly well in her eyes, and it was in this moment Tessa knew she was breaking down all of Penny's hard, high walls. Penny inhaled a shaky breath, and as she opened her mouth to begin to speak and likely protest, Tessa cut her off.

"Hmm, let's see who ELSE in this world has troubles, as well," Tessa stated sarcastically, "I'm sure poor Oliver and Emery have only swapped like... TWICE since their initial swap, to avoid a loading bar and bringing another child, other than Koko, into this hell hole!"

Tessa seethed, though she turned around and peered to Oliver curiously, as if to wonder if her assumptions were true. Her and her younger brother sorrowfully caught eyes, and much to her surprise, Oliver long blinked and quickly nodded once, as if to insinuate Tessa hit the nail on the head. Tessa furrowed her brow and peered her angry attention back to Penny.

"Penny... You want to know just HOW HARD it is to prolong a swap?" Tessa urged in hard annoyance, "It's near painful. I'm sure the two are surviving strictly on exterior swaps, and I'm sure it's infuriatingly difficult."

Everyone nervously and sorrowfully dragged their eyes to Oliver and Emery. Emery gently tucked into Oliver's side, and as her mate's large arm came around her, the two were gently drowned in the hard realization of their choices, one of which they had no clue wouldn't benefit them, in this cold land. Tessa grimaced and shook her head down to Penny.

"Penny, you don't even know the first thing about your own baby cousin," Tessa hissed sorrowfully, "Koko nearly resents you because of this cold front you've put up. She doesn't know the real you! The funny, happy, girly you that you used to be! The way you played matchmaker on Zed and I, the sun dresses you enjoyed, the twinkle you'd get in your eye whenever school dances were mentioned... Where did that Penny go...?"

Penny exhaled a soft, shaky sigh as tears finally rolled down her cheeks, and though she assumed it'd likely get Tessa to lighten up, it only riled Tessa further. Tessa furrowed her brow and took a step closer to Penny.

"That's right, Penny, CRY. CRY! Like the rest of us have been doing all year!" Tessa bellowed, "I've spent this entire year thinking you all banished me, I had been locked out of Sugar Rush AND Game Central Station via force field, was lead to believe my own uncle was this simple, humble messenger boy, when in reality, it was RADEX. Penny, I've lived in a castle full of seven MEN for the last year, you don't think that's torture enough?! Might as well call me Snow White!"

Ace did everything he could to stifle a quiet laugh, in which Vanellope silently cued to, though they stiffened once Tessa loudly continued on.

"I reunited Zed with his brothers, they each have problems of their own," Tessa barked, though she quickly glanced back to Ace, pointed a firm finger at him and drew her angered glare back to Penny, "I got pregnant outside of the Arcade and gave birth to a human that nearly fried my system and caused me three weeks of temporary blindness, Penny! You see these burns on my face?" Tessa hollered as she got closer to Penny and pointed to her temples, the delicate circuitry on her skin, in which was now faded to a gentle tan, showed proud and true.

Penny raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and though she ogled Tessa's burns for a moment, she dragged her shocked expression to Ace; he bashfully tried to smile, though he knew not to deter his mother from the big point she was trying to get across. Penny gawked lightly, and as she furthered her gape to speak, Tessa cut her off.

"You think you're the only one with PROBLEMS?!" Tessa's voice grew louder as Penny continued to shrink, "Dad was locked out of Sugar Rush, this whole time, as well, and has been worried SICK about every single last one of you! Not to mention Uncle Felix, Aunt Calhoun and Tammy!"

"Y-you... You had-"

"That's right, Penny. Zed and I had a baby, and this is the awesome way I get to reveal to you that you, indeed, are practically an aunt! Congrats!" Tessa barked, and though Penny knew to keep her strict attention to Tessa's line of sight, she couldn't help but glance to her new second cousin, of which she knew she would likely treat as a nephew. Penny flinched as Tessa got even more in her face, "You want to talk PROBLEMS Penny? REAL, hard hitting issues that are irreversible?! Ask Ace's woman of choice! She was taken advantage of by her ex-fiancé, Penny. She was drugged, stripped of her clothes, and raped! The night before their wedding!"

Everyone inhaled silent gasps as they immediately drew their attention to Ace, and though Ace could feel his face burn up with the sudden attention, he nearly swallowed his heart whole at the mere thought of what happened to Libby. He held his breath and sorrowfully glanced to Oliver, Koko, Emery and Taffyta, though he flinched once Vanellope lovingly slipped her small hand to the nook of Ace's inner elbow. Ace nervously glanced down at her, and as their eyes met, Vanellope peered up at him in dewy, terrified shock, as if to beg said reveal was false. Ace barely grimaced and furrowed his brow in dropping sorrow, concluding to his grandmother that said information was true.

"Losing your kingdom, being separated from your family, even a virus plaguing our game does not come CLOSE to having your own innocence, your own virginity, just ROBBED from you," Tessa growled in Penny's face, to finally put the nail in the coffin. Penny raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and felt her eyes well with even more tears as Tessa's anger began to spike, "This precious girl, in which I took in as my own DAUGHTER, was viciously denied the ability to trust barely anyone, for the rest of her life. Those bruises healed, though you best believe the scar on her heart is permanent."

Tessa got in Penny's face, reached over Penny's shoulder and grappled the back of the chair. She inhaled a solid breath and let her dominant glare pierce Penny's terrified, wide-eyed gaze. She carried on in a stern, loud whisper.

"Y'wanna know what the woman, who has it the worst, does day in and day out?" Tessa hissed in a spat, her voice easily grew more stern, "She smiles, laughs, plays, and willingly proves to everyone that even though she has such a terrible hardship, she STILL opens up to all of us, all of Ace's uncles, every man in the Kalivar castle. Y'wanna know what that makes her?"

"What," Penny whimpered under her breath, as if leaving Tessa's question open-ended would only merit more anger.

"STRONG," Tessa barked in Penny's face, "I understand you're hurting, but look around. Family sticks together... And you're doing a poor job of upholding your duty. You just waltz in here like you're the only one HURT?"

"I-I didn't know-"

"That's right! You jumped to the first conclusion you could, and only assumed everyone was a terrible person for believing I died," Tessa growled, "Hell, even I would've believed I died, if I were in your guys' shoes! Holding onto false hope doesn't make you a hero, Penny. Remember that the next time the people who support and love you NEED YOU!"

All at once, Tessa ripped herself away from Penny and angrily marched towards the door. Just as Tessa reached for the door handle, she jolted and realized it was broken. With the rest of her writhing, seething anger, she grit her teeth, clenched her fists into the wrecking form she knew so well, and largely barreled down the door with a loud grunt of dire agony and hatred. The door loudly crumpled to the ground underneath Tessa's sheer strength, and the second she stepped out, and her seething footsteps could be heard vanishing, everyone remained in frozen shock. Before anyone could draw attention to Penny, Lickity heaved a hard, long, grumble of a sigh and began to saunter towards the door.

"I'll make sure she doesn't set the cliff side on fire," Lickity mumbled under her breath as she lazily pushed towards the door, she was careful not to bump into anyone.

"Aunt Lickity," Ace eased quietly as he bent over and swiped Tessa's hoodie off of the ground, and as Lickity stopped to peer at him, she scoffed a small laugh and grabbed the hoodie with the dew claw of her wing.

"She'll probably set HERSELF on fire," Vanellope breathed through a shaky giggle, "Don't think the hoodie will do any good."

Everyone eased quiet laughter as Lickity gracefully moved out of the house in search for Tessa's whereabouts, though the second everyone was alone with Penny's stiff, terrified being, everyone fell silent and drew their stern, knowing gazes hard into Penny's fragile soul. Penny had her arms and hands tucked to her chest in sheer terror, and though her eyes tenderly glanced to the beings that stared her down, she finally shoved her face into her hands and quietly began to sob. As much as Taffyta, Vanellope, and everyone else wanted to rush to her aid, their scars and hurt feelings weighed down their feet a bit. Without any form of connection, or hesitation, Ace heaved a gentle sigh and gently began to step out to her.

"Come, now," Ace's warm, deep voice murmured as he neared her, knelt down to one knee next to her and put a tender hand upon her upper back. Ace breathed a gentle chuckle, and as Penny's cries grew more desperate for love she knew she didn't deserve, Ace continued to overflow her with understanding, "It's okay..."

Penny inhaled a shaky breath and only barely lifted her head and face away from her hands, though the second her dewy eyes peered into her new nephew's eyes, ones of which easily mocked Tessa's, her cries and chaotic, downward spiral of emotions tenderly halted. With as much grace as possible, Ace tilted his head a little and gained her eye contact a little bit more. He gave her a gentle smile, one of understanding for both parties, though he knew everyone deserved a second chance.

"You really DID see 'mom' mode, didn't you," Ace breathed a gentle chuckle, though he was surprised to hear everyone in the room ease into his quiet laughter, as if to prove to Ace that their undivided attention was to the two in the center of the room, "Been there... Boy did I sure learn quick, though."

Penny peered into Ace's handsome eyes in whole bewilderment as his demeanor eked that of Tessa's loving nature, Zed's stoic behavior; Ace was the perfect mixture of the two people she would have killed to bring back to life, and with that, she gawked at just who was in front of her. The very product of their love. Penny finally scoffed a small noise of disbelief and let her troubles fall to the wayside.

"We... We all know no one is in the right, here," Ace gently pressed as his eyes finally glanced to Penny's lap, and then around the room to everyone, as if to garner agreement from them. He finally hooked his gaze back into Penny's and gently smiled, "I know mom is mad at you, and you're mad at her... And everyone is mad at each other, but... We're all alive. And we're all going to get out of here."

Penny finally nodded and inhaled a reviving breath, though Ace gingerly stood and slipped his hand into Penny's, to insinuate he wanted an introductory hug.

"C'mon, we haven't been properly introduced," Ace smiled lovingly, and as Penny stood, she quickly rushed to slap her arms around Ace's neck. Ace breathed a jolt of a chuckle, and with a breeze of oddness that fell over him, he lightly hunched to hug Penny's short, little figure. He easily squeezed her into his strong embrace and rubbed her upper back, "I'm Ace... I-I'm... Technically your second cousin, but, mom always told me to refer to you as my aunt."

"I can't believe it," Penny cried quietly into Ace's shoulder, "I-I can't believe you exist."

"Boy do I," Ace grumbled, though he heard everyone's gently chuckles press closer as they lovingly surrounded the two, and as Ace and Penny finally pulled apart, Ace quickly tucked his hands into Penny's and gave the group about them a stern look.

"Penny did wrong, and though I don't believe she's the only one feeling stress and anger, we all need to have grace towards each other," Ace pressed firmly as he peered into Vanellope's and Taffyta's gazes, he glanced to his aunt's and uncles as he continued, "We all need each other, now, more than ever... We're never going to get out of here alive unless we work together."

"I-I... I'm so sorry," Penny whimpered as she peered down to Ace's chest, and though her eyes dragged to Vanellope's, they finally pierced her mother's, who stood to Ace's left, "Mom, I'm... I'm so sorry. I just was so upset over losing dad... Tessa and Zed..."

"That makes ALL of us," Taffyta spat, though her bite held a loving tone of sternness. She gently uncrossed her arms and grappled for Penny's arm, and as she yanked Penny into a tight hug, everyone eased closer to Penny in loving understanding, "C'mon, kid... We... We gotta stick together. No more running off. No more secret hide outs, no more leaving us behind. No more."

"Yes, ma'am," Penny whimpered as she shoved her face into the nook of her mother's neck, and as the two grappled into a tight, unmoving hug, everyone around began to coo gentle notions to Penny, tender fingertips rubbed up and down their backs and arms, and as if the love in the room couldn't get any warmer, Taffyta pushed a firm kiss to the top of Penny's head and shut her teary eyes tight.

"I love you, Penny," Taffyta whimpered as Ace's larger hand rubbed her back. She inhaled a shaky breath, shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut tighter, "You're all I have left, of Rancis, Penny...! You don't know how badly I need you!"

"How badly we ALL need you," Vanellope added as she, too, pushed into their delicate bubble and coat Penny in much needed love.

"We all need each other," Ace nodded in affirmation as everyone quietly agreed and glanced to each other, "We'll get through this mess."

"Someone's gotta save Queen Bee-to be, though," Royal uttered sarcastically, his deep, gentle voice had the room finally growing in soft laughter as everyone began to ease away from each other.

"C'mon," Ace assured to Penny as he lovingly held her hand, "You should go talk to her... I'll come, to mediate."

"Keep a five foot distance," Oliver muttered playfully.


	64. Chapter 64

**Reviews :**

 **jonnyne :** wow, thank you so much! That really means a lot to me! The only way I can accomplish that, for angry and fiery scenes, is by listening to angry music, honestly xD

 **Retrokill :** I genuinely am frightened to be a mom lol. The way I write Tessa is how I become when I'm angry. I become a snide, snarky bitch and literally nothing can stop me. Though I've never flipped a table or shot a gun at someone, I HAVE been that outwardly angry at someone before xD LOL FEAR ME

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL Ace is like WHAT THE CRAP DID I GET MYSELF INTO NOOOO. Baw, he has more patience than Zed and all his uncles combined, though, so really no one better than him to mediate and be a good middle ground lol. Thank you! :D

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you! :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yeah, Penny has some healing to do with Tessa, but NOW she has some major healing (and learning) to do with Koko. Poor thing hardly knows her older cousin. So that'll be fun to delve into. Not to mention Penny's future boy issues. Her hard exterior still shows itself quite a bit, from here on out. So though things may be on the up and up, they still hit bumps in the road. :P As for Libby and her issue, I sort of tried to portray it as like... Tessa trusts who that information is getting to, she trusts her family not to prod at Libby's sensitive wounds, and knows everyone is understanding, but also makes it so everyone has an understanding at JUST what kind of crap is happening back at Dead Zed, so no one rushes in blindly to an extremely sensitive topic. Libby gave Tessa the go ahead, so within the family boundaries, Libby knows her secret is safe with everyone.

 **chuckiboo :** Aw LOL well thank you xD Yeah, Penny definitely was just blinded by grief, which she can and can't be blamed for. It all evens out eventually. There are still going to be bumps in the road, but for the most part, everyone forgives and forgets. Koko takes a bit more of convincing, however...

 **Snake557 :** Yyyyep! Ralph and Vanellope's meeting will be grand and, quite delightfully awkward. I'm really excited to write for these two, cause I can now pull from old feelings left in the beginning of Wrecking Limits, the gooey crap that everyone loved so much, I get to now bring back like TEN FOLD xD YAY.

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Baw, Tess just gets pissed easily. And is extremely protective of her mother. But everyone was in the wrong, and everyone was in the right - it all gets ironed out. Ace IS a big help, though ;)

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL Poor Throttle, just being dragged all over this crazy rollercoaster xD I'm excited to write for when Tessa comes home and sees Throttle like ...! WTF haha. Yes, they all get the hell out of Sugar Rush soon, here. Got a tiny bit more exposition to go, but having everyone under the same roof IS coming up shortly, just bear with me :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Hold On (The Break) by Walk Off The Earth**

 ***Chapter 64***

"Okay, uhhh... Favorite color?" Zed mumbled, he tilted his head back and lulled it against the inner walls of Sugar Rush's outlet.

"Mine?" Libby wondered, she glanced to Ralph with a hard giggle as the tennis ball, he was throwing against the wall, suddenly rocketed across the room, in which Balba barked a hard whine and pranced after it. Zed heaved a cheerful laugh as well, though his electric blue eyes peered up to Libby once more, she stood with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, yours," Zed prod gently as Ralph uttered a playful notion towards Balba, though she only retort with a happy yip of a bark, a girly display of a blur of green fur and feathers. Ralph chucked the ball across the outlet once more, the pangs of the ball against the railing and wall, in which it awkwardly flung about, reverberated down Sugar Rush's dark wires.

"I like green," Libby eased as she finally crossed her arms and continued to pace, she glanced down at Zed, who was comfortably sat against the wall closest to the entrance to Game Central Station.

"But... We're surrounded by green, day in and day out," Zed complained, though he uttered a scared yelp as suddenly the tennis ball rocketed in his direction, and Balba burst in between Zed and Libby with her tongue largely hung out of her mouth.

"Sorry," Ralph called across the small hub of Sugar Rush's train dock, both Libby and Zed retort in annoyed laughter as Balba scrambled to fetch the ball.

"I'm gunna guess Balba is a lot more fun to play with than Lickity, now?" Zed called to Ralph, in which Ralph grunted and pulled himself up and over the sturdy railings of the train dock.

"Well Balba is ACTUALLY a dog," Ralph stated through gentle panting as he fought to keep up with Balba's graceful, agile and quick stride, her long legs made outrunning nearly anyone a breeze. Ralph dusted his hands off and patiently waited for Balba to bring the ball back to him, "Lickity won't fetch. And now that she can talk, she'll tell it like it is."

"Yeah, don't ever try to patronize Lickity," Zed mumbled, Libby giggled.

"I'd be willing to guess your favorite color is blue?" Libby inquired, in which was a proper cue to draw Zed back to their little conversation.

"Eh, blues, cool colors, y'know," Zed shrugged, though he eyed Libby, "I like my hair, okay?"

"I can relate," Libby giggled, though she grappled her extremely long hair and dangled it about a little, "I'm too afraid to cut it. I might miss it."

"Do my hair style," Zed tried to state seriously, though he broke form and cackled loudly as Libby gave him a look of floored bewilderment.

"Yeah, wonder just what Ace would say to THAT," Libby beamed, though her expression sloped and her face turned pink. Before she could retort and simply breeze past her notions, Zed side-eyed her and gave her a cheeky grin.

"Ahh, care about Ace's opinion, there, do yah?" Zed wondered with a toothy smile that only broadened as Libby became more bashful.

"N-No, I just mean... I'm sure he'd think I looked weird, or something," Libby rushed, though she furrowed her brow and eyed Zed, "Y-You don't think he likes girls, er... People with short hair, do you?"

"I know he likes Libbys with Libby personalities and uh, Libby Libbys," Zed teased, Libby breathed an annoyed laugh and gestured her hands in a rush of trying to one-up Ace's father.

"N-No, stop-it! I just mean like...! Do you think he'd-"

"For User's sakes, just spit it out already, Tessa knows you two kissed the other night," Zed blurt, though Ralph choked a hard noise and immediately divert his attention to the two.

"Wait, what?" Ralph ogled, as if to suddenly feel a weird wave of protectiveness come over Libby, and though he thought for sure it'd be directed towards his own grandson, everyone knew just how fragile Libby's heart was, in this hard time of hers.

"WHAT!" Libby shouted in hard embarrassment as Zed began to stand, "I-I... How...?"

"Oh, sorry... Yeah, she was... Sort of spying," Zed uttered sheepishly as Ralph slowly moseyed up, though Balba barked and nudged the ball firmly into the back of Ralph's hand, she flapped her wings and whined him a noise, as if to beg him to throw the ball. Ralph idly chucked the ball, watched Balba scramble away and kept his whole attention to the raw situation unfolding, "I... I realize I probably shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. Tessa was just really excited."

"I-I... It was just a peck, I was just... Thanking him, really, it... It didn't mean anything," Libby shrugged, and though she tried to come across as nonchalant, she hoped she didn't give Zed the wrong idea about her secret feelings for his son.

"I'm so sure," Zed muttered with a cheeky, kind smile, though Libby rolled her eyes and looked away, her face turned beet red through a girly, annoyed smile.

"I-It was for old time's sake," Libby snapped with a retort of a victorious smile, "And it wasn't our first. I-It's... Custom, in my culture, to uh... To give someone a peck on the cheek or lips as a form of a thank you."

"Yeah? So, Ace is the only one you ever thank, then?" Zed crossed his arms with a kind smile, as if to state that if and when she ever wanted to drop said conversation, he wouldn't push her or hesitate. Libby beamed Zed an annoyed grin and put her hands on her hips.

"What, you feeling left out?" Libby barked, though Zed's facial expression sloped to mild annoyance as Ralph loudly laughed.

"No, I just can see right through you," Zed stated with great cheek, though Libby furrowed her brow, "You know, that birthday party we're going to be throwing for Ace is also going to be YOUR birthday party, as well. So, if he gets you a present, it's custom to kiss him as thank you, then, yeah?"

"Oh for User's sakes, fine, I kissed him, no it's not custom, what's it to any of you guys?" Libby urged in hard annoyance, "It's not like we're now going to get married or anything, I-I was... I was just being nice. He's done a lot for me, y'know?"

"Well... Maybe you should tell him how you feel," Zed encouraged, he knew the two had been dancing around the idea, and though it was likely too soon to tell if anything were bound to go anywhere, Zed knew the two had a strong bond, a solid friendship.

"I feel fine," Libby muttered, as if to state that was the bottom line, and though Zed slyly eyed her, Ralph cut Zed off before he could continue on with Libby.

"You eager for grandchildren, now?" Ralph barked, which had Libby laughing as the tables turned, "I just gained a grandson, can we, y'know... CHILL OUT for a little while? I just added the word 'grand' to my name... I don't need 'great' thrown in there, too! We're not rabbits! The next generation doesn't need to rush this crap."

"Thank you," Libby nodded to Ralph, though Zed glared at Tessa's father in hard annoyance.

"That's not my point," Zed mumbled, though Ralph largely nudged him.

"So it was a kiss, chill out," Ralph breathed, "Besides, you remember the night of the Academy ball? When you took Tessa for a ride on your light cycle, the day she turned one? You swept her away and kissed her well into morning, I'm sure!"

"What!" Zed barked, though Libby pointed and laughed.

"Ohh, not so fun when the heat's on YOU, is it!" Libby's laughter only grew.

"Yeah, remember? We all came barging out of the castle cause we thought you were an intruder?" Ralph's chuckles grew with Libby's as Zed's face turned red, "We knew that dorky smile on Tessa's face meant SOMETHING, which lasted for days, mind you."

"Alright, forgive me for being curious," Zed barked, and though his heart panged with gentle protectiveness over his son and his fragile feelings for Libby, he knew he should now take his nose out of it.

"I can understand," Libby calmed through a reviving sigh, "You're... You're worried for Ace, right? You don't want his feelings to be hurt?"

"Well... Yeah, how did you know?" Zed squinted and gently peered to her; Libby shrugged.

"I just... I'm an old soul. I may not have experienced true love, myself, just yet, but... I know it's not something to mess with," Libby eased quietly, though both men honed their undivided attention to the sudden wisdom that seemingly eked off of Libby's skin, as if she had somehow channeled another life of hers, "I can just feel it in my gut. You guys may think I'm oblivious, but I know Ace wants to, uh... Get to know me, more."

"A-And?" Zed prod gently, as if to buy himself more leeway into this conversation, though Libby giggled at his anxious eyes.

"And? I'll let him in when I'm ready, or if I feel like it," Libby shook her head and furrowed her brow, "No need to rush."

"That's nice of you," Ralph eased, he nervously eyed Zed, and though both men knew that because of her tragic past, letting people in would be difficult, they somehow wondered if this would turn into a big, ugly game of cat and mouse between Ace and Libby.

"I think... What Zed wants assurance of is, well..." Ralph sighed, and as tenderly as he could, he lovingly took Libby's tiny hand in his massive one and patiently held it between the two, "I guess... He wants things between you and Ace to be transparent. Or else Ace could get hurt... And no one wants that. I know you don't, either."

"Hurt?" Libby worried, though she cued to Zed, "What do you mean?"

Zed furrowed his brow, and it was in this moment Libby had no idea just how secretly head over heels Ace was for her. A simple crush, a coy display of cuteness is what he could swear Libby was only seeing, and it was only now did Zed realize the two weren't on the same page. Zed slumped his shoulders and felt a wave of disappointment fall over him, and as the weirdness set in, for somehow wanting the best for his son, he now worried further for Ace's longings. Zed huffed a hard sigh and glanced to Ralph in growing nervousness both men cued to.

"I guess it doesn't wholly matter, right now," Zed breathed, though he eased a smile, "I'm sure everything will sort of settle once we find the Sugar Rush crew."

"THEN we can relax," Ralph mumbled.

* * *

"She's pretty scary, when she's mad," Ace mumbled, him and Penny fell into step down the worn path. They spot Tessa and Lickity further down the way, and as the two fell even further into step, Penny curiously peered up to Ace with quiet, adoring eyes as he continued on, "I mean... Dad can get pretty heated too, but... Nothing compares to mom's uh... Mom mode," he finished with a bashful chuckle and a heartwarming smile he sent down to Penny.

Penny shook her head, furrowed her brow and kept her demeanor as gentle as she could, and though she knew her exterior had toughened over the year without love and warmth, she somehow felt it all come flooding back to her in the presence of this bumbling, adorable figure next to her. She breathed a small laugh, squinted and peered up to Ace in growing love for him, even in the small moments she had only just met him.

"You sound just like him," Penny ogled quietly.

Ace raised his eyebrows and peered down to Penny, she sport a dark olive hoodie lined with a mesh of dark brown fur. The golden curl atop her head was nearly just how his mother described, and though the girly twinkle in her eye was largely concealed, Ace could somehow still see it, way deep down. Ace fiddled his larger fingers and smiled the wrecker's infamous, gap-tooth smile, one he shared not only with his mother, now with his grandfather and uncle, Oliver. Penny gently elbowed him, which forced another bashful chuckle out of his figure.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ace eased quietly as he threw his gaze out to the gorgeous scenery about him; the sun had begun to set in the cherry sky, though it still held onto the sunshine that so desperately attempted to warm this frozen wasteland. Ace fogged the air before him with a gentle sigh and a content smile, "He's a great man."

"Sure is," Penny agreed quietly, "I remember Zed when he was just this lousy beach bum, had goo-goo eyes for Tess... We'd waste away in EZ Living, Tessa would try and keep hers and Zed's uh... 'affairs' secret, but, I knew she couldn't for long... Man, those were the days."

"Sounds like it," Ace cocked an eyebrow and gazed down to Penny's sunkissed nose and face, though she also sport a few scars that looked as if they had been obtained long ago, "I can't imagine dad being lazy, or... a beach bum. The goo-goo eyes, though? Yeah, those are still a thing."

"Really?" Penny beamed Ace a smile of relief, as if to hope Tessa's and Zed's relationship had remained strong, though she breathed a hard laugh as Ace wrinkled his nose and gave Penny a look of floored bewilderment.

"You kidding? He's always grabbing her, stealing her away," Ace listed nonchalantly as he waggled his hand and rolled his eyes, "I guess I should be grateful... I have two wonderful parents that adore each other."

"Even after having a baby, nothing's changed," Penny chuckled, Ace joined as they gladly fogged the air about them.

"My uncles aren't so grateful, though," Ace mumbled, though Penny cocked an eyebrow.

"I-I forgot, Zed reunited with his brothers then, I guess?" Penny wondered, Ace nodded.

"Yeah, I guess... Just before I was born," Ace shrugged, though they quieted as the two began to near Lickity and Tessa, "Guess we'll have to make a lot more room, in the Kalivar castle."

Penny inhaled to attempt to continue, though she wasted her breath and sighed as the two stepped into Tessa's peripheral. It was clear Tessa had just been angrily ranting to Lickity, and as Lickity drew her annoyed eye contact to Ace and Penny, everyone froze in rising, hot tension that could seemingly melt the snow right off the cliff side. Tessa and Lickity were stationed at a small wall, which in turn continued as a drop off down the steep cliff. The path hooked down the bend and continued to a lazy road that lead back down to the city. Tessa glared into Penny's general direction, it was clear this cold, Sugar Rush evening couldn't even simmer Tessa's heat.

"Alright, mom, c'mon," Ace urged quietly as he neared her, "I brought Penny, now... Let's sort through this, okay? Everyone at the house got their hugs and apologies in, and you're the last."

"Best for last, I see?" Tessa spat in muttering annoyance, though Penny furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.

"YES," Penny urged, as if to state to Tessa that her cousin's feelings meant the world to her, and it hurt Penny to feel as if Tessa didn't take that seriously. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and nearly apologetically glanced to Penny, though not without an annoyed eye roll.

"C'mon, I'm here to mediate. Now, let's sort through this," Ace encouraged as he lovingly grappled his mother's hand and began to pull her closer to himself and Penny; she hesitated, though finally, and stubbornly obliged, "Mom, why don't you start by calmly telling Penny why you're upset."

"You have a few hours?" Tessa loudly barked, which caused Penny and Ace to flinch. Ace furrowed his brow and grappled his mother's hand a little harder.

"CALMLY, mom," Ace pressed firmly, and though Tessa huffed an annoyed sigh, she glanced Ace an apologetic stab, "And with kind, simple words... Come on... We don't have very much more sun to rely on."

"... I'm mad at the way you've been treating everyone," Tessa uttered in hard sorrow, she shook her head and peered down to the snowy ground, though she finally pierced her stare into Penny's, "... I would've thought you'd take care of everyone. Stick together."

"I just... I was so upset over losing dad," Penny whimpered quietly as she shook her head, "... Mom cried for weeks, Koko was a loud baby whom of which Vanellope was constantly busy with, Oliver and Emery were struggling with their whole swapping ordeal... I was going crazy, Tess, I just... Had to get away without getting away entirely."

Tessa huffed a hard breath and looked out to the scenery. Just before Ace was going to remind his mother, once again, to remain calm, he jolted and noticed large tears suddenly well in her eyes. Though he knew this was an emotional time for everyone, he could swear he had never seen her do this much crying in the entire year he had been alive. He felt his heart pang in dire sorrow as tears finally slipped down Tessa's cheeks, and with a shaky inhale, she finally drew her exhausted, sorrowful gaze straight into Penny's.

"Penny... You want to know what I told Finn, Zed's younger brother, about a year ago?" Tessa started tenderly, her glassy eyes held to Penny's as both girls welled up, "A day after Ace was born, I was in our sky room, feeding my new baby... I was blind. I had no clue what Ace looked like, for the first three weeks of his life."

Penny tenderly glanced to Ace in gentle understanding, though she felt her heart sink harder and harder with the sheer fact that others did, indeed, have it rough, other than just herself. Tessa wiped her cheeks and glanced to Ace, whom of which kept a noble, steady hand on the situation.

"...Zed had made Finn his right hand man, to the game, and you want to know what I told him?" Tessa uttered, her voice crackled as more tears slipped down her cheeks, "I told him that, hands down, no matter the situation, Penny would be the woman I place at my right hand, as Queen of Sugar Rush. No one could do it better than Penny. PENNY."

Penny shook her head and looked down as tears quickly spilled down her cheeks as well. She uttered soft, silent cry and grimaced as Ace lovingly rubbed Penny's upper back for the sorrowful story Tessa spilled over her soul.

"Penny, you let me down," Tessa whimpered as she grit her teeth and gave Penny a look of dire anguish, "You let me down, hard... I know I never really handed you that title, but... You're my sister, Penny. YOU'RE my right hand. Sure, Koko now has a place in line, for the throne, but, Penny... No one could be better at being at my right hand, than you. NO ONE."

"Ahem," Lickity flattened her ears and nonchalantly looked away.

"No one but you and Lickity," Tessa firmly corrected as she kept her gaze glued to Penny's; both Ace and Lickity stifled laughter.

"Not anymore," Penny uttered darkly, though Tessa firmly stepped into her bubble and grappled Penny's hands in dire, urgent love she pushed to convey.

"There's no one I want next to me more, in my rule over Sugar Rush, than you, Penny," Tessa urged into Penny's face as she finally got her attention, though this time it was soaked in gentleness and understanding, "Once that crown is mine, Penny... I would hope you'd remain at my right hand, and vow to protect this now MASSIVE family, of ours."

Penny raised her eyebrows in hard surprise, the fact that Tessa had so willingly just given her another chance, without any hesitation. Penny uttered a soft noise, shook her head and could hardly wonder how and when she could ever deserve the unconditional love Tessa was now pouring over her, and it was in this moment she realized just how detrimental this all was. Penny grimaced and shook her head, once more.

"I won't let you down, again," Penny whimpered, "I promise... I-I... I was so overcome with grief, I just... Hated everyone. I didn't WANT to find happiness."

"Penny, you have to be strong, you have to be the backbone," Tessa urged, "I know you have it in you, just look at you! You're now Sugar Rush's first badass."

Penny and Ace suddenly choked a small bout of laughter as smiles coat the group in a good dose of overflowing, much needed love.

"C'mon, Penny. You're better than this," Tessa hissed, "These people need you. They need US."

Penny nodded and peered down to hers and Tessa's hands, and before too long, Tessa squeezed their grip a little tighter and shook it around a bit.

"Whatdoyahsay," Tessa whispered as they finally locked eyes, "Will you be at my right hand?"

"I'd be honored," Penny whimpered as she looked as if she desperately wanted to crumple into tears, and it wasn't until Tessa grappled Penny into a tight hug did Penny finally collapse into Tessa's shoulder.

The two largely squeezed each other into a much needed, finalized hug, and as they held fast to their warm embrace, Tessa began to gently sway Penny back and forth as their existences finally coat in whole understanding and love. Tessa heaved a gentle giggle as Ace and Lickity firmly pushed into the two for good measure, a group hug that was largely over due.

"C'mon, Pens, y'really gunna take this sour attitude back to the castle of BOYS waiting for you?" Tessa laughed, Ace rolled his eyes and tilted his head up to the sky in hard annoyance.

"Here we go AGAIN," Ace mumbled, Lickity cackled in a vast amount of glee.

"I don't even want to think about boys," Penny sniffled through the firm mumble deep in Tessa's shoulder, though she finally broke the long, calm silence in great cheek, "...How many boys we talking."

"Well, Tammy already called dibs on one, I believe," Tessa heaved through a giggle as both girls, as well as Ace and Lickity, pulled out of the hug, "Y'got four other guys to fight Koko for."

"Five," Ace mumbled as he glanced at his mother's confused facial expression. Ace furrowed his brow and shook his head, "You're forgetting Nox."

"Oh right," Tessa snapped, though Penny rolled her eyes and gave Tessa an annoyed smile.

"So which boy is the cutest?" Penny muttered, as if she secretly wanted to have this conversation, though her hard exterior tried it's best to hide the girly smile that wanted to sprawl her face.

"Tej," Lickity uttered, though she flattened her ears as everyone honed their attention straight to her, "WHAT! Anyone but Orph, c'mon."

"Believe it or not, Orph actually called dibs on you," Tessa waggled her finger and gave Penny a playful smile, though Ace gawked in confusion as Tessa continued, "This was when you were just a baby, so you wouldn't know."

"What?" Penny giggled in confusion as she shook her head.

"Yeah, he... I was sort of a bitch to him during the time I was temporarily blind, so, uh... He said how I can repay him is if I set him up with, uh..." Tessa dragged on and realized she was digging herself a hole, "Y'know, I'm just going to let you meet all of them and just decide on your own, how about that?"

"I'm now scared," Penny muttered in playful annoyance as Ace rubbed his face in agitation that quickly overcame him.

"You are not alone," Ace mumbled, though he peered up to the sky, "Uh, mom... Should we head back home to get maybe, Balba? So we can properly take everyone home?"

"It is getting dark, huh," Tessa sighed as she looked up, and though she glanced at Lickity, she finally peered back to Ace in gentle understanding, "I have an important task for you."

"Me?" Ace wondered gently.

"Lickity and I discussed it, and... We think you two should head back, get Balba, maybe one of your father's Tron flyers," Tessa crossed her arms and gave her son a look of gentle understanding, "Think you're up for the responsibility?"

"Y-You want me to fly Lickity?" Ace uttered nervously as he glanced to his dragon of an aunt, though everyone eased knowing chuckles as Lickity stood up straighter.

"You'll simply be a passenger, bud," Lickity grumbled, Ace slumped his shoulders.

"What if... What if we get lost?" Ace worried as he glanced about, "It's getting dark... And if I do come back, it won't be until before sunrise, I'm sure."

"Lickity won't get lost, trust me," Tessa lovingly rubbed her larger hand to Lickity's snout, and as Lickity flattened her ears and leaned into Tessa's loving touch, all three girls peered to Ace in elated understanding, "As long as you're up for the task, I'm... I'm trusting you, with this."

Ace raised his eyebrows, and though his heart was now dipped in a vat of nervousness, he suddenly realized how much fun it'd be to be let off of the leash, aboard the fastest dragon in Arcade. He beamed the sky a sly smile and wondered just what a certain white haired tribes-woman would think of his return, though he tried not to get too lost in his thoughts.

"Alright..." Ace mumbled gently as Lickity perked up. Penny and Tessa gentle moved aside so Ace could properly board Lickity, though he nervously peered over his shoulder to his mother and frowned, "Uh... Do I tell Paw that he, uh... Has another daughter? What exactly should I say?"

"Tell him everything," Penny interjected with an eager smile as she waved her hand. Tessa glanced at her before she beamed Ace an agreeing smile, "Tell everyone to look alive...! We're comin' home."

"Yes ma'am," Ace chuckled as he board Lickity, and before any more time could be wasted, he hunkered down to Lickity's spine and beamed his mother a nervous smile, "I'll return shortly, then... Wish me luck."

"Y'already got it, bud," Tessa giggled as Lickity sprawled her wings and bared the two girls a knowing, fang-filled grin.

"Lucky Lickity," She uttered before she jumped to the sky and gracefully drifted off towards the direction of Sugar Rush's entrance.

* * *

 **A/N : HEY GUYS I'm going to need you to be patient with me, for the upcoming next few chapters. Not only is my birthday today (erm... I'm writing this on the 21st but I'll probably be uploading this the 22nd so uh...) yesterday, but I also have my mom's, oldest sister's AND my dad's birthday all in the span of this week, sooooo. This weekend is going to be very busy for me, and I'm not sure I'll have the extra time I usually do to poop out chapters. I'll be able to get some writing done, but not enough to keep to my 'once every other day' schedule. It'll pick back up come Monday or Tuesday, but I just wanted to warn you guys so you're not like lol wtf happened to Vyn.**

 **I'm here, just... July is a VERY busy month for me, birthday wise. It's also my car's birthday month! xD BIRTHDAYS. EVERYWHERE.**

 **I turned 25, for those of you wondering. I am going to live to 150 I promise. lol dude what if I was still writing fanfiction in the year fucking 2125 or some shit. CAN YOU IMAGINE?! I'm just on my like 34th installment of Wrecking Limits hahahaha**

 **No but seriously you think I could go for that long? xD**

 **Tessa's great great great great great great great great grandchildren now morphing between time dimensions and the interwebs alike. chasing down... IDK... The cure for herpes - I am HALF AWAKE.**


	65. Chapter 65

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** No worries! I probably would've thought the same thing, but yeah, I felt bad for saying it was just coincidence xD As for Zed's expansive grasp on grammar, I don't think there really IS a word or adjective to describe just how Ace feels for Libby, or vice versa xD At this point, I'd say you guys will eventually use the term FRUSTRATING a whole lot, but for now, it's likely cute or annoying. Youuu just wait LOL!

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Thank you! I certainly hope you guys feel that way :)

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thanks for the birthday wishes! LOL My car included! xD Yeah, it's explained why Radex is being rather 'quiet' during this transition. Well, it's all speculation on their part, but they aren't wrong lol.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Oh User help us all xD Thank you! I'll be getting with you shortly on your commission, sorry for the delay!

 **Snake557 :** Oh it's your golden birthday! Woohoo! Happy birthday! :D My golden birthday was when I was 21 on the 21st, and was when I became legal drinking age xD That was fun. Also, continuing on with the series like that was just a joke. I won't beat a dead horse. I sincerely hope you guys don't view the 4th story as such. The 4th story isn't an expansion of the Wrecking Limits saga tho, it'll have it's own theme/different bad guy and etc.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you for the birthday wishes! :D Yeah, Ace and Libby will be just fine, though they definitely do hit quite a few bumps in the road, on the path to actually figuring out how they feel about each other xD Penny definitely ruffles a few feathers, at the castle, but after a year of hating nearly everyone, she has to adjust back to finding manners and being normal LOL.

 **jonnyne :** Wait are you serious? omg twins. Happy birthday! :D

 **Xaehttium :** Thank you! I'm glad you guys are liking AcexLibby so far, even though it's not really 100% existent just yet xD Also, Radex's 'whereabouts', or lack there of, is explained in the next chapter :)

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** WTF that's weird xD Thank you so much! I appreciate it!

 **Retrokill :** omg WHUT xD Thanks for the b-day wishes! :D

* * *

 **A/N :** **Oh my USER YOU GUYYYYYYS. I missed you guys so much. I'm so sorry I faltered off of my schedule, this past weekend has been SO incredibly busy, and so full of birthday love. I appreciate all the kind notes and birthday wishes, I am excited to be 25! I'm still a wee thing! 8D I'll be trying to update regularly now, I'm still getting into the swing of things as of late. Cory and I just set up our office, which has been a work in progress for a few weeks now, and I think we're finally FINALLY settling, so... It's been a bit of a journey, trying to find our niche and getting comfortable, but we're almost there. It's just a fuck ton of stuff to hang on the walls, and a billion computers and desks to organize and figure out where everything goes. We have a BILLION pieces of Wreck-It Ralph memorabilia, so carefully displaying all (or most) of it has proven to be a bit of a chore... Cause a LOT of it is in storage for safe keeping, but I'm an asshole and want to display literally everything, but Cory wants to protect it and put it away. BLARHG. I have all my WIR posters out and my Wrecking Limits artwork everywhere, so it tides me over, but still xD**

 **So yeah, quite a bit going on over here at the Vyn castle. Things should be back on track, if not now, very very soon. Thank you guys for being patient with me! DOINK.**

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Nova Scotia by Adam Young**

 **Ridiculously Happy by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 65***

"I'm so bored," Ralph droned in an unamused tone, he lulled his head against the outlet's wall. He breathed a hard sigh and began to feel his heart throb in nervousness, the sheer fact that Game Central Station had lulled to an odd type of eerie, nighttime quiet, "I'm... I'm starting to get worried."

"When was it you said we could start worrying?" Libby wondered gently, she stood before Ralph and Zed, who were both sat on the ground. Libby had her back to Sugar Rush's wires, though she nervously began to pace a little as Zed looked up, to his wrist, which was bare of a wrist-watch, and then to Ralph's frozen, lazy demeanor.

"What did I say? Midnight?" Zed mumbled, Ralph lulled his eyes closed and nodded, Zed pressed on, "Midnight."

"Well, what time is it now?" Libby pressed as she began to bite the skin around her finger nails in growing anxiousness.

"Probably past midnight," Ralph grumbled as he tilted his head even farther and got a good look at Balba, who was haphazardly sprawled on her side and back. Her front paws were lazily hovered above her chest cavity as she napped without a single care in the world. Ralph huffed an even longer sigh, than the millions prior, and gestured nonchalantly towards Balba, "We should take a page outta her book..."

"Let's playyy... Twenty questions," Zed stated plainly, though his electric blue eyes nervously peered down Sugar Rush's dark wires, his heart began to pang in dire anxiousness that he so badly wanted to show, though he knew he had to remain strong for Libby and Ralph.

"We already played that," Libby muttered as she tucked her beautiful, long white hair behind her ears.

"Well, then, let's play forty questions," Zed quietly spat, Libby shot him an annoyed smile, one that clearly took effort to surface.

"Well, why don't you tell us a little about your tribe?" Zed wondered tenderly as Libby re-glued her gaze back into Zed's and stopped her anxious footwork; said inquiry had Ralph's attention dragging from Balba straight into Libby's dewy eyes, "You... I-I mean, I know you left and what have you, but... We've always known so very little about your tribe. Do you mind if you tell us a little bit about it?"

"... I suppose it wouldn't hurt, now that I'm not associated with them," Libby stated through a hard sigh, though she gave them a gentle smile, "I can start by saying English isn't my first language."

"It isn't?" Ralph ogled, both him and Zed shot each other curious looks, though Ralph beamed her a kind smile, "I was always wondering why your English had a hint of an accent."

"Yep, I... I was the only person in the tribe that knew English," Libby shrugged, "No one taught it to me... In fact, I wasn't ever even around anyone who ever spoke English. I really don't know how I acquired it. I think I've just always known it."

"So, you were raised with your tribe's language, but you always just somehow... KNEW English?" Zed wondered in dire curiosity, Libby shrugged and nodded lazily.

"I guess... I think that's likely why the other kids, my age, picked on me," Libby furrowed her brow and peered down to the ground in contemplation, "Sometimes my English would slip out, and I'm sure they all thought I was bonkers."

"That's interesting," Zed muttered, he squinted a little and knew Libby had always had peculiar coding, peculiar origins, and each time she revealed a little more about herself, it had Zed, and everyone else at the castle, a little more intrigued.

"So, what language does your tribe speak, then?" Ralph asked quietly.

"I hope you understand I could be lashed, or beat, for revealing any of this information to you guys," Libby barked quietly as she crossed her arms and gave both men a daring smile, though Zed shot back at her and beamed her an even wider smile than what she could deliver in this moment.

"I hope YOU understand that if anyone even tried, they'd have to go through four wreckers, five other strong men, two dragons, a lykat-"

"Alright, alright," Libby garbled, everyone stifled laughter, though no one tried harder than Libby. She wrinkled her nose and though she was deemed annoyed, she shot Zed a sneaky, grateful smile as she continued, "... I come from the Teltokua tribe."

"I KNEW it," Zed hissed as he pointed, though Libby beamed him a curious grin and froze, though she lightly shook her head as if to wonder how he got this information, "Finn and I have been studying the tribes we think are in Ekreth's region, and I always guessed you were from the Teltokua people. YES! Finn owes me money."

"Glad to be of service," Libby muttered, though she crossed her arms and gave both men a snarky smile, "My first language is the language of my tribe, Teltokuan. And then English starting popping up, and they all thought I was spawn of Satan. It was good times."

"So, when you first met Ace, then, did you start speaking Telt... token...?" Ralph stammered his words in confusion, though Libby giggled.

"Teltokuan, no," Libby laughed a little harder, though beyond her knowledge, Zed's eyes finally were distracted by a sight they had been dying to see all night. Lickity's silent flight suddenly came loftily cruising around the bend of Sugar Rush's dark wires, and before Zed and Ralph could react, they froze and watched as Lickity lightly landed a dozen or so feet behind Libby and knelt down to let Ace to his feet. Libby waggled her hand and continued on, "I spoke English. I know only the people of my tribe know Teltokuan. I wasn't about to start spouting that nonsense, I'm sure Ace and Tessa would've been very confused."

"So, could you speak to us in Teltokuan right now, then?" Zed inquired as Ace lightly straightened his shirt and eagerly peered to the three before him, and though Zed and Ralph had their sights desperately trying to dart to Ace and Lickity, they held fast to Libby's line of sight, whom of which had her back to Ace and Lickity.

"I could, but... You guys would just think I was weird, I'm sure," Libby shrugged, though before Zed could carry on, Libby crossed her arms and looked away a little, "I guess that might be an understatement. Libby isn't even my actual name."

Ace raised his eyebrows and peered hard to the back of Libby's head in dire surprise. Libby's shoulders raised a little as she expanded in a breath to continue, though before she could carry on, Ace choked a startled laugh, clutched his chest and nearly scared the sprinkles out of Libby. She whirled around in hard surprise and glared Ace down with pink cheeks.

"Wh-what? Libby isn't your real name?" Ace gawked, though Libby exhaled a hard giggle and smiled the widest smile she could possibly muster. Before Ace could largely prod her for all of her little secrets, she filled their dozen foot gap and quickly lunged into Ace's embrace, her arms fastened tight around his neck. Ace welcomed her with the greatest of ease, tightened his larger arms around her upper back and gave her warm body a good, loving squeeze, "C'mon, that's not fair. We're best friends, and I don't even know your real name?"

"I-it's a mouthful, I'm sure you wouldn't even call me it, anyways," Libby giggled as the two held in their draw of a loving squeeze before settling.

"That's not true," Ace complained as he peered down into her eyes, and though he knew his father and grandfather were now eagerly awaiting answers, he carried on in his and Libby's dewy, innocent little world, "I won't tell anyone... Please?"

"Where's your mother?" Zed suddenly pushed as he gripped Ace's upper right arm and took an urgent stance next to Libby; the both of them flinched in surprise, though Ralph came alongside Libby's other side and hovered as well.

"Did you guys find them? Is everything okay?" Ralph rushed, though Balba uttered a hard yawn and began to lazily stand with all the commotion.

"Mom's fine," Ace breathed as he lovingly gripped the underside of his father's arm, Zed's hand was still grappled to Ace's upper right arm. Ace sighed, slumped his shoulders and, through soft, cheerful eyes, he gripped his gaze to his grandfather's and continued, "We found 'em."

"You found them?" Ralph firmly hissed as he gripped his hand to the top of Ace's left shoulder, though Libby giggled and took a few bumbling steps away from the bubble that began to tightly enclose Ace for answers, "Wh-Where are they? Who all is there? Are they safe?!"

"They're fine, Paw, they're fine," Ace laughed, he glanced to Zed and back to Ralph, "They're... They're in Stonecrest, but the whole city is abandoned."

"How far South were they?" Zed rushed.

"About a two hour flight," Ace stated as he gently peered back to Lickity, she finally lowered her head, flattened her ears and joined the soft, bumbling group of curious men.

"They're without power... They're running low on food and water," Lickity stated sorrowfully, "They look a little haggard, but... I-I genuinely think we arrived just in time. Any longer and they likely would've traveled farther South or... Starved..."

"Is Vanellope there? Is everyone okay?" Ralph urged, his eyes looked terrified, though Ace felt his heart suddenly pang in hard knowing.

"Everyone is okay, yes... Vanellope is there," Ace stumbled on his words a little, "There's... Great Aunt Taffyta, Oliver, Emery, Penny and, uh..."

"Who else?" Zed pressed softly, though Ace cocked an eyebrow and glanced to his father, as if to garner confidence from his dad's urgent stare. Ace finally dragged his knowing gaze back to Ralph's and beamed him a cheeky smile.

"Paw, do... Do you remember the night before the game downgraded, at all?" Ace wondered in a deep, quiet tone; Ralph furrowed his brow as his eyes urgently, though absent mindedly, scanned Ace's collar and shoulders.

"'Course I do, for crying out loud, it was some of the best sex I'd ever ha-..." Ralph's eyes widened, though he firmly grabbed Ace's shoulders with both of his massive wrecking hands and held Ace still, "Th-The loading bar..."

"I forgot about that!" Zed pointed, though Ralph dug his terrified gaze into Ace's.

"Theee loading bar," Ace dragged with a knowing smile, "I-I... I hope you were banking on that, cause, well... I finally have an aunt that's, well... Not of the bat species."

"Tessa has a sister?!" Zed asked in a loud, incredulous tone as Libby gaped and covered her mouth.

"I-I have... Another daughter?" Ralph near whimpered as he kept his scared gaze honed to Ace's, though Ace heaved a hard chuckle and shook his head.

"Congrats, Paw... You're a dad of three wreckers," Ace complimented quietly, though Ralph's shaking hands unhanded Ace, he began to saunter away in a bit of a stupor, as if he wasn't sure exactly where he was.

"I-I can't believe this," Ralph uttered as he crossed his arms and peered out to the gaping entrance to Game Central Station. He furrowed his brow and peered back to Ace in dumbfounded surprise, "I-I have another daughter...?"

"Sure do," Ace nodded gently, "She's mine and Libby's age. I-I think we all have our birthdays within the same two weeks."

"What's her name?" Zed eagerly pressed, though Libby shoved her hands to the side of her head.

"Another girl to hang out with!" Libby cried in gentle excitement.

"Koko," Ralph hissed gently as he began to step back over to Ace, "H-Her name... It's Koko Bree, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Ace chuckled, though Zed ogled the situation before him.

"You have another child!" Zed gawked as he largely gestured to Ralph, everyone began to quietly coo and congratulate him in knowing kindness, though Ralph shook his head as tears stung his eyes.

"I-I can't believe... All this time, I didn't even know," Ralph uttered, though he sorrowfully peered down to Zed, "You don't think... Vanellope would be mad, do you?"

"Mad?" Ace ogled, "She knows none of this could be helped, she's not mad at all... She's... She's very nervous and excited to see YOU again, though."

"What?" Ralph stammered as his cheeks flushed, everyone eagerly watched the show as Ace continued.

"Yeah, she... She kept getting all bashful anytime you were mentioned," Ace crossed his arms, "Kinda curious, if you ask me. You're both still married, have three children together... Annnd still, there are butterflies."

"Have you not seen exactly who you're related to?" Ralph barked as he firmly nudged Zed, which had him quickly losing his footing and wobbling to the side a few feet, though not without a loud, jolt of a chuckle. Ace beamed and steadied his father, though Zed shot Ralph a look of dewy surprise.

"I can't help it, okay?" Zed argued playfully, though Ralph gestured to himself in dire annoyance.

"Neither can any of us, either!" Ralph barked, everyone was in stitches.

"Dad, y'gotta expand the castle... We're adding six more bodies to it," Ace eased tenderly after everyone finally settled, though Zed nodded and peered up to Ralph.

"Y'wanna help?" Zed asked, though Ralph nodded once.

"Don't need to even ask," Ralph smiled, "It's been awhile since I've had my hand in a code room that wasn't Fix-It Felix Jr.'s dusty old code room."

"Libby, I have to ask you a favor, as well," Ace eased to her as he pushed past his father and grandfather; they kept their eager eyes to the situation before them.

"Yes?" Libby inquired softly, though Ace slowly glanced over to Balba, who finally began to saunter over.

"May I please borrow Balba?" Ace asked quietly, his honest eyes peered into hers, "Royal is with mom, right now, but... Including mom and I, we have eight people we need to get out of Sugar Rush, and having Balba would greatly help. Do you trust me with her?"

"Of course I do," Libby gave Ace a grateful smile, though she tenderly reached back and rubbed Balba's soft, dark green muzzle, "She loves you, anyhow. It'll be a good opportunity for her to stretch her wings, get some good flying in."

"Thank you," Ace nodded, and though he began to pet Balba's fur as well, he finally peered to his father, "Dad, I uh... I have a favor to ask of you, as well."

"Oh boy, what is it, this time?" Zed wondered in a flat tone, though Ace gave him a pleading smile.

"Three flyers isn't going to be enough to transport eight people," Ace explained quietly, "Mom told me to also bring the Tron flyer, you were working on... Is it ready to fly?"

"Ohh, it's ready," Zed stated through an annoyed sigh as he peered up to Ralph, who gave him an equally as confused look, "I just hope she fairs well... I haven't taken the thing out on a proper, long-haul of a flight, before..."

"Please, dad?" Ace wondered with pleading eyes, though Zed sagged his shoulders and knew he didn't have much of a choice.

"Only if your mother flies it," Zed pointed, though Ace furrowed his brow.

"You think I'M gunna fly that thing? No way," Ace mumbled, he gratefully peered back to Balba, "I want to fly Balba, anyhow."

"She'd probably be most comfortable with you, anyways," Libby explained quietly as Balba pushed further into Ace's bubble, as if she could wholly sense the gear shift and was prepared for a new adventure with her favorite friend.

"C'mon, let's go grab the Tron flyer, bring it back, and get started on the castle," Ralph pushed in excitement as he nudged Zed's shoulder, and though Zed eagerly peered to Libby and Ace, as if to inquire that they follow them back home, Ralph quickly tugged on Zed's arm in hopes that he would get the hint, "C'mon, c'mon, let's leave Libby and Ace here to catch up, we'll be back soon."

"Right, okay," Zed nodded as Ace and Libby curiously waved them off, though Zed stumbled on his feet as he was near dragged out of Sugar Rush's outlet, "Okay, subtle enough? NO."

"I don't care, let's just hurry," Ralph pressed as the two quickly rushed the desolate train station and impatiently awaited the train to come.

Before too long, the two were carried away to End Of Line Station, both stations were quiet, still and dark, though it didn't stop Ralph from loudly and urgently asking Zed just what he was to do with all this new information laid on him. Zed patiently tried to calm his nerves, though his heart pound with excitement as well, even though it was for very different reasons from Ralph's. As the two stepped into Dead Zed's dark, humid atmosphere and teleported straight to the entrance of the Kalivar castle, they stormed the front gates and, though their fervor displayed otherwise, they quietly barged into the house and assessed their surroundings. With the night being well past midnight, and a casual game day prepared for the morning to come, all five of Zed's brothers were tucked away into their wings of the castle for the nighttime reset. The only beings awake were Throttle and Nox, who quietly chit-chat at the kitchen's dimly lit island. They slowly peered their pixel-cubed stares to the two as Zed and Ralph hurriedly pushed into the kitchen, and though Zed had a motif and a purpose, with the way he drew out the code room's orb from the very coding of the digital pad on the wall, Ralph paced in hard anxiousness.

"Uhh... I'm gunna take a stab in the dark and say Sugar Rush's crew was found?" Nox lazily wondered as him and Throttle peered to Ralph in hard bemusement. Ralph had been warned of Throttle's arrival, though it seemed to be dampened by Ralph's larger, more chaotic issues at hand.

"I-I have another daughter... I have another DAUGHTER," Ralph barked quietly as he grappled his hair, "What the sugar plum do I do with this information?!"

"You have a third child? Wait, how do you know this?" Throttle ogled as both boys peered to Ralph in hard confusion. Ralph attempted to anxiously straighten out his overalls, though his shaking hands fumbled.

"What do you think Vanellope will think of me?" Ralph worried, "I-I hope I haven't gotten fatter."

"Wait, seriously, how do you know this information?" Throttle repeated in harder urgency, though Zed finally chimed in with a delighted chuckle.

"Ace returned from his and Tessa's scour South, in Sugar Rush... They found Vanellope," Zed eased, "Annnd... They also found Taffyta, Vanellope's second born, Oliver, Oliver's swap mate, Emery, Tessa's cousin, Penny, and... Vanellope's third born, Koko."

"Wait, so they're all in Game Central Station right now?" Nox urged as he stood and began to grow more and more anxious alongside Ralph's fervor, though Zed flagged him down as he materialized his Tron flyer from the coding of the closed garage, the map properly displayed each portion of the castle.

"No, no, no," Zed chuckled as he eyed the long, black baton. The ends glowed a gentle, cyan blue, "They're a two hour flight South of Sugar Rush's entrance... Ace came back for more flyers. They're going to be transporting eight people back to Game Central Station, so Ace came to retrieve Balba and one of my flyers."

"For User's sakes, where are all six of them going to be staying?" Throttle wondered gently as he eagerly dart his eyes between Ralph and Zed, though Zed cocked an eyebrow.

"Ralph and I are going to be burning the midnight oil, tonight, recreating this castle," Zed muttered, "We're adding seven bodies to this zoo."

"Zoo!" Nox blurt, as if to loudly agree, "It's a ZOO. How many home games will be under one roof?"

"Welp... If you're including Tammy, then... FIVE," Zed ogled as he peered to Ralph in bewilderment.

"Five?" Ralph retort as he wrinkled his nose, though he count on his fingers, "Sugar Rush, Dead Zed, TurboTime..."

"You're forgetting Tammy, Hero's Duty," Zed listed, and though Ralph gave him a confused look, Zed continued, "I'm pretty positive Tammy is going to want a room here, at Kalivar zoo... Her and Finn are, uh... Friendsies."

"What's the fifth game?" Nox wondered.

"Fix-It Felix Jr.," Zed urged, though Ralph grew confused again. Zed slumped his shoulders and waved his hand about, "Ralph, your BRIDE is going to be resting her head here, at night. Y'really gunna hang at your bachelor pad any longer?"

"C'mon, dude, you gotta stay with your wife," Nox teased, though Ralph's face turned beet red.

"Y-You think she'd, uh... She'd want that?" Ralph stammered.

"... YEAH?" Zed, Throttle and Nox both barked at the same time, Ralph flinched.

"I-I just... Wow, I totally forgot that was an aspect of my life," Ralph muttered, though his face grew a more bashful red as his hands continued to shake, "I-I... I forgot even what this all entailed."

"You're still married, it includes, y'know... Sharing a bed with your wife?" Zed ogled playfully as he shook his head, Throttle and Nox laughed.

"Sharing a bed... Sharing codes?" Nox teased, "Y'forget about that too?"

"Holy User... My coding got reversed when Zed reset Sugar Rush, outside of the arcade," Ralph uttered nervously as he peered down at his hand, "Y'mean... W-We're going to code swap, for the first time... AGAIN?"

"What a plot twist!" Throttle urged, everyone laughed, excluding Ralph, who continued to look more and more anxious.

"You're in for an interesting twenty-four hours, there, my friend," Zed eyed Ralph in a knowing way, "Remind me to firewall and sound proof yours and Vanellope's room..."

* * *

"So," Libby chirped, she put her hands behind her back and gave Ace a dewy, kind smile, "Tell me about these new family members of yours?"

"Well," Ace sighed as he shrugged his fingers into his pants pockets and peered across Sugar Rush's desolate, quiet outlet. Lickity and Balba had calmly sat down together, likely to rest up in preparation for their long flight back to Stonecrest. Ace lazily pressed on, "Let's see... Vanellope, or... 'Momma', as we have decided, is tall, has black hair, hazel eyes..."

"So, you get it from her, then," Libby's eyes lit up, her demeanor looked flat, though as if it genuinely wanted to explode with undying happiness; Ace knew exactly what was holding her back, though he pushed those dark thoughts far from him, in this moment.

"I guess so... Vanellope's eyes are hazel, and so are my mom's," Ace concluded, though he furrowed his brow and looked up, "My uncle Oliver is a lot taller than me or my dad... He has Paw's eyes, for sure, but, he has Vanellope's hair color."

"Genes all around," Libby giggled, Ace nodded and shrugged.

"Then, there's Emery, she's my uncle Oliver's swap mate," Ace furrowed his brow and wrinkled his nose, "Though, her hair is like... This ridiculously bright emerald green color."

"Wait, what? Really?" Libby gawked quietly, Ace beamed a heart melting smile and shrugged.

"Yeah... I THINK she's from Sugar Rush? I'm not really sure, actually, I'll have to ask her," Ace pondered, though he huffed a sigh and continued, "Then we have my Aunt Koko. She looks a LOT like Tessa, though she has Vanellope's face and mouth structure... Her hair is closer to Vanellope's color as well."

"Though, she's still a wrecker? Does she have the hands for it?" Libby inquired eagerly, Ace looked down to his hands in contemplation.

"Yeah, her hands are larger, though they're a bit smaller than my mom's," Ace stated gently, "Then, there's my Great Aunt Taffyta, and my second cousin Penny... Who is Taffyta's daughter."

"Where's... Where's her father? Taffyta's husband?" Libby inquired, though Ace frowned and felt his nervous eyes scan Libby's collar bones for a moment.

"Well... He's... Radex," Ace stated sorrowfully, "He used to be Rancis, a good guy with a spot on Sugar Rush's racing roster, though... He somehow merged with the virus that is currently plaguing Sugar Rush."

"That's awful," Libby complained as the hidden sadness, in her eyes, finally revealed itself fully; Ace knew it was brimming, and he knew exactly why, oh how badly he wanted to scoop Libby into his arms and beg her to unload every single last drop of her worries onto him, though he knew, in due time, and only then, would things be set right.

"Yeah," Ace sighed, for his old and new thoughts. He shook his head and dragged himself back to the planet, "We're not sure where Radex is... Or if he's even keeping tabs on Vanellope and the rest of them. We just need to get them out of Sugar Rush."

"What are the plans after you bring them all home?" Libby inquired delicately, as if to even begin to think beyond what this next day would bring was nearly too much to delve into.

"Welp... I'm not entirely sure," Ace stated quietly as he dug his fingers further into his pockets and assessed Libby.

A delicate creature, like a doe amidst a sunrise-drown field of leftover, nighttime dew, she was nearly fragile. Her wavering eye contact looked insecure and dampened, which was far different than what Libby ever was, as a child. He could still see that fire in her heart, buried deep, though he knew it'd take a miracle to get said fire to reach brightened heights anytime soon. He felt his skin itch, the need to consume her with his raw, friendly love, he wanted nothing but to assure her that never again would she ever be hurt, or wronged, in the vicious way that she was. Still, he kept to himself. He only knew approaching a timid, wild animal was beyond what was appropriate; holding your hand out and patiently waiting for said creature to come to you always seemed to pay out, though the waiting game, even now, was beginning to burn the undersides of Ace's feet. He held his breath and hung on every single last word she hadn't even begun to utter just yet.

"The castle is getting huge," Libby stated, she eyed Ace with a girly smile and raised her eyebrows, "Y'excited for Sunday?"

"What's Sunday?" Ace's demeanor fell flat in confusion, he furrowed his brow in growing contemplation as Libby slumped her shoulders.

"Your birthday, for crying out loud!" Libby laughed as she playfully nudged Ace's arm, he wobbled back a little and choked a small scoff of a laugh.

"I forgot," Ace wheezed, Libby gawked at him.

"How could you forgot your own birthday?" Libby pressed with a hard giggle as Ace gingerly nudged her in return, a playful bout of childishness they often recalled on.

"Well, it'll be your party, too," Ace retort as the two continued to very lightly shove each other, one after the other, as if to continue on in a game of tug of war they had simply left off with as children.

"What? Me?" Libby uttered as Ace gave her one final shove before she silently forfeit, she beamed Ace a curious smile and tucked her long hair behind her left ear, her hands gingerly tucked to her chest, "I mean... My birthday was last week, when I came back to your castle. It's going to genuinely be your actual birthday."

"I want to share it with you," Ace pleaded quietly with a boyish smile, "We'll probably be sharing it with my aunt Koko, anyhow."

"Wait, seriously?" Libby squinted with an elated smile.

"Yeah, she was conceived the night before Sugar Rush had issues... I guess when my dad revert Sugar Rush, and made everything 'right' again, outside the Arcade, uh... It brought Koko's loading bar back to reading. This was right around the time I was conceived, as well. My Aunt Koko, and I, were likely born only days apart."

"Talk about coincidence," Libby urged as she bulged her eyes and looked away, "Welp. It'll be a triple birthday party. I'd say, the more the merrier."

"I only want ONE thing, for my birthday," Ace stated, though Libby nervously eyed him as his gaze grew cheekier in more of a scheming, boyish delight.

"What," Libby stabbed quietly in nervousness, though Ace chuckled and shook his head.

"To know your real name," Ace concluded, though he largely laughed once Libby threw her head back, uttered a hard groan and rolled her eyes.

"For User's SAKES I shouldn't have said anything," Libby rushed through a hard giggle, though Ace pleadingly gave her a look, as if to state he would literally do anything to pry said information from her.

"Please?!" Ace loudly begged, which had Libby laughing harder, "Come on, I won't tell anyone!"

"No," Libby cheerfully snapped, though she raised a finger, "I'll tell you the letter it starts with!"

"That helps nothing!" Ace argued, though they continued to playfully laugh, "Fine, tell me. I'll be guessing for the rest of my life."

"It starts with a 'K'," Libby eased bashfully, as if even giving that much information was way too much for her to handle revealing.

"Kristin," Ace snapped his fingers and peered to Libby, as if to wonder if he had cracked it. Libby slumped her shoulders and gave Ace a dull look.

"Ace, I'm from a Dead Zed tribe where English is my second language," Libby muttered dully, though Ace huffed a hard sigh, rolled his eyes and looked up.

"Ke... Ker... Kay...?" Ace stammered, he side-eyed Libby and squinted, as if to convey that he was hopeful he was close, though Libby blurt a hard laugh and shook her head. Before she could state just how wrong he was, he cut her to the quick, "Okay, give me the second letter."

"No," Libby giggled as she back stepped, though Ace tenderly grappled for her lower arm.

"Please?" Ace urged, though Libby shooed his hands away and felt her face turn bright pink; a rosy display of dire cuteness she knew no one would be able to handle but Ace.

"Ace," Libby complained through their laughter, though Ace ogled her.

"The next letter is my name?!" Ace barked in pure, playful sarcasm, though just as Libby was about to swat at Ace and happily retort, Zed and Ralph moseyed up.

"Alright love birds, we got the flyer, and we're itching to get back to the castle," Ralph muttered as he flagged his arms, as if to insinuate this would be a quick send off and to selfishly convey that he wanted to make the perfect love nest for his homecoming bride.

"Love birds?" Libby inquired in hard annoyance, though her bashful smile somehow eked through her dry exterior. She glanced to Ace and wrinkled her nose, "Did you miss the part where I was swatting and trying to get him off my case?"

"Yeah, shut up," Ace urged, as if to agree with Libby, though somehow, he hoped the reverse psychology would eventually work in his favor; his father eyed him, Ace knew there was no fooling master Zed.

"Alright, son, here's this," Zed stated as he gently handed over the Tron flyer, "Please tell your mother to be careful, flying it... I haven't properly tested it out."

"I will," Ace's playful demeanor finally settled from his and Libby's innocent bouts of fun, though he glanced to her in dewy curiosity, as if to wonder if she would ever be willing to show that side of her girly banter in front of others. He stuffed his feelings, for the time being, and peered to Ralph, "Is... Is there anything you'd like me to tell them, when I return to them?"

"Tell each of them that I love them, and we miss them, and they're coming home to an awesome setup," Ralph rushed, he waved his hand a little, "Please, uh... Please tell Vanellope I love her... And I hope she's as excited to see me as I am to see her, and... To meet Koko..."

"That'll be a sight, for sure," Ace chuckled, he peered to his dad and nodded once, "How about we all meet here an hour before game day... That'll give all of us, including the flyers, to get some sleep before we head back to Game Central Station, for good."

"An hour before game day, that sounds fair, yeah?" Zed wondered up to Ralph, who nodded in agreement and inhaled a readied breath.

"I'm game."


	66. Chapter 66

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Aww good job! :) It definitely won't be as... What's the word... 'stuttering'? Or 'unsure'? But the two will definitely be shy and coy towards each other, for sure. Yeahhh you guys will be pretty frustrated with Libby/Ace for a little bit. But the pay out is PHEW! *fans self*

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! :D Yeah, Ace gets some good bonding time with Emery, in the next chapter. You'll learn a lot about Emery, her parents and etc., so it'll be information for everyone, all around xD Also, more information about Libby's tribe pops up, and you guys will eventually learn her real name (I'll likely have to put down just how to pronounce it, it's a bit of a mouth full LOL)

 **Nikki Firesong :** OMG YESSSSS LIT REUNIONS FOR EVERYONE.

 **Xaehttium :** Aww lol don't kill yourself for my story xD Thank you! Yeah, more information on Libby will definitely come up, in ways that are comfortable AND uncomfortable for her, but in all due time.

 **Retrokill :** How many letters are in Libby's real name? Uhhh for first and last name, excluding her middle name, there's... *counts* Fifteen xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** WOW I'm surprised people remember that far back xD Thank you! Yeah, unfortunately, those were just musings, and aren't canon... But, it was fun dabbling in ideas :) Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you so much :D

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :** (this chapter is massive, so a lot of music-for-inspiration went into it)

 **Stars Appear by Adam Young** (part with Tessa, Koko and Oliver)

 **Over Water by Adam Young** (part with Ace, Lickity and Balba)

 **Trajectory Burn by Adam Young** (part with Ralph, Zed, Nox and Throttle)

 _ **OMG ADAM YOUNG EVERYWHERE.**_

(seriously, his score albums are amongst the BEST to write to)

 **Father and Daughter by Paul Simon** (part with Vanellope and Tessa - weird, I know, cause it's mother and daughter, but the song still gives me feels ;_; )

* * *

 ***Chapter 66***

Laughter expelled down the cold cliff side, the sloping snow was practically illuminated a hot white underneath the glow of the stark, glorious Sugar Rush moon. The three siblings fogged the air with love, the kind, bantering chatter the three had been ultimately craving. With a warm home up the hill that housed Vanellope, Taffyta, Emery, Penny and Royal, Stonecrest's highest peak safely held Sugar Rush's three heirs in it's cumbersome, though somehow welcoming shroud of eternal winter. Their feet dangled from the cliff side, their arms and body were easily and safely restrained by the railing in which they lounged at. The ground beneath them had garnered warmth, as did the air within a ten foot radius about them.

"What about... Vanilla Lake?" Koko inquired brightly, she peered to Tessa, and though they only had a single torch to illuminate their faces and surroundings, it was still more than enough; Tessa hoped it made a good marker for Ace and Lickity, upon their return.

"Vanilla Lake," Tessa droned in a tone that lead to suggest she missed it dearly, though Oliver gave her the same look of dire need, "It was so tasty!"

"You ATE some?" Oliver gawked, Koko blurt in hard laughter and covered her face, though Tessa furrowed her brow and shot Oliver a bewildered look.

"And you haven't?!" Tessa loudly retort as their laughter carried.

"Like, while you were swimming?" Oliver urged, as if to grow more and more curious.

"No!" Tessa flailed her hands a little, though Koko's contagious laughter got the better of her. She stifled a hard giggle as she glanced to her baby sister, "Y-You use your hand to scoop...?"

"Are you kidding me?" Oliver choked a hard laugh, leaned over the railing, and expelled harder laughter to the wind. Koko and Tessa loudly joined, though Oliver began to wheeze, "Sacred, beautiful Vanilla Lake! Tessa's just over there taking fist-fulls!"

"Can you BLAME ME?" Tessa barked, Koko and Oliver were now too far gone in their laughter to recover, Tessa continued on with their hard excitement, "It's basically ice cream!"

"Oh for User's sakes," Oliver hissed as he wiped his eyes, "Ladies and gentleman, our new Queen of Sugar Rush! Pan left, she's hunched over the lake with a dumb look on her face."

"Shut up!" Tessa wheezed, though Koko nearly fell over laughing as she gripped her stomach, "It was dad's idea!"

"Ohh I believe it," Oliver huffed a soft laugh of attempting to recover, though he continued to wipe his eyes free of tears, "Wow, I haven't laughed that hard in a long while."

"Me neither," Koko giggled as she, too, wiped her face free of tears, "Oliver always said you were funny, but, man... I didn't think it'd be THIS great."

"I also have a terrible temper," Tessa blurt as she leaned hard against the railing and lulled her eyes closed, "I'm sure whatever Oliver hyped me up to be, you'll likely be disappointed."

"C'mon, that's not true," Oliver argued softly as he, too, leaned against the railing, though he side-eyed Tessa, "Sure, we fought growing up and... Well... Isn't that what siblings do? Koko and I fought some."

"That's only because you think you know everything," Koko stated bluntly, though Tessa raised her eyebrows and peered to her youngest sibling in delightful surprise, though she brought her sassy smile straight into Oliver's brown, dewy orbs.

"Wow, it's like a mini-me," Tessa beamed excitedly, though Oliver rolled his eyes.

"I KNOW," Oliver groaned, though both girls giggled.

"You love us, and you know it," Koko snipped with girly charm, though Oliver couldn't even begin to think about hiding a smile.

"More than you guys will understand," Oliver stated in a gentle sigh, though as their warmth grew to a loving glow, the group settled.

"I'm really glad we found you guys," Tessa stated quietly, to set the tone. She shook her head and peered out to Sugar Rush's endless vat of stars, and though everything seemed alright, she knew it was far from, "I really hope we can put an end to this drama... I don't even know where to begin."

"I'm sure once we all get settled, it'll be easier to make a game plan," Oliver sighed, "You know mom and dad. They'll be all over THAT idea."

"Not before they swap codes again, though," Tessa muttered, though she peered to Koko curiously, "Koko, do you know your code color?"

"Yeah, it's purple," Koko stated curiously, though she held out her hand and lightly showed the faintest of purple circuitry underneath her skin.

Tessa felt her heart jump as she leaned in a little closer and widened her eyes. She was stunned to see her old, infamous code color, one of which she hadn't had for a whole entire year now. She smiled a nostalgic smile and felt a wave of weirdness fall over her. Koko was the only gamer left to have such a code color, and though Tessa knew her mother and father would swap once more and gain the same code color again, Tessa wrinkled her nose and peered at the rare oddity that was Koko. Koko shrugged and peered down to her open palms, in which she ignited her glorious purple coding once more.

"I-I guess, this is the color of mom and dad's code color mixed?" Koko inquired, her brilliant, honey brown eyes pierced Tessa with all of the questions in the world. Tessa nodded gently and lightly let her fingers meet the insides of Koko's palm.

"Yep... Mom's code color is blue, and dad's is red," Tessa explained softly, "Oliver swapped with Emery, and I swapped with Zed... Mom's and dad's coding got reversed... You, my sister, are the only one with this color coding."

"Man, everyone has a swap mate, and I'm here like..." Koko gestured to herself, as if to be distasteful of herself.

"Well, I have a castle full of boys awaiting everyone's return," Tessa stated plainly with a shrug, "You can take your pick. I promise you, they won't mind."

"So, tell us exactly who to look forward to seeing?" Oliver wondered quietly, though they all nearly jumped the second Penny's tender, silent presence became clear.

"Mind if I join you guys?" Penny asked quietly, and with such, Tessa's eyes lit up and she created room for Penny to sit between her and Oliver. Koko furrowed her eyebrows a little and felt a pang of jealously hit her heart, though she knew now wasn't the time to get snippy.

"Yay, I thought you'd never come out of that hole," Tessa urged through a groan as she lugged Penny into a side hug, in which Penny lightly obliged with a bashful smile. Once they relaxed, Tessa heaved a hard sigh and peered up to the sky, "Let's see... From Zed's brothers, oldest to youngest, you have Zed, whom of which is taken, sorry. There's Finn who... I-I guess Tammy sort of already has a little bit of an interest in."

"Is everyone down this line taken?" Koko asked in hard annoyance, though Tessa waved her hand.

"No, no... Just Finn and Zed. Then there's Duke, Orph, Jax and Tej," Tessa listed, though she furrowed her brow and felt a wave of weird delight fall over her, "There's uh... There's also Nox. I'm not sure how everyone will feel about him."

"What's wrong with Nox?" Koko inquired innocently, though Tessa merely glanced in Oliver's direction.

"He's... He's Turbo's youngest brother," Tessa admitted, though Oliver and Penny fell painfully quiet as their terrified gazes gripped to the future Queen. Tessa held her hands up in defense, "He's Ace's best friend... Has been living with us for the past two or three weeks now."

"Turbo," Oliver huffed, though he shook his head and acted as if the powerful information was too much for him to compute, so he sent it to the wind for someone else to care about, "Why am I not surprised, look at all the REST of the bullshit happening to us."

"Turbo? The virus?" Koko inquired nervously, though Penny beamed Tessa a curious smile.

"An innocent factor? He's just a TurboTwin, yeah?" Penny's tender voice finally gained some form of confidence, "Where's the other TurboTwin?"

"We don't know... All we know is his name is Lash, or... Whiplash," Tessa corrected, though she heaved a soft sigh and peered about to the snowy, wasteland of a city below them, "Then there's Throttle..."

"Whose Throttle?" Koko wondered softly as everyone re-glued their gazes to Tessa.

"He was my Virus Science teacher at End Of Line Academy," Tessa braved, "He... He also used to be Turbo's racing coach."

"Are you GOOD?" Oliver barked, though with the outburst, everyone finally burst into gentle laughter as Oliver tried to hide a smile, "You making friends with every bad guy in existence? What next, you're going to tell me Turbo's alive and gunna be our next best friend?!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Tessa muttered in hard, playful annoyance as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

"You're quiet, bud," Lickity's motherly, raspy voice lightly hovered over Ace's figure.

Ace breathed a foggy breath as his larger, though gentle hands meshed in between the velvety, thick fur that lined Balba's spine. The three soared over Sugar Rush's dark land, though the moonlight made it so speckles of the haunting, cheery land could still be seen. Ace lulled his eyes closed through the darkness, shook his head and trained his hearing to the stealthy, silent flyer that hung behind him and Balba. Lickity's massive bat-like wings were strict in a glide, as was Balba's gorgeous, green, feathery display. Before Ace could sit another hot minute in silence, Lickity's loving voice coat the cold air behind him once more.

"Is it Libby?" Lickity quietly prod, though Ace finally opened his eyes and felt his heart jump at the sound of her name, though another thought hit his rushing mind.

"That's not even her name," Ace urged in quiet annoyance as he looked down in contemplation, "I-I... I'm realizing, there's still so much about her that I don't know."

"Give it time," Lickity soaked gentleness over him, though partly because she had become tired with the endurance flights.

"How can you care so much for someone you suddenly feel as if you hardly know?" Ace wondered in growing sorrow, though he could sense that Balba was cued to the conversation, the way her intelligent, large wolf ears ticked to hone to their words. Ace lovingly rubbed the fur up and down her neck, to which she gratefully bowed into.

"You DO know her, bud... But, everyone has deeper layers," Lickity assured, "Maybe, one day, she'll let you into those deeper layers of hers. I'm sure you've got them too. Put yourself in her shoes... There's probably things about yourself you'd only feel comfortable sharing with, say, someone as close to you as a girlfriend, or maybe, a swap mate?"

"Swap mate," Ace hissed in disbelief as he bashfully shook his head, "I-I'm not even ever concerned about that. I doubt she'd want to even THINK about that, due to... What happened to her."

"You'd be surprised what a little time, healing and patience can do," Lickity glossed as she finally gave the cold wind, in her wings, a strong, though slow, down-stroke. She flattened her ears and picked up speed just barely, "You just keep being yourself. Maybe one day, she'll tell you her real name. But you can't pry it out of her. I saw how shy and nervous she got, when you were prodding."

"I wasn't trying to MAKE her tell me," Ace argued quietly, he peered ahead and felt his stomach dip in light guilt, though the way his aunt's gentle laughter soaked over the back of his body assured him that he was likely beating himself up for no reason.

"No, and she'd never take it that way," Lickity heaved a soft laugh and shook her head, "Just sit back and let her come to you. It's clear you're likely the first person she'd open up to, if the time were to come. But YOU have to do your part."

"What's that?" Ace wondered in boyish, innocent delight, though Lickity huffed a laugh and flattened her ears harder.

"Wait," Lickity breathed, though Ace slumped his shoulders and lulled his eyes closed, "I know you're related to the most impatient wrecker around, but... If you want to get to know Libby a little more, you're going to HAVE to be patient."

"I'm going to die waiting, aren't I," Ace mumbled as he rubbed his face, though Balba uttered a cute yip to likely agree to Ace's demise; Ace beamed the back of Balba's head a curious smirk and shook his head in gentle annoyance.

"Nooo," Lickity groaned, "Just busy your mind... You promised her you'd be waiting, didn't you?"

"I did," Ace assured, as if to state that it was the best and worst decision of his entire life, all in one fell swoop. He finally released a long, hot sigh and shook his head, "I always will."

"Then, there y'go," Lickity huffed, "Nothing you can do."

Ace wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brow; he knew Lickity's words were wise, though he also knew there were likely things he could do to spark Libby's interest. He remained silent and peered out to the cold, stark stars, as if they somehow had answers for him. Ace lulled his eyes closed and rolled them. He knew this was likely a conversation he should be having with Nox. He knew Nox probably wasn't the best person to go to, for romantic advice, though he figured gaining an outside guy perspective would likely help him, at least somehow.

"You're not even one yet, why are YOU suddenly so eager to find a swap-mate?" Lickity chuckled, though Ace peered over his shoulder and beamed.

"I'm not!" Ace retort with a laugh, though his eyes trained to the spooky outline of Lickity's large, dark body against the starry sky. Her green eyes were only barely illuminated by the moonlight, and her terrifying, hovering demeanor was the stuff of nightmares; he felt it strange to be receiving such motherly warmth from said beast that hovered behind him, like a predator stalking prey. Ace shook his head and peered forward again, "I-I... So I like her, okay? I always have. She's my best friend. Doesn't hurt to one day hope that turns into something else... I just wish it wasn't so daunting, because of... Well... What happened to her."

"Don't lose hope," Lickity concluded gently, "If there's anyone to maybe change her mind about the whole of it all, it'd be you, anyhow."

"Y-You don't think she'd be interested in another guy, do you?" Ace suddenly worried, though Lickity barked a laugh.

"Ace... Worry about being her FRIEND. Be her support when she needs it. When she wants more, she'll let you know," Lickity urged, as if reminding Ace to slow down was becoming a chore, "Y'really are related to the great Vanellope Von Schweetz."

* * *

"I can't go on," Zed mumbled in hard dismay as he rubbed his face, slumped to the kitchen island and lulled his eyes closed. He let the digital pad, in his hand, slope to the island, as well, "I'm... So... Tired."

"No, COME ON, we're not done!" Ralph urged in delirious desperation as he firmly peered down to the digital pad in his hands, in which Zed let him borrow to reshape the castle. Zed peered to him in tired agitation and shook his head, "You cloaked Ace's tower, check. Made the pool, check. The wall? YOU FORGOT THE WALL."

"Ralph," Zed uttered in annoyance as he closed his eyes and let his cheek nearly become one with the marble, "The wall was the first thing to go up... It's three in the morning..."

"We'll put a BIGGER wall around the castle, and the garage, and we'll make a front gate," Ralph urged, "We already made all the bedrooms... YOU FORGOT THROTTLE'S TOWER."

"No I didn't! For User's sake, will you relax? I built the wall, I built it around the entire castle, I built a front gate! AND a back gate! Did you miss that?" Zed loudly barked as he stood and gestured to the pad, "We're literally almost done. All my hard work to put all my brothers on 'hard sleep' mode, so the moving doesn't disturb them, and you choose NOW to attempt to wake them?"

"How do you think they're going to react when they wake up?" Nox pressed as him and Throttle moseyed back into the kitchen, after a long tour of their new, massive castle, "New bedrooms...? A new castle?"

"I sent each of them a message, they'll read it when they wake up," Zed waggled his hand, "This same thing happened when Ace was born. We slightly rearranged the castle for that, and they survived. I'm sure they're anticipating it, anyhow."

"So how many bedrooms are there, now?" Throttle wondered as they approached Ralph and Zed, though everyone flinched as Ralph pushed away and began to head towards the much larger entrance to the Sky Room.

"I-I need to make sure mine and Vanellope's room is just right," Ralph pressed as he vanished, though Zed shook his head and lulled his tired eyes shut.

"You do that," Zed muttered, though Throttle and Nox laughed at Ralph's quirky, exhausted notions.

"Poor guy," Nox breathed, Throttle nodded in a bob to agree.

"There are currently..." Zed furrowed his brow and peered down to the digital pad in his hands. He quietly counted to himself before he bulged his eyes, shook his head and nervously peered to Throttle and Nox, "Uh... Sixteen bedrooms."

"SIXTEEN," Nox ogled, though Zed showed him the map of the brand new layout of the castle, in which they finally stood in the finished version, after a few gruesome hours of testing the game's resilience.

"Sixteen... So, there are three branches on the Sky Room now. There's mine and Tessa's room, Ralph's and Vanellope's room, and Taffyta's room. From the corridor off of the kitchen and great room, there's two stories of four bedrooms, which totals to eight rooms. This wing of the castle will house Emery and Oliver in their own room, Koko, Tammy and Penny on the first floor. On the second floor will be Duke, Orph, Jax and Tej."

"Where's Finn's room?" Nox wondered quietly, though he cocked an eyebrow and peered to the teleportation pad still firmly planted in the tiles, near the gaping, arched entrance to the Sky Room.

"Still under ground, still only accessible via teleportation pad, still a hermit shell," Zed mumbled in dire annoyance, though he lovingly smiled down at the digital pad, "Finn likes his solidarity. Can't complain... Now that the castle houses nearly two dozen people, I don't blame him."

"I guess I'm not one to talk," Throttle murmured, though Zed chuckled and gave Throttle an understanding smile.

"Throttle, you can still get into the main house from the side entrance of the garage," Zed explained as he pointed to the map, Throttle nodded; he was grateful Zed had given him his own little abode that branched off the main castle, though it was still secure in the grounds of Kalivar, much like Ace's new tower.

"I think Ace, Nox and Libby have the best set up, to be honest," Zed muttered, though he shot Nox an understanding smile as Nox scrunched his shoulders, "Their tower not only overlooks the field, the pool and the entire patio and backside of the castle, it's also surrounded by Ace's fire flowers."

"Hell yeah," Nox droned cheesily as he crossed his arms, "So glad I decided to bum home with you guys."

"Nox," Throttle urged quietly, as if to lightly retake his position as stoic, stern uncle figure in Nox's life, though Zed lazily waved his hand.

"We're used to it," Zed chuckled, though Throttle cocked an eyebrow at Nox's sheepish smile.

"So where does this put Lickity, Balba and Royal?" Throttle pressed softly as the three began to mosey out of the kitchen and towards their new back door, which was beautifully housed between the entrance to the Sky Room and the entrance to the corridor of eight rooms.

"I've put a bigger, more expansive enclosure off the north-eastern side of the castle. The three will be much happier there. Lots of shade, cover, trees, there's even a body of water for them to hang in," Zed droned with a lazy smile, "User knows they'll attempt to use the pool, and I'm sure Tessa wouldn't appreciate finding clumps of fur and feathers in the pool water."

The back door, which was massive and round, also housed a few decorative, round windows that peered out to the glorious backyard and outside patio. Zed cocked an eyebrow and knew he should count his lucky stars for being the head of his own game, where rearranging and building a massive, glorious house wasn't out of reach. Though he knew he needed to watch the game's reaction to the added data, he still felt as if he was filling into this Kingly position nicely, and though he had to make sure his head didn't get way too big, he was just thrilled he could support his ever growing, massive family. Zed tenderly unlocked and opened the patio door and, with a push of the enormous, round, birch wooden door, the three men stepped out into Dead Zed's still, though delightfully chattering jungle night life ambiance. Loud crickets and bugs could be heard making their nocturnal calls, as well as the distant whoop of some form of strange, unknown wildlife. Zed inhaled a deep breath of his glorious game's thick air and let it out with a grateful sigh as his eyes glossed their beautiful backyard. He was aware his brothers were in for a real treat when they woke up, though there was no one he wanted to surprise more than Tessa, the very Queen of this new abode.

* * *

Through the gentle, soft sunlight that so desperately tried to make it's appearance on the horizon, Tessa squinted and peered into the main bedroom. It was dark, and a slight mess, though Tessa smiled at the endearing sight. Messily housed under the dome of the room sat the main, king bed, in which Taffyta and Vanellope shared, though three other smaller beds were also crammed into the corners of the room, anywhere they could've made room. One for Oliver and Emery, one for Koko and one for Penny. It was clear which of the beds was Penny's; it was littered with hunting gear, weapons and other kick knacks. Tessa smirked at the sorrowful idea of Penny's bed hardly being used, and just was turned into a form of a catch-call place in the room. Even still, Penny made do and was largely curled to one side of her bed. With everyone fast asleep for the few hours they could afford, before their flight to the entrance of Sugar Rush, Tessa began to feel a knot form in her stomach. She stopped in the doorway and heaved a long, tired sigh. For once, she allowed herself to soak in the silence.

She crossed her arms, leaned against the door frame and furrowed her brow. She flinched once Ace sneezed, from the living room. He had arrived home an hour or two prior, and had vowed to take a small cat nap before their trek, as well as the three flyers, though Tessa knew Ace was just as anxious for this grand return, amongst other things. She smiled a warm smile in the direction of his tired, relaxed figure on the couch across the way, though the second she could hear her mother's comforters stir, she peered back to where Vanellope was and felt her feet itch to push forward. She tenderly approached Vanellope's side of the bed, and as quietly as she could, without waking her aunt Taffyta, she slipped into bed with her mother and snuggled up underneath the covers. Tessa shut her eyes and warmly dug into her mother's presence, and before she could hope for it, Vanellope's strong, motherly arms eagerly welcomed her first born into a tight embrace. Vanellope exhaled a tired sigh of relief to the top of Tessa's head and largely snuggled her daughter into her tight squeeze of a cuddle.

"Mom," Tessa eased, the word was foreign. She fluttered her eyes, inhaled her mother's scent in a longing way and finally relaxed in Vanellope's melting embrace; she tried the word, once again, though this time, she welcomed it back into her life with all of the months of tears finally falling to the wayside, "Mommy..."

"Yes, baby," Vanellope's tired voice whispered a croak, though it was clear Vanellope wasn't even slightly bothered by Tessa's presence, once more. Vanellope snuck a few firm kisses to the top of Tessa's forehead.

"I missed you," Tessa stated, her whisper was so faint, she nearly thought she only mouthed said words; she felt relief once Vanellope's hot breath coat the top of Tessa's nose and cheeks.

"You have no idea," Vanellope volleyed back in equal softness, her loving fingers traced the backs of Tessa's shoulders and arms as she squeezed her first born deeper into her embrace, "We won't be separated... Ever again. I won't allow it."

"Me neither," Tessa whimpered, she allowed herself to cry; she figured this would be a quick transition, and moving on from all the hurt would be easy, though she felt it curious that the pangs of sorrow and dread kept coming back to her. The nightmare of being banished still desperately tried to hold on tight, though with the way Vanellope's arms drew tighter up Tessa's shoulders, she could tell her mother was cued to every single last fiber of her existence; including her hopes and fears.

"No tears," Vanellope stated in a chirp of a whisper, Tessa's heart jumped as she could practically hear her mother smiling. Tessa exhaled a nasally sigh to her mother's upper chest and buried her nose into Vanellope's soft skin. She finally pushed her ear to Vanellope's heart and allowed herself to soak up the sound of her mother's voice through her warm chest cavity, as well as her heart beat, "We're together... All of us will be reunited once more... We'll solve this issue. I promise. Okay?"

"Okay," Tessa believed, and as if everything could be that simple, she allowed herself to succumb to that starkly false statement.

She smiled in the lies, and though she knew the term 'ignorance is bliss' was an ironic way to dodge problems, she melted into it and decided that it wouldn't hurt, for the time being. Tessa's eyes fluttered once more as she could see the outline of her mother's shoulder, the soft sunshine that barely peeked on the horizon. Tessa knew the whole gang would have to head out within the next hour or so, though she felt as if she couldn't move. She didn't want to. Nothing could steal her from this moment with her mother; one of which she had been praying for, for months now. The countless nights she wept herself to sleep, in Zed's tight embrace, she knew nothing could ever amount to just how full her heart was beginning to feel, though with this delightful feeling, she began to worry; she knew something always went wrong.

"Relax," Vanellope ordered quietly, as if she could practically taste all of Tessa's worries; with this, Tessa wrinkled her nose and heaved a quiet giggle.

"Sorry," Tessa mumbled, though she beamed a cheesy, drowning-in-love smile as Vanellope pointed her fingers and began to slowly scratch at Tessa's scalp.

"If anyone should be worrying, it's me," Vanellope pressed, her voice finally broke the whisper-fest her and Tessa were sat in the second the two could hear Oliver and Emery ever so quietly murmuring to each other from their own bed, across the room.

"Why you?" Tessa spoke quietly as well, though Vanellope continued to comb through Tessa's thick, beautiful hair.

"... I haven't seen your father in a year. I'm sure I look like crap," Vanellope giggled, "Hopefully he won't be, uh... Totally turned off by the fact that he's still married to me."

"You're insane, mom," Tessa muttered, "I guess Ace told dad about Koko and he nearly lost it."

"Really?" Vanellope stated through an excited, quiet giggle, which cued Tessa as well.

"Yeah... He's very nervous and excited to see you," Tessa assured, "I wouldn't worry."

"I'm more worried about the fact that we don't share codes, anymore," Vanellope meeped, and though she knew talking about swapping, with Tessa, used to be a sensitive topic, because of her's and Zed's dilemma, she finally felt safe to confide in her first born. Tessa wrinkled her nose, albeit the sensation of mother-daughter boding, and before she could protest said notions about her parents, she let Vanellope continue. She knew this situation was tricky, "I... I'm worried I've lost my touch. It's been an entire year, and so much has happened... What if... He doesn't see me that way anymore?"

"Mom, that's ridiculous," Tessa mumbled as she bashfully buried her face into Vanellope's collar, "Dad is still head over heels for you. He'd be crazy not to be... And, that counts for something. He doesn't even have your coding anymore, and STILL, you're the only one he wants."

Vanellope slumped her shoulders and suddenly felt thwarted, by none-other than her own daughter. She snuck a smiling smooch to Tessa's forehead and rolled her eyes in a bashfully annoyed way.

"You win," Vanellope whispered, though Tessa beamed a cheeky smile and wrapped her arm over her mom's waist.

"Don't I always," Tessa wistfully sighed, a playful notion she and her mother knew well, "We should get ready to go... I'm excited to get back home."

"You are telling me," Vanellope mumbled, though the idea of castle life, EZ Living and everything she used to love came flooding back to her veins. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. She finally began to sit up a little, her sleepy, eager smile peered down to Tessa's in growing excitement, "Let's head out. I just hope the flight isn't as long as my nerves could handle."

"The scenery will surely distract you," Tessa grunt as she, too, began to sit up to prepare for the large day ahead of them.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys, real quick, a proper map of the Kalivar castle is up on my deviantART :) Go check it out, there's a sketch of Ace's tower alongside it as well! Username Vyntresser**


	67. Chapter 67

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Just want to quickly congratulate you for being my _**600th**_ review! YAY thank you! :D As for your review, I appreciate your kind words! I'm definitely trying to keep you guys on your toes, with this go-around. A LOT of the drama happens more towards the middle/end of this story, the scenes where they're at the Kalivar castle are rather light and enjoyable, though any scenes where they are in Sugar Rush tend to get dark - and some not! I switch it up, here and there, but... I'm really trying to give you guys a GOOD dose of fun, cheery times because... The end will be anything but fun and cheery.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Haha no worries, thank you for being my _**601st**_ reviewer! I appreciate that a lot :) I appreciate every single last one of you guys, no matter what milestone. The hundred-spots are just special to me, because it's a turn over haha. Yeah, Lickity got most of her 'talking' smarts from Orion, though she was always intelligent, Orion had that 'human' like quality. So it sort of meshes with Lickity's animalistic side, and comes out in weird ways, often haha.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha yeah, Taffyta definitely does snore a little xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Yeahhh I feel bad for prolonging it xD But exposition! Character building! Too many temptations for me haha

 **ArchitectDreams :** No worries haha. Thank you! Also, Ace likely would've flown the Tron flyer, but Balba is only comfortable with Ace flying her, so that would've caused an issue. Yes, 16 added bedrooms is a lot, but it creates a lot of fun, good times, as you guys will learn xD

 **Retrokill :** I write you a 5k+ worded chapter and that's all you have to say? xD What the fuck does that even mean?

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Vanellope is just a worry wart - she's got way too much on her brain. Hell, I'd be nervous too, if I were her! I mean, really! xD Thanks for the kind words!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Together We Map The World - HTTYD2 soundtrack score**

 ***Chapter 67***

"Oh for User's sake, for User's sake, for User's sake," Vanellope muttered through her teeth as she peered over her shoulder, her long black hair flicked about as her new group reached high altitudes. Vanellope heaved a shaky sigh and grappled her arms tighter around Taffyta's center, though she flinched once Taffyta let out a loud hoop of a noise, as if she hadn't had this much fun in a long while, "I-I... I can't believe we're leaving. D-did we forget anything? I-I'm not ready...!"

"Not ready to see dad?" Tessa barked, she flinched and steadied the Tron flyer she hovered on. She eagerly peered to her mother and aunt, who were safely aboard Lickity's long spine. Lickity flattened her ears and gave Tessa a snarky smile, Zed's gorgeous, powerful Tron flyer sputtered a little and decided it had a mind of it's own. Tessa finally steadied herself as the new pack of travelers made it higher into the sky, "N-not ready for castle life? Code swapping? EZ Living?"

"Uh oh, she said code swapping," Taffyta barked in Vanellope's direction, though Vanellope stiffened, shoved her face into the back of Taffyta's shoulders and desperately tried to hide her blushing, smiling face.

"Gross!" Koko called; her, Oliver and Penny were safely aboard Royal's larger body. Tessa quickly peered over to the two, to her right, and quickly noticed Ace and Emery, aboard Balba, pushed to keep up with the two dragons and Tron flyer in the sky. Tessa giggled as Koko waved her hand a little, "Please tell me that who ever has a swap-mate, their rooms are sound proof?"

"C'mon, Koko, you're not interested in making a swap-mate out of one of Zed's brothers?" Taffyta retort, though Koko furrowed her brow and beamed a nervous smile to her Aunt Taffyta.

"Y'really think mom would ALLOW that?" Koko volleyed, though Vanellope huffed a hard sigh and was too busy hiding her still blushing face from the world.

"Hey, let's get one thing straight," Tessa called over the wind, she pointed to her baby sister and gave her a knowing smile, "You're going to be under my roof, my rules... And I say, all bets are off."

"For User's sakes, Tess," Oliver choked, Koko and Penny laughed, though Penny looked as if she was trying to stuff it, "You're such an amazing example. You realize, Koko and Penny are faux-codes, and all of Zed's brothers are User made gamers?"

"Alright, Tess, I get that it's your castle, your rules and whatever, but I might have to draw a line," Vanellope finally came out of her hiding spot and held up a finger.

"Mom, I know the secrets! I can rally the girls for a pow-wow, just leave it to me!" Tessa complained, she giggled as her, Koko and Penny caught eager stares, "I can share my secrets, can't I? Now that I finally have GIRLS to talk to, other than Lickity. Zed and I make a good example of what to do, and what NOT to do."

"Leave me out of it," Oliver grumbled in hard annoyance, though he gratefully peered to Emery.

"I second that," Ace blurt, though everyone finally breathed relaxed laughter as the three flyers began to level out above the cloud cover.

Ace shook his head as he could hear his family continue to bicker about swap-mates, seeing Ralph, the Kalivar castle and the like. Balba uttered a gentle yip, seemingly to show that she was excited to have gotten in a nap and take to the skies once more. Sugar Rush's scenery was gorgeous, and though it was figuratively dark and shroud in the shadow of a tyrant, Ace still felt a smile grace his face the second his retinas were pierced with such a raw, majestic land. Sprinkled with sugary, powdery snow, the dark chocolate mountain tops glistened as the vibrant green licorice and twizzler trees kissed each peak. Ace's eyes wandered through the frosty, light pink cotton candy clouds as the four flyers began to softly level, though before he could let his mind wander way too far, he felt Emery finally relax behind him, clear her throat and lightly tap both his upper arms with her dainty fingertips, as if to get his attention without being too blunt about it.

"I may not be related to you by blood, but by code, I'm technically your aunt, as well," Emery quipped quietly, her glorious, long, emerald green hair was tightly tucked into a bun atop her head.

"This is true," Ace stated in cheerful confusion, as if he hadn't had the chance to fully wrap his mind around everything. He glanced at her, over his shoulder, and gave her a polite smile, "You're from Sugar Rush, right?"

"I'm actually not," Emery stated in a happy tone, though her equally as captivating emerald eyes lazily droned to the scenery out before her, her heart jumped in growing excitement, though she was secretly hit with a pang of sorrowful remembrance, "You and I were born in the same game, my dear."

"What?" Ace ogled, he finally looked over his shoulder fully and the two caught eyes. He shook his head in confusion, glanced about the land to his right and finally hooked his eyes back to Emery's pretty stare, "... Dead Zed?"

"Dead Zed," Emery nodded once, as if somehow their two stretched worlds collided with one simple realization. Emery heaved a gentle sigh, shook her head and wrinkled her nose, "Colorful hair seems to be a thing of Dead Zed, huh."

"You're telling me," Ace blurt with a chuckle, "Line all my uncles up, give 'em alcohol and fireworks... They look like a bunch of crazed parrots in mating season."

"A sight I'd like to see," Emery heaved a laugh, the two shared in joyous excitement for a moment before settling.

"So... You, uh... Have family back at Dead Zed?" Ace tenderly inquired, as if to be curious about just what lay underneath Emery's porcelain skin; she seemed far more shy than anyone he had ever known, excluding Libby.

"I... I used to," Emery eased quietly, she furrowed her brow and looked down to Balba's gorgeous, green and cream speckled wings. Her hand tenderly reached for the feathers and stroked down the spine of a few thick ones near her shoes, "I-I've been trapped in Sugar Rush, for this whole year, but... I haven't left any family behind."

"You... Don't know where they are?" Ace prod as gently as he could, he could sense Emery becoming slightly sad, the way their tone dipped.

"... I know where their headstones are," Emery finally stated, and though she tried to remain stoic and gentle, her voice wavered a little. Ace raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and sorrowfully stole her a glance over his shoulder, once more.

"O-oh, I'm... I'm so sorry," Ace uttered, his frown only broadened, "I... I hope you know there's a room, at the Kalivar castle, with yours and uncle Oliver's name on it."

"I'm grateful," Emery pressed through a concluding sigh and a kind smile to her future nephew, she shook her head and, as she squinted, she tucked some stray hairs, from her bangs, behind her ears, "I lost my parents a month before I went to Academy... A lot has happened since their death, it's been a few years... It's been hard, but I've had a lot of distractions."

"You'll definitely have a load of new family members in about an hour," Ace chuckled, he desperately tried to lighten the mood, though he furrowed his brow and fought so hard to stuff his curiosity; he failed through an exhale of continuing the conversation, "S-So, I'm going to assume they were outside of Dead Zed...?"

"We were at EZ Living," Emery huffed quietly, and though it was clear she likely didn't want to continue on, she figured since everyone else likely knew this story, Ace deserved to know as well, "W-We were boating... The waves got too big, because there was a storm brewing. We were headed back to shore, with a few others on board..."

"EZ Living storms," Ace bulged his eyes, he knew the dangers; he shook his head and nervously glanced over his shoulder, once more.

"My mother fell overboard and... My father jumped in after her, to save her," Emery's tender voice grew as soft as it could over the lull of the wind that pushed past them. Emery shook her head and let her lazy, sorrowful gaze gloss the back of Ace's shoulder, "... I never saw them again."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Ace uttered quietly, "I'm sure... At that age, it was so difficult."

"The plus side was, I got accepted into Academy early," Emery stated through a reviving sigh, "I moved in with friends of my parents... I had considered them second parents, anyhow. They took care of me, until I met Tammy. After a year at Academy, I moved out on my own."

"Academy must've been a nice distraction," Ace eased, Emery nodded.

"It was... I hung out with Tammy every day. It was great," Emery finally smiled, "Then, when Tessa, Penny and Oliver were old enough, they started palling around Academy with us. It got easier to grieve, from there. The castle sort of took me in, as it's own. They're a great bunch..."

"I still find it hard to believe you knew my mother when she wasn't a fully grown gamer, just yet," Ace blurt a chuckle and threw his gaze out to his mother; she was across the gap of sky, still within earshot, though she hovered closer to Royal, who diligently carried Penny, Koko and Oliver.

"Yep, I remember when your mother was just a wee little baby," Emery giggled, she gestured to Ace's hands, "Her little hands were so adorable."

"That's crazy," Ace gave Emery a kind smile and threw his gaze out to his mother, once more.

A fierce woman, brave and powerful. Her beautiful, thick, wavy auburn hair flickered in the wind behind her as she navigated Zed's Tron flyer with great ease. Ace sent a loving smile in her direction, and though she was unaware of her son's eyesight, he still soaked in his mother's beauty and felt gratefulness gloss over his figure. His sensitive bubble was popped, once more, by Emery's sweet voice.

"I-I... I'm really sorry to hear the news about your, uh... Your girlfriend," Emery stammered.

Ace furrowed his eyebrows and felt a prick of anger hit the underside of his skin; he knew if he ever had the chance to come face to face with Libby's ex-fiance, there would be quite a show. After a few seconds of painful silence, and a lull of trying to decide which words to let surface first, Ace dragged his eyes from his mother, across the way, and let his hateful glare peer forward to the land. Ace shook his head, and though this topic was finally setting in anger and bleeding away sorrow, he knew this was something he wasn't going to be rid of any time soon.

"She's not my girlfriend, but... I appreciate your condolences," Ace stated quietly, politely; he knew not to lash out to anyone who brought it up, even though it was extremely painful.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just assumed when Tessa said... Your, uh, 'woman of choice'," Emery meeped politely as she relaxed on Balba's spine a little. Ace gave her an obligatory, charming smile.

"She may not be my girlfriend, but... She still is, definitely, my 'woman of choice', if you will," Ace stated with air quotes and a bashful chuckle; Emery pushed a kind smile to her face.

"What's she like? Will we get to meet her today?" Emery pressed with an eager smile, though it only caused Ace's smile to broaden.

"Yeah, you will... What's she like?" Ace retort, though he scoffed a hard breath out in front of him, shook his head and let a billion positive adjectives flood his mind. He laughed quietly and gave Emery a dallying glance over his shoulder, "She's fiery, excitable, friendly..."

Emery smiled in eagerness, as if the prospect of adding more happy women to the group was something she was definitely looking forward to. Emery bit her bottom lip in preparation for Ace to continue on, though she slumped her shoulders slowly as Ace's smile softened to that of near painful, though delightful, nostalgia.

"...Beautiful, raw, wild... Mysterious," Ace nearly stated to himself, though he knew Emery could still hear him. He huffed a hard sigh and shook his head, though he eagerly peered his hard stare back into Emery's soul, "... Who would do such a thing to someone so wonderful? So... Innocent?"

Emery finally frowned a full grimace and looked down to Balba's wings, once more. She huffed a long breath and, though she hesitated, she furrowed her brow and glanced to the side of Ace's head.

"Someone who is power hungry? Has no self control?" Emery listed quietly, "Someone who is impatient? Crazy? Psychotic? The list goes on..."

"The poor thing," Ace crackling voice worried out to the sky before him. He felt tears desperately attempt to sting his eyes, though he held them back for the sake of trying to be strong, "She carries on, she hides her sorrow so... well... So well, it's almost terrifying."

"I'm sure she's just trying to keep face for everyone," Emery pleaded quietly, "I'm sure, having all eyes on her, like this, is creating a lot of unwanted attention. I'm positive she's just trying to make it so no one worries."

"I will never stop worrying," Ace urged nervously, though he sorrowfully gave Emery a gentle glance, "I just hope she opens up to me. I feel so terrible... Like she has no one to talk to, about this whole issue."

"Well, maybe she doesn't WANT to talk about it, right now," Emery shrugged, "As weird as that sounds, it might be true... That's exactly how I felt after my parents died. Everyone grieves in their own way, and though no one close to her died, it was still traumatic. Her situation was extremely personal... Maybe she feels like legitimately no one could ever understand."

"I WANT to understand," Ace mumbled, though Emery giggled and rubbed Ace's upper back in a loving manner.

"I know you want to be there for her," Emery assured quietly, "Make sure that's a constant reminder, in her life. Make it wholly known that you're always there, if and when she decides to finally need you to vent on. Don't be upset if you're not the first person she opens up to, or... If she never does. The only thing you can do is just be there."

"And wait," Ace stated in a drop of annoyed impatience, though he would never reveal said, innocent impatience to Libby; Emery giggled with his bubbling fervor.

"Waiting sucks, huh," Emery droned, Ace nodded and lulled his eyes closed.

"It's only been like two days since I've learned this information, too," Ace wheezed as he rubbed his forehead, though Emery winced.

"Yikes," Emery giggled, "Got a long waiting-game ahead of yourself, huh."

* * *

"I'm really glad you're not steering," Taffyta muttered to her frantic sister, and through the gentle chuckle of Lickity's rib cage, Taffyta rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder, "Vanellope, sit still."

"I-I... Does this hoodie make me look fat?" Vanellope pleaded, though Taffyta and Lickity let out hard bouts of laughter.

"Yes," Taffyta blurt, Vanellope slumped her shoulders, and before she could carry on, Taffyta waggled her hand a little, "Look... We're all dressed the same. Lookit Penny, lookit Oliver and Koko. Y'lookin'?"

"Yeah," Vanellope rolled her eyes and shook her head, though she finally glanced to Royal, who was a good fifty feet away, comfortably carrying Penny, Oliver and Koko. All three Sugar Rush self programmed gamers were dressed in similar garb. Fur-lined hoodies, dark clothed and battered jeans; neither of them looked as if they had just bound out of the cheery, royal dollop of Sugar Rush everyone was used to. Vanellope finally attempted to straighten her hair and slumped her shoulders to relax, "I'm sorry... I'm... So nervous."

"About Ralph? Or maybe the fact our game is down the shitter?" Taffyta stated plainly, as if Sugar Rush being in turmoil wasn't news any longer, nor was it even shocking. Taffyta giggled, tucked her white, choppy hair behind her ears and peered out to Royal and Balba, across the stretch of sky, "Or, maybe the fact that you're bringing Ralph a third, fully grown child he had no clue about?"

"All of the above," Vanellope muttered as she slumped her face into Taffyta's shoulder. She shook her head and closed her eyes tight, though she felt her heart jump with the sound of Tessa's Tron flyer approaching them; she kept her eyes closed, nonetheless, "Tonight will surely be interesting..."

"Yeah, remind me to stay away from your bedroom," Taffyta muttered playfully, "And remind me to snatch Tammy's or Felix's hammer tomorrow morning."

"For User's sakes," Vanellope rolled her eyes, "So, Ralph wrecked the bed ONCE. Can't you drop it?"

"No, that was hilarious. I LOVE YOU! I'm gunna WRECK-IT!" Taffyta blurt through a hard laugh as she held up her fists in proper, mocking wrecking form, though she was interrupted once Tessa's voice called to her mother above the gentle purr of the Tron flyer.

"Mom, I just realized something," Tessa urged as the flyer hovered near Lickity, and the two fell into a flight rhythm with each other, "... Where's Radex, in this mess? Surely he's seen us, on the radar, by now?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, I don't think that guy gives two shits about whatever we're doing," Taffyta barked with a snarky smile, though Tessa could tell she was greatly reserving the urge to show sorrow over this whole situation, "He clearly doesn't need us for game day, you and Ace have been in and out of the game for the past two days... I'm sure we're flying under the radar, at this point."

"Thaaat, or he's watching us now, has rearranged the entrance to an entirely different location, and we're all screwed," Vanellope uttered in more annoyance than fear, though she flinched once Tessa inhaled an excited gasp and pointed.

"There it is!" Tessa urged as everyone flung their attention to the horizon, and sure enough, Sugar Rush's glorious, waffle cone entrance could be seen as a tiny speck above the clouds. It was clear they still had about a half an hour more of flying to do, though the sheer sight of it, on the horizon, was enough for everyone to start getting excited.

"No, no, no," Vanellope muttered as she tucked her hood over her head and grappled the draw strings, "Let's, uh... Land... Make camp! It's getting dark!"

Tessa and Taffyta slowly drew their eye contact to each other, and in perfect synchronization, they lulled their gazes up to the morning sun and down to Vanellope's bashfully terrified demeanor.

"Right... It's eight in the morning and it's-" Taffyta dramatically gasped and covered her face, "-getting dark!"

"Mom, relax," Tessa urged quietly, "We're almost there... Let's just focus on getting out of the game. Dad and Zed are waiting for us on the other side."

Vanellope huffed a hot breath to the wind, crossed her arms and desperately tried to quell her racing thoughts. She felt fear, nervousness, and all sorts of other emotions flood her veins. Her eyes sorrowfully glossed her land, and though she was so ready to be out of the cold, to be somewhere safe and warm, she furrowed her brows and felt a strange feeling of hot guilt soak into her. She knew she had let down her kingdom, her people, her game, though somehow, she felt as if she was ultimately betraying it by stepping out and admitting she lost control, tapping out and throwing in the towel before the match could even be won. She slowly peered behind her, past Lickity's beautiful tail fins that clipped the cold wind. Sugar Rush's gorgeous land sat in hot silence, as if to quietly beg for their true queen to come back and rescue it. Vanellope felt tears sting her eyes as they quickly drifted for the exit, and in her heart, she immediately promised her cherished home game that she'd be back for it's safety, for it's fallen honor.


	68. Chapter 68

**Reviews :**

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Thank you! Yes, you guys will get to see glimmering moments between Oliver and Emery, as well as learn a little bit more about Emery as the story goes on. She's not a main character, but everyone gets good air time. :)

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** I knew you'd appreciate the bit with Emery :) She gets m ore quality time in, especially where Libby is concerned. Her and Libby definitely DO have a bit of bonding that gets revealed, they relate on a certain level that'll be explained. I'm glad you sent me that DC excerpt, it was wonderful! :)

 **bcfddancer4life :** Aw wow! Thank you SO much! Unfortunately, Tej isn't snatched up by either Penny or Koko - he is one of the less-written about characters, BUT he does play a very important role as far as TaffytaxRancis is concerned... He may not have a prominent part in the story right now, but his character broadens as time goes on, and as the gang move to and from Sugar Rush for their 'expeditions' in trying to find the castle. Every quiet character gets their time to shine, in my story. Some sooner than others, and some MORE than others, but I will definitely try to cater to everyone, all while keeping the story away from way too many fillers. Thank you so much for commenting in and showing your love for my story. It really means the world to me!

 **chuckiboo :** LOL Yeahhh Vanellope's in for it, for sure xD And Ralph definitely assures her of that, in this chapter. As for everyone settling into the castle, it's only going to get wild (and funny) from here. I'm trying to soak you guys up with good, fun, heartfelt chapters, cause the story will have it's bumps of sad parts and drama. (as usual lol)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** hahaha! It's explained how the whole entire gang can safely avoid any 'noise complaints' from rooms that house swap-mates. Zed makes sure the castle is a cohesive living environment for everyone to enjoy; so to avoid therapy, like you stated xD LOL! Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Yes, this chapter is the reunion (FINALLY lol) I feel like I've strung you guys along for long enough xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you very much! :D It's definitely cool to see that number go up, as well as my view count. I'm just surprised so many people have stuck with me for so long. xD Yeah, Vanellope definitely has to get used to 'normal' life, once again - it's more delved into, in the next chapter, as well as showing Koko everything beyond the snow-ridden wasteland she's only ever known. Lots of firsts for Koko, so that'll be fun to expand on. As for Koko and code swapping, she's actually Ace's age (fully grown) - Both parents, for sure, are protective of her (ESPECIALLY with exactly who she decides to cozy up to) but, Tessa sets things straight and makes sure all the girls (with Usermade boyfriends) are prepared - pretty funny scene, actually xD

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you! It's probably a lot more tame/mild than anyone was ever hoping for, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless. Emery's character gets a good amount of depth explained, her and Libby definitely have a good scene of bonding/relating to one another that everyone will likely appreciate.

 **ArchitectDreams :** I wouldn't know, but I'm sure it's painful :( And, no, surprisingly, you didn't jinx it xD Trying to keep you all on your toes. When you least expect it, drama will come flying out of nowhere LOL

 **Retrokill :** LMAO it's okay. I laughed. I figured you wrote that because of the ending scene with Tessa and Vanellope, but still xD Yes, you are correct, Taffyta is putting up a VERY large front. Very large. She's the toughest cookie of the bunch, per the norm. The age gap between Olly and Emery is about two years or so. Emery is a little older than Tammy, and Oliver is nearly two years younger than Tammy (he is three months younger than Tessa)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Reunion by Hans Zimmer - Spirit soundtrack**

 **Ridiculously Happy - Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 68***

A cold chill gently wavered through everyone's souls, and as they stood at the entrance of Sugar Rush, the silence between the group of haggard royalty was near deafening. Vanellope hugged her arms to her chest and frowned, her gaze longingly peered to the sight directly out of her tattered, massive waffle cone entrance to her game. Peaks and peaks of mountain ranges could be seen, littering the land in all of it's snowy majesty, though Vanellope knew just how the layout of the game should really look. The castle sat perched in all of it's glory atop a pink, sugar-grass hill, tucked safely between the dollops of the calming peach gum drops, and with Starkrem's beautiful city lights on the horizon, Vanellope closed her eyes and could nearly taste her memories. She finally popped open her watery eyes at the sound of Ace's tender voice.

"Momma," He called sweetly, his deep tone urged to her, as if to get her attention and inquire just what was wrong, all in one simple word.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm coming," Vanellope pushed as she finally whirled around and head for the forcefield, in which Ace stood directly in the middle of.

It was clear that everyone had likely been waiting for her, for a few moments; Ace had successfully gotten everyone out of Sugar Rush, past it's angry red barrier, and to safety. The second Vanellope's hands curiously met with Ace's larger, wrecking ones, gentle volts of information suddenly kissed the undersides of her electric blue coding. His silver circuits easily swarmed hers, which made it possible for her to come through the force field. With nearly no effort whatsoever, Vanellope was pulled through the angry force field, which only was tamed by Ace's curious powers. Vanellope softly eyed her grandson, and before she could muster up the strength to prod him for everything he was worth, every single type of skill he maybe wondered he had, she breathed Ace a kind 'thank you', in spite of her buzzing thoughts. She knew she hardly had the energy for anything.

"Once we get into Dead Zed, and back to the castle, Zed and I will make sure to code everyone to the game," Tessa nodded once as everyone began to slowly walk down Sugar Rush's wires.

It was dark, though because of Sugar Rush's morning light, and the light that flood from Game Central Station, it was still easy to see. Tessa glanced over her shoulder, as her and her mother fell into step with each other; she quickly counted each body. Koko, Oliver, Emery and Royal all hovered with each other and idly chit-chat. Ace kept close to Balba and, as they walked, he had his tender, larger fingers lightly tucked into the side of Balba's cheek and jaw, likely to comfort Libby's finicky flyer. Taffyta, Penny and Lickity weren't too far behind, bickering and catching up on all the lost time. Tessa finally dragged her eyes to her mother, and quickly realized that the two were leading this exhausted battalion out of the battle field, away from their home land they so diligently fought for, though it was in this dreaded moment did Tessa suddenly feel all of hers, as well as Vanellope's guilt.

"We'll... We'll get 'er back, right?" Tessa wondered quietly, as if she took off her future, metaphorical crown, for the time being, and nearly pleaded for some motherly love; she was certain Vanellope likely felt the same itch for comfort, though with Vanellope as the ultimate Queen, Tessa knew the shoulder she would need tonight would be that of her father, Ralph's.

"We always do," Vanellope muttered, she shook her head and furrowed her brow in growing contemplation, "Y'know... With how much drama that has plagued Sugar Rush, it's getting easier to somehow imagine my life without the game. I'm surprised it hasn't been unplugged, yet."

"...Really?" Tessa ogled, "You'd... You'd be okay losing the throne?"

"No, I wouldn't be okay with it, no one would be," Vanellope's tired voice droned, her nervous eyes peered down Sugar Rush's wires, as if no time at all had passed since the last time she had leisurely strolled down this dome of a hall, "I'm saying, it's easier to become detached, the more and more bad stuff happens, and the prospect of losing it hangs in the balance. I would never want to lose my throne, my home, or my people... I guess all I'm saying is, I'm now numb to the drama."

"I-I guess I can see where you're coming from," Tessa sighed as she, too, looked forward, though she furrowed her brow and finally gave her mother a determined stare, "Mom... I'll get Sugar Rush back, for you. You know that, right?"

"I don't doubt you for a second, love," Vanellope croaked, as if she was saving every last bit of her energy for her reunion with Ralph, "Let's... Let's take this drama one step at a time. We all need a good night's sleep... Then, we can make a strategy on just exactly how we're going to attack this beast of a problem."

"Sleep," Tessa droned with a widening smile as they finally round the last bend of Sugar Rush's wires, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in hard, annoyed surprise as she came face to face with an empty Sugar Rush outlet; Game Central station was loudly bustling from beyond the hub of the massive outlet. Tessa dropped her arms in dire annoyance and let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Zed... You had ONE JOB."

"Ow! Zed, we made it! Just relax!" Libby's voice suddenly was heard, as well as laughter from the two excitable gamers. Libby and Zed peeled around the corner from across the outlet, from the hall of Game Central Station.

Vanellope's tired eyes drew to the two bustling figures that emerged, and as though she could hardly even believe any of this was real, her eyes honed in on Zed's figure. She felt her heart jump with just how real everything suddenly felt, the way her skin prickled at the mere thought of Ralph rounding the same bend. She slumped her shoulders and nearly stopped dead in her tracks, as if she was uncertain just what to do with the information that was hitting her retinas. As if watching a movie she was beyond interested in discovering the ending to, she eagerly watched as Zed and Tessa ran to each other in a few bounds of overflowing love. As Tessa slapped her arms around Zed's neck, and he twirled her a few times, Vanellope softened and watched as they quickly fell into their own little world, one of which was tender and sugar-coated with his sweet whisperings into the side of her head and ear. The way Tessa's shoulders scrunched, the way her face nuzzled into the side of Zed's neck, it was only then did Vanellope truly realized just what to do with all of the love that soaked over her heart.

Vanellope's eyes quickly began to scan for the gaping exit of the outlet, they hung in Sugar Rush's dimly lit train station of a hub. She could practically hear her heart beating in her head, and before she could turn back and somehow get reassurance from her two daughters, son, sister, grandson, anyone, she flinched as a tall, bumbling wrecker quickly pushed into the outlet. He huffed a few breaths, from the sprint he just took across Game Central Station, but as his eyes landed to Vanellope's, his large, wrecking fingers lazily dragged down the golden entrance of Sugar Rush's outlet, and he stopped in a slow draw of billowing excitement and surprise. The two caught stares, and as if the world was wholly frozen, everyone eagerly paused for the heavy, romantic show that was tenderly unfolding. Tessa finally pushed an excited giggle, and as tears stung her eyes, everyone softly began to encourage the two on, as if to cheer them into their long awaited, well deserved reunion.

As if every single last worry dribbled away from her skin, once and for all, Vanellope covered her mouth with her hands for a moment, and as the tears rolled from her tired eyes, she shook her head and finally began to quickly push towards Ralph, across the gap of the outlet. With the same, eager, love-struck fervor, Ralph's footwork began to stride straight for his wife. Time held it's breath, every pixel in Arcade froze for this impending moment, and as the two grappled each other into a tight hug, everyone could feel the sense of total relief wash over them. Vanellope did everything she could to wrap her arms around Ralph's neck, and with a hard squeeze on his end, Vanellope's eyes fluttered with the delightful feeling of his warmth, his familiar scent, the way his stray, crazy auburn strands tickled the top of her nose. She relished in every single last aspect of his figure and soul, and as the two squeezed into a tighter draw, her heart leaped clear out of her chest as Ralph choked a small, silent cry into the top of Vanellope's shoulder.

"It's you," Ralph wheezed, he shook his head as if even still he could hardly believe this was a thing. He uttered a soft hiccup of a noise, shut his eyes tight and nearly lifted Vanellope off of her feet as they only snuggled each other tighter and tighter, "I-I can't believe it's you..."

"I've missed you so much," Vanellope cried into his shoulder, and as if she finally had a landing spot, a big, warm shoulder to cry on, she felt the need to wholly unload, though for some reason she felt as if her eyes had nearly cried dry. She figured tonight, of all nights, would be a good time to truly unwind from the year long starvation of all things warm, cuddly and safe.

"You have no idea," Ralph whispered as he finally pulled away, though he kept his larger arms and hands hovered around her middle. She eagerly peered up into his familiar face and long blinked tears down her cheeks once more; her lashes glued together, her dewy, hazel eyes peered into Ralph's with the utmost gratefulness towards him, though before she could profess her undying love for him, remind him that he was the reason she pushed on, he shakily continued on, "I missed your gorgeous face."

"Ralph," Vanellope nearly pleaded through a giggle as the two hovered about their searing bubble of passion, it could nearly light the room.

"Y-Your cheesy jokes, your smile, your attitude," Ralph pushed on quickly as his voice shakily wavered. He shook his head as tears finally pushed down his cheeks, "I missed you too... So much..."

"I don't care where I rest my head tonight," Vanellope stated through a hard sigh as the two gently pushed into another tight hug. Her face turned beet red as she pushed her loving, innocent conclusion into his ear, "As long as it's with you."

"Your wish," Ralph breathed, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave her a tight, loving squeeze, "... My command."

"But first," Vanellope stated quietly as she tucked tighter into Ralph's chest and embrace, though she softly opened her eyes and glanced about Ralph's familiar polo. She continued on, near his ear, as if to conclude the final statement of their love, "... There's someone whose been dying to meet you."

Ralph raised his eyebrows and felt his heart jump in a jolt of surprise that fell over him in hard remembrance; he knew he was awaiting the first, proper introducing of his third child, though somehow, having the very idea of it spoken to him, in real time, was near beyond anything his mainframe could handle. Ralph uttered a soft noise of acknowledgement and, as the two gingerly pulled away, Vanellope peered her gaze behind her and, for the first time in Koko's life, her two parents gave her the kindest gazes, a picture perfect scene Koko was certain wasn't even real. Vanellope lovingly gestured for Koko to come out of her hiding spot, which was bashfully stanced just behind Oliver a little. Ralph's eyes caught with Oliver in a loving string of overflowing excitement, though the second his little, dark brown haired daughter stepped out from behind him, Ralph clumsily grappled his chest, over his heart, and felt near awestruck.

Koko gingerly approached, her head was down, though her eyes were up. She shone like the sun, as if she had so much energy she wanted to give to this moment, though she knew not to explode or move way too quickly. As if to test the waters, she finally, and slowly, approached her two parents. Vanellope tenderly gripped Koko's larger wrecking hand, and with a shaky sigh and a nod of her head, Vanellope stared her eyes into Koko's glorious, honey brown eyes, ones of which mocked Ralph's. She squeezed Koko's hand a little harder and, with a gentle glance up to Ralph, she gave her line of sight back to Koko's in growing determination.

"Ralph, this... This is Koko," Vanellope stated kindly through her tears. She hiccuped a small breath and desperately tried to catch it as Ralph gently knelt down, to both of their levels, covered his face and huffed a soft breath of a cry, as if the overload of happiness was way beyond him now, "Y-Your daughter, Koko Bree Von Schweetz."

"Y-You made it," Ralph whimpered, and though he knew showing this much sensitivity and vulnerability to nearly his whole crew of family was likely something he'd never be caught doing, he blew that notion out the window as his glassy eyes finally peered into Koko's for the very first time. His breath caught at her raw beauty, how much she looked like Vanellope, though with striking similarities to Tessa, her excited, teary brown eyes held fast to her father's, as if this unreal experience was nearly too much for her to handle, as well. Ralph shook his head and slowly held his hand out to her, so not to seem too pushy. He continued on through a faltering breath, "You're... You're so beautiful... M-My Koko Bree."

"I-I was so excited to finally meet you, I... I had so much I wanted to say," Koko's small, cute voice meeped. She covered her face a little, and through a teary, cheeky smile, she gave her father the most bashful, nervous eye contact ever, "I-I'm... I'm sorry it's just... A lot to take in."

"You're telling me," Ralph eased quietly as he inhaled deeply to at least attempt to compose himself, though tears still trailed his cheeks, "I'm... I-I'm so glad you guys made it out safely. I can't wait to get to know you, hun."

"Koko's been very eagerly awaiting proper wrecking lessons," Vanellope stated through a kind giggle, though just as she was about to continue on about how Oliver made a good teacher in the time being, Koko finally braved her feelings and stepped out into her point of origin.

Vanellope raised her eyebrows in surprise as Koko bravely pushed herself into her father's arms, once and for all, and as if every single last prayer, of Ralph's, had been answered, he tightly wove his arms around Koko's body and squeezed her into his warm embrace. Ralph uttered a soft choke of a noise, as if he was wholly beside himself. He shook his head, squeezed his eyes shut tight and burrowed his forehead into the top of Koko's small shoulder. Koko giggled quietly through her tears and soft cries, and with the huge weight that had finally been lifted off of everyone, Vanellope could feel the whole of her family begin to swarm the three with much needed camaraderie. Tessa was the first person to make her pushy presence known, and as she gripped Oliver's hand and pulled him closer to their parents, the five melted together like puzzle pieces, and as quickly as Ralph could, he unraveled his arms from Koko's body and welcomed Vanellope, Oliver and Tessa straight into his massive, encompassing embrace.

Ralph squeezed every single last ounce of love out of the four in his arms, and as he buried his face into the top of his bride's head, he felt his heart completely solidify. Anything inside of Sugar Rush could be falling to pixel cubes, ridden forever; the pure fact that his whole family was in his arms, safe and warm, he knew he had absolutely everything he'd ever want out of life. He could feel Oliver and Tessa squeeze tighter into the back of Koko and Vanellope, ultimately pushing everyone deeper into Ralph's large, warm chest. After a few moments, and soft, knowing chuckles from Zed, Libby, Taffyta and the rest of the gang, the five finally eased from each other, though just barely.

"Lookit you guys," Ralph grumbled as he held his left hand to the top of Koko's shoulder, and his right hand firmly to the top of Oliver's broader shoulder. He looked into each one of his children's beaming, excited, teary eyes and breathed a hearty laugh, "Boy, am I grateful your mom is attractive."

"Dad," Tessa largely complained as Oliver, Koko and Vanellope laughed, alongside everyone about them. All three of their children beamed their eager stares to their mother, and they were each floored to see her face beam hot red, a bashful, elated smile plastered across her tired cheeks; something of which was nearly foreign to them.

"Oliver's got your figure, though," Taffyta snapped lovingly, though Oliver gaped and shot his aunt an annoyed smile.

"I hope that's a compliment?" He argued, though Ralph shook Oliver's shoulder and grappled his only son into a tight hug as well.

"She's just jealous she can't wreck," Ralph grumbled to the top of Oliver's head, and though Oliver wasn't a little boy anymore, Ralph still took this opportunity to sneak a firm kiss to the top of Oliver's messy, black hair and head, "I missed you too, son... So much."

"You have no idea," Oliver grumbled, though he squinted his eyes shut and with the gentle burrow of his nose into his father's shoulder, he desperately attempted to hold back tears, "I-I need a dude-day. Stat."

"Zed's got six dudes, including himself, waiting at the castle for yah," Tessa huffed, she and Oliver caught eyes in a whirl of growing excitement, "Not to mention Ace and Royal."

"I forgot... Tessa doesn't know about Throttle, yet," Libby whispered to Zed as he furrowed his brow and leaned his ear closer to her, though he cocked an eyebrow and peered to Tessa in growing excitement, as if the rush and time-crunch, of slapping together a new castle overnight, had him forgetting nearly just who was to be resting their heads at the Kalivar castle from here on out.

"Olly's had enough of being in a group of five women for the past year," Vanellope stated through a giggle, which cued everyone else to erupt in soft, understanding laughter towards Oliver.

"I can mentally wreck," Taffyta retort loudly, from Ralph's previous statement. She finally pushed forward in preparation to give Ralph a hug as well, though as Vanellope, Tessa, Oliver and Koko lightly stepped aside, Ralph remained knelt and peered his elated, kind gaze to Taffyta's soul, though he nearly flinched.

Out of everyone, Taffyta looked the most exhausted. Ralph slumped his shoulders and peered to his shell of a sister; with how much turmoil she had been through, with every single last byte of Rancis's poor, shivering soul, Ralph knew she was likely a flitting, shaky house of cards, and so much as one wrong stare could send her falling to her knees. Ralph opened his arm for her and could tell she so desperately needed a bear hug. Without any hesitation, outside the norm from Taffyta's demeanor, she eagerly pushed into Ralph for a hug and slapped her arms around his neck. He quickly squeezed her to him and rubbed her upper back. Ralph furrowed his brow and sorrowfully caught eyes with Vanellope, as if to silently ask if she was even somehow doing okay; the way Vanellope's eyebrows sloped up in sadness concluded to Ralph that she had wholly surrendered to grief.

"Hey, lookit me," Ralph finally uttered quietly as he gripped the top of Taffyta's right shoulder, pulled her away and kept her firmly in his warm bubble. He peered into her glassy eyes with determined fervor, "Listen... We'll get Rancis back..."

Taffyta nodded softly, though as if she had been waiting to hear some form of reassurance on the subject matter, her lip quivered and tears easily spilled down her cheeks, as if on cue. Taffyta nodded again, quickly, and wiped her cheeks with the sleeves of her tattered hoodie. She inhaled a shaky breath, and through her sorrowful, innocent pout, she peered up at her big brother and craved every single last ounce of his forgiving, loving warmth; she knew everyone was likely wanting a piece of it, though she radiated in Ralph's overflow and knew she could never get enough of his hidden optimism.

"I don't care what it takes," Ralph hissed as he squinted, leaned his head down closer to hers and lightly shook her shoulder. He finally smiled, shook his head and peered deep into her scared, icy blue eyes, "... We'll make sure that idiot is back to us, in one piece. Y'hear me?"

"Thank you," Taffyta meeped quietly as she grimaced and allowed more tears to escape her eyes. She nodded and eagerly wiped her cheeks, once more, "I-I missed you so much, Ralph... We all missed you."

"You have no clue," Ralph grumbled as his large finger tenderly stroked some of her white hair out of her eyes. He gave her a knowing smile and kept her close to his comfort, "We'll reconvene... Tonight will be a lot of fun... But for now..."

"Y'got a whole lot of wrecking to do," Tessa grumbled, everyone shared in knowing laughter.

"What I'd give to ignore quarter alerts," Ralph muttered as he finally eased away from Taffyta and stood up, once and for all. Vanellope eyes had to adjust to the height difference, as did Oliver; Koko ogled her father in gentle, delighted surprise. The sheer size of him had Koko certain she was in another realm. Ralph breathed a soft, nasally sigh and glanced to his three children, "Don't have too much fun at the Kalivar castle, without me, today."

"I want a nap," Taffyta barked, everyone easily agreed.

"Boy do I have a LOT to show you guys," Zed droned, though his eyes looked sunken and exhausted; Tessa eyed him softly, as if to show concern and care for the fact that he, too, looked so tired.

"I'll meet up with you guys after game day," Ralph urged as the final 'open Arcade' warning called. He back stepped and, just as he was about to turn heel, his eyes caught with Vanellope's in a bashful string of flitting hearts, renewed memories that came rushing back to their fresh, reversed circuits. He lightly pointed to her and cocked an eyebrow, and in the whirl of their bashful attempts at being normal, he pushed the envelope and felt familiarity come back to his coding, "Y'better brace yourself, little lady."

Everyone raised their eyebrows in hard surprise and cooed loud, obnoxious notions towards Vanellope as her face turned hot red. Ralph dusted his hands off, back stepped, gave her one final smolder and sauntered out of Sugar Rush's outlet and out of sight. Vanellope held her hands to her cheeks in nervous surprise and eyed Tessa in growing, delighted terror. Koko wolf whistled and nudged her mom's arm.

"Shit, mom, you're done for," Oliver barked, everyone loudly laughed as Vanellope eyed the outlet in which Ralph had disappeared down just seconds prior.

"I don't know if I'll have the energy for this," Vanellope complained through the widest, most bashful smile.

"Y'will, after naps," Taffyta urged, and though she hadn't seen Zed in over a year, she gingerly grappled his arm and shook it, "Hi, yeah... You can uh... Take us to where naps can happen, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am," Zed chuckled as he shook his head, though the two gave each other knowing smiles and sunk into a warm, welcoming hug, "We're glad you guys are back, safe and sound."

"Oh, you have no idea, buddy," Taffyta gave Zed one last good squeeze and a sway in her embrace. She let him go and through the furrow of her eyebrows, she let her eyes gloss to Libby, who stood next to Zed in poised, anxious, surprised stillness, "... Wow, another person who has hair nearly as white as mine."

"I-I was just about to say that," Libby giggled as she grappled her own hair, though she felt her face heat up as she could see Ace making his way across the group and over to their bubble.

"I don't think I could grow mine out THAT long, though," Taffyta chuckled, though she outreached her hand for a proper hand shake to Libby, "I'm Taffyta. I-I'm, uh... I'm Ace's great aunt. Vanellope's sister. Tessa's aunt. Sugar Rush racer... I'm SOMEONE, okay?"

"Too many family members to keep track of," Libby giggled as her and Taffyta warmly shook hands, "I'm Libby. I'm Ace's best friend. I-I... I sort of visited the Kalivar castle one day and never went back home."

"How many people do you have under that roof of yours?" Taffyta urged to Zed, though he flinched and let out a surprised laugh.

"Well, as of TONIGHT, there will be... Let's see..." He muttered to himself and counted on his fingers, "Nineteen people. If we're not including Lickity, Royal or Balba."

"For User's sake," Taffyta put her hands on her hips, "This castle must be near the size of Sugar Rush's castle, yeah?"

"Ohh, I wouldn't say that large," Zed's eyes bulged as he shook his head, though him and Libby caught glances and shared a laugh, "You'd be surprised, though."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Just a reminder, I have the full sketch of the Kalivar Castle on my deviantART - it shows the layout of the whole castle, just so no one is confused :) Username - Vyntresser**


	69. Chapter 69

**Reviews :**

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL yep, they're out! YAY (for now)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Oh awesome, congrats on the new car! :D It's a good feeling, huh. We've had Lickity for 17 years and even though it's been my car since about 2009, I only just recently got the old bat in my name. Title and everything - Lots of signing, yes! But still! Awesome feeling for sure! LOL Ralph and Vanellope are going to tear it up, but getting there is a sort of bumbling experience. They both are a bit shy about it haha

 **Snake557 :** Yes, it's a ton of people. I hope I can keep up xD I've seemed to be doing alright so far, so hopefully it continues on!

 **Nikki Firesong :** YAS I'm glad you liked it! I was genuinely worried, cause I had everyone so hyped xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww, I'm really glad you liked it so much! :D I'm glad I can evoke such emotion in my readers - thats all I ever hope for, is for you guys to feel the depth of the emotion portrayed. I'm really happy about that. Thank you for telling me! Yeahhh Vanellope sort of has issue with Throttle, which will be further delved into, in the next chapter.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** No worries, I get that life can be hectic. Thank you so much! :D

 **Retrokill :** LOL verrry sore. It's definitely a doozy of a code-swap chapter, that's for sure xD

* * *

 ***Chapter 69***

"Another GUY," Oliver barked through the rasp of his deep voice as he began to trudge closer to Zed, in tired, elated relief. Zed beamed Oliver a wide, excited smile, and as the two boys neared, Oliver grappled Zed into a tight, brotherly hug and firmly pat his back; Zed gave him the same, loving notion as Oliver continued, "Please tell me your brothers are just as chill as you. Please."

"I'd like to think so," Zed chuckled as the two squeezed, though as they pulled away, and as everyone slowly began to surround Zed, Libby, Oliver and Taffyta, Zed peered up to Oliver in a growing pang of near delightful sorrow. He knew him and Oliver were like brothers, and getting Oliver back, once and for all, was something he had been greatly looking forward to, though somehow being plopped in the reality of it had Zed second guessing if this was true. Zed furrowed his brow and gave Oliver's larger, upper arm a firm few brotherly pats, "You're probably the most 'chill' brother I have, out of all of them, though."

Oliver raised his eyebrows and froze, though the second Libby shyly cooed at the two boys, Oliver's bashful smile beamed down to his feet. Everyone slowly began to surround the warm situation before them, though Vanellope made her voice known as she pushed closer to Oliver. She lovingly held Oliver's lower arm, glanced to him and finally peered her cheeky, loving gaze into Zed's.

"Now you HAVE to be nice to him, Olly," Vanellope prod quietly as she gave Zed a knowing smirk, "He gave you a nephew."

"In which I'm eternally grateful for," Oliver chuffed, though he quickly looked about in search of Ace. Ace scrunched his shoulders in surprise, and as Oliver grappled Ace's shoulder and tugged him into a tight side hug, Ace choked a small laugh and bashfully peered to his father, "I mean, lookit him! He's practically everything I ever hoped for, out of a nephew."

"Glad to be of service," Ace muttered, though he choked a hard laugh as Oliver firmly rubbed his larger wrecking hand atop Ace's messy, dark blue hair, to which Ace and Oliver playfully bickered. Ace impatiently swat Oliver's large hand away.

"Sugar Rush owes you, Mr. Dead Zed," Vanellope stated firmly, though her voice was laced with love. She glanced back to Tessa before she gave her knowing gaze into Zed's, once more, "Thank you... For everything..."

"I never break my promises," Zed concluded quietly as Vanellope took a few steps closer to him, to prepare for a hug. Zed gave her a loving smile as she pushed into his bubble and wrapped her arms about his neck in a tight, friendly hug, "I vowed to keep Tessa safe. I-I'm... I'm sorry Sugar Rush was caught in the cross-fire of... Well..."

"Lack of self control?" Oliver blurt in hard annoyance, though he stifled a hard chuckle as Ace rubbed his face in growing irritation.

"Hey, we didn't swap!" Zed argued loudly as he largely pointed to Oliver, once him and Vanellope pulled apart, "It was simply a code-source placement!"

"Let's tell the whole world and relive out this drama," Tessa muttered in whole agitation as she looked away.

"Hey, you got Ace out of it," Koko chimed bashfully, she shrugged and looked about, "I'd say it's a win."

"Yeah," Ace argued with a widening smile as everyone's laughter only grew, "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for said... Lack of self control... This is awkward."

"ANYWAYS," Tessa barked as she pushed forward, though she lovingly held Koko's hand, peered into her eyes and gestured towards Zed, "Koko, this is Zed, my... Fiance," Tessa dared the word, nervously glanced to her mother and back again to Zed. Zed raised his eyebrows at her bravery and pushed through the mix of emotions that surged through his veins. He smiled to Koko as Tessa quietly and bashfully carried on, "Babe, this is Koko... My... Sister. I can't believe I have a sister!"

"You're telling me," Zed urged as him and Koko shook hands, though Koko gave him a cheeky smile that easily mocked Vanellope's youth.

"Your hair is so cool," Koko pressed kindly, though Taffyta nudged Zed's arm a little, "Olly wouldn't shut up about just how blue it was."

"WELL?" Oliver gestured to Zed and peered his expectant stare to Koko's, though she crossed her arms and nodded.

"...Y'weren't lying," Koko quipped.

"I KNEW she'd say that," Taffyta pointed to Vanellope, "What'd I tell yah? It's all about his hair."

"What other gamer has hot blue hair?" Oliver argued.

"Nearly all of my brothers, except Orph," Zed droned in laziness; everyone blurt gentle, curious laughter, "... I can't wait to introduce you guys to them. They're all dying to meet you guys."

"Rephrase, they're all dying to meet all of the SINGLE girls, in this group," Vanellope muttered.

"I'd be lying if I said that wasn't fact," Zed muttered, though just as his eyes dragged across the group of gamers he had been dying to see, he suddenly landed his stare to a lone, haggard looking individual who hung near the safety of Lickity's, Royal's and Balba's loving presences.

Penny stood in poised nervousness, and though she looked near elated to see Zed, he knew something darker was going on in her mind. Zed felt his skin prickle at the mere sight of Penny, a woman in which he was so used to seeing in girly sundresses, her hair and curl perfect and bouncy, and the smile on her face more than warm and welcoming. The mere shadow of a fighter, stanced to perfection across the way, was anything but any of the traits he once knew Penny to harbor. He flinched, and in the draw of surprise, Penny noticed his recoil and finally brought her stare back to Arcade, even though it had been glued to him this entire time. Zed scoffed a small, nervous noise and gestured for her to approach him, on her terms, of course.

"I knew we were missing someone," Zed stated to her, his voice echoed across the hub of the outlet, though once everyone's eyes dragged back to Penny, Penny scrunched her shoulders and bashfully peered about. Before she could lash out and demand everyone stop staring, she caught her breath and knew she needed to seriously lighten up, no matter how difficult that may be. Like molasses, she finally began to approach the group, in which parted so she could properly get closer to Zed. Once she was a few feet from him, he gave her a look of loving, kind concern and opened his arms for her lightly, "Penny... You look like a total badass. Sugar Rush looks as if it had a hard time trying to get it's sprinkles on yah, huh."

"Guess you could say that," Penny mumbled shyly as a smile finally graced her cheeks, and before she could shell away and prove to everyone around her that she was a husk of forgotten happiness, forever lost to sorrow, she firmly pushed into Zed's embrace and hugged her arms tight around his neck with a nostalgic smile.

Zed scoffed a small, knowing laugh and firmly held her; he furrowed his brow and felt sudden shock the second she grappled him tighter and huffed a small cry into the safety of his shoulder. Zed pried his eyes open and peered to his new family out before him; Koko, Tessa, Vanellope, Oliver and Emery each looked nervous, as if they had information far beyond Zed's, and to what he thought would be an exciting reunion between the fierce defender, that was Penny, he felt her near crumpling in his arms. Zed steadied her, and as a cloak of worry fell over the group, he cupped the back of her head in his hand and lightly began to shush her, in hopes of calming her.

"It's okay Penny, you're safe," Zed eased, he squeezed her a little tighter as Tessa pushed forward and began to stroke her arm a little, "C'mon, Pens... We got a whole castle waiting for you. There's lots of new people to introduce you to. Why don't I start us off, yeah?"

"Sure," Penny meeped quietly as the two finally pulled away, and as Penny wiped her tears and hung in Zed's comfort for a few moments longer, Zed finally peered his gaze to Libby's and ever so tenderly held her lower arm, to insinuate she was needed. Libby shyly pushed forward and stood next to Zed, "Everyone, this is Libby. Libby is special in that, not only is she Ace's best friend, she's sort of wormed her way into mine and Tessa's lives as well... She's sort of our honorary daughter."

"I-I... I sort of kept visiting every day, when I was little, and they were forced to feed me," Libby uttered through a small giggle, to which everyone kindly laughed to. Tessa shook her head with a wide smile, as if to state that wasn't even a blip on the radar.

"Libby, you've already met Tessa's aunt, Taffyta," Zed gestured to Taffyta and moved his gaze to Oliver, "This is Oliver, Tessa's younger brother, and Koko, Tessa's younger sister."

"Weird," Tessa blurt, both her and Koko shared a small, knowing laugh.

"This is Emery, Oliver's girlfriend," Zed stated in a kind way as the two filled their gap and gave each other a welcoming hug. He rubbed Emery's upper back and, after a few moments, he reconvened next to Libby, "Good to be back, huh?"

"I can't wait to get back to Dead Zed," Emery droned through a sigh of relief as Oliver's larger arm came around her. The two smiled to each other in a knowing way.

"And, this is Penny, Tessa's... Well... Cousin, but I'd say honorary sister, as well," Zed gestured to Penny kindly, the two girls nodded and smiled in acknowledgement, though as Zed moved to Vanellope, to introduce the grandmother of his own child, Vanellope furrowed her eyebrows harder into her skull, as if she had been sitting here, contemplating something for this whole time.

"You look... SO familiar," Vanellope hissed to Libby, though Libby raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and nervously glanced to Zed.

"I-I... I do?" Libby meeped quietly as she tucked her hair behind her ears, "I was born in Dead Zed about a year ago. I don't know where you could've seen me from."

"That's odd... Oh well," Vanellope wrote it off, and with the information Libby gave, Vanellope knew she had to have been mistaken, though still, she knew the thought would continue to haunt her. She pushed closer to Libby and outreached her hand for a loving handshake, "I'm Vanellope, Ace's grandmother."

"I-I've heard so much about you," Libby prod, as if she wanted to geek out and get excited over the fact that she was in a Queen's presence, though she attempted to contain her billowing excitement, "I'm... I'm really sorry about what happened to your game."

"Eh, blame Zed," Vanellope sharply, and playfully retort, which had Zed nearly recoiling.

"Oh for USER'S SAKE," Zed barked, everyone easily soaked the outlet in cheery laughter towards the two. Zed rubbed his forehead in hard agitation and glared to Tessa, "I knew we shouldn't have swapped source codes, why did I let you do that. WHY."

"Oh, so it was Tessa's idea?" Oliver jeered, though Tessa gave Zed a hard, playful, gaping glare.

"Wow, babe, y'know... Throw me under the bus harder! I don't think it killed me the first time," Tessa spat, though the laughter in the station only built.

"Oh, you guys will make up for it later, all of you rabbits and your code swapping in which I am wholly left out of," Taffyta waggled her hands about in annoyance as she gestured for the two to shut up, though she desperately peered to Zed, "Hi, yeah, remember me? Vanellope may be Queen of Sugar Rush, but I'm Queen of naps. So, uh... Lead the way, good sir."

"Yes, I have a lot to show you guys," Zed eased as he sunk his hand into Tessa's, "There's also someone new at the castle you'd be surprised to see."

"Someone new?" Tessa prod in sudden nervousness, though she furrowed her brow and glanced to Libby, who eagerly gave Tessa a knowing smile, "I'm scared."

"Don't be scared," Zed eased, though as Taffyta began to slowly lead everyone towards the exit out of the outlet, and into Game Central Station, Zed leaned in closer to Tessa and Libby and breathed a gentle whisper; Ace gently budged into their conversation as well, "Not so certain how Vanellope's going to react to seeing Nox, though..."

"I already braced her," Ace mumbled, "She seemed pissed... But, I'll defend Nox. Like I always do."

Koko inhaled a silent gasp of surprise as she ever so slowly approached the massive golden arch of Sugar Rush's outlet. Having known nothing but a snowy wasteland, the forgotten dregs of sweet cheeriness and barely scraping by, her honey eyes dragged across the heavenly, golden station in pure awe. She shook her head, and as her heart nearly slowed to a draw of a stop, pure surprise coat her whole existence. She shook her head and messily covered her mouth with her hand. As gamers began to stroll into their respective outlets, her curious eyes did everything they could to soak it all in. She flinched once Vanellope's voice glossed over the back of her figure.

"Better than all those stories, right?" Vanellope cooed quietly as she came alongside her daughter; everyone else, from behind, began to lightly pile into the outlet with them. Koko nodded and inhaled a shaky breath as Vanellope continued, "I surely did miss this good 'ol station..."

"I-I can't believe there's... This whole other world, just within our grasp," Koko stated quietly, though her eyes finally gripped to her mother's, "I had no idea it'd be this huge... This warm."

"You guys are going to want to ditch the hoodies, once we get into Dead Zed," Tessa mumbled with a smile as she sauntered up, everyone chuckled and began to fiddle with the buttons and zippers on their heavy winter clothing.

"Yeah, today's a doozy," Libby muttered as she looked down to her clothes; she wore a cream tank top and comfortable skinny jeans, in which Tessa had coded for her a few days prior, as well as a whole new wardrobe to her liking. Libby glanced to Zed as the two shared knowing looks of dread, "There's a big storm coming, so it's more humid than usual."

"Warm weather," Taffyta huffed with a dreamy smile as she dragged her eyes to Zed's, "Please tell me you guys have a pool..."

"Just installed," Zed stated proudly, though Tessa furrowed her brow in elated surprise and gave Zed an eager look. He beamed her a bashful smile and cocked an eyebrow, "Got a LOT of new changes. Tessa doesn't even know what this new castle looks like."

"I've only been gone for a day and already the whole of it is different?" Tessa worried, though Zed gestures to everyone about them.

"Well, when Ace came back and told me that you guys had found everyone, I added rooms and such," Zed urged quietly.

"Rooms, a castle wall, a backyard with a pool and hot tub," Libby listed excitedly, though Taffyta began to firmly march out of Sugar Rush's outlet.

"SOLD, lead the way, Mr. dead last," Taffyta barked in irritation at the sheer fact that they weren't moving quick enough.

As everyone said their quiet, last 'goodbye' notions to Sugar Rush, they gave it the promise that they'd shortly return, for vengeance of the throne that was sneakily swiped from underneath them. As they parted with Game Central Station, everyone lazily chit chat on the train ride to End Of Line. Tessa sat in quiet silence in Zed's close presence. She eagerly assessed everyone as family lines crossed over into the second family she had come to accept as her own. She nearly couldn't believe this was actually reality. The way Libby and Koko immediately hit it off, the way Zed's gentle demeanor coat over Penny's hard exterior and even was able to worm a few smiles out of her, even the way Oliver and Ace became fast buds, just like she knew would happen. She furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation as she let the surroundings murmurs of love soak into her skin.

She wondered how getting out of Sugar Rush, with such ease, was even a possibility. She knew something was amiss, and merely slipping underneath Radex's radar was something she knew wasn't possible. Her heart dipped in cold nervousness; did he allow them to leave? Did he want them out of the game for good? Tessa's eyes dragged to Ace's figure across the way. He looked as bumbling, kind and innocent as could be, the way his bright, gap-toothed smile beamed up to his favorite uncle Oliver, the way the two boys joked and chattered, Tessa had to wonder if Radex simply knew a User was among them, and throwing himself into the cross fire of their creator was wholly something Radex couldn't afford. Tessa felt the undersides of her skin itch. She knew finding Radex, from here on out, might be near impossible if he is to play keep away from the most powerful being in Arcade.

As the group moseyed into the warmth of Dead Zed, and to the teleportation pad just hidden inside the game, everyone finally warped to the entrance of the castle in the blink of an eye. Tessa flinched and was graced with glorious, massive front gates to the home she had come to know and love, though she could tell, beyond those high white walls, the castle was near bursting at the seams with all the new features and rooms, just begging to be used as explored. Tessa gaped and lightly pointed to the beautiful front gates, and once they opened, upon Zed's command, it clearly showed a gorgeous mapping of hexagon tiled cream concrete, which lead straight to their massive garage and to the front patio and front door. Beyond the delicate touches of jungle foliage, and the peak of the sunlight through the towering jungle trees about them, everyone lightly cooed in awe as everyone stepped up to the front door. Tessa furrowed her brow and looked about the left side of the castle, beyond the front door. She could clearly see the sky room, though it had three smaller glass dome rooms attached to it. She dragged her attention to Zed in hard surprise, and as his smile grew smug, he shrugged his hands into his cargo short pockets and gave her a kind smolder.

"I may be a dude and simply let you take the reigns on building the castle, but..." everyone dragged their surprised stares to Zed as he continued, "I'm also King of this castle. Which is now fit to house nearly two dozen beings and-"

"You had Libby's help, didn't you," Ace muttered as he hung close to Libby, though Libby scrunched her shoulders, shot Ace a look of surprise and chuckled alongside everyone else.

"Yes, she helped," Zed muttered, though he flinched as Tessa firmly pushed into him for a big, elated hug.

"You did great," Tessa breathed quietly in his ear as she gave his cheek a firm smooch, "Why don't you show us your masterpiece of a castle, then?"

"Right this way," Zed chimed happily as he opened the massive, olive green doors.

As everyone slowly stepped inside, as if the place was to remain untouched, everyone ogled in gentle, quiet surprise. Kalivar castle still boasted it's typical, warm, homey air it had always had, though with all of Zed's, Libby's and Ralph's touches, it was clear the castle now had that perfect touch of regal beauty. Tessa's eyes scanned the now higher, arched ceilings, the golden crown moldings, the beige walls and marble accents, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and caught eyes with Zed, a subtle smolder the two easily melted into. Tessa nudged his arm softly, and as the doors closed once and for all, Tessa glanced back at her group of family that warmly eased into the foyer; Lickity, Royal and Balba had left to find their perch around the back side of the castle, in which Zed had cued them to prior.

"Kalivar castle," Zed urged as he gestured out, "Everyone has their own room, and everyone will get coded to the game so... Just in case any game-overs happen."

"You guys really outdid yourselves," Emery uttered as everyone peered about, the place was near flawless.

"I'll say," Tessa choked as she stepped up the few steps the lead from their massive living room into the heart of the house, and the most inviting point of the whole lot, the kitchen; her eyes sunk to their now larger kitchen island, and though she wasn't surprised to see Nox, she nearly double took as to just who was sitting next to him. Tessa froze, gaped and furrowed her eyebrows in hard surprise, "...Throttle?!"

"Never thought you'd ever see me again, huh?" Throttle quietly chuckled as he remained politely say at the island.

As Tessa's urgent footwork hurried across the kitchen, he stood and readied his friendly, though rather gangly, embrace for Tessa. He uttered a small grunt of delight as her strong, bumbling self pushed into him for a big hug around his center. He was easily a whole foot, or more, taller than her, though he managed to wrap his arms right about Tessa's upper shoulders. Everyone slowly began to mosey into the kitchen and ogle the curious sight, though Zed nervously hovered as he could see Vanellope's demeanor go from relaxed to a slow dribble of near unreadable, deathly delight. An ironic display of just what a predator would do to confuse prey. Zed held his breath and felt a wave of weirdness wash over him as Vanellope clearly was the only one bothered, though his nervous thoughts were popped by Tessa's excited voice.

"When did you get here? How... How come you're not at Academy?" Tessa urged happily as the two pulled away.

"O-oh uh... I arrived yesterday, a little bit after the arcade and academy opened," Throttle started through kind nervousness, his delightfully spooky, pixel-cubed stare peered down into Tessa's in a sheepish way, his white skin nearly glistened in Dead Zed's warm sunshine, "I... I was kicked out of Academy."

"Kicked out?" Tessa furrowed her brow in dire annoyance as she pressed on, "Not you, too!"

"Th-that's a conversation for another time," Throttle started with a nervous smile as he lightly glanced to the group of newcomers about the kitchen island, "Why... Why don't you introduce Nox and I to your family, then?"

"Right! Sorry," Tessa urged as she gestured to Throttle and gazed about her happy, expectant family members, "Guys, this is Throttle and Nox, they're... They're from uh... TurboTime."

"We've heard so much about you guys," Oliver stated quietly, and though his tone was kind, it was still clear everyone was extremely wary.

"Nox is Turbo's youngest brother... Throttle was Turbo's racing coach," Tessa stammered, she knew this was awkward information to be giving, "... We found Nox at EZ Living, he was homeless so we gave him a roof... Throttle's been teaching at End Of Line Academy for the last thirty years. I attended for a short time. He was my virus science teacher."

"Virus science," Taffyta finally chimed, though she looked as if she was having an easier time swallowing all of this, as far as her and Vanellope went, "Any reason behind teaching THAT particular subject?"

"I think it's pretty obvious why," Throttle stood his ground as kindly as he could. He held his hands behind his back and gave Taffyta a polite smile, "My famed, star pupil turned into the Arcade's worst nightmare, and I give curious minds insight into what we could do to stop that from ever happening again."

The whole room fell silent with Throttle's slick, deathly charm. Tessa bit her bottom lip in near terror, glanced to Zed and then again to Libby. Both of them shook their heads just barely, as if to express to Tessa that they were at a loss for just what to do in this situation.

"Okay so, uh... Guys, this is my younger brother Oliver, and, surprise! I have another sibling," Tessa stated sheepishly as the air about the room only gently loosened. Tessa gestured to Koko and quietly continued on, "My new sister, Koko... And then there's Emery, Oliver's girlfriend, and my sister-cousin, Penny."

Everyone politely waved and stated kind greetings to each other as Tessa went down the list, though she near swallowed her heart when she drew her attention to her aunt Taffyta.

"A-and uh... This is my aunt Taffyta," Tessa eased nervously, she only lightly dragged her eyes to her mother and felt her heart drop, "A-And... This is my mother, Vanellope Von Schw-"

"We've met," Vanellope darkly snapped, her tone was near a hiss of a whisper.

Everyone froze and could suddenly feel the tension rising off of Throttle and Vanellope. Even Nox glanced to Throttle in innocent, dewy surprise, though just as Nox readjusted his sitting position and awkwardly cleared his throat, Zed immediately got the hint and popped everyone's deathly silence.

"A-Alright guys, there's still a TON of castle left to see, so uh... Follow me, right this way," Zed urged in a quiet, overly cheery tone.

Everyone slowly began to file after Zed and quiet murmurings of curiosity began to fill the air, though as Tessa was the last to join the group, she peered over her shoulder and noticed her mother and Throttle remained stationed at the kitchen island, as if it were clear the two were gently sapped into a sudden death. As much as Tessa wanted to stay put and eavesdrop, she figured the two had a topic to hash away at; years of confusion, curiosity and sorrow likely brimmed between the two of them. The very man who created Sugar Rush's near-demise, and the Queen of her beloved, destroyed homeland that was caught in the crossfire of this confusing battle.


	70. Chapter 70

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Yeahhh Orph and Penny definitely have a pretty rocky start xD Also, Orph's hair IS silver, but it also has very very faint touches of light blue. I did that for variety, and no other reason lol. Orph definitely does stand out from his brothers, strictly because he's the loudest and most obnoxious, and his hair doesn't help that fact xD But it was strictly for aesthetics, as you said.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Ohh yeah, both the men and women of the castle get their good amount of guy and girl bonding time in - the first night is a little different tho. Everyone sort of sinks closer to their respective significant other, a more cozy 'first' night home, but as the story progresses, everyone falls into their own little groups :) And, you're very sharp - that's exactly what happens lol.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Aww Vanellope can't stay made at Throttle for too long. As shown in this chapter lol. Thank you! I'll reply back to you on my off days at work - been so busy lately D:

 **Snake557:** LOL I just imagined Throttle as a wildebeest and I nearly cried laughing.

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL! AB NEGATIVVVVE no jk. They're fine, but they hash out some stuff for sure. And, what am I ever NOT hiding? xD I always have some BS I'm sitting on to throw at you guys. And then everyone goes AWOL haha

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Yeahhh, poor Vanellope. It's definitely a lot to wrap her mind around. Thank you! :)

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! Vanellope's having a hard time adjusting lol

 **Xaehttium :** You'll find out Radex's whereabouts. I'm going to take you guys on a very long adventure in the mean time, but you WILL find out his whereabouts, I promise xD The Turbo boys definitely have a lot of trust to earn back, to Vanellope and the SR crew, but they get their shining moments here and there :)

* * *

 ***Chapter 70***

"Relax, I don't bite," Throttle finally broke their tension, and as painful as it was for him, he tried his very hardest to remain stoic and gentle towards their battered, fuming Queen.

Vanellope furrowed her brow harder and softly glanced to the island below her fingers; clean, smooth marble, something of which she used to be familiar with. Over the course of the year she had gone without even the luxury of running water, being in a glorious castle once more almost seemed as if it were illegal. She finally gave Throttle a good once over; he looked dejected, nervous, and overall upset. Dressed in a clean, black shirt and charcoal slacks, he was tidy and prim. Though his hair style, which was shorter and mocked Tessa's, was somehow still attempting to hold onto bed head. Vanellope just barely shook her head and squinted a little harder.

"Knowing I'll be sharing a roof with you, for the next... Indefinite amount of time?" Vanellope snapped quietly, though Throttle furthered his glare, she scoffed a sarcastic laugh and mocked Throttle in a hiss of a croak, "'Relax' ..."

"I'm not leaving," Throttle uttered darkly, "I already was kicked out of my old home..."

"Academy kicked you out? What'd you do, create another monster?" Vanellope prod meanly, though Throttle decided to prod back.

"I was kicked out because of a bunch of gossipy pricks," Throttle urged as he squinted his creepy stare and stabbed it straight into her nervous eyes, "I diligently taught your daughter, and your grandson, for weeks... They stayed after every day so I could continue to give them insight on just what happens to a virus, inside and out. How to avoid it. How to deal with it. Our hardships..."

"You went for nearly thirty years, in that dusty Academy, without gossip, but the second the Princess of Sugar Rush shows up," Vanellope pushed as she side-eyed Throttle, though Throttle inhaled deeply and stood a little taller.

"I wasn't kicked out due to anything virus related, I'll have you know," Throttle urged as he tilted his head down and gave Vanellope a mean, sarcastic frown, as if continuing to talk about these lies, that were spread about him, was his ultimate demise, "My students believed that me and your precious first born were hanging back to have sex. I was kicked out because multiple claims were filed against me, code of conduct was jeopardized, and majority rule... So, I apologize if my presence here is a little uncomfortable, Your Majesty. It was never my intention to, oh, I don't know... Get here first...?"

Vanellope felt her skin go pale at Throttle's words, and though she felt her heart immediately race at the idea of Throttle ever doing anything, of that nature, to Tessa, she had to stop and think through this mess; the very idea that Ace was there, with them, every day after class, like mentioned. Throwing her code around didn't sound like Tessa's personality at all. She shook her head, in defeat, and glared down to the marble counter. The air between them was stiff, though as if the year gap without any sort of hand in power had made her weak, she felt her soul easily slip to defeat. Throttle's stern, stoic voice glossed over her in an easy-mode check mate.

"You know full well I didn't create Turbo's antics on purpose," Throttle hissed, "He went mad, and User knows why... Ego doesn't just get to a person, so easily..."

"You're the Virus Science expert, you tell me," Vanellope muttered as her demeanor slipped underneath Throttle's powerful aura.

"What do you think I've been trying to accomplish for the last two or three decades?" Throttle urged in annoyance, "I know we haven't seen each other for the last five years, but... You remember our last conversation, don't you? The year Turbo died..."

"I don't even know my own last name anymore," Vanellope volleyed sarcastically, "So much has happened, in the last five years... So much has changed..."

"I wouldn't know," Throttle muttered as he crossed his arms, "I've been cooped in my dusty classroom... I'm just glad your daughter showed up. She furthered my studies tenfold in the last few weeks, than any amount of digging I've done in the last few years."

"Your students seemed to agree," Vanellope muttered as she cocked an eyebrow.

"I guess I should've put myself in their shoes," Throttle huffed through a long, defeated sigh, "I had five students, not including Ace and Tessa... All of them would leave when the bell rang, except for Ace and Tessa. Before Ace was old enough, Tessa was the only one hanging back, and even Zed would come visit."

"Of course, all they saw was that Tessa was lingering back so you two could be alone," Vanellope mumbled, Throttle nodded in annoyance.

"I still have my original coding," Throttle admitted quietly, "I've had it for as long as I've been alive... Trust me, I enjoy Tessa's presence and all, but... I'm pretty positive Zed would slaughter me. I also wasn't about to jeopardize my long standing record... As pathetic as it may seem, I think it's a feat. I had a girlfriend, once upon a time, but when TurboTime got unplugged, guess who went down the shitter..."

Vanellope raised her eyebrows in dewy surprise and felt a sorrowful frown begin to coat over her mean grimace. She heaved a soft sigh through her nose, and just as she was about to soften her stance, Throttle's stern voice knocked her back.

"Mrs. Vanellope, do you remember what you asked of me back when your game first got an upgrade? Back when your helpless game was saddled in the back of the Arcade, in End Of Line?" Throttle questioned as he cocked an eyebrow, the two held their gentle stares, "Your game was left vulnerable, what with Ralph out of the picture in that petty miscommunication you two went through... You begged me to give you Nox's and Lash's whereabouts. You visited me on that one, cold, fateful after-hours night."

"Your point?" Vanellope spat quietly.

"Welp, I can tell you for certain I now know where Nox is," Throttle chuckled and pointed to the hallway the group vanished to, "But you know my answer on the other two... I wasn't lying to you."

"Turbo's dead," Vanellope dared, though it nearly came out as a question; Throttle furrowed his brow.

"Course he's dead," Throttle hissed, "After the story you gave me, one doesn't just plummet into molten diet cola and live to tell the tale."

Vanellope froze and furrowed her brow in contemplation. Suddenly, memories of being the ever-so-hated glitch flood her thoughts, the years she endured when she was small, trapped inside Diet Cola mountain. All those times where she brought herself to her own game-over because the pain of being rejected was near too much... She furrowed her brow harder into her eyes and let them scan the counter top in hard contemplation.

"I've done it before, but... I always regenerated," Vanellope pressed nervously, "You don't think... Turbo was coded for Sugar Rush, do you?"

"If he was, he would've regenerated, and, well... You'd likely see a lot of him, in and out of the code room's radar," Throttle suddenly felt as if the two were melting onto the same page, once and for all. He swallowed nervously and gave her a confused look, "What's that one virus that has been giving Sugar Rush grief for the past few years?"

"Radex," Vanellope hissed quietly, "He... He was Rancis. He went mad over a squabble him and Taffyta had, and... Bottom line, he died in Vanilla Lake, a black hole of the game... We gave the game a hard reset, once upon a time, and he came back because of it, though he was sort of copy-pasted, and Radex split from Rancis."

"A legitimate good and evil... Where's Rancis now?" Throttle pushed, though Vanellope shook her head.

"Meshed back with Radex, we believe," Vanellope sighed.

"Because of the things Zed and Tessa did outside of the Arcade?" Throttle wondered softly, though Vanellope shook her head, took a few steps away and crossed her arms in mild wariness.

"They didn't know, they were just trying to help and did a clean reset of the game on the outside," Vanellope uttered quietly, "All this time I figured maybe you were behind all of Turbo's actions... Even when I DID see you, after our upgrade, I didn't believe you when you told me that you didn't know where Lash or Nox went... I believed you were using them as your puppets as well."

"I wouldn't sit myself right in the heart of the station's authority if I had anything to do with Sugar Rush's demise," Throttle reassured as he carefully removed himself from the island and approach Vanellope's fragile, nervous figure, "Academy protected me... So many people wanted me dead, simply because they thought I was behind it all. Turbo went crazy..."

"When TurboTime got unplugged?" Vanellope questioned as her eyes finally drew to Throttle's once he approached.

"Well... Yeah. He was power hungry, but, to be honest with you, the unplug really humbled him down," Throttle explained, "There was a long period of time where him and Lash would sneak into Academy to visit me. They were just simple nomads, didn't really have a home in the Arcade. User knows where they were resting their heads. Nearly a decade went by before that one silly... Demo game got plugged in."

"Demo game?" Vanellope hissed, though she shook her head and was about to carry on with questions, though the memories came back to her, she raised her eyebrows softly, "Sugar Rush's demo..."

"I-I forget the name of it, and the people inside... Bright, toe-headed, cheery bunch," Throttle waggled his hand, "S-Sweet... Town?"

"Sweet Streets," Vanellope hissed, "He hung out in Sweet Streets?"

"Yeah, Turbo even showed me, Nox and Lash around," Throttle nodded, "Turbo and Lash managed to fish Nox out of EZ Living for a few nights. The demo got upgraded while we were staying the night, once... Hence, why we're all not tiny anymore... Turbo then must've downgraded when he... Coded himself for Sugar Rush..."

"So he IS coded for Sugar Rush?" Vanellope near panicked, though Throttle held up his hands.

"I-I highly doubt it, I don't know anything," Throttle begged honestly, though Vanellope's eyes stabbed into his in dire need, "That's all I can think of... But if you haven't seen him at all, and his name never came up on the radar, then I'm assuming he died."

"He DID get morphed into a Hero's Duty cy-bug," Vanellope trailed off as she fingered her lip, though Throttle furrowed his brow.

"Well, yeah, if the cy-bug wasn't coded for Sugar Rush, then... He's a goner," Throttle encouraged, though Vanellope shook her head and softly covered her face in agitated sorrow. Throttle frowned and heaved a long breath, though before he could let his skin grow cold with seclusion, once more, he tenderly reached his hand to Vanellope's upper arm and lovingly squeezed, "You have every right to want to tear me apart... I was Turbo's ultimate teacher... Of course you're going to blame me."

Vanellope removed her hands from her face and peered her teary gaze into Throttle's, though the ironic warmth of his white, cold looking skin was a nice surprise. She finally slumped her shoulders and let the tears slide down her cheeks; years of grief and confusion began to show signs of wanting to slide away from her existence. Throttle gently gave her a warm, snarky smile and shook his head.

"C'mon... You have a fantastic team, here. Not only are you the Queen of your game, with Ralph as your King, you have three wonderful children... I'm not certain about Oliver and Koko, but I can tell you now, Tessa is a coding genius," Throttle chuckled as he tenderly shook her a bit; she finally smiled and looked down in a bashful way. He lovingly continued on, "You have two TurboTime boys, who have the inside scoop... And you have an Ace up your sleeve... You have a KILLER setup, my lady."

"I didn't really take a step back to think about it, that way," Vanellope sighed.

"You just returned to safety, I'm sure your mind has a lot going on, right now," Throttle assured through a soft laugh; Vanellope nodded before he continued on softly, "You have such a game-ending team... With everyone's help, winning back Sugar Rush is going to be CAKE. No pun intended."

"It should be intended," Vanellope finally showed a genuine smile as the two shared a laugh. Vanellope shook her head and peered her apologetic gaze into Throttle's, "I'm... I'm sorry for patronizing you..."

"I'm beyond numb to it," Throttle grumbled as he cocked an eyebrow, "I've learned to live with it. I understand your frustration..."

"I just don't understand how simple encouragement goes to someone's head," Vanellope hissed, in loo of Turbo's demise. She grimaced and curiously peered into Throttle's eyes, "How can something so good and simple go sour so quickly?"

"I have no idea," Throttle shook his head, "He was so kind, so good and so full of energy... His brothers looked up to him, he was such a joy to have around, all the time."

"Sounds so backwards, from everything he's done to ruin MY life," Vanellope muttered, Throttle shook his head.

"Somewhere down the line, something went wrong... No use dwelling on it now," Throttle sighed, "He's gone... And History won't repeat itself."

* * *

"That wasn't awkward or anything," Zed hissed a sarcastic, quiet whisper.

Everyone slowly began to file down the long hallway in which lead to Tammy, Koko, Penny, Emery and Oliver's new rooms. With a spiral staircase, in which they had passed, which lead up to Duke, Orph, Jax and Tej's rooms, this wing of the castle was nestled between the grassy abyss of the backyard and the busy center of the kitchen. A single, thick walled hallway separated said wing from any noise that the heart of the castle may bring. Zed quietly listed off Oliver's and Emery's room, which they passed first. The couple took their opportunity to sink into their room and get their bearings, a love nest in which they would make sure to use to their advantage. As the two began to happily chatter from their new room, the group pressed on, though as the hallway got longer, and with the lack of open doors, it eventually grew darker; the only thing visible was two doors near the end of the hallway, one which lead to the garage and one which lead to this wing's swooping outdoor patio. The only light available was that of the gentle, yellow glow Nox's eyes gave off.

"Lead the way, Nox," Tessa chuckled as she nudged his arm, she noticed Zed, in her peripheral, grope the wall for a light switch, though just as Nox was about to lightly retort, his secluded little world was delightfully popped.

"Whoa, your eyes glow in the dark?" Koko wondered in dire excitement as she pushed closer to Nox, and, much to his surprise, he gave her his creepy, golden stare and was floored to hold solid, unwavering eye contact with her.

"Y-yeah, I... I creep people out all the time," Nox stammered, though with the strange feeling that fell over him, he nearly felt as if Koko had delightfully cornered him. His own self defense of warding off any unwanted attention, strictly because of how terrifying his eyes looked, was clearly failing, and was obviously something that left Koko wholly un-phased. He beamed a cheeky, bashful smile, glanced away a few times and was excited to find that she only merely squinted and kept her eyes further honed to his, as if to politely ask if she could have a better look, "Don't... Don't be scared if you see either Throttle or I lurking about at night."

"Scared? Why would I be scared?" Koko wondered dully, though as if to merely question something odd. Nox raised his eyebrows and, in her mere words, he felt his heart dip; something he hadn't felt in a long while.

"O-Oh, uh... It's just something that freaks others out, sometimes, I guess," Nox rubbed the back of his head with a now nervous smile, though everyone flinched as Zed finally found the light switch. Calm, hallway lights lit up the high ceiling arches of the corridor, and with this, Nox's eyes ceased to have that alluring, golden glow. He directed his eyesight back to Koko out of curiosity and shrugged, "I don't really know why my eyes glow in the dark. It wasn't necessary for my game, or anything... Even way back when."

"So you're from TurboTime? A racing game, right?" Koko pressed quietly, albeit enthusiastically; Zed quietly listed off the other three bedrooms down this corridor, though as they pushed out of the door at the end of the hallway, and to the massive back side of the backyard, near Throttle's smaller abode, Koko and Nox quickly fell into step with each other as her pretty voice trailed on, "That game got unplugged a long time ago, right?"

"Yeah, about thirty years ago," Nox eased, he wrinkled his nose and gave her a growing, elated smile, "I-I'm sort of from a different time."

"What was TurboTime like? Was it anything like Sugar Rush? Surely the Arcade was different, too," Koko wondered gently, though Nox looked down with a growing, bashful smile and felt a weird wave of delight continue to fall over him.

"I-I can tell you all about it," Nox assured as he nervously tucked his hands into his short's pockets. He glanced Koko a kind smile and shrugged, "I remember my game like it was yesterday."

"Holy User in the sky, this is INCREDIBLE," Oliver blurt as him, Penny, Taffyta and Emery quickly made their way out into the first few steps of the massive field; for now, the field was blank, though there was a perfect spot out in the grass for the future reveal of Ace's, Libby's and Nox's tower.

"Isn't it awesome?" Libby chimed in equal excitement as everyone began to lazily mosey on over towards the pool, past the hot tub and main outdoor patio.

It was in this moment did the whole group finally spot Finn and Tammy, who were quietly standing with each other near the gorgeous pool's edge. The pool, which was a large, winding paradise, housed a massive rock waterfall and a faux-sandy beach that dipped into the pool water at a gradual slope. Once Tammy noticed the rest of her family approaching, of which she hadn't seen in over a year, their cheers and laughs of dire happiness and excitement could be heard. Tessa hung back, slumped her shoulders and eagerly peered about Zed's, Libby's and her father's glorious creation. She could hardly believe it to be true. She shook her head, tucked her hair behind her ear and soaked in every single last sound, sight and smell her coding could get it's pixels on. Before she could think too deeply on just maybe what the rest of the castle looked like, Zed's charming, kind voice glossed over her.

"Brownie points are to be given out tonight, right?" Zed wondered darkly, though before Tessa could turn around and retort, he lovingly scooped her into his strong arms, bowed his head and tucked his forehead gently into hers. She beamed him an excited smile, her bashful giggle escaped her figure, and just as she opened her mouth to playfully protest, Zed cut her off, "I made our bedroom extra special..."

"What, it has an escape hatch?" Tessa played, both her and Zed laughed in their own little romantic bubble as Tessa draped her arms about Zed's neck. He just barely swayed her and kept her tight to his body, his snarky smile beamed into her face as their eyes barely fluttered closed.

"You can't escape from me," Zed playfully growled, his tone was quiet and only for her ears. He teasingly chomped his teeth, bared them and squeezed Tessa a little tighter to his body, "We should celebrate tonight."

"What are we celebrating?" Tessa wondered quietly, though her eyes squinted shut daintily as Zed warmly pushed his lips to hers, their overflowing bubble of summery, warm romance lit the clouds ablaze, the whole sky nearly rejoiced the King and Queen's love.

"Your success," Zed whispered as their lips pulled apart, though he ducked down for seconds; she giggled on his mouth as the two barely stirred, "You managed to reunite your family... I'd say that's worth throwing our own little party for. Guest list : Me and you."

"I am so glad I'm not invited," Ace suddenly blurt as he tapped the backs of his large knuckles to his father's strong lower arm, which was riddled in sunkissed, cyan blue arm-hair, and tightly wrapped around his mother's waist. Ace gestured his fingers, peered about in a joking manner and finally stabbed his eyes straight into Zed's with a cheeky look of dominance. Ace cocked an eyebrow as Tessa and Zed froze in their stance, though Ace looked down to Zed's pockets and gestured his fingers a little harder, "Ahem? Pay up."

"What!" Zed barked quietly as Tessa and Zed slowly eased apart, though Ace firmly gestured across the way; Nox and Koko largely hit it off, and though the group was intermingled, it was clear the two had very quickly taken a liking to each other. Zed slumped his shoulders, assessed the two, heaved a hard drone of a sigh and began to dig his hand into his pocket. Once he pulled out a good few larger bills of EZ Living money, he shoved it into Ace's larger hand and swat at him as he playfully sauntered away. Both boys laughed, though Zed let his hiss of a retort chase after his son, "Get out of my sight."

"Thank you very much," Ace chimed as he counted the few bills, folded them and sunk them into his pocket, though his cheeky demeanor fell flat once he caught eyes with Libby. She cocked an eyebrow, crossed her arms and beamed him a knowing smile. Ace slumped his shoulders and began to look rather sheepish, "What!"

"Are you seriously betting just who, of Koko and Penny, pair off with the other boys?" Libby laughed, Ace shrugged and only attempted to push away from Libby's grabby demeanor, though he was ecstatic to feel her keep in tow with him.

"Sooo I put my money on Koko digging my best guy friend," Ace shrugged, "Besides. I have enough money now for both of us to get a spool of that cotton candy you love, at EZ Living."

"I know you wouldn't go without me," Libby chimed in a girly way as she peered at Ace down her nose, though she glanced back at Tessa and Zed and giggled as the two fell back into their own little romantic world, "You just HAVE to interrupt them, too, huh? Zed gets his woman back and all you're concerned about is money?"

"Whatever, they'll have a pants off dance off tonight and I get cotton candy, everyone wins," Ace lazily droned, he shot Libby a cheeky smile through his handsome hazel eyes, though he peered about the blank field, to the right of the pool area, and felt his heart suddenly surge in eagerness. He lazily pointed as the two slowed to a halt, "Hey, uh... Hopefully my room will go somewhere over there?"

"OUR room," Libby corrected with a happy smile, though the second Ace's facial expression fell flat, hot red and surprised, Libby raised her eyebrows at just what her words could potentially insinuate. She held up her hands and vigorously shook her head, "N-No! I-I mean... Not like, OUR room, like you and I... Sh-sharing, I just mean... Our TOWER. Uh... We each will have our own separate room. Floor... W-with a door and lock. Y-You already knew about it, right?"

"I knew I was getting a tower of some sort, and I knew I would likely share it with a few people," Ace prod in a stammer, his face bruised a gentle blush as well, though he eyed Libby and beamed her a cheeky smile, as if he felt sudden joy in seeing her get so flustered, "Y'okay there?"

"I-I'm fine, I just... I'm really glad you're home," Libby pushed, as if to seem nonchalant. She shrugged, gestured about the field and shook her head, "I-I guess Zeddy is going to reveal the tower on your birthday, on Sunday."

"What's tomorrow?" Ace prod.

"Friday," Libby volleyed, though Ace slumped his shoulders.

"...Well then where do WE sleep in the meantime?" Ace complained, though Libby furrowed her eyebrows, shrugged and glanced to Ace.

"My guess is the Sky Room. Would be cool if we could sleep outside, though... Under the stars," Libby prod in a girly tone as she peered up to the glorious blue sky, though angry thunderheads could be seen on the horizon.

"Yeah, and get dumped on by all the rain we're bound to get, tonight," Ace blurt, Libby giggled.

"Tonight will be interesting, for sure," Libby sighed, "This will be the first night everyone is finally under the same roof. I hope the castle is still standing, come tomorrow morning."

"Well, with how grabby my dad is being towards my mom, and the fact that Vanellope hasn't seen Paw in a whole year," Ace dragged his eyesight to his Uncle Oliver and Aunt Emery across the way, "And my Uncle Oliver has only swapped with Emery twice due to not having firewall protection, the whole year they were trapped in Sugar Rush..."

"... Got any ear plugs?" Libby muttered, Ace nudged her with a small laugh; she wobbled and giggled, though with a firm swat, she nudged him back.

"Maybe dad sound-proofed every swap-mate's rooms," Ace mumbled as the two settled side by side.

"Only one way to find out," Libby retort quietly.

* * *

 **A/N: Heavy reminder that a MAP of the Kalivar castle is on my deviantART xD I will likely be drawing some 'room' shots, to show you just exactly what the castle looks like, outside of a 2D map, so hopefully those pictures will help too. I'll let you know when those are up, I need to find the free time first lol**


	71. Chapter 71

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Sorry about that, don't take it personally. I haven't legitimately read fanfiction since maybe 2004 lol. Thanks for all your compliments! It's definitely becoming a chore, keeping up with all of these guys and the couples I am preparing and etc., but everyone gets their shining moments. And they allll slowly creep their way to Tessa and Zed for advice xD And yes, I didn't delete the phrase, I promise haha

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yeahhh I'm bad at the whole spoilers thing. I can't keep everything inside me, well... INSIDE xD mostly everyone knows of Turbo and etc... When, why and how he's revealed though, you guys will never know. I'm glad you like Nox with Koko! Definitely a fun dynamic, and it was sort of my way of making Koko's character a bit more prominent, because Nox is Ace's best guy friend - the four (Ace, Nox, Libby and Koko) eventually turn into a typical 'double-dating' sort of cluster. I'm trying my best to expand more on Koko's character because she has a prominent role in my fourth story :D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** No, nothing's changed. He hasn't 'gotten mad' over something new, or anything. The plot is still the same xD You'll find out what happened. The plot will unravel eventually, I promise lol. Thank you!

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL Thank you! :D I'm glad you're on about things being on the up and up.

 **Snake557:** Thank you! :)

 **Retrokill :** Wow that was a roller coaster all the way through! Fantastic read xD No, Libby's last statement wasn't supposed to be sexual or suggestive or anything - it totally came across that way tho. I didn't know you're out in the middle east. That's really rad. I can't believe my story like stretches that far. Thanks man

* * *

 ***Chapter 71***

 **dont touch me**

(for those of you that follow me on Instagram, I wasn't lying. I told you I'd leave it in xD for those of you that are lost, Cory wrote that while I was out of the room haha. It like... Sort of makes me nervous, cause I have no idea WTF else he's sneakily put into my chapters if I leave the office lol! Hopefully nothing. I'm sure you guys would've said something xD)

As the game day progressed, and the Kalivar castle finally began to settle into the proper swing of things, everyone fell into a calm routine with the growing, solid amount of people under one roof. Taffyta had quickly escaped to her room, a smaller glass dome of an abode, in which branched off of the Sky Room. Tessa, Zed, Ralph and Vanellope had a similar setup, and all five figureheads shared their now larger Sky Room as a gathering point outside their bedrooms. Oliver and Emery had long vanished to their new love nest, and it was clear they did not want to be disturbed, likely for the rest of the night. Penny came and went from the kitchen to her bedroom, she became acclimated a little bit slower than the rest of the group, though she quietly perused and explored her massive, luxurious new home. Sat messily about the couch and recliners of the living room, Ace, Nox, Throttle, Zed and Finn loudly chattered and browsed through the tv stations.

At the heart of everything, sat purposefully grouped in a long overdue cluster of female bonding, Vanellope, Tessa, Koko, Libby and Tammy sat among barstools, stood leaned over the kitchen island and quickly carried on endless amounts of excitable, quiet conversation. Neatly organized, on a larger, pretty plate, was a delicious platter of sugar cookies right in the center of the island. Tessa licked her fingers clean and delightfully picked for another one, though she eyed her mother curiously and wondered how many she had eaten, or if she had even had any at all. After a game wide reset, coding everyone to the grid, and giving everyone the proper refresh they needed, Vanellope looked like she did before this whole mess was created, as did everyone trapped in Sugar Rush for the long year of their barbaric way of life. Clean skin, healthy hair and lack of prominent cheek bones; Tessa eyed her mother every now and then. She knew Vanellope's mind was racing elsewhere, what with the nervous twinkle in her eye.

"The REAL reason I kept coming back, to play with Ace every day, was so I could be treated to Tessa's cooking," Libby mumbled as she pawed for another cookie; everyone giggled, "Not because of Ace, not a chance."

"These are really good," Tammy sighed through a small bite of cookie; they were deliciously frosted with all sorts of colors of frosting and sprinkles, "Princess of Sugar Rush knows how to make cookies, that's for sure."

"This one was the guinea pig for all my creations," Tessa stated through a small laugh as she lovingly lulled her arm over Libby's shoulder and tugged her into a side hug. Libby happily obliged and nestled the side of her head into the nook of Tessa's neck and upper chest, "I'm assuming I did everything right... Hence, why you kept coming back."

"'Hey Ace, yeah yeah, I get it, you're happy to see me, just show me where the food is'," Koko stated in a high pitch voice, obviously pretending to be a younger version of Libby. Everyone laughed as Libby stifled giggles through trying to chew her cookie, "I'm surprised you kept leaving the Kalivar castle, everyday."

"Trust me, I didn't want to," Libby sighed with a smile as she shook her head, though she unglued her gentle position from Tessa and gave her a kind, curious smile, "There were times I even slept over, right?"

"Yeahhh we had to cut that at the quick, first round in," Tessa muttered as she rolled her eyes and shot her gaze to the back of Ace's head, which was across the gap. All boys loudly joked, though Ace furrowed his brow and peered at the women at the kitchen island, the fact that he kept hearing his name over and over got him curious. Tessa giggled and nudged Libby's arm, "You guys nearly just missed the cut off, for sleepovers. We had to deny you two that right cause a certain someone had the goo-goo eyes for you."

"It's probably because I kissed him," Libby stated quietly, though everyone gawked and gave Libby excited, surprised smiles. Libby giggled as everyone began to paw at her and beg her to spill, though Tessa furrowed her brow and only peered to Libby in delightful confusion as she carried on, "S-So we snuck out and I rewarded his bravery."

"Teasing is your game, I guess?" Tammy uttered with a hard laugh, everyone beamed and stated agreeing notions as Libby shrugged and looked up.

"That... That was the last night we saw you, until you were forbidden to come back, right?" Tessa wondered softly, her tone grew slightly sad; Libby frowned and nodded.

"Yeah... Guess it was more a parting gift than a reward for bravery, after all," Libby eased quietly, though her face turned red as she anxiously peered to Ace's whereabouts. She hoped to User he wasn't listening in. Each boy, across the way, was lost in loud chatter and boyish laughter, anyhow.

"Well, it's a good thing you're back, then," Koko pressed with a dainty smile and a small shrug, "Where kisses can mean something verrry different."

"I-It's not like that," Libby pleaded quietly as everyone continued to prod her of kind, teasing notions; Tessa knew to steer the conversation away from the inevitable. She knew Libby's standings, on being romanced by anyone, at this point, was likely extremely sensitive.

"What's up, mom, you're awfully quiet," Tessa urged, and just like she was hoping, everyone dragged their attention off of Libby and straight for Vanellope's bashful smile. Libby politely peered to Tessa and mouthed her a small 'thank you'. Tessa nodded softly, gave Libby's arm a gentle squeeze and diverted her attention back to her mother for further pressing, "You uh... Excited for game day to end?"

"Excited?" Vanellope looked up, shrugged, bit her lip and contemplated a few things all while Tammy and Koko sent her stifles of teasing notions. Vanellope finally giggled and peered to the two girls, to her left, "I-I mean... Yeah, I'm excited. Nervous? Terrified?"

"Terrified?" Tammy barked, in loo of the topic of code swapping with Ralph, for the first time, once more.

"Have you SEEN my dad?" Koko muttered as she cocked an eyebrow and peered to her mother, "I heard stories of just how tall and big he was, but geez... Safe to say, you're in for a wake-up call, mom."

"Yeah... After too long, one... Forgets," Vanellope stammered nervously with a dainty smile, though she flinched in a hiccup as her hot blue glitch of a coding wigged about her arms and hands. Vanellope coughed into her fist, peered about the group in a startled way and felt her heart race as everyone began to loudly laugh. Vanellope flagged her hand down, as if to tell everyone to shut up, "I-I honestly am fine!"

"Better say goodbye to that blue coding of yours, mom," Tessa mumbled, Libby giggled and covered her mouth in elated surprise, though just as everyone was about to carry on teasing Vanellope, the front door to the castle creaked open. Vanellope inhaled a nervous gasp and whirled around, though as Dead Zed's racers could be seen gently filing into the foyer, across the way, Vanellope heaved a hard sigh, slumped back into her seat and covered her face. Tessa beamed the girls, at the counter, a wide, sarcastic smile and eyed her mother, "What'samatter, mom. Afraid something might get... Wrecked?"

"My dignity, for sure," Vanellope muttered into her hands as the girls giggled, "You want to know how educated I am in the realm of swapping, anymore?"

"Oh, come on, it's like... Riding a bike," Tessa gestured her hand, "You never forget."

"Yeah, a BIKE," Tammy blurt, everyone stifled hard laughter, "A really BIG bike that destroys our precious Niceland building."

"I'm going to throw up," Vanellope whimpered sarcastically as the girls continued to howl with laughter, though they were delightfully interrupted by the group of men that slowly began to saunter closer to the kitchen.

"Hey, new faces," Duke stated happily as he unzipped his thick racing jacket. He gently approached the group of girls, as did the rest of the group, they were eager to finally get acquainted with their new house-mates, "We're really glad you guys made it, safe and sound. My name's Duke."

"Vanellope," Vanellope stated with a kind smile as she shook Duke's hand, though the rest of the racers politely stepped up, though their footwork was nervous and gentle.

"Three of them already hit the hay," Zed stated with a gentle chuckle as he came alongside Tessa, though he peered to Koko, Tammy and Vanellope, "These are my younger brothers, and... Sad as it is, there are six of us racers... But only four of them race."

"Do. Not. Remind me," Tej stated in a sarcastic mutter, though his smile broadened once the girls at the island giggled.

Nox nervously hung back as even Throttle and Ace pushed forward to watch the show, though Nox's eyes anxiously dragged to Koko's whereabouts. He felt his face heat up, and though he was excited that he had the upper hand on getting to know her for the entire day, he suddenly felt outmatched between all the other awesome, powerful racing men in the group. Nox felt his stomach knot, and though he knew he had absolutely no right to hold claim over Koko, someone he had already begun to enjoy having around, he sighed and figured likely one of the other boys would grab her attention harder. He sighed a little, looked down to the tiles and let his heart feel the gentle dip of sorrow; he knew he had his moment, and it was short lived, though he somehow tried to hold onto hope.

"So, here we have my youngest brother, Tej," Zed motioned, Tej shyly waved as Zed continued on, "Then we have number two on the roster, Jax."

"'Sup," Jax gently motioned his hand, Vanellope and Koko volleyed a similar notion in return.

"Third is Orph, careful, he bites," Zed stated sarcastically, everyone blurt into gentle laughter.

"No no, my bark is worse than my bite," Oprh pointed his finger in a lazy fashion, as if to state that Zed had it backwards.

"Then we have Duke, here," Zed carried on quietly, "And, you guys have already met Finn, obviously... Guys, this is Tessa's mother, the infamous Vanellope Von Schweetz."

"It's an honor to have you here," Jax stated politely, and as if each boy was suddenly starstruck by fame, they peered to Vanellope with dewy, innocent stares, like they weren't certain this situation was real.

"And, this is Tessa's littlest sister, Koko," Zed kindly gestured to Koko, in which each boy made it a point to give her the nicest hello they all could muster. Zed looked about the kitchen and sighed, "Tessa's Aunt, younger brother and his swap-mate, Emery, all went to sleep... Is Penny still around?"

"She's... She's in her room, I'll go get her in a little bit," Tessa gestured softly, as if to insinuate introducing Penny to the group would likely be a bit of a fragile task.

"You're missing someone," Throttle chimed silently, though Zed firmly furrowed his eyebrows. Everyone fell silent and peered about the Dead Zed racers, though Throttle choked a laugh, "YOU, you dunce. You may not have a game day, but you're still on the roster, right?"

"Have you ever had a quarter alert?" Koko asked Zed in an annoyed tone, though she volleyed a playful smile after said notion. Everyone loudly began to gripe towards Zed, though Finn tried his very hardest to remain quiet, as well.

"I have, actually," Zed crossed his arms and smiled as all the men began to melt further into the kitchen; the four Dead Zed racers began to attempt to relax by rummaging through the pantries for food and the fridge for something cold to drink, "I was terrified. I know what I'm doing out there, and I'll race these guys a few times a week, but otherwise... It was bizarre."

"Rusty?" Vanellope wrinkled her nose, though everyone raised their eyebrows and cooed notions of excitement towards Zed.

"Not in the slightest," Zed retort in a polite tone, though him and Vanellope caught smiles in friendly fire, a new, competitive spirit between all the racers under one roof Zed was certain would light the building on fire.

"Guys, does pizza sound okay for dinner?" Tessa nonchalantly asked, though it was more directed towards the boys that just came home.

"Does Lickity shit in the backyard?" Orph asked loudly, as if to be daring; Lickity, from her lounged spot in the Sky Room's entrance, lifted her head in hard annoyance and flattened her ears.

"Not ONCE have I shit back there!" Lickity argued to Orph, and though it looked as if she wanted to stand and get upset, she remained still and honed her annoyed gaze to Orph, who laughed and laughed, "You'd know, dude... I'll freaking put it in your pillow... See how double pink eye looks on yah. I know where you sleep."

"Have you learned nothing?" Tessa muttered as Orph swung the fridge door open wide.

"Apparently not," Orph mumbled through a hard chuckle as he ruffled his silver hair; it had been matted to his scalp because of his racing helmet. He heaved a hard sigh, grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and opened it. He took a few hard gulps of water, exhaled a refreshed sigh and closed the fridge door, though in the process, he began to back step towards the hallway that lead to the castle's only wing of bedrooms. He kept his gaze to Tessa, though he pointed to Lickity, across the way, "I think we might be getting somewhere, though. Typically, by now, she'd be up on her hind legs threatening to-"

Orph uttered a small noise of a grunt as he suddenly bumped into someone, and in a hard flinch, he whirled around and was surprised to hear glass shatter. Penny jolted, looked down to the ground and froze amidst the glass cup she had been previously holding; it was shattered and splayed between her and Orph. Water, from the cup, had gotten all over the front of her chest. Orph inhaled a nervous gasp and suddenly felt the world slow. He furrowed his brow and, before he could utter a massive apology, he waved his hand out a little and clutched his chest, as if to begin to think about saying words, though nothing came out.

"You guys okay?" Tessa urged quietly, though once she approached with the broom, she peered to Penny in dire anxiousness; the look on Penny's face was that of quiet, lethal death, "Are you hurt, Penny?"

"No," She uttered darkly as she squinted and peered about the glass at her feet, though Orph suddenly swiped the broom from Tessa's hands and began to diligently clean up the glass away from Penny's feet.

"I-I-I... I'm really... S-sorry," Orph stammered nervously, he furrowed his eyebrows and felt his heart race in a sudden urge of trying to hide his mistake, and trying to hide his embarrassment even more so. He glanced his handsome, flitting silver eyes to Penny's hot blue squint of a stare, "I-I wasn't watching where I was going..."

"That's okay," Penny snipped, and though her words promised forgiveness, her tone held in stoic, mean delight.

"I-I really... Just didn't look where I was going," Orph stated politely, a gentlemanly tone that he pulled off nicely, and though it wasn't in his nature to even think about the idea of softness, he suddenly felt it cloak over him like a veil of daintiness he never thought he'd ever acquire. Once he swept away all the glass, and made sure the ground was safe to walk on, he held out his lightly trembling hand to Penny and gave her a nervous, bashful smile, "I'm... I'm Orph. I'm number three on the roster."

"Penny," She stated, and though she hesitated, she gingerly slipped her hand into Orph's and the two solidly shook.

Orph huffed a breath of delight and finally broadened his dorky smile, and though he suddenly dragged his eyes to her left arm, which was riddled in a few massive scars, he jolted and realized they weren't the only two in the room. As much as he suddenly felt enraptured by this raw and somehow thorny individual, and how much said demeanor sparked his curiosity, he was shaken out of his thoughts once Zed's voice was present.

"Reward for best entrance goes to... Penny," Zed chuckled as everyone did the same and finally relaxed, "Boys, this is Tessa's younger cousin, Penny."

"Sorry Zed, for... Y'know," Penny gestured to the dustpan full of broken glass as she tenderly pushed past Orph and approached the kitchen island; Orph stammered on few quiet notions, as if he wanted so badly to keep apologizing to Penny, though he felt defeat hit his skin as Penny clearly moved on.

"No problem, we have a dozen more," Zed waggled his hand as he helped Tessa in ridding of the shards of glass.

"That's a... Wicked scar," Jax inquired, though he flinched nervously and dared to approach Penny, "Sorry if that seems forward..."

"I did a lot of hunting, when we were stranded in Sugar Rush," Penny's voice was low and cautious, and though Tessa could clearly see the girly twinkle in her eyes, because of just how many new boys were around, she still held onto a tight, reserved demeanor, "Some creatures were too big to take down."

"That thing must've been the size of Lickity," Duke prod as he merely glanced across the way, the long claw marks trailed nearly to Penny's wrists.

"About, yeah," Penny finally beamed a small smile, though she furrowed her brow down to her black shirt, she grappled the chest of it and began to fan it over her body just slightly, so to get it to dry from the water that was just spilled on her, "I didn't let it get away, though... One thing I requested of Tessa, was to keep my battle scars during the reset and programming, to Dead Zed's grid."

"Did you kill it?" Jax hissed in boyish shock.

"What WAS it?" Tej finally prod, and though none of them had been properly introduced to Penny, except for Orph, they began to lightly swarm her for more information.

Orph huffed a nervous sigh, rubbed his forehead in bashful nervousness and grew ten notches quieter than what he ever would catch himself. He cocked an eyebrow and nervously dragged his eyes back to Penny. He knew, once upon a time, Tessa promised him that she'd put in a good word for her favorite cousin, Penny, to claim Orph was someone that maybe she could potentially be interested in. Orph finally glanced to Tessa. Her and Zed quietly chattered together as they finished up cleaning the last of the glass, and though Orph suddenly wanted to jump all over Tessa and demand to know just what was possibly said about him, he held his breath and suddenly felt as if he was in a stalemate with himself. Confusion hit his brain. Though he was aware it was a gamble from the beginning, he felt his heart sag in dread as to just why Penny was acting so cold. She seemed to only slightly warm up to his other brothers, and he knew accidentally splashing her with water as their first, proper 'hello' likely wasn't how he wanted that situation to go, he had to wonder if she could likely be swayed.

All the boys, excluding Nox, Ace, Throttle and Zed, delicately began to swarm Penny, and as their conversations grew more excitable towards their new warrior roommate, the front door was ever so softly heard coming to a creaking close. Vanellope held her breath, whirled her attention to the foyer across the way and felt her heart suddenly jump in a hot sensation of remembrance. Ralph gently pushed his way into the house, and as the two caught eyes in a solid string of nervous, excited acknowledgement, Vanellope felt her hands begin to slightly shake. She beamed Ralph a wide smile, the whole castle began to tune into their little world, and though Koko so desperately wanted to jump up and greet her new father in her life, she bit her tongue and eagerly peered to her parents in dire curiosity; she knew the two had the most amount of catching up to do, and everyone knew to let them be for the night.

"Ralph, you're back," Orph stated with forced confidence; his cheeky side easily held true. He knew, if he were to prove he was un-phased by what had just happened, between him and Penny, he had to fake his confidence and puff his chest a bit.

"Back and sweaty," Finn mumbled teasingly towards Ralph, and though Ralph rolled his eyes and quietly agreed, he finally pulled out a beautiful, small bouquet of flowers from behind his back and tenderly pushed them closer to Vanellope.

"For you," He breathed, as if he had just ran all the way from Game Central Station.

"Ralph," Vanellope stated in quiet surprise through a giggle; the pretty flowers were gorgeous, though they looked as if they were from a game she was likely unfamiliar with. The stems of these flowers were a dark charcoal, though the petals of the buds were a glorious, near-glowing blue. She gawked at the raw beauty of the flowers, and much to her surprise, the whole kitchen had fallen silent and honed undivided attention to the raw situation unfolding, "These are beautiful... Where in Arcade did you get them?"

"Calhoun told me about these new flowers they found, growing in Hero's Duty of all places," Ralph furrowed his brow, shook his head and pierced his smolder of a smile into her dewy, anticipating eyes, "... Hero's Duty is such a hostile environment, Calhoun and Felix didn't even know flowers, or plants, could even grow, and yet... These did."

"Those are really cool," Tessa ogled quietly, though she tried to stay out of her mom and dad's tender moment as much as she could.

"It... Sort of reminded me, about all of us," Ralph broadened the spectrum, he glanced about to everyone in the kitchen before he landed his handsome brown eyes into Vanellope's, which were unwavering from his. He took a few steps closer to Vanellope and lovingly reached out for her hand, "Even in the darkest of times... The most dangerous of environments. Something so beautiful can grow and blossom."

Vanellope raised her eyebrows, and though she had been feeling it all day, the itch in her coding was now near unbearable. She breathed a small scoff of a breath, shook her head and peered down to the beautiful blue flowers in her hands. She finally gave Ralph her eye contact again, though this time, she hoped to convey romantic impatience. Ralph cocked an eyebrow, took his cue and only gently glanced towards the entrance of the Sky Room.

"There's uh... There's a surprise for you, in the bedroom," Ralph uttered quietly, and though he was aware the two had a large audience, he knew everyone was well in the know of just what their night was to consist of.

"There is?" Vanellope prod daintily as she innocently glanced back to the Sky Room's arches. Her naive, gorgeous hazel eyes came back to his in a drag of nervous knowing, "I-I've been in and out of there, all day long... What is it?"

"Why don't you follow me... I'll show you," Ralph stated bashfully, he rubbed his thumb atop her little hand and tilted his head in the direction of the Sky Room.

Vanellope raised her eyebrows nervously, though all at once, everyone began to coo loud, cheesy and romantic notions for the two. Vanellope scrunched her shoulders, shut her eyes tight and beamed an annoyed smile, though as Ralph began to tenderly lead her away, Vanellope nervously peered back to Tessa and Koko. Both girls laughed, gave their mother two thumbs up and was loudly joined by all the boys egging Ralph on, and showing their eagerness for the situation at hand. Once the two vanished, and Lickity finally moseyed into the kitchen with everyone, Tessa inhaled a deep breath and eyed Zed.

"Please tell me their room has the sound-proof coding over it," Tessa muttered, though Zed and Ace laughed.

"Yes, got the sound proof coding, firewall, the whole shebang," Zed waved his hand and cocked an eyebrow towards Tessa, "The whole hull off the Sky Room is heavily prepared..."

"Yeah, just uh... Remember, you got three people bunking in the Sky Room, until my birthday, okay?" Ace uttered in dark annoyance, though it quickly vanished once Zed swat at him; both boys loudly laughed.

"You'll get over it," Zed muttered, Ace scrunched his shoulders and tried to avoid his dad's grabby hand.

"Thank User we're in a whoooole 'nother wing," Tej mumbled, everyone loudly agreed with a gentle bout of laughter.

"With a guy like Ralph?" Duke stated quietly as he gestured towards the Sky Room, "Pretty sure we'll hear the screams from miles off."

"I do NOT need that visual," Tessa uttered as she rubbed her face, though she flinched as Ace gestured his arms in dire annoyance.

"Now you know how I feel!" Ace argued as him and Libby chuckled alongside each other's agreeing.

"Alright, what toppings do you guys want on your pizza?" Tessa stated dully as she grappled for the digital pad, though Orph and Nox quickly rushed further into the group, in the warmly lit kitchen, in bumbling, boyish annoyance.

"Oh-oh! A-are you making code room pizza again?" Orph asked in dire curiosity, Nox nodded.

"Please code room pizza," Nox begged quietly, his golden gaze peered to Tessa in youthful excitement.

"What's... Pizza?" Koko uttered curiously, though as everyone dragged their stares to her, the information hit their brain in slow motion. Everyone finally heaved knowing chuckles, scoffs of just what delicious foods poor Koko has genuinely missed out on.

"Only the best food on the planet," Nox grumbled as he tenderly nudged Koko's upper arm and stationed himself next to her; he felt his confidence slowly come back to his skin.

"That's what you said about tacos, the other night," Ace laughed, Libby nodded in kind agreeing.

"Tacos, pizza," Nox shrugged and looked about, though he finally gave Koko a kind smile, "Either way, you're gunna love it."

"Maybe we should call this game Salty Rush," Tessa muttered through a hard giggle as she thumbed through the digital pad, Zed hovered near her and made sure to sneak a firm few smooches to her cheek; likely to remind her of the night he was going to give to her, and to have a firm hand in just what kind of pizza was to be made for him.

"S-A-L-T-Y," Tammy sung in cheesy sing-song to Sugar Rush's theme music; everyone laughed.

"I hope I like this... Pizza, thing," Koko giggled and shrugged, though she eagerly peered to Nox and wrinkled her nose, "What exactly is it?"

"Cheese on bread on tomato sauce... Hot and gooey," Nox rushed, all the men in the group groaned quietly, as if somehow expressing their hunger would make the food come faster, "Y'like cheese?"

"... Never had it," Koko uttered through a giggle, to which Nox furrowed his eyebrows in surprise, "Okay, so for the past year, let's just remember, my diet consisted of stolen, left over bread, canned food that likely expired, annnd candy, if the land allowed."

"Sounds like my kind of Friday night," Jax muttered sarcastically, everyone volleyed kind, apologetic notions towards Koko.

"My intestines would NOT forgive me, if that was my diet," Duke beamed a wide smile, chuckled and attempted to tidy his near jet black-blue hair.

"I'm excited for this new adventure, apparently there's a ton I've been missing out on," Koko's eyes lit up as her and Tessa caught glances, "Bring on the food!"


	72. Chapter 72

**A/N: OMG YOU GUYS I'm so sorry this chapter is a day late. I've literally hardly had time for ANYTHING and this chapter is so meaningful to me and so fragile, and I just didn't want to rush anything. I wanted to really make this chapter as sweet and delicate as I could, and I'm really hoping you guys enjoy the throw back. Good ol' Jawbreaker... Where it all began!**

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 **Reviews :**

 **Guest :** My Instagram is Vyntastic :)

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Oh my USER xD It's not like she drooled all over her hand and then swirled it around the platter and touched every single cookie known to Arcade. What happens with a plate of cookies? You touch and pick up the cookie you're going to take - hence, not touching any of the other cookies xD SCIENCE! - And, thank you! Yeah, Orph's soft side definitely shows a bunch, though he gets sort of feisty with Penny, but that's only cause she's mean and feisty right back LOL. As for Nox, you'll see a bigger expansion on him and Koko - you are definitely right, the boys are a ton more interested in Penny because she is the resident badass, she's more mysterious and has a lot of qualities the guys can actually relate to, so they find her interesting. One of them has their eye on Koko, that's not Nox, but you'll understand more as time goes on.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you! Yeah I am going to drag out the normalcy for as long as I can, cause once things go sour, it doesn't go back to normal for quite awhile xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** I'm so sorry for your loss. It definitely does come up, in the future - but they have only been together for a few years. So bizarre lol. Thank you! Sorry for the lack of an update on your commission. I haven't had nearly any free time, except to keep my story afloat.

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yyyyeeeee. This chapter is Ralph and Vanellope's swap - I hope you guys enjoy ;D

 **StillAintBovvered :** Thank you! :D

 **Snake557:** We had to go out and get pizza strictly because of that last chapter LOL

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Yes, you guys get a good heaping dose of OrphxPenny ordeals and spats xD They're going to be a ton of fun to develop.

 **Retrokill :** Wow! Thank you for everything you're doing. That's fascinating to me. No worries, I understand

 **Nikki Firesong :** Yes, you'd be right! Taffyta also gets awkwardly thrown into the mix, later down the line...

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Don't Let Go by Bryan Adams and Sarah Mclachlan**

 ***Chapter 72***

Ralph tenderly lead Vanellope into their large bedroom, and without seeming too eager, he gently shut and locked their tall, round bedroom door. As Ralph turned around and stepped inside, his eyes adjusted to the warm, dim lighting. With his, Tessa's and Taffyta's rooms all the same in their glass dome shape, each room had the same layout, and though the sky was open to them, their own miniature sky rooms all to themselves, each room still had high walls and a feature to make the glass, overhead, turn to black out screens, so to avoid harsh sunlight in the morning. Ralph and Vanellope's round room was crowned in royal purples, creams and golds. The canopy bed, although massive and billowy, looked homey and cozy. A dream cloud the two were beyond eager to sink into for the night.

Before Ralph could even begin to think about dive bombing his Queen, showing her just exactly how much he missed her, he patiently watched her meticulous work as she crossed the room with her flowers, vanished into the bathroom, and came out with them properly in a vase of fresh water. As she quietly crossed the room, Ralph anxiously fiddled with the one latch of his overalls. He bit his lip and felt a wave of uncertainty fall over him. He knew Vanellope was likely struggling, even more so than him, though his ears pricked to the sound of her tender voice.

"First thing's first," Vanellope's quiet voice stated, though it was in this moment, nostalgic memories came rushing back to Ralph's mind. He raised his eyebrows in near sorrowful surprise as she continued on to run through Sugar Rush's game-check routines; something of which they didn't have a luxury to, any longer, "Game core?"

"... Stable," Ralph uttered quietly, he tilted his head down, glanced about their soft white carpet and pierced his honey gaze to her across the way.

"Citizen's population?" Vanellope listed off, and though typically during this drill, hers and Ralph's hands were working at the speed of light, inside the Hull of Sugar Rush, her gentle hands only barely fluffed the flowers Ralph had presented to her.

"Unchanged," Ralph eased, he dared to slowly approach her.

"... Race tracks refreshed and ready for the morning?" Vanellope uttered, her voice nearly began to tremble with the onset of tears; Ralph huffed a soft breath and diligently nodded, though he knew the two were merely dreaming just what could be, what used to be.

"Yes ma'am," Ralph's deep voice softly glossed over her, and once he finally was within a few feet of her, he stopped his footwork and felt his heart sink as she turned to look up at him.

She was beautiful. Just as he remembered, and though it had been a long, dreadful year since they were separated, he could still close his eyes and map out the faintest of freckles on her cheeks, like it was his own skin. Ralph shook his head, frowned and only tenderly let the back of his larger pointer finger just barely grace the bottom of her jaw. He stroked her soft skin, and through a sorrowful grimace, Vanellope squinted her eyes shut and remained still as a few tears slid down her cheeks. She reopened her gaze and softly peered her blurry sight to Ralph's familiar polo.

"Should I have... Dated Rancis?" Vanellope whispered, and though she figured the question likely knocked Ralph back, he remained frozen as she continued on softly, "Just... Sucked it up, let him be King?"

"What good would that have done?" Ralph wondered tenderly, "He was in a feud with Taffyta... In actuality, Rancis going mad had nothing to do with you."

"I just helped it along when I denied him, I guess," Vanellope sighed, she shook her head and squinted, "...'Follow me to the Hull, I'm sure we can get Tessa and Zed back from the dead somehow!'..."

Ralph frowned and felt his skin go cold; the very memories of Vanellope's last words echoed in her own castle, the day she and Taffyta were banished to Stone Crest. Ralph shook his head and patiently awaited the opportunity to steady Vanellope, more tears spilled down her cheeks as her voice grew louder and more urgent.

"...'They... They may be dead outside the Arcade, but we still have their coding! We can revive them!'..." Vanellope nearly choked, she shook her head again and held her hands to the side of her heard in dire agony, "The last thing I remember is rushing up to the Hull with Rancis and Taffyta... He swiped the digital pad off the night stand, I entered us access into the Hull and... In an instant, he turned around and told us to say our goodbyes..."

Ralph raised his eyebrows in surprise and gingerly wiped a few tears off of her jaw. He gazed his uncertain, sorrowful gaze into Vanellope's, and though he knew the both of them, as King and Queen, took a massive loss, he knew Vanellope had called Sugar Rush 'home' for much longer than he had.

"Taffyta and I were teleported to the abandoned Stone Crest with nothing but the clothes on our backs and the baby in my reversed coding," Vanellope huffed as she sniffled and rubbed her nose. She long blinked as her lashes began to glue together from her tears, "I had never been so scared in my life..."

"I thought, for certain, that I lost you," Ralph grumbled, "Radex told Tessa she was banished, to keep her at bay... Radex didn't tell me anything because... I guess he figured the force field said enough."

"I want to find that coward," Vanellope growled, Ralph gingerly rested a few of his larger fingers on her shoulder, "We need to find him... And kill him..."

"Take it easy," Ralph steadied, "You... You know that'd kill Rancis, in the process... Do you think Taffyta has come to terms with all of this?"

"I'm sure somehow, she has," Vanellope sighed, "She acts like it's water under the bridge, and there's no other option... But I can see the pain in her eyes. This isn't going to be easy..."

"No, it won't be," Ralph grumbled quietly, though in a swift movement, he tenderly hooked his finger underneath Vanellope's jaw and made her look up at him.

Innocent eyes that peered up to his in bashful question, she knew exactly what he wanted; she'd be lying if she told herself she didn't want it, either, though somehow getting to the point of romance, through all the turmoil of their fallen kingdom, looked as if they were to be mountains to hike. She tenderly squinted her teary eyes and shook her head in soft confusion.

"We've lost so much time," Vanellope whispered, though Ralph furrowed his brow a little, "The whole kingdom has fallen... You have a daughter who you both hardly know each other..."

"Let's... Look at it this way," Ralph huffed, he beamed her a cheeky smile and finally began to show a bit of dominance; he knew she needed and wanted it. He smirked a little and dared to wrap his large arms around her middle, "We have had the whole year off of responsibilities... And until we get Sugar Rush back, we, my love, are relieved of duty. We can do anything we want."

"Ralph," Vanellope complained, though she nearly smiled.

"And hey, while we're living here, in this dream home of Tessa's and Zed's, I can get to know Koko every single day," Ralph assured, "She's my daughter... And granted, I didn't get to see her grow up, I caught the very tail end of her childhood... She's technically not full grown, just yet. I can discover just what a wonderful, beautiful young woman she's becoming... Just like her mother."

"We talked about you every day," Vanellope stated quietly, "There's probably a lot that she knows about you, already. Just simply through hearing me, Oliver and Taffyta talk about you... And answering any questions she may have had."

"Is he really a nine foot giant?" Ralph stated in a girly voice as he fluttered his eyelashes; Vanellope finally pushed a genuine laugh out of her figure as Ralph ducked his forehead to hers, "Bet your lucky sprinkles."

"Don't remind me," Vanellope giggled, her heart flipped as she scrunched her shoulders and shook her head, though she flinched as Ralph suddenly took a few steps away from her, unlatched his overalls and nonchalantly began to undress.

"So, you and I have a lot of catching up to do," Ralph stated kindly.

"Th-that's an understatement," Vanellope whimpered, and though she had always been so used to the idea of Ralph casually undressing before her, she flinched and wondered if she should close her eyes or look away. She finally stole a glance at him as the thud of the metal latch, from his overalls, hit the carpet beneath his heavy footsteps. He yanked his shirt up over his head and turned over his shoulder to give Vanellope a kind smolder, though she choked to continue on, "I-I... I mean like... We had another kid and... I-I'm sure you've got lots of game-day stories to tell?"

"You're blushing," Ralph stated bluntly, though he beamed her a side-eye of a bashful smile as well. Vanellope huffed, waved her hand down and began to saunter closer to the bed, though more in a stubborn sort of fashion. Ralph inhaled a deep breath, puffed his broad chest and shook his head, "I know you missed my cranky, old red coding."

"Koko should consider herself lucky," Vanellope spat as Ralph finally dove into the bed, laid on his back and peered to Vanellope from his sloped position, diagonal across the bed. Vanellope nearly choked as Ralph's strong figure looked a bit more muscular, more toned and fit. His overalls lazily slouched down his hips a little, which revealed the peek of his black boxer briefs. He was delightfully sexy, a strange and bizarre sight she only had memories and dreams of, during the year of separation they had. She shook her head, her thoughts and tried so desperately to steady herself against the pole of the canopy bed, "Sh-She is the only one with our purple coding."

"Well, why don't we change that?" Ralph wondered, "We can replay our first time, again, can't we?"

"What, where I'm begging you to jump me and you're terrified you'll hurt me?" Vanellope and Ralph shared a laugh as she finally knelt onto the bed and began to find her side of the pillows and sheets. Ralph finally sat up and gave her his eager, happy eye contact, like kids in a candy shop, both looked dewy-eyed and rosey cheeked, with youthful hearts aflutter again in their whirl of revisited romance, Vanellope scrunched her cute shoulders and looked off, "I don't know, maybe... It could include winning a volleyball tournament, arguing with Taffyta for the better half of the night about where the trophy goes, and uh... Maybe sexual tension that set the EZ Living sun on fire?"

"Let's fast forward," Ralph grumbled darkly as he patiently poked his finger into her side; his heart jumped as she giggled, "We nearly melted those candles to the ground."

"Only difference is, I think we've switched roles," Vanellope whispered, she peered to Ralph in delightful anxiousness and felt her heart leap in girly giddiness as Ralph's warm, innocent eyes glued to hers and, with a gentle head tilt, she was sold.

"What do you mean?" Ralph wondered kindly as he scratched his masculine, broad bare chest.

"I-I... I just..." Vanellope swallowed nervously and ogled the front of Ralph's body, though before she could carry on, Ralph gingerly scoot closer to her and gave her a look as if to insinuate she was worrying for nothing, "I... I feel unseasoned, I guess."

"You forgot how to do the deed in one year?" Ralph chuckled, which popped Vanellope from her worries. He finally gave her cheek a soft smooch, and it was in that moment did Vanellope feel the spark quickly come flying back to her. She scrunched her shoulders and giggled as Ralph's warm, loving kisses trailed to her neck, "C'mon, girl, we've been through this a thousand times..."

"This time is different," Vanellope sighed as the two melted into the bed, though Ralph made it clear he was eager to move things along. He only barely hovered over her as she sunk further into her massive, billowy pillow. He grumbled a small complaint through his kisses as they finally reached her collar, "Y'know... We don't share codes anymore."

"Our first time was explosive, it was like fireworks," Ralph stated quietly as he finally relaxed, though his right hand began to just barely inch into the bottom of Vanellope's lazy shirt, "That was because you were begging for me... Begging! It was written all over you, the whole entire day."

"That's not true," Vanellope laughed as she sunk further into Ralph's tender embrace, "So, what, roles reversed this time? You doing all the begging, today?"

"Oh, yes ma'am," Ralph's voice croaked delightfully as he slumped his head to her shoulder in a longing way. Vanellope raised her eyebrows in surprise and felt her heart begin to soften a bit more, "I know exactly what I've been missing... It should speak volumes, love... I didn't have your coding for an entire year, but, y'know who I couldn't live without?"

Vanellope's facial expression softened as Ralph humbly let his eyes gloss her collar. He shook his head, heaved a soft sigh and finally pierced his honey gaze into hers.

"You," Ralph eased quietly, "That's something that will never fade, even if your coding is wiped from mine... Is my love and need for you, Vanellope. Not a day went by where I didn't worry about you, want to hold you and keep you safe... And now that I have that opportunity, you bet I'm going to take it..."

Vanellope raised her eyebrows softly and peered down to him, though he gently half-sat up, rested his head on his head and his elbow into the bedding. He gave her a coy look of near nervousness and tenderly let his large fingers fiddle with the bottom of Vanellope's shirt. In the whole of it all, Ralph felt as if he was boasting confidence, though Vanellope could see the cute look of apprehension in his warm eyes. She continued to peer up to him, her baited, gentle, waiting demeanor nearly wanted to throw him down and finally take everything she had been missing and wanting for the past year, though she soaked in their silence. Just how far they'd come, how much they had accomplished.

With a tender hand, she eased it to the side of Ralph's cheek and jaw. The stark coldness of her glassy wedding ring made Ralph raise his eyebrows in a perk of knowing, and in a single swipe, he tucked his large hand to the back of hers, which was held to his face. He shut his eyes tight, squeezed her hand closer to his warmth and huffed a long breath of their conclusion. After a moment, and a few tears that slid down Ralph's cheeks, he peered his glassy gaze to her surprised one. She inhaled a shaky breath and exhaled it with a knowing, nasally giggle as her eyes soaked with tears, as well.

"Look how much we've achieved," Vanellope whispered, "Even with the separation... We've managed to have another child, a grandchild, we garnered a future daughter-in-law, son-in-law, or two..."

"Two?" Ralph furrowed his eyebrows, though Vanellope nodded and looked down to Ralph's chest.

"You have two daughters, love," Vanellope stated quietly as her gaze finally melted to Ralph's, "Koko's been hanging out with Nox all day long."

"Nox?" Ralph urged, though he nearly looked upset; Vanellope quelled his brooding anger with a firmer touch of her left hand.

"Sure, our kingdom has fallen," Vanellope hissed quietly as she shook her head and silently told Ralph to drop his frustrations over the TurboTime boys, "But... I was reminded just how fabulous of a team we have. How much we have going for us..."

Ralph heaved a raspy sigh, nodded and nuzzled his face further into her small hand, and though he felt his busy mind rush, he allowed her to calm him. He finally pushed a small smile to his face and reopened his gaze to hers. In a gentle stir, he scoot closer to her and nearly begged for every single last ounce of attention to detail she had to give. She giggled at his fervor and lovingly slid her hand from his face to his broad, bare chest.

"We're never going to be separated, ever again," Vanellope whispered as Ralph drew closer, her face turned a brighter shade of red as he raised his eyebrows in coy, delicate surprise. She attempted to push on, "None of us. I won't allow it."

"Me neither," Ralph whispered quietly, and as their eyes locked, he knew they were finally on to something.

Vanellope raised her eyebrow in plucked surprise and felt his aura cloak over her like a thin layer of passion that could easily soak and garner density. Ralph gently inched his face closer, and in the whirl of it all, the gentle heat of his breath on her wet lips, the very feeling of his heavily thudding heartbeat under his skin, she knew neither being could handle their distance. As if on a pulley system, Vanellope finally swept her hand back to Ralph's jaw, and in the movement of pulling him closer, he helped her fill their itching gap, and in the inhale of deep red passion they soaked over the room, their lips finally met, after a desperate year of longing. Between the gentle push and pull of the break, sticky lips that peeled apart and sunk back for seconds, thirds, fourths... Their figurative tug of war had only just begun.

Ralph inhaled her sweet scent, the perfect curvature of her body, the way his hand melted into the dip of her waist, like what he had always known. Everything about her was just as he remembered, every single inch of her was like revisiting an old memory, he knew every single pore like it was his own. Vanellope mumbled a small noise on Ralph's mouth, and as she slid her arms about his neck, he finally obliged to both of their pleas and wants. He gingerly slipped his hand into the bottom of her shirt, and as he lifted it off of her and sunk his fingers into her comfortable pants, he felt his heart do an entire backflip as her little hands dipped into the thick denim of his overalls, which were now slouched about his hips in a lazy fashion. With the smooth transition of removing clothes and replacing everything with the sea of blankets and sheets they drowned in, Ralph could hardly believe just how easy this all was, what it was like to feel loved and wholly wanted; as he pushed between her warm legs, the only one to receive the true Queen's unbelievably trusting invitation, his head swam with the reminder that this, indeed, was all his, and only his.

Vanellope inhaled a silent choke of a breath, a nervous gasp, a silent inquiry as to just exactly what was about to take place. She delightfully draped her arms about Ralph's neck as he began to sneak tighter in between her legs, and with a simple few budges, she gasped again, sharp grimaces she knew was only just the beginning of this delightful, delirious torture. Ralph huffed a scoff of a breath, as if to be beside himself, an incredulous show of disbelief, something he was certain would never come back to him. Memories flood their mainframe as they became one for the first time in what seemed to be decades, and as every single hot star above them aligned for this special reunion, Vanellope peered up about them and began to feel the onset of dizziness she always welcomed. With the feel of Ralph's hot breath through his nose, his loving kisses that trailed down her neck, Vanellope scoffed a small, bashful giggle and let her legs rest easy about Ralph's. With a gentle nudge to her center, the two settled, though merely for a second of catching their breath.

Just as Vanellope was about to say something, an uneducated worry, a light, dainty inquiry about exactly what was to come, she was startled out of her thoughts as Ralph gingerly shoved into her. With a sharp gasp, and with thoughts that came flooding back to her, she squinted her eyes shut in delightful pain and finally exhaled her husband's name. She knew she had all the right tools to make Ralph go mad, she knew just what to do to get him to wreck the limits, to bare all and give her what for. She bit her bottom lip through an excited, girly grin and ever so delicately began to twirl the hair on the back of Ralph's head. He cocked an eyebrow, lifted his head and peered down to her, as if to potentially wonder if he was doing everything right, despite having been through this act a thousand times prior. Vanellope finally beamed him a wide, girly, bashful smile and swept her hands to his cheeks. With a few last 'say your prayers' kisses to her mouth, he finally inhaled a deep breath and cocooned her into his large chest and embrace underneath him.

He scoffed her name in dire, quiet urgency as he finally began to shove into her with rhythm, an act that he thought he had completely lost touch with, though came flooding back to him in a matter of seconds flat. He soaked in the feeling of her delicious skin, the softness of her cry for him in his ear, the way her little hands did everything they could to grapple his hair and the skin on his broad shoulders. He beamed a sneaky smile into her neck and loved the feeling of her squirmy body underneath him, the way her insides went ballistic for the coding under his skin. Ralph shook his head, exhaled a shaky sigh on her skin and continued to push into her with the steadiest, methodical rhythm he knew drove her absolutely bonkers. With a gentle bite of his skin, he could feel her body pleading for everything he had to offer, and though he assumed this ride would be slow and cautious, he was beginning to see that this break-neck ride was likely going to come caving in on her first; something he was happy to place second for.

With the arch of her spine and the dip of her head into the fluffy pillow beneath her head, Ralph took this opportunity to tuck his large hand to the small of her back and give her a bit more force. With the gentle lull of her recoil, and the urgent call of his name, he began to shake with surprise. He knew he had the ability to rock her world, and she definitely knew all of the right buttons to push, though he was certain this reboot would be a lot rockier and a lot more uncertain, because of the amount of time that had fallen between them. With Ralph's heightened fervor, and the urgency of her trembling voice, Ralph was now wholly convinced she was about to lose her mind. With the gentle help of his large hands, he just barely shoved her into the big, fluffy pillows he was near plowing her into, and with her half-sitting up position, he knew he was now at all the right angles to wholly drive her nuts.

Vanellope huffed a long, exasperated sigh and messily draped her arms about Ralph's neck, and as he continued to tuck into her little body, he shoved his forehead to hers and uttered his undying love to her, a longing look of teary neediness he was only comfortable showing her. In their raw union, their continuous battle for normality, a deliciously, sinfully vigorous tug of war they partook in, Ralph gave her a delightfully sexy draw of a chuckle, as if to merely state in one simple huff of a loving laugh that she was, indeed, going to go down with the ship. Vanellope beamed him a cheeky, exhausted, dizzy smile and slumped her head back against the pillows, and with one too many kisses planted to her mouth and cheeks, she gladly drowned in every single last byte of his powerful, masculine love. With every last ounce of their beings bared, every last swimming circuit fleeing for safety on their never ending grid of hot, pleading passion, Vanellope could feel her cold, blue coding desperately grapple for his hot, coded blood.

Ralph nervously uttered her name, as if to potentially insinuate that their battle was likely going to be a close tie, though with the way her squirmy legs hugged tighter around his hips, the way her grabby hands begged for every single last circuit under his sweaty skin, she dizzily peered up to him and, with the shaky utter of his name, a pleading whine of a grimace she crowned upon her sweaty, blushing face, she knew she was near doomed. Ralph continued with deep, solid rhythm, an act he wondered how he could ever come close to forgetting, and with every single last firm arch into her writhing, wet body, he grimaced a nervous grunt and could feel every single last bit of information suddenly become sucked away from his body. With insides like a vice grip, and digital DNA that squirmed about and reacquainted itself with long lost tiers of files, the two squirmed in hot, uncertain passion, as if they had eons of energy they had no clue what to do with. With one simple act, and the delightfully refreshing heat of Ralph's familiar coding that flood hers, Vanellope's eyes fluttered with tears of happiness as she finally received the purple coding she had been so desperate for.

After a few more writhing, strong shoves and squirms, the two nearly slumped, and with their hot breaths of passionate want that coat the air heavy with love, Vanellope set her dizzy gaze to the stars overhead. She knew this was only the beginning of their night, and she had to wonder how many throw arounds would have to happen until she peered up to their sky dome and saw the morning sun. She knew she wasn't complaining, and any chance she had to get an overload of his coding, and their yummy, fresh, new purple circuitry, was just fine by her. She heavily panted, her bare chest rose and fell, and as he graced the skin of her breasts with warm kisses and hot breath that coat her body, she relished in every single last flitting, jumping pixel in her body; bytes of information that rejoiced in their reunion, their infamous purple coding that finally found all the nooks of familiarity in their bodies, and for the first time in forever, they soaked in the magic of finally being one once more.


	73. Chapter 73

**Reviews :**

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Thank you! :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Haha yes indeed, Vanellope's back in the group of wreckers - and it shows with chapter 74 xD Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** LOL YAY! I'm glad everyone enjoyed it so much :D Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha too true, that WOULD happen xD Thanks hun!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** I'm REALLY glad it made everyone nostalgic for Wrecking Limits, that was definitely my goal! :D Thank you!

 **Xaehttium :** LOL Don't be paranoid of the flowers, those were a genuine gesture from Ralph via Hero's Duty xD Yeah I'm making everything picture perfect on purpose. Cause it'll become anything but, eventually. I don't think you're missing any couples. Only two of said couples get a swap scene, outside of Tessa's and Zed'sxRalph's and Vanellope's scenes that already happened. I expand on all of them, but only two of them get anything farther than second base xD

 **Retrokill :** Haha my job here is done xD

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys, sorry for the mini-fillerish chapter. The next few days (in story) are a bit filler, or 'slice of life', but Ace's birthday party brings a small wave of drama, so I guess enjoy the calm before the storm with some yummy character building :D**

 ***Chapter 73***

Through a soft inhale of wispy, cool morning air, Vanellope's eyes fluttered open, and as if she was peering into a simple, sunlight dream, she shut her eyes again and scrunched them tight alongside her hard yawn. She finally reopened her eyes in curiosity, and as if her coding had to simply remind her just what kind of a night she had endured last night, the images that hit her retinas was that of delightful chaos. Her's and Ralph's bedroom, though still intact, had a few pieces of furniture and room utilities that had been caught in the cross fire of their hot red passion. Vanellope raised her eyebrows in dewy, naive surprise and sat up. She peered about in total, floored sheepishness, and before she could nervously wonder just where Ralph had laid off to, she was quickly reminded that it was, indeed, past game time.

Their bedroom glass dome was lightly veiled by the digital shade provided, though their balcony screen doors were only cloaked by beautiful, thin, white curtains. The Dead Zed morning sunlight soaked the room in warmth, though the air was cool from the storm that had passed through the night prior. She largely stretched her arms, her bare skin kissed the cold air in prickled delight, and as she slumped back into her sitting position amidst the fluffy downs her and Ralph nearly tore to shreds, she shivered with the excited hiccup of her new, purple coding. As much as she wanted to relish in it, she knew she needed to somehow fix up the room without letting Tessa and Zed in on their escapades; even if it meant getting the room fixed with the click of a simple button in the code room.

As quietly as she could, she slipped on comfortable clothes, peeked out of her bedroom door and peered into the dreamy scene of the Sky Room. With the dome's massive glass cloaked in a digital shade as well, for the three sleeping beings in the center of the floor, on their makeshift beds, Vanellope soaked in the sheer quietness and vastness of the castle. Warm with love, the beige walls illuminated every single last fiber of a welcoming aura it could. With frozen dust speckles hung in the air, Vanellope pushed through the silent stillness and assessed the three beings across the gap. Laid on comfortable bedding mats with fluffy blankets and pillows abound, Nox, Ace and Libby had made themselves comfortable amidst their few-nights camp out in the Sky Room, and as comfortable as Vanellope's bed was, she couldn't help but ogle just how comfortable the three looked snoozing on the cushiony lily pad of a bed, which easily fit the three of them, no matter how chaotically sprawled they had previously looked.

Vanellope wrinkled her nose, uttered a small giggle at the endearing sight and carefully approached the exit to the Sky Room. As she grew closer, she heard two soft voices coming from the kitchen. Upon approach, she quickly discovered Tessa's and Zed's voice coat the air with romance, and as Vanellope barely peeked about the bend, she was delighted to spot the two lazily hung near the kitchen island, draped in each other's sleepy embrace. The two were wholly enveloped in their own world, their foreheads touched, noses smushed every now and then, and as if they couldn't help it, a few kisses were stolen here and there. Vanellope cocked an eyebrow and though she so desperately wanted to be protective of the daughter she had just gained back, she knew it was a battle her and Ralph would lose, anyhow. She slumped her shoulders, sent a soft smile in their direction and did everything she could to remain silent.

Once she successfully slipped past the two, across the gap, and entered the wing of eight bedrooms, she huffed a soft sigh, squinted and peered down the long wide corridor. She wasn't surprised to see Oliver and Emery's door still closed, and a lack of sunlight from through the cracks; she was certain the two likely had a bit of fixing up to do, as well. As she passed Koko's room, she noticed her door was also closed, though movement could be heard on the other side, as well as soft chatter. As Vanellope's eyes carried on, she was relieved to see Tammy's bedroom door wide open; Penny's, at the far end, was closed and dark, just like Oliver's and Emery's.

As Vanellope tip toed up to Tammy's room, she politely peered in and was nervously surprised to see Tammy and Koko sitting outside of Tammy's bedroom, on the large outside patio that was wholly connected to every other bedroom, in this wing, on the ground floor. It also acted as an entrance to the backyard. Both girls sat comfortably on the billowy patio furniture, their lazy morning demeanor's and outfit's expressed just what kind of a relaxing day this would be, though Vanellope knew she was here for one solid reason; Tammy's hammer. She stepped into the room unnoticed and peered her eyes about Tammy's bedroom. Tammy had made herself at home, and though she had a few boxes left to unpack, she looked near finished. It wasn't until the golden speckle of Tammy's gorgeous hammer caught Vanellope's eye, on her nightstand, did Tammy's voice finally ring solid in Vanellope's head.

"Just bring it back once you're done and we won't tell a soul," Tammy mumbled in a knowing tone from the patio, through the screen door; Vanellope flinched and felt her pupils shrink to mere slits as her gaze dropped to her oldest niece. Once Vanellope's face beamed the most bashful smile, Tammy and Koko lightly giggled in delight, though Tammy flagged her hand, "In hindsight, I should've given it to you last night."

"I-I had to sneak past Tessa and Zed, for this," Vanellope muttered, both Koko and Tammy began to grow more excited with laughter.

"Alright, mom, let's see it," Koko teased kindly as she wiggled her fingers, and though Vanellope slumped her shoulders, rolled her eyes and looked beyond bashfully exasperated, she finally wiggled her fingers for her daughter and niece, ultimately revealing her's and Ralph's infamous purple coding. Both girls giggled and quietly cheered in excitement as Vanellope began to push out of Tammy's bedroom, with her hammer. Koko quietly called after her mother, "Maybe we should just program a hammer for you! Seems like this might be a nightly occurrence!"

"Trust me, I've tried," Tammy mumbled as Vanellope vanished with a quiet giggle, "My dad doesn't want too many perfect hammers out in the world. It was like pulling teeth getting him to program one for me, anyhow..."

* * *

As the four boys moseyed in a lazy, speedless drift down the hill side, the sights of their proper teleportation pads could be seen coming up. Aboard powerful, grumbling bikes, each perfectly suited for the four racers that raced every day, they meandered in such a way that had become morning routine. As if they needed the added time to wake up, before quarter alerts, the quiet ride into work was much needed. Orph furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity as he tailed the back of the group. With Tej leading the way, Duke and Jax hung before Orph and held in a solid chit-chat about something they deemed to be worthy of breaking their 'quiet time' morning routine. Orph lightly yanked the throttle, picked up unnoticed speed and began to eavesdrop.

"Yeah, but you HAD to have seen the look on her face, dude," Jax muttered, Duke nodded; both boys talked low, both of them had the visors to their white helmets flipped up, so they could converse, "She looked as if she was near ready to kill him."

"I saw that," Duke agreed with a nod as both boys looked forward and continued to be oblivious to Orph's presence, "Y'think that maybe takes him out of the running? You think maybe we now have a better shot with her?"

"Maybe... She seemed really pissed at him, what with him spilling water all over her," Jax mumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck, which wasn't hidden by his helmet. All four boys held a decent amount of distance from each other as they meandered down the lazy, sloping jungle side hill. It was riddled in the shade from the harsh, morning sunlight. Shroud in his confused thoughts, Orph felt his heart began to race as Jax pressed on, "I know, for one, to not be an idiot and backstep carelessly..."

"He didn't mean to bump into her," Duke defended, though he looked on and nodded in a lazy fashion, "Though he DID nearly throw himself out of the running, purely by carelessness. The rest of the night, she just kept sending him daggers. It was intense."

"She smiled at me," Jax stated, as if it was a feat to get any sort of positive emotion out of Penny, "I-I think it was because of that one joke I said..."

"No, that was Koko," Duke reminded, "Which... She clearly has eyes for Nox. Never saw THAT one coming."

"Why does the creepy-eyed guy get the girl?" Jax complained, though Duke laughed quietly.

"Because it's different," Duke sighed, "Girls like different... Guess whose the most different out of all of us?"

Orph huffed an annoyed sigh and threw a hard glower to the back of his brother's heads. He shook his head, kept his eyes low and felt his heart begin to race in a weird way he had never fully understood before. He knew he had nearly jokingly called dibs on Tessa's younger cousin, Penny, though with the way her heightened blue stare stabbed his, her alluring, thorny exterior, he couldn't help but be drawn in, though with that, he knew he wasn't the only one enamored by the hard, simple fact of 'you want what you can't have'. He finally peeled his eyes away from his bike's glowing silver odometer and, with his head still tilted down, his fiery, hot silver competitive gaze stabbed ahead as a daring smile curved the corner of his mouth.

"Well... Maybe then we should ALL have mohawks?" Jax suggested in annoyance, though Orph revved his bike and pushed himself in between his two brothers.

"No one can pull off the silver-hawk like I can," Orph stated in a cheeky fashion; he hid his hurt feelings well, "Whatsamatter, little boys... Scared of some competition?"

"Competition from what?" Jax argued, "If looks could kill, your game-over score would've escalated to a very scary number, last night.

"You practically threw glass at her, dude," Duke chuckled, both him and Jax shook their heads and quietly laughed, though Orph beamed and sarcastically played along.

"Y'guys just watch," Orph uttered darkly, "I'll bet you a solid amount of money I can win Penny over."

"You're on," Jax didn't hesitate, "What're you gunna use, your hair?"

"I know something about that girl that you idiots don't," Orph snapped with a competitive smile, "I have the upper hand, here... Her and I relate. Can YOU two find something to relate to her, with?"

"I-I have... My..." Jax stammered, though him and Duke flinched as Orph revved his engine and slapped the visor over his eyes.

"Didn't think so," Orph growled, and in a flash, his bike loudly roared to life and he sped away.

As he left the three boys in a dust cloud, Tej swerved to get out of the way of his older brother. Jax and Duke waved their hands about, coughed and sent more than disgruntled looks after their misunderstood brother. Duke wrinkled his nose, steadied his bike and curiously peered to Jax.

"She's a badass warrior chick with blood on her hands, she hardly ever smiles, she's practically two foot nothing, has huge physical and likely mental scars, AND, she has a virus for a dad..." Duke mumbled, though both boys shook their heads in total confusion as Duke carried on, "There's no way Orph could relate to any of that..." Both boys nervously peered to each other, as if to be wholly lost, though Duke uttered a nervous inquiry, "...Right?"

* * *

With a gentle, silent groan and an even gentler stir, Libby kept her eyes shut and let her mind wake up first and foremost, before she opened her eyes. In the faint, delirious draw between waking up from sleep and getting her bearings via touch and smell, she furrowed her eyebrows, and through the dark pink of her eyelids, she understood it was likely late morning. With a curious smile that sprawled her face, she sunk further into the warm, delightful feelings that coat her heart. She finally settled, from her stirring, into the most comfortable position she could imagine. It was through a final, relaxing, deep inhale did she realize just why she was so comfortable. The familiar scent of her best friend, a warm, homey and comforting smell she could only pin to one person. With a dreamy smile and blonde eyelashes that fluttered her eyes closed even further, she wrinkled her nose and buried her face deeper into what she could only imagine was just a silly dream.

Just as her heart settled in pure bliss, she felt heat on her forehead, and it was in the simple draw of her arms around a certain figure did she realize she was no longer in dream land. Through harshly furrowed brows, she fluttered her bashful eyes open and abruptly noticed her face was now deeply nuzzled into Ace's broad bare chest. She raised her eyebrows in hot, bashful surprise and quickly backed her head away, and with a simple push-off from him, she delicately removed her body from Ace's sleeping figure and half sat up. She held her forehead in embarrassed surprise and peered down to Ace in dewy confusion. Ace lay, comfortably positioned right next to her, and from the looks of it, they had been sharing a pillow for a better half of the night. Libby shook her head in gentle confusion and quickly had to un-boggle her brain. She knew the three had fallen asleep at least a few feet away from each other. She also quickly realized that she was now on the opposite side of the large bed, in which they all shared, from where she first fell asleep.

Her eyes assessed Ace's adorable, sleeping figure. He was growing into himself nicely, a large, bumbling beast with too much power and knowledge for his own good. Much like his uncle and his grandfather, he filled in handsomely, and looked like a total force to be reckoned with, though just as any woman of the castle could attest, each wrecker was softer than a teddy bear. Ace's mouth hung open a little, his deep breathing was silent and solid. It was clear he was still far gone in sleep, enough to where slight stirring, on her end, wouldn't wake him. She felt her face turn hot red as she pushed away from Ace a little more, though she quickly found that his arm was messily draped about her waist. As tenderly as she could, she freed herself from Ace's grip, though there was a moment where she wondered if she could just sort of melt into his embrace once more... A few more minutes wouldn't hurt, right?

She shook the idea, heaved a silent, incredulous chuckle towards herself and barely jostled her head. She had to wonder just whose idea it was to have her move clear from the other side of the bed straight into Ace's arms. The bed was large enough for likely six or seven of them, though the fact that her and Ace had occupied one small section of it had her worried about maybe who else had likely seen them intertwined like so. She finally sat up a bit, shook her head again, so to free her face of her long hair, and tried so hard to rid herself of the bashful, flitting thoughts that flood her sleepy mind. She smiled to herself, gazed back down to Ace and took this opportunity to stare and get lost in thought, while she had the chance. Just before her trailing, nervous thoughts could continue, she suddenly heard the distinct sound of sniffling, a sound in which she had grown up with her whole life. She softly peered her sleepy eyes to her right and smiled.

"C'mere, girl," Libby whispered as she gingerly pat the bedding next to her, which was about a few foot gap between her and Nox. Balba had sleepily moseyed into the Sky Room, upon hearing one of the three stir, so to seek some loving attention. She flattened her ears, in a lazy fashion, and softly stepped out to join the three, even though Libby was the only one awake. Balba lovingly pushed her snout into the side of Libby's face and firmly gave her a few hard 'good morning' snuffs, "Hey, pretty."

Libby quietly giggled as she loved on Balba, she ruffled the fur on her neck and made sure she had a proper morning greeting. Just as Libby was about to stand and suggest her and Balba maybe head outside for some morning-time fresh air, Libby flinched and suddenly heard Vanellope's and Ralph's bedroom door open. All three bedroom doors, that of Tessa's, Zed's, Ralph's, Vanellope's and Taffyta's, opened to the gaping bend of the Sky Room's massive couch. The low laying tables had been replaced with Libby's, Ace's and Nox's bed, which meant Libby had a straight view to the massive, round doors before them. Libby raised her eyebrows as her and Vanellope locked eyes, and as if Vanellope was caught committing a crime, she uttered a soft hiccup of a concern and drew Tammy's hammer behind her back in a fit of coy embarrassment. She beamed Libby a sheepish smile and felt her heart drop a little harder as Balba turned to peer to Vanellope, over her furry shoulder, as well.

"G-Good morning," Vanellope chimed in a whisper as Libby stood and kept a curious smile to Vanellope's nervous eyes.

"Good morning," Libby stated through a hiss of a giggle as she dared to approach the Queen. Both girls were dressed in comfortable sweats, though as opposed to Vanellope's blue spaghetti strap, Libby was cloaked in a large white shirt; one of which she wouldn't admit was one of Ace's. She curiously eyed Vanellope and only glanced into their now picture perfect bedroom, "Fixing up, I see..."

"I-I really wish Tammy would've given me her hammer last night," Vanellope hissed in hard annoyance, and as Libby giggled and nearly latched onto Vanellope like a leech, both girls began to quickly push towards the entrance of the Sky Room, "That would make this morning a LOT less awkward."

"Why didn't you just tell Tessa to fix the room, via code room?" Libby wondered quietly as the three girls began to drift away from the two boys that remained sleeping.

"Cause that's embarrassing and I'm a stubborn fool," Vanellope spat towards herself as she tried her hardest to keep the hammer hidden, though Libby delicately swiped it from Vanellope's hands.

"I can return it to Tammy, if you want to avoid Ma and Zeddy seeing you," Libby replied in a charming whisper as she lulled the hammer about, as if to give Vanellope a choice, though the look of floored gratefulness she gave Libby quickly was replaced with a suspicious smile of a side-eye.

"You just don't want them to ask about your precarious sleeping arrangements with Ace," Vanellope muttered as the two stopped just before the bend of the Sky Room, "I have eyes, missy."

"Th-That wasn't even on my mind," Libby poorly fibbed as she shook her head and looked playfully insulted.

"So, whose idea was it to snuggle, then?" Vanellope prod, though both girls began to silently giggle as Libby rolled her eyes, stepped away a bit and lulled the hammer about in an annoyed nonchalant way, "Takes two to tango..."

"I-I have no idea," Libby argued in annoyance, "Clearly it was mine, I was clear across the bed when I woke up with... Ace... I-I'm used to snuggling Balba, okay? Maybe I just..."

"Mistook Ace for Balba?" Vanellope mumbled as she glanced to the large lykata next to Libby, who also was giving Libby a knowing stare, "Right... I can see how anyone could do that."

"C'mon," Libby pleaded with a giggle, though with the dire look of nervousness written on her red cheeks, Vanellope knew she should likely stop the teasing, due to her situation.

"You're off the hook for now," Vanellope teased as she pointed, "You can't avoid Tessa and Zed all day, though."

"Ohh yes I can," Libby huffed through a knowing giggle.


	74. Chapter 74

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** No worries, I totally get that. I'm in a very busy season of life as well! Yeah, Orph definitely has his moments of backing down and charging up, but Penny definitely meets him half way xD

 **Karou-Yuki :** I'm really glad you enjoy these kinds of chapters! There's only maybe one or two more, beyond this one, before stuff kicks up. I'm in a bit of a lull, which makes writing hard, but I'll get back into the swing of things as everything picks back up :) Thank you so much!

 **Snake557 :** Yeahhh, Ralph definitely has a bit of a talking to, to Nox, in the future xD Those poor boys are seriously messing with fire haha.

 **Xaehttium :** Seriously, I'd love to have one of those hammers xD Man that'd be the best... As for Libby, she definitely does end up opening up to Ace, and though it's still a bit reserved, it's enough to quell Ace for the time being :)

 **ArchitectDreams :** No worries, thank you so much! I hope you're doing okay! D:

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! :D

* * *

 ***Chapter 74***

As the warm, humid day went on, the majority of the gamers, left in the Kalivar castle, enjoyed a small lunch together; the only people largely avoiding the group of rambunctious figureheads being Penny and Libby. After the mess was helped to be tidied, dishes cleared and the table and island was cleaned, Zed suggested showing the boys of the group around his tracks, and while everyone else was invited, alongside politely declining, Zed and Ace were excited to have a guys day out, which equally enticed the women of the castle to have free reign for the day. With kind goodbyes and teasing notions about the day each separate group was to be had, Zed, Ace, Oliver, Nox and Throttle eagerly left the castle after suiting up for a fun day of dirt bikes and race tracks. Vanellope heaved a long, hard, annoyed sigh and began to tidy her hair a bit, though Taffyta eyed her in growing suspicion.

"Alright, lady, you're usually all for rushing out and taking on anyone who challenges you to a race," Taffyta barked with a wide smile, Emery, Tammy and Koko began to loudly agree in nudging notions towards Sugar Rush's Queen, "What's with you?"

"You're not one to talk, y'know, what's your excuse?" Vanellope retort, she put her hands on her hips. Each girl was dressed in either comfortable shorts, sweats and tanks. As much as an exciting, eventful day of racing was equally as enticing as it was invigorating, the warm, lazy glow of the castle seemed to win out for the day. Vanellope began to put her hair up in it's typical high ponytail, "I don't see YOU tailing those boys out the door, Pink Lightning."

"I'm pooped, that's my excuse," Taffyta laughed as she slumped herself to the kitchen island, in which Tessa had finished cleaning with a cloth; Tessa laughed, hung the cloth up and began to politely distance herself so to look out the patio doors in search for Libby.

"Well, then, same," Vanellope huffed, though she nervously eyed Tammy and gave her a look as if to wonder if her secret was to be spoiled.

"I wonder why!" Taffyta suddenly barked, which had Tammy and Koko knowingly giggling towards Vanellope.

"You guys have room for dessert?" Vanellope wondered in a gentle chime, which was clearly her way of avoiding the subject matter at hand.

"Dessert?" Emery kindly groaned, as if to insinuate she was beyond full; Koko, Taffyta, Vanellope and Tessa quickly shot her knowing, snarky glances.

"Y'know mom's motto," Koko stated dully, though she beamed her family a knowing smile as Taffyta and Tessa joined in helping her finish her sentence, "Food goes to the stomach, dessert goes to the heart."

"Damn straight," Tammy barked as everyone fell into excited laughter.

As Tessa began to fumble to help her mom get out some ingredients for Vanellope's famous pink frosting Sugar Rush brownies, Tessa began to look idly distracted, as if her mind was elsewhere. Vanellope gratefully helped her daughter by listing off everything she'd need, and as Koko came around to also help her mother and older sister, Koko jolted as her mother finally stopped in her tracks and honed her eyes curiously to Tessa's in a draw of motherly, cheeky confusion.

"What's your deal?" Vanellope snipped with a wide, curious smile which had Tessa nearly reeling.

"What...?" Tessa uttered softly, though Koko raised her eyebrows in confusion as well as everyone drew their delicate, hot stares to Dead Zed's Queen.

"You look out of sorts, what's the issue?" Vanellope wondered.

"Y'doing okay?" Taffyta commented in gentle confusion as well, though Tessa shot each of them a stunned smile and flagged her hands down a little.

"I-I'm fine, I'm just curious where Libby went," Tessa uttered, though Vanellope cocked an eyebrow and slowly drew her gaze beyond the kitchen's gap to the patio door, which led out to the backyard and pool.

"Methinks she's outside with the flyers," Vanellope stated quietly with a sly smile, as if she knew of Libby's whereabouts this entire time, but was reserving said information so to keep Libby's game of hide and seek ongoing, "Me-also-thinks she's avoiding you."

"Likely... I-I'm sort of upset with her," Tessa muttered under her breath as she side-eyed the fridge and felt her skin prickle with the sudden upheave of curious women on her case.

"Wait, what?" Tammy uttered in hard confusion.

"What happened?" Koko worried in loo of her new friend, though Tessa beamed and soft rolled her eyes.

"I-It's nothing, I guess... I'm just..." Tessa stammered on.

"Being a mom," Vanellope stated kindly, a soft, loving gesture she knew Tessa needed reassurance for, her motherly worries cloaked over the room like hot fudge, "Why don't you go talk to her about this morning..."

"Y-You saw it too?" Tessa wondered, though she flinched as Tammy gestured her arms in hard annoyance.

"Fill us non-Sky Room residents in!" Tammy urged with a hard laugh as her, Emery and Koko looked on in nervous inquisition.

"Go, I'll fill them in," Vanellope snipped as she began to lovingly shoo Tessa out of the kitchen, and with great hesitation, Tessa finally slipped outside for good. Vanellope breathed a long sigh, shook her head and gave the girls at the island a kind smile as Koko began to set out cup measurements and the like, so to help with her mother's baking, "Nothing bad happened, and I don't really know if we should be sticking our noses in it, too much, but, Libby was getting pretty cozy with Ace, this morning."

"What?" Tammy and Emery loudly hissed at the same time as they leaned farther onto the kitchen island.

"Like..." Tammy gestured her hands in confusion, as if to beg Vanellope to carry on.

"Like, they were clothed, and nothing beyond CUDDLING was happening," Taffyta urged in hard annoyance, "I really don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal, is... She's sort of using Ace as a security blanket," Vanellope shrugged, "I think Tessa is worried that Ace's heart will likely be broken in this venture... Cause, what have we discovered about Ace?"

"He's extremely selfless," Tammy mumbled.

"And what do we know about Libby?" Vanellope stated in a gentle, knowing tone as she cocked an eyebrow; the room fell silent for a few moments.

"... She's been through a troubling time and needs comfort?" Koko politely defended.

"How long does 'needing comfort' turn into 'mixed signals'?" Vanellope further prod as she began to reach for a mixing bowl.

"Until one of them takes their pants off?" Tammy muttered loudly with a hard laugh, though with the firm stab, the mixing bowl Vanellope was handling suddenly shattered to pieces in her hand; everyone largely flinched.

"Whoa, you okay?" Koko loudly giggled as Vanellope froze and peered down to the ground, where the shattered glass had lightly sprayed the tops of her feet.

"For User's sake, I hardly touched it!" Vanellope hollered through a laugh of dire annoyance; everyone began to loudly laugh.

"Not so used to those wrecking powers, there, eh sis?" Taffyta mumbled as she slumped to the island and gave Vanellope a knowing, teasing smile.

"You remember how hard it was for ME to get used to it, too," Emery bashfully choked as Tammy elbowed her playfully.

"I-I don't think those two are anywhere near ready to swap at all," Vanellope laughed in an incredulous way and began to step away so to clean up the glass on the ground; Koko politely helped.

"Nooo, but how quickly will innocent cuddling turn into... Well..." Tammy gestured her hand a bit and cocked an eyebrow.

"I don't think Libby has poor intentions," Emery suddenly defended, "Libby's been through a traumatic time... If I were her, I'd want comfort too. Especially from a strong figure such as Ace. Not to mention, they're best friends above anything else, in this stand point."

"She's got a point," Taffyta mumbled.

"Besides," Emery snipped, her shy demeanor was easily soaked by Oliver's brute strength, she wore his coding nicely as she gave Vanellope a kind, daring smile, "We all could use a little love. Sooo... Libby is finding an upward slope of the most genuine, solid camaraderie she can get, around here. From someone who knows her best. I don't see the harm. It's clear the two deeply care for one another."

"I just don't think Aunt Vanellope wants Ace's feelings to be dragged through the mud, in this dire time," Tammy explained with final softness, Vanellope nodded a little.

"How long will the game of cat and mouse keep going?" Vanellope wondered as she and Koko finally cleaned up all the glass, "How long until Ace's fuse reaches the end?"

"Well... I guess we'll all find out, being under the same roof," Taffyta mumbled with a sly smile.

* * *

"Dad's track winds all the way past that cliff side, over there," Ace eagerly pointed, his hazel eyes shone underneath Dead Zed's beautiful, midday sunshine. He eagerly peered back to Nox, Throttle and Oliver, who equally looked as enthused with their gorgeous surroundings, "Dad has a small base, over there. I guess it's where the winner goes?"

"It's where I go," Zed muttered in near annoyance as everyone began to push on, they walked Zed's track.

The group continued to loudly chat, and as Oliver, Throttle and Nox fell into excited conversation with each other over the stark differences of each of their racing games, and the old routines of TurboTime, Zed kept in toe with them to chime in as well. As their feet carried along the crisp, cold asphalt, and the towering jungle trees held onto the humidity of the night prior, they merely walked through a dream. Zed's smile was wide, their conversations were lively, and it was in this moment that there was nothing he'd rather do than show his majestic land to the three newcomers, though with the presence that lingered back a little, he could feel his son's demeanor try it's hardest to stay uplifted; it was as if a gentle, brooding thunderhead had joined the five on this fun excursion, and Zed knew, in this moment, his son was his top priority. Without being obvious, Zed's conversation ever so slowly dipped out of that of Oliver's, Throttle's and Nox's, and softly leveled with Ace's quiet, patient being.

"So," Zed chimed quietly as the three ahead of them carried on, "Should we rip it off like a bandaid or do you want me to pretend to guess what's the matter?"

"It's nothing, dad," Ace mumbled with a near annoyed smile, though as both men caught eyes, Ace finally caved, rolled his eyes away and slumped his shoulders, "It's Libby."

"Status update?" Zed inquired knowingly as he sunk his hands into his pockets and peered forward, though Ace peered his nervous gaze to his dad's onlooking one and frowned.

"Unchanged," Ace muttered as he cocked an eyebrow, "Why...?"

"Bud, when your mother and I went to sleep last night, Nox was sleeping in between you and Libby," Zed chuckled as he finally side-eyed his son in a knowing way, "I came out into the castle before everyone and Libby had moved clear across creation and straight into your arms."

"I-I... I wasn't planning for that," Ace worried, his face turned beet red.

"So, did you invite her over?" Zed wondered, it was at this point Ace was aware his father was nearing a point of a smack down, a stern talking to Ace was certain he wasn't prepared for; at least not for this topic.

"Yes, sir," Ace stated, he quickly began to realize he was likely going to be thwarted, though his ears prickled at the sound of a small, knowing chuckle escaping Zed's figure.

"I have half a mind to make it so Libby DOESN'T share that tower with you and Nox, kid," Zed stifled a laugh and shook his head, and as much as Ace wanted to play along and teasingly jab back at his father, he knew Zed's cues, he was aware this wasn't a playful conversation, "Son, that girl is hurting... Very badly."

"I-I know... I was just trying to comfort her," Ace rushed to explain, "She... She had a bad nightmare. I wasn't expecting to fall asleep with her, there. I was just... Well..."

"Exterior swap?" Zed jabbed with a knowing smile which had Ace nearly sinking into himself, "Y'must know her coding well, now."

"Dad, I'm not inviting myself in and finding all the dark corners of her soul," Ace retort, he began to feel strength, "My coding sits back and allows her in. I allow her control. I know how sensitive this all is... She just needs comfort..."

"Ace, this may be hard to hear, but she doesn't need a savior," Zed snapped, "She doesn't need you to come to her rescue. She needs you to come alongside her and be her friend. Saving her every night, with exterior swaps, just has her dependent on you for the wrong reasons."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ace stammered in an embarrassed way as the two began to trail a bit a ways away from the three, oblivious, chattering men ahead of them.

"Ace, let's be real. She hardly knows who you are, as a man. She knows you as the boy she used to visit, and now, you're a man," Zed stated sternly, "You don't want a woman dependent on you for the reasons of a swap. Even if it is exterior. Sure, you're temporarily giving her 'yourself', but for how long can that last before it starts to feel shallow?"

Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise and felt his heart stop; he knew he had these worries, and he knew his father was right, though he didn't want to admit it. Zed put a fatherly hand on Ace's broad shoulder and gently squeezed.

"You have to let that girl grieve on her own, in her own way. If she becomes too dependent to you, she's not going to know how to stand on her own two feet. Sure, an exterior swap here and there may not hurt, maybe it'll help," Zed shrugged, "But, you have to find some sort of boundary. Until she's ready to fully open up to you, you should decide just when YOU are fully ready to open up to HER. If you remain as this watch dog, she'll grow this unhealthy expectation that you will always and forever be available for a nightly, shallow exterior swap. It'll get to the point where she won't be able to go to sleep without it..."

"I-I... I never thought of it like that," Ace stammered, though Zed squeezed Ace's shoulder in a loving way and laughed a little.

"Your mother and I had to do the very same thing with you, son, when you were growing up," Zed chuckled, though Ace gave him an incredulous look.

"Not me...?" Ace worried, though Zed nodded.

"Yes, you," Zed shook his head and peered harder into his son's eyes, "There was a period where you wouldn't stop having nightmares, and for nearly two weeks straight, you couldn't function without one of us giving you an exterior swap to go to sleep... They're addicting... You know all too well."

"...You're worried Libby will try and use me?" Ace stuttered, as if he could hardly believe that notion could ever be a thing, "She... She wouldn't do that."

"Not consciously, son," Zed shook his head, "Libby is a wonderful woman, and in due time, she would be great for you... But you have to let her find her strength on her own. We did the same thing with you. You resented us for it, but in the end you came back around, and you learned to sleep on your own. You learned to conquer your own fears... You can't fight Libby's battles... No matter how badly you want to."

Ace heaved a long sigh through his nose and shook his head. He finally peered ahead and noticed the five were finally within a hundred yard distance of Zed's track base, though his feet began to drag. Once he finally came to a stop, Zed followed suit and peered hard into his son's eyes.

"This issue proves to show hard roads and confusing times ahead," Zed stated quietly, and with Ace's accepting nod, Zed knew, from that point on, Ace wasn't a quitter, "She has her demons she has to fight... She can't become the wonderful woman she can be, for you, without conquering those troubles on her own. If you fight all her battles for her, she won't be the strong side kick you need, in life. She needs you to support her, not save her."

"I'll cut the exterior swaps," Ace mumbled, "What do I tell her next time she's crying?"

"She never flat out asks for them?" Zed wondered gently, though Ace shook his head.

"Each one was my idea... I've only done it three times, now," Ace mumbled bashfully, as if this topic was quickly becoming too personal to keep talking about.

"You and Libby need to have a good talk," Zed stated, "I'm assuming she only really is aware that you know of what happened to her?"

"Yeah... I stated that everything would be fine and I don't view her any differently, but it was a very soft, surface, reassurance based conversation," Ace explained, "I'm just... I'm so anxious, dad."

"You definitely have been put in a weird situation," Zed chuckled as he looked down, "But, I know you two will be fine... Why don't you head on back."

"Head home?" Ace suddenly worried, his face turned beet red; the thought of not having the afternoon to sulk had his stomach suddenly back flipping, "Right... Now?"

"While it's still fresh," Zed peered back to the three who had slowly moseyed on, "I'll stay with these guys. We can always come back out tomorrow, with you included. You're not going to miss out."

"Wh-What do I even say to her?" Ace stammered nervously, though Zed gave him a wide, incredulous smile.

"You'll figure it out, son, you're her best friend," Zed stated, "Just be honest with her. Tell her how you feel. I know she'll greatly appreciate it."

"Tell her how I feel," Ace repeated in a nervous draw of a mutter as he peered off into space, "This should go over well..."


	75. Chapter 75

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LOL Well, hopefully this chapter relieves some of the 'frustrating' feelings... Though I guess overtime things could get really frustrating, once more xD Thank you so much! :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! I'm really glad you guys are actually enjoying the character building chapters, it really means a lot to me :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Whooooo knooows. Well, you ALL will, after this chapter xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** I'm glad you're doing well! I was worried D: And, yes! Ace definitely will have to try hard not to puppy dog after Libby, from here on out xD

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you so much! :D

 **Xaehttium :** Thank you so much! ;_; That means so much to me, seriously. I'm really glad you guys notice how much I care for these characters!

 **Retrokill :** Frying pans LOL! Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** LOL! I'm pretty sure Tessa would just press her for answers, as opposed to actually going 'mama-bear' on her xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **The Highest Step In The World by Adam Young (omg his music is serious ooze to my earholes.)**

 ***Chapter 75***

Tessa took a long draw of a steadying inhale through her nose as she finally shut the large, heavy, round patio door behind her. She let her home game's sunshine flood her retinas, the day was bright and beautiful, and though the promise of afternoon showers and midnight, core shaking storms always hung in the balance, Tessa was glad each day had a healthy dose of all sorts of weather. For the time being, the air was crisp and was beginning to show signs of wanting to let up with the jungle's summer heat. Beyond flits of stray, airborne jungle leaves, an ambiance of the game's choir of exotic song birds just barely filled the atmosphere, and as if Libby was the true Queen of this magical land, she hung in the field, exactly where hers, Nox's and Ace's tower was to be placed. She stood with Balba, a majestic creature that had only just recently turned one, alongside Libby. The beauty of her green fur was near perfect camouflage for the terrain they were in.

Tessa's footwork moseyed across the long draw of shade provided from their patio's overhang. Her lazy meandering spirit idly pushed past the outdoor furniture and backyard bar, she ran over a billion different ice-breaking questions in her head. Just as Tessa was about to collect her nervous, rushing, confused thoughts, the back patio door suddenly creaked open from half a dozen feet behind her. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, gently whirled around and gave the person joining her a good hard squint in confusion. Ace's humbled, near anxious smile told Tessa everything she needed to know, and it was in this moment she instantly felt relieved, as if she was thrilled she didn't have to play fifty-two pick up after her first born son anymore.

"It's okay, mom," Ace's deep voice grumbled in nervous delight as his eyes dragged to the beautiful, near white hexagonal concrete tiles below. He huffed a long sigh and gave his mother his handsomely becoming hazel gaze, "I-I can take it from here..."

"What's going on?" Tessa inquired, she tried her hardest not to show just how excited she was that the pressure of giving Libby a good talking-to was now off of her shoulders, "I thought you were with your father and the boys?"

"I was," Ace stated with a gentle nod, and as he neared his mother, his gentlemanly hands grappled hers and, as politely as he could, he gave them a good squeeze, held their hands between the two of them and gave Tessa an inquiring look of genuine humility, "Dad gave me a good kick in the pants... Mom, I owe you an apology..."

"Apology?" Tessa shook her head in growing confusion, she long blinked and kept Ace's loving, palpable energy close to hers, "Why are you sorry?"

"Because, mom..." Ace sighed and scanned the ground near their bare feet, his look of gentle anguish only deepened, "I greatly disrespected the roof you put over my head... I've made three choices, in the past week, that have not only unintentionally hurt Libby, but likely has hurt and confused everyone in the castle."

"Baby, what is this nonsense," Tessa hissed as she squinted and kept her demeanor still for him.

"I'm sorry for this morning, mom," Ace eased tenderly, "Last night, Libby had another nightmare and... I pulled her over to my side of the space, we were all sharing, and let her fall asleep in my arms, amidst exterior swapping."

Tessa raised her eyebrows softly as if to finally conclude just why he was opening his humbled heart to her. She heaved a long sigh through her nose, scanned the broadness of his chest and lightly nodded, as if to agree that said notion was a bit confusing and unnerving for everyone. Ace slumped his shoulders and squeezed Tessa's hands a little harder.

"I'm confusing Libby by saving her from these nightmares," Ace worried, "Dad told me you guys struggled with this same problem, when I was younger."

"You were so upset with us for days," Tessa side-eyed Ace, the two shared a soft, knowing laugh.

"So I heard," Ace grumbled with a nearly irritated, bashful smile. Tessa giggled and shook his hands a little bit as he continued, "I... I need to finally put a stop to all the confusion, with Libby and I... Really, I have no idea how I'm going to go about this so wish me luck."

"You won't need luck," Tessa stated in a kind, motherly tone as she rubbed her thumbs along the tops of Ace's larger hands in hers. She shook her head and squinted in tender loving care, "You're so much like your father... So caring and attentive. I'm so proud of you. Yes, this topic is touchy but... I'm sure you and Libby will reach an understanding. She's easy going, I'm sure everything will be cake."

"Surely hoping so," Ace muttered as his eyes drew past Tessa and to the rare flower in the center of the field, she was oblivious to Tessa's and Ace's presence, which were hidden in the shadows.

"Go get 'em," Tessa whispered, and after a moment, she tugged Ace into a tight, loving hug. He happily obliged and squeezed his mother tight into his chest. As the two unlatched and Tessa began to head to the patio door, she turned back to Ace and pointed gently, "Don't give up hope so quick, bud... Remember your promise."

Ace raised his eyebrows a little and let his gaze soak over his mother, as his heart began to pound, a soft smile finally curled his mouth as he looked down to his fingers. He finally gave Tessa a kind grin and nodded.

"Us Kalivars never break our promises," Ace assured, and as Tessa nodded alongside his notion and vanished back into the house, Ace inhaled a deep breath and finally faced the woman in the field.

Shroud in heavenly light, Libby and Balba stood a good ways away. Libby was tending to the feathers near Balba's spine, it was clear some of them had gotten frayed and ruffled. Libby's long, glorious white hair was down and straight to nearly the backs of her knees. She wore an outfit that looked of her tribe, surely something Tessa had helped garner for her in the code room. It was a pretty halter top and a skirt, both an off-white and made of what looked to be a delicate, thin hemp. With a pretty sash on her hip, crowned with small golden trinkets, she looked like a tribal goddess. Ace knew the only thing missing was likely a headdress or tribal tattoos of sorts. He squinted, took in her raw beauty and finally let his larger, bare feet step from the concrete to the flawless grass under toe.

He began to approach her, and the second Balba noticed his presence, Libby's diligent work on her feathers was immediately halted. Balba yipped an excited noise and began to trot over to Ace, much like a happy yearling horse. She shook her head, huffed a soft noise and, once she approached, she firmly nudged her snout into Ace's chest and begged for his kind attention. Ace blurt a laugh, wobbled a little and eagerly began to scratch behind Balba's ears, which had one of her back legs twitching a little. Every fur strand on her spine stood on end as her eyes lulled closed with pleasure. Libby giggled and crossed the gap between Ace and Balba, and once she reached the two, she crossed her arms and gave Ace a kind, bashful smile.

"I don't think I could ever give her ear rubs as well as you do," Libby chimed as she shook her head and firmly pat Balba's hide.

"It's just cause my hands are huge," Ace muttered as he continued on, "Tessa says the same thing about Paw and Aunt Lickity. Supposedly he's the King of ear rubs. Really, Balba should be seeking HIM out."

"Isn't Vanellope lucky," Libby quietly, and playfully sneered, which had Ace beaming alongside knowing laughter.

"Too true," Ace hissed, though Libby rested on one leg and tilted her head gently.

"I thought you were going out with the guys?" Libby inquired softly, Ace drew his eyes to her and nodded a little.

"I was... I came back home," Ace stated quietly, and as the air grew quiet between them for a moment, he knew Libby had realized just why he came back; she questioned it anyhow, so to seem charmingly oblivious.

"How come?" Libby inquired as Ace gingerly stopped tending to Balba.

Ace inhaled a deep breath, braved his rushing heart and finally took a few steps closer to Libby. Once he was within her gravity, he suddenly realized the depth of this important, difficult notion. He heaved a long sigh, shook his head and looked down to their bare feet. Libby's skirt had tiers of different color fabrics, all of them were gorgeous pops of oranges and reds, alongside teal designs. It fluttered in the warm breeze, as did her hair, and as her still body came alive with a glow of irresistible warmth, Ace couldn't help but soak in her beauty; he knew this notion would make it harder to witness the peak and fall of this confusing game they've found themselves in.

"We need to talk," Ace muttered as he anxiously rubbed the back of his head, though he raised his eyebrows in hard surprise as Libby choked a small laugh.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Libby uttered, she held a hand to her bare upper chest and collar and continued to look playfully distraught, "What... What about the children?"

"Put 'em up for adoption, I don't care," Ace argued loudly, though the two easily blurt into hard laughter, the playful banter they were always used to. As Libby flashed him her adorable smile, the contagious giggle that shook from her small body, Ace felt his heart pang a bit harder. With every passing second, the difficulty setting on this venture grew higher and higher. After they steadied a bit, Ace shook his head and looked about nervously, "No, I just... I need to get something off of my chest."

"Well, then shoot," Libby stated coolly, her demeanor was beyond welcoming, though with the way her naive gaze pierced his, he almost wondered if they weren't on the same page.

"I... I-I'm about to be very honest with you, and I just... Need you to understand something before I begin. You in no way need to feel obliged to reciprocate everything I'm about to tell you," Ace prefaced, though with the gentle tremble in his voice and the look of detrimental anxiousness on his face, Libby's spine began to stiffen with curiosity, "I just... Need to get something straight with you."

"Ace, you're worrying me," Libby stated in her soft, girly tone as she unraveled her arms, cupped her hands and held them near her chest, though she froze once Ace scoffed a small laugh, flagged his hand a bit and looked down.

"You have no reason to be worried..." Ace bit his lip and finally dragged his eyes back to Libby's, "You... You remember last night?"

"Hardly," Libby uttered anxiously, she remained still, "I... I woke up in your arms, which I thought was curious."

"You had another nightmare, last night," Ace stated, "I welcomed you over to my side of the bed so to calm you down, but... We fell asleep like that."

"O-oh," Libby stammered bashfully, "You... You comforted me?"

"Yeah, we... We exterior swapped," Ace stated bashfully as he rubbed the back of his head and looked off; his face turned beet red, and before he could convince himself that this was all too difficult, he pushed on, "Libby... I-I'm really sorry to say but... I think we need to cut the exterior swap stuff."

"A-Am I doing damage?" Libby suddenly worried, her heart dipped to anxiousness.

"No, not at all," Ace reassured as he gave her eye contact once more, "It's very nice, to say the least..."

"Well then, what's the problem?" Libby wondered politely, though her eyes held onto nervousness.

Ace sighed through his nose, shook his head and kept his hazel gaze pierced to her brilliant blue stare. She was gorgeous, a youthful ball of fire, something he was certain he'd never ever be able to obtain; as if to pin down a ray of sun. It was impossible. Ace finally smiled at her raw beauty, the way the bridge of her nose housed the faintest freckles, the way her dark blonde eyelashes had a bit of a curl, the way her collar bones peeked from her porcelain skin with every slow, anxious breath she took. How anyone could ever want to bring harm to such an awesome being had him reeling forever in anger and confusion. Ace finally braved his shaking heart and, just as he could swear tears would form in his eyes, he finally opened his heart to her.

"... Because, I have feelings for you," Ace stated, his deep, humble tone was so quiet, though the girth of it's meaning nearly shook the jungle trees. Libby raised her eyebrows in hot surprise, and as if he had gotten the reciprocation he genuinely wanted, he was delighted to see her cheeks turn hot red. She bit her bottom lip, bashfully tucked her hand to her mouth and looked off as Ace continued, "I... I don't think it's fair, to either one of us, to continue doing this unless we're on the same page. It's too confusing... Especially with what has happened to you."

Libby dragged her stare back to his and felt floored, though a billion questions in her heart rose. She shook her head and though she wanted to jump right into his arms, be carried away, be forever loved on, all of the above, she remained frozen and felt a massive sweep of conflicting thoughts shroud her true feelings. She opened her mouth to possibly attempt to state anything knowledgeable, she stammered on a few noises instead; Ace quickly rushed to her aid.

"I-I only say that for your benefit," Ace quickly stated, in hopes of getting his point across correctly, "I-I... I don't want to do anything or say anything too forward for your sake. I'm positive you're not ready for anything like this, and... I-I'm sure it's not helping anything by telling you all this but, I just... I need to protect my feelings, and first and foremost, I want our friendship to be transparent."

"I understand," Libby stated politely as she looked down, "I can see how... This past week as probably been confusing for you."

"Very," Ace shook his head, and as tenderly as he could, he gripped her tiny hand in his and squeezed, "But I'm sure it's been even more confusing for you..."

Libby inhaled a shaky breath and finally let her gaze slide up to Ace's. As her teary eyes pierced his, he felt his heart pang in hard sorrow. He knew she was hurting so badly, and all he wanted to do was flood her with their honeycomb coding, anything to make her feel better, he knew she had to find her footing. As tears slowly slid down Libby's cheeks, Ace felt his eyes begin to grow heavy with tears as well.

"Libby... I want nothing more than to hunt that man down and beat him into oblivion... You know I'd win. And you know I'd show no mercy," Ace stated firmly as he stood closer to her. Libby's shocked gaze stabbed into his, though she looked more floored at the fact that this conversation was slowly being opened up, raw for their budding feelings to experience for the first time, "I'm sure romance is the last thing you want right now... But, something tells me, it's also the ONLY thing you want right now."

"I-I'm so confused," Libby whimpered as more tears gathered in her eyes. She shook her head and hiccuped a small cry, which had Ace's heart tugged hard out of his chest, "I want... I want to feel normal again. I want a normal romance, I need reassuring love, but... At the same time, I don't want anyone near me, I don't want to open up to anyone."

"You can't trust, any longer," Ace agreed quietly, "I'm sure it's extremely difficult."

"That's the hard part," Libby hissed as she shook her head, "... I can only trust you."

Ace raised his eyebrows and peered his teary gaze into hers, as if the whole entire world was on fire and they were in a bubble of ice cold water. He long blinked tears down his cheeks, and as Libby idly wiped her face, she heaved a shaky giggle and shook her head.

"It's not fair to you... I-I've been giving you mixed signals, and I know I have," Libby whimpered, "I don't know what to do..."

"Libby, you know I am always here for you, no matter what," Ace urged as he finally grabbed her other hand in his free one and squeezed, "I don't want you to think that I'm putting this hold on us so to torture you... I want you to find strength again. I want you to want love because you WANT it, not because you need it. You know I will never leave you, Libby. I want to be the one you lean on... I want to be that voice of reason."

"I-I'm so sorry," Libby cried quietly, "I won't accept more exterior swaps... I'm sure that was really hard on you."

"I'm going to be honest with you, it was," Ace urged, he felt bravery flood his veins as he continued, "Libby... We both need to find ourselves. We both need to grow together as friends before we continue on like this. I don't want our foundation to take off from a shallow spot."

"I understand," Libby nodded, and as more tears slid to hang underneath her jaw, she shut her eyes tight and tried her hardest to steady her breath.

"Libby... I want you to come to me with any problem you have, I don't care what time of the morning it is, I don't care if it's just for a hug, or an ear to listen," Ace nearly whispered as he squinted and shook his head, "If you need to vent about what happened, about your frustrations, I will never turn you away... We just need to get through this turmoil together before we can... Do anything else."

"I-I... I want you to have something," Libby whimpered as she tenderly took her hands from Ace's and dug into a small pocket near her sash. As to what she took out of her pocket, Ace nearly reeled in surprise. In her delicate grip was none other than the small playing card Ace had given her when they were children. Battered, waterlogged and lightly torn, the cute little card, the ace of hearts, was softly handed to him, "This... This was yours. I don't know if you remember it or not, but..."

"I can't believe you kept this," Ace whispered in surprise as he hesitantly took the card from her and peered down to it in awe before he drew his surprised attention back to Libby, "After all this time?"

"It brought me great comfort," Libby uttered as she tried her hardest to collect herself, "I took it everywhere with me... I was so grateful I had that as proof that you weren't just a dream I made up."

"Why do you want me to have it back?" Ace worried as tears billowed in his gaze, his voice shook, "You... You loved it."

"It's your heart, Ace," Libby quietly stifled a small cry and shook her head, "Just as I have growing to do, so do you... I-I can't hold onto your heart while this happens..."

"Libby," Ace uttered in pain as he peered down to it, and though he knew she was correct, he nearly wanted to permanently game over than to have to live real time in this dreaded conversation, "I-I... I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do."

"Keep it," Libby chimed with a sniffle and a cute smile that finally graced her cheeks, "Keep it... Until YOU'RE ready, as well. Give it back to me when you're ready to. Your heart and feelings are just as valid as mine are, in this grief I'm suffering with. I know you're not ready to give your heart to someone. Even if it is me. You hardly know me, Ace... And, I hardly know you."

"I had to keep reminding myself that," Ace whispered as he shook his head, "We knew each other as children."

"Granted, that has weight," Libby assured, "But... We should get to know each other now. So, maybe one day..."

"I'll wait for you," Ace suddenly rushed in a gentle tone as he shook his head, wiped his tears and peered into her surprised eyes, "I always promised I would..."

"And I for you, Ace," Libby finally revealed, though she gave him a bashful smile and let her fingers gently tap the card in his hand, "You keep that safe... Fix it up a bit. I'll do the same with my heart... We'll trade once we're ready. Deal?"

"Deal," Ace breathed, and as their conversation finally came to a close on a note he wasn't sure he'd ever get the pleasure to live out, he strangely felt alright with this switch up, and though it meant more waiting, he now felt confidence flood his veins. He fiddled the card in his hands and gave her a bashful smile, "Libby... Will you be my best friend?"

"Yes," Libby blurt a giggle and wiped the tears from her face, "We definitely need a good do-over, huh."

"Seriously," Ace muttered as he gently put his hand out for a hand shake, "My name's Ace. Ace Von Thaddeus Kalivar."

Libby stared at his outreached hand, his warm demeanor, his handsome eyes that politely peered to hers, and as her heart thumped in her chest, she knew the two had to start out on the right foot. She raised her eyebrows and, just as she sunk her small hand into his, she let go of her secrets, of her worries, and felt the sun hit their skin with their blossoming friendship born again. Just as she shook his hand, she uttered a name she thought she'd never hear, ever again.

"Kajiksana," She stated quietly, and as quickly as Ace's confused smile sloped to hard, gentle surprise, she felt her heart race in the fact that she likely had successfully made his entire year. She giggled softly and slumped her shoulders in growing relief, "My name's Kajiksana Talik'Se Aoelna."

Ace froze and kept his hard stare to hers in raw disbelief. He just barely shook his head in growing surprise and kept her small hand squeezed in his.

"The L is silent," Libby squeaked as she scrunched her shoulders, though she let out a soft giggle as Ace began to stammer.

"K-Kaj... Kaj..." Ace nervously uttered, though Libby's laughter grew, as did Ace's.

"Kajiksana," She eased slowly for him, "You... You can call me Kaji if you want. Or, you can stick to Libby..."

"That was all I wanted for my birthday," Ace breathed lovingly, he long blinked and gave her a look of floored sincerity, "Thank you so much... Y-You have no idea what that means to me."

"You're welcome," Libby stated with great, kind cheek, though before much else could be conversed, the two quickly grappled into a tight hug.

Libby giggled, slapped her arms around Ace's neck and kept close into his warm, tight embrace. She heaved a long sigh and felt wholly safe and sound, and though she knew the two had a lot of ground to cover, she knew their time to shine would come. Before any more time could pass, they finally released the past, pulled apart and peered to each other with renewed smiles.

"Kajiksana," Ace finally stated correctly, "You mind telling me a little bit more about your tribe? I'd love to get to know you."

"I think I can trust you to keep it all to yourself," Libby stated through a long sigh, "Why not. I'd love to know more about your upbringing... You also haven't told me what Sugar Rush is like."

"THAT'S something you have to experience for yourself," Ace stated as the two quietly laughed, "AND taste."

"Is it true that everything there is edible?" Libby ogled a little.

"Everything," Ace concluded with a cheeky smile.


	76. Chapter 76

***Chapter 76***

As the day went on, gamers came and went from the Kalivar castle. With a bit more exploration and expansion taken for this new land, of the Sugar Rush crew, Ace took this as his shining opportunity to spend the entire day with Libby, so be a metaphorical sponge and soak in literally everything he possibly could about her, and she for him. As they laughed, joked and shared, the found themselves on the faux beach of their massive new pool. Alongside them was Penny, Nox, Tammy and Emery. Equally as lounged on pool chairs with their feet dipped into the chilly pool water, everyone sat underneath the gorgeous evening sky. It was beginning to speckle with stars, and though the group was one, everyone was scattered amongst their own little groups of conversion. Nox and Penny got to talking, as well as Tammy and Emery. About a dozen feet down the sand sat Royal, Ace and Libby, and as if he couldn't get enough, Ace continued on with question beyond question.

"So, exactly what kind of hierarchy are we talking?" Ace pressed quietly, the two were sat in separate outdoor lounging chaises, six inches of the legs of the chairs were in the pool water, which in turn stabbed into the glorious, soft white sand.

"Oh, it wasn't as grand as, say, Sugar Rush," Libby huffed through a long sigh as she looked out to the pool and idly swished her hand in the cool water underneath her, "The chief, I guess, would be considered the King. His mate, the Queen. Their sons were to eventually take his place. The more sons, the stronger the tribe."

"How's that work?" Ace wondered softly as he furrowed his brow and honed his entire attention to her, his hand gently stroked the back of Royal's neck.

Royal was sat comfortably lounged in the pool water, and though it was extremely shallow where they sat, his curious, delightfully mesmerizing chameleon scales turned to all sorts of near invisible blues, tans and greens alongside the sand and pretty, glowing pool water. He laid with his eyes closed, his front paws tucked underneath his chin so to keep his face out of the water. His massive bat ears lay droopy and flat to his body, as did his wings to the water. The three sat wholly content in each other's presence, as they had been for about an hour now. Libby knew she could also trust Royal with whatever sensitive, personal information she had to say, about her past and her tribe; she knew Royal was one to be counted on, as well.

"Well, the Chief's three sons would find a mate, and... Those three women would become the technical 'Queens' of the tribe. Alpha females, if you will," Libby stated with air quotes, "My people, the Teltokuan, rely heavily on the lykata, and the way of the wolves. Mirror images, really."

"So, because there would be more alphas, the tribe would be stronger?" Ace inquired, he nearly craved the gentle, cute drawl of her accent, the way her voice curled politely inward and danced about words; she had trouble pronouncing any word that hard a hard 'R' sound, though he knew eventually she'd likely fall out of it, even if he hoped she wouldn't.

"Exactly," Libby smiled, "... Sort of feels weird knowing I won't be a part of those ranks, any longer."

Ace frowned and peered to her in curiosity, and though he so desperately wanted to remind her just of his new title to Sugar Rush, being it's new Prince, he bit his tongue and knew that now wasn't the time. He looked down to the water in a soft draw of defeat. He knew, just by merely becoming his girlfriend, she'd gain three high titles. Future princess of Sugar Rush, future princess of Dead Zed, and... Future human. Ace suddenly reeled inside his thoughts and discovered that, if they ever were to swap codes, she'd likely adopt a human-like coding alongside his. He felt the need to chomp his tongue harder, the urge to flood her with his findings was near difficult to even think straight. Even so, she delightfully carried on, the irresistible charm of her accented, dainty voice had him silently begging for more.

"...I wonder what Hilotem is thinking," Libby nearly whispered, as if the potential for him hearing his name was a possibility; Ace stabbed his eyes into Libby's with growing fervor and felt his heart jump at the topic they were finally traipsing into.

"Is that his name?" Ace urged, as if he could potentially have use of it, though his eyebrows raised once Libby nodded, "He was the chief's second born..."

"Yep... His older brother was to be the main alpha, and him and his younger brother were to wed a week a part," Libby stated quietly, "To be honest with you, I more got along better with Hilotem's younger brother, and it was unfortunate because I think his younger brother fancied me more than he fancied the woman he proposed to."

"Odd," Ace furrowed his brow, "I wonder why he didn't just go after you?"

"I thought the same thing, some days, but I think he knew that Hilotem would've likely tried to harm or kill him," Libby shrugged, "...I'm glad he didn't try to go after me, anyhow."

"How come?" Ace inquired honestly, though Libby flashed Ace a snarky smile and shook her head.

"Cause then I wouldn't be here with you, silly," Libby sighed in annoyance, though Ace's strict facial expression dropped and he beamed a knowing smile to the waters beneath his feet.

"I'm glad you're here too... I-I'm just sorry that... You got hurt, in the process," Ace tip toed around the situation, though he was surprised to see Libby remain calm.

"It sucked, that's for sure, but... Tessa helped me out a bunch," Libby nodded politely, "She actually gave me a great head start to healing from the trauma."

"She did?" Ace pressed quietly as he squinted.

"Yeah, she reset my coding in the code room, and... For days I really just couldn't feel... Clean," Libby uttered, and though she knew this was all safe with Ace, she could feel the weight of her words and the situation at hand, and just exactly who she was telling all of this to, "... I think Ma actually started the whole exterior swap craving, to be honest with you. She gave me a good back massage, alongside an exterior swap, and then gave my hair a proper scrub down. Apparently, it was really gnarly."

"I didn't know my mom did that for you," Ace stated in a draw of polite surprise as he honed his gaze to the back patio of the castle; it was crowned with beautiful, warm and glowing outdoor lights. Ace could see his mom, grandmother and great aunt Taffyta couched out on the outdoor patio furniture, easily lost in conversation like everyone else.

"She's been my biggest supporter, through this," Libby stated through a long sigh, though her eyes lovingly trailed to Ace's, "I wouldn't mind the torch being passed to you, though."

Ace raised his eyebrows and gave Libby his honest, though nervous stare. He knew, eventually, he would know every single raw detail about exactly what had happened, and he'd be able to fully and properly comfort her and ease her pains and worries, though for now he knew he was somewhat limited and had to work with just what he had. He knew the only thing he could do was now comfort her through words of assurance. He felt his heart ache; oh how badly he just wanted to sweep her away and be done with their writhing worries. Though he knew, in this instance, it wouldn't solve anything and would likely make everything worse, he knew eventually, it'd make everything right as rain. His heart began to thud at the honor he would one day receive.

"I won't let you down," Ace stated politely, and though he definitely tried to keep any form of sexual, romantic charm at bay, he felt himself fail said notion with his simple words, and though he was worried Libby would reel away, he was surprised to see her flash him a bashful smile, as if these dainty notions were all they had to survive off of, for now.

"But, it's getting better," Libby heaved through a hard sigh and shook her head, "It just... It feels as if I've lost something really important, and no matter how badly I want it back, I can't find it."

"What's that?" Ace asked naively, Libby could tell it was an actual, confused question, though she cocked her eyebrow in a dollop of sorrowful sass.

"...My virginity," Libby's voice grew dark and quiet, though those two words nearly rocked Ace from the face of Arcade.

"O-Oh, I... F-For some reason, I thought you meant something tangible," Ace sputtered, his face turned hot red, and though he didn't want to dive way too deep into the notion she just bared from her sensitive soul, he furrowed his eyebrows in gentle confusion, scanned the water for a moment and finally peered his gaze to her in gentle contemplation with a jostled shake of his head, "...Y'haven't lost it, you know."

"What do you mean?" Libby prod, she looked surprised that he was lightly challenging her.

"Sure, you... You may have technically 'lost' it physically, but," Ace tried to steady his rushing thoughts, though he shook his head once more and gave her a serious look, "That kind of thing, in my opinion, is more mental and emotional, than physical. Your body took a hit. It wasn't something you wanted, it wasn't beautiful or romantic, or anything you even planned on. You didn't give it away with acceptance, to someone you trusted, and THAT is why I believe you haven't truly lost it, just yet."

Libby remained quiet and soaked in Ace's words, and as awkward as this conversation could have been, between the two, she felt her shoulders relax just a little bit. She let his wisdom sink into her skin, and the more he assured her, the more she smiled, the more she wanted to continue to let him in. The way his idle hand gestures always led to him fiddling his fingers or rubbing his large forearm, the way his lips curled into a bashful smile whenever they caught eyes, the way their friendship hovered over the two like a protective sheath that only grew stronger and stronger as his words continued on.

"Your virginity is something you GIVE, not something that is TAKEN, or stolen... It's yours to give, not anyone else's to steal. I wouldn't worry about that, one bit," Ace's voice grew tender, he tried his very hardest not to be too blunt about the subject matter, "What happened to you was abuse. Not love, not romance, or anything you were willing to partake in. Sex, well... From... What I've heard, is supposed to be a giving situation. You give love, and graciously receive it, you become lost in it. What Hilotem did was selfish and extremely wrong. That's not on you, at all. You didn't lose anything, Libby."

Libby finally smiled and looked down to her hands, and as she could feel tears wallow in her eyes, she heaved a shaky sigh, nodded and felt her skin prickle with the feeling of Ace's tender hand reaching for hers, and as he gave her a friendly squeeze, she felt her heart jump as his warm voice soaked over her fragile soul.

"...Kaji," Ace eased in gentlemanly tone, Libby finally huffed a small giggle and wiped her tears.

""Thank you," Libby meeped through a reviving sigh as she sat up a little straighter, "No one's explained it to me like that..."

"It's true," Ace assured, "The ball is in your court. You still have your virginity, and he, well... I'm assuming he might be missing a limb?"

"It's very likely," Libby finally exhaled a laugh and wiped the last of her tears, "From what I remember, Balba certainly mangled him."

"Wish I could've seen that," Ace chuckled as the two gave each other's hand a final squeeze and let go, though the second they did, something in the distance could be heard reverberating through the clouds.

A soft, eerie drawl, an inquiry of a howl that pierced the night sky, it seemed a few miles off, though Ace furrowed his eyebrows hard into his eyes, looked about and jolted as Royal's head flew up. His massive bat ears perked and began to twitch in the direction of the howl, which was behind the backside of the castle. Royal looked over his shoulder in hard confusion, though he flinched once Libby giggled and eyed him.

"Uh, Roy, y'gunna pick that up?" Libby wondered in a cheeky tone, though Royal glanced at her in confusion, "I wouldn't let a call like THAT roll to voicemail..."

"What's going on?" Ace worried as he peered in the direction of the howl, "I... I didn't think lykata packs hung around these parts."

"They don't," Libby chimed.

"It's Balba," Royal's deep voice uttered in confusion, "Is... Is she okay? What is that call for?"

"That, my friend, is a lykata's mating call," Libby stated as she crossed her arms, though once Royal's face grew flustered and nervous, as if to likely sink back into the water and let insecurity get the better of him, though Libby pointed about the sky a little bit, "That call can be heard for miles and miles."

"Huh," Royal huffed as he looked to the direction of where Balba had laid off to, and though he wanted to jump up and find her, he remained frozen with nervousness.

"It is typical for a female lykata to draw the attention of maybe one or two males, but Roy..." Libby eyed Royal in delightful nervousness, "First-year lykata's in heat can attract up to seven males..."

A louder, more eager howl could be heard this time around, which had Royal's ears largely pinned directly to her exact location, even if it was miles off. Royal huffed a nervous breath and, as his wings tensed, he looked as if he wanted to jump up.

"Any aged males too, big, strong ones, fast ones..." Libby droned on playfully as she twirled her hair, "... Ones that could get there before youuu-"

With a hard push, and pupils so far dilated in instincts, Royal suddenly stood, sprawled his wings and in a single bound from the sandy water, he leaped to the sky, his silent flight immediately sent him soaring over the boundaries of the Kalivar castle, and in mere seconds, Royal was long gone. Ace and Libby let out hard, loud laughter, which cued the attention of Nox, Tammy, Emery and Penny. Ace and Libby largely high-fived, and as the two continued to stay lost in excited laughter as to the victory that had just taken place, everyone grew more curious.

"What was that all about?" Nox argued as they began to chuckle as well.

"Roy-boy is about to get some," Ace laughed as he rubbed his forehead.

"Balba sent out a mating call," Libby giggled as she slowly stood and brushed her legs of sand that had sprayed up, "Let's just hope Royal gets there before any other lykata plans on it."

"Those other lykatas don't stand a chance against a beast like Royal, y'kidding?" Penny blurt, everyone laughed.

"He'll probably come back tomorrow morning with a few scars, but for the most part..." Libby eyed Ace with a widening, cheeky smile, "We'll have a talking lykata on our hands very soon, here."

"That'll be weird!" Ace exclaimed in surprise.

"I just wish Balba could have pups," Libby huffed as she sat back down and crossed her arms, "I'd love to care for a little puppy or something. Lykata pups are so adorable."

"That would be cool," Ace nodded with a small sigh as their respective groups began to fall back to normal, "...I wonder what kind of a creature Royal and Balba would have."

"Well... Royal is a mixture of two different species, and Balba is full lykata," Libby counted on her fingers, "Whatever pup they'd have would be a triple threat on the jungle, I can tell you that much."

"Bat-chameleon-lykata to terrorize the game," Ace chuckled as he shook his head, "Guess we'll eventually see the day..."

* * *

On the opposite end of the Kalivar brood, Koko sat comfortably by her lonesome. On the castle's front patio housed a cozy sitting area, swamped with a hammock chair that was hung from the high overhang, lazy outdoor furniture with big pillows and a soft green tribal rug that gripped to the shiny grey hexagonal tiles. Koko sat with her knees tucked up to her body, she was lounged deep into the couch. She watched the glorious warmth of the game nearly approach and surround her, the game's atmosphere kept her great company. As each Dead Zed racer came nonchalantly and tiredly marching up the front stoop of their castle, and to the front door, they each gave Koko a kind greeting across the large gap. She bit her lip after each racer entered the home and lightly closed the tall, looming castle doors, though she knew she was expecting one more gamer to come home for the night.

She knew she suddenly had to find footing with her father, a person in which she only heard stories of every day, but the very fact that he was now a tangible being in her life made her feel anxious. She knew getting to know her wrecker of a father would take time, and that Tessa and Oliver had already had a large head start and a whole childhood under her belt, though she knew somehow they'd have their own special relationship with each other, even if it meant that Ralph didn't get to know Koko as a child. The thought nearly pained her, she so wished she could turn back time and know what it was like to have a father figure growing up, and though Oliver did a great job keeping her young attitude in line and being that masculine figurehead for her, when she was growing up, she knew absolutely no one could replace her father.

Just as Koko was going to allow her thoughts to run wild, the game's core to overtake her in the gentleness of it's swaying jungle trees and glistening leaves of the setting sun, the teleportation pad, right within the castle's boundaries, suddenly hummed it's familiar noise and Ralph came into being. She knew she was going to go unnoticed, likely until Ralph was right at the front door, and just as she suspected, Ralph breezed past her until his fingertips nearly touched the digital pad, his coding being the key to get beyond doors. He furrowed his brow in confusion, peered to his right out of the corner of his eye and caught gazes with his youngest beauty. He felt his heart jump, which in turn caused purple coding to angrily sprawl his arms in a jolt of a hiccup. He uttered a soft noise, bashfully brushed the pixels to normality and flinched once Koko let a soft laugh shake from her still figure.

"Purple coding looks good on you," Koko chimed sweetly, so to inadvertently invite Ralph closer to her.

"You wouldn't believe the amount of teasing I got, this morning," Ralph grumbled with a smile as he began to make his way over, his footsteps were uneven and unsure. He slowed to a gentle stop, as he got about half a dozen feet from her, and rubbed the back of his head as he nervously continued, "What... What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"Oh, well... The air conditioning is on, and I wanted some warmth," Koko stated quietly, it was clear she was a lot more reserved than Tessa, as a woman. Her honey gaze softly glossed to Ralph's, and as spooky as it was to merely be looking into what he thought could potentially be Oliver's eyes, it was paired with a gorgeous young woman who very easily looked like a cross between his own oldest daughter and his wife. Koko gestured out to the couch adjacent from her, "... Wanna sit with me?"

"Of course," Ralph eased, as if he needed an invitation. He gently sat down across from her, rested his elbows on his lap and peered to her. As if he had a thousand questions for her, he huffed a soft breath and had legitimately no idea where to start. He shook his head, glossed his eyes around the front patio, that eventually connected to the back yard and patio of the wing of eight bedrooms. He squinted his eyes a little and allowed the quietness of the game to soak into him as well, "I'm sure going from harsh, eternal winter to warm jungles is a bit of a... Shock...

"It is... But I could stay out here all day," Koko sighed as she tucked her dark brown wavy hair behind her ears, her hair was likely the length of Tessa's, and had nearly the same craziness; it was clearly a characteristic they had gotten from Ralph, "I'm just... I'm so shocked that there is this whole other world, outside of Sugar Rush. I was always aware that there was more beyond what I knew, and a whole royal lifestyle that got ripped away from us, but... I guess I had to truly experience it to wholly believe it were true."

"You've likely gone through the most changes, out of all of us," Ralph eased, his sorrowful eyes tenderly glossed his large hands, "I gained not only my first born back, but... A third born I didn't even know existed..."

"Don't beat yourself up," Koko sighed, she shook her head and looked off with a smile, "Mom always told me you'd likely be a very large mixture of excited and distraught. We always knew this transition would be weird and bittersweet, but... We're together, now. That's what we have to look forward to."

"I just can't believe... I can't believe it," Ralph shook his head and peered his eyes into his third child's, and though she was a very real being in front of him, he nearly couldn't accept that it were true, "The loading bar failed... I never thought for a single second it could ever be revived."

"Mom always called me the miracle child," Koko giggled with a gentle eye roll, as well as a toothy smirk of annoyance that easily mocked Tessa. Ralph peered to her eagerly and soaked in all the different gentle aspects of her personality. She was calm, sweet and reserved, much like Oliver, though Ralph could sense a good dose of snarky attitude that likely would be deliciously paired with Tessa, Vanellope or even Penny. Koko's soft voice continued on in a cadence of delicateness, "I-I'm not very good at wrecking, but... I'm sure you could likely show me how it's done."

"Boy could I, love," Ralph grumbled with a small chuckle the two shared, he opened his palms and peered down to them, "I'd happily give you lessons. I know Ace has been eager for 'em, too."

"It's weird having a nephew that's older than me," Koko giggled, though Ralph eagerly peered to her.

"Your birthday isn't on Sunday?" Ralph wondered curiously, "I thought... The day Ace was conceived was also the day your loading bar read normality?"

"Ace and Tessa told me that Ace was premature, about two days," Koko gave Ralph her kind, wondering stare, "Something to do with him being a human. Poor Tess's system nearly fried."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Ralph huffed through a gentle sigh and a bob of a nod as he looked off. He furrowed his brow and looked down for a moment of contemplation. He finally gave Koko his loving gaze and nearly felt tears sting his eyes, "I'm... I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, growing up."

"Dad," Koko whispered as she squinted and shook her head, though it was clear she was holding back tears, "You couldn't help it... Don't... Say that..."

"I mean it," Ralph urged quietly, though the second he scoot closer to her and took her delicate, smaller wrecking hand in his, he knew the two were likely colliding down a slippery slope into an emotional break down together, "I-I... I raised Tessa and Oliver. Those two had their father for their whole childhood... But, you..."

"Dad," Koko complained, though this time she grimaced and failed at stopping the tears from billowing in her eyes.

"I want to make it up to you, and though I'm aware I have no fault in this mess, I still want to set things straight," Ralph quietly pleaded as he squeezed her smaller hand, his voice began to grow nasally as he continued on through the push of trying to remain strong, "I know we can't turn back time, and I can't watch you grow up... But I'd love to have that special relationship with you. I want to know you, I want you to be able to feel as though you can come to me for anything, just like Tessa and Oliver."

Koko nodded, as if to feel relief, though tears immediately slipped down her cheeks. She inhaled a shaky breath, wiped her cheek with her free hand and shut her eyes tight. As much as she desperately tried to fight any more tears from escaping, she drastically failed the second she grimaced, covered her eyes with her free hand and choked a small utter of a cry, as if this topic had been weighing far heavier on her than she ever led on. She lightly uttered a few sweet cries into her hand, and before she knew it, Ralph quickly stood, took the step or two to the couch she was on and rushed to sit next to her. As if prayers had been answered, he tenderly scooped her into his chest, though in such a way as if they had known each other for years. Koko gratefully pushed her face into the side of his chest and allowed herself to feel wholly engulfed in Ralph's loving, fatherly embrace.

"I-I... I hadn't even met you, yet I still missed you SO much, dad," Koko begged quietly into Ralph's worn polo, and as Ralph lugged his arms tight around her upper back and her head, he huffed a shaky sigh and peered his teary gaze out to the gorgeous jungle scenery about them. Koko's hands gently grappled the chest of Ralph's polo, "I so hoped, one day, I could potentially meet you and get our family back... I-I'm so glad I got the opportunity before my birthday."

"I was just telling your mother the same thing, last night," Ralph uttered as a few tears finally rolled down his cheeks. He scoffed a small sigh and gingerly buried his nose into the top of Koko's head and soft hair, and as the two finally melted into each other, he could feel Koko's tense shoulders begin to loosen. He gave the top of Koko's head a few firm kisses, and as his large fingers stroked the back of her head and hair, he inhaled a refreshed breath and shut his eyes tight, "We have each other, now. I'm not going to let any more time, between us, slip away. Y'hear me?"

"Thank you," Koko mumbled through a soft sigh of relief as a few tears continued to roll down her cheeks, though as she finally let herself relax in her father's grip, she smiled and felt herself grow drowsy, as if he was the largest magnet for comfort, "Mom always said you gave the best hugs. She wasn't lying."

"Damn straight," Ralph grumbled as he gave Koko a tighter squeeze, though after a few moments, they finally pulled apart. As Koko peered up to him, he gently swiped a few tears from her cheeks, shook his head and squinted a little, "You are so beautiful... You look so much like your mother."

"Thanks, dad," Koko stated shyly with a smile down to her lap, Ralph nodded softly and assessed her demeanor as she began to carry on past their raw emotions, "I'm so excited to finally be out and about... I just can't wait to see what Sugar Rush looked like in normality."

"It's unlike anything you've ever seen," Ralph stated tenderly as he shook his head, "The game is so warm and welcoming, so alive and delicious. I'm sure everything that you've seen is only one one-hundredth of what you'll be expecting to see."

"I got tid-bits from mom and everyone," Koko eased through a reviving sigh as the two collected themselves once and for all, "Nox has been really filling me in, on Arcade life. That guy is full of knowledge."

"Nox?" Ralph uttered, he suddenly felt his heart pang in hard annoyance. He huffed a staggering breath, looked about and furrowed his brow, "W-Well, I'm glad you're making friends and such."

"...Mom told me that you're not too fond of the Turbo boys, here," Koko side-eyed her father, "Is it just because of what Turbo had done to Sugar Rush?"

"I don't trust 'em," Ralph grumbled quietly, "I... I'm sure they're fine, and I know that Tessa and Zed know what they're doing, when it comes to the safety of their game, but... They just seem like a sneaky bunch, I guess."

"Have you talked to any of them?" Koko tested politely, though she knew her father was simply holding onto a family grudge that was being aimed at innocent souls; Ralph raised his eyebrows in nervousness.

"...Not really," Ralph muttered, though Koko giggled.

"Well, there's your first failure, dad. Why not try and get to know them before you deem them untrustworthy? Nox is a really cool guy," Koko stated, and much to Ralph's dismay, a gentle blush soaked over Koko's cheeks. She bashfully looked away and scrunched her shoulders a little, "I-I'm surprised he's not tired of all my Arcade questions, just yet."

"... You seem to like him a lot, huh?" Ralph dared quietly, though not in hopes to alienate her; she peered up to him with the gorgeous, innocent honey brown gaze he knew was missing from his life all along."I-I do, he's great," Koko chimed sweetly, "His eyes are so cool. He really is full of knowledge. He's funny too, dad. You should really give him a chance... Ask him questions. Apparently, he's been in the Arcade longer than you."

"He has," Ralph grumbled with outward annoyance he hoped came across as playfulness; he was thrilled Koko took to it and gave him a knowing giggle.

"Throttle's got a ton of wisdom, as well," Koko vouched quietly, "We're all living under the same roof. We should all give each other an equal chance before we write off anyone, y'know?"

"You definitely are your mother's daughter," Ralph eased through his teeth, he knew even through their children, Vanellope's wit, charm and forgiving nature always shone through and won anyone over. Ralph huffed a long sigh and gave Koko a defeated smile, "If you think he's so grand, then... I'll lighten up. He'll still have to deal with the business end of my fists if he so much as hurts one hair on your head, or one inch of your feelings."

"I'm not a push-over, like Olly, dad," Koko stabbed quietly with that snarkiness Ralph knew was hidden somewhere underneath those innocent brown eyes, "I'd likely take care of him before you could even think about it."

"Atta girl," Ralph pressed quietly with a proud smile.


	77. Chapter 77

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so very much! That means a lot to me :) Ace and Libby's relationship definitely takes it nice and slow, and there are times here and there when they just can't help themselves and accidentally move too quickly. Which could lead to more frustration for you guys, but their relationship will likely be the biggest sigh of relief once they figure their crap out xD As for the spoiler, no the idea wasn't scrapped. I originally planned for it in Defying Code, but that was before I had a definitive plot figured out. It may very well get sunk into Rectifying Origin somewhere, because Ralph and Vanellope have a few chapters where they teach the wreckers and glitchers their ways and such, so it very well might slip into R.O. - if not, it might just be scrapped, because there would be no really good use for the idea in my 4th story.

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Thank you very much! :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** No problem, and congrats btw! :D Also, Nox and Ralph definitely eventually come to an understanding, especially once Nox and Koko grow closer - until then, Ralph definitely has his eye on both Turbo boys.

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you! I'm really enjoying all these heart felt chapter xD I'm soaking in all of it before the action picks back up.

 **Karou-Yuki :** Thank you very much :D This may be a bit of a spoiler, but they DO eventually end up having a pup :) I have a name and gender picked out, and etc., but he/she will be in the fourth story, so I'm not revealing anything just yet. Also, Royal IS a mammal - Royal and Lickity are both warm blooded. On Earth, mixed species like such wouldn't be able to procreate, but the game universe is a bit more lenient. It's not technically always successful, but it IS possible for Royal and Balba to have pups :) And boy does it tickle Libby pink eventually xD

 **Xaehttium :** omg, WTF xD Was it really THAT funny? Mating calls are an actual thing, y'know. That wasn't just something I pulled out of my ass! xD Balba literally has no other way to communicate that to Royal other than her instincts. Once she has his coding and can talk, however, that's a different story lol. Yeahhh Ralph gets a bit 'guard-dog' ish on Nox, but it's all from good intentions :)

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! That'd definitely be a ton of fun to draw, I should remember that.

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you! Yes, the action does pick up in a bit :)

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! YAY I'm glad :)

* * *

 ***Chapter 77***

As the next day came and went, a vigorous, fast paced Saturday game day came to a close inside the lazy aura of the Kalivar castle. With Royal and Balba still off on a mini honeymoon, and Lickity's lonely sulking with Tessa for the day, the gamers stuck to small groups of quietness for the duration of the night. With Throttle safely tucked in his own abode, Oliver and Emery in their love nest, Koko and Tammy quietly chattered at the kitchen island, and most of the rest of the gang lazily couched in the living room, the castle warmly hugged it's inhabitants for the night. As Libby had fallen subject to a cat nap, in the Sky Room, that prolonged far into the evening, and Nox easily wrapped up in an invigorating game show on the television, with the rest of the guys, Ace began to feel restless. He thumbed through his digital pad, the only thing honed to his mind being Sugar Rush and his mother's and grandmother's stand off with the issues at hand. He furrowed his brow and dared to wonder if there was anything he could do to further progress. As he slowly began to saunter out of the Sky Room in search for his mother, he suddenly bumped into his silver-haired uncle.

"Oops, sorry Uncle Orph," Ace mumbled quietly with a gentle smile as Orph jolted; his uncle looked confused, and likely mildly distressed.

"Oh, it's fine, is uh... Have you seen Penny anywhere?" Orph inquired gently, and ever so softly, as if to hope to maybe not attract the attention of his fellow brothers across the kitchen and living room.

"No, I haven't," Ace prod, though he gave his uncle a sly smile and powered down his digital pad, "Why?"

"Cause I'm suicidal," Orph muttered darkly as he shook his head and gave his nephew a cheeky smirk, "Why else? I want to get to know her. I've clearly got a death wish."

"I think you're currently the only one of my uncles brave enough to actually seek her out," Ace stated as he crossed his arms and gave Orph a proud smile, "Tread lightly. I've even seen her get snippy with mom in the last day or two. And mom is the last person to be trifled with."

"I gotta start somewhere," Orph uttered as he took a few steps backwards and peered out the large, gaping patio door's window; he snapped his finger and lightly pointed, "She's outside. Wish me luck."

"What do you like about her?" Ace prod slyly, in hopes to get his uncle to open up; Orph shot Ace a bewildered smile and froze.

"What do you like about Libby?" Orph retort, as if he could possibly have the upper hand, though his demeanor shrank as Ace cocked an eyebrow and remained still.

"Libby has a certain, intelligent quality about her that draws me to her. English isn't her first language, and I find that, her accent, and her whole heritage extremely intriguing. I love the fact that she is willing to get her hands dirty, she can take a joke like a champ, and uhh..." Ace gave his uncle a dominant look and gestured his hand about a little; Orph's teasing smile began to sink in defeated annoyance, "My pool is allowed a small shallow end, right? I appreciate her good looks."

"Want to give her a good few pokes, huh?" Orph muttered in annoyance; Ace jolted his head, bulged his eyes gently and gave Orph a look of wildly embarrassed cheek.

"I love your mature outlook on the situation at hand, uncle," Ace choked a bashful laugh and gave him an annoyed smile, "... My previous question still stands."

"So... I like the way Penny's sort of... Mean," Orph huffed, as if even opening up to his nephew was difficult, "It's interesting. She's rough around the edges. I like pushing buttons."

"Penny's probably the last person in this whole world whose buttons you want to be pushing, uncle Orph," Ace muttered as he cocked an eyebrow and gave his uncle a nervous smile.

"That's just it," Orph whispered as he leaned a little closer to his nephew for emphasis, "No one is brave enough to push said buttons but me. Endurance always wins out with the women, my nephew. You log that advice away for whenever you and Libby... Y'know."

"Thank you, oh grand poobah, this is BRAND new information to me in which I had no clue about," Ace uttered in annoyance as Orph swat at his arm and began to approach the patio doors. Ace began to slowly saunter out of the arch way of the Sky Room, "Try and keep all your fingers, there, uncle. Don't get too close, she bites."

"Ohh, I'm certainly hoping so," Orph dragged with a smirk of a knowing smile as he vanished outside, and as the large patio door closed, Orph inhaled a shaky breath and tried his very hardest to keep his confidence boosted to where it was currently.

Orph felt his skin grow cold at one hard, terrifying fact. The first group of people to suddenly grace his retinas was none other than Ralph, Taffyta, Tessa, and Vanellope; Lickity had her head lazily slumped into Tessa's lap and was likely asleep. To the patio door's left was the gorgeous sprawl of an outdoor bar, an overhang crowned with beautiful jungle foliage, and outdoor furniture the four were lazily lounged at. Farther out, to the patio door's right was Penny, distanced from the group, quietly sharpening her swords. Orph felt his stomach dip in terror; not only had he set out to approach a fierce lioness, he had an audience with the stature and importance of an entire colosseum filled to the brim with people. Orph inhaled a shaky breath, peered to Penny's back across the gap and knew he had to somehow be brave. As he began to slowly step in the direction of Penny, he crossed the gap and passed the group of four figureheads in a draw of a saunter, as if to somehow prove to them he wasn't making an awkward bee line for Dead Zed's lone wolf. As the group of four fell silent, he nervously glanced to them and furrowed his brow, though his heart jolted as all four pairs of eyes were curiously glued to Orph's unsure demeanor.

"Dead man walking," Taffyta muttered through a giggle in which Tessa and Vanellope cued to in a rise of knowing, silent laughter.

"Y'sure you know what you're doing?" Tessa dragged in an unsure tone as Orph continued to step across the massive patio to Penny's whereabouts.

"Not even a little," Orph chimed sweetly, as if to state he knew exactly what he was doing wasn't smart, though he pressed on.

"I will give you my blessing if you walk away from her with all your pixels in tact," Taffyta droned on in a knowing tone, Ralph beamed a curious smile as the stakes were raised, though everyone was shocked as Orph politely pretended to lift a hat off of his head.

"Should I just start calling you 'mom' now, then?" Orph wondered sweetly, though it was clear he was now largely biting back, and much to everyone's surprise, Taffyta raised her eyebrows high and fell silent for once in her life.

"... Proceed," she finally uttered, and with Taffyta's first blessing given, Orph gave her a kind, testing smile alongside a polite nod.

"Thank you," Orph quietly eased, and as confidence flood his veins, he began to feel a bit better about approaching Penny; the fact that he had her mother now alongside his dedication had him nearly beaming from ear to ear.

Orph finally dragged his eyes to his main target. With Penny being the shortest of everyone in the castle, excluding Felix who would visit every other day, Orph had to readjust to the difference. The top of her head easily lined with just underneath his collar bones, and even though she was very small, he knew she wasn't one to be messed with. He swallowed hard and had an inkling that even she, of such a small and short stature, could very easily take someone of his size down in one easy swipe. With her grace, she stood at a few makeshift stands of metal, and in gentle swoops of her arm, she sharpened her swords with a special rock that cleanly sharpened the candy cane blades of her deathly swords. In the slow drag, her eyes glanced nearly behind her, and before he was aware that she knew of his presence, he attempted to clear his mind and wondered just what he should say; she immediately beat him to the punch.

"It'd be wise if you re-ran Tessa's words over, a few times," Penny's quiet voice laced over Orph's being in a sinful cloak of delightful darkness; Orph cocked an eyebrow and huffed a nervous breath, though he tried to remain collected.

"I did on the walk over here," Orph assured in a cheeky tone as he held his hands behind his back and carefully approached her, "What are you sharpening your swords for?-"

Orph jolted as Penny's graceful actions glided into perfection, she just barely lifted her arm, took the double striped sword off of it's horizontal stand and pointed the sharp tip of the blade into Orph's face. He choked a breath, froze and peered down the length of it. He held his hands up and began to feel worried, though he knew he was safe in the game, and if anything were to happen to him, he knew it'd eventually be worth it.

"Just in case," Penny's voice chimed politely as she finally gave Orph snarky, delighted eye contact. After a moment of hanging the blade near his nose, she giggled in a mean way and brought the sword back to the stand, so to continue sharpening it, "I need SOMEONE to test the sharpness out on. I'm glad you, uh... Are stepping up to the plate, then."

"You know me, I love a good throw around," Orph uttered in annoyance, and though he knew he was wholly messing with fire at this point, he sauntered closer to her and her work, and had to wonder just how close he could get before she sliced his hands off, "Those are beautiful swords. You find 'em?"

"No, they're my father's," Penny retort quietly, her voice held a kindness that Orph knew was all too cheery and cute to be real; he knew she was simply being dainty and sweet for effect, and any one moment her lovable blue eyes could turn to ice, "A double stripe branch is amongst the hardest branch to take down, it is with the highest honor my father made this sword. The cross striped branch was brought down so to make my aunt Vanellope's and uncle Ralph's wedding rings. An even higher honor. I may not be wholly royalty, but I am the daughter of Sugar Rush's knight."

"So... How come YOU have the swords?" Orph dared, he nearly wanted to push all of her buttons.

"How come YOU have so many questions?" Penny stabbed; he knew the cheeriness was simply a facade.

"I don't know, can't I be friendly? We live together now, I just want to get to know you," Orph stated casually, though he flinched once Penny let out a gentle giggle.

"You, my friend, are different from the others. Where as the other boys try to woo me via compliments and gentle gestures of the hands and acts of kindness, YOU think you will win over someone with annoying notions and a good 'ol riveting game of twenty-billion-questions," Penny's voice was slick, her once barely welcoming eyes remained honed to her work; Orph stepped back as she swung her arm in the repetitive motion to sharpen her sword.

"... Is it working?" Orph dared with a cheeky smile as he crossed his arms and watched her work.

"You're working your way onto my bad side, that's what's working," Penny stabbed meanly, though Orph grinned and shrugged as he dared to take a step closer, so to get a better look.

"As long as I'm the King of it," Orph's voice glossed, though Penny raised her eyebrows and peered to Orph in annoyed surprise; his heart jumped, he nearly had to wonder if he was either successful or dead meat. Neither one was clear.

The two held nearly painful eye contact for way longer than Orph was even comfortable with, though he knew not to back down. She glared at him in hard surprise, as if to potentially reward him for his bravery, she huffed an unenthused scoff of a laugh, shook her head and peered back down to her blades. Orph puffed his chest a little and felt a massive victory drape over him, and though he potentially wondered how long this would last, he could hear the crowd of four, behind the two, began to quietly bicker and gawk in silent surprise, as if they were simply watching a show unfold.

"So," Orph chimed, he could tell by the mere fact that her shoulders scrunched in growing, agonizing mental pain that she was wholly done having him around, though she almost couldn't bring herself to telling him off. Orph crossed his arms and gestured down a little, "Betcha I have it worse than you."

"That's rich," Penny spat a mean laugh and shook her head with a wide smile, she finally shot him a daring look of a smolder, as if his bravery was just barely paying off already, "Try me."

"I've been killed by a dragon before," Orph bragged with a mean smile and a tilt of his narrowing eyes down the bridge of his nose, "Twice."

"Does this dragon go by the name of, uh... Lickity Split?" Penny ogled in a draw of annoyance, though she immediately beamed Orph a knowing, annoyed smile and quietly laughed in his face, "Amateur."

"That counts," Orph argued as he dropped his arms in defeat, "Alright, alright... I've..."

"Killed a man?" Penny barked quietly, she quickly thought back to Selka, though Orph furrowed his eyebrows in darkening surprise and nearly shocked Penny in the sudden reel of his sarcastic demeanor; it immediately sloped to quiet, brooding, secretive surprise.

"... Who gave you that information," Orph suddenly stabbed, as if to be nearly offended, though he was wholly surprised to see Penny's face wash flat from the massive snarky front she was so diligently holding fast to. She stood up straight, stopped what she was doing and peered to Orph in collective confusion.

"No one," Penny urged quietly, though Orph beamed her a nervous smile and waggled his hand down.

"Hey, we're already becoming fast friends," Orph stammered nervously, his eyes looked cautious at this point; Penny squinted and side-eyed him.

"Would you lookit that," Penny uttered in dark, suspicious annoyance, though she nearly flinched as Orph began to lightly step away with a small wave; her eyes eagerly followed him for a lot longer than she typically would allow.

"Anyways, I'm beat," Orph chimed in a cloak of forced happiness, he shot her a kind, nervous smile and waved a little, "See you tomorrow."

"Right..." Penny huffed in confusion, though as she watched Orph leave, and Ace step out onto the patio, she finally dragged her eyes to the four heads of Sugar Rush across the way, they each looked on in hard, shocked surprise.

"Mom, I've been looking all over for you," Ace uttered in quiet annoyance as he approached the four, though he stopped in his tracks and followed their line of sight, which was glued to Penny from across the way. Ace furrowed his brow and looked back and forth between the two groups, "Are... Are you guys good?"

"We have just entered the twilight zone," Taffyta muttered in hard dismay, though Ralph nudged her arm.

"I genuinely hope that kid tries to start calling you mom," Ralph snorted a laugh and covered his mouth, to which Vanellope eagerly cued to and let out a hard giggle.

"Kid's got balls, I'll tell you that," Tessa muttered in annoyance at Orph, one of her five adoptive brothers she had likely grown the closest to, besides Finn.

"Mom, I... I think I'm going to go to Sugar Rush for a little bit," Ace finally stated, and just as he hoped, all four pairs of eyes honed their entire curious attention to the User before them; each one of them shot their confused stares straight for Tessa, as if to wonder just what her opinion on the subject matter would be.

"What for, bub?" Tessa inquired quietly as she furrowed her brow and shook her head, "I... I don't feel comfortable with you doing that."

"I just... I just want to sit and think," Ace looked down to his hands, one of which was holding his powered-off digital pad, "I just want to think if there's potentially any way I can maybe get Radex's attention. He can't delete me..."

"Methinks he's just scared of you," Vanellope stated softly, "With you looming at the entrance, like such, he wouldn't even go near you with a ten foot pole. He knows he's greatly outmatched."

"Even if you don't know how to channel your powers," Taffyta shrugged and peered to Ralph and Vanellope, "Radex doesn't know that you're still getting used to all of this. He just sees a human on the radar and is the mayor of nope-ville."

"It's likely true," Ralph huffed as he dragged his stare to Tessa, "I don't know what good going to Sugar Rush would do..."

"I just... I just want to sit and clear my head, I need to be alone," Ace sighed in mild annoyance, "I figured I could maybe get a feel for the land and the grid... See exactly what I'm dealing with. I didn't get much of an opportunity when we were there last."

"I don't want you going alone, bud," Tessa worried, though Vanellope lightly raised her fingers.

"I'll go with you," Vanellope eased, though everyone dragged their nervous gazes to the Queen. She lightly began to stand and gave Ace a kind look of loving cheek, "If you need your space, I won't say a word. I just don't want you to be in Sugar Rush all by yourself. It could be dangerous."

"I don't think it's too dangerous to just sit at the entrance and, well... Sit," Taffyta bobbed her head a little and gave Vanellope a soft stare, though Tessa heaved a long sigh and knew exactly why he wanted to get away.

"Just... Be safe, you guys," Tessa worried, and as their anxious stares all centered in on Ace and Vanellope, she felt her stomach dip harder in growing apprehension, "I will if I have to, but I REALLY don't want to scout Sugar Rush for you again, mom."

"We won't leave the entrance," Vanellope assured with a small chuckle as she nudged Ace's arm, "C'mon. Grab your coat, it'll be cold."


	78. Chapter 78

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hahaha yes, you will learn Orph is onnne tough cookie for contending with Penny, on the daily, like he does from here on out. Also - Penny's last name is Fluggerbutter. Taffyta and Rancis are still married :) Thank you very much! Yeah it's not often big ideas like that, of mine get scrapped, but it has happened before. Who knows, really. Even standing at the cusp of 100 chapters, with Rectifying Origin, I still am looking at a WHOLE bunch more ideas and character development and such to come about. There's so much left to be written. So really, anything is possible.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you very much! I greatly appreciate it :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha well, Ace was genuinely looking for Tessa - that show would be hard to resist, otherwise xD And, no worries, hope you're doing well :)

 **Retrokill :** LOL well thank you! xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Well, as usual, I'm all for stepping out of my 'predictable' habits - you guys are going to continue to be strung along. Or will you? LOL.

 **Snake557 :** Something DOES happen! But it's not anything any of you guys would likely ever guess xD

 **Alanshee The Guardian :** Thank you! Yes, Orph definitely has a death wish xD

 **Xaehttium :** LOL Well you guys will eventually find out. Radex is a worry, but it goes a lot deeper for sure. And yes, Ace does appear as a User 'human' in the code room. Also, yes! You guys will get to hear about all of Orph's good, dark, gooey secrets. Him and Penny certainly don't have a massive spotlight, when it comes to the relationships being portrayed, but they do indeed get a good amount of run time.

* * *

 ***Chapter 78***

Sugar Rush's eerie, still atmosphere was silent. Not a single howl of wind, the still air desolate of it's typical grumble of race cars, Vanellope sat by herself, leaned against the waffle cone entrance. She crossed her arms into one of Ralph's hoodies, and though it nearly swamped her like a blanket, she cuddled into it and didn't care about the fact that it was way too big for her. As desperately as she wanted to maybe cry, mosey over to Ace and somehow seek comfort over the fact that this glorious game of hers was now wholly out of her hands, she remained still, and her eyes remained dry. Like a stoic wall becoming hardened and cold to the elements of life, she allowed herself to feel the enormous amount of sorrow, though in such a way where she was removed from the equation. As odd as she took it to be, she felt it to be somewhat of a relief.

As Sugar Rush's sun hung cold and red on the horizon, it painted the snowy landscape with only a kiss of warmth, though not nearly enough to raise her game from the dead. She gently shivered and cuddled further into Ralph's dark red hoodie, though as her eyes dragged to Ace's whereabouts, she felt her heart jump. The mere fact that, in the span of only a few days, she had gained so many family members, old and new. Ace, a tall, bumbling figure, easily resembled Oliver, and though he was smaller than his uncle Oliver, he still had paws too big for his own good, a heart of gold like the man that started it all, and a demeanor so humble, it was nearly irritating. Vanellope couldn't help but smile, she assessed him further down the way, he was potentially three or four dozen feet from her. He had found himself near a slope of snow, he peered out to the horizon, though Vanellope wrinkled her nose and almost wondered if he was up to something.

Through a warm, fogged breath that soaked the air out before him, Ace peered down to his large hands and the peek of his wrists from his dark blue zip up. He felt confusion, sorrow, uncertainty, and any other negative, unsure emotion flood his silver circuitry, and though he wanted to so desperately grapple the game's coding and yank Radex from it's clutches, he felt pure frustration at the sheer fact that he didn't even know how to do such things, or where to begin. He felt his wrecking anger rise, and before he could convince himself not to, he allowed his left palm to come alive with his own coding. He inhaled a sharp breath, steadied himself, and peered down to the ground below him. Just as he was about to shove his hand to the grid below, to see if he could possibly get some sort of reaction, his arm was suddenly seized, yanked upwards and riddled with hot purple coding he knew felt familiar.

"Just because I promised to leave you alone doesn't mean I've taken my eye off of you, young man," Vanellope called, she had closed their gap by half and had her right hand lazily drawn out of Ralph's large hoodie sleeves. She kept strict control over Ace's coding, though before she could seem like too much of a tyrant, she shook her arm to the side, which caused Ace to fling his arm backwards, utter a hard noise and wobble to correction, "You're out here to think, not to stir the pot, Ace."

"It's not like I'd even be able to do anything," Ace argued loudly, though he felt more frustration over the fact that Vanellope began to close their gap even more and make her way over to him. He furrowed his brow and shot his grandmother a mildly annoyed look as she approached, "I have all these powers and no idea how to use them."

"So what?" Vanellope snipped with her usual, youthful smile; Ace flinched.

"So WHAT," Ace ogled in hard confusion, "I am the KEY to solving this drama. I could get Radex and delete him RIGHT NOW if I wanted to!"

"So do it," Vanellope shrugged, though Ace glared into her eyes.

"I... I..." Ace stammered and looked about in a flustered way.

"You said you were the key, riiight?" Vanellope prod, as if to sarcastically grow impatient.

"I am," Ace huffed, as if that wasn't something he wanted, "I... I want to make it right. I just don't know how. Why does it all have to be on me."

"What if it ISN'T all on you?" Vanellope prod softly, though Ace finally loosened his shoulders and peered to Vanellope in gentler confusion.

"But... I'm the only human in this Arcade," Ace mumbled, "I can fix it..."

"You're not a fixer, my love," Vanellope breathed a small giggle and tenderly slid her small hand to Ace's larger forearm, "You, are a wrecker. Sure, Sugar Rush is, well... In trouble... But, you can't do all of this on your own."

Ace breathed a long sigh and looked down, and though tears wanted so desperately to well in his eyes, he shook his head a little and forced it back. The ground beneath him begged to be slapped with all of his power, to correct every single issue underneath the game's sugary pixels, every star in the night sky rejoiced with his presence, the one who could reverse it all; Ace felt useless. He finally dragged his eyes from the gently sunkissed snow underfoot and eagerly peered into his grandmother's eyes.

"What if... What if I'M the key?" Vanellope giggled with a shrug, "What if it's Orph, Lickity, Zed... Libby!"

"Libby," Ace scoffed in a sarcastic way, as if to potentially state that was out of the question, though Vanellope shook her finger a little.

"You won't know until that dreaded moment," Vanellope pressed, "You need every single one of us to get to where Sugar Rush needs to be. Who sends the final blow isn't even up for guesses... Cause no one knows. Sure, bud, you're the only human, and you ultimately have reign over, well... Everything... But everyone comes equipped with things and powers that you don't have. Powers that you may need."

"Like what?" Ace wondered gently, Vanellope smiled.

"Well, you're the grandson of the glitch herself," Vanellope's voice grew quiet and knowing; Ace smiled and peered harder into her eyes, "You're also the grandson of master wrecker. You're the son of the fastest most thorough coder in this whole Arcade, and your father is quite literally unbeatable."

Ace nodded and looked away, as if to show he was guilty for thinking he potentially had the upper hand on everyone this entire time.

"You look at me and tell me you can do this all on your own," Vanellope hissed in a whisper as she tenderly closed their gap and lovingly grappled for Ace's chin to make him look down to her, "You tell me you have given every single one of those skills your ten thousand hours... Have you?"

"No, ma'am," Ace stated politely in defeat as he gave his grandmother his much deserved eye contact.

"You need everyone," Vanellope stated quietly, though firmly, "You need Penny for her masterful skills of agility, all your uncles have racing strategies and the ethic to work under pressure... Nox and Throttle are practically this Arcade's walking, living relics... And Libby..."

Ace raised his eyebrows nervously and knew if there was any one topic to make his eyes water immediately, it was the topic of Libby. He held his breath and nearly begged for his grandmother's tender loving care in this moment.

"Battle may be viewed as rushing in, taking every enemy out, pounding your chest and being aggressive, but..." Vanellope gave Ace a loving smile and softly began to stroke his cheek with her thumb, "If there's one thing that girl can teach you, through this mess, it's patience. Patience, softness, reservedness... Believe it or not, those things are needed for a proper, stable battle strategy."

Ace huffed a nervous sigh and, just as he could swear he was doing a good job at keeping it together, the tears slipped down his cheeks. He exhaled a shaky breath, kept himself composed and lightly closed his eyes. As he furrowed his brow in growing sorrow, he tucked his face deeper into Vanellope's hand and ached for warmth. He slumped his shoulders and felt his ears prick at the sound of his grandmother's tender, youthful giggle.

"Oh, my son..." Vanellope stated through a growing, quiet chuckle as she shook her head and gave Ace a smile of assurance, "You two will be just fine. This road ahead is going to be hard, and you are well aware there will be mountains to move... But, you remind me so much of another hero I know. Someone who saved Sugar Rush, once upon a time."

"Who?" Ace pried his eyes open slowly and gave Vanellope a curious look through the tears in his eyes; Vanellope beamed and stroked a few tears off of Ace's left cheek.

"Your grandfather," Vanellope stated quietly, though Ace looked down to Vanellope's shoulder as if to state he should've guessed, "He did it through adversity, with only one friend by his side. When the whole entire world was against him, he had one ally. One teacher, one student..."

"You?" Ace tenderly questioned.

"Me," Vanellope chirped, "You, my love, have nearly four billion aunts, uncles, friends, dragons and whoever the crap else decides to join us at that User-forsaken castle."

Ace beamed and finally let out a genuine laugh at her charming sarcasm, though he tucked farther into her warm hand; as silently instructed, she continued to stroke his cheek.

"If you came here thinking you were going to goad Radex out of his hidey-hole, and end his sorry ass for good, in hopes of keeping the burden off of the rest of your team, you were very wrong," Vanellope continued in a loving, nearly stern voice that Ace was nervously cued to, "Tomorrow, you become a man... The manly thing to be doing, in this moment, is to understand that you are never going to be greater than that of the dependence on others. Even if you are, quite literally, this Arcade's saving grace... You will always need a team to fall back on, no matter how big or small."

"Thank you, momma," Ace's deep voice mumbled in a croak of his tears. He inhaled a long sniffle and peered his sorrowful gaze into Vanellope's, "I just don't want anyone else to worry about this issue anymore. Not only do I want to get Sugar Rush back for everyone, I... I want to get it back for my mother. My mother deserves it..."

"That she does," Vanellope sighed as she finally released Ace's cheek and looked out to the wasteland about them, "She may have made a mistake and... Sent Sugar Rush into chaos, but she saved our lives, she saved Koko's life... She brought IN new life."

"I wasn't a part of the plan," Ace stated in quiet cheek with a growing, bashful smile, though he let out a genuine chuckle once Vanellope elbowed him.

"You're the reason we all reunited and are working towards correcting Sugar Rush," Vanellope sighed through a small laugh, "That's something else she did right... She trusted Zed."

"Trusted him right into the hotel, clearly," Ace muttered, though the two of them choked a bout of laughter for a moment; Vanellope shook her head and nudged Ace once more.

"I'm glad she did, bud," Vanellope laughed, the air before them heavily fogged with their kind excitement, "As weird as it sounds, it was likely the best thing she could've done, or else you wouldn't exist."

"We wouldn't want that," Ace droned in a sigh of a sarcastic whisper, Vanellope gently tucked her long black hair behind her ear and gave Ace a kind, welcoming smile.

"C'mon, let's head back home... We have to prepare for yours, Koko's and Libby's party tomorrow, anyways," Vanellope stated warmly.

"When will we be back here?" Ace wondered nervously as the two looked back at Sugar Rush's gaping, ominous entrance.

"Likely within the next week or two," Vanellope stated as they peered up the towering waffle cones, "Ralph and I talked about it, a little bit. We will be making a proper schedule of when and where we will scout Sugar Rush. It'll likely be over the course of a few months... Multiple trips into Sugar Rush."

"Wow, really?" Ace prod as he rubbed the back of his head, the two began to softly step up the bank of snow they were stationed near the middle of.

"Yeah, User knows how many trips we will actually need before we find the castle, but..." Vanellope trailed off and began to step up the slope with Ace, "Where ever the castle is, the code room is. That's our target."

"So, we're NOT looking for Radex?" Ace prod nervously.

"If we find the code room, we find Radex," Vanellope shrugged, "And vice versa... That coward likely never leaves the code room out of his sight... Strictly out of fear."

Just as the two were about to reach the top of the small hill they were on, a few bushes rustled further down the bank. Both gamers froze, whirled around and peered to the shaking, dry tumbleweed of brush in the gap of distance. Ace furrowed his eyebrows and flinched the second a few squeaks of terror could be heard, likely from some sort of animal. Just as Vanellope was about to question just what kind of animal that could be, a large, angry bird of prey suddenly flapped from the bush, landed on a nearby, dying green twizzler tree and eyed the bush it had just tangled with. Ace and Vanellope shot each other confused looks, though just as the bush let out another gentle cry of agony, Ace raised his eyebrows in a squeeze of nervous adrenaline and began to rush towards the bush.

"Wait, Ace, wait," Vanellope begged as she quickly began to join him, and though Ace only barely slowed, he still approached the bush. He angrily peered to the bird, in which was perched a dozen feet away, high up in the tree, "That's... I think that's a berry falcon. Aggressive hunters..."

"What's down here that said bird is so interested in?" Ace argued quietly as he finally approached the bush, though once they moved some of the dying branches out of the way, Ace's eyes widened as to just what was curled before him.

A helpless, shivering pup, in which looked to be maybe only a week or two old. With dark fur for camouflage in the brush and dark rocks, this pup looked near terrified and without any form of protection besides it's own pelt. Ace gasped a small, sorrowful noise, and just as he was about to bend over to pick up the pup, Vanellope firmly stopped him.

"No, come on, don't touch it," Vanellope pressed as she eagerly peered around, "It's a froster fox... It's mother is likely around, and... If she sees us trying to tamper with her pup, it'll be bad news for us. Froster foxes aren't to be trifled with. C'mon, let's go."

"But," Ace pressed as he wobbled away with the grapple of Vanellope's hand to his upper arm, "Momma, it'll be eaten by THIS asshole up here!" Ace stated loudly up to the angry looking bird in the tree above them.

"Ace, that's... That's nature, unfortunately," Vanellope prod, though as the two grew likely twenty feet away from the bush and the falcon, Vanellope slumped her shoulders and felt guilt plague her system. She peered about the wasteland and, for as far as the eye could see, no pop of a froster fox's glorious red, cream and pink pelt could be seen anywhere. The second her eyes dragged to her grandson's upset, pleading hazel eyes was the second she rubbed her face in growing agitation and gave up, "Fiiine, go get it..."

"Yes," Ace hissed in excitement as he began to quickly march back to the bush where the small pup was.

As he approached, he slowed and lightened his footwork, so not to scare the small pup. He gingerly knelt down, and with all the care in the world, he scooped the small baby into his arms and into the warmth of his chest and hoodie. He slowly stood and peered down to the small kit. Her eyes were glossed in sheer terror, her little legs and paws shook with the cold, and without nourishment from her mother long gone, she looked absolutely starving. Ace furrowed his brow, peered down to the adorable puppy and with the tender caresses of his large fingers to the bundled baby, he felt an idea hit his mind. He smiled a warm smile down to the fox, and as her shivering began to settle in the cloak of Ace's forgiving warmth, he tenderly began to stroke the bridge of her nose, so to potentially lull her to sleep.

"I know just who would be willing to take you in," Ace stated down to the pup, and as he neared Vanellope, she leaned closer to get a good look at the pup.

"Who? I know Tess isn't going to be thrilled we're bringing more animals home," Vanellope muttered, "Think we can get mom to agree?" She wondered, as if her and Ace were simply children with a new pet they were ready to beg to keep.

"She doesn't have a choice, this pup is going to be a birthday present to Libby," Ace mumbled, though Vanellope beamed her grandson and excited smile and wagged her finger.

"Smart thinking," She eased in proud surprise, "You really ARE related to me."

"You're so modest," Ace playfully stabbed as the two began to march towards Sugar Rush's entrance for good; Vanellope gave him a loving nudge as he continued, "Besides, I finally have a gift to return to Libby."

"She already gave you your birthday gift? What was it?" Vanellope plainly wondered.

"... Her real name," Ace stated in quiet bashfulness, though Vanellope cocked an eyebrow and beamed him a teasing smile.

"Ohh-ho, lover boy, you got her real name out of her?" Vanellope pressed cheesily as Ace beamed a proud smile to his feet through the blush on his face.

"Yes, ma'am," Ace mumbled bashfully, though Vanellope cooed him a small, knowing noise.

"How sweet," Vanellope carried as she lulled her head and looked up to the waffle cones as they tucked inside the entrance to Sugar Rush, "Maybe one day, she'll give yah something sweeter, hmm?"

"Mom," Ace stabbed in annoyance, she laughed and swat at him in a way to state she was just playing.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys, I just posted a painting of Ace and Libby to my deviantART - I'm really REALLY proud of it, and it took me forever, and if you guys could go check it out and such, I'd so appreciate it. And full size, too... I put a crap ton of little details into the piece, and I really don't want any of it to go unnoticed! D: It's titled 'Ace Of Hearts' on my deviantART - username Vyntresser**

 **Thanks guys! :D**


	79. Chapter 79

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur : ** YES **congrats** on being my **700th** reviewer! I'm glad people are now on the lookout for the milestones xD I'll have to do something special for my 1k reviewer :) Thank you so much! I really put a lot of care into these characters, and I'm glad it shows. Also, without spoiling WAY too much, yes, Rancis is one of the 'main' couples of the bunch, and though him and Taffyta more have a few tender moments closer to the end, it'll make sense as the story goes on. Also - Thanks for the compliments on my painting! I worked very VERY hard on it (and omg all of Ace's body hair nearly drove me to the point of OCD insanity LOL) but it was worth it, and I'm really glad you guys liked it so much :D That's GREAT you're picking up the (digital) pencil and are beginning to draw! It's difficult to give tips and help you out through fanfiction, so if you ever need drawing tips and ideas or even Photoshop help, go ahead and email me ( Vyntastic at gmail ) - it's easiest to get ahold of me that way. I'd be happy to help you out if you ever need!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL! This little pup isn't going to be THAT much of a disaster xD IDK what kind of cats you've had about. I've grown up with cats as well, and none were that rambunctious! xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Nooo lol. Marble is a lykata - massive flying wolf creature, also Balba's breed. This kit is a froster fox, born in Sugar Rush. Marble's breed, the lykata, is native to Dead Zed. I thought that was clear D: Sorry about that.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** YES I've been meaning to! She's adorable and I can't wait for you guys to learn her name and 'watch' her grow and such :D Thank you so much for your kind words!

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL Things happen! He wasn't planning on going to Sugar Rush to get an animal xD Yes, Ace still has a lot of learning and growing to do, but he has an awesome support system :)

 **Retrokill :** I nearly DIED laughing. I'm serious, I cackled so loud I nearly woke the neighbors, I'm sure. So yes, thanks for that xD

* * *

 **A/N : Just wanted to update you guys on the whole animation request I had stated, in chapter 50 - I'm frustrated because I am half way finished with animating it, and then I have to add the voices, but it's taking me so long to finish because I just have so little time anymore, between commissions, this story, and drawing for myself (which I've discovered is needed for my mental health Dx) So, just bear with me. I haven't forgotten about it, and I actually am VERY excited about it, I just need to like have a weekend where I go NO WHERE so I can knock it out xD Chapter 100 will mark my 2nd sketch dump requests, so you guys be thinking about what scenes you'd like to see drawn, it's 21 chapters away :D**

 ***Chapter 79***

As Zed moved through the quiet castle, he could practically feel the energy of the lively family group, of his, outside the back patio door. His bare feet traversed his castle, the cold tiles were illuminated by sunshine every window could possibly stream in, and while he was away from the chaos for a few moments, he knew he had a few tasks at hand. He gently peered down to the small bundle in his arms, the baby froster fox Ace had taken in, for Libby's birthday present, lay comfortably in Zed's strong arms, and as Zed bottle fed the small kit, her eyes lazily lulled closed with her rhythmic, suckling motions. Her paws grappled for the bottle, which was filled with a formula as close to a froster fox's milk as Tessa and Vanellope could code. Zed knew Tessa likely had Libby preoccupied outside, so she wouldn't see her yet to be revealed birthday present.

Just as Zed slipped from the kitchen to the entrance of the Sky Room, just past the massive, round patio door and window, he peeked his head into the dim Sky Room and wrinkled his nose into a nearly annoyed smile. He knew Ace was still sound asleep, and everyone agreed to let him sleep for as long as he'd like on his birthday, though Zed felt a pang of near delighted sorrow crawl his skin. It was in this moment he truly realized his little boy was no longer a child, but was now a full grown adult, and though the year came with it's trails and tribulations, Zed stopped in a slow saunter and felt his heart gather in his throat; he knew he'd easily do it all over again, just to hear that small giggle, to see that boyish smile and to hear Ace's cute little voice call for his dad from down the hall. Zed long blinked and knew he couldn't stop from becoming emotional, though he did everything he could to hold back tears.

As he stepped into the Sky Room, he noticed the large bed, in which Ace, Nox and Libby had shared, was a big mess, though Ace was lay strewn on one of the bends of the two couches that hugged the Sky Room. It were as if he had woken up, promised himself he'd get up, and gave up as he reached the couch. Zed chuckled at the endearing sight, his adult son splayed on the couch on his back, his strong chest rose and fell with his slumber, his mouth agape in a breathy, silent snore. Zed tenderly approached and sat down on the bend of the couch right at Ace's side, and though he knew lovingly tending to Ace's sleeping figure, as an adult, was unnecessary, he knew he'd likely only have very few more chances to do so.

With a steady arm cradling the small pup, Zed set down the kit's bottle and tenderly reached for Ace's forehead with his free hand. Through delightfully sorrowful eyes, Zed scanned Ace's innocent sleeping face and ever so gently brushed his crazy dark blue hair out of his forehead. He weaved his fingers through Ace's hair and promised himself he'd take in every single aspect of Ace's now manly appearance. He so strongly took after Zed and his own five uncles, with a prominent jaw, strong features and the gentle arch of his nose. Zed shook his head gently and knew likely the best thing about him was the very thing he fell in love with Tessa over; the smile. Zed scoffed a silent chuckle of disbelief, pure, silent shock that this being below him was the product of his and Tessa's love, and with how quickly Ace had grown up, Zed could feel his heart sink harder and harder. Before he could get too swept away in sorrow, his heart jolted back to life once Ace quietly stirred.

Ace inhaled a deep breath, rubbed his cheek with the back of his knuckles, stretched a little and tilted his head in curiosity. The familiar touch through the front of his hair and forehead had his sleepy eyes squinting open, as if to wonder if said being before him was truly who he thought it was. With the sight of his father, Ace huffed a sigh of relief, relaxed back into the couch and closed his eyes, and as Zed continued to gently love on him, Ace smacked his lips and remained still. He knew, any other day, he'd likely swat his father's hand away and wonder just why he was prodding at him while he tried to sleep, though Ace knew this likely was going to be a difficult day for his mother and father. He let Zed do whatever he needed to potentially grieve and accept the inevitable transition Ace had gone through.

"Poppa," Ace's voice was deeper than usual, because of just waking up; it crackled, as well.

"Happy birthday," Zed stated quietly as he finally left Ace's hair alone and pat the center of Ace's broad chest, which was cloaked in a comfortable black t-shirt.

"... I forgot," Ace stated warmly with a gentle smile and an even gentler, tired chuckle; Zed beamed.

"How could you forget your own birthday?" Zed wondered plainly, though Ace finally opened his eyes for good, tilted his head and peered up to his father.

"I've only ever had one," Ace grumbled, he rubbed his eye, "...What time is it?"

"It's nearly noon, son," Zed stated in mild, playful dismay. He finally readjusted the baby fox in his left arm and glanced down at her, "Everyone is outside swimming and having a blast, and you're in here sleeping your own birthday party away."

"I'm exhausted for some reason," Ace murmured, though he grunted as he began to sit up; Zed only lightly scoot over, so to give Ace the proper room to sit correctly. Ace grumbled, rubbed his forehead in dismay and finally peered to the small fox in his father's arms, "Libby didn't see her yet, right?"

"No, not at all," Zed assured quietly as he began to hand the kit over to Ace, "Y'wanna feed her? She's almost done with her bottle."

"Sure," Ace stated sleepily as Zed successfully transitioned the baby to Ace's larger hands, as well as handed him the little bottle. As Ace began to feed the baby, Zed assessed the two in charming delight.

"Good practice, yeah?" Zed wondered with a cheeky side-eye.

"...What?" Ace mumbled curiously as he peered to his dad in gentle confusion, though just as realization hit his skin, he huffed a long sigh and rolled his eyes with a bashful smile, "Dad, you're not ALREADY wanting grandchildren, are you? I literally turned one not twelve hours ago. Give me a minute. I don't even have a girlfriend or anything."

"... Are you really going to try and shove that load of crap down my throat right now?" Zed muttered with a wide, annoyed smile; he was thrilled to see Ace attempt to force a bashful grin off of his cheeks.

"Dad, I talked to Libby, we've temporarily stuck each other in the friend-zone and I really don't want to talk about it," Ace rushed in growing, sad annoyance, though his bashful smile still persisted.

"It's fine," Zed chuckled and shook his head, "You'll likely have a baby sibling before a baby of your own, anyways."

Ace raised his eyebrows high, peered to his dad in hard surprise and froze.

"I-Is mom pregnant?" Ace wondered in growing, excited curiosity, though Zed gave Ace an incredulous smile.

"No, your mother isn't pregnant," Zed choked as he shook his head, "She DOES have baby fever, though. I don't know if we're ready for a second child... But I guess once I know, you'll know."

"It'd be cool to have a little sibling," Ace nodded as he peered down to the baby fox in his arm, "Don't push yourselves, though... Especially in the middle of all this Sugar Rush drama."

"That's my plight," Zed sighed, "She keeps wanting to take our firewall down, but... It's not the right time, I don't think."

"Once Sugar Rush is saved?" Ace wondered politely as he peered to his father, "... You know no one would be complaining if you added another baby to the castle, dad. Momma and Paw would go nuts with excitement."

"I'm sort of hoping Oliver and Emery will beat us to the punch, that'll take the attention off of your mother and I," Zed laughed gently, which cued Ace to wrinkle his nose.

"Dad... You know that'd only make mom want a baby even more," Ace grumbled with a snarky smile, though Zed rubbed his face in gentle agitation.

"Onnne day," Zed droned, "For now, we're going to be celebrating YOU... And Libby and Koko."

"How long has everyone been up?" Ace wondered quietly, his tired eyes finally dragged to the entrance of the warm, still Sky Room.

"Well, most of your uncles have only been up for about an hour. It's their off day, you know how they love to sleep in," Zed stated with a kind sigh, "Everyone else has been awake since about nine or so. Felix and Calhoun are over, as well. Lunch was just set out, so hurry up before it all gets eaten."

"I'm starving," Ace stated, as if he didn't truly realize it until just now.

After Ace and Zed tucked the small baby fox into Tessa's and Zed's bedroom for a small nap, and to keep her safe from Libby potentially finding her, both men secured the bedroom door shut and began to mosey on towards the back patio door, just off of the entrance of the Sky Room. As they idly talked, a light hearted, quiet conversing between the two, Ace came to the conclusion that he'd likely let the sunshine wake him up a bit, as well as some food, before he decided to join the rest of the gang in the pool. He was wearing his black shirt and lazy grey pants that cut just past his knees, though Zed was in his swim trunks, which were damp and on their way to being totally dry.

As both boys stepped out into the warm atmosphere before them, Ace inhaled a deep breath and let his eyes soak in the awesome sight. Every single last one of his family members all having a good time outside, the sunshine boasted the game's beauty, and with the sheer delight that glossed over every last one of his pixels, he knew there was literally no place he'd rather be in this moment. Just as the dreaded thought of Sugar Rush's frozen, impending drama came wanting to creep up behind him and tap him on the shoulder, he shoved it away for the time being; he knew this was his day to be selfish and drop all of his worries. He bit his lip a little and swore to himself that one day without his typical worries wouldn't hurt anyone.

He squinted into the sunshine that flood from outside the overhang of the patio, and for the most part, everyone was either in the pool or lounging around it. The gorgeous splays of palm and jungle trees all about, the bountiful amount of laughter and chatter from his loved ones, Ace immediately felt at ease. He noticed Finn, Vanellope, Taffyta and Ralph quietly hanging around the outside bar, which was littered with all sorts of delicious looking finger foods, beverages and the like. Ace inhaled a deep breath of the yummy smelling food, rubbed his hands together in eagerly expressed desire to put something in his stomach, though just as he was about to part from his father and step over to his four, quiet family members by the long, sloping bar, he was jolted out of his thoughts as Nox suddenly flood his existence.

"For User's sake, sleep any longer why don't you, did you enjoy your COMA?" Nox hissed in hard annoyance, Ace flinched, though Nox finally softened his demeanor, gave Ace's upper arm a brotherly slap and beamed in a cheesy manner, "Oh yeah, happy birthday, man."

"Thanks, y'good?" Ace urged quietly in hard annoyance as he gestured towards the food, and just as he was about to step over to it, Nox quickly rushed to keep in tow with him. Ace eyed him with a growing, amused smile and furrowed his brow, "Seriously, why're you acting so squirrely?"

"I need your help, man, please do yourself a favor and look around," Nox rushed in nervous annoyance as he kept close to Ace, as if he was desperate for his favorite friend. Ace continued to eye him, though his larger fingers picked up a small finger sandwich.

"What's the problem?" Ace squinted, peered about the pool and seemed confused.

"Do you SEE how many bikinis there are?" Nox uttered quietly, so no one but Ace would hear; just as Ace chomped down on the delicious finger sandwich, he chuckled and nearly choked on it, "This is serious! Stop laughing."

"Nox, I need you to understand something," Ace mumbled with his mouth full as he chewed. He swallowed, gestured half of his sandwich to the beautiful, massive pool out before them and finally gave his eyes back to Nox's muted, yellow gaze, "I am related to every single woman out there right now, except for two. Emery, and Libby... Technically, I'm STILL sort of related to Emery because of her's and my Uncle Oliver's code swap."

"You're useless," Nox grappled his cheeks in a high pitched whine and shook his head, "I forgot."

"Why are you freaking out?" Ace uttered with a small laugh as he finished the small sandwich he was holding, though his eyes finally glossed across the way and landed on Koko; she was standing, drenching wet with Emery, Tammy and Penny. He finally cocked an eyebrow and peered back to Nox with a knowing smile, "Ohh I see what this is about."

"Yeah? Yeah? YEAH? Do you? Do you now?" Nox rushed in a hard, stern, annoyed tone, though Ace continued to laugh at just how riled Nox could get, "You understand I so much as even GLANCE in Koko's direction, your grandfather is going to make sure my lineage doesn't continue? Ends with me? Buh-bye Turbo buddies? I'm even coded for the game! He'd find a way to make it so I was dead meat! I don't even-"

"Chill OUT man, seriously," Ace laughed quietly, they made sure their conversation was muted for only their ears. Ace grappled Nox's shoulder, shook him a bit and peered out to his lively family beyond the patio, "I'll make sure you stay alive. You... You just go out there, say something nice to her. I'll take care of Paw. I'm the birthday boy. There will be no fights between any of us, on this day, okay?"

"You sure?" Nox stammered as he finally dared to peer to Koko, "What do I even say to her?"

"Course I'm sure... And, I don't know, just be friendly," Ace shrugged.

"What would YOU do?" Nox finally stabbed as he eyed his best guy friend.

"What do you mean, man? Why are you asking ME for lady advice? You're thirty years wiser than me!" Ace laughed as he nudged Nox's chest, though Nox grappled Ace's hand and shoved a little, both boys geeked out.

"I've never had a girlfriend, man, don't chalk up my years to thinking I have experience," Nox muttered in an embarrassed way, "What... What would you say if you saw Libby, then?"

"Libby? I don't know, I'd act normal, she's my friend," Ace shrugged and furrowed his brow, though Nox gave Ace a beyond dull look. Ace shook his head, "Shut up."

"FRIEND, right," Nox ogled and shook his head, "So I just... Go up and uh... Should I offer her a drink?"

"That's perfect," Ace snapped his fingers and smiled, "Make her a drink, yourself one as well, and offer it to her. That's a nice ice breaker, yeah?"

"Well, what does she like? I can't just make a girl an alcoholic beverage and hit the nail on the head," Nox rushed as he peered to the bar a few feet from them.

"Something fruity, I don't know what girls like," Ace rushed in annoyance, "I literally know as much as you, when it comes to girls, man, I just got lucky in the fact that I just so happen to be pining after a girl I've known for nearly my whole life."

"I have to start from scratch, bro, count your blessings," Nox stuttered as he rubbed the back of his head, "So what would you say then, to Libby? What would you do?"

"I don't know, um... 'I made you this, would you like to try it?'," Ace rehearsed as he gave Nox a polite smile, though Nox furrowed his eyebrows.

"I can't make her a drink, Ralph will think I've poisoned it or something," Nox suddenly rushed, as if he should've realized this sooner, " He'll think that I actually AM Turbo, and will drown me. He's going to DROWN ME. I'M GOING TO DROWN."

"No one is going to drown today, oh my GOD," Ace suddenly barked, though both boys flinched as his voice suddenly got Ralph's, Vanellope's, Taffyta's and Finn's attention.

"Ace!" Vanellope stated with a wide smile as everyone suddenly cued to the birthday boy, though Ace furrowed his brow and subtly shoved Nox behind the bar, so to suggest he get started on his little plan.

"Hey, guys," Ace stated quietly with a kind smile as he began to approach the four, though he peered back to Nox, pointed and muttered something quietly; Nox hissed a few stabs of complaints to him, as if to state he wasn't finished worrying and being nervous to Ace.

"Happy birthday," Vanellope eased, and once Ace was near, she pulled him into a tight hug. Taffyta lovingly joined in, and as the three pulled apart, Ralph gently nudged Ace's arm and ruffled the top of his head.

"How's it feel to be a fully realized gamer?" Ralph stated knowingly, everyone chuckled as Ace gave his uncle Finn a loving side-hug as well.

"I'm actually exhausted," Ace stated with a hard sigh as his eyes scanned the large, outdoor space, though he double took the second his eyes suddenly landed on Libby across the way.

He felt his heart stop, and just as he was about to convince himself he wasn't phased, he felt as if he wanted to suddenly hurl himself over the bar and spill all of his worries to Nox, just as Nox had done to him not a few seconds prior. Ace choked a small noise, grappled the chest of his black shirt and cocked an eyebrow. Libby stood with Tessa, her gorgeous white hair was tucked into a long braid down her bare back, and with the way her flawless skin glowed from the noon sun, he nearly felt his code jump clear out of his skin. She wore a beautiful, dark royal blue bathing suit that made her look like something straight from a jungle's heavenly paradise, full of everything raw, pure and untouched. She smiled, joked, laughed and stood alongside Tessa on the other side of the pool, though Ace could swear he was now enduring tunnel vision with Libby purely at the center. He jolted as all four of his family members grew curious over his line of sight and glanced in the direction of Libby.

"Yeah, I've... I've heard the switch over to a fully grown gamer is a bit taxing on one's body," Taffyta stated in a dull tone as she peered to Libby, cocked an eyebrow and beamed Ace a knowing grin, "Youuu gunna be okay there, lover boy?"

"What? I'm fine, what... Do you mean?" Ace stammered in hard annoyance, though he squinted and gave his great aunt a look of challenge, as if to beg her to not tease him in this trying time of his.

"All of the single guys, in this castle, are going absolutely bonkers, today," Ralph grumbled as he rubbed his face in agitation and made it clear he was eyeing Nox from across the way. Ace raised his eyebrows, glanced back to his innocent friend across the way and nearly smiled, Nox nervously fumbled at the bar, and it was clear he was taking in every single last inch of Ace's advice on how to likely get Koko's attention without being pummeled into the ground by the biggest bad guy in this Arcade. Ralph huffed a sigh, shook his head and breathed his sigh into a delighted chuckle as he peered across the gap, "I thought I'd only have one daughter to worry about, but now that it's two, I'm pretty sure I'm about to lose my mind."

"You're STILL on about Zed?" Taffyta suddenly barked, she urgently gestured to Ace, "They had a child together and you're STILL gunna play the whole guard dog role on Tessa?"

"Hardly fair," Finn quietly added, though he gave Ralph a sheepish smile.

"I had a hard time getting over it too, but now I've greatly switched over to worrying about Koko," Vanellope bit the tips of her fingers and peered to her youngest daughter across the way. Koko was in a cute, bright coral bikini, her chocolate brown hair was wet and wavy down her back, "I-I'm sure everything will be fine..."

"Guys, c'mon," Ace stabbed lovingly, and though Nox was out of earshot, he still glanced over to him and made sure he wasn't potentially trying to listen in. Nox muttered nervous notions to himself and continued to fumble with the drink shaker, across the way, "...Cut Nox some slack. He's a great guy, and he really seems to have taken an interest in Koko."

"...He's Turbo's brother," Ralph muttered as his eyes dragged to Nox, though Ace crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"That doesn't matter, he hasn't seen Turbo in over twenty years, and has no affiliation to him other than the fact that they share the same blood," Ace's voice was still quiet, though it grew confidence, "Just because he's related to a bad guy doesn't make him a BAD guy."

"Hows your own medicine tastin', there, pops?" Taffyta stabbed with a cheeky grin as she put her hands on her hips, she was cloaked in a pretty pink and cream bikini, though her lower hips were covered by a red beach towel that fell to her ankles.

"Fight me," Ralph grumbled.

"I understand why you're nervous, Ralph, but... Ace is right," Taffyta stated softly as she slipped her hand to Ace's shoulder and peered to Ralph, "If Ace is confident in Nox's intentions, then you should be too. Ace wouldn't let anything happen to his first, legitimate aunt."

"Nox wouldn't hurt a fly," Ace stated cheekily as he tapped his temple with two of his fingers, "I'm pretty intuitive."

"Gets it from Tess," Vanellope mumbled, she eyed Ralph and shrugged, "Why don't we just... Ease up..."

"You've been sending the poor boy daggers all day long, he hardly has the confidence to be within a ten foot radius of her," Taffyta urged in annoyance, though everyone immediately stopped talking the second Nox came around the far end of the bar, and carefully walked across the far end of the patio.

He made a gentle bee-line straight for Koko, and as everyone quietly assessed the situation, they tried not to make it obvious they were staring. As Nox tenderly approached Koko and made a polite nudge into her bubble, the two began to happily converse in a gentle lull of easy, tender, blossoming care, and as Ace could see Koko accept the delicious looking drink Nox had made for her, Ace put his hands on his hips and beamed a proud smile in their direction.

"Look, he's even being nice and making her a delicious looking drink," Taffyta stabbed with a hard laugh as she swat at Ralph, "Why don't you quit your whining and make ME one of them yummy beverages. Girl's gotta leave the proverbial nest, one day. Let her have some fun, it's her birthday party too."

"Taff, I missed you, I really did," Ralph urged in dark annoyance, though he knew the two had the kind of relationship where mean jabs and the like were not to be taken seriously.

"I know you did, now hurry, me and your bride are getting thirsty," Taffyta snapped her fingers and pointed to the bar.

"I'm staying out of this one," Finn muttered as he stepped away and concluded his nervous antics with a small, knowing chuckle.

"Wait up," Ace snipped as he raised his eyebrows and slipped in between his three bickering elders.


	80. Chapter 80

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** LOL That definitely would help! But Ralph is so massive, he'd have to drink the entire pool lmao

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** LOL! Imagine actually juggling all those bodies! Its terrifying! Strictly because of that, I forsee this story going over 200 chapters and beasting out Wrecking Limits in size. and yes, I am planning a 4th installment, but the 'focus group' will be smaller xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey, no problem! Your emails wouldn't bother me one bit, so go ahead and fire away whenever you need :) Also, it really means the WORLD to me that Zed is one of, if not your total favorite of my saga. That seriously means a lot to me, cause alongside Tessa being one of my very first shelled out OC's, Zed's right alongside her in that notion, so I really 'grew' as a writer, writing for those two. So the fact that people love those two so much really just means you guys really love ME a lot, and that makes this whole journey so rad. Cause you guys get a good GOOD dose of myself in these characters, even though they're all very different, they're still a large extension of myself. So, thank you for that! :D LOL also, yes, Nox is very bumbling and nervous - he's never had an opportunity like this. You'll be delighted to see where those two take their first steps and such :) And yes, there will be more Tammy/Finn, though there won't be way too much, cause I'm already juggling a billion pairings, you guys will get a little bit of them, alongside some Calhoun/Felix jeering towards them - it'll likely be in the next chapter xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Wait, what? I've scoured that last chapter frontwards and backwards and I am really confused... o.o And, its okay lol. Yeah, the fox will live with Libby and doesn't have a massive role in the story, so I didn't add her to the names on the castle xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much for that! I really appreciate it :) It's definitely hard to juggle it all, but I'll getting better at it, eventually lol. and yes, Taffyta is very much still hurting, and you get a good PennyxTaffyta chapter coming up that will sort of dig deeper into their true pain, but she is very very good at hiding her true emotions. You guys got a good dose of that in Wrecking Limits xD

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! I appreciate that, and I'm really glad you guys like Nox and are rooting for him. He's a really fun character to write for, so I'm looking forward to developing his character a bit more. Also, I don't use Illustrator, I've been using Photoshop for the last decade. I've dabbled in SAI, Flash and Illustrator a little, but not enough to be of any help other than with drawing fundamentals and Photoshop.

* * *

 ***Chapter 80***

Nox inhaled a shaky breath and lightly glanced down at the pretty drink in his hand, and it was in this painful moment of realization did he find he had forgotten to make himself a drink, alongside the one he made for Koko. He raised his eyebrows in nervous contemplation and knew he had to follow through, he was already half way across the grass to the pool. As he slowly approached, his cautious bare feet finally found the smooth pavement that lined the pool, and as he caught eyes with Tammy and quickly glanced to the back of Koko's head, he lightly pressed into the girl's conversation, eased his nervous, bashful eye contact to Koko's and cleared his throat.

"I-I... Uh... I made this for you," Nox stammered quietly, though his handsome smile never faltered. He felt his heart jump once Koko's gorgeous brown eyes drew to his and then to the colorful, pink, icy beverage in Nox's stone colored hands. He cleared his throat again, strictly out of nervousness, and began to hand it to her, "I really hope you like it... Vodka with pineapple peach."

"Deadly," Tammy playfully jeered, though Koko breathed a small, bashful giggle and gave Nox a look of floored gratefulness.

"Aww, that's so sweet of you," Koko beamed ear to ear, and Nox was floored to have her humbly accept the drink. He inhaled a solid breath, for the first time in eons, and bit his bottom lip a little. Koko peered down at the near perfectly made drink and finally gave her earnest, kind eye contact to his, it deepened a little, as if she likely wished she could thank him further; she politely took a sip, raised her eyebrows at the gentle, delicious shock of it and gave Nox a look of pure, delighted wonder, "Thank you so much. It's delicious."

"Oh, good, cause it's been so long since I've made drinks like that," Nox huffed through a geeky breath of a smile, he dangled his arms by his side before fiddling awkwardly with the pocket on his orange and yellow swim trunks, "A-And I really had no idea what you'd potentially like... I just noticed you without a drink and figured I'd change that."

"Well, you did good," Koko stated as she cocked an eyebrow, her and Tammy caught eyes in a draw of a knowing, silent, girly communication, "You didn't make yourself one?"

"Naw, I... I'll have one later, possibly," Nox uttered nervously, as if to somehow slide out of getting caught with the sheer fact that he simply forgot to make himself drink, purely because he was stressing out about making one for Koko.

Tammy and Emery gave Koko knowing smiles and politely bowed out of the conversation, though Penny didn't take the hint and stuck around. Just as she was about to open her mouth and bark a small retort towards Nox, she froze and noticed Orph making an uneducated, unsuspecting bee-line for her. She uttered an annoyed grunt and, as smoothly as she could, she transitioned out of Koko's and Nox's bubble and head in the opposite direction of Orph, which was towards the backyard patio.

"Did you hear what Ace got Libby for her birthday?" Nox wondered to Koko with a scheming smile, Koko shook her head and took a step closer to Nox, so to keep their little conversation quiet.

"No, what?" Koko pressed with eyes that hooked to Nox's in dire curiosity.

"He got her a froster fox puppy he found in Sugar Rush," Nox whispered as he peered around for Libby's whereabouts, "I guess it was abandoned... And Libby was saying how she wished to have a lykata pup."

"Next best thing is a froster fox," Koko nodded in agreement, "Those things are so adorable, and so friendly."

"It'll probably run rampant around Libby's stack of the tower," Nox chuckled and shook his head, though Koko raised her eyebrows and peered to the massive, empty space in the backyard; it was clear it was simply vacant in preparations for the reveal of Ace's new tower, which would also house Nox and Libby.

"I forgot about that," Koko stated quietly after she took another sip of her drink, she dragged her eyes to Nox's in growing, girly charm, "You excited for it?"

"Oh, yeah," Nox waved his hand down and looked over to the lot in pure gratefulness, though his eyes hooked back to Koko's in innocent delight, "I'm really relieved. It's been a long time since I've had my own room, or 'home' really. I can't wait to see what it'll be like."

"Maybe you could show me, tonight?" Koko suddenly dared, though her smile and eyes were lit up with the most gentle, innocent charm, as if her words were clearly daring and seductive, though her aura revealed she could potentially not be trying; or maybe she was?

Nox long blinked and desperately scrambled to gather every byte of information rushing to him. He bit his tongue a little and knew that, in this raw moment, whatever he had to say next would either turn her on further to the idea, or turn her off.

"Sure, you could help me break in the place," Nox pushed with the gentlest of confidence, though he stammered a bit and wondered if maybe that was too forward, "M-Maybe Ace and Libby could join, we could all celebrate opening the new tower... Methinks a bonfire and s'mores are in order, yeah?"

"I'd love that," Koko glossed her easy, kind demeanor all over him, and in a gentle swipe, she slid the tips of her fingers down Nox's grey-skinned forearm and concluded their conversation with a small nudge to the back of his hand, "I'm gunna check in with Tess, real quick. She needed my help with Ace's tower, actually."

"No problem," Nox stated quietly with a gentle, understanding nod, and as Koko politely excused herself and walked away, Nox cocked an eyebrow and did absolutely everything he could to not ogle her as she left. He beamed a dorky smile to himself, slumped his shoulders and began to saunter away as well, to somehow hopefully busy his rushing mind with something that could calm him down.

As Penny quickly rushed across the grass and to the shaded overhang of the outdoor patio, she squinted until she finally reached shade. Her bare feet slapped to the cool, grey hexagonal tiles, and before she could get too swept up in attempting to avoid Orph, she realized she likely needed to look less suspicious. She heaved a soft, falter of a sigh, brushed her short, choppy hair out of her forehead and straightened her olive green bikini out. She shook her head a little and made a quick straight shot to the outdoor bar, where she could see her mother, aunt Vanellope and uncle Ralph bickering and having a good time. She dared to smile and knew she'd be safe with them.

Just as she approached the bar, she budged into their bubble, though they carried on bickering. The three loudly laughed and fumbled over their drink concoctions in a riled, childish sort of way; Penny dared to beam a genuine smile at the mess her mother, aunt and uncle were making, though as she leaned against the bar, she nervously peered over her left shoulder and was delighted to see Orph was no where in sight. She eyed the pool, glanced around a few times, and finally felt her shoulders untense. Just as she was about to open her mouth and likely attempt to join in on the fun to be had, behind the high bar counters, Orph's voice suddenly popped her existence.

"Thought you got rid of me, eh?" Orph stabbed, Penny jumped, turned around and peered to her right. Orph cheekily sent her an annoyed smile and did everything he could to seem nonchalant, like he had other intentions of coming to the bar. He gently reached for a few yummy looking chips and took a few bites as he carried on, "I'm not as stupid as you may think."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Penny uttered in nervous annoyance, though she nearly smirked down to the counter; she knew she had to somehow acknowledge his bravery.

"Look! We have guests, don't be rude!" Vanellope squealed as she attempted to yank the drink shaker from Ralph's strong hands, both girls laughed in their fit of pure joy.

"Lovebirds, nonetheless!" Taffyta pitched, she obnoxiously winked at Orph and playfully elbowed him a few times, "Maybe we should make ONE drink."

"Two straws," Ralph cooed slyly as he eyed Penny and Orph, though Penny heaved a hard sigh, gave her mother a death glare and just barely shook her head, as if to somehow convey that all three of them were quickly on their way to likely being stabbed.

"Perfect! I could use a pick me up," Orph played along, though once he nudged Penny's arm, he was surprised to see a bashful smile just barely peak her lips.

"What flavor, then?" Ralph wondered, everyone continued to laugh.

"The blood of my enemies," Penny blurt in annoyance that was palpable, though Orph beamed her a cheeky smile and knew she was likely attempting to be sarcastic.

"I guess I'll have to be sacrificed for this drink, then, mom," Orph stated dully to Taffyta, and as Taffyta let the notion hit her straight on, she largely skipped the urge to be lightly reeled in dire shock and moved straight on through to wanting to reward Orph's true bravery.

"Sorry, son, it's for the greater good," Taffyta mumbled in a sarcastic, sorrowful tone; her and Vanellope did everything they could to stifle laughter as they prepared the one, single drink Penny was dreading to be completed.

"I'll take one for the team," Orph stated sweetly, though as his gentle hands ruffled the silver hair messily draped over his bare scalp, he lightened his demeanor and gave his kind, silver stare to Penny's.

Penny furrowed her brow and suddenly felt her insides do all sorts of weird twists and turns, and in this moment, Penny felt as if somehow, this lovable idiot was beginning to soften the base of her high walls. Instead of climbing the fortress, she noticed him easing in through weak spots she had no clue existed. Penny huffed a small, silent breath of a laugh, shook her head a little and peered down to her fiddling fingers on the glorious, outdoor bar island. She finally glanced a near bashful look to her mother and aunt, and as the two carried on laughing and being hyper, she noticed the two sending Penny knowing smiles, eyeing Orph and shrugging a little, as if to potentially tell her that maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

"I'm still on about that game we were playing last night," Orph chimed quietly to Penny as the three behind the counter began to playfully, and loudly, argue to each other, "I still believe I have it worse than you. I'll find a way to make it so."

"Trust me, I will too," Penny muttered in dark annoyance, though at this point she knew she was fooling no one.

"I've been without a code room for an entire year," Orph suddenly bragged with a dorky smirk, "During that time, I trained dragons, with whips... All those wounds and such couldn't ever be healed. I nearly lost my right hand, once."

"What a shame, hopefully your left hand came in handy for something for all those lonely, sleepless nights?" Penny stabbed as she glanced down Orph's bare chest, though she became further annoyed at the fact that he had a nice body.

"Ouch," Orph huffed a hard laugh, clutched his bare chest and tilted his head, as if to state he had been injured.

"Try spending a night in pitch black wilderness stuck in your own animal trap," Penny snipped.

"Aw, your foot get stuck?" Orph stated in a condescending, childish tone.

"I was strung up by my throat and had to hold myself up until the sun rose," Penny's voice laced over Orph's as his sarcastic demeanor sunk.

"Oh..." Orph chirped as he raised his eyebrows in gentle annoyance, the fact that she quickly beat him out, again, "You... Got down alright, yeah?"

"Well, I had Tessa reverse SOME scars, when I got coded for Dead Zed," Penny shrugged, and for an instance, she felt a wave of weirdness fall over her, and just before she could continue, a delicious, frosty looking blue drink was set before her and Orph; two straws, like stated.

"For the lovely couple," Vanellope quipped, though her and Taffyta stifled giggles and shuffled away.

"Jokes," Ralph assured, in hopes of potentially keeping his young niece on his good side, though as the three eased into their own quite conversations, Penny cocked an eyebrow and peered down at the drink.

Orph chuckled and gently nudged the drink closer to her, so she could enjoy the first sip. Penny looked the delicious looking drink over and finally let her eyes gloss to Orph's. In a moment of rawness she knew she'd let no one see, she felt her shoulders relax, and as desperately as she wanted to keep her sturdy walls from being encroached on, she felt somehow drawn to this determined, handsome being before her. Before she could convince herself she was the strongest willed gamer in all of Arcade, she felt her heart lightly succumb to Orph's aura, and in showing him he had likely won her over, even if it were just for the time being, she took a small sip of the drink and lightly reeled in delicate surprise.

"... Wow, this is good," Penny eased, she felt her spine relax even more as Orph's kind eyes peered to it curiously.

"It is? I was terrified you'd spit it out all over me, or something," Orph mumbled as he brought the drink closer to him, and after a small sip himself, he raised his eyebrows in delighted surprise and peered to Taffyta and Vanellope, across the way, "Wow, they make a mean drink. This IS good. Hope you don't mind my cooties."

"I do, actually," Penny stabbed, though she side-eyed Orph in such a way that had him beaming. Much to his surprise, she finally revealed what he could swear could potentially be a genuine smile. His heart nearly stopped as she reached her hand up, fixed the short blonde hairs on the side of her head and peered down to their drink, he wondered how such strong hands, riddled with all sorts of faded scars, could potentially still hold any amount of girly tenderness. He eagerly assessed her, like watching a thorny flower blossom, he craved every single inch of this moment, and before he could get too wrapped up, her voice popped his thoughts, "But... I guess I don't have a choice."

"I guess, in this instance, you have it worse than me," Orph muttered through a bashful smile, "Must be hell to have to share any amount of anything with me."

"So far, yeah," Penny jeered meanly, though the delightful, kind bite to her tone lead Orph to wonder if she was secretively enjoying this mean banter they had found themselves in.

* * *

Ace grit his teeth, peered to his uncle Finn and, as both boys eyed each other, Finn chuckled and nudged Ace in a knowing way. As the two quickly moved away from the back patio, across the grass and away from any of the drama to unfold by the outdoor bar, Ace noticed Tessa and Libby slowly working their way around the opposite end of the pool, past the makeshift beach and towards the two, even though they were oblivious of Ace's presence. As Finn quickly assessed wherever Tammy went, head in that direction and waved his nephew off, Ace ruffled his messy, dark blue hair and felt his skin prickle as he could hear Libby suddenly call his name. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if to somehow pretend he had yet to see her. He could swear his heart leaped straight into his throat as Libby kindly approached, with his mother not too far behind.

"You're awake," Libby stated, as if she was finally happy to be with her best friend, though patiently waiting for him to finally wake up was a chore. As she approached, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, and as the two tightly embraced, Ace nervously wrapped his strong arms around her bare back. He knew being friends, without any sort of benefits, meant keeping his hands to himself, and as much as he wanted to shower her in much needed, well deserved, tender loving physical care, he largely resisted the urge to rub her back. Before he could assure himself that he was strong, the soothing coo of her voice, right in his ear, had his neck crawling with goosebumps, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you," Ace stated easily, though his mind rushed. As Libby pulled away, he desperately prayed that his face was a normal shade, and not the beet red to horrified purple he could swear it was. He raised his eyebrows a little and lightly unhanded Libby, though he tenderly nudged her upper arm, "You too."

"Bah, my birthday was over a week ago," Libby flagged her hand as Tessa finally moseyed up, "Today is about you."

"She's right, you're the only one truly celebrating a birthday, today," Tessa stated quietly, she seemed to be caught in the same bittersweet mood Zed had been in all morning, "Koko's is on Tuesday and Libby's has already passed... But we should really have a single celebration for both you girls, anyhow."

"I'm always down for more parties," Libby stated, her eyes were wide, friendly, excited; Ace nearly felt his heart flip in confusion, how easily she could push her sorrows down to whatever abyss she could had him reeling in mild confusion.

"I-I don't know about you, but... I'm exhausted," Ace muttered, "Does... Turning one really do this much to your coding?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember my first birthday," Tessa huffed as she shook her head, "I actually got lost in Dead Zed's jungles on my birthday. That's the day I found Lickity."

"Really?" Libby inquired excitedly, though her demeanor just barely took a fragile dip that Ace cued to, "I uh... Well, I came back to the Kalivar castle, on my first birthday. I was so beyond exhausted, I couldn't even tell you just what kind of condition I was in."

Ace furrowed his eyebrows and felt confusion hit him, once more; how easily she was able to stuff her problems now suddenly flew out the window with her tender notions and memories of her birthday recently passed. She was practically a magician, slipping in and out of forced smiles and making light of exactly what had happened to her. He knew she was likely only sprinkling her problems with sugar, so to make sure nothing got too awkward or uncomfortable in conversation, though Ace nearly felt as if he wanted to hear every single detail of her sorrow, so to potentially help her. His mind began to wander as the two girls continued to chat, though before Ace could get too lost in potentially wondering just how to maybe worm more details out of Libby, Tessa reached for Ace's hand and gave him a loving squeeze.

"Happy birthday, baby," Tessa stated quietly with a smile, though Ace raised his eyebrows and came back to Arcade; he peered into his mother's eyes, and it was clear she was having a harder time dealing with the notion of him growing up than his own father was. Ace scoffed a small, sorrowful noise and gave Tessa a near apologetic smile as she continued on, "I... I could swear you were just a baby, yesterday."

"Mom, don't do this, don't make yourself sad," Ace cooed quietly, though as he tenderly pulled Tessa into a gentle hug, Tessa pushed into his chest, buried her face into the base of his shoulder and gripped her strong arms about his middle. Ace raised his eyebrows and peered to Libby in nervous contemplation, though as she came alongside the two and began to rub Tessa's back, Ace tenderly rested his larger hand on the backside of his mother's head, "Mommm... It'll be alright, I'm not going anywhere, y'know? You still have me."

"I know," Tessa meeped quietly though a giggle as Libby peered her attention closer to the two.

"Hard having a little birdy leave the nest," Libby stated gently, though her eyes lit up, "Maybe you and Zeddy can have another!"

Ace grit his teeth and gave Libby a look as if to likely cut said notion at the quick, though Tessa gently pulled away from Ace's chest and gave him a look, as if to nearly ask his permission.

"Mom, don't do anything rash," Ace rushed with a cheeky smile, "I'm all for having a little sibling, but... C-Can we figure out Sugar Rush's problems first?"

"You talked with your father, didn't you," Tessa muttered, Libby laughed and covered her face.

"Yes," Ace admitted quietly as he lovingly held his mother's hand, "Having another baby strictly because I've turned one isn't wise. Mom, I'll always be your little boy. Sure, I'm now living across the way, but... Let's face it, you won't ever be able to get rid of me."

"Promise?" Tessa wondered with a nervous smile, though she finally beamed as Ace yanked her into another loving hug.

"Promise," Ace assured quietly as him and Libby shared silent notions of gentle eye-rolls and knowing, happy smiles towards Tessa.

Just as Ace was about to continue giving his mother all the reassurance she needed, Throttle was seen across the way, quickly making his presence known in gentle urgency; Ace knew he wasn't particularly one for swimming, partying or really even socializing, so seeing Throttle's pale figure willingly dart out into the sunlight had Ace's heart suddenly dipping in nervousness. He tenderly pulled away from Tessa's embrace and peered across the massive stretch of grass, and once Throttle got close enough, he cupped a hand to his mouth and called out to Ace, Tessa and Libby.

"Y'guys should come quick, Royal and Balba are back," Throttle called gently, "They're around the back side of my room."

"Really?" Ace urged with a wide smile, and as much as he wanted to suddenly jump up and down at the fact that the two made it home safely, likely with new code, his smile dropped as Throttle remained a slight, nervous wreck.

"Roy needs your attention, Ace, he's hurt... Bad," Throttle urged as he gestured the three over, and without any hesitation, they quickly began to make their way across the stretch of grass.


	81. Chapter 81

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LOL Yes, the long awaited 'Game Changers' scene xD Hopefully you guys like it as much as it's been hyped. And, no, Libby won't be pleased one single bit ;) As for the drink bit, I laughed xD I think I was just going off of myself. Seriously any 'fruity' type of drink I enjoy, that's why I had Ace advise Nox to give Koko a fruity drink. Cause for me, you can't go wrong xD I guess I'm just not picky. Also, do you HAVE an Instagram? I never seem to see you there, you only just comment about what's happening on my Instagram, through my reviews LOL. Just curious what that was about

 **TwizzleCreampuff :** Welp, I'm sorry you feel that way xD Did you miss the snippet where Orph killed a man? Guess we're gunna let that one breeze by! LOL and omg no Balba isn't pregnant. Remember when Libby and Ace were discussing putting a firewall on Balba just to make sure? Also, no, Orion isn't deleted... He is present towards the very end, and has a rather dark role with everything happening. I could've sworn the major spoiler, in the end of Defying Code, would've given it away, but literally no one grasped it so I guess it'll still remain a surprise haha

 **Leafy :** LOL Not quite yet! xD

 **Stargirl2535 :** Baww, Roy-boy will be just fine :) Thank you SO much!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Everyone needs each other for something - that's what I love about character development. They all depend on each other in some way or another. A never ending cycle :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Ehh, Royal definitely got the throw around xD And, yes, I have pictures of her coming, I've just been so incredibly busy. I have a few paintings of her I am in the process of. I just need a day off lol.

 **Snake557 :** Poor Royal definitely needs it! xD

 **Xaehttium :** LOL! Koko is very much like Tessa in that aspect, just a bit more daring. xD As for Orph and Penny, I'm really glad you like them as a couple! They're a ton of fun to write for, definitely shakes things up a bit. Ace and Libby's little situation is so fragile and tender, and Nox's and Koko's is so uncertain and uneducated, it's fun having a mean/bantering kind of relationship to throw in there as well. So I'm really glad you all are enjoying it! :D

 **Retrokill :** Yeahhh, he definitely did xD LOL get some sleep. Jesus haha

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you! Yeah all the boys, that are crushing on certain ladies, are all practically flying blind xD No worries! I hope you're doing well :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Balaenoptera Musculus by Austin Wintory (Abzu soundtrack)**

 ***Chapter 81***

Penny huffed a hard sigh, peered over her shoulder and noticed Orph finally, once and for all, remaining in his position and not chasing after her. He stood at the patio bar, underneath the glorious overhang, riddled with the gorgeous display of jungle foliage and flowers. He loudly bickered with Taffyta, Vanellope and Ralph, and before he could wholly notice that Penny had slipped away, she eagerly peered back to the direction she was walking in and spot Zed sitting with Oliver, Tammy, and Finn. She felt confidence come back to her as she made a strict line towards them, though mostly because Zed was seemingly the safest point on the grid, at this moment in time.

As she approached the comfortable lounge chairs they were at, which were a small distance from the edge of the bend of the deep end and underneath a large, blue umbrella, Penny eased into the shade and was thrilled to make gentle eye contact with Zed. He perked up, scoot over and made room for Penny on the outdoor chaise he was on. He lightly pat the soft seat next to him and gave Penny a welcoming smile. Even though the two went way back, Zed knew she had still become a stand-offish being and was likely someone to be tip toed around.

"Hey, Pens," Zed stated quietly, and as Oliver and Finn continued to joke and chatter, the two other boys, as well as Tammy, kindly acknowledged her presence. Zed honed his whole attention to Penny, lightly smirked and peered in the direction in which she had escaped from, which was Orph's presence, "You, uh... You doing okay?"

"I'm fine, just..." Penny rubbed her arm nervously and glanced over her shoulder, she somehow hoped the cover of the shade would keep her out of Orph's line of sight, "... Can you tell me a little bit about Orph? I'm trying to figure out just why he's puppy-dogging after me."

"... Do you really need me to tell you?" Zed muttered as he cocked an eyebrow, though Penny rolled her eyes.

"A year and a half ago, if Tessa came to me and said she was living in a castle full of hot boys, and I could take my pick, I'd be over the moon," Penny muttered in a sigh of annoyance.

"I remember the old you," Zed agreed, he gave her a loving smile and shook his head gently, "... What changed? If you don't mind me asking. I'm aware being trapped in Sugar Rush, the whole Radex thing, and a number of other problems have likely clouded your want for any romance or anything like that, but... Tessa was sure that having everyone back together again would make things easier on you."

"I don't know... I just don't want to let anyone in," Penny mumbled as she shook her head, "I think... The night you and Tessa left for Tron, and the real world, everyone sort of falsely believed you guys would come back, and when... When 'my dad' said you guys were dead, I knew something was up. I knew you guys were still alive... But no one else did."

"Well, Penny, I understand how it all could've been hard on you, and you feel as if maybe people owe you an apology for not seeing the situation the way you did, but... Everyone has their own way of grieving," Zed stated tenderly as he rested his elbows on his knees and gave Penny his soft, blue gaze, "No one was right or wrong. Sure, you believed a little harder than the rest, but... Holding onto false hope wasn't wise, especially with Vanellope in the midst of raising Koko, and trying to keep everyone alive."

"I was sort of a selfish bitch," Penny muttered, as if she didn't want to totally believe it or admit it, "I just felt as if everyone gave up on you guys... It's just hard to focus."

"You feel as though you're surrounded by fake people who now are getting to enjoy mine and Tessa's presence, but spent the whole year believing we were dead," Zed explained with a light shrug, "And now you're having to deal with feeling like no one believed you. Something like that?"

"... Exactly like that," Penny quietly gawked, "I feel as though they're soaking in all this time with you and Tessa when it should be ME on that pedestal... It should be ME getting all the time with you and Tessa."

"Pens... Look where you're sitting," Zed stabbed with a delighted smile as he cocked an eyebrow and laid a hand on his bare, sculpted chest. He shook his head and gave Penny a look of tender understanding, "You're sitting next to me, suddenly plopped in a heart to heart... If that's exactly what you're wanting, you're getting it right now."

Penny frowned and gave Zed a softened look, as if she needed a gentle nudge of realization, and though she wanted so bad to retort, so to continue pouting about how she was right and they were wrong, she finally heaved a long sigh through her nose, nodded and looked down to hers and Zed's bare feet. Her eyes finally welled with tears as Zed began to lovingly put her in her place.

"You believed us to be alive, no one is discrediting you... But going around with your finger pointed down to others saying 'I told you so' won't earn you respect, Pens," Zed stated quietly, his voice was deep and patient, and as he gently shook his head, his eyes remained glued to Penny's tearful, guilty gaze, "Tessa and I love you so much... And it's really cool to know that you have our backs, even if you had no clue if we were alive or not. That is the mark of family. There is no one on this planet of whom I consider more of a sister than you, Penny..."

Penny finally smiled, and as tears rolled down her cheeks, she could sense Oliver, Finn and Tammy slowly cuei into the conversation. She tenderly covered her eyes with one of her hands and felt her skin finally soften as she could feel Oliver's larger hand so warmly cup her upper arm, a loving notion in which he had no context of their conversation, yet somehow he could still sense just what the topic was. Zed laid a loving hand to Penny's shoulder, as well, and patiently gripped her.

"You've got to stop holding this situation with your fist, love," Zed chuckled as he gently shook her, "C'mon... You've got a guy interested in you. You should open up to him. Even if it IS Orph."

"He's not so bad," Finn mumbled, Tammy and Oliver let out soft laughter and gave their kind, understanding smiles to Penny, "He's really annoying... But, I think that's probably what makes him so great."

"Finn and Orph only get along like a dozen days out of the entire year, and STILL Finn'll tell yah that Orph has got some awesome qualities," Zed beamed a happy smile and was thrilled to see Penny finally beam from ear to ear, "He's puppy-dogging after you because clearly you have something he wants."

"Orph likes girls that play hard to get," Finn mumbled, though as he tenderly glanced to Tammy, he smoothly slid his arm up and around her shoulder. The two relaxed on the large love seat, though Finn desperately attempted to remain cool as he continued his stammering to Penny, "Don't make things too easy for him... I know I rag on him and he likes to make me feel dumb and unacknowledged at times, but I know that guy would go above and beyond for a woman he cares for."

"The way we can tell Orph cares about someone, or something, is he doesn't leave said someone or something alone," Zed muttered, everyone laughed, "He is ALWAYS secretly wondering where Lickity is, and he claims it's so he can avoid her, but we know what it's really about."

"By the way, he was out in Lickity's, Royal's and Balba's enclosure the other night ridding the front area of weeds," Oliver chimed as he lightly pointed to Zed for emphasis; Zed gaped.

"Wait, when?" Zed gawked, everyone laughed.

"Two nights ago! Y'know how Royal loves snacking on those dandelions but Lickity thinks it makes the place look trashy? Orph was out there ridding the place of dandelions while Tessa and Libby were out on a nighttime flight," Oliver rushed with a hard chuckle, everyone continued to laugh.

"He wants to be on Lickity's good side so badly, but he'd never tell," Finn eased smoothly, and as subtly as he could, he pulled Tammy tighter into his arm, and just as she willingly sunk into his side, the two suddenly jolted as the tip of something cold firmly tapped Finn's shoulder.

"Yeah, hilarious, moving story, really," Calhoun barked in her typical, deep, stern voice, and though she had a cheeky smile plastered across her face, she still tapped Finn's shoulder with the barrel of her gun and put her hand on her bare hip, "This may be a pool party but I don't ever know when I'll run into trouble. Keep a foot of distance, there, buddy."

"Y-yes ma'am," Finn stammered in a terrified way as he quickly sat up, scoot away from Tammy and gave Calhoun a look of nervous sorrow.

"Mom, really?" Tammy muttered in hard annoyance as Calhoun firmly pat the top of her head, though Tammy shooed her hand away as Calhoun began to saunter away, "... I'm nearly three arcade years old and have had two boyfriends. You're going to choose to torture me NOW?"

"I always promised I'd save all my guard dog tendencies for the boys that looked like they held an ounce of promise, my love," Calhoun called over her shoulder as her black bikini-clad body head towards the commotion at the patio bar, "I know you can take care of the jerks. It's the ones that'll make yah fall that you gotta watch for."

Tammy and Finn raised their eyebrows in surprise, and as the two quickly peered to each other, Finn finally beamed a confident smile and felt as if he suddenly wanted to geek out. Once Oliver, Zed and Penny started laughing, Finn bashfully rubbed the back of his head and glanced back to Calhoun in growing curiosity.

"Wow, you just earned a badge of honor, my friend," Oliver stabbed, everyone continued to laugh.

"I've never heard Aunt Calhoun say that about Kito, or that other boy you briefly dated," Penny gawked as she referred to Tammy's most previous boyfriend.

"Uh-oh, y'mean something to the big bad Calhoun, now," Zed mumbled as he eyed Finn, "I wouldn't let her down, little brother."

"... She's never really had to deal with previous boyfriends of mine because I never brought them around. If ever she did see them, she didn't say two words to them," Tammy expressed, though she bashfully eyed Finn, "I-I guess you're on her good side?"

"Wait, are you two dating?" Penny blurt, as if the year in solidarity numbed her to awkward questions; Tammy and Finn both turned into a stammering mess.

"Even if you're not, pretend you are, man, you're on your way to success, it seems," Oliver rushed with a wide smile, though as Finn and Tammy bashfully glanced to each other, everyone obnoxiously began to coo at the two.

* * *

"I-I'm not sure if Royal got into a fight, or what, but he's really badly beaten up," Throttle worried as the four quickly rushed around the backside of Throttle's abode.

"Dragons may be bigger than lykatas, but remember, lykatas are a lot quicker," Libby mumbled nervously as they round the back of Throttle's porch and came near the entrance of Royal's, Balba's and Lickity's enclosure.

As sunlight hit the two in the small patch of field tucked in a small getaway of enchantment near the side-way to the front porch, the back spot of Throttle's branch away home and the back door of the garage, Royal and Balba were soaked in Dead Zed's glorious rays of warmth, and as much as the sight suddenly pained Ace, he couldn't help but get totally lost in their glow. Balba's beautiful green feathers were pristine, something out of a fairy tale, and the way she looked as if she were quietly speaking to Royal, the small twitch of her glorious feathers, the wrinkle of her wolf-like snout, and the polite flatten of her ears, she looked as if she had downloaded a whole new operating system. As Ace's eyes glossed to Royal's powerful, still disposition, he nearly reeled at the condition poor Royal was in.

"Oh my User," Tessa hissed in nervousness as she cupped her mouth and ultimately was the last to freeze in her spot.

Ace clutched his chest and quickly began to approach Royal and Balba, and before either of the two could speak of his presence, they humbly lowered their heads and showed gratefulness of Ace's presence. Balba's beautiful turquoise eyes latched onto Ace's, as if she now suddenly had a billion things to say to him, though no time or courage to do so. With the wrinkle of her nose, she dared to give him a knowing smile. Ace lovingly slid his hand to Balba's snout, gave the bridge of her nose a firm 'welcome home' smooch and, before he could get too wrapped up in the idea that Balba could now speak, he peered his whole attention to his best friend. As Ace got closer, it was clear Royal had likely gone blind. His eyes were lightly swollen, closed and dried, flaky blood streaked his gorgeous cream scales, down the waterways of his eyes. His ears were nervously taut, as if he was only relying on sound.

"Roy," Ace eased as warmly as he could, and as he reached out, he stopped himself from touching Royal's snout; it was gashed in claw marks, all bruised and messied with tiers and swipes of dried blood.

"Ace," Royal stated nervously, as if he was relieved to hear Ace's voice.

"Roy, you really fought tooth and nail," Ace chuckled with a widening smile, he knew now that Royal was home, he was safe and well on his way to being reset back to nromal, "Quite literally."

"I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into," Balba suddenly spoke, a voice as soft and tender as the wind. Ace flinched and finally gave Balba his whole attention, as if he was totally floored to be living in this moment. She bashfully flattened her ears, glanced into Ace's alarmed eyes and smirked a little, "S-Sorry... I-I'm still getting used to it, too."

"You're telling me," Royal stated kindly, and though the three conversed in the quietest of tones, Libby, Tessa and Throttle hung back and eagerly remained in their frozen bubble of awe.

"How many other dudes did you have to fend off to win this beauty, Roy?" Ace stated knowingly as he tenderly cupped Royal's chin in his large hand, though Royal inhaled a sharp gasp through the grit of his sharp teeth and flinched in pain.

"Th-Three," Royal grunted in pain, he sagged his demeanor; the webbing of his wings were battered and torn a bit, and as if matters couldn't be worse, Royal's claws were mangled and dulled, as if he had used them to the core of his ability.

"I-I... I didn't mean to cause this," Balba suddenly stated in pure sorrow, as if this was somehow her fault, "Wh-when I sent out that... Howl... It was strictly meant for Royal."

"You didn't have really any other way to communicate it," Royal urged through another soft grunt of pain, he shook his head and kept his bloodied eyes closed for everyone's sake," Don't beat yourself up, Balba... It was all worth it."

"I'm sure you showed them, huh," Ace chuckled with a wide smile, though his heart raced as he could feel his palm come alive with his silver circuitry, and as easily as he could, he began to flood Royal's mainstream with all the tender loving care he could muster, every single last byte of healing power he could dream of, "You weren't going down without a fight."

"He killed all three of them," Balba's voice gained a tiny bit of confidence, though she still bashfully hung close to Ace and ogled just what he was doing with her's nd Royal's brand new coding, "After they reset to the grid, they flew away with their tails between their legs."

"A job well done, my boy," Ace's voice glossed over Royal in pure appreciation, and though the bloodied mess before him hurt his heart, he began to will healing straight into Royal's core and poured every single bit of love over Royal's fragile soul.

"I'd do it all over again," Royal's delicate, handsome charm never ceased, he only barely tilted his ears in the direction of his mate, "I gained a beauty in the process."

Balba flattened her ears, looked down to her paws and huffed a small bashful chuff of a breath, as if to lightly and kindly disagree with Royal's kind words, though before too much time could pass, Ace felt his insides swirl with power, and in an instant, he felt as if he was likely not in control of just what was happening right now. Before he could comprehend what was taking place, he could feel his own coding only lightly leave his skin, flood Royal's with cold goodness and reset his whole entire body back to the grid, good as new. Royal choked a small noise, blinked open his fresh golden eyes, shook his head a little and finally got a good look around. Once his eyes landed on Throttle's, Tessa's and Libby's whereabouts, which was a dozen or so feet behind Ace, he heaved a long, drawn out sigh and dragged his grateful eyes to his rider.

"OH for User's sakes, thank you so much," Royal rushed in pure delight with a wide, toothy smile, "I know us bat-dragons don't have good eye sight, but relying on my hearing for, uh... Well... EVERYTHING..."

"I don't suggest you try it for whenever you and Libby-" Balba was cut off.

"I'LL... Keep that in mind, Balba, thank you," Ace rushed with a wide smile as he quickly cupped her snout and the bottom of her jaw in his large hands, as delicately as he could, and before Balba could conclude her bashful smirk with further teasing, Lickity's nervous voice suddenly popped their existence.

"Royal, are you okay?" Lickity urged in hard surprise as she rushed past Throttle, Libby and Tessa, though Royal perked up and flattened his ears.

"Mom," Royal stated warmly, and as Lickity came near, she nudged her snout into his and firmly nuzzled.

"I-I was so worried about you," Lickity pressed, she glanced to Balba in mild confusion, and though she knew the two had a mini honeymoon away from everyone, the realization that Balba could now talk only finally hit her, "I... I'm assuming..."

"Y-Yes, I can talk," Balba pressed nervously as she began to figuratively shrink in Lickity's strong presence, though Balba flinched as Libby finally rushed the four.

"My BALBA," Libby urged in pure, delighted glee, and as she slapped her arms around Balba's neck, the two girls finally overflowed each other in much needed sisterly bonding, "For User's sake, we have SO MUCH to finally catch up on."

"You're telling me," Balba stated with a warm giggle as she tucked her paw around Libby's body for a warm hug, though Balba still nervously kept her eyes to Lickity's.

Lickity stood still, as if she was contemplating something, and it was in this moment did everyone fall nervously silent, Ace took a few steps back to join Libby, opposite of Balba, and before anyone could likely wonder just what was going through Lickity's mind, Royal flattened his ears, lowered his head for respect and kept his eyes trained to his mother. A majestic beast of the jungle, true to coding and full of so much capable, hidden power, Lickity peered deep into Balba's eyes, inquisition flood the two, as if Lickity was somehow floored and confused all in one go. As Lickity dragged her eyes to Royal's, he tucked his wings tighter to his body, inhaled a readied breath and finally challenged his mother.

"Do I make you proud, mother?" Royal's humble, deep voice nearly shook the ground beneath them.

Lickity just barley flicked an ear, and before she could likely think of a retort, Lickity's eyes only merely glanced to Tessa, who was stood a bit a ways, with Throttle. Tessa lovingly gestured her hand outwards, as if to state to Lickity that she should accept her son's choices. Tessa nodded, gave Lickity a warm smile, and made sure her eye contact expressed that this was for the greater good of Royal's life, and his decisions in a mate shouldn't affect the way they continue to live. Balba began to look nervous, and though Balba had practically grown up with Lickity as a mother figure, she still began to look as if she was on her way to being dejected. Before anymore time could pass, Lickity heaved a soft, long sigh through her snout and softened her demeanor.

"Of course you do, Roy," Lickity's voice glossed, she glanced to Tessa, as if to beg her for reassurance, though the second Lickity gave Balba a good long look in the eyes, Lickity finally eased up on her own and smiled a little, "Balba's been good to you, and she will continue to be. I just know it."

"I-I won't let you down," Balba eased nervously, though it was clear confidence began to flood her coding once more.

Lickity gave Balba a true smile and lightly ducked her head, their typical routine for expressing the want for some physical love. Balba finally took a few steps forward, nuzzled her snout into Lickity's and, as the two rubbed into a small hug with the nooks of their necks and shoulders, Lickity huffed a small chuckle and tucked the hand of her wing around Balba's shoulder blades, so to lightly tighten their hug. Balba soaked in her new mother's love, and with shared coding between Royal, she finally felt accepted into the clan, one of which Lickity made sure to keep strict tabs on. Everyone knew, in order to be wholly accepted into the brood, judgement was passed through the gatekeeper of the Kalivar castle; Lickity Split.

"Alright Balba, welcome to the fam for good," Tessa clapped a few times in excitement as everyone eased back a little, "That swap's permanent, now. You're stuck with us."

"I-I could probably reverse it, but... I have no clue how," Ace shrugged with a hard chuckle, Tessa nudged his arm a little.

"I'm not complaining," Balba giggled as she shook her head and beamed an excited smile down to Libby, though Balba flinched at the fact that Libby looked as if she was likely holding back something, a drape of anxious sorrow flood her being, and Balba knew more than anyone how exactly to read Libby's reserved demeanor.

"C'mon, NOW it's a party," Ace laughed, and as everyone began to slowly saunter back to the main part of the backyard, Balba flattened her ears and hung close to Libby; she knew the two would likely have an overflow of things to talk about once nighttime fell.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I KNOW I KNOW you guys are getting anxious and things are moving slowly but bear with me - the next chapter is the chapter that starts shit, so hold onto yourselves.**

 **Also, I just uploaded a yummy picture of Nox and Koko to my deviantART :) Username Vyntresser**


	82. Chapter 82

**Reviews :**

 **jonnyne :** You're sharp! You're the only one that caught that, or at least mentioned it outwardly. That's exactly Libby's feelings. She expands more on this once her and Balba get a good scene together (which is later in the evening of this 'day' in the story) Thank you so much! :D

 **Retrokill :** That's a really good question, I actually don't get this question as much as I thought I would. It's hard, because even I don't really know. I just know their like 'tone' and demeanor. Libby's voice would be very soft, light and bouncy (she has an accent) where as like Orph's would be a tad more annoying, louder and raspier. Zed's would be deep, sharp and sort of 'assertive', where as Ace's would be the same depth, but hold eons more amount of tenderness. It's really hard to describe, I have the 'sounds' of their voices in my head, it's just really hard to describe. I guess I could eventually pair them to celebrities' voices when I have spare time to go digging xD ALSO - yes, things are reaching A climax, but this is a very VERY tiny climax compared to the other handfuls of climaxes in this story. This is only the beginning, and it's not even technically heavily related to the plot. The deeper stuff happens the more they enter in and out of Sugar Rush.

 **ArchitectDreams :** I just prep everyone cause I get PM's and everyone gets antsy, and I'm tired of individually telling people to chill - so I resort to using A/N's lol. Thank you! Yes, Balba and Libby have a good heart-to-heart :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Yes, lots of yummy character building. You guys will learn a lot more about Orph as time goes on.

 **Snake557 :** LOL Calhoun's like yeahhh stay away. You'll get a little bit more of that as time goes on xD

 **Xaehttium :** OMG HAHAHA. I love that. I get so many 'omg Zed is a DILF' but I've never had anyone state they'd want Zed as their actual dad. That is hilarious! But I feel you on that! xD Nox and Koko get a good, yummy chapter together coming up :) Don't you worry!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL Royal took down three lykatas. The same breed as Balba, but they were contenders. And Royal shut them down haha. Thank you!

 **chris . low2456 :** Thank you! :D

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Of course! I enjoy writing for all of the couples, and though it's hard to give ALL of them equal attention, I am a sucker for the Tammy/Finn relationship. Each couple has their own dynamic that is fun to write for, and to stretch my wings a little bit. Thank you! :D

 **Wild Virus :** SPICY TUESDAY AHAHAHHAHAH I CAN'T

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** I would answer your inquiry about Orion, but you stated no spoilers, and if I WERE to really say anything, it'd give away a ton. Sooooo you'll find out :) Thank you!

* * *

 ***Chapter 82***

"Riddle me this," Libby started quietly, she kept her eyes closed and soaked in every single last bit of sunlight Dead Zed had to offer, "Since your skin is grey, do you tan, burn, freckle... And if you do, does your skin turn a darker shade of grey? Or black?"

"I actually turn hot pink," Nox mumbled sarcastically through the bend of his arm, both beings were comfortably couched on two large beach towels, and as they sun bathed on the makeshift beach of their new pool, they could hear the chattering and excitable commotion of the other gamers, of the Kalivar castle, further down the stretch of pool, "Yeah, if like... I stay in the sun for too long, I even sprout horns."

"What the heck, that's not even close to what I asked," Libby blurt in a laugh as she lifted her head and peered to Nox, who was at her left. He barely peeked open one golden eye and gave Libby a snarky smile as she continued, "I'm only asking because I know, by the end of today, every single last inch of me will be covered in freckles."

"My skin turns a darker grey," Nox finally answered with a kind laugh and a smile, he rested his head back to the soft towel and sand underneath, the soothing sound of the babbling water lulled the two into a quiet world of late summertime peace.

"Do you get like... Black freckles?" Libby prod as she finally lifted her head a little to inspect her forearm of freckles.

"Yeah, dark grey ones, black ones," Nox listed as he closed his eyes and exhaled a slow breath of relaxation, "I've even seen dark brown ones. My skin is weird, I try not to question it."

"How rude of you guys not to save me room," Ace suddenly blurt, and as if he had appeared out of nowhere, he messily plopped down onto Nox's beach towel, in between him and Libby, and with uneducated footwork and judgement, he nearly crashed on top of Nox.

Nox uttered a hard grunt, bulged his eyes and coughed a bit as sand spewed up and out a little bit. All three friends immediately began laughing as Ace uttered Nox a hard few apologies and began to messily brush his shoulders and hair free of sand. Nox sputtered in dire annoyance, flagged Ace's larger hands away and shook his head in discombobulation.

"For User's SAKE I know it's your birthday and all but criminy!" Nox choked, though once Ace started laughing, Nox couldn't help but join in as he finally got settled.

"Bite the towel, he's going in dry," Libby suggested to Nox in offhanded, playful annoyance as she brushed her arms off and got situated once more, though Nox and Libby jolted in surprise a Ace suddenly blurt in hard laughter.

"I wouldn't survive the event," Nox stammered in a playful, terrified notion as he pretended to ward Ace off, though Ace slumped to the ground on his back and nearly wheezed laughing. Nox furrowed his brow as him and Libby gave each other looks of incredulous surprise, "Please, spare me. Please."

"Come back to Arcade, hun," Libby chimed as she propped herself up on her left elbow and snapped her fingers a little bit, "For User's sakes, it wasn't that funny!"

"Say it again," Ace wheezed a high pitch noise and gasped an inhale, though he quickly expelled it in contagious laughter.

"Good job, you broke him," Nox mumbled to Libby as Ace clumsily rolled further onto his side, clutched his stomach and continued to howl with laughter; he easily wrinkled the towels in which Nox and Libby were laying on, to sun bathe.

"Hey! You're not allowed to have fun!" Taffyta hollered sarcastically from across the stretch of pool the crystal waters sloshed a little. Ralph, Vanellope, Tessa and Finn, who hung near Taffyta, could be heard chuckling and curiously peering across the water, as well.

"Birthday boy down!" Libby called urgently, though with the trail of a hard giggle as Ace clumsily flopped, in an attempt to get up, his forehead nudged the side of her shoulder as his throat continued to wheeze with laughter.

"Just what we need," Taffyta mumbled loudly across the way, and as the five melted back into their lazy conversations, Ace choked a few chuckles and finally caught his breath.

"That was so funny," Ace hissed as he wiped his eye, though he sagged his body, held himself back on his elbows and relaxed once and for all.

As he could feel Libby and Nox relax next to him, as well, and go back to quietly sun bathing and making small talk, Ace decided to finally join them in their lull of the day. He knew the evening would still hold surprises, like the reveal of their tower, and the fox puppy he still had for Libby. As Libby kindly scoot over, so to give Ace a little more room, Ace politely thanked her, and just as he was about to give Nox his attention and strike up another conversation between his two best friends, he stopped his train of thought and noticed his father, his uncle Oliver, Royal and Lickity slowly sauntering back into their massive backyard, from the open back doors of the castle grounds and castle wall. Said gaping gates lead to the backside of the jungles, and if one were to head any farther North from the gates, they'd eventually run into Echo Park. The gates hung open, though Zed and Oliver nervously chit chat, as if it were clear something was only lightly bothering the four.

"I'll be right back," Ace stated, and as he felt mild annoyance creep over him, for the sheer fact that he just had gotten comfortable, he knew his desire to be filled in on any 'grounds' drama was stronger.

"Sure, body slam me, throw sand in my hair and leave," Nox barked, and though Ace was on a mission, he beamed Nox a wide smile and felt himself want to be rocketed into another laughing fit as he clumsily stood and walked away. Nox playfully called after him, "You Users are all the same! I probably won't even get a CALL BACK!"

"I'll call you, babe, I promise!" Ace called in a sarcastic, nervous tone, as if to pacify his friend, though Nox rolled his eyes and laid back down to his towel; Libby was lost in laughter.

"I officially ship you two," Libby muttered as she closer her eyes, shooed her long white hair out of her face and beamed a cheeky smile to the sun, "That was hilarious."

"He'll be back," Nox playfully muttered in hard annoyance, though he too took Libby's lead and began to finally relax in the sun.

"So... You excited for the tower?" Libby wondered quietly as the two finally fell back into their own little world; Libby beamed a wider, knowing smile as Nox breathed a loud sigh of relief.

"You have no idea," Nox droned, Libby scrunched her shoulders and giggled.

"It'll be nice, huh," Libby sighed, "I called dibs on the top floor, my apologies."

"What's the reason?" Nox wondered politely, as if he was indifferent either way, Libby heaved a gentle sigh and let her eyes flutter open, she peered across the stretch of water and nearly felt bad.

"Well... Zeddy's logic was that I'd be protected by three floors underneath me," Libby explained, her tone was soft and light, "The common room on the first floor, and then yours and Ace's floors... Making it harder to reach me User forbid... Well..."

"Your people?" Nox asked as tenderly as he could, Libby nodded with a look of near annoyed anguish.

"I-I hope you two don't mind," Libby worried as her and Nox finally caught stares, "I'd feel most comfortable higher up and tucked away from the ground."

"Hey, it's no skin off my nose," Nox shrugged with a forgiving smile, "I'm just happy I'll have my own little place. I really have no room to be picky over which floor I get, really... I'm lucky to even be here."

"We both sort of bummed off the castle, huh," Libby stated with a quiet giggle as the two caught glances again.

"Ace hooked both of us," Nox chuckled, though he eyed Libby in a knowing way, "Besides. No one would get past Ace. You'd be safe even if Ace's floor was the only one underneath yours. He'd fight tooth and nail to make sure you're safe."

"He would," Libby nodded in pure gratefulness, "I really appreciate him. He's done a lot for me... I-I just hope one day I can repay him."

"Ohh I'm sure you could," Nox stated with a cheeky smile as he closed his eyes and returned to sunbathing, though Libby cocked an eyebrow and shot him a near annoyed smirk.

"You planning on making room for two on your floor, there?" Libby retort, she knew she somehow had to get the heat off of the topic of her and Ace being more than friends, though Nox jolted and peered to Libby in hard confusion.

"...What?" Nox stammered, though Libby lightly threw her head back and giggled.

"I see the goo-goo eyes you have for Koko," Libby chimed in teasing sing-song, "I'm not blind."

"I guess it's no secret," Nox stated through a hard sigh as he shook his head and squinted his eyes shut tight, "I-I don't even know if I'm doing anything right at all. I see her sort of lolly-gagging with Jax and Tej, every now and then. Makes me nervous..."

"Bah, don't be nervous, you should invite her over tonight, or something," Libby shrugged.

"I already did," Nox mumbled, though Libby beamed him an excited smile.

"Yeah?" Libby giggled, though Nox flagged his hand down in growing annoyance.

"Yeah, not like that," Nox loudly grumbled, "It includes you and Ace... Hope you two are up for s'mores. I'm going to need you two."

"Ace would make a perfect wing man for you, y'know," Libby giggled as she adjusted her swim suit, she finally gave Nox a kind smile and raised an eyebrow, "I'll be your wing woman, yeah? I could help you out."

"For User's sake, I thought you'd never mention it," Nox rushed through a sigh as he gave Libby a pleading gaze, "I need more help than you could imagine. Y'gotta tell me what the ladies like."

"I-I can't speak for Koko, but I can definitely help make things a little easier," Libby stated through a small laugh as she eyed Nox in a knowing way, "You'll be just fine. Tonight will be the ice breaker. Who knows. Maybe Ace and I will turn in early."

"Please don't do that to me, I'm not ready," Nox rushed as he sat up on his elbows and gave Libby a look of pure, terrified dread, "Wh-what if... What if she tries to kiss me!"

"Oh NO!" Libby gawked sarcastically, though Nox shot her an annoyed side-eye as Libby laughed, "Kiss her back, dude! Not that hard."

"How would you know?" Nox only playfully stabbed, though Libby finally decided to be gutsy.

"Because I've kissed your best friend twice before, dude," Libby stabbed with a victorious smile.

"You've kissed Ace before?" Nox rushed in a hard whisper of dire annoyance, though he slapped his hand to his forehead, as if to show exhaustion, "The dude is thirty arcade years younger than me and already he's leaps and bounds ahead of me."

"Just by two kisses," Libby rolled her eyes and looked off in mild annoyance, "You and Koko are bound to fly right on past us, anyhow."

"... Really?" Nox wondered softly, as if to show tenderness towards Libby's situation as opposed to curiosity over his and Koko's dilemma. Nox raised his eyebrows and looked about the sand, as if to wonder just where to step next, "Well... You and Ace aren't... Y'know?"

"No," Libby sighed quietly, though she gave Nox a kind smile, "Who knows what the future holds. For now, I'm happy just being his friend and getting to know him a little more."

"That's no fun," Nox muttered, though he eyed Ace across the way and had to wonder if Ace likely would open up to him, as a best friend; he assumed Ace likely had frustrations on the topic at hand.

"We'll live," Libby shrugged, she knew she had to do everything she could to seem aloof about the situation her and Ace were now awkwardly plopped in.

* * *

"The jungle's not reading anything out of the ordinary," Zed muttered as him and Oliver hovered over the digital pad in Zed's strong hands, though Lickity and Royal easily pushed into their bubble.

"I KNOW I'm not just hearing things," Royal muttered as he eagerly peered back to the gaping gates, which lead to the gorgeous, bright and mysterious jungles out before them.

"Dad," Ace called quietly as he approached the four, they were stationed near the massive patio door that lead into the castle, where the kitchen and entrance to the Sky Room was. Ace huffed a nervous breath and eyed the digital pad in Zed's hands, "What's going on? What were you guys doing outside the grounds?"

"Oh, it was nothing, son, don't worry," Zed stated with a passive smile, though Ace knew he was simply acting aloof for the sheer fact that it was Ace's birthday, and he didn't want anything distracting Ace from having fun; Ace furrowed his brow and stepped closer to his father and uncle.

"Poppa," Ace urged, his voice was deep and lightly grumbling, Oliver cocked an eyebrow as him and Zed caught eyes, "This is my game too. What's going on?"

"It's nothing drastic," Oliver assured gently to his nephew, "I guess... Lickity and Royal heard voices coming from outside castle grounds, but..."

"There's literally no one," Lickity shook her head, she looked frustrated, "My ears don't fail me... I KNOW there were people out there."

"How many, do you suppose?" Ace wondered nervously, he only barely glanced back to the gaping back gates, "Are they coming up on the map?"

"That's the issue," Zed started as he gestured to the pad in his hand and curiously peered to Lickity and Royal, "The only souls showing up on the map is everyone accounted for under the protection of the castle..."

"But, these guys have the best hearing out of everyone here combined," Oliver mumbled as he gestured to the two bat-dragons; their ears were massive, perked and ready for any bounce of information the jungle had to send their way.

"Times thirty," Zed muttered as he cocked an eyebrow and peered down to the pad, though he began to gently hand the digital pad over to Ace; he knew Ace deserved to be filled in on everything going on, and as much as he wanted to continue to reserve this issue, he was grateful for Ace's fervor to solve a castle problem, "They're nowhere to be seen, but Royal and Lickity swear on their lives there were voices."

"Odd," Ace mumbled as he honed his whole attention to the map, he tenderly scrolled a little bit, so to see the entirety of the area.

He zoomed out on the GPS and got a good look of a five mile radius from the castle, and much to his and his four family members confusion, no one could be seen on the radar excluding everyone inside the grounds of the castle. Ace rubbed his chin, it was messily lined with dark blue stubble. He furrowed his thick brows, and as him and his father caught eyes, Ace shook his head in gentle confusion and finally dragged his eyes to his aunt's large, nervous green eyes.

"Aunt Lickity, what exactly did they sound like?" Ace wondered quietly, Lickity sighed and dragged her nervous eyes to Royal's, as if to direct the question to him as well.

"I'm not sure, there were about two or three of them," Lickity grumbled.

"Males," Royal assured with a nod, Ace bit his lip in contemplation and peered down to the map again, in confusion; Royal carried on in an unsure tone, "They were mumbling, but... It didn't sound like English."

"It didn't?" Ace squinted, he finally glanced to his uncle Oliver in hard confusion.

"Everyone in this game speaks English, right?" Oliver shook his head, as if to wonder if said question was even valid.

Just as Ace was about to form the word 'yes', he froze and stopped in his tracks. He cocked an eyebrow and peered back down to the pad, though just as he was about to answer with the correct answer 'no', he felt his heart jump as to just who was inching their way closer to the back gates of the castle, on the radar. He huffed a nervous breath, jolted his entire attention across the stretch of backyard and was just in time to see Libby's long white hair, her slender figure, her quick footwork vanish straight into the jungles beyond the protection of the castle. Ace raised his eyebrows in hard surprise, he jolted and wondered if he should leave her be, though in a split second of hard decision making, Ace firmly shoved the pad back to his father's hands and took off running.

"Ace?" Zed called nervously, though they each perked up and watched as Ace's quick footwork nearly sprinted towards the gaping gates.

Ace huffed a few hard, silent breaths and as he reached the back gates, he urgently peered about. As much as he wanted to loudly call for Libby, his panicked, hazel eyes darted about and resorted to listening for her. His ears pricked at the sound of what he could swear was talking, and as he relived this strange deja vu he wasn't even directly a part of, he now knew exactly what Royal and Lickity were experiencing. As if the jungle bounced echoes from all over the place, Ace's unsure foot work skid about the soft soil underfoot. He pushed deeper into the jungle, and as he came to a sloping hill with large, silver boulders at the base, he saw a peek of Libby's glorious white hair through the trees below him.

"Libby," Ace finally called, though he remained quiet.

Ace furrowed his brow in hard contemplation and slowed his footwork. As he moved closer to the growing commotion, he felt his heart begin to pound in confusion. He pushed past thick vines, hanging trees and jungle foliage largely swallowed any amount of arguing he so desperately was trying to hear. He stumbled a bit, his larger bare feet did everything they did to be agile through the mess of glorious jungle flora, though before he could push further, Libby's voice became clearer, and it was in this hard moment of realization did he notice she was nervously arguing in Teltokuan. Ace furrowed his eyebrows deeper into his glare and as he finally came to the clearing, he felt a hard roll of enraged pixels crawl over his being as to just who was standing in the clearing with his beloved jungle flower.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Yeahhh I know you guys hate me. xD I drew fanart for this chapter titled 'Birthday Boy Down' on my deviantART. Username - Vyntresser :)**

 **ALSO - I uploaded a character/ref sheet for Koko and will be posting the one I did for Libby here shortly, so check out my deviantART! :D YAY**


	83. Chapter 83

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** It's been awhile since I've left with a super suspenseful chapter xD

 **Nikki Firesong :** LMAO aren't we all!

 **ArchitectDreams :** He most certainly does! xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** You definitely would be right lol. Thank you!

 **Xaehttium :** Aw, wow! Thank you so SO much! That really means a lot to me. I try and take such good care of my precious characters - these guys are an extension of myself, so I really pride myself in 'bringing them to life', if you will. Thank you :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** omg LOL I know, I had a hard time writing it cause I was just laughing my ass off. I have a very blunt, 'dirty' humor and it has literally taken ALL of me not to overflow my story with immature one-liners. I sneak a few wherever I can, but it's been difficult to say the least xD I'm just glad someone else found it funny too. You'll understand more into Libby's thought process, as to why she suddenly took off running, in either the next chapter, or the chapter after that (once everyone cools down xD)

 **Snake557 :** It's ok, I have 4k+ for you right here :)

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** That's very correct xD A certain 3 carnivores definitely have a good meal. And, yes, you would be right. I am basing her tribe closer to that of the Hawaiian people, they are very much a water-based sort of tribe, they fish and etc., though it is also sort of based off of an Amazon-like tribal ways, as well. Very jungle like, they're a very 'tall' people. Libby is 5'9" lol. So, it's sort of a good mixture of a few things that inspire me. I appreciate these kinds of questions :) A lot of it will get revealed as Libby opens up more.

 **WildVirus :** LOL! Yeah I sometimes accidentally give her a British accent in my head - which, she is NOT British even in the slightest xD The British accent is really the only accent I can properly speak and so whenever her lines come up, I give her THAT accent cause it's the only other one I know haha. I'll have to find a certain type of accent to compare hers to lol.

* * *

 **A/N :** **Hey guys! Before we get into the heat of it all, I thought I'd maybe prep you guys - I've been getting a lot of PMs and notes wondering just WHY I gave Zed so many brothers, why I did this to myself by throwing a billion characters into my story (not that anyone has said it's a bad thing, all positive notes!) But, there actually IS a reason for all the nonsense, when it comes to all 6 of the Kalivar boys. I'll explain it all in my next A/N, for chapter 84, cause I'm sure you guys could care less right now, in the midst of this cliff hanger.**

 **I also have a lot of you wondering just what kind of 'voice' each and every person would have, and though I don't have time to pair everyone to a celebrity, or a voice, I can have you guys look up, I can pair a few of my characters to certain voices, and I'll do this all in my next author's note :) Unless you guys genuinely don't care, in which I'll spare myself xD**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Jungle Bae by Skrillex and Diplo ft. Bunji Garlin**

 ***Chapter 83***

As a knot formed in Ace's stomach, he shook his head and nearly felt numb to making proper decisions. He held his breath, and as he let his feet slowly allow him into the clearing, he knew he was likely about to let his anger run from him, and though he so desperately attempted to hold onto the fact that he promised himself he'd keep his temper in check, he could feel the reality of it slipping. Libby was quietly, though urgently, arguing with three men, though one in particular hung closer to her. He was tall, his skin was a sun kissed caramel, his hair was jet black and his back and shoulders were riddled with all sorts of glorious tribal markings. Ace huffed a scoff of a silent, incredulous laugh, and as he clenched his fists and approached the three men, in which all looked the same, he attempted to soak in the situation for what it was.

Libby looked nearly terrified, the way her trembling hands gestured for him to stop yelling, they shouted at each other in their language, and though Ace couldn't understand, he knew exactly just what they were arguing about. Ace knew, in this raw moment, Libby was somehow preparing for this moment, the rough reunion of her and her ex fiance, Hilotem, the man she was to be wed, and even further more, Ace's mortal enemy. Ace furrowed his brow deep into his glare, and before he could properly get within sight of the three, he felt his heart jump as Libby raised her voice to a decibel he wasn't even sure Libby could emit. In doing so, Hilotem harshly grappled Libby's wrist, and though she resisted and yanked her arm from Hilotem's strong grip, it was largely rewarded with a swift, firm slap to Libby's face.

Ace raised his eyebrows in cold surprise, and as Libby recoiled and cupped her cheek in shock, she looked as if this was old news. She back stepped a few times, though as Hilotem aggressively took the few steps towards her, filled the gap and grappled for her arm again, Ace picked up the pace. Ace felt his heart race faster and faster, and before Hilotem's free fist could throw another blow to Libby's tearful, horrified expression, Ace barged in out of nowhere and, with precise, agile movements, he successfully shoved Libby away and clenched his massive, wrecking fist. With one hard blow that Ace had been practically dreaming of, he let his wrecking power fly, and with a solid sock to the face, Hilotem massively thud to the ground. His coding urgently bleeped a few times, Ace huffed a hard breath of pure excitement, shook his head and beamed his enemy a wide, challenging smile.

"Oh, I hope you continue to come at me, cause I'll put you in the ground REAL quick," Ace suddenly hollered, and as the two guards, that Hilotem was with, began to scramble and holler nervous notions in their own language, they urgently helped Hilotem to his feet and pointed in hard confusion.

Ace huffed a hard breath and could feel his coding wriggle with writhing, painful fury. He knew he'd never felt anything like it before, and though it so badly begged him to lose control and let mindless rage fly, he desperately held his ground and knew he had to put Libby as his top priority. He was floored to feel Libby tuck into this back, her smaller body curled into him for protection she knew he wouldn't fail to give her. Ace held his arms out and back behind him a little, so to gently hug her closer to the back of his body, as if to state to her that she was only safe in this one spot on the grid, and leaving him would likely be unwise. Ace kept his eyes honed to Hilotem, and as him and his two friends loudly argued as he was clumsily brought to his feet, Hilotem looked Ace over in a draw of hard, angered surprise.

"Filthy pig," Holitem stabbed, his English was clearly a lot more broken than Ace even dreamed, and before Ace could retort, he felt an idea hit his skin; he tried not to seem too obvious.

"So you CAN speak English," Ace loudly wondered with a dominant smile, he puffed his chest and stayed still for Libby's sake. All three men were larger and looked to be decent opponents, though Ace knew he easily outmatched all three of them combined. Hilotem rubbed his jaw in a major amount of discomfort, spat a small choke of blood to the ground and glared Ace down as he finally approached; Ace continued to goad, "At least enough to tell me your name..."

Hilotem's deep, loud voice began to bark sharp insults in Teltokuan, though Ace began to feel his heart race with uncertainty, and before he could think too hard about his confusion, he tenderly let his trembling hands find the bend of Libby's arms. With her silent permission, he secretively let his exterior coding flood her skin, and in a silent draw of a question straight to her coding, he so desperately tried to keep his anger at a minimum amidst their silent conversation. As he could feel Libby nervously and gratefully succumb to his request, Ace flood her knowledge on everything related to her tribe, and as he opened the doors to her circuits and allowed his computing processes into the nooks of her heart that she allowed, he accessed the files on Teltokuan. With a gentle gasp, and a spark that lightly flood back through his silver coding, he suddenly snapped into focus as everything Hilotem was saying became one hundred percent understandable.

"How dare you," Hilotem spat as he looked Ace over, "Disgusting heathen... Go back to your own tribe, and leave me to my woman."

"You're on my turf, buddy," Ace growled, he could feel Libby tense in surprise as he suddenly was fluent in her language, all thanks to her precious coding, "This woman doesn't belong to you. Get lost before I end your life for good."

"You don't have that kind of power," Hilotem snapped with a mean smile as him and his two guards chuckled deeply, a threatening display of numbers Ace could feel caving in on him, "This woman DOES belong to me. She's escaped, and I believe you're in the way of us getting back home."

"She's not going with you," Ace barked.

"She's mine," Hilotem hissed with a widening smile as he stepped forward, he nearly closed the gap between him and Ace, and though Ace so badly wanted to jump at him one more time, he remained solid in a protective stance before Libby as Hilotem continued to get closer, "You're not really going to get in the way of tradition, are you? Certainly you wouldn't want any curses laid to your land..."

"Do what you want with our land, you can't have her back," Ace seethed, he furrowed his brow and felt his heart begin to surge in an overflow of anger and confusion; how badly he wanted to jump away from Libby and strangle this guy, though with the way Libby's terrified coding pleadingly flood Ace's lower arms, he stayed put.

"I've claimed her, peasant," He snapped, and as Hilotem's squinted, sharp green eyes stabbed into Ace's soul, his forehead shoved to Ace's in a solid act of dominance, he wrinkled his nose and glared at Ace down their noses, "She is my mate. Not yours."

"She's no one's," Ace voice was loud and stern as he pushed back, stood straighter and kept his strong position unwavering as their foreheads bumped once more, "She belongs to no one... And certainly not a filthy, disgusting, sorry excuse for coding, such as yourself."

"I've claimed her! I don't CARE if she doesn't have the tattoos for proof, I've still claimed her body!" Hilotem shouted aggressively into Ace's face, though Ace inhaled a sharp breath, removed his hands from Libby's shaking arms and sent a sudden jolt of a shove down into Hilotem's chest, and with said shove, Ace sent a shock wave of his coding straight through Hilotem's coding; it nearly looked as if it rocked his spine out of all the joints and sockets connected to it.

"She is not a being to claim in the first place, via tattoos, marriage, rape, none of it!" Ace bellowed, and it was in this act of a spark, in which he angrily glossed over Hilotem's coding in an adrenaline rush, did their language quickly reverse to English once more. Ace stepped forward, towards Hilotem, though he felt the weird drag of his and Libby's coding as they shared the ever so infamous exterior swap, a pull of coding in which they held onto without needing physical touch. Ace relished in the power, though he also felt his heart throb with just how terrified Libby's coding shivered and trembled alongside his protection. He tilted his head down, seethed a hot breath through his nose and glared Hilotem down with the utmost hatred, "You call yourself a man... The chief's second born... You're a PIG!"

"Big words coming from the likes of YOU," Hilotem hollered, and though he was now, oddly enough, speaking fluent English, he held the same accent that Libby had, "You know NOTHING about our culture, and how customs work!"

"I know that what you did is punishable by banishment of the Teltokuan people. A decade long curse laid upon your life, and if you were unlucky enough... They'd chop off your balls, feed it to the lykatas and make you watch..." Ace's deep voice reached a depth in which even he was surprised by, he took the few steps closer to Hilotem and clenched his trembling fists in pure, writhing fury, "What you did warrants a permanent end to your disgusting coding... And I have NO PROBLEM wiping you from the face of Arcade!"

"I would LOVE to see you try!" Hilotem hollered with a mean smile, "You are just a man! Just a pile of coding!"

"Oh, I'll bet you'll be wishing I WAS just that," Ace chuckled in mean delight, a throaty laugh shook from his strong chest as he clenched his fists and kept his angry eyes honed to his prey, he tightened his fists and let his palms and arms come alive with the glorious, golden honeycombs him and Libby suddenly, and temporarily shared.

The ground softly trembled, and as his coding sparked to his feet, the ground, as well as surrounding trees and roots suddenly took on the amazing spark of golden, coded honeycombs. With such, the jungle began to shake underneath Ace's unforgiving, raw power; power in which he was wholly uncertain he even had, and though he knew things sparked up in an adrenaline rush, he felt a strange kick of a dilemma hit his brain. A far away memory suddenly flood his thoughts, and as if he was figuratively grabbed by the shoulder, a strange mix of sorrow began to drape a cold, knowing fit of defeat over his heart. He squinted his eyes, glared deep into the soul of Hilotem's angry, disturbed and confused spirit, and in the rush of Ace's haphazard feelings, his father's voice suddenly rung in his ears alongside the vibration of the grumbling ground and trees around him. Ace gasped a nervous noise and felt his skin prickle in startled confusion.

 _"What do you think would've happened if you beat up that kid, like you said?" Zed wondered, Ace raised his eyebrows._

 _"You'd ground me," Ace meeped, though Zed choked a small laugh._

 _"What would've happened to the kid? How would you have felt about the situation, and yourself?" Zed continued, he cocked an eyebrow, "How would you have slept, that night?"_

 _"...Terribly," Ace uttered, as if he didn't want to confess it. He shook his head and let his eyes gloss Zed's strong chest, "I was protecting Libby, dad, I don't want anyone to make her sad."_

 _"No one wants that, son," Zed wiped a few tears that dangled on Ace's chin, "It's hard being a wrecker, huh bud."_

 _"Yeah," Ace mumbled, he shakily sighed and gave his father his honest eye contact._

 _"You were right to stand up for your friend, but you can do so without violence," Zed stated firmly, though Ace grew confused._

 _"But... I'm a wrecker, dad, I could've really showed him what for," Ace rushed, "He would've REALLY left us alone."_

 _"He would've had the ultimate game over, Ace, he wouldn't have been given a CHANCE to leave you alone," Zed blurt a laugh, which caused the peak of a bashful smile to curl at the edges of Ace's wet lips. Zed squinted and leaned in closer to Ace, "Being a wrecker doesn't mean violence is the answer to any problem that comes your way, bud..."_

 _"What would Ralph the wrecker have done?" Ace innocently wondered._

 _What would Ralph the wrecker have done..._

Ace huffed a hard, shaky breath and felt his whole entire demeanor eke a billion different emotions. He panted nervously, and as if the two were in slow motion, Hilotem took a few daring steps forward to challenge Ace further, though in his strange bout of memories rushing back to him, he felt a strange comfort gloss over him, as if Libby was suddenly there, watching that memory with him. He could feel her soothing, appreciative words silently and lovingly coat through his system, and just as he was about to think about taking his eyes off of his enemy and make sure Libby was alright behind him, there was a sudden knock back that shocked him out of the slow motion moment he was lost in. A massive, reverberating bang rolled over the land, and as the ground crackled and shook, Ace held his breath and peered into Hilotem's eyes, which were now honed to a certain beast behind Ace in which he knew was likely here to help save the day.

"Alright, wreckers, we'got a quarter alert," Ralph barked in a tone of pure delight, though it was clear, with the way his loud, stern tone glossed over everyone in the clearing, he was likely on his way to becoming enraged as well.

"I KNEW I heard voices," Royal stated through a hard growl that shook everyone's coding straight to their core, and as Ace noticed the three men before him stop in their tracks and shrink in dire nervousness, he quickly peered over his shoulder to catch just who had joined them.

Ralph slowly stood from the dust of the kick up he had created, the massive amount of jungle rock had cracked in half underneath his wrecking fists, and as his father, uncle Oliver, Lickity and Royal all pushed from the light huff of dust, it was clear Ace was now lightly relieved of duty. Ace slumped his shoulders, though he jolted as Libby gasped a nervous inhale and suddenly shoved her back to Ace's, she faced Ralph head on, and even though he was about two dozen feet away, Ace knew they'd fill the clearing in no time flat. Ace's trembling hands finally met with Libby's, once more, and as he peered back to Hilotem and his two guards, he couldn't help but let a sneaky smile peak the corners of his lips.

"You're 'n wrecker country, boy," Ralph's deep voice reverberated against the solid, jungle rock him and his fellow baddies slowly crept from. Both Zed and Oliver let out quiet chuckles in a knowing way as Ralph stood from the crackles of dusty debris that dribbled from his fist, he continued, as if to seem pleased, "You can choose your player... Or, if you want more of a challenge, there are four other wreckers up the hill."

"All of which are women," Oliver stated. He cracked his knuckles and eyed his dad, Ralph scoffed a knowing noise and glanced to Zed.

"Who could easily out-wreck us," Ralph mumbled to Zed, as if it were merely a truth he playfully didn't want to admit to, though his dark, daring stare pierced their foe in growing heat as he clenched his fists, "What'll it be...?"

"I'm not here to play games," Hilotem loudly snapped, and though his demeanor remained solid, the way his terrified green eyes dragged from Ralph's massive figure straight into Ace's dominant gaze had everyone immediately assuming his power streak was likely dwindling; he carried on, his heavy accent was sharp and precise, "I'm here to take back what is rightfully mine."

"There's nothing here that is rightfully yours," Zed growled as the five began to hone in closer to the group farther out in the clearing.

"You can't have Kajiksana," Ace's dominance grew higher over Hilotem, and in a mind numbing gesture, he uttered a hard grunt, cut Hilotem's strong actions at the quick and firmly grappled both his arms that attempted to swipe for Libby's trembling arms. With both of Ace's powerful, large hands, he viciously shoved Hilotem backwards and felt his anger begin to sky rocket. A vein bulged on his forehead as he inhaled a sharp, raspy breath and attempted to dig it deep into Hilotem's thick skull, "YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!"

"I will bring my strongest men to seize your tribe," Hilotem stabbed, he spit with his sharp words, and though Ace didn't enjoy letting the tenderness of his hands leave Libby's and be used for aggression, he was beginning to feel as if he had no choice.

"Won't THAT be fun," Ralph growled as him, his two sons and dragons began to slowly close the gap, their menacing saunters were perfectly precise with an overload of dominance over the entire game.

"I dare you," Ace growled as both men pushed their foreheads to each other's, once more. Ace proudly stood his ground and firmly set another unforgiving hit into Hilotem's chest, "Bring EVERYONE!"

"Your palace will burn to the ground, no one left but you," Hilotem's voice grew a painful stab of quiet, though it held depth. He wrinkled his nose and beamed Ace a mean, toothy smile, "No one but you and and an impure, runaway house-maid."

"Hold your tongue before I rip it out of your face," Ace's deep voice growled as both men began to grow more and more riled, and with this, Hilotem's two guards began to attempt to take swipes at Ace, though he was successful in warding them off. Ace tilted his head down a little and set his unforgiving glare straight into Hilotem's trembling orbs, "You're in the presence of a User, and if you turn away and never come back, I'll consider sparing your pathetic life."

"User," Hilotem and his two guards loudly cackled in much delight, though Hilotem stabbed his two fingers firmly into the top of Ace's broad chest and beamed a sneaky smile, "How does it feel, User Almighty?"

"What, unlimited power?" Ace spat as he looked Hilotem over in disgust, Ace felt a great amount of pride sweep over him the second he felt Ralph's, Zed's, Oliver's, Lickity's and Royal's heavy, intimidating footsteps near the hot spot; his two dragons snarled and growled with deathly delight that nearly shook their cores.

"How does it feel to have the left overs of what was once a pure woman?" Hilotem stated meanly, he nonchalantly rubbed his nose, sniffled and set his horrible, threatening stare back into Ace's, "You won't be the first one to strip her bare..."

"She didn't want it, she didn't WANT YOU!" Ace bellowed as he firmly clenched his fists, though he felt a weird sensation tug on his coding, and as if he had to remind himself to adhere to Libby's tender feelings, he brought his coded subconscious back to hers and felt a wave of nervous confusion flood him. Libby's coding was suddenly brooding, as if her sorrow had hit the lowest point it could and now was potentially on the way back up to rage. He kept his eyes trained to Hilotem and nervously continued, though his stern, loud voice would never show the anxiety rising, "You don't DESERVE something so fragile and beautiful. You've SHAMED your people. You've shamed ALL of Arcade. You're an ugly, disgusting piece of shit!"

"You should just delete me then, oh powerful one," Hilotem chuckled, as if he didn't believe Ace was, indeed, a User, "You and your whore could live happily ever after."

Ace long blinked, and it was in the split second that his world went dark did he suddenly feel as if every single last pixel of his coding, every single last byte of his unimaginable power, every strand of his coded self was suddenly yanked from him, and in a silent gasp of cold-blooded fear, his User status, every wrecking and glitching trait he owned to his skin was suddenly sucked straight from his pores, and with the sudden heaviness of his life, he felt as if a whirlwind of confusion had suddenly draped over his blank canvas of a soul. In a hard swipe, Libby suddenly faced every single last one of her fears, shoved Ace aside, clenched her hand tight, reeled back with a good, lulling spin of her golden honeycomb-riddled fist and sent the final blow straight into the center of Hilotem's face with a loud holler from the force that shook her rib cage.

With the sound barrier nearly broken, Hilotem's body crashed to the ground, slid across the soil and stone and finally collapsed in the dust about two dozen feet away, and with the regenerative bleep of his ultimate game over, Libby huffed a loud scoff of a breath and sent Hilotem the scariest glare this world had ever seen. Libby flicked her hand down, and as the sensation of his hot blood dribbled down her knuckles, she smiled in delight, rubbed her jaw and was floored to find the front of her chest and cheek had been sprayed with the bloody hit as well. She licked her lips, a ballistic, animal rage draped over her, and as she harbored the very power of the User, she felt her heartbeat soar with the pace of a hummingbird's wings.

"SAY IT AGAIN!" Libby's voice shook the game, and as her skin eagerly crawled with flickering, confused, bright golden honeycombs, she began to firmly saunter towards Hilotem, "I'm a WHORE! I'm a whore because I was drugged and laid helpless on the ground while you GOT IT IN!"

"K-Kajiksana," Hilotem stammered nervously as he waved his hand in terror and attempted to get to his feet.

"You're the reason I can't trust anyone! You're the reason I can't allow myself to have feelings towards my best friend! You're the reason my wedding dress won't be WHITE!" Libby nearly screamed, she clenched her bloodied fists and held herself with more power than her little body even knew what to do with.

"Libby," Ace huffed breathlessly as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. He inhaled a sharp gasp for air and found it difficult to even keep his head up. He lightly grappled the air and was thrilled to feel his father quickly rush to his side. Ace peered up to Zed in pure terror and, though he so desperately tried to get words out, he couldn't.

"She took your coding," Zed stammered in a rush of pure, cold fear. Zed quickly flood Ace's body with his own silver coding and was shocked to find absolutely no amount of circuitry show up on his Ace's skin, like it usually would, and as everyone looked on, Libby was suddenly the center of the universe, "She's... She's the User now..."

"You're the reason I ran away! And the reason I am NEVER coming back!" Libby bellowed as the ground beneath her feet suddenly sparked a massive, single honeycomb, and as it flickered with power, it sprawled the jungle floor and grappled every last root, bush, branch, rock and tree it could get it's energy on, the reverberating, mind-numbing bass rolled over every being within a fifty foot radius and made the birds scatter in chaos, the jungle fauna fled in pure terror, "You don't have to ask Ace to spare you any longer... He's not the one you should be worried about..."

"Please," Hilotem stammered, and as his two guards suddenly fled the scene and ran off into the jungle, Libby beamed an excited, evil smile and felt the blood drip from her jaw line.

"Since you asked so nicely, I'll give you a head start," Libby growled with a wide, mean smile, though it was in this second did Hilotem largely scramble to his feet and take off running, faster than anyone had ever seen. Libby cackled in mean delight, stood up straight and quickly brought her bloody fingers to her lips. Everyone largely flinched as she loudly set a sharp, high pitched whistle straight into the sky, it echoed seemingly forever, though with said call, Lickity and Royal perked their whole demeanor in raw, animalistic excitement as Libby loudly continued on, "Ready or not, here they come! EAT UP, GUYS!"

Lickity and Royal let out loud roars, and with strong lunges towards Libby, both dragons viciously whipped past Libby as she remained solid still and untouched, they bolted across the clearing and straight into the jungles in which Hilotem and his two men attempted to seek refuge. Before the clearing could fall silent, a few, light thuds of a strong gallop could be heard from behind Ralph and Oliver, and as Libby kept her eyes trained to where Lickity and Royal vanished, she felt a mean, knowing smirk grace her blood-stained lips as Balba's lightning fast pace whipped around Libby and vanished into the jungles as well.

* * *

 **A/N : I really wish I could add emotes here, right now. How annoying.**

 **I drew fanart for this chapter. The infamous 'Game Changers'**

 **as well as the piece I just uploaded 'If The Code Fits...'**

 **Go check 'em out, on my deviantART - Username Vyntresser :)**


	84. Chapter 84

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** LMAO nuuuu. I really DO need to look that up, for sure xD Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** I'm really REALLY glad you enjoyed it as such! I totally hear you on all your points. This topic is so extremely sensitive, and through this story, I'm trying my hardest not to turn it political or anything, but I do wholly believe it's wrong, and poor Libby definitely got the brunt. I'm fortunate to not be writing from experience, but I've been doing research, so to properly write for Libby's part, and there have been so many times where I've just broke down sobbing, cause I can HARDLY imagine how awful that must be. To be taken advantage of, no matter what state or condition. It haunts me, the very idea, and the fact that it just happens every day, all around the world, to men AND women. It makes me sick. And I can only hope my story somehow enlightens people, or makes people aware. I didn't start writing this part, for Libby's troubles, to start debates or anything of the like. I felt lead to research and knowledge myself about it. Cause it's nothing I've ever had to deal with, and I try to be sympathetic towards 'Libby', or really other men/women who have had this horrible thing happen to them. I appreciate your fervor - I hear yah!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL Yeah she was PISSED xD She definitely still has quite a few surprises up her sleeve ;)

 **jonnyne :** Omg me too. I've been waiting for this chapter for a VERY long time, and it felt good to get it off my chest, for Libby's sake xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Yes, there are still many many mysteries about Libby, but in due time, the pieces will all come together and you guys will know exactly what's going on/what will go down and the like xD

 **Snake557 :** That'd be awesome xD Damn straight! Libby's a beast!

 **Xaehttium :** This is true!

 **chuckiboo :** wow, thank you so much! Yes, they definitely grow closer after this for sure xD But they also have to remind each other that they're still playing 'friends' lol

 **XxNightclassxX :** Thank you thank you! :D I read this on deviantART as well xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yeahhh it's not very pretty! lol

 **Retrokill :** omg really..

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **The Arena by Lindsey Stirling (I'm serious, go fucking listen to this song right NOW. Not only does it go with the beginning of this chapter, this song also has inspired the final, major, holy-shit smack down of this story)**

 ***Chapter 84***

Libby huffed a few, trembling, nervous breaths, and as she could feel her coding nearly becoming something sentient, she shook her head and felt as if her heart was forever hardened. She relished in Ace's entirety, the way his coding thrived underneath her skin, she took in the sweet, delicious feeling of the two united as one, and though it wasn't because of an interior or exterior code swap, she knew she was the one to harbor his entire existence as a coded being. She dragged her teary eyes to her shaking hands and noticed the golden honeycombs egg her on, they flickered violently, as if to excitedly express to her that she had infinite power, unlimited data within her reach; there was so much to do, so much to see, so much to... destroy. Without Ace's good conscious holding back the will and power to destroy everything in sight, she knew she was wholly unstoppable in her right to be absolutely livid.

Libby clenched her fists and let all of Ace's, Ralph's, Vanellope's, Tessa's and Zed's coded, digital wrecking power flood her muscles, and to every single last inch of pixels she could get her sights on, she physically warned everything within her path to gain way. She breathed a mean chuckle, clenched her fists tight and let the tears mix with the blood on her jaw. With the rumbling of the ground, the sheer power of the way her new coding rearranged the grid, she began to crackle the earth around her, and without a single thought on the beings behind her, she felt her heart forever dip into the toxic, bubbling hatred she had towards anyone that has ever wronged her. She grit her teeth and uttered a hard cry, and in doing so, with just the simple downward thrust of her hand, the ground violently shattered in half underneath her feet, and as she hovered half a foot over the chaos, the trees out before her began to slowly and angrily uproot themselves.

Ralph and Oliver largely caught themselves, though the second everyone began to scramble for a safe place to stand amidst the chaos, they quickly back stepped and sought a safer distance. It was in this action of attempting to get away did a massive jungle tree suddenly rocket to the ground, splitting the group in half. Zed uttered a terrified grunt and peered down to Ace, who nearly lay helpless on the ground. Ace desperately attempted to stand, and with this, Zed urgently hooked his strong hands underneath Ace's arms and helped him to his feet, though half way through the attempt, Ace's knees buckled and he thud to the ground. Zed stumbled, caught Ace before his head could thud the trembling ground, and sent a look of terrified fear in Libby's direction. Libby's skin was riddled with hot white honeycombs, the angry jungle about them shook in pure chaos, and just before Zed could wonder if things could get worse, a massive giant of a jungle tree, to his hard left, slowly came collapsing to the ground. The ear-splitting sounds of crackling, splintering wood was ever abundant, and as the haphazard winds picked up, Zed began to panic.

Zed covered Ace as best as he could, and in a rush of pure adrenaline, he began to tug Ace up again. He prevailed for mere seconds before Ace's energy largely dwindled once more, and both men fell to their knees. Zed furrowed his brow in dire, horrified frustration, shouted a few indecipherable things to his son and urgently looked over his shoulder. As the sky grew shaded from the towers of trees that began to collapse about them, Zed flinched, covered his face with the bend of his arm and caught a few glimpses of Libby across the way. Her brilliant, white hair flickered about, alongside the millions of jungle leaves and debris that littered the air, though she remained unharmed, the hot white glow of hers and Ace's coding made it so an unseen bubble was placed around her. All sorts of debris smacked against it in a violent fashion, so much so, that it was clear where the force field lay. She stood totally still, a haunting experience Zed could only assume was simply her grief relishing in the fact that she was, indeed, immortal in this raw moment.

Zed huffed a quick breath and peered back down to Ace, whom of which he was successfully shielding. Zed felt a hard idea hit his brain, and in the split second it crawled over his coding, he let his palms come to life with his and Tessa's circuitry. As he laid Ace on his back, he firmly shoved his palms to Ace's broad chest and sent a jolt of their shared, electrifying silver circuits straight into Ace's being. Ace coughed a hard noise, sat up and shook his head, though he slumped back down to his elbows and attempted to cover his face. Zed urgently grappled Ace's upper arms and sent another hard jolt of his silver coding into his son's system, and before Zed could properly get words out, he yanked Ace to a standing, once and for all, and shoved him in the direction of Libby.

"Hold onto that coding! You take her right, I've got her left!" Zed shouted over the chaos, and as Ace's nervous eye contact gratefully glossed over his father, both boys quickly split.

Ace felt cold, his hands shook, and as he was gratefully given his father's coding and held onto it tight, like a warm security blanket he knew he'd never take for granted, he felt alien. He knew his own coding was simply an extension of Zed's and Tessa's, though the fact that he was without the very coding he was given to, at birth, it had his legs feeling weak. He shuddered, and as tears soaked his cheeks, he shielded his eyes and peered to Libby across the way. He could sense the pure, warm comfort of his father's soul soak into his human mind, as as desperately as he wanted to sit on the ground and beg for his father to come back and pull him into a tight hug, and rid this evil world for everything it was, he squinted his teary eyes and pushed on.

As he finally got within a dozen feet of Libby, as well as the continued chaos, he noticed his father had gained the same distance, though to Libby's left. Ace kept his eyes trained to Libby, and as he viewed her with the both of their coding, he knew this wasn't how it was supposed to be. He knew giving Libby his coding was his cloud nine, a fantasy he had only dreamed of, in his mind's eye it was a lot more beautiful, a glowing woman rid of her fears, soaked in the confidence of their blossoming love, though he felt a wave of weirdness fall over him; she was far more violent, aggressive, he nearly shuddered as the term 'evil' cloaked his exhausted mind. He shook his head and finally looked down to his palms, and as the small portion of his father's coding riddled his sweaty, dirty skin, he knew he had to somehow pull her back down to the planet. Without any more time wasted, Ace inhaled a deep breath and let his adrenaline rush finally feel controlled, for once.

As much as Ace wanted to call out for Libby, he knew he needed to catch her off guard, in this moment. Ace huffed a hard breath, and as he noticed Zed's palm flicker to life with their reviving, silver coding, both men flood the ground with hot white lightning that aimed directly at Libby. The second their silver coding grappled Libby's feet, she exhaled a hard noise of confusion and fell to her knees. Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise, stood a bit more aggressively and felt the recoil of their attack finally hit his skin. The second the familiar, delicious taste of his own coding came back to him, he felt energy flood his veins, even though it was only a small taste. Ace uttered a grunt through the draw of riddled, scheming surprise, and as he mustered the energy to likely take Libby down once more, he gained quite a bit of closure to her.

Ace was thrilled to see his father working just as hard to snap Libby out of it, and as much as Ace wanted to rush her, he knew he needed to be careful. With just how much power she harbored, she was even more powerful with the fact that she clearly didn't totally understand the sheer amount of damage her new User status could cause. Ace squinted, shook his head and sent another bolt of their silver lightning straight for Libby's soul, though with this hit, she uttered a nervous cry, threw her head back and grappled the bones of her collar, as if she was likely peeved that Zed and Ace were challenging her authority. Ace furrowed his brow and began to feel anger rise, as well. He knew she was wholly overcome with grief, and this certainly wasn't the Libby he had come to know and love, though something told him to get his coding as far away from her as he possibly could, at least for the time it could take him to gain control.

Ace dug his father's silver coding deeper into her writhing skin, and as he began to tug more of his soul back to his system, she grew even more enraged. She finally stood, peered to Ace in whole devastation and set an unforgiving glare upon his being. Ace felt his skin go cold with the sheer look of hurt, terror and anger that was flood into Libby's system, though he somehow felt drawn to it. He squinted and lightened his stance, and as Libby began to quickly saunter closer to him, he huffed a nervous, faltering breath and felt nearly relieved that she was filling the gap. Ace readied his silver palms as she grew closer, and though she looked purely threatening, he allowed her to gain on him. He shook his head tenderly and prepared himself for what could likely becoming a wrestling match.

"My Libby," Ace uttered shakily through tears, and though Libby grit her teeth and shook her head, she looked wholly conflicted.

Before she could stab him an insult, Ace felt he had enough power to send the ground riddled with a good amount of his received coding back to hers, and as his silver circuits tugged the rest of his own soul back to his skin, he felt a wide release come over his veins. As the two finally shared an equal amount of their coding once more Ace finally huffed a hard breath, sucked every single last ounce of his coding from her skin and felt a shock come back to his system. As flits of angry, hateful and life-ending thoughts finally vanished from the coding that was once residing in Libby, he jolted and suddenly lunged to catch Libby's collapsing figure. He grunted a hard noise and caught Libby before she hit the ground, and as he yanked her into his bare chest, her whole entire body looked as if it had just been released from being possessed by demons.

Ace flinched as Libby suddenly emit a hard, urgent wail of a cry of pure despair into the nook of his neck, and in the raw moment of unforgiving adrenaline that came back to him, he slapped his arms tight around her shoulders and immediately encompassed the two in a nearly transparent bubble of their yummy, golden circuitry. All sound, sight and smells from outside their bubble suddenly came to a screeching halt, and as the two were only encompassed in their exposed, raw and hurt souls, Ace felt his heart pound on overdrive. Ace shut his eyes tight, and as easy as it was for him to imagine the jungles around him, he let their golden circuitry realign the chaos, they mended the cracks, re-planted the massive beasts of the trees that Libby had uprooted, and with their shared coding, Ace urgently flood her with a good, circuited visual of just what repair looked like, a metaphor of their curious relationship.

He squeezed his eyes closed even harder and tucked his large hand to the back of her head. His heart nearly was yanked straight out of his chest in pure grief, the way her violently shaking hands grappled for his embrace, the mournful cries into his neck, he knew she was bound to explode somehow, in some way, though he never dreamed her sorrows were just this dark. He firmly stroked the back of her head and as he overflowed her with the control of their golden circuitry, he dared to place a few firm kisses to the top of her bare shoulder. He soaked her in love, he knew their friendship was suddenly rocked, and everything about this moment was purely outside the boundaries of simple friendship, though he knew somehow their one-way ticket was likely to find the light at the end of the tunnel eventually. He knew there was no other way to get the ball rolling than with this firm push out of the darkness.

"Don't l-leave me! Don't go!" Libby urged firmly through her cries, she was in near-hysterics, the way her shaking hands continued to grapple for Ace's skin, though with her outward, verbal fervor, her body lay limp and lifeless against Ace's.

"Shh-shh, I-I'm here, I'm here," Ace stammered as tears soaked his cheeks, he dared to open his eyes and gaze about the protective, golden bubble he had placed them in, though beyond the speckles of happy, flitting circuit lines and honeycombs, he could see not only his father, grandfather and uncle Oliver, but his mother and just about the rest of his family begin to crowd the dire situation.

"I'm so sorry," Libby uttered through her tears as her face remained glued to the side of Ace's neck, "I-I'll never do that to you ever again... I-I'm... So... Sorry."

"You have every right to be mad, Libby," Ace urged through the grit of his teeth, and it was in the tight bounce of their voices against their golden bubble did Ace quickly realize that it was as soundproof as could be; he was certain his family, outside the bubble, were completely confused on the raw silence. Ace shut his eyes tight and shoved his forehead into Libby's shoulder, "I-I'm going to make sure nothing like that ever happens to you ever again, Libby, ever again..."

"W-We need to move the castle," Libby stammered, and though her crying only barely began to find a down-slope, she still remained near inconsolable, "My tribe isn't far from here... Th-They have a cloaking device. We... We can't risk them coming back."

"Done," Ace urged as he kept his strong grip around Libby, though as he freed his right hand, he shoved his palm to the ground underneath and continued to ride on the dregs of Libby's given adrenaline rush.

Through his mind's eye, Ace allowed a map of the castle, the mountain range and the valley, that Ekreth City lay in, to become as clear as day in their shared coding. Ace immediately dug his whole entire attention to grappling every single last strand of coding the castle had, as well as every single name under the protection of it, and with no effort whatsoever, he practically cut the contents of the castle out of the ground, dragged it across the one-hundred mile stretch of glorious valley and plopped their sacred home atop a perch that now faced Southern Ekreth, as opposed to the North-end of the city. With said energy dragged into the game, as well as Ace's coding, once the castle, as well as everyone along for the ride, was settled into the new patch of ground, their golden bubble suddenly popped.

Ace jolted, opened his eyes and peered about to brand new scenery, they were in a patch of a clearing near brand new trees, sunlight soaked the area, and as if nothing had ever happened, the ground was clean and fresh. Libby panted through her now panic-attack symptoms and continued to cling to Ace for dear life, though once their noises and everything became present to every single last one of Ace's family members, they were suddenly rushed in pure panic. Zed was the first to kneel down to the two and put his hand to Ace's broad shoulder. As their words all jumbled and became mixed into one big pile of everyone spouting urgent concerns down to the two, Ace long blinked and allowed his father to brush the dirty, ruffled blue hair off of his sweaty forehead. Ace gently slid his arms tighter around Libby's shoulders and kept her firm in his grip, though as reality finally came back to him, he finally honed in to his mother's nervous voice.

"Where did you take us?" Tessa worried as everyone looked around, and though Zed's brothers, Emery, Penny, Koko, Taffyta, Tammy, Calhoun and Felix hung back a little, Nox and Throttle made their presence a bit more known alongside Tessa, Ralph and Oliver.

"A-Across the valley," Ace stuttered in pure exhaustion, he dragged his tired, sorrowful eyes to his father's and gave him a look of floored gratefulness, "Dad..."

"Bud," Zed scoffed with a nearly annoyed grin of pure relief as he continued to brush Ace's hair out of his eyes, "I have never been so scared in my entire life... You... Lost your coding."

"Don't... Don't blame Libby," Ace suddenly urged, as if he was certain everyone was likely going to be mad at her; they flinched in hard confusion as Ace only tucked Libby tighter into his arms and glared Zed down, purely out of protection of Libby, "Sh-She didn't do anything wrong, she didn't mean to! Sh-She would never hurt anyone!"

"Ace, no one is blaming Libby," Zed stammered as he quickly turned his attention to Tessa, Ralph and Oliver. They each shrugged, shook their heads and gave Ace a look of sorrowful confusion, "She's-"

"She's just hurt!" Ace demanded once more, though he was thrilled to feel Libby finally begin to calm down.

"Come on," Ralph finally urged as he pushed closer to the small group, "Let's get back into the safety of the castle... We need to get behind closed gates. We all need to have a group discussion."

"Right," Tessa agreed, as did Oliver, and once the three began to lightly approach Zed, Ace and Libby, only then did the two terrified younglings look to lighten up a little.

"Come now, son, on your feet," Ralph stated, and though his words could be taken as stern, his tone was laced with all the love and patience in the world.

Before Ace could move, everyone eagerly adhered to Libby first and foremost, and as she finally unglued herself from Ace, everyone urgently held out their steadying hands for her and helped her to her feet. Once she was stood, albeit in a clumsy disarray of weakness, Zed and Ralph quickly helped Ace to his feet. As much as everyone wanted to crowd the two and loudly wonder just what the heck was going on, and if everyone was okay, they began to lightly lead the two back to the castle, and back to new sights of their fresh surroundings.

As everyone slowly and nervously moseyed back onto the castle grounds, Zed hung by the back gate with his digital pad, and the second everyone was safely within the boundaries, he closed and locked the massive wall of a gate. Ace stumbled closer to the patio's shade, he squinted about the backyard and felt it strange that the sun was now casting very different shadows about the place, because of the castle's change in positioning. Ace's eyes tenderly dragged to Libby's figure next to him. She looked wholly washed out, one hundred percent done. Ace winced at the mere sight of her, lightly covered in blood, her face streaked with dirt and tears, and as if matters couldn't be worse, her hand looked as if it was broken. The way she kept face through all of it nearly terrified Ace. He had to wonder just what else she could endure while keeping a straight face.

"Alright, men, gather around, cause this one is for you," Ralph's voice was dominant, and as each of Zed's brothers, Nox, Throttle, and even Felix began to huddle closer to the group, Ace's eyes nervously peered about, and he quickly realized this massive pep talk was going to be aimed at him, as well. Ralph chuckled in mild annoyance and gestured to Zed, who made his way over, "C'mon, Mr. Unbeatable, you are not exempt."

"Dad, what's this about?" Tessa mumbled as she crossed her arms, and as everyone's shuffling footwork finally made it so everyone was comfortably grouped under the shade of the massive outdoor patio, she cocked an eyebrow and slowly peered about the girls she was standing with; they each gave Tessa a look of mild, scared confusion.

"I need everyone to realize something, really quick. The men, in this castle, outnumber the women. Now, I am not going to name names, or put any single one of you boys in a spotlight, but over the duration of this day, of this WEEK, I have seen some SERIOUS goo-goo eyes for these beautiful ladies, here," Ralph's voice muttered with an annoyed smile, and as each and every single one of the boys began to nervously chuckle in a knowing way, they finally began to realize the severity of Ralph's slightly sinking demeanor, "For those of you that are out of the loop, Libby just had an encounter with her ex-fiance... And we all clearly know how that went."

Everyone fell silent, and those that weren't present in the fight quickly looked to Libby in a draw of nervous sorrow. Before anyone could spread any sort of gentle condolences to her, Ralph clenched his fists, furrowed his brow and changed his tone up, real quick.

"Once upon a time, this was a man she trusted, this was a man she was to be wed," Ralph nearly growled as he pointed a gentle finger in the direction of Libby, who was to his right and standing near Vanellope, "This woman put her trust and her faith in this man, and she was greatly... GREATLY wronged."

Ace heaved a shaky sigh and looked down to his feet. He furrowed his brow and, though he was relieved his grandfather was setting all the men back in place, he felt as if this topic was way too painful to even keep thinking about. He was thrilled it was over, and the fight he so desperately wanted, happened, though he now knew him and Libby were likely sat back at square one; without tilting his head back up, his eyes dragged to where Libby was, he curiously eyed her and figured they'd likely hash it out later in the evening.

"There are a select handful of you boys that are pretty excited you have some fresh, new, WOMANLY faces about this castle," Ralph grumbled in dire annoyance, though he finally peaked a smile once the boys began to knowingly chuckle in a light, apologetic way, though it quickly slipped again once Ralph's demeanor grew solid once more, "If you have any respect for yourself, any respect for these women, and any desire and will to keep your life in tact... You will obey these women's boundaries, you will do as you're told, and you will keep your hands to yourself, or I... Will... Find... You."

Everyone fell nervously silent, and with the solid, cold front Ralph had set over each of the boys' near-terrified faces in the group, Ace finally looked up and peered to his grandfather in a near pleading kind of way. He swore on his life he'd never hurt Libby, and though he was aware this conversation wasn't just aimed for him, he somehow felt as if it dug deeper and deeper into the one person that so desperately wanted to give the most love to the one woman in the most pain. He huffed a long, silent sigh through his nose and so valiantly fought to keep tears from spilling down his cheeks, though he knew he had failed said stronghold the second he felt a gentle hand reach for his shoulder. Ace shut his eyes tight, scoffed another silent breath and peered his teary gaze down to the ground as his mother's hand lovingly squeezed his skin.

"Today has been fun, until this incident, and... It can still BE fun," Ralph stated, his voice finally began to show love, and the second his eyes dragged to Libby's fragile demeanor, he tenderly knelt to one knee, held one of his fists to the ground and so gently held his other hand out to her, "C'mere..."

Libby inhaled a shaky breath, cupped her hands to her chest in trembling nervousness, and though she was still a mess, both mentally and physically, she didn't hesitate to push into Ralph's loving presence. Once she approached him, she slid her tiny left hand into his massive right one and stood near his fatherly figure, his warm love welcomed her into his presence, and as his gentle brown eyes peered into her soul, she finally felt her shoulders relax. He gingerly squeezed her little hand, kept his eyes strict to her teary ones and just barely shook his head.

"You don't need to be scared, anymore... That was some awesome wrecking, you did, love... Though, you may need some coaching on how to control all that crazy User-fuel you just got a taste of," Ralph huffed a small laugh, shook his head again and gave Libby a look of soft, incredulous surprise. He was thrilled to see Libby finally beam a genuine smile and peer her bashful eyes down to Ralph's large hand as he continued on, "You have the makings of a strong wrecker, my dear... And I need you to understand, that... Just because one man did you a massive disservice, it doesn't mean they ALL will."

Ralph tilted his head, caught Libby's eyes once more, and once her nervous gaze laid into his for a few moments, Ralph cocked an eyebrow and dragged his line of sight to over his shoulder, in an obvious manner. The moment his eyes caught with Ace's, everyone began to loudly coo in gentle, loving annoyance towards the two, and once Ace finally beamed an embarrassed smile and rubbed his eye, Ralph chuckled and gave his attention back to Libby, who was now red in the face.

"I know trust is going to be something you're going to have to fight to give willingly," Ralph stated quietly, though he squeezed her hand once more, "...But I promise you won't be disappointed. Okay?"

"Okay," Libby nodded with a gentle sigh of relief, her wet lips curled into a bashful, genuine smile, and as Ralph finally stood, he was surprised to feel Libby quickly fill the gap and lean into Ralph for a small hug.

Ralph raised his eyebrows in surprise and tenderly cupped his large hand around Libby's upper back, and after a moment, he finally pushed his face down into the top of her head and chuckled atop her white hair. With a good squeeze, the two finally peeled from each other in looks of renewed gratefulness, and as Libby softly rejoined with Vanellope, Ralph glanced in Ace's direction.

"Alright, show's over. Ace, get your dragons back, they're clear across creation doing User knows what," Ralph grumbled, though Tessa flagged her hand as everyone finally began to softly disperse amidst different, quiet conversations about what had just happened.

"Leave 'em, they're having fun," Tessa grumbled with a knowing smile as her and Zed caught eyes.

"I could go for a drink," Ace muttered under his breath as he eyed the bar, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and caught wind of his words.

"Alcohol won't solve your problems," Tessa barked quietly as she firmly nudged Ace's ribs. He wobbled and gave her a floored look of mild annoyance, though Tessa crossed her arms and beamed him a knowing smile, "Besides. Your father and I have something better for you."

"Please say it's the tower, please?" Ace rushed as his tired eyes peered to his mother, though his eyes curiously glanced over to Zed, who was kindly situating Libby in a place to sit.

"You and Libby should get cleaned up," Ralph urged as he lightly pushed into Ace's and Tessa's conversation, "I know of a certain fuzzy something, that you could give to Libby, that would make her feel a whole lot better."

"...I nearly forgot," Ace huffed as he quickly was reminded of the froster fox pup in his mother and father's bedroom.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Really quick question. From here on out, there are maybe... 4+ already planned sex scenes, between 3 different couples (maybe 4, I'm still deciding. bear with me.) Nearly all of them are rather spontaneous and happen quick, there's one scene in particular that happens with not very much warning or build up. I know I have some sensitive readers that don't read the sex scenes just because it's their preference (my smut is tasteful WHY YOU NO DO. I'm joking lol it's fine.) - Would you guys like a warning at the beginning of a sex-scene chapter, just so you're prepared? Or do you guys want to be surprised? Cause I can tell you, there are 2 scenes in which shit just kind of quickly happens and I know some of my more sensitive readers might be like awwwhh-OHHH THAT'S A PENIS WHAT WHY IS THIS HERE ALL OF THE SUDDEN.**


	85. Chapter 85

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** Yeah, there's definitely a lot of reserves Ace had, and that comes in handy for him in the future for sure. Something Libby sort of admits later on. But otherwise, she is pretty badass :D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Okay, thanks for your input! :D And thanks for the compliments!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! Yes, these guys are extremely tight knit, and it only gets better from here :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Okay, no problem! Thank you :) Yeah, these last few chapters have been chaos, but things finally start to settle here a little bit.

 **ArchitectDreams :** Well, considering we're only on chapter 85, there have only been 2 sex scenes, and out of a story that will likely push the 200 chapter limit I've had for myself, there will only be 6 or so sex scene chapters total? I'd say that's not nearly enough, quite frankly. I'm GENUINELY surprised you guys aren't wanting more of it. Unless the ones that really DO want more are just too shy to speak up lol.

 **Retrokill :** LOL how unfortunate xD Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** No problem! YAY spicy chapters!

* * *

 ***Chapter 85***

"User, that was brutal," Oliver grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head firmly and lightly glossed his line of sight to Nox and Throttle, who were closest to him, and though Throttle had been a hermit crab all day long, he finally decided to join everyone on the 'fun'; he stayed in the shade as much as he could, however.

"What happened?" Nox wondered quietly as him, Felix, Nox, Throttle, Oliver and Koko began to de-group from the rest of the family and head for a few lounge chairs near the sparkling blue pool. Nox politely gestured for Koko to sit first before he took a comfortable seat next to her, "One minute I was sun bathing with Libby, she said she'd be right back... The next minute, the whole jungle is vibrating."

"That was weird," Koko nodded a little as her eyes nervously glossed to her uncle Felix, "It... It felt like an earthquake, or something."

"That was some fight," Oliver hissed as he nervously fiddled his large, wrecking hands and peered over his shoulder once more. Tessa and Zed could be seen quietly tending to Libby, far across the stretch of grass, underneath the shade of the massive patio, "I-I've never seen Ace, or Libby, that pissed off before."

"Don't tempt the User," Felix stated nervously as he straightened out his comfortable light blue tank, "W-We all don't really know what kind of powers he harbors until it's fueled by rage."

"He's like a time bomb waiting to happen," Throttle's croak of a voice finally spoke up, as tender as it was, though him and Nox nervously caught pixel-cubed eyes and held it.

"I thought Ace was going to beat up Libby's ex, but... Man, she did it for him," Oliver stated, everyone kept their conversation quiet, and as Oliver peered back over his shoulder once more, his eyes glossed to the strewn, small groups of the rest of his friends and family; it was clear the air was still littered with the same topic.

"SHE beat him up?" Nox gawked, he stole a glance at Koko.

"She did," Oliver's face looked washed in light fear, as if he had seen a ghost, "I... I have never seen anything like it. It was like she sucked the coding right from his skin and just... Went ballistic. It's why the trees were uprooting and stuff... Guys, that wasn't Ace's doing. That was Libby."

"Gee-willikers," Felix's innocent little voice hissed as he anxiously peered in Ace and Libby's direction, "A-And... Ace wants to be one with this girl?"

"Of course," Nox lightly defended, though he shrunk once he realized he might be way too biased towards his best friend. He cleared his throat and glanced to Koko, once more, "I-I'm not sure if, maybe one day, if they swap codes... You don't think it'll have this same effect, do you?"

"Who knows... There's a chance either way, really," Oliver shrugged, "That was terrifying... I've never seen a being wield so much power."

"I-I'm sure it may have just been a shock to her little system, maybe?" Koko lightly shrugged and gave her soft gaze to her older brother, "Ace was born with all that power... Imagine it suddenly flooding you, all at once, when you're at your angriest?"

"Koko's got a point," Throttle stated once more, his voice was still and stoic. He straightened his white t-shirt, which was nearly a single gradient darker than his ghostly skin, "He has it all in check because of a few reasons... Not only did he have a fantastic upbringing, he's never had to endure anything traumatic... Rape? Put yourself in Libby's shoes. You're arranged to be wed, said jerk has his way with you, you run away from home... You don't even really know who you are or where you came from."

"That's right, she was found," Nox pointed lightly, everyone glued their nervous attention to Nox, he realized he had the upper hand with this information because of his close bond with Ace, "I was told that the chief of her tribe simply found her, as a baby, in the jungle. No one knows really where she came from, or who her parents are."

"Something's not right," Oliver squinted as his eyes glossed Nox's shoulders absent mindedly, "There's clearly a few missing puzzle pieces."

"Maybe she was born and... Her parents didn't want her any longer? So to avoid being seen by the tribe, they dropped her nearby and prayed someone found her?" Koko shrugged and peered to Nox curiously, "Stranger things have happened."

"And, we can't ask Libby, cause even SHE doesn't know," Oliver stated through a sigh as he shook his head, "I guess... Some things will always remain a mystery."

"It's hard for us, being on the other side of it, but..." Nox furrowed his brow and felt his heart pang with sadness towards his two best friends, "Imagine being in her shoes... I'm sure it's near impossible to cope with."

* * *

Ace finally sunk into Libby's bubble for good. Tessa had brought over a chair for her to sit, and as Ace neared with his father's digital pad, he assessed Libby in gentle nervousness. She looked absolutely haggard, totally torn and full of despair, though the way her eyes finally dragged from Ace's bare, dirty feet to his sullen eyes, he was quickly reminded that she still harbored a very rare, very innocent and burning fire of happiness. As deeply hidden as it was in this moment, he felt his heart do a small flutter, a cue of a backflip he knew he'd never tire. She attempted to give him an apologetic smile, though she looked down to her hands in her lap. Tessa had given her a pale orange Dead Zed shirt to throw over her bikini.

"Ace, I... I know this might seem odd, but, maybe you should try and test out your User powers? Try and... Correct Libby's wounds with your exterior coding," Zed chimed quietly, and as much damage as giving Libby Ace's coding had just done, Zed wondered if they should potentially push the envelope and see just what would come of a gentle transfer, like what they were used to; Zed was prepared for the annoyed, bewildered glare Ace threw at him.

"DAD," Ace argued, "I really don't think an exterior swap, in this instance, is going to be such a good idea."

"I'm not saying give Libby a typical, mindless exterior swap," Zed's voice grew stern as him an Tessa were the only two surrounding Ace and Libby, though it was clear Vanellope and a few others were eagerly looking on, "I'm saying... See if you can heal Libby with your coding."

"You healed Royal earlier," Tessa shrugged, though Ace furrowed his brow in confusion.

"...What? No I didn't," Ace garbled as he slumped the digital pad to his side, though Tessa and Libby shot him contemplative grimaces.

"Yes you did, do you... Not remember?" Libby quietly argued, though Ace raised his eyebrows and glanced down at her, as if hearing tenderness from her was now a shock.

"I... I don't recall myself even thinking about healing Royal," Ace stammered in mild confusion as he looked off and to the glorious backyard of theirs, though he was quickly reminded that Royal, Lickity and Balba were likely still feasting on their three prizes.

"You don't...?" Tessa worried as her and Libby slowly peered to each other in soft surprise.

"Do you think maybe your coding willed it because it was what you genuinely wanted, deep down?" Libby inquired, her voice held a bit of a croak from all the yelling she had been doing.

"So... Adrenaline rushes and subconscious thought is what will provoke your powers, we're discovering," Zed listed on his strong fingers, "Maybe... Try and see if you can actually control it this time."

"But dad... L-Libby and I already discussed not partaking in any exterior-"

"Ace... If it's going to benefit your powers and your knowledge on just what's coursing through your veins, then we might as well try it," Libby nearly snapped, though she huffed a hard sigh and looked down to her lap, "I already did you a massive disservice by stealing your own coding... What else could go wrong..."

Ace felt his heart pang in mild confusion, and though he was lightly bent out of shape, over the fact that she snuck his whole entire code system away from him, for the mere fact of pure anger, he felt as if he couldn't be totally upset with her over it. He knew rage, frustration, vindictiveness and a whole slew of other sorrowful emotions fueled said code-take over, though he also knew she had no ill-intent towards him. As much as it simply looked as if she was using him, he had to wonder if she potentially had no control over what had taken place, and simply all of his bottled anger overflowed her fragile body and manipulated it as such. With a hot, long sigh through his nose, Ace tenderly handed his father the digital pad, got down to his knees before Libby, and as warmly as he could, he took her broken right hand in his meticulous finger tips and eyed her cautiously as she winced in pain.

"You didn't steal my coding," Ace stated warmly through sorrowful eyes that glossed Libby's hand. Her knuckles were swollen, and it was clear a few bones near her wrist were broken and knocked out of socket. It looked extremely painful, though before he could become too overwhelmed by the nauseating sight, he very slowly allowed the silver coding on his hands seek her hot yellow honeycombs; he patiently continued on, "My coding took orders from you."

"What do you mean by that?" Tessa prod softly as her and Zed hung onto this conversation, and as much as they potentially wondered if they should leave the two alone, they stayed put for the sake of the knowledge being brought out.

"Something happened to me, when I was standing there with Hilotem... Libby could tell you exactly what went on through my mind," Ace stated sorrowfully as he began to let her broken hand be flood with their now mixed exterior coding, and as much as the initial union stung, he winced past the delightful shock and felt his coding finally wiggle into a calm, sizzling comfort he had grown to crave from her.

"That memory... It was of you and Zeddy," Libby stated quietly as she finally peered up to Zed in growing charm.

"Me," Zed huffed in quiet confusion as he messily placed his hand to his sculpted bare chest.

"Dad... Do you remember that one time, when we were children... Libby and I encountered bullies that snapped the lace on her dress?" Ace sighed as his eyes finally looked up to his father's, and it was in the roll of remembrance did Zed sigh, look to his feet and nod in a knowing way; Ace continued, "You taught me a very valuable lesson, that day... Not a second goes by where I so badly want to let my problems fuel my rage, and let my powers fly..."

"Violence doesn't solve your problems," Zed stated, though more in a way of repeating the words he had told his once young child. Zed furrowed his brow in a gentle, apologetic way and shook his head, "Son... If you would've pulverized that guy into the ground, none of us would've reprimanded you. He deserved to be beaten up, for just what he did to Libby."

"I was too conflicted," Ace stammered as he finally peered his attention back to Libby's hand, though he began to focus on the task at hand, "I wanted to delete him, dad, but... Your words kept coming back to me. I was too weak..."

"Son, doing what you feel is right in your heart isn't weakness," Tessa demanded quietly, "Sure, he deserved a good few thousand hits, but... If you didn't feel lead to do that, strictly because of a valuable lesson your father once taught you, then... So be it. What was most important, in that moment, was protecting Libby. And you succeeded."

"You were very brave," Libby meeped as tears formed in her eyes.

"It's a good thing nothing actually did harm you, while you were without your coding," Zed worried as his and Tessa's loving hands began to rub up and down Libby's back. Zed raised his eyebrows and looked off, as if to feel grateful of his and his family's health, "... Because, in that instance, you genuinely were just a human. I genuinely believe that if you would've died, there would've been no coding to regenerate you..."

"I was so angry, but I had so many reserves just because of those lessons I was raised with," Ace stammered as he peered his attention down to their conjoined hands, though he wrinkled his nose and gave Libby a warm, snarky smile, "But... Libby's not a wrecker. She wasn't raised with those same lessons. So when she was given the ability to wreck, and to use her strength to it's ultimate peak, she got revenge and properly stood up for herself."

"I-I do not want that kind of power, ever again," Libby's voice shook, though Ace furrowed his eyebrows and nearly felt his heart sink as she continued, "I was so terrified... I was so angry, my judgement was clouded. I could've killed everyone."

"But... You didn't," Tessa reminded as softly as she could, and as she began to tenderly tuck Libby's glorious white hair over the backs of her shoulders, so it was out of Libby's face, she cocked an eyebrow and warmly gave the back of Libby's head a knowing smile, "...Because Ace was there to make sure you came back to your senses."

"Ow, ow, ow," Libby hissed through a hard grimace as she grit her teeth, shot her squinted glare to her broken hand, and stiffened her back, though Ace directed his whole attention up to her and held her hands tight in his.

"I'm fully opened up to you, right now," Ace stated warmly up to her, though mostly so Zed and Tessa were involved. Libby winced and peered to Ace in near terror as their hands glowed a flickering, nervous few glitches of white, gold, yellow and silver honeycombs. Their coding looked as if it were in a small argument, something it could potentially get over, though Ace pushed the limits and squeezed her hands harder, "You have access to every single last one of my powers... What are you going to do with it?"

"I-I... I..." Libby stammered, and as tears welled in her eyes, for the first time all day they hung there and didn't escape. Libby felt her heart race faster and faster, and though their exterior swaps didn't include this much mental intimacy, she felt her veins wiggle with the sheer amount of power and unlimited strength she suddenly was graced with. She shook her head and felt the wave of anger hit her, once more. The push of wanting to hurt anyone and everyone that has ever wronged her. She desperately set a hard glare into Ace's eyes and nearly was pissed he would allow these feelings, once more, "I-I want to... I want to wreck things."

"Do you?" Ace furrowed his brow, though he felt as if he was getting somewhere, "The funny thing about this destructive power my Paw has given a select few of us is... It's not used for mindless anger. If you're angry, you should get it out now, with your words. Take it out on me, verbally. Why are you angry?"

"I was raped, if you've forgotten," Libby darkly and meanly snapped at him, and though her words were sharp and insensitive, Ace knew she was simply riding on the dregs of horrified, writhing fear and hatred. Ace remained calm, as still as a stone wall, though Tessa and Zed looked as if they were beginning to grow extremely nervous with this field test Ace was now curiously deploying. Libby inhaled a raspy, near-snarl of a breath and deepened her glare into Ace's gentle, unwavering eye contact, "How dare he take advantage of me when I couldn't even move... Why me? WHY ME!"

"I agree, he totally ruined your guys' potential marriage, whatever friendship you two had, and whatever chance he had at courting one of the most beautiful beings to ever grace this Arcade... This Earth," Ace corrected, and though he wanted to smile and be friendly towards her, he knew she wasn't open to accepting it in this moment, "... You know what it didn't ruin?"

"WHAT," Libby spat as she nearly seethed, though Tessa and Zed tenderly placed their nervous hands to Libby's upper back and shoulders, once more, to show support though to also somehow hope to keep her calm in this. Her arms began to angrily flood with the assortment of honeycombs that didn't agree with each other, just yet, though Ace finally pushed a smile in her direction.

"You," Ace eased, and it was in this moment did he finally see the mere specks of Libby's pupils want to dilate back to normalcy. Ace kept his thought stream on neutral vibes, though as their angry, dark conversation hit the lowest point it could, he slowly brought their mood up with it, the only direction it could go now, "He did a sucky thing, lost a wonderful woman, you're clean of it AND you got to beat him up, wrecker style..."

Libby raised her eyebrows in soft surprise, and though she felt a hard tug to her hand and largely winced, she was surprised to feel the need to be angry leave her little system. She finally felt her spine relax, though she grimaced and peered down to her hand, which was still broken.

"You can wash your hands of this mess, Libby. You shouldn't associate yourself with it any longer... You're stronger now that you've gone through it, and now you've learned about trust, boundaries and just what you want out of life," Ace rushed in a soft whisper as he shook his head and felt his whole world light up the second a bashful smile curled on the ends of Libby's cute lips. Ace huffed a silent chuckle of surprise and squeezed her hands tighter, "And now that I can sense you're relieved and not angry anymore... What do you want to do with the infinite power you have NOW?"

"I... I want to heal my hand," Libby stated honestly, and as if Ace had struck gold, he felt his heart leap as he could see his mother and father shoot each other looks of incredulous surprise. Ace huffed another small chuckle and, as if he, too, was relieved, their coding finally began to cooperate. As the golden honeycombs began to warmly spread both of their arms, Ace beamed a genuine smile and adjusted himself on his knees, before her, as she continued, "I might need some help..."

"You remember that one time, when we were kids, I ate all of mom's sugar cookies, and you took the blame for me?" Ace stated through a blurt of a laugh, which cued Libby to stiffen her spine in hard, sudden laughter as well; Tessa gaped.

"You little OINKER!" Tessa barked in hard annoyance, Zed covered his face and laughed as well, "I KNEW Libby couldn't have eaten all those cookies, she was so tiny!"

"And when we ran out to the patch of fire flowers, I threw it all up because you started to tickle me?" Ace's wide, blushing smile only grew as did Libby's laughter, though it was in this act did he realize the honeycombs flourished rapidly with their happiness.

"That was so funny," Libby's contagious giggle only grew, and as their love swarmed their skin, her neck began to sprawl with flits of happy, flickering golden honeycombs that were now accompanied by fresh splays of silver circuits.

"What about that one time Royal ate Uncle Orph's slippers because they were made out of that good-smelling cotton that grew down the cliff side?" Ace could hardly get his sentence out without stopping for a few hard chuckles; Tessa and Zed were easily lost in laughter, as well, "We had to tell Uncle Orph that Aunt Lickity tore them up cause she hates him?"

"Weren't they bunny slippers?" Libby choked a hard laugh and squeezed Ace's hands firmly, everyone was lost in happy laughter.

"They were," Ace nodded, his charming, gap-toothed smile was as handsome and as gentlemanly as ever. Ace merely glanced down to their hands, cocked an eyebrow and peered back to Libby's face, "What do you want to do with your infinite powers NOW?"

"H-Heal my hand," Libby repeated through a few reviving giggles, though she furrowed her brow in surprise and peered down to her perfectly healed hand. She brought her hands back to her face in hard surprise and beamed a wide smile into Ace's eyes, "Y-You did it!"

"No, YOU did it," Ace huffed as he slowly stood, put his hands on his hips and shook his head down to her, though as his coding finally reeled from hers, and came back to his own mindset, and wholly his, he shook his head harder and bulged his eyes in a bewildered way, "Sheesh, Libby, that was a lot of anger. Even I'M not that angry. and I'm a blood-born wrecker."

"I've seen some shit, okay?" Libby barked with a snarky smile, and though the topic was still extremely sensitive, the two looked as if they were finally on their way to recovering.

"I was born with these... Really strange powers I still need to master. Next time you try and steal my coding, maybe you will remember this and, uh... Try not to destroy the whole Arcade?" Ace teased as the air lightened, once and for all.

"Next time?" Libby gawked with a playful smile, though her face turned beet red once Tessa nudged her shoulder a few times and began to saunter towards the back patio door, so to prepare for her and Ace to go get her birthday present from Tessa's and Zed's bedroom.

"For User's sake, let's just... Let's get through THIS day first," Zed muttered as he rubbed his face in dire agitation, though as Ace began to step away with Tessa, he gently gestured to Libby and gave her an excited smile.

"Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you," Ace rushed as he quickly began to vanish with his mother, though Libby huffed a hard sigh, shut her eyes and shook her head.

"If it's a plate of those sugar cookies, I'm not taking one for the team, again," Libby muttered as Zed stayed with her and crossed his arms, "Cause that sucked!"

"Tess was pretty pissed, about that," Zed nodded as him and Libby shared a laugh, "She angry-baked for the rest of the night... And then promptly hid the cookies from everyone in the house."

"Rightfully so," Libby heaved through a draw of a kind sigh as she kept her eyes shut tight, tidied her hand in her lap and finally felt wholly at ease.

She began to grow bashful as Zed kindly cued to his family members, more than half of which were lollygagging either near the bar or near the pool's edge, and were within hearing of him. As Libby kept her eyes shut, she could hear nearly everyone begin to crowd around Zed and Libby. She was still sat on the single bar stool Zed had pulled over for her, and as Zed warmly kept his hand to his surrogate daughter's upper back and lovingly tidied her flawless, long white hair, she could feel her heart begin to pound in anticipation. As the patio door could be heard opening in a draw of a slow creak, Libby suddenly felt her heart begin to race even faster as Ace's family members, of which were scattered about the unfolding scene, began to gasp and coo hisses of silent notions, quiet calls of adoration in which now had Libby even more confused than prior.

"Alright, hold out your arms and hands," Ace instructed, Libby could practically hear him beaming ear to ear, and as she nervously held out her confused arms and hands, she awaited further instruction. Ace warmly came closer to her, and as he adjusted the adorable baby froster fox in his grip, he inched the velvety smooth, fuzzy little kit into Libby's curiously drawn out hands, "Open up..."

Libby uttered a nervous noise as the squirmy little fox was finally placed in her arms and lap, and as she opened her eyes, she gaped and peered down to the sweet little pup that lightly flopped into her arms. Libby cupped one hand over her mouth, meeped a high noise of surprise and honed her entire attention to the cute baby in her grasp, and as the pup fidgeted in her lap and got comfortable, Libby drew her eyes up to Ace and peered to him in hard, elated surprise.

"We found this little one without a momma," Ace chuckled as he knelt down next to Libby, who remained seated, and as Ace prod his gentle, warm finger to the back of the fox's massive ears, he gave his sweet eye contact to Libby, who still looked beyond floored, "I knew you'd be up for the task. She's all yours."

"Y-You got me a fox puppy," Libby's high-pitched voice of surprised, quiet delight glossed over the group and had everyone cooing and beaming ear to ear. Libby gasped, uttered a nasally giggle and grimaced through tears of joy that welled in her eyes, "Oh my User she's so cute... She's perfect!"

"Well great, now anything else that any of US give her is going to be a pile of crap!" Nox blurt, everyone exploded in knowing laughter as Ace shot him a wide smile.

"Nox, you didn't get presents for anyone!" Ace retort, everyone continued to jeer and laugh towards the three.

"You don't know that," Nox volleyed, though Koko lightly elbowed Nox's arm and cocked an eyebrow towards Ace.

"Who knows, maybe later, he'll give you a birthday smooch," Koko loudly whispered, as if to keep it secret from Nox, though it was obviously loud enough for the group to hear; Ace perked up and joined in on the fun as Nox looked beyond disgusted.

"Aww, that'd just make my day," Ace laughed, Nox waved his hand downward towards his best friend and muttered for him to shut up.

"You got me a puppy," Libby uttered through a small, happy cry, and as everyone brought their attention back to the two, Libby finally hooked her arm around Ace's neck and pulled him into a small hug, to which he more than happily obliged.

"Happy birthday, Kaji," Ace whispered quietly into the side of her face, just quiet enough for her to hear, and he was thrilled the rest of his family continued to loudly tease Nox and busy themselves with other fun notions. Libby raised her eyebrows in bashful surprise, and as one hand lovingly held the slightly shivering pup to her chest, her other arm was securely keeping Ace tight in their tender embrace; Ace continued, as quietly as he could, "You should give her a name."

"Oh, User, I don't know," Libby stated with an eager smile as the two slowly pulled apart, and as Libby brought the adorable little pup tighter into her motherly embrace, she began to wrinkle her finger to the bridge of the adorable fox's nose, "Well... What color will she be, once she's fully grown?"

"I'm assuming pink, or red," Ace urged as he peered about, though once he caught eyes with Vanellope, he raised his eyebrows in poised wondering and smiled, "Momma, you know more about these critters than I do."

"What you have, Libs, is a froster fox," Vanellope explained with a kind smile as she gently stepped closer to the two; she was draped in a colorful yellow and blue beach towel, having just been in the pool, "Females typically have a candy orange, pink or cream pelt. It really depends on the area in which they live, in Sugar Rush, but the designs and patterns each one has is like a finger print. No two foxes are the same. And no, she won't grow into her ears. They will always be massive."

"She's so... Adorable," Libby huffed as she wiped the few tears left from her cheeks, and as she cradled her new pet, she gratefully smiled up to Ace and Vanellope, "Thank you, guys..."

"Ohh, don't thank me," Vanellope rolled her eyes and dragged her line of sight to her first born daughter, "Like mother like son... Ace practically begged me to bring her in. Tessa was doing that ALL through her childhood."

"Yeah, you remember that dead bird she brought to the castle that one night?" Ralph urged in hard annoyance, everyone gawked and laughed in disgust.

"It wasn't DEAD!" Tessa argued, as if she had already argued this plight a billion times over again, "I wanted to nurse it back to health!"

"Ace was the same way, growing up," Zed muttered as he rubbed his face and gave his son a kind, knowing smile; Ace rolled his eyes and gestured to the fox in Libby's arms.

"Yeah, well, this time it was for good reason, okay?" Ace argued with a laugh that Libby easily fell into as well. Ace huffed a sigh, gave Libby an annoyed look and finally gave her an urgent smile, "Go on. Give her a name."

"Oh, I don't know," Libby sighed, "Well... I've raised lykatas my whole life, and it was a total rarity to see lykatas with a pelt that wasn't an earthy color... But one time, one of our females gave birth to a bright orange lykata. She had these gorgeous blue eyes, she was like a dream. No one had seen anything like it. And the father was a dark brown lykata, so we really had no clue what happened there."

"What was the orange lykata's name?" Ace asked in quiet, gentle wonder, he squinted, as if to know just where this was going.

"Chepi," Libby eased with a wide smile as she peered down to the baby fox in her arms, "Her name was Chepi... She was beautiful. I'll never forget her."

"Hmm... Methinks Chepi sounds like a good name for your very own little orange lykata," Ace chuckled as he gently lifted the small fox's paw and raised it, so not to hurt the small baby, "Name me Chepi! I'm Chepi, please?"

"Chepi it is," Libby giggled as she squeezed the baby closer to her, she gave Ace a look of floored, gentle enchantment and shook her head, "Thank you for thinking of me... You don't know what this means to me."

"I know you already had Balba, but... Now that Balba can talk, she's not so much a pet, any longer, huh," Ace chuckled and softly stood, "Trust me. I tried to pull that crap with Royal..."

"He nearly ate you alive," Tessa barked as a few stragglers of the group began to lightly surround Libby, to get a better view of Chepi.

"Speaking of which," Ace huffed a long sigh and looked out to the sky, past the shade of the patio, "We should probably bring them back home... I know going on a manslaughter spree is likely a lot of fun, but... I think they get the point."

"Let them chase those jerks allll the way into the sunset," Libby flagged her hand down and gave Ace a wistful smile, "I don't think anyone would complain."

* * *

 **A/N: I have a small Work In Progress piece I'm in the middle of, which includes my very first showing of Chepi as an adolescent. It's a rough sketch, but it's my most recent upload on Instagram - Username Vyntastic :)**


	86. Chapter 86

**Sorry for the blue balls - I have a very sensitive gaming mouse that likes to act up on me sometimes xD**

 **Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Oh! Yeah, your other review went through, it just went through as a guest review and will show up on the site in a few days. And, you're absolutely right! I used to be madly obsessed with ATLA, so a lot of those themes will creep their way into this fandom. Sharp eyes :) I was hoping someone would get the reference! I appreciate the compliments! Sorry I haven't yet gotten back to your email, I haven't had a moment to breathe since I just got back to working and such. The long weekend had be bushed LOL.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Aw, no worries. Thank you! :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! I'm really glad all the character building isn't irritating you guys, or anything xD

 **Snake557 :** Angry bake hahahaha. I'm sure it's possible. All of Tessa's cookies were eaten, so she made more to spite everyone xD

 **Retrokill :** I'm starting to believe you review simply to write random words that have nothing to do with anything LOL!

 **Wild Virus :** I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so anything salty, or like.. Mexican food? GONE. xD

* * *

 **A/N: I KNOW you guys are probably sick of this freaking DAY, in the story, but this is the last chapter with Ace's birthday party, so fear not - the story moves right along after this minor drama here xD**

 ***Chapter 86***

As the day went on, the air was finally filled with an abundance of release, of laughter and of concluding settlement from the chaos that had ensued earlier in the morning. Libby spent a good, long while sat quietly underneath one of the glorious, hot blue umbrellas, nursing Chepi and letting her sleep in her warm embrace. Though Ace would often stop and be still with her, alongside the quiet spots she had found, so to remain with Chepi, he was back and forth between social groups and made it a point to see and talk to everyone. Before too much time could pass, Ace noticed his mother and father standing in the obviously vacant part of the backyard, quietly speaking and scanning through the digital pad their noses were buried into.

Before Ace could convince himself that the finger food, at the bar, was more important, he lightly slowed his footwork on the caramel colored outdoor walkway, which surrounded the pool, and gave his obvious attention to his mother and father. A few painful moments of silence went by, he tried his ultimate hardest to show his mother and father that he was, indeed, staring them down with a curious smile, and the second Tessa gestured her hand back behind her, and glanced over her shoulder, her eyes caught with her son. In a draw of delightful, knowing fervor, Tessa rolled her eyes and tenderly waved Ace over; he eagerly pushed out onto the soft grass and began to feel extreme excitement set in, over the preparations of the reveal of his, Libby's and Nox's tower.

"Whatcha doooin'?" Ace prod in an annoying, sarcastically oblivious tone.

"We're doing our taxes," Zed volleyed with a lazy smile as he waved the digital pad about; Ace blurt into a hard laugh as Zed grappled the top of Ace's shoulder, in a loving way, "We're preparing your tower... Would you like us to reveal it now, or later?"

"Now," Ace beamed in excitement.

"Alright, go get Nox and Libby and everyone," Zed gestured out to the pool, in which everyone was messing around near, though he flinched as Ace hissed a silent, celebratory 'yes' and darted away. Zed waved his hand a little and called after Ace, "Don't forget to teleport Lickity, Royal and Balba back!"

"Crap, I forgot," Ace muttered with an annoyed smile as his mind immediately drew back to the eons of fun he was certain their three beasts were having.

Ace stopped his footwork, peered to the outside bar across the way and quickly assessed where he could likely get his hands on the coding of the game, without using the code room. He knew his father was busy with the digital pad he harbored, though he had to wonder if his grandmother was messing around with one; her and Taffyta looked greatly sheepish at the stretched, peach-cobbled patio bar. As he approached, he patiently waited to interject and eyed the digital pad in Vanellope's hands.

"Momma, can I please see that really quickly?" Ace prod softly, he tried his very hardest to quell his excitable demeanor, for the reveal of his tower.

Once Vanellope handed over the pad and continued to bicker with Taffyta, Ace quickly powered into the code room's controls, remotely, and brought up a map of Ekreth, the valley and the mountain ranges surrounding it. Ace furrowed his brow into the pad, zoomed into the patch of mountain where the Kalivar castle used to reside, and curiously scanned for the three beasts they had let off their leashes a few hours prior. Ace raised his eyebrows in collective surprise and was floored to see that the three creatures had very eagerly made their way nearly ten miles North, and looked as if they were still on a massive hunting spree. Ace curiously brought up their stats, and though the three looked as if they hadn't taken any damage, their output levels were off the charts, and Ace was sure they were feasting nicely. Before anymore time could pass, Ace finally grouped them as a whole and commanded the code room to teleport them straight into the backyard of their castle.

Ace largely flinched as the three suddenly came crashing into the field, which nearly scared the coding straight out of his mother and father, though once Lickity, Royal and Balba realized just where they were, they froze and peered about the group of gamers that were quickly becoming mere terrified of the sight before them. The three just barely relaxed their wings, their fangs, their claws and their entire demeanor, though it was apparent that this was much more than just a simple hunt. All three beasts looked near crazed, their pupils mere specks, and as Ace gawked and pressed closer to the strange sight, he quickly noticed the amount of blood that soaked their chests, feathers and patches of fur. Ace huffed a surprised breath and shook his head.

"God, and I was scared you'd likely come home hungry!" Ace chuckled, though he largely looked over his shoulder and wondered if Libby was potentially seeing this; much to his eagerness, she was now sat up straight on one of the beach chairs, the look on her face was of floored, near-delighted terror.

Ace covered his head, largely flinched and took a step back as Lickity suddenly bellowed a hard, loud, core-shaking belch, and with such, disgusting, slimy strings of blood draped from her razor sharp fangs. Lickity let out a hard laugh and began to eagerly lick her cheeks and mouth with her large black tongue. Balba huffed a hard breath, and as the three finally began to settle, it became clear just how in-the-zone they had become. They looked about themselves and were seemingly surprised with all the blood-shed, the pure, unadulterated manslaughter the three were infinitely treated to, until now.

"I can guarantee you three will never eat, ever again," Zed gawked as him and Tessa looked over the strange and terrifying sight, the smell of flesh and blood coat over the massive, terrific beasts that crowned the castle with pride.

"I'm so glad they just kept... Regenerating like that," Balba uttered with a wide, fang filled, wolf-like smile, her and Royal eagerly caught eyes, "Just one after the other... Man, that was a lot of fun."

"You said it," Royal's deep voice quietly urged, though he began to tend to his bloody scales and tufts of fur along his chest.

"Let me save you the trouble," Ace uttered nervously as he brought up their stats and began to thumb through a few options on the digital pad. Before they knew it, Ace quickly refreshed and reset their coding back to normal, and the awful stench of blood finally subsided. Just as they plopped back to the grid, the large group of gamers began to curiously surround the three beasts, as well as Ace, Tessa and Zed. Ace put his hands on his hips and gave his friends and family a wide, eager smile, "Welp. I'd say today was successful."

"Can say that again," Duke muttered as he ran his hand along his dark blue hair, it sprayed little specks of water in every direction.

"We've been out of the loop, for most of it," Jax laughed, which cued everyone else to jeer knowing notions towards Ace, "One second we're swimming, the next, oh Libby's about to tear the game apart? Cool. Oh, we added a puppy to the castle? I was under water. Oh, three blood-soaked beasts just came into the backyard? SWEET, watch my canonball."

"Story of our lives," Duke uttered as all the boys began to laugh, Duke nudged Jax's arm and beamed a wide smile, in which he finally gave to his young nephew, "What else is on the radar?"

"Well... Uh..." Ace became shy, he lightly glanced to his father and was beyond excited for this reveal; Zed straightened his posture and gestured to everyone, as if to state for them to gather around.

"I have a bit of an addition to the castle to reveal, as you all are aware," Zed stated loudly, so everyone could hear. Zed thumbed through the digital pad for a second and waited for Libby to finally join the group. She held Chepi tight into the nook of her arm as her new little fox pup slept the day away, though once Libby stood next to Ace, alongside Nox who had just finally strolled up, Zed cocked an eyebrow to the three and smiled, "Y'guys ready?"

"I have never been more ready, and it's not even my birthday," Nox muttered in a rushed, whiny tone which everyone cued to with contagious laughter.

Zed smiled, and as him and Tessa quickly took a few steps back and behind Ace, Nox and Libby, Zed finally cued for the tower to reveal upon the massive span of grass, in their backyard. With a few hard glitch lines of glorious, silver circuitry, the tower finally stretched into being; four stories high, a glorious display of intricate architecture Ace was certain likely took Zed and Tessa a long time to program. Everyone gawked loudly, and in a rush of surprise, they clapped in excitement for Libby's, Ace's and Nox's new abode. Ace beamed a wide smile and peered up to the very tip top of the tower; it was unlike anything he had been dreaming, he was certain it was a lot taller than he imagined, and with the glorious splay of cream cobble, alongside the pop of the blue and orange dome of a top, Ace finally felt whole excitement sink in.

"It's so pretty!" Libby cried in quiet excitement as she beamed an eager smile to Nox and Ace, who nodded in equal agreement and fervor.

"Oh, I can't wait to have my own room for once in my life," Nox stated through a rush of a hiss and a slump of his shoulders.

"It's awesome," Ace uttered as his eyes dragged about the intricate details, the porch lights, the overhangs that were crowned with jungle foliage, each front door was a different, bold color; Ace finally dragged his eyes to his mother and father in pure appreciation and wondered just how he could ever repay them.

"Alright, folks, listen up, cause everyone walks away from this party with a present," Zed stated as he finally materialized a medium-sized box underneath his arm; it was an opened cardboard box, though as Zed tenderly jostled it, the contents inside sounded fragile.

"Hot dog," Nox barked, everyone blurt in agreeing laughter.

"Everyone gets their own," Zed pulled a smaller, digital pad out of the cardboard box. It was palm sized, though the ones for Tessa, Oliver, Koko, Ace and Ralph were a little bit bigger, because of the size of their fingers. Zed began to politely hand out the smaller communicators, they were black and sleek with a large touch screen, and as everyone's eyes lit up, Zed meandered about the group and handed out the delicate pieces of technology, "These only work on castle grounds, but this is an easy way to keep the lines of communication open, to everyone."

"Now that these three have their own getaway, we'll never hear their voices ever again," Orph barked sarcastically; Ace rolled his eyes with a wide smile.

"Not true... Pretty sure they have a calling feature, right?" Ace grumbled as his father finally came around and gave Ace, Libby and Nox their digital pads last. Libby politely thanked Zed and peered down to it in eager delight.

"You can't access the code room from these things, so don't even try. This is strictly for communication," Zed stated as he finally placed himself in the nook of the tower's front door, which lead to the first floor common room. He peered up to it's glorious, stretching architecture and lovingly pat the side of the building, "Now that we're all scattered here and there, and the castle grounds are large, this is an easy way to get a hold of each other."

"Oh, I'm going to spam the shit out of you," Nox muttered to Ace with crazy eyes, though Ace nervously stabbed his eye contact to his father's.

"Dad, please tell me there's a block option," Ace grunted, Nox shoved his arm and both boys wobbled with hard laughter.

"No, you're not allowed to block any of us," Zed rolled his eyes and gave his son an annoyed smile, Ace slumped his shoulders and peered down to the beautiful, thin digital pad.

"Well, there IS an off button," Ace inquired, Libby giggled and covered her face.

"Last but not least, your keys," Zed stated as he cued for the cardboard box to vanish, via the digital pad in his hand, though he brought out an even smaller box and approached the three beings closest to him, "Happy birthday, Libby."

"Thank you," Libby eased in growing, quiet excitement as Zed tenderly handed her a golden key, which was for her room and her room only; there was also a bronze key for the common room.

"Happy birthday, Nox," Zed muttered sarcastically, which had everyone stifling laughter.

"You shouldn't have," Nox played, though he huffed a hard sigh and nearly had a hard time accepting the keys that Zed tenderly handed to him. Nox gave Zed a kind, nervous look of pure appreciation and softened his tone, "Thanks, man... I... I really don't know what I'd do without you guys."

"Welcome home, friend," Zed stated through a lovingly chuckle as he firmly gave Nox's upper arm a good squeeze and a finalized pat, to which Nox bashfully peered down to his keys after. Zed sighed and slowly moved to his son, with his pair of keys, "My son..."

"Dad," Ace uttered, as if he didn't want any form of a loving pep talk strictly because he was aware there'd be a certain few women in the group that might lose their composure, not to mention, himself.

"Your mother and I are so proud of you, son... You're a wonderful friend, and have grown into such a wonderful young man," Zed stated nervously, though the second his voice began to just barely crackle, all the men of the group loudly and obnoxiously began to coo at him for losing his composure first. Zed huffed a hard laugh, peered down to his feet, cleared his throat and jolted as Ace finally sunk his large hand to his dad's upper arm. Zed scoffed a small noise as both boys quickly grappled each other into a loving hug, and after a few moments, and a hard squeeze, the two finally pulled apart. Zed tenderly placed the pair of keys into Ace's hands, "You deserve it. The tower's all yours."

"Thank you, dad," Ace exhaled a faltering breath, though he quickly peered to where his mother was and laid his grateful gaze to her as well.

"Last, but not least," Zed stated loudly as he slowly began to push away from the three, though he pulled out a last pair of keys to the tower; everyone furrowed their brows and drew their beyond curious attention to Zed, as if to wonder just who was the lucky duck to get the last pair of the tower's keys, though once he finally stepped up to Koko, she cupped her hands over her mouth and giggled in surprise. He tenderly held out one of the bronze keys to her, it was the key to the common room, "Happy birthday, Koko... We all can only assume you'll be spending quite a bit of time at User Tower."

"Wow," Koko hissed through a soft giggle of surprise as Tessa softly joined her little sister and rubbed her lower back, "I-I don't know what to say!"

"Here, lemme text you something real quick," Ace muttered to Nox, though in a hard glance, he could nearly see Nox's cheeks bruised a hard, bashful red.

"No, shut up," Nox stabbed as Ace stifled a laugh, though Nox flinched once his new little digital pad vibrated once. Nox furrowed his brow, peered down at the screen and felt his heart stop; 'I give it two weeks before you give her a spare key to your room', it read. Nox shoved Ace, "Kiss my ass."

"You wish," Ace and Nox geeked out quietly and stifled hard laughter.

* * *

As soon as the sun began to set, it was easy for everyone to fall back into a usual, end of the day rhythm, and once everyone had helped clean up, the backyard fell silent, clean and still. The new tower was lit up, as gorgeous as ever, a tall beast that hovered just above the stretch of the four glass domes of the main sky room, and the three bedrooms that branched off of it. The common room was gloriously lit, and the smell of delicious sweets soaked the air. The room, alongside the three bedrooms above the common room, was a massive round space. Slated with birch flooring, cozy white furniture, a kitchenette and a dining area for the three residents, as well as anyone else who decided to come visit. With large windows, and a gaping back sitting area, which wasn't seen from the main back patio of the castle, the three had it made in the shade.

Ace tended to a few things in the kitchen. His mother and grandmother both helped with a few baking tasks, though Ace felt his heart continue to thud in growing apprehension. He was thrilled to finally have this tower, alongside the ability to protect and defend Libby, as well as the rest of his clan, no matter what, though he heaved a soft sigh through the simple fact that potentially seeing Hilotem ever again would likely throw his anger over the edge. He knew today was a massive test of his strength, as well as his will power to reserve said strength. He wondered just what was going on through Libby's mind, though he figured Balba would likely be the lucky one to get an earful of it, tonight.

"Ace," Tessa snapped lovingly, as if she had lightly been calling him; she hovered near him with a package of graham crackers she began to unwrap, she hurriedly put them down and grappled for Ace's arms, "ACE."

"What? Oh!" Ace stammered as he took a nervous step back, faltered and finally snapped back into focus. He had been spooning creamy, gooey milk chocolate over the dozens of plump marshmallows they were prepared to roast, though he had lost focus and had begun to accidentally begin spilling it on the counter, "I-I'm... I'm sorry, mom."

"Where's your head, bub?" Tessa quietly giggled, helped him set the large bowl aside and grappled for a few paper towels, "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just exhausted," Ace mumbled nervously, "Today's been so taxing on my coding..."

"I'm sure... Even after a code refresh, a whole, good-nights reset is what will help," Tessa cooed as the two finally cleaned up the small mess, she cocked an eyebrow and gave Ace a gentle, teasing glance, "Put your new communicator on silent, or something."

"Only so Nox doesn't blow it up, forget anyone else," Ace muttered with a cheeky smile, though Tessa choked a laugh.

"He's a good kid," Tessa stated through a sigh, though as Libby quietly approached the warmly lit kitchenette, she tilted her head and lightly joined the conversation.

"He's very nervous," Libby eased quietly, she peered over her right shoulder for Nox's whereabouts; through the massive, glorious french doors, and peering out to the tower's small back patio and fire pit, Nox and Koko sat near each other, and though it was clear Koko was calm and collected, Nox looked nervous and uptight. Libby tucked her hair behind her ear with her free hand and cradled baby Chepi in her other arm, "I think we should try and make things more comfortable, for them."

"Leave them alone?" Ace choked, he shot Tessa a lively smile and cocked an eyebrow, though Tessa slumped her shoulders and retort with a dull look.

"Be collective, as a group, y'dummy," Tessa grumbled, Libby giggled and nodded in Ace's direction, as if to wonder just where his head was.

"It would be funny to watch them squirm," Vanellope stated through a defeated sigh as she finally pushed closer and gave Ace a platter of delicious chocolate bars, all sprinkled with Sugar Rush goodness.

"Oh no, y'worried about a Sugar Rush sweetie falling in love with a TurboTime baddy?" Tessa playfully sneered, she collected the graham crackers she was tending to and huffed a few strands of hair out of her face, "At least no one's falling for Turbo, or anything."

"Yeah, I don't want to think about it, Let's... Let's just save that for the fourth inning, yeah?" Vanellope muttered in annoyance, and once her and Tessa began to help Ace and Libby to the back door, with their delicious supplies, she beamed Libby a kind smile and glanced over Chepi, "Y'gunna have Balba help in raising Chepi, there?"

"Oh, Balba is over the MOON," Libby stressed with a kind smile as she peered down to the adorable froster fox pup, whom of which was fast asleep, "I'm sure I'll have Balba attempting to cuddle with us, tonight."

"No need for blankets, they're both bound to be furnaces," Tessa agreed as everyone casually pushed outside, and once they neared Nox and Koko, Nox looked beyond relieved, strictly for the fact that he lacked any confidence in just what to do around a girl he fancied.

"Alright guys, have fun," Vanellope chimed, and once her and Tessa situated the group, they kindly showed themselves out and shut the doors to the common room.

"You'd think, growing up in Sugar Rush, this kind of stuff would make me sick and I'd be extremely tired of it," Koko muttered as she began to prepare herself a stick for roasting marshmallows. The fire, in the fire pit directly in the center of their massive sitting area, roared and kept their little abode warm in the cool, nighttime jungle breeze, "For the year we were trapped in StoneCrest, there was literally nothing but green twizzler trees to eat... And the occasional chocolate stone."

"Yeah, it's definitely unfortunate you guys were hulled away in StoneCrest... That city has the least amount of candy environments, from what mom has said," Ace chuckled as he first made sure Libby and Chepi were comfortable, before situating himself. He prepped a skewer and marshmallow for Libby because of the lack of the use of her left arm. As she quietly thanked him, he plopped down across from her and, one by one, each of the four gamers hung their marshmallows over the crackling fire, "My mom grew up in the castle, from what she's recently told me... Surrounded by the sweetest gum drops, the minty, evergreen forest..."

"I've heard so many stories, as well," Koko shook her head and sighed with a bittersweet smile, her honey-brown eyes dazed to the fire, "I really hope we get it all back, one day... I'm sure it was just a dream to live in..."

"One day," Ace assured with a nod as he smiled to his aunt, and once she finally smiled back, he huffed a long sigh, brought the toasted marshmallow back to himself, blew out the flame and gently squeezed it between two graham crackers slathered in delicious milk chocolate, "We should tell ghost stories."

"Oh, for User's sake, please don't tell any about Turbo," Nox muttered as he slumped his face into his hand, his elbow was planted into his knee as he hunched closer to the fire; everyone blurt in kind laughter, though he beamed a curious smile and peered about, "I can't tell you how many ghost stories I've eavesdropped in on, all sorts of airheads gathered around bon fires on the beaches of EZ Living... 'And then, Turbo came out of the WALLS! His eyes were glowing! He took over the game! WE ALL DIED!'... What bullshit."

"Sheesh," Ace hissed as he squinted his eyes and peered to his friend with a nervous smile, "People really hate this guy, don't they."

"I've heard some awful things about him," Koko shrugged as she peered to Libby in gentle curiosity, "I guess he tried to take over Sugar Rush once, but then failed... Or something? What about you, Libby, have you heard of him until now?"

"Nope, not once," Libby chuckled as she brought the marshmallow to herself and let it cool off, "I only first heard about Turbo through Ace, Ma and Zeddy. I know a pretty good ghost story, though, if you guys are interested."

"Yay, I love a good scare," Koko beamed ear to ear, she sat cross-legged on the comfortable, outdoor furniture; each gamer was dressed in comfortably sweats and lazy shirts, as if their next stop, after their celebratory bonfire, was their bedrooms.

"Great, right smack dab in the middle of darkness," Nox mumbled nervously, he peered his glowing, golden stare firmly over his shoulder and across the back end of the dark backyard, on towards Lickity's enclosure and Throttle's tower.

"Alright, Libby, give us what-for," Ace got comfortable, and once everyone gave Libby their full attention, only the sound of the crackling fire before them could be heard, as well as the faint calls of nocturnal wildlife.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful castle, and in said castle lived three princesses. They were lively, gorgeous women who had just enjoyed a night of trick-or-treating, a Halloween bash held for the occasion as well," Libby started darkly, her eyes glossed the fire before she squinted and gave her eye contact to each individual honed to her presence. She quietly and eerily continued, "On that night, the second sister heard crying coming from the code room... She thought maybe her oldest sister was in trouble, though the second she came out to the Great Hall, all the lights in the building were flickering, as if they were potentially in a storm, though the night was still and clear..."

Koko furrowed her brow lightly, glared down the fire in hard contemplation and felt goosebumps riddle her skin. She curiously peered to Libby, and so badly wanted to politely interject, though she held her tongue and remained silently curious.

"The second sister urgently scrambled about as the cries and wails became louder and louder, though she discovered that it wasn't her oldest sister at all. It was coming from deep in their code room, the dark corridor's lights flickered in a haunting draw," Libby's tone held a scary amount of foreign darkness, something her accent greatly helped aid in the creepy factor, as if she was simply a shaman preparing a curse, "The second sister pushed into the code room only to find the electric wires of the code boxes, drooped to the ground... Like nooses, waiting to be used."

"I-I don't like this, I don't like this," Nox silently whimpered as he dared to scoot closer to Koko; she flashed him a bashful smile and welcomed him, though she furrowed her brow and peered back to Libby in growing curiosity as she continued on.

"Out of the flickering of the dead code boxes, the light that illuminated the ghostly figure in the dead center of their universe, the one creature that had control over the entirety of their game," Libby rushed in a hiss of eerie build up, though just as she was about to conclude her story, Koko dared to finally interject.

"The code room banshee," Koko stated, though not as if to seem scared or prod for Libby's story further. Libby furrowed her brow in hard confusion, sat up out of her lightly hunched, story telling demeanor, her electric blue eyes drew to Koko in hard, innocent surprise, though Koko squinted and side-eyed Libby, "That's... That's Sugar Rush lore... How do you know the tale of the code room banshee?"

"... Sugar Rush?" Libby mumbled nervously, her eyes remained glued to Koko's in a draw of mysterious need, "I-I had no idea... I had a vivid imagination, as a child. I made up the story to scare my friends, back at the tribe. We'd tell stories like this, all the time."

Ace cocked an eyebrow and dragged his eye contact straight to Koko's, and he was surprised to see her do the same for him. Nox nervous peered over his shoulder, for the thousandth time and anxiously continued to munch on his s'mores bar. Ace finally gave Libby his concerned stare and beamed her a curious smile.

"I-I guess it's just maybe a common topic, then?" Ace wondered quietly, and though the four fell back into a rhythm of telling spooky stories, Ace could tell Koko was shaken a bit, simply over the fact that Libby was now someone Koko could no longer fit inside her box.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, I just uploaded a finalized picture of Ace and Libby, from when Libby receives her tattoos! It also features Chepi, so be sure to go check it out. Titled One Love on my deviantART - Username Vyntresser :)**


	87. Chapter 87

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hahaha I know, this day went on forever huh xD It's over now, and the story should progress normally from here, until further notice I guess xD Very sharp eyes and good/cool theories! Tho, I'm not going to agree or disagree with anything you're saying because I have a tendency to give away WAY too much, and I want some of this story to still be a surprise haha. As for your question, I really didn't notice I was going in and out of styles, I think it just depends on like... The mood I'm in. Also, I'm sorry I haven't responded to your email! But I hope the tutorial I uploaded at least somewhat helped with your question. I don't work in anything but Photoshop, so I really don't know how layering would work in any other art program :( Sorry about that!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Wait xD Did I ever state that loud music might be an issue, in the tower? Haha I can see Nox being a douche bag about it and Ace and LIbby very quickly being like STFU. lol! Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Libby is my mystery child, right now. I'm trying to keep her as shadowy as I possibly can xD Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yes, I like to sneak little blips of spoilers here and there, and I'm glad you guys catch them ;) Also, Koko was given a spare key to the common room, not her own bedroom. Koko still has a room in the main Kalivar castle, as the map on my deviantART shows. THe only people that LIVE in the tower are Ace, Nox and Libby (as well as Balba, Chepi and Royal on occasion) :) Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** haha thank you! I really badly want to draw that scene, though I feel as if people would flip out and not enjoy it too much... But cmon, that's an image that's hard to resist! xD Libby is to remain my mystery child until further notice, so I'm trying not to spoil really anything about her too much, cause you guys will know in time. Thank you!

 **chris . low2456 :** Thank you! I'm actually surprised you say that, I figured most of my readers don't want all the sex scenes. Whenever I'd upload one, people get all kinds of weird and note me telling me it's nearly too much and it makes them uncomfortable and I'm like ... I thought that was what Fanfiction like LIVES for? xD I get so many mixed signals, on the subject matter. It's odd haha.

 **WildVirus :** omg xD The Code Room Banshee is a ghost story Vanellope told in chapter 130 of Wrecking Limits ... A lot ties back to WL, a lot more than I think most of you realize ;)

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys, sorry for this smaller fillerish chapter. This story is fascinating in the fact that the peaks and lulls for adventure and romance is a lot more drastic than Wrecking Limits, or Defying Code, so sometimes I get like... whiplash and have to think about my place in the universe and just WHERE I'll take the story from here. So just bear with me xD I MIGHT need a day or two to like, play catch up or something. If that happens, I'll let you guys know of the mini break, so to get my bearings, but I'm not sure right now. For now, just stay tuned I guess xD Thanks guys!**

 ***Chapter 87***

 _1:45am_

 _Keeks : It's just weird to me. How in Arcade would she, of all people, know Sugar Rush's dark folklore like that?_

 _Keeks : It can't be nmeal_

 _Keeks : *normal_

 _Keeks : You haven't told her any of Sugar Rush's tales have you?_

 _Keeks : Of course, how would you know them? You only just recently discovered you're one of Sugar Rush's Princes._

 _2:12am_

 _Keeks : I hope none of these woke you up, or anything._

Ace squinted into his communicator in a hard, near delirious grimace. He huffed an annoyed grunt, rolled over onto his back and lightly squinted. The mid-morning sunshine flood his glorious new bedroom, everything was near flawless. He heaved a long sigh, shut his tired eyes once more and fell into a calm state of peace. His massive, round room, which was identical to Nox's and Libby's, was crowned with a large canopy bed, birch flooring, a cozy sitting area and a small kitchenette, just for him. A small bathroom hung near the edge of the kitchenette, which also housed a single shower and a decent view of the jungle scenery out beyond the bounds of Kalivar castle. Ace smiled an annoyed smile up to his ceiling, as well as the four posts of his canopy bed. He rolled over, his bare body snuggled further into his downs and white sheets. He finally rubbed his eye and peered into his and Koko's late-night conversation with a bit more clarity.

 _11:32am_

 _User : Sorry Aunt Koko. I was exhausted and passed out. I hope you're feeling better about last night? I'd say we had a lot of fun. Don't let a strange coincidence bother you so much, yknow?_

Ace finally huffed a long, drawn out sigh, drew his covers, stood and loudly uttered a calm groan to his bedroom. The bright, Dead Zed sun coat his room in a glorious display of warmth, a certain, palpable love the core of his existence set over everything, and it was in this moment of the draw of the stretch did he finally feel fully refresh and wholly at one with everything. He grumbled a hard breath, slumped his arms to his sides and put on a lazy pair of shorts. He scratched his bare chest, stepped to his fridge and began to pour himself a fresh glass of ice water. As he took a few large gulps, his communicator softly buzzed on his nightstand a few times. Ace eyed it and knew exactly who it was. With a slow saunter back to it, he thumbed through the lock screen and peered down at his and his aunt Koko's conversation.

 _11:35am_

 _Keeks : That's okay... I'm probably overreacting. Tessa's thinking about making lunch soon, you should come to the main building and hang out. I guess planning for scouting Sugar Rush is going to happen tonight. A big meeting with the top dogs, here._

 _User : I knew our fun had to end eventually_

 _Keeks : Don't be a sourpatch kid :P_

Ace pushed a lazy smile to his cheeks, locked his communicator and slipped it into his pocket. He took a few more long gulps of his ice water and began to wonder just where Libby and Nox were, and although he knew he could just text them, he decided to check the common room first and foremost. As he stepped outside sans a shirt, he was greet by a higher up breeze to his skin, which prickled his dark blue hairs in goosebumps. Ace inhaled a reviving breath and began to slowly saunter down the swooping staircase that hugged and spiraled the entirety of his tower. On the way down, he passed Nox's front door; the place looked hulled away, locked tight and as dark as a cave. He figured Nox was still enjoying his very first slumber in his own bedroom, for once in the near thirty years he's been without a proper home.

* * *

Balba uttered a small bark, she was laid comfortably on the massive sprawl of birch flooring, and as Libby rummaged about the common room's kitchenette, Balba flattened her ears and assessed the small, baby fox out before her. Tiny paws that bumbled and so desperately attempted to gain footing, Chepi huffed a high pitched squeak. Balba perked her ears and softly mocked Chepi, a form of communication Balba knew Chepi needed to learn, and though Balba was now leaps and bounds ahead of Chepi, she still attempted to remain on her level.

"Would be cool if Chepi could eventually talk," Balba muttered softly, though she finally lifted her head from Chepi's line of sight and eyed Libby across the way, "You doing okay?"

Balba's wet snout wrinkled a few times in a huff of a warm sniffle into Chepi's little, fuzzy brown face. Chepi whined a small noise, flopped to her rear and tried her hardest to perk her massive ears in the direction of the much larger creature before her. Balba uttered a small giggle, and in a gentle scoop, she picked Chepi up by the scruff of the back of her neck and gently settled the kit into the warm nooks of her massive paws, they were curled underneath herself slightly and now housed a very cuddly, sleepy Chepi. Balba made sure she was situated before she dragged her turquoise eyes to her sister.

Libby stood at the kitchenette in still, minor, hidden sorrow. Balba's ears gently sagged, and as she assessed Libby and her demeanor, her spirit grew quieter, sadder. Libby wore a comfortable pair of off-white sweats and a brown tank, in which had faded, colorful markings all along the bottom; a modern take on the tribe she hailed from. Balba flattened her ears to her skull a little, adjusted for Chepi's liking and just briefly dragged her gently eyes beyond Libby and down to what Libby was silently holding. In Libby's hands was a glass of water, half drunken. The condensation on the glass fogged and lightly held small droplets near the bottom of the cup, and though Libby looked as if she could potentially just be sleepy, her eyes peered into the glass aimlessly as her finger absent mindedly swooped the rim of the fragile glass.

"Talk to me," Balba eased quietly as she cocked her head in curiosity, "Talk to me, like you always used to..."

"Hmm? Oh, I'm... I'm fine, B," Libby's tired voice glossed over the beast of a lykata across the stretch of sun-speckled birch flooring.

"Kaji," Balba mumbled with a dull stare that Libby finally acquired; Libby heaved a hard sigh and peered out the massive window, it had a view of the pool as well as Taffyta's patio far across the way.

"I'm just exhausted... Yesterday really took it out of me," Libby urged quietly, though Balba's eyes glossed the floor in curiosity and contemplation.

"You mean... The party?" Balba prod, as if she didn't want to just suddenly dive head first into this sticky topic.

"Well, yeah, and everything else," Libby stated sorrowfully, she shook her head and lightly let her eyes lull closed, "I can't believe I stole his coding..."

"Ace?" Balba wondered lightly, and though the three were alone, behind the closed doors of the quiet common room, she knew to keep this conversation quiet, just in case they were joined by either Ace, Nox or Koko.

"I... I hardly even had control over my thoughts," Libby shook her head and lightly stabbed her brilliant blue eyes into Balba's, "You would not believe how incredibly angry Ace's thoughts were... I've never felt him so angry, through coding, before... Let alone, in general."

"Well... Imagine how all of us feel. Those of us that love you are livid over what happened," Balba chuffed, as if she was simply stating the obvious, "I definitely got my revenge, tenfold, for you and I combined... Oh, it was so nice to see him writhe in pain like that..."

"Hilotem?" Libby wondered nervously, she knew Balba was a creature of strength, speed and agility, though with hers and Royal's code swap, she was delighted to see a touch of unmatched bravery, a sense of pride given to her, as if Royal's sweet and bumbly coding upped her stamina, her fervor to protect and defend a pack of family, much like a brood of dragons.

"I believe, at a few points in the blood bath, I had his skull in my jaws," Balba grinned in mean delight, "Without Royal's strength given to me, chomping down, through bone, would've been impossible. It was weird, reaching a level of such strength."

"At least you didn't STEAL Royal's coding," Libby uttered in pure guilt as she tiredly covered and rubbed her face in gentle agitation; Balba huffed a mildly annoyed sigh.

"You didn't flat out steal Ace's coding... You clearly gave it back," Balba chuckled, Libby urgently looked up.

"No, I didn't," Libby huffed, "He had to steal it BACK from me..."

"Oh," Balba quipped in gentle nervousness, her eyes sagged to the flooring as her demeanor sunk with it, though she quietly perked up, once more, "Well... It's not like you genuinely meant to freak him out like that. You got your revenge on Hilotem... I'm sure Ace doesn't hold it over you."

"That's the last time he'll ever trust me with his coding..." Libby whined as tears gathered in her eyes, she inhaled a shaky breath and peered across the common room, to the beautiful, green front door, "I, of all people, should've understood... He'd never do something like that to me..."

"There's a big difference here, Libs," Balba quietly urged as she stood, though she kept her right paw and arm firmly tucked to her chest and kept Chepi unmoved from her cozy position, "Hilotem raped you... He attempted to steal your interior coding through non-consensual sex. What you did to Ace seemed as if you were riding on instinct. You wouldn't, in your right mind, try and steal HIS interior coding, with no consent from him, now would you?"

"Not at all," Libby complained as she wiped her cheek and bashfully looked down in defeat.

"Y'see? Surely he understands," Balba cooed quietly, and with the wrist and thumb of her wing, she tucked her velvety feathers underneath Libby's chin and brought her to look Balba in the eyes, "My sister... Don't beat yourself up over this. Ace is a good kid, and I know he'd go to the edge of Arcade for your love... You should really give him a chance."

"Oh, Balba, I... I think now is just not the right time," Libby huffed sheepishly as she crossed her arms and began to look delightfully nervous, "Especially after yesterday, I... I'm sure he'd like to keep his coding as far away from me as possible."

"Who said anything about coding?" Balba wrinkled her snout and giggled, "Just kiss 'im or something! Poor guy has eyes for you, and only you... I know he cares about you."

"I care about him, too," Libby shrugged softly and bashfully glanced into Balba's eager eyes.

"... I know he loves you," Balba prod tenderly, though Libby's eyes bulged a little.

"D-Did he tell you that?" Libby gawked, her face turned pink; Balba huffed an excited laugh and peeked her large ears atop her furry, green head.

"No! But every single person, on castle grounds, would tell you the same thing!" Balba giggled, though Libby rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Come on... I love him too, it's not a big deal," Libby muttered, though Balba cocked an eyebrow.

"No he, like... LOVES you," Balba teased, she nudged Libby's arm, "Not this 'nonchalant' brother-sister love you just spouted. Open your eyes!"

"To WHAT, Balba, nothing... Nothing is going to come of it," Libby huffed sorrowfully, Balba flattened her ears.

"Whynot?" Balba nervously pleaded.

"Because... It's just not the right time," Libby urged gently, "We... We promised to get to know each other more, and that's that. Who knows what will come of that. Maybe he'll get to know me more and realize he doesn't actually like me in that way. Things change."

"Hmm... I guess I see your point, but... it's ACE," Balba hissed as she shook her head and lightly tucked Chepi deeper into her chest, "Y'guys are best friends, you know he'd do anything and everything to protect you and... Make you feel safe and loved."

"I know, B," Libby stated through a tired sigh as she set her glass down and looked down to her feet, "Maybe one day... I'm sure yesterday surprised him into next year. Enough to play keep away with any idea of coding, interior or not."

"You'd be surprised," Balba muttered, "He's a guy. A HUMAN guy, no less. Will you promise you'll at least be open to it? I struggled with the same thing, with Royal."

"You did?" Libby furrowed her brow in hard confusion.

"Of course... Royal is a totally different species than me, how bizarre is that?" Balba shook her head, "I... I genuinely didn't know what to expect. I knew absolutely NOTHING about the mating habits of a dragon, for crying out loud. What if it involved fire-breathing?! Do you SEE all my fur? I'd be done for!"

"Well, you survived!" Libby finally giggled and pushed forth a genuine smile, to which Balba felt successful over.

"Yeah, it wasn't much different than anything I was expecting... O-only differences was uh... Well the changing skin color, that was a trip," Balba stated dreamily, Libby eyed her curiously.

"His scales gave you a good show?" Libby prod with a smile, Balba began to look delightfully sheepish.

"For User's sake, that wasn't the only thing," Balba muttered cheekily, Libby quietly laughed and nudged Balba's snout.

As the two quietly joked, the large door to the common room lightly swung open and let in the cool, late morning breeze. Ace slowly stepped in, and as he peered about the dreamy scene, he felt a sense of relief fall over him as he spot Libby and Balba hanging in the nook of the kitchenette. Ace smiled, left the door ajar and began to approach the two as they bantered and bickered, and once he was within sight of the two, he felt his heart jump in mild confusion. Libby's smile just barely dropped, though it was more to a surprised, bashful pucker, as if she was elated to see him, though was trying to desperately prove that she was too cool for school. Ace nervously rubbed his lower arm, grappled his skin a bit and tried his hardest not to feel awkward as both girls dragged their gazes to him in kind, curious acknowledgement.

"Good morning," Ace stated warmly, he was thrilled to see that Libby likely had no perserverance in keeping face around him, "Did you guys sleep well? This tower is awesome, yeah?"

"I slept amazing," Libby huffed through a long sigh and a smile, though Ace lightly eyed her and could just tell there was a minor underlying issue she was trying so desperately to stuff, "I left my window open, and bundled in the downs... It was so nice."

"If I wasn't sleeping next to you, that window would've been closed," Balba huffed, Libby smirked in annoyance and began to gently tidy her hair, as if to wonder if it potentially looked okay.

"It was a bit chilly, last night," Ace nodded once and peered about the room softly, "I... I got a message from Aunt Koko a bit ago, I guess mom's gunna be making lunch soon. Wanna head over to the main castle with me?"

"Sure," Libby stated warmly as she looked as if she could potentially be ready to head over there now, though she jolted and remembered she was in her pajamas.

"I guess... Aunt Koko also told me that, after game day, we will be discussing scouts into Sugar Rush," Ace lightly worried, though with this, Libby's and Balba's demeanor sunk with the onset of growing apprehension.

"Oh, really? Just... Simple, day-long scouts, right?" Libby worried as she dart her attention to Balba and back to Ace. She crossed her arms and began to look a bit more agitated, "I hope just... Not over-night stays, right?"

"Who knows, we'd be able to cover more ground if we stayed a night or two, whatever that entails," Ace pressed, though he wrinkled his nose and lightly eyed Libby, "Is... Everything okay?"

"I'm... Fine, I just get nervous, are you going to be going on these scouts, then?" Libby wondered, and though she tried to make her inquiry light and airy, Ace could tell she was near-panicking.

"I sort of have to," Ace huffed in a chuckle, he scratched his bare chest and was beginning to feel slightly self-conscious of the minor pudge on his center. He immediately, and inwardly, scold himself for not throwing on a shirt before he came down. He attempted to breeze past his thoughts and lightly pushed closer to the fridge, just behind Libby, "I have to get everyone in and out of the game, and such."

"You could just... Let the scout into Sugar Rush, come back home, and then let them back out once they return, right?" Libby prod farther, though Ace finally wrinkled his nose and beamed her a curious smile as he pulled out a pitcher of juice from the fridge.

"... Are you worried about me going into Sugar Rush, Libs?" Ace stated with a curious, delighted chuckle, though Libby rolled her eyes and gestured her hand around.

"N-No, that's-"

"YouLoveHim!" Balba suddenly barked through a cough that was very well hidden in her scoff of an outburst, she rolled her eyes, smiled and marched towards the common room's front door; Ace furrowed his eyebrows and let his curious stare chase after Balba, who lightly hobbled away due to still holding baby Chepi.

"...Y'okay there, Balba?" Ace laughed quietly, though Balba lazily looked over her shoulder and continued walking.

"Ohh I'm just fine!" Balba called in a girly tone as she flicked her long, flat, feathery tail, though Ace drew his curious stare back to Libby and was surprised to see her fidgeting with something on the counter, as if to busy herself; her face was beet red.

Ace furrowed his brow and assessed her, and as Balba slowly moseyed out of the common room and out into the warm sunshine, she was eventually greet by Royal. Ace was somehow relieved the two were totally alone, for once in the past few days. Ace gave her a loving smile and watched as she lightly fluffed the vase of jungle flowers near the gaping, open window. She bit her bottom lip in dire urgency and tried her hardest not to seem too guilty of something, though Ace cocked an eyebrow and knew he could see right through her. As tenderly as he could, he set the pitcher of juice down, for the time being, and slowly approached her.

"Libby," Ace urged warmly, and as Libby pretended to nonchalantly glance in his direction, he heaved a gentle sigh and warmly took her lower arm in his larger hand, "Libby..."

"Hmm?" Libby prod softly, though once she was brought into his focus, and she fell out of her nervous antics, the world finally fell together.

Ace furrowed his brow and peered about her beautiful face. She looked refreshed, an abundance of little freckles splayed her nose and cheeks, and though she had a bit of a tan from the day prior, her skin still gave off that glow of a pale shimmer. Her nervous blue eyes dart about Ace's broad chest and shoulders, he was bulky and out of shape, and though he knew she wasn't one to judge or anything, he felt nervous, as if he should likely do something about it and quick. He brought his mind back to the aura Libby was giving off and lightly smiled.

"What is it? You seem nervous," Ace eased quietly, "Why don't you come on the scouts with us? I'd love to show you Sugar Rush."

"Me?" Libby urged nervously, "You want... Me to go with?"

"Of course I do, that'd be so fun," Ace gawked with a small laugh as he shook his head, "Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, I just... I just assumed you guys would dive in head first and I'd be left here to worry if..." Libby trailed off nervously, looked down and shook her head, "If you guys would ever return..."

Ace grimaced and squinted a little, as if her words were painful to listen to, though he understood her plight; he knew this was definitely a risky task, going as far into Sugar Rush as they could, looking every which way for Sugar Rush's precious castle and code room. He softly peered into her face and, before too much time could pass, he lovingly held her lower arms in his hands and made sure to make it so she could move away at any time. He shook his head a little and felt sorrow sweep over him, though with this gloss of sadness, he was also greatly met with excitement.

"Don't look at it that way," Ace stated warmly, he finally gave Libby an assuring smile, "Why don't you come with. It'll be like a road trip, or something. It'll be great! And we can all be treated to Sugar Rush's yummy land. Literally everything is edible."

"That does sound fun," Libby droned as a smile finally peaked the corner of her lips, though she still held onto apprehension.

"I guess we'll just have to see what my dad and Paw have to say about when each scout will take place, and who is all going," Ace sighed as he gently let go of Libby's arms and busied himself with the pitcher of juice, once more.

"Well, no one with a game day will be able to join," Libby stated through a long sigh and a shake of her head.

"I'm sure Paw will work some of the Arcade's holiday breaks in there, somewhere," Ace eased with a knowing smile, "He won't want to miss out on the action, I know that much."


	88. Chapter 88

**Reviews :**

 **ArchitectDreams :** LOL well wish granted! xD This chapter gets a bit heated, that's for sure! And, omg I'm sorry haha. I was hoping everyone would understand just what was happening with those IMs haha

 **Retrokill :** Yeah, it all explodes in this chapter, so that helps xD

 **WildVirus :** That's okay! It's a lot to keep tabs on, even for me haha. omg Balba is BAE. She's very sassy, though not in Lickity's sarcastic kind of way - more like girly sass, that comes across as innocent but is sort of teasing and stabbing lol. She's a fun character, I'm excited to explore her character further :) Thank you so much! and YES Libby does need to fess up xD Don't worry, in due time!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** haha thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thanks for understanding! And, no worries about the miscommunication. As I said, it's definitely a lot to keep tabs on, so I get it :P Yeah, Ace definitely has mixed feelings over everything, which is clear in this chapter. Thank you so much!

 **Snake557 :** You guys will find out! I really badly want to say something, but it will spoil quite a bit so... I'll just bite my tongue like usual! Dx

 **Xaehttium :** Yes, that was foreshadowing :D Good eyes! It's a bumbling experience for both of them, this whole entire situation drawn out, but they eventually find common ground, if you catch my drift xD Yeah, for now, Ace is a bit of a pudgy figure, but Nox and Vanellope eventually whip him into shape.

 **Cheeto :** Aw, that's ok! Long time no see! :D YES I'm very very VERY excited for the new couples of the group! I thought it'd be hard to juggle all these couples, but it's actually quite fun and gives a cool dynamic between everyone, so it's been interesting! xD Yes, the way Orph handles whatever is to come, is a BIT rocky, but hilarious! Thank you SO much!

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Follow by Bro Safari**

 **Home We'll Go (Take My Hand) by Steve Aoki and Walk Off The Earth**

 ***Chapter 88***

"Alright team, gather 'round, I know this is exactly what you want to be doing right now, huh," Ralph mumbled loudly, and as the setting sun just barely joined the massive group collected in the main Sky Room, Zed cued the lights that lined the structure, lulled his digital pad in his hands and approached the leads that had gathered at the head of the group of bumbling, lazy individuals. Ralph huffed a hard breath, rubbed his hands together and lightly peered about to everyone, "Everyone here?"

"We're missing a certain blue-haired wrecker," Tessa muttered, she stood with her mother, father and Aunt Taffyta, and as Zed slowly moseyed to stand with the heads of Sugar Rush, he furrowed his brow and eyed Tessa as she pulled her communicator out of her pocket. Her eyes softly dart about to the group out before her, strewn about the massive, swooping couch. Every single body, every gamer was present, even Calhoun and Felix. With dewy eyes, Emery, Koko, Penny, Tammy, Oliver, Nox, Throttle and all five of Zed's brothers, eagerly awaited instruction, though the second everyone began to curious look about, they finally dragged their eyes to Libby as Tessa continued on in an impatient huff, "Libs, you seen Ace anywhere?"

"I last saw him after lunch, he said he was going to take a nap... I guess, yesterday really took it out of him," Libby prod nervously as she cupped her hands to her chest and began to grow lightly shy, as everyone's eyes honed to her, though she felt relief sweep over her as everyone finally gave Tessa their attention.

"I'll message him," Tessa assured as she pulled up his tab on her communicator.

 _8:37pm_

 _QueenB : Hey bud, group huddle, Sky Room. Where are you?_

Tessa nervously tapped her fingers against the sleek matte black finish if the device in her hands, and as Ralph and Zed began to lightly chat about the large topic at hand, everyone in the Sky Room fell into different lulls of conversation, a quiet murmur Tessa removed herself from. She heaved a nervous sigh, she knew she could've seen Ace's apprehension coming from a mile away. As much as she wanted to maybe hope that he just potentially fell asleep and was soon to be on his way, her hopes were very quickly shut down as her communicator quietly buzzed for her attention.

 _8:39pm_

 _User : Mom, I'm beginning to feel weird about all of this. Just... Fill me in on the game plan tomorrow, or something._

Tessa furrowed her brow and began to feel mild frustration boil to anger, and though her conversation was strictly between her and Ace, she made sure not to let anyone know just how Ace was feeling; she knew that'd likely be the last thing he wanted.

 _QueenB : Ace Kalivar, we're not going to start without you. You can either make this easy or awkward. You were all game for this plan not two seconds ago, what's the deal?_

 _User : I don't really want to talk about it right now. I'm on my way down, gimme a minute._

 ** _User has left the chat_**

Tessa rolled her eyes and locked her device, and with an angry shove, she slid it into her pocket and peered out to the bickering, light-aired group of individuals out before her. She squinted lightly and let their murmur's slightly grow and grow into her ears, the dull roar of her family's familiar voices soaked into her existence, and though she began to feel frustrated with Ace, she heaved a soft sigh and took a step out of her own skin. She knew this had to be hard for Ace, having to escort everyone in and out of the game, a long dive into the unknown, right at the ripe age of the beginning of manhood; Tessa guiltily looked down to her feet, twiddled her fingers and wondered if Ace would potentially open up to her, after the meeting was said and done. Before she could let her mind wander too far, her heart jumped as her only son lightly emerged into the Sky Room; she couldn't help but smile.

"There he is," Ralph chimed quietly, and as everyone looked over their shoulders and watched Ace approach, Ace pushed a very annoyed smile to his face.

"It's not that big of a deal," Ace mumbled with a sheepish smile as he clumsily plopped a seat next to his Uncle Oliver, and though everyone nervously dragged their curious stares to Tessa for confirmation, Oliver lugged his arm over Ace's shoulder and began to very quietly, and curiously speak to him, as if to potentially assure him the reason he's needed.

"Alright guys, we have a few game plans that we need to finalize," Ralph stated quietly, and as Ralph stepped forward and began to preface their meeting, Zed thumbed through a few code room options on his digital pad, which was larger than his communicator, "We really don't know how many trips, into Sugar Rush, we will need to take, but we have planned six trips from this month, the beginning of August, straight on through to Christmas break, in which the Arcade is closed for a week, into New Years."

"Half a year?" Orph gawked, everyone huffed surprised notions as well.

"We can't cram these trips all into a handful of days," Ralph protested quietly, though his voice easily dominated everyone in the room, "The only gamers who can take these trips, into Sugar Rush, are gamers without a game day."

"Aw, man," Jax mumbled as he crossed his arms, though every quarter-alert ridden gamer perked up as Ralph held up a finger.

"BUT, those of us, who have game days, are clear to go during the trips that fall over any Arcade breaks we may encounter, which I believe are three," Ralph mumbled, though Zed gently held the digital pad up to Ralph, so to confirm the schedule they had planned out. Ralph counted down the calendar to himself before waving his hand a little, "Yeah, three. Three of the six trips fall over holiday breaks, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years... When Mr. Litwak closes the Arcade for a certain amount of days."

"What about the other trips?" Finn wondered as he sat forward and leaned his elbows on his knees, he lightly looked about the group before dragging his eyes back to the leads of the meeting, "Is... Just anyone and everyone going to be missing for days on end?"

"Anyone who wants to go," Ralph shrugged, though he furrowed his eyebrows and peered to Vanellope expectantly.

"Taffyta and I have decided that we are going on every single trip into Sugar Rush," Vanellope cued as she stepped forward a bit and gestured back to her sister. She eyed Tessa for a moment, and as Tessa gave an assuring nod, she continued on to the group, "Tessa and Zed have included themselves into this notion, and, well... We need Ace for every single trip, so... I'm assuming he'll be joining for each excursion, too."

Tessa nervously slid her eyes to her son and was wholly displeased to see him huff a long, tired sigh, roll his eyes a little and look down. He twiddled his thumbs a little, and as Tessa's heart throbbed, she had to dig deep to recall a time where he maybe looked this close to annoyed or agitated so quickly. Tessa felt her stomach knot. She knew he was the ultimate key to getting in and out of the game, to winning this battle, and though everyone had a place in this strategy, she knew they'd be doomed without his help; the very notion of him becoming stubborn, now of all times, had her feeling anxious. She thumbed the belt loop of her lazy, Dead Zed racing pants and cocked an eyebrow in his direction. She knew she shouldn't prod, though she felt the heat begin to rise with frustration.

"Does that bother you, buddy?" Tessa suddenly stabbed, though it clearly rocked Ace from the face of the planet, as if he wasn't expecting to be called out.

"...No, that's fine," Ace eased, and as everyone breezed past it and drew their attention away from Ace and Tessa, Ace largely squinted to his mother, as if to meanly ask her to prod him further to see just what would happen, though he knew he was literally no match for his mother; Tessa cocked an eyebrow and challenged him right back, to which he quickly backed down and drew his eyes to the ground in stubborn nervousness.

"So, all to say, we have the first trip, into Sugar Rush, planned for this Friday," Ralph stated as Zed gently handed Ralph the digital pad, so he could better instruct the group just what was going on, "This will be a three day, two night trip. We already know that Ace, Tessa, Zed, Vanellope and Taffyta will be going for this first trip. Is there anyone else who is interested in going, so we can brief those of you joining?"

The whole Sky Room fell silent, and in a nervous draw of near pin-drop silence, everyone gave each other long glances of eager curiousness, as if no one was brave enough to come along. Ralph cocked an eyebrow and eyed Penny, Tammy, Koko, anyone that didn't have a game day, though it wasn't until a small hand very slowly raised out of the crowd did everyone draw their sudden attention to sweet, shy little Libby. Libby beamed a sheepish, scared smile and basically gave Ralph a look of dire nervousness, as if she needed a lifetime of information in order for this trip to go smoothly.

"Libby's the only brave soul, here?" Ralph chuckled, everyone beamed sheepish smiles and gave Libby kind notions of love as a way to acknowledge her bravery.

Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise and largely peered to her; he knew she had agreed to come with, though the fact that she had just signed herself up finally made said notion real. Ace slumped his shoulders in mild relief, though he looked as if he was slightly confused. He sat back, deeper into his Uncle Oliver's light company and twiddled the end of his hot red shirt, which was clad with a Game Central Station logo. Tessa curiously eyed him and was relieved to see as if a weight had lifted from him, though she still grew more and more curious.

"Alright, Libby, welcome aboard, then," Ralph chuckled, "The first group will be leaving first thing Friday morning, bright and early, with the 'open Arcade' call, and... Well... Will try to return Sunday evening."

"TRY?" Ace suddenly spat, he cocked an eyebrow and daringly shot his grandfather a challenging look, though he flinched as he noticed Zed's stern stare turn into a hard, unforgiving glare in his peripheral.

"Are you done?" Zed barked, Ace sunk lightly, as if he wasn't expecting the push back. Ace slumped his shoulders and lost the tiny amount of rein he had, "Everyone here is nervous, son, you're not alone. We're grateful you can help us, in this venture, but we're all trying to remain positive and hopeful in this trying time. Care to join along?" Zed's words were stern, Ace raised his eyebrows, leaned his elbows on his knees and fiddled his larger fingers together.

"Yes, sir," Ace muttered in defeat as he kept his eyes down, though Zed and Tessa quickly caught stares in hard frustration, as if to silently ask each other what the other should do; they dropped the verbal conversation, for the time being, though everyone began to nervously, and awkwardly, give Ace their curious eye contact.

"This trip will involve heading South, passing Stone Crest, and continuing on to whatever we find," Vanellope stepped in quickly, to alleviate the tension between Ace and his parents, "Hopefully we'll be somewhat successful..."

"When's the next trip, after that?" Orph prod, as if he was potentially interested in joining in on one of these excursions, where he could.

"The second trip will be the first weekend from September, into October,the third trip will be the first weekend of November, and then the three trips for the Arcade breaks," Ralph listed on his fingers, "Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Those trips will likely be longer, given the larger amount of free time... If we're unsuccessful finding the castle with the sixth trip, on New Years, then we'll, I guess... Plan more trips into two-thousand-seventeen."

"Shouldn't we reverse it?" Ace dared, once more; he could practically feel Zed's molten, electric blue stare dig into his fragile soul; Ralph furrowed his brow and shook his head in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Ralph prod.

"Well, if this Radex character is as slippery as you guys let on, he's likely going to spot us at least ONCE, in these trips," Ace's voice was dull and held a touch of sarcasm he knew he should likely reign in, "Wouldn't it be better to make the NON-break trips longer? He'll be busy racing. During the breaks, he'll just be, I don't know... Jacking off in the code room," Ace's voice grew in decibel, as if he was likely getting more irritated.

"We don't even know where he is," Vanellope suddenly stabbed, she began to feel the heat of Tessa's and Zed's frustration first, she took a few steps closer to Ace and was thrilled to watch his fragile dominance slip, "He could likely be off of the roster, for all we know. Taffyta and I don't have a game day anymore, why should he? He's already King of the castle, who needs to work, from there? Surely, anyone with a throne just sits on their ass all day, RIGHT?"

Ace raised his eyebrows, he kept a nervous, stern stare up into his grandmother's face, though as Vanellope's hands drew behind her back, Tessa facial expression fell pale and flat, she knew if there was anyone to lay a silent, deathly slick smack down, that more felt like a sweet lullaby into eternal darkness, it was her mother.

"When you're already King of the whole Universe... Why get up off your ass and do anything?" Vanellope's voice was sweet, though everyone could taste the sourness of her palpable demeanor, her fervor to protect her game at all cost, "When he already has it all, everything that's rightfully his, it's easy to ... Wait... It's NOT rightfully his."

Ace shrunk a little and felt the hot stares of his mother, father, grandfather and great aunt all weigh down on him. Ace swallowed a hard gulp and attempted to maybe seek guidance and assurance from his uncle, who was next to him, though he could practically sense Oliver shriveling up into a tiny, figurative ball at the mere, stern presence of Sugar Rush's Queen.

"Ace, I've lost a great deal, here. We're all frustrated. We're all pissed, we're all tired, we're all hopeless," Vanellope stated through a hard sigh, though everyone kept a tight lipped, silent aura as Vanellope's hands remained strictly tucked behind her back, a sure-fire sign that showed she wasn't through with whoever needed to be sat back into place, "If anyone here should be whining, crying, griping and complaining here, it's Taffyta, and Penny. They've lost a husband and a father to this asshole, to whom of which you so eloquently think he's simply wanking it in our precious code room."

"I-I..." Ace stammered, as if he so badly wanted to get a quick apology in, though Vanellope wouldn't allow.

"You have a valid point, and we can work through the details alongside you, if you potentially decide to put your snarky attitude on hold. We don't have time for your negativity. Either you're with us, or against us," Vanellope stabbed, she lightly bent down to just barely get in his face, to which he was certain he was likely going to get some form of a beating; he flinched as she tilted her head just barely, "So, what is it, then?"

Ace nervously swallowed and dared to drag his anxious stare to his mother, just a few feet behind Vanellope. Tessa looked confused, though overall, he was surprised to see her look nearly sorry for Ace; for anyone to have to deal with the business end of Vanellope's motherly antics, a serious side she didn't enjoy showing, Ace was certain Tessa, Oliver and Koko got a very good dose of this sickly sweet fury, growing up; he immediately felt grateful for the way Tessa mothered him, all through his childhood. Ace finally gave his grandmother a nervous frown and slumped his trembling shoulders.

"With," Ace eased quietly, he tried his hardest not to look too pathetic, "I... I apologize."

"Thank you," Vanellope huffed quietly, a forgiving tone Ace was grateful to even get a drop of, though she turned on her heel and rejoined with Ralph, Tessa, Zed and Taffyta, "Should we preface the trip a day prior? Maybe a gathering to better aid our journey?"

"A-Alright, well... The team that will be going on Sugar Rush's first trip, we'll meet on Thursday to discuss just what needs to be packed, what you guys are going to do about food and sleeping arrangements, yadda yadda... The fun stuff," Ralph waved his hand a little, "Meeting adjourned."

Ace was the first to angrily stand and march straight out of the Sky Room, though as everyone else began to stand and lazily chat with one another, as well as approach Libby and congratulate her for her bravery, Tessa furrowed her brow deep into her skull, so much so, she was certain they'd fuse with her eyeballs. Tessa inhaled a seething breath and dragged her now angry stare to where Zed, Ralph and Vanellope stood. All three of them peered to her in hard confusion, and as Ralph shook his head and ruffled the hair, on the crown of his head, Zed heaved a hard sigh and tilted his head in the direction Ace had escaped to, which was the back patio door that ultimate lead to his tower.

* * *

Ace anxiously paced his bedroom. The sun had gone down, and though his window's curtains weren't drawn shut, he had a few lights on. His bed was a mess, from last night, though everything else still remained spotless. He angrily peered to his communicator, on his night stand, and nearly felt nervous with the way it was silent. He could've sworn his mother would be messaging him, angrily making the vibrate, on his communicator, dull to a white noised roar. Ace rolled his eyes, and felt as if hopefully he irked someone enough for them to see his side of the billowing frustration. He knew he had felt totally fine with everything, though with Libby's worries finally cloaked over him like a dream turned sour, he grew more and more anxious. Just before he was about to plop down on his bed, feel totally home-free and likely the victor of the night, he largely flinched as his tall, green front door suddenly flung open.

"Y'got a lot of nerve, kid," Tessa suddenly stabbed, and with a hard swipe, she slammed his door shut; everything in his room barely trembled with it, and as Ace was about to turn a light off, he stood up straight and glared his mother down as she marched across his large space, "I don't know who you think you are, but you have quite a bit of apologizing to do."

"For WHAT. For asking an innocent question? For making a suggestion or two?" Ace dared with a sneaky smile of continue victory; he spread his arms out a little and took a step away from his bed, as Tessa approached, "For being apprehensive?"

"For being a smart ass? For embarrassing your father and I?" Tessa challenged, "What's gotten into you! You were JUST FINE with these trips into Sugar Rush, why now are you suddenly getting your panties in a knot!"

"I already told you, I don't want to talk about it," Ace's deep voice bellowed, and though he knew to always respect his mother and never have a tone with her, he felt beyond agitated. He huffed a hard scoff and shook his head.

"Ace, this isn't something you can just sweep under the rug, if something is bothering you, why can't you just tell someone?" Tessa prod loudly as she gestured her hand outward, Ace rolled his eyes.

"You step on the GRASS wrong, and everyone comes flying to you with a billion questions, and even more concerns!" Ace argued, "I don't want to be the center of attention, anymore. It's cool being a User, whatever... But mom... After seeing just what kind of destruction I can cause, from yesterday..."

"That was Libby," Tessa retort, Ace urgently gestured to his chest.

"That was ME!" Ace bellowed, his eyes looked terrified, "Mom, she stole every single last fiber of my coding! Every bit of it! That was ME!"

Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise and remained silent as Ace's fervor grew, the thick, masculine tendons in his throat bulged, he began to look pushed over the edge.

"That's MY anger, all pent up, pushed to explode, inside Libby's tiny body," Ace pleaded, he urgently gestured to himself again and shook his head, "Don't you see? Everything I've ever hoped for... Everything I've ever wanted is just... Too dangerous to follow through with."

"What are you saying?" Tessa pleaded.

"I CAN'T go to Sugar Rush, User forbid I run into this Radex guy!" Ace stated loudly, his eyes looked crazed. He shook his head harder and continued through the rasp of his yell, "With how much hurt and anger and sadness this guy has caused everyone, I'm scared to set FOOT into Sugar Rush! I don't know how to control anything when I'm that angry, and Libby made it VERY clear! That's another thing I have to erase off of my bucket list!"

"Ace, the only reason so much was destroyed and out of control was because-"

"I can't ever code swap with that girl, don't you understand?" Ace urgently yelled as he grappled his mother's upper arms and just barely shook her, to which Tessa stiffened and peered her nervous stare up into her son's eyes. He uttered a small whimper of desperation as his loud voice carried on, "Yesterday proved to me that swapping with that girl will only cause destruction! She has way too much sorrow, WAY too much anger... Who KNOWS what she will do with my powers!"

"Ace, she was given your powers in the heat of battle, in pure anger and sadness," Tessa retort loudly back to Ace, though he huffed a hard, desperate sigh, took a few looming steps away and grappled his crazy, dark blue hair, "You can't pin her strictly to THAT scenario! Where is this all coming from, anyways? You were just fine yesterday!"

"Blame a good night's sleep," Ace muttered, he gestured to his bed in hard annoyance and continued to rub his face and head in growing, writhing agitation, "Mom... I can't go to Sugar Rush... I can't keep doing this. I already went back on dad's word... Libby sent a sic on those three tribes men, and our three flyers didn't think twice! They're animals! They have core, animalistic instincts, mom... They can talk and everything, but come on... Down to the root of it, those creatures obey an alpha... Y'wanna know who played alpha yesterday?"

Tessa held her breath and slumped her shoulders, she peered to Ace in growing terror and shook her head, though not as if to seem oblivious.

"Libby," Ace stabbed.

"So, WHAT, you're just not going to help us? We've come this far, Ace, we've rallied the troops... You told me you would do anything to get Sugar Rush back... If not for me, then for who?" Tessa begged, she slumped her arms and hands to her thighs and felt tears gather in her eyes, "Your grandparents, your father, your aunt Koko?"

Ace huffed a hard breath through his nose and looked down to the ground.

"Who?" Tessa pleaded quietly.

Ace shook his head once more, and though it looked like he was just being stubborn, he flinched through his contemplative gaze as Tessa stabbed towards him, once more.

"WHO!" Tessa barked.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Ace hollered, his deep, throaty voice reverberated through the trembling windows, his veins bulged on his jugular, "I'm terrified of myself! I don't want to so much as LOOK at someone wrong, cause now that I was shown just how much power I harbor, I don't want ANYONE to be in the crossfire of relentless anger! What if... What if I accidentally delete the entire game? What if I'm face to face with Radex and, and... Accidentally delete his entire code-line, sending Great Aunt Taffyta and Aunt Penny with it!"

"Ace, that wouldn't-"

"What if I code swap with Libby!" Ace hollered, though Tessa knew Libby was his breaking point; tears immediately streamed his cheeks, and for once all day, his voice softened with a crackle of boyish despair, "The woman I so dearly love... Mom... The one woman I would wait for an eternity for, I-I... I can't begin to..."

"Ace," Tessa breathed through a huff of a sigh, she was relieved he was potentially settling, just like how he always would when he was younger, "You can't chalk yesterday up to an act that's consensual and... Happy? Loving? Romantic?"

Ace rubbed his eye in hard agitation and got rid of his tears, he knew he was likely doing himself a disservice by having way too many feelings for Libby, and holding the relationship with his fist, though he huffed a nasally sigh and knew, ultimately he couldn't help it and that he was doomed.

"A swap is SO different from ANYTHING that happened yesterday, son," Tessa pleaded as she approached him, he welcomed her once and for all, "She slipped your coding from your skin out of pure anger, together, you two had so much rage, that her little body couldn't STAND not taking a hit... Because she knew YOU wouldn't.

"I still did," Ace whimpered, his deep voice held a draw of a rasp.

"A final blow, a life-altering swing?" Tessa side-eyed Ace, he slumped his shoulders.

"I held back my power," Ace admitted.

"She didn't," Tessa hissed as she grappled for Ace's hands, "She knew you were raised by your father's strict teachings... Wrecking isn't destructive, it shouldn't be used for violence. That poor girl has been through a traumatic experience. She knew nothing BUT to fight for the both of you, she respected that you weren't going to put up much of a fight, no matter how badly you wanted to, because you were showing the man who helped create you, your utmost respect."

"I-I'm sure I disappointed dad," Ace mumbled, a few tears snuck down his cheeks.

"Not in the slightest," Tessa urged as she squeezed his hands, "Yesterday was weird, and... That large portion is likely something EVERYONE wants to forget, including Libby, but son... I can't imagine her receiving your coding, and suddenly wanting to use it for evil. She'd be receiving YOU. Don't you understand that?"

"No, mom, I'm a virgin, does it look like I have ANY knowledge on the subject matter?" Ace barked in hard embarrassment, though Tessa blurt a sudden chuckle.

"Don't write off your wants, so quickly, Ace," Tessa urged lovingly, she tucked her finger under his chin and kept his eye contact, no matter how glassy or embarrassed it had become, "You are so valiant... So strong. She has a lot of wounds to heal on her own, that only time can fix, but... You can't let this great power of yours hold you back from the things you want to accomplish. Your will power is much stronger."

"And that's another thing, these trips," Ace blurt, though Tessa slumped her shoulders in agitation, "I was confident in them until Libby was practically near tears this morning, stating that she was scared she'd have to sit back and wonder if... If we'd ever come home..."

"We all have those worries," Tessa pressed quietly, she shook her head and furrowed her brow, "We all are aware we're playing with fire..."

Ace huffed along, nasally sigh and looked down to him and his mother's feet. He clear his throat a little and desperately tried to hold back his tears, though Tessa squeezed his hands harder.

"Nothing worth achieving, nothing worth having to hold, EVER comes easy, my son," Tessa's loving voice glossed over Ace's tall existence, and though he was nearly a foot taller than her now, she knew she still held rank over him, and still gave the best hugs. Tessa giggled softly, a breath of a huff she desperately tried to use for a bit of a soothe on the subject at hand, "No pain... No gain."

Ace raised his eyebrows a little, peered into his mother's soul and felt defeat finally crawl over him. He slumped his shoulders, dragged his eyes to his mother's hands and arms, and felt that wave of relief finally drag over him. He shook his head, though as if to agree, and lightly rubbed a few tears off of his scruffly chin and beard.

"I-I'm glad Libby is coming along," Ace meeped quietly, Tessa smiled.

"She's brave, I could tell it took a lot for her to agree," Tessa urged.

"She agreed to come, earlier this morning, but... I-I didn't think she'd follow through with it," Ace sighed, though he caught and held his mother's curious stare.

"You're learning more about her, everyday... I know your situation is very tricky, and giving another being your powers is terrifying, but... Believe it or not, I struggled with a similar issue," Tessa eased, though Ace looked mildly confused.

"Really?" He prod.

"Not only were your father and I opposed codes, I had an incredible amount of wrecking power to give," Tessa shook her head, "You and I wouldn't understand, being born with this nonsense, but... Next time you and your aunt Emery have a good, long talk, you ask her just how she dealt with getting all of Oliver's wrecking powers. Same thing goes for your grandmother. It's not an easy trait to suddenly be sat with."

"At least it's not world-altering," Ace muttered as he looked away, though Tessa hooked a finger under his chin and made him look at her.

"It's all relative," Tessa breathed, "Not only did Zed REALLY struggle with his new wrecking powers, and calming his anger, we also struggled with the very simple fact that he could've very easily deleted me... And you."

"Me?" Ace worried, Tessa heaved a long sigh.

"Since you were brought from the outside world, back to Arcade, our codes weren't the same... In order to get your loading bar to actually load, we HAD to swap codes," Tessa rushed, though Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise, "It literally meant either your bar remained paused forever, or Zed risked deleting you and me... But, look where we're standing, bud. You and me."

Ace huffed a small breath and desperately tried to hide a smile, though with his mother's loving stare, her cheerful aura, he knew it was impossible. He eased a warm smile to their feet and sniffled, though Tessa squinted, eased a bit closer to him and squeezed his hands in pure, selfless love.

"We made it," Tessa whispered, her hushed voice was as soothing as ever, and as Ace peered into her eyes and craved every last bit of her motherly love, he felt immediate gratification pour over him, "We did the unthinkable... And succeeded... All it takes is a little hope, effort... Umph."

Ace breathed a louder laugh and finally smiled to his full potential as Tessa swayed their hands a little.

"You and Libby will be just fine, I've always told you that," Tessa eased, "She's a good kid. She has a good heart. And sure, her coding is... A bit peculiar, though there is not an inch of her stats and code room details your father and I haven't run through. Though it's curious, she's as normal of a gamer as you and me... Despite her honeycomb coding."

"I'm not a normal gamer," Ace mumbled, though Tessa nudged him.

"You know what I mean," Tessa retort, "Now... Are you okay to come with us, this weekend?"

"Yes," Ace breathed, he guiltily looked down to his feet and sighed, "I'm... I'm really sorry, mom. I didn't mean to be such a jerk. I'm just scared."

"We're all terrified," Tessa shook her head and began to grapple Ace into a hug, "The beauty of that is, we all have each other to hold. We'll all be scared, but at least we'll all be together.

Ace let a look of longing sorrow coat his far wall as he welcomed his mother into a tight hug, and as she gripped him around his neck, he bowed to her slightly, hugged her tight around her back and heaved a hard sigh into the top of her shoulder. He shut his eyes a little, and though he still felt that pang of fear gloss over his heart, for everything to come, he knew just what had to be done, and though it felt like a lifetime of watching and waiting was involved, he was grateful he had this massive clan of gamers to wait with.


	89. Chapter 89

**Reviews :**

 **Xaehttium :** Haha I am genuinely glad you didn't stop either, cause I was hoping the switch up would make it so everyone was like WTF is up Ace's ass? There has to be more reasoning at the end of the chapter xD Yeah, Ace definitely feels the heat of it all as time goes on, both in good and bad ways. As for the whole User to User-made gamer swap, and etc., it's further expanded on, it's a point of conversation later on :) So it'll get explained. A lot of it is up in the air/information they can't really prove or expand on unless it's actually like, followed through with, but they come up with further theories. And, thank you so much for that kind compliment! I am always so thrilled when people praise my character development. I often worry if I'm either moving to quick or too slow, so it's reassuring when I get reviews such as that :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** oh no, it's no issue whatsoever! I don't EVER have expectations for my reviewers. Whoever can get to it, awesome! If not, it's literally no biggie. Don't worry xD Haha yeah, Ace definitely painted a pretty picture, there huh LOL

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Oh wow! Haha I'm really REALLY glad you feel that way, cause I sometimes worry these kinds of scenes might be monotonous for you guys xD So thank you! And I'm glad no one was like upset over Ace's sort of... 'imperfect' mini tantrum he threw. I try to keep everyone flawed, in some way. I've read stories where the characters can do no wrong and it always irked me haha. So I'm glad that was conveyed well, and then I had them reconcile, so that helps. And, yes! You are correct about the pace of those 3 characters. It hasn't been difficult, it's actually been a ton of fun! I'm spending a bit more time with these characters, really shelling them out and such, and it's fun sort of back tracking and adding different touches to RalphxVanellope, as well as TessaxZed, so it gives me a chance to take it slow and to build onto already built relationships. Thank you so much!

 **Retrokill :** I literally got like... 3 PM's, from 3 different people, with your same inquiries, and I've decided to avoid these questions so uh... Doink! It's extremely complicated, and everyone has extremely sharp eyes for these details, and are catching on, but I don't want to reveal a single shred of spoilers, when it comes down to Libby. lol it's okay, yeah he definitely has a lot of 'cleaning up' to do, but Ace can't really do it without everyone else, and a certain few other people, as you guys will discover.

 **ArchitectDreams :** That is true, he may be an adult but Tess will still lay the smack down xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Aww, that's really nice. I take that personally, because I technically am the one that did the 'raising', so thank you! haha

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yeah, Ace is definitely trying his best to come into his own, but I still try and give him that touch of 'I'm technically an adult but still act out as a child sometimes' syndrome, like a typical teenager, like you stated, so I'm glad that came across well! Thank you :D

 **chuckiboo :** That means literally the entire WORLD to me, to hear that. Thank you so very much! Seriously, my whole day was made. I strive to make myself better, in my writing. At first, this fanfic was just sort of fun to expand on, but now, it's really testing me and my abilities, and I am really thrilled to see it pay off, if even a little. Thank you so much!

 **WildVirus :** RIGHT CORRECT I was hoping the cringe-factor would be a thing. Ace quickly learns not to trifle with the women of the house, no matter which one. All of the guys learn this, as a matter of fact xD

 **Cheeto :** omg THANK YOU ;_; seriously, thank you so much! That means so much to me! Every single one of these compliments always makes me smile so wide! I'm really glad I'm portraying all the emotions in such a way that make sense to everyone. I'm always worried, more often than not, that sometimes these chapters get sloppy or are just a whirlwind of emotion to try and keep up with, so I'm glad that everyone can relate and understand!

* * *

 **A/N:** **I just want to say real fast... I have a legit RAD group of reviewers, you guys. I am so genuinely floored and impressed, nearly every review is always so inquisitive and questioning, so kind and thought out and complimentary. I always am so appreciative of you guys, and I hope that's apparent. This beast runs off of my will power, but your guys support and love for what I give every other day seriously VERY GREATLY helps, and I can't really thank you guys enough. I love each and every single last one of you - lurkers and reviewers alike. You ALL are honestly some of the coolest people on the net, and I'm so glad I've gotten to know a handful of you a little bit better, with each chapter, and through deviantART and such.**

 **I literally look forward to chatting with you guys, with every chapter. Half of the fun in this is seeing JUST what you guys have to say. It's such a wild ride, and I wouldn't trade any of it, or any of you guys, for the world. So THANK YOU!**

 ***Chapter 89***

As the jungle's morning came, the atmosphere was kissed with a cool, humid dew, as if to promise warmer skies as the sun rose. Penny lightly paced her bedroom, the only sound present was that of an oscillating floor fan in the corner. Her white, billow curtains fluttered with it, every now and then, and though she had only just barely tied back the inner black out curtain, that lined her window, sunlight still soaked her cream walls, the birch flooring shone underneath the power of Dead Zed's sun peeking through the rainstorm's clouds from the night prior. Penny bit the tips of her fingers, her pale, scar-riddled skin lightly speckled as she passed the window over and over, she contemplated quite a bit, and though only a few topics were on her mind, she couldn't help but continue to come back to her mother.

With gentle, nervous footsteps, she finally opened her tall, swooping bedroom door and peeked out. Her hall was quiet and dark, she was often thankful she was stationed at the very end of it. She gazed down the never ending hallway and noticed that Tammy's, Koko's, Oliver's and Emery's bedrooms were all dark. She knew it was near eight in the morning, and every gamer, with quarter alerts, were awake and bustling; everyone else was fortunate enough to sleep in. Penny flinched and heard clatter echo all the way from the kitchen, and to which, she could hear the distinctive voices of all five of Zed's brothers. SHe felt a warm smile grace her cheeks as she could also hear Tessa's quiet giggle alongside her older brother's fervor.

With silent footwork, she eased out into the wooden floored hallway, shut her door and began to saunter down the stretch. The high ceiling was dark, though it was in these early hours of the morning did Penny feel nostalgic. Growing up in Sugar Rush's castle was very similar, with high arches that held a warm, loved amount of darkness until high noon, the still, stoic atmosphere of a majestic castle, and though the Kalivar brood was much larger, the castle was much smaller; something Penny was quickly becoming endeared to. There was enough elbow room, but just enough to feel that loved hug of coziness, and not be too overwhelmed by it.

As Penny successfully slipped past the kitchen and into the entrance of the Sky Room, she had one destination; her mother's room. The Sky Room was soaked in sunlight, with beautiful blips of shade here and there, from looming rain clouds. The top of the dome was sprinkled with droplets of water, the trees outside looked fresh and rejuvenated. Penny finally allowed herself to smile, though she largely flinched and dropped her secretive, happy act as her Uncle Ralph began to slowly mosey from his and Vanellope's bedroom. She raised her eyebrows high in surprise and felt a wave of decision making drape over her; the second Ralph's eyes glossed over Penny's being, Penny fumbled in her stance of attempting to back-step and not be seen, and though she didn't technically want to see anyone but her mother, in this instance, she remembered a worry that had been sitting on her skin, since the night prior, and now felt relief that her uncle was moseying towards her.

"Good morning, Penny," Ralph stated warmly, he knew Penny was indeed a being everyone knew to tip toe around, and Ralph figuratively did just that; he kept his eyes low, his now nervous demeanor wondered if she'd likely just brush right by him, though much to his surprise, she stopped and looked up at him with nervous inquiry.

"Uncle Ralph," Penny eased, though with such tenderness from the fierce lioness Penny had become, Ralph reeled and halted dead in his tracks.

Ralph raised an eyebrow and wondered if and when these kinds of soft, loving emotions would ever come from Penny, and though he had likely rehearsed how to handle said emotions over a thousand times now, being right in the eye of the storm was something that very quickly numbed him. He long blinked a few times, confusion hit his brain in a gentle fog, though he immediately brought himself out of the stir, shook his head a little and peered down to his tough, though still incredibly fragile little niece. He nearly chuckled at the simple fact that she was the shortest being of the bunch, excluding Felix.

"You okay?" Ralph eased lovingly, he knew not to overload her with warmth, as she was now one to shy away from too much given at once, though he reeled and was surprised at how different it all felt. She used to be so open and accepting of any and all love.

"I... I've been thinking," Penny started, to which Ralph felt as if he shouldn't move a muscle simply due to not wanting to scare her off, the reveal of her true emotions, something no one has been able to witness as of late, "I... I want to go back to Sugar Rush, on one of these trips."

"You do?" Ralph prod, he tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, though with still a tangible amount of curiosity, "Th-that's great! You... Thinking of joining the group on Friday?"

"I think Friday might be too soon for me to process," Penny huffed, she dragged her eyes down Ralph's polo and nearly looked disheveled, "I... I did just escape, last week, after all."

"I guess I should've known," Ralph eased tenderly, he very lightly knelt and got down to Penny's level, and in doing so, he was worried she'd become more reserved, though she nearly looked as if she was finally welcoming him into her heart, once and for all, "You guys haven't really had a good experience, with Sugar Rush, for the past year or so, huh..."

"Not really," Penny murmured, she looked away and furrowed her brow, "I just... I want to show my support. Tessa's done a lot for us, not to mention my mom and my aunt, and such. I want to give back. I put up a mean fight."

"Boy, I believe it," Ralph stated warmly, in awe, he shook his head and gave his young niece his whole attention, "Why not join on the second trip, into Sugar Rush, then? I'm sure Tessa would love that."

"It would be nice to see more of the game," Penny nodded, and much to Ralph's surprise, a gentle smile curled on Penny's lips; Ralph felt floored.

"I hear that," Ralph quietly agreed, though he felt bravery sweep through his code.

He ever so gently outreached one of his large arms and hands, and cued for a hug. He knew he was now pushing a boundary, and likely would be turned away, though he was continuously surprised with every blip of information sent his way. With an expected amount of gentle hesitation, Penny finally stepped forward and sunk into her uncle's warm embrace. Ralph scoffed a small laugh on her shoulder and warmly squeezed her to his chest, and it was in this instance did he realize that even Penny's rock solid exterior shell could come down, and show a soft side. He felt hope flood his system, he wanted so badly to pry more affection out of her, though he knew it was only in due time.

"I love you, Penny," Ralph braved, he gently rubbed Penny's upper back and so hoped he'd get a reply, and it was in the instant that Penny's rib cage expanded, so to ready herself, Ralph braced himself.

"I love you too," Penny meeped quietly, as if Ralph's fatherly embrace was something she so desperately yearned for.

Ralph furrowed his brow in light pain that finally hit him, he knew Penny was likely struggling greatly with the loss of her father, and the fact that she likely needed him now more than ever. Ralph squeezed her harder and silently vowed to her that he would fill those shoes as best as his big, bumbling feet could. He knew she needed that figurative embrace of fatherly care that was so suddenly ripped from her. Before too much time could pass, the two pulled apart, and with a few kind notions shared, they finally split ways and Ralph slowly vanished into the kitchen alongside the growing, delightful chaos that continued to ensue from Tessa, Zed and his five brothers.

Penny breathed a reviving sigh and slowly began to push closer to her mother's bedroom, which was the farthest door to the right. As she crept into the small, dark alcove of an entrance way, she stepped up to her mother's massive, round door and delicately knocked, so not to startle her. After a few seconds of waiting, the door unlocked and was very hesitantly pried open with the smallest sliver of a crack. Once Taffyta peeped through the gap and noticed her daughter, she stiffened, opened the door wider and gave Penny a look of floored surprise. Taffyta was wearing a long, large grey shirt that draped to her knees, and her hair was a slight mess. It was clear that even though Penny likely hadn't woken her up, she probably had just recently woke up and was about to put on normal clothes.

"Penny," Taffyta eased in quiet surprise, as if Penny's willing presence was that of a wild animal that hated any form of attention, "Come in, is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, I just... I need to talk to you," Penny urged quietly as she stepped into her mother's bedroom, Taffyta shut the massive door behind her.

Penny peered about her mother's room, and much like how her mother and father's decor was in Sugar Rush's castle, Taffyta's room was very reminiscent of good, old times. Penny nearly felt tears sting her eyes. The warm, wine-colored draperies, the cream and pink swirled duvet and throws, the glorious tiles housed a few peanut-butter colored shags, Penny knew her mother was likely in a lot of pain; more pain than both girls would ever let on. Penny's eyes glossed her mother's sky dome, it was cloaked in the digital shade provided, though her patio door hung open and let in a breeze. Taffyta's room, and patio, had a perfect view of Ace's tower, and also had near-immediate access to the pool.

"About what?" Taffyta prod, and though she wanted so desperately to scoop Penny into a big hug, one of which they haven't shared in a long while, she felt the hurt prickle her skin in coldness, and she dared to take a gentle prod of lingering hurt, "You... You hardly ever want to talk to me, anymore."

"Yeah, well... Now I do, what of it," Penny snapped, she slowly pushed closer to the sliding glass door, to the right of Taffyta's room, and hung near it.

She peered out the open doors, the backyard's glorious, early morning scenery was untouched, the crystal blue swimming pool's waters were only lightly rippled by the morning breeze. Her eyes glossed Ace's tower, it was still in perfection and housed the three sleeping gamers she knew were likely soaking up every single aspect of their new abode. Penny finally heaved a sigh and let her retinas gain clarity, from the harsh sunshine, and peer down to her twiddling fingers. She shook her head and felt tears gather in her eyes, though the second Taffyta's hand firmly grappled the back of Penny's shoulder, she was jostled to suddenly peer into her mother's eyes.

"What's going on?" Taffyta urged quietly, and though her hair was a light, disheveled mess, her eyes were sleepy, her whole demeanor was honed to her young daughter.

Penny raised her eyebrows in dewy surprise and felt a strange sweep of safety fall over her. She wondered back to the last time her and her mother had absolute alone time, like such. Every single day spent in Sugar Rush was also spent with Vanellope, Oliver, Emery and Koko, and though Penny, deep down, loved her family dearly, she knew with the lack of any proper housing structure, isolating herself was all she knew to do, and with such, precious bonding time with each individual was thrown out the window. Penny's terrified eyes glossed her mother's aura in struck surprise, as if to express to her mother that even asking such a question was stating the obvious.

"I-I... I'm glad Aunt Vanellope stuck up for us, last night," Penny meeped, though Taffyta slumped her shoulders in gentle agreeing.

"She loves you, y'know," Taffyta eased, and though she so badly wanted to continue being sarcastic and witty towards her daughter, she quickly realized that Penny had marched herself all the way across the castle, and she had to meet Penny with an open heart and welcome her into a safe place.

"I love her too," Penny uttered as she peered down to her hands yet again, a defense mechanism for avoiding eye contact she honed well, though Taffyta's right hand remained glued to Penny's shoulder, "I... I love all of you guys... I've been really lousy at showing it, huh."

"Yes," Taffyta admitted with a small chuckle, she was delighted to see Penny smirk a sarcastic half-smile in pure annoyance, "But... It's okay. No one is blaming you. You've been through just as much hurt as the rest of us... If not more."

"What?" Penny urged, as if she was surprised someone was recognizing her pain, Taffyta squinted.

"Penny... No one understands just what you're going through," Taffyta started, and though Penny heaved a sigh of agreeing and looked down, Taffyta cupped her daughter's chin and made her look up once more, as she continued on lovingly, "... No one, but me."

Penny's eyes sorrowfully, and tearfully, peered deep into her mother's, and it was in this raw moment did Penny finally feel safe to unload, and as badly as she wanted to dive into her mother's arms, much like she did when her and Tessa reunited, she remained still and tried to prove to herself that she was, indeed, an unmovable wall. Penny inhaled a shaky breath and finally looked into her mother's soul, for the very first time since this mess even started, and it was in this raw moment did she finally understand just how disconnected she was, from every single soul that loved her dearly.

"Penny, I lost a very important man in my life, too, y'know," Taffyta quietly urged as she shook her head and drew closer to Penny, "We both are suffering this loss, over the same man... And though you and I both have very different relationships with him, it's still an equal amount of loss. No one understands what you and I are going through, except for each other."

Penny finally allowed tears to slip down her cheeks; she nearly reeled at the mere sight of her mother becoming elated that Penny was even opening up and showing emotion. Penny tried hard not to slink away and feel annoyed over said notion.

"This whole time, you've pushed all of us away, I've always wondered just why you pushed me away the fastest," Taffyta quietly spoke, her voice was crackly from having just woken up, "But, I understand it now because, when in a time of pain, of grieving and of loss, it's easy to push those of us away that are closest to you... And in that act, I had to somehow feel grateful. You pushed me away the most because you were closest to me. That's all I ever hoped for, between us..."

"Mom," Penny nearly pleaded, as if to likely beg Taffyta to stop reading her like a book, though Taffyta gently cupped both of Penny's cheeks.

"I know you're angry at us, for not believing in Tessa and Zed, and believing they made it... We didn't have any proof, and you know our stance on the subject matter," Taffyta shook her head and allowed tears to soak in her eyes, as well, "... I lost two family members, last year, Pens... I lost Rancis, and I lost you. Y'wanna know who I grieved harder?"

"Mom," Penny uttered once more as she grimaced and felt near the breaking point.

"You," Taffyta begged as she cupped Penny's squishy cheeks a little harder and stepped closer, nearly hovering over her, "You were still within my grasp, but just barely... You were still there, a constant reminder that I still could potentially reach out to you, but like a shadow, you were just gone... Day in and day out... Penny, I was always reminded that both beings, that I love more than anything, were gone, simply because you showed your face every day and left without a trace."

"I had to! I had to," Penny suddenly blurt as she yanked her presence from Taffyta, took a step back and jolted her arms outwards a little, as if to express the touchy-feely embraces were over with, "I couldn't just sit and mope, mom! I had to busy my mind. I had to get out of there!"

"We weren't moping, we were grieving, what else do you expect us to do? We've all gone through the motions, and here you are, back at square one, because you haven't properly grieved!" Taffyta's voice grew with Penny's fervor, "You stuffed your feelings, shunned us away, and didn't rally with us! You ran from your problems... You ran from us... And I KNOW that is not what Rancis would want."

"Well, he's not here!" Penny tried not to shout, tears streamed her cheeks as she finally began to crumple with defeat. She covered her face and hiccuped a small cry as her voice shakily dwindled, "... H-he's not here..."

Taffyta huffed a scoff of a breath, as if to merely state said notion was false. Taffyta shook her head and grappled for Penny's shoulder once more, she was delighted to feel Penny remain still.

"You, SEE-HERE," Taffyta stabbed out of love, in a quiet hiss of uplift. She gripped Penny's chin and forced her to look up, once more, "He IS here... He's with us in spirit. He's with us in everything we do, he's in our hearts. Until we get this mess figured out, you KNOW he'd be right by our sides, cheering us on. You know that... Don't you dare say he's not here..."

"I-I miss him so much, mom," Penny whined as more tears soaked her cheeks, she inhaled a shaky breath and finally felt overcome by grief, so many months of shoving it away, she knew it'd eventually come to a head, though she figured she'd have to barrel through it all by herself. She immediately sunk into Taffyta's tight embrace and buried her face into her mother's neck as she messily continued, "I want this to be over with, I don't want to be constantly reminded that Radex is a part of my coded DNA."

"Radex isn't your father, Penny," Taffyta urgently begged as she slapped her arms tight around Penny's neck and shoulders, she squeezed her daughter so tight into her chest and held her like she was a young child again, "Your dad wouldn't want you associating with Radex, in any way shape or form. You know that's not true... It's a copy-paste gone wrong, and you know who your true father is. Radex isn't your blood... He isn't your code."

Penny quietly cried into Taffyta's neck and grappled her arms around Taffyta's middle, and in doing so, Taffyta quietly began to shush soothing notions down to the top of Penny's head, a gentle sway that the two girls fell into, a year's worth of isolated grief finally seeing light and being dug out of the compacted stone it was harbored in. Taffyta wiped a few tears from her cheeks, shut her eyes tight and kept little Penny as tight in her embrace as physically possible.

"We'll get him back," Taffyta whispered, confidence soaked her voice. She finally pushed a smile to her cheeks and heaved a long, tired sigh, "I promise."

"Thank you," Penny meeped as her crying settled, and as if she had felt a weight lift off of her shoulders, she heaved a long sigh of relief and slumped further into her mother's chest, "I miss him so much..."

"You're telling me, kid," Taffyta muttered in dire annoyance, which finally got a small giggle out of Penny. Taffyta gripped Penny's shoulders and moved her out of her embrace, so to get a better look at her, "Your father wouldn't want you to be this hard, badass chick that doesn't talk to anyone and is too cool for school. He'd want you to be happy and open with your family."

Penny sighed, glossed her mother's shoulders with her glassy eyes and nodded a little, though she flinched as Taffyta uttered a small scoff of a laugh.

"He'd likely be good chums with that Orph, fella," Taffyta stabbed and was floored to see Penny's face crawl from a desolate pale to a lively, hot red of remembrance.

"O-Orph?" Penny stammered as her eyes bashfully glossed to her mother's.

"I'm not stupid, Penny, the kid is crazy about you," Taffyta laughed quietly, and though Penny looked down and wanted so badly to shy away from the topic, she couldn't help but want to so desperately open up to someone about her secret musings.

"...He is really cute," Penny just barely admitted, though it only caused Taffyta's laughter to grow.

"You need to open up to the world around you, girl, your father would want to be here to beat all the boys away with a stick, y'know," Taffyta shrugged, "You typically would get me to step in and do it for him, in his absence, but I can't help but sit back and watch just how brave that kid can get. I think your cold front, against him, is hilarious... But you don't want the guy to give up, now, do you?"

"...No," Penny admitted, once more; Taffyta was beyond floored to even get this far.

"Be yourself, give him a smile, he's trying really hard to earn your affections, if you haven't noticed," Taffyta's voice urged in a sly, girly tone.

"I've noticed," Penny rubbed her arm bashfully and frowned, "Going from total isolation to suddenly having a whole family clan, once more, is a bit overwhelming..."

"I can understand that, but don't close yourself off to the opportunity of something beautiful that could potentially be, y'know?" Taffyta smiled, though she playfully pointed a finger, "The kid is a User-made gamer, though, so if he tries anything I have no problem going full on taffy-puller on his ass, you hear me?"

"Mom," Penny scoffed as she rolled her eyes, though her cheeks grew a darker shade of red, "That's not even a blip on the radar..."

* * *

"Is this going to become a daily thing you do? Cause, I'm not sure my weight will appreciate it," Nox grumbled, he rubbed his tired eyes, pushed into the airy, cool common room and left the door agape, as if to state to the rest of the castle that they were awake and were welcoming anyone who wanted to potentially come over.

"Maybe," Ace shrugged, he wore a black tank and comfortable sweats. He slaved over a stove of delicious smelling bacon and eggs, he had spices and all sorts of ingredients splayed about the kitchenette's marble counters. Ace glanced a small smile in his best friend's direction, and continued his craft, "I don't know why I was up so early, today, but I couldn't go back to sleep. I figured I'd make you guys suffer, with me."

"Yeah, doesn't help that my room is directly above all these delicious smells," Nox grunted as he sat down on one of the couches, just near the three bar stools off of the kitchenette's bar. He was shirtless and wore a pair of comfortable black sweats, his charcoal grey hair was a disheveled mess, though he aimlessly peered out one of the bay windows, "Where's Libby?"

"Still asleep, I think," Ace's voice grumbled with the dregs of sleepiness as well.

"It's gunna take a while for these smells to reach HER room," Nox uttered as he scratched his chest, though his heart leaped in remembrance. He cocked an eyebrow and peered to Ace across the way, "I... I totally forgot. Today is Koko's actual birthday."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Ace smiled down to the sizzling, delicious smelling bacon he turned over, on the cast iron he was stationed before, "Did you want to maybe do something for her, tonight? Throw her a small party ala-User Tower style?"

"User, I don't know, what... What would I even do?" Nox urged, he began to look nervous. He finally stood and joined Ace in the kitchenette, he got close and peered down to just what Ace was doing, his mouth began to water.

"Make her dessert, get to know her? I don't know," Ace shrugged, he wrinkled his nose and tried to fend off his now hungry friend, "Educate her on all ways of the arcade?"

"Is that an innuendo?" Nox grumbled, though Ace furrowed his brow and shot Nox a look of floored surprise.

"No, dude, what the heck?" Ace laughed, Nox rubbed his face in annoyance and opened the fridge.

"'Knowledge her'... For User's sake," Nox muttered through a bashful laugh, though Ace rolled his eyes.

"Just, be nice... She's been cooped up in Sugar Rush her whole life, and you have an entire thirty years of Arcade history under your belt," Ace stated kindly.

"Correction-THROTTLE has thirty years of Arcade history under his belt," Nox stabbed with a sarcastic smile as he pulled out the jug of milk and closed the fridge. He held up his finger, gave Ace his pixel-cubed stare of fiery sarcasm and tried to stuff his laughter, "Y'wanna know what I have under my belt? Nearly thirty years of sand that has fused with my body. If you were to pants me right now, an entire sand castle would come flying out."

"I don't need the visual," Ace was lost in laughter, he tried not to become crippled too close to the flame of the burner he stood before.

"'Knowledge her'," Nox muttered under his breath, once more, "Yeah... Knowledge her on EZ Living statistics, everywhere you go is a 'hey sup dude, LOVE YOUR HAIR' -*like!*" Nox used quotes, gave Ace an annoyed smirk and waved his hand down before he opened the cupboard and reached for a glass, "Not for me... People ran and fled any which way they could. There were times I was even mistaken for Turbo. Eventually, authorities gave up questioning me and left me to my tree, on the hill."

"You lived in a tree?" Ace ogled as he tried his hardest to collect his laughter, "Okay, Tarzan."

"Yeah, laugh all you want, I had no choice," Nox mumbled, he poured himself some milk and put the lid back on the jug. He heaved a hard sigh and peered out the window, "What scares me, is... I don't want to even do anything with her, that could potentially further... Well... US. You heard that talk Ralph gave, yesterday. He'd kill me if I even thought about holding her hand, let alone making her dessert and praying for a goodnight kiss."

"Maybe you should talk to him, then," Ace stated nonchalantly, though Nox furrowed his brow in hard dismay and peered to Ace in pure disbelief.

"TALK to him, right," Nox barked in annoyance, though Ace glanced at him in confusion, "'Hi sir! I like your daughter, where do I go from here?' In the SMASHER."

Ace choked a hard laugh and put fresh, raw bacon on the cast iron; it loudly sizzled.

"He'd kill me, dude, I don't know if you understand," Nox gestured to himself, "It's easy for YOU to talk to him. You're his grandson."

"You gotta get his blessing, eventually," Ace shrugged, "More so, my grandmother's blessing. She IS, after all, the woman that raised Koko. If you want to pursue Koko, in a romantic way, you're going to have to get both of them on board, anyhow. Better sooner than later. Better now, before anything happens between you two, then later when you're in deep and feel guilty."

Nox slumped his shoulders and peered into his glass of cold, delicious milk. He heaved a hard sigh through his nose, glanced about the sprawl of their massive room and just barely rolled his eyes.

"I hate when you're right," Nox muttered, Ace shrugged, "You're lucky. You have NO ONE you have to go crawling to, in order to court Libby."

"What?" Ace gawked, he gestured the tongs, he was using, to the gaping common room door and waggled his arm about, "Do you forget just who Libby's 'ride or die' is?"

"... Tessa?" Nox uttered in confusion.

"BALBA?" Ace gawked with a wide, nervous smile, "And now, Balba can TALK. I'm going to have to approach Balba, on the subject matter, when the time comes."

"You kidding, Balba loves you," Nox barked in hard annoyance as he finally took a seat at one of the bar stools, just across the counter from where Ace was standing, "You have it easy, in that aspect."

"Paw may be a wrecker, and be intimidating, but I'm dealing with a fully realized lykata that has animal instincts to hunt and kill. She's a natural born predator," Ace rushed as he shook his head, though he eyed Nox and smiled, "We both have it rough, okay?"

"Why don't we just marry each other, then, problem solved," Nox barked in an annoyed, sarcastic tone to which Ace laughed over, though Nox sighed and nervously peered down into his glass, once more, "...How would I even begin to approach Ralph and Vanellope? Where do I begin?"

"Just... Say you would like to talk to them about something important to you, and explain that you'd like to get to know Koko a little bit more, because you are interested in pursuing a relationship," Ace shrugged, he continued to work; the whole common room smelled of hot, sizzling bacon, "Easy."

"Easy," Nox stated in hard, annoyed sarcasm as he slumped his jaw to his hand, in which his elbow was messily slumped to the marble bar counter, he puffed a few strands of his charcoal colored hair out of his eyes and aimlessly looked about the counter, "I guess I have the whole morning to muster up whatever ounce of bravery I have, then... Thanks for your help."

"I know I'll need advice about Libby, eventually," Ace shrugged, "Just return the favor, and we'll be even."

"You don't need my advice, what you need is for the both of you to be shoved in a broom closet," Nox and Ace shared a hard laugh as Nox brought his drink to his mouth, "Problem solved."

* * *

 **A/N: GUYS I drew some yummy Penny/Orph artwork, alongside a snippet of fun dialog, go check it out! On my deviantART titled 'Your Best Shot' - Username Vyntresser :)**


	90. Chapter 90

**Reviews :**

 **Cheeto :** Yeahhhh Ralph definitely has a harder time with it than Vanellope xD You'll for sure find out in this chapter! :D Thank you!

 **ArchitectDreams :** No worries! Thank you! Yeah, I think both User-made boys are the ones with the real struggle, tho xD

 **WildVirus :** Awesome, no worries! Have fun! :D and YES I love Ace and Nox, they definitely grow a lot closer as time goes on - true brothers indeed!

 **Snake557 :** Aww thank you! Yeah they're both total dude-bros. If this were an ENTIRELY different story, I'd likely (secretly) ship them to be honest with you LMAO.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** OMG xD His tower is at LEAST 100 feet away, not to mention 4 stories high... Dunno how she accomplished all that from the ground! lol. Thank you!

 **Xaehttium :** THAT she becomes, for sure! xD Aww, yeah I'm really glad to be easing the true Penny back into this story, I genuinely missed her. She still has a ways to go, but a certain silver-haired Kalivar boy knows how to pry her from her shell ;)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww thank you SO much! :D Yeah, I really like Ace and Nox sort of leaning on each other for support, it happens quite a lot in this story, especially towards the end. Nox is extremely shy, especially when things start getting heated between him and Koko - she's a bit of a firecracker and he's like UH no social interaction in 3 decades!

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! No worries

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys, I'm sorry this 'scene' takes up the whole chapter - I wasn't planning on it. I finally ended the scene, and realized the chapter was over 5K words and I was like lol whooooops. Guess this scene was a whole lot more important to me than I thought.**

 **The next scene will be fun and verrry interesting ;)**

 ***Chapter 90***

As game day came to a close, all five of Dead Zed's racers returned to the Kalivar castle; Finn had received more quarter alerts today than he was ever expecting. As the five messily slumped into the house, to escape the massive rainstorm that had suddenly hit, they trailed in mud and tried their best not to leave the foyer until Tessa could get to them. The second Ralph pushed into the door, everyone loudly began to bicker in a joking fashion as more mess was trailed into the castle. Zed, Ace, Libby, Tammy and Emery all busied themselves about the kitchen, to prepare for a delicious birthday dinner, for Koko. Oliver, Koko, Royal, Lickity and Balba all lazily hung out in the living room, though the five began to grow tense and quietly join in on the excitement now happening in the front foyer.

"Thank User we don't live in the real world," Zed muttered as he closed the oven and set the white oven mit on the counter, so to easily reach for it once more. He heaved a long sigh and watched as Tessa easily tidied everyone via the portable controls of the code room, "No code room, no easy clean up."

"There are a lot of things we get away with... Why didn't we use the code room to make this dinner?" Ace grumbled as he rubbed his jaw, for the thousandth time. He could swear there was something on his skin, and unbeknownst to him, he had a puff of flour that was splayed down the front of his collar, to which Nox delightfully cued to.

"Riiiight there, bud, keep... Going," Nox gestured to Ace, though Ace only inched his hand farther away from the mess on his neck. Nox heaved a hard laugh, gestured a little more, and once he noticed it was futile, he slumped his shoulders and nodded sarcastically, "Y'got it."

"You could cheat with everything," Zed stated as Emery, Libby, Penny and Tammy carried on their own little conversation, at the kitchen island, as they prepped a few appetizers, "We could slap dummies in place of all of the racers, and never have game days ever again... Yet we don't."

"Why not? The other dudes don't want eternal vacation?" Nox laughed, Ace eagerly eyed his dad and was curious for the topic at hand.

"No, I've asked them before... And there have been times where I've itched for a game day and have taken Tej's spot for the day," Zed shrugged with a kind smile, "I love racing. I don't get to do a lot of it, for the sake of keeping the game plugged in, but it's fun to get out there every once in awhile. They like their off-days, sometimes."

"So, you could make it so you never had to, say... Shower again?" Nox gestured, he began to feel a creep of nervousness as he finally remembered his task for the evening; speaking to Ralph and Vanellope.

He figured he'd have some time before dinner. He felt his heart begin to lightly sink in growing anxiousness as Ralph, Zed's five younger brothers and Tessa all moved their way through the kitchen, lingered for a small while, and all dispersed. He kept a sharp eye on just where Ralph was headed, and once he noticed him, Vanellope and Taffyta lazily heading towards the sky room, likely to wind down before their meal, he felt his trembling hands make their way into his pocket and straight for his communicator; he pulled up Vanellope's tab.

"Yeah... You could change your hair color, your eye color, pretty much anything physical about yourself," Zed stated with a kind laugh and a gentle shrug, though he shook his head and peered to the stove, of which had three pots and pans all steamy and cooking their delicious meal to come, "Though, with all of that, you become lazy. You could give yourself rock hard abs, without the effort, but... What kind of a person does that make you?"

"You mean to tell me you got your ripped body by actually working out?" Nox gawked in surprise, he peered to Ace, "You didn't tell me that!"

"All hard work," Zed pat his clothed center, though his sculpted body, underneath, was clear.

"Yeah, with that knowledge, I'd feel way too guilty tabbing into the code room to get rid of, well... This," Ace grappled some extra fluff he had on his belly, he rolled his eyes and bashfully looked away.

"Tessa tells me Vanellope is a real hard-ass, when it comes to staying fit," Zed gestured to his son and smiled, "You should ask her if she'll train you, and help you work out and such."

"Yeah, I really need to do something about this, anyhow, I'm sure it's unattractive," Ace worried, his eyes slowly dragged to where Libby was. She was easily lost in a cute, giggling mess of a conversation with the other three girls she had become close with.

Nox slowly typed out a message on his communicator, he tried to remain calm and unsuspecting. He bit his bottom lip in contemplation and felt his heart begin to thud in pure terror, and just as his finger hovered over the 'send' button, he reread his message nearly a dozen times before finally following through with the deed.

 _8:37 pm_

 _Noxtastic : Hey, do you and Ralph possibly have a minute to chat in private? It's important._

Nox heaved a shaky sigh and so desperately tried to cue his mind back to what Ace and Zed were talking about, and as Tessa lightly joined in, he felt his mind tugged in a billion different directions. His eyes slowly dragged to his right and across the stretch of tile. He peered his yellow gaze to the back of Koko's head and felt his heart leap; he felt relieved that the mini birthday celebration, in which Ace and Libby had helped plan, was something that he could look forward to for tonight, though he hoped to end it in a special way; a notion he was so desperately praying Ralph and Vanellope would likely give their blessing to. Nox jolted as his communicator lightly buzzed a small vibrate in his sweaty hands, his eyes anxiously peered down to the screen.

 _VerySchweet : Sure, is everything okay? Should this involve Tessa or Zed?_

 _Noxtastic : No, everything is perfectly fine. I just would like your's and Ralph's opinion on something._

Nox peered down at his communicator and noticed that Vanellope wasn't typing a reply. He bit his bottom lip and now began to wonder if they'd even open up to him, though the second he was about to lock his device, it buzzed a reply.

 _VerySchweet : We're in the Sky Room :)_

Nox huffed a breath, as if to feel relieved, though with Vanellope's statement, he realized that he was now welcomed into the lion's den, and escaping unscathed remained to be seen. Nox's eyes nervously dragged up to Ace, Tessa and Zed; they loudly laughed with each other and helped the others prepare dinner, and as secretly as he could, he slowly slipped away unseen and head towards the entrance of the Sky Room. Nox's unsure footsteps lightly pushed into the dimly lit dome of the Sky Room, a flawless display of the raging storm outside, rain splattered the glass, though the lightning and swaying trees were truly a sight to behold. Before he could get wrapped up in the sight overhead, he dragged his eyes to the center of the Sky Room and noticed Ralph, Vanellope and Taffyta quietly chatting with each other, Vanellope had her communicator open and in her palm; Nox felt a smile creep upon his face, the fact that she had his tab still opened and put as a priority.

"Hey," Nox chimed kindly as he pushed closer to the group.

"Hey," Vanellope stated knowingly, and though her smile was welcoming, Nox could tell her, Ralph and Taffyta all were itching with growing wariness. Vanellope tilted her head towards hers and Ralph's bedroom and glanced to Ralph, "Let's go sit on our patio. Lots of privacy there."

"Sure thing," Nox stated, though he began to feel even more nervous.

As Taffyta politely excused herself to her own bedroom, Ralph, Vanellope and Nox quickly pushed into their bedroom, and once they reached the patio, Nox felt his heart race. He knew the Sky Room was their territory, though being so deep in the clutches of their bedroom, of their patio, Nox knew he was now wholly trapped. He swallowed nervously, and as Vanellope invited him out onto their welcoming patio, he looked about and tried his hardest to potentially find an escape route. Their patio was opened to the backyard, though unlike Taffyta's view, Ace's tower, nor the pool could be seen. Instead, they had a private nook of an area, housed by gorgeous flora and jungle trees that were crowned with wild flowers. Rain trickled about the game, the whole atmosphere smelled fresh and calming, and in the few seconds it took for him to find a seat, amidst their patio furniture and cozy setting, he felt thankful for the rain. It eased his rushing mind, though his fingers began to nervously tick against the sides of his thighs as he stiffly sat down.

"So, tell me quickly, so I can brace myself, does anything, of what you're about to say, involve Turbo?" Vanellope wondered, she tried not to seem too outwardly nervous as she closed the sliding glass door behind Ralph.

Ralph sat down opposite Nox, and as Vanellope sat down next to Ralph, she turned on the patio light. Their outdoor couches, and love seat, were worn and comfortable, a small coffee table sat in between Nox and his two peers, it was delicately placed with an outdoor lantern and candles. Nox's eyes showed a small bit of a golden glow, from the lack of a strong light source. His creepy gaze looked confused as he peered to Vanellope, he reeled as if to be thrown off.

"...What? No!" Nox laughed quietly, he shook his head and suddenly realized just why they were so nervous. He knew the two were likely on pins and needles, hoping and praying that the two resident TurboTime characters weren't harboring secrets, though Nox now felt a bit more confident to carry on and drive his point home, "No, it's not about Turbo at all."

"Good, we were worried," Vanellope sighed, her and Ralph physically softened, "So... What's going on, then? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is perfectly fine, I don't mean to worry you guys so much," Nox gestured politely, he scoffed and shook his head, "Look, I know I'm a terrifying subject, but I'm the biggest softy you'll meet. Just ask Ace."

The two fell silent and finally gave Nox their undivided attention, as if Ace's word was what went the farthest, around here. Vanellope and Ralph stole a long glance towards each other, and once they felt comfortable, they gave Nox the floor, and with a gentle nod in Nox's direction, Nox puffed his chest in a draw of a scared inhale and felt his hands begin to tremble.

"I-I may have no experience, in this realm, but I am still pretty old fashioned," Nox admitted, his voice grew vulnerable, something he wasn't ever used to. His hands began to tremble a bit harder, due to the stress and out of body feeling he was drowning in, though still, he stammered on with as much confidence as he could, "I... I am... Here, to uh... To get your blessing."

"Our blessing?" Vanellope prod softly, her and Ralph caught eyes once more, as if to feel confusion continue to drape over them.

"I would uh... Very much appreciate the opportunity to... To get to know Koko a little more," Nox's voice came in and out of confidence and nervousness, his stammering made it clear he was flying blind, though with this, his humble aura was delightfully sweet, something Vanellope cued to, and he was thrilled to get a wide smile out of her first and foremost. Nox felt bravery flood his red, honeycomb circuits, he scoffed a nervous inhale and pressed on, no matter how hard his hands trembled, "I... I know it's only been a week, but, I've really grown to like her, and I would really love to, well... See where things go."

"I am quickly seeing just how easy Zed has it, right now," Ralph blurt, which caused Vanellope to laugh in agreeing; Nox nervously pushed a smile to the surface of his terrified demeanor, "Zed snuck in and practically stole our blessing, and... If this whole mess hadn't happened, with Sugar Rush's current issues, and being separated for so long, he'd be in a whole world of hurt over getting Tessa pregnant and hardly consulting us, for any of it."

"He wormed his way into our hearts quickly, as slippery and as mischievous as he seemed," Vanellope giggled and rolled her eyes, and though Ralph and Vanellope still had their wishes for how Zed carried out his future endeavors, with Tessa, they were aware the two heirs were well beyond needing a blessing, at this point. Vanellope sighed and shook her head, "I... I don't mean to be rude, or anything, but this is the last thing I was expecting, from you."

"I apologize, my exterior is a bit... Brash and sarcastic," Nox mumbled and nervously rubbed the back of his head, "It doesn't help that my oldest brother sort of tarnished the way the world views me, now."

Vanellope frowned and furrowed her brow, she peered to Nox in a new light and tilted her head a little. His golden eyes were definitely hard to look right into, though with the way his humbled hands drew to anxiously tap the skin of his grey-skinned arms, his baited, faltering inhales, his delightfully messy charcoal colored hair, the way he politely sat before two figureheads with a very high stature of power, once something within their grasps. Vanellope knew both Zed and Nox were brave men for daring to court Princesses of Sugar Rush, and more importantly, daughters of two fierce, un-moving strongholds that were Ralph and Vanellope. Vanellope smiled, though she could feel herself quickly jumping on board a lot quicker than what Ralph's demeanor was giving off; she knew he'd be harder to sway, and though he hadn't been around for Koko's childhood, Vanellope still knew Ralph was extremely protective of his youngest child.

"Your actions help with that," Ralph stated, Vanellope's feelings were quickly assured with the way Ralph's stern voice boomed from his chest, "I think we would like to see a more polished, confident individual. You appear nervous, ticking, like you have a secret... And, understandably so, for so long, you've been labelled as this bad guy, but really you had nothing to do with Turbo's reign over Sugar Rush, and the cruelty he put Vanellope through... You're not in EZ Living anymore. You're not with strangers that have given you false labels. It's time to let those walls come down."

"Yes, sir,"Nox stated softly.

"So, you want to court our youngest, you want to be that shining ONE, you want to swoop in and give all the other guys, in this castle, that have eyes for Koko, a run for their money," Ralph chuckled, Vanellope beamed as well, and was thrilled to notice Nox's demeanor begin to soften and relax, "You have to prove to us that you're going to treat her better than anyone ever could. What will you do to prove this, son?"

Nox felt his heart stop, and though he had braced himself for hard questions, he felt his mind turn to goo with Ralph's intimidating stare, the way he sat up and adjusted himself, so to get a better stare into Nox's soul. Nox stared straight into Ralph's eyes and knew that even glancing away, a split second release from Ralph's dominance was enough to lose his chances here.

"I will treat her with respect," Nox stated warmly, he knew that was ultimately a trick question, and with the way Ralph nodded and pointed, he felt relief crawl his skin.

"You will treat her with respect, on this night of her first birthday," Ralph firmly repeated, "You have a solid thirty arcade years over her, she is simply a budding tree in this jungle. She's been cooped away, in Sugar Rush, with no one to socialize with other than her family, and if I find that you're simply seeking her out, due to potential lacks of social cues she may have, a naive spirit she could possibly give off, then you have another thing coming."

"That... That wasn't even on my mind," Nox stammered nervously, his heart began to pound, and as Ralph brought all these issues to light, he realized just how important it was that he marched himself over here and sat himself right in the heart of the fire; he quickly began to see just how disastrous this all would've been had he not approached Ralph and Vanellope prior to coming on a little stronger to Koko.

"A week could potentially seem like a short time to develop feelings for a woman, Nox, why don't you go ahead and tell me just why you're fancying my precious, youngest daughter?" Ralph stated sternly, it was clear he wasn't being sarcastic or snide; this made Nox a thousand times more nervous.

Nox furrowed his brow and nearly felt insulted, though he knew Ralph had a point. Nox softened his shoulders and felt his heart's thudding finally come to a drum of confidence. He squinted a little, the gentle glow of his eyes only barely illuminated his aura, and with a slow inhale, he felt his wiggly veins finally grip and gain a stronghold of bravery. Nox long blinked, soaked Ralph's question deep and was eternally grateful both him and Vanellope remained patient with him, even though this was a trying time.

"In all my nearly thirty years of being homeless on the beaches of EZ Living, I encountered many people. Tall, short, skinny, fat, beautiful, dreadful... Do you want to know how many looked me in the eye and smiled?" Nox furrowed his brow harder and felt sorrow gloss over Ralph and Vanellope, even just a little. Nox shook his head and grimaced, "Not a single soul... This is excluding Tessa, Zed and Ace, of course, but I've only known them for about a month now."

Ralph held his stern stare into Nox's eyes and let him carry on, and though Nox was a fragile, likely sneaky being, Ralph felt his wall soften. Ralph adjusted his sitting position and rested his large arms and elbows on his knees, he leaned forward a little and gave Nox the floor, as if to be entirely curious about just what goes on inside Nox's head.

"The day I met Koko, I went to sleep that night just... Elated. You know what she did, the first time she looked me in the eye? She immediately expressed that my eyes were cool, and I need you to understand, that... I have never held eye contact with someone longer than what I have, with her," Nox's deep voice was humbled and soft, a delightful dollop of irresistible warmth both Ralph and Vanellope never knew was deep inside of him, "She is constantly eager about the world around her, and to see her eyes light up when I explain how the Arcade works, simple things people take for granted... It is beautiful. SHE is beautiful. Everyone has that twinge of fear, in their soul, when they look at me... But not her... She doesn't have an ounce of fear."

Ralph finally heaved a long sigh through his nose and broke his strict eye contact with Nox. He looked down to the ground, near his feet for a moment before he dragged his eyes to Vanellope and gave her a look as if to declare that his strong front was either to be faked from here on out, or put to rest. Vanellope giggled and lovingly rested her hand on her husband's shoulder, she knew this was difficult, for everyone, though the two finally gave warm smiles to Nox. Nox reeled, as if he was uncertain of just where this could be going, he nervously continued on.

"I've set up a small get together tonight, Ace, Libby and I are throwing Koko a small birthday party, after dinner," Nox continued warmly as he held his hand to his chest and gave his eye contact between the two, "I've baked Koko a cake... W-With Libby's help, but... The sentiment is still there, I'm sure. I wanted to get your guys' approval... I plan on telling Koko, tonight, just how much I like her."

"That is so sweet," Vanellope eased warmly as she adjusted her sitting position and softly gazed to Ralph, as if to wonder just what he thought.

"And if she denies you?" Ralph suspiciously prod.

"Then, she's off limits," Nox opened his palms a little and looked defensive, though he furrowed his brow and squinted, "We all saw the trouble Libby's been through... I may be extremely inexperienced, but I'm not stupid."

"You've never had a girlfriend?" Vanellope wondered, she knew her and Ralph likely could benefit from further information given.

"Not a single one," Nox stated bashfully as he looked down, "... Pathetic, I know."

"It's not pathetic, Vanellope was my first girlfriend," Ralph gently gestured to Vanellope, "She was my... Well, my first everything. I was about thirty arcade years old when I finally had a first swap."

"That's a relief," Nox mumbled to himself, he sorrowfully and bashfully looked down to his lap, and though he was praying the topic of swapping wouldn't come up, Ralph cleared his throat, which immediately cued Nox to hold his breath.

"Speaking of which, is this venture, of yours, something you can see taking a sharp turn into swapping? Because if so, this is an entirely different conversation," Ralph stated as he cocked an eyebrow.

"I-I... Well..." Nox began to shake, he nervously looked down and felt a lump gather in his throat.

"Yes or no," Ralph gestured his hand, though Vanellope tenderly rested her hand on Ralph's shoulder.

"Ralph," Vanellope eased as she nervously peered to Nox, any amount of red, that his grey skin could afford, was firmly plastered to his face.

"No, I want to know, I know it's a forward question but this is our daughter's life we're talking about," Ralph argued as he peered to Vanellope in dire urgency, "Oliver and Emery weren't a single worry on my mind because they are both self-programmed gamers, but this is entirely different. I had the same exact worries with Tessa and Zed."

"Yes," Nox stated with as much bravery as he could, he could practically feel every single inch of him want to shrivel into a tiny little ball with the way Ralph's dominant stare suddenly dragged to Nox in hard surprise. Nox nervously cleared his throat and peered to the two, "I-If... If you want my entirely honest answer. I'm not going to sit here and say no when you know full well that my answer is yes."

"Kid's got balls, Ralph, will you... Let go of my hand, you're squeezing my knuckles into oblivion!" Vanellope uttered as she stiffened her arm and urgently tried to yank her hand from Ralph's grip, Nox desperately tried not to erupt into hard laughter as Ralph un-boggled his mind and freed Vanellope's hand from his.

"I'm not going to lie to you. My intention here was to get Koko's mother's and father's blessing... This doesn't mean I want to dive head first into everything. Quite frankly, I'm terrified... But I figured I'd rather be terrified and in the clear than terrified and tip toeing around the most power bad guy in Arcade," Nox uttered in a choke as he gestured towards Ralph.

"You're putting me above Turbo?" Ralph cocked an eyebrow and nearly smiled, though Nox slumped his shoulders.

"Turbo's dead, are you really asking me that question?" Nox muttered as he waved his hand in mild annoyance, though Ralph breathed a scoff of a chuckle.

"We're not going to sit here and tell you two just how to live your lives... Koko's an adult now, and... If I've raised her right, which I truly believe I have done a fairly decent job, if I do say so myself," Vanellope rushed as she cocked an eyebrow, Ralph genuinely nodded as she continued, "Then, there's really nothing we can do but just to take a step back and hope for the best... Just please... Promise us something?"

"Anything," Nox breathed as he focused on the two.

"Before anything is to ever escalate, please... PLEASE have Tessa and Zed educate you on the opposed swap," Vanellope nearly begged, her and Ralph gave each other nervous glances, "I'm... I'm surprised Tessa and Zed made it out alive. That swap is so risky, and so detrimental. One wrong break in the chain, and... Koko's gone forever. It's irreversible."

"I promise," Nox stated, he nearly felt grief hit his heart, and before he could rush to assure them further, he felt his skin grow cold at the mere thought of everything he was attempting to get himself into, the situation at hand, and just exactly who he was wishing to pursue. He long blinked a few times and though he felt confidence, it all suddenly became real. He huffed a nervous breath and peered down to his lap, "I... I really don't think you guys need to worry about that happening anytime soon. I'm a pretty shy dude, y'know..."

"Well, she's a very extroverted girl," Vanellope retort, Ralph nodded and looked away, "If there's anyone who can get a shy-guy to take off his mask and red hood, it's Koko. So really, you could be telling us that this won't happen for awhile, on your accord, but I'd watch your step. She can be very convincing... I really have no idea how she is, when it comes to romance, but if I know her like I think I do, then I hope you've at least braced yourself."

"I'm taking the surprises as they come," Nox chuckled, he looked to the side before his golden gaze peered to Ralph and Vanellope, "I really hope that you guys aren't scared of me, or wary or anything. I'm an open book... I imagine being held up with two TurboTime racers isn't technically something that makes you feel totally safe."

"It didn't at first, but..." Ralph trailed off, peered to Vanellope and finally let a small smile play across his face as the two gave Nox their kind eyes, once and for all, "You, nor Throttle, have given us any reason to be worried. I don't need to warn you about just what will happen to you if you so much as harm one hair on Koko's head, though, do I?"

"Not even a little... I understand the consequences," Nox assured as he lightly held up his hands and shut his eyes, "It took all day to muster the courage to so much as text Vanellope... I'm terrified as is. I can't imagine you two being even mildly upset at me..."

"Well, good, keep that in your head, cause you'll have the whole entire castle after you if something goes wrong," Ralph threatened, and though Nox took it head on, he knew Ralph's and Vanellope's intention was to protect their youngest daughter, first and foremost.

"Understood," Nox agreed quietly, his humble eyes looked down to his lap in bashful nervousness, though once the air fell silent, he curiously peered to Ralph and Vanellope.

Ralph softly gave Vanellope a knowing look, as if to ask if she was potentially on the same page as him, and as she gave him a knowing smile of acceptance, the two gave Nox their stares, once more. Vanellope assessed Nox, one last time, and very briefly wondered just how it would feel to potentially take him under the castle's wing, to group him in with royalty. The strange knowledge that the one game that haunted Sugar Rush for years has now blessed the castle with the potential for yet another Prince, Vanellope smirked at the irony and finally laid all of Nox's worries to rest.

"You have our blessing, Nox," Vanellope eased, Nox perked up and looked as if he couldn't contain his excitement; so much so, he clenched his fists and lightly stood.

"Thank you, THANK YOU," Nox urged quietly, his deep voice was beyond elated, his eyes somehow gained a brighter glow as he beamed the two a grateful, humbled smile, "I-I... I won't let you down. I promise."

"We're holding you to that," Ralph stated firmly, and as Nox quietly thanked them a few more times and uttered notions of assurance, he quietly trailed off of the porch into their bedroom and quickly out into the Sky Room. Once Ralph and Vanellope were finally alone, they dragged their eyes to each other in curious concern, "... What the hell just happened."

"I believe you just gave your youngest daughter to a TurboTwin," Vanellope spout in a hard laugh, Ralph snorted a chuckle and shook his head in hard surprise.

"Did that conversation just happen? I could've sworn Jax or Tej were going to be the ones vying for our approval," Ralph grumbled, he shook his head and peered through the sliding glass door, though he flinched once Vanellope sighed and lightly stood.

"I think it's sweet... Curious, but sweet. He's very different then I'd ever expected," Vanellope stated through a long breath as she approached the edge of the patio and peered up at the pouring rain, "The castle keeps gaining baddies. I don't know what it is, about the girls, in finding bad guys."

"They're YOUR daughters," Ralph chuckled, he gestured to himself, "You started it. Tessa trailed after a guy with Radex dug into his coding, and now a TurboTwin is vying for our last Princess... Women trailing after bad guys, I sense a pattern, here... Don't you remember who you're married to?"

"How could I forget?" Vanellope playfully sneered as Ralph pushed closer to her, wrapped his larger arms around her waist and tucked her close to his body. Vanellope giggled, draped her arms about Ralph's neck and felt her smile drop a little. She furrowed her brow and peered into her husband's lull of a demeanor, "Whatsamatter?"

"It's nothing, I just... I feel as if I hardly had a chance to protect Koko," Ralph worried with a frown, "I met her a week and a half ago, and already she's a fully grown gamer, garnered a boy's attention, whom of which has just merrily skipped away with our blessing..."

"You'll have plenty more ways to protect her, Ralph... She hasn't gone anywhere, and she still loves you," Vanellope reassured quietly, she heaved a gentle sigh as Ralph's forehead budged into hers; they both closed their eyes in their lull of a bubble, the rain before them calmed their nervous hearts, "I always knew she would 'leave the nest' very quickly. She's so bubbly and adventurous... But, this is our opportunity to now really get to know Nox. He's a fascinating little dude."

"The only reason I'm so anxious is because... It's HIM, and... I hate to keep the trend rolling, but... Who his oldest brother is," Ralph mumbled, he felt a pang of guilt crawl over him, he knew he was very easily playing the roll of a hypocrite.

"If he values his life, which... I truly believe he does, I'm sure he'll be careful with Koko," Vanellope cooed quietly up to Ralph, she lovingly stroked the back of his neck, "Maybe we can chat with Tessa and Zed, on the subject matter. They know Nox a lot better than we do."

"Ace, too," Ralph added, Vanellope nodded in quiet agreeing.

"If they're all confident in Nox's intentions, then we have no reason to be so on edge," Vanellope concluded, "Why don't we give it a week, ask around, about him, and reconnect with Nox before the trip into Sugar Rush... Wouldn't hurt to ask Koko about him, either."

"She mentioned him last week, to me," Ralph stated through an annoyed sigh, "Told me to lighten up, basically, and that he's a pretty nice guy."

"That's reassuring," Vanellope stated honestly as the two sunk tighter into their warm embrace.

"That's all we can hold onto, for now," Ralph eased through a tired breath onto Vanellope's shoulder.


	91. Chapter 91

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Did you miss the part with the blessing given! xD And, thank you! I'm glad you guys are alright with these kinds of chapters.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Aww LOL! Well it sort of was, to be honest! Nox was given a very important job! xD

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha I actually don't genuinely know, I can only assume. My dad wasn't around when I started dating boys, so I just flew blind through that entire chapter, to be honest with you. xD And, you guys get a goooood 'ol heap of Tammy/Finn here, with this next chapter! xD But yes, lots of Nox/Koko coming, and a dash of Orph/Penny :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I REALLY appreciate this! Thank you so much! I try hard to make Nox a goofy, sarcastic dude, but someone of whom is wholly open to showing love and tenderness - whereas Orph is a brash, loud and obnoxious dude and shies away from showing TLC openly. Nox is more well rounded, in that aspect, it definitely makes it easier to write for him :) Thank you!

 **Xaehttium : Congrats!** You're my **800th** reviewer! :D YAY! Also, Nox doesn't tell her he loves her or anything - just simply expresses that he likes her and wants to get to know her. Nothing too serious :P

 **Jay Sketchin :** I appreciate your concern - but I need to just make something clear. IDK If you think I'm not aware of their actions, and the way they're treating Nox? Cause I am xD Ralph and Vanellope were the very first two people to have speaking lines in chapter 1 of Wrecking Limits, and from that chapter forward, I haven't, for a single second, excluded them from eternal character development. Ralph and Vanellope have a long way to come, still, just like everyone else - if you must know, they do reconvene with Nox, they do owe and give him apologies, and they do group him underneath their wings and accept him. I can't tell if this review is you being upset towards me, the author, or you being upset towards simply just the chapter. I am HUGE for character development - this was one of my many exercises. The battle between King and Queen giving away their precious princess to a TurboTwin of all people. They have every right to be wary, but Nox is proving himself nicely and knows not to let anyone down. As stated, I try and make absolutely certain each one of my characters hits some sort of 'flaw' speed bump, in this story. For them, it's being a tad bit overprotective and close-minded towards Nox. I put myself in their shoes and I can't say I blame them, but at the same time, I make damn sure they come back around xD Sorry to write you a novel - I just wanted to make myself thoroughly clear. Thank you for your support!

 **ArchitectDreams :** Haha it'll be awkward for ANY of them to go to Tessa and Zed for opposed-swap help, but it definitely has to be done, or else! xD

 **WildVirus :** LMAO! I'm REALLY thrilled 'Grey Bae' has caught on xD Aww I love Nox.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Run To You (Ft. Meron Ryan) by Summer Was Fun**

 ***Chapter 91***

"When," Nox stated quietly to Libby, she poured him a glass of champagne, though much to his surprise, Libby kept pouring. Nox furrowed his brow, bulged his golden eyes and jolted, "When, Libby WHEN!"

"When what?" Libby shrieked as she yanked the bottle away and gave him a look of floored bewilderment, Ace and Koko were easily lost in laughter.

"When! It means stop! I'm good on the alcohol!" Nox laughed as he hovered his glass perfectly still, it was near overflowing with the yummy, rose-shade champagne.

"Stop complaining, she practically gave you the whole bottle," Ace gestured, he peered to his and Koko's glasses, which were half full.

The four were lazily stationed in Nox's studio home, the second floor of Ace's tower. His room, though laid out exactly like Ace's and Libby's, which room's were above his, the interior was a tad darker, a warm envelope of cozy love he sunk into every night. Dark furniture, glossy beige concrete flooring and grey draperies, about his bed and windows, made his nook look like a place you could tuck into for the winter and certainly stay warm. His little abode was lit up, and it was clear he took great pride in his first official home. His kitchenette had a long, sprawling, glossed wooden counter top with stainless steel appliances of all sorts.

"Libby, your accent gets me," Koko giggled as she caught eyes with Libby, "'when what!'" she desperately tried to match Libby's endearing accent.

"I've never heard that term before!" Libby shared in Koko's laughter and delicately set the large bottle of delicious champagne on the counter, though she picked up her own glass and peered to Nox with a curious smile.

"You said 'tell me when'," Nox sipped the champagne, though only to level it out so it wouldn't spill, "... So I did just that!"

"Ohh, that's what that means," Libby rolled her eyes, "I guess that directly translates to 'say stop' in Teltokuan."

"Alright, I propose a toast," Ace raised his glass, his three friends quickly joined with eager eyes that honed to him in growing excitement for this fun night that had taken place, "To my first real aunt, and though I'm only two days older than you, I still am really glad you're my aunt. I couldn't have asked for a cooler sister, for my mom, and... I can't wait to see just what other relationships you form, with the rest of the residents under the Kalivar castle."

"To Koko!" Libby chimed as she breezed past Ace's knowing, light prod, for Nox's sake. Libby held up her glass and giggled, "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday, Koko!" Ace, Nox and Libby loudly stated with bouts of excited notions and laughter, and as everyone clinked their glasses together and took a celebratory drink, Libby held up her finger and peered into the glass in a curious way.

"Wowww, this is really tasty," Libby stated, as if she had never had anything like it before, and though Ace knew she was sensitive to alcohol, because of what had happened to her with Hilotem, he was surprised to see her keep face for Koko's sake and put trust in her three friends. She giggled and bashfully peered about to the three, "I... I shouldn't really have too much of this, I may be tall, but I'm a light weight."

"You're gunna need at least five more of these full glasses in order for anything to even remotely come of me," Nox grumbled as he eyed the glass and chuckled, everyone got even more comfortable about Nox's kitchen.

"Uncle Orph spiked my soda one night, a few months ago, and mom didn't forgive him for like three weeks after that," Ace blurt a hard laugh as he relaxed against the high counter, Koko took a sip of her drink and eyed Ace curiously.

"Hopefully you were alright?" Koko laughed, Nox beamed and rubbed the back of his head as everyone eagerly honed their attention to Ace.

"Oh, my dad was in on it too, they thought it was hilarious," Ace shook his head and gave everyone a nonchalant look, "I don't remember a single second of dessert, though, I'll tell you that much!"

"For User's sake!" Libby blurt a laugh, though Nox jolted and set down his glass.

"Dessert! I almost forgot," Nox uttered, though Ace smiled, set his glass down and slowly head to the fridge, after Nox, to help him, "I uh... I had Libby help me with this, but... I-I... I made you something, Koko."

"For me?" Koko chimed bashfully, she tucked her loose, chocolate brown hair behind her ear, the rest was in a ponytail that trailed her back. She covered her mouth's wide smile and was floored to find Nox carefully approach her with a small, delicious chocolate cake with plump strawberries that beautifully splayed the top, "Oh, wow!"

"I may have had a hand in the baking, but... The decorating was alllll Nox's hand, and idea," Libby stated quietly as Nox softly set the cake on the counter and quickly began to rummage for something in a high cabinet.

"This is so nice of you, Nox," Koko stated warmly as she stepped closer to the round cake, it was big enough for everyone to have a slice.

Written in red frosting were the words 'Happy Birthday Koko', it was embellished with cute puffs of dark chocolate frosting and fun sprinkles all about the cake. Just as she was about to potentially think about stealing a swipe of frosting, Nox approached with a single candle, to represent her first birthday, and as he wedged it into a portion of the cake that had no lettering, he gently lit the candle and reached for the kitchen's light switch. As the flame, and Nox's glowing eyes, lit up the place, he expectantly peered to Ace and Libby. As his two friends came alongside Koko's left side, Nox hung near her right, and with everyone's fun, loud sing-song version of the 'Happy Birthday' song, to Koko, he raised his eyebrows in bashful surprise as she scoot herself tighter into Nox's side.

Nox eyed her softly and felt his mouth soften the loudness of his voice as the three sang to Koko, a birthday tradition they had already done on Sunday, though they knew this day was now strictly dedicated to Koko. Nox felt bravery flood his veins, and as they came to the last verse of the song, he gingerly dared to wrap his arm around the middle of Koko's waist and tuck her even closer into his side. He was beyond floored to feel her fill the gap, rest her larger hand to the center of his chest and glance him a bashful, grateful smile. As the three finished the song, Nox huffed a nervous breath, smirked Koko a flash of a bashful smile and felt his heart jolt with the fact that he could see her cheeks glisten with the yellow glow of his eyes, their closeness was something he could swear he was only imagining.

"Make a wish," Nox stated sweetly as he only lightly unhanded her, and as she tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned forward, she hesitated for a moment, to make a wish, before she blew the candle out, and the kitchen went dark sans Nox's glowing eyes.

"What did you wish for?" Libby asked eagerly as the three cheered happily, though Ace switched the kitchen light on and lovingly placed his hand on the center of Libby's back, to get her attention.

"She can't tell, or else the wish won't come true," Ace complained, he gave Koko a knowing smile as Koko bashfully scrunched her shoulders and peered to Nox.

"Thank you," Koko eased quietly, and just before Nox could properly reply, Koko barely stood on tip toes, placed her tender fingertips to Nox's upper arms, which were now criss-crossed his chest, and placed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

"Y-You're more than welcome," Nox stammered as his face visibly showed a hard red, to which Ace and Libby tried their very hardest not to loudly point out.

"And of course, thank you, Libby, for helping," Koko giggled as both girls embraced.

"Bah, it was nothing. I just sat and told Nox what to do and what not to do," Libby gripped her arms about Koko's neck, and though both girls had a decent amount of height difference between them, Libby still came to her level and squeezed, "Nox did all the work."

"I would've made a charred boot if it weren't for your help, Libby," Nox chuckled as he took another swig of his drink, though he finally set it down and began to fiddle in his silverware drawer for a cutting knife; he desperately tried to hide the tremble in his hands.

"YUM," Ace barked sarcastically.

"For the longest time, I thought the 'Happy Birthday' song was of Sugar Rush origin," Koko giggled, she scrunched her bare shoulders; she wore a coral halter top which showed off her stomach nicely. She also wore a comfortable pair of pants that slouched about the tops of her bare feet, her now tanned skin held a light kiss of a burn towards the tops of her shoulders and her cheekbones, she continued on as her eyes dragged to Nox's hands to watch him cut the cake, "When everyone's birthday came, we'd sing the song, and I always thought it was something my mom made up. Then everyone started singing it to me, Libby and Ace, the other day, and I was like wait... What?"

"How sad," Ace chuckled, he rummaged through another high up cabinet for four plates, "Sugar Rush likely has some special tunes that are strictly Sugar Rush."

"Oh, yes, mom has sang a few... Her and Aunt Taffyta like to sing this one that's really cheesy and obnoxious, they'd always sing it if ever Oliver was in a bad mood or something," Koko giggled, Ace held out a plate for Nox and was prepared for the slice of gooey cake he had just prepared.

"Sing it!" Nox teased, Koko raised her eyebrows and caught glances with Libby.

"I'll pass," Koko stabbed with a hard laugh, everyone joined her.

"B'aww, c'mon!" Ace joined, Libby giggled and covered her mouth, though she raised her eyebrows in grateful surprise as Ace handed her a plate heavy with the delicious chocolate cake.

"Can I have extra strawberries?" Koko pleaded quietly with a girly scrunch of her shoulders, Nox nodded once and began to scoop extra strawberries onto the slice he was currently cutting.

"Yes, ma'am," His deep voice crackled, an irresistible charm Nox somehow knew to turn up. Ace eyed him with a knowing smile as Nox handed him the plate, and once it was in Koko's hands, she peered down at it in grateful relief as Nox continued, "You want more strawberries, or is that enough?"

"Perfect," Koko's girly voice softly eased as her eyes dragged to his and held. Nox raised an eyebrow, smiled and swallowed a firm, terrified gulp of near-bewilderment; he quickly began to busy himself with the last two pieces for him and Ace.

"User, Nox, this is sooo good," Libby sighed as she chewed a big bite and politely covered her mouth, "I'm so glad I made you bake this entire thing. For some reason, food always tastes better when someone else makes it."

"I know!" Ace suddenly ogled as he pointed his fork lightly, he gave Libby a look of floored surprise,"Try telling my mom that! She doesn't believe me!"

"She just assumes you're lazy and don't want to make food yourself, when in all actuality, the psychology behind someone else making tastier food, than you, is indeed correct," Nox chuckled, though everyone slowly dragged their eyes to him in surprise; he scrunched his shoulders and bashfully began to tuck into his slice of cake, "I-I... I've been hanging out with Throttle too much."

"You sorta sounded like him, too" Libby giggled, Nox beamed an even wider smile into his cake and took a bite.

"We all know Throttle... What were Turbo and Lash like?" Koko asked Nox eagerly, her eyes glued to his in a string of dire curiosity, a girly, benevolent beauty she was practically soaked in, the curl of her chocolate hair, the golden flecks in her honey eyes to match the very glow Nox's eyes gave off; he felt a breath catch at just how raw and real her beauty felt to him, as if it were nearly too much for his ancient coded retinas to handle.

"O-Oh, well... Lash was very similar to Throttle, very stoic and quiet. He'd occasionally crack a joke, but that'd be only really if he had a few drinks in him. He was brooding, sort of stewed and was always deep in thought," Nox listed, and though he was telling the group this information, his golden stare couldn't help to come back to Koko's eager eyes, "Turbo... Well..." Nox smiled a nostalgic smile, though a pang of sorrow hit his skin.

"Used to be great?" Ace wondered tenderly, him and Libby stole a curious, sorrowful glance to each other.

"Turbo was the best big brother anyone could ever ask for... And I feel bad saying that because I had two older brothers," Nox chuckled, he gingerly dug his fork into the slice of his cake, to simply prepare himself his next bite, "If you think I'M sarcastic and funny, sheesh... You should've known Turbo. He was hysterical."

"... I wonder what went wrong," Libby urged quietly and sadly, her and Koko caught eyes this time.

"His game was unplugged... I'm sure that's just life changing for anyone," Koko shrugged and peered to Nox in an apologetic way, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, well... Bring up hard memories."

"No, no... Not at all, my... My memories with Turbo are some of the best I have, as weird as that seems," Nox shrugged and smiled a little, "Everyone knows him as this terrible person that nearly destroyed Sugar Rush, but... There were so many times where he'd grab me into a big hug, give me a noogie... And angrily whisper that he loved me. It was a running joke, he playfully didn't want anyone to believe he actually was capable of love. So he'd say it angrily, as if to be convincing."

"He sounded like a cool dude to have around, yeah?" Libby prod curiously as everyone munched, Nox nodded.

"He could light up a room," Nox breathed, though he furrowed his brow, "And... Not because of his eyes. His personality. He was always jumping from person to person, being social, the usual."

"I'm sure you miss him," Ace eased, and though the topic of Turbo was sort of taboo, somehow mentioning him through the eyes of someone who dearly loved him made it easier to endure.

"More than anything," Nox nodded, though he sighed and looked down at his cake, yet again, "But it's okay. I have good memories with him, and I've gained Throttle back, so that helps."

"If only he'd come around more, he's such a hermit," Ace complained with a wide smile as he peered across Nox's dim, large interior and to the windows across the way. Though the thick curtains were drawn over each window, one was slightly twisted, and a view of Throttle's perch across the field could be seen.

"Throttle was definitely a lot more social whenever Turbo was around... He brought it out in all of us," Nox chuckled as the four lazed about the kitchen with their delicious drinks and slices of gooey cake, "I think Throttle was a stickler whenever we were on the tracks, but after game day... It was very similar to how I feel now, with you guys."

"We're your family, now, you're stuck with us," Ace mumbled into the large bite of cake he hovered in front of him, and as everyone laughed, he beamed and shoved the large piece of fluffy cake into his mouth.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Nox smiled as he dragged his gaze to Koko, she looked expectant.

"What was TurboTime like?" Koko questioned politely, "Anything like Sugar Rush?"

"I actually have never set foot in Sugar Rush," Nox chuckled as he looked down to his plate, his piece of cake was half eaten, "TurboTime... Man, it was a gorgeous game. The city was huge, glass buildings and blue skies, it was like stepping into a mirage. Everything was so clean and precise. Turbo took pride in his game, he really kept the place up."

"I wish we could see it," Koko sighed, Nox nudged her arm with a small smile and looked to be enjoying this topic more than the three maybe assumed.

"We should recreate it," Nox stated, he peered his eager attention to Ace, "You can build cities in the code room, right?"

"Yeah, but that'd take, oh I don't know... Years?!" Ace ogled, everyone blurt into hard laughter, "How big WAS this city, anyhow?"

"Oh, bigger than anything you could imagine... Our largest city, Vidrix, dwarfs Ekreth by a landslide," Nox's eyes lit up, and though he felt pride, Ace knew Nox wasn't degrading anything Dead Zed had to offer, "We were all on cloud nine."

"... Do you think there'd ever be another TurboTime game to be plugged into the arcade?" Koko questioned, and though she was near invincible to all of these taboo topics, strictly because of her sheltered upbringing, the three before her still reeled a little.

"I'm pretty sure the entire arcade would throw a hissy fit," Nox laughed, which cued Ace and Libby to lighten up a little, "I can expand more on Vidrix later, I don't want to bore everyone with the details."

"I'm sure it was great, Nox," Ace assured quietly, he hoped that the impending awkwardness of the topic at hand was somehow subdued with the fact that the three beings, before him, have only been alive for a year, and hadn't had a chance to live through the rise and fall of Turbo, as well as the unplug of his game. Ace gestured his hand a little as he cleared his plate, he kindly took Libby's empty plate as well, "It's interesting hearing these kinds of stories... Just knowing the arcade's origin. It's pretty rad you've lived through it all."

"I'm full of useless knowledge," Nox stated with a bashful chuckle as he finally scooped the last bite onto his fork and glanced in Koko's direction, her eyes honed to him lightly with girly question, as if she was secretly trying to tell him that she could sit and listen to him for hours.

"Crap, it's past one," Ace mumbled as he looked down to his communicator, and though he knew him and Libby were typically awake together for at least an hour or two longer than the time it was currently, he knew now was the time to hopefully attempt to leave Nox and his aunt alone. Ace grimaced Nox a smile full of apologetic delight and glanced to Libby, "I'm getting pretty tired... Maybe we should head out, soon."

"I agree, I'm sleepy, my stomach is happy," Koko sighed as she peered about the used kitchen, "I will definitely sleep well tonight."

"Here, lemme get that for you," Nox eased tenderly as he reached for Koko's empty plate, and as the three began to help Nox clean up a bit, Nox nervously pushed to his kitchen sink and began to busy himself with the dishes.

He frowned into the soapy water and slumped his shoulders, he knew to respect everyone's space and let his friends come and go as they please, though he was nearly hoping Koko wouldn't leave just quite yet. He knew his itching heart couldn't handle waiting a single second to potentially tell her his budding feelings, the urge to express a simple, like of a desire that could potentially grow into a roaring fire. He bit his lip anxiously, and as the three behind him bantered and gathered trash, he noticed Libby reach for her communicator, on the high counter top, and slowly begin to look as if they were going to head for Nox's front door. Once the three began to very slowly meander towards the massive space of a studio, their feet dragged on the tiles, they chatted excitedly and patiently waited for Nox. Nox dried his hands and finally felt defeat hit his skin. He knew he'd likely have to wait until another time, he worried that keeping Koko past when she originally planned might not look too good.

"This has been fun, man, thanks for having us over and stuff," Ace smiled as he firmly pat Nox's shoulder and gave it a good brotherly squeeze, though with his, he dart his eyes to Koko's unsuspecting figure and gave the slightest shrug, as if to silently ask if Nox was going to potentially make a move.

Nox peered up at Ace and gave him a look of sorrowful regret, just enough to get his anxious point across, and with this, Ace decided to drop the act and accept Nox's choice. Ace nodded once and finally peered to Libby as she opened the front door.

"It's been great, huh," Libby chuckled as everyone stepped out onto Nox's front balcony, which also connected with the massive stairwell that hugged the tower; it led up to Ace's and Libby's rooms, but also down to the common room.

"I'm really glad you guys liked the cake," Nox shut his front door, and as everyone gathered underneath the porch light that had garnered a few large, beautiful moths, Nox inhaled a deep breath of the nighttime air and felt lightly rejuvenated. He knew to be patient in this time, and another opportunity, to reel Koko in, would likely present itself.

"It was really good," Koko urged in pure satisfaction, Ace and Libby eagerly nodded, to which Nox gave the three grateful smiles.

"I'm glad," Nox sighed, "Well... I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow, then."

"Yep," Ace beamed as he pointed lightly, Libby gently waved as her and Ace head for the upwards bend of the stairwell.

"Hey, I don't want to find you in the common room making more bacon again, I'm already having a hard time fitting into my pants, okay?" Nox argued as he firmly pointed in Ace's direction.

Ace and Libby loudly laughed, though just as Nox noticed Koko's demeanor begin to think about sinking away and leaving for the night, Nox whirled and peered his hard attention to her. He knew he couldn't give up so quick, he couldn't simply let her get away. He faced higher-ups for their precious blessing, and though he felt his palms begin to sweat, he knew not to let said blessing wait another minute. He opened his mouth and nervously peered to the back of Koko's head, and though she was about to turn to state a warm farewell to the TurboTwin, she looked as if she was maybe moseying, as if she wanted to be stopped, the way her delicate fingers trailed the metal railing outside Nox's front balcony, the lithe, dallying cuteness to her meandering steps, Nox puffed his chest a little and held out his hand slightly.

"H-Hey," Nox eased, he hoped he didn't seem to pushy, but with the way Koko peered over her shoulder and gave Nox an expectant, happy smile, Nox felt bravery continuously hit his skin. His nervous footwork stepped to her, and in this instance, he could feel Ace and Libby's presence finally vanish, and just as he wished, the two were finally alone, "I... I need to tell you something."

"Sure, what's up?" Koko shrugged as she finally faced Nox head on and gave him her full attention. She cupped her hands to her center and politely peered to him, to silently ask him to continue opening up to her.

"I... I uh... I had a lot of fun, tonight," Nox nervously rubbed the back of his head. He swallowed a hard gulp, tried to hide the tremble in his voice and finally gave Koko his kind, gentlemanly stare, "I really hope you had a good birthday, and all."

"It was great," Koko giggled, she peered down to the sparkling pool below, a perfect view Ace's tower had, "I thought it was hilarious when Jax shoved Zed in the pool, when we ate dinner outside."

"That was awesome," Nox beamed, the two shared a laugh, "Zed was pissed."

"He was," Koko scrunched her shoulders and continued to lightly laugh, though Nox heaved a shaky breath and continued to attempt bravery.

He lovingly reached out for her hand, and once he was successful in keeping it in his grip, he peered to her expectantly and gave her a soft smile, the glow of his eyes continued to reign down on her, a delightful, honey glow the two were coat in, and as if this was his only, shining opportunity to keep things going smoothly, he knew he had to follow through with everything his heart so badly yearned for. He cleared his throat and tried not to seem too delightfully nervous.

"I... I've had a wonderful time tonight, and, I've really enjoyed getting to know you, through this and last week," Nox continued on politely, his voice was deep and patient, and though he was thrilled that Koko's gaze on him was honed and undivided, he now could sense a feeling of mild urgency coming from her, as if he was potentially talking too slowly for her liking, the want for him to overflow her with all of his feelings, everything on his mind, was too large to ignore. Nox eased a silent huff of a falter and could swear his heart was about to burst from his chest, "... I really like you. I'm curious if we could potentially hang out together, sometime? Just you and me? M-Maybe I could make us dinner, this time? We could talk over dinner?"

"I'd love that," Koko pressed with a bashful smile as she peered down to their feet and blushed, she scrunched her shoulders and finally dragged her eyes back to Nox's, "Like, a date?"

"Yes, a date," Nox breathed with slight relief, he nodded and felt a wide smile sprawl his face, "Wh-what do you say Friday night? We'd have the whole tower to ourselves."

Koko cocked an eyebrow and beamed him a delightful smile in reeled, coy surprise, though Nox choked and lightly unhanded Koko's grip.

"N-No, I didn't... I didn't mean like... W-Well, what I meant was... A-Ace and Libby wouldn't feel obliged to-"

"I understand," Koko laughed, her delicate fingers glossed Nox's upper arm and down to his wrist. He raised his eyebrows in fogged surprise and huffed a faltered breath, once more. He soaked in her girly, pretty demeanor and nearly craved any form of positive assurance, "Friday night sounds great, I'd love that."

"Good," Nox huffed in relief with a bashful smile as he fiddled his fingers, he glanced to Koko in a draw of another nervous inquiry that came to his mind, though just as he was about to likely begin plotting just how he was going to overcome his next largest hurdle, Koko scrunched her shoulders and dared to take a step closer to him.

"This birthday won't be complete until I get my birthday wish," Koko stated boldly, though the delightful dip in her voice, the crackle of innocent, seductive love, had Nox lightly reeling in surprise.

He cocked an eyebrow, twiddled his fingers a little bit more nervously and desperately tried to read Koko for everything she was, in this moment. Nox knew not to ask her what she had wished for, for her simply telling him would make it so it wouldn't come true, held fast to the make-belief of the tradition. He stammered on a few words that hung towards the back of his throat, though he pushed the words out anyways, he somehow hoped his question wouldn't be verbally answered, anyhow.

"...Wh-what did you wish for?" Nox nearly whispered, though as Koko took yet another dainty step closer to him, he raised his eyebrows in plucked surprise and was now certain he was having an out of body experience.

Koko's gentle fingertips just barely reached for Nox's chest, and once she silently asked him to open up to her, Nox's trembling hands welcomed her closer. He slumped his shoulders just barely, huffed a short breath and quickly held it, with the draw of closeness she eased into his skin, he was wholly uncertain of anything that were to come of this moment. With as many years on his life, as much knowledge as he had acquired, he knew romance was the one topic he greatly struggled with, though with much thought as of late, he knew he had likely picked up on a few cues, a handful of 'do's and don'ts'. He gingerly rested his palms on the undersides of her lower arms, a gentle sign to show her that she was welcomed, anything she was planning on doing was not only appreciated, but desired; he desperately hoped he wasn't showing it too abruptly.

As she lightly pushed closer, a smooth movement she seemed beyond comfortable with, he froze and braced himself for what he could swear would be his very first kiss, though he could hardly believe it to be real. Nox dared not to blink, the irresistible glow of yellow on her cheeks, the way the gold flecks in her eyes sparkled against the hue of his honey golden eyes, he could hardly believe someone had taken this much interest in him, and even more so, reciprocated the feelings he felt. As she hovered, a slow draw of finally feeling each other's breath on their noses, Nox long blinked, the glow of his eyes going with it, and before he could potentially run over his mental notes, one more time, he ripped them all up and warmly filled their gap.

Nox pushed into her warmth, a sudden rush of a craving that had been dulled and shoved away for so long, he suddenly felt it grow like wild fire, and in this act of getting the ball rolling, he now felt wholly doomed. He matched her smile, and as the two just barely pulled apart, he inhaled a shaky breath and felt the seconds immediately come to a halt for the two. Before he could even open his eyes and see the woman he had just kissed, she breathed a silent giggle on his mouth and filled their warm gap once more. Nox raised his eyebrows in continued surprise and felt goosebumps plague his skin, her wanting hands slid up his chest, to his shoulders and in a slow slide, they hugged about his strong neck. Nox gratefully returned their kiss, and as much as he wanted to remain shy and attempt to express he didn't know what he was doing, he knew Koko likely was impressed by bravery, even if it was forced.

As Koko's fingers just barely dragged through the soft, charcoal grey hair on the back of Nox's head, he dared to tilt his head and deepen their kiss, and with as much courage he could muster, he slid his strong arms around the middle of her waist and dared to tug her deeper into his chest. The way her body pushed to his, the expand of her rib cage, the gentle writhe of her spine as she gladly accepted his challenge, the two nearly popped the light bulb above them. Nox's hands eagerly trailed her back, and as he caught every single gentle hot breath she expelled on his soft lips, he could swear the world was spinning. Before the tugging on Nox's brain could turn into a full on yank, he inhaled a shaky breath and broke their kiss, he knew the two could likely keep the fire blazing, though he also knew too much too soon wasn't wise.

"It's not my birthday, but, boy did I make the same wish right along with you," Nox rushed in a whisper, Koko silently giggled on Nox's mouth and craved the glow of his eyes, the closeness of his warmth, like being sheltered by shade on a blazing day.

"Thank you," Koko breathed, as if to be relieved, like everything she had ever hoped for was standing right before her, "... For everything."

"Thank you, too," Nox uttered quietly, the two hung close to each other for continued support and warmth, Koko's shoulders soften as he continued, "That... That was my first kiss."

"... Ever?" Koko asked in silent shock, she gave him a floored look, as if to state she didn't believe him, and as the two finally gained a bit of distance, Nox held up one hand and looked down.

"Ever," Nox stated truthfully as Koko giggled and tucked her arms to her chest, though she finally pushed closer to him and slapped her arms around his neck for a tight hug. Nox beamed, grappled his arms about her waist and welcomed her back into his embrace. He tucked his face to the top of her shoulder, shut his eyes tight and felt relief crawl over him, "Happy Birthday, Koko."

"Thank you," Koko smiled warmly into his chest as he just barely swayed her.

"Shit, she's leaving," Ace stated in the quietest whisper as he grappled Libby's upper arm and pulled her away from the railing, so to not be seen; Libby beamed an excited smile, jumped up and down a little and gave Ace a look of floored expectancy.

"They kissed!" Libby mouthed, they stayed as silent as they could, though once they noticed Koko finally leave the tower's stairwell and approach the main castle, the two quickly ducked into Ace's room and shut the door as silently as he could. Libby took this opportunity to finally explode, "Oh my USER that was so adorable!"

"Finally, the dude needed that, I'm sure," Ace ruffled his hair and chuckled, though he grappled his pants pocket for his communicator and beamed Libby a knowing smile, "I will bet you twenty dollars he's going to text me."

"And say what?" Libby wrinkled her nose, though no sooner had she said that, Ace's phone buzzed. He beamed his communicator a wide smile and quickly dragged his smug gaze back to Libby's.

"You owe me twenty dollars," Ace muttered, though he flinched as Libby swat at him.

"... But I didn't bet you anything!" Libby giggled as she pushed closer to Ace, to see just what Nox had written, Ace opened the communicator and, as the two fell silent and peered down at his and Nox's conversation, they held their breath.

 _1:32am_

 _Noxtastic : DUDE_

Libby threw her head back in hard laughter, clapped a few times and pointed to Ace's communicator. Ace was easily lost in laughter as well.

* * *

 **A/N: I drew fanart of Nox and Koko, for this scene - titled 'Follow The Light' on my deviantART. Username Vyntresser :)**


	92. Chapter 92

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so so so much! I try to reference video games as much as I can without it being too annoying. I'm literally full of useless video game knowledge and it takes all of me not to flood the story with obnoxious one-liners xD I appreciate all the love for the TurboTime boys! They definitely get their ray of sun, for sure :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you! Yeah, I wish every day for peace and sleep - doesn't always work out though! xD

 **Snake557 :** omg I think that's the shortest review I've ever received lol

 **Jay Sketchin :** Oh no it's okay! I would never let you guys down. If YOU guys get protective of them, then just imagine how I feel. These guys are legitimately my own brain-goop LOL! Especially when I get confusing reviews like such, I'm like omg hang on. xD but it's no issue, I just wanted to make it clear that I have a plan for every hiccup in the story. Whenever you see a character getting 'mean' or 'acting out' - there's a reason, and I plan to come around with it. It's not me just simply being absent minded and throwing around conflict for no reason xD I just hope that no one views me, or my writing style, that way. Everything is so very carefully thought out. No harm done! I appreciate all the love :D

 **Xaehttium :** Yeah, Koko is a bit of a go-getter, and you'll definitely see more of that on their little date, on Friday xD LOL Ace and Nox are dude-bros hahahah

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! And, you guys will uh... Definitely get a good dose of TurboTime in the future, so no danger there ;) I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, the SR trips definitely throw drama about here and there, but the Kalivar castle doesn't remain drama free either... This chapter will prove that xD

 **WildVirus :** YAYAYYAYAAY I LOVE THESE TWO. Uhhhhhh y'know, that's an awesome question, and I don't want to say anything becausssse it will sort of spoil stuff? I guess I can answer it vaguely. To put it simply, no. Once you're with another person's coding, you're sat with it. Forever. Unless a User reverses it..

* * *

 **A/N: I had a TON of fun with this chapter, I'm sorry if it's a bit goofy or bouncy in some areas, but it's been awhile since I've had a bit of 'girly' fun, with this story, so I figured I'd slip it in where I could. And this was the perfect opportunity xD**

 ***Chapter 92***

With the glint of early morning sunshine, delicately splayed about the marble of the kitchen island, Tessa, Zed and Throttle hung in still, poised contemplation. As they were frozen in their deep thoughts, their gentle gazes strict in a hold on the hologram out before them, they each looked likely puzzled. The details held up before them were that of Throttle's, Nox's and Libby's coding and details. Each was complete with gamer stats, such as height, weight, physical age, and a detailed, circuited outline of each being. Throttle squinted his creepy white eyes, the black squares of his pupils did everything they could to compare Libby with his and Nox's coding, and as if to just barely come back to the planet, Zed's voice tenderly coat their ears.

"There's literally only the one similarity," Zed eased, he glanced his sleepy stare to Tessa; both him and his fiance were dressed in lazy, comfortable clothes, Throttle as well.

"It's so strange," Throttle shook his head lightly, pressed his bony, white hands to the counter, just barely, and leaned a bit closer to Libby's details, "It says here that she is strictly a faux code, of Dead Zed origin... But she doesn't have any parents listed."

"Would that go for every faux code?" Tessa prod quietly, though Throttle gently tabbed to the hovering, glowing silver search bar and slowly typed in Ace's name. It quickly brought up Ace's details, though his were far more complicated and tiered, because of his human abilities and qualities; even still, his listed parents were Tessa and Zed.

"It goes without saying," Throttle's deep voice grumbled in the frustration that was oozing over him, he felt as if he couldn't pin point just what made Libby so special. He shook his head and furrowed his brow, "Honeycomb coding is so rare, and so old... There is literally no way for her to have acquired it unless..."

"... Unless?" Tessa stuttered nervously, Throttle shook his head in hard confusion and squinted.

"... Unless she was from TurboTime, or something similar, I guess," Throttle croaked, though Tessa and Zed quickly peered to each other as he continued on, "But, it's not even on our radar. She looks NOTHING like the people from Vidrix. She has this peculiar, beautiful yellow coding. The only code colors in the game were red and blue... And clearly, the only gamers with this rare red coding were Turbo, Whiplash and Nox."

"Why did you differ?" Zed wondered quietly.

"Because I wasn't a playable character," Throttle grumbled as he bashfully looked away, "Our game was so old... We were the last of the few cabinets, in that era, to harbor such old, rare coding. The honeycomb."

"Surely... Surely there were other games with it," Tessa prod nervously, Throttle shrugged.

"Well, sure, way back in the day, but... Fix-It Felix Jr. got plugged in the same year TurboTime did, in nineteen-eighty-two, it was all anyone was talking about," Throttle huffed, "People kept mentioning Fix-It Felix Jr.'s 'state-of-the-art' technology, new graphics and better processing, and the like... I knew that was likely to be the last of a hived grid. I knew, from there, we were a rare breed."

"But Libby...?" Tessa prod quietly, "She's clearly of Dead Zed, it states that she is a faux-code. There is literally no way she could be from TurboTime, or any game prior to that... Right?"

"It remains to be seen," Throttle sighed, he shook his head and lightly gawked, "What else gets me is the smaller details... Anyone who isn't of honeycomb origin, that comes into contact with our interior, or exterior coding, gets nearly immediately burned, depending on the mood transferred. The two code types don't agree... Yet, Ace and Libby get on just fine."

"You think that's because Ace is human?" Zed wondered as he glanced to Tessa, she shrugged and nodded.

"I assumed so, but who knows if those two coding types will be able to fully merge, upon an actual code swap, as opposed to their exterior swapping nonsense... If... I'm safely assuming both Ace and Libby will eventually cross that bridge," Throttle finally chuckled, which cued Zed and Tessa to soften with smiles as well, "All in all, I'd be thinking the same exact thing as you, Tess. There is legitimately no way she could be from anywhere else, that wasn't Dead Zed. You guys haven't had contact with either Nox or I, TurboTime is unplugged, Turbo is dead... User knows if Lash is gone with him..."

"Lash wasn't apart of Sugar Rush's kingdom overthrow, all those years ago," Tessa shook her head, though she furrowed her brow in confusion, "... Right?"

"Right," Throttle grimaced as well, "It was Turbo that took over Sugar Rush. Lash wasn't with him, was he?"

"This is a conversation we need to be having with my mother," Tessa huffed as she tiredly rubbed her face, heaved a hard sigh and slumped into herself, though before anything else could be conversed, the patio door lightly began to creak open.

"Y'guys, lookit," Libby whispered in quiet excitement as she opened the door a little further, she flood the kitchen with the gorgeous splay of morning light, "C'mon, Chepi... Come."

Throttle eased the holograms away, so to not seem suspicious, and everyone honed their curious gaze to Libby. As Chepi's fuzzy, wobbly little body began to flop into the house, Tessa couldn't help but beam a wide smile. She furrowed her brow and assessed Libby intently; a lithe, tall creature of pure, innocent beauty, her long white hair was tucked into a tight braid down her spine, she wore a comfortable pair of black sweats and a cute short sleeved t-shirt with a proper Dead Zed logo slapped to the back of it. Tessa squinted, such a kind, curious being, someone who was so naive and sweet, yet held so many curious mysteries underneath her skin, Tessa found it nearly hard to even look at her. It was nearly painful how contradicting all of it was.

"C'mon, girl," Libby's dainty, quiet voice eased over the adorable froster fox pup. Chepi looked to have grown a decent amount in the past few days, and little tufts of her adult coat began to show along her spine. Chepi yipped a small noise and wagged her tail, "Alright, now... Sit!"

Chepi uttered a whine and softly sat down on her rear, and with this, Libby beamed an excited smile and peered back to the three at the island expectantly. They each looked as if they had to force themselves out of their thoughts, and as quickly as they could muster, they uttered kind and knowing notions towards Libby, a job well done at her little parenting adventure. Libby playfully bowed for her crowd, scooped Chepi into her arms, closed the round patio door and eased to the kitchen island to join the three.

"What's going on? Y'guys couldn't sleep either?" Libby kindly asked, she peered down to Chepi in mild annoyance, "This one woke me up with the sun."

"I'm still on Academy's schedule," Throttle stated politely, he gave Libby a kind smile and watched her tend to Chepi, "Nearly three decades is pretty hard to shake."

"Y'hungry Libby?" Tessa inquired softly, she hoped to potentially stray away from the impending topic of her curious coding, for they knew Libby wouldn't likely have any answers or new information to give them.

"Yeah, I'm getting there," Libby stated with a small shrug and a contemplative smile.

* * *

Tammy inhaled a deep, slow breath and let the groggy world come back to her. She slowly rolled over, though in changing the positioning of her head, she largely grimaced in tired surprise and shoved her palm to the side of her head. Her skull throbbed a dull, dehydrated headache and nearly made it so her eyes were unusable. Tammy uttered a silent groan, softly sat up and desperately attempted to peer through the haze of her sleepiness, and though she was comfortable and in the warmth of sheets and blankets, her sense of smell came back to her; the lovely, irresistible, scent of Finn.

Tammy froze and quickly realized just where she was. Finn's bedroom was lit just barely, from a secretive sky light off across his massive stretch of a bedroom, office and small living space. With knees bent and her arms that lazily sagged between her legs, her terrified eyes dragged to the bed besides her, though she was relieved to see that Finn, indeed, wasn't there, though her heart still throbbed at the clearly messy display of sheets and bed covers. Her heart began to race faster and faster as her eyes dragged to his lounging table, a high up perch, accessible from both sides, and lined with a few bar stools. With nearly empty wine glasses, an opened bottle of the stuff and papers strewn about, Tammy immediately felt her mouth hang agape in a rush of emotions she wasn't sure how to swallow.

Tammy fumbled, grappled for her communicator on the night stand and immediately realized she was only dressed in her black spaghetti strap and her own pair of grey underwear. She yanked the sheets and blankets higher over herself, clumsily fumbled the communicator in her trembling hands and unlocked it. In another surprised sweep across Finn's lovely room, she jolted as a noise was present, though it was merely a soft inhale of a silent snore. She fixated her gaze to Finn's massive telescope, across the room, and nearly felt her heart swell at the endearing sight. Finn was fast asleep over his work, which put her mind only briefly at ease. Tammy scrambled to tab for Koko's name, in her device, and urgently squinted through the agonizing bright light that only made her head throb harder.

 _7:42am_

 _FixerUpper : OMU Koko are you awake_

 _FixerUpper : Koko please wake up please omu help me_

Tammy urgently tapped her fingers against the back side of the device, anxiously scanned the room once more and urgently peered back down to the conversation she desperately was trying to get started.

 _FixerUpper : KOKO I SWEAR TO USER._

 _Keeks : what the heck Tammy are you good? What's going on? I was asleep_

 _FixerUpper : Koko you have to promise me you won't say anything to anyone I need your help_

 _Keeks : what? Okay I won't tell, what's going on_?

Tammy flinched in hard surprise and noticed Finn stir just barely, though he settled and continued sleeping. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

 _FixerUpper : where are you?_

 _Keeks : I'm in bed! Do you need me to get Tessa?_

 _FixerUpper : NO DON'T OMU DON'T_

 _Keeks : where the hell are you?! You're freaking me out!_

 _FixerUpper : don't tell anyone_

 _Keeks : Tamora Wylder Calhoun_

 _FixerUpper : I'm in Finn's room... I woke up here. I'll explain later. I need to get out, is anyone in the kitchen?_

 _Keeks : WHAT! Did you swap?! Please tell me you swapped_

 _FixerUpper : I DONT KNOW HELP THERE WAS A LOT OF WINE INVOLVED_

 _Keeks : okay lemme check_

Tammy huffed a hard sigh, rolled her eyes, put her communicator down and began to slowly slip out of Finn's massive, comfortable bed. She noticed her shorts strewn across a chair, and though she was disheveled and confused, she furrowed her brow and genuinely had to wonder if any form of a swap came of their drunken adventures, last night. She hobbled into her shorts as quietly as she could and felt her mind race a billion miles per hour. She knew she would eventually get to the bottom of this, though her main focus was simply getting out of Finn's bedroom without anyone noticing. She raised her eyebrows as her communicator buzzed.

 _7:45am_

 _Keeks : just peeked around the corner... Libby, Tessa, Zed and Throttle are all in the kitchen._

"Shit," Tammy hissed in pure, annoyed anger as she glared down at her phone, though she quickly sat down on the floor on the side of the bed she woke up on, which was out of Finn's potential line of sight.

 _ **FixerUpper has added Libbers to the chat**_

 _FixerUpper : Libby I need your help. Don't tell anyone you're talking to me and Koko right now. Can you please create a distraction and get everyone out of the kitchen? I'll explain later._

 _Keeks : I don't think she's noticed her device... I'm like half naked out here, I'm going back to my room, sorry._

 _FixerUpper : LIBBY LIBBY LIBBY LIBBY_

 _FixerUpper : LIBBY COME IN LIBBY HELP._

Tammy urgently held the side of her head and nearly huffed an annoyed giggle to herself, she knew she was likely overreacting, though she desperately wanted to get out of Finn's room and make sense of everything.

 _Libbers : Tammy! You dont have for the sleep_

 _FixerUpper : wait what? Omu can you please create a distraction and get everyone out of the kitchen? I'm in Finn's room and need to get out._

 _Libbers : Finn?_

 _FixerUpper : Libby_

 _Libbers : Tammy_

 _FixerUpper : LIBBY. YOU TAKE TESSA OUT. GO NOW OUTSIDE._

 _Keeks : she's not a neanderthal, Tams. English is her second spoken language. I'm sure reading it is nearly beyond her. I'm dying laughing btw._

 _Libbers : Oke ! Kunjima oteka Chepi firt locht_

 _FixerUpper : RIGHT! Okay! I agree!_

 _Keeks : I can't breathe_

 _FixerUpper :_ _Koko tell me when everyone's gone. For User's sakes_

 _Keeks : I just got back to my room! Uhg ok one sec_

 _FixerUpper : I'm about to game over I'm serious this hangover is literal death_

Libby furrowed her brow and peered down to her device in hard confusion, and as she desperately tried to understand all the words her and Koko were throwing at her, she panned back to the first few messages, of their conversation, and quickly caught on to the idea that Tammy was trapped in Finn's room and needed to get out without anyone seeing. Libby raised her eyebrows as it all finally made sense, though she tucked her communicator away and peered to Tessa with innocent charm. She shrugged her shoulders and watched as Tessa lovingly held little Chepi in her larger hands.

"Chepi knows this one other trick that's actually really cool, but, um... she only does it in the fire flowers, out by our tower! Come see!" Libby urged quietly in dainty, soft excitement, and as everyone shrugged and politely agreed, Libby began to successfully drag the crew out to the patio.

Koko quickly tucked away, further down their long hallway, so not to be seen by the four making their way outside of the building. Once the massive, round door shut, Koko lightly thumbed to hers, Libby's and Tammy's chat box that the coast was clear. Before she could even lock her device, Finn's teleportation pad, near the Sky Room entrance, buzzed softly and materialized Tammy into the room. In a silent, scrambling mess of both girls suddenly flying down their massive stretch of hallway, they urgently shoved each other into Koko's warmly lit room and sealed the door shut.

"Oh my User, I do not regret replying to your text," Koko laughed in a hiss of a whisper as the two panted, though Tammy grappled her hair, which was a hard, tangled mess all about her head, and urgently began to pace Koko's bedroom.

"Koko, oh my User, I'm serious Koko... Glitch my coding! I need to see if it's my original coding!" Tammy urgently begged, she looked half crazed in terror and half hiding excitement.

"What color is it originally?" Koko pressed, both girls held in a rasp of loud whispers as Koko let her palm glow with her purple coding. Once it graced Tammy's skin, her cousin's skin sprawled with orange circuitry, Koko eagerly assessed Tammy's eyes, "Orange?"

"Orange," Tammy huffed through a long sigh of exhausted relief. She covered her face with her palms, shook her head and lightly groaned, "It was only a few drinks, it was only a few drinks...! I didn't think I would be long gone after just a few!"

"Y-You and Finn had drinks and then you woke up next to him? Do you remember anything?" Koko sleepily pressed, though she looked as if she was desperately trying to force herself even more awake to sincerely enjoy this show.

"No, he was asleep at his telescope, OH!" Tammy gasped, grappled Koko's shoulders and peered down to her littler figure. Koko raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and held the undersides of Tammy's arms, "W-We kissed! I remember that! Ooh! I'm remembering stuff!"

"Okay, good, go on!" Koko urged nervously, both girls held eye contact, though Tammy furrowed her brow.

"We kissed... We were going over the constellation maps he and Zed had just recently drawn up. We found a new set of stars that hadn't been discovered, and to celebrate, he opened a bottle of his favorite wine," Tammy rushed on in a sleepy, near-agonizing draw of pain that continued to throb through her body, "We were joking and laughing and having a great time... I remember he kissed me. It was so easy, like... Such perfect timing. But, I don't really remember much after that."

Koko furrowed her eyebrows, and though she wanted to jump up and down and be excited for her older cousin, a sudden pang of nervousness drew over the girls and they quickly remembered Libby's experience with something very similar. Koko cocked an eyebrow, nervously looked about and bit her bottom lip.

"Y-You don't think..." Koko trailed off.

"NO, Finn wouldn't do that, he wouldn't have had sex with me or done anything like that while I'm nearly not even conscious," Tammy stabbed in a hiss of a whisper, though she covered her face, paced a few steps across Koko's dim room and grunted a soft garble of incoherent annoyances, "Maybe I passed out and he put me to bed... But then why was I wearing my tank and only my underwear?"

"Was it at least cute underwear?" Koko mumbled, Tammy urgently gestured her hands.

"NO! Just a pair I threw on cause I'm an idiot and didn't think a BOY was going to see!" Tammy hissed, her crazed, exhausted eyes stabbed into Koko's.

"Brutal," Koko stifled a hard giggle and scrunched her shoulders.

"My first shot and I BLEW it," Tammy urged as she began to broaden her pace about Koko's bedroom, warm carpet eventually met with glossy wooden floors, "Do you think there's a way to tab into the code room and see just what took place, last night? Like if there was anything that... Interfered with my body?"

"Interfered," Koko repeated in an immature giggle, Tammy swat at her.

"I'm serious!" Tammy urgently tried to hide a hard giggle, though both girls nervously erupted into quiet laughter, so not to wake Penny, Oliver or Emery, "I'm going to text Zed."

"And say what! 'Hey, I got really drunk last night, woke up in your brother's bed and now I need to know if my coding shows imperfections on my unblemished soul. Help'?" Koko teased, though Tammy whipped out her communicator and looked to be urgently typing; Koko furrowed her brow, "NO don't really send that to him! I was kidding!"

 _7:52am_

 _FixerUpper : Hey, I got really drunk last night, woke up in your brother's bed and now I need to know if my coding shprs imperfections on my unblemished soul, help_

 _FixerUpper : *shqws_

 _FixerUpper : *SHOWS_

"Are you serious right now, Tammy!" Koko argued as she tucked her long brown hair behind her ears.

"Wait, he's outside, isn't he?" Tammy suddenly realized as she peered to Koko's balcony, said patio connected with the backyard and had a nice view of both Ace's tower and Throttle's abode, across the backyard.

"Wait! Wait until I put on pants," Koko hissed as she scrambled across her room, grabbed a pair of her grey sweats and began to shuffle them on over her black, comfortable, girly boxer shorts, "How could he even be able to see THOSE kinds of details? That kind of stuff is wedged so deep into the coding, he wouldn't be able to pull all that up, would he?"

"He helped create a human, I don't put anything past that guy," Tammy muttered as she peered out her window and noticed Zed, Tessa and Throttle all watching Libby play about with Chepi, amidst the gorgeous display of fire flowers.

"She's so cute," Tessa eased as she slowly got down to her knees and was excited to see Chepi wag her tail and approach with eager eyes.

"I-I don't know why she's not doing the trick," Libby fibbed quietly with a gentle shrug, though she anxiously peered back to the closed patio door and had to wonder if it were safe to go inside.

Zed furrowed his brows and quickly pulled out his buzzing communicator, though as he read it, he began to laugh to himself. He shook his head in hard confusion, long blinked and peered back down to the device in floored bewilderment with a wide grin plastered across his face.

"Please don't tell me you downloaded games to that thing, or something, what's that one... Flappy Bird?" Throttle grumbled as he eyed Zed in a fatherly way, though Zed's fingers began to type up a reply to Tammy.

 _7:54am_

 _Imdead : Are you STILL drunk? I'm really confused, wtf is happening_

 _FixerUpper : I CAN SEE YOU stop laughing I'm being serious! I'm sober you jerkwad!_

Zed jolted, glanced to Throttle and then again around the backyard. He began to feel delightfully nervous at the raw fact that Tammy had eyes on him, though he had absolutely no idea where she was. He covered his eyes, from the sharp morning glare and peered to the line of balconies and patios that swooped towards Throttle's abode. Standing half onto Koko's balcony was Tammy, and as Zed uttered another laugh in her direction, she flipped him off.

"Git'over here!" Tammy urged in a sharp, hard grunt of a whisper that was fortunate enough to carry across the way, though it helped that she urgently gestured her arm.

"I'll be right back," Zed stated to Libby, Tessa and Throttle, though as they curiously watched him walk towards Koko's bedroom, and vanish inside with her and Tammy, Tessa furrowed her brow and peered to Libby in mild suspicion; Libby beamed a sheepish smile in return.

"Alright, shut up!" Tammy barked, though everyone was strictly speaking in sharp, raspy whispers, so not to wake anyone else up, "Stop laughing!"

"Oh my User, my sides," Zed wheezed as he stepped into Koko's bedroom, though he hunched over himself and desperately tried to keep his laughter quiet; Koko covered her mouth and desperately tried to contain her laughter as well.

"You're literally no help, I don't even know why I thought of you, I should be asking Ace for help," Tammy rushed in a hard mutter as she finally began to swat at Zed, "ZED this is serious! I need your help!"

"You will have to forgive me," Zed stammered as tears welled in his eyes, he desperately tried to collect himself, "You, and Finn... Got drunk?"

"Zed, I'm telling you the truth, I really don't know what happened last night and I'm worried he, well... He..." Tammy trailed off, and as Zed's laughter gently subsided, his smile also sunk as well.

Tammy huffed a nervous breath, peered to Zed in anxious desperation and began to lazily gesture her hand about. She shook her head, opened her mouth, uttered a few words that were the beginning of sentences she wanted to get out, though she faltered. She covered her face, grimaced and angrily rubbed her forehead, which was throbbing in pain.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Zed eased quietly, he tiredly glanced to Koko before giving Tammy his full, tender attention, all of his jokes aside, "Did you guys swap?"

"No, her code color is the same," Koko assured kindly, she motioned to her hands, to insinuate her glitching powers were used to confirm it.

"Alright, so you're worried that... In a drunken stupor you both... Made decisions you don't remember?" Zed wondered quietly, Tammy finally revealed her face and inhaled a shaky breath as tears slid down her cheeks.

"I woke up in his bed, but he was asleep at his telescope," Tammy whimpered quietly, though Zed quickly pulled out his communicator; his was different in the fact that it had the power to remotely tab into certain aspects of the code room.

"Well, if there's one thing I know about Finn, it's that he is the epitome of a gentleman," Zed assured quietly, he lovingly squeezed Tammy's lower arm and gave her a kind smile, "I'm almost positive nothing happened between you two, even with alcohol involved. I'm sure he put you to bed and that was that... But, if you'd like, I can tab into your coding's history and see if... Well... Certain things happened?"

"You can't just tab into anyone's coding without them knowing, can you?" Koko worried, though Zed shot her a sorrowful look of apology.

"No, no, not at all, I need said person's fingerprint in order to do this," Zed quickly assured, "Don't worry. I maybe have the whole game in my pocket, but I can't see anything personal you guys say or do, without your coded permission."

"Phew," Koko breathed, though she stiffened, "I-I mean... That'd just be awkward."

"Believe me, there are too many people under this roof that I'd like to see in the same light I see them in now," Zed muttered, though he chuckled as he pulled up Tammy's options, and as it asked for her finger print, he lightly gave her the device and an assuring smile, "There... That'll show you everything that happened. It won't show you anything that HE has said, or done, but... If he was involved in touching you, or doing anything of that nature, it'll show up on your history coding DOS."

Tammy pushed her thumbprint to the cue below and urgently bit her bottom lip. As stats quickly began to show up, lightning speed, she dragged her finger along the touch screen, held her breath and panned to the point where her and Finn kissed. It was at this point did she read a funny conversation they shared about the stars they had been studying, a few funny things were stated, in her own drunken stupor, and as she reached a dreaded line that read 'Tamora powered down for reset', she held her breath and began to fearfully scroll further.

She furrowed her brows and read on. From the looks of the history, Finn's careful hands did everything they could to lay her in his bed, cover her with the blankets and lay a few kisses to her forehead. Tammy huffed a small scoff of relief, cupped her hand to her heart and dared to let a wide smile sprawl her face. It was only then did she notice that, in the middle of the night, she had woken up to take her own pants off, by herself, in which the coding stated was caused by overheating. She finally heaved a long, hard sigh through her nose, lowered Zed's communicator and peered to the two in pure, unadulterated relief.

"That is the LAST time I have more than three glasses of wine," Tammy garbled, though Zed nervously glanced to Koko.

"So... Was I right? Finn didn't do anything right, cause I'll go in there and beat his ass right now, I don't care if he's asleep," Zed urged, he began to grow mildly angry and protective, though Tammy giggled and softly handed Zed his device back.

"No, Finn didn't try anything... He tucked me into bed and kissed my forehead and that was it," Tammy eased as her eyes guiltily trailed the floor, "I guess... I freaked out for no reason."

"You had every right to freak out," Koko daintily shrugged and peered up to the ceiling in charming glee, "Though, now you know he respects you even when no one is watching."

"I didn't have a doubt in my mind, I knew he wouldn't try something like that," Zed chuckled and crossed his arms, "I don't think he's brave enough, quite frankly. But, in this case, it seems to have worked out for the better."

"User, now I'm just embarrassed... I'm sure he thinks I'm an idiot, now," Tammy muttered as she grimaced through her headache and covered her face.

"Just talk to him, I'm sure you two will laugh about it and move on," Zed shrugged with a warm smile.

"He's right, and who knows... Maybe this is a nice ice breaker. Next time though, maybe hold off on the wine," Koko squinted and gave Tammy a knowing smile.

* * *

 **A/N:** **HEY, uh, real quick! For those of you that like NSFW content/artwork, I just created a NSFW Tumblr specifically designed for alllllll of my yummy code swap drawings. I JUST uploaded Ace and Libby's first code-swap, a painting I literally have spent hours on. It's extremely NSFW and shows nearly everything (it's tame/romantic) but, just to warn you guys. If you don't like that stuff, don't go to my NSFW Tumblr, which is Username - Vyngasmic**

 **I also have posted this picture to my deviantART, but I have cropped out any NSFW bits and nothing is showing, for those of you that are interested in seeing but don't want to see everything. I'm literally tip toeing around you guys what the fuck. xD**

 **Go see the yummy paintings! YAY!**

 **I also have a funny picture, of Tammy, from this chapter, coming your way xD So stay tuned!**

 **NSFW Tumblr - Vyngasmic**

 **DeviantART - Vyntresser**


	93. Chapter 93

**Reviews :**

 **Xaehttium :** It was VERY difficult to write the last chapter strictly because I could not stop laughing. I haven't had that much fun, with a chapter, in quite a bit, so I'm glad everyone enjoyed it as much as I did xD also, THANK YOU about my NSFW stuff! I hope that it excites you guys and gives you guys a better idea about what I'm babbling about, over here xD It's easy to write about and put emotion into word, but I love actually being able to convey that emotion through body language and facial expression, so I'm really glad you guys have taken to it so kindly. I was hoping not to disappoint :)

 **Snake557 :** Thats okay haha. And yes, it does! You guys will get a good dose of why their honeycomb coding burns and etc., come Nox's date, when things heat up between the two. Also, no worries! I don't read other WIR fanfictions, so to keep my ideas wholly my own and not absent mindedly be swayed by other peoples ideas. I have stopped reading fanfiction nearly half a decade ago strictly because I become too much of a chameleon and adopt other people's way of writing, and I've been diligent, and successful, in keeping this trilogy 100% me. So, I appreciate you wanting to share, but I apologize, I don't even think I have the proper amount of time to dedicate to reading another fanfiction alongside caring for my behemoth, but I'm positive you're doing great so far, don't ever dull down your ideas and your story to someone else's, cause each story is great in their own right :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! xD I'm really glad, I had way too much fun writing that chapter, and it was definitely a good refresher for me. This story has a very good balance of fun and drama, and I try to balance it evenly. Defying Code had a lot of fun times in the beginning, and then it all sloped to drama towards the end, which is totally fine, that's how the story was to pan out, but for this story, since there are so many characters, I'm definitely trying to keep everyone on their toes, and keep the fun and drama spontaneous and out of nowhere lol

 **ArchitectDreams :** No worries! Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Yeah, Tammy definitely shows true colors with this and the next chapter xD Also, yeah they named her Tammy, but she has a whole name. Tammy is what they call her, to differentiate her from her mother and such, but that's her whole name that appropriately gets used if someone is upset with her xD

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! Yeah, Nox finally gets the girl lol! Also, you called what? And you should definitely check out my NSFW crap it is the yummies :P

 **TwizzleCreamPuff :** Yeah, I mostly just threw that bit in for fun, and for 'social' reference, they have little games on their devices, but it's more like mindless games, like solitare and other BS like that. Throttle just said Flappy Bird cause they're aware of what's going on about the Arcade, children in Litwak's nowadays and etc., so Throttle, being a grumpy old fashion dude, just sort of off-handedly threw that out there cause Zed was geeking out at his phone haha. But yes, game-ception xD TEARS. That's a good theory! I'm not stating whether it's right or wrong, I have way too many of you spouting out ideas and such. If it helps, no one has been 100% right just yet xD Also, considering Ace and Libby are only two weeks apart in age, that's virtually impossible. Dead Zed was plugged in December of 2012, so about after the time the movie took place. Dead Zed is a month newer than Hero's Duty :P

 **WildVirus :** I'm serious I could hardly write it I was laughing at myself and I felt like a total asshole lol. And yeah! That actually sounds like it'd be about right! Her 'heritage' is closest to Native Americans, here in the US. I am actually a small portion of Cherokee, on my dad's side, and I've just always grown up with a good idea of the Native American culture. Currently, I live right in between native Apache, Maricopa and O'odham territory, but my lineage stretches across the south. I just sort of threw the idea of Inuit and 'islander' tribe life into her mix. Alongside being a total jungle babe xD She's all around a good hodgepodge of my own ideas/heritage. I am only a small portion Native, though. I am nearly mostly Irish, Scottish and Swiss xD yay alcohol and cheese. What else would also influence her 'style' is the Aztecs. Though that kind of influence is more southern Mexico, I live so close to the Mexican border, (thank God for that, I'd be no where without bitchin' Mexican food) and I guess subconsciously, I slipped bits and aspects of my surroundings into Libby and her lifestyle xD I'm surrounded by a decent mixture of all of this on the daily. I do wish I had more of my tribe in me, the Cherokee. I was surrounded by reminders of such, as a child. They're a wonderful, beautiful people, all of them, really.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you! :D Good theories! I'm not spoiling anything to anyone, sans Cory and two close friends, so I always feel bad when you guys post your theories cause all I can say is like... thank you! good job! You're not right or wrong! IDK! xD I'm glad you liked the Fimmy scenes! she definitely lets her walls down, more is explained why in this and the next chapter. As for everyone's middle names, I reveal all the brother's middle names eventually (Orph's comes first lol) - IDK I just pick names I really genuinely like, that sound like they would fit with said character and roll off the tongue appropriately. :D Oh good! Let me know when you post it, I'm sure it's awesome! You're more than welcome!

* * *

 **A/N: OKAY since I've never really made it 'canon', for this story, I might as well make a list of all the pairings names. A few of you guys have come up with little names yourself, so I may use said terms that I've heard across the net, but I figured I'd make a proper list and see what you guys thought.**

 **Ralph and Vanellope -** Jawbreaker, obviously

 **Taffyta and Rancis -** Isn't this one called like peanutbutter taffy? which sounds disgusting if I do say so myself LOL!

 **Tessa and Zed -** I was thinking Zessa. I also thought Tiebreaker would be funny/appropriate for them xD

 **Oliver and Emery -** I haven't heard a lot for this one, cause it's not one of my main ships, but maybe Emiver? That's pretty cool

 **Ace and Libby -** I've heard people use Lace, I thought Lacey would be good - either it's a piece of fabric, or a girl's name. Awk xD

 **Finn and Tammy -** I personally liked Fimmy. I also thought Finny was good. I nearly wrote down Fanny and I was like what the fuck am I doing.

 **Nox and Koko -** Okay hold on, I actually have a funny story to this. While I think Noko would be best, I was sitting with Cory and Michaela the other night, and I drew a HUGE family tree, for the whole story, including the fourth story, and we wrote down major plot points and the ending drama and discussed a whole bunch of stuff, and when I pointed to the part of the 'tree' that displayed Koko and Nox as swap-mates, Michaela got real quiet and she was like ' ... heh.. Kokonox. COCONUTS LOL' and, we lit the building on fire we were dying laughing. Partially because we were on no sleep and were like bogging through all the crap these poor characters have to go through in order to save Sugar Rush, but I thought that was really funny. I'd say I'd stick with Noko, cause it's cute and simple, but Kokonox had us rolling for like 5 minutes solid.

 **Orph and Penny -** I've heard people mostly use Penorph, I thought Orphy would be cute - though that could also go as a cheesy nickname for someone to use towards Orph. IDK.

 **Balba and Royal -** While I never really write for romance scenes between the animals, I mean unless you want me too? That might get awkward xD I figured their pairing name would be Roylba. Balyal? IDK LOL.

 **Lickity and Orion -** Same concept here, especially considering Orion isn't in the picture, but maybe theirs could be like... Oriockity xD HAHAHA! Or Lickiton. That just sounds like that one pokemon.

Things uh... Also get a little bit awkward with Tej, but I won't put down the potential ship because of spoilers lol

* * *

 ***Chapter 93***

"So, you can dance. Leave me alone," Nox mumbled.

"You know girls like a guy that can dance," Oliver cocked an eyebrow.

"It's true, dude," Tej muttered as he rubbed his face.

"Zed, I've been meaning to talk to you," Orph gestured towards his oldest brother, though he reeled in embarrassment as Zed shot each guy a bewildered smile.

"OH, so NOW it's not sissy, huh!" Zed shouted, though each guy in the group sharply hissed him to shut up; Zed beamed, crossed his arms, peered about their card playing table and set his hand down, "Fold."

"I think the dance lessons stop with Oliver," Ralph chuckled, Oliver shot his dad an annoyed glower.

"I can be graceful," Oliver muttered, all the guys burst into hard laughter, though just as Nox was about to seem bashful and shy away from the further impending topic, Ralph reached his arm over a little and firmly nudged Nox's upper arm.

"Take my blessing and run with it, dude, it wouldn't hurt to learn," Ralph encouraged, though it looked to be mildly difficult, as if Ralph still had his reserves about Nox. Just as Nox was about to straighten his spine and beam Ralph a confident smile, every guy, around the round table, began to coo obnoxious notions towards the TurboTwin.

"BAW, wittle Nox, learning to daaance," Orph cheesed, though Zed furrowed his brow at Orph and swat at him, a little.

"Yeah, you're next, twinkle toes," Zed barked, though Orph cocked an eyebrow and shot Zed a determined glower, "I see the looks you give P-"

"Shh-YEAH cool story bro, shut it," Orph growled desperately as he grappled Zed's arm and squeezed, though he dart his eyes about the table nervously and was delighted to see the rest of the guys bicker and add notions towards Nox.

"What... What do you mean?" Nox questioned Ralph quietly, his face definitely attempted to turn beet red; Ralph scoffed a small noise, furrowed his brow and dragged his eyes across the massive room.

"Lookit her," Ralph grunted quietly, and as Nox dared to peer over his shoulder, he assessed the scene across the room.

Across their living quarters, the group of boys, Ralph, Zed, Tej, Nox, Orph and Oliver, all sat lazily perched at their round poker table they bring out occasionally. The storm outside raged, though inside, everyone kept busy with filling the castle with the smell of delicious baking. Stationed in the kitchen were all of the castle's girls, Jax, Ace and Finn. Throttle and Duke were the only beings absent, though Nox desperately tried to hone his eyes on the one girl that seemingly glowed. Koko stood perched at the kitchen island, her, Emery and Tessa bickered and giggled in careless, easy conversation, though with the way Koko's hair looked curled to perfection, her smile was as bright as the sun, the way her honey-brown eyes drew to Tessa and held an overflowing amount of renewed, dewy kindness, Nox felt his heart stop as the memory of their impending date, come Friday night, came to his mind.

"Turn out all the lights, and she'd be all we needed," Ralph chuckled, leaned back into his chair, it loudly croaked with his weight. Ralph wrinkled his nose and dared to give Nox a small smile as his nervous golden eyes dragged up to Ralph's dominant figure. Nox tucked his cards closer to his chest, in a bashful manner, and peered down to them with a cute smile, "Take Zed's advice, let him teach you a few things. If you haven't snagged her whole attention, by now, surely learning a thing or two about grace will do the trick. Y'know how girls are."

Nox's eyes nervously dragged to Zed's, from across the table, in dewy, innocent nervousness, and as Zed sent him a smug, brotherly smile, as if to state that it was about time. Nox rolled his eyes, slumped his shoulders and beamed down to his cards, once more.

"Stop folding, you pansy," Orph grunted in annoyance.

"Stop taking my chips," Tej added to Orph, though Orph dragged his bewildered eyes to Tej's playfully annoyed demeanor.

"Then stop sucking at this game," Orph laughed, everyone joined as Tej began to flick the poker chips at Orph.

Nox chuckled and dared to drag his eyes back to Koko, across the way. He felt his heart throb in growing nervousness, and though he was certain she likely didn't know very much about dancing either, he wondered if potentially surprising her would add a special touch to their date. He furrowed his brow, got lost in her golden aura and yanked his stare away from the kitchen, in hopes of avoiding Ralph's suspicion of him ogling her. He exhaled a shaky breath, and though their date was simply two days away, he felt as if it might as well be two years. Two eternities.

"You're cheating, Uncle Orph" A voice from overhead finally boomed down to the table, everyone flinched and looked up in a scurry of pure terror.

Just as Orph was about to largely call out whoever stated that, Royal's skin quickly dribbled back to it's normal colors, from the perfectly camouflaged spot he had used, with the disguise of his color-changing scales. As lighting quick as he could, he opened his mouth, and in a hard jolt, his long, golden chameleon tongue shot down, grappled Orph's arm and yanked him upwards a little. Orph let out a loud holler as a card was seen peaking out from his sleeve. Royal let go of Orph's arm, only for enough time to reel back another vicious slap of his lightning quick tongue, and as everyone was frozen in shock, Royal snapped the card from Orph's hoodie sleeve, brought the card up to his face and peered down to it. Royal was successfully curled around the high arches, a banister his massive, strong chameleon tail and body was doing a wonderful job keeping him in place, though his wings drooped a little.

"An ACE," Royal barked, which now urged the attention of the bickering, loud group in the kitchen. Royal heaved a hard chuckle and peered to Ace's whereabouts, "Hey dude! Uncle Orph had you up his sleeve!"

"I-I... I wasn't! I didn't know that was there!" Orph pleaded through a stutter of fibs that came out in bashful chuckles, all the guys angrily began to throw their card-hands at Orph.

"You suck," Tej laughed as he sharply stood and began to walk away.

"Good job, dude, now no one will trust you enough to play with you ever again," Zed stated through a laugh as Ralph urgently rubbed his face and let out a loud groan.

"Uncle, you may have named me, but that's no excuse to use my namesake to cheat," Ace crossed his arms as he beamed his uncle a playfully upset glower.

"I wasn't cheating! R-Royal, you put that there!" Orph laughed, though Oliver nudged Orph as he walked by.

"Give it a rest, Royal's likely been up there the entire time," Oliver mumbled, though Nox, Zed and Ralph remained at the table and began to help clean up.

"I have been," Royal sneered, he beamed a fang-filled smile full of victory and twiddled the ace of spades in his massive, chameleon paws.

"What's going on?" Tammy urged in quiet annoyance, she stood from her bent over position at the island, brought out a few mixing bowls and flinched as Taffyta opened up the oven behind her.

Tammy peered her curious gaze to Libby and Penny, who quietly sat and chit chat, they were enough out of the way of the light commotion, in the kitchen, though just enough to be a part of the yummy smelling pastries being made. Tammy furrowed her brow and glanced to the group of men shuffling from their poker table across the way, they loudly bantered and laughed. Tammy kindly handed Tessa the two bowls and honed her attention to Libby and Penny.

"Orph cheated, or something," Penny rolled her eyes and tried to act unamused, Libby giggled and glanced over to the group of men that slowly began to disperse, though the castle reverberated a thud of a boom as Royal's large body finally sank back to the glossy tiles.

"What else is new," Libby grumbled with a playful smile, "He was cheating while we were playing Chicken, on Sunday, for our birthdays... Kept stepping on Ace's feet, to get us to lose."

"That was hysterical," Penny dared a wide smile, she felt safe with the girls.

Just as Tammy was about to lightly join in and recall funny moments from the huge party, she noticed Finn practically shadow his way through the group of guys that made themselves present in the kitchen, and slowly saunter his way towards his teleportation pad, in which lead to his bedroom. Tammy cocked an eyebrow and tried not to make it too obvious she was staring, though she began to feel lightly frustrated. She knew the two had sat themselves in an awkward situation, though with how reserved Finn was, he became even more of a hermit and had been avoiding Tammy, including all of the girls san Tessa, all day long. She glowered in his direction, in mild annoyance, and though he was diligently sneaky and successfully left the kitchen without anyone noticing, Tammy rolled her eyes and dragged her stare aimlessly in Koko's direction only to find that she, too, noticed Finn saunter away.

Koko cocked an eyebrow, peered to Tammy and beamed her a curious smirk, though the second Tammy began to look mildly dejected, Koko gave her a knowing smile, tilted her head in the direction Finn laid off to and barely shrugged, as if to potentially urge Tammy to follow him and maybe set things right. Tammy glanced to his teleportation pad, and once he was finally out of the room, Tammy held her breath and began to feel bravery. She furrowed her brow, heaved a hot sigh through her nose, checked if anyone had eyes on her and slowly began to saunter out of the kitchen, as well. Koko noticed and took this opportunity to largely distract the girls at the island, so Tammy could successfully get away. Once Tammy reached Finn's pad, she assessed it; the small light, towards the bottom, was green, which indicated that Finn's room was 'unlocked' and he was open to unexpected visitors. She knew, had it'd been red, that was a clear sign that he didn't want company down in his dark, cozy cave.

Tammy bravely stepped onto the pad and let the silent whirring of the code room's processing do the rest. As her orange coding materialized her out of the kitchen and into Finn's room, she jolted and peered about her surroundings, a stark difference in where she just was. With the sudden silence, a dimer setting, the familiar, lovely scent of his musk, Tammy nervously stepped off the pad and honed her eyes across Finn's large living space. Finn was dressed in a lazy, button down shirt with sleeves rolled to his elbows, he yanked the end up so to un-tuck it from his pants, which was beginning to come undone anyhow. With comfortable slacks on, bare feet and his masculine hands working at the tight bun atop his head, he pulled out his dreads, heaved a raspy sigh and set the rubber band on his long work table. He cocked an eyebrow, upon hearing his teleportation pad buzz, and once he realized who had entered his room, he stiffened his lazy demeanor and looked as if he regret letting his hair down, the way his gentle hand nervously groped for his rubber band, once more.

"O-Oh, Tammy, I... I was just... Gunna wind down," Finn uttered bashfully, he straightened out his white button down shirt, though he knew trying to make himself look even mildly collected, once more, was futile.

"I'll make this quick, I just... I really need to talk to you," Tammy eased, she tried to recall their easy body language the night prior, their smiles, the seductive, innocent love they coat the room with, gentle swipes of the forearm and a few daring kisses to match, Tammy knew this would be a lot easier if said wine was involved, though she figured that was the challenge; matching last night without aid.

"Sure, I... I've been meaning to talk with you too, I just figured you wanted nothing to do with me, for the time being," Finn's deep voice croaked, his dark blue eyes bashfully trailed his messy work table. As Tammy approached, she crossed her arms and gave him a nearly annoyed, eager smile, her saunter clearly made him visibly nervous, "I was just going to uh... See what a good night's sleep did."

"User knows you probably have the biggest crick in your back," Tammy blurt, Finn's face washed to delighted, sorrowful surprise, though he didn't disagree with her. Tammy giggled and looked down to the tiers of maps the two had collected from the night prior, and with the gorgeously haphazard way the wine-rings temporarily stained the wood of his beautifully crafted table, Tammy felt the mystery, of the night, creep back into her soul with benevolent love, "... I came down here to thank you."

"Thank me?" Finn urged nervously, he sagged his strong hands into his tan slacks, looked about bashfully and shrugged.

Tammy eyed him, among him being one of the shyest of Zed's brothers, aside from Tej, Finn had a delightful, coy charm about him, the way he'd wrinkle his nose as a sign that he potentially had a lot of pent up sarcasm and wit he'd like to utter from time to time, though he figured he'd save it for Zed or Orph's personalities. With the nervous shrug of his shoulders, his messy, button down shirt revealed his thin undershirt, a wife beater that did a fabulous job at showing the sculpture of his handsome body, and it was in this moment of a quick, ogling glance across Finn as a whole, did Tammy finally feel as if she was brought into Finn's trap, a quiet, scheming way to get her down here without having to lift a pinky. Tammy cocked an eyebrow, assessed him and lightly pointed a finger.

"You set me up," Tammy garbled in a girly, annoyed tone with a half smile that turned into her contemplatively nibble her bottom lip.

"I did nothing of the sort," Finn's voice dribbled to a deep, reverberating crackle that could literally be felt on Tammy's skin.

She raised her eyebrows in growing delight as she eagerly watched him bend over a little, flip a switch underneath his work table, and saunter across his work space. Tammy flinched as the table's overhead lights dimmed, though she quickly kept in tow with him as he began to fiddle with a few settings on the massive beast of a telescope in his alcove, across from his sleeping area.

"You're trying to hide a smile," Tammy giggled, she rolled her eyes and, with agile footwork, she finally stepped in front of him, crossed her arms and got his full attention in a jolt, "... You had a stomach full of wine, a foggy conscious and a beautiful girl in your bed, and you risked breaking something, on your telescope, so to make sure I had a good nights sleep."

"Bah, that... That telescope can take a beating," Finn rushed, he furrowed his brow as if to breeze past Tammy's notions. He waggled his hand towards the telescope, avoided eye contact with her and stuttered a bit, "Th-There was this one time, I nearly broke my leg on it. I tripped over this piece right he-"

"Finn," Tammy giggled as she lovingly reached out and gripped his lower arm, he flinched and peered to her in such a way that expressed he maybe felt as if he had been put in an awkward situation, and receiving a thank-you wasn't necessary. Tammy shook her head a little and was relieved to finally have Finn's gentle, handsome eyes, "You put me first, you likely did something that was pretty difficult. I... I did you a disservice, and I assumed the worst of you."

"What?" Finn breathed nervously, his eyes sagged in growing sorrow as Tammy let go of his arm and lightly trailed away.

"I... I woke up in your bed, with no recollection of the night prior, and I immediately assumed you... Had your way with me," Tammy mumbled in embarrassment, she could practically feel Finn's stare of disbelief on the back of her skull. She sighed, turned around and peered down near Finn's feet in a sorrowful drag, "I went so far as to drag Koko and Zed into it."

"... You asked to see your DOS, didn't you," Finn eased politely, Tammy huffed a hot sigh through her nose and looked away in growing agitation, though Finn held up his hands and chuckled, "I don't expect anything less. If I were in your position, I likely would've done the same thing. You could've taken my word for it, but let's face it... You don't know me as well as maybe... You'd like."

Tammy raised an eyebrow and dared a smile, she finally locked eyes with Finn and slowly crossed her arms. She tilted her head up, smirked in growing, delightful annoyance and huffed a small laugh.

"We can change that, y'know," Tammy uttered plainly, as if to potentially not be attempting to come across as forward, though she hoped it conveyed enough want; she was thrilled to see Finn's face wash flat in a flustered array of cute bashfulness, she could tell he was immediately thrust into the unknown.

"O-Oh, I uh... Well I mean... It... Shouldn't include wine, I think," Finn rushed with a nervous, toothy smile, his eyes squinted in pure bashfulness as he rubbed the back of his neck in a swoop of desperate, itchy anxiousness.

"You tucked me into bed, kissed my forehead and left me alone," Tammy relayed with a kind smile as she continued to stare Finn down, "... I woke up in a shirt and underwear, assuming you undressed me and maybe had me agreeing to your pleas in a drunken stupor, and-"

"Whoa, wait, what?" Finn gained confidence as his face turned even whiter than a ghost, "U-Undressed...? I-I did nothing of the sort!"

"Relax, I... I guess, in the middle of the night, I got hot, thought I was in my own bed and took off my pants," Tammy rushed gently, Finn exhaled a hard sigh of relief.

"I was gunna say," Finn uttered shakily. His eyes nervously glossed Tammy in a fit of not wholly knowing what to do, or where this was going, "I... I hope you remember, well... We uh, were discussing the astrological signs, and, uh... Which would be compatible with which and, since ours was a perfect match, we uh-"

"Kissed?" Tammy eased ever so softly, though Finn froze, raised his eyebrows in delighted surprise and gestured his hand.

"You remember!" Finn urged quietly, Tammy giggled as Finn beamed a cheesy smile, slumped his shoulders and looked about in glee, "I was so worried that maybe was lost to memory, as well."

"Nope, I... I remember," Tammy hugged her arms closer to her chest, out of pure bashfulness and looked down, "I remember the wholllle shebang."

"What does that mean?" Finn rushed in a quiet, nervous tone, Tammy threw her head to the side and let out a girly laugh that Finn had a hard time not smiling about.

"It was shortly after our make-out session did I begin to lose recollection of anything," Tammy prod as she, much to Finn's surprise, began to saunter away and look as if she was potentially thinking about leaving, "But, you were pretty fantastic, from what I recall... And for the fact that it was your first ever."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Finn barked with a widening smile, he quickly pushed to keep up with her, and as a taste of her own medicine, and agile footwork to boot, he swiftly stepped in front of her and brought the two to a halt, "You comparing me to your previous boyfriend?"

"... Oh! So you're now my current boyfriend? Is that what you're saying?" Tammy kindly wondered, though with great cheek, her eyes twinkled.

"I... Whoa, wait, I'm not saying that," Finn argued with a dorky, annoyed smile, though Tammy playfully let her demeanor sag, and with this, Finn urgently gestured his hand, "Well, no! I mean like... I mean, i-it'd be GREAT to be your boyfriend and all, but after last night, and th-the time when your mom nearly killed me, and I'm pretty sure she'd miss a quarter alert to blow my head off and... Look, I may be inexperienced, but I'm not stupid! C'mon, I... I had to have left a memorable impression."

"I don't know, it's all sort of... Foggy," Tammy shrugged, she breathed a wistful sigh and shrugged her girly shoulders, through her black t-shirt, "I may need a memory refresher."

"I... Well, as share-holder of controls of certain aspects of the game, I can actually tab into specific hubs of the code room, in which I can-"

"Okay, you're denser than the previous one!" Tammy barked with a hard laugh as her eyes watched Finn's figure eagerly cross the room to retrieve his communicator; he halted and gave her a bewildered smile, "Kiss me, you idiot!"

"... I cannot tell you how confused I am, right now," Finn finally garbled a laugh as he remained still, as if any tiny movement would set off another one of Tammy's sarcastic land-mines.

"Well, we can maybe tab into the code room and read your levels of confusion via time and space travel," Tammy mocked in a deep, dorky voice as she daintily waved her her hands about and stepped closer to Finn, who was now stationed near his large, comfortable and neatly made bed.

"...You're mean," Finn hid a beaming smile poorly, he furrowed his brow and gave her a playful glare as she stepped closer, though Tammy shrugged and let her hands fall to her bare thighs, her grey, cotton shorts were clad in worn, orange Hero's Duty logos.

"You're socially awkward," Tammy hissed with a wide smile as she shook her head and gave him a look of floored kindness, anyhow, "Mix the two, and... Well, I guess that's not a pretty picture, but you get the point."

Finn nearly itched, he gazed down at her hands and felt his heart tug a little harder, and with her assuring body language, he felt a little bit of confidence come back to him. With how effortlessly the night prior went, he desperately tried to recall any amount of knowledge that could be put to use, in this situation, where the two weren't maybe fog-brained. He swallowed hard and glanced about her, just how real it all felt, how much of a dream last night felt like, and it was in this moment did he feel even greater excitement, the fact that they didn't need that buffer to begin to feel this comfortable around each other. His heart back flipped, the mere thought of a beautiful woman, coming onto him, simply because she saw something she liked. He could hardly believe his luck, and in these nervous thoughts, his confidence began to dwindle and drown in fluttering nervousness.

"Can we try again?" Finn wondered politely, he knew that they had a very exciting, funny night prior, though he also knew it might not have been the best foot to step forward with. Tammy uttered a giggle, scrunched her shoulders and gave him a good show of her alluring blue eyes.

"You are in the midst of a fixer, y'know," Tammy breathed quietly, a gentle smile on her face, "Crap. I don't have my hammer, though. Maybe next time."

"Alright, I let you get away once," Finn garbled with a hard chuckle as he grappled for Tammy's arm, she only barely began to walk away. He gently tugged her back, and as she willingly sunk closer to his gentle, loving embrace, she gave him a dewy, elated smile and shrugged her shoulders a bit, "I'll initiate the drama, this time."

"Hold up," Tammy barked, and as Finn had just begun to lean down, to make amends and potentially start fresh with her, she shoved her pointer finger over his mouth, halted him in his tracks and watched as he jolted and bulged his eyes in hard confusion, "THIS time? You initiated it last time, too! What are you talking about!"

"Okay, the thing with that was, I had two glasses of wine in me, okay?" Finn argued with a bashful smile, "Tipsy-Finn has more confidence. This is difficult for sober-Finn, so if you could do me a favor and at least pretend I'm doing a good job?"

"Wow, I am surprised, I thought I nearly scared the pants off of you," Tammy urged as she looked away and contemplated last night, though Finn slumped his shoulders, kept her in his loose embrace and peered down to the bridge of her nose.

"No, pants very much still on," Finn muttered, though he nearly choked as he realized potentially just how much that could insinuate; he largely flinched as Tammy shot him a bewildered smile, "I-I...! I meant, you didn't do anything to scare me away or anything, I just-"

"What do you REALLY want to say, in this moment?" Tammy firmly interrupted his stammerings, he looked about in a fit of mild terror as he unhanded her and lightly back stepped.

"I-I wasn't... I just mean that-"

"You may come across as aloof and 'go with the flow', but I know you're more brooding and calculating than you potentially let on," Tammy side-eyed Finn and gave him a sneaky smile as she pointed her finger into his chest. He back stepped straight into the bed, jolted and merely glanced behind himself.

"I mean... Sure, you could think that about anyone who spends as much time alone as I d-"

"That look in your eye, that you get, when something potentially hard to swallow is said, I know you're hiding something," Tammy pointed a bit more firmly, though she kept her smile loving and anticipating.

"Alright, here's a surprise for you then, since you're not going to let up," Finn barked suddenly as he pushed from Tammy's presence, took a few steps closer to his work table, whirled around and tensed in such a way that made him look bigger, more confident. He inhaled a sharp breath, peered into Tammy's eyes and grimaced her a nearly terrified, annoyed smile, "I love you. I love you! In this month we've had to get to know each other, I've really grown to care for you, a-and... I know it's not a lot of time, and, believe me, it's a little odd to me too, but I have never felt this way about anyone."

Tammy raised her eyebrows in high surprise and froze, she let her mouth hang agape in pure shock and felt her skin prickle with goosebumps as Finn gestured his hands firmly and loudly continued on, a bold presence she knew she'd love to get used to.

"Little does anyone in this User-forsaken game know, I DID used to have a girlfriend, she lived in Ekreth... I DID go through these trails, and I will forever kick myself as to the reason she left me, and not because I miss her or anything, but because... Of what I lacked, as a person, as a boyfriend," Finn urged in growing sorrow as he barely stepped a little closer to her, "She claimed I was spineless. She wanted someone who was assertive, aggressive, went after what he wanted. But, I am so painfully shy and unsure a-and... And...!"

Tammy kept still and let Finn ramble on as much as he needed to, she let a small, proud smile come across her face as he opened up more and more. He urgently gestured his hands, slumped his shoulders and let his frown broaden across his tired face as his eyes peered into hers in sorrowful desperation.

"It all wanted to go crawling away the second I met you... You stuck up for me, in front of my brothers, of all people. You made me feel special, you made me feel confident and appreciated, when no one else really did, in that raw moment," Finn shook his head, though he began to build up yet again, his eyes urgently glanced to the bed, he felt the fire in his heart begin to rage, "I want nothing more than to... To...! To lay you down, right now, and... W-Well, desperately attempt to avoid deleting you, but... You give me that confidence. The fact that your mother inadvertently thinks I'm something special, too, definitely has to say something, right?"

"That definitely was out of character, for her," Tammy chuckled as she crossed her arms and gave Finn a kind, excited smile. Finn scoffed a hard noise, gestured his hand downward, as if to beg that she forget everything he just said. He anxiously back stepped and peered to his work table.

"I've said too much," Finn muttered, he nervously rubbed his arm, ruffled his hair and began to anxiously tidy the papers on his work station.

"You're right, the underdog pours out his heart and feels comfortable spilling his guts to a woman related to high stature and thinks he's said too much," Tammy shrugged, strolled over to him and finally caught his attention with her tender hand to his lower arm. His terrified eyes dragged to hers in a mixture of uncertainty and pleas of forgiveness, Tammy shook her head and carried on, "If we were in a movie, the cliche thing to happen now would be for me to tell you that I view you as a good friend, and it's just not the right time."

Finn frowned, let his shoulders slump and looked down to his work station, though he flinched as Tammy grappled his arm a little tighter.

"But, we're not in a movie," Tammy uttered as she cocked an eyebrow.


	94. Chapter 94

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LOL Yes! There is a warning at the head of this chapter, though half of it isn't Mature content, so I've marked where the mature content STOPS. So make sure you review my A/N below! Also, yes! Zed is 6'4" - I've modeled Zed after my boyfriend, Cory, who is 6'4". He's VERY tall! I like tall dudes haha. Ace is also about 6'4". Takes after his poppa. I really appreciate all of your kind words, I try to make each character different and as multi-sided as I possibly can! They are very special to me! And, I'll be checking out your deviantART shortly! Thank you! :D

 **Xaehttium :** Yeeees it's going to get VERY hot, that's for sure xD I'm really glad you feel that way! I try to grip people as much as I can

 **ArchitectDreams :** Yep! Lots of Fimmy in this chapter, for sure! And yes, the trip to Sugar Rush (Friday, story-wise) has it's ups and downs.

 **Snake557 :** No worries! Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I'm glad that's conveyed! Tammy definitely has a harder time opening up to Finn, as opposed to him, he's just such a big softy. Tammy very much mocks Calhoun, and even Taffyta, when it comes to that aspect. Thank you! :D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** lol! Finn, Calhoun and Felix have a good 'bonding'/'understanding' chapter coming up, nothing Finn can't handle, and though it gets a tiny bit tense for him, all the tension is gooed away by Felix's charm anyhow haha. Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** It was cliche of me to un-cliche things xD I'm forever trapped in a cliche, no matter what, so I figured I'd go for it haha

 **WildVirus :** Yes! Finn is definitely a softy, probably the biggest softy of the brother's, with Zed and Tej coming in a close second. The hardass/don't show emotion guys of the group would likely be Orph and/or Duke. and then there's Jax who is just a huge goofball who loves to cook lol.

 **TwizzleCreamPuff :** Thank you! :) I appreciate that. Yeahhh, especially in this chapter, Tessa and Zed find that they have quite a classroom on their hands xD

* * *

 ** _****WARNING****_**

The first half of this chapter contains a sex scene - the last half does **_NOT._** In order to make it clear just where sexy times stops, I've marked the start of the 'safe' part of the chapter, which will look like this ** (-)**

 **Just to warn you, though, I've marked where the dialog picks back up, and it contains like the TAIL end of the sex scene. Nothing major happens, but like... 'dismount' and then... dialog expanding on it. Just want to prepare any sensitive readers :)**

 **Thanks guys** **!**

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Get Out by Grabbitz**

 ***Chapter 94***

Through a huff of a sigh, Finn softly peeled his presence away from Tammy, stepped over to the nightstand on the left side of his bed and grappled his communicator. Tammy raised her eyebrows in hard surprise, tucked her hands to her chest and now felt wholly confused. She could've sworn, with her sweet words, her plucky demeanor, everything about her reeked the fact that she wanted Finn, and no one but him, in this moment. She shook her head, and just as she was about to open her mouth and speak a few apologies, potentially suggest leaving, Finn tabbed to his communicator firmly, aimed it, like a remote, to his teleportation pad across the room, and with a hard buzz, the teleportation pad turned off, once and for all. Tammy whirled around, peered to the pad and felt her heart stop. She quickly realized that, in this raw moment, for the first time, in the time she's ever rested her head in the Kalivar castle, Finn disabled his teleportation pad altogether.

Tammy flinched, dragged her surprise gaze back to Finn's and gave him a look of floored shock, though she jolted as he suddenly had moved closer to her, and in the instance it took for her to differentiate the sudden distance he was at, compared to what she thought he was at, Finn inhaled a readied, nervous breath, cupped her cheeks with his trembling hands, dipped down and caught her in a stir of a passionate kiss. Tammy raised her eyebrows in hard surprise, though as if he hardly even had to continue to ask her permission, Tammy firmly pushed her grippy hands to Finn's chest, she knew it was only a matter of time before she overflowed him with her bold personality, in all aspects. Just as she was about to begin undoing the buttons on the chest of Finn's soft, formal shirt, she inhaled a sharp breath as Finn's daring, masculine hands tucked into the small of her back and began to lean her back into the bed behind her.

Tammy uttered a gasp of an inquiry in pure shock, Finn hungrily tasted her lips, any shred of doubt he possibly had flew out the window, and with his determined warpath, he sunk Tammy's tall, curvy body into the bed below him. They stirred, a writhe of delicious want neither of them could potentially hold back any longer. The sheets and blankets wrinkled underneath them, and as Finn nearly begged himself to keep this rush of confidence going, he tilted his head, deepened their gasping kiss and felt his heart jump clear out of his chest as their legs intertwined. As Tammy's upper back and head finally laid back to Finn's comfortable, billowy pillows, Finn broke their kiss, hovered his upper body over her and tucked into her neck in a hungry, hot draw of needing every single last inch of her pixels she could afford him.

Tammy gasped in gentle shock, her boggled eyes did everything they could to see Finn's hazy, dim, comfortable room and ceiling for everything that it was, she urgently gripped the back of his head with her needy hands, and as their bodies stirred, as his weight became more prominent, their demeanor dipping to instincts, an eternal dance neither of them knew anything about, Tammy shut her eyes tight, prayed for the best and felt a small, scheming smile play across her face. She knew this was a huge risk, though she also knew Finn wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, and in the rush of just wanting to feel good and have some fun, she succumbed to his urgent, silent request and allowed him to sink between her legs. With the wrinkle of their clothing, the soft fabric of Finn's pants, which did a poor job at hiding the obvious, Tammy uttered a draw of a seductive giggle, as well as a gasp for air, and let her hands quickly push to Finn's masculine collar bones and straight to the buttons on his shirt.

Tammy's quick, urgent fingers began to undo the buttons on Finn's shirt at the speed of light, and as she reached the bottom, she nearly tore at his shirt. As her delirious draw of fingers slid down his undershirt, his sculpted, strong chest and center, she hooked her fingers into the rim of his pants and nervously fumbled. She could hardly believe where she was sat, the fact that humble, shy little Finn had successfully taken her strong walls down with one shot to his name, she giggled as his hot, gaping kisses trailed her feminine collar bones, the gentle tickle of his chin scruff, the stray, chaotic hairs of his short dreads on the tops of her soft breasts, she lulled her head back and unzipped Finn's pants in a rush of adrenaline they were now soaked in. In the process of all of this, and with Finn's strong swipes, the two were successful in kicking her shorts off of her body, and in near terror he tried so desperately to hide, he uttered a nervous noise of pure desire, a groan of uncertainty he hoped he conveyed to her in such a way that didn't turn her off.

With trembling hands, and kisses to her skin that never quit, he nervously fumbled with his boxer briefs, pulled himself to correction and sunk his lower body harder onto her. His unbuckled, unbuttoned slacks messily draped his hips, his toes curled inside the grey socks on his feet, and in a daring shove, he only rubbed against her, a few thrusts he was hoping somehow tested the waters, as if he had to be ultra sure this was exactly what she wanted, though he flinched with the draw of her anxious hands that now grappled the chest of his undershirt, his button down shirt was now splayed and messily strewn about his sexy, broad shoulders, and as Finn took his cue, he noticed that Tammy's nervous, delightful demeanor was concealing nearly all noise, so not to cue anyone above ground of their squirming adventures. Finn huffed an excited breath, caught eyes with her alluring, beautiful face and shoved his lightly sweaty forehead to hers.

"I've sound-proofed the room for you, love," Finn's deep, dark voice coat over her, and as her eyes fluttered closed with the realization that cloaked over her, the fact that he may not be confident all around, but he was certainly confident about one thing. Finn smirked and finally took his mark.

Tammy stiffened, gripped her hands about the back of Finn's neck and shivered as his strong hands did everything to quickly swipe her underwear out of the way. He finally began to budge into her, and although he took it slow, for the sake of neither one of them being in pain, he grimaced a small, croak of a rumble, from the back of his throat, and nearly felt doomed. Alongside the tight, anxious squeeze of her soft skin, the draw of her long, beautiful legs around the backs of his thighs, the arch of her back and the angle her hips were now in, Finn choked a noise and finally shoved to her center. He nearly felt the world stop, the game crash, he could swear each one of his senses were beyond heightened, a frenzy of overload he was certain he at least tried to prepare himself for.

With the assuring groan that shook from Tammy's small rib cage, Finn immediately knew he was already on his way to making her whole entire year. He smiled a little, peeled his eyes from her neck and wondered just what all of this looked like. With a gentle thrust, he quickly took everything their relationship was made of and trailed it down the path to permanence. With her recoil, she gaped, her wet lips huffed a hot breath of pure surprise, and as her eyes fluttered closed, Finn inhaled a shaky breath, groaned her a noise of agreeing and felt as if his spine couldn't handle the rigid position he was nervously keeping it in, so not to shock her clear out of Arcade. Finn finally huffed another grimace and let his code dip to primal instincts he had no idea existed, and with this, he shoved into her a little harder. He could feel the veins in his jugular bulge in growing heat and power, the very sound of Tammy's nervous cry, he held himself above her and nearly craved every single sound she uttered.

Tammy urgently clawed the back of his neck, and as she stirred and squirmed, he continued to firmly shove into her, a rhythm he kept up nicely. She uttered a noise of question, though she knew asking him just what was going to happen was futile. She knew he wasn't stupid enough to attempt to go through with the code swap, amidst having nearly no knowledge on how to complete it, though she prayed he'd hold out for the sake of the lovely feelings he was filling her up with. She uttered a moan of a bashful giggle, let her arms fall loose and conveyed to him that she was thrilled he had the reigns. She always figured, in this situation, that she'd likely have to lead this chaos, though she lulled her eyes closed and was glad she was being treated to a masterclass she had no clue she needed.

Finn cocked an eyebrow and was floored she was succumbing to his powerful front, and with this, he felt said front turn into something that now became apart of him. Confidence flood his veins, he began to thrust into her harder, the bed sheets wrinkled and began to come loose, and in their writhing fervor of calls and groans, Finn huffed a shaky breath and knew he needed every single last inch of this moment, everything he was now suddenly allowed to, her gracious, kind hands did everything they could to let him know that she was vulnerable to him, and anything his gentlemanly self wanted, was indeed his. Finn's trembling grip tucked Tammy deeper into his hips, from the position he had pushed her up into.

He kept her still with his strong hands, he gripped the sides of her hip bones and began to plow into her. She arched her back and, with the new angle the two were at, she threw her head back and called his name in desperation. It was in this time did Finn begin to feel nervous; he knew he had enough self control to stop before things got dangerous, though with the delicious draw of her trembling body, the gentle bounce of her larger breasts, he choked a noise of acknowledgment down to her and wondered just how far he could push himself, he knew the brink of insanity was just around the corner, and he was solid in preparing to stop himself cold turkey. He knew said build up and drop off was mental hell, though with just how new and raw this all was, he figured he'd better soak all of it up while he could. He bit his lip and figured, with the way Tammy's desperate hands grappled the bed, that this certainly wasn't the last time they'd stroll down this road.

As Finn's hands finally dragged up the small dip of her waist, to her rib cage and up her sides, he lifted her small black t-shirt to reveal her breasts. He huffed a nervous noise, and as he continued to move, he finally slunk his hands to the dip of her waist, once more, leaned down and began to place urgent, desperate draws of hot kisses along the inside curve of her right breast. He buried his nose into her chest, and as he could feel Tammy's trembling hands urgently grapple the back of his head, she gripped the base of his dreads, tight to his scalp, and pulled a little. Finn smirked, he knew this was a game she was now playing with him, and as his smirk broadened, he fought against her gentle tug, cupped her right breast in his hand and firmly sunk his gaping mouth over her nipple. He shut his eyes in a fluttering lull of both pain and pleasure as Tammy's raspy voice loudly reverberated his name along the ceiling, the grapple of his hair in her hand, he sucked on her as firmly as he could and continued to give her body just what for.

The bed urgently creaked, the fitted sheet at the end of the bed was now haphazardly tucked close to the rigid curl of Finn's toes, his thick socks were now tightly twisted and grappled in between the grip of his feet. Tammy uttered a nervous notion and finally sunk her arms around Finn's neck. He raised his eyebrows in a nervous draw, released her skin from his mouth and peered to her, and in this raw, unadulterated moment of heated passion, he felt his stomach dip in a gentle bout of terror with the raw fact that she was quickly on her way to code-bombing before him. He huffed a soft breath, grimaced in dire conflicted urgency and slowed his roll. He grit his teeth and was now fully aware just how sweaty the two were. As the two let the bed's creaking come to a stop, he gasped for air above her sweaty bare breasts, and as a drop of sweat dripped down the bridge of his nose, he furrowed his brow and knew neither of them wanted this drama to end.

 **(-)**

"I-I... I need to text Zed," Finn huffed silently, though he jolted as Tammy let out a panting, shaky giggle.

"... Cause that's the first thing I think of when in the middle of sex, lets hang out with Zed!" Tammy retort with a playful, tired smile, though she finally relaxed her spine and let the realization of everything coat over her.

Finn huffed a long, exhausted breath, rested his body atop hers and urgently began to bury his face into her neck, so to seek comfort. He furrowed his brow in dire contemplation, hugged Tammy's warm body tight into his larger, masculine body and slumped his broad shoulders. Tammy frowned in surprised, delighted sorrow and tenderly wrapped her arms about Finn's neck in a draw of romance that simmered from blazing hot to gentle comfort. Tammy continued to pant, though as the two finally calmed down, she wiped her forehead and slumped the side of her head to his as they remained connected.

"... I want to share my coding with you," Finn croaked quietly and bashfully, he knew his reign of confidence was bound to dwindle eventually. He held onto her tight, nervously kissed her neck a few times and so prayed she wanted the same. He shook his head and continued on, "I... I've never felt so confident about anything in my life. I want to be permanently yours."

"Ohh, I nearly didn't stop you," Tammy rushed as she huffed a final breath, closed her eyes tighter and rubbed Finn's upper shoulders. She frowned and sorrowfully peered to the ceiling, "Y-You don't think... We should go for it, do you?"

"I don't want to try anything without getting all of Zed's advice, first," Finn grumbled, he shook his head and quietly berated himself, "I don't know why I didn't ask him his advice sooner."

"Well... You think if you message him real fast?" Tammy wondered curiously, she peeled her eyes open in a lazy draw as Finn tenderly sat up on his elbows and peered down into Tammy's beautiful eyes. She smiled him a knowing, bashful smile and shook her head, "I'm just glad we're both on the same page..."

"Yeah?" Finn prod with a kind smile.

"Yeah," Tammy scoffed quietly as she lulled her eyes closed in surprise, "You... You really surprised me."

"I guess I'm full of 'em," Finn mumbled, though as carefully as he could, he unglued himself from Tammy and joined her, in unified groans of knowing delight.

"Wow, now I understand why Tessa gets so handsy with Zed, sometimes," Tammy rushed in hard, delighted annoyance as she covered her face with her arm and sunk back into the bed.

"Guess it's somewhere in our code," Finn grunted as he fixed his boxers, zipped his slacks and straightened his now wrinkled undershirt. He huffed a hard, satisfied sigh and only briefly left Tammy's presence to grope for his communicator on the nightstand. He smirked, unlocked his device and leaned back into the headboard as he continued, "Kalivar boys know how to do, I guess."

"Got that right," Tammy mumbled as she tiredly rubbed her satisfied smirk of a grin to the ceiling.

Just as Finn was about to begin typing to Zed, he flinched as his communicator buzzed, and said brother was the first to pop up on his radar. Finn stared down at his communicator in confused awe, the fact that him and Zed were on the same mental plane, he thought it to be rather odd. Finn side-eyed his device and gently tabbed on the large screen, which opened their conversation.

 _9:57pm_

 _Imdead : Hey man, Taffyta's brownies are nearly finished, y'comin back up?_

Finn chuckled softly, shook his head and lightly dragged his attention to Tammy. Just as she was about to scoot closer into his side, he lovingly draped his arm about her shoulders and helped tuck her into his warmth. Finn sighed, snuggled her into his chest, planted a firm few kisses to the top of her head and showed Tammy the conversation that Zed had just started. Tammy giggled, eyed Finn and lovingly rested her hand to his chest; his heart was still pounding.

"He's onto us, I think," Tammy grumbled, though Finn glanced to his disabled teleportation pad and nodded a little.

"I'm sure the pad cued him," Finn stated with a warm smile, though before he could reply, he tabbed into some advanced options, some of which only he, Tessa, Zed and Ace were allowed, and made it so the conversation between him and Zed couldn't be interfered with or include any other people into the chat.

 _ **AtlasK has made this chat private**_

 _Imdead : caughtcha red handed._

 _AtlasK : I need your help :(_

 _Imdead : I know you do. I'm not comin' down there, tho, so whatever you need, you're going to have to get it through text._

"How do I even begin to ask what I need to ask?" Finn mumbled to Tammy as the two caught eyes, though Tammy glanced her curious gaze back to the device in Finn's hand.

"I don't know, um... I mean, clearly he already knows what this is all about," Tammy giggled, though the two flinched as the communicator buzzed lightly.

 _Imdead : Please tell me she's still alive._

 _AtlasK : Of course she's still alive, you think I'd still be down here if I accidentally deleted her?!_

 _Imdead : This is going to be awkward, but in order to get through this, you're going to have to answer me a few questions._

 _AtlasK : That's fine, I'd much rather do this through text anyways._

 _Imdead : Are you planning on trying to swap tonight, while you're down there?_

Finn nervously dragged his eyes to Tammy's line of sight, and as the two caught eyes, she finally huffed a small giggle, sat up a little and finally faced Finn. He joined her and softly sat up as well, and as Tammy's gentle hand slid into his, which was in his lap, the two held in a calm lull of contemplative silence. Tammy nervously huffed a long sigh, shook her head, furrowed her brow and peered to Finn's pillows.

"... We're already so far down this rabbit hole," Tammy mumbled bashfully, Finn kept his gaze honed to hers. Tammy shook her head, broadened her smile and finally laid her eyes into Finn's, "... I love you too, y'know."

Finn held his breath and gave her a look of floored, gently plucked surprise, and as he lowered his communicator, he honed his whole attention to her and forgot all about his and Zed's conversation, which was still left open. Tammy bashfully smiled, gripped his hand and looked down to their laps in aimless, nervous coy.

"You're... You're definitely not anyone I could've ever imagined being with, but... There was something about that day we met, we immediately hit it off, and how nervous you were," Tammy giggled, her eyes dragged up to Finn's walls and ceilings. In the tiniest way, his space was wired in such a way that gave the illusion of stars and a night sky, over head, though it was only visible at night. Each tiny star had finally turned on a half an hour prior, though it was only now did Tammy notice the gorgeous display that was finally shining through. She giggled, got lost in the mirage of it all and squeezed Finn's hand a little harder, "I was so endeared to you, it was so nice the way you were so polite. Don't get me wrong, your younger brothers are great, but you could tell they were just thrilled another woman was finally up for grabs."

"I-I... I'll be honest with you, I was thinking the same thing, somewhere in my mind," Finn huffed nervously, his eyes glanced to her in a bashful way, "But... When they tried to embarrass me, I nearly immediately gave up and knew I was done for."

"And yet, here you are," Tammy shrugged, and though her shirt was brought to correction, as well as her underwear, she still looked happily disheveled, her golden hair was ruffled from all the recoil. Finn huffed her a knowing breath, glanced back to his communicator and squeezed Tammy's hand a little harder.

"I'm glad you gave me that chance... I-I may not be that outgoing, bad-boy every girl loves, but... I won't let you down," Finn stated confidently, his smile was as tender and as sweet as could be. His facial expressions largely mimicked Zed's, it was easy to tell the two were brothers, and out of the six, Zed and Finn looked the most alike, aside from Orph. Finn's features were a lot sharper, he had a stronger nose and jaw line, though his smile was a large amount more bashful and scheming. He glanced to his glowing communicator, once more, before he gave Tammy a look of question, "What... What should I tell Zed?"

"... Tell him yes," Tammy stated confidently, she pointed to the communicator and gave him a smug smile, "He'll guide us through this craziness, and we can deal with my parents at a later date."

"... Your mom is going to kill me," Finn mumbled nervously as he began to thumb words into his and Zed's conversation.

 _10:02pm_

 _AtlasK : Yes, we want to try tonight. Please don't mention this to anyone just yet._

 _Imdead : I won't, but I have no choice but to bring Ace into this, okay? I'm going to put him in the code room, just in case something goes wrong, he can probably at least attempt to correct anything horrible that would happen._

 _AtlasK : He won't be able to see us right? I'm not about that_

 _Imdead : No, just stats. I don't think he'd be about that, either, Finn, he's your nephew for crying out loud._

 _AtlasK : I'm sure this nonsense is easier for a glitch. I'm terrified, man._

 _Imdead : Don't be scared. That'll mess you up. You just have to go with it. I'm assuming you guys have ...?_

"Give him a play-by-play," Tammy suddenly blurt with a giggle, she had returned her position into Finn's side. Her eyes dragged up to his in a draw of scheming excitement as Finn let out a hard laugh, "That'll really freak him out!"

"We need his help, I'm pretty sure he'd leave the conversation if I did that," Finn chuckled as he thumbed a reply.

 _AtlasK : Yeah, I was holding out, but I stopped cause, well... I guess I was doing everything right._

 _Imdead : You're a Kalivar, of course you were doing everything right._

"What did I tell you, it's in my code," Finn sneered, a playful confidence he knew Tammy would receive well; she easily giggled, rolled her eyes and swat at him.

 _Imdead : Y'know that feeling you get when you're about to code-bomb?_

 _AtlasK : This is getting awkward_

 _Imdead : Get over it, Finn, you legitimately have no choice._

 _AtlasK : uhg, ok keep going_

"He's not a stranger, Finn, it's fine," Tammy comforted, though Finn huffed an embarrassed sigh and slumped his shoulders.

"It's not like I need code-education, or anything," Finn mumbled, "I wish I knew more about... The opposed swap. I never knew it'd matter."

"Well, it literally means life or death here," Tammy sighed as she rubbed the center of his chest a little.

 _Imdead : You may not be a glitch, but you have to remember, before I swapped with Tessa, I wasn't one either. Before one nearly code-bomb, one would get that weird sensation at the base of one's spine. Feels like an electric shock, right?_

 _AtlasK : Zed_

 _Imdead : RIGHT?_

 _AtlasK : IDK about this..._

Finn uttered a nervous sigh, and much to Tammy's surprise, he grunted, sat up, set his communicator down on the table and held his head in his hands. He grimaced, muttered a few things to himself and paced about his table. Tammy sat up a little and eagerly assessed him, she knew this was a difficult decision for them, and even more so since they were legitimately flying blind, with only Zed's and Tessa's knowledge.

"... We don't have to, if you're uncomfortable," Tammy eased, though Finn stabbed his attention to her and drew his hands away from his head urgently.

"I want to, I want... Us," Finn breathed quietly, though sternly. Tammy raised her eyebrows and kept her dewy eyes honed to his as he continued on, "I... I don't want this to wait another minute. I won't be able to think straight, just wondering when this will ever be concluded... I know you feel the same."

Tammy sighed, looked down to the messy sheets and nodded. She nervously dragged her eyes to the dead teleportation pad, across the room, and nibbled her lip. She knew she'd likely go back to her bedroom for the night, pace a hole in the floor with worry and wonder just what will come of this, just how to perfect this raw act they knew nothing about. She gently combed her fingers through the longer strands of hair, on the right side of her head, and let out a hot breath through her nose. As she dragged her knowing gaze back to Finn, he cocked an eyebrow and dared to give her a smile.

"Of course I feel the same," Tammy eased his worries, her warm voice coated over him like honey, though it was apparent that she was becoming shy and nervous as well.

"We just... Gotta get this right," Finn urged, "I-I'll... I'll hold out ALL night if it means a safe swap."

"Y-You'd do that?" Tammy bashfully wondered, Finn gawked.

"If it meant your LIFE Tammy? Of course I'd do that!" Finn laughed, which caused a wide, bashful smile to curl Tammy's face, "Even IF anything went wrong, at least you have comfort in the fact that I'd very shortly be killed after you."

"... Yeah, and that's something my dad wouldn't fix up after," Tammy blurt, Finn gestured to her in a knowing way and finally grappled for his communicator once more.

 _10:07pm_

 _Imdead : Finnigan Atlas Kalivar._

 _AtlasK : ZEDIAN THADDEUS KALIVAR. why did you just use my whole name?_

 _Imdead : because I'm your only big brother and this is serious and I am here to help you, no matter how awkward this may get. You should tell her your whole name before she's sat with your coding, too, dude._

 _AtlasK : You're one to talk, remember you and Tess?_

 _Imdead : That's exactly why I brought that up. Now can you please answer my question?_

Finn huffed a long sigh through his nose and was now thrilled Tammy was across the room, though her dewy eyes made it clear that she might get up and join him. Finn finally chuckled, which cued to Tammy.

"This is so awkward," Finn shook his head down to his communicator and beamed in annoyance.

"How so?" Tammy giggled, and just as he suspected, she began to crawl to the end of the bed to join Finn, he was still stood at his work table a handful of feet away.

"I'm not giving him a play by play, but... I have to answer awkward questions," Finn bashfully muttered in a rush as he began to type, once again.

 _AtlasK : Yes, I know what feeling you're talking about..._

 _Imdead : Okay, in this situation, it's going to be a lot more urgent. It's a notch below feeling electrocuted._

 _AtlasK : I know man, I was nearly about to shit myself._

Finn glowered down at his communicator and felt his blood run cold at the simple fact that Zed had stopped typing into the conversation. He huffed a hard sigh and began to anxiously pace around, though Tammy finally stood and looked as if she was potentially considering finding her communicator as well, though she sat at Finn's work station and eagerly watched the show. She knew Finn was a mysterious being, full of hidden surprises, though the fact that he had fully opened up to her and was now showing every last ounce of his true, bashful and boisterous colors, she beamed and felt her heart swell at the endearing sight.

"... He's not replying to me," Finn mumbled nervously.

 _10:12pm_

 _AtlasK : dude, I kinda need you, where did you go?_

 _Imdead : I'm sorry I had to get out of the kitchen I nearly pissed myself laughing. Ace followed me to the code room cause he saw me trying not to laugh and became nosy. So he's here with me, I just told him what's going on._

 _AtlasK : Great, now it's a party._

 _Imdead : I see you've sound proofed your room. You planned ahead... Strung Tammy along all day and lured her right into your trap, disabled your teleportation pad?_

 _AtlasK : It worked, didn't it?_

 _Imdead : Now you're in too deep and have an audience. Congrats!_

 _AtlasK : ... shutup._

"... Should I message Tessa?" Tammy bashfully wondered, though she flinched in hard confusion as her coding suddenly showed glitchy orange circuits on her skin, and in a buzz of cued electric currents, her and Finn froze in hard, collected fear. She dragged her eyes to Finn in surprise and, just as she was about to wonder what happened, Finn's communicator buzzed.

 _Imdead : Okay, Ace just put a fire-wall on Tammy's coding. The fire-wall is there to protect against pregnancy, but it could potentially act as a buffer just in case you guys have miscommunication and something goes wrong. We also swapped your guys' source coding. That's the first step of a successful opposed code swap, so don't worry, Ace and I just took care of that._

 _AtlasK : Are you POSITIVE you can't see us?_

 _Imdead : I swear on my life, Finn, we can't see or hear you. We only have yours and Tammy's stats pulled up._

 _AtlasK : I'll stop whatever the hell I'm in the middle of to come up there and kill you both. I know Ace is capable of anything._

 _Imdead : You know what else he's capable of? Respecting privacy. Chill out. No one is eager to see this show go down. We're only in here to protect you and Tammy. You could get hurt in this venture too, y'know._

 _AtlasK : I need every last ounce of information you have for me, man. I don't want the mood to vanish._

 _Imdead : In this act, you need to line up your swap perfectly with hers. and I mean perfectly. That electrocuting buzz down your spine that's near-painful? Allow it to happen. That's your coding attempting to align itself with hers. Don't fight it, don't stop what you're doing, but don't let it get away from you. That's practically raw lightning wanting to find a way out in any way that it can._

 _AtlasK : How will I know if her coding is perfectly lined with mine?_

 _Imdead : Half of that challenge is reading her, physically. You have to wait for her, and she needs to be honest with you about literally everything that is happening inside of her._

"You'll tell me when you're about to come, right?" Finn suddenly, and loudly, blurt; Tammy flinched in hard surprise and suddenly let out a hard, loud laugh.

"FINN!" Tammy was lost in laughter, though Finn slumped his shoulders and felt his trembling hands nervously reach for the back of his head.

"I-I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Finn stuttered, he shook his head and swiped his hand down his face as he began to anxiously pace once more, though unbeknownst to him, Tammy had gotten up and sauntered over to him.

"Hey, it's alright," Tammy eased with a kind smile, seductive body language she wasn't even trying to portray. She gingerly stopped him in his tracks, rubbed his upper arm and gave him a gentle smile, "Of course I'll tell you... This... Is my life on the line, y'know. I'm going to make sure you're clued into everything."

"Promise?" Finn wondered quietly, they locked eyes in a string of renewed, unsure enchantment, the void into the unknown, Finn knew there was no one else he'd rather traipse down this path with.

"I promise," Tammy breathed lovingly, her alluring eyes cued him back to the heat of the intense go-around they had just endured, and in this instance, he felt his heart suddenly jump with the fact that his device was still tabbed into his and Zed's convo; it gently buzzed.

 _Imdead : Once you're cued together, it's important not to lose track of that. It'll be the same effect as zipping up a zipper. It's a weird metaphor, but your coding will feel as if it's being unzipped, and then zipped together with hers. You have to make sure every single strand of DNA, every tier and tooth of coding all aligns perfectly with hers._

 _Imdead : Your skin will feel cold while this happens, it'll feel like you're being mildly electrocuted in cold water. It sounds unpleasant, but if you just sort of allow it to happen, it starts to feel good after awhile. Odd as it seems. This 'zipper' effect also will drastically boost your strength and stamina, so try to keep that in mind - you may accidentally startle or hurt Tammy, and then you'll have to stop and start at square one._

 _Imdead : On the other side of this coin, Tessa's explained feeling light headed and weak. Whatever drama is going on, between the 'zipper' build up, of the code swap, we think it is legitimately the man's coding collecting information from the woman's coding, and preparing to merge the two. So while you may feel a boost of energy, Tammy may immediately feel extreme exhaustion._ _Once you reach the end of said metaphorical zipper, then you guys can, well... Swap._

 _Imdead : Finn, this isn't a typical code-bomb._ _Don't overwhelm her with your sudden power-up. And as an ultimate must, if she insists you to cut it out, stop means STOP._ _I need you to listen to me carefully._

 _AtlasK : I'm still here_

 _Imdead : You're going to feel sucked out of your own skin, your vision will go blurry, the room may even go white, but that is a good sign. That happened between Tessa and I. Tessa and I, weird as it seems, we reached a void on another dimensional plane. We, quite literally, had an out of body experience. You won't be trapped there, just soak it in and keep Tammy close to you._

 _AtlasK : That sounds odd_

 _Imdead : You'll pass through, and when you come out the other side, you'll have successfully downloaded her coding into yours. Think of it like a limbo. You get a chance to be with Tammy, for everything she is. Gives you a chance to step outside the sexual act of everything and mentally download that she is, indeed, one with you and your coding._

 _Imdead : If you haven't relayed all this information to Tammy, make sure you do._

 _AtlasK : Thank you Sed... She's here reading this with me._

 _AtlasK : *Zed_

 _Imdead : Hi Tammy_

 _AtlasK : Hey Zed, thanks for your help_

 _Imdead : I'm sorry I only really have extensive knowledge on the male aspect of this drama. Would you like me to have Tessa message you for further details, or are you comfortable with all the instructions I'm giving?_

 _AtlasK : She said she thinks she'll be okay - she considered messaging Tessa, but I think shes more confident than me currently._

 _Imdead : You'll be just fine, Finn. You've got a smart girl on your hands, she won't let you down. You're a lot sharper than you give yourself credit for, as well, man._

Finn beamed a wide smile down to his communicator and gently dragged his dark, mysterious blue stare down to Tammy's cute, blushed cheeks. She gave him a small, knowing smile in return, as if to agree to Zed's words, and it was in this moment did Finn feel as if he could potentially put the communicator down and finish just what they had begun. Finn heaved a long sigh, and as the two sat at his work table together, right where their wine-rings had stained the wood, he lovingly slid his arm around the middle of her back and brought her into a small side hug. She leaned into his chest for his comfort, nuzzled into the base of his neck and let a sneaky smile broaden across her blushed face.

 _Imdead : Ace and I are in the code room, on standby. If anything goes wrong, we're on top of it, okay?_

 _AtlasK : Thanks Zed... I'm goin' in._

 _Imdead : Nice pun - good luck._

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, I just finished another character sheet - this time, it's Finn! I just uploaded it to my deviantART, so go check it out :) Username Vyntresser**


	95. Chapter 95

**Reviews :**

 **Wild Virus :** LMAO I think anyone would feel that way! But I guess once you taste the honey from the hive ;)

 **TwizzleCreamPuff :** No problem! It gets even further explained, as time goes on, and the like. Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I'm really glad! :D Yeah, Finn definitely had it easy because Zed is his older brother, and Finn is at least comfortable enough with Zed - it gets super awkward when Nox starts having to pry at Zed for info. But in a funny way xD

 **ArchitectDreams :** Unfortunately, no - sorry about that! I expand on different aspects of the opposed-swap with each opposed swap mates. Like, you get a different view of the drama with Nox and Koko, different than what you did with Tammy and Finn. Same goes for Orph and Penny. Each scene brings out new things that will keep you guys curious and the like, so that nothing gets way too stagnant. I'm glad you're enjoying it! Each couple is different and has a different amount of 'build up' speed. Some are a lot quicker, like Orph and Penny, where as others will drag on for seemingly forever, like Ace and Libby xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL! OMG that'd be SO cruel of Tammy hahaha. Stranger crap has happened, tho! xD Ace and Zed are like uhhhh... Kay let's leave them alone, I guess they're done haha.

 **Retrokill :** You're welcome! xD at least I left a warning haha

 **Xaehttium :** Nope, unfortunately xD Sorry about that. But thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Hahaha I know that feel, I try to keep everyone on their toes! xD Thank you!

* * *

 ***Chapter 95***

As a hot stream of sunlight finally nudged his freshly coded soul awake, Finn wrinkled his nose, squinted in gentle, disturbed agitation and finally pried his eyes open. A gorgeous display of morning sunlight glinted into his bedroom, he had a skylight alongside the cove of his telescope dome, it stuck out of a small portion of the backyard no one had access to or could see into. The latch, to his rain-stained window, was something he had propped open before he fell asleep, so to let in the cool, nighttime air. He lightly rolled over, out of the stream of sunlight, rubbed his face, closed his eyes and finally let his brain melt back into the room. Once he settled, he slumped into his comfortable blankets and was suddenly sat with a string of coded knowledge that was beyond him, unlike anything he'd ever experienced, and it was in this raw moment did he finally realize he was running over the raw idea of the anatomy and behavioral patterns of a Hero's Duty cy-bug.

Finn opened his eyes in a jolt of a rush, peered across his still, beautiful room and held his breath. He softly sat up and urgently peered to his left only to be immediately rocked into the events from the night prior. Tammy lay, perfectly strewn, her gentle arms hugged her pillow a little, and as Finn's eyes glossed her bare shoulders, her bare hip that peeked from his fluffy grey downs, he finally choked a small inhale and let the widest smile sprawl his face. He knew the two had been successful, the night prior, though he could've just sworn it was all a dream, all made up in a fantasy. The fact that he had successfully swapped codes with her, alongside Zed's help, made his heart soar. Just as he was about to kindly wake her up and revisit the memories that had come rushing to him, he flinched and heard a small scuffle on his work table.

He jolted, peered across his green, warmly lit room and froze. Perched on his closed, half-empty wine bottle, from two nights ago, was a beautiful, rare bird he was certain he'd never see. As per Dead Zed's tribal lore, said jungle bird was a great blessing. Finn raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and remained still. Said little bird was gorgeous, with short, lime green feathers and a peach-breasted puff of a chest it proudly boasted, it just barely chirped it's exotic little noises, tilted it's head in curiosity and was simply visiting to seal the deal on Finn and Tammy's love making, the night prior. Finn held his breath, he had always wondered just exactly how these little birds were cued to the strange mystery of the universe, how they seemingly were attracted to selfless love, he softly rested his hand to his bare chest and scoffed a tired, happy noise.

Finn smiled, carefully moved to reach for his communicator, so not to startle said little bird, and once he had his device in his grip, he sat up a little higher, unlocked his device and tabbed to the camera. He zoomed in to the little bird and snapped a picture, and with ease, he lowered his communicator, gave the bird one final, excited smile and slumped his shoulders. The bird happily tweeted a few times, ruffled it's feathers a little, and in a quick swoop, it fluttered across Finn's room and out the hatch of his telescope's windows. He raised his eyebrows and watched it leave, he knew the two had accomplished something huge, the night prior, though being blessed by the game's mysterious ways was more than enough to complete his happy thoughts. He sighed in satisfaction, smiled down to Tammy's sleeping figure and opened his messages, in which he noticed he had a few unopened from yesterday.

 _11:46pm Wednesday 08/24/2016_

 _Imdead : Well done, man. Welcome to the club, you did it! There was a small hiccup, upon code transfer, but nothing we can't iron out. Everything settled well, the code room had a hay-day lol. Message me once you're awake, there are a few other adjustments, I'll need to go over with you, that will take some getting used to._

 _Imdead : You won't be able to see your's and Tammy's coding on your own, because neither of you can glitch, but it's a really cool lookin' hot turquoise with a marbleized, gold sheen mixed in. Tessa and I can go over all the details with you and Tammy once you're up :)_

 _Imdead : Also - start thinking of what you're going to tell Felix and Calhoun. Get some advice from Ralph, he's known them the longest._

Finn's excited smile suddenly sunk, he nervously peered to Tammy, and though he knew he was likely going to be good at sticking up for himself, now that he was saddled with Tammy's outgoing coding, he still felt his heart begin to throb in growing terror.

* * *

With a hard rasp of a yawn, Zed largely stretched and finally reached for a lazy white tank. He threw that on, as well as some comfortable, faded red sweats and gently opened his and Tessa's large, round bedroom door. He knew Tessa had left their nest a half an hour, or so, prior. He figured she was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for the two, something she had grown to love to do, though this time, he knew she was simply wanting to hover near Finn's teleportation pad and await Tammy's arrival. Zed huffed a small laugh, as said thought crossed his mind, though just as he came out into the Sky Room, he noticed Libby, of all people, prancing about with a flock of two or three brightly colored birds.

Zed froze in hard disbelief, Libby was dressed in a pretty coral shirt that had a sash around her center, as well as comfortable tan slacks that cuffed under her knee, and as her bare feet slapped the tiles, she spun around a few times and was delighted in the way her long hair splayed about. She heaved a dainty giggle, held her palms out in the ultimate amount of girly delight and welcomed one of the small birds to perch into her hands. Said peach-chested bird tweeted in the most lovely way, a cute, exotic call of nature, though Libby pursed her lips and whistled quietly right back. Zed crossed his arms, lulled his head and slumped his shoulders as his stare of bewildered delight beamed his potential future daughter in law a wide, curious grin. The second she spot Zed across the gap, she gasped, smiled wide and waved her hand a little.

"ZEDDY," Libby hissed in excited delight, and as she began to rush him, the three little birds tweeted and eagerly fluttered after her. Once she stopped, Zed was floored to find the little birds perch atop Libby's shoulders, though the one remained comfortably in her hands. She held the adorable, colorful bird out to Zed and gave him an overflow of innocence, the ultimate, sugary dollop of cuteness that even Sugar Rush likely would have a hard time rivaling, "The Kitkacha Love Bird! This is a very VERY good sign!"

"... What the heck are kitkachas doing in the house?" Zed uttered in pure confusion, though as the events from last night hit his mind, his face sloped to hard knowing, though he beamed Libby a wide smile and prepared himself to explain.

"These birds can sense whenever two lovers come together as one, for the first time! A christen! This is a huge blessing for the castle, and for... Well... Whoever made love?" Libby began to look confused. She was aware of the three pairs of swap-mates on castle grounds, which were Ralph and Vanellope, Oliver and Emery, and the obvious Tessa and Zed. Libby shook her head in growing confusion and daintily pet the little bird's head, "But... These birds only show up the morning after two lovers have come together as one, for the very first time. I don't understand?"

"Y'think they smell pheromones, or something?" Zed wondered quietly, he so gently reached out and pet the lovely feathers on the back of the bird in Libby's cupped hands, and though he knew the lore of these beautiful birds, and kindly remembered the morning, or two, after him and Tessa had code swapped, he softened his demeanor and let Libby continue on.

"Yes, but there is something else that draws them to other 'love birds'... No one is sure why, but it's a good sign! It means you have chosen well, the mate you picked is someone who will be good to you and give back in prosperous ways that you can hardly begin to imagine," Libby trailed, her accent nearly sealed the deal in Zed softening his demeanor to that of a newborn puppy. With this, Zed scoffed and eagerly listened to the way her curious accent droned on, "Y'think maybe these birds are making up for lost time? Last night, did you and Tessa have s-"

"L-Libby... Finn and Tammy successfully code-swapped last night," Zed stuttered with a widening smile, and though Libby looked delightfully floored, she side-eyed Zed, waggled her eyebrows and silently asked him to answer her question. Zed slumped his shoulders, rolled his eyes and smirked a bashful glance across the Sky Room, "Yes, Tessa and I swapped last night, too."

"Youuu had that look on your face," Libby cheesed, a wide, toothy smile that could easily mock Vanellope's. She gestured to one of the birds, on her shoulder and continued to teasingly waggle her eyebrows towards her fatherly figure, "One of these birds could be for you, huh? Maybe it got lost along the way?"

"Tessa and I endured nearly a dozen of these kitkachas, once upon a time," Zed droned in remembrance as the cute little birds continued to daintily chirp and mess with their beautiful feathers, "We had one hanging around on our porch, last week... Something tells me, these little guys don't just come once, in your life. Maybe they won't come every morning, after a swap, though it's not rare that a kitkacha will greet Tessa, or I, after a night of... Well..."

"Dancing?" Libby cooed playfully as she shrugged her shoulders up and down a few times, she finally back stepped a little and jumped up and down slightly, the birds eagerly began to flutter around her, she so easily looked like a child, full of excitement and happiness; a magical, jungle princess with all the creatures of the wild on her side.

"Dancing, yes," Zed grunted, he rubbed his chest and beamed the room a cheesy smile, as if to give himself a pat on the back, "If that's what we're gunna call it, I nearly danced Tess right out the room."

"Welp, looks like Tammy and Finn have joined the party!" Libby stated, and even though she was excited, she made sure to keep her voice quiet, "One day, we're gunna have to build a nest for these little guys. They're going to want to stay for good, with just how much looove this castle will overflow with."

"What do you mean?" Zed wondered, and as Libby finally calmed, the two began to slowly stroll towards the kitchen.

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, Nox and Koko seem to be hitting it off, and, well... I've seen some obvious glances Orph has been giving Penny," Libby shrugged, though she quickly realized just where she had backed herself into, in this conversation; a tight corner.

"That is true," Zed mumbled as the two reached the large, back-patio door. Zed shot Tessa a kind, loving look across the gap, opened the patio door and eagerly watched as the cute little birds finally fluttered away, "Well... Where do you stand in this whole mess, then?"

"Me? Oh, well... I'm not sure what you mean by that," Libby stated nonchalantly, she shrugged and began to head over to the kitchen, to join Tessa, though in hot realization that she was now sat with Ace's parents, she mentally kicked herself for dragging this conversation on for as long as she has.

"Yes you do," Zed mumbled, though once he reached Tessa, he didn't hesitate to scoop Tessa into his strong embrace. Tessa eased a gentle giggle as he firmly smooched her jaw and neck a few times. As Zed unhanded her, he huffed a small breath and began to help her out with the pancakes she was beginning to make for the Dead Zed racers that would find their way out of their rooms, "I know you want to receive a kitkacha of your own, one day."

"I do," Libby nodded softly, she heaved a gentle sigh and sat down at the kitchen counter. She knew the two were obviously cued into her shy, somewhat hidden feelings towards Ace, and she figured watching her and Ace, in this stalemate of theirs, likely was difficult, though she tried to understand their plight as much as she could, "I... I know it'll happen eventually. Whose to say with who? I guess that remains to be seen."

Tessa and Zed stopped what they were doing, dragged their delightfully annoyed glares to Libby and slumped their shoulders; Libby raised her eyebrows in poised surprise and shrugged her shoulders.

"Wow, I'm betting all my money on Throttle," Tessa muttered sarcastically, Zed spout a hard chuckle, shook his head and began to stir pancake batter, so to help Tessa.

"Oh, totally," Libby beamed and joined in on their jokes, though she heaved a shaky sigh and pulled her communicator out of her pocket. It buzzed, and as she read her screen, and just who had messaged her, she furrowed her brow and smiled, "Ace."

"What?" Zed blurt in hard surprise as him and Tessa whirled their attention to her, though they quickly realized she wasn't simply stating his name to put all their wonderings to rest.

"U-Uh, oh... Ace messaged me," Libby rushed in an apologetic way as she waved her device about, "Can... Can one of you possibly install something on here, so that I can read English? Ace has messaged me a few times, since last night, and I'm too scared to reply because I can't read much of anything he's sending to me."

"'Come-downstairs, I-want-love, take-me-now'," Zed muttered quietly to Tessa over the sudden sizzling of the bacon she put down on the hot cast iron. Tessa beamed Zed a wide, giggling smile and swat at him, though he flinched, shrugged, shook his head and kept his brilliant blue eyes honed to the batter he stirred, "C'mon, son, simple words, get it out, man, it's not that hard."

"Lemme see," Tessa eased quietly, she kindly approached Libby, and as she handed Tessa her communicator, Tessa flinched lightly and avoided looking at the screen, "Is... Is it okay if I read your guys' conversation? I don't want to intrude, if it's private."

"I really don't know what he'd be trying to tell me, that's private, we haven't talked about anything that could mean him privately messaging me," Libby shrugged in naive bashfulness as Tessa peered down to Libby's communicator.

 _10:02pm Wednesday 08/24/2016_

 _User : Hey Libs, did you head over to the tower? great aunt Taffyta's brownies are nearly finished. Do you want me to bring you one?_

 _Libbers : Acey-puba_

 _User : Libby-girl :) Would you like a brownie? I will bring you one._

Tessa raised one eyebrow in plucked, kind delight and felt her heart swell with just how much patience Ace showed towards Libby's obvious lack of knowledge on how to read English. She gently scrolled and kept reading.

 _Libbers : Hi ! what brownie ? Acey-bear yes? puba is bear_

 _User : Yes, that's right. Good job, Libby. :) Uh, I'll be over in a little bit then, my dad needs me for something in the code room._

Tessa bit her lip and knew she likely had potentially read too far up, she couldn't help but be a tiny bit nosy, though she finally scrolled to the messages in which Libby was referring too. She furrowed her brow in contemplation and continued on.

 _4:01am_

 _User : Are you awake?_

 _4:13am_

 _User : I'm assuming you're asleep. Please message me when you wake up. I'm really nervous about tomorrow, about the trip into Sugar Rush, and I just really need to speak with you._

 _User : I can't sleep. I just... Need your advice on something, I guess._

 _7:18am_

 _User : Libby, are my messages getting to you? You passed right by me, on my front porch. Are you upset with me?_

"Oh, uh... He needs to speak with you, Libs," Tessa pressed as she finally read the last line, and as she looked at the time-stamp, she realized that only two minutes had passed since his last message to her. She glanced back at the large patio door, and then again into Libby's eyes.

"Oh, he does?" Libby urged nervously as Tessa handed her communicator back to her, though Tessa lovingly rubbed her shoulder.

"You should go speak to him, he's on his front porch. Maybe see what he can do to make it so you can understand the messages a little better," Tessa stated with a kind, assuring smile, "Maybe have him code your communicator, in such a way, that translates the English into Teltokuan maybe?"

"That's a good idea," Libby nodded as she locked the device and began to scurry out towards the backyard in a nervous manner, "Thank you Ma, I'll be right back!"

"No rush, hun," Tessa called with a kind smile, though just as Libby left, and just as her and Zed were about to unload and delightfully gripe about Ace and Libby, Finn's teleportation pad hummed a knowing noise, and just as Tammy appeared across the room, Tessa cupped her hands to her chest and beamed her cousin an obnoxious grin of pure, unadulterated delight.

* * *

As Libby quickly crossed the backyard, she stepped through the tan-stoned path, it was lined with Ace's gorgeous fire flowers. The path that lead to hers, Nox's and Ace's tower, was delightfully strewn with itching growth of jungle grass. She drew her eyes up their magnificent tower and honed her eyes to the sliver of Ace's elbow that peeked by the railings. She furrowed her brow and could've sworn, on her way down, she didn't see him sitting there, though she figured she likely was too sleepy to notice. She quickly pressed on, climbed the stairs of their tower and relished in the cool feeling of the soft wood under toe. Once she reached Ace's landing, which was just underneath her room, she rounded the bend and caught stares with Ace. He was sat on his comfortable hammock chair, and to her defense, he was lightly hidden by the banister and railings that held his front overhang up.

"Ace," Libby eased quietly, he stiffened his spine, got out of his chair and gave her a warm smile, though she could tell he was mildly confused.

"Libby," Ace pressed as the two neared, Ace wore a comfortable black shirt and blue sweats that were clad with his sur-name, "I-I uh... I didn't mean to sound upset, in my messages, or anything."

"Well, upon getting this device, I've discovered that I can hardly read English," Libby giggled as she waved her communicator around, "I... I can only understand a few words, but I can speak it just fine."

"That's understandable," Ace eased, he slumped his shoulders in relief at the fact that she simply couldn't understand the text and wasn't flat out ignoring him, "Uh... I really don't know how to get around THAT, other than, well... Um..."

Libby raised her eyebrow in gentle curiosity and, as Ace tenderly took her communicator from her, she noticed he began to feel flustered. She grew curious and shook her head with a kind, confused smile.

"What is it?" Libby prod.

"Well, I... I can program your device to translate all of the English into Teltokuan, and vice versa, but... I-I will need your help, to do so," Ace stammered, he nervously rubbed the back of his head, it was clear he had gotten no sleep with the way the dark circles, under his eyes, were showing.

"Sure, I can help you," Libby eased with a widening smile. Ace cocked an eyebrow and began to look nervous, though just as the realization set into her mind, she sagged her shoulders, scrunched them again in a draw of knowing and felt her face get hot, "O-Oh... I-I... I guess sitting here and translating every English word, known to every gamer, into Teltokuan, might take a really long time, huh."

"Y-Yes," Ace stuttered, he beamed a sheepish smile down to their bare feet, glanced to his home's large, green door and began to feel nervous, and though he ultimately needed Libby's permission for said nonsense, he somehow wondered if maybe this could potentially move their frustrating situation along.

"Should we go inside for this?" Libby pressed, though she flinched at potentially how forward that seemed. She raised her eyebrows in soft, bashful surprise as Ace's face turned red.

"Sure, only if you're okay with... This?" Ace wondered, he squinted and gently side-eyed Libby, and though he knew the two had agreed to cut out the exterior-swapping business, he now was wondering if the two were thrust into this game of 'find any excuse to exterior swap for the greater good'. He finally wrinkled a gentlemanly smile and was certain this was now a coy game of 'catch me if you can' they were trying out.

"I'm okay with it, only if you are, I mean... We all saw how your birthday went," Libby stated sorrowfully, which rocked Ace out of his cheeky demeanor.

"Well... You were angry then, and for good reason," Ace pressed tenderly, he long blinked and kept his eyes honed to hers, "You're... Not angry now, are you?"

"No, not at all, I just feel bad that you thought I was avoiding you," Libby giggled as she scrunched her shoulders.

As Ace unlatched his heavy door, swung it open for Libby and let her in first, she tenderly stepped inside, with lithe footsteps, and peered about his cozy room. The space was flood with a gorgeous, warm amount of morning sunshine. His kitchenette faced the rising sun, the white curtains over his large kitchen window were soaked with sunlight, they fluttered in the gentle, cool breeze left over from the night prior. His walls were a stark white, birch floors, and a heavenly canopy bed housed in a lovely, massive frame, and though his bed sheets and downs looked as if he had been tossing and turning for hours, the gentle, cream curtains that draped about his bed fluttered in the breeze, though two of them were clumsily tied to the bed posts. Libby felt her shoulders un-tense, and though she wasn't previously harboring any major amount of stress, she felt any amount of unrest fall to the wayside, and then some.

"I-I know we promised we wouldn't do this," Ace stammered, he rubbed the back of his head and adjusted his shirt a little. He realized he potentially looked like a disheveled mess, though he assessed Libby, across his large, round, studio room and was delighted to see her move to his large, comfortable, grey L shaped couch. As she sat down, she peered back to him and gently pat the couch next to her, and though he began to nervously step closer to her, he continued on in a rush of hoping to justify this mess, "I guess... It's for a good purpose? But, if you think we should hold out, because of... Y'know... I can maybe tab into the code room and poke around, I mean, I don't really wholly know what I'm doing in there, but-"

"You haven't slept, have you," Libby muttered in gentle annoyance, she cocked an eyebrow as Ace finally huffed a breath and sat next to her. She giggled and so lovingly took his larger hand in hers, "Relax. Why don't we... Maybe try it out, and if it proves to be too difficult for us to bear, then we'll stop. Sound good?"

Ace raised his eyebrows and peered his attention to her, and though the two weren't official, or even fully knowledgeable about their current, overflowing feelings, he still felt as if somehow they were linked. Best friends as children, a field of fire flowers and a pinky promise they both shared, he knew the two had something special, and though it wasn't properly conveyed, just yet, he wrinkled his nose lightly and had to wonder if this was maybe her cheeky way of inching the two closer to just what they wanted. He knew the two promised each other no more exterior swaps, though he had to maybe ponder that this was potentially her way of communicating, her way of conveying just what she needed to. He knew English wasn't her first language, and being so drastically hurt by someone she once trusted had to have hindered her ability to properly express just what she wanted, in such a way that made sense; he let his strict wall come down, only for her.

"Deal," Ace eased quietly, a polite, gentlemanly tone he knew to keep solid with her. He huffed a shaky breath, nodded a little and felt a minor rush of fear coat over him.

"So... How will this work, then?" Libby wondered as Ace scoot a little closer to her, both of their lower legs brushed a little. Ace breathed a quiet, sleepy breath and peered down to their conjoined hands.

"Well... Let me uh, just..." Ace mumbled quietly, and as easily as he could, he flinched and sparked the silver circuits under his skin. As easily as their coding could afford, they swarmed each other's hands and wrists, and as Ace long blinked and soaked in her tender, coded presence, he felt immediately at ease, "Okay... From here, why don't you let me hold your communicator, and we can try and figure out how this is going to work. Maybe you can transfer all of your Teltokuan knowledge to the device."

Libby nodded, gently handed Ace her communicator, and as he held it in his left hand, alongside her hand in his right, the swirls of silver, white, yellow and golden honeycombs, riddled with circuit lines, quickly flood Ace's left palm as well. With this, the screen on the device went white and had a notification that stated that it was downloading new information. Ace eyed it, and before he could even begin to wonder just what to do next, her lovely, comforting coding began to distract him. He huffed a soft, disgruntled breath, shook his head and desperately tried to remain focused. He un-boggled his thoughts and strictly began to run over methods of how to transfer all of her Teltokuan knowledge to the powerful device in his hand, and just as he came knocking on door number one, Libby welcomed him into that nook of her coding, the one that harbored the syntax of her fluent Teltokuan language, and the extent of any English she knew.

Libby shyly glanced to Ace's line of sight, he looked wholly honed down to the device in his left hand, his spine was stiff, and he looked as if he was simply at ease in a boot camp. Libby furrowed her brow, shivered and felt Ace's worming, gentlemanly self soak into her language knowledge and no further. She almost felt frustrated, she knew the two were keeping strict tabs on each other, a simple, mutual friendzone, though with the feeling of his powerful, comforting warmth, she felt the wiggle of romantic urgency want so badly to overflow him with all of her secrets, every single last byte of information she knew he literally had access to in this moment, though with his rigid form and painfully polite demeanor, he practically remained with his nose shoved to the 'language' information blips of her sweet, sunlit, yellow coding. Libby smiled in a knowing way and dragged her eyes down to their conjoined hands; the stark difference in size was overwhelming.

She wrinkled her little fingers, her whole hand stretched the entirety of just his palm alone. Two of his fingers were practically the girth of her forearm, and as his strong hand curled tighter around hers, he began to look even more frustrated. He glared down at the pad, and before Libby could speak, she felt a proverbial tug on her language coding, as if he was literally trying to copy paste it from her being, and drag the copy straight into the device. Her coding continued to gently tug, she long blinked with a gentle giggle as her vision just barely blurred with each tug, her senses dulled with each of Ace's attempt, purely because a rush of coded information was directed to the spot of urgency, similar to blood rushing to an injured area of the body. Libby giggled again as he finally released his tug, huffed a hard exhale and shook his head in harder contemplation.

"I-I... I have all this power and can't even simply transfer data," Ace grumbled, partly to himself, though Libby cocked an eyebrow and now realized Ace was genuinely frustrated with this notion, and not simply playfully annoyed.

"... You said this all rides on an adrenaline rush?" Libby wondered carefully, though Ace finally huffed a hard sigh, slumped his shoulders and loosened his grip on Libby's hand.

"Yeah... I'm practically useless, otherwise, it seems," Ace muttered, he cocked an eyebrow and peered down to Libby's device, which still patiently awaited information.

"You're not useless, Ace," Libby pressed in a dull tone with a roll of a laugh, she shook her head and fastened her little hand deeper into Ace's. She scoot a little closer to him, shook her head and peered into his gaze, "This is maybe something you have to work on, as a User. Since you were born into the Arcade, but have the blood and coding of a User, you have to teach yourself all your skills. If you were born outside of the Arcade, and you came to the game realm, you'd likely, well... Have all your powers, and everything would be easy."

"Do you think it's like... Something I need to change in my coding, in the code room?" Ace wondered sleepily, he looked absolutely exhausted.

"Well... I don't know. I think you may just need to focus on what you need to accomplish. Kind of like meditation," Libby stated quietly, and though she so badly wanted to potentially jump in and help Ace, she stopped herself and assessed him. He looked downtrod, as if he was on the brink of contemplating giving up, though Libby gripped his hand a little harder and upped the voltage on their exterior-swap connection. Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise and felt his face get hot as he dragged his eyes up her arm to her kind, determined eye contact, "C'mon. You don't need an adrenaline rush to be great and test your powers. Let's just try again, maybe I can help."

"O-Okay," Ace mumbled sweetly, he sat up straight once more, peered down to the device in his left hand and only merely glanced to Libby, as if to wonder just what to do from here.

"Okay, so... Let's lay out what needs to be done, and just that," Libby eased, "We are wanting to take all of my knowledge on the Teltokuan language, copy it, transfer it to my device, and make it so I can fully understand just what the heck you guys are messaging to me."

"I nearly don't want to, it's funny watching you try and write out phrases," Ace uttered with a chuff of a laugh, and though Libby broadened a smile across her cheeks, she swat at him and rolled her eyes.

"Alright. So, let's maybe just focus on copying all of my language files first," Libby shrugged, "I think you were trying to literally transfer all of my knowledge onto that little device, and my coding wasn't having it. Cause you were trying to take away a key element of my coding, as opposed to copying it and safely leaving ME with the original files."

"... That's a good point," Ace mumbled as he rubbed his scruffly jaw.

"I mean... I may not have User powers, but, lets just try and see if we could simply start by copying my language files. You've already accessed them, I can feel that much. Instead of relying on an adrenaline rush and will power, try and focus on the simple task at hand," Libby stated calmly as her and Ace sat up a little straighter and gripped each other's hands tighter, "Just, one step at a time... Maybe close your eyes and try to visualize it."

"Good idea," Ace nodded as the both of them closed their eyes.

Libby smiled, squeezed Ace's hand and let him have control of just what he needed to do. With both of their eyes closed, Libby nearly could see just what they were trying to accomplish, the small task that could potentially seem like one of the easiest things. She knew Ace was struggling in garnering all of his powers, outside of an adrenaline rush, though she was eager to help. Ace's coding warmly wormed to the data, in her coding, that held all of her knowledge on both languages she knew, and as the two sat in gentle wait, she flinched and could feel Ace's data attempt to lay a sheen over hers, as if to push his hand print into a mold to save for later. She flinched lightly, as the voltage was upped, though she furrowed her brow in confusion and felt all of his processing power slowly dwindle to a white noise buzz.

Just as Libby was about to open her eyes and wonder if he maybe paused for a break, she jolted as Ace's head delicately lulled to her shoulder. Libby flinched in hard confusion, wobbled to the side and peered her curious, bewildered gaze to Ace, though just as his coding leveled out to a drum of unfocused nonsense, she raised her eyebrows in whole concern as she felt his opened, raw coding lull him into a much-needed reset and leave all the doors to his powerful, User data wide open. She cocked an eyebrow and immediately felt nervous, and as she sat in their quiet exterior swap, she felt curiosity soak over her. She gently nudged Ace a little, cooed his name a few times, though with the sweet, soft lulling of their harmonious coding, she, too, began to feel drowsy. She long blinked in confusion, though as if their coding was trying to make it clear that it knew better, she softly leaned back into the couch and tried so desperately to keep her eyes open, though with Ace inside a reset, her coding very quickly followed suit.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright guys, I'm going to need you to bear with me. I have very exciting news, and though it is exciting, it's also caused me quite a bit of grief and etc., but, for those of you that follow me on deviantART, you will know that I am moving to the East Coast! I was, previously looking into SCAD in Savannah, Georgia, but it looks like a few things have changed, and I will be applying to Ringling in Sarasota, Florida. I am very VERY excited for this move across the country, but...**

 **I just told my best best BEST friend, Michaela, that I am indeed leaving... And will be gone for as long as I'm in school... And it has been an extremely emotional day/night for us. We've literally been bawling all night, and... It's so difficult, and I'm really greatly struggling, and I know her and I will be just fine and remain best friends no matter the distance, but it's just very hard for us because we've always lived so close and been so accessible to each other, that this stretch is going to be trying.**

 **But I know we'll pull through, and she's super supportive, and it'll be great, I'm just going through a very 'grievous' period right now. I wrote the ENTIRETY of this chapter in full on tears, I was bawling through this whole chapter. And nothing sad was happening between any of the characters... I'm surprised I even got it written and kept 'happy-mood' through it. I need your guys' support, and your patience. I've never had to deal with moving, or leaving a best friend, it's a very new experience for me and I am very shell-shocked, so... I just need understanding. Michaela is my original ride or die, she's my Taffyta, she's my best friend, she is my SISTER, I truly believe she is my** **platonic friend form** **soul-mate... So this is just extremely hard for both of us.**

 **Chapters will still be coming out and the like, but, I am very sore and emotional right now. and I greatly apologize if my chapters show it, or lack depth or if my characters seem out of place or anything. It's because my mind is a whirlwind right now.**

 **Thanks you guys...**

* * *

 **ALSO, to end this on a lighter note, I will be opening my sketchdump in FIVE chapters! :D So, be thinking about what you guys would like to see drawn. I'm doing only chapters 50-100! So, to help you guys out a bit, chapter 50 is the chapter where Tessa reunited with Tammy, Calhoun and Felix - if that helps at all xD**


	96. Chapter 96

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** No way! YAY! We're looking to be living in either Tampa or Sarasota. Likely Sarasota, cause that's where the school I'm applying to is, but I think it's really cool that I actually have a handful of readers that are over in either Georgia or Florida. When we hit up those conventions over there, I hope to meet some of you guys! I appreciate all your support... As the days go on, with this information in her and the reality setting in, it's gotten a little bit easier. We're making it a point to hang out every weekend, and I text her all day long, so I think we'll be alright. Hopefully we don't lose touch TOO much :(

 **Retrokill :** TaFin LOL! I appreciate the support. I'm pretty sure if I joined the military, I'd be killed the second I stepped off American soil. I'm quick on my feet, but damn am I not cut out for war xD

 **chuckiboo :** YAY More east coast friends! Yeah, I've heard wonderful things about Florida. I'm used to the heat, cause I'm here in Phoenix, but it's extremely humid over there so I'm mostly terrified for my hair. My hair already has volume, as it is, soooo... xD I also appreciate that you enjoy the 'fillers'! I for sure try to tie the fillers in with the plot, so to keep everything from going stagnant, and I'm really glad it's noticed :D Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you SO MUCH! Yes, I read your comment on deviantART! I need to find time to properly reply to everyone, I also need to update that journal as a lot has changed. But I'm so appreciative of your support and for the kind words. It all goes so very far with me, and it makes me feel so loved. Thank you!

 **ArchitectDreams :** I know, I likely screwed myself over with that one xD Just a simple joke Tessa threw out there lol. Yeah, Libby definitely tries to help Ace through this drama, as seen in this chapter :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** lol! Yeah, they were 'connected', technically, so Libby's coding just sort of followed his idea haha. Yeah, I'm sure Michaela and I will be fine. I'm really excited for this new adventure, and I can take her with me, in some aspects, for sure. She will never be forgotten.

 **Jay Sketchin :** Thank you! I know I LOVE birds omg. They're so adorable. And, good question! No worries! I made it clear in Defying Code, but let's face it, that was 100 chapters ago and I never touched base on that aspect of swapping so it's no issue xD After the initial FIRST swap, with opposed-swaps, then they can go all out and forget their worries. Once they share codes, all bets are off and they don't need to worry about timing it any longer :) Woohoo!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LMAO! I told you it'd get frustrating! xD It gets worse too, hate to say. BUT the build up is all worth it :D Thank you for the advice! I know AZ gets ridiculously hot, but I know FL is really humid, so that'll be very different for me, cause it's so dry over here. I appreciate all the compliments and kind words! I'm glad everything is making sense and you're enjoying it so far :D

* * *

 ***Chapter 96***

Ace long blinked a few times, a curious smile graced his face, and as he got a good look around, he couldn't quite understand just where he was. In the midst of peace and a lulling hug of white, Ace finally opened his eyes wider and peered about. Stood in a white plane of delightful uncertainty, he wasn't sure how exactly to feel. For a strange reason, he felt peace, calming, understanding, and before he could whirl about and wonder if he was alone in this small bout of solidarity, Libby's soothing, quiet voice broke his silent presence.

"What's your favorite color?" Libby cooed quietly, and as Ace's eyes dragged to hers, he looked her over in mild surprise.

She was wearing a white, comfortable sundress with thin straps that laid over her porcelain, bare shoulders. Her long, white hair was tucked into a low ponytail, and as if nothing was out of the ordinary, even in the slightest, she peered to him in wholeness and kept her question held in the air, in hot silence. She finally breathed a small giggle at his clear curiosity and joined him in lightly looking about.

"Orange," Ace eased, though before he could say anything, Libby gently knelt down to the ground, prod at the white nothingness at their feet, and was floored to see her begin to spread a vivid, excitable orange about the ground.

Ace gasped, took a few steps away and watched as she practically began to paint the atmosphere orange. Like spreading messy, gradient paint along a canvas, the world was at Libby's fingertips. She giggled, brought the drag of orange upwards and soaked the gorgeous, happy color into twirls of ribbons that animated in a flutter and made the world practically shine. Ace beamed a curious grin, rubbed the back of his head in hard surprise and shook his head, as if to wonder just where the heck they were, though asking obvious questions might make it so it weren't a reality any longer.

"What's your favorite animal?" Ace dared to ask, as if the two were now discovering that anything and everything was possible, the limit to their child-like imaginations was endless.

"A fast beast, a creature that has the speed of a cheetah," Libby blurt as Ace dared to spread his palms and attempt something to come of his mind, though as she spoke, and as Ace's diligent powers worked at full speed, the world about them came to life, a vivid field of endless grass and blue mountains littered their plane of vision. The two gasped in hard surprise as they were suddenly plopped directly in the center of a pack of wild lykata that shot by, their thunderous gallop, the gleam of freedom in their eyes; Libby whirled around in animated surprise, threw her arms out and concluded her notion, "But with the heart and soar of a tlelik eagle!"

Ace laughed, wrapped one of his strong arms around her waist and tucked her close as the two were thrust into a scene that was nothing but fluffy, stark clouds. A cream sky with sunkissed clouds underfoot, Ace could hardly believe all of this to be true, and as Libby threw her head back, spread her arms to fly and peered about their amazing new scenery, Ace huffed a breath of disbelief and peered to her in dire curiosity. He knew now the two were soaked in a dream, most likely, though memories of just where his and Libby's physical bodies were had him reeling. He furrowed his brow and couldn't quite pin just where they were, outside of this realm, and as the stir of imagination settled and the world went white again, the two panted in excitement and peered to each other in the stillness that finally collected.

"... I didn't know orange was your favorite color," Libby prod with a wide smile as she tucked some hair behind her ear, Ace nodded softly and bashfully looked away.

"I'm sure everyone assumes it's blue," Ace mumbled, he lightly prod at his hair and wrinkled his nose the second Libby uttered a small laugh. Just as Ace was going to keep the mystery going, he couldn't hold onto blissful unawareness any longer, "Where... Where are we?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but... I'm assuming it has to do with our exterior swap we fell asleep in," Libby shrugged with a small giggle, though Ace's unblemished face turned bright red.

"W-We... What?" Ace wondered bashfully, though Libby straightened out her dress with meticulous hands and hid a shy smile as well.

"Yeah, we were attempting to transfer all of my Teltokuan knowledge to my communicator but, I don't think you've slept today," Libby wrinkled her nose and gave Ace a knowing, concerned smile.

"I forgot," Ace mumbled as he looked away and cocked an eyebrow.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Libby pressed softly, though once she remembered the two were sitting on a white canvas, she softly drew her hands about and created a gorgeous scene about before them.

A small, grassy hilltop at sunrise, their view looked over said gorgeous field of the pack of lykatas they had just dreamed up, and the puffy bouts of clouds they previously dreamed up hung over head, a kind reminder that their wishes and desires could be permanent, as long as they kept it burning alive. Libby gently sat down on the peak of the tall hill they were on, and as Ace let out a soft grunt, he sat down next to her; his untarnished, white shirt and slacks remained as such, even with the rich green grass underneath.

"Y'know, just... Worrying," Ace mumbled, as if worrying and being anxious was now a part of his coding.

"About the trip into Sugar Rush?" Libby prod, she tucked her knees to her chest and rested her chin atop her wrists.

"Yeah," Ace huffed as her brilliant blue eyes dragged to his, her brows curved down in gentle curiosity.

"How come?" Libby pressed, likely as if she could guess the answer, though no such worries hung on her thoughts. She knew she was already inside his mind, though getting him to realize his worries aloud, amidst another soul, could likely help his anxiety.

"I... I don't know, I guess it stems back to the whole topic we were talking about, before we fell asleep," Ace shrugged, he gave her a nervous look of sorrow and shook his head, "I have all of this power, but... How can I use it? Will I be able to use it without adrenaline? I want to be able to control it, just in case we need it. Not in case we're in a life or death situation... Those things aren't relative."

"Hmm," Libby rubbed her chin and let her pupils soak in the gorgeous display of scenery out before them, the sky was soaked with the puffy, still clouds, "Well, to discover just how to move forward, you have to first realize what's standing in your way. You're worried that, once in Sugar Rush, someone will need your help sans adrenaline rush, and you won't be able to help, thus failing people and their expectations... Right?"

"...Right," Ace huffed, he eyed Libby in growing sadness and furrowed his brow, "I don't even know if I want you tagging along, really... I-I don't know what I'd do if, well..."

"You're not going to lose me, Ace," Libby pushed, she sat up and tilted her head, so to get a better look into Ace's eyes, "We're going on this journey to find the castle, to find the code room and to get back Sugar Rush for Vanellope... For Tessa."

"And what of it," Ace suddenly spout, he stood, brushed his hands off, gestured down to her and gave her a wide, incredulous smile; he began to anxiously pace, "What happens WHEN we run into Radex? What if it's amidst a clear room? A gentle field? No urgency, he surrenders... And I'm powerless?"

"Ace," Libby urged as she gently stood, as well.

"He'll give himself up, they'll look at me to end him and to resolve the issue and... I can't do anything!" Ace shouted out to the huff of a breeze that whirled about them, causing their clothes and hair to flutter. Libby tucked her hands to her chest and stood on tip toes, as if she so badly wanted to rush to Ace's aid, though she knew he needed to get whatever he needed off of his chest, "He's there, on his knees, clearly out numbered, and... I can't do anything about it. So what does he do? Realizes he's far more powerful than a User with no knowledge of his powers, and carries on keeping the kingdom held with his fist."

"Ace, I'm pretty sure you'd have the power and strength to know just what to do in that moment-"

"And what if I don't!" Ace urged loudly as he finally directed his attention to Libby, though she jumped and raised her eyebrows in hard surprise, "I can't gamble, here. I can't simply weigh the kingdom alongside riding on false hope..."

"False hope?" Libby hissed in hard confusion as she shook her head, "This isn't false hope, Ace, we believe in you."

"What do you do when you don't believe in yourself?" Ace uttered as his eyes welled with tears, "This all rides on me, and we all know it. You heard Paw... Its mandatory I attend each and every trip because, well, what if we find Radex? I'm the only one who can permanently delete him."

Libby slumped her shoulders and allowed Ace to continue talking, like what he needed. She heaved a soft sigh through her nose and assessed him. His scraggly, dark blue hair ruffled in the wind, it was getting so long and out of hand that it nearly could be styled in such a way that made him look like Ralph. He looked as if he was slightly letting himself go with fear and sorrow. Ace rubbed his eye, as if to express that he was sleepy, though he peered his gaze about their surroundings and slumped his larger hands to his sides in growing dismay.

"I know everyone plays an important part in this mess, but... I'm beginning to see that's just a ploy," Ace's voice grew dark as he glared down to the ground, "A saying just to pacify me."

"Ace, that's not true," Libby stabbed, she grappled Ace's upper arm and forced him to turn and look at her, and as his eyes dragged down into her stern ones, he raised his eyebrows in collected surprise and froze, "No one is just going to sit here and pacify you, Ace... No one believes this task is wholly yours to complete. You know we're all going to help you."

"How?" Ace begged in agitated urgency, "There's nothing anyone can do to help!"

"There is too!" Libby argued as she gripped his arm a little harder, she shook her head and began to look insulted, "You remember what we were doing before you fell asleep? I was trying to help you copy my files, so to paste them into my communicator!"

"And even THAT failed!" Ace yelled, Libby shook Ace a little.

"We didn't even TRY!" She hollered back, though just as the two were about to keep arguing, a loud thud of a sound was present, alongside the sound of what seemed to be a grumble of a call, a dragon's throaty roar that sounded very close.

The two flinched, whirled about and gasped a hard breath, and as they peered about, their gorgeous surroundings slipped back to white, as if the disturbance made their dream land vanish; anything negative or sudden could pop the tender, fragile bubble as easily as breathing too suddenly. Before the two could wonder just where the heck that noise was coming from, they were thrust back to reality. As quickly as Ace could, he jolted his eyes open and joined Libby in scrambling up from his grey couch. He urgently grappled Libby into a tight, protective hug and froze as the sudden sound became more present, and as laughter was suddenly heard outside Ace's gaping windows, on the ground far below, the two flinched and realized Royal had perched himself atop Ace's tower and quickly leaped off the building, the sudden whip of his shadow that cast across the walls made it obvious.

Ace huffed a hot, annoyed sigh through his nose as the two now stood, awake, in his comfortable loft. It was clear that a few hours had past, though it wasn't quite noon just yet. Zed could be heard laughing outside, alongside Tessa, Balba and Koko, and in a rush of the dregs of anger, he let go of Libby and stomped over to his open window. In a draw of grumpiness he was bound to overflow some poor soul to, he knew his dad likely wasn't the right person to do so with, though he did it anyways. He inhaled a deep breath, grappled his window sill and nearly leaned out in collected, exhausted anger.

"Hey, I'm sleeping, here! Do you mind?!" Ace hollered, though Zed whirled around, looked up and sent a hard glare straight up into his son's soul; Ace raised his eyebrows in plucked, tired surprise and knew messing with his dad was off limits, though with Zed's electric stare to his soul, Ace stammered on apologetically, "I-I... I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, dad, can you possibly move the... Fun, elsewhere?"

"Sure," Zed cocked an eyebrow and kept his tone short, and as Zed began to saunter away, alongside Koko and Balba, Ace swallowed hard and knew he'd likely be prod at later, for being slightly rude.

Ace finally huffed a long, hot breath through his nose and came back into his large space, though Libby stood with her communicator at the ready. Before Ace could question what she was looking at, and continue being outwardly grumpy to people that didn't deserve it, Libby gently rushed him and laid a hand to his lower arm. Ace winced, peered down at their collected, angry golden coding and felt her urgent presence flood his.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Ace itched as he pushed closer and peered down at her communicator.

"You had a slight adrenaline rush, maybe if we ride on the dregs of it's power, we can transfer the coding to my device," Libby pressed with a kind smile as she finally peered up to him, though he wrinkled his nose and finally was aware just how hard and fast his heart was pounding. Libby tabbed her fingers into Ace's skin and kept their connection firm, "Okay, so... Like I said, think about the task at hand, what do you need to do?"

"C-Copy your files and paste them to your device," Ace eased, and as he closed his eyes, once more, clarity came to him, instead of sleepiness this time. He heaved a shaky breath and finally prod to Libby's language files. Once he had everything panned out before him, he wrinkled his nose and let his coding lay a sheen of copying over all of her language knowledge. As if Libby was sitting there, watching all of this take place, she breathed a giggle and squeezed Ace's hand a little harder.

"That's it!" Libby eased with a widening smile as she nodded, and just as she began to assume he maybe could take it from here, she suddenly could feel him becoming bashful and unsure. She pried her eyes opened, peered up to him and gently surged him with a bit more of her coded power, and though it was miniscule compared to his strength, it still made goosebumps plague his neck, "Don't let it go, Ace... The adrenaline rush may be dying down, but don't let go of that power."

Ace nodded, wrinkled his nose, shut his eyes tighter and finally let his coding successfully copy every last bit of language knowledge she had, and as if to drag heavy furniture across a large room, he finally eased every single last thing he copied to his left hand, which was gripping Libby's device, and began to successfully load it with everything he had just dragged from her coding. He jolted his eyes open, peered down to the device and then again into Libby's excited eyes. As the two remained silent in growing awe, he finally choked a small laugh and nudged Libby in hard excitement.

"... I-It's working! You did it!" Ace blurt, though Libby giggled, rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Ace, I just helped," Libby pressed softly as his demeanor began to quiet once more, he peered down at her in tender care as she continued on, "YOU did it. You can do so much, if you just set your mind to it."

Ace raised his eyebrows and peered down to Libby's communicator. The device read with a solid 'downloading' bar that was nearly finished, and once it processed everything, the device showed her home screen once more. Ace softly dragged his eyes to hers before he opened her messages and felt curiosity soak over them. As Ace handed her back the little communicator, he pulled out his and began to thumb Libby a message. Once it sent, Libby giggled and read the message aloud, as perfectly as she could. The two heaved bouts of excited laughter, and as they glommed into each other for a twirl of a gentle hug, Ace heaved a raspy sigh onto Libby's shoulder and felt his heart soak with guilt. He squeezed her tighter and knew he needed her, he needed everyone. He knew, somehow, their words held so much truth and depth, and though he had the ultimate power of the Arcade, he was aware he'd be no where without their help and encouragement.

"I owe you an apology," Ace mumbled as she two softly pulled away, Ace nervously looked down and sighed.

"For what?" Libby tenderly wondered, though Ace's handsome hazel eyes dragged across his inviting, sunkissed space.

"I... Well, I yelled at you," Ace blurt, he shook his head and frowned, "You didn't deserve that... And, you were right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Libby breathed with a kind smile as she peered down to all the messages she could now fully understand, she sighed and looked about in dainty, girly charm, "I'm just glad we got that figured out... Next time, we can try and accomplish something without riding on the tail of adrenaline."

"Wh-What do you mean by that?" Ace's face turned beet red, though Libby waved her hand nervously.

"N-No, I mean like... Next time we have an issue like this, I can help you if you'd like," Libby rushed with an awkward smile, "O-Or if you think you can handle it on your own, I mean... I just was sort of there for encouragement."

"It helped," Ace eased lovingly, his eyes soaked into her surprised ones, "You did me a solid, and now you can understand all of us... We both did good."

"Thank you," Libby pressed quietly as their loving string of eye contact held solid.

* * *

As the bright and sunny day carried on, the girls decided to swim after lunch. With the dregs of their delicious meal strewn about the outside patio's marvelous bar, Zed, Tessa, Nox and Throttle helped in cleaning. Ace finished off the last of his frosty soda and figured he'd get up and help after a minute or two more of digesting. Ace nervously eyes his parents, he knew his lack of sleep, and being woken up abruptly, likely set the two back with his grumpiness, though he also knew the castle was tense in its last day before their venture deep into Sugar Rush. Ace dragged his eyes down to his empty plate, which once housed a large, delicious sub sandwich. Ace flinched as Zed's voice lightly carried.

"My favorite part was when you kept avoiding eye contact with me," Zed started, he raised his eyebrows high, kept a smug look on his face and peered down to the glass he diligently cleaned.

"I'm not avoiding eye contact, dad," Ace grumbled, though he began to grow more irritated as Zed set the glass down and began to busy himself with cleaning that had to be done closer to Ace's section of the outdoor bar. Both boys peered to the pool in curiosity as Libby began to shout obscenities in Teltokuan as Vanellope and Taffyta loudly fought over a pool floaty.

"Yes you are," Zed chuckled as the two came back to each other; Tessa, Nox and Throttle chattered with each other, it was clear they were discussing Sugar Rush and the events being held tomorrow. Zed sighed and finally planted his hands on the lower tier of the counter, opposite Ace, "How come you didn't sleep well last night?"

"I don't know dad," Ace mumbled as he slumped his jaw into his larger hand, he finally eyed his dad and cocked an eyebrow, "I got Libby's communicator to read Teltokuan, so you guys can message her with confidence, now."

"Oh good," Zed raised his eyebrows, though he quickly beamed Ace a cheeky smile and squinted, "... How'd you accomplish that?"

"We went to dream land and then Royal was an asshole and woke us up," Ace muttered in a playfully sarcastic voice, Zed dragged laughter, though he quickly stopped once he realized Ace wasn't simply joking.

"... Dream land?" Zed pondered.

"Yeah, we... We were exterior swapping so we could-"

"I thought you two weren't going to do that anymore?" Zed interrupted in a concerned tone, though Ace hugged an impatient sigh.

"I thought so too, dad," Ace growled as he began to look exhausted, once more, "We fell asleep on accident and found a white void of nothingness, due to our exterior swap."

"White void?" Zed pushed, thoughts of the night prior flood his mind, how he was explaining the do's and don't's of opposed code swapping to his younger brother the night prior, and how Tammy and Finn would eventually find themselves on said dimensional plane. Zed rubbed the back of his head and grew even more confused, "You mean... You went there too?"

"What do you mean 'too'? You've been there?" Ace prod curiously, his grumpy front began to slope away.

"Yeah, well... Once," Zed looked concerned, "It was the first time your mother and I code swapped, so to get your loading bar to read normality. That was where we learned your gender."

"You like... Had full on conversation with mom? Cause that's how it was with Libby and I," Ace shrugged, "It was like a dream, we were dressed in-"

"All white?" Zed completed with question, Ace peaked a smile and nodded a little as Zed let out a huff of surprise, "I... I didn't think you could access that place upon simply exterior swapping. How bizarre..."

"Yeah, we like... Could make up scenery and stuff, it was pretty fun," Ace shrugged, though he tread lightly, "She, alongside mom, are trying to knock sense into me, about Sugar Rush, but... I can't help but hold onto feeling like this is all something I have to take care of."

"Well, it's not, and I'm sure your mother and Libby are doing a good job at tip-toeing around you," Zed grunted as he puffed his chest, dusted his hands off and peered down to his son, "You're no one's savior, Ace. No one is expecting you to do anything to save Sugar Rush. Sure, you'd be a huge help, if that's what you decide, but y'wanna know just what we're expecting of you, in this very instance?"

"What," Ace frowned as his dad laid a dominant front over him; Zed cocked an eyebrow, looked over Ace and shrugged his hands into the pockets of his charcoal grey swim trunks.

"To clean up after yourself," Zed huffed, Ace slumped his shoulders, "And, get us in and out of Sugar Rush. You know this trip is going to be fun, so stop worrying. Your worry is practically overloading mine and Tess's coding."

"That's not possible," Ace grumbled, though he flinched as Zed swiped out his communicator, thumbed a few things and brought up Ace's portion of the code room, stats and all.

"So, you know how you share your silver coding with your mother and I?" Zed snipped sarcastically as he brought up a structured hologram of Ace, his stats, height, weight and everything included. It showed a detailed map of areas of stress, which centered red around his heart, his hands, knuckles, neck, shoulders and brain. Zed quickly swiped a few times to show the same setup for Tessa's and Zed's little holograms, stats included. Zed cocked an eyebrow and continued, "We can feel your stress. Your mother and I are excited and confident about this trip, but your moping, over something so trivial and ridiculous, has us both on edge. We're not taking you along so you can solve our problems, son."

Ace slumped his shoulders and sorrowfully looked down to his dirty, empty plate. He huffed a shaky breath, looked about bashfully and dared to give his father nervous eye contact. Once Zed put away his communicator, he laid his strong hands to the counter below, shook his head, peered down to the glossy counter and finally dragged his eyes to his son's. Zed finally gave him an apologetic smile, shrugged and tilted his head.

"I'm sorry... Once we get into Sugar Rush, I'm sure you'll feel better," Zed eased, he could see Ace un-tense a little, "You should also wear your confidence proudly, son. Girls like confident men. I'm positive Libby is giving you unconditional support and attention, but, she also isn't committed to you. Any waver could sway her decision-making. It ultimately is her decision if she decides to let you court her, one day. You don't want her deciding factor, against you, to be because you continued moping about an issue that's not wholly an issue at all, now, do you?"

Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise and allowed all of Zed's knowledge to lay thick over him, like molten lava, and even though it burned, he drowned in it and knew his parents definitely meant well. Ace huffed a long breath through his nose, softly nodded and looked away, he knew he had been a sour-patch for the last few days, and the stress of everything Sugar Rush had cloud his happy-go-lucky attitude, though he found it hard to shake. With Tessa's and Libby's diligent pep talks, which now included Zed's to tally, he finally sat up straighter, peered into his father's eyes and lightly nodded.

"I'm sorry, dad," Ace mumbled quietly, he fiddled his fingers and softly grappled for his plate, so to begin helping, "I... I guess I just take on everyone's problems, and I want to win Sugar Rush back for mom, so badly."

"So do I, son," Zed eased, though the two broke the conversation for a few moments as Ace moved away, so to get behind the bar-side of the counter Zed was on, to help clean. Once Ace and Zed reconvened, Zed continued on quietly, "I don't mean to burst your bubble, or seem as though this is a put down, but... You are a User, yes, and you have a lot more power than any of us can begin to understand... You're not expected to save all of us, to save Sugar Rush. The fact that you don't truly know how to control your powers is another factor, in this. No one is pushing you... We'd appreciate the help, but there are a ton of things about Sugar Rush that not even Tessa knows. Secrets and lore really only Vanellope knows."

"Or Libby," Ace grunted with a soft nod as both boys began to throw a few things away, though Zed furrowed his brow and halted what he was doing to shoot Ace a look of floored confusion.

"Libby," Zed prod, Ace shrugged.

"Libby knew one of Sugar Rush's old folklore tales," Ace chuckled in confusion as he shook his head, "It really freaked Aunt Koko out. Libby knew the tale of the Code Room Banshee, she's known it her whole life."

Zed drew his confused glare across the shaded outdoor patio to the mysterious jungle princess standing on the other side of the pool's deck. She giggled, waved her arm about and gestured for Emery to throw her a large, brightly colored ball they were tossing around. Purely innocent, coat with sunshine and a big, worry free grin was plastered across her face. Ace's deep, reverberating voice made Zed's ears prick as they came back to reality.

"Koko was reeling for days, she messaged me every other hour just brain-boggled," Ace chuckled as he began to gather dishes, Zed furrowed his brow harder and peered to Ace in whole confusion, though just before Zed could carry on, Finn and Nox's voices loudly began to carry as they approached the castle's patio door together.

"You said eighty-two you guys were plugged in? There's no way those cars were on anything higher than four cylinders," Finn barked, and much to Zed's surprise, he was shirtless, dreads down and a mess, his dark blue eyes were glued to Nox's in outgoing, boisterous delight, and even though Nox joined him without a single inkling of confusion, Tessa, Koko, Zed and Ace froze and watched the odd sight continue on, "I mean, y'got the tracks memorized, and all that going for you, but have you ever been behind the engine of anything from this game?"

"I could smoke your ass, bro," Nox chuckled, and though they stabbed at each other, it was clear it was brotherly, "Turbo may be famous for his winning streaks, but he built his engine without a single turbocharger or supercharger. Six hundred horsepower, that cat practically flew. He didn't need turbochargers cause, well, he WAS the turbocharger."

"That's impossible, for such an old game?" Finn retort as Nox opened the door and both boys vanished inside, "Surely the car was too heavy, you had weapons and stuff, yeah?"

"Weapons?! This is TurboTime we're talking about, not Hero's Duty," Nox grumbled as the patio door sealed shut with a thud.

Zed cocked an eyebrow and dragged his curious gaze to Tessa and Koko, who were a dozen feet down the stretch of bar, though before anything could be said, all four individuals burst out in a fit of excited laughter towards the fact that Finn had never expressed such enthusiasm for anything in his life. Zed chuckled, shook his head and droned a hard sigh into the sink, in which he began to clean off a few plates; a warm breeze rippled through the patio, a kind reminder that the pool and sunshine was calling.

"Ohh boy, never thought I'd hear Finn's voice grow to any decibel louder than a kind murmur," Zed teased as Ace inhaled a refreshed breath, crossed his arms and let his eyes soak out to the sight of the pool before him.

"He took on Tammy's loudness, I see," Tessa giggled as she eyed Koko, who began to become mysteriously shy, "Swapping will do that to yah."

"I-I didn't know you actually take on their personalities," Koko pressed with a bashful smile, in which Tessa cued to.

"Oh yeah," Tessa nodded as Ace and Zed worked their ways closer to the two, so to continue cleaning, though they cued to their conversation, "Like... When I swapped with Zed, I gained a bit more confidence. He was always naturally confident, and I was rather moody and shy."

"Sounds familiar," Zed cocked an eyebrow and merely glanced to Ace, who was fortunate not to hear Zed's playful stab; Tessa beamed a knowing smile and rolled her eyes, "Guess it remained dormant until we popped out THIS one, here."

"What?" Ace finally cued, though Tessa giggled and hugged an arm around Ace's lower back.

"Well, what about you, Zed? What did you gain from Tessa after your first swap?" Koko wondered kindly, a topic she was now becoming more interested in.

"Well... A temper, I can tell you that," Zed mumbled, Tessa nudged his arm, "I gained a heap more patience and understanding for just why she could get so quickly heated and riled."

"Bet that both scares AND benefits you," Koko teased, though Ace plugged his ears and shut his eyes tight.

"LA LA LA, I don't need this info," Ace blurt, everyone easily howled with laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, jokes aside," Zed grunted as he shoved Ace a little, both boys laughed as Ace wobbled and nudged his dad in return, "The very idea of the swap is pretty cool. You download new software, with benefits you never knew you needed."

Koko nodded slightly and eagerly peered to Tammy across the way. With the news that the castle's two new love birds had successfully made the opposed-swap work, she fingered her lip and began to feel a tad more confident. As the thought of Nox crossed her mind, as well as their planned date scheduled for tomorrow, she began to feel nervous. She knew swapping with Nox, so suddenly, would be moving things along way too quickly, though she couldn't help but wonder if she should get every single bit of information Tessa had; she knew she wouldn't see her oldest sister until Sunday night, and though she knew to keep a level head, she was aware the universe typically held anything up for grabs.


	97. Chapter 97

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** lol! Yeah, I agree xD Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Wait, went red? Like been 'bothered' when I drew those pictures? to be honest with you, not really! xD Sometimes, writing a code-swapping scene will get my heart pumpin' but, I think I'm just numb to it now. Ask 13 year old me that same question tho and you'd get a totally different and terrifying answer.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much for your continued support! :D Yeahh, Ace definitely takes a bit to grow out of that habit, but he finds his way.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **ArchitectDreams :** Do you NOT remember how Tessa was? Zed swept her away and made out with her the day BEFORE she turned one! xD It runs in the family. Koko's allowed to have a bit of fun. She's been trapped in run down, freezing, battered Sugar Rush her whole life. Besides - their date isn't as hot and steamy as you guys might hope. Also, Ace does eventually drop it after Vanellope gives him a bit of tough love, on their trip in Sugar Rush.

 **TwizzleCreamPuff :** You'd be correct - Nox still has his honeycomb coding, more is explained on their date :) Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** Yeah, Ace gets a good kick in the pants a la Vanellope, inside Sugar Rush. He straightens up real quick xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** There are 2 schools I'll be applying to. SCAD in Savannah, GA and Ringling in Sarasota, FL. I'll be moving to Sarasota, but I'll still apply to both schools for a higher chance of getting accepted somewhere. I really appreciate you showing Ace some love in that last chapter, everyone else just seems to be annoyed, but it definitely goes deeper than him just griping and not getting over it. So, thank you for that! I'm also really glad you're enjoying this new side to Finn :D He definitely comes out of his shell a bit more, though it could get him into trouble xD

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, I appreciate your patience. I'm seriously brain boggled, ****I'm also sorry if the chapters, as of late, seem dull or lifeless, or not exciting... I'm still mulling over this whole 'moving' thing, and I'm so extremely excited, but I'm also terrified, and nothing is set in stone, and I keep getting further butt-fucked at my job, and Lickity has about 1K$ worth in fixing-up to get done, before we head out, so it's just a lot to think about. I'm just tired... And it comes across in my craft, so please bear with me...**

 **I also got another ridiculously rude review, on Wrecking Limits, and though really rude reviews are far and few in between, it still really hurts when they happen... That story is 3 years old, guys :( Stop picking on me. It needs a retouch and a good dose of love and I can't get around to that right this second. If you don't like the story, don't read it, and certainly don't cut me at the knees, you don't HAVE to read my story. Whatever happened to 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all?'**

 **What the fuck is wrong with people...**

 ***Chapter 97***

As the night carried on, Dead Zed's four racers returned home and as a kind, parting gift to the Sugar Rush expedition crew, Jax was joined by Emery, Koko and Ralph by making everyone a large, tasty meal in which could be used for leftovers on their trip. After hours of laughing, chatting and eating their hearts out, the castle settled, and the kitchen was quietly grouped with the very troops that were to head out first thing in the morning. With Ralph's deep, stoic voice at the head, and everyone calmly chiming in ideas alongside his, they were unaware of the eavesdropper that perched herself in the hallway.

Penny bit her lip and listened in, they bickered about the three beasts of flyers they'd be taking, who was riding with who, alongside sleeping arrangements. The flight crew consisted of Vanellope, Taffyta, Tessa, Zed, Libby and Ace. Penny heaved a hot sigh through her nose, and though she knew she'd join in on their expeditions eventually, she finally held her breath, furrowed her brow and imagined just what it'd be like to step up and say she was going to be joining them tomorrow. She knew the crew could use her wit, her skill, her knowledge of the land, and though she was aware her aunt Vanellope knew Sugar Rush better than anyone, she still had to wonder if joining them would give the group an edge.

"Eavesdropping on the meeting means you might as well pull up your pants and gooo," Orph suddenly came from around the bend, and though Penny's senses were sharp, she still jumped in surprise, wobbled backwards and was too diligently honed to the group in the kitchen to notice Orph's approaching presence. He heaved a silent chuckle, grappled the railing of the spiral staircase and began to head upstairs to his bedroom, though he continued in a whisper, "If you wanna go, then just go. Nothing's stoppin' yah."

Penny wrinkled her nose, shot him an annoyed stare and watched as he left. He slunk away, dressed in lazy grey sweats and a lime green shirt slapped with his obnoxious racing logos. The second his footsteps were out of ear shot, she dragged her attention back to the group in the kitchen and was grateful the group of seven hadn't heard her's and Orph's conversation. She slumped her back to the wall behind her and peered to the high, grand arched ceilings. Each nook of an arch was lined with gentle, warm lights. Her eyes got lost in her surroundings before she furrowed her brow and felt a frustrating memory come back to her; the very fact that Orph had a darker secret, a darker past, than his cheery, obnoxious personality lead on.

With a gentle grunt, she got to her feet and silently climbed the lightly hidden spiral staircase Orph had just vanished up. Once she was on the second floor landing, she assessed the hallway which perfectly mocked the first floor hallway below. This hallway was darker and quieter, it housed Duke's, Orph's, Jax's and Tej's bedrooms; all beings that needed a tucked away area of the castle, so to be able to get good sleep and properly function for game day. Penny silently pushed past Duke's dark room and was relieved to see Orph's bedroom door ajar, the light was still on. As she pushed closer, she peered through the crack and noticed him fiddling with his communicator. He plugged it in, set a few alarms and left it on his night stand, though before he could turn around and continue to get ready for bed, he grunted Penny a sightless huff and just barely looked over his shoulder.

"Either you're in or your out, toots, can't wake the boys," Orph stated, Penny raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and was floored that he even sensed her silent presence.

Penny swallowed nervously, and just as she was about to snip a snotty retort back to Orph, he lightly turned on his heel, peered to her and gave her a look as if to tell her that he was waiting on her to do something about his statement, and said action he wish she'd take was entering the room further. Penny huffed a falter of a breath, and just before she was going to step in, Orph let out a soft chuckle, gestured for her to come inside and waggled his hand towards the door, to silently insinuate that she shut it behind her.

Penny immediately felt out of her element, and one simple gesture to bark questions at him very quickly turned into her realizing she wasn't on her own turf. She peered about Orph's room, it was well lit by the ceiling light that hung high over head, the arched ceiling and wooden beams gave the illusion of a higher ceiling than it actually was. Penny crossed her arms and tried to come across as reserved and closed off, though she knew Orph could get blood out of a stone. Orph chuckled again, sauntered across his room to his patio door, which had a beautiful, plain rice paper screen that covered it, instead of curtains. He shut off his balcony light, shut the large, fragile screen door and huffed a long sigh as he came back into his room, the wooden floors just barely creaked under his weight as he drew closer to his bed.

"You look like you're in pain," Orph muttered with a growing smile of cheek, though Penny huffed an irritated sigh and slumped her arms to her sides, and though she tried to come across as casually aloof, she still looked stiff and agitated. Orph beamed a wider smile and gestured to her, "What's your deal? You got something to tell me, or something?"

"I-I... I just have a question, I guess," Penny urged gently, she looked down and began to wonder why her confidence was suddenly goo, "Something that has been bothering me for a few days, now."

"Well, shoot," Orph shrugged, he crossed his arms, and though the two held a six foot distance, Orph wondered if he could potentially press closer to her without his head being chewed off.

"... You told me, last week, that you had it worse than me, and started listing off bullshit that I can't really remember," Penny waggled her hand, though she was floored to see Orph's cheeky, sarcastic smile slope to that of nervous suspicion as Penny carried on, "But, one thing stuck with me that I can't shake..."

"What, I used to control the big bad Lickity Split?" Orph joked, he moved to his nightstand, checked his communicator and began to show signs of growing agitated.

"You seemed to think I had garnered information about you killing someone, from somewhere," Penny side-eyed Orph and was even further floored to see him stop and furrow his brow in hard contemplation, "I didn't get that information from anywhere. I was simply stating what I've been through, and you gave yourself away."

"I was hoping you'd just forget that," Orph dared to smile, as if his dark memories were simply a nightmare he'd enjoy to reminisce on, like being reminded of how good he had it, in the now.

"I don't forget anything," Penny snipped, she sent Orph a toothy, snide smile and shook her head, "I'm a woman."

"Clearly," Orph choked, though upon his words nearly seeming insulting, Penny's mind was quickly changed with the way his face turned red. He cleared his throat, shook his head and gave Penny an annoyed grin, "Look... Can we just... Keep the skeletons where they belong? In the closet?"

"Our skeletons share the same bones, apparently, I'd like to know what you meant by that," Penny urged quietly, she crossed her arms once more and felt her stomach drop as Orph began to lose his cheeky, lovable air about himself.

"It's... It's not important anymore," Orph huffed, at this point, he tried to smile, though he failed.

"Was it for the sake of someone's life? Or were you just angry?" Penny wondered, though Orph sent a glower in her direction.

"I could ask you the same thing," Orph stabbed, though Penny furrowed her brow.

"I killed a man saving your oldest brother's life," Penny snapped, Orph raised his eyebrows and froze in delirious surprise as Penny inhaled a shaky breath to continue, "We were in Sugar Rush... Selka kicked Zed in the nuts and then nearly strangled him while he was down."

Orph frowned and kept his electric silver gaze pierced into Penny's eyes, as if he was surprised to see her petals in full bloom, or nearly as such. He kept still, in hopes that she would continue on, and much to his delight, she did.

"I... I sent my father's double striped candy cane sword straight through his back," Penny uttered, as if she had never even talked about this topic since that fateful day. She shook her head and let her eyes gloss Orph's wooden floors, "I shoved it through him so hard, I nearly stabbed Zed in the process."

"... You saved my brother's life," Orph eased quietly, nearly in question, though Penny shot him a dirty look.

"You're welcome, now I have THAT hanging over me... Little, innocent Ms. Fluggerbutter, curly blonde hair, sundresses and cute boys!" Penny cupped her hands, bat her eyelashes and pretended for a second she was back to her typical self, something of which made Orph raise his eyebrows in delighted surprise, though the glower in Penny's eyes quickly came back, and Orph flinched, "Blood on her hands, a copy-paste virus that haunts my father... Life will never be the same."

Orph frowned and kept solid, he knew she likely came up here due to finally getting settled at Kalivar castle, and finally feeling comfortable around everyone. Orph gently rested his hand on his chest, shook his head and kept his concerned stare to hers. He felt his heart tug as tears gathered in her eyes, and as if he had never even guessed that she had the ability to cry, he now felt as if he really didn't know what to do or say; he was thrilled that she carried on.

"I-I... I thought maybe... Someone who has the same struggles would understand. I just wanted to know what you went through so I could maybe... Not feel so terrible about myself," Penny finally whimpered, and though she desperately tried to remain strong, she covered her face and grimaced a silent cry.

Orph slumped his shoulders and now felt his heart tug closer to her. He looked about his bedroom in whole uncertainty. He knew approaching her and pulling her into a comforting hug was likely off limits, though he also wondered if remaining still and leaving her be would be equivalent to him shooting himself in the foot, as well. He bit his bottom lip in hard contemplation and wondered if he could somehow meet her in the middle. As tenderly as he could, he approached her, and as he kept a strict two foot distance, he dared to hold her upper arm in his gentle grip, a distant way to express to her that he was open for comforting her, if that's what she wanted. He wasn't surprised to see her remain still, and outside of his personal bubble, even though he secretly wanted her to crumple into his arms so he could sweep her away and likely make her feel like a million bucks.

"Don't feel terrible about a decision that saved your best friend's life," Orph breathed quietly, he knew he didn't always have the best judgement on when to stuff his obnoxious, loud side, though he knew the two were safe behind his closed doors, and anything that were to come spilling out would strictly stick between the two of them, purely because their reputations couldn't handle anything otherwise, "You... You hardly knew this Selka person, right? That's one thing goin' for yah."

"I-I hated Selka... He was always after Tessa's affections, he stalked her until kingdom come," Penny uttered, though Orph flinched as she lifted her face from her hands, glanced her glassy blue eyes to his and bashfully looked down with a hiccup, "I... I knew Zed was to be a wonderful future King, for our game... Selka wanted that title so badly."

"He tried to steal Tessa from Zed?" Orph wondered, as if the notion was simply impossible. He shook his head and chuckled, "I'm sure those times seem like worlds away, huh."

"You have no idea," Penny mumbled, she glanced to Orph's chest and sniffled a little, though her eyes finally held a good amount of bashful innocence, a rarity of dainty question she hoped Orph knew the ultimate value of, and in their gentle stumble into deeper waters, Penny softened her whole demeanor and allowed Orph into her seclusive bubble, "What... What about you?"

Orph furrowed his brow and was wholly floored at her sneaky craft, how she masterminded her way into this scheme, the ultimate, girly aura she was now giving off had Orph totally trapped in her raw presence. He knew she was a tricky, thorny individual, though somehow, he still fell right into her venus fly-trap of a lure. He eased a knowing chuckle to her, shook his head and hoped to convey to her that he was indeed onto her and her trickery, though as if her first shows of girlyness wasn't what originally attracted him, he knew that she was wholly aware of the hook, line and sinker.

"I didn't kill for selfless reasons," Orph mumbled, and with how easily she was worming his secrets out of him, he was now certain the two would have to keep close tabs on each other. As if they were simply strangers, thrown out of an airplane with one parachute, and trust was something that wasn't an option, but a must. Orph inhaled a shaky breath and shook his head a little, "I'm... I'm wanted, in Ekreth. I haven't been back since the incident."

"What happened?" Penny prod quietly, and though the two stood in their two-foot tender bubble of secrets, Penny wondered if Orph would rip himself away and put on his fake smiley-face mask, and ask her to kindly step off.

Much to her surprise, he kept his tender hand held to her upper arm, in which very slowly slid down to her lower arm and dared to hold her wrist. Penny lightly glanced to his hand and had to wonder if this was simply his way of asking if he could hold her hand. Penny kept still and tried not to utter a knowing laugh in his direction, though he carried on aimlessly through the gentle, awkward wrist-holding.

"I got drunk... It was a bar fight," Orph muttered, whatever was left of his playful demeanor sloped into hard, dark agitation. Orph nervously glanced to Penny and wondered if revealing this much would be wise, though he pressed on anyhow, "I was undercover until... Someone started trashing the Dead Zed racers, and... Said some horrible things about Tej. I was so plastered, I hardly remember removing my cover to beat this guy senseless. I didn't realize he wasn't from Dead Zed. I laid into him, thinking he'd just regenerate, but... When his pixels fell to the ground, and I was standing there with fists bloodied, I... I knew life would never be the same, ever again."

Penny peered at Orph in hard shock and remained frozen. She held her breath and now felt bad for likely getting worked up over her situation, for it was a stark difference to Orph's. Penny lightly glanced down at Orph's hand, which tenderly still held her wrist, though in a smooth movement, she wriggled her wrist and warmly allowed him to hold her hand. Orph's sunken demeanor rose a little as his eyes laid hopeful down to their hands. He huffed a small, nervous falter of a breath and peered his scared, silver gaze straight into Penny's, as if to beg her to keep this information to herself.

"So you DO love Tej," Penny finally gave him a warm smile, as if to begin teasing, and it was in this moment of non-judgemental love did Orph feel a wide smile peak his mouth in an uncontrollable urge to overflow her with appreciation. He heaved an annoyed chuckle, beamed his handsome smile to the ground and shook his head.

"Ohh, he may piss me off and be too quiet for his own good, but I love each and every single one of my brothers," Orph breathed, he gave Penny diligent eye contact and nodded once, "No matter what... This was during the year or two where Zed went hay-wire and ditched us for Radex and his evil plans for Sugar Rush... I had never hated Zed more, but, even with total strangers spewing hate and nonsense towards my brothers, I knew I had one side to stand with... No matter if they strayed from the right path."

"That's really noble," Penny eased quietly, though Orph rolled his eyes, pointed up and side-eyed Penny in a knowing way.

"No... What YOU did was noble," Orph chuckled, "What I did was barbaric. I hardly got outta there without another game-over tally, myself. You saved my oldest brother's life... You SAVED someone. I was sticking up for my own feelings. I lost my mind."

"How did you get away?" Penny wondered as the two kept their hands tightly gripped.

"I ran, I had my bike and I hauled ass out of the city," Orph shrugged, "At that time, Duke and Finn lived in a loft on the outskirts of town. Tej and Jax lived out in the country. I fled and reunited with Tej and Jax... The fuzz never found me, but I haven't been to Ekreth, without a really good cover, since."

"Does anyone know this, besides me?" Penny asked gently, she was nearly hoping she was the only one, though she was certain a blue-haired bad guy had the in, and just as she suspected, Orph nodded.

"Zed knows... I had to tell him, I felt so guilty," Orph mumbled, "I had been sitting on that secret for a year, until Tessa brought Zed back to us. Two nights later, I unloaded to him and, well... He wasn't particularly proud of me, but, he understood that mistakes happen, poor decisions are made, and now there was literally nothing that could be done. I just don't want to go to prison, really."

"I'm sure Zed would bail you out," Penny rolled her eyes with a hint of a smile.

"Ehh, he'd allow me to suffer for a few nights, I'm sure," Orph finally smiled as well, though as the two remained close, Orph wondered just what was appropriate from here on out.

"Thanks for telling me," Penny sighed, her eyes glossed Orph's chest, and all of his familiar logos, "It was bugging me... I'm glad I'm not alone."

"Just don't get drunk and allow your feelings to be hurt, then you won't sink as low as me," Orph shrugged, he rolled his eyes and looked away, "I discovered my gooey, sensitive center, that night. I cried like a little baby."

"I would love to see that," Penny snipped with a smile, though Orph largely cocked an eyebrow and waggled her hand around.

"Well, I just got to witness it, from your end, so you're not one to talk," Orph laughed quietly, which had Penny's face a bashful shade of red.

She dragged her eyes to the floor and felt her wall crumple even further, and though she was aware she likely had been putting up too hard of a front with her new housemates, and the like, she felt an itch deep down in her heart. The infamous patter of her heart, the flutter she craved, she knew Orph brought it out in her, though she didn't dare admit it. At least not yet. She lightly eyed him and inhaled a steady breath, and just as Orph opened his mouth to potentially continue teasing her, she carefully pushed into his arms and wrapped her arms about his center for a small hug.

Orph raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and nervously hugged his arms around Penny's shoulders. With Penny being the shortest out of everyone, excluding Felix, he merely chuckled at their adorable height difference and lightly bent down a little, so to keep her tighter to his chest. The top of her head merely came to the center of Orph's chest, though it didn't stop him from keeping her tight to him. He nervously kept his demeanor welcoming, though he also knew to give her the option to pull away whenever she wanted. Before the two could be kept for too much longer, Orph cleared his throat, stood up straight, which cued her to take a bashful step back, and he waggled his hand towards the door.

"Y-You should... You should get down to that meeting, then, shouldn't you?" Orph pressed nervously, though Penny furrowed her eyebrows.

"What?" She wondered softly.

"I know you want to go to Sugar Rush, tomorrow," Orph finally gained back his confidence, "I saw that look in your eye. You know you need to get back out there."

"I..."

"Go, before the meeting is up," Orph urged quietly as he opened his door and began to push her out, "You don't want to be stuck here all weekend, it's just going to be boring."

Penny raised her eyebrows in hard, amused, collected surprise and beamed him a sassy, nearly explosive smile, though he waggled his hand and cocked an eyebrow with great cheek.

"Now that you know my secret, and there are people out there who have hard lives as well, go down there and tell them you're ready to give Radex what-for," Orph whispered as she was now in the hallway. Penny peered towards the landing of the spiral staircase before she drew her knowing, appreciative gaze to Orph's in a dollop of kind surprise, he continued on softly, "You're a tough cookie. Don't let something like this stop you from being useful to your family. Go. And be safe."

"... Thanks, Orph," Penny eased quietly, and as the two slowly parted ways, a peel of curious, delightful eye contact, Penny inhaled a readied breath and began to saunter down the stairs with a feeling of renewed energy.

Penny smiled down to her fiddling fingers, shook her head and felt alive. She knew going back to Sugar Rush was likely the last thing she wanted to do, or anyone wanted to do, though with how diligently everyone was willing to drop what they were doing and fight for Sugar Rush, over the course of multiple trips, she knew she needed to take a stand and continue fighting for what she believed in, and she knew she couldn't be a strong force without her family by her side. As she hit the final landing and moseyed into the kitchen, she raised her eyebrows in collected surprise and watched as Ralph's stare dragged from Vanellope's and over to Penny's, who was across the way. As Vanellope's motherly voice softened to a stop, and everyone drew their eyes to the lone believer across the way, Penny cleared her throat, held her head up and gave the group a renewed look of gentle confidence.

"... Is there room for one more smarty on this trip?" Penny meeped, and though the group was solid silent for a good five painful seconds, everyone suddenly burst out in wide smiles and loud, excited notions towards Penny.

"PENNY You're going to come with?!" Tessa urged loudly as she pushed past everyone and dove into her cousin's arms, she lightly picked Penny up, squeezed her tight and twirled her around.

"Yes, I want to come with," Penny giggled as Tessa squealed, set her down and swayed her from side to side a little. Tessa finally released Penny from her death-grip hug, though she kept her larger hands snug to the tops of Penny's shoulders as everyone began to surround the two, "I... I know my support is needed, and, even though we just escaped Sugar Rush, it's... It's my home, too. I want to help."

"There's the Penny we know and love," Zed stated warmly as Taffyta gave her daughter a proud smile and gripped Penny's upper arm in a loving squeeze.

"I knew you'd come around," Taffyta muttered with cheek.

"Another girl to join us!" Libby urged in girly happiness as she lightly nudged Penny's hand, Tessa finally let go of her cousin and gave Libby an equally as excited smile.

Royal suddenly huffed a flabbergasted noise and flattened his ears, he dart his attention to Ace and Zed as both boys nervously peered to each other.

"We are largely outnumbered," Ace mumbled, though Zed nudged him as Royal uttered a hard whine and rubbed his face in growing agitation.

"C'mon, the girls will keep you boys great company, don't ever doubt a woman's ability to keep you entertained during a road trip," Ralph pointed as everyone began to reconvene at the kitchen island, Tessa linked arms with Penny as the two stuck close to one another, "Now... This changes things up a bit, but it's no issue. Zed, you'll likely have to bring one of your Tron flyers, since we're adding a seventh person to this trip."

"I'm sure it can handle the trip," Zed shrugged as he peered to Ace, in kind question, "And if it does, I'll think about duplicating it... So more people can join us, especially during the breaks the Arcade has."

"So, we got Zed on his Tron flyer, Vanellope and Taff on Royal, Libby and Ace on Balba, and now... Tessa and Penny on Lickity?" Ralph questioned, he gently swiped a few options on the detailed, laid-out hologram of information before him.

"Yay," Tessa meeped with a wide grin as she scrunched closer to Penny, Penny beamed a wide, knowing smile and softened her demeanor for her older cousin.

"Your communicators won't work outside of Dead Zed... You won't be in contact with us, nor each other," Ralph urged quietly, "It's your guys' job to stick together... Like glue. No running off, no funny business, no hide and seek. This is serious... Once you're lost in that vast wasteland of a trap, User knows if we'd ever be able to find you."

Ace raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise and caught eyes with his dad, and though Zed looked lightly nervous too, he knew the two had to keep face and be strong for the group of ladies they were to be escorting into uncharted territory. Zed nodded once, gripped Ace's shoulder in a loving way and peered his attention to Ralph as he continued on.

"You'll make it as far South as you can, and once it hits midday Saturday... Turn right back around, but mark your travels," Ralph urged as he pointed to a makeshift marker on the hologram, that indicated the entrance of Sugar Rush, "Who knows if the same trip will be made, but the distance will be pushed... This is a trail run, and if all goes smoothly, we can eventually drag these trips out to be longer, just as long as everyone is comfortable with that."

"Sounds good to me, I'm familiar with the game, anyhow," Vanellope shrugged, her and Taffyta looked equally floored.

"I think we'll be okay," Tessa prod with confidence as everyone nodded, though Lickity perked her ears, from across the room, and gave the group at the kitchen island a curious glance.

"Where will we all be sleeping?" Lickity prod curiously, though everyone nervously looked to each other, "Are Royal, Balba and I to be on the lookout for other, dangerous creatures?"

"You three have the most important roles out of anyone here," Ralph urged in dire gratefulness, "Not only will you guys be transportation, but you're also these guys' protection."

"Other... Creatures?" Ace worried as his eyes nervously dragged to Royal and Balba, though they looked unphased.

"Sugar Rush DOES have some pretty intense wild life," Vanellope prod, "We just have never been surrounded by much of it, because, well... A lot of the dangerous creatures lived far out in the boonies... No where near cities or the castle."

"What kind of creatures we talkin'?" Libby wondered, though she seemed more excited than nervous, to which Ace cued to and furrowed his brow.

"I couldn't begin to tell you," Vanellope sighed as her eyes sunk to Tessa's in growing, exhilarated nervousness, "Guess that's for Sugar Rush to know, and us to find out."


	98. Chapter 98

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** POrY? oh my God I am scared xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** YYyyyyeayyyy. I'm glad you enjoyed it, these two aren't on smooth waters JUST yet, but that last chapter definitely helped :) Thank you! I appreciate your support. Yeah I agree, it's easy to hide behind just a name on a screen. A lot of people do it. It's just never really been targeted at me, so when it happens, it just really hits home.

 **Snake557 :** Yeah, I always recall all the hundreds of nice reviews I've gotten, and how you guys have stuck with me, and it really means the world to me. Thank you so much!

 **ArchitectDreams :** It's okay LOL! I don't mind, I just feel bad cause I'm like omg did I not explain things well enough? But then I look at the word count of each chapter and I'm like ehhhh I'm pretty sure I'm the Queen at explaining! xD YES I love Penny and Orph. They're a bit of a wild ride haha

 **WildVirus :** Thank you SO MUCH! I really appreciate that! :D I love having that support system, and it's great to know that I can always rely on you. I appreciate it! Yeah, the review was rude. I should just reply and be like, 'oh uh... No I haven't seen Wreck-It Ralph, I thought I was doing everything right, but uh yeah... I haven't seen the movie, not once, so sorry if the story is a little rocky!' They'd be like WTF? xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LOL! Well then you should tell Orph just how disappointed you are in him ;) More is expanded on all of it, that was just to sort of ease Penny's mind, and segue into her joining the Sugar Rush search crew the next day. I appreciate all of your support, and I got your PM! I'm strapped for time and can't properly reply to it, at this moment, but I just wanted you to know that I read it and I am very grateful for all of your encouragement

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Aww no worries! It doesn't bother me one bit. I appreciate everything you guys do for me, there is no time constraint xD

 **chuckiboo :** Yesss, these two definitely have a rocky past that they can relate on. More is expanded on all of it, later on, for sure :) Also, Candlehead and Gloyd are found eventually, but it's not anytime soon. Sorry to disappoint.

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Smoke (ft. Amanda Fondell) by Didrick**

 **Monody (ft. Laura Brehm) by TheFatRat -** this song is the perfect 'enter Sugar Rush/take Sugar Rush back and be victorious' song. It's so pretty! Seriously, check it out if you want to get in the mood of the last half of this chapter.

 ***Chapter 98***

The next morning was cool and thick with the prior nighttime humidity. As each resident under the Kalivar castle made sure to set their alarms early, so to see Sugar Rush's travelers off. With the large crowd of gamers outside the gaping front doors of the castle, each stood in lazy, sleepy attire and demeanor, and though the lot of them were showing signs of exhausted, early morning reservedness, they still nervously kept their eyes glued to the pair of seven gamers, alongside their three trusty flyers, that made their way closer to the teleportation pad inside the grounds of the castle. As Libby gently fidgeted with Balba's new saddle, something of which she typically never had to use, Ace helped her a little, that is until Nox pushed into his bubble.

"Dude, I'm really nervous for my date with Koko tonight, what am I going to do without you?" Nox whispered; him, Ace and Libby were all on the side of Balba that was lightly secluded from the rest of the quietly chattering group, "What if... What if I say something wrong and Koko leaves? O-Or... What if she wants to swap? I'm not ready for that... I-I mean I'm sure sex is great, but-"

"Nox," Ace uttered sleepily, he heaved a soft chuckle and sunk his large hands to the tops of Nox's shoulders. Ace had half a foot over him, and likely a good hundred pounds to boot; Nox's little shoulders scrunched as his tired, golden eyes peered up to Ace in agitated anxiousness, though Ace huffed a hard breath, shook his head and smiled in growing irritation, "...What's your full name? This would be the perfect time to use it against you."

"I will never tell," Nox muttered through the grit of his teeth, though Ace unhanded him and rolled his eyes.

"Nitrous-Oxide... T-TurboTwin," Ace spout clumsily, though Nox blurt a hiss of a hard laugh and squinted in pure, agitated, confused delight.

"What the hell?" Nox wheezed, "That's not even close!"

"For the thousandth time... You will be FINE," Ace eased quietly, so no one else could hear, though Libby giggled and eyed the two boys as she eavesdropped, "If she wants to swap, and you're not ready, just say no. She's not going to disrespect you, Nox. It's too early for that drama, anyways. I don't think she'd come onto you THAT suddenly, right?"

"I have no clue," Nox hissed, "I know nothing!"

"You kissed her, at least that's a step?" Ace shrugged as he gently removed himself from Nox's bubble and helped Libby fasten Balba's saddle.

"The kiss heard 'round the world," Balba muttered with great cheek as her large, wolf ears tilted back to hone further to their conversation; Nox rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, I'm sure if you were to interview a few random residents of Ekreth, they'd be like, 'oh yeah! Nox and Koko kissed! I was there!'" Nox whispered quietly and sarcastically, though Ace let out a choke of a laugh he tried to stifle as Libby let it out, loud and proud, and blurt a giggle.

"You'll be fine, my brother," Ace pleaded with a loving smile as he returned a hand to Nox's shoulder, once more, and it was in this instance did Nox finally soften at the term of endearment that Ace breezed over, "Just be yourself. Clearly, she loves that. If she appreciates you, she'll respect you. Just relax, I'll be back before you know it."

Nox raised his eyebrows in collected surprise and soaked in all of Ace's advice, and though he knew Ace's words to be true, he bit his lip in nervousness and was aware he'd likely be counting down the hours of their return back to Dead Zed.

"Don't forget to arm the house once you guys are all home for the night," Tessa rushed as she gently, though hesitantly, pushed the main digital pad into Finn's hands; amidst a crowd of rowdy individuals preparing for the long haul, they crowd the front drive way of the castle, near the main teleportation pad in which lead to Dead Zed's entrance. Tessa nervously scanned the castle in contemplation before her eyes stabbed into Finn's, once more, "A-And show Tammy how to work the alarm system, just in case they decide to go to EZ Living or something, while you boys are away for game day. Maybe show Duke how to work it, but don't let Orph anywhere near it cause you know how well that'd go. Jax won't care enough to know and Tej might take on too much responsibility to it, and have an anxiety attack. O-Oh and don't forget to-"

"The castle is safe with me, Tess," Finn assured gently with a small nod as he lovingly gripped her upper arm and squeezed, he lightly glanced to Zed for reassurance and gave him a weak, nervous smile, as if to suggest he come quell Tessa's worries, "I helped Zed run the game when you went into labor, with Ace, and the few weeks that followed... Remember?"

"Yeah," Tessa worried, she nervously glanced to her family, whom of which were quietly chattering to each other and exchanging hugs of nervous goodbyes, and it was in this itching moment did the worry and fear finally build up in her veins.

Tessa was excited to get out, to pursue Sugar Rush and hopefully get closer to the root of the problem, though she imagined this day to be a lot less stressful. Tessa quickly came to realize that she had gotten extremely comfortable in her large, cozy jungle getaway with all of her friends and family, she knew there was no place like home, though she flinched and quickly remembered that Dead Zed wasn't her original home, and her fear and nerves were stemmed from being rocketed into the unknown, a game in which she was born in, a game in which she used to know like the back of her hand. She frowned and softly drew her gaze back to Finn as Zed finally approached.

"I don't need to tell you anything, I know you've got it all covered," Zed chuckled as he lovingly gripped Finn's shoulder, and as both boys lingered, they finally grappled each other into a brotherly hug, with firm pats aplenty, and as they pulled apart, so did the rest of the group.

Each pair of dewy strings of eye contact, each loving wave, every single notion called back and forth to the group of seven, alongside Lickity, Balba and Royal, soaked the atmosphere in nervous longing, and before anyone could hesitate or chicken out, one by one, they vanished on the massive teleportation pad, and the remaining castle residents were left in silence. Throttle, Nox, Ralph, Oliver, Emery, Tammy, Koko, Finn, Duke, Jax, Orph and Tej all stood in frozen, collected fear, as if they quickly realized they were without mostly all of their strongest leaders, the very heroic beings that were risking their lives for the sake of their sister game. Finn cleared his throat and attempted to lighten the dim, morning atmosphere.

"A-Alright, uh... As first day in charge, I say, uh..." Finn rubbed the back of his head sleepily, his dreads were a mess. He beamed everyone a cheeky smile and pointed upwards, "Back to bed!"

"OH, thank User," Orph hissed as he urgently rubbed his face, and as each guy grumbled in sleepiness, Ralph remained frozen as he peered to the empty pad in nervousness.

"We're gunna go back to sleep, wake up, and realize just how much we miss them, y'know," Jax mumbled as Koko and Tammy nervously peered to him, as if they were dreading that feeling to come.

"I already miss them," Nox uttered with a frown, and though his golden eyes looked beyond tired, he still peered down to his communicator and opened up his and Ace's last conversation, which was from the night prior. He softly diverted his eyes to Throttle as everyone slowly piled back into the building, "Hopefully Sunday comes quick. That tower is going to get lonely."

"Why don't you come stay with me, then?" Throttle suggested quietly, he was likely the only one awake for the day, excluding Ralph.

"Hmm," Nox rubbed his chin, raised an eyebrow and contemplated a little, "That's not a bad idea."

"We got a lot of history to catch up on, anyways," Throttle shrugged, though Nox gently eyed wherever Koko laid off to and kept his voice quiet.

"I uh... I have a date with Koko tonight, though, so... It might have to wait until tomorrow night," Nox eased, though Throttle furrowed his brow and shot Nox a nearly annoyed glower.

"Please tell me you got opposed-code swapping lessons from Tessa or Zed?" Throttle grumbled, though Nox's face produced a hard amount of red.

"Wh-What? I-I... I'm not going to swap with Koko, why would you say that?" Nox hissed in a sharp, agitated whisper as he sent Throttle a confused glare.

"Sorry, I just assumed," Throttle put his hands up and shrugged, and though he was likely awake for the day, he was still draped in a comfortable black t-shirt and faded red sweats, "Seems as though everyone is jumping on the swap-train. Guess you could always go to Finn for advice, if need be... Not to mention, our honeycomb coding doesn't technically agree with anything besides the honeycomb..."

"I don't need said advice, I'm not prepared to swap, that's ridiculous," Nox whispered, though he eyed Finn in mild contemplation, "I-I've been saddled with my coding for thirty years. I don't want to just suddenly throw it around."

Throttle cocked an eyebrow as everyone slowly and quietly dispersed, and as Throttle and Nox were now the only ones left in the kitchen, it was clear Ralph and Finn were the only ones left outside the still opened castle front doors. Throttle peered to the gaping front door, the sky outside was a dim, pastel blue, as if it were preparing for Dead Zed's late summer sun, though his eyes fell to the dim atmosphere beyond the doors, beyond the sprawling grass outside. Ralph and Finn stood and quietly talked, likely about the events taking place in Sugar Rush.

"I hear that... But don't let those thirty years hold you back from opening up to someone that is special and deserving, brother. Even if it is a slow build up," Throttle's gentle voice glossed over Nox.

Nox reeled in silent surprise as he slumped his shoulders and let his tired, golden eyes soak into the door that lead to both the garage and the pathway to Throttle's home. With the endearing term Throttle had laid over him, Nox fell into a harder silence and let it sink in, Nox knew him and Throttle weren't brothers by code, though somehow, the itch to hold fast to whatever lineage the two had together began to proudly boast. Nox immediately cued to just what Ace had told him not five minutes prior, the brotherly term of endearment Ace so willingly used to him and only him, and with this, Nox felt his heart slowly become whole again. The simple fact that he lost two brothers, Lash and Turbo, he wrinkled his nose and had to wonder if the universe was kindly gracing him with two replacements for his loss, Ace and Throttle. Throttle chuckled and somehow could guess Nox was contemplating the loving knock-back.

"... Would you like some advice?" Throttle eased warmly.

"Advice," Nox chuckled, he coat his voice in faked annoyance so to hopefully not express just how gooey his center was becoming, he began to look as if he was on his way back across the Kalivar lot, to his now lonely tower. He raised an eyebrow in contemplative surprise as he watched Koko vanish down the hall with Chepi, she had kindly offered her assistance to Libby while she was gone, in caring for her little froster fox pup. Throttle cocked an eyebrow, and as Nox's nervous gaze dragged back to Throttle, from Koko, he slumped his shoulders and rolled his golden eyes, "I don't NEED advice on girls, Throttle... What would you know, anyways."

"I had a girlfriend, once," Throttle shrugged, and though the topic of losing her, with TurboTime's unplug, was sad, he seemed to not be phased by the thirty year gap any longer, "Granted, it's been quite awhile... I could still help you out. Unless you want to go to one of Zed's brothers, in which... I'd understand."

Nox furrowed his dark grey brows, shook his head and peered to Throttle for a few long seconds. Throttle was a tall, gangling individual, and though he was agile, precise and stiff in his movements, creepy eyes full of intelligence, it was clear he was greatly overdue any form of brotherly affection. Nox knew Throttle was always on the sidelines of races, cheering each of the three on, and though he was ultimately Turbo's racing coach, Nox knew Throttle deeply cared for all three boys as if he was their eldest, wisest brother. Nox allowed his shoulders to un-tense, and as Throttle began to steep himself a hot cup of delicious smelling tea, he raised his eyebrows in plucked knowing and peered down into the mug on the counter, in which he tended to.

"Sooo should we go to my perch for breakfast, then?" Throttle suggested in mild annoyance, as if making up Nox's mind for him was something he technically didn't want to do, though he pushed the envelope anyhow.

"Fine," Nox huffed as he looked away in mild annoyance he tried to pull off well, though he knew he could use all the help he could get.

* * *

"This tickles after awhile," Ace stated through a hard chuckle as he successfully pulled his mother through Sugar Rush's forcefield, and as Vanellope gently stepped up to him, to be guided through the large screen next, he gripped his grandmother's hands and gave her an anxious smile, "I get like a blip of a reading, on you guys, too."

"Can you guess what I'm thinkin'?" Vanellope sneered as Ace tenderly pulled her through, their arms and hands riddled with all sorts of circuits of purples and silvers, though Ace furrowed his brow and shot her a look of hard contemplation.

"... I can't mind read," Ace mumbled curiously, as if to wonder if she could, and with the sly wrinkle of Vanellope's nose, a youthful smile she shot her grandson, Ace raised his eyebrows in flat, scared surprise.

"I have a lot to teach you, my boy," Vanellope eased quietly as her and Tessa reconvened alongside Taffyta and Zed, and though Ace peered off in hard surprise, he flinched as Penny snapped her fingers a little.

"So if you attempt that on me, I'll kill you," Penny snipped, though it was clearly out of love. She gave Ace an annoyed smile and hovered her hands out for him, "I may be tiny, but I bite."

"I-I... I won't, I promise," Ace eased nervously down to her, though he beamed a curious smile over his shoulder and had to wonder just what kind of glitching secrets Vanellope potentially had for him.

"I DARE you to guess what I'm thinking," Libby waggled her eyebrows and stepped up to the plate, she slumped her shoulders in soft knowing as Ace huffed a long sigh through his nose and slipped his hands into hers, the two swayed just barely as Libby continued on in playful banter, "If you can transfer all my Teltokuan to my communicator, I'm sure you can read my mind."

"I don't even know if I want that kind of power," Ace grumbled as he pulled himself, and Libby, through the large, wavering force field that finally dwindled away once they were in Sugar Rush for good, "I can hardly stand my own thoughts, sometimes."

As the two finally rejoined with Vanellope, Taffyta, Tessa, Zed and Penny, as well as Lickity, Royal and Balba, the group of ten anxiously peered out to Sugar Rush, a land once covered in pink frost, the dollop of cheery, deliciously cold ice cream sunshine everyone in Arcade craved, though the desolate, snowy wasteland it had become was beginning to look more and more intimidating. A vast wilderness that promised mazes of misdirection and confusion, though just as Ace was about to spout a worry and continue to hold to the negative, to butt into everyone's lull of a conversation and soak the group with unintentional negativity, Libby gently pushed past him and moved a few feet away from the group to stand at the small peak of a bend, they were stood at the snowy, sloping perch of a hill that lead from the misshapen entrance into Sugar Rush's wild blue.

Like everyone else's attire, Libby was dressed in muted colors so not to stand out too much. Her dark tan colored coat, with the soft, furry hood, her white hair was tucked into a tight braid so to have it out of her face for flying, and because her slender body was so used to Dead Zed's jungle heat, she was dressed in thicker clothes than anyone else. She looked wholly stunned by the cold breeze that whipped past them, and though she shivered, she looked to relish it, as if she was trapped in an old memory. She looked strangely nostalgic, a look of confused sorrow coat Sugar Rush's cold, dry land, and as Ace gently neared her, he cocked an eyebrow and held his larger hand to her upper back. It was only then did he realize she was already shivering.

"You gunna be okay, from all this cold?" Ace wondered softly with a nervous chuckle, and as Libby flinched and peered her gorgeous blue eyes up into his, she wrinkled her already reddening nose and nodded with an uncertain shrug.

"I'll be fine... I'm just glad I have Balba, her fur is always so warm," Libby chimed.

Ace opened his mouth to give her a sly, flirtatious retort, one of which included him being there for her, snuggly hugs galore, always at the ready to keep her warm, though he halted his thoughts and forced himself to leave the notion alone. He cleared his throat, nodded and dropped any romance between the two; he knew their time would come, and pushing the subject matter, for the sake of just feeling the delightful sting of romance, wasn't wise for the two. He huffed a fogged breath through his nose and gently peered his humbled gaze to Balba, across the gap.

"Oh yeah, she's got fur for days," Ace agreed quietly, he raised his eyebrows softly and was delighted to see Libby's smile widen, "I'm sure if we all bundled into her, for the night, we'd be just fine."

"I don't think she'd mind one bit," Libby's contagious smile broadened, and with this, Ace knew his decision, to keep the romance to a minimum, was wise.

"Alright guys, y'ready?" Tessa called as everyone slowly began to board their respective flyer, and as Ace and Libby peered to the group, Balba lifted her head, huffed a fogged breath through her wet, wolf-like snout and beamed the two an excited, fang-filled smile.

"Yep," Ace chimed as him and Libby quickly approached them.

Before any more seconds of the sunrise could be wasted, Royal, Lickity and Balba stood on the perch of Sugar Rush's entrance, their fur and feathers ruffled in the breeze, and as everyone prepared for the long haul, with reassuring words of encouragement and reminders of just what to do to remain safe, Zed made the first move, on their challenger, opened his gorgeous light flyer, in which he built and designed himself, and with a hard choke of his powerful air craft, he was off. In no time, Royal, Lickity and Balba uttered short roars and grunts of victory and excitement, and as they pushed off from the fluffy, snowy ground undertow, all four flyers gained altitude, banked a hard reversal and very quickly began to head South for their first tuck into Sugar Rush's dark, gooey core.

As the day went on, the sights of the lonely, snowy scenery underneath became a bore, and though everyone happily chattered and kept each other company, the cold air nipped their noses and cheeks in a never ending feeling of frozen discomfort. The three flyers kept their warmth and a perky attitude due to staying in constant movement, their wings and tails would hold a gentle glide every now and then, though for the most part, they knew they were trying to go as far as they could, as quickly as possible. Tessa finally heaved a long, hot sigh out to the wind, and as her and Penny lightly chattered about the things they used to be able to get away with as children, in Sugar Rush's castle, Tessa peered over her shoulder and watched as the city of Stonecrest, in which they had passed a half an hour prior, began to look very small on the horizon. The air went quiet, though Vanellope and Taffyta could be heard bickering across the gap of sky to Tessa's back left.

"Blue punch buggy," Tessa muttered as she lazily reeled back and nudged her fist into Penny's shoulder. The cold, soft air filled with their painful silence before the two girls coughed a few puffs of steamed giggles to the wind, "Wait, wrong world."

"How much longer," Ace grumbled as he laid back to Balba's spine. Her warm, dark fur easily encompassed his being, as if he were to lay in a field of tall grass, he was sat behind Libby, and as Libby peered back at him with a smile, in question, she tucked her hood tighter over her head.

"Let's play 'I spy'," Zed called over the soft, rhythmic puttering of his light-flyer, the gorgeous blue lights across his own Tron creation contrasted beautifully with the snowy world below the four flyers.

"Alright, dad, I spy, something white, oh it's snow, welp... Looks like you win," Ace rushed, his deep voice croaked with the dryness of the cold wind.

"I spy a party pooper," Tessa barked to her son with a wide smile, though she eagerly looked over her shoulder to see just how her mother and aunt were doing aboard their laziest flyer; Royal had a permanent, Lickity-ridden facial expression full of tired sass.

"Don't look at me!" Taffyta hollered in annoyance, "I'm just trying to stay afloat, here!"

"We could make things interesting," Zed teased as he caught eyes with Tessa. As much as she wanted to beam him the most obnoxious grin and eagerly agree with his playful notions, she tried to remain cool for the sake of the other members, of their group, that weren't so used to flying.

"What, y'gunna plummet light-flyer first into that there gum drop?" Vanellope called as she tucked her hood over her head, Taffyta easily laughed.

"No, I just know these dorks like shiny things," Zed motioned towards the three flyers; he tsked a few notions towards Lickity, whom of which Tessa and Penny were aboard. He waved his hand lightly. She easily perked her ears and held her sharp green eyes to his being, "C'mon, girl, look at the shiny lights, huh?"

"Y'really gunna goad me, dude?" Lickity snapped dryly, "... Cause it's working."

"Zed," Tessa scoffed in growing annoyance, though she gripped Lickity's saddle with a wide smile, which cued Penny to nervously tense her lazy demeanor and slap her arms around Tessa's center. Lickity largely flapped her wings and caught a bit more wind, which cued Balba's and Royal's interest as well. She bared her teeth and gave Zed an excited, playful look.

"Yeah? Wanna catch the shiny light-flyer?" Zed goaded, Lickity uttered an excited noise, which instigated Balba and Royal to do so as well.

"No no no, I don't know how to fly this thing!" Taffyta hollered as Royal's massive wings suddenly gained a bit more energy, though everyone flinched as Zed largely revved his flyer and shot off with a loud cough of energy. Everyone jolted as all three puppy-dog flyers nearly froze in mid air with the challenge set upon them.

"Boogity, boogity, boogity!" Ace hollered with a wide grin as he gripped Balba's fur and braced himself for the fun.

"SUGAR RUSHIN'!" Libby called victoriously and as Ace quickly fastened himself to her spine and prepared the two for a sudden burst of energy the group clearly needed, Balba largely flapped her feathery wings and took off in a hard nose dive towards Zed's quickly vanishing flyer.

"Catch me if you can!" Zed called as his craft spun with great agility, and as Lickity, Royal and Balba uttered hard groans and roars of fierce, wind-whipping competition, they began to sink deeper into a snow-riddled canyon, spires of mountain tops and reaches of towering boulders littered Sugar Rush's gorgeous, cotton candy canopy.

Like lightning striking the land, the four whipped about in a careening, careful show of true agility, masters of the skies, feathers and scales practically came together to show Sugar Rush just exactly who was in charge. As Zed darted through the light fog, and all three following creatures sunk into different patches of canyon hazed through the wisp, Tessa breathed a hard laugh and peered over her shoulder. She caught lightning quick glimpses of the rest of her clan, each fierce and sharp in their own right, though with the fire in her heart, Tessa bit her lip, honed her sights ahead, gripped Lickity's saddles and hunkered tighter to Lickity's spine like the two were one being, and though Penny was a tag-along, on this wild ride, Lickity still was the quickest of the skies.

With a hard grunt, Lickity took a sharp bank upwards, nearly clipped the tail of Zed's flyer, as he shot by, and bellowed a hard roar of pure excitement. As the other two flyers grunted noises of the challenge and flapped into a hard rush of unity on Lickity's tail-wind, Zed choked a noise of surprise and peered his playfully terrified gaze back to his fiance's look of pure, writhing, delightful competition. Just as the four flyers shot upwards, straight into Sugar Rush's endless fog of an atmosphere, Zed pushed through the top of the clouds first, and as the four finally came to the top of the glowing world, they hovered in the high altitude breeze and found a convenient perch of a cliff that stuck out of the clouds like a mere resting spot on their way to the awaiting heavens before them. As Lickity landed first, wings sprawled in hard adrenaline, Balba to her right and Royal to her left, Zed sped off and banked, so to eventually join them.

"Holy shit, you guys, why'd we stop!?" Taffyta hollered as Lickity, Balba and Royal all stood, panting in hard excitement, and as their ears perked in the potential of another go-around, each gamer finally took a second to get their bearings.

"I don't know, we were so close to winning!" Libby complained, though Lickity flattened her ears as Tessa's loving hand melted into the top of her best flyer's forehead.

"We all know the true winner," Tessa teased, to which Lickity beamed a cocky smile; Royal rolled his eyes and tried to hide a smile as well.

"C'mon, we've never flown before," Taffyta protested as she crossed her arms, though Vanellope covered her face and laughed; she was sat behind Taffyta, everyone's hair looked a slight mess now that they had just endured Sugar Rush's high-speed winds, "I could take you!"

"Not on me, you couldn't," Royal grumbled, "I may be quick, but mom is quicker."

"I've taught him well," Lickity snipped, though the playful air about them remained as Zed finally landed his flyer, closed it temporarily and took off his furry hood. He ruffled his hot blue hair, huffed a hard noise of surprise to Lickity and waved his hand at her in hard agitation as she continued on, "Man, I almost had YOU for a snack, dude."

"Tell me about it," Zed panted as he clutched his chest and shook his head with a wide smile, he twirled the long baton, that was his deactivated flyer, in his hand a bit as he approached Lickity's larger body, "Nearly took out the tail of my flyer, girl... A certain SOMEONE wasn't helping, either."

"I'm not an instigator," Tessa stated plainly with a shrug and a cocky smile, though Penny tucked her hood tighter to her head and heaved a hard giggle to the cold wind.

"Alright, guys, time check," Ace called quietly as he pointed upwards and into the sky, they noted that the sun was now on it's way to descending, though it looked to still be around three in the afternoon, "I don't think it'd be wise to fly at night... Plus, the flyers need sleep more than anyone, here."

"Let's all be on the lookout for a place to stop, for the night, from here on out, and we can pick back up at sunrise," Vanellope chimed as she re-situated herself behind Taffyta, she tucked her hair behind her ears, fixed her hoodie and huffed a hot breath out to the wind that licked about them, "A place that's secure and tucked away from this cold wind. We've already made great time, and come a very long way. We have the rest of this day, and half of tomorrow to make greater strides, so let's make it count."

"Let's stay away from forests, or foggy areas," Taffyta urged nervously as she glanced over her shoulder, to Vanellope, "Who knows what we'd encounter, in those areas, at night."

"Now you have me all nervous," Libby stated quietly as she gave Ace a sheepish frown and glanced to Tessa and Penny.

"No need to be nervous," Zed eased as he stepped closer to the scenery of clouds and canyon far before them, a gorgeous sight to behold. He inhaled a deep breath of Sugar Rush's cold, yet sweet and inviting air, and as he let out a huff of a fogged breath, his smile never faltered, "As long as we all stick together, this trip should go smoothly."

* * *

 **A/N : It's so weird to finally write WHOLE scenes of fanart that I've drawn so long ago... I drew fanart, for this end scene, nearly EXACTLY a year ago, and I think it's SO CRAZY how time has flown, and how I've come full circle with my ideas and ramblings.**

 **The fanart, for this chapter, is titled 'The Journey South' and is a little bit farther back on my deviantART - username Vyntresser :)**


	99. Chapter 99

**A/N: YOU. GUYS. omg. I haven't written for like 2 weeks now and I HATE ITTTT. LONG story short, I'm in Georgia! WOOHOO! We made it! We're currently hustling for jobs and the like, we have a roof over our heads, but the place we're staying at currently doesn't have wifi, so we're bumming at coffee shops and such. My updates may be sporadic, but things are slowly falling into place, and I can finally get back to writing and drawing wherever there's free time, which will mostly be at night. So, stay tuned, I've been doing a TONNNN of thinking about Rectifying Origin, and I'm really excited for what's to come. I hope you guys are too!**

 **ALSO I will be opening the sketchdump requests with the NEXT chapter! I'll be sure to let everyone know - you can either PM me or give your request in a review! I'll have a lot of time to draw and write, it will keep my mind occupied from being homesick and the like, so totally lay it on me! I'm excited to see just what you guys want to see drawn! and thank you SO MUCH for your guys' patience. It really means the world to me!**

 ***Chapter 99***

Throttle's meticulous hands tidied up his kitchen. It was clear that visitors, even in the small amount of time everyone has had their own room or abode under the Kalivar name, that Throttle was likely the most introverted when it came to welcoming others into his little sanctuary. A round room, very similar to the four rooms at Ace's tower, the walls were cloaked in a warmth of welcoming, darker green. Unlike the four rooms at Ace's tower, Throttle's large, round space had a bedroom with a door, as opposed to one, large studio room. The door to his bedroom hung ajar, and though his little home, high ceilings of grey and dark, jungle wood was secretive and enchanting, his windows still splayed a vast amount of welcoming morning sunshine. Nox rubbed his face in tired coy, eyed Throttle's mannerisms, as he tidied his kitchen, and made himself comfortable on Throttle's bar stools.

"Just chill, I'm not going to judge you on the cleanliness of your house, Throttle," Nox urged with a tired laugh as he shook his head, rubbed his chaotic, charcoal colored hair and shut his sleepy eyes.

"I'm usually orderly," Throttle grumbled, he tucked his long, slick black hair behind his right ear and rolled his eyes, mostly to berate himself, "Gotta keep up the illusion."

"I used to practically live in a tree," Nox became further amused and honed his golden gaze to his elder in curiosity, "This is fine, T. Can I maybe have something to drink, please? I'm thirsty."

"Sure," Throttle eased nervously, he began to hurry to his fridge in a stiff shuffle, and before Nox could let his annoyed smile widen, Throttle returned to the table, where Nox sat, with a frosty glass of ice water.

"Thank you," Nox eased, he cocked an eyebrow after a few hard gulps and, shortly after, ran his finger through the condensation that began to immediately collect on the cold glass, "So... What advice could you potentially have for me, then? All the advice cured from you and your mystery girlfriends, I suppose?"

"I couldn't get you advice farther than maybe second base, but I do know a thing or two about the ladies," Throttle's voice croaked softly, a nostalgic smile spread his face.

"I didn't even know you had a girlfriend. I thought you were way too busy training Turbo for any of that nonsense?" Nox prod, he knew getting Throttle to open up may be difficult.

"I had to go home, eventually," Throttle scoffed with a laugh, he took a seat across the table from Nox and looked down to the dark, worn wood of his small dining room table, "What did you think happened when Turbo and I left the arena for the night?"

"I have no idea," Nox chuckled as he shook his head and lulled his eyes closed, "Was it anyone we knew?"

"Nope," Throttle chirped, as if he was proud of himself for keeping such a secret, "I know you boys loved to have me around, and we all grew closer than simply just teacher and students, but... I don't know..."

"It's not like you needed our approval or anything," Nox prod tenderly, he side-eyed Throttle in gentle contemplation, "Was there something deeper to it?"

"Well, no," Throttle sighed as he looked down to his white hands, once more, "We... We hadn't been dating for too long, I really was just waiting until we maybe had been going out for a little longer to bring her around."

"Well... We never met her, what happened to her?" Nox asked nonchalantly with a shrug to match, "You ended up never bringing her around, then?"

"... The game got unplugged," Throttle uttered gently, Nox's facial expression washed flat.

"O-oh..." Nox awkwardly looked down, to the side, out the window and back to Throttle. He nervously tapped his fingers to the wood, underneath him, and grimaced lightly, "I'm really sorry, T."

"It was so long ago," Throttle waved his hand gently and shook his head, "It also wasn't your fault."

"I really wish I had some more time with Ace, before he left. He seems to have Libby pining after him, don't you think?" Nox wondered in gentle annoyance, he slumped his face into his palm, his elbow to the loved wood underneath.

"... You kidding? Yeah, him and Libby seem to be really hitting it off and what have you, but they're not dating... Don't be quick to assume that Ace has it easy," Throttle cocked an eyebrow and adjusted his sitting position with a tired grunt, "Libby was taken advantage of. Libby was raped. That's not anything to take lightly. You know how slowly Ace has to pursue Libby, now? You'll likely fly right on by him, in the romance department!"

"I highly doubt that," Nox grumbled, though he made sure not to discredit the truth that Throttle had laid before him.

"What are you so nervous about, anyways? Koko seems to like you," Throttle uttered as he crossed his arms, Nox huffed a hard sigh.

"I-I don't know... I really like her, she's funny, sweet... Beautiful," Nox stammered, his eyes fell soft in appreciation as they idly scanned the wooden table before him, "Really, aside from Ace, Tessa and Zed, she's been the only one that's fully looked me in the eye and didn't flinch..."

"Yeah, we... We weren't technically blessed when it came to the programming of our eyes, huh," Throttle chuckled, "At least you three boys had color to your eyes, and a cool glow. I'm here with nothing but just black and white eyes. Doesn't get creepier than that."

"The main thing that worries me is Ralph and Vanellope," Nox started as he finally gave Throttle eye contact, "They gave me their blessing to, uh, well... Sort of, pursue Koko. We kind of made out on the night of her birthday, but-"

"You moved quick," Throttle blurt with a bemused smile, which caused Nox to beam him an annoyed grin in return.

"Exactly my problem... She's giving me all these signs that moving forward is what she wants, but... I don't really know her all that well, just yet, and I really REALLY don't want Ralph and Vanellope to kill me," Nox softly worried.

"Is your only hang-up Ralph and Vanellope?" Throttle mumbled, "You can't be worried about her parents. She's technically full grown, now. She can make her own decisions... If you sat them down and expressed you'd take very good care, in this process, then if things move along, I really don't see why you should be worried. Just don't break her heart, and they won't break your face."

"I guess I just am worried about how uneducated I am," Nox grumbled.

"Well... I can tell you this. Stiff body language means stop. If she's grabbing you and giving you the right signs, I mean, hey... Live a little," Throtte blurt a hard chuckle, which caused Nox to finally beam a genuine smile, he nodded in agreement as Throttle kindly continued, "Don't be so worried, Nox. Read her cues, be gentle towards her, even ask her what's too much."

"I'm not just going to flat out ask her, T," Nox argued as he furrowed his brow, though Throttle grimaced right back at him.

"Why not? You want to communicate with her, don't you?" Throttle urged.

"'Hey Koko, can I kiss you? Can I touch you here? I'm going to put THIS distention HERE and-'"

"Well, don't make it awkward!" Throttle and Nox were lost in laughter.

"I'm screwed," Nox groaned as he rubbed his face firmly with both of his hands, he urgently distorted the skin on his face with a deep, tired groan of despair in which Throttle chuckled about.

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Throttle shook his head, "Cook her a nice meal, sit her down, get to know her a bit, and if things go farther from just the simple stuff, let it happen. I mean, don't get way too carried away, but if things line up, I'd say letting the opportunity slip away will make you regret not taking a chance."

"I can't cook," Nox grumbled again, he continued to rub his face and groan in terror, "And what of my honeycomb coding? Not only is she a self-programmed gamer, she's also a totally different code type. If you haven't noticed, the circuits mixed with honeycombs deal seems to only work for Users... Guess whose NOT a User."

"You," Throttle teased, though he shook his head in dismay, "Then, maybe don't go all the way. You know the consequences of all of that. Wait until Ace gets back, maybe him and Zed can toy around in the code room, for you. Figure out if maybe the mixture of both coding is possible."

"I have a long road ahead of me, don't I," Nox finally whimpered through the gap of his palms, which still covered his face.

"No one ever said love was easy, friend," Throttle stated through a warm sigh.

* * *

"Alright, let's split into groups," Tessa called quietly, her family lightly gathered around in quiet attention.

At the basin of a dip in the canyons they had found, Sugar Rush's sun was on the descent. Though most of the snow had disappeared, the cold, pink and red canyon walls promised to release all of the day's warmth and hold fast to the nighttime, desert wind. The cool, dark mint sky was cloudless and was beginning to show a light few speckles of stars. Ace nervously looked about, he knew the canyon likely was barren of any dangerous wildlife, though he also knew he was wholly brand new to Sugar Rush and it's creatures. He bit his lip and tried to gain his bearings, and though the group lay on the outskirts of the canyon they were to be flying over in the morning, he knew they were exposed to the plains and the edge of a forest just a bit a ways away.

"Let's see... Zed, why don't you and Royal go scout North and check a little deeper into this canyon. Look for any dens, any wild animals, check for potential rock slide dangers," Tessa rattled off gently, she waggled her hand towards Zed and then lovingly stroked Royal's snout as he neared, "Libby, why don't you and Penny take Balba and head West, check for the dangers I just listed for Zed and Royal."

"Where should we go?" Lickity wondered as she softened her demeanor and tilted her head.

"Lickity and I will set up camp," Tessa motioned towards the small nook of the red rock they had found. It was similar to a den, though the roof of the dome had skylight; Tessa knew it'd be perfect for star gazing, "Mom, why don't you and Aunt Taffyta take Ace and check the perimeter."

"Why am I ALWAYS on the perimeter," Taffyta argued with a hard groan as she tucked her hood over her head, Vanellope eyed her in a teasing manner.

"I don't know, you tell us?" Vanellope jeered, Taffyta shot her a death glare.

"Alright, let's not murder each other," Zed laughed as he board Royal's spine, Royal lifted his body a little and began to spread his wings, ready for take off.

"Alright guys, meet back in half an hour and we can discuss dinner," Tessa stated, and as everyone slowly began to disperse, Royal with Zed and Balba with Penny and Libby, Tessa and Lickity slowly began to head into their small den, a makeshift home for the night.

"Alright, c'mon, lover boy," Vanellope obnoxiously called with a widening smile as she hooked her arm into Ace's and began to drag him away from their camp site.

"For User's sakes, is that my new name now, or something?" Ace argued as he tucked his fists into the pocket of his fluffy hoodie, though he jolted as Taffyta quickly hooked her arm into the nook of his free elbow, so both her and Vanellope had one of his arms.

"Yeah," Taffyta choked, she kept her hood over her head; Ace rolled his eyes and peered forward.

"You looked miiighty cozy up there, with Libby," Vanellope stated in a quiet, teasing, girly voice as she twiddled her finger into Ace's chest.

"I'm really trying not to get TOO comfortable," Ace grumbled, the wear of the trip began to make his eyelids heavy, and though he so desperately wanted to enjoy all of Sugar Rush's unique, delicious scenery, he knew the three had to check the surrounding area for dangers.

"Yeah, we know your birthday was a doozy," Taffyta muttered as the two women seemingly lead Ace, instead of the reverse, "Doubt you like this stalemate, huh."

"I'm trying not to think about it," Ace stated in mild annoyance, he knew him and Libby were in an awkward friendzone of sorts, though he also began to feel as if his family was trying to rub salt into the wound, at this point.

"Well, you should," Vanellope suddenly stabbed as she unhanded herself from Ace, abruptly stepped in front of Ace, pushed her pointer finger into Ace's chest and gave him a look of challenge. Him and Taffyta jolted, and though Taffyta began to look amused at the interruption, Ace furrowed his brow and gave Vanellope a gentle glare that very easily mocked Ralph's demeanor, "You're not telling me you're going to give up on her, are you?"

"Not at all," Ace argued, "But what choice do I have but to sit back and do nothing? I can't force her to change her mind, I can't make this move any faster than what she's comfortable with."

"But you CAN catch her eye, hmm?" Vanellope side-eyed Ace in growing cheek and gave him a youthful smile, she beamed up at Ace and cocked an eyebrow, though Ace looked mildly confused.

"... What do you mean?" Ace uttered, Vanellope slumped her shoulders.

"Do kind things for her, stand out, kid! Make her look at you twice!" Vanellope swat Ace's chest lightly, Taffyta beamed an amused smile up to Ace and enjoyed the show; the two remained locked by the arms, lightly, "C'mon, Ace, you're the grandson of Wreck-It Ralph. A powerful dude with far more confidence garnered than I think even HE knows what to do with."

"I have confidence," Ace stammered, Vanellope largely rolled her eyes.

"YOU have MOPING," Vanellope exaggerated, Taffyta laughed as Ace frowned and slumped his shoulders, "C'mon. No girl likes a guy that mopes or feels sorry for himself all the time. You've got to puff your chest, you've got to be proud. You're a WRECKER, kid. AND a glitch!"

"And a User, and the result of an opposed swap AND-"

"You've got it all, Ace," Vanellope interrupted Taffyta's list, both girls giggled, "You've got to utilize it."

"I just don't want to scare her off," Ace worried, Vanellope sent him an annoyed glower.

"Ace. That girl handles those two-moon moths like it's no thing... And those things have a wingspan of nearly a foot!" Vanellope ogled in terror.

"I don't know how she does it," Taffyta muttered in fear as her bulged eyes glossed the horizon beyond them.

"She's been through so much, she's reared creatures ten times her size, she stole your code and nearly deleted everything we knew..." Vanellope's voice softened to serious tenderness as she shook her head, "There's nothing you could do to scare her off... That chick is Queen of the jungle."

Ace heaved a hot sigh through his nose, slumped his shoulders and shook his head with mild defeat, though he finally jolted with a nervous smile as Taffyta began to lightly yank on his arm, as if to tell him to ease up a bit. Everyone finally let out soft chuckles, with Taffyta's notions, though once Ace heaved yet another long sigh, Vanellope tilted her head and gave her grandson a kind, twinkling smile.

"My boy... You have far more to work with then you even understand," Vanellope chuckled, she tenderly reached her small hand for his. He wiggled his hand out of his warm hoodie pocket and took his grandmother's hand willingly, he knew the two were tough on him, though it was strictly out of love, "You've got a lot to your advantage... You've got to utilize it. You don't want Libby to lose interest in you, do you?"

"You think she would?" Ace suddenly worried, fear coat his eyes.

"Ace, she loves you for you, and that is VERY clear, but what with all this moping, and this gut of yours," Vanellope stated bluntly, she nudged Ace's belly, which wasn't too big, though Vanellope knew he could stand to lose a few pounds.

"I-I'm not fat," Ace frowned, he looked down to his chest and slightly protruding belly, though Vanellope and Taffyta blurt out in hard laughter.

"No, you're not," Vanellope giggled, "You definitely have Ralph's and Oliver's figure, though. It's easy to hide those extra pounds, but it hits your stomach first."

"Oliver had the same issue, a year or two ago," Taffyta mumbled as she kept herself tucked tight to Ace's side, "The second he found out there were certain trees, in this game, that grew donuts... He was doomed."

"I whipped his butt into shape," Vanellope waggled her thumb to her chest and gave Ace a look of challenge, "You've seen your uncle Oliver, now. Dude is ripped."

"That's all thanks to you?" Ace ogled in sincerity, Vanellope nodded in pride and crossed her arms.

"I may be a tiny thing that just loves racing, and winning, but-"

"She's also a hard ass and if you care about your feelings, and your manhood, don't train with Vanellope," Taffyta rushed through the grit of her teeth, which had Ace and Vanellope laughing.

"What do you say? I'll help you get into shape, and gain the confidence you need so you can possibly move things along, a little faster," Vanellope fingered her lip and looked up to the sky in contemplation, "I'll help you win the girl if you help me, and everyone else, win back my game. Deal?"

Ace raised his eyebrows at the goal Vanellope had set over him, and it was in this moment did he feel vulnerable. He knew, no matter what, she would help him without any sort of payment in return, though the very idea that saving the game wasn't only his responsibility began to finally set in. He finally huffed a hard sigh, shook his head and squeezed Vanellope's hand a little tighter. Ace knew he had a long ways to go, before he was ready to win anything, or anybody, over, though he was prepared for the smack down and hopefully the success of this journey Vanellope was willing to take him on.

"Deallll?" Vanellope urged quietly, in gentle impatience as she waved their conjoined hands about; Ace finally chuckled and looked down.

"Deal," He mumbled with a bashful smile, though he jolted as Vanellope suddenly sent him a shockwave of her purple coding, ultimately wigging his silver coding out a bit, "Ow! Hey!"

"Ohhh, get used to it," Taffyta uttered as she side-eyed her great nephew and shook her head, "You thought THAT hurt?"


	100. Chapter 100

**Reviews :**

 **Architect Dreams :** Hahaha yes, the Kalivar boys are a tad spoiled, for sure xD Dat racing life.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you SO much! Yes, it's been a total blast getting to know everyone here, and how supportive everyone is of me and the things I am going through. I really appreciate everyone's patience and love. It's really helped, tremendously.

 **Snake557 :** Hahaha oh yeah huh! I didn't even think about that xD It's a harmless snake, the boys just lose their minds cause they're so used to poisonous snakes in the area where they used to live, when Zed wasn't with them haha. Thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Thank you so much for your continued patience! That really means a lot to me! :D

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Thank you! Yeah, Ace is a tad chubby, but that all changes once Vanellope gets ahold of him haha.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** HAHAHAHA I died laughing at this! Thank you so much for that, I needed that laugh xD Poor Olly... Just wants some donuts! and yes, thank you! I appreciate it! :D

 **chuckiboo :** Aww wow! Thank you! :D I'm really glad that comes across as such, sometimes I worry I may be moving things along too slowly xD But I really appreciate that!

 **Xaehttium :** YAYYYY EXCITE! *HUG* I'm back! I'll try to stay on schedule, cause believe me, not updating and writing every day was killing me, too xD Yeah, everyone is just eager for Ace and Libby to get the ball rolling, but because of her history, and his shyness and uncertainty, everyone's getting antsy. lol! I don't blame them!

 **Retrokill :** omg xD My sketchdump is for scenes that have actually happened! So anything that happened between chapter 50-100 are scenes I will draw! I may put a few spoiler pictures, like the ones you listed, but we'll see :) Thanks for the welcome back! I feel better now that I'm writing again, for sure.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Say It (ft. Tov Lo) Illenium Remix**

 ***Chapter 100***

"Do you want to know how many cookbooks I've read today?" Nox chuckled, his golden eyes gently glanced over his shoulder to the beautiful girl across his kitchen. Once Koko uttered a giggle of question, Nox opened his oven, reached in with the black mits and shook his head in a tired, playful notion, "Over a thousand."

"And what came of it was a delicious smelling lasanga," Koko stated with a wide smile, she eyed Nox curiously and watched as he carefully set his yummy creation on the stove top and looked mighty proud.

Nox wore a soft, black button down shirt, though the top three or so buttons were undone in a casual manner. This showed his dark grey undershirt, a wife beater that hugged his skin nicely. His hair was tidied as best as he knew how, and though the two were on a scheduled date night, it still held a casual air, bare feet, and comfortable jeans. Nox took off his oven mits, set them down and tenderly glanced over to Koko; as she neared him, he cocked an eyebrow and felt nervousness cloak over him.

"That smells so good," Koko eased, she wore a pretty red halter top that hugged her waist and flared towards the bottom, giving her hourglass figure all the attention she could. She also wore a pair of worn skinny jeans with small tears along the thighs, the white threads of her dark denim frayed a bit. She tucked her long, wavy chocolate hair behind her ears and leaned in a little, to get a better smell, "I'm so glad we left Sugar Rush... All this wonderful cooking, I've been spoiled to, has definitely opened my eyes to the food pyramid."

"Where's candy amongst that drama, anyhow?" Nox chuckled, he lovingly elbowed Koko's lower arm and gave a playful wink to which she cued to and rolled her eyes.

"The bottom," Koko giggled as she shook her head, "I'm surprised none of us got scurvy, during the period of time we were trapped in Stone Crest, without legitimate food."

"All except Penny," Nox raised his eyebrows, lulled his head a little and began to prepare two plates for him and his guest.

"Penny," Koko scoffed, she knew her and her older cousin definitely hadn't had a good start, and being raised with a total stranger was something Koko was certain she'd have a hard time letting go of, "I guess she had her reasons, for alienating herself... I know it really pissed Oliver off."

"I'll bet," Nox sighed as he began to cut into the steamy, cheesy lasagna, "She seems to be coming around though, right?"

"To everyone else, but me," Koko mumbled, her demeanor sank. Nox furrowed his brow and stopped what he was doing. His tender, golden eyes pierced into hers with soft curiosity, and though Koko tried her hardest to shrug it off with a passive smile, she knew that Nox could see right through her, "It's... Fine, I know it's not personal. Her and Tessa seem to really hit it off, I guess I should be happy for them."

"You feel excluded?" Nox prod quietly, though Koko's eyes darted to his in gentle surprise.

"... Yeah," Koko breathed softly as she shook her head, "How did you know?"

"I mean, I guess it's obvious," Nox shrugged as he continued to cut into their food, and though his heart was racing with the success he had at reading his potential mate, he continued to keep his cool and make it convincing, "You've lived with this stranger your whole life, and now that you have an older sister in your life, said stranger whisks away with your older sister, when you thought maybe it'd be the other way around... Please stop me if I'm wrong."

"No, you're... You're totally right," Koko curiously eyed Nox's gentle, agile grey hands as he served the two their dinner, alongside some fresh, steamed vegetables and a bottle of wine he had prepared for them, she helped him in moving their plates to Nox's dining room table across the way, "How did you know all of this? I can't possibly be making it obvious."

"You're not," Nox stated kindly, though he gave her a teasing side eye, "Maybe I just know you better than I lead on."

"Really, now?" Koko stated in girly annoyance with a wide smile, the two sat down across from each other.

"Well, I just put myself in your shoes," Nox shrugged, he popped the cork on the wine and began to pour the two a good amount, "I'd be feeling left out... If my older sibling had a greater history with someone I'd been struggling to get to know for a whole year, now. It only makes sense you're having a hard time."

"I just want Penny to like me," Koko complained lightly as she gratefully began to cut a piece of her food and gather it onto her fork, "I mean... I've done nothing to her, I've just existed. My whole life, she's been this distant, cold person that stopped by once a week to give us whatever left over food and pelts of fur she had. She would also come with weather reports and shifts in the migrating animals, but, for the most part... She never even looked me in the eye."

"I know a thing or two about THAT," Nox stated with an annoyed smile before he took a bite of his food and curiously eyed Koko, to silently wonder if she would enjoy his creation, "Don't worry about it... Penny's coming around, to everyone. She hardly says anything to me, but every day, she looks to be becoming friendlier with the other people in the castle. She'll bounce back. Maybe you should sit her down and talk to her?"

"If it included this lasagna, I'm pretty sure I could ask her to marry me and it'd go smoothly," Koko ogled with a giggle of pure content, she gave Nox a grateful smile as she garnered more food onto her fork, "This is so delicious... You did a really good job."

"O-Oh, really? Phew," Nox slumped his shoulders and peered a bashful smile down to his plate, "I'm really glad... I was terrified I was going to burn it."

"Eh, what's a bit of crunchiness gunna hurt anyone?" Koko shrugged nonchalantly as she continued to eat, and after she chewed, she shook her head and began to gently scoot some of her food about her plate, absent-mindedly, "I'm sure Penny would open up if I just was up front with her... She seems to like people that are blunt. Her and Orph seem to be hitting it off, nicely."

"I've noticed," Nox cocked an eyebrow and chuckled, "Seems like everyone is pairing off. You heard about Finn and Tammy, right?"

"I did," Koko giggled as she gave Nox a look of floored curiosity, he volleyed the notion and shook his head with a wide, bemused smile as she continued, "Ace told me all about how him and Zed had to pretty much spot the two from the code room during their swap. How awkward!"

"Well... It's gunna have to happen for Orph and Penny, User forbid they decide to embark down that road," Nox blurt as he began to scoop more food onto his fork, though he instantly felt himself reel at the sheer fact of the topic they were traipsing into, and just before he could halt the conversation where it was going, Koko giggled and pushed it.

"Well, then, what about us?" She stated bluntly, though Nox furrowed his brow and had to wonder if that statement was something he simply imagined in his head, something he purely made up to fantasize about later, though just as his brain registered that it was, indeed, actual words thrown his way, he double-took on her beautiful figure and face, across the table, and nearly froze altogether.

"U-Um... Us?" Nox stammered nervously, any ounce of confidence he had garnered for the entirety of the night suddenly was released from his being, every pixel of certainty now gone; he felt his veins wiggle into shivering goo as her alluring gaze broadened in floored, charming, womanly delight.

"Us," She repeated lovingly, and though her outgoing voice held a bite of playfulness, she still looked genuine in her inquiry; Nox long blinked in fragile confusion and continued to feel wholly jarred.

"Wow, um... Well," Nox inhaled a deep breath and desperately tried to find a happy medium from collectedness to wanting to jump on her from across the table of food.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out," Koko suddenly brought her charming display of pure, unadulterated coy to an immediate halt; Nox continued to reel at the mental whiplash.

"O-Oh no, you didn't! I'm just... Surprised, is all," Nox's voice began to shake in nervous delight as he gave her a bashful smile and rubbed the back of his head, "I-I... I sort of wondered how that all worked, as well."

"I doubt it's ever been tried before, huh," Koko smiled in a defeated way, peered back down to her food and continued to work at it's deliciousness.

"Who knows... If it has been attempted, it was likely a long time ago, when gamers with both types of circuitry roamed the Arcade," Nox stated, he tried to make the conversation as impersonal as he could, "I think Libby, Throttle and I are the only beings left that have honeycomb coding, so if it has been attempted, and successful, the secrets to that kind of a swap are probably long gone."

"Damn," Koko stated plainly, her now nonchalant demeanor had Nox nearly thrown from the rollercoaster, at this point. He felt his heart sink lightly, he eyed his food and began to feel his appetite drain a little, though he desperately tried to hold onto Koko's girly, irresistable voice, "Well... Maybe Ace, Tessa or Zed could have some information. Who knows!"

"Yeah, I guess it's... Something worth looking into?" Nox stated in gentle question as he tip toed around this topic, though with the way Koko nodded in delight, politely chewed her food and continued to prod at it, he figured she was keen to the idea and wasn't going to take it too lightly, or so he hoped.

"I'd say so," Koko eased, her nonchalant demeanor lovingly sloped to that of keen, sharp promise. Nox finally felt this corkscrew level out, and for the first time in the last minute, he felt centered to the planet once more.

"Cool," Nox breathed as casually as he could, he shrugged for good measure. Before too many more painful seconds of awkwardness could carry on, he gently stood, grabbed his glass and politely gestured down to her, "I'm going to get some water, would you like anything while I'm up?"

"Oh, no I'm okay, thank you," Koko stated politely with a kind smile, and as he stepped away, Koko watched him out of the corner of her eye.

She cocked an eyebrow and let her eyes wander down his masculine figure, and though he was perhaps the shortest of any of the men under the Kalivar castle roof, he still held a good amount of handsomeness. The hint of strong, thick veins down his forearms, the glisten of a gentle, pale blush of normal skin color on the palms of his hands, his grey skin held a solid amount of matte, stone-soft textured look. As much as Koko was reserved about jumping into anything way too quickly, she still couldn't help but ogle Nox's slender figure, alongside every single last kind thing he had prepared and set up for her, for their very first official date. With a tidied home, candles lit for ambiance, and a deliciously perfect meal to boot, she fingered her lip and contemplated something.

Nox rolled his eyes, not in annoyance towards her, but rather the fact that he needed to constantly remind himself to calm down. His eyes scanned his counter tops, clad with a few dirty utensils, their delicious splay of lasagna, and the opened bottle of wine, his kitchen smelled divine. As he reached for his fridge handle, he grappled it and suddenly felt a hard chill of cold, electric shock buzz straight to his brain. As if he had just endured mild electrocution, he yanked his hand away in hard surprise, took a faltering step away from his fridge in cold confusion and shook his head a bit. Before he could begin to worry if this appliance was broken, he noticed the stainless steel of the fridge splay with all sorts of different streaks of delicate, purple circuits, the screen display on the front of the fridge, where the water and ice machine lay, began to angrily display an array of confusing computer symbols, as if it didn't know just what to do with Koko's rush of messy coding.

Nox furrowed his eyebrows and froze, the very information that hit his brain suddenly made all of his hopes come rushing back to him, and with the small dregs of a taste of Koko's coding, he felt his heart jump in growing desire. He dared not to turn around, he knew he could hardly handle it, the rush of emotions that flood his old, honeycomb coding. As slowly as he could, so not to potentially disrupt his thoughts, he set his glass on the counter and felt his knees want to become weak. He pushed his palms to the counter, barely hung his head and tuned his entire mental attention to the woman behind him. Before he could brave a deep breath, turn around and inquire just what she was up to, he could feel the soles of his feet heat up with Koko's prominent, royal coding.

With said inhale he was about to attempt, he sucked in a sharp breath, bulged his eyes and nearly lost all grip with reality. He took a startled step backwards, opened his tingling palms and peered down to them in hard surprise. Much to his disbelief, his palms showed his rare, hot red honeycombs, a gorgeous sprawl of his own inner workings he had never even been able to witness prior to this moment, though before he could soak in everything, electric purple snakes and tiers of circuit lines wormed along the outsides of his forearms and began to melt into the very honeycombs they were enemies with. Upon reaction, the heat of the merge made Nox notice his forehead begin to dot with sweat nearly immediately, and with this, he felt his brain wash to goo as the two shared an exterior swap he was uncertain could even happen.

As the red honeycombs and purple circuit lines soaked to a gorgeous display of a dark, wine colored burst of love, he whirled around, once and for all, and jumped straight out of his skin. Koko stood a few feet behind him, her arms and hands tucked to her chest in a bashful display of question. She raised her eyebrows and jumped a little, at his sudden whirl-about, though as the two finally settled a few feet from each other, Nox scoffed a noise of incredulous surprise, looked down to his palms, and wondered just how this all was even possible. Before he could get words out, he noticed Koko's arms and hands were also riddled with their honeycomb, circuit line nonsense of a magenta like electric burst, a crimson bite with the delicious blush of a berry, it was unlike anything he had ever witnessed. He shook his head in further surprise and finally felt a wide smile come across his cheeks the second Koko's contagious smile cued him to.

"H-How...?" Was all Nox could utter, he shook his head and desperately tried to bring himself back to his own skin, he wondered if maybe his reaction time was off and he was, indeed, being burned in this moment, though after a few seconds of deciphering the kind coding underneath his skin, he felt his heart race faster with excited uncertainty.

"I have no clue, I just took a shot in the dark," Koko rushed with a small giggle as she opened her palms and inspected their beautiful colored coding.

"Wait, I thought this was supposed to burn? Tessa swat my back, the other day, with her hand all coded and what have you, and it burned for like twenty minutes afterwards," Nox rushed with a laugh as well, both beings were animated in hard surprise, and as they continued to converse, Nox felt his heart rush with a burst of the different coding zipping through his veins; how new, fresh and delightful it all felt, he knew he should at least attempt to control his feelings.

"I was there, remember? I was the one that suggested trying that to you," Koko stated with a wide grin, though Nox slumped his shoulders in remembering, "You then decided that a witty remark, towards the Queen of Dead Zed, was wise. Be thankful it was just your back and not your face."

"It was funny," Nox retort.

"Never make fun of Tessa's hair," Koko spat with a cocked eyebrow and a sassy smile, though the two continued to laugh.

"It poofs with the humidity, okay?! It's funny!" Nox tried to catch his breath, the two were lost in laughter, though before he could continue to potentially find other funny things to add to the pile, his mind was very quickly bringing him back to the added presence to his being, one of which he was uncertain was even possible to invite inside.

Koko raised her eyebrows a little and peered down to her palms, and while the two were still connected, via the grout lines on the ground and the grip Koko's glitchy coding kept to Nox's, she assessed their combined coding, the yummy display of a berry candy cane, the iridescent glints of a creamy bronze was also visible, the speckles and shimmers of age old coding with fresh royalty. She bit her lip in growing contemplation and slowly drew her eyes to Nox's. His golden gaze was dulled, though not in an uninterested state, it were simply as if his body was delightfully terrified of this adventure, and it was saving any and all energy he could potentially need in the future. With the mute of his gaze, his eyes still looked tender, welcoming and hopeful, with the twinge of excited uncertainty. He kept his gaze glued to hers, as if she had the final say in anything that was to be done in this moment, and with this, he asked a wavering question.

"Should... Should we roll with it?" Nox dared quietly, his home was still, quiet and warm; he could swear the two were the only ones on the whole entire Kalivar lot standing.

"Quite frankly, I didn't think we'd even get this far," Koko chuckled, her alluring, wavy, chocolate brown hair splayed down her chest and to her waist. Nox raised his eyebrows in growing surprise as she answered his prayers and took a step closer to him, "I-I mean, this was just a test I was trying out. I-I figured I'd just at least try to see if our coding cooperated. Maybe it relies on compatible emotion? The same mental plane?"

"Whatever the case..." Nox trailed, as if he was now eager to simply hold her, feel her skin, soak in everything she was possibly made of, every single last fiber of her sweet coding, her character, the sound of her heartbeat... Nox swallowed hard and itched, something he was wholly certain was going to be the end of him.

"... You're so nervous," Koko suddenly beamed an irresistible, understanding smile, tilted her head lightly and took yet another step closer to him; Nox swallowed hard and raised his eyebrows in dewy concern.

"Y-Yeah, I guess I am," Nox eased tenderly, he desperately tried to hide the tremble in his voice.

"How come?" Koko lightly pressed, she finally pushed into his bubble, though she remained slow and patient, as if to quietly ask his permission to carry on.

"I-I guess... I just assumed nothing would ever really come of us, strictly because I have old, incompatible coding with, well... Nearly every single person in Arcade," Nox stammered with a twinge of sadness in his voice, he shook his head and long blinked as he accepted Koko's gentle presence, and though she was closer than arms reach, he kept his hands to his sides, though still at the ready, "I... I thought I was just maybe doing myself a disservice thinking I'd ever have a chance at anything more than just a few dates with the prettiest woman on this planet."

"Simply because of incompatible coding?" Koko wondered with an incredulous smile, their voices were hushed as they remained a foot or two apart, "C'mon, Nox... Give me a bit more credit... No matter what, I still think you're pretty much the coolest guy ever."

"For User's sake," Nox retort quietly, a bashful smile played across his face as Koko swat his arm a little, their coding flared about the point of contact, "So uh... Should we, uh..."

"Settle this with a riveting game of tag?" Koko sneered, she shook her head just barely as Nox blurt a soft laugh and began to relax a little more, "I never thought I'd ever be one to put out on a first date."

Nox raised his eyebrows, peered his gaze of disbelief into hers and long blinked once or twice. He shook his head just barely and could hardly believe anything that was coming of this moment. The words that slid out of Koko's being, the very idea that everything they were made of was suddenly on overdrive, and though Nox wondered if this was all maybe too soon, he heard Throttle's advice ring in the back of his head. He knew, passing up an opportunity to potentially live a little, would be something he'd deeply regret. He bit his lip and knew he'd much rather open his heart to new love as opposed to kicking himself for the rest of a lonely night.

"Me neither," Nox stammered quietly, his voice shook, and though he was certain he was coming off as a blubbering, nervous mess, he was surprised to see Koko's alluring, beautiful eyes still hold a vast amount of interest.

Before Nox could potentially begin uttering more inquiries, anything to drag this out, to give the two more time to think, he felt as if he should jump out on a limb and invite in just whatever was to come of this situation. He tenderly slipped his hand to the outside of her upper arm, gained on her, slid his soft skin down to her lower arm and leaned down. As a surprise to the both of them, he caught her in a warm kiss with the tilt of his head, and as they just barely pulled apart for a breath, he felt Koko's gentle hands grope for his lower chest, to steady herself and assure him that this venture of his was, indeed, accepted. As the two tucked into each other once more, Koko smiled in gentle scheming on his lips, trailed her hands up Nox's chest and dragged her live-wired fingers along the masculine tendons on the side of his jugular and throat.

Their coding rapidly flared like wildfire, and though they were unaware of the sight, Nox raised his eyebrows in shivering surprise and could tell his skin was now riddled with a vast amount of circuit-wired honeycombs, a kiss of berry blushed passion, the very essence of Koko's soul coat over his. He shivered, his heart throbbed, he knew he simply had no way to describe her angelic, mental presence amongst his, though with this sweet, innocent demeanor he was very slowly beginning to process through, he could taste that bittersweet bite of a playful, mischievous soul wanting to drag him out of his comfort zone for an exciting play date. He knew his old soul was set in his ways, and there were literally no differences between their maturity age, though with the flicker of his old, fragile coding, he could immediately tell he was likely in over his head.

Koko inhaled a soft breath on his gaping lips, they deepened their kiss and tightened their posture, and as their figures melted clean together, Nox dared to slide his grippy hands around Koko's lower waist and around the small of her back. As he warmly began to tug her deeper into his chest, with the slight amount of height he had over her, she whimpered a noise of delight on his mouth, and with this, Nox crinkled her shirt between his desperate fingers. With the gentle arch of her back, the way her live-wired hands slid down the base of Nox's neck, her gentle fingertips dragged through his charcoal hair, his eyes fluttered with disbelief. As his heart surged with the overflow of her assurance, her excited, young love, he felt his mind softly dip to that of question; what if she allowed him into the depths of her heart? What if this was his one shot at this escalating situation? He tenderly held her in such a way to hopefully keep her interested, a tight balance between achieving grippy coy and avoiding clingy desperation.

Nox felt his face push forth any amount of red it quite possibly could as he could feel Koko push tighter into him, her breasts pushed against his chest, and for the first time in his life, he wondered just why he had gone so long without any ounce of romance, a single taste of this enticing, delicious poison was enough to assure him that this was most definitely something he'd like to continue to pursue, and though he was certain the act of it all was what was exciting about it, he felt his heart begin to ache with the sheer fact that said individual giving him this experience was a pretty fantastic one. He smiled on Koko's warm lips, and with his gentle eagerness, he was thrilled to feel Koko itch to gain as much closeness as she could to him. With this amount of wanting notice given, he wondered if he should oblige to her silent inquiries.

The coding swirling through Nox's head made him certain that he could potentially push things a long, and as his hands slid down Koko's lower back, he smiled in growing success as she only pushed deeper into his embrace, tightened her arms about his neck and excitedly deepened their kiss. With their lightly clumsy display of new love, a gentle, uneducated mess of somehow balancing everything they knew with everything they assumed to be correct, they only barely bumped teeth. With this, the two flinched, pulled apart just barely and exhaled a few soft laughs onto each other's wet lips. Nox breathed an apology onto her nose, and before she could allow her smile to utter a small whisper of forgiveness, he sunk back into her with confidence he knew he had to keep going.

Nox inhaled the scent of her skin, the sweet, delicate softness of her cheeks and lips, he could hardly believe he was sat in this moment. As if he needed to potentially catch his breath, he gasped silently, broke their kiss, and tenderly began to trail excited, quick and loving kisses to her jaw and to her neck, just underneath her ear. His mind nearly exploded with the soft utter of a noise that rolled from the back of Koko's throat, her warm enticing hands slid down the front of Nox's strong chest and wrinkled over the buttons of his gaping dress shirt. As the bits of her fingertips grazed his exposed collar, ultimately drowning his skin with more of their combined coding, Nox's kisses began to gain intensity on her neck.

Koko opened her boggled eyes and soaked in Nox's coding, and it was in this raw moment did she finally feel as if she was suddenly out of her element, a mixture of uneducated worry and inexperience came rushing to her, and though she knew Nox had literally no added experience in this department either, she still felt as if he was out of her league. With just how many years Nox had over her, his wise, educated and worn coding finally glossed over her fresh circuits, and it was in this position did she finally feel nervousness creep over her. As if Nox had simply transferred all of his worries over to her, any doubt he previously had latched onto Koko's insecurities like a vice grip. As much as she wanted to just drown in all of the love he was overflowing her with, she felt worry suddenly over take her, an anxious creep of adrenaline that continued to course through her, and it wasn't until Nox's gentle, grippy hands pulled her hips snug into his did she finally feel the exact weight of this escalating explosion.

"Nox?" Koko eased quietly, in a tone that she was hoping didn't crush all of his hopes and dreams, though much to her surprise, he snapped out of their tender, heated moment, jolted his eyes open, loosened his hands on her and lifted his head up to peer into her eyes in scared question.

"I-I... I'm sorry, I can't really... uh, help when... THAT happens," Nox urged quietly, his voice near trembled as he bashfully angled his hips away from hers, once and for all, "I... I mean I CAN, I just... Amidst what we're doing, it's kind of hard-uh, DIFFICULT, to really, well... Control-"

"Nox," Koko stated again, though this time, she eased a soft giggle and kept him close to her, despite him wanting to politely gain distance.

"Is everything okay?" Nox worried, his eyes looked wholly boggled, as if he was dipped into a vat of glowing, uneducated, passionate uncertainty, though he still held a twinge of hope and delight.

"Everything's fine, I just... I guess I just didn't realize how... Well... Detrimental this all was," Koko uttered quietly, her voice suspiciously shook, and with this, Nox furrowed his brow and removed himself from the heat of what had just happened; he suddenly realized that she potentially needed comfort.

"W-We can stop," Nox eased in a reassuring tone, and though he was wholly sad that said words rolled out of his mouth, he knew he needed to do whatever he could to make sure she was comfortable.

"Yes, please," Koko nervously stated, and with this, Nox unhanded her as politely and gently as he could, though he tenderly gripped her hand in his and was now certain this roller coaster was an ongoing thing.

"Did... Did I do something wrong?" Nox worried, he felt his heart begin to rapid-fire murmurs of fear.

"No, not at all, I just... I guess I just never really realized how heavy this all was," Koko stammered as she tucked her hair behind her ears, "I've... I've never really done anything like this before. I've never exterior swapped with anyone, for the sake of romance, so... It's just all really new and overwhelming. I'm sure you're not too pleased with, well... Practically courting a newborn deer."

"...What?" Nox scoffed with a soft laugh, "I don't feel that way, what brought this on? I-I... I was having a lot of fun, quite frankly, you're a wonderful kisser."

"How would you know? You don't know any different," Koko worried, Nox flinched.

"I... I don't think that matters, all that matters is that I was enjoying myself," Nox eased as tenderly as he could, though he had to wonder where all this sudden anxiety was coming from, he began to backtrack and wonder if he had maybe accidentally transferred all of his worries to her, via their exterior swap, "Were you?"

"I was, I was," Koko rushed to reassure him, he began to look lightly dejected, "I just... I realized just how many Arcade years you had over me, and it just made me feel like I wasn't good enough."

"... That's ass-backwards," Nox blurt through a small laugh of understanding, he was thrilled that at least got a bashful smile out of her, though he gripped her hand a little harder, "I-I... I may have thirty Arcade years over you, but that doesn't mean I view you as lesser, or uneducated. We're literally on the same page, when it comes to this stuff. I'll have you know, I'm flying blind. I'm literally riding on a prayer, right now... If you must know..."

"That's reassuring," Koko breathed with a small smile as she looked down, "Me, as well."

"Why don't we... Relax," Nox sighed, and though he had a good taste of Koko's coding, and craved every last inch of it, he knew the two needed to potentially dial it down a little, "It's... Clear there's attraction, here. Maybe a few more dates, we can take things a little slower, does that sound like a good idea?"

"I'd like that," Koko nodded and looked down to their bare feet, she began to feel lightly guilty, though she knew she didn't need to, "I... I was totally confident. I don't know what changed. I'm really sorry, Nox."

"There's no need to apologize," Nox worried with a frown, "I understand... I just hope that, if it were something I did wrong, you'd maybe tell me?"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," Koko sighed, she began to feel as if she needed to silently berate herself for now halting this magical, wild adventure, "Quite the contrary... I think that's why I'm so nervous. I-I was sort of hoping to continue things further, but... It's just so soon. That's what had me worried."

"I understand, let's... Let's finish our food... We can talk about what ever you'd like," Nox stated warmly, though in his mind, he was nearly praying for Sunday night to come quicker just so he could regurgitate all of his worries to Ace and somehow hope he would agree in the simple fact that women were the most intriguing, confusion beings on the face of this Earth.

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 **A/N: WOOHOO! Chapter 100 baby! AH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALREADY BEEN 100 CHAPTERS! I don't even think we're half way through this bullshit, either. That's the scary part. There's still so much to happen in this story, so really, who knows how long this beast is going to be. It's already sneaking up there, on Defying Code, word count and review count wise. ruh-roh.**

 **Alright guys, SKETCH DUMP TIME ! Review your sketchdump request(s) in THIS chapter, or PM me your ideas. This can be ANY scene that has happened between chapter 50-100! I'm excited to get started, you guys! So lay 'em on me! :D **


	101. Chapter 101

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** lol omg WAY too true xD that would happen. Thank you! No rush/worries!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yeah, it definitely was hard for me too - as much as I want to rush each and every single couple and get to the good bits, I know I need to take some of them slower and build to their specific needs a little more, to keep things interesting. I appreciate that! I'm glad it's being portrayed well :D And, I've written down your requests! Thank you! 8D

 **Retrokill :** Thank you! I'll add your request :D yay!

 **Xaehttium :** sad! xD Thank you so much! I'm glad you guys are cool with the direction I took with Koko and Nox (coconuts hahaha) - There are some couples that are fun to 'rush' and others that just wouldn't seem right if I rushed it. And, we girls ARE confusing! I even confuse myself sometimes! Poor Nox is like wtf do I do nowwww LOL

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you so much! I've added your requests :) YES I love this weather, it's soooo nice. I'm excited for it to get colder, I love colder weather! yay!

 **Stargirl2535 :** Aw! Thank you SO MUCH! That means the world to me :D I'm really glad you're enjoying it so much!

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you! :D

 **Nikki Firesong :** Hahaha thank you! I love writing for Taff's character, even after all this time. It's just the right amount of sass and humor. I'm happy to be back as well, I surely did miss writing, even if I was only gone for such a short time.

 **Snake557 :** Awesome, I've added your requests :D Thank you!

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** I've added your request! :) Thank you! Also - the author of this story is a horny bastard. of COURSE the characters are going to be crazy about swapping. Cause I'M nuts about it! xD

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Thank you, to you and your husband! And, yes! I use a LOT of terms very frequently, probably a lot more frequently than I should! I'm not writing this story for critique or to help improve my writing - this story is for fun. With over a million words I have already written for this trilogy alone, you can understand how some terms just keep popping up :0)

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Eyes Wide ft. Whole Doubts by Handsome Ghost**

 ***Chapter 101***

"Alright, whose the wimpiest?" Tessa called to the group with a wide smile as she unraveled a few thick blankets they had brought along for their cold trip; everyone laughed once Libby threw her arm up amidst already shivering.

"You should've guessed," Zed mumbled with a curious smile, and as the sky began to turn dark, everyone gathered in their nook of a canyon cave, the moonlight glinted through their precariously placed sky light.

While everyone was on a scout, Lickity and Tessa got a fire started and made the surrounding area as cozy as they possibly could. With Royal, Lickity and Balba stationed at the entrance of the den, so to protect the group of travelers, everyone finally began to melt into their sleeping spots, they began to pick spots to land for the night reset, around the small, inviting, flickering fire. Ace nervously began to eye his family members and quickly noticed everyone began to pair off, excluding Penny. Taffyta and Vanellope hung close to each other as they chattered, unraveled their blankets and sleeping mats and began to bicker over pillows. Ace dragged his eyes to his mother and father, they were quiet in their own little bubble of gentle love, Zed's voice was hushed and was only barely heard in a deep grumble of a murmur over the crackling fire. Ace finally tugged his eyes to Penny, who hovered near Vanellope and Taffyta, though it was clear she were likely to be bundling up by herself; Ace knew braving the cold Sugar Rush night was something she was more than used to, by now.

At this point, Ace only barely glanced to Libby; her and Balba loudly talked and giggled, and once Balba stood, removed herself from Royal's and Lickity's side and began to meander closer to the tight circle of their sleeping group, Ace quickly felt relief crawl over him. He knew he'd want more than anything to bundle up with Libby, hold her in his tight, safe embrace and let all of their warmth cloud their judgement of dos and don'ts. He was aware he had to continue to take things slow, and he had a bit of work he had to get done on his end, though he wondered if Sugar Rush was the land of 'all bets are off'. He heaved a hard breath, which lightly fogged the air before him, and turned to busy himself with something, though before he could clear his head of the idea of Libby, his great Aunt Taffyta burst his thoughts.

"I think we should all pair up!" Taffyta barked with an eager smile that was directed towards poor Ace, he jolted his attention to Taffyta and bulged his eyes in hard annoyance.

"Leave me out of it," Penny muttered loudly as she plopped down on a little slope of higher ground, she was a handful of feet away from the tight knit group of travelers.

"Is there anything to eat?" Ace interrupted, though with said topic change, he realized just what other sensitive topic he had just jumped into; his grandmother suddenly shot him a surprised look of a glare.

"Didn't you just eat, dude?" Vanellope snipped, though Ace raised his eyebrows and recalled the delicious, chocolate covered berry bushes they had stumbled across a little bit ago, on their excursion to secure the perimeter.

"Yes, ma'am," Ace mumbled, he knew, from here on out, he should likely keep his mouth shut.

"I got MY snuggle buddy," Libby chimed with a polite smile as she leaned into Balba, who joined the group. She ruffled her feather wings a little and kept them tight to her body, so to avoid the flames nearby.

"I figured I should sleep close to you guys, I'm pretty much an extra space heater, with all this fur," Balba stated with a warm laugh and flattened ears, though her eyes double took to Ace's defeated, nearly annoyed demeanor; it was clearly something everyone could practically feel.

"Why don't we ALL become each other's snuggle buddies?" Tessa suggested with a near annoyed laugh as everyone finally began to settle, take off their thick winter boots and get cozy amongst the circle of endless blankets and warmth.

"I'd say a good campfire story is in order," Zed eased with a smile, and as him and Tessa sat in between Taffyta and Vanellope's little patch, as well as the bundle of Balba, Ace and Libby, everyone scoot as close as they could to the fire without it being dangerous.

"Mom is the best at telling stories, anyhow," Tessa mumbled, though she flinched as her Aunt Taffyta shot her an annoyed glower, "Of... Course, there's NO ONE who tells stories better than Aunt Taffyta."

"Damn straight," Taffyta barked, though Vanellope scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Taffyta's good at the funny stories," Vanellope volleyed, "Why don't we settle on a good, wholesome story? We ARE, after all, out here in the wilderness, all by ourselves. I don't think anyone would be prepared for a ghost story."

"No thank you," Libby mumbled as she nervously tucked her hood tighter up her neck and pulled her long white braid out of her hoodie and down her covered chest.

"Hmm... What story should I tell, then?" Vanellope fingered her lip as everyone got cozy, and as the embers of hot flickers floated up into the gaping, high-arched sky light above them, they seemingly kissed the moonlight that cast over everyone.

Ace absent mindedly watched as the embers floated up and away from everyone, his eyes glossed to the gorgeous colors that splayed the rose canyon walls. Alongside their shadows dancing against the kiss of sweet colored rock about them, Ace's heart jumped at the fact that Libby harbored the knowledge of one of Sugar Rush's most famous ghost stories; the code room banshee. He finally let his eyes come back to his grandmother, and as they did, he realized that she was kindly peering in his direction, as if she was cued to him, a silent side kick he had acquired. He was thrilled she was on board to helping him gain Libby's attention, though he had to wonder if he had underestimated her fervor to help. Her familiar, lovely hazel eyes looked wise beyond the look of her endless youth, her loving smirk was that of great cheek, it was clear she was wholly a kid at heart that had somehow garnered a million family members to so diligently look after, no matter what.

"Why don't you tell the tale of Iris's comet?" Penny uttered for the sake of her second cousin, she also eyed Ace in gentle knowing, though she quickly diverted her knowing attention to her Aunt Vanellope with a smile of innocent mischief.

"Noooo, not a gooey love story," Taffyta loudly complained in a grumble as she tucked her hood tight over her head and flopped backwards, onto her back and the fluffy blankets, in a huff; everyone lightly laughed.

"C'mon, you can tell any story you want after this one, okay?" Vanellope promised with an annoyed smile as she shook her head and finally cleared her throat, "This story is about the gamers that placed the stars in Sugar Rush's skies... Valiant light bearers, they were amongst the first beings to help give life to this game, alongside the Users, of course..."

"There were beings here before everyone else?" Ace finally opened his mouth and felt brave, though he still had his reserves for speaking up at all.

"Yes, the lore tells of strong, diligent beings that were apart of the game's very first coding. You can get special glimpses of them, in the night sky, whenever the time of the year is appropriate. They left signs of their arrival, and have made sure their presence will never be forgotten," Vanellope patiently told as everyone honed their attention to her wise, youthful tone. Vanellope gestured up to the gorgeous, star riddled sky, "Once upon a time, there was a strong light bearer. His name was Oda... He was in charge of star placement, alignment of the sky, where the horizon met Sugar Rush's grid... His sole purpose was to place matter where it belonged, and to bring normality to the game's core."

"How long ago was this?" Libby politely interjected, she gently glanced to Ace, who was to her right and was sat in between her and Balba's curled figure.

"Well, Sugar Rush was plugged into Litwak's Arcade about nineteen years ago... So, I'd have to say over two decades ago, whenever the game was being made by the Users," Vanellope explained politely, "Oda was diligent, wise, and was practically the compass rose amongst the light bearers. He was the head, the driving force behind any other worker that helped build this incredible game. They took orders from the Users, and did everything they could to make this game as beautiful and as magical as they could, all while being in perfect working order."

"Were there light bearers that made the race tracks?" Ace quietly asked, and though he was aware he should likely let his grandmother tell her story, his mind suddenly raced with further questions.

"Yes, indeed, but they were in a different faction, they worked with the land, the mechanics of the game, the lay of the land and the environment... Oda looked to the stars, he set the sun and moon where it should be, and was strict in the star's placements," Vanellope eyed Ace with a knowing smile and finally looked back up to the sky, "This all changed once he met Iris."

"Iris," Tessa inquired lightly, she furrowed her brow and fingered her lip, "I'm having a hard time remembering this story... Have you ever told it to me before?"

"I probably have, once or twice, though you and Olly were always interested in the adventurous stories, or the scary lore of Sugar Rush," Vanellope wrinkled her nose towards her first born, "Not once did you two children ever request a love story."

"Penny did, once," Taffyta muttered, she peered over her shoulder in time for her daughter to shoot her a disgruntled look of dismay, though it hid a small smirk of an annoyed smile; the group laughed as Vanellope continued.

"Iris had fallen from her duties, a free spirit... One of which didn't abide by rules, and though she was made by the Users, a being strictly made to prettify the land, she strayed from her duties and was written off of the grid, extra coding the Users thought lay dormant and useless," Vanellope explained, she tried her hardest to keep her eyes off of Ace and Libby, though it was becoming difficult; it was only then did the whole group silently realize that said love story was largely aimed towards Ace and Libby, "One day, Oda bumped into Iris along his journey... Upon seeing that he was, indeed, head of the very star's placements, she politely asked for work, stating that she wanted to help make this game as beautiful as it could get."

"But Iris! Your existence has ALREADY made this game flawless! Have my babies!" Taffyta blurt, everyone suddenly choked with hard laughter, including Lickity and Royal, who were a handful of feet away, towards the entrance of the den.

"I'm sure that was what was going on, in his head," Zed mumbled with a small smirk down to the roaring fire before them.

"Iris showed Oda just what she could do, she could add that perfect twinkle to any star, any amount of sun fire the game needed to boast even the darkest of gum drops... She impressed him, and though she were simply written off of the grid, asked to forever keep her hands and her powers to herself, Oda knew he was taking a risk in allowing her back into the coding of the raw, fresh Sugar Rush grid," Vanellope explained, she gestured out to the fire, "Though, like wild fire, she began to add that touch of magic to the sky, the auroras, the milky glint of stardust amongst Oda's powerful star placements, and it was in this did Iris decide that his structure was a bit too strict. She asked him to do the unthinkable."

"Run away with me!" Taffyta hissed in a loud whisper of exaggerated, sarcastic romance; everyone laughed, yet again, though Vanellope bobbed her head in a nod as if to state she couldn't disagree.

"That is pretty much what happened... 'We could make this game far more beautiful than anything the Users could ever dream up. Come with me, you lay the ground work, and I'll breathe life into the frame', she inquired. Because Oda had grown fond of Iris, magical blue eyes he couldn't resist, he fell into her idea, and the two fell madly in love," Vanellope eased quietly, a loving tone glossed over the group, and as the den began to warm, everyone snuck suspicious glances to Ace and Libby.

Ace swallowed hard and felt his heart begin to pound with uncertainty, though he knew he shouldn't mope, he shouldn't sulk into this story and wish it were maybe him. He furrowed his brow and finally wondered, just maybe, if he wished hard enough, if he gave off enough of a positive air, whatever he wished, would be his. He lightly eyed the fire and wondered if now would be the best time to take his grandmother's advice. Instead of a frown that wanted to gloss over his figure, he smiled. As foreign as it felt amidst the raw, nervous and uncertain feelings he had between him and Libby, it somehow felt like a sigh of relief to smile about it. He showed his teeth a little, soaked in his grandmother's beautiful story and tried his very best to seek the positive in this very moment. With his smile, he could tell Vanellope was secretly trying to give him a mental workout in this, as well. She cocked an eyebrow, and as Libby was adjusting her shirt and looking down for a moment, Vanellope gently gestured to herself, puffed her chest a little, straightened her posture and nodded in kind encouragement; Ace just barely nodded back and kept himself from slouching, as if to understand her quiet inquiry to show his confidence a little more. No matter what.

"Now, the other light bearers didn't like this, they didn't understand... Their head had taken on a fallen angel, a woman who had been written off by the User's themselves... They knew Oda was playing with fire, and with this, they banished him from their faction," Vanellope expressed with a gentle frown, and though her eyes glanced about the group, it was clear this story was for the two across the fire, their innocent, young souls held onto every last word Vanellope uttered, "With this, Oda figured he should care, though with Iris's free spirit, her desire to show him that there was more to life than conformity... The two lit the sky on fire. The sun shone with as much force as the game would allow, the moon quelled whatever heat they had brought about during the day, and settled to a romantic glow over every single last sugar cube the game harbored... Without Oda as the head of the strict faction, the game exploded with character."

Ace raised his eyebrows and lightly looked up to the sky, though as his mind just barely slipped away from the woman next to him, he flinched as Balba suddenly huffed a small chuckle, tucked her large wing tight to Libby's left side and slowly began to squeeze her tighter into Ace's figure. Ace flinched and quickly peered his gaze to his left in growing curiosity, and with this, Ace and Libby finally locked eyes in dewy, bashful concern. Balba snuggled tighter into Ace's right side, as if to smoothly express she was simply just trying to keep the two warm, though with the way Tessa stifled a small, knowing giggle, alongside Penny and Taffyta, Ace could feel his face turn beet red at the confirmation that said story was, indeed, for the two of them. Ace huffed a small chuckle and remembered to keep smiling, to keep being positive. He gave Libby a loving, gentle grin and hoped to User she would adhere to their new, snuggly position. Much to Ace's surprise, she gave him a large, bashful smile in return and rested her head upon his shoulder. As the two got comfortable, Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered to his grandmother across the fire; she looked wholly pleased with the result of her handiwork.

"So many light bearers sought Oda out, they begged him to come back... 'The stars are all out of order! They're messy in the sky, it looks like it's been spilled, and now the game won't look as clean or pristine as you were planning! What ever happened to your strict plans, Oda?' He turned his head, simply ignoring their plights, for he knew the end result of his and Iris's masterpiece would speak for him," Vanellope continued, "Though the two were glowered at amongst other workers, rocks were thrown, they were shunned from nearly everywhere they went... They still held fast to each other. They made the sweetest of love, sprawled the skies with Oda's direction and Iris's creativity, her free spirit dribbled stardust and constellations wherever they went. Before they knew it, they found themselves travelling the night sky, burning love they couldn't put out, leaving a trail of gorgeous sky in their wake."

"Iris's comet," Tessa stated knowingly with a widening smile, Vanellope nodded.

"It comes every five years, on New Years night... The beauty of every constellation, every single splay of milky stars and stardust you see, is all because Oda trusted his gut, followed his heart, and let go of his strict conformity. He listened to a free spirit, and though it was a risk... Look up," Vanellope giggled softly as she pointed upwards, and once everyone had their eyes to the stars, she continued, "If it weren't for Oda falling from his tidy work, leaving everything he knew and jumping into something he was uncertain would pan out, but showed potential... We'd never have Sugar Rush's gorgeous night sky, which is amongst the prettiest of any of the game skies in all of Arcade. I will bet you money you've never seen a prettier sky."

"It's true," Zed stated with a soft sigh, as if to kindly tip his hat to a glorious game that wasn't his own, to humbly state that this delicious sky was, indeed, a lot more marvelous than what he was used to.

"Moral of Iris's comet... Trust your gut," Vanellope eyed Ace and lightly winked, "You never know just what amount of sheer beauty will come from a leap of faith."

* * *

Through the gentle glow of the kitchen's lights, the Kalivar castle was strangely quiet. Though it was a few hours after game day, the lot of Dead Zed's racers had slunk away, as well as Ralph, who had returned from a long day of destroying the Niceland building, had returned and retired to his and Vanellope's empty bedroom. Finn's heart raced gently, a dull thud of anxiety that began to flood him. His tender, masculine hands and fingers patiently held Zed's very digital pad, the one that controlled the entirety of the game, which was linked to the code room. He knew he was cut out for the job, and every single last being inside Dead Zed trusted him, though he still felt it wholly terrifying that every last blade of grass, every last puff of a humid rain cloud was temporarily under his reign. He inhaled a deep breath, let his mind finally come back to the quiet room, and relished in the feeling of Tammy's positive, soothing coding that coursed through his circuits.

"Mr. big shot," Ralph's quiet, though rumbling voice suddenly glossed the still room; Finn raised his eyebrows in tired surprise and looked over his shoulder.

"Wow, I thought I was maybe the only one awake," Finn eased with a smirk of a smile.

"What about Tammy?" Ralph wondered as he pushed into the room, he wore a comfortable, grey tank that hugged his masculine chest nicely, and dark red sweats that were torn and loved at the seams.

"She's downstairs," Finn stated with a hint of a bashful smile as his exhausted eyes peered back down to the digital pad below him, he wrinkled his nose in gentle anxiousness and tucked some of his loose dreads behind his left ear. As Ralph opened the fridge, rummaged for something to drink and came back to the island, Finn eyed him curiously and felt Tammy's bravery come to the forefront of his being, "Ralph... Can I ask for some advice?"

"'Bout what?" Ralph wondered, and since he was simply without his bride for the weekend, he looked as though he was mildly out of sorts, though wasn't one to make it obvious.

"It's no secret that Tammy and I successfully swapped," Finn blurt, the confidence nearly startled him, though he knew he'd eventually get used to Tammy's blunt coding, "We're the second pair of individuals to make it work."

"That news spread like wildfire," Ralph chuckled, he stood on the other side of the island from Finn and took a few gulps of the water he had obtained, "I never got to properly congratulate you. Tammy never really was one to act as if she needed to rely on a guy in order to function... She very much is a woman that completes herself."

"Confidence," Finn nodded with a small bob, bulged his eyes and smiled a kind smile to Ralph, in which Ralph volleyed in a knowing way.

"Seeing her blunt and brash self mellow out with softer coding added to her has definitely been a very nice surprise," Ralph smiled down to his hand and assessed the mild damage taken from the hits to the bricks today, "Not that she needed it... It's just brought out a whole different side to her, something none of us ever really genuinely got to know. She's very much like Calhoun, in that aspect. Always was one to cover sensitivity and emotion. Tammy seems to be fairing nicely, with your coding. It's a cool balance. Just understand, I have young women in which I've always vowed to watch after. Tessa, Koko, Penny, Emery, Libby... And Tammy."

"I know the drill, sir," Finn stated politely, and though the previous version of himself would begin to feel nervous, he smiled down to the digital pad in his hands and quietly continued on with 'end of the day' game routines, "I promise to take care of her. We've made it this far... I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize my standing within this family."

"You'd have more than just big 'ol me after you, anyhow," Ralph chuckled.

"That brings me to my question," Finn brought the topic back full circle, he huffed a nervous sigh and felt the dregs of his original coding want so badly to overtake him, "How exactly do I tell Felix and Calhoun? Do you think they'll be upset at me?"

"Well," Ralph grunted, he raised his eyebrows and peered down to the counter below him with a widening, knowing grin, "Felix is a very different person than me. If it were me, I'd be pissed. But... Felix is not someone you should worry about."

"I figured as much," Finn sighed nervously, he dragged his eyes down to the digital pad and began to finally feel fear coat over him, once and for all, though Ralph let out an understanding chuckle.

"Don't beat yourself up, and don't worry," Ralph smiled as he shook his head, "Facing Calhoun is not as scary as you might think. Sure, she's got enough weaponry for a whole battalion, she's tall, intimidating, loud and fearless... But if you match her in that aspect, she'll show you respect. You love Tammy, yes?"

"Yes," Finn urged quietly, as if he could possibly wonder just how he could prove said notion to Ralph, though he let Ralph carry on.

"It shows... You took good care of her, did your research, albeit last minute," Ralph urged with a wrinkle of his nose and a playful side-eye; Finn beamed in gentle annoyance, "Don't sit Calhoun down, she's not one that needs prepping. Give it to her straight, tell her what you want, sell her your soul, and that'll be the end of it."

"She's... Not going to beat me up, is she?" Finn worried softly, though the two finally broke out into soft laughter.

"I wish I could tell you that she wouldn't!" Ralph teased, he shook his head and rubbed his jaw in remembrance, "There have been a few times where she's taken a few swings at me, and had me on the ground."

"Are you serious?" Finn ogled in full-fledged fear, at this point.

"Ho yeah," Ralph raised his eyebrows in humbled surprise and looked down, "Just stand your ground. You're in your own game, tell her how it is as politely and confidently as you can, and you'll be fine. Don't waver... Keep eye contact, don't slouch, and speak up."

"This sounds a lot like boot camp," Finn worried.

"That's basically her duties, day in and day out," Ralph mumbled in annoyance, both him and Finn fell into soft laughter, once more, as Ralph continued, "Hero's Duty."

"For User's sakes," Finn hissed as he rubbed his face in agitation, "I'm going to die."

"Probably," Ralph shrugged, he tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow, "Rip it off like a bandaid, you'll be fine."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Thank you SO MUCH for all your drawing requests! I have abut a dozen down so far, keep 'em comin'! Would you guys like me to write a small like... Table of Contents so you guys know exactly what scenes have happened in which chapters, from 50-100? IDK if that would help or not. I know a ton has happened in the last 50 chapters, huh.**


	102. Chapter 102

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** CONGRATS! You're my **900th** review! :D YAY! Thank you so so so so SO much! I really am glad that Ace's and Libby's relationship isn't wholly driving you guys nuts (just yet, anyways xD) And yes, Calhoun DID technically 'approve' of Finn, though it doesn't excuse him from a good throw around xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you! I don't think there will be many Oliver/Emery moments. The more people ask for certain couples, the less I want to write about them, quite frankly. It gets tiring, and it's sort of disheartening, to be honest. I've given a good portion of OrphxPenny, NoxxKoko, FinnxTammy, and those three aren't even main character couples. The couples I strive to focus on are RalphxVanellope, TessaxZed and AcexLibby - but it makes it difficult when I'm being pulled in 400 different directions. I STILL get people asking to see Gloyd and Candlehead, and THAT drives me up a fucking wall, because they both haven't been in this story for the last 150+ chapters. It's clear I'm not going to expand on them. If you must have some **spoilers** , Oliver and Emery have a child in the 4th story. So, please, I hope that tides you over, cause I am just so sad to see so many people wanting couples that hardly have any development to begin with. It's clear which ones I'm striving to build on. I LOVE Oliver and Emery very much, but they are very similar in personalities, and that actually is harder for me to write for. I like conflict, I like building on struggles and opposition. It's just how I operate. I REALLY appreciate that you like said couple so much, but I am warning you, there likely won't be much of OliverxEmery until the very end/the next story. So please be patient with me.. I write from my heart, and as much as I want to bend to every single last person's requests, I can't. I simply can't. I have direction for my story, and I absolutely cannot waver. I have to stay true to my craft. Thank you for understanding - and, I have added all your drawing requests. :)

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Thank you! I'm glad!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** OH YAY! I'm really glad you feel that way! I like it too. There's a lot more opportunities where that happens in the future, with different characters, so I'm glad that stuck out positively :)

 **chuckiboo :** Haha that is true, it IS sort of turning into a motto, huh xD And, thank you! Yes, I'm slowly building on Ace's angst. He gets out of it all, eventually haha

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! I'll make a small table of contents for the end of this chapter, or the beginning of the next one :) Or would you like me to PM it to you?

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you! I'm glad :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Shelter by Porter Robinson & Madeon**

 **(sorry for the short chapter, my writing got interrupted because of a car appointment for Lickity)**

 ***Chapter 102***

Ace stirred lightly, the cold, morning, Sugar Rush air filled his lungs in a sweep of returning from dream land. He snuggled deep into his blankets, and though sleeping on a thin cushion, on top of the hard canyon grounds, was something he'd like to trade for his cozy bed back home, he still furrowed his brow and felt strangely comfortable. He was aware him and Libby had fallen asleep together, tightly snuggled into Balba's warm fur and feathers, blankets and pillows abound, though he still was nearly scared to open his eyes. Through the glint of the gorgeous, early morning sun that flood their little den, he dared to finally open his eyes and soak into the sight before him.

He had successfully snuggled his whole head and face into the nook of Libby's upper chest, collar and directly under her neck. Much to his surprise, her arms were tightly fastened around his head, as if she had likely been the one to pull him to correction, and keep him there. He eased a hot sigh through his nose and immediately began to feel his heart throb, he lightly closed his eyes and rolled them, a quiet berate to himself for sinking a little deeper past the strict friend-zone the two had sat each other in. With the remembrance of his grandmother's tale, the night prior, he furrowed his brow again and opened his eyes. He was met with the fur of Libby's hoodie, though he was so deeply snuggled into her, that his nose and mouth nearly pushed into the warm skin of her collar.

His heart continued to race, his larger hands and arms were gently tucked in between the two, confirming the fact that Libby likely was the culprit in initiating their nighttime snuggles. By the way Libby's breath coat the top of Ace's head in a soothing, rhythmic sort of way, he knew she was still fast asleep, though he could tell by the way Balba shifted and inhaled a deep, refreshing breath, that Libby's large, canine companion was indeed awake. The way her massive feathery wing tucked tight over and about the two, Ace slumped his shoulders in further, playful dismay at the fact that Balba likely was in on this continued pitting. He relaxed, once and for all, and assumed this was innocent, a simple snuggle; he knew the two were missing puzzle pieces to their jigsaw chaos of completion, though when said puzzle would be complete was still beyond him.

On the other side of the den, Tessa was awake and preparing to make breakfast for everyone. In the year she was temporarily banished from Sugar Rush, she had quickly learned to become resourceful; after having to look after six men, which eventually included her's and Zed's son, she knew she had learned a thing or two about meal cooking, laundry sorting, and attitude wrangling. Over a small pan, of the few they had brought along for meals, she hovered it over the open fire gently and jostled around a few eggs. They sizzled quietly, she sat on a small, canvas mat so to avoid getting her clothes dirty. Her eyes glossed to the patterns and designs about her; the canvas was worn and splayed with delicate, cute jungle leaves and prints. Her dark sweats were clean, grey socks that nearly had holes in the heels and a dark green hoodie that was complete with long, wool mittens with the fingers cut off.

She huffed a soft sigh, she could taste her morning breath, and though she knew camping included the loss of amenities, she still relished in the raw realness of sleeping under the stars. She jostled around the few eggs on the pan and began to scrape at them with a spatula. Her heart sat still, a neutral position she had grown familiar with, and though she was finally at ease over having her family home, her son united with the very beings that raised her, she still felt that gaping void, the loss of her future kingdom. Tessa scoffed an incredulous, silent huff of a breath and a smile to the cold, still air about their den. Her eyes glossed to the skylight above them, the minty blue and green sky boasted every single last puff of pink, cotton candy cloud it could, and though it was only a glimpse, Tessa knew for certain any terrain held an insane amount of delicious beauty; she thought it ironic that the game continued to hold cheer, even in the dark times. She knew the game could teach her a thing or two about positivity.

Just as her mind came back to the game, and just as she was about to try and reach for said positivity, she flinched as a warm being soaked into her side, as sleepily as he could. Tessa raised her eyebrows in tired surprise and glossed her eyes to Zed, a bundled being with bright blue bed head that shot in all sorts of directions. Tessa finally blurt a soft, quiet laugh, so not to disturb her sleeping family. Zed's tired, electric blue eyes hooked into hers, though he looked positively content, a strange sight. Tessa wrinkled her nose and assessed him, once more; he wore a neutral colored, fur lined hoodie, black sweats and worn grey socks, like the rest of the crew. The fur that lined his hoodie, however, was tufts of black and pretty dark brown. The second Zed was about to open his mouth and give Tessa a kind retort, Tessa beat him to it.

"Y'sleep well last night, or something?" Tessa's voice croaked for the first time this morning, the two whispered.

"Sure did," Zed stated in hard confusion, he furrowed his brow and peered down to the gentle fire before them.

"Not sure how... Our bed is pretty much the most comfortable thing on the face of Arcade," Tessa stated in a hush tone as she flipped the eggs, scrambled them and began to prepare a plate for Zed, "You want bacon?"

"You brought bacon?" Zed's eyes bulged in boyish delight, Tessa giggled.

"Yeah, Ace wouldn't let me leave the house without adding it to the materializer," Tessa grumbled as she swiped said device, thumbed through it and materialized a few strips of bacon to the sizzling pan before her. She eyed him and Libby, across the way, cocked an eyebrow and gestured to the two, "Speaking of which..."

"Hmm?" Zed mumbled as he broadened his gaze amongst the strewn, sleeping heaps of family members they were surrounded by. He noticed Libby's and Ace's tightly snuggled position, deep into Balba's fur and feathers, and beamed an annoyed grin, "Oh, boy..."

"Looks like mom's story got to him," Tessa raised her eyebrows in delightful knowing and turned over the loudly sizzling bacon; she knew the group wouldn't be able to sleep through the delicious smells.

"Pretty sure more than just her stories will get to him," Zed stated through a huff of a chuckle, he finally attempted to straighten his wild bed head, "Were you cold last night?"

"Yeah," Tessa huffed with a frown, though she tried so hard to stifle a wide smile.

"I could tell," Zed griped playfully, he grappled the chest of his hoodie and shook it about a little bit, "I woke up in the middle of the night and we were sharing my hoodie, you weirdo."

"I was cold," Tessa playfully complained, "You're always warm, I don't know how you do it."

"I don't know either," Zed laughed, he gently scoot a little closer to his love and warmly wrapped his right arm about her shoulders, he tugged her into a loving side hug and pushed a few firm smooches to the side of her head, on the shaved part, "I love you. You're hilarious."

"Yeah, yeah," Tessa muttered, though she willingly leaned into his love and craved more of it, her eyes drew up to him in dewy, frozen love, her eyes peered to his in a knowing manner; he scoffed at her, for he knew exactly what that look meant.

"Tess," Zed complained as he rubbed his face, "NO. No."

"C'mon, we can steal away, right?" Tessa whispered as she took the pan off the fire, though Zed blurt a laugh and attempted to grapple for it, so to put it back on the fire.

"Woman, if you don't continue cooking the bacon, I'm not going to 'steal away' with you ever again," Zed played, and though they desperately attempted to stay quiet, the two blurt out into soft laughter as they fought over the pan of sizzling bacon.

"Please? You can't give me that look and just fall off the face of Arcade, that's not fair," Tessa rushed in a whisper as the two fought over either keeping the pan over the fire or not.

"Tess, alright, shut up," Zed hissed through laughter, the two were near inconsolable, "ALRIGHT. When we get home."

"Nooo," Tessa slumped her shoulders and protested playfully, Zed unhanded the pan and beamed a cheeky, annoyed smile as Tessa grappled the chest of his shirt, "You're no fun."

"Tell me something I don't know," Zed chuckled as the two finally settled and kept the pan over the crackling fire, "Besides... If we were to swap out here, we'd likely code a baby."

Tessa fell silent, as if she was discovered with her scheming plan. She eyed Zed softly and felt her face get hot, though she flinched once Zed blurt an annoyed chuckle.

"WOW, your silence says it all," Zed laughed, Tessa joined him and covered her face in a bashful way, "Sneaky little brat... You can't do that to me."

"I know," Tessa sighed in defeat, shook her head and let the dregs of her smile sink a little, "I just really want another."

"I know you do," Zed's deep voice glossed over her in tender loving care that became more and more prominent, "I do too... Let's-"

"Save the game, set things to normality, I know, I know..." Tessa rolled her eyes in gentle annoyance, flipped the bacon on the pan and dragged her annoyed gaze to Zed, who also looked mildly annoyed, "I just want another little blue-haired bundle to hold."

"... You can hold me," Zed suggested, he stifled a hard laugh and shook his head as he tried to keep a straight face.

"I'll THROW you," Tessa blurt, the both continued to laugh, which had Taffyta stirring in hard annoyance.

"Alright, baby-fever douche bags," Taffyta croaked suddenly, which had Royal's and Lickity's ears all perked from across the den; Taffyta's voice bounced off the walls a little, "Can't you SEE... That I am... Is that bacon?"

"Hook, line and sinker," Zed muttered, he gave Tessa a kind, daring smolder and left her with blushed cheeks as he tightened his arm around her shoulders; she bashfully peered back down to the food she was preparing and was left to mull over their ideas of broadening the Kalivar name.

Before too much time could pass, the seven travelers, including the three flyers, took to Sugar Rush's skies in rejuvenated fervor. With Zed leading the pack aboard his gorgeous, sleek Tron flyer, wings were trained to the cold, high altitude air. Bundled tightly in hoodies and scarves, they were praying somewhere along the journeys of these Sugar Rush excursion, that there'd be a patch of warmth. As the group became more lively, more awake and excited for the new day, they fell into conversation, some would move in and out of group conversing to idle chit-chat with whomever they were flying with.

"So, where's our stopping point, then?" Ace wondered as he leaned forward a little, Libby had given him he driver's spot aboard Balba, and as his large, gentle hands scratched and rubbed at the back of Balba's head and ears, he knew neither her or Libby could complain.

"Well... it might be wise to find an end point once the sun reaches noon, in the sky," Vanellope stated softly, she shielded her eyes and peered behind her. The sunrise was still promising early morning, she knew the group likely had five solid more hours of flying until they had to turn around and stick to their strict schedule, "We'll come back to the canyon we just were at, and... We'll likely be back at Sugar Rush's entrance tomorrow night. We're making good time."

"We're lucky," Penny uttered over the wind as the seven stayed close to each other, she repositioned her position behind Tessa and nervously looked about, "We've been out here for over a day, wandering... Without a single hiccup or interruption from... Well-"

"Don't jinx it," Taffyta grumbled as she, too, looked about in gentle annoyance, "We're not out of the woods yet."

"Radex?" Ace blurt with a widening smile, he huffed a nervous breath, and though he felt the itch to sink into brooding agitation, he stuffed it and straightened his posture so to give Sugar Rush a smile of challenge and might, "Psh... Try me! I dare you!"

Tessa raised her eyebrows in hard surprise as everyone immediately dart their attention to the User at the center of the group. As Tessa's eyes caught with Penny's, her mother's and her aunt's in delighted shock, she dragged her eyes to Libby and was floored to see Libby's curiously surprised expression hooked to the back of Ace's head; his outburst of his was most definitely different, and though Tessa knew he was likely forcing it, for these rough few beginning pushes, she knew she should reward and match his bravery.

"He'd be screwed, trying to mess with us," Tessa barked with a wide smile, Ace shot her a look of excited gratefulness and huffed a soft breath of surprise, "He's not coming out of his hiding spot because he knows he's outmatched!"

"He'd lose, for sure," Vanellope giggled, her and Taffyta shared a bob of an agreeing nod.

"He'd taste my blade, that much is true," Penny urged, the group became lightly riled.

"Where are you?!" Ace suddenly blurt to the wind with a soft laugh and a shake of his head, "I know you can see us, coward!"

"He's got nothing Ace, he knows you'd kick his ass," Zed encouraged, everyone laughed as Ace peered up to the gorgeous clouds and felt freedom begin to soak into his skin.

"And then some!" Ace yelled to the sky, he felt his arms just barely spread as the wind whipped about them, his heart soared; he knew putting on a face of confidence was difficult, though the more it was displayed, the easier it became to wonder if it were really in himself all along.

Libby laughed excitedly, as did everyone else, and as the group finally settled, Libby slumped her shoulders and peered to the back of Ace's head in growing curiosity. She knew the two had a long road ahead of them, though as if Ace was slowly prying himself from a hard shell, she eyed him and wondered just where these bouts of attractive confidence came from. Her eyes dragged down his large, masculine shoulders, and though she was aware of the task at hand, the detrimental fight they'd eventually be faced, she knew somehow his confidence was contagious, and with his fervor, she wondered if ruling the entire galaxy wasn't out of the question.


	103. Chapter 103

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** No harm done - don't get me wrong, it is extremely flattering, but I get these notes and messages at least 3 times a day, so it's just a little discouraging. I feel as tho my effort towards where my heart chooses to go is in vain sometimes, cause it just seems as if, in those inquiries, that no one cares about the effort and care I put into the other characters. If I felt drive for those two pairings, trust me, I'd make it happen, but I can't go against myself and write strictly because of what others want. This is my story, for fun, so I have to do things my way, or else my love for it will fizzle out. and I don't think any of you guys want that, huh :0) Thank you for all of your support, it really means a lot to me! Thank you! Yes, Otto will have a bit of a part in the fourth story. I really enjoyed writing for Otto, because yes, she was my first 'furry' character. So, she will have a bit of a bigger part in my fourth story. :)

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Thank you! 8D I know, I love writing for those lovey scenes, especially between Ace and Libby, cause hopefully that brings more encouragement to you guys :D Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha me too, I LOVE bacon xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I think it is! haha. Thank you so much! :D I appreciate it!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** omg I LOVE THAT SONNNNNNG I seriously can't stop listening to it. It's a good 'cleaning the house' song, too xD Weird as that seems. I opened all the windows yesterday and just blasted my ears out, and was like welp. I'm ALIVE xD Thank you! I appreciate it!

 **Snake557 :** Okay, will do! I'll try and make a list tonight and get it to you soon, then :)

 **ArchitectDreams :** It's true xD Thank you!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **First Train Home by Imogen Heap**

 **Wait It Out by Imogen Heap**

 ***Chapter 103***

As the night grew cool, the kitchen was loud and bustling as per the norm, and though there were a handful of bodies missing, leaving a sorrowful, gaping void in the nonsense, it still felt like home. Jax and Orph loudly bantered over what was bubbling on the stove, as well as the crackling deliciousness that was in the oven. Duke and Tej quietly conversed at the island, alongside Nox and Throttle's attempt at joining in on topics they had extensive knowledge about. Emery, Oliver and Ralph began to set the dining room table, and as Tammy and Koko brushed by Finn, from the corridor of their bedrooms just off of the kitchen, Finn felt his stomach softly drop; he knew Felix and Calhoun would be joining the gang for dinner, as usual.

Finn's eyes nervously dragged back down to the digital pad in his hands. He knew he had this whole 'running the game single-handed' thing down, and that he shouldn't worry, and as he scanned through crime reports, CPU rises and falls, the amount of RAM the game has used and anything left open that shouldn't be, he had to wonder if the irony of this situation was palpable. Things of traits and skills he could put on a professional resume - can smooth through a whole entire economy, ecosystem, and countless cities all by himself; confronting a girl's parents about selflessly sharing her coding? Scratch that. Finn shook his head, desperately trying to rid his negative thoughts, though he knew it was futile the second Felix's bings of footsteps, his playful game-noise bounces that were iconic, quiet and almost comforting, Finn swallowed hard and peered back down to the pad; he scolded it for not having something urgent that he must steal away to the code room to tend to.

A strange surge of contradictory coding flood Finn's being. He huffed a hard sigh to himself, powered down his digital pad, after setting the game on a temporary auto-pilot, and put it in a safe spot for the time being. He straightened his button down shirt, cursed himself for leaving his dreads down and tried to find Tammy, so to hope potentially avoiding any sort of electric friction with her. He knew, once she was in his gravity, the two would give each other away. Their coy banter, the draw of opposite traits they pull out of each other, the bashful smiles, bright eyes and straighter postures, Finn knew the two were still sapped in the cliche honeymoon phase, and any sort of fleeting eye contact given would just be neon lights to the rest of the gang. Finn continued to anxiously straighten his shirt, and much to his surprise, he could hear Felix happily chatting with Jax, at the stove, about his day.

"So, your hammer can fix anything?" Jax wondered, and though he stole eye contact to the small fixer below him, he still kept his attention on what was bubbling at the stove, "Like... ANYTHING?"

"Can it make Jax taller?" Orph teased as he ruffled the top of his head, light blue hair that suddenly splayed in a few different directions, "He's the shortest one here, of the Kalivar boys."

"I'M the shortest one in the group," Felix motioned to himself with a cheery chuckle, as if said notion didn't bother him.

"Orph, you're forgetting someone," Ralph grumbled, he playfully nudged Nox's arm as he walked by; Nox bulged his eyes in hard annoyance and shot Ralph a pleading look of agitation.

"Right!" Orph laughed loudly as he pointed, "Poor Nox... How tall are you, again?"

"Why does it matter?" Nox mumbled in playful sorrow, all the boys began to laugh, "It doesn't mean anything! I-I... I'm just as adequate as the rest of you guys!"

"That's not what I was getting at!" Orph urged in disturbed annoyance as he waved his hand.

"I only mentioned the whole height thing cause I was wondering if it's something that Felix can potentially fix!" Jax pleaded through a wheeze of laughter that everyone fell into, though just as Felix was about to retort and give the group a lesson on the way of the golden hammer, Finn nearly couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"Y'see, how it works, is the hammer fixes objects that are DAMAGED. A perfect hammer can't fix programming that was made the way it was supposed to be," Finn expressed as he stepped closer, though as he continued talking, he realized the whole group's attention was on him. He swallowed nervously and somehow felt his brain push this conversation harder out of his mouth, as if he was uncertain of just where it all were coming from, "S-Such as... Traits. You're programmed with a certain string of coding, these are things that are technically right, not damaged or broken. Being short isn't a flaw or a trait that is damaged, therefore, can't be fixed. Break your leg? Easy fix. You weren't born with broken legs, were you?"

"We were all born short, though," Jax retort, as if to playfully inquire the hammer was tried for his shortness anyways.

"I'm five foot nine, okay?" Nox suddenly blurt with crazed, annoyed eyes, "Jax can't be much taller than me!"

"I'm nearly six foot," Jax stated with an understanding chuckle, though he gestured towards Tej, who began to look sheepish, "I think THIS one is shorter than I."

"Five foot ten," Tej eased in gentle, quiet annoyance, as if he were hoping no one would mention it.

"I feel a little better," Nox rushed.

"Golly, how... How did you know so much about a fixing hammer?" Felix wondered in gentle delight, as if he was thrilled that someone else had knowledge of his old, rare game; Finn swallowed hard and could see Ralph's knowing, surprised expression in his peripheral.

"I-I... Well..." Finn stammered as the group fell into a gentle lull of calm, Finn felt his skeleton turn to goo as Tammy's and Koko's gentle bickering fell to the wayside and honed to the conversation at hand.

"Say, Finn, did you know a cybug's top speed, in the air, can reach nearly two hundred miles an hour?" Calhoun suddenly blurt with an annoyed, knowing smile, though the second she began reaching for her guns, Finn knew he was totally done for.

"Th-That's... Not right," Finn murmured as he rubbed his arm nervously, though he could feel Tammy's itching, confident coding want to burst forth.

"Oh it's not, is it?" Calhoun barked, she gawked and gave Finn a surprised look, as if she was certain challenging her was something he would never dare to do. She carried on with the information she knew was false, "I think that's true... They also have the skin and coding ability to blend into whatever environment they're in, at will."

"N-No, they... They change into really whatever they eat," Finn uttered, and it was at this point did he know the cat was out of the bag, "A-Also, cybugs can only reach top speeds of about ninety-five miles an hour. At a nose dive, they can reach one hundred and fifty miles an hour, but it is rare they are smart enough to hone to prey for long enough. Once prey has darted out of sight, they typically lose interest."

"You saying you know more about Hero's Duty than I do?" Calhoun uttered as she began unstrapping herself of her weaponry, she hung near the large dining room table, and as she reached her hand gun, she cocked it, brushed it free of debris and gave Finn a knowing glare of a smile; she was wholly intimidating, a force to be reckoned with, even with just standing still.

Finn inhaled a shaky breath and darted his eyes about, it was now clear that everyone had dropped what they were doing to watch the show, and as all eyes fell on him, he felt his heart burst with purpose. The one woman that stood out in the crowd, Tammy's aura was frozen in delighted nervousness, and though they both knew this transition would likely be rocky, the look of hope in her eyes assured to him that he was ready for the challenge, and with the silent encouragement the group was giving to their temporary head of the game, Finn inhaled a more confident breath this time, puffed his chest and looked Calhoun in the eye, even though she was across the room.

"Yeah," Finn uttered with a cocky smile as he put his hands on his hips and raised his eyebrows in a smoldering look of matched intimidation, and with this, everyone's eyes bulged a little harder, "I think it's safe to say that I do."

Calhoun froze, furrowed her brow and slapped her gun back to correction, though much to Finn's relief, she put the gun on the table, alongside her other larger weapons, and began to lightly stroll closer to the area where Finn was stationed, which was on the other side of the large kitchen island. Everyone was silent in surprise, they held their tongues and were floored to see just where this drama would lead.

"Huh... Interesting," Calhoun stated in a calm voice, though everyone knew it were simply her trying to blatantly express the calm before the storm, "So, what would you say if I said that hatchlings take a whole day to mature?"

"I'd say you were wrong, it can take an hour, and if there is ample amounts of food, reaching maturity can be much quicker," Finn retort; he knew Calhoun knew all the right answers to these ridiculous questions, though he also knew this was his segue into revealing that him and Tammy did, indeed, successfully swap, "Babies are born with a rapid immune system, and volatile energy. If the babies outnumber the adults, if grounded, three babies can take on one adult alone."

"And that of the beacon?" Calhoun wondered with a sly smile as she crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow, her and Felix caught curious glances.

"Any stretch of light that reaches the sky, beyond the clouds, is their call home. They are then added back to the game's memory for the next quarter alert," Finn rushed to explain, the whole kitchen fell silent in awe, "If said beacon doesn't work, the Arcade would be screwed... Those cybugs are simply game viruses, making Hero's Duty the most hostile game environment in this entire Arcade... Save for Tron."

"So, would a hammer be able to fix this nonsense?" Calhoun through a monkey-wrench in the mess, though Finn didn't flinch.

"No... That is how the game is made," Finn retort quietly, "Simply hitting a cybug with a golden hammer would do no damage, nor would it fix anything... That is how Hero's Duty was made. The golden hammer can't fix anything that was programmed the way it was. Simply mends the broken, or enhances the weak."

"You've had your hands all over my daughter, haven't you," Calhoun spat, and though Finn's face turned beet red, and he felt the need to crumble to his knees, he repeated Ralph's words and stood tall.

"Yes, ma'am," Finn stated in confidence was certain was pushed. Finn furrowed his brow and felt his heart pound, and though he knew pushing it was suicide, he did anyhow, "And then some."

With the way Tammy covered her mouth in surprise, Finn knew she wasn't horrified; she simply was hiding the widest, most enthused beaming smile she could. She uttered a silent chuckle, looked down and desperately tried to hide her delighted surprise. Finn cocked an eyebrow, merely glanced about the room and brought his strong eye contact back to Calhoun, who looked as if she were simply a molten volcano, about to burst, though Finn had the power to put it all on pause. He inhaled another confident breath and lightly shook his head.

"Ma'am, I love your daughter. I did my research, garnered a team for the code room, and successfully swapped codes with her. I am aware I likely should've asked permission prior, and I can understand any anger you and Felix may throw my way, but I just need you to understand, I would never harm a single hair on Tammy's head," Finn patiently explained, he kept his spine straight and his eyes locked to Calhoun's surprised orbs, "I feel as though I have put in valiant effort to make sure she comes out of the other side of that risky swap, safe and sound. I feel confident I will gain your approval, since she is happy and living."

Everyone was silent in hard shock, and though Calhoun continued to look mildly annoyed, everyone jolted the second Felix let out a soft, excited baw of adoration. He cupped his hands together, tucked them under his jaw a little and peered up to Finn in delighted, cheesy, gooey surprise. Finn finally felt his veins wiggle out of the strict composure he had himself in the second Felix's little strut moved closer to him and reached for Finn's hand.

"My love, you can't possibly stay mad at this gutsy fella!" Felix urged quietly, everyone let out knowing chuckles, as if to come alongside Finn for his raw, flawless display of bravery, though before Finn could utter anymore words of encouragement, he was floored to see Tammy remove herself from Koko and step to Finn's side as a show of camaraderie.

"Sorry mom, it... All just sort of happened so fast," Tammy eased as she slipped her hand into Finn's free hand and gave her mother an unsure smile, "I... I've been really picky with the boys I give myself too much of, but... I felt wholly confident, here. I love Finn. I know you guys will too..."

"My little Tammy, all grown up!" Felix pressed with a wide smile of adoration, though he fixated his gaze to his bride and gave her a dewy look of overwhelming surprise everyone knew the Kalivar, Sugar Rush, Fix-It Felix and Hero's Duty crew were drowning in, "You can't possibly stay made, Tamora, I mean lookit! We have another fixer, another gunman! It won't be too long before they give us fix-it grandkids, now!"

"Uh, dad," Tammy choked bashfully as her and Finn caught eyes in a whirl of confused cuteness, though Felix waved his hand down to dismiss her, and beg that she let him continue to dream.

"C'mon Felix, you already got a great nephew out of wedlock, stop encouraging all this heathenry!" Ralph blurt with a soft laugh, which had everyone else finally relaxed.

"Very well," Calhoun uttered, and though she still seemed strict and upset, a small smile played across her face as she took a step or two closer to the two. As she approached, she gave Finn's upper arm a good few pats, ruffled his dreads messily and finished with a firm nudge to his chest, "She's your problem now, kid. I know you're aware of the consequences, User forbid you decide to go against your big words."

"Yes, ma'am," Finn nodded in assurance, and as Tammy leaned closer to his side, he gave her a smile of relief and hugged his arm around the middle of her waist; he could feel Felix's eyes peer up to the two in pure, unadulterated delight.

"Man, dinner AND a show," Jax blurt, which finally had the group's laughter coating easiness over everyone.

* * *

"I didn't think we'd see this nook of a sleeping spot again," Taffyta huffed in hard annoyance as the group slowly filed back into the canyon den they were in the night prior.

After a whole day of flying until the noon sun was high in the sky, and making a swift turn around, after finding virtually nothing, the gang couldn't help but feel down in gentle defeat. They knew they'd be successful eventually, though the fact that it wasn't right off the bat, like what everyone had hoped, set the group on a one-way train to grumpville and homesick town. As everyone began to go on about their scouts, like the night prior, before the sun left the sky, Vanellope eyed Zed in growing contemplation. She knew that Ace and Taffyta were likely good to go on the perimeter scout by themselves, she felt herself drawn to Zed's stuffed, agitated demeanor. He seemed fine on the outside, his smile and quick-witted retorts, he would hang at the front of the group and lead this battalion with strict diligence, though the way his eyes sagged, Vanellope wondered if something were wrong; something he was likely harboring from Tessa, so to keep the group's spirits afloat, as well as his to-be bride.

"Taff, you take Ace for this last go around," Vanellope prod gently as everyone part ways, though she quickly looked over her shoulder to see Zed preparing to board Royal. She backstepped, so to begin to play catch up with Zed, and waved her hand a little, "I'm going to go with Zed."

"For what?" Taffyta blurt in annoyance, the itch of wanting to just get home began to soak into everyones attitudes.

"I just need to have a talk with him," Vanellope continued to push, she shook her head and gave Taffyta a knowing grin, "I gotta keep all these boys in check, right? It's not just Ace we need to keep an eye on."

"Whatever you say, captain," Taffyta stated in gentle agitation as her and Ace curiously eyed Vanellope, and as the group finally part ways, Vanellope skipped to finally reach Zed.

As she came up, she assessed Zed's demeanor; secretly harboring sorrow, his eyes and gentle hands dragged along Royal's lightweight saddle. With his strength, he fastened Royal's saddle, straightened out a few straps and was prepared to board Royal. Just as he was about to hoist himself up, he caught Vanellope approaching in his peripheral and quickly cloaked his darker spirits. He gave her a kind smile, ruffled his messy, cyan blue hair and raised his eyebrows in baited wait.

"Hey, what's up?" Zed wondered gently as Vanellope skipped up, her hands were tucked in her furry, mint colored hoodie, it was appropriately laced with the pink trimmings, much like her downgraded counterpart.

"Got room for lil ol' me aboard Royal?" Vanellope stated in great cheek, knowing full well Royal could likely fly four passengers, though she was more asking in the way of wondering if Zed could afford some company.

"Oh, sure," Zed stated politely with a kind smile, though Vanellope knew he would force politeness for the sake of his swap-mate's mother. Zed helped her aboard Royal and as soon as Zed was in the driver's position, he tugged Royal's saddle, pat the top of his head and allowed the two to gain enough altitude before he opened his mouth, once more, "Is... Everything okay?"

"I should be asking you that," Vanellope chimed kindly, as she leaned back and rested on her hands, she peered up to her kingdom's glorious, darkening sky, "You've been sighing all day."

"Oh, I'm... I'm alright, no need to worry about me," Zed eased with a gentle smile as his sad eyes peered forward, though he knew there was only one person, in this whole entire Arcade, that was sharper than Tessa; it was her mother. Zed felt his spine soften as the sound of Vanellope's annoyed, knowing giggle coat his ears, as if he had been discovered, "I'm just trying not to let negative thoughts cloud this trip... Though, it seems as if this trip has afforded us nothing but time to think."

"To dwell, I know that all too well," Vanellope eased as Royal's large, glorious white wings flapped a few times. His ears were perked and trained to the conversation being held behind him, and though he knew he could chime in at any moment, Royal knew to give the two the mental space they needed.

"I never realized just how big Sugar Rush was," Zed stated in mild agitation, he shook his head and smiled out to the gorgeous, rosy canyons below, "Dead Zed is open ended as well, though... I doubt it's as large as this."

"Yeah, the game designers really had no limits," Vanellope said through a nostalgic smile, she peered about her pretty, sugar-speckled land and shook her head, "We'll get 'er back... In due time."

"User, I hope it's soon," Zed stated nervously, he furrowed his brow and let his eyes gloss the top of Royal's head in aimless dread.

"... You don't have to wait, y'know," Vanellope eased sweetly, her kind, loving eyes glossed the back of Zed's head, and as Zed's shoulder's slumped, she knew she had gotten to him.

The silence was anything but deafening, a calm lull the two had fallen into, and as they checked their dedicated edge of the canyon, Royal began to glide in a float, as if to buy the two more time to discuss everything that was bothering Zed. Zed huffed a small, quiet laugh, shook his head and let his heart finally feel the weight of his and Tessa's wants. He knew he'd do anything to make her happy, anything to make her world whole, and though bringing another baby into this chaos sounded terrifying, he wondered if they should stop holding the situation with their fist.

"I would apologize for eavesdropping on you and Tessa this morning, but you guys make it entirely too easy," Vanellope muttered as she side-eyed the back of Zed's head, he huffed a louder laugh and felt more at ease.

"It's... It's not the right time," Zed worried, and though he cursed himself for letting it happen, his eyes watered.

"And it never will be," Vanellope cooed lovingly, "There's always going to be something, Zed. Saving Sugar Rush, rebuilding the castle, restructuring the grand cities of Sugar Rush... Potential to be crowned..."

Zed raised his eyebrows and nearly forgot, he lightly peered over his shoulder so to gain promising eye contact from the very Queen of Sugar Rush. She flashed him a knowing smile, wrinkled her nose and nudged his elbow. He blurt a soft laugh as she began to bicker towards him.

"Don't act all surprised, lover boy, you already gave Sugar Rush another future Prince, you know what comes after this step, anyhow," Vanellope rushed in growing cheek, Zed shook his head and beamed his bashful smile down to Royal's reigns, "You don't give yourself enough credit... You also don't give yourself enough breathing room. You know how many more of these trips we will have to take, with how many weeks of gaps in between?"

"That's just it, someone will have to stay home with the baby," Zed worried, though his heart began to thud in excitement as his mind began to finally accept the idea, as opposed to shoving it away for so long.

"Well... There are a thousand of us," Vanellope teased in an outburst, which caused a genuine laugh out of Zed's figure, "We can take turns babysitting. You forget Tessa has a perfectly capable little sister? You have a perfectly capable younger brother, Finn? There's Ralph, Calhoun, Felix... All three people who have dealt with babies."

"I don't know," Zed worried, though he could still feel his heart race in growing excitement.

"Don't shut down the idea... I know Tessa can get pushy with things she wants, and you're smart for weighing the pros and cons, but... Don't resist doing something you want just because you don't think it's the right time," Vanellope eased kindly, "It never will be the right time until it happens. There IS no right time. Whether that means you stick to your plans and wait, or you go for it. Having Ace wasn't technically at the time right, was it?"

"No," Zed huffed with a loving smile down to his hands as Royal made sure to take the two on the right course.

"Nope... Amidst Tessa thinking she was banished, reuniting with your brothers, building a castle to fit all of you guys," Vanellope shrugged and looked up curiously, "That was likely one of the worst times to bring a baby into this world... Or so you thought..."

"So I thought," Zed chuckled as his heart swelled with all the love in the world, for his first born. He slumped his shoulders and gently glanced at Vanellope over his shoulder, "You're not just saying all of this because you want another grand child, right?"

"Believe me, there's a large part of me that wants to snuggle another baby, as well," Vanellope giggled, "I'm currently going through the baby fever nonsense right now, too... I feel Tessa's pain... But this isn't for my gain. I see the pain in your eyes. I know it's what you want, too, no?"

Zed sighed, smiled and bashfully looked ahead to the gorgeous, promising scenery before him. He finally heaved a soft chuckle, looked up to the clouds and closed his eyes in growing agitation towards himself and how indecisive he was being.

"Oh, yes," Zed admitted quietly, Vanellope giggled.

"You two have made wonderful parents, Ace is a charming bundle of surprise, from all angles," Vanellope stated through her continued giggling, which cued Zed to beam a wide, knowing smile, "Second time around is a lot of fun, cause you at least have experience... So, would you want a boy or a girl?"

"Girl," Zed eased bashfully, as if he had been mulling over this topic a lot longer than anyone suspected; Vanellope hugged Zed from behind as the two shared a laugh, "A healthy baby, really... But it'd be interesting to see how Tessa and I handled a girl."

"They're a handful, I'll tell you that," Vanellope stated in dull, playful annoyance as she nudged Zed's elbow, "I have two of 'em, under my belt. You don't know what you're getting yourself into, son."

* * *

 **A/N: SO sorry for the lack of an upload, yesterday. Our building lost electricity, so that was SUPES fun! I'm back tho :D If you guys have more drawing requests, be sure to send them to me, cause I've begun working on them! Thanks guys! :)**


	104. Chapter 104

**Reviews**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha! Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Yes... If you see typos, just please disregard. I'm currently going through a TON of shit right now, and I don't have a ton of time to edit my chapters. So please don't point out the typos, I understand there are some there, I don't have much time to fix up the chapters to how I would like to lol. Thank you.

 **ArchitectDreams :** lol! No, not yet for sure, but there's lots of drama to come xD Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** LOL! Yeah I'm assuming most parents go through that xD Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** That is very true! xD Thank you so much!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Thank you so much, and thank you for caring! I'm alright, I just don't have wifi at the moment and it's a bit difficult to keep up, through all the drama I'm going through, but I always come back to my story. It's my love and my escape, and I'm really glad you guys are still on for the ride! Yes, there will be bouts of drama thrown your way, in ways you won't be able to expect. Things may seem cute and cheery! But the story gets progressively darker for sure xD

 **WildVirus :** Thank you! :D

 **Xaehttium :** LOL too true! xD Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you! I'm glad, I try to incorporate every couple in the easiest way I can, in whichever direction I feel led. I'm also glad Zed is becoming ever-more relatable, as time goes on. He's definitely a character with many layers :) I've written down your requests, as well! Thank you!

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Of course... Vanellope and Ralph started it all, of course she's going to have a relevant part in the story xD Thank you

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the lack of an update on schedule, guys. Things area bit rocky, we lost electricity over the weekend and now we're looking to be put in a house sometime here soon - job interviews and the like have also cloud my time, though this story is still going strong and I think about it ALL THE TIME. So don't you guys worry :) **

**The sketchdump is underway! If you have anymore requests, please leave it in a review or PM me! :D**

 ***Chapter 104***

"That was incredible, the way Finn stood up to Calhoun," Emery's voice was soft and sweet, her gorgeous emerald green hair was long and straight down her back. She wistfully intertwined her hands underneath her chin, rested her elbows on the kitchen island and finished her statement with a long sigh, "He definitely got a good dose of confidence, with that swap. Same thing happened to me, when I swapped with Oliver."

"You just... Take on each other's characteristics?" Koko wondered shyly, all three girls hung close to each other at the kitchen island; the sun had begun to set, and the hype in the house was beginning to become apparent with the anticipation of Sugar Rush's scout crew's return.

"Yeah, it's hard to explain, and now I know how Tessa feels," Tammy grumbled with a small, bashful smile. She ruffled her golden hair a little before straightening it back to normality, "I always had a boat load of questions for her... How it all worked, and I always wondered why it was so difficult for her to answer. Now that I'm on the other side of the fence, it IS truly hard to answer. I don't know how to explain it."

"The other person sort of balances you out," Emery kindly explained to Koko, whom of which would be her future sister-in-law. Emery tucked her hair behind her ears as all three girls eased deeper into their quiet conversation, "What once were maybe huge insecurities or flaws, for lack of a better word... Now have been sort of filled with the other person's traits to balance you out."

"Well, what if say you're say... Terrified of the dark, and the person you swap with is terrified of the dark as well, what happens?" Koko wondered, both Tammy and Emery furrowed their brow in gentle confusion.

"...Good question," Emery muttered.

"I guess the both of you would just continue to stay terrified of the dark," Tammy laughed a little, "I think it mostly works for opposing traits and flaws. I'm really loud and confident. Finn, not so much... But, now that we share codes, it all sort of levels out. He was given some of my confidence, and I was given some of his chill."

"Cause User knows you have none," Finn blurt playfully as him and Oliver walked by with Zed's digital pad; all three girls burst into a fit of gentle laughter.

"I heard my name being used," Oliver inquired, both boys had been hanging near the entrance to the Sky Room, discussing code room technicalities and the like. Oliver rubbed the back of his head nervously and shot Emery a look, as if to hope she maybe didn't reveal way too much about their intimacy, "...Whatcha girls talking about?"

"Ohh nothing," Koko sighed as she twirled her hair with her fingers, though she gave Oliver a knowing look and raised her eyebrows; she blurt into a giggle fit as Oliver began to playfully swat at her.

"C'mon, don't do that, don't tell my own SISTER anything," Oliver grumbled for the sake of his privacy, Emery waved her hand a little and shook her head as everyone laughed; Finn hung on their words, though he kept himself busy in the digital pad before him.

"We're not discussing anything that would warrant anyone to look at you differently," Emery assured through a soft laugh as Tammy covered her mouth and stifled harder laughter, "We're just discussing how the traits-swap works."

"Oh, okay," Oliver eased, though everyone flinched as Duke, Orph, Jax, Tej, Nox and Ralph all loudly began to bark obscenities at the television across the gap of their luxurious living room, "Boy, Throttle sure is missing out."

"You know Throttle," Finn sighed as he swiped at his pad a little and looked dug into his work.

"Hermit," Koko eased, though she eyed Oliver, "Reminds me of someone."

"Stop it," Oliver lightly complained, though he hooked his arm tightly around Koko's neck, tugged her face into his chest and prepared to give her a noogie; she loudly laughed, complained and shoved on Oliver's broad chest.

"That's where mine and Oliver's traits sort of quadrupled," Emery stated with a soft sigh as she shook her head and gave Tammy a knowing smile, "We're both quiet, shy individuals. If two people have the same trait, it sort of becomes heightened, as opposed to opposite traits leveling out."

"Like fighting fire with fire," Tammy added, Emery and Finn nodded in agreeing, though Finn glared down at his digital pad and scoffed.

"Why... Why is the castle's energy output so freaking high?" Finn garbled as he stood up straight; he was shirtless, which was unheard of prior to his and Tammy's swap. His dreads were down in a mess of delightful chaos and his dark blue eyes were now nervously gripped to the pad in his hand, "Someone's room is sucking up the allotted energy for the castle."

"Not mine, I turn all my lights and stuff out when I'm not there," Tammy rushed, Emery nodded in agreeing as Oliver unhanded Koko; they both nodded curiously as well, though Koko tried to fix her hair.

"... It's Orph's room," Finn muttered in growing annoyance, he dragged his eyes to the living room and huffed a soft sigh, "Hey Orph?"

"What?" Orph called over his shoulder in annoyance, it was clear they were trying to watch one of the weekly, televised live-action pac man races.

"You have a thousand and one things that are on and using a lot of power, in your room," Finn dragged, he scanned through the items that were plugged into the walls, in Orph's room, "Y'got three lights on, two fans... Why do you have TWO buzzers, and why are they both being charged at the same time?"

"One for my head and one for my ass," Orph blurt sarcastically, which had every single guy in the living room erupting in hard laughter. It was clear they all were trying to pay attention to the game at hand, though listening in on any of Orph's conversations was always a treat, "What's it to you? Stop snooping through my room's outlets... ZED."

"Come again?" Finn barked as he lowered the pad, and though it were still foreign, everyone had quickly come to realize that Finn wasn't one to be trifled with. Prior to his and Tammy's swap, he always was brooding, quiet and thinking. Now that he was coupled with confidence and an outburst of added volume, everyone knew he was likely just as stern as Zed, when it came to castle rules, "The name's FINN."

"Y'sure about that?" Orph wondered in an annoyed tone, though just as he was about to turn back to watch the show, everyone simultaneously let out loud groans of sorrow, threw their hands up and as they began to stand and look defeated, everyone muttered gripes and complaints to each other. Orph jolted his attention back to the tv and looked about, "Wait, what happened! I missed it!"

"Rocket Ross snuck in and stole first again," Jax complained loudly as he gestured to the screen, "That's not fair! There should be a rule about how long you hold onto your power ups."

"WAIT, so it's just over?" Orph urged loudly as he stood, everyone began to mosey out of the living room, ultimately leaving behind a light mess on the coffee table, "What about the third round!"

"That only would happen if Rocket Ross hadn't stolen first, just now," Tej assured, everyone looked defeated and annoyed, though they all flinched as Finn gestured to them.

"Uh, guys, you're forgetting the crazy mess you just left," Finn stated dryly, everyone peered back to the table, and though Ralph, Nox, Tej, Duke and Jax began to slowly mosey on back, so to clean up and keep house rules at the forefront, Orph crossed his arms and glared down his older brother.

"What, you're not going to help? You're just going to play Big Brother and order us all around?" Orph stated meanly, though it was clear he was still being playful.

"I'm not ordering you around," Finn squinted his eyes and held a stern, annoyed glare to his younger brother, though Orph challenged it, "Zed and the rest are coming home tonight... I want the castle to be spotless. I was left in charge."

"Well, if the code fits," Orph snapped, though just as Finn was about to go full-on Tamora Calhoun on him, Jax snapped his fingers and gave Finn a delighted smile.

"You should dye your hair the color of Zed's hair!" Jax laughed, and as everyone finally came back from the sad events on the television, they moseyed into the kitchen with dirty dishes and eager smiles.

"Why?" Finn staggered, he desperately tried to calm down.

"From the grey-blue it is now?" Tammy wondered as she crossed her arms and assessed Finn, to likely wonder how it'd even look on him.

"You want to wear the pants of the castle," Orph sneered as he approached, though much to Finn's surprise, he swiped the digital pad from Finn's hands and tucked away with it.

"Give it back!" Finn urged in growing terror, he knew Orph had limited knowledge on that of the code room, and anything pertaining to it.

Finn gasped and swiped at the pad a few times, though Orph was quick to play keep away. Orph uttered a hard, excited laugh as both boys scrambled for it, though Orph was delighted in the fact that no one was coming to Finn's rescue; not even Tammy.

"Let's see, here... Cyan blue? Zed's hair IS the bluest, out of all of ours," Orph lazily dragged.

"Your hair isn't even blue," Nox stated, everyone laughed, though Orph gawked towards the TurboTwin and ruffled his messy, silver hair.

"It's got hints of light blue, if you look close enough!" Orph complained, though this ultimately brought his attention from playing keep away with Finn. Finn grappled the pad, though Orph swiftly yanked it from his grabby hands and took a few hard steps away from his older brother, "C'mon, now, you want to play King of the castle, I'd say you should look the part!"

"Orph, this isn't funny, you could accidentally delete someone!" Finn urged loudly, and even with Finn's words, everyone stifled laughter, as if they knew Orph didn't have the capability to prod far enough into the code to find everyone's delete buttons.

"Aha! Physical settings," Orph called loudly as he panned to Finn's states, "Hmm, six foot two, two hundred and thirty pounds of beefcake, and WHOA it even says the length of your-"

"GIVE ME THAT!" Finn urged in pure terror, though everyone howled in laughter as Finn nearly climbed on top of Orph for the digital pad; both boys largely struggled and grappled at each other.

"I'm kidding! What, you worried?" Orph stated with great cheek as he flagged the pad away from Finn's hands and side-eyed him.

"Don't make me use your middle name on you," Finn growled, though Orph rolled his eyes.

"My middle name is the most NORMAL out of all of you idiots, anyhow! That's not a threat!" Orph barked, he shook his head and bugged his eyes, "I'll beat you to it! It's Tyler! You happy?"

"Orph Tyler Kalivar," Koko stated, though she gave Orph a kind smile and nodded, "Welp! Makes up for your weird first name, then."

"Thanks, m'lady," Orph eased with great cheek, though he flinched before he could see Nox shoot him a look of pure, challenging confusion, "GET OFF OF ME!"

"What if I told all of you that Orph wasn't your actual name?" Finn stated with a widening smile, as if it were simply a dead-end secret he was sworn not to tell anyone; Orph bulged his eyes and pointed a firm finger in Finn's face.

"YOU PROMISED," Orph barked, everyone quickly became enthralled, though before Finn could say anything, Orph largely swiped at a few options and made Finn's dark blue hair color the same color as Zed's hair; everyone loudly laughed in growing excitement.

"Wow, it's like Zed's actually here with us," Ralph laughed as he threw his trash away and gestured to Finn across the kitchen.

"C'mon, Zed! Give us another order!" Jax called, everyone was riled.

"Alright, which one of you girls wants to play Tessa?" Duke stated deeply as he gestured to the three girls sat at the kitchen island.

"I vote Koko," Oliver called, Koko gaped.

"WHY ME!" Koko urged loudly, everyone was lost in laughter.

"You look the most like her," Tej added with a snarky smile.

"We could shave half of your head," Orph stated in sing song, though Koko's eyes bulged.

"I swear to User, if you so much as touch my hair, I will strangle you," Koko barked as she pointed a finger, stood and looked as if she were now about ready to start lunging for the pad in Orph's hands.

"Oh, who knows what I could do with this silly pad," Orph chimed as he stupidly waved it around, just in time for Ralph to lean in and pluck it from his tiny hands.

"Yeah, who knows, huh?" Ralph barked, Orph gaped and jumped to try and swipe it back from Ralph's massive grip, though he knew it was no use, "Lets see how YOU like it!"

"Oh, thank User," Finn stated through a hard sigh as he covered his face, for he knew Ralph was well versed in code-room etiquette do's and don'ts.

"You said your hair has hints of blue? Why don't we bring it out, then?" Ralph wondered as he swiped to Orph's stats and tabbed into the hue of his hair. As he dragged the slider to the cyan blue Zed's hair was, everyone erupted in excitement as Orph's messy hair dipped to the same color as shown on the pad in Ralph's hands, "Now YOU'RE in charge! How does it feel, Zed?"

"For User's sake," Orph cried, though Ralph eyed the pad and beamed an excited smile.

"Ohh I now have dirt on you, too," Ralph chimed, "Orph's original name is-"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR," Orph hollered above whatever Ralph uttered, though everyone urged Ralph to repeat himself.

"Aww, what's wrong, you can dish it but can't take it?" Finn wondered cheekily.

"That seems to be the nature of Orph's character, huh?" Tammy beamed, she crossed her arms and nudged Finn's elbow with hers.

"Unplug those electronics, you're wasting the unlimited power of the castle," Orph stated loudly in a pompous voice as he puffed his chest and squinted his eyes; everyone howled with laughter, "You're ruining my life, one dread at a time!"

"Oh shut up, you're pretending to be Zed, here," Finn argued as everyone honed their attention to Orph and Finn.

"Alright, whoever gives their best Zed impression gets the pad," Ralph called, he finally tabbed into everyone's individual stats, and before they knew it, each Dead Zed racer had Zed's brilliant blue hair color.

"Guys, wake up, it's game day, but I don't have one, so I'll just have Tessa make us breakfast and do nothing for the rest of the day," Jax teased as he stood up taller and tried to flex his muscles.

"I'm ridiculously buff all of the sudden, it's likely to make you feel like a piece of shit," Orph joined in loudly, and though everyone laughed and laughed, they knew it was only in good fun towards their favorite dead last racer. Orph obnoxiously flexed, alongside Jax, and clenched his fist, "Uhg! I can wreck, I can glitch, I can do nothing all day long but get more and more buff and make everyone inferior! I'm INVINCIBLE!"

"I'm also future royalty! Call me King of it all!" Duke added as everyone took annoying stances.

"I miss them!" Koko called with a bittersweet smile as she wistfully leaned onto the counter, "I hope they come home soon."

"Why, so Finn AND Zed can state how many things I have plugged in, in my room?" Orph argued loudly, Finn beamed a wide smile and gestured his hand towards him.

"Not only is it wasting energy, you're also now labelled the castle douche bag," Finn uttered, everyone loudly agreed.

"You just have stuff running in there! You don't need Tessa OR Zed around to tell you that's stupid," Koko laughed, her and Oliver shared a nod.

"No one can run the game like Zed, though," Nox chimed in, he crossed his arms and gave Orph a look of snark, and just before Orph was going to retort, a familiar, certain someone managed to sneak in through the sea of cyan blue hair.

"I'm glad at least Nox has something nice to say about me," Zed eased with an annoyed smile as he centered himself in the middle of the group, and before any more words could be uttered, everyone loudly gawked, cheered and nearly dive-bombed Zed for a massive group hug.

Zed laughed, opened his arms and was suddenly clobbered with an onslaught of an overflow of love, and as each individual got their brief hugs and pats to Zed's back, everyone whirled about in search for the rest of their family. As they came face to face with the frozen-still, highly amused group of individuals in the foyer, Tessa was the first to release her strict position of her arms, scoff a soft laugh, shake her head and step forward with the strange sound of their thick winter boots against the soft jungle tiles below.

"What... The hell," Tessa muttered with a widening smile as each one of Zed's brothers erupted in hard, knowing laughter; the sea of cyan blue hair was definitely a sight to see.

"I can hardly keep track of ONE bright blue peacock, can we NOT add five more?" Lickity bellowed as she pushed into the house, Royal and Balba stuck their heads in curiously as well.

"I am so surprised to see the castle still standing, to be honest," Ace stated with a wide, cheeky smile as he began to remove his thick winter coat; Dead Zed's atmosphere wasn't quite as warm as it would be, in the dead of summer, though it was still a lot warmer than Sugar Rush at this moment.

"Oh, come on," Finn argued as everyone finally began to move closer to the group in the foyer, and vice versa, "I did good! C'mon, tell them I did good... Anyone?"

"You did GREAT," Tammy urged with a confident smile.

"See, you HAVE to say that, cause you guys are a thing now," Orph muttered, though he flinched as Ralph suddenly pushed the pad past him, into Finn's hand, and began to make a stumbling, clumsy bee-line for his bride.

"I'm so glad you guys are home safe," Ralph urged as him and Vanellope locked eyes, and as quickly as he could, he scooped Vanellope into a tight, well-deserved hug. Vanellope beamed an excited smile, nuzzled her face into the softness of Ralph's shoulder and sunk into his strong chest as Ralph continued to quietly speak on her shoulder, "I was so worried..."

"We're tough, have some faith!" Taffyta chuckled as she lugged Penny into a side hug, Libby and Ace nodded in agreeing and melted into the group in the kitchen.

"Y'guys find anything?" Finn wondered as the Kalivar castle became whole again, and as the massive group piled into the even larger kitchen, Finn secured the castle, the perimeter, and felt his whole world fall complete, once more.

"Just a loooad of wasteland," Ace said through a hard sigh as he peered his eyes to his grandfather's. Ralph frowned, looked down to the kitchen island and gave his curious gaze down to Vanellope, who was still tucked tightly into his chest. Ace rubbed the back of his head, and though Zed was the very head of this game, and of the castle, everyone's eyes strangely fell to Ace's for guidance. With this sweep of encouragement, Ace felt the push of confidence, he had so desperately been forcing, finally feel as if it were becoming second nature. He inhaled a deep breath, pushed his hands to the island counter and peered about, "But we're not giving up... We can't. We've only scratched the surface... We flew for nearly two days straight, before having to turn around. Sugar Rush is huge, and we're going to need all the help we can get."

"When's the next trip?" Nox wondered, his eyes hooked to Ace's, as if he had a billion things to fill him in on, though the importance of gaining Sugar Rush back was what was at the forefront of their issues; he also figured it'd be a good opportunity to potentially get away, to clear his head and gain clarity on his whole ordeal with Koko.

"It was planned for September sixteenth, it's a Friday," Ralph eased softly, he looked to Ace and nodded a little, "That was scheduled for a weekend trip, but... If you guys feel as if you'll need longer?"

"We're straight up pulling a Minecraft, on this thing," Vanellope stated seriously as she gestured her hands, "We're going rogue, survival mode, with only the supplies in our pockets... Only difference is, we don't have a spawn point. There is no way to sleep and save that as your spawn location. If we run into trouble, we're out there in the wild blue, with nothing but each other..."

"... The farther out we go," Tessa started nervously, everyone dragged their eyes to Tessa as she cocked an eyebrow, "The scarier things get."

"I'm in," Nox suddenly blurt, to which everyone peered to him curiously, "We gotta go balls deep. We can't just tip toe around. We gotta find this asshole."

"What's the urgency, all of the sudden?" Ralph wondered, he knew Nox was likely one to hermit where he was safe, due to the nature of his character.

"... That's a good question," Nox stated, as if he was beside himself, though Ace furrowed his brow and suddenly felt as if he was on to his best friend; he dragged his eyes to Koko, in gentle curiosity, and by the way she was standing clear across the room from Nox, body language closed off, Ace knew Nox was likely trying to get away from any minor issue that had come up over the weekend.

"Anyone is welcome to come," Ace sighed, he eyed Nox and gave him a look as if to inquire what his deal was, though Nox looked oblivious. Ace rubbed the back of his head and peered to the members of his family in which he just spent the weekend camping and travelling with, "I don't know about you guys, but I could use a shower."

"You said it," Tessa grumbled as everyone very slowly began to disperse.

"Sooo this trip was unsuccessful," Penny started as she leaned her swords against the edge of the kitchen island, she shrugged and gave the group of boys a snarky look, "Maybe next time we'll encounter wild animals, like what I wanted."

"For User's sakes, we aren't going on any of these trips without Penny," Taffyta called, she was halfway across the gap to the Sky Room, "We'd all be doomed, otherwise!"


	105. Chapter 105

**Reviews**

 **ArchitectDreams** : yeah, he's a weird one, but that's what makes him awesome haha. Thank you!

 **Snake557** : That's okay, thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke** : Haha thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake** : lol thats a thing xD Yeah, I'm trying to sort of keep everyone on their toes, as for drama and the like. A few dramatic scenes happen, coming up, but nothing really compared to the very end lol.

 **TwizzleCreampuff** : That's true! xD Thank you!

 **WildVirus** : Yes, I tried to add in a bunch of humor - it definitely helps me when I'm feeling sad, so I'm glad everyone else thought it was funny too haha.

* * *

 **A/N: OMG YOU GUYS I'm so sorry for the wait. I've been balancing job interviews with trying to get my life settled over here and the like. It looks like we have a permanent home in our sights, it just needs some minor renovations and the like, and we should be in it sometime right after Thanksgiving/before xmas! Also, my best friend is going to be visiting and staying with us, directly after New Years and I am BEYOND FLOORED cause I miss her so much, and I miss Arizona. I'm EXTREMELY home sick, but I know this won't be forever, and I'll be able to go to school, finish that and move back West. For the time being, the East is MASSIVE culture shock for me, but I am enjoying myself for sure. It'll be great, but I apologize for the spotty updates. I'm without internet at home, which makes it difficult to do much, so please bear with me! Thanks again guys! :)**

* * *

 ***Chapter 105***

"Thank you so much for watching Chepi for me," Libby stated in a kind, grateful tone. Her and Koko gently pressed into Koko's dimly lit room, it was clear she had Chepi down for the night. She was curled delicately in her cute little fuzzy dog-like bed, which was cream and nearly velvet to the touch. Chepi was fast asleep, though Libby did everything in her power to pick her up alongside making sure she stayed asleep. Once Chepi was carefully tucked into the softness of Libby's furry hoodie, she dragged her eyes back to Koko and kept her voice quiet, for Chepi's sake, "I really hope she wasn't too much trouble?"

"No, not at all," Koko kindly assured. From down the hall, their family group could be heard happily chattering away as they slowly dispersed for the night, "She was very easy to take care of, the only thing I had a bit of trouble with was trying to keep her from chewing up everyone's shoes."

"Of course," Libby huffed, she shook her head and gave Chepi a smile of mild dismay, "Not too sure she'll grow out of that one..."

"Oh who knows, she has all the commands down. Sit, stay, come, roll over, play dead," Koko listed on her fingers, she shrugged and beamed Libby an eager smile, "I'm sure 'speak' will follow. She's so cute!"

"Well, thank you again, I'm glad she was in good hands," Libby eased towards Koko, though she grimaced Koko a sheepish smile and scrunched her shoulders, "If, well... If I continue to go on these Sugar Rush scouts..."

"I will GLADLY watch Chepi for you, she's great company," Koko assured with a loving smile as she barely nudged Libby's arm, "I surely do love my home game, and all, but I don't think I'll be going on these scouts anytime soon... I want Sugar Rush saved, but... Call me a hypocrit, I guess."

"It's not hypocritical, I'd feel the same way," Libby stated quietly with a shrug as she looked about, "If I were trapped in a bad situation, for my whole life, and finally got out of it, I don't think I'd want to dive head first back INTO it, either. I don't blame you."

"Thank you," Koko sighed as she frowned, "I always was so worried that maybe mom and aunt Taffyta were maybe secretly disappointed in me."

"Well, if they are, they haven't said a single thing about it," Libby cocked an eyebrow and smiled, "You know Taffyta. She'll tell it like it is."

"That's true," Koko raised her eyebrows knowingly, looked down, nodded and smiled.

"So, how was your weekend? How did things go with Nox?" Libby inquired with a knowing side-eye, a sly smile and a few eyebrow-waggles, though she quickly dropped the act as she noticed a lack of a smile across Koko's face, which was instead coated in nervous dread. Libby immediately frowned, slumped her shoulders and gave Koko a look of sorrow, "...Not... So well?"

"No, it... It went fine," Koko sighed, she gently cracked her door, moved across her room, crossed her arms and looked up to the ceiling in mild annoyance towards herself, as if she were conflicted, "I think I'm overcomplicating things..."

"How do you mean?" Libby pressed, she was now eager to jump right into this innocent gossip and she was excited that Koko looked more than ready to spill as well. Libby wrinkled her nose and grimaced, "Is he just... Not that great of a kisser or something?"

"No, no he's... Wow, he's great," Koko's eyes bulged, she looked to Libby in mild desperation and frowned; Libby jolted barely and beamed.

"Oh! This is the exact opposite of a problem," Libby giggled with a widening smile, "So, he was so fantastic that you're worried things are just moving too quickly, now?"

"Exactly," Koko sighed as she gripped her hair and frowned, "I only just turned one, and, and... Things nearly got out of control!"

"What?" Libby hissed excitedly as both girls quietly laughed, Libby beamed and leaned in for more information.

"Yeah! We... We started making out, and it was getting so good," Koko eased, though she felt that dreaded frown return, "We... We exterior swapped."

"You DID?" Libby gawked, though she looked confused, "I... I thought that caused burns, or something? I mean... I know Ace isn't burned, because of my honeycomb coding, but I figured that was just because he's a User."

"I thought so too," Koko eased as she peered to Libby in growing surprise, "It was so lovely... Now I understand what you go through, whenever Ace floods you with his coding. It's... It's the coolest most invigorating feeling ever."

"Pretty damn awesome, huh," Libby agreed with a cocky smile and a small nod.

"I think I blew it, though," Koko huffed, she crossed her room in an aimless saunter, as if to express she genuinely had no clue where to go from here, both mentally and physically.

"Well... Why? What happened?" Libby pressed, Koko sighed, stopped and looked down.

"I sort of got freaked out, I stopped him before things got too out of hand," Koko muttered, she shook her head and furrowed her brow, "I think I just got... Scared."

"To go further?" Libby wondered, Koko nodded and looked away.

"Yeah... I didn't really realize how detrimental it all was until... Well..." Koko trailed off and gave Libby a knowing smile, to which Libby blurt a giggle.

"Yeah, I know this whole issue all too well," Libby sighed, and though the pain of her tragic incident was never forgotten, she somehow felt as if she was slowly beginning to heal from it, and though she knew it'd be awhile until she was fully recovered from her traumatic experience, she now wondered if she could utilize her knowledge on the sensitive subject matter and help Koko, someone of which was becoming a fast friend, "You want to throw yourself head first into everything, but the second you're reminded it's permanent... With someone of foreign, different coding."

"I don't know him as well as I'd like to," Koko huffed, she shook her head and grimaced, "I don't know... He's so wonderful, and so full of knowledge. He's a little shy and a bit of a hermit, but when it's just the two of us, we share so many laughs and so many stories. I can see the years of hurt in his eyes... There's nothing that I want to do more than to just... Sweep him away and reassure him that he doesn't have to worry about being judged or looked at strangely, by me. I, for one, think his eyes are wicked awesome."

"They are, though I had nightmares for the first few nights, after meeting him for the first time," Libby quietly giggled as Chepi shifted in her grip, Koko furrowed her brow and gave Libby a wide, incredulous smile.

"What!" Koko hissed with a small laugh, Libby's smile broadened with a harder giggle.

"It's true! They freaked me out so badly, and I did everything I could to be polite and give him eye contact, but it was so spooky... I've never seen any sort of person, any sort of creature, that had pupils that were any shape beyond a circle, let alone Nox's iris covers his entire eye. Pretty freaky. Cool! But freaky."

"I love it," Koko statedwistfully with an excited smile as she looked down, though that creeping smile came crawling back to her confused demeanor, "I... I love him."

Libby raised her eyebrows in collected surprise and couldn't help but beam the widest, most adored smile. She huffed a small giggle, shook her head and gave Koko a knowing look.

"It's obvious... You should tell him!" Libby urged, though Koko flashed Libby a hard, surprised smile.

"What! This early into it? I can't do that, we're not even in a relationship. We've had ONE date," Koko raised her pointer finger.

"So? Ace and I have had NO dates and... Well..." Libby suddenly felt her side of the conversation come to a screeching halt, though Koko's eyes widened with excited glee.

"Foot in mouth, huh?" Koko sneered playfully, Libby slumped her shoulders and looked away with a bashful smile, though Koko carried on, "Guess we're both in a weird predicament, huh..."

"Well... I have one big dose of advice for you. If he's coming onto you, and you're saying no, and he's not stopping," Libby suddenly blurt, though the dread in her eyes nearly shook Koko to her core. Koko frowned and froze as Libby darkly carried on, "I will have his head."

Koko remained silent, crossed her arms and looked at Libby as a whole. Still dressed in her dark purple hoodie, lined with fur and coated in love from the trip, her tall figure stood stoic, still and serious. Libby raised her eyerbows softly, as if to put emphasis on her words and prove to Koko she meant business. Koko finally gave Libby a grateful smile, nodded and felt her heart hurt for the sheer trauma Libby had to endure, though Koko knew Libby had come out of it a stronger woman.

"I don't think Nox is capable of such betrayal, anyhow," Libby's voice grew soft, "He IS Ace's best friend, after all. Ace would likely get to him before I could, anyways."

"I believe it," Koko giggled, the tension in the room finally subsided, "I'll go on a few more dates with Nox and see howit all goes. I'd... I'd love to swap with him. I just don't know if it's physically safe."

"You'd have to get all the advice you can, from Tessa. What we've learned is, through extensive coaching, the opposed swap IS possible. Though, you and Nox have completely different coding... This whole family belongs in our own dedicated section in the history books, I think."

"I hear that," Koko beamed a knowing smile, and though she wanted to forever try and hash out the uncertainty between her and Nox, she eyed Libby and wondered if the white haired giant would open up a bit, "So... How was your trip? You got some good, quality time with Ace, yeah?"

"I did, he's... He's strangely become more confident, I don't know what it is," Libby pressed in a quiet, though still surprised tone, "He's like, smiling a lot more, he's been more positive about bumps in the road, during the trip. It was weird."

"Huh... Y'think maybe my mom or someone got to him?" Koko side-eyed Libby, she could smell Taffyta and Vanellope all over this issue, though Libby shook her head in confusion.

"I have no clue... All I know is that I really like this 'new and improved' attitude he's got going on, it's very strange," Libby eased curiously, "I sure hope it lasts. It looks good on him."

"Well, I'm sure getting away from all of us, and clearing his head for the weekend, was what he needed," Koko eased as she put a few fingers into her side pockets on her pants, "He's got more aunts and uncles than he knows what to do with. I'm sure a breather was necessary for him to rise above all Sugar Rush's issues and look at it with a clear mind, y'know?"

"That's true," Libby fingered her lip and looked down, "I hope it remains this way. I've sort of been walking on eggshells around him, lately."

"I think we all have," Koko sighed as she shook her head, "I know one person that will make sure he stays in shape, though..."

* * *

As the Kalivar castle finally settled for the night, and each and every body under the Kalivar name had safely and soundly gone to sleep, the game finally deemed itself whole once more. Beyond the sound of the morning song birds, the rays of sun that flood Ace's room, neither was enough to pull him out of bed. He knew he hadn't had a proper chance to reconvene with Nox, a friend in which he didn't realize he'd miss as much as he did, though he knew Nox was likely down in the common room waiting for Ace's infamous breakfast delights and the works. Once late morning rolled around, Ace figured he should leave his lazy slumber and mosey down to the common room, to see just what Nox, and potentially Libby, was up to.

On the way down the staircase that hugged the entirety of his tower, he reached Nox's landing, overlooked the massive field of gorgeous fire flowers and felt a knowing smile sprawled his face. Libby was stood before Balba, Royal and Chepi, and in trying to properly house train Chepi, Libby had garnered a cute little teaching lesson in which Balba and Royal were in on. Libby called commands, such as 'sit' and 'speak', and among these commands, Balba and Royal would follow suit and set a good example for Chepi, so she would be brought up with good skills and cooperation. All seemed to be going well, the brilliant fire flowers complimented Libby's cute summer dress, and though Ace slipped into the common room unnoticed, he tucked his arms tight to his body and had to wonder how Libby was wearing such a dainty dress; the cool, Fall weather had begun to set in, and each morning and evening now promised chilly weather for good.

"Oh my User, FINALLY," Nox called in annoyance as Ace pushed into the common room and shut the door behind himself. Ace eyed his friend across the gap, who was desperately attempting to try and make Ace's infamous breakfast foods on his own. Nox fumbled with some pancake batter and gave Ace a look of desperation, "How do you do this, dude, I've been struggling all weekend!"

"My mom was a big help in teaching me how to cook and bake," Ace chuckled, he rubbed the back of his head as he pushed into the kitchen, both boys were dressed in comfortable sweats and shirts, "You... Trying to give the illusion that I was still around, all weekend?"

"Yeah man, it sucked without you!" Nox pleaded with a hard laugh as Ace finally took the sloppy bowl of pancake batter from Nox, though Nox flailed his hands a little and gestured at the fact that he had batter all over the front of his chest and forearms.

"It couldn't have been THAT bad," Ace chuckled as he began to take over cooking, he noticed Nox had gotten the raw bacon out of the fridge in preparation to make it, as well as the chocolate drizzle for the yummy pancakes and waffles to be had.

"I guess it wasn't disastrous," Nox sighed, he leaned his back against the counter and tried to get the dried batter off of his shirt with a clean rag, "I don't know... Maybe I SHOULD be a hermit and... Not let anyone in."

"What? What happened?" Ace wondered sleepily, he kept his eyes trained down into the batter he vigorously stirred, "I noticed Koko was sort of avoiding you, last night..."

"Yeah... It's been all weekend," Nox pleaded with a frown as he finally got his shirt somewhat cleaned up, he crossed his arms and huffed a hard sigh, "Nothing bad happened, I guess... I just sort of blew it."

"I'm sure you didn't, what happened?" Ace pressed again, to encourage Nox to finally get to the point.

"I might've come on to her too strongly," Nox mumbled, though he bulged his eyes and flailed his hand a little, "How am I supposed to know! If we're making out and she seems like she's really enjoying herself, I'm GOING to push the envelope! Nothing ventured nothing gained!"

"So... You just read her wrong, then?" Ace furrowed his brow in growing confusion, Nox slumped his shoulders.

"I guess... We exterior swapped, bro, I don't know how it was possible without burning her, but man I thought my head was gunna fall off," Nox stated in an exasperated tone with a goofy smile; Ace beamed him a knowing smile, nodded and finally finished stirring the batter.

"Pretty great, huh?" Ace waggled his eyebrows playfully, though he quickly shot Nox a confused look, "Wait... Did you say you exterior swapped?"

"Yeah!" Nox urged.

"...Comfortably?" Ace ogled, Nox obnxiously nodded and bobbed his head about.

"Uh-yeah!" Nox hissed, Ace looked extraordinarily confused.

"How is that possible?" Ace argued, Nox largely waggled his arms and hands about, as if to state the same exact inquiries.

"How am I supposed to know!" Nox blurt, though before Ace could press the topic, the front door, to the common room, pushed open with more aggression than Libby would deliver; someone of which was in the vicinity.

"Well, well, well," Vanellope snipped, she was dressed in a tight black tank, a thick, strappy mint green sports bra and other workout gear. She slung a hand towel over her shoulder and, as she sauntered into the room, Ace's facial expression dropped from gentle confusion to pure dread. Vanellope put her hands on her hips and approached with much enthusiasm, "Whatcha boys cookin' up, huh?"

"Uh... Well..." Ace muttered, he looked about his and Nox's mess and now felt wholly duped, and though he would gladly eat this food, he knew it was strictly Nox's idea; he flinched as Vanellope beat him to whatever he was about to say next.

"Were you gunna eat all this food?" Vanellope prod, her smile was sweet and innocent, though her tone was as deathly sticky as the taffy swamps in Sugar Rush.

"Yes, ma'am," Ace muttered as he tenderly put the pancake batter down. He felt his heart begin to surge in nervousness, the fact that he'd likely have to cut down on all his favorite foods, everything he was good at making, he suddenly felt hunger hit him just a little harder than usual.

"Hmm, I see," Vanellope prod, she fixated her gaze to Nox and gestured to the food on the counter, "I can tell you're the culprit."

"I... I missed Ace's cooking," Nox complained, everyone shared a laugh, though Ace knew he was done for.

"I'll bet ACE missed Ace's cooking too," Vanellope giggled, though she crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow in her grandson's direction, "Go back upstairs and put on some clothes you're not afraid to ruin with sweat."

Ace's eyes bulged in nervousness as he merely glanced to Nox, who's eyes held an equal amount of sympathized nervousness.

"Your mother has a healthy breakfast waiting for you in the main building," Vanellope snipped with a widening, teasing smile, "Afterwards, it's go time."


	106. Chapter 106

**Reviews**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, Vanellope certainly gets to him alright! xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you, I really appreciate that!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Wait... Nox was eavesdropping on Koko and Libby?I don't recall having that be a thing? xD Nox is not THAT much of a douche bag lol. Thank you! I appreciate it!

 **ArchitectDreams :** Aww, I'm glad it is helping others as well :) Thank you! Asking for more of certain couples won't make it happen, just so you, and everyone, is aware. I have this whole story/each character and couple's chapters planned, and whatever is planned is permanent! So, there is not much sway here, sorry about that. Whatever happens, happens.

 **Xaehttium :** Oh god, no I do not understand xD hahaha

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** AW yay! I'm really glad you feel that way, I love those four. They make good 'double dating' material, in which you will be treated to :) And yes, Vanellope certainly gets him into shape, from all angles.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Your Love ft. Max Marshall (Hoodboi Remix) by Alizzz**

 ***Chapter 106***

Ace huffed a hard sigh in which he was hoping would outwardly convey annoyance towards his grandmother. He knew he shouldn't dare to try her patience, for he was very well aware she'd snuff any amount of sass, and volley it back tenfold, that was sent her way. He dragged his bare feet against the cold concrete, in which surrounded the pool area. He wore a dark red tank and grey sweats that were torn at the knees, Ralph-esque. His dark blue hair was a wreck, and though Vanellope looked completely clean and put together, he knew she was likely prepared for a workout as well. As the two approached the Kalivar castle's main building, Vanellope quietly let her disgruntled grandson inside and followed suit. Vanellope wrinkled her nose in a mildly annoyed smile towards him, she knew he was going to give her attitude for likely the rest of his chubby days; she giggled quietly after him, knowing full well, that once he was fit and toned, she'd be on his knees thanking her until kingdom come.

"Don't be cranky," Vanellope cooed, her voice softened into a small, youthful giggle as the two moseyed into the quiet kitchen; each Dead Zed racer had been long gone for quarter alerts.

"Y'hungry?" Tessa called to him quietly with a small, nervous smile, and as if Ace potentially wondered if his mother was here to save the day, he gave her a pleading look of hungry desperation and nodded, though much to his dismay, her smile very quickly turned apologetic, "This will help you before your workout... Gotta have energy."

The second Ace sat down at the kitchen island, Tessa slid him a plate with his breakfast on it. Ace held his breath, wrinkled his nose and peered down at the food before him, and though he knew he should be grateful, he began to feel lightly pushed to annoyance the second Vanellope's sudden giggle coat his ears. An average few pieces of toasted wheat bread thinly slathered in peanut butter was what awaited him, and though it was garnished with delicious looking slices of apples and bananas, he still felt his mind reel to the enormously delicious breakfast Nox was likely indulging in; bacon, eggs, pancakes and syrup galore. Ace wrinkled his nose in disgust, as politely as he could, and gave his mother an ever-deepening look of desperation.

"Don't give me that look, you obliged to your grandmother's help, now eat that, it'll help you before your work out," Tessa snipped, she shot her mother a wary smile, Zed slowly moseyed into the kitchen, and it was at this point did Ace know he was done for.

"What's going on?" Zed inquired kindly, he chomped into an apple and looked as if he was prepared to head out to the garage to work on his prized Tron cycle; he was dressed in a dirty tank, riddled with grease stains, and tattered cargo shorts. His hair was casually splayed out of it's strict faux-hawk formation.

"Ace is going to start his workout routines with mom," Tessa stated kindly, though as all eyes nervously glanced to Ace, his disgruntled frown continued to sink and fester from mild discomfort to full fledged annoyance.

"I don't understand why I can't just have the breakfast I was going to make for Nox and I?" Ace suddenly snipped with a very clear amount of outward agitation, though he flinched the second Vanellope's sharp eyes stabbed into him.

"Listen to me, Ace, you wanna know what happens when you put a whole heap of batter, dairy and bacon in your stomach? Load up with maybe a large glass of milk and sweet tea?" Vanellope urged, her voice was stern, and though Ace began to feel sorrowfully nervous, he knew her outburst was strictly out of love; he flinched as Vanellope took a few steps closer to him, "You vomit it all back up the second you exert yourself. You want to go run a mile with THAT heaviness inside of you? That'll ALL come back up, Ace. You want light, healthy food that won't weigh you down, stuff that will give you energy for your work out. You understand?"

"Yes," Ace stated politely as he lightly began to eat his food, though he heavily pouted; Vanellope shook her head, bulged her eyes and gave Tessa a look of floored surprise, to which Tessa and Zed quietly snickered to.

"You're a fantastic kid, Ace," Vanellope finally eased, to which Ace's sorrowful eyes dragged from his plate to his grandmother's loving eyes, "You want a fantastic body to go with that awesome personality of yours, huh?"

"I do," Ace sighed, he lightly munched on his healthy breakfast.

"Don't be discouraged, son," Zed eased, "I know you'd likely want to just run to the code room and switch everything over, get that body immediately, but it is far more worth it if you work for it."

"It'll teach you humility, hard work," Vanellope stated, Tessa and Zed nodded.

"And don't worry," Zed raised his eyebrows and gave Ace a kind smile, "You're allowed cheat days every now and then."

"Hell, every day can be a cheat day," Vanellope laughed, Ace gave her a look of gentle surprise as she carried on, "As long as you are able to keep yourself moving, keep exercising. Your father and I eat like pigs sometimes, but we still keep our figures. Y'see?"

"It might've been easy for you, with all of those boring days in Sugar Rush," Tessa included, to only lightly take Ace's side, though Vanellope shrugged.

"Sure, but lookit Zed," Vanellope quipped, which had Tessa's plight coming to a short stop, "It doesn't matter on circumstance. Just as long as you're diligent. Right?" she aimed at Ace.

"Right,"He stated half-heartedly, though Vanellope rubbed his shoulder as he finished all of his food.

"You'll be singing a different song once you see progress, don't you worry," Vanellope gave Ace a knowing smile, "From all aspects of your life..."

* * *

"You're setting a bad example," Balba uttered in an annoyed tone, she flattened her beautiful ears, raised her eyebrow muscles and looked at Royal down her nose a little.

"Am not," Royal grumbled, he wrinkled his already wrinkled snout further and shook his head a little, though he flinched once Chepi yelped a small noise, bounced on her paws and perked her large fox ears.

Her proper fur coat had grown in nicely, and as she spun in a few clumsy circles, the fluffy cream, pink and orange fur on her tail swished around like heavenly silk. Royal beamed an eager smile and did the same thing, though his turn about was a million times more clumsy and caused his curled chameleon tail to largely nudge into Balba's side. She uttered a small laugh, covered her head with the strictness of her wings in a duck of safety and gave Royal an incredulous smile.

"See?" Balba complained, Royal clumsily flopped to the ground and let out a loud holler of a laugh as Chepi dove onto him.

"C'mon, just some fun," Royal wheezed as the two noticed Libby slowly strolling back from Ace's tower.

"Aw, I'm glad she's taking to you guys so well," Libby cooed, her beautiful dress lightly fluttered in the wind.

"She's a feisty one," Royal uttered through a small chuckle as he stood on all fours, his large, powerful body hovered over Chepi as she playfully nipped at his strong, unmoving paws and claws.

"You'd make a good poppa, there, Roy-boy," Libby stated innocently, though her giggle that followed proved anything but, and with the way Royal's ears sagged in bashfulness, Libby knew she was the master at stirring the pot.

"M-Me?" Royal uttered nervously, his eyes just barely glanced to Balba, who kindly looked to the two in a growing sense of understanding.

"Yes, sir, YOU," Libby nodded as she set down the basket she was carrying, it was full of a special kind of grass that was creeping alongside the inside of the Kalivar castle walls; she knew Chepi went crazy for it, something similar to cat-nip.

"I-I uh... I don't think that... Well, Balba and I..." Royal began to look nervous, and though him and Balba were swap mates, he tried his hardest to tip toe around the inevitable.

"It's possible, Roy," Balba stated quietly, as if she's had this information all along; she flattened her long ears, sat down on her hindquarters and, as gorgeous of a creature as she was, she looked otherworldly, the way the sunlight hit her beautiful green fur and feathers, the way it made her turquoise eyes glisten.

"Bee is right," Libby pointed as she stood and gave Royal a kind smile, Chepi's small snout began to wrinkle over and over with growing curiosity as to what Libby had presented for her, "Typically, two creatures of two totally different breeds wouldn't be able to reproduce, but if a male and a female are physically able to swap codes, then reproducing is no issue."

"I mean, lookit your mom, Roy," Balba giggled, her voice was as soft and melodic as an angel's song, "She's a species of bat dragon... Her mate was a nerds chameleon. Not even a dragon."

"It's true," Libby agreed as she put her hands on her hips, the cool, late morning breeze whisked about the two as the sound of Lickity's massive wings coming down to the ground, near Throttle's abode, was heard, "You are living proof that's it's possible, bud. You're an ultimate hybrid."

"So..." Royal nervously eyed Balba and felt his heart begin to thud in his chest, "If... Balba and I... Uh..."

"Had pups? Then your pups would have a very good, strong mix of all sorts of different species. They'd be one part chameleon, one part bat dragon and one part lykata," Libby explained, Balba looked to be more poised and collected than Royal.

"A very interesting mix, if I do say so myself," Balba giggled, Royal eased a little.

"But it IS possible," Libby waggled her finger, "All you have to do is tell Zed to remove the firewall, and, voila."

"So... Would we have a litter? Or just one pup?" Royal grew more comfortable, though everyone jolted as Chepi suddenly turned the basket upside down and ruffled around inside of it. With a shared laugh, Royal gently carried on, "Cause... Mom's and Orion's breed are known for having a single offspring."

"Hmm, and lykata's are known for having a handful of pups at once," Libby fingered her lip in contemplation, though she stiffened, beamed a knowing smile and gestured to the two, "Welp! I guess we'll find out, if ever you guys decide to take the plunge!"

"Uh... Well," Royal sank back into his bashfulness and gave Balba a look of coy nervousness, to which she cued to.

"Stop freaking out, there's no rush," Balba giggled, "Maybe one day. That sound good?"

"Yeah," Royal eased with a smile of relief, though Libby furrowed her brow and looked to Balba in contemplation.

"If I recall, you're not whole lykata, there, girl," Libby stated, though Balba jolted and perked her large ears in a state of confused shock.

"...What?" Balba uttered, Royal's golden eyes widened in confusion.

"Y'remember Mimi stating that you had more wolf-like features?" Libby pondered.

"But... I thought lykata's WERE wolves?" Royal looked confused, though so did Balba and Libby.

"Well... The lykata is a strange mix of certain creatures," Libby stated as she approached Balba, and with this, she stood up and lightly sprawled her wings as Libby continued, "With the stature of a horse, the speed, legs and rudder-like tail of a cheetah, the wings of a bird and the head, attitude and behavior of a wolf..."

"Got anymore creatures in your blood, there, Bee?" Royal sneered playfully, to which she stuck out her lime green tongue and shook her head in return.

"Though, there were always times where Mimi would say you were acting a certain way, or doing certain things because you weren't full lykata... Not like it was a bad thing, you just had a different breed in you, as well," Libby fingered her lip, though Royal began to grow mildly defensive, for Balba's sake.

"Well... What does this 'Mimi' know, anyways? That was all speculation, huh?" Royal flapped his head, though Libby's face grew serious.

"... Marble is the first lykata," Libby stated quietly, her and Balba immediately looked stoic and nervous in their gaze towards Royal, as if even mildly insulting the thorough bred was critical, "She was the tribe's all-seer, our shaman... She was the protector of us. We were extraordinarily blessed that she chose our tribe, of all of them, to come alongside. It's a huge honor."

"Oh, wow... I-I didn't know," Royal mumbled as he gently sagged his shoulders and wings.

"It's okay... Marble knows all," Libby quipped with a kind, knowing smile, "She had a weird nickname for me, though."

"Kella-toh," Balba stated knowingly as she shot Libby a daring smile, to which Libby rolled her eyes and joined in on all the beaming.

"Why did she call you that?" Royal perked up, "Alongside your real name... How many names do you have!"

"Marble was the only one to call me Kella-toh," Libby giggled and shook her head, "And even then, she only did it occasionally. I don't know why she did, anyways. Kella-toh directly translates to 'fantastically swift one', from Teltokuan."

"Odd... Are you typically really fast, or something?" Royal wondered as he glanced to Balba for answers.

"Well... Not anything to be brag worthy about. I have long legs which means that yeah, I am a fast runner, but, nothing too special," Libby shrugged, "Not sure... I didn't question it. She was always being mystical and confusing."

"Wait a second... I thought that lykatas can't normally talk?" Royal cocked an eyebrow muscle and sat down on his hind legs, though Libby giggled.

"Oh, she could talk... She was the only talking lykata, until you swapped with Balba," Libby gestured to her green lykata, "Marble was the first, original programmed lykata, she even still has her original coding... Erm... At least I think she does. It's been a while since I've seen her. She only really talked to the people she liked."

"I miss her," Balba stated quietly in gentle sorrow, Libby softly slid a hand to her velvety snout and nodded.

"Me too... Maybe one day," Libby concluded.

* * *

"Ma, I... I can't," Ace wheezed, he nearly flopped to the ground in a kneel and shook his head, which also shook a load of sweat to the ground.

"Yes you can," Vanellope stated, she slowed her pace and continued to jog in place, so to keep her heart rate up. She gestured her hands a little and forced a giggle at the pathetic sight before her, "C'mon bud, you're stronger than that."

The two were out on Zed's desolate race track. It was gorgeously splayed with all sorts of green and blue flora and jungle foliage. Though Zed's race track was only used for practice rounds, due to him never having any quarter alerts, the track was splayed with all sorts of tire marks and the like. The racetrack wound around in chaos, it was clear that whatever poor soul had the chance to race against Zed, him being invincible wouldn't be the issue at hand. Vanellope continued to jog in place, though once she noticed Ace wasn't prepared to stand anytime soon, she slowed her roll, put her hand on her hip and knew she should likely ease up on Ace a little. She looked back and realized they had likely already jogged two miles. She slumped her shoulders and quickly brought herself back to the struggling individual before her.

"You're doing great, Ace, you've come a really long way already," Vanellope kindly encouraged, and with this, she noticed Ace look up at her, push forth an attempt at a genuine smile through his panting and at least try to get off his knee. He swiped his forehead free of sweat, grappled the chest of his drenched shirt and shook his head in dismay towards himself.

"I-I didn't realize... I was this... Out of shape," Ace huffed through panting, he finally got to his feet, though he remained still where he was; Vanellope did as well.

"Just because you're not massively overweight doesn't mean you're in shape, y'know?" Vanellope cued, she panted as well, though she looked to be way more collected than Ace, and likely could go for another two miles.

"I'll sleep well tonight," Ace grumbled, though he peered to Vanellope pleadingly, "I'm hungry."

"We'll make you a nice big tasty lunch when we get home, don't worry," Vanellope eased in a knowing tone, as if to state to Ace that not every single aspect of it had to be disgustingly healthy.

"I don't care what it is, it could be cardboard for all I care," Ace rushed in a wheezing rasp of his tired throat, though he huffed a small laugh and finally gave Vanellope a look of returning energy.

"Y'gotta make sure your coding is in shape, too," Vanellope eased kindly.

"My coding? Really?" Ace looked confused.

"Yeah... You're a rare breed, my friend," Vanellope waggled her finger, the two finally remained stationed in the middle of the dead race track with the gorgeous towers of trees shading them all around, "You are a GLITCH... Because of me. There is only one known glitch, in this whole Arcade, who was programmed to be as such."

"...Who?" Ace wondered, though Vanellope giggled.

"Me," Vanellope quipped, Ace raised his eyebrows and slumped his shoulders, as if he should've guessed.

"Because of me, that trait has passed on in a strong line of this ever-growing family tree. My three children are glitches, and so are you. Any children you, Oliver or Koko have, from here, will likely have the trait as well. The wrecking and glitching gene isn't something to mess around with... That likely won't die out for awhile."

"So... Because our coding is more prominent, shown more often, it has to be exercised as well?" Ace wondered softly, he began to finally catch his breath.

"That's exactly it... Without strong coding, you can't perform as diligently as you'd like," Vanellope eased, "Just like your body is out of shape... Your coding will be out of shape too. You need to exercise your glitching skills, keep it strong and tough."

"Mom has taught me a few things," Ace droned curiously, though Vanellope raised her eyebrows.

"And how often do you practice those 'few things'?" Vanellope prod as she crossed her arms, though she blurt a giggle and shook her head, "Believe it or not, Ace, the exterior swap is something that needs to be exercised and strengthened as well..."

"...Really?" Ace wrinkled his nose, though Vanellope took a step to the side and looked up.

"You recall your birthday..." Vanellope prod, Ace felt anxiousness hit his skin, "Libby flat out stole your coding... You want to know why?"

"We were... Exterior swapping..." Ace mumbled knowingly, Vanellope nodded and took another step to the left.

"You invited in someone you trusted, but in a rush of anger... Her coding was far stronger than yours, and because of that... You allowed your coding to slip away from you," Vanellope cued, though it was in this moment did he realize Vanellope was beginning to circle him.

"...Right," Ace stated nervously, and though he was exhausted, he felt his ears prick to her whereabouts as he looked over his shoulder.

"I need you to understand something Ace, and hear me out," Vanellope's voice was loving and quiet, "Love is a wonderful thing... But your coding doesn't understand this. Not physically. Love, to your coding... Is a weakness."

Ace raised his eyebrows and felt nervousness flood him, the very fact that his feelings towards Libby made him feel weakness was something he didn't want to admit.

"Love dwindles the strength of your coding, it makes it soft, malleable," Vanellope prod, "... That's how she was able to suck it from you, every... Last... Drop."

Ace huffed a small, confused breath, furrowed his brow and finally turned around to look his grandmother in the eye, and before he could blurt a few worries, she cut him off.

"What makes Ralph and I so strong, as a glitching team?" Vanellope pressed, she began to look serious as she crossed her arms and leaned in for emphasis, "Because our coding is one... There's only one person I let in... And that's him. He's the only one with access to my coding, because it's shared."

"It's not like I invited a stranger into my house and was robbed," Ace argued, he began to feel defensive of Libby, Vanellope continued to circle him.

"What's a more secure household, Ace... One person with the key, or two?" Vanellope stated.

"That hardly-"

"Or ten? Or twelve?" Vanellope loudly interrupted, Ace huffed an irritated breath and shook his head, though his eyes remained constant to Vanellope's.

"I-"

"I'm not telling you to swap with her and get it over with, but your coding is a lot more secure if you're either going to keep it to yourself, or permanently merge it with someone else's... One other person, for good," Vanellope stated darkly as she tilted her head down and peered hard into Ace's eyes, "You want you make-believe for a second?"

"Ma," Ace prod urgently.

"Pretend I'm Radex," Vanellope straightened her posture, gestured her hands to her chest and motioned for Ace to bring her a challenge. She jumped on her feet a little, broadened a snarky smile and put her fists up, "C'mon. What're you gunna do?"

"MA," Ace argued loudly, Vanellope spread her arms lazily, cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head.

"I'm out in the open, got nothing against you, what are you going to do?" Vanellope continued to interrupt him, she was pleased to see Ace clench his wrecking fists.

"Stop it," Ace growled, though Vanellope pushed the limit and gave him a snarky smile.

"Hmm? I don't listen to anyone, I'm Radex," Vanellope prod cheerfully as she shook her head, her silky black hair flicked about in it's usual ponytail.

Ace furrowed his brow and allowed his silver coding to suddenly flood his palms and fists, though just as he was about to send his coding to hers, to hopefully show her a challenge, as a User, he jolted as she suddenly stiffened her posture and relentlessly flood Ace's body with her incredibly strong coding, a mixture of his lineage that boasted just how much power his measly self was capable of. Before he could catch his footing and fight back, he crumpled to his knees and uttered a soft cry of agony as Vanellope's vicious purple coding flood his in an all-out war of a lesson.

"I'm ALSO a glitch," Vanellope loudly growled, in loo of Radex's similar powers. She nearly paralyzed Ace's body with her angry snakes of purple coding that swirled nicely alongside his silver circuits, one of which had Vanellope's coding wedged deep into it, "I ALSO have the capability to take your coding, with no cost to me!"

"Ma," Ace wheezed as he pushed his palms to the ground and hung his head in growing agony, though he jolted as he began to feel Vanellope's coding delightfully pull at his, as if to insinuate she was prepared to push this lesson in learning to the limit.

"If I were Radex, I'd already have skipped away with your coding... Every single last drop of a User's coding I could ever want," Vanellope urged darkly as she hung over Ace, she kept him strict in her angry coding and glared down at him, "I'd want nothing of your body... Nothing else would matter... I'd have the power of the universe right at my fingertips... And what of you?"

Ace uttered a wheeze of a plea and shook his head as Vanellope's croak pushed forth.

"You'd be DEAD," Vanellope barked.

As tears began to well in Ace's eyes, he opened them and stared down at the tar of his father's race track, and before he could allow his grandmother to suck all of his coding from his skin, like what Libby unintentionally did, he stiffened his spine, held his breath and furrowed his brow into a hard, unforgiving glare. He knew he was sucked out of his own skin once before, and though he knew his grandmother would never do anything detrimental or harmful to him, he knew it was a race against the clock at this point; her coding continued to slowly tug his away, to prove that he did, indeed, have weak coding, and this proverbial tug of war was something he was very quick to lose at. He glared down the tar, inhaled a deep breath and was determined to prove her wrong.


	107. Chapter 107

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** I love that movie :) And yes, Vanellope has definitely lost her sugary-cute side, after a year of isolation out in the wilderness lol. She sort of lets it get away from her, from time to time.

 **chuckiboo :** Yeah, Vanellope definitely brings it down hard on Ace... Poor boy is like wtf haha. But, he gets a good dose of tough love, with Vanellope's help. All out of loving care, though! Thank you for the compliment! :D

 **WildVirus :** Yes! It is a thing, soon enough ;) I am too, I could NEVER be vegetarian or vegan lol.

 **AlisiThorndyke :** Vanellope definitely is a tough cookie, that's for sure!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Thank you! I'm glad. Yeah, it gets tense for sure!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D

 **ArchitectDreams :** No worries, thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey, thank you! We're actually living in South Georgia right now. This is his hometown, so he loves it automatically. I love all the trees, but I DO miss the desert mountains and cactus. I'm very homesick... But I'm sure it'll get better. LOL thank you! Yeah, Vanellope lays the smackdown, but as you will see, Ace gives it RIGHT back... Also, I am still taking requests, but strictly chapter 50-100. The next sketchdump is for chapter 100-150 :)

* * *

 **A/N: I've had half of this chapter written for DAYS now, and I haven't been able to get around to writing the last half until now. I've been so busy trying to get our home set up, and I THINK I got my job back with Starbucks? I'm really excited! It's something I'm comfortable with, for sure, so it should be good :) yay! Thanks for the patience, guys! You're the BEST! Once I get set up in my new house, it'll be easier to work on the sketchdump/uploading chapters regularly. I appreciate everything you guys are doing for me, in this weird chapter of my life. You guys are awesome.**

 ***Chapter 107***

Ace grew immeasurably tense, his hands began to shake, and just as he could feel Vanellope's all-powerful coding begin to tug at his, a little harder, he felt something inside his core ignite; anger, wrecking obliteration he knew existed somewhere, deep down. With a thick, sharp inhale through his nose, his strict, silver coding burst forth and flood his skin, as if to properly state, once and for all, that it had his back, after so many months of cowardly hiding underneath his skin, not daring to rise to a challenge.

As he got to his feet, his palms dragged along the silver circuit-riddled tar, and with the small amount of dirt that kicked up, he clenched his fists and felt a wave of electricity come over him. In one swift movement, one yank of his coding, he took every single last pixel of his coding from Vanellope's possession and claimed it as his, once more, and though he figured maybe that'd be the end of it, and Vanellope would get the hint, he continued to feel the anger bubble and rise. He furrowed his brow, in confusion towards himself, and though he knew he should never let himself run away with his emotions, he threw caution to the wind and dove into this mess head first.

"So, you got your coding back," Vanellope barked, as if she knew just what she had gotten herself into, "So WHAT! You gunna FIGHT? You have nothing but those fists, right?"

Ace grimaced a near-growl riddled glare towards his grandmother, grit his teeth and huffed an angered sigh between his exhausted panting, though before he could give her an answer and agree that he only maybe had his fists as protection, Vanellope suddenly rocketed to the side, via her insanely quick agility, her glitching skills were far beyond anything Ace could even dream of keeping up with, for now anyways.

"WRONG," Vanellope shouted as her glitch-jump took her from low hanging jungle branch to branch.

Ace whirled around in a seething mess of building rage, his fists clenched, though just as Vanellope jumped out of sight, her hot purple mess of coding shooting away like lightning, he was suddenly graced with a bolt of her circuits that poured over his whole being like molten lava. Ace arched his back, hollered a noise of unadulterated pain to the canopies above him and nearly crumpled to his knees, though his stubborn soul begged him to remain, the User in him pleaded that he was stronger, and now was the time to prove it.

"Defend yourself!" Vanellope called in a sweet chime of irony as she bounced about, nothing but raw, purple coding that lit up their dim setting, though just as Ace whirled around to correction, he could swear he could taste the disgustingly sweet flavor of iron in his mouth; the presence of blood he hoped was just his mind playing tricks on him.

Ace shut his eyes tight and now suddenly felt as if he had to wholly defend himself from further terror, and in a gut-filled move of pure instinct, and a swipe of his live-wired palms, he aimed his right palm directly in the pathway of Vanellope's erratic glitching, and with pure success, his angry, nearly hot white coding shot at her like the quickest lightning. With a loud pang that shook the core of the game, purple and silver sparked in a fury of a gorgeous light display. As Vanellope cried out in surprise, fell from the branches and tumbled to the ground, she half sat up and looked on in growing fear and surprise; she knew messing with a User was likely her biting off more than she could chew, though she had no idea it would've escalated to this. A simple teaching lesson she now knew was potentially taken too far, and though she maybe figured she knew her grandson, and his tendencies well enough, she now realized there was far more than what simple appearances and quirks could tell, amidst the grand scheme of things.

"Ace," Vanellope uttered as she so desperately tried to stand, though she felt her coding absolutely shake with the amount of his raw, ultimate power that caved over her, proving to her that she, unfortunately, wasn't the strongest being, the strongest glitch, anymore.

"I am not WEAK!" Ace hollered in sheer anger, he began to firmly march over to Vanellope. The very ground he walked on sprawled in pretty displays of marblized, silver circuits, grid-boards and even splays of honeycombs and other odd, ancient displays of old code types. His palms glowed, and as his skin was riddled with the same nonsense, the jungle seemed to shake with the core-shaking bass of a game ender. He inhaled a shaky breath, shook his head and was noticeably letting tears stream his cheeks in pure anger, "JUST because I don't show my power on a daily basis, doesn't make me weak! Love doesn't make my coding weak! I didn't fight Libby, I couldn't!"

"I'm sorry," Vanellope urged quietly as the trees began to lightly shake with his rising anger, and though she wanted to jump up and fight back, she felt unbelieveably weak, "Ace, please!"

"Libby was faced with her ultimate enemy! Who am I to take that fight away from her?" Ace argued, his voice was raised so loudly, it began to rasp, his jugular showed his tendons in pure anger, "I could've robbed her of that veangance! I could've deleted Hilotem! But I DIDN'T!"

Vanellope uttered a small noise and noticed Ace was gaining, and with growing terror, she began to try and scoot away from him; she knew he was nearly out of his mind in anger.

"The true mark of an all-powerful being is realizing just how much power you harbor," Ace growled as he squinted and shook his head, "I KNOW how much power is to my name... I'm not ABOUT to become a field-test!"

"I just was trying to teach you, I-I was just... Preparing you!" Vanellope pleaded as she shook her head and so desperately tried to get her coding to cooperate with her body.

"For WHAT! To kill Radex? Cause it's solely my responsibility and you guys know it?" Ace jabbed loudly as he grew closer and closer, though his tone grew dark, "I knew this wasn't a team effort, I'm not an idiot... I'm not a puppet! I'M the key to the Arcade's success... LEAVE MY POWERS ALONE!"

Ace clenched his fists, and in proper wrecking form Vanellope knew to eventually be proud of, he raised his arms above his head, grit his teeth and was prepared to obliterate the ground before him. With his back and shoulders tensed and ready for the smack down, a sudden, sharp snarl of sorts was heard above the trees, and at the speed of light, a massive, dark, winged creature suddenly swooped down on silent, silk wings, dove for Ace and was successful in knocking him entirely off of his feet. As Ace's head hit the pavement, he was totally jarred from his angry-streak and was now numb to anything, though just as he opened his boggled eyes, his ears came back to collection as well and deciphered the sound of the angriest snarls, a growl purely from the gutteral, one that hit your bones.

Ace's inhaled a gasp and tried to sit up, though once he realized said creature had him pinned with their massive clawed paw, he jolted and knew this creature was angry with him. His mind raced, and just as he immediately realized this creature was neither Lickity, Royal or Balba, he began to feel total fear and regret. He uttered a noise of dire concern and so desperately tried to scoot away from the power of this creature's grip, though he flinched as it's massive, sharp teeth remained in his face for the threatening emphasis.

"You give yourself TOO much credit," a voice loudly rung inside his head, and before he could wonder just who was speaking, Ace glued his eyes to the mesmerizing being before him and quickly realized this creature was communicating with him telepathically, which made his ears ring with the intensity.

"What?" Ace huffed in pure terror as he got a good look at this creature, once and for all.

The sprawl of her wings, the gorgeous, marbled display of blacks, whites, greys and golds, a lykata of pure stature, she was beyond angelic. With a white mane that nearly tickled the top of Ace's head, the ironic, ferocity of a lifetime, and the wingspan nearly as large as Royal's, Ace knew if he were to argue with this creature, he'd be done for. He swallowed and clumsily tried to get his bearings. Though her snarling continued on loud and clear, she still continued to speak angry, loud life into his head.

"You hold more power than you know what to do with, power that your loved ones are more than willing to help you hone, and THIS is how you treat them?" She hollered, her nearly white and silver eyes bulged and stared deep into his soul, like a nightmare coming to claim it's victim and promise eternal sleep, "You may be at the top of the food chain, User, but it takes two seconds for me to bite your head off, and teach you to respect your elders, the hard way!"

"I-I'm sorry," Ace uttered nervously as the tears continued to stream his face, and once her snarling discontinued, she stood a little taller and finally got out of Ace's face.

"I know where you live," She concluded as she opened her massive, beautiful dark wings and snarled him one last vicious snip of her fangs and wrinkled, wolf-like snout, "Don't let me catch you doing something like this ever again..."

"Y-Yes ma'am," Ace uttered in pure terror, and just as quickly as she showed herself, in a massive huff of wind and a strong downflap, she was immediately gone through the clouded, thick canopies above.

As the jungle grew quiet, once more, and birds began to come back with their songs, from the chaos, a few jungle leaves floated down from the canopies, in which said creature had escaped. With the ironic stillness, Ace peered across the tar and noticed Vanellope had finally gotten to her feet, though she looked lightly dejected. Her eyes peered to Ace in pure concern, hurt and sorrow, to name a few. The leaves, and speck of jungle dust, flitted about in the golden beams of sunshine that began to peak through the trees, and though the scene was gorgeous and angelic, Ace knew it was simply wrought with the still sorrow and confusion that now hung between the two.

* * *

"I think mom is starting to really like Finn," Tammy stated through a small giggle as her, Tessa, Libby, Koko and Emery lazily hung out in the Sky Room. The noon sun brightly shone down on the five, which coat the atmosphere in a still, much wanted warmth. Tammy tucked her arms behind her head and got comfortable, "She likes people that are assertive and loud... I guess that's something Finn got from me. They both wouldn't shutup about cybugs, last night."

"Aunt Calhoun didn't go home until like... Nearly one in the morning," Tessa blurt with a giggle as she crossed her arms and gave her attention to her older cousin with a wrinkle of a knowing smile, "It's good... Take advantage of it. I think my parents are only JUST finally coming around to Zed."

"They're tough to crack," Koko muttered, in loo of her fragile feelings towards Nox, though she tried to stay surfacey about it and direct attention to Emery, "You're lucky, Emmy... They don't mind whoever Oliver brings home cause he's just a guy. Us 'precious daughters', on the otherhand..."

"Try being the first born," Tessa muttered into her larger hands as she begrudgingly rubbed her face and groaned a small laugh as everyone cooed knowing notions in her direction.

"Bah, they like Zed, c'mon," Tammy waggled her hand down, "They sort of have to. You had a child with him."

"Do you think Zed will be picky towards whoever Ace gets with?" Emery innocently wondered, though it was only upon the moments did those words leave her mouth did everyone freeze and slide their curious gaze to Libby.

"I think Zeddy likes me," Libby stated boldly as she picked at the dirt under her long fingernails, she nonchalantly shrugged, though with the reddening of her cheeks, it was clear that she was very shyly trying to hide her bashful smile; each girl erupted in knowing laughter towards Libby, though she finally shrugged her shoulders and dropped the cocky act, "I'm done trying to hide the fact anymore, just leave me alone, maybe one day."

"MAYBE," Tessa gawked, she rolled her eyes playfully before she shot Libby a look of kind understanding.

"Embarrass the poor girl further," Koko stated, in gentle protection towards her friend.

"It's okay," Libby sighed with a nervous smile down to her lap, though just as she was about to potentially ease everyone's curiosity, a loud few hollers could be heard coming from the kitchen, as well as the shattering of a glass or two.

With a sudden shock wave of frozen fear, each girl was still in their relaxed position, though their bones suddenly jolted to the ready, ample for jumping up within a split second's notice, in case there happened to be any danger. As the scuffling, in the other room, grew more urgent, more whiny and complaintive, all five girls decided to finally jump up in a scurry, altogether. As each girl curiously began to rush to the exit of the Sky Room, they skid into the kitchen, came to a nervous halt, and noticed Throttle, Nox, Finn and Zed all curled in the farthest reaches of the foyer in pure, boyish terror.

"What the hell is going on!" Tessa barked in dire confusion, thoughThrottle threw out a shaky hand and uttered a small meep.

"Snake!" He stammered, though once all five girls drew their attention to the kitchen, in which Throttle was pointing, there, precariously curled around the bend of the elegant kitchen faucet, was a gorgeous green and turquoise jungle viper. Before Tessa could slump her shoulders and huff an annoyed complain towards the manly men across the room, Koko, Tammy and Emery all began to scream and scatter in pure terror, and as the three vanished down the hallway, Tessa finally unraveled her scrunched position and slid her curious gaze to Libby, who was confidently still next to her, "For User's sakes..."

"It's just a little snake," Libby uttered through an annoyed giggle as she gestured towards the terrified, curled viper. It was maybe three feet in length, though it was skinny and small enough to likely look harmless.

"JUST a snake!" Nox barked as each guy began to finally unglue themselves from each other and take staggering, scared steps to the kitchen, "If it's JUST a snake, I'd like to see YOU get rid of it!"

Tessa raised her eyebrows, shut her mouth and looked down to the ground, though before she could drag her eyes to Libby's expression and see just what kind of a glare she was sending in Nox's direction, she puffed her chest, inhaled an annoyed, sharp breath and began to march towards the kitchen sink with no fear. Zed, Throttle, Nox and Finn began barking apologies to Libby, as if to beg her not to go anywhere near the snake, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow, crossed her arms and sat back to enjoy the show. She knew Libby was fearless, when it came to the jungle creatures, and she was excited to see just what kind of lesson she could teach the boys.

"Alright, then," Libby's soft voice quipped as Koko, Emery and Tammy all peeked around the corner, once gawked and gasped as Libby's lithe figure, her fragile hands reached for the little snake and, without a single fear, she scooped the snake into her grip. With a bright blue tongue that flickered about her skin curiously, it gratefully coiled about her lower arm and enjoyed the ride. She then turned to look at the four boys across the way, they looked frozen and mortified, "Wow. Oh no. A snake... What ever will I do..."

"Alright, so you're Queen of the jungle, we get it," Nox stated nervously as he waggled his hands towards her, as if to politely beg to get rid of it.

"Aww, but don't you want to see him?" Libby cooed as she leaned her face close to the gorgeous, cute little snake. She wrinkled her nose and so tenderly rubbed her finger on the top of it's head.

"I would like to see him outside," Nox stammered, the four boys grew more and more stiff as Libby approached.

"But then you wouldn't get to see all his pretty colors!" Libby urged in a girly tone, though Tessa could be heard stifling laughter at the escalating situation full of Libby tormenting the four boys across the way, "Males have these really pretty speckles of turquoise and yellow, to attract a mate."

"Yes, we're all enthralled, for the love of User, please take it outside," Nox whimpered as each boy began to nervously back step, though Zed's eyes honed to the snake more in curiosity than fear. Nox stammered on a few words before he uttered a shaky giggle and gave Libby a pleading smile, "You're our hero, thank you, we owe you our lives, oh my User, PLEASE."

"Alright, alright," Libby shook her head, tucked the small snake closer to her and continued to pet it's little head, "C'mon, bud, they just don't understand."

"I am not going to sleep tonight," Throttle uttered shakily as he held his skinny arms closer to his body.

"At least it's not poisonous," Zed chuckled.

"Even if it was, you're forgetting we have the code room at our fingertips?" Finn chuckled, though he, too, looked terrified.

As Libby approached Tessa, Tessa bent down a little to get a look at the snake, and though she was still a little hesitant, and not as confident as Libby, she still was able to bring herself to petting the top of the snake's head in a gentle manner. Libby giggled, wrinkled her nose and gave Tessa a knowing smirk, as if to state that the men of the house were big wusses. Tessa nodded in a bob of annoyed agreeing, and as the two girls finally made their way to the back door, their eyes were met with Koko's, Tammy's and Emery's terrified expressions down the hall.

"Are you taking it outside?" Emery meeped, Libby nodded and looked down at the snake.

"Yes, everything's fine," Libby chuckled as her and Tessa stepped outside.

"How did it get inside, anyways!" Nox argued, and though Finn and Zed seemed more intrigued than anything, they nearly looked too tired to care at the moment.

"Someone must've accidentally left the door open, for too long, or something," Zed mumbled as he, Throttle and Nox finally sat back down at the kitchen island.

"That's pretty much how ALL of us managed to sneak in here, anyways," Throttle mumbled as he gave Nox a knowing smirk.


	108. Chapter 108

**chuckiboo :** Yes it was! Marble is a fiesty, mean one, as you guys will discover. She hasa very tough exterior, but she eventually warms up :) Thank you so much! Yes, they both sort of lashed out huh lol

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** hahaha it's okay! I appreciate it :) Thank you! Yeah, poor Ace is still trying to figure out just where he stands, in this world lol. Haha yes, that lykata was Marble - she's the first lykata, and since the lykata are considered sacred and mythical beings, with her being the first, she's sort of 'all-knowing', and has powers beyond a normal lykata. You'll find out more as time goes on :)

 **WildVirus :** I love snakes! Seriously love them, they're so adorable! :D And yes, Marble swoops in for the strike and vanishes w/o a trace xD

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Hahaha Libby has her snippy, sarcastic moments, and coming from such a sweetheart, it's like daggers from her haha. Thank you! Yes, Marble definitely keeps everyone in line, once she's a main character of the story xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, very true. Ace still has a lot of growing up to do, and he will in due time. He's still trying to grow into his bumbly paws after all! Thank you so much for your support!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! LOL

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha too true xD Yeah Vanellope and Ace are temporarily on the outs, but it's nothing some sleep can't fix lol

* * *

 **A/N : I THANK YOU GUYS PROFUSELY for your patience... I just started back with my old job, at Starbucks. I'm working at a location in Tallahassee, and it is CRAZY busy, and I've been given full time hours, which is wonderful! But between that and trying to get settled into our new house soon (details on my deviantART), it's been nuts. So, I appreciate your guys' patience, MORE is to come, I promise! I don't have a proper place to write or draw, but I will soon, and everything will be up and running. Thanks guys!**

 ***Chapter 108***

As the night grew dark, crisp and cool, the entirety of the castle huddled together for a large, delicious dinner; all except Ace. With a perch on the back side of the towering roof top of his, Nox's and Libby's glorious tower, he sat with his knees hugged to his chest. The night sky glimmered down to him promises of a new morning, a new day to better himself and hopefully learn more about his powers, this crazy roller coaster of growing up. He breathed a long, tired sigh, one of which made his rib cage cry in dull pain, from all the exercising he had done earlier in the day. He winced and nearly shivered, with the cool night air that hugged him in it's reassuring embrace. His mind so desperately tried to tug him back to the experience that had taken place earlier in the day.

With a long, rather quiet and moody walk home, him and Vanellope were now on the outs. He knew it'd be ironed out eventually, though he also knew he had likely lost a glitching teacher, an exercise buddy, and the respect of his mother's mother, a woman of incredible stature and respect. He grimaced a few curses to himself, shook his head and cursed his open, wrecking palms, as if to rudely state he didn't want any of his abilities any longer; he knew it was now causing him nothing but destruction, both physically and mentally, it threatened to turn him on those that deeply cared for him. He knew he'd fight whatever powerful, User-like urges, to obliterate and control, though he had to wonder if he was beginning to lose control of just how much power he harbored, a slow and slippery slope to devastation.

He furrowed his brow and thought back to the incredible creature that caused him a mild concussion, one of which was immediately reversed in the code room, though not without prodding and questions from nearly every single person with an opinion. He knew said creature was important, he could feel it in his bones, and he knew with the look of understanding in Libby's expression, the sudden quiet lull of her demeanor that hit her exterior, Ace was aware this lykata was somehow linked to the Teltokuan people. With all the thoughts buzzing around in his mind, he was certain him and Libby would likely share more experiences, on the subject matter, broaden their friendship on the sudden camaraderie, and solve the mystery, though for now, he continued to sit in the tumultuous throw around, the very guilt that plagued him; the thought of striking his grandmother to the ground, with his unruly, unmatched, raw power, was something he wished he could just delete from his mind.

As he looked back from the stars, to his opened palms once more, he slowly let his shy, nervous silver circuits back to his skin, as if he was very tenderly giving a prisoner the key to it's cell, to state that he was putting all of his trust in an enemy that turned on him. He furrowed his brow and felt the raw sting of his pupils shrinking with the sudden light that graced his retinas. His heart raced, what possibilities, what greatness waited for him, he knew he was destined for wonderful things, and that he required a mentor, though with the wish to hone every single one of his skills, his mind was, again, dragged through the mud once more and reminded of the throw around him and Vanellope had. He dropped his silent glitching act and wondered if Vanellope's sharp, hazel eyes, her stern demeanor, her stoic disposition would ever accept an apology from the likes of a rugged, haphazardly flailing adolescent like himself.

"You'll get the hang of it, y'know," chimed a voice that was near the same softness of Tessa's; her youngest sister gently glitch-hopped across the dome of tiles Ace was perched on, her bare feet made the roof clack with her weight, and as she finally reached him, he eyed her and relaxed once more.

"I feel like I'm well beyond getting 'the hang of it'," Ace muttered, and much to his temporary dismay, Koko softly sat down next to him. He did everything he could not to roll his eyes, not to turn to her and bark that he wanted to be alone, he knew, no one under the stars understood his frustrations.

"I know I'm intruding on your space," Koko snipped with a snarky smile, so close to Tessa's wit, and with this, Ace raised his eyebrows and now felt bad for making it too obvious that she was, indeed, intruding on his space.

"I'm sorry..." Ace huffed, shook his head and softened, "I've become a real jerk."

"Moody," Koko listed with a smile as she relaxed next to him, he chuckled and continued to shake his head.

"Unintentionally power-hungry," Ace grumbled.

"Insecure," Koko continued, and though they both were taking stabs at Ace, she knew it was a very good segue into potentially helping him to eventually feel better.

"I'm the biggest cry baby," Ace grumbled as he finally gave his aunt his eye contact, "... I have a feeling everyone feels the same thing."

"Ace," Koko giggled as she shook her head and looked up to the stars, "There's one thing you need to know about my mom... No matter the circumstance, no matter how much she pushes your buttons... She ALWAYS has her brood in mind."

"I know," Ace mumbled, he knew he had potentially let himself get carried away, a self-defense he was now becoming accustomed to, "It's... It's just difficult. Everyone says this is all a team effort, defeating Radex, but... It's clear to me that this is my sole responsibility."

"Who told you that?" Koko urged as she wrinkled her nose and shot Ace a look of floored disbelief, though Ace bulged his eyes and gestured his arms and shoulders in pure agitation.

"No one, it's just clear!" Ace argued, though Koko laughed, in a sarcastic way and dusted her hands off a little.

"Why do YOU think it's clear? Cause I don't think that's the clear answer," Koko stated as she gave Ace her kind eyes, once more.

"Cause I'm the only one to delete Radex," Ace mumbled as he looked up to the gorgeous night sky above them.

"Well... What about the rest of us?" Koko pressed.

"What do you mean?" Ace stated in one breath as he closed his eyes in continued annoyance.

"Certainly, you're not going to be the only one to face Radex... Sure, you can delete him, but can you pin him down long enough to do so?" Koko sneered, which had Ace at a loss for words; she giggled in kind victory and carried on, "Let's say, you're in the heat of battle... It's you, my mom, your mom, and... Oh, I don't know... Lickity."

"Okay," Ace eased.

"Let's just pretend Radex is ridiculously quick... Being a glitch, we all know that agility is our strong point," Koko wiggled her fingers and allowed the faintest of purple glitch-lines to appear, "But... What if you haven't honed all of your glitching skills, yet? What if he's just... Too... Quick."

"What are you saying?" Ace worried.

"I'm saying... You're going to need a team," Koko snipped, "Where you lack, others fill the gaps, and vice versa... Even if you think you CAN and HAVE to do this alone, you WON'T. No one here will allow it."

Ace raised his eyebrows and fell silent, which cued Koko to believe she was in charge of this mess.

"You can pound your chest and claim you have the most power, here, but you don't," Koko stabbed, and though she could see the growing hurt in Ace's eyes, she knew she needed to be stern with him, as an outside perspective, "You KNOW you're weak without your loved ones... No one here is going to allow you to march into battle all by yourself, and when someone offers to help you hone a skill you know next to nothing about? I hope you put your pride away and listen."

Ace held his breath and allowed his aunt's words to gloss over him, solidifying him in the ultimate truth he knew he needed to stick with. He breathed a small sigh through his nose, nodded and looked down to his and Koko's bare feet. He long blinked and was successful in holding his tears. He knew he had done wrong, today, to lash out towards someone trying to get him to understand this whole mess. He accepted Koko's stern words and was well aware he deserved a bit of a throw around, the fact that he could dish it reminded him that he needed to be able to take it, as well.

"You're the grandson of a programmed glitch... A USER made her that way, Ace. These are powers she has honed and perfected over the course of two decades now, and you have the gall to throw that aside?" Koko hissed as she squinted at Ace and shook her head in disbelief, "Shame on you..."

Ace nervously dragged his eyes to his aunt and continued to drown in guilt. He gave her his unwavering eye contact, as genuine and as handsome as ever, he knew he was overdue apologies, and though he was on the track to righting his moody, uncertain and insecure tendencies, he knew he had a very long way to go. He hoped he conveyed the need for the ultimate amount of patience, one of which Koko, and everyone else, would hopefully take to and have mercy over him and his imperfect ways.

"Even Tessa can learn a thing or two, from mom... Don't even get me started on my OWN abilities, as well as Oliver and dad... Even Zed," Koko shook her head, "We each have put in our ten thousand hours of work on our craft. You have no right to jump out of line and state you don't need anyone's help, and that you'll simply die proving you were right. You're not a martyr... Stop acting like it."

"I'm sorry," Ace eased, his voice crackled, he swallowed firmly and nodded, as if he understood the depths of her words. He closed his eyes and soaked in her sharpness, for he knew it wouldn't let up if he fought her or tried to rise above, "I... I sort of stepped into this title of mine with the utmost amount of grace, huh," He snipped with a sarcastic smile.

"It was no easy title to take on, Ace, I can't imagine ANYONE stepping into that title with grace and dignity," Koko finally showed a smile, one that mimicked Tessa's, "The true mark of a leader is the team he is a part of... Otherwise, you're just a dude on a pedestal..."

"I really do want her help," Ace mumbled sorrowfully, "Her approach was a bit... Harsh... That's why I freaked out."

"I think she understands that, now," Koko nodded and rolled her eyes, "She should KNOW that any being that hails from Tessa's, or dad's coding, doesn't respond well to tough love."

"Call me weak," Ace muttered, though Koko furrowed her eyebrows and shot him a look of gentle surprise.

"Weak? That's not weakness... You require gentle love, words of affirmation," Koko listed quietly, "That's not weakness... That's just how you operate. Oliver, on the other hand, requires tough love. That dude is stubborn... You, me and Tessa on the other hand? Tough love doesn't work as well. You can communicate this, to my mom, without harming her..."

"I know," Ace uttered, his voice wavered as he rubbed his face in pure, immobilizing guilt. He shook his head and long blinked the tears away, "I never meant to hurt her... Not for one second."

"She knows," Koko smiled, she looked over her shoulder, down into the glistening pool below, the gorgeous splay of the nighttime balcony and patio lights, the main castle bustled with laughter and voices all across the board, "I guess it's for the better you two have a bit of space, for the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be better."

"A good night's sleep," Ace stated, as if it were simply a small shred of advice he had been given over the course of his life, a solution to nearly all of his moody problems, "I just hope she's willing to train me."

"... Why wouldn't she be?" Koko wondered, as if it were genuinely something that confused her.

"Well... After today, I wouldn't want to be around me, ever again, either," Ace chuckled, which caused Koko to blurt a laugh, rub Ace's back and shake her head.

"She's a parent, Ace... I guess maybe one day, we'll understand," Koko smiled, though Ace furrowed his brow.

"She's not technically my direct parent, though," Ace urged, though he knew he wasn't confident in his words, which was clear with the way Koko shook her head.

"She still IS your parent," Koko smiled, "Your GRAND parent... She's not about to just drop you over a misunderstanding, especially considering the fact that you not only share a shred of her coding and abilities... You're a great step into helping her gain her kingdom back from turmoil. Trust me. She's not going to just drop you and forget about you... Just talk with her, set things straight."

"I see," Ace nodded and looked down to his hands, and through a hard sigh, he nodded and glanced Koko a grateful smile, "Thanks, Aunt Koko... I'm... I'm really sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to meee," Koko sneered with a playful smile, though she leaned in, gave Ace a big, loving side hug and a friendly smooch to his cheek, "We may only be days apart, in age, but you're still my nephew... And I'll still play my aunt role like my life depends on it."

"I don't blame you," Ace beamed a kind smile and soaked in as much of Koko's warm love as he could, though she softly stood, nudged his shoulder a little and promised him his space, once more.

"Tess and Jax made the most delicious pizza you will ever taste, by the way," Koko droned as she strolled on the sloping dome of Libby's roof, her room being on the top floor, "You won't want to miss it."

"I'll... I'll think about it," Ace assured in a humble tone with a gentle nod and a look in Koko's direction, in which reminded her to have patience towards him, and with her simple, kind nod, she glitch-hopped off of the roof, across the gaping backyard and vanished into the building once more.

The longer Ace sat, the longer he continued to feel coated with guilt, and though his aunt Koko eased his mind and set him straight, he knew him and his grandmother likely had a good amount of chatting to do. He hugged his knees to his chest once more and let his eyes get lost in the dark jungle trees just outside the bounds of the Kalivar walls. The soft rustling, the cool chill of the humid, jungle night, the sounds of the nocturnal wildlife; everything reminded him just why he loved his home so much, and alongside the sounds of his familys' laughter, from the main building, he felt his heart remain whole. Though the feeling of true guilt still hung onto him, like a solid reminder to right his wrongs, he still felt a small smile creep upon his face, for he knew his family would never let him down, and would never let him face this massive trail on his own.

As the night grew older, and the moon began to set on the horizon, he felt a deep, long yawn hit him, and as soon as he drew out an exhale and noticed the Kalivar grounds grew quiet, a sudden pang of a clacking noise was heard just behind him. He jolted, looked over his shoulder in nervous surprise and drew his eyes to the moonlit rooftop just in time to see a small pebble tumble its' way over to the tiles he was keeping warm. He froze, glossed his eyes across the backyard and remained still. Just as he was about to stand and guess just who was trying to get his attention, yet another small pebble made it's way onto the high rooftop; he had to wonder just how Libby was able to throw said pebbles so high. He breathed a small chuckle, stood and made his way over to the opposite side of the roof, which was closest to the main castle building.

As Ace peered over the edge, he could see Libby on her landing, which put his curiosity to ease about if she was able to throw a pebble from the ground, to the roof, with such accuracy. She let out a quiet giggle, wiggled her fingers a little and shook her head in growing curiosity. So not to potentially wake up Nox, she gently gestured for Ace to come down from his hiding spot, one of which he's been perched in for the past few hours now. Her smile only grew once she noticed Ace cave and make his way down from his spot, and once he reached the loved wood of her top floor landing, she quietly shushed him, in a gesture of her pointer finger over her lips, and motioned for him to follow her. As they made their way down the spiral staircase, and to the ground floor, the two moseyed out to the massive patch of fireflowers, of which glowed proudly in the midnight air.

"I was about to go to sleep... I heard a sniffle come from the rooftop, and I figured I'd see if you were still up there," Libby stated quietly, she wore a dark purple hoodie and a pair of comfortable sweats, she was ready for a night-long reset. She slumped her hands into her hoodie pocket and looked up to the beautiful stars, "Alas... You were."

"I was just lost in thought," Ace croaked as he rubbed the back of his head, as if to remember the pain of when Marble threw him to the asphalt, "Today sucked..."

"You'll sleep well, though, I'm positive," Libby stated with a small nod and a soft sigh, her eyes looked clouded with thought.

"I'm sure," Ace agreed as he looked down to their beautiful, original patch of fire flowers. They glowed proudly, the hot oranges and yellows soaked their souls in a loving warmth they were certain they needed on this cold Autumn night. Ace crossed his arms and was now looking forward to crawling into his warm bed, "I... I'm sure tomorrow will be weird."

"Why do you say that?" Libby prod with a curious look.

"Well... I know Ma is mad at me," Ace frowned, he drew his sorrowful eyes to Libby's and glued them there, "I just hope she won't shut me out..."

"User, no," Libby waved her hand, "She spoke about you, at dinner... She said you likely just needed space... I saved you some pizza, by the way."

"Oh, thank you," Ace huffed with a grateful smile and a small nod, "I forgot I didn't even eat..."

"I got you covered," Libby giggled and shook her head, as if she was slowly falling into his wavelength, his own train of thought, as if looking after him was now becoming second nature, as if to repay him for all the times he looked after her. Libby smiled down to the flowers, squinted and let a small amount of silence grow between them before she spoke, once more, "... Sorry you had to meet Marble in the way that you did, today."

"It's... It's okay," Ace chuckled as he shook his head, "I deserved the throw around... How did she know where to find me?"

"In all honesty, she was probably just spying on you and she just so happened to show up at the right time," Libby giggled as she drew her beautiful, fireflower light-soaked eyes to Ace's in dewy innocence, "She always used to spy on Balba and I... Little did I know, she was aware whenever Balba and I would run off to visit you, for the day."

"I'm sure... We played together every single day, and didn't you say Marble was like a parent to you?" Ace chuckled, Libby joined, nodded and looked down.

"Yeah, she... She took me in. She always promised me she'd bite off all of the boys' heads, if they tried anything," Libby huffed, though she immediately looked mildly disgruntled; Ace held his breath, and though he wondered if he should bring it up or not, he felt bravery hit his skin.

"... Where was she the night you were taken advantage of?" Ace stated as delicately as he could, he knew the two were comfortable enough with each other to where this topic wasn't taboo any longer; Libby drew her sorrowful eyes to Ace's and frowned harder.

"I don't know..." Libby urged quietly, she looked away and shrugged, "She was gone, the entire day before I left my tribe. No one knew where she was. That's why, when you said a big black and white lykata, that could talk, came down to put you back in line... I was so relieved. I honestly thought she had died. She never just vanishes, like that..."

"I wonder why she left?" Ace prod quietly, Libby shrugged once more.

"Who knows... I'm just glad Balba was there, that night," Libby forced a smile and nodded, as did Ace, as if to assure her that they didn't need to talk about it any longer, if she didn't want to. Libby sighed, blinked back tears and huffed a long breath to collect herself, and once she was composed, she spoke, "There IS one thing I will most definitely miss out on, that I didn't technically want to miss out on, when it came to marriage, in my tribe."

"What's that?" Ace questioned, though he could begin to feel his heart pound.

"Well... The reason I was over at Hilotem's place, the night before our wedding, was because... It's tradition, that the night before a couple is to be wed, the man is to paint the traditional Teltokuan tattoos on the right arm of his bride," Libby looked down and frowned, "... We didn't even get through dinner before he thought he could spike my drink and have his way with me... I'm glad we decided to do the tattooing after dinner, otherwise I'd be stuck with his mark all over my arm."

"Wow," Ace huffed with the information soaked over him, all at once. He shook his head and peered into Libby's eyes, "That would've been just what you needed, huh..."

"Seriously," Libby scoffed as she looked down at her right hand and wrist, though she wistfully sighed, "It's okay... I always thought those tattoos looked really cool, but I'd rather have no tattoos than to be forever marked by a guy who did me wrong."

Ace furrowed his brow and, for a split second, he nearly made this about himself. He held his breath and finally let Libby's issue soak into his skin, and with as much grace as he could, he took himself out of the equation and let himself be selfless for her. He knew he so badly wanted to jump up and state that she could potentially, one day, have the very tattoos that she desired, marked by the man of her dreams, in hopes to compare said man to himself, though as he glossed his eyes over Libby's figure, he saw an independent, beautiful woman. Someone who didn't need the markings of a future husband to show strength, or specialty, or stature. He soaked in the rawness of her power, of her beauty and grace, and as the thought hit his mind, he lulled his eyes down to the gorgeous fireflowers that hugged her feet.

"Why don't you design your OWN tattoo?" Ace inquired quietly, he was thrilled to have Libby's now curious attention. Ace shrugged and looked about, "You don't need a man's design... Make your own. You've come such a long way... I think you deserve it, you owe it to yourself, Libby."

Libby looked shocked, a delicate pluck of delight, as if she had never even thought of the idea, and the very fact that Ace was the one presenting it to her, had her nearly doing backflips. She beamed a curious smile, looked down at her right hand once more and side-eyed Ace, as if to wonder if said notion was even legal, or too far outside conformity. Ace chuckled and took a gentle step closer to her.

"What do these tattoos usually consist of?" Ace wondered with a snarky smile, Libby giggled and looked down.

"Well... Blocky, straight-edged patterns of all sorts... Really complicated drama," Libby waggled her hand, though Ace tilted his head a little and kept eye contact with her.

"... What would YOU want on your right arm?" Ace gently wondered, which had Libby's demeanor softening to his level.

"I... I have never even put thought into it, like that," Libby breathed in quiet amazement, as if this was something she previously wasn't even allowed to think of, "The man always comes up with the design of the tattoo, the woman has no say in the design or anything. It's... Supposed to sort of be an expression of trust, all married women have the designs on their right arm."

"Well, now YOU have the say," Ace gently nudged her right arm, "You want that tattoo? You can design it. It'll be YOURS. No one can take that away from you."

Libby peered to Ace in floored delight, as if even the idea presented to her, by him, was something she could smile forever about. She nodded a little and now knew she had a lot of thinking and planning to do, and before she could express to Ace just how grateful she was, he took a small step back, gestured to their tower and chuckled.

"C'mon... Let's hit the hay. Looks like you've got some dreaming to do, huh?" Ace inquired with a light laugh, in which she joined in.

"Yeah, I never even thought of that possibility," Libby giggled bashfully as the two fell into step with each other, alongside the staircase that hugged their tower, "... Thank you, for that."

"Of course," Ace waved his hand downward, as if to express that it was no big deal. He knew he had gained brownie points, and with the way Libby's smile was only broadening, he knew removing himself from this situation was wise, and though doing so was tough, he was grateful he did. All he wanted was that smile on her face, and as Ace lingered towards his front door, she pressed on to head to her floor, which was above his.

"We should take a trip to the beach, tomorrow," Libby inquired with a small smile and a shrug, "Maybe... Take Koko and Nox, for a day trip. What do y'say?"

"I'd love that," Ace eased, "Good luck getting Nox up before the noon sun, though."

"I'm sure he'd get up," Libby shrugged and shook her head, "He's always in a hurry to be lazy, even if it does require dragging him to the beach to do so."


	109. Chapter 109

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! I really appreciate it :D

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 **ArchDev :** Thank you so much, welcome aboard! And yes, he does, if he knows how to access it, that is ;) He needs training.

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! Yes, Koko is a bit snarky, like Tessa. She definitely has wit xD And, Ace will learn, in due time, it'll come to him easier.

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 ***Chapter 109***

With a slow zip of his dark blue hoodie, and a small huff of warm, inside air to prepare himself for the cool morning atmosphere, Ace stepped across his birch flooring and reached for the handle of his front door. As he stepped outside, and turned around to lock his room's door, he felt a shiver go over his skin. With the sun just barely rising, on the horizon, he knew this was now his new routine; what he once thought that maybe him and Vanellope would be the games' early birds, a systematic workout routine they'd fall in together, he was well aware that likely came to an abrupt halt with the events that happened the day prior.

Ace long blinked sleepily and nearly had to force himself to continue to lock his door, so not to rush back to his warm blankets and sleep the day away. He knew he needed to stay strong, getting fit and feeling better was a high priority of his, and now that he was aware he had a lot of growing into his own paws to do, he figured now was the best time to get a jump on his demons, and show the rest of the castle that he had the strength and independence to care for himself. As he turned to face the dark, brand new day, the quiet of the castle grounds, the fireflies that kissed the dimly glowing fire flowers goodnight, he nearly jumped clear out of his skin as the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard.

Ace flinched in a flurry of adrenaline that now hit his skin, and through instinct, his palms immediately got to work and pushed forth his powerful, interior coding, and though he didn't act out just yet, his palms held that strong, intimidating glow, to potentially threaten whatever was approaching him. Just as his eyes adjusted, he noticed none other than Vanellope come to a surprised halt on the last step of Ace's stairwell, the rest lead to Libby's floor, above his. Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise, dropped the act and slumped his shoulders, though before he could even muster up the correct words to speak, Vanellope breathed a quiet giggle, crossed her arms and shook her head; they continued on in a hushed tone, above a whisper.

"I'll be darned," Vanellope stated with snark, "I could've sworn I'd have to bang your door down to get you up... Lookit you, all ready for our workout."

"Y-You're... You're here," Ace breathed in surprise, and though he wanted so badly to rush his grandmother and beg for forgiveness, he kept the strict ten or so foot distance between them.

"'Course I'm here, someone's gotta help you lose that fluff of yours," Vanellope giggled, and though it looked like she, too, wanted to rush Ace and give him a big hug, she figdeted in her spot and kept her arms crossed, as if to seem like she was cool and collected.

Ace breathed a hiss of an annoyed chuckle and looked down his chest; he was no where near being fat, though he knew he could afford to lose the small, pudgy tummy he had acquired. He tucked his larger fists into the front pocket of his hoodie to subconsciously hide his belly, though he bashfully looked back to Vanellope with a frown.

"I-I... I figured I already let you down, I shouldn't let myself down," Ace mumbled, and though Vanellope was quiet for a moment, he somehow prayed this small interaction would help mend their bond.

"Let me down?" Vanellope inquired as she squinted and shook her head, Ace shrugged.

"Well, yeah... I-I really could've done a lot of damage to you, yesterday," Ace mumbled, "I... I was an idiot. I really shouldn't have let my emotions run, like that."

Vanellope eyed her grandson, and as if it were taboo to step close to each other, she remained still to assess him. A powerful, tall and bumbling creature with eons of potential, she knew it would likely take am army to get him to finally be comfortable in his own skin, though she knew it would all be more than worth it in the end. She breathed a small chuckle, shook her head and finally began to fill the gap. She knew the both of them had a bit of explaining to do, and they both were worried for the stability of said, fragile relationship, though she also knew, in the end, they were family, and coming together to solve a problem came with the territory; no matter what.

"C'mere," Vanellope's motherly voice glossed over him like the sweetest honey, and as she approached, his puppy-dog like demeanor only grew, as did the sorrow in his eyes. As she opened her arms for a hug, he quickly pushed into her and hugged his large arms tight around her back. As the two squeezed into a much-needed hug, Vanellope beamed a warm smile into the shoulder of his dark blue hoodie and huffed a small giggle, "We both let our emotions run, yesterday... You're not the only one at fault, here."

"I'm really sorry," Ace eased nervously as he clung to her warmth, her motherly arms and essence was something he craved, and though Vanellope wasn't his mother, he could still feel the source of Tessa's warmth, the lessons and knowledge that had been passed down to his own mother, and as it hit him, he began to feel grateful.

"I'm sorry, too," Vanellope sighed, she rubbed Ace's upper shoulder and squeezed him a bit tighter, "I guess I shouldn't have goad you, like I did... I was quickly reminded that... I'm not the most powerful glitch, in the Arcade, anymore."

"What?" Ace exclaimed quietly as the two pulled apart, he looked at her in near terror, "I-I... I can't possibly be more powerful than you, you have like... Two decades over me, I was only born a year ago, that's... That's-!"

"Ace, it's true," Vanellope interrupted gently as she shook her head and gripped her hands to Ace's upper arms, "You're a User... You hold more power than you can even begin to understand... And when adrenaline comes to you, mixed with emotion, there is, clearly, no stopping you."

"... Unless Marble is around," Ace grumbled as he gently shifted his eyes about and broadened his perspective; Vanellope looked perplexed, Ace slumped his shoulders, "The lykata that attacked me, yesterday?"

"Yeah?" Vanellope prod.

"That... That was Libby's serogate mother, her name is Marble," Ace explained softly, Vanellope looked elated.

"...Really?" She hissed in gentle surprise, though Ace smiled and nodded.

"I guess... You can thank her, for stopping all the turmoil. I really don't know how she found me, or really how she knows me," Ace shrugged.

"Is she a diety of sorts?" Vanellope wondered, as the lore and mythics of Dead Zed was still something she wasn't used to.

"Libby told me she was the first programmed lykata, she's a very important creature," Ace stated, Vanellope's facial expression softened from confusion to understanding.

"I see... She keeps balance," Vanellope eyed Ace with a snarky smile, to which he rolled his eyes and tried his hardest not to smile, as well.

"Yes, something I'm bad at maintaining, I guess," Ace grumbled.

"See here...Why don't we try a different approach, then?" Vanellope pressed kindly, though Ace looked nervous.

"Ma, I think we should... Just stick to working out, and no glitch training,"Ace stated warily, as if that wasn't totally what he wanted, though he knew he couldn't risk nearly killing her, once more.

"Ace, you need training, from all angles," Vanellope blurt with a small giggle, Ace slumped his shoulders, "I realize now that tough love doesn't get you anywhere... I guess I was just so used to training Oliver. He was the only one of my children that had a hard time getting the hang of glitching. It comes naturally to Koko and Tessa, so training them was a breeze. The last person I left off with was Oliver, so... I guess that was just the mode I was in."

"I know I have a lot to learn," Ace agreed with a frown, "And... I need to accept the fact that you guys want to help me. It feels as tho no on understands what I'm going through, and that's why accepting help is so difficult for me."

"We'll only understand if you communicate, y'know?" Vanellope side-eyed Ace with a kind, snarky smile, "Y'gotta tell us what's going on in that brain of yours. If you bottle it, and let it build, it'll all explode, and yesterday will repeat itself."

"I know," Ace stated in quiet defeat.

"We're a team. We'll win back Sugar Rush," Vanellope urged as she slid her hand to the top of Ace's strong, broad shoulder. She shook him a little bit, pulled him down just barely and pushed her forehead to his, "We'll do it together."

Ace smiled at her down the bridge of their noses, and as the two pulled apart, he looked down to his larger fingers and nodded with relief. He was aware his family wouldn't let him try and take back Sugar Rush single handedly, though the daunting task of it all had it easy for him to allow his thoughts to become derailed. He finally nodded, once more, and peered deep into Vanellope's hazel eyes, ones of which she shared with him and Tessa. His smile broadened, as did hers.

"Deal?" Vanellope chirped in question.

"Deal," Ace concluded, and with this, he was grateful she pulled him into another tight hug. He squeezed his arms around Vanellope's upper back, once more, and as they melted into each other, and soaked in the silence for a moment, he finally huffed a small request, "Please go easy on me, with the workouts, today."

"Don't you wish," Vanellope blurt a giggle.

As the early morning came and went, Dead Zed's noon sun shone proudly and warmly. All of Zed's five brothers took off for the game day, and though the castle was still quiet with midday laziness, Ace felt energized from his workout with Vanellope. Once Nox had finally woken up, and the group had a lunch packed, Ace, Nox, Libby, Koko and Chepi took to the skies in search for the perfect beachfront space for the afternoon. With Ace, Chepi and Libby aboard Lickity, and Nox and Koko aboard Balba, they soaked in the gorgeous jungle scenery below and kept a sharp eye on the ocean, on the horizon. Bright blue, neverending sprawl of water that was sure to promise fluffy white sands and massive, rolling crystal waves.

"Stop trying to steer," Lickity blurt with a hard laugh as she firmly flapped her wings a few times and shook her body to correction; Ace grunted in hard annoyance and rubbed his forehead as Lickity lightly peered over her shoulder, "You're not gunna win."

"Best to stop trying," Libby giggled, Ace slumped his shoulders and peered forward, though he could hear Nox loudly cheering, far to his right.

"Woohoo! Lookit me, I'm STEERING!" Nox called as he was successful in getting Balba to go in the weird directions he wanted; she obliged with a fang-filled smile, as if to state to Ace that every flyer was different, and not every single flying creature had the flexibility others would want.

"Looks like FUN!" Ace barked, Libby covered her face and laughed as Nox and Koko were successful in steering Balba up into a big, puffy white cloud above; they vanished, though their cheering and laughter certainly didn't.

"Show Lickity respect," Libby eased, she shook her head and giggled, "Even if Lickity couldn't talk, each flyer has their quirks. So, Lickity doesn't like to be flown and steered by others."

"You let my mom and dad steer," Ace grumbled, Lickity flattened her ears and smiled a toothy grin out to the mile high drop they soared above.

"I'll have you know, your mother and father saved me from certain doom," Lickity growled.

"From who," Ace urged in annoyance as he gestured his arms outwards.

"Why don't you ask your Uncle Orph?" Lickity snapped, she knew the two were on the outs, and the very mention of Orph's name had her scales crawling. She shook her head and grimaced, "That saddle was nearly melted onto my skin."

"What happened?" Libby prod quietly and nervously as she peered over the top of Ace's shoulder.

"Orph happened," Lickity stated darkly, though she concluded the topic, so not to ruin their fun, late-summer, early fall fun. She cleared her throat, flapped her massive bat-like wings a few times and began to catch up with Balba, who had taken off in a fit of beautiful twirls, her green fur illuminated gloriously against the sun, "Betcha wish Royal wasn't feeling under the weather, huh?"

"Mhmm," Ace grumbled as he watched Nox and Koko having fun, though as soon as Ace's annoyed demeanor could practically be tasted, Lickity stiffened her body and perked with energy.

"Alright, grumpy pants, just hold on tight," Lickity urged through an annoyed laugh, as if to state she was sorry for being stubborn; she hoped a little high-flying fun would get his mood to lighten.

As soon as Ace and Libby hunkered down to Lickity's spine, she took off at a greater speed than prior, and in no time, she caught up with Balba. As Lickity whizzed past Balba, she leveled with a gentle loop, glided to correction and waited for Balba to keep up and follow suit. The two circled each other in a gorgeous display of masterful flyers, an art only those with wings could ever accomplish. The cold, high altitude wind promised to come closer to the Earth for the winter, though for the time being, they were excited to finally enjoy the last of the year's warmth at the beach, one last time. As the two flyers quickly approached the ocean, and the white coastal line could be seen sprawled for miles and miles, the two began to lose altitude and come closer to the gorgeous jungle canopies.

"There's something cool about just letting your flyer have control, though," Libby concluded to Ace, as they argued further about Lickity not letting Ace have free reign, "I mean... Don't you enjoy it? You don't have to put in effort."

"Yeah! Stop complaining," Lickity laughed, Nox, Koko and Balba all joined in as well.

"I like having control," Ace chuckled as Lickity softly sunk down below the canopy; Balba followed closely behind, and as Lickity found a large clearing, she followed a mile-long wash that lead all the way to the beach. They slowed, in preparation to eventually stop at the end of the wash, "Royal gets it... Royal lets anyone fly him."

"Well, I'm not Royal," Lickity snipped proudly, "Tessa was my first flyer, and well... It's sort of a given I let Zed fly me, as well... He's sort of in charge of it all."

"Well, what about me?" Ace argued as he began to feel big.

"What about you? You're a User?" Lickity laughed as the white, fluffy sands were finally within sights, "I also used to help change your daiper, there, stud. I'm your aunt. There's nothing you can do to hold rank over me, love."

"She's got a point," Koko chimed in such a way to remind Ace that she, too, was his aunt. Ace slumped his shoulders and finally dropped it, and just in time to land.

As Lickity's powerful wings helped her come to a halt, her big, clawed paws sunk into the fluffy sand, and just as her tail sagged into the white fluff as well, she perked her ears and squished about in delight; Balba joined as well. As everyone dismounted their flyers, they began to slowly mosey to a spot nearby the wash, in which they kept as their check point of sorts, a way to know exactly where they were, and just how to get home. As Nox and Koko playfully bickered and head towards a sunny spot to lay their beach blanket, with a fantastic view of the crashing waves, Ace stayed back to help Libby unsaddle Lickity and get their supplies as well.

"So," Ace started as they slid the saddle off of Lickity, her and Chepi slowly began to mosey away in a knowing manner, as if to understand that they potentially would like a moment alone, "Have you put any thought into your new tattoo, at all?"

"I have," Libby's eyes lit up as she slung one of her pretty burlap sling bags over her shoulder, she wore a pretty white halter top and a flowy, faded orange skirt. Her pretty, long white hair was tucked into a low pony tail down her back, "I'm just... Nervous, I guess."

"For what?" Ace prod quietly as he, too, picked up one of their bags, slung it over his shoulder and joined her in pressing on to where Koko and Nox had set up camp for the day.

"Well, I don't know... The design I have in mind is so non-traditional, I'm just nervous if anyone from my tribe were to ever see me," Libby worried, "Also with the fact that I'm not married... It nearly goes against everything I was raised to know to be true."

"Well... I certainly don't want you to feel as though you're disrespecting your people," Ace stated softly.

"I don't think they'd view it so much as disrespect," Libby shrugged and shook her head a little, her gorgeous blue eyes drew to the wonderful ocean before them, "More just as... Rebelling, I guess. Our tattoos are traditional, blocky and straight edge."

"Well, what did YOU have in mind?" Ace wondered softly as their eyes locked, Libby giggled and grew bashful.

"Oh, well... Anything but," Libby pressed, as if she wasn't ready to reveal her idea just yet, the jungle behind them was present with all sorts of calming sounds, jungle birds and the like. As they stepped deeper into the beach, and closer to Nox and Koko, a few brightly colored birds flit about and took off into the fresh ocean breeze. Libby inhaled deeply, puffed her chest and smiled with glee, "I guess that's just in the nature of this whole mess... Rebellion."

"After all that has happened, it's safe to say that's your only option," Ace chuckled, to which Libby cued to and nodded in agreeing. Ace set the bag down and, though the two joined Nox and Koko, they each held onto their respective conversations over the roar of the waves, "So... How will you go about getting your tattoo? Should you go into Ekreth City for it?"

"You mean like a parlor?" Libby giggled, though she shrugged and considered the option, "I guess I could. That'd be the ultimate form of rebellion."

"How do you do it in your tribe?" Ace wondered.

"Well, there's a certain mud-like paste that is found, nearly anywhere there's water. What is done, is the design is painted on your arm," Libby explained as she, too, set down her bag, though she gave Ace a wary smile and chuckled, "The paste is then left there, to stain your skin, for a week."

"...A week?" Ace gawked with a smile as well, "What if... You need to shower? Or it rains?"

"You avoid bathing, and... If it rains and your design smears, you have to re-paint the ruined area," Libby shrugged, "The whole process can take upwards of a month, if you're careless."

"User," Ace huffed as he ruffled his hair and shook his head, though he furrowed his brow and gave Libby a kind smile, "There has to be a quicker way to do it."

"That's what I was hoping you'd say," Libby blurt a laugh, though she eyed the wash, they were just stationed at, and bashfully glanced to Ace, "Maybe... I can put the paste on myself and then, maybe there's a trick we could do, in the code room, to make it permanent immediately?"

"I'm sure we could, it's worth looking into," Ace nodded as Koko and Nox sat down with each other and continued to chat, though they began to take out the lunch they had packed and prepared a spot for Ace and Libby as well, "Maybe when we get back to the castle, we can go search for that kind of paste you need, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah," Libby eased, and though she nearly bit her tongue and concluded their conversation, she softly eyed the wash, once more, and inhaled a breath of confidence, "Or... I-I um... I noticed some, on the flight over here, in that there wash."

Ace raised his eyebrows in surprised, peered over his shoulder, eyed the wash and felt his heart jolt. He beamed Libby a smile in anticipation and gestured to her.

"Oh, could you do it here, then?" Ace prod in excitement, and with said excitement, Libby felt a bit more confident in her decisions.

"I could," Libby eased bashfully, "Maybe after lunch... Could... Could you come with me? I don't want to sit over there, all by myself."

"Of course I'll come with you," Ace pressed genuinely, though he somehow felt a sudden pang of nervousness hit his skin, with the gentle, bashful and seductive draw of Libby's alluring gaze. He furrowed his brow gently and felt his skin prickle with giddy confusion.


	110. Chapter 110

**Alisi-Thorndyke :** Yeah I'm the same way xD I need my sleep haha. Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** lol! Let's try to keep politics away from my story, yeah? xD Thanks anyways tho! I appreciate that you are enjoying what's happening, even if it is painstakingly slow haha

 **Snake557 :** Yep! :) Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Aww thank you! That means a lot to me! I try to keep everything well rounded, as for development. I don't want things to happen overnight haha

* * *

 **A/N:** **Sorry if this chapter has typos, I'm warning you now, this is 100% unedited, typos and all! So if you see something strange, disregard it. I apologize, I am uploading this as quickly as I can before I have a very long closing shift. I'm currently bumming at a local coffee shop to get this up before my commute to work xD Bear with me! We are seriously SO CLOSE to having internet I could cry I'm serious haha**

 ***Chapter 110***

After lunch, the group of four, which also included Lickity, Balba and Chepi, made sure they had their fair share of the warm, crystal ocean water of Dead Zed. Nearly to the brink of being water logged, one by one, everyone began to mosey back and forth from the water to their fluffy spot on the sand, and as the sun remained high in the sky, which promised many more hours of fun, Lickity began to wallow in the muddy banks of the wash they were near by, and with much curiosity, Balba joined, as did Nox and Koko.

"No, no, Chepi!" Libby yelled across the span of sand with a small giggle as she jolted from Ace's side, she waved her hand a bit and was successful in getting Chepi to come to a sad, confused halt, from wanting to join Lickity and Balba in playing in the mud. Libby gave Chepi a sorrowful smile, leaned down and scooped Chepi into her arms, "What are they doing, over there?"

"Ah, Lickity likes to roll in dirt and mud to get dead skin and scales off of her body," Ace explained, having experienced this both with Lickity and Royal, "It's a way for them to keep clean, as ironic as it may seem. Balba, on the other hand, is in for a surprise."

"Muddy fur," Libby grumbled as she watched Balba take Lickity's lead and dive nearly face-first into the glorious sprawl of sticky mud; Libby winced in a grimace before she slumped her shoulders, rolled her eyes and gave Ace a look of pure annoyance.

"Well, it's a good thing you stopped Chepi, otherwise you'd have two furry creatures to try and get clean," Ace laughed as Libby gently Chepi over to Ace. She had grown into her gorgeous candy pink, orange and cream fur beautifully, and though she wasn't fully grown just yet, she was a decent sized pup that was now nearly too big to be a lap pet. Ace grunted, shifted Chepi into his chest as she playfully squirmed, "I guess Balba could probably take care of herself. A simple dunk in the ocean."

"Right, but THIS one," Libby complained with a growing smile as she gently got in Chepi's face, fluffed and pet her soft fur in a ruffling manner and nuzzled her face into Chepi's wet nose, "We'd all be done for, huh!"

Ace laughed softly and watched the two. Chepi softly let out a few happy whines and barks of glee, she squirmed a little, her gorgeous, fluffy tail flicked and ruffled in the ocean breeze, though just as he was certain Chepi's innocent beauty topped his view, his eyes glossed to Libby's sun kissed cheeks. Her long, wet hair was down and still tucked into the low ponytail. The way she quietly baby-talked Chepi, Ace held his breath and wondered if he was getting way too ahead of himself. He swallowed a hard gulp and soaked in the sight of Libby cooing to a smaller being in Ace's arms, and in this raw moment, he allowed himself to feel his heart pound and long for her, something he had been desperately trying to stuff for a long while now.

As their toes squished in the sand, the warm sun shone down on the two, Ace finally released his breath and allowed love to creep into his heart. He knew the two still had a lot of work to get done, a lot of inner, self-building, soul searching they had to do without each other, though he bit his lip and had to wonder if all of this drama had to be done without holding the other person's hand. Or stealing the other person's kiss. Ace smiled and gently readjusted Chepi as Libby finally regained her normal posture and brought her eyes to his. She began to look bashful and mildly nervous as her eyes dragged to the wash, and beyond. Ace raised his eyebrows and followed her line of sight; he was aware she likely was itching to put that well-deserved tattoo on her arm, and though he was certain he shouldn't push the matter, he wondered if she potentially wanted his confidence to shine through, a gentle nudge in the right direction.

"You... You excited for your new tattoo?" Ace prod with a kind, confident smile. He felt instantly relieved with the way Libby's eyes sparkled, the way her posture straightened even more, she looked as if to be a sponge, soaking up the confidence he radiated.

"I was trying not to make the entire day revolved around it," Libby blurt a giggle, though Ace furrowed his brow, shook his head and tenderly nudged Libby's arm.

"It should be, it's important," Ace encouraged, "C'mon. Let's go get you that tattoo. I'll hold onto Chepi so she doesn't mess you up."

"Okay," Libby stated in girly glee, and as the two began to slowly trudge up the sand, to the sprawling field of grass far beyond the shore, he eyed her in delightful curiosity and noticed a certain pep in her step, the look in her eye was of pure, unadulterated excitement.

"So... What did you have in mind?" Ace prod, he wondered if this question was off limits, though he assumed he'd figure out her design ideas sooner or later.

"Well... Anything but what I'm used to," Libby slowly explained, and as the two continued to mosey across the flat land of gorgeous, jungle grass, they happened upon a large tree, which was surrounded by a few larger boulders. It also overlooked the stretch of the wash Lickity, Balba, Nox and Koko were lollygagging in. Libby huffed a small, nervous breath and came upon a small, wallowing dip in the earth that housed the very paste she was looking for. She continued on in apprehension that began to finally creep it's way over her soul, "I want something bold... Something unlike anything my tribe has seen."

"So, they usually do strict patterns and blocky nonsense?" Ace wondered as he grunted, he sat a few feet away from where Libby was to potentially get situated, so to give her all the room she needed. They sat under the shade of the tree, which was crowned with wild, orange jungle flowers. Once he got comfortable, with Chepi in his lap, he relaxed and eagerly watched what she would do next, though he continued on, "I guess the opposite of that would be... Soft curves and simple stretches of a design?"

"Exactly," Libby prod, and as she stood over the nearly dark red paste on the ground, surrounded by mud, patches of green grass and little lillies of all sorts, her tender hand slid to the trunk of the jungle tree that loomed high above them. She looked up the stretch of it, as if to appreciate it's size, everything it was made of. She smiled in a knowing way and kept her hand to the trunk, her eyes to the canopy, "Like the rings of a tree."

Ace raised his eyebrows and quickly looked up to the stretch of the tree above them, and though he had never put thought into it, he quickly brought himself to Libby's level and grew quiet with her. He gently glanced at her, in growing curiosity, and was thrilled to feel Chepi settle in his lap and get cozy, hopefully for a small nap. His larger hands and fingers so tenderly stroked her soft fur in hopes to aid in that potential nap. Ace knew speaking out and outwardly showing confidence, in conversation he wasnt particularly the center of, was difficult, and as much as an introvert as he was, he knew she likely needed some encouraging assistance in this unsure time, for her.

"Constantly growing," Ace added quietly, and with success that continued to hit his skin, Libby's kind eyes tenderly drew down to his in elated gratefulness, "No matter what happens to you... You will always continue adding rings of knowledge and memories to your life."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Libby gawked with a small giggle as she finally grew closer to Ace, "Always remember your roots... But branching out and boasting those flowers atop your head," She added with a larger laugh as she plucked a few flowers and tucked some behind her ear. Some of the smaller ones wavered in the wind and blew away, though a main orange one remained.

"Like that one crown you made for me, that one time, when we were kids?" Ace grumbled with a playfully annoyed smile as she sat down across from him, she allowed a two foot distance so she could do what she needed to do.

"That was fun," Libby added as she raised her eyebrows and pointed at Ace, "Don't lie, you had a blast."

"That was o-our... Um..." Ace suddenly halted his thought process and looked sheepish. He stammered on a few words and tried to potentially steer his sudden, upcoming word vomit elsehwere, though he flinched as Libby tucked her hair behind her ears, shot him a smile and raised her eyebrows in baited wait.

"Our what?" Libby wondered curiously with a gentle smile, though Ace swallowed hard and now knew he was caught in what he had started.

"O-Our first kiss," Ace mumbled, as if talking about romance, between the two, was forbidden, though with the way Libby's knowing smile grew, the way her eyes slowly drew down to the paste near her feet, the bashful blush of her cheeks, the way her secretive smile only broadened. Ace cocked an eyebrow and tucked Chepi tighter into his chest, as if to feel the unbearable weight of butterflies and pray it ceased, "W-We were just kids."

"I have a knack for instigating trouble," Libby prod, the tail of her voice held seductive charm, one in which Ace cued to, and in this moment, he held his breath and now had to wonder if he wasn't simply the only one feeling the unbearable friend-zone wait period any longer.

"And, I have a knack for going along with it," Ace added, his voice trailed into a deeper rasp, as if to state his words held more weight than he led on. He chuckled and peered down to Chepi in a fit of bashfullness that came over him, amidst attempting to remain cool and collected.

"We'll find ourselves in deep trouble, eventually," Libby stated lightly with a shrug, though just as Ace raised his eyebrows and felt his cheeks practically catch fire, Libby leaned down a little and gathered some of the deep red and brown paste onto her two fingers, as if to prepare herself, "It was such a good idea to come to the beach today, it's so nice out!"

"Y-yeah, well... Bank on today being one of the last days it's nice out, cause it'll start getting too cold to come to the beach, unfortunately," Ace mumbled as he despertately attempted to hide the nervous quiver in his voice.

"Well, we'll all find other ways to have fun," Libby shrugged as she sat up, peered to Ace and held her two pointer fingers before herself, they were covered in paste, "Maybe a big bon fire or something. Like that one time we had that small bon fire with Nox and Koko. We could add everyone to the circle."

"That'd be chaos," Ace chuckled as he eagerly watched Libby, his curiosity grew and grew, "Fun! But chaos."

"Eh, it's what we live for," Libby shrugged, though just as she was about to start creating her masterpiece, she shifted her sitting position a few times. After a few moments of silence, gentle shuffling Ace was certain would never end, he breathed a sudden laugh and shook his head in confusion, though Libby slumped her shoulders and began to look mildly conflicted.

"What's wrong?" Ace chuckled, Libby looked down to her right arm and felt nervousness crawl over her.

"I... I fear I won't be able to reach all the spots I want," Libby started, though she drew her nervous, unsure eyes to Ace's, as if she potentially didn't want to ask this question, though she wondered if she had a choice, "Can... Can I tell you my idea and you paint it on me?"

"... Wait, what?" Ace uttered as his face washed flat in a sudden swipe of surprise. He huffed a small breath, waved his hand out towards her, as if to insinuate he didn't want to interfere, "No, no, no, Libby... This is YOUR tattoo. I don't want to put it on you, this... This is what we were avoiding."

"I mean I can start it out, I just may need help with the hard to reach parts, like my elbow and the back of my shoulder and the like," Libby pleaded in a rush of nervousness, "Please? It'll still be my design, I just need help reaching certain spots. Please Ace?"

Ace drew his eyes to hers and frowned in nervousness, though she looked wholly conflicted. He knew this was beyond anything he would be designing, and it'd strictly be her ideas, he had to remind himself that he strictly would just be putting paint to the canvas, under her direction. He let go of the strict situation and replayed her words in his mind : We'll find ourselves in deep trouble, eventually.

"Okay," Ace breathed quietly, Libby burst forth a loving smile and adjusted her sitting position to welcome Ace closer. Ace huffed a small sigh and, in the motion of scooting closer to Libby, Chepi whimpered a few noises of curiosity and sat up straight in Ace's lap. Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered down to the paste he was certain he wouldn't have to deal with, though he knew she wasn't helpless, and any plea she had was legitimate, "So... Where should I begin?"

"Well... Let's maybe start with my lower arm," Libby gestured as she kept the paste on her fingers, Ace leaned down for some as well, though he grunted to keep his posture, so not to squish Chepi, "I want like... Big bold rings, alongside littler ones. Y'know?"

"That'd be cool, kind of like swirled around your arm?" Ace added, and it was in this instance did he finally accept this mission, the act of helping Libby expand her creative freedom.

"Yeah, so maybe start right here," Libby eased as she began to gently dab some of the cold paste onto her lower right arm, and once she filled in a thick portion, she eyed Ace and lifted her arm, so to politely request he finished what she started.

"I hope this won't stain our fingers," Ace chuckled as he so tenderly held her elbow with his left hand and began to fill in the gaps with his right fingers.

"It only would if you left it there for days," Libby assured as Ace finished the one bold ring around her lower arm, he peered to her expectantly and broadened his excited smile with her.

"Yay! Okay, so let's add some smaller rings above that," Libby cooed excitedly as she began to drag her pointer finger to make a much littler few rings above the large chunk they had just accomplished. Ace finished it off to the best of his ability, and once those were completed, he peered to her in quiet expectancy and raised his eyebrows.

"Now where?" Ace wondered gently, though they flinched as they could hear Nox and Koko suddenly howling with laughter down the stretch of the wash, they were nearly out of ear-shot, alongside Lickity and Balba.

"Hmm... Well, I wanted another big patch to cover my shoulder and upper arm, like all one solid color, that has smaller rings coming off of that, but..." Libby trailed off as she attempted to tuck her hair behind her ear, though she wasn't successful, "I... I realize now it's probably a stretch."

"I think it's possible," Ace eased deeply, and with all the love in the world, his gentle fingers tucked her hair behind her right ear and down her back. He dared to make it a slow event, one of which allowed him time to assess her beautiful face, though once her bashful eyes caught his, he refrained from lingering, "I'll... I'll start it off, how about?"

"Okay," Libby eased as Ace wiped the paste off of his right fingers, and once he got some more paste for his left hand, for easier access to Libby's right shoulder, Chepi resituated herself in his lap and assessed what was going on, once and for all, "Hold still, Chepi... I doubt you'd want any of this paste in your fur."

"She'd be mad, I'm sure," Libby giggled as Chepi uttered a small noise and flicked her ears a bit, Libby flinched as Ace gently pressed the cold paste to the top of her shoulder in a few swipes, "User, that's cold!"

"I'm sorry," Ace chuckled in a knowing way as he continued to gently smooth the soft paste along her bare shoulder, and before long, he coat a good chunk of area over her skin; he began to lack direction, "Okay, so... Where to from here?"

"Well... I-I guess this is where it gets tricky," Libby eased nervously, "I... I would like some of it to come to the side of my chest and collar."

"Oh, well, okay," Ace eased, he desperately tried to show he was collected in this bumbling situation, "Just tell me where to go, and I'll do my best."

Libby nervously eyed him, and she quickly began to wonder just what she had gotten herself into, though she also knew she wanted this tattoo to be just what she wanted, just how she was imagining. She breathed a soft sigh, let go of her worries and knew that if there was anyone to keep secrets, show tenderness and respect, it was Ace. She softly adjusted her sitting position, so that the side of her body was closest to him. She gently grappled the collar of her halter top, pulled it aside and gestured to her collar bone.

"I-I'd like it to come down here, around the side like this. It'll connect in the back, does that make sense?" Libby wondered as she drew out the invisible plan of hers, to which Ace's eyes followed, though he began to feel nervous as she drew her fingers over the very edge of the side of her breast. He swallowed hard and felt as though he was mastering this whole 'keep cool' nonsense, for which he silently gave himself props for.

"Yeah, it does," Ace assured politely, and as he began to drag his finger down his skin, he felt his face heat up.

From the strictness of her shoulder to the soft give of her chest, and the side of her breast, he knew this was likely all he was going to get for awhile, and though he knew not to push her, he was eternally grateful for the sheer amount of trust she was showing him, in this moment. He knew she wouldn't let just anyone touch her, like such. He coat her shoulder, the side of her chest and her upper arm in the nonsense, and as he brought it all together alongside the back and side of her shoulder blade, he heaved a soft sigh of completion and gave Libby a kind smile.

"Okay, now for smaller rings?" Ace wondered kindly, Libby nodded and gave Ace a look of floored gratefulness.

"Yes, please," Libby eased, "I can get the front of my chest... Can you focus on my back?"

"Of course," Ace complied, he knew not to push her limits, and though he so badly wanted to have a second chance to feel her warm, soft skin, the forbidden areas harshly blocked by their weird, obnoxious friend zone, he knew he had to drill patience into his head and let their little, secretive love blossom on it's own.

As Ace rounded out the gorgeous draw of smaller rings on her back and around the side of her rib cage, the two met on a single ring, their fingers both filling the last of the gap, and with the final few dabs, Ace inhaled a deep breath, sat up and looked at their beautiful creation. Libby held out her left arm, so not to smear any of the paste anywhere, and with great success, she raised her eyebrows and peered to Ace in girly glee.

"We did it!" Libby beamed excitedly, Ace nodded and finally relaxed his spine, and with this, Chepi stirred from her small nap and jumped off of Ace's lap to sniffle the grass nearby.

"This was an awesome idea," Ace encouraged as he wiped his fingers free of the paste, on the boulder they sat at; Libby did the same, though as Ace took her right hand in his, he eyed her and gave her a look of mild expectancy, "You... You ready to make it permanent?"

"I totally forgot about that part," Libby gawked quietly with a small laugh as she shook her head and peered down to her right arm in excitedness, "Well... What about our signatures?"

"Signatures?" Ace furrowed his brow and was now confused, he peered to her in gentle question and was greet by her snarky smile.

"A work of art, like this, must be signed," Libby breathed with a small smile as she shook her head in an incredulous way, as if to state that Ace should know this. Ace huffed a small chuckle and peered down to her arm.

"What... Sign our names on your arm?" Ace ogled with a laugh of disbelief, he shook his head in growing confusion, though Libnby shrugged.

"Well... We don't have to write our names, per-say," Libby cooed as she gently bent down, got some paste on her fingers and assessed her arm, "What if we, say... I don't know... Make a design together?"

"Okay," Ace eased in an unsure manner as he gathered some paste onto his fingers, once more, "What design were you thinking?"

"Hmm... Well, why don't we bite the bullet," Libby stated confidently as she opened her right palm, and with a simple dab, she stroked a small portion of ink into the palm of her hand. It was one half of a heart. She finally peered her expectant eyes to his and hoped he'd complete it, "There... We each have a half."

Ace raised his eyebrows and froze. He felt confusion come over him. His mind immediately drew to the little, worn playing card he kept safe in his bedroom; the ace of hearts. His eyes drew back to Libby's in growing question. He knew, at this point in their confused, tangled web of love, that she wasn't simpy going to toy with him, not after their heart to heart. He furrowed his brow a little and had to wonder just what her 'ace of hearts card' looked like. He knew she had nothing tangeable to give him, unlike his playing card. He held his breath and knew he was simply flying by the seat of his pants, though he figured he'd better take her lead, here. He was aware this was a massive show of respect, a show of trust, letting him help her in making a design on her permanent, though the fact that she was allowing him to add his own touch, his own half of their signature, to show their figurative, future code-swap, coming together as one, he knew this was a high honor. Ace finally let out a breath and complied.

"Good idea," He breathed quietly as he completed his half of the heart, on her palm. He smiled down at it and felt as if his heart was now about to pound out the bones of his rib cage, escape and shoot to the moon.

"Thank you," Libby breathed gratefully, she kept her palm open, so not to smush their creation, and as the two rid their fingers of the paste, she peered to him curiously and inhaled a shaky breath, though she straightened her posture with confidence, "Okay... I'm ready."

"You positive?" Ace wondered quietly, though he knew he'd likely have some tinkering to do, anyhow, "Who knows... This might not work without the code room."

"You're a User," Libby stated warmly, though with the girly draw of her words, the flutter of her eyes, the open positioning of her body language; Ace knew he wasn't fluent in 'girl', though he now was wholly confident he could call this attitide, she was slowly giving off, flirting. Ace cocked an eyebrow and gave her a curious smile in return, as she continued on, "You can do anything you set your mind to. That I know of."

Ace huffed a bashful breath, smiled down at the heart in her hand and stroked her little palm and fingers with his strong ones. He steadied his heart, honed his attention down to the painted heart before him and felt his coding welcome in the raw feeling he had been pushing away for so long; love. He allowed all the doors to open, every single last nook of feelings he had for Libby, every reserve he had for allowing himself to feel his romantic emotions, he let off the leash, and with such flood gates opening, he felt a wave of electricity come over him. Without a single hesitation, their skin and coding immediately melted together, and the sprawls of honeycombs and silver circuits flood their arms. Ace huffed a breath of surprise, the allowance of full love coat over their souls, and with said power, he knew this was anything but weakness.

He jolted in surprise, directed his attention to the designs on Libby's arm, and was successful in willing his thoughts into action. With a gentle spark of the game, circuits and grid lines that ebbed and flowed on their skin, he felt the zap of success crawl over him, and once the two nearly flinched with the recoil, he gripped her hand tight in hers and reopened his eyes, only to see the paste-heart in her hand was dried and crackled. Before he could get discouraged, he swiped at the flakes and felt his heart jump, the fact that the design of the heart was successfully inked into her skin for good, he stiffened his spine and let out an elated laugh of joy.

"It worked! Look!" Ace uttered with pure glee as he began to gently swipe at the dried flakes on her arm; she gasped in surprise, and as she began to help him in ridding herself of the flakes, she assessed her brand new tattoo.

"We did it!" Libby squealed in delight as she ogled their handy work, "I love it!"

"Oh, good," Ace huffed nervously, and as the two took the time to get the last of the flakes off, his tender hands swiped to the last bit on her shoulder, though his eyes slowly dragged to hers in a sweep of dewy curiosity.

In a shroud of restrictions that suddenly seemed to slide off of their skin, Ace felt his heart begin to thud with knowing. With the way her wild eyes hooked to his, so innocent and pure, yet he could tell there was that very promiment underlying tone of mischief, something he desperately craved, the adventurous, rebellious young woman in her, her spirit was otherworldly. He felt as if the two were now on the same page, one of itching questions, asking, begging to cheat the system, praying that somehow, any secrets they may create, like wild fire to dry brush, could potentially be kept a secret. With gentle, understanding and determined eye contact, Ace silently promised Libby that anything her heart was about to reveal was strictly safe with him; he hoped, at this point, everything that he's learned of her would add up, and he would adhere to all the right cues where it counted.

* * *

 **A/N : This scene isn't finished, stay tuned! ;) I drew fanart for this scene, on my deviantART titled 'One Love' - username Vyntresser**


	111. Chapter 111

**Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you :) Lemme paint it out for you - so, I live in Thomasville. The nearest Starbucks to me is the one in Tallahassee, the location I work at. It's a 35 minute drive to said Starbucks, and I don't feel comfortable dragging my belongings all the way to work. I do what I can, here in town. Don't worry... I do what's best for me, all while attempting to be efficient.

Also, I don't really know how to describe that to you. Lickity always had a bit of 'tude, even before she could talk. It became a whole lot more prominent once she was able to express her personality with words. Where as, Balba was always sweet and gentle, and even now that she can talk, that still carries over. Just because Lickity gained the ability to talk, or any creature for that matter, doesn't automatically make them sassy. Lickity's always been sassy. It just quadrupled now that she can tell you how it is lol. I appreciate the compliments :)

 **WildVirus :** Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! I'm glad you think so :D

 **Snake557 :** Thanks! :)

 **chuckiboo :** Aww, thank you so much! I really appreciate that!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you!

 **Twizzle Creampuff :** Thank you. I give insight into the other pairings, and give as much depth as I possibly can SHOW - doesn't mean that it's not THERE. That's where your own imagination comes into play, you see ;)

* * *

 ***Chapter 111***

Ace inhaled a silent, steadying breath and peered into Libby's eyes in growing curiosity, one of deep question, as if to hope that this closeness wasn't all for naut. He tenderly held her hand, her right arm all done up in her gorgeous new tattoos, he held his steadied breath and knew that if he were to exhale, it'd come out in a shaky way that would surely give away his nervousness, if his demeanor hadn't already done that. He squinted in further quesiton, as if to make it obvious that he was curious about just where this prolonged eye contact, this stubborn silent game they were caught in. Just as he hoped she'd answer his silent questions, she gingerly raised her eyebrows, softened the lulling blink of her eyes and shyly invited him closer with nothing but the pure magic of her still body language.

Ace felt his heart nearly leap clear out of his chest, and it was in this raw moment did the two find secrecy, clarity with their feelings, without even uttering words, it was clear the two were on the same page; this neverending run around of strict 'friendship only' zone was driving them, and everyone else, bonkers. Ace attempted to slowly lean forward, though he couldn't gather the strength in his spine, both figuratively and literally. He bit the inside of his lower lip and loudly cursed himself, inside his head, to lean in and kiss her, show her just how much he wanted it, cause he knew she wanted it as well, though that itching insecurity, that haunted him, tugged the back of his shirt and begged him to remain painfully nervous and shy.

After the split second argument he had with himself, inside his head, he quickly shot his softening eyes to her mouth, as if to give her slight warning, and before his inner demons could convince him not to, he softly leaned into her personal space and dared to have the confidence needed to get the ball rolling, or so he prayed. As he eased into her warm presence, he was floored to see her meet him half way, as if her prayers had been answered as well, and like magic sprinkled upon a match made in heaven, they eased into a soft kiss. Ace raised his eyebrows in gentle surprise as she gave him an equal amount of needy love in return. With the two held in a whirl of warm enchantment, he felt his heart do all sorts of weird palpitating backflips as Libby's tender hand slid to the side of his neck, as if to express to him that she was bound to encourage this small statement of love to be brought up a small notch.

With how much love, patience and tenderness he had shown her over the course of their confused friendship, he had to wonder if pushing the envelope here wouldn't be unacceptable. With the way her gentle hand slid to his strong neck and shoulder, the heart on her palm pushed in an eager grip to his skin, he wondered if going in for seconds, thirds, fourths even was something he could afford. As they just barely parted, the sound of her inhale on his wet lips, he furrowed his brow and nearly felt his heart ache in a delightful pain he had never endured before. He knew the two had shared a small kiss in the events of Libby running from her tribe, though he also knew they had never endured something as passionate as this. Ace nearly wanted to stop cold turkey, for pushing it any farther meant craving every single last drop of love she had to offer; he almost didn't mind that they could potentially be spot, by their small travelling crew, at any given moment.

Through all the inner arguing and turmoil, Ace shoved it away, pushed a smolder of a smile to his gap-toothed expression and felt bravery soak his circuits once more. In the event of finding his footing in this world, he knew romance was just another thing to the list, and in order to perfect it, practice made perfect; he smirked at the idea, and before he could get one last glimpse of her sunkissed cheeks, the white eyelashes of hers, in his tight, immediate line of sight, he lulled his eyes closed once more and pushed his lips to hers for more. With this loving nudge of a push, he was floored to feel Libby firmly cup the side of Ace's jaw and tug him in deeper, as if to state that she was likely ready to go back on her words of strictness, the jail they had kept their hearts in, was now something they could potentially let free.

Libby just barely giggled on his mouth, a seductive draw of girly delight, yet that dollop of mischeivous sass he so desired, everything about her was nearly the right amount of whatever his soul was craving. How badly he wanted to squeeze his strong arms around her waist, to pull her deep into his chest and never leave this realm of romance they had finally caught themselves in, though he knew that even with this small jump forward, he still had to be cautious of her feelings. Nonetheless, he knew the two could afford to have some fun, and with the small way she was finally opening up to him, in such a raw expression, he was excited the two could at least relish in it for a moment. He tilted his head and eased deeper into their kiss, one of warm breath that mingled and soaked their presence in familiar love, gentle sighs of delight, and as both of her hands finally itched their way to Ace's broad collar, chest and shoulders, he dared to reach for her as well.

Ace so gently slid his larger fingers down the back side of her upper arm, and once he was close enough to her waist, he dared to sink his hand around the small of her back and waist. He was floored in the fact that she didn't shy away from any form of grabby hands, and though he was aware he had to take it easy, for the sake of her fragile heart, he still continued to push the limits and tenderly wondered what was safe. He knew trust wasn't an issue, though knowing just when to cool it was something he was flying blind in. With her flowy, cream halter top and the gorgeous tribal designs at the bottom, it often gave a small peak at her midriff. As his fingers sunk to the soft skin on the small of her back, he was surprised to feel her push even closer to him, as if she nearly didn't want to feel sore over her tragic past, she didn't want it to hinder her, and she was nearly about to not let it hold her back any longer.

Just as Ace could swear she was likely stepping out of her worries, putting everything to the wayside, she softly, and hesitantly broke their quickly deepening kiss. Just as she was about to tug her arms about his neck and keep him latched to her, she gently panted on his mouth, lulled her eyes closed and silently begged him to understand. Ace breathed nervously on her nose and mouth, as well, and as he hovered over her, he smiled; he knew it likely took a lot for Libby to open up like this, so suddenly, and even though it was near painful to quit such a wild ride, he didn't dare show it, not once did he ever want her to believe she was inconveniencing him with her showing mild discomfort. He furrowed his brow, and though he was aware they couldn't physically keep this going, he somehow was hoping he could potentially seal just what had taken place.

"Libby?" Ace prod softly, his voice was deep and caring. Libby raised her eyebrows and just barely pulled her head back to peer into his handsome, hazel eyes. He exhaled a shaky breath and practically had to force all of the courage out of him, before he could chicken out. He slid his hand from her back to her lower arm and held her tight, and as his demeanor grew softer and more vulnerable, he peered to her in delightful humility, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Libby raised her eyebrows in surprise, as if she was certain this kind of question wouldn't come up for another long while, and as she smiled a wide smile, she could see hope flood into Ace's curious eyes. He breathed a small chuckle on her lips, in which she returned and scrunched her shoulders in bashful delight, though with the way she heaved a gentle sigh, looked down and gained a small amount of more distance from him, she felt his hand so tenderly come to her cheek and chin. As he gently made her look him in the eye, he peered to her with the utmost sincerity, a squint of gentle urgency.

"I promise to take care of you," Ace eased honestly, he furrowed his brow and looked into her eyes in a stern way of pure love in which he only knew how to express to her, "We... We may not be prepared to trade playing cards yet, so to speak, but..."

Libby's demeanor softened for him, she slumped her shoulders and tenderly slid her hand to the back of his large one, as if to express she wanted him to keep his hand there. She nuzzled into it gently, though she kept her curious, nervous and elated eye contact to his as he continued on in his deep, gentlemanly tone.

"... We've gotta start somewhere," Ace finally smiled, his cheeks were rapidly getting red alongside his contageous grin of delight Libby knew she couldn't resist. She beamed him an equally as elated smile and looked down to Ace's chest in gentle thought. Ace wrinkled his nose and pushed down into her line of sight, to which she giggled about and scrunched her shoulders. Ace chuckled and gently tapped his thumb to her cheek, just barely, as she still held his hand there, he continued on in a breath of delight, "I'll be the best boyfriend you've ever had."

"I don't doubt that for a second," Libby eased with a small giggle as they sat up again and gained eye contact. Libby sighed, slumped her shoulders and so badly wanted to hold onto fear, so badly wanted to keep romance and anything phsyical at bay, though she knew the two were doomed. She huffed a small sigh of mild relief and nodded a little, "I hope I could be the best girlfriend you've ever had."

"I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't think you would be," Ace grumbled as he shook his head with a nearly annoyed smile, though they both gently laughed about it as Libby beamed him a refreshed smile and nodded a little.

"I will," Libby agreed quietly, and as she tenderly slid her hand to Ace's chest and held it there with great care, she gave him a look of nervous inquisition, "Just, please... Let's... Take it easy. I-I'm still... Well, uh..."

"Hurting?" Ace finished, he knew her now like the back of his hand, though he nodded in agreeing and complied, "I understand... Just say the word, and I'm there."

Libby smiled at his understanding and felt her shoulders relax a little further, and as she peered into his sweet face, someone of which wouldn't dare hurt a fly, she felt wholly at ease. Though she knew any form of too much physical romance would likely set her off and trigger unwanted memories, she knew Ace wasn't one to push or prod, to make someone uncomfortable for his own benefit. She soaked in his warm love and felt safe, even if the ride was still long from being completed, she knew the journey with him would be one of fierce protection, strict loyalty and loads of warm laughs and smiles along the way. She eased into this moment and felt wholly grateful.

"Thank you," Libby stated quietly, she wrinkled her nose and shook her head, "Boyfriend."

"I like the sound of that," Ace stated happily as he nuzzled his nose to hers, and as he dared to steal another peck to her warm lips, in which she eagerly returned, he furrowed his brow and suddenly realized he was now at the mercy of his banterful, teasing family. As they remained close, he huffed a faltered sigh and cocked an eyebrow, "Should we, uh..."

"Keep it a secret?" She teased, though her seductive aura, the scrunch of her shoulders, it nearly tipped Ace over the edge. He cocked his eyebrow further, looked her demeanor over and huffed a small chuckle.

"Yeah?" Ace uttered quietly, she nodded and bit her bottom lip.

"Could be fun, yeah?" Libby's smile was infectious.

"Difficult, but... Yeah," Ace chuckled with a nod, "User knows we don't need the added attention, right now, anyhow."

"I think we'll be just fine," Libby concluded knowingly.

"Did you see Ace after his workout today?" Lickity garbled as she flapped her head, bared her teeth and shook a genuine laugh from her large rib cage. She spread her wings in gentle delight and lulled her head down in a grin, "Hysterical!"

"Why? What happened?" Koko inquired, her chocolate brown hair was in a high ponytail, her orange bikini, underneath her tank top and surf shorts, was slightly wet.

"I thought he was going to die," Nox chuckled, he gestured out towards the trees where they last saw Libby and Ace; they could still be seen, though they were too far to give away anything that they were up to. Nox peered up to Lickity and Balba, from inside the dip of the wash, and waggled his hand about, "Poor guy didn't realize Vanellope could be such a hard ass."

"I coulda told you that," Koko muttered with sass that mocked Tessa's, she crossed her arms and gave Lickity a wide smile, "If Tessa and I are any testiment to it."

"Tessa? Sure. You? Maybe not so much," Lickity stated, as if it were neither a compliment nor an insult, "I watched Tessa and Zed raise Ace. Tessa definitely got some of her tendencies from Vanellope."

"I guess you'll just have to have children, and then we'll discover how much like Vanellope YOU are, Koko," Balba stated quietly, with a small laugh, as she flattened her gorgeous green wolf-like ears and sat on her hindquarters.

"I just turned one, I'd like to experience adulthood before throwing myself into THAT," Koko snipped with a small smile, though Lickity fell silent, stood up a bit straighter, and peered hard in the direction of Ace and Libby.

"What, scared of grey-skinned children?" Nox dared with a cocky smile and muted yellow eyes that looked welcoming, though Koko gaped and gave him a wildly surprised, annoyed look; Nox beamed and began to try and dodge any swats Koko may send his way.

"Looks like there are two pairs of love-birds on this trip," Lickity snipped with a scheming smile as she flattened her ears, "Ace and Libby are over there, making out."

"WHAT?" Nox and Koko both uttered at the same time, as they quickly halted their playful, flirtatious banter.

"Quick! You two start kissing to counter all this love!" Lickity wrinkled her snout and waved her clawed paw down at Nox and Koko, though the two quickly began to scramble up the bank of the wash and disregarded Lickity's teasing.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Nox hissed in annoyance, he held his palm over his eyes, to shield from the sun, though even with that aid, Ace and Libby could only be seen as two bodies sitting under a tree, from very far away, "You're just screwing with us."

"Hey, you wanna know the things I can pick up on, with satellite dishes like THESE?" Lickity bared her fangs, perked her ears taut atop her head and opened them, like large dishes waiting for any blip of information. Lickity's eyes grew wide as she finished her statement in a harsh whisper, "Everything."

"So you can just HEAR them making out," Koko uttered in hard annoyance as her and Nox now faced Lickity and glared to her in disbelief.

"Don't believe me, why don't you ask Ace about it later," LIckity squinted, "I'll bet you a million of Vanellope's famous sugar cookies that I'm right."

"Fine," Nox outreached his hand, to which Balba perked her ears in hard surprise, for she knew Lickity was likely telling the truth.

"Deal!" Lickity beamed incredulously and quickly snatched Nox's hand, in her massive paw, so to seal the deal. She largely shook his hand, which had him largely wobbling, though he caught his footing and gave her a curious, now worried grimace. Lickity released him, spread her wings, and prepared to take off towards the beach, "I'll want those cookies before the sun rises, tomorrow."

Lickity quickly leaped to the sky, flapped her wings and left the three in a flurry of a gust of wind that rippled their hair, fur and clothing. Nox grit his teeth in annoyance, watched her fly off and slumped his shoulders, though he quickly squinted and so desperately tried to see Ace and Libby, in their entirety, though they were just too far away.

"She's gunna win, you know," Balba mumbled in annoyance as she slowly strolled up, "I just want to see how you're going to get the Queen of Sugar Rush to bake your sorry hide a million sugar cookies."

"Oh-hooo, I want a front row seat to that," Koko chimed in delight, though Nox glared at her in nervousness and shook his head.

"I'LL make the damn cookies, then," Nox yelled in annoyance, which had Koko and Balba in stitches.


	112. Chapter 112

**Xaehttium :** YAY I'm glad you're so excited! More is definitely to come, of these two :D That's so sweet of you, thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL! Poor Nox, takes a beating from all angles xD Yes, t'is true! Except this time, it's kept a secret as long as they possibly can haha. Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** YAY finally haha. Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** Haha! I assumed it was you. You're the only one that say 'OML' xD ANyways, thank you! and, omg! D: I'm SO SORRY for your loss... I grew up with cats, so I totally understand that pain. I'm always here if you need to talk :(

 **Nikki Firesong :** FOREVER OBSESS. I'm just glad I'm not the only one xD Thank you SO much! :D I so appreciate it, and I'm glad it brightened your week!

 **chuckiboo :** Whee! :D Thank you! They announce it, officially, eventually - but for now, painful side-stepping around being questioned at all costs! xD I really appreciate the compliment, thank you so much!

* * *

 ***Chapter 112***

"How is this even going to be possible?" Nox hissed in a rush of dreaded concern.

As the day had quickly grown dark by storm clouds, Nox, Koko, Ace, Libby, Chepi, Balba and Lickity all made it back to the Kalivar castle just in time to nearly miss flying through the downpour. Nox ruffled his hair, which had begun to get wet upon descent into the castle's back yard, near Ace's tower. Lickity and Balba could be heard reconvening with Royal, after a long day of being away, and as the rain began to suddenly come down in pelts of chaos, Nox winced and peered outside in surprise. Ace and Libby had vanished to her floor, so to put Chepi inside and keep her dry, though he knew the two would be back down to continue their day-long event of hanging out.

"The million sugar cookies thing?" Koko giggled, "Well, for one, we need to find out if Lickity was telling the truth or not. You can go from there."

"Should I just text Ace really quick, then?" Nox wondered loudly as he began to fumble at his clothes, which were lightly littered with rain drops.

He flicked his wrist a little, to free his hand of water, before he grappled his communicator and powered the screen on, though he flinched as Koko blurt a hard giggle and began to put on her grey hoodie, clad in Sugar Rush logos; the rain began to come down harder, and the sound of the gorgeous, wooden wind chime outside nearly thrashed around.

"And say what? We heard, through the grape vine, that you and Libby were making out, is it true? I'm ACTUALLY an adolescent!" Koko sneered, though she furrowed her brow and gave Nox a confused glower, "Wait a second... How does one HEAR others making out without being like... WAY creeped out?"

"I-I don't know, Lickity's weird as it is!" Nox shrieked as he thumbed through his messages and opened his and Ace's conversation, "That's the part where I'm wondering if she's even telling the truth or not. Wouldn't she like, I don't know... Fly over to Ace and beat him into the ground?"

"Wait, why?" Koko laughed, Nox gestured his arms in hard annoyance.

"I don't know! What do aunts do to their nephews who make out with the girl of their dreams?" Nox rushed, his eyes had begun to glow a brighter yellow, to signify stress, "I've been without any form of family for the past two decades, I don't know how all of this works!"

"Relax, it's fine, just... I don't know... Say you have a question and uh... You'll promise to keep it secret if Ace tells you the truth?" Koko wondered, though they both jolted clear out of their skin as Ace suddenly burst into the front door, letting in the sound of the roaring rain and thunder; the castle's backyard was depleted of any of the Kalivar residents.

"For User's sakes, this storm came out of nowhere," Ace blurt in annoyance as he ruffled his hair and stumbled to close the door. Once it was shut, he heaved a sigh of relief, straightened out his damp clothes and peered into the common room of his castle, the bottom floor. Lightning struck, which had everyone flinch in surprise, though as he made his way into the common room, past the sitting area, he slowed a bit and eyed Nox and Koko with suspicion, "You... You guys okay?"

"Oh, we're fine, we're fine," Nox rushed, though he peered to Koko in dire desperation that went unnoticed by Ace, "Uh... I..."

"I-I think I'm going to head to the main building," Koko chimed, she was hoping that was exactly what that look was for, from Nox, though with the way he bulged his eyes in harder annoyance, she wondered differently. She immediately knew nothing could be done to recover, or make this situation better, so she figured actually leaving would be for the best, "I'm going to see if Tessa needs any help around the house."

"Be careful," Ace worried after her, though as she flashed her nephew a smile, she also recieved the ultimate daggers from Nox, and before she could shoot a look of pure apology to Nox, she slipped out into the storm and rushed across the backyard. Ace furrowed his brow, peered to the door in determination and slowly turned on his heel, to face Nox, "Something's off."

"Huh? What? Nothing's off, everything is ON," Nox attempted to remain cool as he dorkily pointed his fingers and sagged his shoulders, "Wh-We're all uh... ON here!"

"I may be two decades younger than you, but I'm not stupid," Ace rushed in a mutter of annoyance as he crossed his arms, "What's going on."

"Okay, I... Truth is... I made a really ridiculous bet with Lickity that I'm HOPING pans in my favor," Nox rushed in annoyance, though the second Ace dropped his arms and looked intrigued, Nox knew it'd vanish the second Ace found out this topic revolved around him and his brand new relationship.

"You made a bet... With Lickity Split?" Ace muttered with an amused smile, "The fastest, toughest, snarkiest dragon with the best hearing in this whole entire Arcade?"

"I know I'm an idiot and I probably will lose, but... Either way, I'll need your help," Nox rushed, his demeanor sagged, he knew he was likely doomed, with everything Ace had confirmed just now.

"What was the bet?" Ace wondered with a wider smile.

Nox slumped his shoulders and peered to his best friend. He knew this wasn't a huge deal, and the whole castle had been waiting anxiously for any form of a blossom to come of the bud that was Ace and Libby's fragile relationship, though forcing it out into the open, like such, was something Nox unwillingly signed up for. He slumped his shoulders, let a hot sigh through his nose, and dragged his mysteriously golden yellow eyes to the wood floors beneath his bare, damp feet. He finally gave Ace nervous eye contact.

"Well, Lickity... Saw, erm... 'Heard' you and Libby making out," Nox eased as tenderly as he could, he shook his head and furrowed his brow, "None of us believed her, so... She bet me a literal butt-ton of Vanellope's sugar cookies that it was true. I-I guess if I lost, she'd want those cookies before sunrise."

Ace kept a hard glare to Nox's eyes, which was incredibly difficult to read beyond determinted contemplation. Nox held his breath and felt his blood run cold at the icey stare from Ace's typically forgiving hazel eyes, though the second a wide, incredulous smile burst from Ace's face, he threw his head back, held his stomach with his larger hand and bellowed a hard laugh to the ceiling. Nox slumped his shoulders and immediately knew he was doomed.

"Bro, I need your help, how the hell am I going to get Vanellope to bake me all those cookies! Before sunrise, no less!" Nox shrieked, Ace howled with laughter and bent over.

"I can't wait to see just how you're going to ask Ma to bake YOU sugar cookies, for the gluttonous dragon in the backyard!" Ace nearly fell to his knees with laughter, he wiped his eyes free of tears and nearly lost balance. Nox gestured his arms in hard dismay and began to feel terror.

"YOU HAVE TO HELP ME," Nox begged, though he, too, began to stammer his words around laughter, "This isn't funny! I never thought you and Libby would just go make out, so suddenly!"

"Ohh, me neither," Ace's face turned beet red, though he continued on with his laughter and rubbed the back of his head, "I definitely took a risk, with that one."

"What do you think Lickity will do to me if I don't have those cookies?" Nox uttered in sheer terror, though Ace shot him a wide, incredulous grin.

"It IS true, she isn't just a creature that's all bark and no bite," Ace cautioned, which made Nox's facial expression a million times more worried.

"We need to go talk to Vanellope," Nox rushed, though Ace waggled his hand in hard annoyance and stopped Nox in his tracks.

"And say what! 'We're craving cookies! Get to work!'?" Ace stated with a loud laugh, thunder struck before Nox could quickly stab Ace a retort, "You realize she'd glitch-shock me into next Tuesday? We're talking about my grandmother, Queen of Sugar Rush, quickest, toughest bean around. Not to mention, she's my workout partner. I've forgotten what cookies taste like!"

"She's Koko's mom, to boot!" Nox cried in agony, though Ace blurt a harder laugh and tried to steady Nox and keep him from bolting out the door, "'Hi! I'd like to bang your daughter, also! I need a million cookies! GET TO THE KITCHEN!'"

"I'm pretty positive she'd make you sleep in the trees, behind castle grounds," Ace wheezed with laughter, "My mom wouldn't even have any sort of say. You'd be done for."

"For User's sakes... You just HAD to go and kiss Libby," Nox hissed, though he whirled around and gave Ace a knowing beam of returning confidence, "Wait a second! What were you two even doing under that tree, anyways?"

"Nox, I know you like me and all, but I'm not going to make out with you for demonstration," Ace muttered, though he couldn't keep a straight face as Nox looked morbidly disgusted.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING PRIOR!" Nox hollered, his voice rasped; both boys crumpled into laughter.

"I-I was helping her with her new tattoo," Ace wiped his eyes and could hardly breathe.

"Ohh yeah, what was all that about?" Nox shmoozed, though he flinched, waggled his hands and became discombobulated, "Uhg, nevermind! Just... Help me get those cookies! Is there something we can do in the code room?"

"Why don't you just tell Lickity it wasn't true?" Ace stated as he tried to recover from laughing, he shrugged and looked out the window, to Lickity's enclosure, which also housed Royal and Balba, "Then she'll have to give YOU cookies."

"What other noise could sound like make-out noises!" Nox urged in dire annoyance, Ace slumped his shoulders.

"Good point..." Ace muttered, he flinched as Nox swat at him.

"I'm happy for you but you're also ruining my life!" Nox garbled, Ace continued to laugh.

"Why, because Libby beat you to me?" Ace teased, he doubled over with persistent laughter and ducked from more of Nox's swats.

"You need my help anyways, man," Nox stated in annoyance, though Ace gave him a wildly curious look, "Look, here's the deal... You help me get those cookies, and I'll help you in winning Libby over."

"Wh-What do you mean?" Ace wondered in gentle curiousity as his laughter began to finally subside, he clutched his chest in slight pain and beamed a small smile.

"You want Libby to be your girlfriend, don't you?" Nox sharply asked, though just as Ace raised his eyebrows and was to explain to Nox that said milestone was hit, as well, he suddenly realized that Lickity didn't have the entirety of the story; one of which Ace and Libby were planning on keeping their own little secret for now. Ace bit his tongue and nodded to phase his best friend, Nox's eyes lit up, "Sooo, you help me get the cookies, and I'll help you clean up a bit."

"Clean up?" Ace wondered in annoyance, though Nox gestured to his head.

"Have you looked in a mirror, dude? Your hair looks like a sheep that went through a season of escaping being sheared," Nox rushed, Ace blurt a hard laugh and grappled his wild, dark blue waves, of which was beginning to look like a crazy, tangled web of chaos atop his head, all thanks to Ralph's genes.

"I like my hair," Ace muttered with a nervous smile, though Nox waggled his finger at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"You ever wonder why your mom and dad are constantly ga-ga for each other? Why Penny has been seen stealing long glances at Orph? Why Emery and Oliver are likely the peachiest couple here? Why Finn and Tammy are constantly stealing away to his den?" Nox rushed, Ace rolled his eyes and looked away, "Why Koko is constantly trying to touch my hair?"

"Get to the point," Ace waved his hand downward a little and shifted on his feet, though Nox fluffed the collar of his shirt a little, gave Ace a smug smolder and beamed in a cheesy fashion.

"It's all in the hair. Chicks love dudes with good hair," Nox grumbled, "C'mon, man, you're related to nearly all the men in the castle with good hair. You've got to stick to the trend."

"Okay so... What do you suggest?" Ace stated, as if he was desperate for the affection of Libby, though with the fact that it was now suddenly in his grasps, after so long, he knew pretending, from here on out, would be cake; after having to actually pine for it.

"Get me those cookies, and I'll get you a cool hair cut," Nox held his hand out for a handshake, his golden eyes were wild with excitement, though Ace nervously glanced at Nox's hand, "Deal?"

Ace huffed a hot sigh of annoyance through his nose, furrowed his brow and glowered at his best friend, and though he knew changing his hair would likely have little effect on Libby, he knew he had to keep face and hold onto the secret he was so certain was already spoiled. As if given a second chance to keep it hidden, he knew he should likely bend to Nox's silly requests, for now anyways.

"Deal," Ace stated hesitantly as both boys shook hands.

* * *

"It's almost getting too cold for that ride into Ekreth, don't you think?" Tammy wondered; her, Emery, Penny, Vanellope, Tessa, Koko and Taffyta were all lounged about the kitchen and the kitchen island. From the Sky room, all of the castle's boys, excluding Ace, Nox and Throttle, could be heard loudly hooping and hollering over drinks and a game of poker.

"Potentially," Tessa shrugged, her crazy, wavy auburn hair was down and splayed on her back and shoulders. Beyond Ace's and Nox's knowledge, all the girls had been baking yummy pastries for the past hour or two, which included sugar cookies. Tessa huffed a soft sigh and continued to messily frost the few cookies before her, to which Vanellope nervously watched on the side lines, "I mean... We could easily just teleport to the outskirts of the city, so we don't have to ride down the mountains in the cold. Y'know?"

"I'd love to go to the city," Emery chimed with wild, excited eyes as her and Tammy stole eager glances, "Bring all our boys. It'd be fun!"

"All our 'boys'?" Penny muttered in gentle annoyance, her quiet demeanor only just barely subsided, and though Taffyta grunted a girly noise of sarcasm, she knew to keep her quips to herself, for the sake of hers and Pennys fragile relationship, the silent agreement the two had come to, so to keep the peace during this trying time of missing Rancis.

"Crap," Tessa muttered in annoyance as she got frosting on her larger fingers; Vanellope had been grimacing about Tessa's mess for the past minute solid, unbeknownst to Tessa.

"I can fix it," Tammy eased in routine, she gently tapped her hammer to the mess Tessa had created; the cookie reverted back to it's normal, bald state, sans frosting. Tessa slumped her shoulders and gave her older cousin a look of annoyed, yet grateful cheek.

"Yes, all our boys," Emery side-eyed Penny and felt daring, "It'd be fun. Maybe we can get Ace and Nox to go?"

"Bring me and Libby?" Koko stated in a gentle lilt of curiosity, though her eyes lit up with the deliciousness that had happened earlier in the day, "I almost forgot. Lickity saw Ace and Libby making out, earlier."

"WHAT?" Every girl loudly ogled, excluding Penny, though she dropped what she was doing and looked silently intrigued.

"Lickity has shit eye sight," Tessa wagged her hand, "Pretty sure she only saw two kelter-lemurs in heat."

"Easy mistake?" Tammy blurt in hard laughter, which had Vanellope, Taffyta and Emery in stitches; Penny stifled a laugh and looked down to hide her smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean 'see'... Lickity HEARD them," Koko corrected.

"Eh, I don't need this information," Tessa stated in a mutter of growing apprehension, she wrinkled her nose and shot her mother a confused look.

"Finally decided to take the plunge?" Vanellope raised her eyebrows and continued frosting the cookie in front of her, as well, "Looks like my workouts and advice on confidence is paying off."

"Yeah, pretty soon they'll swap codes and want babies," Tammy prod towards Tessa; her face turned pale as she peered to her older cousin in sudden nervousness.

"Grama Tess," Taffyta sneered, everyone roared with laughter.

"It's just gossip," Koko waved her hand, "Who knows if it actually happened or not. I doubt it. Those two are as shy and nervous as new born deer smack dab in the middle of a field in open season."

"I'm in no hurry for grandchildren or anything, but," Tessa heaved a soft sigh, tucked her hair behind her ear and peered down at her bare cookie, "It does suck seeing Ace so down on himself."

"I think he'll be just fine," Vanellope assured, as if she was certain her care would help.

* * *

"Shit, no, I can't go in there, all the girls are together," Nox whispered sharply as he suddenly grappled the chest of Ace's shirt, yanked him back to the corridor of the back door, and brought him out of sight of all the women around the island.

"Libby's not there," Ace sneered, he huffed a silent chuckle and gave Nox a look as if he knew he was simply pushing his last button. Ace flinched as Nox suddenly swat at Ace a few times.

"But everyone else is!" Nox hissed in a sharp whisper, though he grappled his hair and gave Ace a look of floored desperation, "What am I going to do!"

"Look... It looks like they've already started making cookies, anyways. Just... Ask to have some! I'm sure Lickity wasn't expecting a literal count of a million sugar cookies," Ace explained softly as both boys peered around the corner, though a loud few laughs, coming from the Sky Room, startled them in a jolt.

"Fine... I-I'm... I'm going in," Nox stated quietly as he hesitated, puffed his chest and began to saunter into the kitchen; Ace rolled his eyes and slowly followed suit.

"The next trip into Sugar Rush is in a few weeks," Tessa stated, as if she didn't want to get into the details, "I feel bad waiting for so long, in between... But I guess a simple trip to the city would be fine."

"What is there to do, there?" Koko wondered excitedly.

"Oh, y'know, the usual," Tessa shrugged, "The city is similar to Starkrem, erm... How Starkrem USED to be."

"If Starkrem is still standing," Taffyta muttered as she bit down on the fluffy, doughy pastry she had helped make; it puffed a small mess of powdered sugar to the counter below her.

"Starkrem! Is that a kind of pastry? SPEAKING of pastries," Nox rushed as he stepped in and gained the attention of the entire group; Ace rolled his eyes and slipped around the other side of the kitchen island, opposite of where Nox was standing, "Long story short... I lost a bet to Lickity and I need some sugar cookies... Mind sparing me some?"

"You lost the bet?!" Koko wondered loudly in girly excitement as she straightened her spine and peered her excited attention to Ace, though she flinched as Ace grit his teeth in nervousness and just barely shook his head at her, as if to beg not to spoil it.

"What was the bet?" Tessa chuckled as everyone gave Nox their bemused eye contact.

Nox raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise and gently dragged his eyes to Ace's. Ace held his breath, furrowed his brow and kept solid still. He knew the fate of his secret was in Nox's hands, and though he would assume Nox would ultimately have his back, he had to somehow wonder if the cat would be let out of the bag. Nox uttered a huff of a breath, held eye contact with Ace and stammered on a few uncertain words as the hot, solid stares of the intimidating group of girls continued to grow more and more scalding with each passing second.

"I-I... I bet that she couldn't reach sixty miles an hour in three point five," Nox muttered as he cocked an eyebrow and bashfully looked down to the delicious pastries on the counter, though he jolted as all the girls burst into a hard, loud riot of laughter; all except Koko and Penny.

"Wow! Were you half awake amongst making THAT bet?" Vanellope ogled, everyone laughed and laughed. Nox uttered a shaky chuckle, tucked his hands behind his back and nervously eyed Ace.

"Yeah I-I'm... I'mmm, pretty stupid," Nox huffed between his teeth, though Ace slumped his shoulders and gave him a gentle look of appreciation, though Koko furrowed her brow and shot Ace another look of dire curiosity. Nox snapped his fingers a few times, as if to try to bring himself back to the task at hand, and pointed down to the cookies on the counter, "Sooo... Can you guys spare some cookies so I can keep my life? Please?"

"Sure, we were just about to make some more, anyways," Vanellope stated through a curious giggle as she gently nudged Tessa, "Help the poor boy pack up some cookies. Lord knows Lickity needs more of 'em, huh?"

"She definitely has a sweet tooth," Tessa muttered, though she cocked an eyebrow and dragged her eyes to her son; the second they caught gazes, Ace's face turned bright red in embarrassment, as if he had been caught red handed. Tessa furrowed her brow, squinted her eyes and began packing some cookies onto a paper plate for Nox, "User knows making any sort of bet with THAT cat will result in a game over."

"It's definitely what I'm hoping to avoid," Nox uttered through a nervous smile as he graciously took the plate from Tessa, though he gestured for Ace to follow him, "Thanks much! I owe you ladies my life!"

"We could've told you that!" Tammy called after Ace and Nox, though Tessa crossed her arms in continued, annoyed curiosity as she noticed Koko quickly shuffle after them.

"That was weird," Emery mumbled through a giggle, Penny huffed a noise of agreeing.

"Why would you bet that Lickity COULDN'T reach that speed in such a short time?" Penny ogled in quiet, dark annoyance, "Anyone with a brain stem can tell, even just sitting, that dragon can slice the air in half."

"Nox isn't that stupid," Tessa muttered as she heard the back door shut in Ace's, Nox's and Koko's urgency, "I smell a rat..."


	113. Chapter 113

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** It's true xD Tess becoming a mom has definitely helped with that haha. Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** No worries lol. Even before Lickity could talk, if you'll remember, she was always hesitant/angry around Selka, and even showed to be stand offish towards Otto. She was only playful and excited around the people Tessa were with day in and day out. Give any animal the ability to talk - they're bound to grow into some heightened/different traits. No way was I going to keep Lickity a stagnant character. LOL yeah, gossip travels quick around the castle, but Ace knows Nox is trustworthy - Koko, on the other hannnnd xD

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** No worries, I've got my hands full myself haha. Thank you! and OMG I know what cookies you're talking about! Tho I have a stomach the size of a pea, and I can't get through half of one of those w/o wanting to vomit haha. I don't have very much of a sweet tooth, anyhow, but my sister can eat like a billion of those in one sitting, they're her favorite thing xD I prefer crunchy cookies over fluffy ones, like such, anyhow xD

 **MightyNinja2000 :** My NSFW Wrecking Limits tumblr? The username is Vyngasmic

 **Snake557 :** I was hoping that'd be the case haha. Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** lol thank you!

 **Retrokill :** lol! I'm glad xD Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** There's a thousand eyes, mouths and ears, of COURSE nothing is safe! xD

 **WildVirus :** Yeahhhh the poor boys have to keep up with their hair xD LOL! Aw YAY MORE KITTIES!

* * *

 ***Chapter 113***

"Why is everyone so scared of Lickity, again?" Koko wondered quietly, though her voice was almost too quiet against the loud roar of the downpour.

The backyard was near pitch black, excluding their pools' alluring, blue glowing light. Throttle's small abode had windows open, as well as dim lights on inside, assuring the three that Throttle was likely enjoying a quiet night to himself amidst the rainfall. Lickity's enclosure was just around the backside of Throttle's home, and though it looked as if it opened the castle grounds straight into the dark and damp jungles, there was a decent sized wall that hugged their enclosure. It was large enough for the three to spread out and be comfortable, though cozy enough to fit snug onto the back side of the castle's backyard.

"No one is scared of Lickity," Nox assured in a snip of nervousness, as if to prove to himself he wasn't one of the unfortunate souls that were scared.

"Well... My Uncle Orph is, though he won't admit it," Ace breathed through his teeth with a small chuckle, though he eyed Nox with the trembling plate of a decent amount of sugar cookies, "You uh... Gunna be okay there, pal?"

"I'm FINE," Nox uttered as they crossed towards Throttle's abode, which had an over hang to shield them from the rain.

As they passed by Throttle's house, they remained quiet, so not to disturb Throttle. Once they were under the safety of the massive jungle trees, that peeked out of Lickity's damp enclosure, the three looked on into the pitch black void. Rain could be heard splattering the canopy, and though they were shielded from the storm, for the most part, the mossy jungle trees still managed to canal water to the ground in trickling ambience that heightened all of their senses.

"Just... Go in, offer the cookies, and come back," Ace shrugged, "They're probably listening to every word we're saying right now, anyhow."

"Please come in with me," Nox mumbled as his golden, glowing eyes stabbed into Ace's, though Ace grimaced playfully.

"Welp... I'm not the one who made the bet in the first place," Ace sighed dramatically, he cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head towards the pit of nothingness Nox was to get himself lost in, "We'll be waiting."

"Hate you," Nox muttered as he dared to finally step forward, amidst the squishy jungle soil.

Nox began to tremble, though he wondered if it were out of fear, or the fact that the jungle's humidity no longer held heat, during this time of year. He inhaled a shaky breath, set out into the lioness's den and allowed his incredible, glowing eyesight to lead the way. The deeper into the trees he got, the more he began to wonder just how large the three flyers' enclosure really was, and if he had somehow managed to step off of the castle's grounds entirely. He looked up and about, shivering glints of his golden glow cast upon the vines, the mossy stones and bark, and though he could swear he could see small creatures skittering about, fooling his mind and playing tricks on him in the dark, he near jumped clear out of his skin once a grinning huff of fire was seen a dozen feet off. Lickity chuckled fire, a soft puff of a signal to show him just where she was, and as she raised a small branch, lit the tip on fire and held it up, Nox exhaled in relief and quickly shuffled over to the dragon with the bemused, firey grin.

"Last time you make a bet with me, huh?" Lickity chimed as she flattened her ears, though her snout wrinkled in a few sniffles over and over. She eyed Nox, the plate, and Nox once more, "You promise these are Vanellope's? I know what Sugar Rush tastes like... If you just concocted these in the code room, I'll be able to tell..."

"They're from Vanellope," Nox huffed in mild annoyance, he dropped any snarky attitude he had ever had with Lickity and allowed humility to flood him. He unravelled the tin foil, on the plate and revealed two dozen sugar cookies to Lickity, "It's... It's not the million count you'd like, but... Hopefully you'll understand."

Lickity was still, she held the torch up in between them and eyed Nox in a gentle moment of observation. Nox looked defeated, though somehow, the fact that she won, ultimately proving Ace and Libby's romantic notions from earlier, had her softening to Ace's best friend. Nox was an intelligent, snarky and unwavering individual, and though Lickity was aware he made this bet solely on his confidence and unwillingness to lose, at all costs, she was even more aware that Ace's feelings and the like came first. She recogized this due to the fact that Nox didn't come stomping into her enclosure to flood Lickity with further gossip. With such, Lickity huffed a small breath, smiled down to the soil and stuck the torch upright into the ground, so she wouldn't have to hold it.

"Here," Lickity eased, she flattened her ears, so not to look intimidating, took the plate from Nox's gentle grey hands and unravelled the tin foil further. She took a small cookie, in her fingerpads, an handed one to Nox, "We can share. You have some."

Nox raised his eyebrows, and though the plate was now in Lickity's possession, she handed him a few more sugar cookies, which piled nicely in his hands. Nox peered down at the delicious, fluffy, sugar-sprinkled cookies for a moment before he squinted and gave Lickity his curious, golden stare. Though Lickity was a playful, abrassive, and often fearsome creature, the gentle tenderness in her massive green eyes was beyond welcoming; her pupils were dialated to the right degree, head tilted for a touch of cuteness and as her large body remained frozen, she remained in her rare, soft demeanor, so to prove to Nox that she wasn't all that overstimulating, from all angles.

"Thank you," Nox huffed with a smile that crinkled at the corner of his mouth, in plucked delight, and as the two shared a few silent moments of chewing, Lickity perked an ear and eyed Nox further.

"I sometimes DO wonder if everyone is scared of me," Lickity's voice was tender, it was in this moment Nox wondered just where Balba and Royal were, in this massive enclosure, though he tried to shrinkwrap this delicate moment between the firecracker that is Lickity. Lickity shrugged, rolled her eyes and flicked her ears a bit, so to get droplets of water off of them, "I sometimes feel fear in Zed's attitude."

"Zed?" Nox inquired in disbelief as he shook his head, "Zed's the-"

"Head of this game," Lickity concluded for Nox, she nodded and looked down, "I know I can get crazy sometimes. I just like to have fun... No one really understands my abrassive version of 'fun', though."

"I don't mind it," Nox chuckled, he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, "I don't think anyone does... Though, I'll never understand why Orph gives you those dirty looks."

Lickity sighed and looked down with a nearly annoyed frown, though she glanced at Nox, as if to wonder if revealing hers and Orph's dark past, to someone who wasn't family, could potentially be safe. Nox remained still, the glow of his eyes were inviting, and though he had that peculier stare, the square pupils that somehow made him seem alien, he still soaked the universe in understanding. With how much lonliness he had seen, it was clear he didn't want said treatment for anyone, ever, and was prepared to soak even the coldest of souls with any amount of love he had to give, even if it was stumbling and awkward at times.

"Orph and I go way back," Lickity admitted quietly, and as she split the last of the cookies with Nox, she handed him back the plate so he could return it to the kitchen sink to be cleaned. Lickity sat on her hind quarters, making her a bit taller than Nox now, and she dragged her nervous stare around the dark trees, "He, uh... He held me captive, long before Tessa found me. Long before I could talk."

"... You couldn't always talk?" Nox tip toed, he didn't want to accidentally say something to get this nocturnal beast to shy away, once more.

"No," Lickity huffed as she sagged and smiled, her eyes looked down to the damp soil, "...My sister and I were captured as small pups... Orph had set up traps... I'll never forget the night we wandered too far from the nest."

"...How long were you with Orph?" Nox prod, he felt as if he now suddenly had a billion questions, though he tried to collect his thoughts.

"About a year. We were raised for racing events Orph had put together, with a local tribe that trapped dragons, as well..." Lickity began to look downtrot, which cued Nox.

"I'm... I'm assuming this all wasn't mutual," Nox uttered sorrowfully, Lickity nodded.

"We were beat, whipped, hit, burned," Lickity listed, "He... He even threatened to clip my little sister's wings because she wasn't obeying orders."

"Well, so... How are you both under the same roof, once more? How is it possible to live life knowing your previous captor is a few dozen feet away?" Nox gestured in the direction in which he came, though Lickity shook her head and shut her eyes tight.

"It takes all of me... Every day... Not to slice him in half and make him pay for what he did to me and my sister," Lickity growled as she flattened her ears harder, though she shook her head and peered to Orph, "Zed saved us... I don't think Orph knows that Zed's the reason he lost ownership of me and my sister."

"So... Where is your sister?" Nox prod, as if to hope to lighten the mood.

"I have no idea," Lickity shrugged and peered up, as if to potentially seem hopeful, "I... I flew away, as I'm assuming she did too, but I was too weak. He'd go days without feeding us. I fell to the jungle floor and blacked out... I could hardly take care of myself. A few days later, I bumped into Tessa."

"Before you could talk?" Nox wondered curiously, Lickity nodded and finally smiled.

"Yeah, that was an interesting encounter... She was lost, had fallen out of a tree and was badly injured," Lickity gestured her paw a little, "We... We sort of leaned on each other, and once I knew she was with Zed, I stuck with them like glue."

"The rest is history," Nox stated through a breath of mild amazement, Lickity chuckled.

"If you can imagine the look on Orph's face when I returned, with Tessa on my back," Lickity smiled, as if all this pain was something they could potentially get through, though she sighed and dragged her eyes back to the ground, "Not a day goes by where I hope he gets on his knees and apologizes for how awfully he treated me..."

"Orph... Orph wouldn't do all that garbage now, would he?" Nox worried, though Lickity shrugged.

"He's softened up a lot, I can tell... Having a nephew definitely helped," Lickity nodded, "It also helps that there are now women in the castle, to take care of and... One in particular he seems to b pining after," Lickity muttered in annoyance.

"... You think you could talk to him about it all?" Nox wondered quickly, though he immediately knew he likely shouldn't have suggested it.

"Not much talking would get done," Lickity snapped as she began to look agitated, "He's never going to come around... I have to live with the fact that we're going to forever hate each other. Only reason he's not trying to trap and control me now is because he knows not only Tessa and Zed, but the entirety of the castle would slaughter him. The kid has a pretty dark history. Something's up. He needs power, he's hungry for it..."

"Orph?" Nox squinted, as if he couldn't believe it.

"This year has softened him a lot," Lickity garbled, "You don't know him like I do..."

"I'm... I'm really sorry, Lickity, I had no clue," Nox worried, Lickity shook her head, as if to state to Nox that it wasn't his fault.

"People don't realize the pain they bring upon animals they abuse, because they can't talk or fight back," Lickity grit her teeth as her pupils began to shrink in growing, seething anger, "This old bat just so happens to be fortunate enough to finally get in his face and tell it like it is..."

"... Have you?" Nox pressed with a cheeky smile, which cued Lickity to apprehensively lighten up.

"What do YOU think?" Lickity stated in an annoyed, incredulous tone with a wide, fang-filled smile; Nox knew his answer remained in her fiery gaze.

"Yes," Nox quipped, Lickity nodded with a small chirp of a victorious laugh.

* * *

"Alright, Tess, just... Show me the problem," Ralph uttered in a small grunt.

The night had grown old, racers and fellow house mates trailed the kitchen in tired scuffs of moseying, as if to fight the urge to part from friends for the night. Ralph, Taffyta, Vanellope, Zed and Tessa quickly made their way to the front foyer and massive front door of their abode, and once Zed opened the doors that deeply croaked open, to reveal the gentle trickle of rain, Ralph furrowed his brow in growing contemplation and peered to Tessa in mild confusion.

"I don't know what's wrong with the coding," Tessa uttered in gentle annoyance as she pushed past her parents, fiance and aunt. She stumbled out into the front porch, digital pad brightly aglow, and though she tried to hide her agitation, the fact that her heart was always on her sleeve made it near impossible. They slowly approached the overhang, which had lightly caved in from the heavy winds the castle had just endured. Tessa pointed firmly and shook her head, "It's just not letting me correct it, in the code room, for some reason..."

"It's not fully broken, the coding isn't snapped from the frame of the house, that's why it's not letting you alter anything," Zed mumbled as he rubbed his face, "It needs to break entirely before the coding of the house will allow you to toy with it."

"You just had to set it in permanence," Tessa muttered, Zed cocked an eyebrow and gawked.

"Uh yeah," Zed huffed with a sarcastic smile, "It's a HOUSE. We all live in. Sorta has to be permanent, love."

"Blue-bird has points, Tessy," Taffyta stabbed, Tessa shook her head and gently gestured up to it.

"Well... Only way we can alter anything is if it's wrecked, sooo... Take it away, dad," Tessa barked as she gently pushed the pad into Zed's chest and removed herself from the situation; the four firmly watched Tessa in surprise, though she quickly left and didn't look back.

"What crawled up her ass," Taffyta muttered in annoyance, though she eyed Zed and looked for cues, evidence to give away if the two were secretly fighting or something along the lines of such.

"When you find out, you be sure to let me know," Zed sighed as he shook his head and furrowed his brow, "She's been cranky since we returned from Sugar Rush."

"What part am I wrecking?" Ralph grumbled in annoyance, as if Tessa had been pushing his buttons lately.

"This overhang," Zed pointed as the two lightly got rained on, it sagged in the center and spilled rainwater to the stone steps underneath, "I guess I didn't storm-proof the castle as well as I thought I did."

"What you need is jawbreaker," Vanellope chimed softly as her and Taffyta remained close, so to help eyeball the situation, though she crossed her arms and lightly shivered, "That crap is indestructible."

"Oh, honey," Ralph muttered, his voice crackled as he shot Vanellope a snarky smile to which she cued to, blushed cheeks and an eyeroll full of sass.

"Wai-wai-wait!" Taffyta rushed as Ralph raised his fists and bit his bottom lip, though he flinched and slumped his shoulders as he peered his eyes to her in confusion. Taffyta beamed a cheeky smile and wrinkled her nose, "Say the line."

"I'm not saying the line, Taff," Ralph grumbled, Vanellope and Zed stifled laughter.

"C'mon, it has to be satisfying whenever you wreck crap, right?" Taffyta whined with a wide smile, "We never get to hear you say it, anyways."

"YOU guys might not," Vanellope choked into her arm, though she straightened her hair and raised her eyebrows as Taffyta shot her a look of floored disgust.

"I'm not saying the line," Ralph closed his eyes and sagged his knuckles to the wet ground near his feet in mild annoyance.

"You're no fun," Taffyta snapped, Ralph opened his eyes and wrinkled his nose.

"It doesn't bring ME any satisfaction," Ralph argued with a laugh as he gestured to the broken overhang, "I say it twelve million times a day."

"It'd be like Tammy stating she was going to 'fix it' every time she did," Zed chuckled as he lowered the digital pad and smiled to Taffyta in gentle apology.

"She just did, inside," Vanellope peered into the open front doors, to the group that lingered at the kitchen island, excluding Tessa, "Tessa was making a mess of the cookies she was frosting, and Tammy stated that she could fix it before she, well... Fixed it."

"SAY THE LINE," Taffyta pleaded in a whiny, playful tone as Ralph grunted and flagged her down.

"Taff," Ralph urged in a roll of throaty annoyance.

"LINE!" Taffyta pointed with a laugh as Ralph finally lifted his fists and grit his teeth.

"I'm gunna wreck it!" Ralph urged, though not so much in his enthusiastic game-call, and more so in pure annoyance that could quickly grow to be true anger.

"Yay!" Taffyta called, though she wildly flinched and covered her head as Ralph brought his large, wrecking fists into the overhang, ultimately thrashing debris to the front patio; Taffyta, Vanellope and Zed scurried away as Taffyta meeped a nervous giggle of conclusion, "...Yayyy?"

"At this point, you're safer asking Ralph to say the line than Tessa, so I guess you get to keep your game-over score stable, for now," Vanellope muttered, "I don't know what's gotten into her."

"Mood," Taffyta grunted as she straightened her hair and nonchalantly sunk her hands into the warmth of her front hoodie pocket, Zed stepped closer to the two, though his eyes now fixated to the coding on his digital pad, so he could now properly fix the overhang.

"Thanks, Ralph," Zed stated kindly as Ralph dusted his hands free and stepped in to shelter from the rain.

"No problem," Ralph sighed as he peered out to the rain, past the mess he had created, though he knew it would ultimately help Zed out anyhow, "I don't know... She's been real short with everyone, as of late."

"She's... She's got a lot on her mind," Zed sighed with a frown, though Vanellope eyed him, as if to know just exactly what their worries were.

"Does it have to do with Sugar Rush? I hope she knows she's not the only one worried about it," Taffyta mumbled as she shook her head and glanced to Vanellope.

"Yeah, it... It goes deeper than that, as well," Zed huffed, though with a few game-assured noises, the overhang quickly blipped into correction and looked as good as new. Zed sighed, powered down the digital pad and held it at his side as he glanced to the three about him, "I just... I've tried everything. There are moments where she smiles, is kind and is her normal self, but, there's just... A lot to think about."

"I think she enjoys the trips into Sugar Rush, honestly," Ralph stated softly as he glanced indoors, as if to find Tessa's whereabouts, "She was in a good mood prior, but then upon return, she... Hated everyone."

"She doesn't hate anyone," Vanellope assured as she furrowed her brow and peered to Zed knowingly, "She just... Longs for correction. She's always been one to want order and absolute direction."

"I hope she doesn't think she's like... Failed, just because we go into Sugar Rush and come back without Radex's head on a platter," Ralph grimaced in gentle annoyance, though Zed smiled and shrugged in sorrowful delight.

"I'm likely not making matters any better, for her, either," Zed sighed, though Vanellope raised her eyebrows, as if she was surprised Zed was about to reveal the desires of their hearts, something he was nervous even telling Vanellope the evening they were on scout, in Sugar Rush.

"What? Why?" Ralph inquired, though he seemed more curious than upset.

"Well... She uh..." Zed's cheeks turned red as he rubbed the back of his head, though he uttered a small, bashful chuckle as Vanellope nudged his chest, to silently tell him to get on with it. Zed peered to Ralph with a dollop of handsome humility and sighed, "She's got baby fever."

Ralph kept his brow furrowed in mild confusion, though as the information hit him, he huffed a small chuckle and beamed in the confusion that only just finally lifted. He finally raised his eyebrows, slumped his shoulders and peered to Zed a little harder, though as he ran through the motions, the quick reverberation of protectiveness, letting go, acceptance and then excitement, he finally beamed a genuine smile of understanding and nudged Zed's shoulder.

"That's rough," Ralph uttered, everyone joined in understanding laughter and gave Zed apologetic smiles, "I see your guys' dilemma..."

"Sorry for the TMI," Zed mumbled nervously, he looked down and sighed, "I-It's a lot to handle, right now. She's mad at me."

"She's not mad at you," Taffyta shook her head, "She's mad at the situation. She wants another baby, but there's so much to do. You want to be responsible, but she wants to sink into something she's comfortable with. There's nothing more innocent and sweet and snuggly as a newborn. That's where she WANTS to be right now, but she's also aware that's not where she's NEEDED right now."

"She wants something else to focus on," Ralph nodded softly, "She's a wonderful mother, so granted, it could be genuine baby fever that's keeping her hoping, but... You know it's also underlying 'escape route' she's wanting, as well."

"Any excuse to stay home and take care of baby number two," Vanellope chimed as she glanced to Ralph, though Ralph pointed at her.

"Like mother like daughter," Ralph grumbled, Vanellope beamed as Zed peered to her curiously.

"Oliver's loading bar just so happened to appear one day after Starkrem's economy crisis," Ralph muttered in playful annoyance, Vanellope covered her face and giggled.

"Ohhh, so this is a trend," Zed crossed his arms and eyed Vanellope, "Left out that little detail on our pep talk, huh?"

"Yes... Thanks, Ralph," Vanellope sneered, Ralph crossed his arms and looked proud. Vanellope sighed, rolled her eyes and gripped Zed's upper arm, "Tess will come around. This was, after all, the first trip into the game since she found us, after all. Each trip will get easier."

"Or harder," Taffyta stabbed, though she cocked an eyebrow as if to prove she had a solid point.

"Just talk to her," Ralph grunted, "We're going to be having a meeting, this weekend, about your guys' next trip into Sugar Rush, who it'll involve and the like... She's going to have to be at that meeting."

"You don't think she'll try and skip it, do you?" Taffyta wondered, Zed furrowed his brow and peered down to the tiles below in contemplation.

"If we let her fester with her confused feelings, maybe," Vanellope shrugged, "You remember how she was, growing up... Always running off."

"Yeah, there was that one time she wanted to game jump to be with-" Taffyta cupped her hands, gasped for dramatic appeal and gave Zed goo-goo eyes, "Zaney boy!"

"...What?" Zed gawked with an incredulous grin as everyone chuckled.

"Those were the good days," Ralph sighed as she shook his head and lulled his eyes closed, "Our only issue was the mischievous boy Tessa was interested in."

"Looks like I'm not that easy to get rid of," Zed tucked his hands behind his back, puffed his chest in pride and beamed a cheeky smile.


	114. Chapter 114

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** YES SASSY DRAGON SISTERS lol!

 **Retrokill :** Haha, I guess I'll find out for myself one day xD Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** lol! thank you!

 **JaySketchin :** Thank you! Aww, nooo. Lickity was right - Orph has definitely softened. There will be more development of the two, that will answer further questions :)

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Me too! Those are exactly the cookies I like xD Weird! Yes, Orph and Lickity definitely have an interesting relationship, towards the end of the story, so that'll be fun to expand on. Thank you so much! :D

 **Snake557 :** That's true - Lickity's not all greed xD Thank you!

* * *

 **A/N :** **Hey guys! Thanks SO MUCH for your patience. There's been a lot of 'throw around' on me end - deals with the house, we were going to be put in, were extended well into January, and we need somewhere to live ASAP, so we're sort of scrambling to be finally put somewhere permanent. I still don't have wifi, but I am currently bumming my own hotspot because it's nearly 1am and I'm not about sitting in a dark parking lot to get this chapter out xD**

 **This chapter is really long, partially because this is a chapter I actually have been brainstorming for, for awhile now. A few months, likely. This chapter is very important to me, and I'm really trying to round Ace and Libby's relationship. I apologize for the 'filler'ish chapters, here, but I just need to get all this drama out of my system xD There are a handful more chapters here, that happen, before the crew goes back into Sugar Rush, so it'll be shortly here! Don't fret!**

 **ALSO, the sketch dump is STILL a thing and I haven't forgotten about it! I just can't wait to finally be settled, and I can get the ball rolling once more. I have a decent chunk of the sketch dump already finished, and once it's posted, you guys will certainly know about it! Thank you again! You guys ROCK!**

* * *

 ***Chapter 114***

"Uncle Orph is abusing the group chat, again," Ace mumbled in gentle annoyance, him, Koko, Nox and Libby all enjoyed a nice late lunch in the tower's common room, and although the downpour of the night prior had let up, it still drizzled rain.

"I can tell," Koko eased in gentle annoyance, her and Libby were sat on the large, swooping couch together. Nox was sat at the round table across the room while Ace idly tidied up the place, though Koko tilted her head back, on the headrest of the couch, and eyed Ace from her upside down view, "Say... When Tessa and Zed get married, what will that make Orph, to me?"

Nox furrowed his brow and looked up in confused contemplation.

"Tessa and Zed aren't married?" Nox wondered, as if this was genuine news to him; Ace chuckled and looked down to the cleaning rag he was using on the kitchen's sink.

"Nope," Ace chirped as he raised his eyebrows, as if to be playfully judgmental, "I was born out of wedlock."

"They didn't want to try and have a shot gun wedding?" Nox continued to press with a chuckle, though Ace dropped his sarcastic act and rolled his eyes.

"It's deeper than that, dude," Ace urged with a wrinkle of his nose, "Its more than just a simple wedding. My dad would become a prince, future King of Sugar Rush. Having a simple shot gun wedding, just because my mom was pregnant with me, would be a huge disrespect to my grama's kingdom. Me being born out of wedlock was already wrecking limits, anyhow."

"I keep forgetting you're royalty," Nox chuckled, though they both panned their stares to Koko, who remained in baited wait.

"... My question still stands," Koko giggled, Libby burst into a small laughing fit as well.

"Oh, sorry," Ace eased as he continued to wipe down the counters, "Well, when they get married, that'd make Orph my mother's brother in law... Or some form of. So I guess... Since you're my mom's sister, that'd make Orph your brother in law as well... Right?"

"Y'lost me," Nox mumbled, Koko and Libby continued to gently laugh.

"So, would all of them be considered in line for the throne, then?" Look giggled, Ace furrowed his brow and looked off in thought.

"No, because it depends on blood. The next person in line to rule, from my mother, would be my uncle Oliver," Ace shrugged, "Vanellope is the ultimate monarch, so anyone with her coding is in line for the throne."

"Good... I don't know I can imagine a world where someone with the username 'Orph4prez' is in charge of a whole entire game and kingdom," Koko laughed as he corrected her sitting position; her and Libby shared bulged eyed glares and continued to snicker to each other.

"Nox... I think I'll take you up on that hair cut," Ace mumbled as he ruffled his thick hair, it was beyond poofy and out of control; he could see Nox perk up in his peripheral.

"I'll get the scissors!" Nox uttered with pure glee as he suddenly bolted across the common room, out the door and up the stairwell.

"What the heck?" Libby pressed as she sat up a little higher, her and Koko beamed curious smiles as Ace rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I... may have made a huge mistake," Ace muttered in hard annoyance as he gave Libby a small, knowing look; Libby bulged her eyes in gentle annoyance and opened her mouth to speak, though Koko quickly beat her to it.

"You agreed to let Nox cut your hair?" Koko shrieked in delight, Ace slumped his shoulders and gestured to himself.

"I mean... Sure," Ace grumbled in gentle annoyance as he slumped his larger hands and arms to his sides, he finally grunted a small laugh as Libby and Koko quickly unraveled themselves from the couch.

"I've never been more excited!" Nox squealed in boyish delight as he barged back into the common room, though this time he had Royal hot on his tracks with eager golden eyes of his own.

"I've GOT to see this," Royal uttered through grit fangs of a smile, his large body bumbled into the large common room, and as his curl of a chameleon tail closed the door right behind him, Nox flung himself into the kitchen, yanked over a chair and began to scramble to the cabinet for a towel.

"You're done for," Koko giggled.

"What's this about?" Libby hissed a silent whisper as Koko removed herself from the two and had begun helping Royal and Nox prepare the area for cutting hair.

"In order to, well... Keep our relationship a secret, Nox weaseled me into agreeing to let him cut my hair," Ace whispered in return; Nox, Koko and Royal loudly bickered and laughed with each other.

"... Why," Libby looked incredulous, though she cocked and eyebrow and eyed Ace's hair; for the first time her attention had been brought to it, she realized just how wild of a mane he had garnered.

"He's currently trying to make me look better so you'll... show further interest in me, or something," Ace rolled his eyes, though he was far from annoyed; his cheeks held a decent amount of an embarrassed red as Libby crossed her arms and giggled.

"Sooo... I should play the part? Maybe flirt a little harder?" Libby eyed Ace with great cheek and nudged Ace's chest, to which Ace rubbed the back of his head and looked down.

"Whatever keeps them guessing," he eased quietly, though Nox burst into their quiet conversation and nudged Ace's elbow.

"I promise not to shave it all off," Nox urged as he began to the Ace to the chair he had prepared, "Libby, hold onto yourself, you'll have yourself a changed man after all this."

"Might as well castrate me, while you're at it, huh?" Ace grumbled, to which Libby and Koko were in mild hysterics over.

"Alright, so what are we going for, then?" Nox cheesed, Ace hesitantly sat down and gripped his hands to the tops of his thighs; he was clad in comfortable back sweats and a blue tank that showed off his now becoming slimmer body.

"Give him Orph's cut," Koko stifled a hard laugh; Libby covered her mouth and raised her eyebrows as Ace sent his aunt a look of death.

"I will wreck down this tower if you did that," Ace grumbled, Nox waved his hand and got the buzzer ready.

"C'mon, I'm not that cruel," Nox stabbed.

"I think Orph is the only one that could pull off that hair style anyways," Libby giggled as her and Koko relaxed near and about Ace and Nox.

"Maybe something similar to Zed's hairstyle?" Nox wondered, Ace shrugged and nodded a little, "Maybe a little bit tighter on the sides...?"

"I could live with that," Ace sighed, "Anything to thin it out. I feel as tho I could very easily have my own ecosystem."

"You probably do, looks like you took after my dad," Koko sneered, Ace nodded, as if to seem only mildly displeased.

"No one's hair is crazier than Ralph's," Libby pressed as she eagerly watched Ace's calm facial expression slope to gentle fear as Nox switched on the buzzer.

"Relax, it'll be fine," Libby eased with all the tenderness she could muster as she reached out and gently squeezed his shoulder; Ace dart his eyes to hers and honed in, as if her love and gentleness was something that was allowed to be given to him on a wider plane of possibility.

"I have a steady hand," Nox cocked an eyebrow and sarcastically shot a look at Koko; she gaped and uttered a noise of mild, playful offense at Nox's cheeky, seductive banter, though Nox huffed an apologetic laugh and shook his head, "I won't buzz your ear off or anything."

"You'll be in a whole world of hurt if you do," Ace grumbled as he began to notice decent sized chunks of his hair begin to litter the front of his chest, which was draped in a towel, so not to get stray hair everywhere.

"See? Easy peezy," Nox stated warmly, Koko and Libby eagerly watched Nox's handiwork, and as Nox chipped a decent amount off the sides of Ace's head, he switched over to scissors, so to even put the hair on the top and center of his scalp, "I should open my own barber shop."

"And call it what? Nox's Scissors?" Look giggled, Libby looked on in thought.

"Golden Scissors," Libby added, Koko laughed in agreeing.

"I'll-be-wrecked-if-I-mess-up Scissors," Ace grumbled, though everyone knew at this point that he was just being playful.

"C'mon, have a little more faith," Nox stated warmly, though he playfully eyed Libby and wondered just what was on her mind, he diligently switched to using the buzzer, "Alright, Libby, whatcha thinkin'? What would look good?"

"Hmm," Libby crossed her arms and fingered her lip, she peered to Ace in contemplation and took note of the look of pure, apologetic, cheeky nervousness plastered on his face. She giggled, shook her head and beamed him a smile of reassurance as she stepped a little closer, "Maybe make it shorter here, near his ears, and make it a gradual thing where it gets longer, y'see?"

"Yeah," Nox uttered softly as both him and Libby leaned in closer to Ace's head, like a science experiment, a test under their inexperienced hands, Ace rolled his eyes and lulled them closed in playful defeat.

"Maybe a chunk off the top," Royal gently snickered, Nox stifled a small laugh.

"Oh, it'll be fine," Libby cooed in a small sigh of mild, playful annoyance as she nudged Ace's chin, with the back of her fingers, just barely, "If Nox royally screws up, then, well... There's always the code room to reverse it."

"I didn't even think about that," Royal suddenly grumbled as he sagged his wings to the wooden floors below and huffed a hard, long sigh, "Man, that ruins everything! I was planning on bumping Nox. This sucks."

"Sooo glad you're lookin' out for me, there, Roy," Ace blurt, everyone broke out in laughter as Royal flattened his ears and gave the back of Ace's head a mischievous look.

"What are brothers for?" Royal garbled in an incredulous tone as he looks up to the ceiling in annoyed thought.

"Well, kinda sucks when one brother has brilliant ideas and the other is holding a buzzer to my scalp," Ace barked, though Libby raised her eyebrows in plucked delight and dragged her delighted eye contact to Nox; he, too, looked taken aback, though he long blinked a few times and tried his hardest to bite his lip through his smile.

"Baww," Koko suddenly blurt, "You two are adorable."

"Don't make this about me," Nox argued in annoyance as Ace uttered a hard chuckle and closed his eyes.

"I think thats code for 'I love you'," Koko stated in sing-song, though her and Libby couldn't help but laugh.

"I can make Ace hate me real quick," Nox mumbled, though Ace furrowed his brow in confusion as more hair trickled down in front of his eyes.

"You missed a spot," Libby stated softly as she motioned to a small patch near Ace's temple, Nox furrowed his brow harder and bit his lip in a purely evil grin of delight as he gripped the buzzer with both hands and went in. Libby choked a laugh and urgently grappled Nox's arms, "No, not like that!"

"I'm this close to calling it quits, and just looking like THIS, I don't care!" Ace yelled as he jumped up and out of his seat; everyone was in hysterics as he bent over and brushed his cleanly shaved sides of his head, to rid his scalp of loose hairs.

"Looks good as is, anyways!" Royal chimes as Ace quit was he was doing and finally stood up straight.

"No, get the small patch you missed, Nox, it's going to drive me nuts," Libby muttered as she grappled Ace's arm and pulled him back to the chair.

"In a good or bad way?" Nox cheesed, he waggled his eyebrows in an immature way though he choked a noise of grief as Libby suddenly swat at his chest a few times and snatched the buzzer out of his hands.

"I'll do it," Libby snipped.

"Oh, thank User," Ace sighed as he shoved his face into his hand and slumped his shoulders, though he finally straightened as Libby finished off his hair cutting adventures and swiped his shoulders free of stray, dark blue hairs.

"Done," Libby stated with a wide smile as she shut the buzzer off and put her hands on her hips. Ace peered up to her gratefully before he dragged his appreciative stare to Nox and nodded a little. Nox nodded in return and peered to Libby as she continued on, "That looks great! Sort of a... Zedian-Orph muxture, huh?"

"Not too short on the sides, not to wild and crazy on top," Nox added as Koko stepped closer to the three,

"Thanks guys," Ace uttered as he cocked an eyebrow, he was more than prepared to be out of the lime light.

"So, what do you think, Libby, huh? Handsome dude, yeah?" Nox pressed as he motioned towards Ace and, once more, waggled his eyebrows in a teasing, playful kind of way that had Libby giggling in confusion.

"Yes, Nox, you should... You should make a move before I steal him from you," Libby droned as she eyed Nox, though his facial expression washed flat in annoyance.

"For User's sake," Nox muttered as he took the buzzer from Libby, wound the cord and began to clean up; and though Koko was a laughing mess, she began to diligently help Nox.

"Yes, it looks great," Libby eased with a giggle understanding as she caught eyes with Ace. He peered to her curiously, and though he ran his fingers over the strange sensation on his scalp, he quickly stood and paced in search for a mirror.

"Looks like Orph is going to be making drinks and stuff poolside tonight," Koko chimed from across the room, as she thumbed through her communicator, "That's why the chat has been blowing up... Everyone is pitching in ideas on what drinks he should make, and the like."

"Should be fun," Libby eased as she helped Nox sweep up the loose blue hair on the wood floors.

"I'm sure it's an excuse to use the pool likely one last time before it gets too cold," Koko suggested as she put her communicator down and finally dragged the chair from the kitchen back to it's proper spot at the table across the way.

"Nah, it's likely the first day, of the season, where the pool will be heated," Ace eased as he assessed himself in the mirror. He finally smiled a genuine smile, looked over his new do and felt a wash of relief crawl over him; the fact that he not only looked half bad, but Nox a decent job cleaning him up, "Uncle Orph will do anything to keep so the pool is a thing to be used year round. Y'should've seen him on Christmas, last year. We're all outside in hoodies and he's just whaling around in the pool like an idiot."

"Not much has changed," Nox muttered as he rubbed his forehead and glanced to Ace from across the way.

* * *

As the night carried on and the Kalivar residents all came out to play, the backyard was filled with life, laughter, stories, and all sorts of excitable commotion. With the pool and jacuzzi occupied for the night, as well as the outdoor bar, the place was lively, brightened by family and friends and kept warm by the tight hug of the welcoming aura they emmit. As hanging lights made the whole backyard and back patio glow with twinkling nostalgia, a cozy environment that would surely provide the best memories, a handful of members latched themselves to the outdoor bar.

At the heart was Orph, practicing making his special beverages, swaying to requests and pleas from all angles for the night. Sat at the stools were Tessa, Zed, Tammy, Penny and Duke. Orph had gathered the attention of Ralph, Tej and Finn as he began to make small samples of one of his favorite drinks. Ace, Libby, Koko and Nox crossed the backyard, upon returning from Ace's tower to grab a few pool towels, though before they could pick a spot near the pool to reside, Ace and Libby stole away to the bar to grab a few things.

"I think there's a cooler around here somewhere," Ace mumbled as him and Libby slipped behind the massive, swooping outdoor bar, the side in which Orph and now Jax remained on. The two took turns bickering and stealing drink shakers, they were sat with a drink or two, and it was clear everyone was having a blast. Ace furrowed his brow, rummaged through the storage hidden on the other side of the bar, near a few low lying fridges, and shook his head, "I could've sworn we had an extra."

"Are you sure somebody's not already using it?" Libby wondered casually as she peered down the stretch, though Tessa, Zed and Tammy were in ear shot of the two.

"I guess maybe," Ace mumbled with a small shrug, though he furrowed his brow and peered in the direction of Orph and Jax; he knew alcoholic drinks weren't the only drink of choice, with this fun event the castle had put on for everyone living under it's protection, though he raised his eyebrows and wondered how long it had been since he had a drink of the sort. He gently glanced back to Libby and gestured to Orph, "Well... Since we're here, do you want me to whip us up something?"

"Oh, sure," Libby pressed gently, and though she didn't look particularly floored, she smiled in a neutral way as Ace began to lead her deeper into the bar.

"I-I don't drink often, you know that," Ace stated sheepishly, though he shrugged and peered off in contemplation, "I sometime nearly forget how to make my favorite drink."

"What drink is that?" Libby wondered as she crossed her arms and leaned the side of her hip to the counter. She kindly smiled to Tessa, Zed and Tammy as the three carried on in their own interesting conversation, though Ace and Libby were acknowledged.

"You'll see," Ace stated cheekily as he came back from Orph's stretch of the bar with a drink shaker, a few different bottles of liquer and flavored juices. Libby giggled and, as Ace began to work at his side craft, she sunk into Tessa's, Tammy's and Zed's conversation with ease, and though she didn't interject or speak up, she just listened.

Ace bit his lip and added the right ingredients with perfection, with the right amounts of each delicious partition, he added ice to his drink, salted the rim of his glass and poured the delectable, frosty beverage to the tip top. He puffed his chest a little, turned to Libby and beamed her an excited.

"Voila," Ace eased as he gave the glass to Libby, though she giggled in nervous curiosity and eyed the glass as she grabbed the cold glass with both hands.

"O-Oh, well... Thank you," Libby smiled, though she furrowed her brow and peered into the delicious, deep turquoise drink. The smell of it was delightful, a sinfully sweet aroma of trouble, and though she knew she likely wouldn't go through all of it, she felt a weird wave of thoughts prick the back of her mind.

"Ace's specialty," Tessa raised her eyebrows and smiled, "We learned that one the hard way."

"Yeah, allow the uncles at me when mom and dad are away," Ace mumbled, he shook his head in mild annoyance, "This is practically the only drink I'll enjoy."

"You liked the one I made that one time," Zed argued as he gestured towards Ace, "The... Peach cobbler thing I made."

"Ohh that one was good," Ace pointed, Zed nodded with a smile, though before he could continue to pester Ace about the subject at hand, Libby gently cued to Ace.

"Um... Exactly what is this?" Libby prod, she hid nervousness well, though not well enough for Ace to cue to it. He furrowed his brow gently and thus decided to delicately breeze past the weirdness, in hopes that she maybe was just curious, because of the color.

"That's moon juju," Ace stated with a proud smile, his ultimate favorite, Tammy blurt a laugh.

"That'll make yah go moon-'kookoo'," Tammy giggled, Tessa joined in as well and nudged her older cousin's shoulder.

Before Tammy could continue on, Libby uttered a small gasp and accidentally lost grip of the glass, and though she was successful in catching it before it wholly left her slippery hands, it still tumbled and hit the stone, outdoor counters, ultimately spilling off the side her and Ace were on. The brim of the glass crackled and broke as it toppled and hit the stone, though Libby and Ace gasped and took a few steps back from the sudden mess.

"I-I... I'm so sorry," Libby uttered, her voice was hushed and breathy, she cupped her hands to her chest and shook her head.

"Party foul!" Orph called from the other end of the bar, in which Jax, Duke and Ralph lightly chuckled at, in understanding.

Ace grimaced and peered his whole attention to Libby in hard confusion; he beamed her a curious smile, as if to innocently wonder if she potentially just lost grip of the frosty, slippery glass, though his skin prickled at the sudden sight of her. She uttered a few notions of raw, pure apology, as if she was totally shook from such a small, fixable mistake, and it was in this moment Ace immediately cued to this being something bigger and deeper than just a simple slip up. In the whirl of mild confusion, Ace merely glanced to his second cousin, mother and father, and before he could begin to attempt to clean up the mess, Tessa and Zed gently jolted into action.

Tammy grappled the base of the cup, that wasn't shattered, and cleared any shards of glass, and before Ace could inquire about the confusion, Tessa grabbed a towel from the back of the chair she sat at and began to clean up the counter, though she eyed Ace and urgently gestured to Libby, as if Tessa had quickly cued to the problem a lot faster than Ace's brain could even comprehend the steps to problem solving. Ace threw his attention to Libby in careful observation and held his breath. His skin prickled in hard confusion as she began to take a few stumbling steps away form the mess, as if it were boiling lava coming to claim her life, she looked as if she was concealing terror, and it was in this raw moment did Ace realize she was beginning to panic.

"Hey, hey, easy," Ace breathed quietly as he reached out a loving hand for her, he tenderly gripped her lower arm and followed her movement as she continued to back-step out of the problem.

Libby pressed her arms tighter into her chest and, it was in further observation, over the light noise of the party, did Ace quickly realize Libby was well on her way to hyperventilating. Ace froze in whole confusion, and though he rapidly came to the conclusion that this was something that was likely a triggered effect from her harsh past, he felt his brain go cold, and the fact that he had promised her that he would be the ultimate boyfriend, he swallowed a hard gulp and now realized that he had to fill his own shoes, ones of which he made to be a zillion times larger than he ever thought needed. He held his breath in a moment of whole fear, the fact that he was now in charge of making sure she came out the other end of this with a smile on her face, as a dutiful, successful boyfriend could so easily attempt. And though he felt fear, he somehow felt motivation slip underneath his worries and promise him that this all would be alright, as long as he gave her room to be human in this raw moment.

"You're okay, you're okay," Ace stated as warmly, quietly and patiently as he could; he could hear Tessa and Zed slowly shuffling a handful of feet from the two, to clean the mess, though he was quickly aware him and Libby had a sudden front row seat to the first problem of their brand new relationship. Ace felt the fleeting fear of stage fright come and go the second he realized he knew he had this whole comforting thing in the bag. He tilted his head down and tried to gain eye contact with Libby, "You don't need to be sorry, that's no big deal. Take a few deep breaths for me, love."

Libby finally gave Ace her quivering eyes and tried to collect her panicked breathing, and though the horrors of her past haunted her memories like rapid fire, she felt her shoulders at least attempt to come unglued from the strict, scrunched position she was in. She flinched as Ace suddenly reached back behind him, grappled a smaller bar stool, set it down behind Libby and gently helped her sit down. Upon this, Ace knew hovering over her was likely going to make things worse, so he gently knelt next to her and made it so her eye contact was above his, so she could feel confident with the higher ground. Ace kept his hand tenderly gripped to her lower arm, and as he stroked his thumb over her skin, his mind reeled in confusion. Though he didn't show it, he still held his breath and tried so desperately to keep Libby's curious panicking at bay.

As her breathing began to slow down, beads of sweat crowned her forehead, as well as a decent dollop of tears that hung in her eyes and threatened to cascade down her cheeks. As she finally blinked the tears free, her lip quivered, her chest rose and fell in continued, mild panicking, though she at least attempted to collect herself. She wiped her cheeks quickly and shook her head, as if to state to Ace that it simply wasn't something he needed to worry himself with, something she had been trying to stuff and keep down, though Ace furrowed his brow and peered up at her in gentle confusion.

"It's okay to cry, if that's what you need," Ace pressed tenderly, Libby peered down at him in poised curiosity, "We'll ride this out together. Do whatever you need to get it out... I have a feeling I know what this is about, but bottling this turmoil it will only make it harder to defeat it."

Libby peered harder into Ace's eyes, as if she was now mildly stunned that he had picked up on her cues, was so in tune with her issue, something she desperately tried not to burden others with. She finally managed her breathing to strictly panting through her nose, and as it finally slowed, the two shared a calm silence. She replayed Ace's words; she didn't want to defeat it. She didn't want to even think about it. The thought of that dreaded night was something she fought so hard to shove away, though with the fact that it so abruptly presented itself to her, once more, she shut her eyes tight, shook her head and held her breath, as if to wonder if the pain would ever dull. As she peeled open her eyes once more, she could tell the mess had gotten cleaned up, and that Tessa, Zed and Tammy had gone back to their conversation, though it was also obvious the three were eavesdropping for the sake of her well being.

"You don't like that drink, do you," Ace stated softly, and though he was well aware that she simply didn't want to fight her demons, he knew the mark of the best boyfriend he made himself out to be was to help her through her struggles, no matter how great. He wrinkled his nose and grit his teeth, "Had I've known, I wouldn't have presented the drink to you so abruptly. I apologize."

"It's not you," Libby uttered shakily, she shook her head and fell silent once more.

"It's the event, I know... But I wouldn't have been careless had I known," Ace gave her a look of mild cheek and dared to smile, "Moon juju... This was the drink that was used on you, the night before yours and Hilotem's wedding... Am I correct?"

Libby nodded and looked down to her lap in pure sorrow, as if she was sorry that it even happened to her, simply because she assumed it made life hard for everyone around her, though she lightly jolted as Ace uttered a small chuckle of understanding and slipped his hand into hers.

"Because of this, you avoid said drink at all costs because... It's... Clearly a trigger," Ace eased as quietly and as tenderly as he could, Libby nodded softly an peered her glassy eyes to Aces in pure, apologetic sorrow, though Ace squinted and shook his head, "Don't look so shocked, Libby... What you're going through is normal. You know that, right?"

Libby flinched in gentle surprise, and though she was aware that what she was going through was all in the motions of grieving, she felt a wash of relief come over her; the fact that an outside perspective could view her trench of sorrow, her climb from the pain, as something that wasn't totally alien. She sniffled, and for the first time since she started panicking, she felt her breathing even out, the calm bubble of warm love Ace had enveloped around the two was beyond palpable. Libby finally let her shoulders relax, though she flinched once more as Ace let out a bit of a louder chuckle and squeezed her hand.

"There you are," Ace beamed as he continued to chuckle, though his smile only broadened with encouragement as the tiniest sneak of a smile curled from Libby's mouth, "Can I ask something of you?"

Libby rubbed her nose and furrowed her brow in gentle question, and though she could feel her heart continue to race from the spike of fear that had previously coat her skin, she glued her eyes to Ace's and felt all sorts of emotions run wild in her heart.

"Of course," Libby eased shakily, her voice had become nasally from the tears.

"Can we start that over?" Ace wondered, and though he knew it was a very large request, he knew easing her into facing her fears was what would make her stronger. Ace gently motioned his head back to the bar, where his and her own family resided, with loving stares and a warm aura, he gave her a promising smile and squeezed her hand, "Can I show you how to make my favorite drink?"

Libby froze, and though her eyes glanced to the bar behind Ace, the three beings sat perched at the ready, she felt a large, swooping, definitive 'no' want to put a period at the end of this drama, though she felt her heart skip a beat. She dragged her eyes back to Ace, and as she went through the motions of feeling confusion, stubbornness, contemplation and final, hesitant acceptance, she just barely nodded and knew this was some form of trust she was handing over to someone she was aware she could trust the most. She knew she had helped the situation along with the way Ace's eyes lit up with his success, and as he helped her to a stand, she finally felt taken aback.

With the gentle crawl of his arm around her lower back, he slowly lead her back to the bar, and back into Tessa's, Zed's and Tammy's bubble. She only sheepishly glanced to them, though she knew with their understanding smiles, shot in her direction, they only carried on their easy conversation for show. Ace cleared his throat, grabbed the drink shaker and swiped a fresh glass from the cabinet underneath the bar. He set the glass down before Libby, as well as the few ingredients. He displayed everything, so she was aware just what was going into her drink.

"Alright, so... Moon juju is my favorite drink because it's base is this moon flower juice concentrate," Ace stated softly to her, he held up the small pitcher of alcohol free juice, labelled as such, before the two locked stares; his infectious smile made her heavy demeanor lighten, "I could drink this stuff just as is. I'm serious, fill a bathtub of this stuff, and I'm set."

Ace's heart jolted as Libby huffed a noise that somewhat resembled that of a small giggle, to which he was certain of because of the small smile on her face. She nervously held her arms and hands closer to herself and continued to hold onto apprehension, though her eyes eagerly peered to Ace, and just what he was doing, as if she were simply a small child that needed a desperate amount of reassurance that there were, indeed, no monsters underneath her bed tonight.

"So, you have one part juice," Ace instructed as he filled the shaker to a certain line, he then reached for another bottle that he gently held up for Libby to see, "Next, we have dad's favorite brand of tequila."

"Be careful, Ace, that stuff is expensive," Zed warned tenderly as Ace only held the bottle with one of his larger hands; Ace nodded politely and set the bottle down, in front of Libby, after he had poured a small portion into the shaker.

"Then, you're going to get four pumps of pineapple syrup," Ace stated as he included that in the shaker, as well, before handing over the smaller bottle to Libby, so she could further assess just what was going into the drink, "And then just a spritz of lime juice, for added flavor."

"Don't forget the ice," Tessa eased, and it was now at this point did Tessa, Zed and Tammy have their eyes glued to the charming situation at hand.

"How could I?" Ace teased as he scooped ice into the drink, to top it off, though as he lidded the shaker, he gently handed the whole thing to Libby. Once she slowly took it from his grip, he waved his hand up and down a little and gave her a wide smile, "Second to last step... Y'shake!"

Ace chuckled and gingerly wrapped his hands around hers, which gripped the shaker, though as he began to move it up and down, as well as making sure the lid was secure, the two successfully mixed the drink together, though Ace wobbled their hands and arms about in a playful manner, to which he was elated to get a loud, genuine giggle out of Libby, a wide smile past tear-stained cheeks he was certain he had won the whole universe for.

"Alright, and once you've garnished the rim with salt, then, you pour it in," Ace stated as he rung the cup through a small plate of garnishing salt and sugar, and as he presented the cup to Libby, she gently took the lid off the shaker and poured her drink. Ace gestured to it, in a motion of success and beamed Libby a warm smile, "Tada! Ace's specialty."

"Deadly fun," Tammy uttered, everyone, including Libby, laughed alongside her, though Libby peered down at it in growing apprehension that began to bubble.

"Would you like me to take the first sip?" Ace inquired politely, a notion in which he knew he absolutely didn't need to do, though he hoped the sentiment of 'putting himself on the line' for her, to have the first sip of a drink that Libby once endured with contaminants, was something he knew she likely would greatly acknowledge.

Libby warmly peered up to him, and though they repeated exactly what they had done ten minutes ago, she felt her heart flutter in a sense of mild urgency. Ace gently handed her the frosty glass, once more, though Libby eyed it curiously, confidently accepted it into her grip and held onto it this time. She stared down into it, it's deathly sweet smell, something of which triggered unwanted memories, though she furrowed her brow and now reveled in the fact that this was Ace's favorite drink. How badly she wanted to hold onto a sour moment, a hurdle in her life, she finally let a small smile play across her face as she shook her head in confidence.

"No, that's okay," Libby eased quietly as the three, before them, began to chat amongst themselves once more. She held the drink close to her and peered up into Ace's forgiving eyes, the small smile of hope, to pray that he had somehow done good at his first, bumbling steps as a supportive boyfriend, she breathed a small giggle and gave him a look of thankful relief, "I trust you."

Ace raised his eyebrows and felt his heart stop, and as if he had hit jack pot, he held his breath and watched as Libby took a decent sip of the drink he had just made for her. As her eyes fluttered with delight, the perch of her eyebrows, the small giggle that emit from her slender figure, accompanied by Tessa's knowing laughter, Ace dared to reach out to her and pull her into a side hug.

"Thank you," Ace cooed to her in pure appreciation, as if her trust was the greatest gift, the rarest of treasures, something that wasn't to be trifled with or disregarded in the slightest; he was honored to have it, especially in this touchy moment.

He wrinkled his nose as Libby leaned deeper into his side hug, and as his chin slid to the top of her head, he closed his eyes tight with delight and felt bravery soak his circuits. He knew their relationship was on the down low, strictly so they could ease into it without the outburst of pressure from his dozens of family members, though somehow he wondered if his small audience was a safe spot to ease into it. As his warm breath coat the top of her head, he eased a firm kiss, or two, into the side of her head and squeezed her tighter into his chest. He knew this test was the first challenge, and though there was more to come, he had to wonder if he had somehow scored his first handful of boyfriend points. As her free hand rested on his chest and she eased deeper into his chest with a small smile on her face, knew the cat was out of the bag, though he relished in it with pride.


	115. Chapter 115

**Reviews** :

 **Nikki** **Firesong** : YAYAYAYAYYAY CONGRATS! You're my **1,000th** reviewer! WOOHOO! We've passed Defying Code in the review count, and this story isn't even close to being finished yet xD Damn! Refresh away haha. And yes! Ace definitely makes a good bubby :D

 **Awesome Stories My Occur** : Thank you so much for your understanding! It means the world to me how patient you all have been. Ummm it's sort of a toss up. Both have it's advantages. I typically enjoy having that stock pile of three dozen chapters to sit on, it's very nice for when I don't have time to write, but am able to stay on my strict every-other-day schedule. On the other hand, being caught up with you guys is invigorating. It keeps my ideas fresh, I get an instant take on how you guys handle certain things going on in the story, and it boosts creativity. It also reduces spoiler drawings, on deviantART, which I know a lot of you guys hate xD I also appreciate your compliments! I'm SO floored you guys don't view my fillers as typical fillers. I try to tie everything in as much as I can!

 **Alisi** **Thorndyke** : Haha Thank you so much! Yes, your commission hasn't been forgotten! Read my A/N for further details!

 **Kaoru-Yuki** : I really appreciate that, thank you! No worries on not being able to review, I don't take any offense. I know, first hand, that life gets in the way and busyness is something none of us can really help, so it's no biggie whatsoever! :) I'm glad you guys enjoyed this last chapter, where Ace helped Libby through her struggles. I'll be building on said 'troubles' more and more, the more intimate and romantic they become with each other. It leads to some rocky times, but everything shakes out in the end! ;D

 **Snake557** : Hahaha too true xD I let my best friend shave half my hair off, so there's that! And yes, I do like to reference Rectifying Origin's predecessors haha.

Retrokill : Squee!

 **Pumpkin** **Cupcake** : Yeahhh, I need to put up more pictures of Ace's clean cut. He gets it cut again, later in the story, (the NSFW pic of him and Libby) but overall, his hair is typically pretty out of control 247 xD and THANK YOU! I'm really glad you enjoyed the fluff YAY! Snuggle all the things!

 **rocketman04** : Hey, thank you so much! I appreciate it! :D

 **SonicReader1** : Thank you so much! And yes, I have had quite a handful of people request that, and it is on the list :D

* * *

 **A** / **N** : omg you GUYS. the wait is OVER. **I HAVE INTERNET.** FINALLLLLYYYYYYY AFTER TWO MONTHS I HAVE INTERNET.

So, this week is going to be weird because I work until xmas, which I thankfully have off, and then the first week of January, my best friend Michaela is coming to stay for a week, so I'll be busy with that. Likely after the second week in January is when I will FINALLY be back on my normal routine, my normal, typical upload schedule. I just want to thank EVERYONE PROFUSELY for bearing with me, cheering me on, making me feel loved, encouraging me and rooting Cory and I on. I would be so sad and so lost without you guys, and I really hope you all understand how loved you are. You guys are the BEST and I am so grateful for every single last one of you!

If you want an indepth description of everything I've been through, what our new housing situation is like, and what's been up, check out my latest journal on deviantART - it's all explained there :) Username Vyntresser

* * *

 ***Chapter 115** *

The night grew tired, as did the castle's residents, and with the rising moon, every being began to lay off to their proper quarters. Zed scoped the backyard with his digital pad, and as he cleaned up accidentally forgotten trash, straightened patio chairs and made sure the pool was clean for the night, he glanced in the direction of Ace's tower. Ace could be seen, alongside Libby and Nox, loudly laughing and chatting the night away. They stood near the front door of their ground floor common room, and though it looked as if they were about to shortly split ways for the night, Ace was stanced in such a way to suggest that his next stop was the main building, instead of his third story perch. Zed sent the group a smile, waved once, and once he got return waves, he continued on his way.

As Zed did a once over of the back patio and bar, he finally eased his way into the main house. He slipped in unnoticed, though he double took at who was sitting at the kitchen island. Like routine, every single night, Zed would catch Tessa and Penny perched at marble counters, quietly talking, sometimes giggling, joking and catching up on lost time. Zed felt his heart warm at the sight, every time, though as the nights continued to go on, he began to see a revealing pattern. Tessa's smile, her happiness, it was only given wholly to Penny, as of late. Though there were fleeting moments of a brief smirk, a lock of her hazel eyes and a wrinkle of her nose to prove she was listening, Zed began to feel sore. He furrowed his brow and slowly began to slip away, and although he was happy Tessa and her best friend were finally able to catch up and unwind with each other, he felt his heart pang in mild jealousy. He was aware he had more than just Tessa to converse with, in the castle, though the nights where the two would steal away, bouts of laughter, blushing cheeks and the like, were slowly dwindling.

Zed huffed a long sigh through his nose and knew this all boiled down to the one, searing topic he was too afraid to get near. He knew he shouldn't be given the cold shoulder for being responsible, and having communicated his concerns with Tessa about adding on baby number two, in such a dire time, he wondered what else could possibly be wrong. He shook his head, powered down his digital pad and almost began to wonder if it were way too much to even begin to think about right now. He set his sights for his and Tessa's glorius bedroom, across the beautiful Sky Room, and just as he was about to run a lonely routine of showering and climbing into bed alone, a voice popped his thoughts.

"Hey dad, wait, do you happen to know where that box of fireworks went?" Ace asked in a rush of laughter he had just come out of; Libby and Nox were obviously at the back door, in which Zed cued to their gentle, excited laughter as well.

Zed furrowed his brow harder and tried desperately to come back to the planet. He assessed his son; he was beaming ear to ear, the look of youthful passion in his eyes, the twinkle that most definitely proved it, Zed felt bad that he was the end-all to the fun Ace was attempting to get into.

"Son, you're not setting off fireworks right now, what's gotten into you?" Zed muttered with an annoyed smile as he gestured his hand; Ace slumped his shoulders and urgently glanced back to the massive round back door, which hung ajar.

"Aw, dad, c'mon, Lickity's all ready for us," Ace mildy whined with a small laugh as Zed's annoyed smile broadened.

"Why don't you go see what your mother has to say about all of this?" Zed suggested with great cheek, though Ace flinched and shot his dad an irritated glower.

"She'd say no," Ace argued quietly, for he knew his mother was simply in the room over, "Not only would she say no, but she'd say HELL no. That's why I came to you dad, have you learned nothing?"

"My answer is no, as well," Zed chuckled as he shook his head, Ace grew even more playfully annoyed, and just as he was about to speak, Zed cut him off, "I know, we're all a bunch of party poopers... By the way, did you cut your own hair?"

"Uh, no... Nox did," Ace flinched, he stammered on his words, the sudden jolt in topic change had Ace mildly reeling. He urgently glanced to the back door in defeat and, upon hearing Zed's answer, Nox and Libby kindly stepped away in defeat, "Why?"

"It looks good," Zed complimented, though he cocked an eyebrow and chuckled a little, "He missed a few spots... Mind if I clean it up, for you?"

"He did?" Ace worried with a frown as his tender, larger fingers began to nervously prod at his new do. Zed heaved a chuckle of understanding, squinted and smiled at his beloved son.

"It's nothing I can't fix, c'mon," Zed motioned for Ace to follow, and upon Ace's change of plans, he sagged his shoulders further and began to follow his father in defeat.

As the two boys pushed into Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, crossed the stretch and got settled in their beautiful, white bathroom, Zed switched on dimmer room lights that weren't so aggressive. Zed cleared his throat, pulled up a stool for Ace and sat it before their sprawling bathroom sink. Because of Tessa's tomboy heart, the bathroom was clear of any form of makeup, hair tools or anything of the like. Simply sat was a pretty jar of cotton swabs, two brushes and the combs and shaving teeth of Zed's hair buzzer. He pulled a comb out of the drawer, prepped his buzzer, plugged it in and peered down to Ace to begin to assess just what to fix.

In the small grabs of seconds he had to peer down at his son, he flinched and could hardly believe this being, underneath him, was simply from his own coding. He scoffed a small noise of disbelief, the strong, becoming, handsome young man Ace had filled out to be, and though he had a little bit of wiggle room left, he still held his head high with the Kalivar name, his wrecking genes, and the heart of all the wonderful people before him. As Ace cued to Zed's pause, his hazel eyes gingerly glanced up to his father, the bridge of Ace's nose was littered in the faintest of freckles, just like Tessa's, and through his dark blue lashes, Ace's inquiring gaze deepened on the stoic, steady figurehead before him.

"...Does it really look that bad?" Ace worried, his thoughts were far less cluttered and busied. Zed flinched, shook his head and uttered an apologetic chuckle.

"No, it doesn't, I'm sorry," Zed stated through a rush of a sigh as he gently switched on the buzzer and took a few steps closer to Ace, "Nox did a decent job, actually... You just decided you wanted something new, huh?"

"Yeah, well... It was Nox's idea, but I went along with it," Ace's smile was contageous, "My hair WAS getting pretty poofy, after all."

"I didn't want to say anything," Zed muttered, Ace shot him an annoyed smile as his father laughed a little. As Zed's careful hand held the other side of Ace's scalp, he began to clean out any rough patches Nox left behind, "You look great...I'm positive your new girlfriend feels the same way."

Ace immediately felt his pupils tighten in a draw of sudden, collected anxiety. He furrowed his brow and felt his whole face get hot, though just as he was about to protest, his eyes slowly dragged up to his father's dominant, yet loving gaze. Before Ace could agree, disagree, play dumb or act proud, Zed laughed softly and continued to cleanly smooth out the chunks of Ace's hair.

"I won't tell anyone," Zed assured quietly, though Ace finally relaxed his spine and peered to his reflection in the mirror; he felt his heart begin to race in pure, unadulterated nervousness as he could see Zed's powerful chest rise for a readied inhale, "Is that what her new tattoo is all about, then? Sort of like a promise ring?"

"No," Ace firmly assured, his face washed flat; he knew that tattoo had nothing to do with him, and he wanted it to remain as such, "That tattoo was for her. That was all her idea...I guess... Married women of the Teltokuan people are given a blocky tattoo, on their right arm, after marriage, but... Libby said she's always wanted one."

"So you helped her design it?" Zed prod kindly.

"No, it was all her design," Ace continued to assure, "The only thing I helped with was putting it on her, and making it permanent. I-I guess it's sort of a rebellious thing."

"That makes sense," Zed nodded as he stepped around the backside of Ace, so to get at the back of his head, "Did this all happen today?"

"Yeah, I... I sort of surprised myself," Ace beamed bashfully and glanced down to his lap a little, "I wasn't expecting to ask her to be my girlfriend anytime soon, but... It just sort of... All spilled out, and she said yes."

"I knew she would, no matter when you'd ask," Zed chuckled as he shook his head, "I can tell she's gaining back confidence that was robbed of her... What you did for her, tonight, was very noble and kind of you."

"...What, with the moon juju?" Ace inquired softly, Zed nodded.

"You saw a problem, sat her down, looked her in the eye, and helped her through it," Zed stated knowingly, "You got through it together... You made your mother and I very proud, son. You really held your own. We know you will make a fine man for Libby."

"Thanks, dad," Ace stated warmly, he graciously accepted the compliment, for he knew just the wonderful example he had growing up, though Ace froze the second Zed's stern, icey gaze peered into Ace's soul.

"With this, there's something I need you to understand... Though it was never official, nor spoken or brought to light, your mother and I treat Libby as if she were simply one of our own," Zed's voice grew dark, quiet and stern. He shut the buzzer off and locked eyes with Ace, in the mirror, "This is a weird predicament where your own father is going to play guard dog with the little wild child we took under our wing, all those months ago... The very woman you're currently courting. If you break her heart, son, you will have to answer to me."

Ace froze and didn't dare let his eye contact waver from his father's. He suddenly felt that itching bout of terror form a lump in his throat, and he very quickly was reminded why keeping it all a secret would've been far easier for his anxiety. He finally swallowed, softly nodded in respect and inhaled a shaky breath. He knew his mother wasn't one to be trifled with, strictly because of her temper and low tolerance for lazy nonsense, though it was his father that was the end-all. Ace nervously gripped his thighs and felt as if coming in here was simply a trap, though the second he began to feel that way, Zed huffed a small chuckle of understanding and squeezed the top of Ace's shoulder.

"Don't fret," Zed eased, "You don't have a mean bone in your body. I just have to say it for my own sanity."

"You know me, dad," Ace argued quietly, and though he tried to keep a light, playful air, his deep voice held a bit of a stern bite back, something of which made Zed reel lightly at.

"Yes, I know you're a good guy," Zed mumbled, he nudged Ace's shoulder and successfully got a genuine chuckle out of him, "Just gotta protect little Libby at any angle we can... But I guess you're well aware the consequences, otherwise you wouldn't have even asked her out, huh."

"Yes, dad, I'm not stupid," Ace groaned, the nagging and prodding made Ace lull his eyes in a successful, slow roll and long blink of tired annoyance.

"She seemed pretty freaked out about that moom juju," Zed stated warmly, his voice was laced with concern. He gently shut the buzzer off, set it to the marble counters and reached for thinning scissors, "Something tells me this is linked to the night she was... Well..."

"Yeah," Ace huffed as Zed began to gently tug at the thicker, longer hair atop Ace's head, and as he thinned it out, decent chunks of hair fell to the wayside, "I guess that was the drink Hilotem gave Libby, which was laced with some form of paralysis drug... Who knows. He could've nearly killed her."

"Well, in this instance, let's be thankful for Balba," Zed mumbled quietly as he continued to thin out the poofy fluffs of Ace's crazy hair, "If it weren't for her... Who knows what would've happened to Libby."

Ace furrowed his brow and reeled a little, having never given that a whole thought. He held his breath and dared to wonder just the state Libby would've been in had Balba not barged in and broke up the party. He heaved a shaky sigh, shook his head and as Zed uttered a small chuckle in agreeing that the two should drop the topic, Zed cleared his throat and switched scissors, to begin to clean the longer strands, so to make the gradual change in length more smooth.

"We're all working towards better days, huh," Zed stated through a dry sigh, he barely shook his head and kept his piercing blue eyes strict to Ace's head.

"What do you mean?" Ace inquired lightly as he glanced up at his father, though Zed's maticulous movements slowed with growing sorrow.

Zed bit his lip lightly and knew he likely shouldn't bring up any issues him and Ace's mother were having, so not to worry Ace and add to his stress further, though he, once more, peered down at the young man before him. Becoming, noble, wise, and although he still largely held onto that puppy dog demeanor, the playful, youthful attitude that greatly carried from Vanellope and Tessa, he still was blushed with ripened maturity, something of which the whole castle was uncertain he'd obtain in a timely manner. Zed quickly wondered if sheltering Ace from real relationship problems, between his two parents, was something he didn't totally have to tip toe around any longer. He inhaled a deep breath and fought to find his bravery, once more.

"Can I get your advice?" Zed wondered gently, and as if he knew it'd likely stir Ace's confusion further, he fell silent, so to give Ace ample time to come to the conclusion that this, indeed, was a genuine question.

"... 'Scuse me, you want... MY advice?" Ace gawked, as if he was likely too lowly to be giving the very core of this entire arcade cabinet advice, let alone his own father. Ace shook his head in pure discombobulation, uttered a small chuckle and peered up to his father in bewilderment, "What life advice could I possibly offer you, dad?"

"You're my family, you're an adult now... You're the closest person to me, besides Tessa," Zed listed with a shrug, he gave Ace a cheeky smile, "Don't act so surprised. I need advice from another guy. Aside from maybe Finn or Ralph, you're the first person I'll go to, Ace."

"Really?" Ace wondered quietly, he internally grew bashful as he peered up at his dad, and though the two were in very different stages of life, Ace felt as if the two were on equal ground, and having each other's back wasn't simply an option, "I-I mean... Yeah, dad, I'll do my best to help, what's going on?"

"I... It has to do with your mother," Zed sighed, and as he finished off the top of Ace's head, he set the scissors down and gestured to the mirror, "Look better?"

"Yeah, thanks dad," Ace's eyes lit up, he heaved a small chuckle as he stood and inspected Zed's clean, precise handiwork, "NOW I feel like a million bucks."

"You look-it, too, you losing weight?" Zed prod as he cocked an eyebrow and nudged Ace's strong chest, which was beginning to build muscle.

"Trying," Ace mumbled in snarky annoyance, though the two shared a small laugh and began to clean up a bit, "So... What's wrong with mom? I've noticed she's been a bit more... Um... Sassy towards everyone."

"I'm getting the brunt of it," Zed eased knowingly, as if he was now comfortable in the fact that he was pissing off his lady, as if there wasn't much to be done about it, "She's just stressed out over Sugar Rush, the fate of the game..."

"That's it? I mean, we all are stressed about it, surely there's got to be something deeper," Ace wondered tenderly as he helped Zed sweep the rest of Ace's hair off the tiles.

"Yeah, there's more..." Zed eased, he felt his heart run, as if he was revealing a surprise that wasn't even a tangible thing, yet, though before he could trip over his thoughts, he stood up straight and urgently gestured his hands downward, "I-I'm just going to come right out and say it... Your mother wants to try for another baby."

Ace stood up straight, widened his eyes and peered to Zed in hard, excited surprise. Ace scoffed an elated laugh, gestured his hands out towards his dad, stumbled on a few words and didn't know where quite to begin; his smile only broadened in growing glee.

"Dad, that's... That's AWESOME!" Ace urged excitedly, "I've always wanted a sibling! Are you guys going to go through with it?"

"Well... That's the problem. I really don't think we should," Zed muttered, his excited smile, which grew because of Ace's contagious demeanor, quickly vanished as he stepped towards the trash can and finished cleaning up the mess.

"But, why, dad? Is she just mad at you for that, then?" Ace wondered, though he bulged his eyes and heaved a hard laugh, "Oh User, dad, make sure you continuously check your firewall... You know how sneaky mom can be."

"BELIEVE ME," Zed urged, both boys loudly laughed, "I check it at least ten times a day. She's the daughter of a master coder... I'm fearing my life, here."

"Well, I think you guys should. That'd add a different element to the castle, and I'd get a baby brother or sister," Ace shrugged, "Win win!"

"Yeah, well," Zed rubbed his forehead and urgently peered to Ace, "What do we do when we go on the trips to Sugar Rush? We run the risk of being away from the baby for sporadic days and weeks at a time, precious hours and minutes that so quickly go by, here in the Arcade... One year and your child is a full fledged gamer... A full grown adult."

Ace's excited demeanor sagged as he listened to Zed's plight, and before Ace could attempt to find a loophole, he sank in Zed's void and knew there was no way around the issue. Ace heaved a long sigh through his nose and glanced Zed a look of mild apology.

"Your mother and I would have to leave the baby with Finn, but then what if he gets a quarter alert?" Zed worried, he shook his head, "We'd be lost in Sugar Rush and our own baby will be here, passed between baby sitters... I don't want to raise a child in this time. I know for a fact she wouldn't, either."

"I see your point," Ace agreed quietly as the two slowed, they stood near each other, though Zed gently cleaned his buzzer and his scissors; Ace continued on gently, "I see both yours and moms point. You don't want to bring a baby into the Arcade now because of the timing, but she's probably thinking it'd be a light in this dark time, something good and wholesome to focus on. Maybe she needs it?"

"Raising a baby isn't all fun and games," Zed assured as he peered his nervous gaze to Ace, though he breathed a hard chuckle, "You were an easy baby, but even still, your mother and I wanted to rip our hair out at times."

"You're welcome," Ace stabbed with a cheeky smile, Zed swat at him in annoyance.

"It's just... Conflicting," Zed staggered, he shrugged a little, "I want another baby as well, but...I just don't want to bring a baby into all this unrest. Sure, the baby would be safe, but we'd all be stressed out and not able to wholly focus on raising our second child. Y'see?"

"Yeah," Ace huffed in mild defeat as he looked down and nodded a little, "Well... Go with your gut. If you guys did have another, everyone would be floored, and you know everyone would help out."

"It just is something I wish she would've maybe wished while you were still little, before we found ourselves in this whole Kingdom take-back mess," Zed sighed, "Hell, I even suggested having another when you were seven. We highly considered it."

"Why didn't you?" Ace inquired gently.

"Well, roles were reversed," Zed laughed in an annoyed tone and shook his head, "I was the one with baby fever, and she was the one being cautious. We can't seem to land on the same page."

"Well... Maybe someone has to bend?" Ace waggled his eyebrows a little, "You know how stubborn mom is. Maybe it won't be so bad. Don't let all this drama hold you back. You guys will be home a majority of the time."

"But, that brings up the argument of... What if..." Zed staggered, he shook his head and peered to Ace in mild desperation, as if to plea that he hear him out, "What if we don't make it back, from one of these scouts? I mean, in all seriousness, death is a possibility... My brothers would be left with their niece or nephew to fend for amidst keeping the game plugged in."

"Well dad, User forbid, it's only a year before said child would be fully grown," Ace retort, he knew this conversation was getting dark, though he kept up with ease. He shrugged his larger hands to his sides, "This one is tricky... Maybe you should just, like... Take mom out for a night on the town, or something."

"What?" Zed inquired softly, Ace shrugged.

"Yeah, surprise her. Go into Ekreth, don't bring anyone else," Ace shrugged, once more and peered to his dad hopefully, "Go to dinner, see a movie, do... Crap that you wouldn't normally do. Just be free for a night. Maybe all mom needs is to get out of this castle."

"You're right," Zed agreed through a huff of a sigh as he nodded and looked to the side, "The problem is... Getting her to agree. She's always busy with other things, maintaining the house, making sure everyone is fed and happy. She's even tried to take over my job of keeping the game afloat. The woman thinks she's a miracle worker, and can do anything and everything without tiring, but lookit her! You've seen her, since we came home from Sugar Rush."

"She's... Definitely got her nose to the grindstone," Ace grimaced, "I think she's just trying to keep her mind preoccupied because... You don't want to give her just what she needs or wants."

"It's catch twenty two," Zed shook his head and rubbed his forehead in pure agitation, "I don't know... Part of me just wants to bend to her pleas, but the other part of me wants to remain responsible."

"Just start with a date night, dad," Ace chuckled, "You're taking too many leaps forward. You can't just jump to the source, you have to work your way there."

Zed peered to Ace and gave him his whole, nervous, sorrowful attention, and as he soaked in Ace's wise words, he crossed his arms and gave Ace the floor, with much respect.

"Just little steps... Take her away from here, don't include anyone, hell... Don't even tell anyone you're leaving," Ace shrugged with a wide smile and an adorable chuckle to boot, "Just... Go. You know Uncle Finn and I can handle the game, for the night."

"You're right," Zed sighed with a small nod as he furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin, "How to get her to agree to said date night is something I'm not sure I have in me..."

"Just... Make something up, steal her away, and before you know it, you're on the road," Ace beamed, "C'mon, dad, you're unbeatable. You're sneaky, you can dream up some way to get her on board."

"I've got a long way to go to be as sneaky and cunning as your mother," Zed stated, both boys laughed in agreeing as Zed gently stepped closer to Ace, "Thank you... Sorry to unload. It's been... It's been rough."

"I may be the youngest in the house, but I know I'm good for something, and that's giving advice," Ace stated warmly as Zed lugged him into a hug, and as Zed firmly pat Ace's back a few times, the two boys pulled apart, "If I find you and mom suddenly missing one night, I'll know what's up."

"I know you and Finn can handle it," Zed stated as both boys began to stroll towards the bathroom entrance, "Hopefully Tessa will be on board with it all."


	116. Chapter 116

**Reviews :**

 **Snake577 :** Definitely much needed haha. Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Ace is well on his way, learning from the masters :D

 **Retrokill :** Yeah, it's even difficult for ME, being in charge of this whole story haha. I've literally tugged at either idea for quite some time before coming to a final conclusion in the plot lol. Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** YAY Thank you! Boy, does she get 'pampered'! xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you! :D

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Thank you :) Yes, poor Tessy does deserve it, indeed. And spoiled, she is! haha

* * *

 **A/N: OMG YOU GUYS I'M SO SORRYYYYY.**

 **xmas eve and day got me fucked up, between working back-to-back shifts and being like... nearly-not sober for half of xmas day, it's been a doozy of a week. Like stated, things should go back to normal after Michaela's visit is over, but for now, my uploads will be sporadic. I'm finally falling into a groove, but because the holidays are crazy, my manager had me scheduled for weird turn-around shifts which left me totally exhausted. So sorry for all the absence, I am STILL here, and yes this story is STILL my baby, and is still a thing. I appreciate all your guys' patience!**

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Spiller - The Borrowers of Arrietty soundtrack**

 **Riot by Ace Wilder**

* * *

 ***Chapter 116***

"If you were Sugar Rush's code room... Where would you be hiding?" Ralph grumbled as he slumped his chin into his larger palm.

Through a cocked, bright blue eyebrow, Zed sharply looked up from the digital pad his nose was still buried down in, and as he sneakily assessed the group before him, he came to a few conclusions. Taffyta and Vanellope peered to Ralph in mild defeat, as if answering his question was nearly impossible. Penny held onto a tight-lipped act of dominant arrogance, she sharpened her sword in preparation for said journey, as if it were simply going to be soon, though everyone knew she would be putting her swords away and saving the sharpness of the blades for the trip in the next coming week or two. Nox, Libby and Ace all looked dewy, bright eyed and bushy tailed; younglings of the scouting party that held fresh hope, new beginnings and renewed strength for the long haul. Ralph furrowed his brow in growing agitation, sagged his shoulders and gave Vanellope a look as if to plea for an answer, and a serious one, though with the way his eyes darted to Taffyta's, he was prepared for a sarcastic quip any second now. Zed's strict gaze, with his head tilted far down, was confident and cheeky until he landed his icy stare on his future bride.

With a rigid spine, Tessa stood with her arms crossed, and though she had the same facial expression as Ralph, in this moment, he could tell her mind was far beyond the clouds, with the way her eyes aimlessly gazed through the group and across the kitchen. She was still, silent, her whole demeanor eked of pricked concern, agitation that was clearly burning a hole through her drive. She looked mentally exhausted, and it was in this moment proven to Zed that the group before Tessa were simply sat in a meeting her mind was sat in constantly, an infinite hamster wheel of the same worries on replay, little did anyone know. Not a single inch of Tessa moved, not even a blink, her gaze was dead and defeated, and it was clear Tessa could do with a massive pick-me-up; he knew a simple little steal-away to the bedroom wasn't merely enough. Zed held his breath, peered down to his digital pad, and though everyone assumed that he was potentially taking notes and jotting down ideas, he had a map of the castle pulled up and an escape route ready to be used.

"I think you're better off asking 'if you were RADEX, where would you be hiding?'," Penny snipped as she ran her sharpener down the length of her sword, it made an intimidating slicing noise to boot.

"He's long gone," Taffyta muttered, "My guess is, he KNOWS we're coming in and out of the game... He sees us on that radar. Anytime we set foot into the game and set course for a direction, he probably teleports the code room in the OPPOSITE direction."

"So you think we're just out there, mindlessly?" Vanellope worried in hard annoyance.

"I really don't think Radex is that anal," Nox blurt, Ace, Libby and Penny stifled laughter as Ralph raised his eyebrows and peered down the stretch of island, "Think about it... The guy has had everything he's ever wanted for a whole year without interruption. I'm pretty sure after the first month or two, with no sign of you guys, he's likely eased off the radar and lives life doing whatever he pleases."

"Kid's got a point," Vanellope muttered as she put her face into her hands, heaved a long sigh into them, and rubbed her cheeks in tired annoyance.

Zed squinted down into his digital pad and finally assessed the garage, which was off the front patio and near the hang of Throttle's abode. He knew taking bikes into Ekreth likely wasn't ideal, simply because he wanted to just get Tessa into the car and steal her away. His mind quickly reeled to the thought of her project car, currently sitting pretty in the garage. He wondered if it was driveable, just yet, though he knew there was only one way to find out. He finally, and slowly, dragged his eyes to Tessa's position and continued to hold his breath in gentle stretches of contemplation, and before he could chicken out, he finally inhaled, opened his mouth and puffed his chest, so to seem confident.

"Hey, Tess?" Zed inquired lightly, his loving, yet concern gaze was finally met by her eyes, which had to quickly snap out of her comfortable stare across the room. She furrowed her brow in pure confusion as Zed gestured his head to the Sky Room, "Can I, uh... Have a word with you really quickly?"

"Is everything okay?" Vanellope worried as the group suddenly tensed, though much to Zed's relief, he could see Ace's worry immediately vanish as he caught on to Zed's scheme. Ace slumped his shoulders and gave his dad a proud, smug smile, as if to give him encouragement to carry through with his plan to steal his mother away and give her a night of worry-free fun.

"Everything's fine, I just need a minute," Zed eased with a gentle smile, so not to continue to worry anyone, though as Tessa dropped her arms and slowly began to follow Zed, he quickly lead her out of the room, into the Sky Room, and in the direction of their bedroom.

"If they steal away for sex, I'm going to be pissed," Taffyta snapped as she pushed her palms to the marble island; everyone blurt out in hard laughter except Ralph.

"I think we'd ALL be pissed, this is kind of important," Ralph half-heartedly chuckled and shook his head, though Ace grimaced in a knowing way, looked up to the high ceilings and tried to remain oblivious, though he could see Libby quickly catching on, in the corner of his eye.

"Zed, what's going on?" Tessa prod softly as she kept up with Zed, she tried her hardest to get a glance at his digital pad, but to no avail. The two softly slipped into their own bedroom and began to march straight for the large, heavy duty doors that lead to the code room, "I-Is it bad? Why are we going to the code room, should... Should we get my mother involved?"

"Nope, this is between the two of us," Zed stated sharply, he kept his strict act up; he knew he had to get Tessa into the code room, with the door shut tight behind them, no matter what.

"Well, what's going on? Is everything okay?" Tessa prod harder, she hurried to keep up with Zed's quick pace as they stepped down the dim, long corridor, which ultimately lead to the heart of the code room. The double doors, which entered them into the corridor, quickly whirred and shut tightly behind them, "You're sort of worrying me."

"No need to worry," Zed eased confidently, he tried his hardest not to laugh or smile with just how worked up Tessa was becoming.

"Well then what's this about?" Tessa began to grow stern and annoyed, and as the final doors to the ultimate heart of the code room whirred open in a methodical, robotic way, they two quickly stepped into their own tight sanctuary of love and soaked into the finally sealed room, once and for all. Their voices were kept tight in the sound proof room, the reverberation was little to none, though Tessa still boomed her voice in agitation, "Obviously it's important if you're interrupting one of the most important meetings we could be HAVING right now!"

"Greetings, Mr. Kalivar," the orb of the code room chimed, a masculine voice was quietly present as the solid, silver orb of the faintly dim code room woke with life at Tessa's and Zed's presence, "What would you like to do?"

"Get back to our meeting," Tessa snipped as she gestured towards the orb, which flickered in confusion; Zed chuckled and shook his head, he garnered the attention of the orb and tried to encourage it not to vanish.

"No, no meeting. Open up a map of the castle, please put our beings on stealth mode," Zed instructed.

"Yes, sir, shall I put the game on auto pilot?" It wondered kindly, a robotic, gentle tone that was reassuring and kind, though Tessa grew infuriated.

"NO," Tessa urged in hard annoyance as she finally began to step closer to the exit of the code room, though upon coming up to the doors, they remained tightly shut. Tessa pushed her hand to the white wall, furrowed her brow in hard confusion and began to lightly shove on it, "Coder, open the door."

"I've... Taken new instructions," Coder stammered, as if it's processors were interrupted half way through.

"Excuse me?" Tessa urged in dark annoyance as she sent a hard glower in the direction of Zed and the orb, in which they had affectionately named.

"We have to be quick, I'd say this would look good on you, no?" Zed wondered with great cheek as he thumbed through a few options, though as he gave one of the silver holographic buttons a good shove, Tessa's coding flickered a bit, and in an instant, she was suddenly wearing street clothes; a dark blue biker jacket, thick skinny jeans and a slick logo of her future last name plastered down the length of her arm.

"...Zed, what is this about?!" Tessa now grew a level past annoyed and was on the verge of being upset.

"C'mon, we're ditching this place," Zed rushed as he, too, altered his coding and changed his clothes, within the blink of an eye; he wore something similar to Tessa, though he finally cocked an eyebrow at Tessa, zipped his jacket tight and materialized a pair of keys Tessa was uncertain he even had access to; the very key of her modified race car she had been working on for months now, "Think that cat can run?"

"... How did you get my keys?!" Tessa gawked as Coder remained with the options open, Zed chuckled and tossed them at Tessa.

"Wanna drive?" Zed chimed, Tessa messily caught the keys and threw her hands to her sides, she urgently peered about in hard sarcasm and scoffed loudly.

"DRIVE!" Tessa yelled, their voices were confined to the code room, "WHERE?! I'd like to drive home this Sugar Rush meeting, if you don't mind!"

"Oh, COME ON!" Zed suddenly yelled, though his wide smile remained, as did his loving, playful demeanor, "You're in there nearly going crossed-eyed with boredom, let's just blow this popsicle stand! I know you want to get away from here for the night!"

"And go WHERE Zed?" Tessa shrieked, Zed gestured his hand in hard agitation before he pushed a few things, on Coder's open options, and in the blink of an eye, the two were teleported to the garage, which was dimly lit. Tessa largely flinched, looked about and scoffed a hard noise of protest and flailed her arms outwards, "You're NUTS, Zed! My parents are going to kill us! We can't just ditch such an important meeting!"

"Yes we can, watch, it's easy," Zed rushed as he shoved the key deeper into Tessa's arms and chest, and as Zed scurried to the passenger side of her vicious race car, he flung the door open and urgently gestured his hand, "HURRY before they hear us!"

Tessa froze and peered to him, though in a split second decision, she finally succumbed to his crazy request, opened the driver side door, and once the two were inside, her larger hand nervously fumbled for the ignition.

"Zed, this is crazy, where the hell should we go? Just a silly spin around the game?" Tessa rushed, their voices were suddenly muted as the car sealed for good, the only sound present was their panting and the urgent shuffling of the two trying to get their seat belts situated.

"Just drive, get on the three-nineteen," Zed stated through the grit of his teeth as Tessa finally shoved the key into the ignition, though she didn't dare turn the car over, just yet, "Is she road-ready?"

"Fresh fluid, new tires, new timing belt," Tessa messily listed, her eyes finally hooked into Zed's, once and for all, and as the two held eye contact, she finally let a small, cheeky smile sprawl her face, "Only thing that has me worried is the growl of her engine..."

"Why?" The two panted lightly, the glow of the green dials and dash lights lit their faces and showed the glint of adventure and mischief in their eyes.

"This thing is turbo charged, six cylinders, the whole shebang," Tessa urgently listed, she stifly held her hand to the key in the ignition, which strictly remained on accessory, "This engine shakes the entire Kalivar lot, Zed... Only way to get out of here in time is to, quite literally, haul ass."

Zed slapped his hand to the garage door opener, which was on Tessa's visor; Tessa flinched, furrowed her brow and peered into her rear-view mirror, and it was in this instant did she notice the garage door began to loudly slide open.

"Hit it," Zed huffed urgently.

Tessa felt her pupils tighten, and in a draw of conflicted, inner turmoil, she shut her eyes tight, shoved her hand forward and turned over the car. With a loud growl, the whole garage shook with the sheer grumble of the engine they practically sat in. Tessa reopened her eyes, ignited with a fire that she had been trying so hard to stifle for so long, quickly turned into a firework. Upon hearing Zed's hooping and hollering, her brain immediately turned over to fight or flight, and she knew she only had one want, in this situation. As adrenaline took over, she shoved her bare foot to the brake, threw the car into reverse, and as skillfully as she could, she shot the car out of the garage, a reckless show of squealing tires, a gentle flail of her hands tightly gripped to the steering wheel, to immediately get the car into correction. The car growled, and with programmed and built agility, and a turn radius that was unmatched, Tessa hauled the car out of the garage, practically did a donut, threw the car in drive and held her breath. The second they were out of the garage, facing the glorious gates of their home castle, she floored it to the gates, which began to open as fast as mechanically possible. With the cough of the engine, acceleration beyond imagination, the two shot from the confines of their castle and hit the dirt at the speed of light, just barely missing the gates on the way out.

"I'll bet they heard THAT!" Tessa yelled over the noise of the amazing, powerful engine. The two shared loud laughs of hard adrenaline as the car roared with all the life in Arcade, and as Tessa skillfully drifted around a dark bend on a dark, dirt, jungle path, the car messily slid onto the tar of the straight highway, and as they soared down the two lane road, Tessa shifted gears and continued to push her foot harder and harder onto the accelerator.

"No going back now!" Zed laughed as he held onto the handle above him, he beamed ear to ear and merely glanced at the speedometer, and once he realized the needle was well passed a hundred miles an hour, he bulged his eyes and urgently glanced to Tessa's face, "You realize you're criminal speeding!"

"There's no one for miles, look how many shits I give!" Tessa retort as she shifted the gear once more before settling; Zed heaved a hard laugh, in which Tessa shared with him, and as the car finally became one with the asphalt, the two soared towards Ekreth, which glowed proudly on the horizon, "At this speed, we'll be in Ekreth in twenty minutes."

"I'll have to use my Zed card if we get pulled over," Zed scoffed as he finally relaxed in his seat, "I'm sure your mom and dad are going to be pissed."

"You're an asshole!" Tessa hollered, though Zed broke out into hard laughter in which Tessa couldn't possibly resist. She giggled in annoyance and merely glanced to Zed, "Why did you suddenly have this idea! You scared the crap out of me, you NEVER just sternly ask to speak to me, in the confines of the code room like that! They probably assume we stole away to have sex, or something!"

"No, no, that'll be later," Zed teased nonchalantly, which had Tessa urgently peering to him in hard, playful annoyance, "That meeting was so boring, my face was about to melt off."

"Zed, you understand that whole meeting of people are going to be pissed at us?" Tessa argued.

"Oh, come on, it's all the same... We just discuss what direction we'll be headed in, and who will be coming along, and what landmarks to keep your eyes peeled for," Zed argued back as he nervously peered to the dark highway they were rocketing down, "There's literally nothing we will be missing out on."

"...It was pretty boring, huh," Tessa muttered, Zed nudged her arm.

"Now you're gettin' it! When's the last time we just... RAN AWAY?" Zed wondered, he bulged his eyes and gestured outwards, "Never!"

"It was before Ace was born, I'm sure," Tessa mumbled as she rubbed her forehead, "Feels like an eternity."

"They can handle the game, the meeting isn't anything new," Zed waggled his hand, "We can get the cliff-notes later... No biggie!"

"Where should we go, then?" Tessa wondered in a determined way, she cocked an eyebrow and peered to Zed, "This WAS, after all, your brilliant idea."

"I've set up a reservation for dinner, in Ekreth," Zed stated smoothly, he side-eyed Tessa and gave her a snarky smile, "Only the best for the Kalivars."

"I'm a Schweetz, dude," Tessa muttered, she shot Zed a knowing look and returned the sass, "Unless you were planning on changing that, or something?"

"Ouch," Zed scoffed, they both laughed, "You're wearing my hand-made engagement ring, aren't you? Low blow, Tess."

"You're right, I'm sorry, I'm just... Screwed," Tessa huffed through a long sigh as she urgently gripped the steering wheel and began to lightly slow the car below a hundred miles an hour.

"Screwed?" Zed wondered curiously, his smile broadened, "Is that foreshadowing, then?"

"Oh, shut up," Tessa snapped with a teasing smile she flashed in his direction, "I'm only the heir to the throne of a kingdom we can't seem to get back into our clutches... This is all riding on those important meetings we just decided to so eloquently ditch, you wanna know what my mom and dad are going to do to me once we set foot back on the castle's grounds?"

"Ah, they'll all be asleep, it's whatever!" Zed stated casually, he slumped into the comfortable seats and gave Tessa a look of floored cheek, "Ace and Finn have the game under control."

"So they were clued in on this kidnapping, then?" Tessa teased in hard annoyance.

"Kidnapping!" Zed gawked, "You're the one driving, toots... I'M the one being kidnapped, here."

"Dude-napped," Tessa snipped, she stifled a sarcastic giggle and scrunched her shoulders, "I haven't felt this invigorated in awhile."

"Yeah, well, hold your breath, cause the night's still young," Zed raised his eyebrows and gave her a smoldering smile, to which she near-bashfully cued to in a long, ogling glance of girly confusion.

"You really are a bad guy," Tessa muttered, Zed's smug smile only broadened.

* * *

"I give up," Vanellope barked in hard annoyance as the grounds rumbled via the start of the powerful engine both Tessa and Zed escaped in, and before any of the meetings' members could scurry towards the front door, tires squealed loudly before the atmosphere was gently silent once more.

"'I need a word'... Yeah, what words were those!" Taffyta snapped as the group meeting began to loosen in mild defeat, "'Let's randomly sneak out!'?"

"Ace, can you... Pull up their coordinates?" Ralph uttered sternly, he gestured towards his grandson, which had Ace's excited smirk washed flat in cheeky guilt, "Where the hell are they headed?"

"Uhh..." Ace staggered a little, pulled up his communicator, and pretended to scroll through a few options; he aimlessly thumbed at his and Libby's previous text conversation, though he didn't have his eyes wholly glued to the screen, "Looks like... They're just headed for a drive around the mountain."

"...WHY!" Taffyta urged, Penny suddenly blurt a hard laugh, shook her head, got off of her seat and began to stroll towards the reserve of her bedroom; Taffyta gawked in growing annoyance, "Where are you going!"

"Mom, you called it, they DID steal away for code swapping," Penny uttered loudly as she gestured to the group, playfully bowed and waved her hand in a massively sarcastic cursty, "Meeting adjourned!"

"... I was just getting into it!" Nox argued, though he flinched as his communicator vibrated, "Who the hell is messaging me!"

"That kid has the audacity..." Ralph grumbled as him and Vanellope hooked eyes, "What's the reasoning!"

"A lot more than you think," Ace mumbled, though Nox gently nudged Ace in confusion and gestured down to his phone.

"Why are you messaging me, you weirdo? What is all this nonsense?" Nox mumbled as the group began to disperse and chatter loudly amongst themselves. Ace furrowed his brow in hard confusion and peered down at his own communicator.

"What do you mean?" Ace beamed in mild annoyance, though the second he locked eyes with his communicator, he held his breath and felt all the blood leave his face. In his mindless thumbing, not only had he accidentally copied his and Libby's previous conversation, but he had pasted it into his and Nox's chat box. Ace dragged his wide eyes to Nox and gave him a tight-lipped look of floored terror.

"... What is this random boyfriend mumbo jumbo you just sent me?" Nox urged loudly, though Ace wondered just what exactly he had to do to get Nox to shut up, "Look, I know you like me and all, but I really don't think you and I are going to work out."

"Heh, hilarious, C'MERE," Ace hissed in hard agitation, though as Libby urgently cued to what was going on, the three immediately vanished out the back patio door, though just in time to hear retorts from their previous group-meeting members.

"Not you guys too!" Taffyta urged in solid annoyance as she waved after the three, "When will this meeting be concluded! I feel as though we hardly covered any ground!"

"Just forget it," Vanellope mumbled tiredly as she slumped her face into her hands, "We're all flying blind. Game-plans and strategy guides are for losers, anyways."

"I know you don't really mean that," Ralph grumbled as he cocked an eyebrow in her direction.

* * *

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Nox whined as Ace dragged his best friend across the backyard, with Libby hot on their trail. Nox wiggled his arm free of Ace's strong grip and huffed a hard sigh, "ALRIGHT! SHEESH! What is this about!"

"Nox, I-"

"Did you mean to send this all to me, just now?" Nox laughed as he waved his communicator about, though Libby quickly caught up with the two boys, who stood in the patch of glowing fireflowers. She bit her lip in nervousness and peered to Ace, as if to express to him that she was mildly upset for just what had happened.

"No, I didn't mean to send it to you," Ace dragged in ultimate annoyance as he rolled his eyes and peered up to the starry sky above.

"What is this about! 'I would love to hang out with you after everyone's gone to sleep', 'Do you think anyone would notice?', 'I'm not sure, but I could really use a shoulder massage... Would you mind?' Hearts? Smiley face with HEART EYES?" Nox urged loudly as he gestured to his communicator; Ace grimaced and felt his face turn bright red, and though he so badly wanted to spill his apologies to Libby right here, he nearly had a hard time glancing at her. Ace held his breath and noticed Libby cover her face in his peripheral, in mild embarrassment, "'I really don't want to hurt you, my hands are pretty big', 'You'll be fine, do you think you could potentially touch up my tattoo?'"

It was in this instance did Nox reel a little, stop dead in his tracks and peer down at his communicator in collected thought. As the cogs in his brain began to tug and spin, his golden eyes gently dragged from his communicator to the bashfully plucked, newly-coupled best friends before him, and as if the lights in his mind all came on at once, he slumped his shoulders, softly pointed to the two and let his slightly gaping mouth curl into a wide, beaming, knowing smile.

"Ohhh I see what this is all about," Nox prod cheesily as he gestured to Ace and Libby, "You two think you're sly..."

"We're... Trying to keep things on the down low," Ace mumbled quietly, though him and Libby glanced to each other in growing bashfulness.

"Keep WHAT, exactly, on the down low?" Nox prod as he stiffened his spine, crossed his arms and gave the two a cheeky smile, alongside a playful half-moon glare down the bridge of his grey nose.

"We're... Well..." Ace gestured nervously, shrugged a little and before more anxiousness could get the better of him, he dragged his curious eyes to Libby and had to wonder just where she'd like this to go. Libby's eyes hooked into his, and amidst the glow of the fire flowers, her cute smile broadened, and as she gave Ace a gentle nod, a small approval, Ace heaved a collected smile and gave Nox a look of humbled restoration, "Libby and I are a couple, now."

"... Wait, what!" Nox barked, though Ace and Libby both scrunched their shoulders, gestured their hands and shushed him. Nox bit his lip, hunkered down and gave Ace and Libby a look of floored excitement, "My little beebies are all grown up and doing adult things now!"

"I... Guess you could say that," Ace chuckled as he furrowed his brow and shook his head with a small laugh as Nox cooed at them some more.

"Lookit you guys, it's about time!" Nox laughed, though he kept his voice low for their sake. Ace bashfully glanced to Libby, and as if it were now a new thing that he could delightfully get used to, he welcomed Libby into his side and warmly wrapped his arm around her back and waist as she rested her hand on the center of his strong chest. Nox beamed in pure excitement, though he began to look confused, "Wait... Why are you guys keeping it a secret?"

"We're just... Trying to ease into it, I guess," Ace shrugged, Libby glanced up at him with a nod of gentle confirmation, "I guess it's not a bad thing that everyone knows, I just think we would be more comfortable slowly easing into this transition, with how many people are in the castle, that care about us."

"I guess that makes sense," Nox nodded as he crossed his arms, though he glanced about the two, "So, how long has this been a thing? Do I hear wedding bells? Can I be the best man?"

"You're... Getting ahead of yourself," Libby scoffed with a nervous giggle as both her and Ace bashfully continued to glance to each other, as if their stares was molten hot.

"It's been two days, Nox, c'mon," Ace grumbled with an annoyed smile as Nox waggled his hand a little.

"Well... Your secret is safe with me," Nox eased as he crossed his arms and smiled, though he waggled his eyebrows at Ace, "Though, I could go for a shoulder massage too, dude."

"Only never," Ace retort, Libby laughed amidst red cheeks.

"C'monnn, you were gunna give her one!" Nox argued as he gestured to Libby, her and Ace gingerly pulled apart as Ace nudged Nox's shoulders.

"Yeah, of which was supposed to include candles and be romantic and sweet and something a boyfriend would do for a girlfriend," Ace rushed, he skillfully glanced to Libby and gave her a look as if to inquire that was something she'd like the sound of. Ace stabbed his annoyed, playful glower of a smile, he tried to hide, into Nox's skin, "Not for two dude-bros."

"Fine, whatever, I'll just deal with knotted shoulders for the rest of my life," Nox whined as he hunched over and gestured to himself; Ace furrowed his brow and slumped his shoulders.

"... Alright fine, but it won't include candles and I'll be pissed the entire time," Ace rushed, Libby blurt into hard laughter.

"Can I please be there for that show?" Libby prod, she crossed her arms and gave Ace a look of floored enthusiasm.


	117. Chapter 117

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** Hahahaha yeah, that's a large amount of my humor showing through xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** It's actually rather stunted for... Reasons you'll see why lol.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Yeah they all eventually kumbayah about the two running off xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Yeah, that weird week after xmas and before New Years always messes with me LOL! Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** That's an awesome question, and I'm glad you asked! I actually highly considered it with a certain one of my dude-characters, here! But I scrapped the idea because it seriously would've added like an extra 20 filler chapters and I just am trying to focus on the plot, alongside the main character building. I wasn't opposed to it, I actually had two people planned (No, it wasn't Ace and Nox xD) it was to be with one of Zed's younger brother's and another OC I would've made up, but, like stated, I scrapped it. I love the LGTB community, and have many friends that are such and etc., so I'm accepting/open lol. I'm also really glad you have fallen into that love for a movie, like how Wreck It Ralph will always be for me :) Enjoy!

* * *

 **A/N: WHOA. Guys, how is it possible to get salmonella twice in the span of a year and a half? I'm surprised I haven't died yet. Mostly why I was absent for so long is because I was immobile, on my couch, for almost five days straight. I wanted to die. I'm serious, salmonella is literally the WORST thing to have. The. WORST. So I'm so sorry for the inactivity... I was extremely sick. But I'm back! In time to hang out with Michaela for the week! I'm actually the worst... Hopefully the length of this chapter makes up for all my absence.**

 **For this chapter, and the city life in Ekreth, I used street names and the specific restaurant from my hometown, of which I miss so dearly... I was born and raised in the heart of Scottsdale, AZ - among the ritziest places, and though I was raised lower-middle class, we were spoiled by the sights of the million dollar condos, the lambos, aston martins and maseratis everywhere, and the awesome plazas, of which I've named both in this chapter... I really miss home. The people there are incredibly rude, xD but I miss the sights and the fast cars and the gorgeous scenery :( This story will now likely dip even deeper into my roots, whenever city life is mentioned. Cause I really miss home. Just in case any of you guys are wondering about really specific street names and restaurants and plaza names and stuff xD they're all real! All streets and such I miss like CRAZY.**

 **And lastly, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm excited for 2017 :D It's gunna be a great year! I just know it!**

* * *

 ***Chapter 117***

"Tess," Zed uttered nervously as he nearly clenched his entire being, he stiffened in the luxurious seats and peered his terrified eyes out the darkly tinted windows of Tessa's car. He grit his teeth and inhaled sharply as Tessa was now weaving in and out of heavy city traffic, "TESS!"

"You're stressing me out!" Tessa barked in a giggle as she shifted in and out of gears, accelerating and hitting the clutch, she continued to laugh as Zed's moans and groans grew more terrified.

"You have a blinker for a reason!" Zed urged as he grappled the handlebar above him, "The brake pedal works too, I'm sure?!"

"Yeahhh that's one thing I forgot to install... The blinkers, I mean," Tessa uttered through a sheepish laugh as she hit the horn a few times, "It's a fast lane, buddy! Move it or lose it!"

"We're not even going to make it to dinner," Zed groaned as he covered his face, sunk into the seat and playfully accepted his fate. He laughed into his hand, peeked through his fingers and assessed this new, outgoing and excitable aura permeating from Tessa's being. He soaked in her presence, and though he likely should've picked a better time to steal her away, he knew she responded well to spontaneous acts of rebellion. He glanced to the street as the traffic leveled, and as they came closer to the sky scrapers, the heart of Ekreth, Zed looked about curiously, "You're going to want to get off on Thunderbird."

"Where?" Tessa urged, though Zed grew nervous as he gestured.

"This exit, this one, thisone-thisone-THIS ONE!" Zed rushed loudly, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and skillfully veered the car across three lanes. As Zed covered his face, tightened into his seat and hunkered into a ball, Tessa uttered a loud laugh as a few urgent, annoyed honks came blaring from behind her.

"When's the last time we've driven in Ekreth traffic?" Tessa blurt as she successfully steered onto the exit and slowed to a red light.

"User, I don't know," Zed huffed shakily through a long, exhausted breath as the car finally came to a grumbling stop. Zed urgently eyed his fiance, and though he wanted to scold her for her unsafe driving, he somehow was drawn to her wild eyes, the excited smile on her face. He knew he'd ruin the night by being stern and being overly observant of her short comings, when it came to driving, the racer at heart that she was; he politely set any criticism aside and knew they were lucky they could play the 'Zed' card, if they just so happened to be pulled over. He finally straightened to normality, in his seat, and cocked an eyebrow, "You'll want to turn left here, take a right on Kierland."

"Kierland," Tessa repeated softly as she hooked her alluring hazel gaze into his. The car was dark, thanks to the tinting, and even darker thanks to the night life and sky they were underneath. The gentle, green glow of Tessa's car's dials illuminated her exhilarated demeanor, "You're not taking us to..."

"I dunno," Zed lulled cheekily as he raised his eyebrows and playfully looked away, "You'll just have to see."

"Well of course YOU could get a reservation at Mastro's," Tessa playfully sneered, "Anyone else, though, is going to pay hundreds for a plate and have a wait-time of four months."

"I'm not just cool hair, babe," Zed retort in a cocky tone as he adjusted in his seat, relaxed his arms and hands behind his head and uttered a satisfied groan, alongside a cheeky smile.

"...Cool hair," Tessa repeated, though she drew her urgent eye contact to Zed's and peered about his bright blue hair, "Zed, you forgot your disguise...!"

"What, changing my hair black?" Zed wrinkled his nose, "I'm not going into Mastro's as Zane, Tess..."

"Why? What if... I mean, everyone's gunna..." Tessa stammered, though the light turned green and she hesitantly took the car forward, "The people are going to see-"

"Me with the most awesome, badass, gorgeous girl in this entire Arcade," Zed concluded with great cheek as he gently gestured to the beautiful building in their sights, just down the street, "No way I'm going to hide away in a disguise for that."

"... They know you're coming as Zed, right?" Tessa gawked lightly, "THE Dead Zed...?"

"Yes, babe, they know we're coming," Zed chuckled, he bulged his eyes in annoyance, "They seemed surprised I wasn't wishing for takeout that only I'm allowed to... 'You... Are making a reservation for two Mr. Zed?' Yes, how hard is it to comprehend that I have a lady! I have a child, with said lady, to boot. How hard is it!"

"They're just not used to you being social," Tessa blurt a giggle and, as they happened upon the restaurant, her eyes lit up, and she could practically feel her stomach want to growl in excitement, "They're going to see you walking in with ham-hands, and be like 'oh, wow... he's anti-social AND blind.'"

"Tess," Zed uttered in mildly offended annoyance, "C'mon, you don't give yourself enough credit..."

"I'm sorry," Tessa huffed as she slowly pulled into the parking lot, though as she pulled in, Zed gently motioned towards the valet lot, "I guess... I've always been used to high-living, royalty life, but I never really could get away with being fawned over, or anything. You remember that one time you blew your cover? At the Quarter?"

"That sucked," Zed chuckled as Tessa pulled the car up to the valet, a stand where a few runners stood in anxious, baited wait, just outside the glorious front doors of the restaurant. Tessa stopped the car, the grumble held true, though Zed quickly unbuckled himself and opened his door, "The grass isn't always greener, Tess."

"Yeah, yeah," Tessa uttered in annoyance just as Zed got out and shut the door.

In instinct, Tessa reached for the key, in the ignition, to turn the car off and get out herself, though she froze and eyed Zed a little, as he crossed to the side walk, as well as her side of the car, the driver's side. She immediately noticed the three or four energized valet runners look immediately taken aback, totally star struck and frozen in Zed's presence, and as Zed gently opened Tessa's door, he politely held his hand out to help her out of the car. Tessa peered up at him in floored curiosity. She knew Zed wasn't one to flaunt about town in his own skin, as the very core of the game everyone took as an illusive, sly, mysterious being, though the fact that he was out in the open, out of his disguise, without a single worry, made Tessa's skin crawl. She gave him a curious smile, and as she gently stood, stepped out of the car and left it on for the valet, Zed warmly offered Tessa his arm. Tessa uttered a small laugh as the valet workers looked wholly floored, and though they remained collected as best as they could, they still had that certain glimmer of terrified glee in their eyes; the very end-all of their own game, stood before them in hopes of a delicious meal with his woman.

"Careful, that cat does what it pleases," Zed warned one of the workers, in loo of the car and it's vicious engine. They shared a laugh as Zed lead Tessa closer to the doors, and as they came upon the arches, shown with glorious lights and sprawls of luxurious fauna, they also came upon a crowd.

Tessa inhaled a sharp, silent breath and squeezed tighter into Zed's comfort. At the drop of a hat, the two went from comfortable, mundane routine of a Sugar Rush-scout meeting, to trekking through the fanciest part of town, a high class area meant for the richest city goers around. Tessa knew royal-life wasn't anything new to her, though being away from it for so long made her soft. Her heart raced as they continued on, past the crowd of people, who all were loitering and anticipating any empty tables that could potentially become free, though as the two passed, many onlookers spot Zed and fell into a stunned stupor of pointing and whispering. Tessa urgently pushed closer to Zed, their arms tightly linked, she recalled the few times she stumbled into Starkrem, the look of pure idolizing some of the residents would dawn upon their smiling, excitable faces; how it made her anxiety soar, she had to wonder how she used to endure it. She bit her lip in growing apprehension, though just as she was about to beg Zed to turn around and head for the car, he leaned his head closer to hers and let his deep, comforting, easy voice gloss over her figuratively trembling being.

"Just relax," Zed soothed, to her and only her, "These people only freak out, to see me, because I'm hardly ever spot in public... Somehow, they think it's a treat."

"Sorta weird that I just so happen to live with you," Tessa uttered, she giggled, and though she still held onto nervousness, she eased a bit.

"I feel the same way, about you, Tess," Zed stated to her, quietly, though as a few people began to try and crowd them, to beg for an autograph or vie for Zed's attention, a buffer was created with a few staff members, and they slipped safely into the guarded building. Once inside, Zed relaxed his shoulders and peered down to Tessa's curious eye contact, "I'm just the core of this game... You're a princess. No way one can compete with that."

"Princess," Tessa eased in mild annoyance as they drew to a small stop on the foyer of the restaurant, which was crowned with comforting, dim lights and a golden atmosphere that was unmatched. The excitement and commotion, that had begun to stir outside, dulled as the massive restaurant doors shut. Tessa finally relaxed as well, and peered up to Zed in curiosity, "Princess of a game that is near-impossible to get back into our rule."

"Near-impossible," Zed stated knowingly as he pointed a little, "But not totally impossible..."

"We just should probably, oh I don't know," Tessa trailed off as a few members of the staff began to approach them, "Sit in on a few of those meetings, once in awhile, huh?"

"Hmm, potentially," Zed sneered, and though he wouldn't dare discredit the turmoil and trouble Sugar Rush was in, he knew stealing away for one night, weeks before their trip, wouldn't hurt anyone, "But, for tonight... We rebel."

"...Starting with seafood," Tessa cocked an eyebrow, as if to state that even though it was a good move, it likely wasn't a solid act of rebellion.

"Running away for said seafood? Sure, likely tame," Zed retort as the staff politely pushed into their presence, "What we do afterwards?..."

Tessa furrowed her brow, and though she wanted to open her mouth and pry at Zed for all the information, the wait staff politely interjected, as skillfully as their trembling demeanor could.

"A Mr. Dead Zed," one of the waiters stated with a wide, nervous smile, "We're honored you've decided to join us tonight."

"Not just for take-away, too, huh?" Zed laughed, which had the main waiter, as well as the two assisting him, in light stitches, "Sorry for the switch up."

"No apology needed, we're floored," he beamed, he was clean cut, tall, and extremely professional looking, "We've arranged the best seat for you and your lady."

"It could be outside on the curb," Zed eased quietly, he tenderly peered his warm attention to Tessa, which had all eyes on her as he squeezed her arm and hand a little, "As long as I'm with this beauty."

Tessa huffed a small breath and felt taken aback. She knew Zed wasn't one to be shy with loving, kind words towards her, which expanded with confidence over the course of their relationship, though she reeled and had to wonder the last time she was so delightfully spoiled like this. For the first time in months, she felt that itching, dewy beam of a smile poke at her cheeks, the feeling of those special silver-circuited butterflies that lined her insides, the peak of joy her heart fluttered at, the very first time she ever viewed Zed as something more. The instance on Academy's dance floor, the slow look over her shoulder as Zane's handsome figure came into the spotlight, long before she even was aware of his actual identity. Tessa fell into a pit of molten love as she could feel her cheeks heat up, the few staff members before them cooed quietly and appreciated their tender moment, though as Tessa kept her eyes to Zed's, she felt a weird wave of uncertainty come over her, one that held question for how the night would carry on and end, something she thrived off of; something her and Zed were used to, in the past.

As their delicious meal carried on, plates became empty, glasses of ice cold beverages became frosted with an overload of condensation caused by endless refills, forks and knives were tireless as the clatter of scarfing a delicious meal soaked the dim, warm atmosphere. Tessa heaved a hard, satisfied sigh, set her fork down for good, slumped into her chair and peered to Zed across their small, intimate table. He heaved a chuckle into his glass, and as he swallowed a drink of his champagne, he held the glass, for potential seconds, and gazed his warm eye contact into hers. Zed knew Tessa was likely finally all buttered up, finally an ooey gooey mess of untangled worries that needed to desperately come undone, though his eyes aimlessly glanced to the thick, sleek white table cloth underneath their mess of plates. He furrowed his brow in mild contemplation and slowly hooked his eyes into hers once more.

"Man, this... This really hit the spot," Tessa sighed with a wide smile, her signature gap-toothed expression finally held that irresistible amount of tomboyish charm Zed had fallen in love with, "I hope everyone else, at the castle, isn't too mad."

"I'm sure they will be," Zed stated ironically as the waiter came by and took the check back from him, a lazy, nonchalant tilt of Zed's eyebrow had eons of mischief and sly charm coming back to the forefront of his and Tessa's relationship, the early days of defiance and teamed rebellion.

"Let's not go home," Tessa hissed quietly, her eyes grew wide with excitement, "At least just yet..."

"Tess," Zed chuckled, as if he had to wonder if his version of a night out had a shorter expiration; he assumed hers would be much shorter than what she was currently giving off.

"C'mon," Tessa teased as she stiffened a little, she sat up and looked down to her empty plate, though her fingers drew to the table cloth in seductive delight, she dragged her eyes back to Zed's and smiled a little wider, "Remember that night, after Academy's ball? We stole away to the Flip Side..."

"That was... I mean..." Zed tiredly shook his head, looked off and tried to seem nonchalant. His irresistible smile hooked into hers with a dollop of charm he was so badly trying to stifle, though he nearly couldn't help himself around her, "We were..."

"Young? It was only a little over a year ago," Tessa stuttered through a small laugh as she scrunched her shoulders and shook her head, though with a sudden rush of tomboy spirit, she rested her fist on the table, causing the tableware to clatter. She looked up in contemplation and furrowed her brow sarcastically, "Y'know what, you're right. We're too old for this. Let's just, uh... Go home. Get yelled at. Go through routine after routine."

Zed slumped his shoulders and fell silent in defeat as he peered his gentle, loving gaze to hers across their small table. Tessa lifted her fist, shrugged and stabbed her excitable, wild hazel eyes into Zed's.

"Orrr... We could stroll downtown. Get into trouble. Come home at sunrise?" Tessa inquired with great cheek, and an even greater smile. She side eyed Zed, her voice was as smooth and gentle as honey, though the poison it was laced with was palpable, "Whatdoyahsay... Defy code. Old times sake."

Zed held his breath, and as much as he wanted to hold up to the duties he had been backpacking for over a year now, the promise of keeping a strong household, raising a good child and keeping the game in good condition, his circuits were simply on auto pilot, though with the way his curious eyes soaked into Tessa's, he felt as if he was merely sat in a memory. The simple days of stealing away, flights around the game, his Tron cycle's engine roaring freely in the jungle's maze, the way EZ Living's stars boasted their love. He finally unleashed his hot breath through his nose, in defeat, and looked down at the table, though he was mildly jolted out of his lazy, defeated concentration as the waiter returned, gave Zed his card and profusely thanked the two for the visit. Once him and his staff had stepped away, Zed slowly stood, lulled his leather jacket over his masculine figure and cocked an eyebrow down to Tessa's sitting, waiting, baited figure.

"You sure I'm the bad guy here?" Zed uttered, though Tessa beamed an excited smile and stood as well, for she knew she had won this fight.

"I always knew I was a bad guy, I'm directly related to one," Tessa sneered as Zed helped her with her street jacket as well, which slipped over her beautiful black sleeveless shirt.

"We're all bad influences, I get it," Zed muttered as Tessa began to grow giddy.

As the two began to slowly leave, an escort and a buffer eased them out of the building and protected them from the crowds of people that had gathered to see their mysterious, elusive, final dead last boss. Zed held his arm tight around Tessa's waist and knew that if he were to be separated from her, things could get messy amongst the vying crowds. Once they were safe in the hug of the restricted valet section, out in the parking lot, Zed huffed a small sigh, looked over his shoulder and cocked an eyebrow at the crowd that continued to call for him excitedly, now being held back by security and authorities. Tessa nudged his chest a little and chuckled.

"All those pretty girls, and you chose me," Tessa stabbed, though the love was honest and prominent in her eyes.

"Even post-brain wash, who woulda thunk," Zed eased his arms around her waist, pulled her curvy body into his and nuzzled his forehead into hers. She beamed ear to ear as he willingly exposed their little display of love, though he laid off after a few seconds and pulled out his communicator, "Okay... I guess if we're going into downtown, I'm going to need that Zane cover. I'm going to have to ask Finn for the help."

"I guess... Trying to have fun, through those crowds, could be difficult, without it," Tessa grimaced a little, though they both looked over as the rumble and growl of Tessa's car came from around the corner, as the valet brought the car to the loading curb.

"C'mon, I'll drive," Zed eased patiently, though as much as Tessa wanted to protest, she kept quiet and was aware Zed knew the lay of the city of Ekreth better than anyone.

As Zed opened the passenger door for her, she pulled out her communicator as well. Her eyes followed Zed's handsome figure around the front of Tessa's grumbling car, and after he smoothly paid and tipped the valet, he quickly got into the driver's seat, adjusted the controls and glanced to Tessa with a small smolder.

"Y'ready?" Zed eased as he shifted the car into drive, Tessa nodded and bit her lip in excitement, though she thumbed through her communicator for the right person to select.

"I'll message Finn to change your hair color," Tessa eased, though she lazily slunk back into her seat and side eyed Zed in a curious fashion. She inhaled with courage and blurt out an idea that had been festering inside of her, secretly, for awhile, "Let's get piercings."

"P-piercings," Zed stammered, his terrified eyes glossed hers from the dim glow of the green dash lights, and as he successfully pulled out into traffic, he heaved a hard, unwilling laugh and shook his head, "Hoo no. Needles plus Zed equals game over."

"Oh come on! It'll be fun!" Tessa whined playfully, Zed only laughed and continued to lightly shake his head as he picked up speed.

"You're crazy, Tess, c'mon... We can't just stroll and, I don't know... Get ice cream?" Zed wondered shyly, Tessa's face washed flat in dull annoyance.

"We're not children, nor are we grandparents," Tessa complained, "It'll be fun, just another tally to our crazy adventures. Besides, there's ice cream at the house."

"There's an awesome ice cream parlor I know of, in down town," Zed shrugged.

"Well, fine, why don't we go there after piercings?" Tessa waggled her eyebrows, though Zed shot her a confused look.

"I've NEVER heard you say you want piercings, and, while we're on this subject... What kind of piercings are we talking?" Zed wondered in bashful, curious delight, though his tone still held a waver of nervousness.

"I don't know, nothing crazy... At least right now, anyways," Tessa shrugged, though she peered down at her communicator in mild frustration, "Finn's not answering me."

"Try Ace, Finn's likely busy with Tammy or something," Zed rushed in gentle annoyance.

"What, you think that ham-hands lover boy isn't busy with his new jungle princess girlfriend, either?" Tessa gawked with a hard laugh as she adjusted herself in her seat, though she thumbed to Ace's name anyways and began to type him a message.

"Caught that vibe too, huh?" Zed wondered softly, he tried his hardest to keep Ace's fragile secret a neutral topic, on his end.

"Caught it? It practically smacked me in the face, the other night, what with that moon juju stunt," Tessa smiled widely as she continued to type, "Looks like we'll have to firewall their coding, as well."

 _8:29pm Friday 09/16/2016_

 _QueenB : Hey love, can you do me a quick favor?_

"I don't want to talk about it," Zed grumbled, though the smile on his face never faltered. He breathed a small chuckle and peered to Tessa in gentle confusion, "You never told me what kind of piercing you wanted?"

 _User : What's up mom? You guys okay?_

 _QueenB : Yeah, sorry we... Sort of bailed. I'm guessing your father gave you the low down prior to us bailubg_

 _QueenB : *bailing_

 _User : Yeah, you deserve a night out. Have fun! Love you mom_

 _QueenB : Wait, I need you to do something for us, Finn isn't responding to my messages_

 _User : Oh, right sorry. Nox is distracting me_

"He's not even with Libby, he's with Nox," Tessa giggled, though she flinched as Zed wasn't included on said conversation, and had asked her the same question twice now. Tessa huffed nervously and gave him a gentle look of apology, "I'm sorry. I've been thinking of getting my tragus pierced."

"Tragus," Zed repeated, he glanced to her in growing worry, "WHERE is that? Dare I ask..."

"Riiiight here," Tessa stated as she wrinkled her nose in girly coy, leaned over and wiggled her finger to Zed's ear. Once she touched the prominent, angular cartilage, just outside the hole of his ear, Zed largely winced, yanked his head away, scrunched his shoulders and gripped the wheel in hard terror.

"HUH! NO!" Zed uttered loudly in wild nervousness, Tessa threw herself back into her seat and howled with laughter as Zed continued to stammer on words and noises of pure horror, "WHY, WHY! Anywhere but there! Why do you want to torture yourself like so?"

"You should get a piercing too," Tessa chirped as she buried her nose back into hers and Ace's conversation.

 _QueenB : Don't let that wily one go Turbo, babe._

 _User : Mom, I think it's too late for that. We've already lost Nox long ago haha_

 _QueenB : True. Hey, are you comfortable being in the code room for a second?_

 _User : ... By myself mom?_

 _QueenB : Well, if you want to fish your uncle Finn out of his den to make yourself more comfortable, but otherwise... We just need your help really quick._

 _User : Do I have to spot another code swap mom? I'm really starting to feel weird about that._

"What the heck does he mean by 'spot another code swap'?" Tessa giggled as he peered to Zed in gentle confusion, though Zed rolled his eyes and beamed an annoyed smile as he weaved in and out of traffic.

"Him and I made sure Finn didn't delete Tammy when they swapped," Zed uttered, he shook his head, "We were in the code room, just protecting their coding. We weren't actually in the room with them, for User's sakes."

"Geez, I was gunna say, scar the poor boy for life," Tessa ogled as she thumbed into her communicator.

 _QueenB : No, no swaps, son, relax. Can you just change the hue of your father's hair from the blue it is to jet black? We're in Ekreth and he forgot to change his hair color for disguise._

 _User : Oh, sure. That's easy enough._

 _Queen B : In and out son, don't dawdle please._

 _User : Yes ma'am._

"I don't even think piercings would look good on me," Zed chuckled nervously, though he cocked an eyebrow as if he were considering it, "I wouldn't get any in my ears cause... I don't think that's for me."

"Well, at least come with me to get mine, yeah?" Tessa pleaded gently, though she glanced to Zed's hair and was curious to watch it change over to black.

"I'm not going to make you go in alone, Tess... On a Friday night in downtown? That's suicide," Zed choked, he cocked an eyebrow and glanced Tessa over, "With what you're in? The guys will be fawning all over you. Someone's gotta keep 'em off of yah."

"You're too kind," Tessa stated dully in dry sarcasm, though she heaved an easy laugh as Zed gave her an annoyed glower, "You should get snake bites."

"Snake... Bites..." Zed stated slowly in a tone of dull horror, he dragged his nervous eyes to her before he kept his eyes back on the road, "Sure. Let's get the most terrifying sounding piercing EVER. Where's this one, on the top of your foot or something awful?"

"No, it's two studs, evenly placed, below your bottom lip," Tessa eased nonchalantly, though before Zed could even utter an annoyed quip of terror, he stabbed his terrified blue eyes into her, and as he did so, his hair quickly dipped from the excitable blue to the mysterious black he used to keep it at, when he was his persona, Zane.

"Scared the color right outta yah!" Tessa howled with laughter.

* * *

"I've never seen Zeddy with black hair," Libby's gentle voice was as soft as can be, the lulling, cream lights of the code room's hub embraced her and Ace in a gentle, welcoming atmosphere. Inside such an air tight, muted space, their voices seemed as if they were simply in a soundbox, a mastered hull of machinery that was simply soundproofed. Libby's eyes scanned the silver circuitry, in which Ace controlled before her, though they finally dragged up to Ace's being, "Was that all Tessa wanted?"

"I think so, she's stopped replying to me," Ace chuckled softly, he glanced his eyes to Libby's and then down to his communicator, though his heart began to thump a little. He began to power down a few options, and though he was a little bit a fish out of water, here in the intimidating code room, he showed through a humble confidence and tried to make it clear that he did, indeed, at least know what he was doing.

"They'll be gone until sunrise," Libby eased in a low, knowing way as her accent coat Ace's ears in such a sing-song way, a lulling melody that made his heart surge even more than it already was, and with this, he sneaked a long, ogling glance to her wild, innocent eyes; they remained trained to Zed's accessible stats as she slowly shook her head in a knowing way, "Ralphie sure looked mad."

"He did," Ace breathed in a dull chuckle, so to act nonchalant, though he kept his eyes trained to the white haired beauty before him. He furrowed his eyebrows softly and merely glanced down to her fresh tattoo, and though they had a bit of an embarrassing moment with Nox, with said reveal of their new relationship, he noticed that Libby's tattoo, indeed, needed touching up around the backside of her arm. As delicately as he could, he reached his fingers and hand out, a gentle grip that came to the middle of her upper arm, "Hey, you were right. Your tattoo looks like it's a little splotchy back here. I can tell you right now, that that's my fault."

"It's okay, I noticed it this morning in the mirror," Libby waved her hand, to express to Ace that it was, indeed, no big deal. She flashed him a small smile and gestured to the special code room features before the two, "C'mon, let's leave these two alone... It's clear this adventure was something planned, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ace huffed with a widening, smug smile as he began to gently shoo away the code room's options, though Coder gingerly appeared a few feet before them, as if to state that he had gestured to a 'home' menu.

"Anything else you need, User Ace?" Coder stated robotically, though his voice was tender and somehow almost natural.

"You can just call me Ace, Coder... You helped bring me into this world, after all," Ace chuckled, the orb lightly flickered with the compliment, "I may be a User, but you aided my parents in making sure I arrived to the planet safely. No need for formalities."

"Understood," Coder eased politely as Ace and Libby quietly laughed in understanding towards the orb, which gave no reserves on letting them into the code room.

"Thanks for letting me in, Coder," Libby stated, though Coder flickered in quiet contemplation, as if to seem confused.

"Analyzing accent," Coder stated in urgent curiosity as Libby glanced her eager eye contact to Ace, though as if to show further politeness, Coder continued on in perfect Teltokuan, "Any Kalivar is welcomed into the code room."

Libby's eyes softly widened, though Ace huffed a hard laugh and gawked in boyish, innocent excitement; he couldn't understand what Coder was currently saying, though he was only floored that Coder had somehow picked up Libby's accent and pin pointed her original language. Ace nudged Libby in excitement, though Libby's face grew red as she bashfully peered to the glowing orb. She nervously glanced to Ace, as if to wonder if he could possibly understand the two, though she had to remind herself that he didn't have any knowledge of the Teltokuan language, and the only way to gain such knowledge would be to either study up, or swap. Libby gingerly carried on the conversation with Coder, though in strict Teltokuan.

"I'm... Not a Kalivar, Coder," Libby's words were delicate and mature, not to seem either disappointed or insulted, she stepped forward a little, as if to subconsciously express to Ace that she was aware he couldn't understand her words; at least not yet, "My family name is-"

"Aoelna," Coder completed with a small huff of a laugh that was nearly too human, which caused Libby to flinch in surprise, "Yes, yes... Kajiksana Talik'se Aoelna. Kaji for short, no?"

"I-I... I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you have this information," Libby stated through a bashful giggle as Coder flared in a gentle light of welcoming excitement, "You... You said any Kalivar is welcomed to the code room, yet you welcomed me? And... Lumped me as such, I guess?"

"Well... You are with your mate, are you not? A true Kalivar, strong and brave," Coder intelligently inquired, which caused Libby to attempt not to peer back at Ace in an ogling glance of dewy bashfulness. She kept her strict attention to Coder and could feel Ace's confusion grow, the fact that he couldn't understand the two.

"I..." Libby gestured her hands, to agree with Coder, though she wasn't quite sure how to reveal that they weren't married, nor swap mates; neither connected in any way.

"So, whether you choose by marriage or code swap, you will eventually be named an official Kalivar, hmm?" Coder eased in knowing, as if his knowledge took out the guesswork of predicting who exactly was going to permanently pair off with who.

"I... I would love nothing more," Libby quietly confessed to the confidentiality of hers and Coders secret conversation. Her cheeks grew red and bashful as a smile sprawled across her face, though it was suddenly stinted, "I surely hope."

"It's not every day a User, a being with the whole Arcade in his hand, so willingly hand picks a woman, someone who will eventually share such raw, incredible, limitless coding," Coder started to sound nearly stern, "It's a great responsibility. Such power is something not even I can argue with. If Zed were to do something detrimental to the game, I could easily intervene... Ace, on the other hand."

Libby froze and felt nervous, a strange knot formed in her stomach, though she finally risked making Ace asking a billion questions and long-glanced at him, over her shoulder. He furrowed his eyebrows in soft contemplation and felt Libby's edge, and just as he began to step forward to pry, like what Libby assumed, she looked back to Coder and huffed a small sigh.

"I know the consequences, the honor," Libby added gently, she smiled and nodded, "I appreciate the sentiment, Coder... I've always felt at home, here at the Kalivar castle."

"You've been a permanent marker point on Zed's and Tessa's head count since the week you arrived," Coder chimed happily, though his light dimmed a little as his voice grew quieter, though his words switched back to normal English, "How long can we carry on with this until Ace has an aneurysm?"

"Uh, too late!" Ace barked as Libby whirled around with an apologetic smile, "What's this about?"

"Simply messing with you, sir," Coder drew back to Ace's eye level, the brightness of the code room returned to it's normal state, "What you humans call a 'joke'. Ha-ha."

"Ha ha, heh, very funny," Ace mumbled with a sarcastic look of meanness, he gingerly slipped his hand into Libby's and began to draw the two to the exit of the hub, "Thank you, Coder. Finn and I will be back in the morning, if mom and dad aren't."

"Goodnight, you two," Coder eased as the doors whirred open and delicately let the two exit.

"What was all that about?" Ace huffed with a curious smile down to Libby's blushed cheeks as the doors sealed closed behind them.

"Nothing, really," Libby giggled a small breath and covered half of her face a little, though she huffed a long sigh and smiled down the dim corridor they walked down, which lead to Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, "I guess I should've known that he had information about my heritage, language and... Name."

"I heard that bit, that's all I understood," Ace rushed with a wide, annoyed smile, "Y'really gotta teach me, I want in on the secrets you and Coder suddenly have."

"No secrets," Libby soothed with a loving smile as she peered to Ace, though she suddenly realized in this moment the raw words coming out of his mouth.

To simply acquire one's knowledge, a codeswap is an easy out, to kill two thousand birds with one stone, though his eager eyes looked strictly reliant on her simply teaching him her ways. She furrowed her brow in mild confusion; she knew he was being ultra sensitive towards her, because of her past, and the fact that they were simply on day two of their blossoming relationship, though she smiled with the fact that he wasn't eagerly pushy to make things go to the next level. With this, she began to wonder if he likely wouldn't ever really jump head first into romance, and though she took the extreme sentiment to heart, she furrowed her brow, peered forward and now contemplated if this awkward dance, they had fallen into, would simply have them just stepping in circles around each other.

"He just named me an honorary Kalivar because, well... Ma and Zeddy took me in, at such a young age before I... Well... Wasn't allowed back," Libby stammered, "Coder was just assuring that I was welcomed because the, um... Kalivar clan trusted me. More or less."

"It's true," Ace nodded, the underlying topic soared over him, Libby slumped her shoulders, "Coder's hard to have conversation with, so I'm surprised he opened up to you like that. That was awesome."

"Yeah, it was really cool," Libby urged gently with a smile as the two crossed Tessa's and Zed's room.

"So... You want me to help you touch up your tattoo tonight?" Ace wondered as they slowly eased into the Sky Room, ultimately shutting his parent's bedroom door behind them, "Or, did you want to wait for another day?"

"No, we can um... We can fix it tonight," Libby eased gently, she eyed Ace curiously, she wondered why she was feeling so grippy towards him, the way his nonchalant demeanor seemed so boyish and carefree, the strict politeness he had forced to keep himself in, it somehow made her skin burn in frustration, for reasons she wasn't sure she even had to put careful thought to so soon.

"Okay, well then, let's go," Ace stated kindly as he gestured towards the Sky Room, and as he began to lead the two to the back door, so they could escape to Ace's tower, Libby inhaled a shaky breath and felt as if every single strict reserve she had was now wiggly roots attempting to hold a century old tree of ways, she was set in, towering solid like it always had been.


	118. Chapter 118

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so much for your support! That means a lot :) No, as stated in my author's note below, it was a mixture of salmonella and a spider bite. Good times! To answer your question, no, there will be no LGBT couples in this story - I am one hundred percent in support of the LGBT community, and I NEARLY put it in the story, but it didn't quite fit or work out, so I scrapped it. It was going to be a gay couple, but as stated, I scrapped it. ALL to say, there WILL be another couple to spark in this story, though it will be a fling, something that doesn't entirely work out and is sort of 'secret', if you will. Just adds a little bit of drama. Also, yes, Electric Shock will still be a thing - not entirely one hundred percent similar to the drawing, though it is something that Vanellope teaches Taffyta, as well as a few other Kalivar castle residents that can't glitch on their own.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! I appreciate how much you care about my story, it really motivates me, everyone's support definitely helps me carry on :) So, thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Yee! And, thank you! I'm on the rise to feeling better, thank god lol

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha it's a good thing he sort of is the head dude in charge xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D

* * *

 **A/N:** **OKAY guys - PHEW! I can finally get back to my normal upload schedule! I had SO MUCH FUN hanging out with Michaela for the week she was here, I really needed it. I really miss home, but that definitely helped to have someone familiar in such an unfamiliar place. Thomasville and Tallahassee are very slowly becoming home, it's been an adjustment, but for the most part, I'm enjoying being over here. Which quickly brings me to my next point...**

 **I spent my ENTIRE life in Phoenix, surrounded by scorpions, rattlers, coyotes, poisonous desert creatures, you NAME IT. The second I get over to Georgia? I get bit by a hobo spider. Fucking thing was HUGE. It's in the same family as a brown recluse, soooo. The little shit did a number on my right pointer finger, so, to be truthfully honest with you guys, writing and drawing is not only pretty painful, it's pretty difficult because I constantly keep it bandaged. We believe I got bit over New Years, which also added to my salmonella poisoning. I think I just didn't notice any of the symptoms of the spider bite because, the same symptoms happen with salmonella poisoning and stomach flu. I was already sweating and cramping and throwing up and exhausted and dizzy because I was sick, but then the spider bite just added to it.**

 **My finger is fine, I didn't need to go to the ER or the doctor or anything because it wasn't too severe. It's all scabbed and healing now, and it's gotten a lot better, but for about a week, it was all blistered and bulbous and would eventually drain and was actually pretty terrifying lesions and open ulcer-like wounds for awhile. I was genuinely freaked, but I did a ton of home remedies, and I slowly nursed it back to 'normality'. The blisters went away and the like. The only reason I'm positive this was a hobo spider is because we CAUGHT the fucker, and I got my revenge. Nasty little thing, REALLY quick too. Scared the piss out of me. Like I said, in all my years of living near said creatures I stated, I've never had to endure something like this, and I'm really glad it wasn't too severe, otherwise I would've been screwed. Cause my health benefits at my job don't kick in for another month...**

 **SO yeah. My finger is usable, it's just very sore and on it's way to getting better. Forgive me for typos that I accidentally miss, and for the next month, forgive any sloppy art. It just HAD to be my right hand this spider attacked, of course. Thank you guys SO MUCH for all your patience and understanding. It's sort of just one thing after another, but I am FINALLY at a point in this adventure where I can hunker down, work on chapters, my portfolio and my trilogy's artwork, so I'm excited to get started. I also am excited to work on the sketchdump you guys have SO patiently waited for, so stay tuned, cause I'm finally on the rise! Thanks guys!**

* * *

 ***WARNING*** **: Although this chapter does NOT contain a sex/code swap scene, it does get pretty 'spicy', if you will. The next few upcoming chapters will have sexual, mature moments, as well as an upcoming sex scene, and I will warn as such. Nothing further than second base happens in THIS chapter, but I know I have sensitive readers, so I figured I'd put a disclaimer.**

* * *

 ***Chapter 118***

"I haven't seen you with black hair since... well..." Tessa trailed off softly, she felt a whirl of emotions come back to her, a mix of nostalgia and remembered young love that made her heart skip a beat. As her and Zed remained loosely locked arms, she bashfully smiled down to the concrete they trailed down and fell into step with him, "Since... The week you revealed yourself to me."

"An odd week, indeed," Zed's deep voice glossed over her, his brilliant blue eyes peered down to her in a soft glance, and it was in this moment did they lock stares in their stir of adolescent adoration that quickly continued to return to them, "Well worth it. You're the first person I ever felt comfortable with showing my identity to."

"I had to beat it out of you," Tessa choked a laugh, Zed huffed a playful sigh and looked out to the dirty, light polluted sky with a sarcastic, smug look of knowing remembrance. He finally breathed a genuine, gentlemanly laugh as he relaxed and fell into her rhythm, "First game over, too."

"You gave me all my firsts, love," Zed's voice was deep and seductive, they were shroud in an ironic bubble of secretive, deep love amidst the shallow city of aggressive street lights, sky scrapers lost in the illuminated fog and pandering, lost, vibrant souls.

"First kiss?" Tessa pressed, and though she knew the answer, she prod as if Zed were simply an individual of whom she was merely on a second date with.

First kiss, first and only swap," Zed lulled his head, as if to playfully state that he potentially had other close calls prior.

"First proposal?" Tessa added in sarcastic question, the two stumbled with each other and lightly laughed.

"First child," Zed stated warmly, though his heart surged in curiosity; he tried to stifle the topic of babies, though he wondered if fighting it as hard as he was, was even worth it anymore; the way her eyes grew dewy with the simple mention of babies had him melting into her hands, finally willing to bend to her pleas.

"Hmm, this is a fourth date kind of conversation, you sure we're not moving too fast?" Tessa playfully sneered, Zed beamed and raised his eyebrows, as if to ponder her statement.

"Says the daughter of the fastest racer in this Arcade," Zed volleyed as they strolled the streets, vibrant with clubs, loud individuals and a busy, modern night life.

"You're unbeatable, I guess it's a double edged sword," Tessa shrugged as Zed made sure to keep their arms tightly and lovingly linked.

"I'd say it's a match made in heaven," Zed eased deeply as he leaned more snug into their sauntering walk, the way Tessa beamed a bashful grin to their feet had his heart thumping in the victory he was gaining over and over. As they stumbled upon the specific piercing and tattoo shop he knew to be the best in town, he heaved a dry sigh and gestured towards the door, "Alright... Time to get stabbed."

"It's not so scary if you don't use terms like that," Tessa argued in annoyance as the two unlatched from each other, though Tessa shot him a playfully snotty look, she urgently gestured to the circuit burn marks on the sides of her jaws and temples, "I birthed your child and went blind because of it... I can handle any amount of pain thrown my way."

"I can't argue with that," Zed heaved gently as he hesitantly opened the door for her and let her inside the parlor first.

As the two stepped into the parlor, they were greet with an unexpected sight of warm, welcoming lights, a glossy, brown concrete floor clean enough to eat off of, and showcases of a wide array of jewelry for all sorts of piercings. Tessa slowed to a gentle stop and ogled the gorgeous little shop. With it's 'hole in the wall' exterior, the interior definitely acted as a portal to a separate, clean aspect of the dirty, messy, noisy downtown lifestyle of Ekreth's southern tail. In the main lobby was high ceilings, warm walls with edgy artwork properly displayed, as well as a proper logo of the shop. Tessa furrowed her brow in surprised delight and slowly let her eyes drag about the room. Across the lobby lay a wide hallway that lead to separate rooms of sorts, likely for privacy during tattoo and piercing sessions. Tessa's eyes finally slid across the stretch of comfortable sitting areas, dark, cushiony chairs and couches, across the small group of other city individuals hoping for a night to remember. She side-eyed Zed and gave him cheeky look of bewilderment.

"You really know how to pick 'em... How'd you know about this place?" Tessa wondered quietly, two of the staff members towards the front of the store quietly helped a small group of customers, each of which ogled each other's new piercings.

"The Tiger's Stripe? It's the cleanest most reputable tattoo and piercing parlor in South Ekreth," Zed shrugged, as if this was information everyone likely knew, everyone but Tessa. She furrowed her brow in gentle dismay, as if to state it were obvious she didn't have random knowledge about this vast city, though he chuckled and carried on, "Alright, I... I've been here before."

"What? You... You came and then chickened out?" Tessa wondered with great snark, though Zed fixed his slick, jet black faux hawk, rolled his eyes gently, and shot his seductive blue gaze straight for Tessa's soul.

"Nope... I came with Tej, once upon a time," Zed mumbled as they slowly began to approach the front of the store, to inquire about an appointment and get set up with Tessa's new addition, though she gawked at Zed as he continued on softly, "None of you guys know that Tej, indeed, has another side to him."

"What side is that? The kid has no piercings or tattoos," Tessa argued in a hushed tone as the group before them happily paid, thanked the artists and began to mosey out of the shop.

"None that you can see," Zed muttered, though Tessa elongated her neck in a fashion of surprise she seemingly had to slowly mull over, though she flinched as the woman behind the counter chimed in, in gentle politeness.

"Hey guys, what can we do for you tonight?" She wondered, Tessa turned to face her, and though she continued to reel from Zed's previous statement, she noticed said shop employees were all that of a pack of anthro characters, from which video game, Tessa wasn't certain.

As Tessa's eyes adjusted to the strange difference, she honed in on the employee's piercing emerald eyes, hidden in a gentle, pale grey fur. Cat ears that remained alert in readiness, she had tiger stripes that ever so faintly zig-zagged her shoulders, arms and face. Just as Tessa was to reply, she noticed another employee hanging towards the back of their work area, he gentle filed a few things away, and though he was of her same species, he was much bulkier and wore a plain grey tshirt. He seemed a bit more casual, as opposed to his more formal counterpart.

"This one has dragged me here to watch her get her... Uh... What was it called again?" Zed gently wondered, Tessa could tell he was putting on a bit of an aloof act, something of which he hoped wouldn't cue the employees, or anyone for that matter, into the fact that he was their game's core.

"Tragus," Tessa eased, Zed laughed, as did the grey furred employee before them; she easily resembled Otto, Tessa's old friend from Academy, though it was clear this employee wasn't from the same game as Otto, which was that of the Sonic universe.

"Tragus," Zed repeated in gentle annoyance, though the woman before them uttered a small laugh, revealing her fangs, though she remained unintimidating as her long, fluffy tail flicked in happiness. Zed carried on through a huff of a small breath, "User forbid she'd want something, I don't know... Extremely painful."

"Aww, the tragus isn't so painful," Stated the employee, she smiled and began to ready some paperwork, though it was at this point that it were obvious the male employee, from across the way, was now cued into their conversation, as if to attempt to be sneaky and inconspicuous. He flattened his ears and just barely glanced over his shoulder as his female coworker continued on, "Sure, it's strictly cartilage, so it'll take a bit longer to heal, and may pinch a bit more, but... For the most part, it's over before you know it."

"Stop trying to scare me out of it," Tessa muttered to Zed in playful offense, though she giggled as Zed slumped his shoulders and peered his look of teasing desperation to the tigress before them. She laughed softly and slipped Tessa the paperwork and a pen.

"Typical 'boyfriend comes to nervously watch' kind of night, huh?" She smiled benevolently, her ears flattened in gentle charm.

"Only a lot," Zed uttered in playful grief; Tessa laughed as she began to fill out the form.

"Oops, I... Uh... I put the wrong last name down," Tessa rushed in quiet nervousness as she peered down at the form, though Zed furrowed his brow and peered to what she had written; his last name, put proudly.

"Oh, no issue," The worker stated, the soft, curiosity in her tone was enough for Zed to finally feel hit with the innocent mistake Tessa had made, "Have you recently been married?... That's why the slip up?"

"O-Oh, uh... Well, we're engaged," Tessa stated shyly, it was clear she potentially didn't understand that simply putting down one of the Dead Zed racer's last name wasn't something anyone would disregard, "I guess I'm just getting ahead of myself."

"Well, you'll be a... Kalivar soon enough, hmm?" The employee warmly stated as she squinted to Tessa's handwriting, the name clearly went over her head, though she perked up and handed Tessa a new form, "When's the big day?"

"Undecided, we have uh... A few things to figure out, back home, before we can really pin point a date," Zed urged gently with a coy smile, he began to feel nervousness creep over him as the other, male employee, stopped what he was doing and peered his entire attention to Zed, in full obviousness.

"Aww, well, I know that same feeling. I was the same way before me and Benji were married," She stated with palpable warmness as she gestured to the orange, tiger-tabbied feline behind her, he flattened his ears and scrunched his shoulders a little, as if he simply were trying to remain a fly on the wall, "I'm sure I bugged all our customers, right up until the big day."

"You two own this shop?" Tessa inquired nonchalantly, without a care in the world, though Zed could begin to feel his heart race with uncertainty as Benji tucked his arms behind his back and slowly strolled up; he was much larger than his wife, whom was helping Tessa with paperwork. Hot orange fur and a strong, powerful anthro build, he nearly looked to be in the same art and game style as Dead Zed's characters and wildlife, though at this point, Zed knew opening his mouth would likely make this powerful cat paw for more clues of Zed's true identity.

"Yes, I'm the head artist and piercer of our shop," Benji stated in quietness, and though his voice was warm, he tried not to eye Zed in further curiosity. He slid his clawed paw to the back of his wife's shoulder and gave her a gentle smile, "Kua handles the front line."

"It's because I'm more of a people person," Kua whispered loudly, a playful notion as she held her hand over the side of her mouth closest to Benji; the two laughed quietly as Tessa slid her paperwork to Kua and tapped her fingers to the counter in excitement.

"I can't wait," Tessa meeped as Zed huffed a shaky, nervous breath; all angle of the situation had him sweating.

"I'll show you two to your appointment room," Benji eased as he began to step towards the gaping hallway in the center of the shop, it trailed to a row of six or so private rooms, three on each side, "I... I don't think waiting out in the lobby is wise."

"...Oh?" Tessa wondered, she suddenly furrowed her brow and began to feel a prick of nervousness crawl over her, one of which Zed was wondering when would actually take place. She stabbed her now wary gaze into Zed's, and as the two followed behind Benji's long, nearly all black tail, they grew stiff in gentle knowing.

* * *

As Libby unlocked the door to her fourth story getaway, her and Ace flinched from the roll of thunder on the horizon. She felt her heart jolt, what was added to the mixture was the gentle yet heavy footsteps that so patiently followed behind her. As she let Ace inside, she began to battle with herself. She furrowed her brow in collected, deep thought, and as Ace welcomed himself inside and made himself at home, he began to lightly continue on about his two parents, whom of which made a grand escape unlike anything they've ever expressed before. Libby nodded and chimed in a few words here and there, though as she moved into her kitchen, she reached upwards for two glasses in her cabinet and sharply winced; the knots in her shoulders harshly reminded her that they were an ongoing issue, one of which she was struggling with asking for help with.

Libby bit her lip and turned to face Ace, he had slowly approached her in her spacious kitchenette. Her home was crisp and simple, with white furniture and splashes of color here and there. True to her nature, she had pretty jungle plants and flowers that littered the area. Ace's eyes were slow to assess his surroundings, and with her house lights a bit dimmer than usual, he furrowed his brows in collected realization and was now cued to her silent, stiff front. He long blinked once or twice and honed his attention to Libby's figure. She wore a comfortable black tshirt, likely something she had snatched from either Ace, Nox, or one of the other near dozens of boys in the Kalivar household. She also wore a pair of tattered skinny jeans, and though her hair was all clean and straight from a previous shower, her bare feet were dirty from being outside, yet another attribute true to her nature.

"Are you alright?" Ace finally wondered as Libby set the glasses down and rubbed the back of her upper arm.

"I-I'm okay, I'm sorry, I'm listening to what you're saying," Libby eased, and though her voice was soft and calm, Ace could tell she was in mild distress, "I don't understand what I did to make my shoulders hate me so much."

"Maybe you just slept wrong?" Ace prod tenderly, his footsteps began to make his way closer to her, as if to silently inquire if she would like his help in ironing out the knots.

"Potentially," Libby stated as she bashfully eyed Ace, he pushed closer to her but hesitated once he was within a two foot radius of her, "I-It's... It's been two or so days now. I figured it'd go away, by now."

"I can probably work out the knots," Ace said warmly, though his voice quivered in growing nervousness; somehow, through text, this simple, romantic idea between the two of them was easier to comprehend, though now that Ace was sat in the heart of the situation, he felt a lump gather in his throat, and was quickly reminded ho inexperienced he was with all of this. Ace finally swallowed and hooked his tender hazel eyes into her bright, curious blue eyes, "May I?"

"Yes, please," Libby didn't hesitate; in her heart, she knew opening up to Ace more and more was something that was bound to happen eventually, though how quickly and suddenly, she wasn't sure.

With the conflicted feelings, Libby made sure to keep it to herself. With a warm, enticing smile, she tucked her hair over the front of her body and turned a little. Ace inhaled a silent, shaky breath and gently put his hands on the tops and back of Libby's shoulders. He furrowed his brow, and though he was floored to be allowed to this, as minor of a step as it was, he tried his best to concentrate on the task at hand; unwinding the knots from Libby's muscles. He bit his lip and began to softly prod his thumb through her shoulder muscles, in search for the knots, though he flinched as Libby suddenly scrunched and inhaled a small gasp of minor pain. Ace immediately yanked his hands away and uttered a noise of apology.

"I-I... I'm sorry, was I too rough?" Ace desperately tried to hide the tremble in his voice, though Libby quickly shook her head and gave him an apologetic smile over her shoulder.

"No, no, it's okay, it's just sore I guess," Libby rushed in assurance, her face turned red, "I... I think you need to be firm with it, or else it'll just remain, right?"

"Well, yeah, I just... Don't want to hurt you," Ace stammered, he quickly began to feel the tension between them. Their tender, unusual situation quickly wielded the power of a nuclear bomb, and with this, his heart began to palpitate in ways he was certain was going to make him black out.

"You won't," Libby pressed daintily, she felt the urge to put on a seductive front, something beyond her; she knew she had it in her, somewhere deep down, though she furrowed her brow in mild agitation towards herself and began to feel worried about sending Ace mixed signals. Libby rolled her eyes at herself, unbeknownst to Ace, and waggled her hand a little, "I-I'll tell you to stop if it becomes... Unbearable."

"Okay," Ace whimpered as he returned his hands to her shoulders, and as he had previously located the knots, he began to ever so gently squeeze and massage her muscles with his powerful, large wrecking hands. He huffed a small laugh and noticed Libby's whole body practically scrunched to her neck, and then some, "Relax your shoulders... You're practically rigid."

"Sorry," Libby breathed through a nervous giggle as she slowly eased up, and with such, Ace's hands were able to gain a bit more area.

"No harm done," Ace assured with a chuckle, and though his skin wiggled with inexperienced nervousness, he mustered as much courage as he quite possibly could.

He exhaled a shaky breath as silently as he could and peered to the nape of Libby's neck. Her gorgeous white hair was tightly tucked over the front of her left shoulder and down her chest, so Ace had an ample amount of room to ease the knots out of her muscles. She stood still, though she lightly wobbled as Ace began to ever so gently dig into her tense muscles. He bit his lip and finally held his breath, he had to wonder if this was something Libby was alright with. He was aware he has had his hands on her skin before, and because of what had happened to her, he was always extremely cautious with her cues, her signals, and anything that could potentially be taken as discomfort on her end. With as much care as he could, he tightened his grip on her shoulders and slowly began to deepen the massage.

With as much energy as his whole body could possibly muster, his heart nearly jolted so hard that it stopped beating altogether; with the intensity of his grip brought up a notch, Libby inhaled a sharp breath of pain, though much to Ace's surprise, she finished said inhale with a roll of a raspy groan of delight. Ace raised his eyebrows and nearly felt as if he should likely peel himself away from this situation, though with the way he could feel Libby's muscles begin to relax and soak into a vat of easiness, he felt drawn in, a sudden spark of new cues and exciting new signals he was so eagerly and patiently anticipating. With the way Libby's back and shoulder muscles softened, she also did what she could to ease her body closer to Ace's. With a great sense of easy, excited obligation, Ace did everything he could to hide the tremble in his hands, and he slowly began to make this experience a notch more sensual.

Ace was aware said conversation with Libby also included him touching up the back of her tattoo, though he merely glanced to it and wondered if he could potentially get away with touching it up another time. With such tenderness to his large hands, his warm skin eased to her bare shoulders. He softly squeezed, his thumb pads warmly dug into her skin, and as much as he wanted to potentially flare their coding, so to get an easier reading on her emotions, he wondered if he should leave it out of the equation for now; any chance to get to know her, in a more well-rounded way, he knew he shouldn't pass it up. Libby's skin grew hot under his touch, with the digging squeeze and rubbing motions Ace caused, he wanted nothing more than to bring her pleasure. Just as his mind reeled to what more he could possibly do to make that smile of hers broaden, his heart surged once more as she let another faint, soft roll of a sigh ease from the back of her throat.

Libby let her eyes flutter closed, and as she soaked into Ace's warm, powerful, masculine touch, she never wanted any of it to end. She long blinked before shutting her eyes entirely. She wondered if sitting here for the rest of the night, silently begging for his continuous touch, easing into everything he was, would be something that would be accepted. A soft giggle of a moan fell from her lips, just barely, and with this, she lulled her head back, smiled wide and wondered why this all felt so easy, so natural and good. She felt her heart swell, her face get hot, and as her smile only broadened, she could practically hear Ace beaming ear to ear as well. With this whole new aspect of their blossoming relationship, she suddenly felt as if she was having an out of body experience, and as quickly as those good feelings came, negative, uncertain ones swooped in as well.

"Like this?" Ace pressed warmly, which caused Libby's ears to prick. He moved a little lower down the middle of her back and continued easing her muscles to correction, he continued on, softer this time, "I... I really hope this is what you need."

"It's perfect, thank you," Libby's voice was drained of energy, though in a good way.

Libby sighed a giggle, though she felt her heart do all sorts of confusing back flips. With the way Ace's patient hands did everything they could to remain polite, his demeanor as still and as warm as he possibly could, Libby felt safe. She felt sure, she knew every single last one of his intentions were good, and as desperately as she wanted to turn around and beg him to end all of his curious thoughts right here, right now, she bit her lip and felt her stomach sink. Memories of her tragic incident always hung in the back of her mind, and in a raw way, she wondered if she could ever reach a point where that wasn't something that was going to slowly come creeping into her train of thought whenever her and Ace were to further their intentions with each other. She straightened her head and neck to normality and nervously peered across her kitchen. With a hard furrow of her eyebrows, she swiftly attempted to shove away her incident with Hilotem and solely focus on Ace and all of his wonderful, loving, good intentions.

Libby finally closed her eyes once more and quickly planted herself back into the kitchen with Ace. She felt every last inch of his fingers and hands on her skin, his warm presence behind her, she wondered if giving him positive signals would ease him closer and closer to this sticky situation. In an attempt to sap everything horrible that had ever happened to her, Libby upped her game slumped a little harder into Ace's presence, so much so to the point that she was nearly backed into his chest. Libby inhaled a shaky breath and pricked her entire attention to Ace, as if to somehow pray that he would catch on to her SOS, and much to her delight, she felt a hard roll of shivers plague her neck as she could feel his hot breath splay her skin, near the top of her shoulder. With a small smile that sprawled Libby's cheeks, she felt a wave of success come over her, and she was floored that her signals of intent didn't go unnoticed or get confused for something else.

Ace cocked an eyebrow and felt alien; he knew said shoulder and back rub would likely get a bit more handsy than they were anticipating, though he felt even more floored with the fact that Libby was now pressing for a few more notches of romance added to this little step forward. He knew that he was playing off of her ideals, following her lead in the romance department, and even though he knew he was entirely inexperienced in this aspect, he was also aware that said cues Libby was sending his way were practically in neon lights. Hoping her actions lined up, he pushed his luck and began to sink his toes deeper into the water, total uncharted territory. He slowly slid his hands away from her shoulders and, in one solid movement, his larger hands gingerly reached for the sides of her hips. He held her warmly, and in the act of pushing closer to her, he hovered his mouth over her shoulder and near her neck. As Ace slowly closed his eyes, he pressed a lingering, warm kiss to the top of her shoulder. He pulled away, though just barely, and as he fluttered his eyes, he nearly froze and anticipated more cues, cues to either keep going or slow his roll.

Ace felt a small smile sprawl his face as Libby breathed a small, knowing giggle, as if to state the two were curious about this new aspect in their lives, crossing the line from best friends to more than just such. Ace felt his heart race with uncertainty, and though he was floored he was given the greatest gift Libby had to offer, her trust, he wondered just where the brick wall was. He lulled his eyes closed once more and, as he pushed another lingering, firm kiss to the top of her shoulder, he exhaled a hot breath through his nose and gripped the sides of her hips a little bit more firmly. Libby heaved a gentle, shaky breath and felt her mind begin to race. She knew her experience with Hilotem was literally nothing compared to everything her and Ace were enduring, and would anticipate, though she still felt as if this was all a part of a strange form of deja vu. She fought with herself, she begged her inner demons to simply just leave the past where it was, and though she was dealing with turmoil, she began to feel jealous of Ace; his heart raced with delight, he was carefree and so ready to give love, something she was not wholly experiencing in life, at least not to the full potential she would hope for or want.

Libby inhaled a long breath, her inhale trembled, and as her negative thoughts desperately tried to pry at her brain, she fought said war with the plea for more love. She furrowed her brow and gingerly pushed her body back into Ace's chest, and with this, he continued to follow her blatant cues. In the stir of their movements, Ace tenderly began to wrap his arms around her center and hips, and with this, he tucked his whole being tighter to the back of her body. He hummed a small noise on her skin as he began to trail slow, warm kisses to her neck, and with this, Libby felt her whole world thrown. She beamed in pure delight, a delirious draw of excited desire she was floored to be experiencing with none other than the one soul she trusted most, though as the two tightened in a writhing draw of hot need, she felt that war inside her heart fire back with the same intensity, and it was in this moment did she realize she was rapidly fighting fire with fire.

Libby's eyes popped open in surprise, towards herself, towards the situation at hand, and as Ace's eager hand began to very slowly, and cautiously, slide up the center of Libby's body, she held her breath and contemplated just exactly what signal cue she'd give out next; that of a red or green light. As Ace deepened his loving, firm kisses into the side of her throat, she tilted her head in desire and let her skull thud against his strong shoulder. She grimaced and so desperately tried to tug her mind to normality, though as her hand reached up to cup the other side of Ace's jaw, she felt her stomach sink in mild guilt. She uttered a shaky sigh and nearly wanted to game over for prepping the billions of stop signs she had been harboring.

"A-Ace," Libby stammered nervously, in such a way that wasn't like anything she had been delivering, and with said change of tone, Ace immediately lifted his head, halted where his hands were going and stiffened his spine.

"Yeah, I-I... I'm sorry, I guess I just... G-Got overzealous," Ace rushed as he began to nearly pry himself from Libby, the peel away was almost painful, though he uttered a small, nervous noise, swallowed hard and tried to unboggle his rushing thoughts, "I-I can uh... Keep to rubbing your shoulders, I just thought... You wanted, uh..."

"It's... It's my fault, Ace, I'm sorry," Libby pressed as she slowly turned to face Ace, head on, though she nearly didn't want to look him in the eye, "I don't mean to sound cliche or anything but... It's not you."

"No problem," Ace stammered, he forced a smile, and though he was understanding, he only now began to realize the heaviness and frustration of their slow climb to normality, "I-Is... Is it something I did wrong?"

"No, Ace, I... I just said, it's not you," Libby assured in pure sorrow, she looked down and wondered just how long Ace was willing to be patient with her, "I guess... I just need to ease into our new relationship a little bit slower. I hope that's alright."

"That's perfectly fine," Ace began to relax, though he furrowed his brow in confusion, "You were certainly acting like you were having a good time."

"I was, I was," Libby rushed honestly, she peered up to Ace in a pleading kind of way and shook her head, "I guess I just... Have a few things I need to sort through still, y'know... Somehow I feel as though I just need to process this a little bit slower than a normal couple would anticipate."

"It's no issue," Ace reassured as he straightened out his shirt and cleared his throat, "Just... Keep me in the loop, then, I guess."

Libby nodded softly and was now aware this was where the two didn't end up on the same page. She furrowed her brow and figured Ace might as well be on a whole different chapter, several leaps and bounds ahead of her. She bit her lip and was very certain that this issue of hers was something she'd have to plow through herself, and as much as it pained her, she wondered if participating in deeper romance, with Ace, likely wasn't totally fair with the fact of how much confusion her heart seemed to be in. She huffed an annoyed sigh at herself as Ace gently pulled out his communicator, so to prep a few things to touch up her tattoo, though she fiddled her fingers and began to feel as if she was a living, breathing, walking hypocrisy cycle, an unfair game the two had willingly sat themselves in. She knew Ace promised to be patient, though she began to wonder just exactly how long his patience could hold out, and if his fuse maybe wasn't as endless as he lead on.


	119. Chapter 119

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** Spiders are legitimately the worst. UHG. And, now, she's getting her tragus pierced. I was hoping that was clear. I have art of her with said piercing - my painting titled Infinite Power, it's a light blue piercing in her ear :) Thanks for the compliment! Yes, the two definitely try not to rush things, but what can you do lol.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! I'm sort of a firecracker haha.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Yeahhh he has a good mix of everything, which makes his life eternally difficult xD Thank you!

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the short chapter guys... Half of it got deleted at 6am last night, on accident, and I cried over alcohol and three episodes of Friends until the sun finally rose. I'm going through a ton right now, so sue me for the shitty chapter. I'm desperately trying to stick to my upload schedule. The next one will be better.**

 ***Chapter 119***

With the door gently closed behind Tessa and Zed, via Benji's strong paw-like hands, they were allowed to their private room. Said room had a long, comfortable bed like table, something of which could potentially look intimidating, though with the warm house lights and the cleanly tidiness of the space, Tessa slumped her shoulders, exhaled a shaky breath and told herself that this little pinch would be over with soon. She gathered the courage to seat herself on the table, though Zed anxiously took a seat in one of the chairs across from her. He slumped, though he looked stiff and agitated, from all angles and aspects. Benji heaved a small chuckle, eyed Tessa, and began to neatly sort through and prepare the few tools he'd need so to properly execute Tessa's new piercing.

"So," Benji chimed, his long white whiskers twitched as his black ears flattened, he slyly glanced to Zed's direction and finally buried his nose into just what tools, swabs and needles he would need. Wrapped in protective plastics, he set a few things out before diligently washing his paws and putting on sterile gloves, "Last minute date idea?"

"Sort of," Tessa meeped sheepishly, "I've always wanted this piercing but... I guess I sort of failed to let anyone know until right now."

"I'm surprised you found time to even think of such a thing," Zed huffed nonchalantly as Benji strapped the gloves tight up his wrists and slowly approached Tessa, alongside a moveable, rolling tray of tools he'd need.

"Me too," Benji stated knowingly as he came to a stop, furrowed his whiskered brow and honed his attention to Zed in a knowing way, "I'm sure helping you run the game isn't something to take lightly."

Zed raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and felt his skin go cold. He nervously glanced up to his hair and was even more confused to see that it was still, indeed, black. He uttered a nervous noise, squinted a little and peered Benji down in cold apprehension. He could see Tessa go rigid on the table, her shoulders scrunched in uncertainty as her and Zed locked eyes in rising confusion. Benji uttered a small chuckle, shook his head and gave Zed a knowing look.

"Who else, in this whole entire Arcade, has the last name 'Kalivar'?" Benji laughed quietly, he seemed light-hearted about it all, which caused Tessa to relax, "And... Trust me, I follow the races closely. Y'really think I'm going to assume the Dead Zed racer's eldest brother has natural BLACK hair? Amidst all those shades of blue?"

"Time for a new disguise, Zaney-boy," Tessa muttered as she gave Zed a look of nonplussed dismay.

"Y-You're the only one, thusfar, who has seen through my disguise," Zed chuckled nervously as he stood and gestured his hands a little, and in a strange sweep of self defense, he felt the odd need to run away; his feet kept him planted, as if somehow the universe begged him to understand that he was safe.

"I think... I might've given you away," Tessa mumbled in gentle sorrow, Benji perked his ears and side-eyed Tessa with great cheek.

"That you did," Benji smiled with his fangs, Tessa rolled her eyes and slumped her shoulders as Benji let out a gentle laugh, "But, it's okay... I'm not going to rat you guys out. User knows you don't want that kind of attention."

"It's either crazy fan-girls, or hatred," Zed mumbled as he glanced back down to his seat, "There is no in between with me..."

"You're safe here," Benji assured softly, "I'm... I'm actually honored. You stated some really nice things about my shop. Thank you."

"Of course," Zed breathed as he finally sat down and at least attempted to ease up, "I've only been here one other time, but I don't think you were here that day. I came with Tej."

"Ohh, I heard all about that," Benji raised his eyebrows with a small laugh and began to prepare the jewelry, for Tessa's piercing, as well as the needle for it, "What brings you to Ekreth? Rumor has it, you have an outpost farther North, in the mountains."

"Yeah, we... We all live under one roof," Zed huffed, Tessa giggled and shook her head, as if to simply state that their family couldn't ever dream of fitting underneath a normal house's roof.

"'We all'?" Benji inquired, he tenderly began to clean and sterilize the spot on Tessa's ear in which he was going to pierce, she remained still, though she peered to Zed in growing apprehension for the oncoming pain.

"Well, let's count 'em, shall we?" Zed stated dryly as he stood, he slowly approached Tessa in the act of wanting to hold her hand and comfort her during the small moments of pain she was about to endure. Tessa's laughing grew as Zed began to list everyone off, on his fingers, "We have my five younger brothers, Vanellope Von Schweetz and Taffyta Fluggerbutter of Sugar Rush, Penny Fluggerbutter, who is Taffyta's daughter, Wreck-It Ralph of Fix-It Felix Jr., Tamora Calhoun's daughter Tammy, of Hero's Duty, two refugees from TurboTime, Tessa's two younger siblings, one of which is swap mates with my old friend, Emery, of Dead Zed annnnd... Our son, Ace."

"Sheesh," Benji hissed as he peered to Zed and finally blurt a chuckle, "Some water bill... You two have a son?"

"Yes, you can't forget Libby, either," Tessa added, "Ace's best friend... Well, they're dating now."

"I'm forgetting Lickity the bat dragon, Royal the chameleon hybrid and Balba the lykata," Zed listed, he looked up to the high ceiling and shook his head, "I KNOW I'm forgetting someone..."

"Hopefully you're not crammed in a two bedroom apartment, huh?" Benji continued to stifle laughter as he readied the needle, in which Tessa tried not to look at.

"Sixteen bedroom, sixteen bathroom castle," Tessa meeped, Benji gawked, "Life is anything but boring."

"Hence... The escape," Zed rubbed his face in hard agitation and began to look exhausted, though he chuckled as Benji shook his head and beamed an incredulous smile.

"Well, shit," Benji scoffed, everyone laughed in a knowing way as Benji peered to Tessa, in preparation, "Piercings all around."

"Zed, you really should join in, c'mon! What's running away and pissing everyone off, at home, without coming back with new piercings? Souvenirs for the night?" Tessa rushed, her eyes began to look pleading.

"Alright, hold still, this'll pinch," Benji instructed as Tessa stiffened her spine. The room went quiet, so Benji could concentrate, though as Benji began to drive the needle into her tragus, she grit her teeth, grimaced firmly and grappled Zed's hand in a death grip, to which he began to utter a high pitched, near-silent noise of complaint. Benji breathed a quiet chuckle, at their funny banter, and gently pulled away, "Keep still, just gotta put the jewelry in, almost finished."

"Ow, ow, ow," Tessa uttered stiffly through a cramped breath of assured pain, though Zed easily echoed said noises just from the sheer grip Tessa's wrecking hand had on Zed's.

"Y'know you want piercings as well," Benji briefly shot Zed a small smile, he flattened his ears, squinted and began to easily wriggle the jewelry into Tessa's new piercing, "They're on me, tonight."

"What, really?" Tessa wondered bashfully, she winced a little, though once her jewelry was in, Benji handed her a small mirror and nodded.

"Yep... Not every day the core of our game waltzes into my shop, now, is it?" Benji stated with great cheek, though Zed breathed a shaky sigh and shook his head.

"Guess I should suck it up... Not every day piercings of this caliber are free, huh," Zed muttered, though Tessa's eyes lit up.

"Get the snake bites!" Tessa urged, though Benji scoffed a noise, perked his ears and gave Zed a knowing smile.

"Balls deep, then, I guess," Benji dared with a hard laugh, it was enough to break Zed's strict form of nervousness and cue the small group into an excited laughing fit. Tessa cupped her hands together and looked to Zed in a pleading way as Benji continued on, "Those'll make you flinch, for sure, but it'll give you that badass touch. You're the dead last boss of our game. Gotta give 'em some bite of fear, hmm?"

"Well... I don't ever have quarter alerts, so," Zed shrugged and looked genuinely sorry about said notion, though Benji waggled his furry finger and side-eyed Zed.

"Nahhh, y'better knock on wood, my friend," Benji growled, he laughed softly, alongside Tessa, and eased his presence towards his cabinetry of tools, needles and all sorts of things he'd need for his job, "There could be someone cunning enough to slip past that Finn Kalivar... Now or never, Mr. Dead Zed."

Zed furrowed his brow and thought back to his younger brothers, and it was in this instant did he realize that Zed's game, the game play and all that the scores entailed were on display for everyone. He thought about ever being zipped away for quarter alerts, and though he was aware he couldn't technically change way too much about his programming, so to keep strict with the art on the side of his game cabinet, he wondered what two little piercings would do. He knew nearly the entire round of racing was strictly just a view of their backs, on their bikes. Zed inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if to wholly contemplate his next move, but before too much time could pass, he lulled his eyes closed in defeat and slowly nodded.

"Why the hell not," Zed breathed, though him and Benji flinched once Tessa blurt an excited cheer and jolted on the table, a little.

"Woohoo! We'll freak everyone out, at home!" Tessa urged, Zed laughed nervously as she gently scoot off the table and made her way to the other side of the room, so to finally be able to be a witness, like she wanted.

"... They don't know about your littlest brother's piercing?" Benji asked as he flattened his ears and side-eyed Zed as he nervously sat down on the table. Benji quietly began to get different things for Zed's piercings.

"I'm becoming nervous to find out just what kind of piercing Tej got," Tessa muttered, though Zed cocked an eyebrow and gave Tessa dry look of pale dismay.

"It pains me to even talk about it," Zed's voice quivered, Benji blurt a hard laugh and shook his head, though he washed his hands once more and put on a new pair of gloves.

"... Don't tell me," Tessa gawked, Zed raised his eyebrows, shut his mouth in a tight-lipped grin of knowing and looked up, though Benji continued laughing as he brought a new rolling tray closer to Zed. Tessa stiffened in her seat, she grappled the arm rests in hard surprise, "You're literally going to tell me that homeboy got his... His...!"

"What is it even for, anyways?" Zed interrupted firmly in hard dismay as he peered to Benji, he scoffed and shook his head, though he raised his eyebrows and prepared to answer.

"Some say it makes sex a whole lot more pleasurable," Benji shrugged, "I would never... Just thinking about it makes my insides turn inside out."

"Oh for User's sakes, Tej," Tessa barked as she slumped into her chair and gazed across the room, "Can't ever look at that kid the same, again."

"He hardly even flinched," Benji gawked as he began to prepare Zed for his a bit more aggressive piercing.

"HOW?" Tessa garbled, Zed shook his head and tried to inhale a steady breath, "He must be invincible. You don't just get your genitals pierced and simply shrug. What was that for, just... Personal?"

"He had a girlfriend, once upon a time," Zed shrugged and lulled his eyes closed, "Kid's got nerves of steal. He may seem all shy and sensitive and quiet, but... Like I stated. Tej is a closed book."

"No kidding," Tessa scoffed, though Benji prepped himself before Zed and perked his ears.

"Alright... Just take a deep breath and relax," Benji eased, though as he began to clean and sterilize the outside of Zed's chin and lower lip, Zed slowly dragged his growing look of terror to Tessa across the room. She raised her eyebrows, after a second, and got the hint.

"...Aww, does the big bad guy need me to hold his hand?" Tessa teased as she stood, though Zed uttered a chirp of a nervous laugh and quickly nodded.

"Yes, please," He playfully whimpered.

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Ace hissed at himself, an aggressive berate in a hushed tone was ever so quietly present as he shuffled into the castle's main kitchen. The castle's kitchen and living room was dark, only illuminated by dim night lights in which the stove's overhang gave; he only briefly scanned the floor and chairs of the dining room table and assumed the place was vacant. He firmly nudged his knuckles into his forehead as he grimaced a few more notions towards himself, and as he grappled for the handle of the fridge, he swung it open and glared into it's blinding light, "How could I be so stupid... Of COURSE Libby wouldn't want that kind of advancement, what kind of idiot am I?"

"The kind that doesn't take a good look around before spilling your heart out to the leftovers in the fridge," Taffyta snipped, though she flinched as Ace wildly jolted with a hard gasp.

"A-Aunt Taffyta!" Ace stammered in growing fear, though as he swung the fridge door shut, he revealed yet another body that was lingering in the dark kitchen; Penny stood still with her arms crossed, though Ace uttered a nervous few words of surprise and back stepped a few times, "I-I'm sorry, I was just-"

"Rehearsing for a play?" Taffyta sneered as she stood, she set down her cup of sleepy time tea and began to slowly saunter to the other side of the island, where Penny and Ace stood; all three bodies were dressed comfortably for the nighttime reset.

"Y-Yes," Ace stuttered, though it was from this point on did he quickly realize he was terrible at fibbing, let alone going along with one.

"Let me guess," Taffyta fingered her lip and looked up, "Our lovable, underdog main character FINALLY gets the girl!"

Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered to his great aunt's eyes in growing apprehension, as if both speaking and not speaking, in this moment, would reveal his answer. He chose to keep his mouth shut as she continued to saunter closer.

"But? What's this? How could our hero be so inexperienced in the romance department?" Taffyta stated in a hushed tone as she peered to Penny, and as if it were slowly becoming a thing that Penny was comfortable with, she showed her teeth and breathed a small laugh as Taffyta carried on, "Well, with a secret girlfriend and literally no one to go running to for advice, I'd say our User-friendly Mr. Dead Zed Jr. is in one hellofa pickle!"

"Snatched a playbill, didja?" Ace retort in a snotty way as he continued to remain frozen, though Taffyta and Penny both eased soft, knowing laughter.

"That was a lot of hatred you were giving yourself, just there," Penny's voice was soft, though filled with impending sass she was excited to dollop on top of this sticky situation.

"Spill," Taffyta beamed as she squinted and peered up into Ace's eyes, though both Penny and Taffyta flinched as Ace huffed an annoyed breath, pushed past the two and approached the island.

"There's nothing to spill," Ace grumbled as he rested his hands to the cold marble counter of the long, sprawling kitchen island.

He peered across the dark kitchen and living room and shook his head in further, silent berating thoughts to himself. Taffyta crossed her arms, and as her and Penny slowly looked to each other and back to Ace, Taffyta held her breath and peered to the back of Ace's head in concern that only finally began to bubble. She knew she had caught Ace in a little secret only everyone had an inkling over, though she frowned and wondered just what could've gone wrong to warrant such behavior from his end. Through a draw of an inhale, to collect her patience, she slowly began to approach Ace, and though warmth and tenderness weren't the first things that she typically graced others with, she at least attempted to hold understanding with her only great nephew.

"... How does the play end?" Taffyta inquired quietly, she hoped the softness of her voice would cue Ace out of his shell.

"You tell me," Ace grumbled with a raspy tone, his eyes glossed the counters in hard annoyance, a tired gaze of laziness.

"No... You tell ME," Taffyta urged as she finally stood next to Ace and tilted her head, though she knew gaining his eye contact was a long shot, "You're our lead."

Ace furrowed his brow in growing irritation, though not towards any of the two women in the room with him. He inhaled a slow breath through his nose and finally stood to correction. He hesitantly gave Taffyta his eye contact and shrugged a shrug of mild defeat.

"It ends in me being a pushy idiot," Ace grumbled, though Taffyta shook her head in confusion.

"Are you the bad guy, in this play?" Taffyta sternly wondered, though Ace realized just what mixed information he could be potentially giving off, "Do two certain Fluggertbutter's need to fly in from the ceiling and take said bad guy down?"

"No, no, I-I... I didn't mean, like... Pushy as in not taking no for an answer," Ace pleaded quietly, though Taffyta side-eyed Ace in frozen confusion and let Ace continue to justify himself, "I guess it's obvious that... Yes, Libby and I are... Together, if you will."

"Yay," Penny meeped in high pitched, quiet excitement; Taffyta beamed as it only barely perked a small smile from the corner's of Ace's mouth, as his face grew red.

"You're telling me," Ace huffed, both Penny and Taffyta giggled.

"Well, congrats. We all assumed something was up," Taffyta eyed Ace in mild annoyance, "Only thing that has me peeved is... Why didn't you tell anybody? How long has it been, anyways?"

"Only a few days," Ace stated through a sigh, though Taffyta gave him an incredulous look of disbelief, "I... I just didn't tell anyone because, well... I guess I was just worried about the outcome."

"What? Why?" Taffyta ordered in annoyance, though just as Ace was about to state his plight, Penny chimed in.

"I see why. Cause there are literally a thousand pairs of eyes and ears all around this castle," Penny peered to her mother, in loo of Ace's feelings, "Must suck to suddenly have all the attention on the new couple of the group, especially one that is so detrimental."

"Detrimental," Taffyta scoffed, as if to seem confused with the strong label.

"Mom... Put two and two together," Penny gestured her hands as Ace peered his nervous attention to her being, "Libby was raped and Ace is a User."

"Excuse the bluntness but... Your point?" Taffyta bobbed her head, Penny rolled her eyes.

"A fragile, doe-like being, that was taken advantage of, is literally being courted by the most powerful being in all of Arcade," Penny barked as she firmly gestured to her second cousin, "I'd want to keep a dynamic like that, on the down low, for as long as possible, as well."

"Well, why! We're your family, none of US are going to judge you," Taffyta argued.

"Yeah, but I so much as look at her wrong, and it's my head in the smasher," Ace volleyed as he flagged his arm and shook his head in dire annoyance.

"Well, so, what... What, then, was this whole show of you claiming you were stupid and hitting your head like such?" Taffyta wondered, the three tried to keep their voices down.

"It's NOTHING," Ace urged as he looked up to the ceiling and began to feel clamored, "I was just working out the knots in her shoulders."

"... Ohhh, I see what this is about," Taffyta cheesed as she squinted and side-eyed Ace, though Ace's face turned beet red, "Mr. Dead Zed Jr. got a bit handsy in said innocent shoulder massage?"

"No, I-I didn't," Ace pleaded, though he furrowed his brow and thought back; he quickly flinched and realized that he did, indeed, try to become handsy. His face sloped to genuine guilt as he gave Taffyta a look of floored desperation, "I-I mean, I didn't mean to, I wasn't trying to push her!"

"I mean, I didn't even bring you into this world, but I still wield the power to take you out of it!" Taffyta threatened, though Penny blurt a hard laugh as Ace began to stammer words of pure terror.

"Nothing happened!" Ace begged, though Penny waved her hand between the two, to try and get them to settle.

"Mom, c'mon, can you really see Ace being a jerk about all of this?" Penny stabbed, though Taffyta relaxed, "Methinks you were stopped before anything happened, anyways, hmm?"

"Yeah... I know how to take NO for an answer, guys, c'mon," Ace grumbled, he glared into Taffyta's eyes and looked genuinely hurt.

"Y'went for the boob grab, didn't you," Taffyta muttered in dry annoyance, though it quickly had Penny and Ace uttering noises of annoyance.

"You know what... This is why I didn't want to tell anyone," Ace urged in a dark tone as Penny finally burst out in laughter, alongside Taffyta, and though the two began to have fun with this, Ace began to walk away.

"Wait, I'm sorry Ace," Taffyta huffed through a few laughs as she grappled Ace's arm and made him stay, his nervous, sorrowful eyes peered into Taffyta's in a pleading way, "Just poking fun... You know you can come to anyone under this roof, no one is going to judge you or think poorly of you. We know you'll take care of Libby."

"I hope so," Ace worried as he opened up, once more, "I'd never do anything to hurt her... I'm just confused because, well, I feel as though she was sending me mixed signals."

"Really?" Taffyta furrowed her brow and gave Ace a look of mild disbelief, "That... Doesn't sound like Libby at all."

"It's true... One minute, things are heating up, she's smiling and being all cozy with me, and the next?" Ace sliced his hand downward and breathed a dry chuckle, "DONE."

"Odd..." Penny rubbed her chin a little and looked down, though Taffyta looked between the two.

"What, just straight up told you to quit?" Taffyta shook her head in confusion.

"Yeah... Told me things were moving too quickly," Ace worried with a frown, though Penny nodded a little.

"Well... It is, what, day three? Four?" Penny shook her head as Ace looked to the side in defeat, "Too quick, friend."

"I... Was just..." Ace stammered, though Penny took the spot light.

"Were following signals, yeah yeah, I get it," Penny urged, though Taffyta raised her eyebrows and peered to her daughter in surprise, "Y'gotta act more aloof. You can't express that this was the first and only thing you wanted in the morning. You've gotta step back, let her come to you."

"Won't that, I don't know... Make her disinterested?" Ace stated in a worried tone as he gave Penny a longing look of need.

"Ace... You got this far," Penny waggled her hand, "Y'got her smiling and blushing and asking for back rubs and yada yada... You don't need to be worried. What you NEED to do is lay off a little."

"I don't know if Romeo can afford that," Taffyta mumbled as Penny stifled a laugh; Ace rolled his eyes.

"Just try it," Penny breathed with a small smile, "Once you back off, she'll come crawling to you for more."

"And then risk getting shut out again?" Ace argued, though Penny gawked.

"Hey! It's farther than you'd get by being pushy! So she has boundaries... Rightfully so," Penny crossed her arms and glanced to her mother, "I'd say most girls do, anyhow. Let her come to you, signals blaring and all... Just cruise down the street. You run into one of her stop signs, well then... Maybe hope that next time you get to see further down the road."

"Y'know, for someone who has never been in a relationship, you give good advice," Taffyta barked as she peered to her daughter in mild suspicion, and though Penny's face turned red, she honed her whole attention to her second cousin.

"Just... Try it," Penny stated firmly to Ace as she let a bashful smile sprawl her face, "It's better to show that you respect every single one of her boundaries than getting uppity when something doesn't go your way. I mean, hell, you got handsy not even a week in. I'mmm thinkin' she likes you, dude."

"I guess," Ace huffed with a small frown as he peered to the kitchen island sorrowfully, "So just... Act like I don't care?"

"Well, no, just... Maybe be the first one to suggest leaving, for the night," Penny shrugged, "Have her begging for you to stay."

"I could try that," Ace shrugged a little, "I just don't want her to think I'm uninterested."

"Well, don't be an asshole," Taffyta urged with a small laugh, "Just don't be clingy or needy. Be coy. It'll make her all frustrated and want you to stay for longer. She doesn't want you to lay off."

"Girls are confusing," Ace grumbled, both Taffyta and Penny laughed a little, "But I guess it wouldn't hurt to try... Thanks you guys. Guess the cat's out of the bag..."

"We'll keep it on the down-low," Taffyta assured, though she nudged Ace and shook her head, "Should do something about making it public sometime soon, yeah? That'll solidify what you guys have, anyhow."

"You can blame your aloofness on me, if you'd like," Penny shrugged, though Ace gave her a confused look, "Maybe I'll text you and pretend to need help sharpening my swords or... I don't know... Maybe I need a User to change a light bulb."

"Cause you can't do it yourself?" Taffyta stabbed as she gave Ace a knowing look.

"Hey, my room has accent lights on the ceiling. Homeboy here can get into the code room," Penny gestured to Ace, and though Taffyta was going to continue arguing, Ace interrupted them.

"Fine, just... Whatever you want to do, I'll go along with," Ace seemed nonplussed, "I just hope it doesn't back fire, or anything."

"Bah, you two will be fine," Taffyta waved her hand a little, "How's an innocent game of tag gunna hurt anyone?"


	120. Chapter 120

**Reviews : **

**Kaoru-Yuki :** Hey, thank you so much! That really means a lot to me, it's nice to know not everyone is pressing for my chapters at the cost of my happiness. I've seen that happen to some authors and artists, and it always has frightened me. So, it really is comforting knowing you guys are chill. I appreciate it!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LOL! Yeahhhh. I can't imagine being a guy and getting myself a Prince Albert. I'm pretty sure I'd DIE. But YES! Everyone gets Tej's side of the story, and it opens Tej up a bit more (and causes a spark of drama lol) - I'm excited for you guys to get to know Tej a little more. Thank you! And, thank you for making me feel better about my upload schedule. I try and keep my normal schedule of every other day, cause that's typically easy for me, but accidentally deleting half a chapter is pretty discouraging no matter what xD

 **Snake557 :** Hmmmmm I am full of tricks, this is true.

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha yes, you guys get Tej's take on the whole piercing ordeal soon here xD Thank you so much!

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, thanks for your encouragement and all your love and support. It really means the world to me, and I am getting back on my feet, thank User xD**

 ***WARNING***

 **This chapter contains a sex scene! woot!**

 ***Chapter 120***

"Ow... Ow... Ow..." Zed muttered over and over, his hands gripped the steering wheel with great fervor, though Tessa simply blurt a laugh from the passenger seat.

"Okay, um... Maybe try NOT running your tongue over your piercings?" Tessa urged in sarcastic question, though Zed huffed a small laugh and merely glanced at her; his piercings, small black pointed studs evenly placed on either sides of his lower lip. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and sunk deeper into her seat, "Y'know you're going to have to be careful eating and brushing your teeth and stuff."

"I was running through this process AS he was sticking the needle in, and I immediately remembered that... Salty foods are my favorite," Zed griped as he shook his head and set the cruise control, Tessa's powerful car roared down the dark, desolate highway, which was scattered with towering, mysterious jungle trees.

"I was just gunna say, that sucks," Tessa giggled, though she shook her head and heaved a long sigh as realization set it, "Well... At least you won't have trouble sleeping on your left side."

"Hah," Zed spat with a victorious grin, though Tessa swat at him. She finally slumped deeper into her seat as Zed continued on, "Tonight was fun... I never anticipated it to involve piercings, but, hey... I won't forget tonight."

"Me neither," Tessa sighed wistfully with a smile as she gazed past her car's gentle, green dash lights and out to the dark world they rocketed through, though she slumped her shoulders and quickly began to see peeks of their glorious castle, on the cliff side, through the foliage that whipped by.

She eyed the amazing structure, and from far off, the sky room, as well as the three dome-like bedrooms attached to it, could be seen, dimly glowing amidst the gentle, starry night sky. Her heart immediately surged, and she quickly brought her mind down from the clouds and to responsibility. Through a long sigh, she finally dragged her eyes away from the castle, in which they were rapidly approaching, and as she slowly dared to look at the clock, on the dash, she felt immediate relief as to just what time it was; four forty five in the morning. She fiddled her fingers and felt a weird surge of guilt, gratefulness and loving understanding course her system, and as she finally dragged her eyes back to her fiance, her wonderful partner in life and father to her son, she couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Zed," Tessa eased as she rested her soft gaze on his face, and as he slowly glanced to her, amidst their quiet conversing, he huffed a small chuckle-breath through his nose and reached his left hand for her thigh, in which her hands were placed in her lap. Tessa's smile broadened as she lulled her head against the head rest and squeezed Zed's hand, "Or, should I say, Zane."

"It's been awhile," Zed stated warmly, his voice was deep and coat with all the love and tenderness in the world, and before Tessa could utter another inquiry, Zed slowed, turned onto a nearly hidden side street and began to take the two up the small road that lead to their massive abode. Zed skillfully steered the two up the mountain before chiming in, once more, "I could tell you needed to get away."

"Was poor timing," Tessa sighed as she looked down, "Dunno how mom and dad are going to react once they see us staggering out of our bedroom in the middle of the day..."

"I'll take the blame," Zed stated with a smile, as if he had been prepared to take the blame for a lot longer than what his words just proved. He shook his head and smiled in her direction, "It was my idea, and well... I'm just the sneaky, Zaney beach bum that was always encouraging you to game jump and do all sorts of whacky things with me. It's not out of character for me. If anything, it'll just be a slap on the wrist. I'm willing to face your parents... No need to worry."

"Zed," Tessa eased, though Zed playfully cocked an eyebrow and peered to Tessa through the black strands of hair that nearly fell into his line of sight. Tessa breathed a knowing, bashful laugh and shook her head, "I-I mean... Zane... You understand that it's not just my mom and dad you walked out on, right? Aunt Taffyta, Penny, Nox, Ace and Libby were all sitting there, too."

"Yeah, well, Taffyta probably joked about it, Penny is too aloof and wrapped up in her own problems to care, and, quite frankly, sneaking out was practically our son's idea. I also can't imagine Libby being too pissed about it, I mean, she's the epitome of rebellion," Zed shrugged, though Tessa furrowed her brow in delightful confusion.

"This was Ace's idea?" Tessa prod, though Zed pushed a button near the visor above him and pulled up to the castle's large, sturdy gates.

"He definitely nudged me in that direction," Zed chuckled as their car grumbled into the lot, and the gates closed behind them. They approached the garage, to which Zed pushed another button, on the visor, and cued said door to open as well, "Stated that maybe you just needed to get away... I-I know you have a lot on your mind, Tess."

"Wish I could openly talk with people about it," Tessa grumbled as the car slowed to a stop into the garage, and once the garage was shut, Zed turned the car off, took the key out of the ignition and silently peered to Tessa, as if to state that she, indeed, had him to talk to. He raised his eyebrows and gave her a smug look of knowing snark, to which she rolled her eyes, smiled and opened the passenger side door, so she could get out, "Well, I CAN talk to you about it, but... I'm sure you're annoyed of all my baby-fever ramblings. If we're not on the same page, then why bother, y'know?"

"W-Well, how do you know I'm not on the same page?" Zed stammered as he clumsily opened his driver side door and stood out of the car, he urgently peered to Tessa, over the top of the car and felt his heart jolt as she whirled around, froze, and stared him down. He gestured his hands a little before he cleared his throat, looked about bashfully and tried to remain cool, "I-It's... It's been a few days since we've visited said topic, hmm?"

"... Well, yeah, but last I talked to you about it, your answer was a definitive 'no'," Tessa crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow and looked at Zed down her nose, "Y'can't tell me you've changed your mind... What, was that Ace's decision, as well? Cause you know he'll do anything for a little sibling."

"He is very persuasive," Zed argued with great cheek, though Tessa scoffed an annoyed noise, closed the car door and began to head towards the entrance of the garage, which lead to a small alcove near Throttle's abode, though Zed shut the driver side door clumsily and began to quickly stumble to get in front of Tessa. Once he was successful, she flinched, stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms, "I-I mean, lookit him, he was able to snatch Libby up."

"Babe, they've been best friends since they were seven, them getting together was as easy to foresee as just who would win in a race against you... You, or the computer-bot," Tessa stated in a snarky tone as she shook her head, though Zed huffed a nervous sigh and looked about; his heart began to pound.

"M-Maybe I... I've always been on the same page as you," Zed stammered, he peered to Tessa in pleading love that she knew no one else could replicate as genuinely as he. She dared to let a bashful smile peek at the corners of her mouth as she looked down and barely shook her head, though Zed gingerly reached his hands for hers, unraveled her arms and held their hands tight between them, "I just... I get so nervous thinking about bringing a baby into this world, amidst all this turmoil but... You remember how much I wanted another baby, when Ace and Libby first started having those play dates, huh? You might as well have been on a whole 'nother planet from me."

"That was different, we were just finding our feet, everything was still so new to us," Tessa eased in gentle annoyance as she took a few steps away and turned her back to Zed, though she slowly began to stroll to Zed's powerful Tron cycle, of which was parked on the other side of the dimly lit garage. Zed patiently followed her in a moseying stroll as he intently listened, "A-Ace didn't need a sibling because, well, he had Libby... Someone who could run around and play in the mud and chase after, y'know? They were best buds, throwing a baby into that mix would've just been triple trouble."

"They definitely gave us a run for our money," Zed chuckled, he slipped his masculine hands into the pockets of his pants and looked down to the concrete underneath their feet, though his eyes glossed Tessa's body in growing heat as she began to trail her fingers alongside the powerful, soft and boastful metal of Zed's awesome Tron cycle. He slumped his shoulders and watched her meticulous, larger fingers trace the designs on the broad piece of machinery. He winced as his tongue just barely ran over the inside of his lower lip, over his new piercings, though he relished in it somehow and finally let out a breath, as well as the rest of his statement, "I think we can handle another."

Tessa furrowed her brow and turned around to stare Zed in the face, and though she was certain she would come face to face with a grimacing, half-hearted smile of some sort, she was floored to see Zed's brilliant blue eyes hooked to hers in pure sincerity. She scanned his figure, a strong, powerful build he had worked hard for, he was the epitome of handsomeness, and it was clear that he had slowly worked his way into the proper place as Dead Zed's game core. Though his hair was black, he looked nothing like what he used to; Zane was a gangly beach bum, someone who was a bit of a mess, who hardly washed his hands and constantly would go to sleep with the sunrise. Someone who avoided responsibility and had gotten himself into trouble with the greatest virus since Turbo, though as Tessa kept her longing, thoughtful eye contact to him, she saw a man. A man of stature, of humbled power, and most importantly, her best friend.

Tessa huffed a small, quiet laugh, looked down to her twiddling fingers and shook her head a little, as if to state she suddenly wasn't worthy of said gift he could very easily give her, as if he had finally given her an answer she wanted and it was too good to be true. As she peered back to him, he smiled in a knowing way and began to step closer to her, a slow saunter that very quickly sparked a reminder in her brain, one that brought back such good memories of their lackadaisy, carefree days, and though Zed was to care for a whole household, a son that was a User, and an entire game, he still had that youthful look of charm in his eye, the rebellious piercings he had prominently placed on his handsome face, he squinted a little, as if to silently remind Tessa that he was still, indeed, the firecracker of fun he had always been.

"Y-You really think so?" Tessa wondered quietly as she finally let her guard down and dropped her arms, Zed ever so slowly approached with a nonchalant shrug and a smile that read a lifetime of handsomeness.

"I know so," Zed eased, "We've done an awesome job of breaking the rules, thusfar."

"Hmm yeah?" Tessa giggled as Zed pushed into her bubble. He softly held his hands to her hips and hovered his face over hers a little, she gently wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as he pushed his forehead to hers.

"You fell for a bad guy," Zed listed, Tessa blushed.

"Couldn't help it," Tessa quipped, Zed chuckled.

"You got wrapped up in all of said bad guy's baggage, which forced us to leave the Arcade," Zed continued quietly, his warm breath coat her lips.

"Had no choice," Tessa breathed, his charming smile broadened.

"We made love without code," Zed's deep, crackly voice was near a whispered tone.

"I couldn't resist," Tessa snipped in the same level of quietness as Zed ever so gently kissed her lips, and though he pulled away in a slow fashion, he still just barely grimaced about his new piercings.

"Ow," Zed whined as he scrunched his face, though Tessa blurt a soft laugh, pulled her head away and kept her arms draped about Zed's neck.

"I gave birth to a User," Tessa continued, and though Zed huffed a noise of mild pain, he quickly got over it as his arms and hands tugged Tessa into his body a little bit more firmly.

"Guess we should keep with this rule-breaking trend," Zed cocked an eyebrow, though Tessa gave him a confused smile.

"Baby number two would likely be just about the most normal thing to happen to us, Zed," Tessa argued playfully, the two shared a laugh.

"Well, what if he or she takes after Zane?" Zed retort with a daring smile as he eased his body closer to Tessa's, and though it caused her to lightly stumble a step backwards, her rear finally pushed up against Zed's Tron cycle, a sturdy resting spot, "Black hair instead of blue...?"

"... That'd definitely be a game changer," Tessa eased with a breath of a giggle at the sheer irony of her words.

"Confuse the hell outta everyone," Zed breathed in a soft whisper on her nose.

"... Your firewall, Zed," Tessa stated knowingly as she glanced up to Zed's hair, which was still black, his disguise in Ekreth. Tessa felt her heart pound as Zed gave her a smile of great cheek.

"Oh yeah, huh," Zed eased sarcastically with a gentle shrug, "Zane doesn't have one."

As Tessa softly raised her eyebrows, she felt a wave of hot uncertainty come over her. She knew Zed could so easily tab into the code room and either throw up a fire wall or just change his coding back to his original standing, yet he insisted on sliding his strong, loving arms tighter around Tessa's waist and hips. Tessa huffed a small noise of elated disbelief, and as Zed pushed past the sting of his piercings, he tenderly leaned down to trail kisses down her neck. Zed breathed a small chuckle on her throat, alongside her fervor, and felt his grippy hands wrinkle her thick clothing. As gently as he could, he began to attempt to unzip her heavy street jacket, and with much ease, he slid the zipper down to reveal her much less aggressive black tank top underneath.

"Zed," Tessa breathed through a smile of defeat as he lovingly trailed kisses down her collar, the tops of her breasts were revealed as he dug a little harder into her body; the light cycle creaked, just barely.

"Hmm?" Zed mumbled as his kisses so gently trailed her prominent collar bone, and with this, he eased closer to her cleavage.

"Zed..." Tessa mumbled, she felt her head begin to grow heavy with desire as his hot kisses made her skin raise with a neverending display of goosebumps that were graced with faint snakes of silver circuit lines, "Shouldn't we... Go inside?"

Zed barked a small laugh into Tessa's breasts as he dug a little harder into her body, and just as Tessa was about to retort the sheer fact that just about anyone could walk into the garage at any given moment, Zed flared his and Tessa's glorious, powerful silver coding in a light display of sheer strength. As large tiers of silver circuits began to ripple from the soles of Zed's feet, the garage lights angrily flickered, though as Tessa began to feel more and more delirious with desire, Zed forced the garage lights to dim even darker. With said display, this made the walls and surrounding objects sprawl with delicate swirls of circuits and silver grid lines, a dominant way to prove to Tessa that he was ultimately in charge of absolutely everything, and with said light display, he made sure every single door in the garage was fastened and locked tight, with no access in or out.

"That'll spoil the fun," Zed's voice was dark and delightful, and in a simple push, he gently sat Tessa on the Tron cycle. She breathed a small giggle as he clumsily gripped his hands deep into the nook of her hip bones and kept his pelvis firm to hers, "I don't think we should waste one more second."

"Y'sure about this?" Tessa wondered softly as Zed's kisses became more firm and needy into the side of her neck, and with one push, he melted between Tessa's legs and helped her wrap them around his hips.

"Positive," Zed didn't miss a beat, he smiled a small smile on her skin, and though his new piercings continued to sting with the pressure added, he pushed past it and steadied himself against his to-be bride.

Tessa urgently tried to steady her thoughts, how fast her heart began to pound, she began to wonder just what she did to deserve all of this overflow of love and attention she had been so greatly spoiled with, and as such, she found herself thrilled to give back. Zed's confident, sturdy hand worked in routine, he was skilled in this aspect of his and Tessa's relationship, and before Tessa could so much as question him again if he was, indeed, prepared to become a father of two, she bit her tongue and was aware he wouldn't be going through with anything he didn't think was on his radar. In collected strength, Zed managed to unzip her tough jeans, as well as his own, and as he pulled clothes out of his way, he slipped passed her underwear, with ease, and slowly began to drive into her.

He grinned a sneaky grin to himself, the very image of his love, in his peripheral, practically going rigid with pleasure, was something he lived for. He uttered a small, knowing noise, alongside her gasp of pure pleasure, and as he tucked tight into her body, he breathed a calming exhale onto her chest and fluttered his eyes, he felt impending success as she tilted her head back and groaned his name, as if to state to him that he always had the magic touch, the personal ability to somehow make her near-lose her mind not even ten seconds in. He quickly gave her a final, firm shove, so to correct his footing, and he was quickly reminded just how much bulking up had potentially helped in this department; Tessa inhaled a sharp gasp, grappled her legs tight around Zed's hips and scrunched her shoulders.

Just as Tessa adjusted her hands to the large two-seater Tron cycle, she scrunched her shoulders and prepared for her world to be rocked, and as much as she wanted to savor every single second, she was floored that the end of this ride would likely result in a brand new loading bar, something so precious and long over due, she peered her dizzy eyes up to the man of her dreams and wondered just exactly how lucky she could be. He gave her a smile of knowing, of pure understanding, and as if the two were now finally on the same page, he began to do his work, hard work he knew would more than pay off. As hot passion quickly filled the room, as well as the call of Zed's name that reverberated off of the cold garage walls, Zed tightened his grip with the ground underneath him and was floored with the fact that his Tron cycle was holding up with the throw-around very nicely; he was thrilled he didn't have to hold back, unlike what he previously assumed.

Zed tightly hooked his hands underneath Tessa's thighs, to aid her in keeping their strict formation, though he hovered his head over her neck and continued to thrust into her, the noise of the cycle's creak, the urgent gasps of his mate underneath, her grippy hands that held the back of Zed's shirt and grappled for his hair, Zed was certain the garage was likely going to explode. He huffed a nervous noise into her neck, and though he so secretly, deep down, wanted to give in and grace the world with another Kalivar, he grimaced and nearly felt a twinge of stage fright, a certain aspect of their relationship they had never actually planned until right now, and with this, his heart began to surge with certainty. He long blinked a few times as pleasure soaked the two silly, and before he could revisit old thoughts, new ones came rushing to him, of maturity and growth. He was stoked the two were at this point in their relationship, and though he was aware he wasn't yet married to Tessa, nor was he the King of Sugar Rush just yet, he still felt as if he was on top of the whole entire world.

Tessa threw her head back and gaped through a smile of pure thrill, her right arm rested on Zed's shoulder and grappled the hair on the back of his head as he kept steady, a quick fervor of motion they were certain was bound to move the garage three grid spots back. As Zed's movements remained solid, a thorough drive of firm influence into Tessa's body, the cycle creaked louder and louder, and before he was certain the bike was going to angrily either give way or blare an alarm, he huffed a loud, shaky sigh and was convinced Tessa was going to likely come to her conclusion quicker than his worries could come true. His lower legs trembled with his strict formation, and as he dug deeper into her, he grimaced and was eager to hear that call, the one that made his spine shiver. As his lips trailed vehement kisses down her throat, he heaved his body into hers in near meticulous detail, an exhausting act he was certain he could never quit.

Before Zed could even fully concentrate on driving Tessa madly up a wall, he was surprised to feel her legs do anything and everything to grip around his hips. Zed raised his eyebrows and gently glanced up to her, and it was in this moment did he sense her impending build up. He inhaled a deep, shaky breath and could swear he was on the brink of imploding in on himself, as well, though as Tessa firmly arched her back and begged for more, their skin angrily crawled with surges of electric shocks, silver sparks of renewed energy that graced Zed's skin. His eyes popped in surprise at the sheer amount of passion and the striking amount of pent up emotion that suddenly soaked over his brain, as if he had suddenly let a wild animal out of a cage, he simply was on the same mental plane as her, and this was her last strike of getting him to finally understand her plight.

With the cave in, Zed's coding was immediately gripped by hers, and as she went down with the ship, he huffed a shaky noise and felt as if she was very easily taking him down with her; something he wouldn't dare say no to. With a few urgent arches into her quivering body, he grimaced and gripped the dip of her hips, where her pelvis met her thighs, and with a hard few shoves, he lulled his head back, uttered a raspy groan of a yell and gave Tessa his all, every last pixel of his powerful coding that he had to give. After a few mind numbing moments, the two were left as writhing, panting messes, and as Zed finally pried his eyes open and peered to Tessa, she breathed a small giggle and noticed his black hair had begun to cling to his sweaty forehead. Through continued heavy breathing, the two remained close, and as Zed hovered his face over Tessa's, she gingerly stroked some of the hair out of his eyes. Once he finally pushed his forehead to hers, their noses scrunched to each others as well, the two closed their eyes and soaked in each other's hot draw of a presence, as if to silently pray that their small little family unit of three would hopefully very quickly become four.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, I drew this scene awhile ago, in the form of two drawings. There's a clean version of this on my deviantART titled 'Night Out' - and then there's a strictly very  NSFW drawing of this on my NSFW Tumblr.**

 **DeviantART Username - Vyntresser**

 **NSFW Tumblr - Vyngasmic ;) Enjoy guys!**


	121. Chapter 121

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thanks, friend :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Haha thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Lol sorry not sorry xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha poor Ace xD But no, everyone was sound asleep :P Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Ohhh hoho not so fast. *SWEATS*

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Go Berzerk by Pegboard Nerds**

 **The Highest Step In The World by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 121***

"C'mon, Ace, one more!" Vanellope yelled to her pupil, and within the heat of their workout, Vanellope had also thrown in a glitching lesson.

Ace grimaced, and though the sun had just finally started to rise, he had already been sweating for about an hour now. Through a soaked red tank and grey sweats that had been torn and cut at the knees, his hands and feet were dirty, a good show of the sheer proof of his intense, hard work. Through today's lesson, and playing off of a few prior workout lessons, Vanellope had begun teaching him how to manipulate the land, the grid. Vanellope flinched as suddenly, a nearby tree became angrily riddled with Ace's powerful silver coding, and as the tree began to blob green, brown and nature colored pixels, Ace uttered a hard yell of the amount of strength it took to make this work. With one rigid swipe, Ace uprooted the entire tree, which had now become overwhelmed with pixels. Ace grit his teeth and, as his limitless coding swarmed his wrecking arms, and nearly turned white with the consummate amount of power he wielded, the tree easily hovered across the empty race tracks they were stationed at.

"Well, shit! Wait 'till I'm outta the way!" Vanellope cried with a small giggle as she glitch-hopped out of the way of the massive tree that began to eerily hover to her, in rapid fashion, though as she skid to a stop and watched Ace finish his task, he swiped his rigid, strong hands downward and replanted the tree in a new spot. The tree rustled angrily, while easily colliding with other branches and towering, sturdy jungle foliage, and as a few birds flapped about and fled the area, the jungle became quiet once more as leaves flit to the ground, in the surrounding atmosphere. Vanellope huffed a sigh, through mild panting, and placed her hands on her hips. She gave Ace a look of floored impress and nodded a little, "You've definitely improved."

"Y'think I have?" Ace wondered politely, though he heavily panted and rubbed his sweaty, dirty forehead.

"I know you have," Vanellope stated through a giggle as she began to approach him, from across the stretch.

"Hope Uncle Duke won't mind all these leave on his track," Ace stated, again, through heavy panting as he looked about. He shrugged and lulled his eyes closed, "Maybe it'll give him an advantage, if his competitor runs through it."

"Well, we should clean it up," Vanellope volleyed as she gestured to the hundreds of leaves scattered about, she cocked an eyebrow in Ace's direction and smiled a sneaky smile, "You can handle one large object, how about a bunch of tiny objects at once?"

"All these leaves at once?" Ace's breathing finally began to level, though his powerful chest continued to heave, and though he messily caught a leaf nearby, with his glitching powers, he began to shoo it out of the way of the tracks underneath them.

"Yeah, like such," Vanellope explained as she held out her hands, cued her strong, purple coding and lit two or so dozen leaves ablaze with her power. She gestured her hands, softly, a few times, and was glad Ace was paying close attention. The leaves she had in her control began to quickly flit and swirl to the other edge of the track, where the jungle picked back up, "Like so... You have to multitask your power, divide it upon multiple objects. This kind of thing comes in handy if, say, someone is attacking you with a weapon that can either fire bullets, arrows or other objects."

"... Have you had experience in this realm?" Ace worried as he lifted his shirt and rubbed his forehead, though amidst doing so, he largely revealed his stomach and chest; Vanellope furrowed her brow in hard surprise and jolted.

"Whoa, buddy, you've really slimmed down," Vanellope prod as Ace urgently wiped his forehead of sweat, though he bashfully smiled and finally lowered his shirt as Vanellope walked closer to him. He barked a hard, even more bashful chuckle as Vanellope nudged her fist into his core a few times, just above his belly button, "That is solid muscle, my friend. Y'planning on going for the look your dad has?"

"Abs? I mean, whynot," Ace shrugged, "I'm already half way there, am I not?"

"You're doing great," Vanellope eased, she shook her head and viewed Ace as a whole, "C'mon, lemme see those biceps."

"C'mon, I'm not..." Ace bluffed, he gave Vanellope a sheepish smile and nervously shook his head as he held his arms tighter to his chest and body, "It's nothing special, just yet."

"Lemme see, flex," Vanellope pressed as she grappled his arm gently, held his bicep with her hand and waited for him to flex his muscle. He heaved a bashful sigh and finally squeezed his fist, ultimately flexing his bicep, and though it wasn't overly developed yet, it still was a good show. Vanellope scoffed a laugh of surprise and tried to flatten down the muscle, though it was too hard, "C'mon, that's not 'nothing special', Ace, I mean geez! Lookit you!"

"I-I've still got a ways to go," Ace cued, his bashfulness was palpable at this point, though Vanellope unhanded him and nudged his chest.

"Don't go into town, lookin' like this, you won't be able to keep the ladies off of you," Vanellope teased, though she heaved a tired sigh and took a few steps out of Ace's bubble.

Though he still had a little bit of work to do, he was becoming more of a man with each passing day. Still an innocent, dewy eyed bundle of love, he suddenly wielded the power of an army, and though his training wasn't over, Vanellope was proud of just how far he had come over the course of the month of their training. Her mind drew to their task at hand, ultimately his training was due for their fight with Radex, if and whenever they finally stumbled across him, and it was in this moment did Vanellope feel the weight of their business. She slumped her shoulders and peered to Ace once more, though this time, Ace caught on to her sinking demeanor. He furrowed his brow, shook his head and grew confused.

"You okay, ma?" Ace worried as he glanced to the leaves before them, though as Vanellope's coding let go of the leaves she had in strict formation, they rustled in the wind and carried on with their lazy path.

"I'm okay... I'm really proud of you," Vanellope eased tenderly as their world finally began to slow, "I just... I wonder what we'll all do once we finally have hold of Radex."

"What do you mean?" Ace prod, Vanellope shrugged and looked off.

"Do we kill him? Trap him and throw him in a confined cell where he can't get into trouble?" Vanellope worried, "Do we just simply take away his powers?"

"Well... He's just a copy-paste gone wrong," Ace's voice was soft as his panting subsided, though he nervously eyed his grandmother and fiddled his fingers together, "I mean... Certainly just deleting him won't do harm, will it?"

"Well, it'll kill Rancis in the process... They're both linked," Vanellope explained nervously, "You could kill him, but... You'd also be killing Rancis. The only reason Radex came back, after Rancis's official sacrifice, was because, well... Your dad accidentally got in with Radex's plan, before that all went down."

"He regenerated in Sugar Rush's code room, when mom and dad swapped their source codes," Ace nodded in knowing, he knew the story well, "Well, then... He's not tied to Rancis, then, is he?"

"Why wouldn't he be? It's still the same coding, right?" Vanellope wondered, though Ace heaved a nervous sigh and lulled his eyes closed in dismay.

"... It looks like we'll just have to capture him and figure it out from there, before anyone is to be deleted," Ace grimaced, "I would hate to just delete out of sheer anger without HAVING to..."

"Well... You really want a guy like Radex wandering the Arcade?" Vanellope began to grow nervous, "He just wants the throne, he's nothing but a mess of coding that Vanilla Lake chewed up and spit back out. He's hardly considered a person."

"I guess I'll just have to use my better judgement," Ace volleyed in mild sarcasm as he outstretched his hands, sparked his coding, and inhaled a deep breath. As he took Vanellope's advice, he divided up his power and multitasked it to multiple different leaves about his feet, and though it wasn't nearly as many as Vanellope did earlier, he still managed to keep half a dozen in his strong, coded grip. He shook his head and smiled darkly, "User knows I'll be the end-all, for this guy... Whether it means stripping him of his powers, or..."

"Or his life," Vanellope stated in a worried tone, under her breath. She shrugged a little and shook her head, "What else could the universe throw at us?"

"Y'better go knock on wood, or something, this is already nearly more than I can handle," Ace suddenly barked with a gentle laugh, which caused a wide, annoyed smile to crawl across Vanellope's face.

"C'mon... Let's head home, you've done an awesome job today," Vanellope eased as Ace dropped the leaves, out of his coded grip, and broadened his perspective to the racetrack that lead back to the teleportation pad, which ultimately would lead them home. The two began to slowly stroll down the desolate street, close in tow, "Next task for today... Put Zed and Tessa on the stand and question the crap out of their motives for last night's drama."

"... Ma, you don't need to blame my parents, their escape was technically my idea," Ace grumbled, though Ace could feel his blood run cold as he could see Vanellope shoot him a bewildered glare in his peripheral. He sheepishly smiled and dared to peer into her dominant, motherly eyes, "I-I sort of... Encouraged dad to sweep mom away for a night of fun. Not in the middle of a Sugar Rush meeting, but still..."

"You WHAT!" Vanellope barked, she swat at Ace's shoulder, as well as the back of his head, though he ducked and uttered a few gripes of playful complaints; the two laughed and laughed.

"Y-Yes, blame me, don't blame my mom and dad," Ace grimaced through his laughs and smiles, and though the two finally settled, Vanellope still peered to him for an explanation, "Mom's just... Been so stressed lately. I guess dad has been getting the brunt of the drama because, well... On top of all this Sugar Rush drama, I guess mom has baby fever and dad's just trying to be cautious."

"So I heard... I told Zed to just do what feels natural," Vanellope shrugged, though her and Ace sneakily shot each other looks of knowing glee, "Though, I may have partially encouraged said notion because I'd kill for another grandbaby."

"You're telling me, the only person closest to a sibling I had, growing up, was Libby, and now we're dating, so that's not awkward at all," Ace blurt, though he felt his face get immediately hot as to just what he revealed, and it was in this moment did he understand that he was terrible at remebering just who he kept his secrets with. Ace grimaced a sheepish smile and nervously peered into his grandmother's surprised eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up," Vanellope put up her hands and giggled, "You and Libby are official, now?"

"Yeahhh, and now I have to tell her that I let the cat out of the bag and she's going to be even more upset with me that she already is," Ace droned in a sorrowful tone as he lightly smacked his forehead and shut his eyes tight, "Why can't I get this right."

"Wait, why is she upset at you?" Vanellope prod, the need to try and eliminate anyone's worries were her top priority, though she crossed her arms and gave Ace an annoyed smile, "And, why are you trying to keep it secret? Let it out! We'll throw a party, or something!"

"A party?" Ace wondered in a delightful, incredulous tone.

"Yeah! It's like a congratulations... To all of us, because we have been holding our breath waiting for your two to get together, so... It'd be more a party for all of us, who had to suffer through watching you two make goo-goo eyes at each other, and not do ANYTHING about it," Vanellope rushed, though Ace laughed through the nonsense and shook his head, "So, what is she upset at you for?"

"Ah, y'know," Ace blushed and peered forward, and as much as he wanted to let his words do all of the explaining, his demeanor did a fabulous job of making the whole issue obvious; Vanellope rubbed her chin and cued a noise of understanding.

"I seeee," Vanellope droned sneakily, though Ace rolled his eyes and looked away, "User-man wants to spread the love 'round, hmm? Show someone just how powerful his coding is?"

"I-It's not like THAT," Ace stammered, his face remained beet red.

"Just give it time... Ralph and I dated for a bit before we swapped codes," Vanellope eased, "And though our situation didn't involve any tragic back stories, or coding that could ultimately delete the whole Arcade, we still had a grace period of waiting and learning."

"That's not what Great Aunt Taffyta said," Ace grew confused, though Vanellope glared Ace down.

"Taffyta will do anything and everything to make it seem like Ralph and I are a bunch of lovestruck dummies," Vanellope urged in a demanding tone, which had Ace laughing up a storm, "Did she tell you that she swapped codes with Rancis and came back to the castle, the next morning, in his clothes? Carrying her dirty ballgown?"

"What!" Ace wheezed with laughter, as did Vanellope; she shoved his arm a little, and the two stumbled playfully.

"Whatever Taffyta tells you, the story on HER end is far more exciting and extravagant," Vanellope giggled.

"I'll be keeping that in mind," Ace huffed with a wide smile.

* * *

Through the midday sun that so lovingly shone down on her, Tessa wrinkled her nose and brought her attention to the bedroom, all with her eyes closed. She inhaled a raspy breath through her nose, grappled hers and Zeds downs and tightened them over her body. As she snuggled deeper into the cool sheets, she wrinkled her nose and felt a massive wave of disappointment creep over her; the sudden, creeping feeling of nausea hit her brain, and as she grimaced in a bigger lull of impending annoyance, to carry through the day, she suddenly popped her eyes open in hard knowing and froze her entire being. She huffed an excited noise, after a solid ten seconds of hot realization, and as quickly as she could, she sat up, downs draped her knees and thighs, and as she clumsily grappled for the ends of Zed's shirt, which she fell asleep in, she yanked the cloth aside and peered down to her lower stomach.

Tessa scoffed in elated surprise as to just what she saw, confidently plastered to her lower stomach. A gently glowing silver loading bar, though as she squinted through her sleepiness, she noticed said bar didn't technically read loading, but instead, read 'processing'. Tessa raised her eyebrows as fear finally coat her heart, which caused her nausea to worsen. Before she could think nervous, negative thoughts about the terrible things that could happen during this extremely fragile process, she shook her head, swore positivity, and yanked the blankets off of her, for the day. She forced a smile, felt her heart do all sorts of exciting back flips, and in preparation to show Zed their beautiful new addition, to be, she peered about their bedroom.

Across the stretch, their bedroom door was shut tight; the dome of glass, their bedroom was entirely made of, shone down gorgeous sunshine, as if to state that literally nothing could go wrong during this day. Their room was still of life, aside from Tessa, though their white downs glinted the sunshine that cast diagonally into the room, and in an anticipated flinch, Tessa peered to her left and noticed their large, floor to ceiling screen door was open, to let in the cool midday breeze. Their white curtains fluttered in the breeze, which ultimately made the room even more welcoming. Tessa inhaled a deep, steady breath and felt the swell of motherly excitement come to her; another baby to feed, to nurture and to raise, she felt as if the true excitement hadn't hit her yet, though she greatly anticipated all the feelings to come.

As Tessa finally began to stroll to hers and Zed's bathroom, she began to run over just how she was going to present to Zed that she was pregnant. She giggled to herself, as she stepped into her bathroom and closed the door, she knew revealing that she was pregnant would likely take the heat off of their little game of hooky, last night. She smiled a snarky smile, to herself, in the mirror and began to fix her crazy hair with a thick brush, her favorite. She took her shirt off and stood in only her underwear, she peered at her processing bar in the mirror and gently laid her hands to it. She beamed an excited smile and felt her heart race with growing excitement; where would they put the new baby's room? What gender was it going to be? What color hair would he or she have? She slumped her shoulders and felt her smile grow in tired annoyance just thinking about what name they would come up with in a two week period. She shook her head in delight and began to meticulously brush her hair, her fingers helped weave through the knots.

As Tessa continued in a slow routine, she felt the need to pamper herself. She knew, this time around would be different. Giving birth to a normal program would be a cake walk, considering what she had to go through to bring Ace into the world. She somehow couldn't wipe the smile from her face. As she finished brushing her hair, she head for their large shower, turned the knob to hot and patiently waited for the water to reach the temperature she desired. Once she set out a towel, a clean change of clothes and got fully undressed, she eased into their cold, beige-stoned shower and leaned into the warm spray. As she began to clean herself, she hummed a tune; she smiled in the deeper realizations that set in, the notions of just what this all entailed stuck to her brain like memories that had to be dusted off, though just as she began to reach for her shampoo, she felt her nausea take a weird turn.

Tessa grimaced, held her upper stomach and froze. She peered past the spray of water and remained still to assess this weird feeling in her. She squinted and held in frozen contemplation; she tried to recall ever feeling like this, when she was pregnant with Ace, though as the nausea upped from simple wooziness to a dull digging sort of pain, she felt her thighs grow weak. Tessa uttered a nervous noise, held her hand to the wall of the shower and closed her eyes, so to hopefully steady herself, though as she hung her head and peered down to the shower water, and drain, underneath her, she felt her skin grow cold at the sight of blood swirling down the drain. Tessa huffed a noise of fear, peered down to herself and shook her head, and in this turn of assessing her body and desperately trying to figure out just what was going on, she noticed her precious processing bar blink in anticipated nervousness, as if to simply let it's host be aware that something wasn't adding up, a simple mistake in it's coding, as if it honestly was no biggie.

"No, no, no," Tessa whined as she gripped her skin, though in the motion of potentially attempting to get out of the shower and call Zed for help, she slipped on the added substance, on the shower floor, and fell to her hands and knees.

Tessa uttered a groan of pain as her knees took the brunt of the fall, though with this she slumped to the shower floor and writhed in pain that only began to get worse. She opened her dizzy eyes and anxiously peered to her stomach, and through the spray of hot water that seemed to desperately try to comfort her, she noticed the bar turn red in error, and as quickly as her fleeting happiness came, the bar flickered away in a shy, quiet escape. Tessa froze and stared down at it in horror, though before she could potentially worry about the unexplained blood that messily trickled down her legs, she gripped her stomach and felt hot tears sting her eyes.

"N-no, come back, c-come... Back!" Tessa shakily stammered as said tears quickly turned into rivers. Tessa grimaced a cry and scrunched her face in pure, unyielding grief, and as if everything she had hoped for was just so suddenly ripped from her hands, she remained on the shower floor in near pieces.

She sat up a little higher, slumped her back to the wall and lulled her skull to the cold tiles in a thud. She softly cried to the foggy bathroom and slumped her whole being. The sharp pain subsided, as did the bleeding, and though the shower did a good job of easily cleaning up the mess, she still sat in a good portion of it and wallowed in her cold loss. She cried and cried, and though she knew she needed to get up and immediately make Zed aware of just what happened, she somehow couldn't bring herself to it. She shook her head as tears streamed her cheeks in a never ending fall of sorrow, it was in this moment she prayed that she had never even seen the bar to begin with. She wondered why everything nice and good, in her life, eventually was ripped from her.

She darkly associated this with the loss of her future kingdom; she went limp against the floor and shower wall and gladly soaked in the spray of the hot water. In an odd sense of an unusual out of body experience, she relished in this darkness, and somehow wondered if telling anyone would be wise. She knew she had to tell Zed, she had to reach out, she had to stop this depression from taking over her life, though somehow she enjoyed the feeling of hovering, the tepid haze of limbo she was willingly trapped in. Tessa lulled her eyes closed and figured her and Zed would maybe try again one day, likely hers and Zed's disguise coding didn't totally line up, whatever the deal was, she allowed the bathroom to grow foggier and foggier, alongside her thoughts.

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 **A/N:** ***flees the crime scene***


	122. Chapter 122

**Reviews :**

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Indeed :(

 **Jay Sketchin :** Aww nooo. With how many people are under that roof, trust me - she does NOT go without comfort :)

 **Nikki Firesong :** AIEEEE *flails*

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Indeed, Tessa gets a good dose of love from everyone, don't you worry.

 **Snake557 :** D:

 **Retrokill :** Aww SAD.

 **XxNightclassxX :** I know, I'm the worst xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha yes, Libby gets a bit jealous along the way for a certain reason xD

 **Burgie :** Aww, yeah Ace definitely matures from all angles :)

 **chuckiboo :** Wow, thank you SO much. You don't know what that means, to me! Thank you! He definitely does have his cocky moments, in the future, but I enjoy writing bashful characters who obtain likely more power than they know what to do with haha.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **The Highest Step in the World by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 122***

"Oliver, you're not giving your powers enough time to even keep up with you!" Vanellope called from across the Sky Room; Oliver's glitch hopping ultimately resulted in him stumbling to the ground. As Koko, Nox and Ace all looked on, they began to laugh as Vanellope marched over to Oliver, "You're not thorough enough with it. Think of it like a teamwork... It's not a race, love."

"Well? I'm your son, what does that say?" Oliver chuckled as he stood, brushed his hands over his broad chest and peered down to his mother with that lovable, gap-toothed smile that mocked Ralph's.

"Just take it easy... See, watch, I'll show you again," Vanellope called as she turned around to face the portion, of the Sky Room, that was lined with the three head's bedrooms; Ace, Nox and Koko stood patiently and watched as Vanellope pointed a little, "Y'guys watching?"

Vanellope froze as to just who finally came stumbling out of her bedroom. Vanellope narrowed her eyes in bubbling annoyance as she noticed her first born creep out of the shadow, as if to show fear of potentially being caught and sternly talked to, about sneaking out the night prior. Vanellope huffed a hard noise of rising, motherly dominance and dropped her arms in an act of preparing herself to have some words with Tessa. Ace, Nox and Koko quickly divert their attentions to their left, and as Tessa came closer into view, Vanellope felt her emotions wash flat in a sweep of cold curiosity. Tessa was messily dressed in one of Zed's larger, comfortable shirts, that draped nearly to her knees, and a pair of print leggings she seemingly slapped onto her body. Her hair was wet, it looked as if she had just been in the rain with the way it was messily slopped down her back. Vanellope stopped dead in her tracks as her daughter's face became more visible; she looked wholly and completely distraught.

"H-Hey, um... Mom? I-I have a question," Tessa whimpered, and though her voice gave away nearly every single emotion she was feeling, her words and question were light and airy, as if to at least attempt to show nonchalance.

Vanellope quickly looked to her right and caught eyes with Oliver, who was frozen solid in a draw of cold knowing, though Vanellope held her breath and dropped every single play-by-play she had planned, so to mildly punish Tessa. Vanellope nodded gently, as if so much as speaking would make Tessa shy away into her shell.

"Um..." Tessa's shaking fingers began to pull the thick, tangles strands of her wet hair over her shoulder, so to idly fiddle with it. Her lip quivered, her eyes were tear-soaked and puffy, and through a trembling inhale, she squinted and desperately tried to hold onto that airy attitude she knew was fooling no one, "H-Have you ever miscarried?"

Vanellope felt her blood run cold, and it was in this instance did she wholly know that Tessa wasn't asking simply to get her mother's answer, but to reveal an event that had seemingly just happened to her. Oliver uttered a quiet noise of surprised sorrow, though the air was painfully still after that. Nox, Ace and Koko froze in the sudden pierce of information Tessa had laid over the group, and with such, Vanellope dropped every single last worry she had, she knew berating Tessa right now was likely the worst thing she could do. Vanellope huffed a noise of grief-stricken sorrow and began to quickly make her way over to Tessa's fragile being. The closer Vanellope got, the more Tessa grimaced with the need to cry her heart out. Like a small child needing her mother's comfort, she stood with her arms gently outreached, as if to beg Vanellope to close the gap quicker.

With a quick few glitch hops, Vanellope reached Tessa at rapid speed, and once she was within her bubble, she grappled Tessa into a tight hug and fastened her motherly arms around Tessa's neck and shoulders. Tessa trembled, a quite mess of sobs and quiet wails into her mother's shoulder and chest, and as if the group now suddenly had raw information they didn't know what to do with, they remained frozen for a few moments before deciding the coast was clear. As Oliver, Nox, Ace and Koko began to slowly surround the two, they laid hands to Tessa's arms, back and shoulders, they rubbed her skin in comfort and stole long, nervous looks of unadulterated sorrow to one another. Tessa's arms remained tightly fastened around Vanellope's back, her whole being trembled in the collected dollop of bad news that now coat the entire castle in mourning.

"Shh, easy," Vanellope cooed quietly as she tenderly began to at least attempt to straighten out Tessa's tangled hair. Tessa cried quietly into the nook of Vanellope's neck and shivered. Vanellope opened her eyes and lightly peered to the four pairs of eyes that anxiously hovered a foot from the two, as if they were silently stating that they were here, ready to give all the comfort in the world. Vanellope gave her longing, nervous eye contact to her two other children, within arm's reach. She knew all her children were a massive blessing, although losing one in the fragile stages of conception was beyond difficult. Vanellope firmly, and slowly, rubbed Tessa's upper back and let her motherly voice come to the forefront of the group, "Aww, Tess... I'm so sorry..."

"Are you hurt?" Koko wondered tenderly as the men in the group made sure to let Koko and Vanellope be at the forefront of this issue. Koko warmly rubbed up and down Tessa's arm, and though Tessa didn't verbally reply, she gently nodded her head in Vanellope's neck as her crying slowed. Koko peered to her mother in dire nervousness and shrugged a little, "What... Exactly... Could cause something like that?"

"A number of things," Vanellope assured quietly, "It's incredibly common, Tess... I wouldn't worry too much. I know how hard it is, to lose a little one."

"Is it really that common?" Koko pressed, she tried not too seem to eager to learn, in this situation, though everyone made sure to keep their attention on Tessa.

"Yes, literally anything can waver the coding and keep it from sticking... It could be as big as an incompatible component, in the two swap-mate's coding, down to what you ate for dinner last night," Vanellope stated with a dry giggle as Tessa finally began to pull out of Vanellope's tight embrace, and with such, everyone perked their attention to their future heir. Tessa rubbed her nose, shook her head and looked down as Vanellope gripped the tops of Tessa's shoulders, "Touchy questions coming your way, but... Was alcohol involved last night?"

Tessa nodded, though she furrowed her brow and then shook her head in dismay.

"One glass of champagne," Tessa croaked, though Vanellope looked aside briefly.

"Anything else done differently to your eating, drinking or sleeping routine?" Vanellope squinted in curiosity as Tessa's eyes finally dragged to her mother's amidst the dawn of realization, though Vanellope carried on, "Zed even so much as having a cold, that hasn't surfaced yet, could disrupt a code processing bar."

"... His Ekreth disguise," Tessa hissed in hard dismay as her eyes lazily glossed Vanellope's neck in cold knowing. Tessa finally shut her eyes tight as more tears rolled down her cheeks, "H-He changed his hair color to black, so he wouldn't be noticed in the city..."

"Zane," Oliver stated knowingly, as softly as he could; him and Vanellope locked eyes in a knowing way as she nodded.

"That'll do it," Vanellope huffed, Nox and Ace nervously glanced to each other in growing sorrow as Tessa covered her face with her hands. Vanellope breathed a hard sigh, shook her head and continued to grip the tops of Tessa's shoulders, "Well... I was going to get on your ass for ditching our Sugar Rush meeting, last night, but... I don't think it's warranted, any longer."

"I'm so sorry, mom," Tessa stated, her voice was now nasally. She long blinked more tears down her cheeks and nervously peered into her mother's eyes, "Zed stole me away, and... It just felt so good to forget all the turmoil, all the crap we're going through... A-And when h-he... He finally agreed to maybe having another baby, I-I just felt as though it was a glimmer of happiness I could hold onto... Doesn't matter anymore, though... The baby's gone."

"There's no reason not to try again," Nox finally chimed, as gently as he could; Oliver tenderly agreed.

"What's the use," Tessa huffed, though Vanellope furrowed her brow.

"Well, isn't this what you wanted?" Vanellope wondered softly, though Tessa shrugged, even though she blatantly knew her own answer.

"... It was just me, running from my problems," Tessa's voice grew raspy and spiteful, "Like how quick I was to just up and run from the meeting, last night. This is my karma for being a terrible princess to Sugar Rush."

"Hey, guys, you'll never believe what we saw on Orph's tracks!" Zed suddenly called from the entrance of the Sky Room as he made his way into the massive dome as quick as he could, ultimately interrupting the protest Vanellope had for Tessa's berating notions towards herself.

Zed breathed a small laugh and pushed deeper into the room, and though he was excited to hopefully breeze past Vanellope's frustration, from ditching the night prior, he suddenly was slapped with the raw, depressed aura his group of friends and family radiated. He scuffed his heels, as he came to a slow stop, and finally caught his eyes with Tessa's teary ones. He furrowed his brow in growing worry and finally began to march towards the group with greater purpose.

"What's going on here?" Zed wondered sternly, it was clear his goofy, playful notions very quickly subsided with the issue at hand, it was easy to tell that he knew when to be young at heart and when to be a tight-lipped leader.

Everyone nervously peered their worried gazes to Zed, though as they slowly dragged said gazes to Tessa, Zed felt his heart begin to race at the sheer sight of her; she was the picture of health, the night prior, with a twinkle in her eye and a heart wild and free for adventure, and though she was still all of those things, deep down, the woman before Zed was nearly unrecognizable. Zed huffed a nervous noise, and as he pressed closer to his mate, everyone else eased a few steps back, so to give them a little more room.

"What happened, are you okay?" Zed uttered nervously, his voice didn't waver once, though as he cupped Tessa's cheeks, tears spilled from her eyes.

"Zed, I-I..." Tessa whimpered, she knew putting this bad news on Zed's shoulders wasn't easy, or wanted, though she knew it had to be done, no matter what. She lulled her eyes closed for a moment, desperately tried to compose herself, and only met Zed's eyes with greater tears. She huffed a shaky conclusion, "I-I... Was pregnant."

"Was," Zed merely breathed in whisper as the ever so dangerously fleeting happiness vanished from him, without even so much as a chance to see the glimmer of hope Tessa at least got to hold for a small amount of time.

In this cold moment, Tessa's eyes pierced into Zed's in pure, unadulterated sorrow, defeat, apology, and just before Zed could even begin to wrap his mind around the small words Tessa had just uttered to him, his tender thumbs ever so gently stroked her wet cheeks. His peripheral shrunk, he honed in on Tessa's soul, and nothing more, and though he was aware the group about them was equally as drowned in cold sorrow, a show they didn't technically want to witness. Zed shook his head, he narrowed his eyes and so desperately tried to collect himself, though he knew it were simply no use. His eyes grew glassy, brilliant blue orbs that sunk to Tessa's gaze, unity he knew only they were feeling the brunt of. He just barely shook his head, squinted a little harder and felt his hands begin to shake a little.

"Tess," Zed uttered in cold shock, he finally glanced down her body in a quick swipe, though within doing so, the billowing tears escaped his eyes, "A-Are you okay?"

"I-I... I think so," Tessa stammered, though she grimaced a small cry and shook her head a little harder, "Zed, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry."

"Why on Earth are you sorry?" Zed croaked as he urgently grappled Tessa into a tight, comforting hug. Tessa burrowed into his chest, shut her eyes tight and silently cried into his loving grip, though as Zed tucked his face into the top of her shoulder, he continued on, "You have absolutely no reason to be sorry... I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm okay," Tessa meeped into Zed's collar, his fall zip up was cozy and warm, she snuggled into him and felt relief hit her skin; though she wanted to hull away and tell no one, she was grateful her family just so happened to be hanging out in the Sky Room.

Zed huffed a shaky sigh, and as he slowly peeled his face from Tessa's shoulder, he was greet with the looks of pure, anxious sorrow; that of Nox's, Koko's, Oliver's and Vanellope's auras were more than palpable. They hung a foot or two from Tessa and Zed, though Zed's eyes nervously honed to the epicenter of group of onlookers. Ace dragged his eyes from the ground and straight into his father's gaze. He looked as if he had just been hit in the face, a look of dolloped guilt coat his demeanor, as if he had a small part in this whole entire fiasco, the good, the bad and the ugly. Zed held his gaze straight into Ace's, as if to forever assure him that this was, indeed, no one's fault. Just as Zed was confident Ace had silently agreed in their mime of a conversation, Ace rubbed the back of his head and spoke up.

"None of this would've happened if it weren't for-"

"Son, stop," Zed urged as he sharply interrupted Ace from carrying on. Ace flinched, dropped his arm, his act, and felt his facial expression slope to cold, nervous surprise. Tessa gingerly pulled out of Zed's arms and firmly peered her gaze to their only child as Zed continued, "No one could've seen this coming."

"Ace," Tessa croaked.

"It's my fault for not changing my coding over, out of my disguise," Zed eased, he peered to Tessa and held her shoulders, "The second I decide to jump on board, for baby number two, and THIS happens."

"You were trying?" Oliver asked as tenderly as he could, the twinge of happiness in his voice was something he hoped would at least lighten the mood.

"Yes," Zed's voice shook a little, though he peered down to Tessa and so gently began to move hair from out of her face, "Anything for this beauty-"

"Oh, will you cut it out, already," Tessa suddenly snapped as more tears billowed in her eyes, she yanked herself out of Zed's bubble and glared up at him, "It's obvious I'm the only one that's selfish enough to try to run from my problems. You were only doing that to phase me."

"... Tessa," Zed uttered in offense as he gave her a look of floored insult, though Tessa waved her hand and anxiously peered about the group, as if to suddenly wonder who she could lash out at next, a defense mechanism she wondered if she'd ever let go. For the sake of protecting her sanity, she honed in on Ace and pointed, a little, "And you... Stop putting ideas in people's heads. Bullshit like this happens and NO ONE wins, in the end."

Ace frowned in prickled, frozen guilt. He peered to his mother in longing sorrow, a true swipe of guilt finally coat over him, though as Ace opened his mouth to utter a form of sheer apology everyone knew he didn't need to give, Tessa quickly took a few steps away.

"And, for future reference, this is how the glitch hop is done... Pay close attention," Tessa darkly snapped, and faster than anything that had been displayed all day, Tessa's electric silver coding jolted, bounced and zapped out of the Sky Room in record time.

Everyone stood still, the Sky Room was nearly searing with all the palpable tension, though as Zed heaved a hard, shaky sigh through his nose and looked down, they knew chasing after Tessa, in this hard time, was not wise. Everyone slowly drew their eyes to Zed and, in the longing stare for guidance, they knew their ultimate leader was likely the one to be needing the guidance, instead.

"She didn't mean any of that," Vanellope firmly assured as she made sure to lock eyes with both Ace and Zed. Both boys nodded, though Ace warily glanced in Nox's direction as well. Vanellope stepped a little closer to Zed and gestured to him, "This is no one's fault... Just, leave her be. She knows where her comfort is. Trust me... Miscoding isn't something to take lightly."

"Y-You have, mom?" Koko pressed nervously, Vanellope nodded and glanced down to the ground.

"It's not just a simple mistake in the coding that you can try and rehash, try to code new life that night," Vanellope mumbled as she peered off in the direction Tessa stole off to. She shook her head and inhaled a nervous breath, "Miscarrying can be something your body gets over in five days, or five months..."

"What?" Zed hissed nervously as he, too, stole a glance in the direction Tessa fled, "S-Surely she'll be okay."

"I don't know. You'll have to look in her coding," Vanellope shrugged, "She's obviously alright, likely sore... But only her coding will tell just what kind of waiting period you two will have."

"It's clear Tessa's not adapting well to trying to take back Sugar Rush," Oliver mumbled as he rubbed his chin, "Honestly, I think she has a ton of stuff she's bottling..."

"I've always felt that way, about her," Zed agreed with a small nod, though Ace weakly chimed in.

"What do you mean?" Ace wondered to the group, though Oliver was first to turn and make his presence dominant.

"As... Much as we hate to say it, the fall of Sugar Rush sort of... Well... Is on Tessa's and Zed's shoulders," Oliver stated tenderly, and though he peered to Zed for assurance, as if to hope he wouldn't make Zed mad, Zed simply nodded and looked off in mild defeat. Oliver gave his nervous gaze back to his nephew and shrugged, "I guess... Tessa hasn't forgiven herself for it."

"I'm not sure she can," Vanellope pressed, "Her being the next heir, that's a lot of responsibility to throw down the drain. Not that you two ever meant to, there was no malicious intent."

"Conscious malicious intent," Zed corrected, stating the brainwashing that Radex had done on Zed's coding, Vanellope nodded with the correction.

"I wish we could tell her that it was just... Error," Ace shrugged, "What's done is done. It's clear she's beating herself up for it, the only escape she seems to be trying to find is distraction with another baby."

"I feel bad for giving in," Zed mumbled, though Vanellope scoffed a small laugh, which ultimately surprised everyone.

"You weren't 'giving in', Zed... Listen, you love Tessa, right?" Vanellope side-eyed Zed, though his face washed flat with humility.

"More than anything, you know this," Zed urged desperately, Vanellope giggled and flagged her hand, as if to assure that her words weren't simply a test.

"You simply were trying to give her the world," Vanellope stated warmly as the group relaxed, Zed slumped his shoulders and gently glanced to Ace's line of sight, "You will do anything to make her happy, and if it's another baby, well damn... It doesn't take a brainiac to see that you'd be totally on board with THAT homework assignment."

For the first time since this ordeal, the group warmly eased confident laughter. With much success, it forced a genuine smile, and a chuckle, out of Zed's humbled figure. He peered down to the ground and tried to hide his broadening smile, though Vanellope stepped a little closer, tilted her head to gain eye contact and shook her head once she had achieved it.

"You will make a fine husband, my Zaney friend," Vanellope breathed, her tone was warm and accepting, and as she gingerly took Zed's hands in hers, he straightened his posture and peered down into Vanellope's eyes in pricked, longing surprise, "You have a lot of work to do, you and Tessa... But you know we'll all be here, fighting this fight with you."

"Thank you," Zed's voice suspiciously shook, he slowly drowned in the fact that he had lost a child today, and though it was in the small stages of development, he couldn't help but feel he'd mourn for a decent period of time.

"We all may not have this whole 'life' thing down, just yet, but I can tell by the look in your eye, the way you and Tessa run this game without fail," Vanellope squeezed Zed's hands, and as if to gingerly grace him with the dollop of forgiveness he potentially could need, so to help aid Tessa, she gave Zed a warm smile and shook his hands a little, "Sugar Rush will be proud to have you for a King, one day, Zedian."

Zed scoffed a soft noise of disbelief and peered his grateful gaze straight into Vanellope's. He narrowed his eyes in a pluck of bittersweet grief and nearly wanted to shake his head to disagree, though he knew that's what doubt wanted. He inhaled a shaky breath, nodded and accepted Vanellope's premature grant, he squeezed her hands in return and felt a strange surge of emotions course through his being.

"You don't know what that means to me," Zed uttered as Oliver, Koko, Nox and Ace looked on in longing delight, "Thank you so much..."

"Now," Vanellope quipped as she cocked an eyebrow, gave Zed a knowing look, as if to simply state that her full blessing was given, though he still had to keep his nose to the grindstone, "We need to keep a close eye on Tessa... It's clear, after that show of tears and unwarranted lashing out, she's in need of some good TLC. Zed, I want you and Ace to examine her coding, see what can be done about the damage of the miscarriage."

"Yes, ma'am," Ace stated in a gentle, humble nod as Vanellope went down the line.

"Oliver, Koko, lay off the glitch-jump scares," Vanellope barked in her youngest childrens' direction, they gawked and pointed to each other in hard annoyance, though Vanellope flagged her hands, uttered noises alongside them, and won the battle of who was loudest, "I wasn't talking about laying off on each other! Keep your mitts off of Tessa's coding. Every time you pop up at her, from around a corner, I can practically feel her blood pressure get higher and higher."

"Whoops," Koko uttered, Oliver furrowed his brow and gave her a look as if to state they weren't aware it had such an affect on Tessa.

"And, Nox," Vanellope eased as she approached the TurboTwin, his golden eyes were confidently glued in Koko's direction, though as Vanellope sauntered closer, he flinched, scrunched his shoulders and felt nervousness crawl over him. Everyone chuckled, under their breath, and watched the show, "It was actually cool of you to show up to this glitching lesson, considering you're not a glitch."

"I-I just like, y'know... Hanging out," Nox stammered as he cheesed a nervous smile, though Ace shoved his face into his palm and shook his head behind Vanellope's back.

"Huh, yeah... That, or you're taking notes for future reference?" Vanellope prod, she simply glanced to Koko, bit her lip, as the teasing pro she was, and waggled her eyebrows, "The glitching gene won't skip a person, I promise you that."

"Didn't skip a generation, here, either," Zed added as he gestured to Ace, who now stood close to his father; everyone laughed as Nox's face turned beet red, though Koko desperately tried to hide her annoyed shyness.

"We got a whole team of glitchers and wreckers, as is," Vanellope sighed as she faced the group as a whole, "Hopefully, by the time we face Radex, we'll have the fleet I think we'll have."

"Fleet?" Ace wondered curiously as he wrinkled his nose, though Nox stiffened his spine and shook his head, behind Vanellope's back.

"Well, yeah, y'got this little dude who thinks I don't have eyes in the back of my head," Vanellope stated cheerfully, she grappled Nox's shirt, yanked him closer to her and teasingly lulled her arm over the tops of his shoulders; sweat was visibly forming on the crown of his head, "Don't get me started on you and Libby, mijo."

"I-I get it," Ace uttered as his face rapidly grew red as well, though Zed gently nudged him and knew to quickly take the heat off of the two boys.

"C'mon, let's head to the code room," Zed eased to Ace warmly, the two quickly got out of there.

As they shuffled away, Vanellope kept Nox in her grip and peered to him with a snarky smile.

"Are you scared of me?" Vanellope questioned, though as Oliver burst out into hard laughter, Koko groaned a noise of pure annoyance and freed Nox from Vanellope's grip.

"He's terrified, mom, thanks for nothing," Koko hissed, though Nox flashed her a nervous smile of gratitude.

"Just doin' my job," Vanellope huffed with a proud smile.


	123. Chapter 123

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you! Yes, the other relationships will be further delved into, here and there :) Also, writing is easy for me *knock on wood* - it only becomes a chore if I'm dead tired or am writing a chapter with a scene that's not very exciting haha

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha that's true :) Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww I'm sorry... Yes, you're indeed correct - poppa Ralph to the rescue :)

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Haha no worries, thank you! And yes, Vanellope is a bit of a handful haha

 **Burgie :** This is true! She is a lucky chick indeed :) Thank you!

* * *

 ***Chapter 123***

Sat at the heart of the busy kitchen, Zed and Ace were the calmness of the void, the island seemingly was their own, and as everyone loudly chat, moseyed, snacked and lounged in the kitchen and the living room. Ace and Zed had their noses buried into Zed's larger, master pad, it simply was a remote aspect of the code room. Throughout the course of the day, Vanellope had messaged everyone as a warning, to simply, and gently, break the news of Tessa's and Zed's loss, and to be mindful of it when speaking to either one of them. Zed's brothers bantered, were loud and fun like usual, and though they made sure to avoid the topic at all costs, each one of them made clear, throughout the night, that they were, indeed, a shoulder if need be. Though Zed was an easier being to approach, with said topic, it was obvious all the women of the house were at least attempting to conjure up the courage to go find Tessa. After a long game day, Tessa was no where to be found, and it was clear someone would have to go snag her for dinner, though through silent communication, no one seemed to be brave enough.

"Sheesh, I didn't think miscoding would be so harmful," Ace huffed as he rubbed his forehead in agitation, he nervously peered down to his mother's fragile coding, the tiers of binary and circuits that represented her reproductive coding, seemingly had errors nearly everywhere.

"I guess I should've done my research, but... We've never dealt with something like this, before," Zed muttered, both boys were tired from peering into holograms and strings of coded DNA all evening.

"Well... See, here, it's trying to repair itself. It's clear her body is already on the way to healing itself, but... I wish I knew how I could speed the process along," Ace eased, both him and Zed held their own little world of a conversation amidst the nearly two dozen voices of playfulness that filled the air, "Being a User would be easy if I, y'know... Had another User to teach me how to User."

"Say User again," Zed joked in a dull tone.

"User," Ace stabbed, "You created me, dad, hate to break it to you. If I'm annoying, what does that make you?"

"That makes me the person who created you," Zed retort, both boys laughed amidst their banter as Ace admitted defeat, shook his head and looked down to the digital pad with his genuine, loving smile. Zed huffed a soft sigh and finally shook his head, as well, "No, I... I only had half the part. Tessa takes the cake, when it comes to you. She went through hell and back to bring you into this world."

"Hope it was worth it, mom," Ace continued to joke, Zed flinched with the volley Ace continued to throw, though he huffed a laugh at Ace's contagious playfulness.

"She went blind, nearly turned into a virus," Zed spat, Ace straightened his playful attitude and peered to his father in gentle, sorrowful defeat, though as Zed carried on, Ace narrowed his eyes in oncoming realization.

"Wait, so how did you reverse all that if you're not a User?" Ace wondered honestly, though Zed's face turned red in surprise as he muttered his answer and looked down.

"We... Swapped codes," Zed staggered, Ace choked a small laugh and shook his head as Zed pointed to his son, "Okay, I am NOT trying that again, whose to say swapping with her would even help, in a situation like this."

"It wouldn't, it wouldn't," Ace wheezed, he shook his head and zoomed in on the coding, and though he huffed out a few more chuckles, he grew serious, "See, here? There's still residual damage, from, well... Giving birth to me. It looks like, the baby that was beginning to load this morning, tried to grip onto the coding here that was already sort of damaged, and well... Y'know how the rest goes."

"So, it's just strictly chance that it grips to fresh coding?" Zed argued to himself in dire annoyance, "What, her coding became less fertile or something?"

"... Point blank, yes," Ace frowned as he continued to scroll through the areas of damage, "Since, well... Us gamers don't give birth like humans, it's all up to how preserved this reproductive coding is. Because her coding had a hay-day getting me to be a tangible thing, it burned the binary straight out of her."

"Her burn marks," Zed mumbled, he messily rubbed his forehead and grimaced in agitation, "This just gets worse and worse..."

"That's why she went blind, her coding just went nuts, and nearly half of her was just fried," Ace shrugged, waggled the pad around and shot his father a snarky, smug look, "Y'know, I keep apologizing for this, but, I think I should stop being sorry for my existence."

"We're floored you made it, son, that has never been in question," Zed grumbled as he gave Ace's shoulder a good squeeze, he squinted his eyes and smiled a nearly annoyed, but loving smile into Ace's gaze, though he huffed a long breath and looked down to the pad in Ace's hand, "I just wish there was a way to heal all of it... I doubt her coding would want any further additives, from me, after all this, however..."

"I can try my best to correct this coding... Maybe the knowledge is just dormant in me," Ace shrugged, his naive gaze peered hopeful to his father's mildly defeated one, "Maybe if I just... Really focus on the task at hand. I mean, I was able to get Libby out of that code-induced rage, at my birthday party. I-I was able to stop her night terrors, I even got the knots out of her back."

"Next, you should try kissing her," Zed stabbed playfully, he raised his eyebrows and gave Ace a smug, tight-lipped smile, "That'll go far, too."

"Way ahead of you," Ace volleyed, though he bugged his eyes and realized real quick just what that could potentially insinuate. Ace choked a noise as Zed cocked an eyebrow and set a stern, fatherly look into Ace's skin, "N-No, I meant... Well, what REALLY happened was, I-I just... Y'know, we just-!"

"I don't need a play-by-play," Zed choked with a hard laugh as he narrowed his eyes and shrugged in a wry fashion.

"Silver coding, dad," Ace grumbled in hard annoyance, though he sagged his demeanor and subtly dragged his line of sight to his beautiful girlfriend, across the room. She giggled and loudly chat with Koko, Emery and Tammy, "Gunna remain as such for a long while, I can promise you that."

Zed furrowed his brow, and though he didn't make it obvious, he took turns glancing between Ace, who was right in front of him, to Libby who was across the kitchen. Zed finally smiled down to the digital pad, in Ace's hands, and shook his head. He lulled his eyes closed, slumped his shoulders and so desperately wanted to overflow Ace with advice, though he wasn't too sure how Ace would take it, as his father.

"I would be happy to give you advice, but your mother wasn't too thrilled that us two had become fast dude-friends," Zed muttered, though much to his surprise, Ace beamed a cheeky smile in his father's direction, something that wildly reassured Zed that his relationship with his son had deepened to a mutual level of understanding, as if they could very easily add on the titles of best friend without it seeming complicated.

"I don't care, you're the first one I'd go to for advice," Ace breathed, he zoomed out on his mother's coding and shook his head in mild disagreeing, "Besides, mom was just upset when she said that... Dad, if that baby hadn't miscoded, mom would be prancing around the kitchen, right now, chanting that I have the best ideas ever."

"Valid point," Zed laughed as he nudged Ace's shoulder, "Let's... Just try to be as sensitive, towards Tess, as we can. Sure, this is hard on you, and very hard on me, but... This is devastating for your mother, considering she is the host for all this coded drama."

"I know," Ace frowned as he saved all of Tessa's presets and lobbed out of her hologram, which was grid-lined and clear of skin or nude details, "Well... I'll try my best to look deeper into this. Maybe I'll meditate on it, awhile."

"Ommm," Zed hummed teasingly, though Ace powered down the pad and set it down.

"Not like that," Ace barked, both boys laughed.

Zed gently got up from his seat and quietly assured to Ace that he'd be back. He knew dinner would be ready soon, and the silent judgment on the house was that he would likely be the one brave enough to retrieve Tessa from her hide out, which they discovered was inside Lickity's enclosure. As Zed moved, all eyes glanced to him in unspoken nervousness, and it was in this moment did he realize the weight of his stature. He wondered if his family members were likely scared that the two heads, of the entire game, were nearly down and out. He honed his attention to the fridge, to hopefully get a drink, in peace, without potentially being doted on. He knew he could still take care of everything. Though mourning and acceptance would be a bit, he hoped his posture conveyed to everyone that he was going to be alright. Just as Zed was to reach the other side of the island, and hopefully dodge more gazes of longing uncertainty, the front door creaked open.

Ralph finally had made it home, after a long game day. His overalls had a bit of brick debris on them, though he ruffled his hair, heaved a long, loud sigh and was warmly welcomed home by the house mates that were in the living room. With kind smiles and notions, he sauntered past the living room and into the kitchen, and it was in this raw moment did his eyes finally land on Zed; remembrance of him stealing Tessa away, the night prior, suddenly came back to his memory. Ralph stopped in his tracks, huffed a sarcastic scoff of a laugh, looked down in cheeky annoyance and nodded to himself, as if to remember that he had some words he'd like to share with the man that was vying for his position.

"Look who it is, the man of the hour, just the Dead Dude I'd like to see," Ralph started in hard sarcasm, and it was with his loud, booming voice of sarcastic sternness did everyone nervously direct their stares to the show, "I feel like it's been awhile since I've seen you, Zed, can you remember the last time we crossed paths?"

"Uh, Ralph," Vanellope urged from the other side of the island as she set her drink down, peeled from the group of girls she was mingled with and urgently began to stumble around the island, in hopes of stopping this escalation before it got too dramatic, "Ralph, wait."

"Dinner smells so great, I'm really excited to sit down and eat it with all of you," Ralph barked, it was clear his temper was on it's way to boiling, though his dominant footsteps began to grow closer in pure intimidation as the whole house fell silent, "Oh, wait, are you planning on running out on this one, too?"

"Ralph, please," Vanellope urged louder, her voice grew more stern as she gently moved about Tej and Jax and finally was within reach of Zed.

"No, sir," Zed stated in raw defeat, he knew Ralph didn't have all of the information, of the horrible things that happened this morning, though he knew fighting fire with fire would make the whole house explode.

"Well, I don't see Tessa in this bunch, you already have her down the escape route? Somehow, running a kingdom seems to be too daunting to you two?" Ralph rushed as his voice grew louder, he clenched his fists and was near-about to make a bigger scene, though he finally stood a few feet before Zed and nearly bent into his face, "I'm surprised I didn't see you fleeing the kitchen, with your tail between your legs, as I came in. So, what's your grand excuse? What do you two POSSIBLY have to say for yourselves?"

The whole house fell silent, and before Vanellope could utter just what went wrong, or officially stop Ralph from saying anything damaging, all eyes slowly fell to Zed in growing dread, and as Zed inhaled a shaky breath, his eyes slowly glanced in Ace's direction. Ace peered to his father in total nervousness, the flat look of sorrow on his face expressed to him that Ace didn't want this kind of treatment, to anyone, no matter whose fault it was. Zed dragged his attention back to the wrecker in front of him and felt his lip quiver a little, and it was in the instance of Zed's eyes welling with tears did Ralph's aura finally radiate something other than just pure anger; he flinched a little and now reeled in a proper amount of confusion.

"Tessa miscarried this morning," Zed uttered sternly, he stabbed his teary, angry gaze into Ralph's and held his ground, "We were stupid and immature to ditch the Sugar Rush meeting, last night, but... Karma came back for us and punished us, for you, so... You can save your breath. We've already been punished enough."

As difficult as it may seem to officially quiet a group of two dozen, the castle fell so silent that Zed's shaky breathing was heard loud and clear. Ralph slumped his shoulders and felt his whole being get hot with raw, apologetic embarrassment, and before Zed could continue to defend himself, Ralph shook his head slowly, long blinked his gaze to his feet and exhaled all the anger that was coursing through him, in the form of a sigh of much needed release. Ralph finally pierced his guilty gaze into Zed's eyes and felt a wave of appreciation come over him. Even in the face of the biggest, baddest guy around, Zed always proved, time and time again, that he was not afraid. His powerful demeanor was fit for a King, and as much as Ralph didn't want to give it all away to Zed, just yet, he knew their little Zaney friend had wormed his way into their hearts for good. Ralph shook his head once more and stepped closer to Zed. Upon reaching him, he slowly slid his large hand to Zed's shoulder and squeezed, though before Ralph could speak any form of apology, Zed continued to take stabs.

"Bet you didn't see THAT one coming," Zed barked in hard dismay, "Did you not get the messages as you crossed into Dead Zed? I know Vanellope sent a mass-text, to everyone."

"I-I didn't think to check," Ralph admitted softly as he grunted, steadied himself against Zed and got to one knee, before him, so to get to his level.

"How convenient for you," Zed stabbed, though tears rolled down his cheeks, tears he was desperately trying to hold back.

Ralph huffed a shaky sigh as well, and as the information continued to hit him, the sheer fact that he, indeed, was about to have another grandbaby, his heart sank in guilt. He peered to Zed in unadulterated sorrow, shook his head, closed his eyes in an attempt to collect his thoughts and allowed the massive sweep of news hit his skin over and over.

"Zed, I'm... I'm so sorry," Ralph uttered quietly, Zed remained still and allowed Ralph to continue on, "I-I wish there was something I could do."

"You can go find Tessa and tell her that dinner is ready. She's in Lickity's enclosure," Vanellope suddenly stated, her voice was stern and sharp, and it was in this moment that Zed felt surprised that his future mother-in-law had come to his aid. Zed gently wiped his jawline free of tears and assessed Ralph's behavior.

"Yes, ma'am," Ralph breathed in quiet respect as he gently stood, removed himself from the painfully quiet kitchen and slipped out the castle's back door.

* * *

As the jungle began to settle of it's sunshine, it's day time life and colorful birds galore, it prepared for the softer, more secretive night life. The stars had begun to shine in the sky, and deep in the jungles, Tessa could hear all sorts of calls from nocturnal creatures, birds and the like, waking from their slumber. She sat on a massive branch, it sprawled for seemingly hundreds of feet, though she was near the top of one of the trees in Lickity's, Royal's and Balba's enclosure. Lickity sat tight at her side, she slumbered lightly and kept Tessa quiet company. The one thing she loved about Lickity, once she fell asleep, was the deep, rumbling purr Lickity emit; she knew her breed wasn't anywhere near any species of cat, though she didn't dare to question the curious, comforting purring that often radiated from her rib cage. The sheer amount of comfort it brought Tessa was nearly enough to lull her into a calm sleep, as well.

Tessa flinched as Lickity suddenly snorted a hard inhale, jolted awake and peered her gloriously huge green eyes down the trunk of thee massive jungle tree they were safely tucked in. Lickity's huge ears remained taut and honed to the ground, though as the tree suddenly began to lightly sway and rumble, she relaxed as to just who she could see climbing the tall tree, branch by branch. Tessa heaved a long, annoyed sigh through her mouth, because her nose was clogged; she wiped her jaw free of tears that had gathered from silent crying she had been doing, and before too long, she could hear the branches, directly underneath her, shake and rustle with the weight of said newcomer. Lickity closed her eyes once more and relaxed, this cued Tessa into believing that whoever was climbing said tree was harmless, and more than definitely someone Lickity respected, due to her not spatting any sort of unwelcoming retorts down the tree, in loo of Tessa's secluded feelings.

"Alright, I... I really thought a small piece of me missed climbing candy cane trees, after Vanellope, but I was very wrong," Ralph suddenly groaned, and with a final tug, he pulled himself up on the large branch Lickity and Tessa were perched on.

Said branch was big and strong enough for Ralph to stand on, he slowly, and carefully, stepped over to the two. Lickity quickly rearranged herself so that her body was rested to Tessa's right, so Ralph could sit next to his daughter. Tessa remained with her knees and legs tucked to her body, she looked down at Kalivar castle, a truly beautiful sight from so high up. Her hair had finally dried, it was poofy and chaotic due to not being properly brushed out; her mane mocked Ralph's, though it was easily five times more wild, due to its length. Ralph breathed a raspy sigh as he finally caught his breath, and though he figured he should ask for an invitation, he sat down next to Tessa anyways and peered out to the sight Tessa was wrapped in.

"It's beautiful, up here," Ralph stated quietly, the sound of the wind was the only thing present. As Ralph assessed the backyard, he realized just how high up they were, due to being able to have a clear shot of the top of Ace's glorious tower, "Sheesh, uh... Don't look down, though."

"I could stay up here forever," Tessa finally croaked, her voice was deep, raspy and exhausted.

"I don't blame you," Ralph stated warmly, the two sat close, and though Ralph knew full well just what had happened to Tessa, he wasn't quite sure how to bring it up. He knew he should likely wait until Tessa brought up the issue at hand, though with the way she continued to remain silent, he bit his lip and quickly came to the realization that he should likely step into the lioness's den as carefully as possible, "I... I heard what happened, Tess."

"You too, huh?" Tessa wondered quietly, her voice was strangely nonchalant, she hardly flinched.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," Ralph breathe, his voice was as tender and as warm as he possibly could, and though he had grown worried about Tessa's carefree words, he immediately was cued to the fact that her eyes had begun to well with large tears.

He huffed a shaky breath and peered to her in total sorrow, he knew there was nothing worse than losing a child in such fragile conditions, though the fact that it happened to one of his own children, had his heart breaking even harder. In this cold moment of stillness, he felt his eyes well with tears as well, and as the raw fact finally sunk deep into his skin, he blinked a few times, looked out to the castle grounds and wiped his eyes, with one of his hands. He cleared his throat, shook his head and joined Tessa in the quiet. He knew she had been through hell and back, she was the last person that deserved any of this, and with such a weight on her shoulders, he was surprised she was even still alive, from all the outstanding pressure. He raised his eyebrows a little and flinched as Tessa suddenly huffed a silent, shaky cry. She grimaced, shook her head and hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

"What else could possibly go wrong?" Tessa griped through a small hiccup of a cry as tears easily streamed her sticky cheeks.

Ralph breathed a trembling breath and honed his gaze to his beautiful first born; tough as nails, strong and brave, he knew she was the perfect fit for Sugar Rush's Queen. With the exterior of a wrecker and the inner, sweet gooey center of a Schweetz, she was the perfect dollop of everything Sugar Rush needed. Ralph smiled a longing, knowing smile in her direction and felt his heart swell with all of the love he had in his entire being, just for her. He knew, in the act of trying to be an adult, trying to prove to everyone that she could handle everything life threw at her, he knew, deep down, all she wanted was to be cradled, to be held and reassured. Someone to lift her off of the ground, even if for just a moment, to promise no more harm would come to her. As tenderly as he could, he reached his large hand out to her back, let his fingers cup her shoulders, and grip her in a knowing way.

"Well, I don't know... But, I can tell you all the things that could go right," Ralph cued as he wiped his eyes, once more.

Before Tessa could protest, Ralph used his size to his advantage and scooped his hand underneath her tight, balled position. Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise, sunk into the pit of Ralph's hand and wobbled a little. Just as Tessa opened her mouth to wonder just what Ralph was doing, he quickly fastened her to his chest. Balled in her tight position, he sat her in his crossed legs, and though she simply wasn't a little child anymore, he held her tight to his large being, as if she would never stop being his little girl. Without much hesitation, Tessa welcomed his overpowering, cuddly teddy bear presence, and with ease, she leaned into his warm chest and closed her eyes. With his powerful hands and arms, he nearly engulfed Tessa in his tight embrace. As if to protect her from the surrounding planet, he huddled her tight to his body and tucked his chin to the top of her head. He smiled out to Tessa's and Zed's gorgeous castle, it twinkled with the warm house lights.

"Let's see... You guys could be successful on our scouts into Sugar Rush," Ralph eased in gentle happiness, Tessa huffed a shaky breath into his chest and quietly let tears continue to stream her cheeks. Ralph squeezed her tighter to his chest and let his large thumb firmly rub the back of her skull, "You could help your mother in training Ace... I hear he's actually come a long way and is reorganizing the forest, practically."

Tessa lulled her eyes closed, turned her head and pushed her right ear into the left side of Ralph's chest, so to hear his heartbeat. She finally wormed an arm free and rested her left hand to her father's lower chest, and as he kept his chin tucked tight to the top of Tessa's head, so her head was in the nook of his neck, he continued on in a gentle, loving tone.

"We could gain more wreckers, and glitchers... You know the castle harbors a lot of young love," Ralph's voice was soothing to listen to, a calm void Tessa could fall into forever. She finally huffed a long exhale of concluded peace and soaked in her father's wise, loving demeanor. Ralph smiled a sneaky smile into the top of Tessa's head and squeezed her a little tighter, "I know you've noticed all the couples forming, too."

"It's about time Penny showed interest in a boy," Tessa's voice was high pitched and crackly, though Ralph blurt a small laugh and nodded.

"I'm not sure I'm too stoked at said boy she's seemingly narrowed down to, but... I guess, at this point, beggars can't be choosers," Ralph chuckled, "Emery is the only normal I'm gunna get, from all you younglings, isn't she..."

"Y'never know if Emery has a dark back story," Tessa grumbled with a small chuckle that nearly sounded foreign, though Ralph laughed along.

"We should count ourselves lucky, Tess," Ralph sighed, "We've got a great group, here... So much support, so much love going around. Really the only beings that nearly hate each other are Lickity and Orph."

"We don't use the 'O' word in this tree," Lickity suddenly grumbled as her eyes remained closed, though as Tessa and Ralph laughed, Lickity couldn't help but try and hide a small smile.

"Sometimes, things seem dark... A-And, sometimes, we lose those that we love," Ralph eased, he squeezed Tessa a little tighter, "...Even if we hadn't have met them, just yet."

Tessa furrowed her brow and peered her idle gaze into the metal button of Ralph's overalls, and as large tears welled in her eyes, she felt her heart begin to accept the fact that she, indeed, needed to properly grieve the loss of her small child, instead of bottling everything and keeping everyone out. Tessa's chest heaved as she shakily uttered a silent scoff of a cry, though as she became emotional, once more, Ralph uttered a small noise of understanding, rubbed the back of her head gently and pushed a few loving kisses into the top of her head.

"My Tessy," Ralph breathed, his voice was coat in apologetic sorrow, "... You know we'd give anything to witness you raising a child, being a part of your new baby's life, but... Maybe this is a sign. Maybe running right into the new set of responsibilities, that a new baby brings, isn't going to aid you in this kingdom take back."

"I know," Tessa whimpered as she scrunched her eyes shut even tighter, she shook her head and frowned a grimace of pure sorrow, "I just want all this to go away... My mistakes just keep haunting me."

"Well, Tess... You know you've been forgiven, right?" Ralph wondered as he ever so slowly pulled Tessa away from his chest, so to get a good look into her eyes. She peered up to him, big, glassy, hazel orbs that were full of sorrow, full of question. He breathed a small laugh, through a genuine smile and shook his head. As warmly as he could, he kept one arm and hand tight around her back while his free hand and thumb stroked tears from her face, "There's no sense in holding a grudge over what mistakes were made... Sure, you took a dig at the kingdom, you pulled a peg out of the Jenga tower without thought..."

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows harder and stared deep into her father's eyes, she knew he wasn't simply pointing out her shortcomings, so she nodded in diligent understanding.

"You want to know what else you did?" Ralph wondered tenderly as his free hand now stroked some hair from her face. He narrowed his eyes and hushed his voice a little as he leaned in closer, for emphasis, "You did everything in your power to make it right."

"I-I still failed THAT," Tessa complained quietly, though Ralph side-eyed her and shook his head.

"... Did you miss the part where you saved your brother from vanishing? Did you, I don't know... Skip the chapter where you saved the entire game from downgrading?" Ralph rushed with a small laugh as he nudged Tessa's shoulder, she giggled a little and looked down to Ralph's chest in gentle defeat, "I think the author put a lot of thought and heart into that bit, you might want to go back and reread it, love."

Tessa scoffed a harder laugh, shook her head in understanding and slumped her shoulders in further defeat, though just as she was about to soak back into sulking, Ralph tucked his finger underneath her chin and made her look him square in the eyes, once more.

"You're half way there, Tess," Ralph hissed in quiet excitement as he squinted, once more. He held both his arms around her lower back, once more, to keep her from falling. He shrugged a little and glanced up to the sky, "I wouldn't view any of this as defeat... You just... Still have a road ahead of you. But y'know what? If you glance back, you'll see just how far you've come."

Tessa breathed a long sigh of relief, nodded and lulled her eyes closed as Ralph continued on.

"You reunited Zed with his brothers, gave me and your mother a wonderful grandson... You took to the skies and made this game your new home, Tess," Ralph glanced up to the gorgeous, two-mooned, starry night sky. The breeze rustled the tree they were in, and the surrounding jungle, as if to envelope the two in the atmosphere even further, "You've got all of this under control. It's clear you're ready to complete this mission, of yours."

"I want to get Sugar Rush back, so badly," Tessa whimpered, she began to fiddle with the stray strings that were beginning to fray on Ralph's overalls, "I can't wait to be back home, for good... I really miss the castle."

"Welp, you know once we get that thing back, your mother is going to have a hay-day with rebuilding," Ralph grumbled, though Tessa peered up to him in confusion, "All your mother talks about is the awesome architecture of yours and Zeds castle... 'Ralph, when we get the castle back, you just leave me, Tessa and Zed to the rebuild. It'll be AWESOME.'"

"For User's sake," Tessa blurt a laugh and finally pushed forth a genuine smile, she shook her head and peered up into Ralph's eyes, "I'm game."

"I knew you would be," Ralph chuckled as he resituated Tessa in his lap and felt Lickity scoot closer to the two, for warmth, "Ah, Tessy... You know having a second child will come, in due time. Don't force happiness into your life... It's really difficult, in this trying time, but... You have to find it. Everyday. You have to seek it out."

Tessa dragged her idle, gentle gaze to the chest of Ralph's polo, and in a soft exhale, she nodded in final understanding and felt her veins and circuits wiggle to mild normality; she knew sulking was what she needed to do to cope, though a good pep talk from the King himself always seemed to bring her right back to the grid.

"Thank you, dad," Tessa whimpered as tears billowed in her eyes, once more, "I-I... I'm so sorry. For everything... I really did Sugar Rush a disservice."

"Well, we've all had our slip ups... But we all forgive," Ralph stated warmly as they locked eyes, "You're forgiven, Tessa... You don't owe anyone anything. Just promise that you'll give the fight your all, you'll help win back the game for good. Okay? Can you give us that?"

"I promise," Tessa assured quietly, though Ralph smiled and squeezed his arms tight around Tessa's shoulders, to yank her into a hug.

"'Course you do," Ralph stated in warm genuinity, he tucked his chin to the top of her head, once more, and gave her body a good, tight squeeze before releasing her again, "Y'should've seen me my first month in... I accidentally hit a wrong button in the code room and taxed the citizens of Starkrem nearly one hundred percent of their income."

"User," Tessa blurt with a giggle as Ralph bulged his eyes and sheepishly looked away.

"Pretty terrible thing to do as a new King, Tess," Ralph grimaced through his teeth, though he relaxed and gave her a warm smile, "But, it all got fixed, and your mother forgave me... Eventually."

"Being the keyword," Tessa cocked an eyebrow playfully, though the two laughed and laughed.

"C'mon... Let's get you something to eat," Ralph assured with a nod, "I'm sure Lickity is a great hunter, but there's a hot meal ready for us, in the kitchen."

"I'm a great hunter, but a lousy sharer," Lickity blurt calmly as she finally gave the two her eyes and attention, though she began to stand and peered to the two curiously, "Got room for a twentieth body at that dinner table?"

"Make it twenty two!" Royal called from down the massive stretch of tree, to which everyone cued to; him and Balba eagerly peered upwards at the three.

"Surely there's enough to go around," Ralph stated dryly as everyone laughed.


	124. Chapter 124

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Yes, too true! He's the group teddy bear for sure haha

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Quite the contrary, I've been the opposite of a mess for the past little while now - and I plan to keep it that way lol. Thank you

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you! hahaha

 **Snake557 :** Yes, I break the 4th wall wherever I can slip it in xD Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** My specialty! haha thank you!

* * *

 ***Chapter 124***

Ace scrunched his face in the draw of his subconscious coming back to his bedroom, and upon wondering just what un-Userly hour of the morning it was, he wrinkled his nose in annoyed dismay, peered to his comminucator and rapidly blinked his exhausted, squinty eyes. Said device nervously buzzed a few times, which caused it to just barely shift across his nightstand with each round of urgency. Ace slumped his head back to the pillow, uttered an annoyed groan, waggled his larger wrecking hand towards the nightstand and finally grappled his phone. Through a scrunched facial expression he was certain was bound to become one with his face, he lifted his communicator, tabbed it on and dryly peered to the home screen, and just who was trying to get ahold of him at this hour of the morning, which Ace discovered was nine thirty.

 _9:02am Sunday 09/18/2016_

 _Noxtastic : dude you awake? remember we have that redo Sugar Rush meeting at ten_

 _Noxtastic : Also, Koko won't stop pressing me_

 _9:14am_

 _Noxtastic : Dude I need your advice, I'll bang down your door_

 _Noxtastic : Don't make me go to this meeting without you while Koko's there!_

 _Noxtastic : Oh wait, she won't be there._

 _Noxtastic : STILL_

Ace heaved a hard, annoyed groan and continued to scroll through his messages, though he raised his eyebrows in surprise and felt his heart nearly jolt clear out of his chest as to just what Libby had sent him.

 _3:12am Sunday 9/18/2016_

 _Libbers : Hey, um... I know it's late but, can you come up here for a second, please? It's personal._

 _Libbers : If I woke you up, don't worry about it, I figured it'd be a shot in the dark, but um... I just really need your help with something._

Ace sat up in a frenzy, his poofy downs billowed, and with a hard noise of distraught, he peered down at the gaping six hour time difference between her last message and now. He angrily slopped his phone into his bedding, which made a hard indent that cushioned the device. He grappled his hair, in his hands, and shook his head in exhausted confusion that had hit him all at once.

"Whyyy did I sleep through that, WHY ME," Ace argued with himself, he finally slumped his shoulders, looked up to the ceiling and grimaced in pure exhaustion, "I could've worked that stupid reverse psychology magic."

Ace furrowed his brow, peered down to his phone and realized, that in unintentionally ignoring Libby, he was well on his way to hopefully getting her to crawl out of her shell for good. He cocked an eyebrow, wryly gestured down to his opened communicator and huffed a noise of delightful sarcasm, as well as a widening smile of great cheek.

"I'm an idiot," Ace stated proudly with an excited smile, "Mission accomplished... Wonder what she needed help with..."

Ace cocked his eyebrow further and peered across the room in a dreamy daze, though before he could get ahead of himself, there was suddenly urgent knocking at his bedroom door. He jolted in sheer terror, flew his attention to the door across the gape of his room and urgently began to scramble out of bed. He grappled for the grey sweats on the ground and nearly tripped twice trying to wrestle the pants over his naked body. Once to correction, he rolled his eyes, ruffled his hair and reached his door, in which he knew could only be one person, due to the excessive, annoying knocking. Ace swung the door wide and gave his best friend a look of beyond floored annoyance.

"Oh, Nox, I was wondering just when you'd show up, I'm so thrilled," Ace stated robotically, in a monotone voice, though he jolted as Nox grit his teeth tight, shoved Ace back into his room and shut the door tight. Ace wobbled, peered back to his door in hard surprise before shooting his floored attention to Nox, "Dude!"

"You've gotta help me," Nox hissed in tired dread, he suddenly shoved Ace's back to his closed door and grappled Ace's upper arms. The door loudly rattled as both boys were grounded against it. Ace stiffened, wrinkled his nose and wildly peered down in to Nox's eyes in a dramatic side-eye of floored bewilderment, "I think she's on to me, she's on to me! I'm DUPED!"

"They'll throw yah in the slammer, Mugsy!" Ace hissed in hard sarcasm as he gestured his hands outwards, though he only had room to move his lower arms as Nox had him firmly pinned.

"This is serious, dude!" Nox huffed in tired irritation as he finally unhanded Ace and took a handful of brooding steps across Ace's room, his shades hid the morning sun well. Nox grappled his wild, dark grey hair and began to pace in raw agitation, "I-I've been trying this new thing out, and I think it might be backfiring."

"What happened? Something to do with Koko?" Ace worried as he remained still, near his front door; Nox was also dressed in nothing but lazy black sweats, both boys were tired from having just woken up.

"SOMETHING, no, no no, everything, everything!" Nox worried as he turned around and faced Ace, "Okay... Ever since the stunt we, well... NEARLY pulled, on her birthday, I've been doing this whole 'distancing' myself, thing. I thought that's what she wanted!"

"Wait, is she mad?" Ace worried, he immediately felt his heart race due to his and Libby's situation.

"MAD! Mad with LOVE!" Nox yelled, he yanked out his communicator and began to thumb through their messages, "She won't leave me alone! Look here, she's even hinting at wanting sex, dude, look!"

"No, gross, that's my AUNT, bro!" Ace garbled as he nervously winced and moved Nox's communicator into his grey skinned chest, though Nox huffed a hard sigh, waggled his phone about and shook his head in dire concern.

"What do I do! I-I know I got Ralph's and Vanellope's blessing, but... I-I don't even know if our coding is compatible, I have no clue how to go about this," Nox rushed, his eyes were glowing in nervous fervor. He shook his head again and long blinked in settling confusion, "I don't want to string her along but I also don't want to tell her no, I mean, shit... It's been thirty years, Ace."

"Well, I think maybe you should-"

"THIRTY YEARS," Nox repeated, his eyes grew wide, wild and full of sarcastic rage; Ace blurt a hard laugh and waved his hand downward.

"Chill out, I'll... I'll help you, man, all you have to do is ask," Ace chuckled as he gave Nox a sleepy smile, "We'll look into it, later tonight, okay?"

"You'll help me?" Nox scoffed in a whisper of pure delight as he cupped his hands together, "I'm so grateful I befriended a USER."

"Yeah, stroke of luck, huh," Ace shook his head in annoyance and tenderly glanced to Nox's communicator. He shyly bit his lip, wrinkled his nose and planned his next words carefully, "So, uh... Just HOW aloof have you been?"

"Ah, y'know, I take longer than necessary to reply back to her. She often asks me to come over, to her room, late at night but I'll pretend I'm asleep and won't reply until the next morning," Nox shrugged, though he peered down to his communicator and was suddenly hit with the realization that Ace wasn't simply asking about Nox. Nox squinted, side-eyed his best friend and locked his communicator, "You're doin' the same thing to Libby, aren't you."

"Yes," Ace admitted in a hushed meep, though Nox bugged his eyes and dramatically looked about, he flailed his arms.

"Well, DON'T!" Nox urged, though Ace largely gestured as well.

"WHY!" Ace argued, Nox gawked.

"BECAUSE, she'll message you, and message you, and MESSAGE YOU... 'Hey, can you come over? I'm having a personal problem and need some help.' 'Hey, I could really go for a back rub, I'd love if you came down from that tower.' 'Hey, I saw that look you gave me earlier, what was that about?' WINKY FACE," Nox's face nearly turned beet red for the sheer fact that he was winded, Ace wildly shook his head and rested his hands to his slightly sculpted chest.

"Dude, I'd KILL for that!" Ace uttered dryly, he flinched and peered across his room, "Come to think of it, Libby said one of those sentences to me, earlier this morning, but... I was asleep."

"It's a TRAP! IT'S A TRAAAAP," Nox yelled, his voice became raspy as he continued to state said notion over and over, Ace flagged him down and shushed him loudly.

"OKAY Admiral Ackbar!" Ace hissed, though he began to laugh; even in distress, Nox was a hilarious guy. Ace shook his head and bashfully glanced past Nox, "Well.. Wh-What if I want all those things?"

"No, because then you'll go to her plaaaace, and things will get tennnnse, and you may, oh, I don't know? Grab something?" Nox bugged his eyes, in a goofy manner, waggled his left hand around and scrunched his fingers; Ace shoved his face into his palm and loudly laughed, "Whoops! She does NOT like that. You get the boot."

"Dude, same," Ace uttered, he recalled the previous night with him and Libby.

"But what's this? Oh? A sweet message, not six hours later, 'Hey, look, I've been thinking, and I'm sorry for shooing you away, I just got... ANXIOUS.'" Nox bugged his creepy, golden eyes, "Which is code for 'get your penis AWAY FROM ME! Oh wait! Actually! That thing seems pretty cool, lemme cock-tease you in limbo for eight thousand years, first.'"

"OKAY, Nox, okay," Ace waved his hands a little, though he pointed to his ceiling, "You understand Libby is above me."

"Yeah, she will be, if you go through my struggle," Nox muttered as he finally broke the bubble and crossed the room, to Ace's kitchenette. Ace held his breath, watched Nox weave around Ace's couch, coffee table and eating table and wildly open Ace's fridge. Nox called from across the room, "Where's the beer!"

"... Nox, it's almost ten in the morning!" Ace laughed as he began to cross the room, as well.

"Oh, c'mon, it's never too early," Nox uttered in a wildly anxious tone as he gently shut the fridge, "Not when you have seven sexy messages waiting for you when you wake up!"

"Dude, just... Let me figure out if your coding is compatible, with a safe transfer, it'll be fine, we'll look into it later, okay?" Ace assured, he shook his head and finally budged into the kitchen, with Nox, "Just... Maybe try and give her some attention. She really seems to like you."

"Yeah, I... I consider myself extremely lucky," Nox sighed, he finally relaxed as he tried to fix his hair, "I just... I mean, I don't know what I'm doing at ALL."

"Sooo you come to ME for advice. A virgin. Thirty years younger than you," Ace wryly shrugged and squinted, "It's fool proof."

"C'mon, man, I see the way Libby looks at you, you're clearly doing something right," Nox muttered as he helped himself to a glass of water, though Ace bashfully looked to the tiles, "You do what I'm doing, though, and man... You're in for it."

"That's what I'm hoping for," Ace shrugged, he furrowed his brow and frowned, "I just want her to be comfortable with me. I don't mind not moving too quick, but... I just want this to be easy, welcoming."

"... Am I pouring salt on a wound, by coming up here with this topic?" Nox squinted curiously, as if he was just now understanding Ace's plights.

"No, you're not, I just... Something similar happened to Libby and I," Ace stammered, though Nox urgently gestured.

"Oh! Third base?!" Nox's eyes went wide, as if to hope maybe Ace was in the same boat, though Ace largely side-eyed Nox and beamed.

"Nooo?" Ace cued, Nox bugged his eyes, looked down to his glass of water and shook his head.

"Yeah, me neither," Nox muttered, Ace chuckled and continued on calmly.

"I was getting the knots out of her shoulders and, well... I was kissing her neck and she was WAY into it, but then... I guess I shouldn't have attempted to get handsy," Ace mumbled as he nervously looked away.

"Well... Given the nature of her past," Nox finally grew serious and shrugged, he peered to Ace with an apologetic smile, "Don't worry so much... Though, it seems to me it's doing the trick, huh? She sent you messages from early this morning?"

"Yeah, asked me to come upstairs cause it's personal, and she needs help with something," Ace furrowed his brow and shook his head, "What does that even mean?"

"She wants to make out," Nox stated plainly, though Ace flinched and felt his heart jump.

"Wh-What, REALLY?" Ace urged in dire annoyance, "And I slept through it!"

"No no, it's good, in your case!" Nox waggled his hand in Ace's direction, "Keeps her wanting more, it's good to act a little aloof... She'll be beggin' for you, in no time!"

"Y'think so?" Ace wondered innocently, Nox shrugged and grimaced, as if to state it was no biggie.

"Oh yeah! Give in RIGHT when she thinks she should give up," Nox beamed and nodded in a dorky way, "Just when women think they're one step ahead of us... We're MILES ahead of them."

"... Now I really genuinely want to know what she wanted, last night," Ace muttered as he rubbed his forehead in annoyance, "Y'think I should ask?"

"Oh, yeah. Ask her before we all gather for the meeting," Nox nodded with a wide smile, "And, if she doesn't tell you, or plays it off... Act as if its no big deal. Like you don't care to press her. That'll get her WANTING you to press her. That's what girls want."

"... Okay NOW I feel as though you're speaking a different language," Ace grumbled.

"I might as well be," Nox grumbled as he put the cup to his lips, "I don't even know what I'm saying."

* * *

After twenty minutes, Ace and Nox finally got dressed and made their way down the swooping staircase of the outside of the tower. As they crossed the patch of fire flowers, strolled underneath the balcony of the outdoor patio and made their way inside, they could hear the calm chatter of voices in the kitchen. As the two quietly assessed the group, they noticed everyone that was going to be accounted for, for the Sugar Rush scout; Vanellope, Taffyta, Penny, Tessa, Zed and Libby, though oddly enough, Orph was grouped alongside them. Ace and Nox gently caught glances in mild confusion, though as they neared, Nox knew to leave Ace be as him and Libby drew near. Ralph finally bumbled into the kitchen, as well, and as the group loosely chat, Ace knew this was likely the right time to apologize for missing Libby's messages, and hopefully find out just what she wanted at three in the morning.

"Good morning," Ace eased warmly to her as he approached her from the side, she stood at the kitchen island, and though she wasn't involved in any conversation, she was honed to Taffyta's and Tessa's. She lightly flinched, peered up to her left and felt a bashful smile sprawl her face as Ace gingerly rested his large hand on her lower back, leaned in and placed a small kiss to the side of Libby's head. He hovered close to her, so their conversation as quiet and private, "Hey, uh... I'm really sorry for missing your messages last night. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine, I didn't mean to worry you," Libby's voice was calm and gentle as well, she gently eyed Ace in cheeky curiosity and long blinked in mild contemplation.

"... Y-Y'sure?" Ace prod as he furrowed his brow, he suddenly felt as if she had jumped leagues ahead of him, in this confusing game of tag. He nervously rubbed the back of his head and was nearly taken aback by the confident, dominant front Libby's glorious eyes radiated. She raised her eyebrows in suspending knowing, nodded a little and giggled in an unsure manner, "O-Oh, okay then. Yeah, no biggie."

"Mhmm," Libby hummed politely

Ace furrowed his brow in mild annoyance as he glossed his gaze across the group of chattering family members. He caught eyes with Nox and could see him across the island, talking with Orph and Zed, though Nox raised one eyebrow, shrugged in loo of Ace's sudden halt in advancement and finally peeled his eyes from Ace's, as if to express to Ace that he was on his own, and Nox was equally as confused, on just where to go from here. Ace breathed a soft, long sigh through his nose and felt his heart do all sorts of weird palpitations. He knew Libby wasn't totally a morning person, she seemed tired and as if to be hiding a grumpy front, which she concealed well, though Ace felt as if the two needed to somehow clear the air, somehow the whole stance on 'waiting in the fire flower fields' never ended. His eyes glossed a pretty vase of his very own fire flowers, in tired, hidden annoyance, as if to wonder if he should just swallow his anxiety and continue to wait and be silent for as long as he could.

Just as Ace had come to said agreement, in his head, Libby ever so gently leaned on her hip and sunk her side into the nook and comfort of Ace's body and embrace. Ace raised his eyebrows, tightened his arm around her back and kept her warmly pulled into a side hug. Before long, she wrapped her arm around his back and rested her head to the top of his chest, though she continued to keep her attention to Taffyta's and Tessa's intriguing conversation. Ace held his breath and immediately back stepped his thoughts as he could feel Libby's strong hand hold him around his lower back, in a grippy, needy fashion. He narrowed his eyes in contemplation and glanced to the top of Libby's head; suddenly he wondered if he should revisit that whole painful, waiting and learning escapade, in the fire flowers, in which he promised her would last for as long as she needed.

"Alright, everyone accounted for?" Ralph grumbled as he pushed to the head of the island. He scratched his bare chest, counted out the heads in the room, with his free hand. At his right hand was Vanellope, and to her right were Taffyta and Penny. To Ralph's left was Zed, Tessa, Nox and Orph, and at the opposite end of the island stood Ace and Libby. Ralph finished counting with a soft sigh and continued on in a curious tone, "We... Seem to have an added individual. Orph, you just joinin' for fun?"

"O-Oh, well..." Orph grew strangely shy. He glanced to Zed a few times, which cued to everyone that they had likely discussed this over, prior to the meeting, "I really would like to tag along, with your Sugar Rush scout. When you guys came back last time, you all had so many awesome stories, and it sounded like fun, so... I want to help."

"We've discussed this with Finn, and he's okay with taking Orph's place on the roster, while we're gone," Zed stated calmly as he kept Tessa close; she seemed to be doing better, though her sleepiness also could be mistaken for soreness that continued on, from the subject at hand. Zed glanced to Orph and smiled, "He won't admit it, but he's a pretty great fighter, as well. Pretty quick, with a sword."

"Bah, it's... Nothing, I'm full of useless talents," Orph stated nonchalantly as he waved his hand.

"Useless?" Penny stabbed in cold upset, she narrowed her eyes and gave Orph a look as if to say 'try me'.

"N-No, not... Useless, that came out wrong," Orph stammered, he cleared his throat and looked off, "I'm a racer. Swordsmanship isn't something I technically need."

"You have those whips, though," Tessa muttered as she side-eyed Orph in gentle teasing, in loo of Lickity's feelings; she was grateful Lickity wasn't in their presence.

"Nah, I save those for the bedroom," Orph uttered through a small groan as he nonchalantly stretched.

Taffyta suddenly barked a hard, contagious laugh and hit her hand to the marble island in total amusement. She breathed concluding giggles, eyed the group and noticed that only Zed and Nox were stifling laughter; Penny shot her mother a look of cold daggers, to which Taffyta cued to and cleared her throat in embarrassment.

"I thought it was funny, damn," Taffyta muttered to herself as she clammed up, once more, in morning time sleepiness.

"Alright guys, so... Let's lay the groundwork," Ralph started, though Zed raised his hand in gentle contemplation and nervously peered to Tessa.

"Uh, Tess? Can I speak to you in private, for a moment?" Zed eased carefully as Tessa furrowed her brow in growing confusion, though everyone loudly started clamoring for the two to shut it.

"Not this again!" Ralph barked with an annoyed laugh.

"You really don't want a repeat of all that drama, do you?" Vanellope side-eyed Zed in growing cheek as Tessa laughed and slumped her face into her palm.

"It was a joke," Zed urged as everyone was in stitches, "A JOKE."

"NO ONE is leaving," Ralph firmly gestured, "New Sugar Rush meeting rules : No one leaves! Not even to pee!"

"Fair enough," Zed chuckled as he squeezed Tessa deeper into his side with a cheeky smile.

"Trust me, I'm ready to tackle the next idiot that tries to leave," Vanellope muttered jokingly as everyone's laughter began to finally settle.

"Okay, so... Let's lay the groundwork. There will be nine people going into Sugar Rush in a week. Three flyers, alongside two Tron flyers, this means two people on Lickity, two people on Balba, three people on Royal and two individuals to each flyer," Ralph eased as everyone kept their eyes trained to Ralph, though Zed thumbed a few things into his master digital pad, likely notes and stats of the Tron flyers.

"Wait... You have two Tron flyers now?" Taffyta pressed in hard annoyance, "I want to fly one!"

"Me, too!" Penny chimed quietly as both girls grew excited, this also cued Libby in growing fervor though Zed looked on in apologetic cheek.

"Well... It was a lot of work to get a second one copied. The download time for one is four whole days, which isn't including the game's sleep mode," Zed stated tenderly, "I had to paste a second one over the course of two weeks cause it's just so taxing. Each trip, I'll be able to code another one, but for this trip... The game could only afford the one I originally have, and the one I copied."

"Fair enough," Taffyta muttered as she crossed her arms, "I get so nervous on the back of one of the dragons... They're unpredictable."

"That's what makes it fun," Tessa stated with a hard giggle as her and Zed stole knowing glances to each other, and though the group began to lightly bicker in agreeing and disagreeing, Ralph continued on in his powerful tone.

"So with nine people, three flyers and two Tron flyers, you guys should be set for a longer trip... That is, if you want to risk it," Ralph eyed Vanellope for advice, though she shrugged and gently peered to the group for suggestions, "Vanellope and I were thinking a five day trip this time, instead of three days, but it's really what everyone is comfortable with... Orph, you'll have to run this all by Finn, as well."

"I don't think he'd have too much of a problem with it," Orph gently shrugged, "I'm cool with a longer trip. I think it'd be fun."

"We'd get to see more of Sugar Rush, and cover more ground. We can even route differently, this time. Swing wide, on the way home, to gain a wider radius for finding the castle," Taffyta added, everyone agreed in quiet, positive mumblings.

"Sounds good... So, five days, sound good to everyone?" Ralph wondered, everyone was in kind, agreeing notions with bobbles of nods and smiles. Ralph nodded, as well, and carried on, "Good... You guys should aim to leave next Wednesday, the twenty eighth... Meaning, you'll get back on Sunday, the second. Everyone will have that Sunday game day off, so we can all regroup and chat about what was found, and the like."

"Hopefully THIS trip isn't as cold... I'm so tired of flying through snow," Taffyta grumbled as she crossed her arms.

"Well, which direction should you guys go in, then?" Ralph wondered as Zed gently pulled up a hologram, on his digital pad; it was an accurate map, to scale, of the routes they have taken into Sugar Rush, thusfar.

"Well, Tessa and Ace have already head North for a few leagues, as well as South... Head South for a day and you run into Stonecrest," Ralph gently gestured to Vanellope, "That's where you guys were taking shelter."

"We don't we head East this time? Swing wide, on the way home, and head a little further North or something?" Zed suggested, his finger drew to the map, to show just where the flight pattern would be; everyone nodded in agreement.

"That sounds like a plan," Ralph nodded as he, too, watched where Zed was trailing his finger, on the map. Ralph heaved a long sigh and gave everyone an apologetic frown, "I wish I could come on these trips... I can't wait for the winter break that the Arcade is closed. User knows I'll be along for that trip."

"I DO know that," Ace blurt in a quiet, nonchalant tone, though everyone blurt out in gentle laughter; Ace beamed and was floored with the way Libby peered up to him, giggled and gave him a knowing smirk.

"It's okay, Ralph, we know there's nothing that you can do about this," Vanellope assured quietly as she rested a loving hand on his lower arm; he peered to her with a small, sorrowful smile and nodded, "But... We will do what we can, to find the castle as quick as we can."

"So... How warmly should we dress, then?" Orph wondered curiously as him and Nox glanced to each other, "Nox and I haven't ever gone on one of these trips... We don't know what to expect."

"Well, weather wise, we don't know either," Tessa eased with a small laugh as everyone, that had been on previous trips, nodded as well, "The only thing to expect is a lot of flying. So much flying, that it nearly kills you. All these scouts are, are just that. Scouts."

"At least we have great company," Libby eased, her adorable accent coat over the group with the differential, and with such, everyone dragged their eyes to hers with soft, delightful knowing.

"Too true," Ace stated with a nod as he glanced down at Libby and then peered his attention to his grandfather, directly across the island.

"Alright, guys, you have ten days to hone your skills, pack your bags, and get ready to haul-out... Tessa, Zed and Ace should get with Vanellope to go over glitching strategies, right?" Ralph gently wondered, to which Vanellope nodded to and glanced her gaze to the three she knew she needed to take under her wing.

Everyone nodded in understanding, and as Ralph finally released the meeting, he gently gestured to Zed and Vanellope and kindly asked them to stay behind to go over further details.

"Woohoo! I'm excited," Orph exclaimed quietly as he nudged Nox, both boys geeked out with each other, though Penny was the first to remove herself with a scoff of gentle dread.

"Yippee," Penny snipped darkly as she held her breath, slunk away and left the island with a still, cold air. Orph slumped his shoulders and tried not to glance in Taffyta's direction.

"I knew I was going to throw a monkey wrench into her life, by tagging along," Orph muttered, though he side-eyed Nox with great cheek, something to which Nox furrowed his brow to and peered to Orph in growing curiosity.

"Alright, lover-boy, follow me, I've gotta train you on how to fly the Tron flyer," Tessa stated in a monotone voice, though Orph hissed a celebratory 'yes', popped up from his stance and began to eagerly follow Tessa, which cued her to smile in their growing fervor.

"Ohh I've gotta see this," Ace pressed as he began to follow them, though he softly peered back to Libby and gave her an expectant smile, "Wanna come?"

"Sure," Libby eased excitedly, though Nox waggled his hand and began to step towards the back door, which flood half of the kitchen with gorgeous, morning time sunshine.

"I'm going back to bed," Nox grumbled as the group began to part ways.


	125. Chapter 125

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thanks!

 **ArchDev :** Hahaha aw sad

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha yeah, Vanellope would deck 'em xD

 **Retrokill :** I try to keep this story as light and funny as I can haha

 **Burgie :** This is true! xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** yeahhh we tend to be cunning and confusing huh xD but it's just the reverse psychology Nox has accidentally fallen into - Ace AND Libby straighten him out, once they're in Sugar Rush haha

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Come By - Johan Glossner**

 ***Chapter 125***

"Please tell me you remember this thing," Ace stated with a hard chuckle.

Awkwardly scrunched with his knees to his chest, he sat on his old bicycle that was his when he was likely five or six. In the opened, airy garage, they had followed Tessa and Orph outside to watch them familiarize themselves with Zed's copied Tron cycle, though it quickly halted once Libby had pointed out his old bike. Ace beamed an excited smile to Libby, who was in stitches; his knees were nearly to his chin, and as much as he could maneuver himself, he reached his larger hand forward, fumbled for the handle and rang the rusty bell that still worked.

"Of course I remember this thing, I nearly fought you for it!" Libby and Ace continued to laugh, "Remember that one time, you ran over Royal's tail and went FLYING?"

"Yeah, I still have that scar, look," Ace lifted his head and showed Libby the long scar across the underside of his jaw; Libby bent over and ogled it.

"I remember you cried and cried!" Libby cooed in gentle, though still riled and excited, delight.

"I did not CRY," Ace gawked as he gestured his hands and arms, awkwardly over his knees, though he finally hugged his knees into his chest and rested his chin on the tops of his thighs as he bashfully, and quietly carried on, "O-Okay, maybe a little... But it hurt!"

"Sure looked like fun," Libby giggled, though she gestured about the garage, "See if you can still ride it."

"I'm going to break it, before anything," Ace grumbled as he adjusted himself in the tiny seat, winced and desperately tried to get his larger, bare feet to sit normally on the little pedals. Once he got going, in a slow pace, he bugged his eyes and peered up to Libby, who was easily in stitches, "I still got it! Check out this hot rod!"

"Lookin' fine, babe," Libby called as he circled slowly in the garage, albeit awkwardly, though he raised his eyebrows in hard surprise and fumbled to get a good look at Libby from over his shoulder.

"O-Oh? We're, uh... We're at pet names now?" Ace wondered cheekily, he cocked an eyebrow and very playfully looked her over, something he knew she'd only take lightly, "Well, then, honeybun, why don't you hop on?"

"Uh, yeah, we both get on that thing, and I'll have a scar to match yours," Libby argued as she crossed her arms, though Ace awkwardly continued to circle closer to Libby.

"Who says I was talkin' 'bout the bike?" Ace's deep voice coat Libby in whole surprise as she raised her eyebrows, froze, gawked and showed a very visible shade of red on her whole face. Ace threw his head back, laughed and clumsily pointed as the bike's front tire wobbled to and fro, "You should see how red your face is right now."

"Shut up, that's not fair," Libby desperately forced a wide, bashful smile away; she looked down just to hide it.

"I-I actually was talking about the bike, I'm not THAT forward," Ace cheesed in a dorky way as he scrunched his shoulders to his head and gave Libby an equally as bashful look, "I only act the part. This bike has pegs, c'mon, hop on."

"Ace!" Libby giggled in firm annoyance and waved her hand downward, "Don't do that to me!"

Ace jolted as the front tire suddenly sputtered and flattened with a huff of air that loudly sapped through the rubber tire. Ace widened his eyes, flailed with a grunt of uncertainty and fell to his side, along with his now broken bike. The garage was silent for a second before Libby howled with laughter and pointed at Ace's misfortune. Ace beamed a floored, annoyed smile, grumbled and got to his feet in a clumsy array of disorientation. He firmly pointed down to the bike in playful aggression.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET!" Ace demanded loudly down to his now broken little bike, "Teach you to mess with me! I'm a USER!"

"Aww your poor bike!" Libby wailed, though both kids loudly laughed and joked with each other, "You'll never be able to ride it again!"

"Dammit... I was gunna impress Nox with my wheelies, later," Ace grumbled as he gestured down to the now tattered bike in dismay, though he gave Libby a knowing smile, picked up the small bike and began to move it across the garage, where it was previously stationed, "Ah, well... Poor thing hasn't been ridden in months. Bout time I get myself an adult bike, hmm? Maybe you and I can steal away to Ekreth. Should be fun, yeah?"

"That WOULD be fun," Libby eased with a bashful smile as Ace finally gained back his breath, a normal air about the two, and though Tessa had already begun showing Orph how to use the Tron flyer, just beyond the garage, the two stayed in the shade and slowly fell back into the adult aspect of their lives. Libby heaved a soft sigh, looked down to hers and Ace's bare feet and raised her eyebrows in growing, apologetic gentleness, "I'm... I'm sorry if my messages freaked you out, earlier."

"Oh, no, they didn't," Ace eased warmly, his heart jolted; he quickly remembered to act aloof towards any acts of advancement. He crossed his arms and gave Libby a look of kind nonchalance, "I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"Well, it was three in the morning," Libby shrugged, shook her head and looked away; Ace eyed her with a suspicious smile and side-eyed her, unbeknownst to her, though she carried on, "I really should be a bit more timely when it comes to needing things, huh."

"... What exactly did you need?" Ace caved, he slumped his shoulders and knew this is exactly why Libby brought this back up, and he knew he was eating out of the palm of her hand. Before he could scold himself, her gorgeous eyes hooked into his and he was quickly reminded that not everything Nox said was true, or wise.

"I... Well... Nothing of importance," Libby shook her head, waved her hand a little and looked on in a bashful way, "It's... It's nothing, we should just drop it."

Ace frowned and peered to her, and it was in this instance he was likely very aware of just what she wanted early this morning. Though he was certain that what she wanted couldn't have been sex, or code swapping, though he was almost nearly aware that she wanted some form of romance, some form of camaraderie; he knew she was feeling conflicted, any act against her left her craving warmth and love from someone she could trust, and although Ace knew he could so easily give to temptation, he also was aware that her feelings, towards any physical act of romance, was likely coming from a place of strict need, and not open want. Ace heaved a soft sigh and knew he'd kick himself later, for helping Libby in keeping their slow pace, though he knew he must somehow, if their relationship were to bloom properly and prospectively.

"Whatever you're feeling, Libby, I don't think it's wise to stuff it," Ace stated warmly, his voice was soft, just for her; dressed in his grey sweats from earlier, and a black A-tank he had thrown on, it was slapped with a worn, grey Dead Zed logo. Ace gently hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his pants and gently eased his body language closer to Libby, she peered up at him in bashful confusion as Ace kindly continued on, "Why don't we go sit on my balcony? I can make us something to eat, and we can talk."

Libby peered to Ace in gentle curiosity, as if she was somehow nervous that he was on to her. She long blinked and kept her undivided attention to him. Somehow, his gravitational pull was impossible to pull from, his warmth, his kindness, nearly everything about him was something she couldn't get out of her head, and in the battle of conflicting thoughts that she had to suffer with, day in and day out, he somehow seemed to be a calm void she could ease into. Though, with his intuitive mastery, the way his eyes hooked to hers, as if his User-like abilities also housed the skill of mind reading, Libby knew she was likely fooling no one, and anyone could guess just what was up her sleeve messaging a boy she fancied at three in the morning. Libby felt her face get hot, and before she could feel nervous or embarrassed, she idly peered across the garage in contemplation and sat in the comforting, affirming thought that Ace wasn't simply just some guy she thought was cute. She felt a smile curl on her lips as she realized just what this man meant to her; her boyfriend, best friend, and partner in crime. She finally gave him an honest smile and relaxed her shoulders.

"I'd love that," Libby said with all the ease in the world.

As the two slowly moseyed towards Ace's tower, they stole away to his abode, and in order to keep it so Libby was comfortable with everything, Ace opened all of his windows and left his front door wide open. The cool, fall time breeze was airy through his abode, everything about his own room was inviting and easy. The sunshine glinted through the house plants he had kept fresh and alive, and as the jungle trees swayed outside, with the noon sun, Ace knew they had their own little slice of paradise. As he stood in the kitchen and made lunch for him and his lady, Libby sat at the counter's small branch of a bar, which was a tier higher than the normal counter. She had her chin rested in her palms with her elbows rested to the marble counters. She peered at Ace in gentle gratefulness and soaked in his easy, flowing conversation.

"I think that's maybe why Nox wants to come with, this time around," Ace stated warmly as he shot Libby a gentle smile, to which she cued to, "Maybe get a break from Koko."

"Well... She really likes him, she's starting to get this weird feeling that he may not feel the same, anymore," Libby worried gently, though Ace furrowed his brow and peered to Libby in growing fear.

"N-No... Not at all, he's crazy about her," Ace stumbled on his words, and in was in this raw moment did he realize that Nox's little games of 'act aloof' were simply doing damage, and wasn't all fun and games.

"What?" Libby hissed with a small giggle as she shook her head and glanced down to the delicious tacos Ace was making, he prod at the ground beef with a spatula on the stove as Libby rushed to continue, "I've seen the messages he's sent, he sometimes takes a whole day to respond to her!"

"Ohhh no," Ace grumbled into his hand as he let the food simmer for a second. He breathed a hard chuckle into his hand, shook his head and nervously peered to Libby in dewy concern.

"What is it?" Libby stated in a monotone voice, though Ace kept a nervous, smug, tight-lipped smile to his face and peered down to the food he was making.

"Welp... I was nearly duped by his advice, I'll tell you that much," Ace grumbled, though Libby shook her head, stood, and made her way into the cold tiles of the kitchen.

"How come? What's going on?" Libby pressed harder, she wore a comfortable faded green tank and long gaucho-like pants, ones of which were cream and had a pretty tribal pattern towards the bottom flare. She crossed her arms, side-eyed Ace and furrowed her brow, "... Is he trying to pull you into girl advice?"

"Almost," Ace coughed as he peered to Libby in quiet plea, he squinted and shook his head, "I literally am flying blind, here. What do I know."

"You, of all people, should know better than to listen to advice given by Nox," Libby began to laugh, though Ace bobbed his head in a nod and looked to the pretty, light grey-green tiles of his back splash with a defeated smile.

"I know, I know..." Ace pressed quietly as Libby came alongside him and peered down to his craft.

"Methinks YOU should be turning around and giving Nox some opposite advice, hmm?" Libby eased as she gave Ace a kind look, after the teasing look of girly annoyance, "Koko really likes Nox, and all of this nonchalant aloofness is really dragging Koko down. She's sort of wondering if she should just give up."

"No, no... If you speak to her about Nox, at all, please tell her not to give up," Ace sighed as he dragged his sorrowful eye contact to Libby's, "I'll talk to Nox, later tonight... He genuinely thinks he's doing himself a favor."

Libby eyed Ace, narrowed her gaze and kept her arms tightly crossed, and after a minute of painful silence, minus the sizzling of the cooking food, she huffed a giggle and glossed her eye up the front of Ace's body and straight into his gaze with piercing dominance that reigned over him any day.

"So, did you just so happen to deploy said advice and use it for our situation?" Libby asked slyly, her voice was as soft as silk, though Ace nervously dragged his gaze to hers, once more, and heaved a hard sigh through his nose.

"I-I... I guess I considered it," Ace stammered, though Libby cocked an eyebrow and gave him a look as if to express he was en route to being called an idiot. Ace huffed a small laugh, shook his head and felt his face get hot, "I-I don't know... I guess I just... I really felt bad, for freaking you out, the other night."

"Freaking me out? What do you mean?" Libby wondered tenderly, though Ace peered to her in genuine surprise and very quickly looked confused.

"Well... Y-You know," Ace stammered, he turned off the stove and lifted the pan, and though he was thankful he had a distraction, he forced himself to stay glued to Libby's line of sight. Without seeming like he was trying to avoid Libby, he moved off to another counter, so he could prepare their lunch, "You remember the other night, don't you?"

"You mean... The night Ma and Zeddy went to Ekreth?" Libby pressed, though Ace nodded a little.

"Well, yeah, and... When you and I came back here to touch up your tattoo and get the knots out of your shoulders," Ace eased, he tried so hard to keep his voice steady; Libby raised her eyebrows, smiled a little and looked down.

"Oh, that..." Libby huffed, though she held her understanding smile, shrugged and shook her head a little, "You're aware you didn't freak me out, right?"

"I didn't?" Ace worried, he peered to her in continued dread, something of which she didn't realize the depth of, until now, "I... I felt so bad, I felt as if I had lost your trust, or at least a piece of it."

"What!" Libby scoffed with a small laugh as she gingerly made her way over to Ace, she warmly stopped his meticulous hands, from what he was doing, and held them, "You didn't freak me out, at all... I-If anything, I... I rather enjoyed it. I genuinely didn't want to stop you, if we're being honest."

"... You didn't?" Ace's voice shook as he peered to her in gentle surprise, though Libby huffed a small sigh, pulled away from Ace, turned around and idly peered her conflicted gaze to Ace's gaping front door, she crossed her arms and shook her head, as if to answer Ace's question.

"I guess... I guess I'm just confused," Libby eased, though Ace remained still in his position as she continued on, her voice was weak and mildly nervous, "Y'know... A new relationship is expected to bring up new things, new experiences. I just feel bad, I've never really gone through something like this, before."

"Well... Neither have I, Libs," Ace stated warmly, she finally looked over her shoulder and gave him a look of dewy nervousness, "The only thing we need to do is just... Maybe make clear what our intentions are, and how quickly, um... Said intentions are set into motion. We just need to be on the same page."

"That sounds great," Libby sighed as she turned back around, to face Ace, though he gestured to their plates and smiled warmly, as if to state their lunch was ready to be prepared. Libby bashfully tucked her hair behind her ears and crossed the kitchen as she continued, "I'm sure you're tired of all this drama, on my end... It sort of keeps finding it's way to the surface."

"Tired of it?"Ace wondered as he furrowed his eyebrows, though he shook his head and chuckled, "It's... It's not anything you could've helped, it's not something that is simply a nuisance. Do you think I really believe that?"

Libby dragged her eyes to the two plates, with delicious toppings set out, Ace's hard work splayed about, hard taco shells,of which were homemade, remained strict and ready to prepare, though Libby's tender hands so gently held the rim of her plate in mild contemplation. Ace chuckled and began to prepare his food, right next to her, as if to attempt to keep the light and nonchalant air about the two.

"You know I don't view you differently, Libby," Ace eased warmly as he kept glancing towards her, in hopes that they'd gain eye contact, though he also continued to keep making his food. Once she picked up on his cues, and joined, he smiled in success and inhaled a deep breath, "We've already covered this."

"I really appreciate that," Libby started, and once the two were finished making their food, they head to Ace's table carefully.

Ace's kitchen table was riddled with a vase of fire flowers, as well as a few different, delicate strands of different jungle flowers and plants, of which were being prepared for his mother; he knew she needed a pick me up, from their terrible weekend. He set his plate down and quickly cleared a spot for the two of them, and once two seats were cleared, they sat down in the comfort of Ace's airy, warm and loving little abode. As easy as the breeze sifted through the space, his demeanor, everything he was about, eked of pure welcoming that radiated in every single thing he did. As he pulled the chair out for Libby and made sure she was situated, he finally sat down next to her and felt his heart begin to pound; he knew the to were likely about to delve into deeper topics, ones of such Libby wouldn't typically dare to express to anyone, and he was excited to see just where this lead for the two.

"I've already told you this, silly," Ace's voice was deep, though before he could continue, the two began to eat. After a few moments of chewing, he raised his eyebrows in gentle delight and eyed Libby in growing cheek, "That was when I told you that I had feelings for you. Surely you remember..."

"I remember," Libby's voice was tender and warm, a lilt of delight held at the end of her accented tone, her sweet, nearly-motherly sing-song voice was a whole delight to be apart of. Ace smiled a close-lipped, knowing smile down to his plate and continued to eat in her comforting presence. Libby giggled a little and shook her head, "... I hope you understand that I couldn't sleep, that night."

"How come?" Ace chuckled through chewing, he covered his mouth a little, "I hope I didn't blindside you."

"Blindside me," Libby retort with a louder giggle, Ace finally swallowed and began to laugh out of delightful embarrassment, "Ace, you might as well have had it plastered to your forehead since day one! If you thought you came out of left field, with said confession, you thought wrong."

"Well, clearly it resonated with you," Ace chimed in a deep, cute, sneaky tone as he waggled his eyebrows, though Libby nudged his arm and shook her head as her face turned pink.

"It did..." Libby mumbled with a smile she couldn't wipe, to save her life, and though she felt that delightful prick of love creep deeper into her heart, she felt guilt. She shook her head and idly gazed down at her now messy plate, "... I don't believe I reciprocated, Ace..."

Ace raised his eyebrows in gentle curiosity and frowned, though he continued to chew. He assessed Libby's calming demeanor and honed in on her aura, one of which was just overflowing with the need for love, for romance, for assurance. He shook his head and grew confused.

"I-I honestly wasn't expecting you to reciprocate, Libs," Ace assured softly in warm understanding, though her eyes finally met his as the two grew still.

"I had feelings for you too," Libby admitted quietly with a bashful smile, though she jolted a little, shook her head and blinked in a flustered way, a few times, "I-I... I did THEN, and still do NOW... I... My feelings for you never went away, I meant like... Well, what I'm trying to say-"

"I understand," Ace chuckled with a widening smile as he remained with his eyes honed to her adorably giddy demeanor. His chuckles grew as did her smile, "I get what you're trying to say. You just weren't comfortable saying it then... What makes now any different, I'm curious?"

"Well, time," Libby shrugged, "I just... I needed to process through a few things. It's still a battle, but... You said what you needed to say, gave me time, and revisited it later, in no hurry. It really spoke to me. You gave me patience all while showing me that you weren't going to give up on me. I don't know if you understand how much that meant to me..."

"I always told you I'd wait, Libby," Ace assured as he kept still, his gaze to hers was unwavering and held the world's amount of promise, "I may not be much of a go-getter, but, I certainly do know what's good for me... You remember that day, in the fireflowers, when we were children, don't you?"

"Like rocks in my heart," Libby uttered softly as she desperately tried to hide the fact that she was welling up.

"Don't be sad," Ace eased with an apologetic chuckle as the two set their food down, Ace warmly pulled her into a hug at the table, in which they sat next to each other at. Libby sniffled and tucked into Ace's forgiving warmth, though he breathed an understanding laugh on her shoulder and squeezed her body into his, "Everything you've done or said was for your own protection, it was for your benefit. You look out for yourself, Libby... Who am I to get in the way of that?"

"Thank you," Libby whimpered as she nuzzled her face into Ace's neck, sighed and relaxed in his warm grip. After a moment or two, they pulled away, though Ace peered into her eyes and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"There's nothing I want more than to see you happy, for a lifetime, Libby..." Ace stated, he idly glossed her face, tucked some hair behind her ear and inhaled a brave, shaky breath, "... When I asked you to be my girlfriend, I wasn't asking simply because I had feelings for you... I asked because I know I can help give you said lifetime of happiness."

Libby raised her eyebrows in plucked surprise and smiled, she bashfully looked down to Ace's chest and heaved a sigh of relief, of clarity. She nodded and felt her heart do all sorts of exciting back flips, a surge of anticipated desire held true to her energy, and though she knew the road ahead would still be rough, she was excited to conquer mountains with this gem before her.

"I want to give that, in return, Ace," Libby assured, though she began to look sorrowful again, "I-I... That's why I felt so bad for, well... Shooing you away the other night."

Ace furrowed his brow in collected surprise and shook his head.

"...You think you owe me sexual advancements?" Ace blurt, and though his statement was blatant, and had Libby in a flinch of plucked surprise, he scoffed and let his smile widen with incredulous distaste for her innocent assumption, "Libby, you don't owe me ANYTHING. If you're uncomfortable, I'd hope you'd speak up. You stated your boundary and I respected it. That's that."

Libby peered to Ace as if thinking in this manner was new to her, having being used to other things. She furrowed her brow in contemplation, mulled over his words in hard thought and looked down at her half-finished plate of food. She finally gave Ace a genuine look of innocent, confused concern. Ace shook his head, once more, to get his point across.

"... You thought stating a boundary, like such, wasn't something you were allowed to do?" Ace ogled quietly, though Libby shrugged nervously.

"I mean, I knew for a fact you'd be understanding, but I felt guilty stopping you," Libby mumbled, though Ace shook his head, yet again.

"Well, don't," Ace quietly affirmed, he gave her a look of floored concern, though he still held a genuine smile, "You're allowed to have boundaries, Libby. Especially because of what happened... I mean, put yourself in my shoes. Pretend I was taken advantage of, and you weren't... Say we were... Y-Y'know... And I stopped you for something. You'd respect it without question, right?"

"Of course," Libby nervously assured, Ace gestured to her.

"There you go," Ace chuckled as he slowly stood, grabbed both their glasses and gave her a look of soft understanding, "Libby... I'm not about to jeopardize our relationship, or worse... Our friendship. Our very foundation."

As Ace quietly stepped away, Libby raised her eyebrows and nervously peered down to her food. As Ace rustled in the kitchen, behind her, she let a small smile sprawl her face in growing glee. She prod at her food, combed her other hand through her hair once or twice and let a silent chuckle escape her figure, one of relief. She knew Ace to be understanding, patient, forgiving and loyal, though hearing his words and seeing his past actions line up with all of it tucked deeper into her skin. She felt her heart grow more sore for him, and as their little, fragile blossom continued to bloom, she felt the need to open up to him, to let only him in. She knew he was simply the only being in this entire Arcade to deserve it, and with this, she knew what she needed to do in order to finally get on the same page as him.

"Ace, I... I want to tell you something," Libby suddenly stated as she stood from her chair, pushed into the kitchen and eyed Ace, as he had his back turned. She secretly ogled his muscular shoulders as he stood, from being bent over into the fridge, though he quickly faced her in growing nervousness as he froze and kept his eyes trained to hers.

"Yes, anything," Ace assured softly, though his heart began to race with uncertainty. Libby inhaled a shaky breath, fiddled her fingers and kept her dewy, concerned though confident gaze to his.

"I-I would like to tell you exactly what happened to me, the night before I ran away from home," Libby stated deeply, her warmth was that of a shelled away creature that had finally peeked through it's spines and thorny exterior, and with such, Ace froze and knew he had stumbled upon an opportunity to get to know Libby a lot better.

"I'd... I'd love to better understand," Ace said as delicately as he could, so not to seem eager about just the tragedy that took place, though he hoped this would give insight into just what made her tick, what made her flinch, and what made her nervous, so to hope to quell and assure said fears.


	126. Chapter 126

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong :** Aww thank you, that is so sweet! They hit their bumps, down the road, but so far, they will likely be my most developed couple haha. Also, thank you! I worked REALLY hard on that piece and am half way finished with Defying Code's cover :)

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! That means a ton to me! I don't think I'd ever want to work for Dreamworks, but I appreciate the sentiment haha

 **Retrokill :** wow, thank you! :D I'm really glad you feel that way.

 **Burgie :** Same! Their dynamic is fun to write for, certainly. Thank you so much!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha thank you!

 **WildVirus :** Hahaha yeah I remember doing that in the past xD good times. Thank you! And yes, there is a ton more to Libby's back story and you will learn more to her tribe life and such!

 **TheDoctorDusty :** Thank you so much! I really appreciate your patience and the like. I really try hard to keep everything held together. For awhile there, it was pretty difficult, but I'm just finally finding my bearings :) you're the best!

* * *

 ***WARNING* This chapter, though doesn't go into extensive detail, has very sensitive themes due to the nature of Libby's past experience in being raped. Just a warning to my sensitive readers**

 ***Chapter 126***

"I really don't know how this is going to go, so... I-I guess, just bear with me," Libby uttered nervously, she began to help Ace in cleaning up the dishes.

"Just take your time," Ace assured quietly, he knew acting way too intrigued, or even not intrigued enough, would be just the slip-up to having Libby disregard this venture altogether. He shot her a knowing smile, icing on the cake; the two hovered at his sink and began to watch the soap bubbles rise as they scrubbed at pans, dishes and bowls they had used.

"Well... It's tradition, in my tribe, that... The night BEFORE the wedding is the night you, well, consummate the marriage," Libby gestured her wet, soapy hand out of the spray of hot water. She looked down to the sink and wrinkled her nose, "I guess it's sort of like a honeymoon, what I guess is normal for you and your people."

"Yeah, typically vows and such are said first, from my culture," Ace stated warmly.

"The whole wedding ordeal is spanned over the final month before the woman is of age," Libby explained tenderly, "First there's the proposal, and during the final month, vows are traded, new living arrangements are made, and it is then discussed when and how many children are to be planned."

"Sounds extensive," Ace eased, though he chuckled a little and continued to help Libby clean, "And strict, if I do say so myself."

"Very strict," Libby agreed, "Typically, the marriage is consummated the night before the ceremony, like stated. It is extremely good luck if the woman gets pregnant, from said night, and the quicker the woman's tattoos stick and dye, the greater good fortune will come you and your new family's way. Looking back on it, a lot of it was just speculation and superstition, but... It was always fun to think about."

"What I don't understand, is... Hilotem had it all," Ace stated in a worried tone as he glanced to her, "You were already his bride, at the very night of consummation... Why did he have to, well... Be forceful about it?"

Libby heaved a long sigh through her nose, peered her gaze to Ace's backsplash and let her eyes gloss with the pretty greenery he had hanging on top of his high cabinets, ones that draped down in pretty vines and branchlings of jungle youth, and though her heart raced with uncertainty, she knew she wanted so desperately to tell someone about every detail of her issue. She knew no one deserved this information more than Ace.

"I presented him with an idea about holding off until we knew each other a little better," Libby mumbled, she shook her head, "I should've just kept my mouth shut... I guess, me, as his future wife, presenting a higher idea above his, ultimately going against tradition, was what gave him the right to, well... My body."

"False, but okay," Ace retort sarcastically, which made Libby huff a chuckle of agreeing.

"He made me dinner, and... During dinner, I just simply asked if he would potentially be okay with waiting until after we became better friends, to, well... Have sex, or deepen anything. I genuinely liked him as a person, I mean, I just wanted to get to know him better," Libby stated quickly as she continued to clean the dishes, she set clean ones aside and further reached for dirty ones to polish.

"Rightfully so," Ace eased with a bob of a nod, though Libby gently stopped what she was doing and frowned into the sink, which cued Ace to slow to a stop as well.

"He agreed," Libby nearly whispered, though Ace honed his whole entire attention to her and frowned, "He said that was a marvelous idea, and he felt the same... He told me that this was moving too fast, and if we just kept it on the down low, our little secret, we could grow to love each other and be comfortable completing the marriage at a later date..."

Ace frowned and gave her his whole entire attention, and though her eyes welled with tears, her demeanor was strong, unlike any form of weakness he had seen in her, whenever this topic was mentioned.

"He said something this grand, this secretively scheming, should be celebrated over a toast," Libby uttered, her lip quivered as her teary eyes idly glossed Ace's chest, "He made me a delicious glass of moon juju, we joked, we laughed... We were actually getting along..."

Ace gently turned the running water off, nervously eyed Libby and dried his hands, and as he maybe suspected that she'd do the same, she clumsily reached for the drying towel and heaved a shaky sigh, she seemed out of sorts as she continued.

"I-I remember everything," Libby urged through a stifle of a grimaced hiccup, she gently tried to dry her hands as her tears grew bigger and more urgent; Ace raised his eyebrows and immediately helped her dry her hands, and once they were free of soap and water, she wiped her cheeks and began to look flustered, as if she likely needed to sit down.

"Here, here," Ace stated quietly as he gently lead her over to his couch, and once they were sat, he made sure not to sit too close to her. Ace tenderly brushed her long, white hair from her eyes, so she had breathing room. He urgently gave her his whole attention and ever so softly rubbed her back, "Don't rush, just take one step at a time."

"I was totally paralyzed, but I remember every single second, every word said to me," Libby hissed in a trembling whisper, and though she continued to cry and wipe her cheeks, it seemed as if expressing all of this was finally putting all of her nerves at ease. She tried to compose herself and carried on, "I started to feel dizzy, and though he acted as if he cared, like helping me to sit down, putting on the facade of obliviousness... The second I was totally immobile, the gentleness in his hands just switched, like night and day."

Ace gingerly let the backs of his larger fingers stroke her upper arm, and though he wanted so badly to just squeeze her into a tight hug and never let go, he knew to let her be in this moment, to let her speak and get everything off of her chest; the rage inside him whirled in continuous hatred towards Hilotem, though he knew, in this instance, this was not about him and his feelings; he was very aware Libby knew she was protected, and would further be protected, from any harm. He knew there was no sense in dragging his rage and frustration on top of her sorrow and grievance.

"While his suddenly grappling hands did everything they could to undress me, as quick as he possibly could, he kept saying things like... I should learn to listen, I should respect my new husband, and now that my silly ideas were out in the open, he wasn't about to promote such a 'vivid imagination'," Libby stated through whimpers she desperately tried to collect; Ace felt his heart grow cold with blinding rage as she continued on, and it took everything inside of him to keep it collected as he listened to her beyond painful story. Libby gestured to her neck and finally hooked her gaze into Ace's, "He pinned me down, by my throat, and... As he penetrated me, he took note of the blood and told me that this is what I get for ever going against tradition."

Libby finally paused for a moment, to breathe and further attempt to collect herself. She grimaced, shut her eyes and desperately continued to wipe the tears off of her cheeks and jaw, and though she could feel the backs of Ace's tender, loving fingers on her upper arm, she could practically see the searing rage in his eyes as he hovered close, as if he was simply a massive storm waiting to tear apart whatever lay in his path. He long blinked, which assured Libby he was greatly battling with his inner demons, the blinding anger that must have him drowning in this instance. Libby knew he had every right to be angry, though she was impressed with how collected he remained, even if it was difficult. She coughed a bit, cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

"I really owe Balba my life..." Libby finally giggled, inhaled a sharp sniffle and wiped her eyes, "While Hilotem was, well... Y'know... I felt so much pain, so much sorrow and uncertainty, but... For some reason, right before Balba barged in, my coding flared. I don't know how it was possible, but, it began to burn him."

"The honeycombs," Ace uttered darkly as he eyed her, though he desperately tried to keep his warm front at the surface, for her comfort.

"He finally got off of me, or tried to... My coding had begun to burn him, and was trying to heal me, but before I could even attempt to try and move, Balba clawed down the door and laid her jaws over the top of his right shoulder and chest. She threw him clear across the hut and managed to send him crashing through the wall."

"Go Balba," Ace eased a shaky chuckle and remained close with his gentleness.

"Before any tribesmen, or anyone for that matter, could assess the situation, Balba had snatched my clothes, grabbed my naked body and took to the jungles," Libby tenderly explained, "I woke up the next morning draped in her wings, underneath a jungle tree, miles from home... My, uh... Lower self was covered in dried blood."

"You... You were the picture of perfection when you showed up, that day, in the field of fire flowers," Ace hissed in confusion, though Libby nodded and looked down, through her tears.

"I had found a river, to clean up in," Libby whimpered, "I only just now am not feeling any pain from the tearing, down... there."

"... You were injured and didn't have anyone of us correct it in the code room?" Ace gawked in hard, nervous terror as he bulged his eyes and gave her a look as if to express this pain didn't have to carry on. He warmly, and finally, gripped her upper arm and looked at her in a begging way, "Libby why didn't you tell me? My mom? My mom, at least, I mean, she's another woman who would understand!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Libby expressed nervously as she gestured, tears continued to spill down her cheeks, she shook her head and grimaced in harder crying, "I-It got better on it's own, I just... I didn't want to inconvenience anyone!"

"Look at me, please," Ace stated firmly, out of love, he tilted his head to keep her eye contact, "If you EVER need anything, and I mean anything, PLEASE tell someone! All this pain could've easily been avoided!"

"I-I know, I just... I just wanted to heal on my own," Libby begged softly, which had quieted Ace, "I wanted this to be a process I fixed on my own. I knew if it got worse, to tell someone, but... PLEASE understand, please?"

Ace held his breath and peered to her in growing, frozen terror, though as her words resonated, he heaved a long, dry sigh through his nose and looked down to her hands, in her lap. He nodded warmly and gave her a more relaxed eye contact this time.

"I understand," Ace prod softly, though he shook his head, "I can't believe you went through all of that..."

"It's been really difficult to open up, Ace, but... It's even more conflicting because you're the only one I trust, with these feelings of mine," Libby assured quietly, "Please don't take any of this personally, but... You've never wronged me, but, up until that fateful night, neither had Hilotem."

Ace froze and frowned, and though he knew Libby's fears were genuine, valid and warranted, he still felt the pang of the unintentional jab at his skin. He held his breath and sorrowfully peered to her, as if to reel through his brain and find any way he could prove he wasn't going to do any of those harmful things to her.

"... The fact that you've been so understanding, through all of this, assures me that you wouldn't dare hurt me," Libby eased over his quivering soul, and with such, visible relief was seen in his action of slumping his shoulders and sagging his body out of the tension he had it in.

"I would never," Ace assured, as if it were simply the millionth time, though he knew he'd say it until he was blue in the face.

"I know," Libby hissed as she sniffled, closed her eyes and suddenly grappled the top of his larger hand, she held his hand, as best as she could, and squeezed it in a loving notion of understanding, "I trust you."

"Thank you," Ace stated through warmth that finally returned to him, he inhaled a shaky breath and shook his head, "Now I'm wishing I got in more hits, when I was actually with that guy..."

"I think the flyers got enough revenge for a lifetime," Libby stated through a nasally giggle as she shook her head, though she eyed Ace in light question and continued to hold his hand, "I'm surprised all of this doesn't make you look at me different."

"Why would it? You didn't ask for any of this," Ace shook his head.

"I don't know, just... Technically, I'm not a virgin," Libby shrugged with a frown, "That... Doesn't freak you out?"

"No? It's not like you swapped codes or even remotely enjoyed it," Ace shrugged, "And, even if you had a previous thing with someone... Maybe it'd make things a little bit more tense, but I wouldn't view you any different. I don't think you understand... I lov-..."

Libby raised her eyebrows as the two froze, though Ace stammered a bit, peered his nervous gaze to hers and halted everything he was about to say. He swallowed hard, stammered on a few more indecisive babbles and urgently gestured to her.

"...-CARE about you," Ace stuttered, he eased a nervous chuckle and suddenly stood, "I care about you."

Libby jolted as Ace stepped away, paced about his living room in nervousness and avoided eye contact. With eyebrows held high in delirious, delightful surprise, Libby froze and honed her eyes to his figure in stunned, giddy surprise. She beamed him a cheeky, knowing smile and held her hands to her chest in girly glee. She finally rested her arms in her lap and watched as he anxiously rubbed the back of his head and began to nervously tidy a few things near his coffee table. Libby shook her head and felt totally smitten, the way his antics grew more and more bashful, further flustered, he actually began to mumble to himself in a show of totally forced nonchalance. Libby rolled her eyes, beamed and stood up. As she approached him, his nervous eyes dragged to hers as they stood a few feet apart.

"I care about you, too," Libby eased knowingly, she side-eyed Ace and waggled her finger about, in a display of prodding curiosity, "Is this going to be a running gag between us, now?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Ace stammered nervously, he swallowed hard and looked as if he was desperately wanting to overflow her with love and appreciation, assurance and comfort, though somehow he knew he was attempting to get way ahead of himself.

"Ace, do you still have that playing card? The Ace of Hearts?" Libby inquired lightly, though Ace glanced to his nightstand and gestured to it.

"Y-Yeah, I do, um... Why?" Ace suddenly worried in a heightened frenzy of overflowing feelings.

"Can I have it?" Libby asked in an airy tone, though she hoped the actual depth reverberated against Ace's brain.

Just as Ace was about to nod, turn heel and let her have the card, he jolted, glared down at the ground and quickly dragged his knowing stare to hers in floored bewilderment. He cocked an eyebrow and gestured to his nightstand once more, as if to remind Libby just what giving over the Ace of Hearts truly meant; their first steps towards their own version of consummation.

"That's right," Libby played along a scheme in her head, she gestured towards the nightstand and gave him a girly look, of which totally confused him, "I think after all of that, we're ready to take that next step."

"N-Next... Step," Ace beamed, shook his head and scoffed in whole disbelief, "Please remind me which step that is?"

"You can't tell me you're forgetting, are you?" Libby playfully frowned and tried her hardest to look coy, a girly display of teasing delight, "I could really use the... Release, I guess..."

"Y-You..." Ace furrowed his brow, peered to her in near painful terror and scoffed another noise of disbelief, and though he so badly wanted to rush to his nightstand, throw the card in her direction and sweep her into a whole day of passionate, unfolding, unending love-making, he kept still and suddenly felt the weight of Libby's stance.

"Hadn't have given it thought, didja," Libby's voice was deep and monotone in knowing as she breathed a giggle and crossed her arms, "You're not ready... I could tell, by the look in your eye, ever since you asked me to be your girlfriend, that you truly believed you were ready... But you're not, aren't you."

Ace raised his eyebrows in plucked, hot surprise and breathed a slow sigh through his nose. He looked down to the ground and resonated in Libby's wise words. He knew he'd give anything to simply just overflow her with all of his love, sexual, consenting, comforting and affirming romance, every ounce of warmth he quite possibly had to give was simply hers, though amidst that weird window of opportunity she had suddenly given him, he very quickly realized just how uneducated, just how unready and terrified he truly was of the whole ordeal, the whole weight of it. He knew, not only would he be handling Libby in all of her hopes, fears, dreams and needs, but he'd be handing unlimited power to a whole other being, practically duplicating his User coding and giving it to another being in which he could not mess with said free will.

"No," Ace admitted quietly, he looked to Libby as if he was sorry he let her down, though he furrowed his eyebrows and knew that if he wasn't ready, she was likely the farthest thing from, as well. He scoffed a small, annoyed laugh and waggled his finger, "That was sly... You scared me."

"Suddenly realized just how detrimental that dance is, huh?" Libby beamed as she peered at Ace down her nose in a look of knowing cheek, though Ace's face turned red as he laughed and rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"It's huge," Ace hissed, though he gently eyed Libby in growing curiosity; he knew she had the opportunity to be brave and not be scared to pull out the stops, Ace knew the two were now entering a comfortable zone to finally talk about such a touchy topic, "So... What happens when, one day, I actually am comfortable enough to give you that card back?"

"Didn't we already discuss this?" Libby stated cheekily as she side-eyed Ace and kept her arms crossed, she giggled as Ace began to slowly saunter closer to her.

"We did, we did..." Ace nodded and looked down, though he hooked his nervous, inquisitive gaze to Libby's and made sure his demeanor and body language, towards her, was passive and gentle, "I just hope you don't feel as though you have to reciprocate, right then and there..."

Libby hooked her gaze to his and softened, alongside his palpable aura. She glossed her eyes to Ace's strong chest, uncrossed her arms and heaved a soft, knowing sigh; though she looked nervous, she gave Ace an understanding smile and shook her head.

"We won't know what will happen until it just does," Libby shrugged, she gave Ace an eternity of warmth and looked as if a ten ton weight had been lifted off of her, tonight, "And, when it does... I'll trust I'm in great hands."

"So... Where exactly do you see this relationship of ours going?" Ace wondered as tenderly as he could, and though he was only asking one simple question, his heart began to race at the raw possibilities that could suddenly either open up or close for him; he felt his stomach nearly clench in hot anxiousness as Libby's contagious smile beamed down to their feet in a bashful display of collecting her thoughts.

"Are you asking me if I think we will swap codes one day?" Libby asked in a playfully annoyed tone as she gave Ace a knowing look, though Ace slumped his shoulders and pushed a pleading smile to his face, as if to beg that she knew him better than just labeling him with that one act. Ace gestured his hand and inhaled a shaky breath.

"Well... Yeah, but... The bigger picture, too," Ace stammered, it was at this point he was aware his face was likely beet red, though he was thrilled that the blush on Libby's cheeks made it clear that the both of them were in the same boat.

Ace heaved a soft chuckle, let his hands and arms to his sides and inhaled a deep, shaky breath as the two peered at each other as a whole, two souls that were seemingly attempting to glue to each other, though fate had it to where life was messy and things got in the way; even with said restrictions, Ace felt whole peering into Libby's eyes, like flashbacks of the two as children, the best of friends no matter what, a companionship that had developed into something so much deeper, much more sacred and precious. He felt his heart jump at the mere fact that he nearly said those fateful words, 'I love you'. Libby finally scoffed a small giggle and nodded as gently as she could.

"Yeah, I do," Libby stated warmly, which caused a break of an incredulous smile to curl on the corners of Ace's lips. He scoffed a shaky breath of a chuckle of understanding, fiddled his fingers and glanced down to his feet as Libby carried on, "I see a future with you, Ace... A big future. A future full of adventure and fun and laughter and love... There's no one I'd rather give my all, to, Ace."

"I feel the same way," Ace agreed quietly, his voice was low and deep, as if this all was simply secrets they weren't even supposed to put out into the air, though he felt his heart race at the speed of light.

"... It's a lot of responsibility, on my end, I'll have you know," Libby mumbled nervously with a small smile, though Ace furrowed his brow in mild confusion.

"What do you mean, us being together?" Ace's voice audibly shook, something he tried to hide, though failed miserably; Libby giggled at said notion and nodded.

"Yeah, Ace, has the thought not hit you?" Libby shook her head with a louder giggle, though her face grew more red, "If a-and when we swap codes, I'd become a User, just like you..."

"Oh, yeah," Ace eased with a small nod, as if to assure her that was something he had, indeed, thought about, though he gave her a small smirk and shook his head, "I mean... I guess I can prep you, or something. You've already dealt with our exterior swaps."

"Y'really gunna compare that to an actual swap?" Libby asked with a laugh and an incredulous smile, to which Ace's face sloped to naive surprise, "Tessa's explained all this, to me... An actual swap is unlike anything, no exterior swap compares."

"Oh, well..." Ace bashfully rubbed the back of his head and glanced down to his coffee table in mild contemplation, "I-I guess I wouldn't know."

"Well, me neither, but it sounds amazing, from what I've heard," Libby stated warmly, though she could tell said topic was something Ace was desperately trying to act cool about; he nodded a little and acted as if looking Libby in the eye was prohibited. Libby breathed a soft giggle and took a few steps closer to Ace, "C'mon, I'm not a stranger... We can talk about this comfortably, can't we? I just told you a story that I've never told anyone, before... I've only ever told Tessa small, tiny details of that night. You're the only one to ever get the whole scoop."

"It wasn't easy to listen to," Ace mumbled with a frown as he peered into Libby's gorgeous eyes, ones of which that have seen so much pain and sorrow, and yet, still were lit up like the sun that glistened into his warm home.

"I'm just glad you listened... You cared to stick by me and understand," Libby eased warmly, though Ace un-tensed and nodded softly.

"What are boyfriends for?" Ace stated in a playful tone as he noticed Libby easing closer to him, likely for a hug, though as her eyes glossed his, he quickly remembered said notion was supposed to be a secret, and upon said remembrance, his face washed flat in surprise; the sheer fact that nearly everyone in the castle now knew of their supposed secret, "Uh, Libby... There's something I need to tell you, though."

"What's wrong?" Libby frowned, she halted in her tracks and peered up to Ace as they were merely a foot apart, which caused Ace to wobble from the lack of her presence, in which he was preparing for.

"I-I uh... I don't think I'm really that great at hiding the fact that we're, uh... In a relationship," Ace muttered through his teeth as he gave Libby a nervous look, though Libby cocked an eyebrow and beamed him a dull, knowing smile.

"I know... It's sort of obvious when your boyfriend's mother messages you ideas for double date night spots in Ekreth," Libby stated through hard laughter as she willingly sunk into Ace's arms, of which were beginning to open and radiate an apprehensive neediness.

"...Dammit, mom," Ace stated through his teeth again, though this time a bit more firmly. Libby beamed a wide smile and wrapped her arms around Ace's middle, and as she tucked her head into his shoulder, she nuzzled her face into the side of his neck and felt his strong and powerful arms come around her whole back.

"It's okay... I-I actually told Koko, cause... I was just so excited and couldn't hold it in, any longer," Libby meeped, though Ace huffed a soft breath to the top of her head and kept her tightly tucked into his warm embrace.

"That's okay," Ace whispered as he closed his eyes and soaked in whatever moments of warm closeness he got, with Libby, he squeezed her a little tighter and exhaled a sigh of relief as he could feel Libby's warm breath coat the side of his throat, "Not even a week in and already we're blowing our cover."

"Bound to happen, I don't think we do a great job at hiding it," She eyed Ace in a sneaky way, wrinkled her nose and felt her heart jump. Though the two were clearly ready for their 'I love you' status, she wondered if playing along with Ace's bashfulness was something that would ease them closer to their desires a little bit more light-heartedly. Libby scrunched her face and gave him a cheesy smile, "I CARE about you."

Ace heaved a huff of an annoyed sigh and peered down at her with a tight-lipped grin of the banter she presented, and though she giggled and made it very aware that she knew exactly what he wanted to say, he knew the cat was out of the bag; still, he also knew playing along with their new code word was something he was sure they should carry over, as their relationship got more serious. With a gentle hug Ace welcomed Libby into, once more, he peered down into her eyes, with great knowing and shook his head in delightful annoyance as she laughed and laughed.

"I care about you too," He huffed with a playful look of bashful annoyance.


	127. Chapter 127

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha yes, it's painful for me too, but it'll all be worth it once it comes around, trust me :) Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Aww I'm so sorry... It's cool to hear all the stories of triumph and everyone overcoming their pasts and such, it's encouraging!

 **Snake557 :** oh that's okay haha. I appreciate that! Thank you so much!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so much! Yes, it is a slow and grieving process, but it'll pay out for sure :) I also appreciate the excerpt you sent me, it was a total joy to read! Thank you! :D

* * *

 ***Chapter 127***

 _As blinding, yet welcoming sunshine glint down to the castle's backyard, Tessa and Penny spun around the tall grass with pure glee. Both girls were dressed in summer clothes, Penny in a dainty sundress and Tessa in something a bit more casual. Sugar Rush's glorious pink clouds soaked the atmosphere, there wasn't a single worry in the entire world, not one. Tessa and Penny grappled hands and spun together until they were giggling messes on the grass, though Tessa lifted her head, peered towards Penny across the swaying, mesmerizing grass._

 _"Y'think mom had him yet?" Tessa's little voice called, they were merely four arcade months old. Tessa's toothy grin only broadened as Penny nodded and let her gaze broaden across the backyard._

 _"There's Auntie Vannie now!" Penny cried, and it was in this instance did Tessa feel as if she had sprout wings._

 _Tessa gasped, whirled around and noticed her mother and father stepping out of the castle's gorgeous back porch, which lead to the kitchen. Long spires and arches of the castle's gorgeous, white architecture, it practically shone like it were merely on one of Heaven's clouds. Tessa inhaled a readied breath, and with as much power and strength as her little legs could afford, she jolted across the swaying grass and felt pure, innocent excitement hit her skin. As she ran, she could sense that even though she didn't wholly understand the gist of everything happening, she knew somehow, gaining a baby brother was what she had been dreaming of, for weeks now, and with the dewy looks of delight on her mother's, father's, aunt and uncle's faces as she neared the back patio, she knew the little bundle her mother was holding was, indeed, her dream come true._

 _"Momma, momma!" Tessa cried in hard excitement as she rocketed up the stairs, with Penny in tow, though Ralph knelt down and gingerly shushed the two._

 _Tessa and Penny came to a quick halt, tucked their hands to themselves in cute apology and smiled excited, missing-teeth grins up to Ralph as Vanellope made her way over to the comfortable porch swing; she motioned the two little girls over, as long as they were to remain quiet. Tessa and Penny quietly, and excitedly giggled to one another, grappled for each others hands and did their best to collectively skip after the Queen, who so protectively held her brand new bundle in her arms, and as she got comfortable on the cotton and down swing, Ralph and Rancis quietly helped Tessa and Penny onto the swing, on either side of Vanellope. Before the two girls could crowd and get extremely nosy, Rancis cleared his throat and tried not to hover over his own little daughter._

 _"Now, girls, keep your tone low, and don't crowd," Rancis breathed quietly as both little girls glanced to Rancis in raw, innocent confusion, though they nodded in obedience and hooked their eyes to the small baby in Vanellope's arms._

 _"We've added a new person to the castle," Ralph stated to the two girls, and though he knew they wouldn't understand the process for quite some time, what they did understand is that Penny had received a baby cousin, and Tessa a baby brother._

 _Tessa bit her lip in pure curiosity and inched her way deeper into her mother's side, and as Vanellope breathed a small giggle, she wrapped her free arm around Tessa's small back and scooped her up into her lap; she knew Penny had a better view of the baby, since she was sat near the arm said baby was cradled in. Vanellope focused her attention to Tessa, however, having presenting her very own flesh and blood of a sibling to her. Vanellope warmly kissed Tessa's forehead a few times and smiled to her first born, though as Tessa's wild, innocent eyes hooked down into the baby's presence, she fell silent in a raw display of likely one of the first times her little soul was caught off guard, moved to speechlessness._

 _"Tessa, meet your new baby brother," Vanellope stated softly as Tessa squinted and felt a collected feeling of pure, excited awe. Vanellope giggled and glanced up to the three adults that hovered about, though she brushed some of Tessa's short, crazy auburn hair out of her eyes, "This is Oliver. Oliver Trey Von Schweetz."_

 _"Olly," Tessa's little voice stated in warm, high-pitched excitement as she beamed her mother a floored smile; Vanellope, as well as Ralph, Rancis and Taffyta all laughed in a knowing way, "Olly-bear!"_

 _"Olly," Vanellope giggled as Tessa's contagious smile broadened._

 _"I can't wait to play with him," Tessa stated eagerly as she motioned out to the field; stood proudly in the middle of said field was Ralph's and Vanellope's gorgeous cross-striped tree, it had blossomed all sorts of cherry buds and white petals, "Can we go out running, momma?"_

 _"Ohh, it'll be a few weeks before he'll be able to keep up with you, but don't you worry," Vanellope breathed as she pushed yet another kiss to Tessa's forehead, though she peered down to Penny and welcomed her niece into her tighter presence, "Whatdoyah think, Miss Penny? You have a new baby cousin."_

 _"He's so adorable," Penny itched in a girly voice as her gorgeous blue eyes hooked to her aunt's hazel ones, though she peered down to Oliver's features and took careful note, "He's a wrecker!"_

 _"Yes, he is," Vanellope huffed a chuckle as her finger gently slipped into Oliver's larger palm._

 _Tessa's eyes widened as she honed her attention to Oliver's face, and as he scrunched in a stir of a motion, his eyes opened, once and for all, and before Tessa could state the obvious, Oliver's handsome, squinty gaze caught with Tessa's. Chocolate brown orbs that were as soft and gentle as honey, he long blinked a few times and uttered a small noise of testing just what everything in his little body was about, as if to state to the game that he was here, and he was living. Tessa beamed an excited smile and gently gripped Vanellope's wrist, and it was in this moment did Vanellope's proud gaze drag to Ralph's, the start of their growing little family. They knew they had done well._

 _Tessa's eyes gingerly floated from the scene before her, to the gorgeous sprawl of a field out beyond the patio. Kissed with all the sunshine in the world, the pink clouds boasted the sun's rays and lay a gorgeous, tasty aura to the land below. With the way her mother's and father's gorgeous tree swayed, the petals flit about and tickled the tall grass of the castle's backyard. Tessa long blinked in the daydream and soaked in as much of Sugar Rush's normality as she could, though as the bright hues of reds, creams, blues and pinks began to fade, the jungle's own beauty came creeping back into her retinas. The massive tree just outside the Kalivar castle had begun to crown gorgeous displays of blue flowers, and even though it drizzled rain, the tree still swayed with energy of the approaching storm._

Tessa sat on the front porch of her very own castle, the Kalivar lot was littered with green, shadowed by towering trees, and though she knew Sugar Rush was simply a train ride away, tears streamed her cheeks at just how impressively far away it still all seemed. All of her warm, good memories felt surreal, as if they technically didn't happen; with how different everything was, how many problems she was sat with, she hugged her knees tighter to her chest and remained alone on the front porch. Before she could continue to sulk, she suddenly heard the garage's back door creak open, it's heavy metal needed to be looked at. She flinched, urgently wiped her tears away and sat in a more open, positive-looking position on the loved porch swing, so not to give her moody, brooding-self away.

Tessa felt her heart jump as to just who her eyes landed to first, her very own baby brother, Oliver. He was quickly followed by Ace, Libby, Zed and Penny. All five beings began to laugh and jolt for the front door of the castle as they avoided the rain. Once they scurried under the protection of the porch, they loudly laughed and joked with each other about the rain, and in this, Tessa was floored to see a genuine, happy smile plastered to Penny's face. She was even more surprised to see that Penny's hair was beginning to get a bit longer, as if she likely had forgotten to cut it, or was finally getting back in touch with her girly self. Tessa inhaled a slow breath and got to her feet, and it was in this instance did the chattering five, on the porch, finally notice her from her tucked away position.

"Hey, babe, whatcha doin' out here?" Zed called with a smile that broadened with the sight of his love, and as Tessa gingerly neared, she shrugged and desperately tried to seem nonchalant.

"Just... Enjoying the rain," Tessa smiled, though Oliver furrowed his brow and peered to her in a knowing way, though Tessa ignored it as she pushed closer to the front door, "You guys decide what we should do about dinner?"

"It IS Sunday funday, after all," Libby stated softly as Tessa opened the front door and was followed inside by the five behind her, "In my tribe, Sunday was a day of fasting."

"Oh User, don't say such things," Oliver grumbled playfully, which had Zed, Ace and Penny in stitches; Libby giggled and shook her head, though as everyone came into the kitchen, they began to shed their hoodies and the like.

"Yeah, I wasn't about it either," Libby stabbed as they approached the island, though Zed went for the fridge and Penny peered to Libby in growing curiosity, "It was for a deity I don't even believe in, so that made it worse."

"Well, you're on Kalivar lot, now," Ace assured as he followed his father's idea and hovered by the fridge, Zed nudged him warmly and smirked, "This means food all day every day."

"Pretty sure your workout buddy wouldn't like you saying such things," Oliver muttered, though strictly to try and prove he was still wholly connected to the conversation.

His nervous eyes watched as Tessa slowly stole away to the massive walk-in pantry, in which hooked behind the kitchen, just by the back door. He furrowed his brow and knew she was likely going into a small bout of hiding, so to further compose herself.

"She's not here, is she?" Ace suddenly muttered as he scrunched his shoulders to his head and anxiously peered around for sight of Vanellope anywhere.

Oliver furrowed his brow and so gently peeled from the conversation, he was thankful he went unnoticed, and though he wasn't doing anything suspicious by stepping into the pantry, to look for food, he knew to be quiet for Tessa's sake. He held his breath and gently peered into the open arch way of the gorgeous pantry. The pantry was long and L shaped, it sharply hooked to the left and carried on down a hallway that was likely at least a dozen feet long. It was lined with food, nearly floor to ceiling, so to properly sustain the two dozen residents under one roof. Oliver frowned in impending dread and notice Tessa make her way all the way to the end of the pantry, and just as he suspected, she hung near the corner, sniffled hard a few times and anxiously rubbed her eyes.

It was clear she was aimlessly hanging at the dead end, in no search for anything. She had her back to the entrance, to which Oliver used to his advantage. He tenderly stepped inside, and with the tight surroundings, Oliver's footsteps became louder with the lower ceilings and closer walls. With such, he only stepped into the hallway, halfway, and dragged his eyes from the ground to Tessa's face as she slowly turned around, as if she knew she had been caught. Oliver remained frozen, his eyes peered to hers in a draw of longing, cold concern. Oliver knew she was likely still grieving the loss of her child, though he also knew she was likely grieving the loss of her kingdom and everything in between. Tessa heaved a nasally sigh, rubbed her cheek and idly gazed to the tier of canned foods before her. She gestured to Oliver, a little, and kept her eye contact away from him.

"What... Do you want for dinner, Olly?" Tessa uttered shakily, though she knew Oliver wasn't simply going to answer her and drop just why she was a wreck.

"You're doing a wonderful job, y'know," Oliver stated warmly, and softly; he knew their voices likely would carry out into the opened kitchen, from their small little pantry getaway, though Oliver cocked an eyebrow and gently fumbled for the light switch. Once it was gained, and warmth came about them, Tessa squinted and peered her exhausted gaze to her little brother's. Oliver scoffed a gentle noise and was now aware just how much Tessa had been crying. He shook his head and so badly wanted to comment on the subject matter, though he knew to carry out just what he was getting at, "I mean... C'mon, Tess. Not even Sugar Rush's castle had this massive of a pantry."

Tessa raised her eyebrows and peered about the pantry the two very easily fit in; even Oliver, for being the tallest guy on the castle grounds, right after Ralph himself. Tessa tried her hardest to hide an annoyed smile, so she looked down to her feet and scoffed. Oliver chuckled alongside her poor attempt to hide her happiness and remained still, for her sake.

"You found Dead Zed's racers and manage to keep all the brother's together, like glue," Oliver complimented quietly, "I can see the love in each of those boys' eyes, for each other. Their bond grows, everyday. I wouldn't really know truly, how strong that brotherly bond is, but... I feel it growing between Zed and I, so I at least semi understand."

"Are you saying Koko and I aren't good enough?" Tessa very playfully stabbed, her voice was as soft as honey. Oliver blurt a soft laugh and finally stepped closer to her.

"You two are more than anything I could've ever dreamed," Oliver assured patiently as he gestured to Tessa, "You brought an awesome person, into this world, Tess... A User, nonetheless... I couldn't ask for a cooler nephew."

"I'm pretty damn awesome, if I do say so myself," Ace muttered from outside the pantry's entrance, though Oliver furrowed his eyebrows and peered over his shoulder as Ace just barely peeked in.

"Big headed, too, huh?" Oliver joked as Ace beamed him a cheeky smile and joined his uncle. Oliver lugged his strong arm around Ace's shoulder and tugged him into a loving side-hug.

"Is... Everything okay?" Ace worried quietly, though he chuckled as Oliver squeezed him a little tighter, as if he couldn't help his brute strength.

"I'm... Fine," Tessa mumbled as she sniffled and wiped her jaw a little, "Just still getting over what happened... You know..."

"I can't imagine your pain, Tess," Oliver assured as he unhanded Ace and began to step closer to Tessa. Once he was within arms reach, he could see Tessa's eyes well with bigger tears, as if she was desperate for a reassuring hug, "I know it's hard to swallow, but... You know you're not alone in this, Tess."

Tessa nodded and let her tears roll down her cheeks, and as she felt the grieving process to finally get a little easier, she held her breath and gingerly reached for Oliver's embrace. Oliver easily obliged, though he did so by gently cupping Tessa's cheeks in his larger hands. Tessa whimpered a noise and peered up into Oliver's warm eyes, and just as she hoped her little day dream would stay stuffed in her memory, it came flooding back to her. The very moment her and Oliver locked eyes, from the very beginning of his life, Tessa knew she couldn't possibly live her life without him. She shook her head, and as Oliver caught the tears that rolled down her cheeks, she scoffed a nasally giggle and tried to collect herself.

"I-I remember the first time you looked at me, Olly," Tessa meeped, though with the curious conversation eking from the pantry, it cued Zed, Penny and Libby as well. As Oliver and Tessa hung at the end of the pantry, and Ace not too far from them, Libby, Penny and Zed nervously peered in from the entrance way as Tessa continued on, "It was the day you were born... You were so cute and little."

"Lookit what happened, I'm huge and hideous now, can you thank dad for me?" Oliver barked, though with such, Tessa blurt a hard laugh, as did Ace, Penny, Zed and Libby.

"I-It was that moment I had never felt so much love for someone I had just met," Tessa continued through her giggling and sniffling, though Oliver kept his loving hands to her cheeks as she continued, "Y-You looked up at me with so much promise, so much hope... I was so excited to get to know you, but there was one thing I was certain of, in that moment... I knew I'd have a best friend, for my entire life."

"I love you, Tess, you know nothing will ever come between us," Oliver's deep voice warmly assured with a gentle nod, his black hair was damp from the rain outside, it glistened with the warm lights about them.

"I know that... I just... I feel as though my whole world is just falling apart," Tessa whimpered, and though she didn't want an audience, she felt her face get hot at the sheer fact that Zed, Libby, Penny and Ace began to lightly crowd her and Oliver. In a strange way, the feeling of having this conversation in such a confined little space somehow made it easier to endure. Oliver shook his head in growing confusion and squinted down to Tessa in mild concern, "You have no idea how many hopes and ideas and wants I have that just... Are gone..."

"List 'em, for me, Tess... Maybe they're not so far out of reach," Oliver assured, his deep voice was dominant over the group that was gathered in the tight pantry.

"I want a little sibling for Ace," Tessa uttered softly as she gestured her right hand towards her first born. Ace raised his eyebrows and nervously caught eyes with his father, though he dragged his concerned gaze to Penny and then to Libby as Tessa continued on in a whimper, "I WANT Ace to have the feeling, that I had, when I first saw you... I want him to look upon his baby brother, or sister, for the first time and just... Have that rush of what it feels like to immediately have unconditional love towards someone, out of his control."

Ace frowned and looked down, and though he didn't technically verbally wish those things, for he knew it'd make his mother and father feel worse, he secretly always had hoped for a blood and code related little sibling. Ace's dewy, nervous eyes finally looked back to his mother's, though she peered up at Oliver in dire concern as his strong and steady wrecking hands remained cupped to her face, as if to show her that her attention was to be held to his. Zed huffed a shaky breath as him and Ace caught eyes, once more, though Ace shook his head in an assuring manner and nearly begged for his father not to feel sorrow.

"I want to present mom and dad with a new baby, a new grandbaby... One of which they can watch grow and can be a part of their upbringing," Tessa pleaded, and though she knew discrediting Ace's existence was the farthest thing from her demeanor, she prayed it didn't come across this way. Tessa finally gestured her arm, which cued for Oliver to softly remove his hands from her face, though he moved them to her upper arms, as if to hope to keep her collected, "I... I want to walk out on the porch of the castle's backyard, mom and dad's tree all gorgeous and in bloom... I want to be in Sugar Rush. I want to go home, Oliver, I want to go home."

Tessa inhaled a shaky breath as the whole group fell painfully silent, they each stole nervous glances to each other, as if this issue was once something they were convinced they could solve, though it rapidly became something that grew out of their control. Oliver furrowed his brow, shook his head and huffed a long sigh. He knew there was literally no solution to her issues, though somehow, he knew he had wandered into this mess, and he wasn't about to leave without at least settling his big sister's heart. Oliver warmly took one of her hands and shook her head.

"Who says you can't have all those things, Tessa?" Oliver hissed, and though Tessa so badly wanted to argue, she fell silent and listened to what he had to say. He scoffed a small laugh, glanced back to Zed and shrugged, "I mean... We WILL have Sugar Rush back, one day, right?"

"Right," Ace stated, as if it were now a routine he fell into, to stay positive about getting Sugar Rush back; with his fervor, Penny, Libby and Zed quietly agreed in kind notions.

"Tessa... You're missing the fact that there are literally over two dozen of us, and only one of Radex," Oliver chuckled as he cocked an eyebrow, which cued everyone else to grow into a lull of agreeing laughter, "Tess, one day, you'll walk those castle's halls... You can do the honor of showing Ace around, as well as Koko, Libby, Zed's brothers... Everyone who hasn't experienced Sugar Rush's castle like we have."

"It doesn't compare to this castle," Tessa mumbled knowingly as more tears soaked her cheeks, though she softly closed her eyes, "The Great Hall... Uncle Rancis's garden, everything about it... I miss it SO badly."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't, as well," Oliver nodded and softly looked down, though he glanced to Penny and cocked an eyebrow, "We had a sweet deal, growing up."

"We did," Penny mumbled in a knowing way as she bobbed her head, though Oliver shook his head and peered to Tessa in a hopeful way.

"But, y'know what? When we get that castle back, and the game is ours, you and Zed can try again... You can have that dream, again, Tessa. You can walk out onto the patio and see mom and dad's tree, you can hold that new baby in your arms, you can rest easy knowing Sugar Rush will be brought to normalcy," Oliver stated warmly, he grew silent for a moment and heaved a bashful chuckle, "Who knows, Emery and I may not be too far behind you and Zed, anyhow."

Tessa's eyes dragged from the ground to Oliver's in plucked surprise, and as much as she wanted another baby, she felt her heart suddenly jump in pure glee, the very fact that she would be an aunt for the very first time. She huffed an excited giggle as everyone in the pantry began to coo knowing notions towards Oliver. He shrugged and figuratively swat any attention away, though his bashful gaze hooked into his sister's with all the love in the world, and it was with this sweep of camaraderie did Tessa finally beam a genuine smile.

"Tess... You're most definitely not alone, in all of this. ALL of it," Oliver demanded quietly as he held her upper arms and begged her eye contact. She raised her eyebrows and softly nodded as Oliver continued on, "Emery and I have also decided that waiting until Sugar Rush is back to normal, to begin a family... Can you rest easy knowing that you and Zed aren't alone in this venture? If anything, you're one step ahead anyhow, what with Ace here."

"I'm an inconvenience to everyone," Ace stabbed playfully, though Oliver huffed a hard groan, unhanded Tessa and grappled for Ace's shirt. Ace blurt a hard laugh as Oliver yanked him into a tight hug and firmly tugged Tessa into the bunch.

"Alright, everyone in, and I mean everyone, get in," Oliver demanded loudly as everyone began to laugh, though as if there wasn't a single hesitation, everyone pushed into the group hug and squeezed tight to the center of the group, which was Tessa, Oliver and Ace. Oliver laughed and because he was the tallest, he arched his back and was successful in wrapping his arms around the entire group that squished together, "NO. No one is an inconvenience. If one of us has a problem, we all rally together and figure it out together. Now, no baby making, no castle planning, no drama until AFTER Sugar Rush is ours... And I say that confidently. DEAL?"

"Deal, for User's sake," Penny groaned with a hard laugh as her and Libby were scrunched up against Zed's back, "I'm in the blast zone, over here, can we make this group hug quick before Dead Zed lets one rip and turns into Dead Meat?"

"He would do that," Ace chuckled dryly, though Zed's face washed flat with annoyance and idly peered across the pantry, though he gasped a sharp inhale and threw his arm out.

"Who ate all my powdered donuts!" Zed hollered in tight annoyance as his hand crumpled the empty package; everyone was lost in laughter as Ace's facial expression sloped to dull knowing, though Zed waved the package in his face, "WAIT 'TILL I TELL VANELLOPE."

"Dad, NO! PLEASE!" Ace begged, Libby covered her face and loudly laughed as everyone remained tight into the hug, Ace anxiously gestured, "Ma cleaned out my pantry, in my own kitchen, a-and there isn't anything sweet to have!"

"You have Libby, don't you?" Tessa argued with a stifled grunt as Oliver squeezed everyone tighter, in his powerful embrace, though Libby raised her eyebrows in hot surprise and felt her face heat up; everyone began to obnoxiously coo towards the brand new couple of the group.

"I sensed a group hug and rushed over," Royal suddenly blurt with a wide, fang-filled smile, though his massive body did everything he could to squeeze into the pantry, and upon doing so, certain items began to fall off of the shelves. Royal huffed a small laugh, squeezed his wings about the group as best as he could and rested his chin atop Oliver's head. His massive golden eyes peered down to Tessa with a wide, inclusive smile, "Tess, if it makes you feel better, Balba and I were planning on waiting on Sugar Rush as well."

"So, what, we're all just going to add a bunch of new babies to Sugar Rush when it's ours again?" Tessa laughed, though as everyone loudly agreed and shouted knowing notions and laughs, Zed raised his eyebrows and peered to Tessa in a knowing way.

"So, it's rubbing off on you, huh?" Zed inquired lightly, though Tessa furrowed her brow and shook her head in confusion, "You didn't say IF it's ours again..."

"You said WHEN," Penny loudly jeered, though Oliver heaved a soft laugh and jostledthe group about as Tessa beamed a defeated smile and closed her eyes.

"Alright guys... When, WHEN! You happy!" Tessa hollered, everyone cheered and pat each other's backs amongst the tight group hug.

"Very," Oliver stated through a huff of relief that had finally coat the Kalivar castle.

"Whose... On my back?" Royal suddenly grumbled, and in the moment it took for everyone to grow stiff, Royal was the first to slowly attempt to scoot out of the pantry.

In a hard scuffle of limbs, wings, tails, arms and the like, Royal finally popped out of the entrance, and as said being slid down his tail, he immediately grappled said being's foot with the chameleon curl of his tail and lifted the person in the air. As a few bags of food and cans rolled from the opened pantry, Royal massively shook his body and head, to ruffle the few feathers and puffs of fur he hand, though as he finally corrected himself, he peered over his shoulder and noticed that he had grappled Nox into his grip. Royal blurt a chuckle and tightened his wings to his body, and as everyone clumsily piled out they noticed Finn, Tammy, and Emery hovering nervously in the kitchen.

"Okay... So I came to join the group hug, not to dangle upside down," Nox mumbled as Royal kept a tight grip on his ankle, as well as kept him hovered at least a ten foot drop to the tiles underneath him. Nox nervously peered to the group that staggered out of the pantry, his eyes grew crazed, "HELP?"

"You guys doing okay?" Finn chuckled as he crossed his arms, though Royal carefully put Nox down, and once Nox was stood, he nuzzled his snout firmly into Nox's center, so to give him the attention he was vying for.

"Just a typical group huddle in the pantry, no big deal," Zed mumbled as he dusted his shirt free of the dregs of his powdered donuts. He eyed Ace in hard annoyance and huffed a rather deep, grumble of a raspy sigh as Ace shrugged his shoulders to his head and looked wholly sheepish, "This stays between us, but next time, I will rat you out faster than you can think."

"Thank you," Ace hissed desperately as he grappled Zed's arm, and though Zed tried to remain stern, the way Ace jostled Zed's arm around got a genuine chuckle out of him, "I was so desperate for sweets, dad, you can't blame me."

"I can, and I will, Mr. Sugar Rush," Zed muttered with a stifled laugh as he began to help Tessa and Oliver clean up the mess from the pantry.

"Hey, Ace, I uh... I actually came over here to find you, because, well..." Nox and Ace started to lull into their own conversation, though as Nox fell silent, he realized that everyone had honed their solid attention to their conversation. Nox chuckled nervously and stepped closer to Ace, "I-I... Uh... This is actually a private conversation, I don't need any uh... Pantry huddles or anything."

"Oh, I know what this is about," Libby chimed in a happy tone as she marched out of the pantry, though everyone flinched as she suddenly grappled Nox's ear, tugged down and began to drag him towards the back door.

"OW, OW, OW," Nox hollered with a hard laugh of dire annoyance as everyone incredulously watched the scene unfold.

"I've got a bone to pick with you," Libby urged in hard agitation as she peered over her shoulder and eyed Ace in such a way that lead to suggest that if he didn't follow her, he'd be in trouble as well.

She began to mumble incoherent obscenities in Teltokuan, and though Ace was frozen solid in surprise, he suddenly realized that Nox had likely come over here to inquire about his and Ace's deal, of which they made earlier in the morning. One of which was to help Nox in seeing if his coding was compatible with Koko's, though upon Ace and Libby's talk, Libby was now aware of the game of cat and mouse Nox had been playing with her best friend, Koko. Nox wailed in dire urgency, a playful tone that had everyone laughing, and as Libby dragged Nox outside, Nox called after Ace in growing urgency.

"ACE COME COLLECT YOUR WOMAN SHE'S GOING TO LAY A TELTOKUAN CURSE ON ME!" Nox shrieked loudly, though before Ace could begin to answer questions, all the terrified, confused gazes his family members shot to him, he huffed a nervous laugh and began to shuffle out of the kitchen and out of the back door, so to resolve the problem, though he knew Libby would likely be the first to give him a piece of her mind.

* * *

 **A/N:** **hey guys! Real quick, I finally finished Rectifying Origin's sketchdump! It's on my deviantart and it's MASSIVE! Go check it out :) username - Vyntresser**


	128. Chapter 128

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha yes, like all siblings, they had their moments xD But their bond is unbreakable. Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** lol thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, that's exactly it :) Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Yes, it is Sonic and Tails in the last pic of my sketchdump :D That scene's definitely gunna be fun to write! Thank you so much!

 **Retrokill :** Haha thank you xD

 **WildVirus :** yeee. Group hugs make everything better! And yes, Sugar Rush very quickly gets hit with an onslaught of babies xD

* * *

 ***Chapter 128***

"Ow, ow, ow... Okay, Libby, y'know I love yah! I really do!" Nox uttered as she flung open Ace's door, shoved Nox into the center of the room and crossed her arms. Nox wobbled and gripped the side of his head, his ear that was now throbbing. He huffed a high pitched noise of dire concern as he peered his terrified gaze to Libby, though he continued on in a high pitched voice, "Ace I fear for you!"

"Hooo I don't," Ace muttered as he sauntered into his home and slowly closed the door behind him. He grit his teeth and desperately tried to avoid the searing look Libby shot him, though his face flattened to nervous remorse, "I might be single, after all this."

"L-Libby, look, I know why you're mad, and-" Nox was largely interrupted by Libby, who jolted forward, pointed a finger to Nox and started to run on in angry Teltokuan.

"Kit fortchenglick, niktahna Koko se'he jinteh!" Libby muttered as she neared Nox, she furrowed her brow and hovered closer to him as she hissed what was very likely an insult, "Kitepchke."

"Uhh, sure, I agree," Nox gestured in pure terror as his eyes glowed a hard yellow, though he glanced back to Ace in growing fear and stammered on his words carefully, "T-T-Transl-lation?"

"Uhh... Well, I understood that last bit," Ace grit his teeth, "Kitepchke... Yikes."

"WHAT!" Nox hollered, though Libby pointed to him a bit more firmly.

"I heard all about your silly little plan to string Koko along," Libby pressed, her accent was thick, having just come out of her own native language, and though she was genuinely pissed, she still held onto some tiny form of a playful banter about her, "I hope you understand that toying with my best friend's heart is going to get you a swift kick in the ass!"

"Shit, Libby! I-I didn't realize you had this much anger in you-OW OW OW," Nox whined in a high pitched noise as Libby suddenly grappled his pointer finger and bent it backwards, though not enough to do any damage. He yanked his hand away and grimaced, "I-I wasn't doing it on purpose!"

Ace cleared his throat and looked down with his eyes bugged, though he pressed on under his breath, so to potentially help Nox survive Libby's wrath, "Take it back, take it back, take it back."

"That's not the side of the story I heard," Libby pressed in dire annoyance, "You think you can just string a woman along?!"

"I-I wasn't going to! I-I was just nervous and I don't really know how to approach you... Majestical... Beings. You're VIOLENT!" Nox barked, though Ace burst out in hard laughter and bobbed a nod of agreeing, though he flinched once Libby sent him a look full of daggers; he straightened his spine and wiped the smile off of his face. Nox furrowed his brow in hard annoyance and gestured to Ace, "Thanks for ratting me out, by the way! What happened to the plan! Did you tell Libby you were going to deploy this one on her, too?!"

"Yeah, I did," Ace stated plainly, though Nox furrowed his brow as both him and Libby held their solid stares to him, which further concluded that they were on the same page, and Nox might as well be in a different galaxy.

"SO what's wrong with playing aloof! She wants me so badly! It's... It's kind of nice, for a change!" Nox argued in a rush.

"Nice ego stroke, there, huh?" Libby cocked an eyebrow and held her dominant gaze to Nox's, and it was in this instance did Libby finally hold no fear of looking into Nox's creepy square-pupiled gaze. She put her hands on her hips and gestured to Nox, though she dragged said gestured to Ace, who finally joined the two, "Why do you boys think it's a great idea to just be aloof jerks who think ignoring us is going to get you solid attention for the rest of your lives?"

"I-I was partially only doing it because I'm an idiot and can't handle the social aspect of... Whatever Koko and I have become," Nox gestured his hand nervously.

"History! You two will be HISTORY if you keep this up!" Libby urged, though she flinched as Nox suddenly looked down and began to slowly walk towards Ace's kitchen.

Libby flinched and followed where he was headed, and though she immediately became more riled, at the fact that he had up and walked away from her, her seething breath was halted as Ace tenderly rested his fingers to her lower left arm. She furrowed her brow, held her breath and peered up to Ace in growing confusion, and as Ace gingerly shook his head, Libby felt the anger in her finally begin to simmer to delicate confusion. As the two peered their attention to Ace's kitchen, Nox paced in collected, balled up agitation. He gripped the hair on the side of his head and began to mutter soft stabs to himself, as if to berate himself further, for Libby's sake. Libby huffed a soft sigh through her nose and finally peeled away from Ace, and with lithe footsteps and collected anger that finally was withheld, she budged into Nox's fragile presence and tilted her head in growing tenderness.

"I-I'm... I'm sorry, Nox," Libby stated warmly and sorrowfully, though just as Nox gave her his eye contact, she felt her skin grow cold with the sudden prickle of information hitting her retinas.

Nox's cheeks were wet, though the thing that surprised Libby into a cold-coded daymare coming true was the fact that Nox's handsome glow, to his eyes, was totally diminished, and what was left was a matte grey nothingness that housed his now darkened, pitch black square pupils. He rubbed his jaw a little, sniffled and diverted his shy, sorrowful gaze down to the ground; it was strange seeing his facial features not lit up by the incredible glow of his bizarre eyes, and it was in this raw moment did Libby suddenly feel a massive wash of guilt fall over her. She cupped her hand to her mouth and huffed an apologetic noise, and though she dared to step closer to him, she knew she likely had a bit of groveling to do.

"O-Oh, Nox, I... I really didn't mean to... Well..." Libby trailed of gently and so softly approached him, in which she was surprised he was allowing. Her heart leaped in collected fear as he finally gave her his raw, blank eye contact, though as Ace gingerly pushed closer to them as well, he froze in apprehension and squinted, so to get a better look at his best friend's eyes. Libby warmly gestured to him and gave him a curious smile, "Your... Your eyes really do tell your mood."

"Yeah... Don't get ME mad," Nox blurt in a choke of a nasally huff as he rubbed his nose and tried to hide the fact that he was welling up. He stabbed his dark, glow-less, mysterious gaze into Libby's and squinted, "The color turns so orange it's nearly red."

"I'd actually pay to see that," Ace mumbled, in hopes to get Nox to potentially cheer up about the quirks of his character, though he huffed a hard sigh and fiddled with the ends of his shirt.

"Nox, I didn't mean to make you cry, I... Quite frankly, didn't think you cared that much," Libby prod sorrowfully, though she flinched as Nox's body language now became a notch just under boiling aggression.

"Oh REALLY? You don't think I care about that woman? I'm over here, running circles into my floor, wondering how the HELL I'm going to make this work!" Nox barked as he stepped closer to Libby in rising anger, and it was in this moment did his eyes suddenly spark that pop of color he had promised, a dark orange that made his pupils look as if they could cut through just about anything. Libby flinched in growing apprehension as Nox continued to saunter closer to her, "You don't know what goes on, inside my brain. Quite frankly, you do not have the right to make any sort of judgement call towards me, and my stance on Koko."

"I'm not making a judgement call," Libby snipped as she furrowed her eyebrows, "I'm just protective of my friend, Nox."

"I haven't done anything to harm her," Nox spat as his eyes began to grow a deeper orange, near a touch of crimson, he finally got within two feet of Libby's unwavering presence, "You're barking up the wrong tree, Libby."

"And you're pissing off the wrong wrecker, Nox. Take one step closer to her and you'll see just how pissed I can get," Ace suddenly growled as he remained solid to Libby's back diagonal, as if he was certain she could take care of herself, though he knew to stab the defense in Nox's direction, something he was certain he'd never have to do.

Nox immediately halted and took a staggering step back and to the side. He knew he was just mad, though he also knew not to mess with his best friends, or even worse, Ace's trust. Just as soon as the angry red in his eyes flared, it immediately flickered away, proving to Ace that he was simply just riled, and being angry towards the two wasn't something he genuinely was wanting to put forth. He huffed a shaky sigh and finally turned to step away, he paced a few feet from the two and avoided eye contact as he rubbed the back of his head and mulled over his nervous antics.

Libby smiled to the ground a little before she gently glanced in Ace's direction and gave him a grateful smile. He bowed his head a little and kept his eyes hooked to hers, as if to express that he was always and forever more going to be her guard dog, no matter who encroached on her, even if it was his very best friend. Ace heaved a hot sigh through his nose and expelled the small bubble of protective anger that rose, though he raised his eyebrows in collected surprise as Libby cocked an eyebrow and titled her head in Nox's direction. Ace bit his bottom lip in contemplation, and though he knew just what Libby was asking Ace to do, he wondered if this would be a good time to deploy a mini field test. Ace nodded once, though before he stepped out to Nox, he warmly took Libby's hand in his and lead her over to Nox as well.

"You want to know what always settled me, whenever I was upset, Nox?" Ace eased, he knew the three were strictly heightened, a massive game of 'protect the ones you love against the ones you love'. He gingerly let his coding flare, on Libby's arm, and flinched as she looked down to her hands in gentle shock, "Since you are in the midst of courting a glitch, there's something you should know about the exterior swap."

"A-Ace," Libby uttered softly, she knew Ace trusted her amongst the exterior swap, though with the way his coding flood her arms, she was suddenly sat with a whole slew of Ace's opened doors, something of which he never presented to her upon initial contact.

Like a snail hiding in a shell, Ace was typically very shy about opening up to her immediately, like such, because of his raw and powerful User coding, though Libby exhaled a faltered breath and nearly wobbled with the sudden overload he had given her coding, and with such, he directed every last ounce of his power to her coding and gave her the lion's share. He raised his eyebrows in plucked surprise and chuckled a little, though just as he squeezed her hands, he very tenderly let go of her and inhaled a sharp breath to keep the voltage up; upon this, their exterior swap remained, without them needing physical contact, and it was in this raw moment did Libby desperately hold onto Ace's coding, as hard as she could.

"An exterior swap does not have to be sexual, it doesn't even have to be romantic or intimate," Ace explained quietly, though Nox's grey, clouded, teary eyes honed firmly to Libby's hands, which were riddled with hers and Ace's golden honeycombs, sprawled with the circuit and grid lines. Her coding pixelated and blobbed a little, as it fought with just exactly what to do with all of Ace's power pent up in her little hands. Libby huffed a surprised giggle and peered to Nox in growing glee as his eyes dragged to hers in gentle confusion, "When I was a child, my mother and father would give me exterior swaps all of the time. Whether it was to get me to go to sleep, to calm me down if I was angry, even to soothe me if I had a nightmare. My dad would even give an exterior coding swap with my uncle Jax, who suffered intense migraines. It's way beyond just simply dabbling underneath someone's skin."

"What will this do for me?" Nox worried patiently, his eyes still were welled with tears.

"Well... I typically don't do this, right out the gate, but... I just entrusted Libby with every single last drop of my power. Look at this woman you nearly challenged," Ace gestured to Libby and crossed his arms, though as Nox dragged his nervous eyes to Libby, he felt sorrow hit his skin further as she practically glowed with continued love, no matter the circumstance, "She's a User, in this moment, Nox. You want to further understand just what you can do to make it so you and Koko find normalcy and common ground? Ask for an exterior swap... Don't you remember the birthday dinner you threw for Koko? The date night?"

"How could I forget," Nox whimpered as he peered to Libby in growing curiosity, though Ace chuckled.

"You were practically one with her, you understood her silence, you had her coding coursing through yours," Ace assured, "You didn't feel the need to retract from her, to play aloof and act disinterested, did you?"

"Not at all," Nox uttered as he wiped his jaw and peered down to Libby's hands, gingerly outreached before her, as if to state to Nox that he could easily hold her hands and connect with her at any time, if he desired, and upon his thought stream venturing this, Ace gestured to Libby's hands and chuckled.

"Why don't you try it, here, while you have both Libby and I in one single extension," Ace gestured to Libby's glowing, live-wired hands. Nox apprehensively glared down at Libby's hands and then to Ace's eyes in bewilderment, as if to show surprise at just what Ace was suggesting, though he heaved a shaky sigh and remained still, as if to show uncertainty, "You said you suffer social anxiety? You seem to have an underlying anger issue, that seems to be showing it's true colors..."

"I-I try and keep that on the down low," Nox muttered anxiously as he continued to glance down to Libby's delicate hands, though he began to lift his hands towards Libby's, and as he hovered, he bit his lip in further apprehension.

Before Nox could shake it off and deny the two, he gingerly let his hands rest into Libby's palms, and upon contact, hers and Ace's coding gripped to Nox's old coding like a vice grip, and ultimately flared a vibrant hot orange display all over Libby's and Nox's arms. Honeycombs and circuit lines angrily swarmed, and just as Ace suspected, Nox gasped in hard surprise, grappled Libby's hands and urgently peered into her eyes as the golden glow came flooding back to his gaze. He inhaled a hard, shaky breath and began to pant in sheer, hard mix of unadulterated terror and delight. He breathed a loud scoff of a chuckle and felt totally bewildered, though it was in this raw moment did he feel his veins spark alive with the new flood of coding, Ace's User powers gingerly reached out to the dusty, achy route of a regimen Nox's coding had been held in for so many years, and upon this, Nox felt wholly renewed.

"Why exactly are you nervous to further pursue your relationship with Koko?" Ace wondered tenderly, though Nox inhaled a solid breath and let his best friend's codes comfort his soul with tenderness, yet he felt his skin waver as he was lay directly in the wake of Ace's raw, limitless, brooding power.

"Well, I guess the fear of losing her," Nox stated honestly, though he flinched as if he had to wonder just exactly where that answer even came from, and even though he reeled, he was shocked at the truth of it. He shook his head and peered his steady, unwavering eye contact into Ace's and Libby's, "I-I... I'm terrified to give her my coding because if she has a permanent game over... I'm saddled with coding I can't ever get a refill of..."

"That's the risk, huh," Ace stated knowingly, and though it were true, he carried on tenderly for the sake of potentially getting more information from Nox's now steady figure, though as Nox furrowed his brow, he long blinked in growing confusion, and before the three could carry on, he closed his eyes as his coding transferred white noise like information to her skull, which ultimately cued to Ace, as well.

Ace furrowed his brow in hard surprise as Nox exhaled a shaky breath and somehow allowed his mind to open up memory files that had been so deeply buried that they were only just reopened and remembered upon Ace's grand coding knocking on all of his doors. Libby peered to Nox in collected surprise as they were merely sat amidst a memory, a strange way of all three of them being included in on it, and as the room around the three grew foggy and unclear, Nox's memory popped out at them like they had simply gone back in time.

 _The wind whipped around them, though as soon as everything settled, Ace and Libby flinched in growing surprise and peered out to the scene before them, and though they weren't physical beings in this memory, they still had a very real front row seat to the play by play. As the three practically joined in one being, one all-seer that played out the memory for them, it was clear it was relived through Nox's line of sight. Set in a shiny game station, it was clear that this memory was old and from decades ago. The game station looked nothing like any of the game stations now, with primitive outlets, and far fewer then what they were used to now, it held games that were strictly around in the late 90's. It seemed to be closer to nightfall, as the station lacked life for the nighttime reset._

 _"Nox," Came a deep voice from behind, and as Nox's eyes dragged up to the infamous game outlet, EZ Living, he quickly whirled around and saw a figure quickly heading towards him._

 _"Turbo," Nox eased with all the warmth in the world, he huffed an excited scoff of disbelief, and as Turbo happened upon Nox, the two yanked each other into a firm, brotherly hug. Turbo chuckled and gripped the tops of Nox's shoulders._

 _"It's been awhile," Turbo's voice was deep, warm, he was a bit taller than Nox and his build was a bit more masculine and strong. Though he still held onto that same creepy gaze that Nox had, his eyes were strangely warmer, half-moon shaped and more inviting. Turbo huffed a small noise and gestured to the outlet behind Nox and smiled in a way of pure charming delight, he sagged his hands into his loose dark jeans, his masculine shoulders shrugged, "Headed to the beach?"_

 _"O-Oh, yeah, I... Sort of have a place, here in EZ Living, now," Nox stammered, he rubbed the back of his head, though he bulged his eyes and gestured to his oldest brother, "Hey... Wh-Why don't you come with me! No one here bothers me, we have beach side for days, it's great!"_

 _"Oh, bud, I would," Turbo sagged his eyes to the ground and frowned, "I-I... I sort of have a place with Lash."_

 _"Ohh... In Sweet Streets?" Nox bobbed his head in a knowing way, though Turbo huffed a shaky sigh and looked away in a drag of growing sorrow._

 _"No, um... Sweet Streets got unplugged," Turbo stammered with the impending drop of continued sorrow, Nox sagged his shoulders and shook his head._

 _"Did... Did everyone make it out?" Nox uttered nervously, though Turbo huffed a trembling breath, and though he nearly verbally answered, he gave Nox a tight-lipped frown and quickly shook his head. Nox looked down with the dire hit that prickled his skin, though he grew confused, "Didn't... You have a girlfr-"_

 _"Nox, let me give you a small piece of advice I wish someone had given me," Turbo uttered, his voice suspiciously trembled, as if he had suffered a great loss. He gingerly gripped his hands to the tops of Nox's shoulders and shook his head, "One day, you're going to meet a girl. She's going to be the most beautiful, most wonderful, most precious being you could ever lay eyes on, and there will be nothing you'd rather do than to share your life with her, every last honeycomb to your name..."_

 _"Wh-what's going on?" Nox's voice wavered as he peered up to his big brother._

 _"... Don't fall into that trap, my brother," Turbo uttered sorrowfully as he shook his head, "This is not because love doesn't exist, or it will fail you, or you'll wind up splitting... But because... Once you've lost her, for good... There's no reversal. You are trapped with her coding, forever."_

 _Nox raised his eyebrows in growing terror and kept frozen solid, and like a vice grip that held onto Nox's coding, he gingerly nodded and accepted his brother's advice._

 _"Y-You know how terrible I am with the ladies," Nox hissed with a shaky breath and a wavering smile, in hopes to get Turbo to smile as well, and though Nox was successful for mere moments, Turbo shook his head and squeezed Nox's shoulders._

 _"Please promise me you'll stay safe," Turbo eased as he gingerly took a step away from Nox, though Nox took a few nervous steps forward and outreached his hand._

 _"No, Turbo, please... Where are you going?" Nox worried, he suddenly felt more alone than he had for the few months all the brothers were separated._

 _"Well... Lash and I are fortunate enough to have befriended some of the peeps over in Sugar Rush, the new game that got plugged in," Turbo motioned down the game station, he continued to step away, "I'll... I'll come check up on you, from time to time, bro..."_

 _"I-I love you," Nox stuttered sorrowfully, as if to somehow prove to his big brother that he should just drop this act of game hopping and join him in eternal beach-bum days, though Turbo flashed Nox a nearly annoyed grin and shook his head._

 _"Love you too, Nox," Turbo muttered in mild annoyance, though he finished his statement with a knowing smile, turned heel, and quickly moved down the smaller, darker station, out of sight._

 _Nox reached his hand out, though before the vivid imagery could continue on, Nox yanked his hands out of Libby's, jolted and shook his vision to normality._

Libby eagerly yanked her hands away from Nox's as well, and as Ace took a reeling step back, all three stood in Ace's kitchen, heavy breathing and bugged eyes were what they were greet with, amidst Ace's harsh kitchen lighting. Nox panted as his trembling hands remained hovered out before him, as if to still be holding Libby's hands, though all three friends had taken at least two solid steps away from each other. As the three took turns shooting bewildered, wide-eyed looks of growing confused terror back and forth to each other, they all silently agreed that each being in the room had literally no whole idea just where to begin.


	129. Chapter 129

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Well, you guys discovered why Nox was so wary when it came to him and Koko... Was it not obvious? xD The whole last scene with Turbo was why haha.

 **Retrokill :** TUBULAR

 **WildVirus :** Haha you'll definitely find out :) Thank you!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** ALL the theories! I love listening to your guys' thoughts, on all the open ends I leave haha :) Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** aww I'm really glad you like Nox so much! His character gets deeper and deeper as time goes on, and he actually plays a very important role in the end of the story :) he's definitely a keeper! And, yes, I know all you guys are now racking your brains and such, and it'll only get worse with this chapter xD thank you so much!

* * *

 ***Chapter 129***

As the three remained frozen in Ace's spacious kitchen, all three held their breath in a collective draw of a surely felt fourth presence, and with such, they stole curious glances to each other. No one moved, no one breathed, and it was in this raw moment did Ace believe that he had somehow unlocked a sacred memory file of Nox's, something so deeply buried and forgotten from times lost. Ace was the first to move, he pointed a gentle finger towards Nox, and as his and Libby's eyes locked to their User's every move, Ace inhaled a trembling breath and side-eyed Nox in raw disbelief.

"Turbo had a girlfriend?" Ace ogled darkly, Nox shook his head in hard surprise and so desperately tried to unboggle his thoughts.

"I-I guess so, he never talked about her," Nox rushed in a flurry of disbelief, though Libby scoffed a hard giggle and covered her mouth.

"We were just trying to calm you down and focus on how we could help you with Koko, not unearth THIS gem!" Libby stated incredulously.

"I-I... I need to get my mother up here," Ace uttered as he suddenly began to stumble across the room, in search for his communicator, "Maybe Throttle, too."

"Throw Vanellope in the bunch, while you're at it," Libby volleyed, though Nox shook his head in confusion.

"Wait, why!" Nox urged nervously, he gestured towards their little pow-wow, in which Ace had peeled from, and began to grow agitated, "That memory of Turbo held literally no importance, it was just us finding the origin of my 'do-not-swap' pact I guess I forgot I made with him!"

"No importance?" Ace hissed in hard surprise as he finally turned around, after grappling his communicator off of the nightstand, "We all just got an awesome, front row seat to Turbo, in everything that he was, his demeanor, his body language, everything... The fact that we have access to the past, we have access to just what Turbo was like, without the Arcade being in danger."

"So, what are you going to tell your mom and Throttle and whoever else?" Nox flagged his hands as Libby remained quiet, "Oh, we were just up here trying to see how to iron out Nox's insecurities and we discovered that Turbo is just butt-sore over some chick he lost?"

"That's the point," Ace urged as he sent the appropriate people the messages he wanted to send, and it was in this time did he glance to his front door to make sure it was unlocked, "You heard the advice he gave you, Nox... Loud and clear."

"What, to not swap with someone?" Nox worried as he frantically looked back and forth between Libby, "He's clearly the reason I have trust issues, he scared the pants off of me!"

"Exactly! He was speaking from experience!" Ace urged firmly, he waved his hands downward and finally pushed into the kitchen, "He was giving you that warning, because it is CLEAR that he swapped with whatever girlfriend he had in Sweet Streets..."

"... That's why he went mad," Libby stated sorrowfully as the thought hit her, she shook her head and peered to Nox.

"THAT'S why he went crazy and overthrew Sugar Rush," Ace firmly gestured his hands, though Nox raised his eyebrows and looked down, as if he was just now expressing to Ace that his face was so buried in his own relationship issue that he just now realized Turbo's problem.

"Is everything okay?" Tessa urged as she suddenly pushed into Ace's room, and just like Ace wanted, Throttle, Vanellope, Zed and Taffyta were hot on her heels.

"We're fine... We, uh... Accidentally stumbled on a bit of information about Turbo you guys are going to want to hear," Ace urged gently, though the group that so quickly filed in gawked in confusion and huddled about Nox, Ace and Libby.

"What? How?" Taffyta wondered loudly as all eyes fell to the three young beings in the center of the kitchen.

Ace inhaled a deep breath and softly peered to Nox, and it was in this moment did Ace feel the weight of the situation; he knew Nox was so desperately trying to win over Koko's heart, though Ace also knew Nox would likely not want their dirty laundry aired for all the big wigs, of the castle, to know... Especially Koko's own mother. Nox squinted just barely, as if to so silently beg Ace to keep the issue at hand on the down low, and even though the three were in a tizzy a minute ago, he gave Nox a gentle, reassuring nod and peered to his mother with a readied plan.

"Well... Nox was just stating how he has a bit of social anxiety, and... I-It's causing him migraines," Ace started tenderly, though Zed crossed his arms and tilted his head towards Nox expectantly, just what Ace was waiting for.

"Did you try an exterior swap? Takes a few tries to get right to the root of those migraines, but... Worked on Jax, hasn't had a migraine since you were a young child," Zed stated warmly, though Ace nodded and peered to Libby as well; he knew, for her sake, to likely leave her out of this equation as well, though she seemed indifferent.

"Yeah, I did, but... While in the exterior swap, I guess I must've accidentally unearthed an old memory Nox didn't remember he had," Ace stated as he peered to his elders, they glanced to each other nervously before everyone honed their gaze to Nox.

"Throttle, you, uh... Remember Sweet Streets?" Nox asked tenderly, though as Throttle and Vanellope firmly caught eyes, they dragged their bewildered stares back to Nox.

"Of course I do," Throttle eased.

"Well... This memory that we, well... Revisited, was of Turbo," Nox rubbed the back of his head bashfully, though he frowned and looked down, "It... It was a few days after Sweet Streets got unplugged, and was around the same time that Sugar Rush got plugged in."

"Sugar Rush's demo," Vanellope stated knowingly, and though this was old news to the figure heads of the castle, Ace, Libby and Nox looked totally taken aback.

"... Sugar Rush had a demo?" Ace barked in confusion, everyone flinched and peered to Ace in growing concern, "This is all making sense now..."

"What else happened in your memory?" Tessa urged as she stepped closer to Nox, he raised his eyebrows and sorrowfully peered to her.

"Well, um... I guess, on my way back into EZ Living, I had bumped into Turbo, and when I offered him to stay with me inside EZ Living, he declined and... Told me Sweet Streets was unplugged. I guess I must've remembered that he had a girlfriend, because when I inquired about it, he got all teary eyed and... Gave me some really heavy advice."

Everyone was frozen solid as they peered to Nox in hard surprise, though as Nox inhaled a shaky breath, he shook his head and finally felt the weight of reliving the raw moments with his favorite big brother, Turbo's warm and inviting presence, how everything quickly became so devastating and different... Nox long blinked as he could feel the glow in his eyes begin to diminish, with the onslaught of promised tears.

"H-He warned me to never find myself with a swap-mate," Nox uttered shakily, and though he knew the cat was out of the bat at this point, he nervously glanced to Vanellope and kept his eyes honed to Tessa's and Zed's, "He... He gave me this advice not because he thought true love doesn't exist, or wouldn't ever work, but... Because once you're saddled with this person's coding, and they game over for good, you're stuck with them. There is no reverse..."

"... Unless administered by a User," Throttle's deep voice croaked quietly in the back of his throat, though as everyone's eyes dragged from Nox, they eagerly peered to Ace in stunned bewilderment.

"He had a swap mate from Sweet Streets," Ace firmly gestured his hand downward, "He was trapped with her coding when Sweet Streets got unplugged... Turbo went mad because he was in a state of being with a User-made gamer that couldn't keep his code from eating itself from the inside out."

"How do you know that's what he was insinuating?" Vanellope urged nervously as everyone was on pins and needles.

"Trust me," Nox huffed as a few tears finally slid down his cheeks, the raw feeling of being in Turbo's presence, for the last time, was something he was just now reeling from, "I know my brother... He looked absolutely devastated."

Vanellope was the first to gently peel from the group, and as she took a collective few steps out of the tight circle of pent up confusion, she crossed her arms and let her eyes gloss across Ace's room. She shook her head and exhaled a shaky breath from her lungs, and with such, she felt a whole slew of sorrow hit her skin, one of understanding, of cold nervousness, and it was in this moment did she, for once in her life, view Turbo as someone that wasn't totally heartless. She scoffed a noise of disbelief and let her eyes lull closed with guilt.

"What was Sweet Streets like?" Libby inquired daintily, though the group remained frozen as her innocent question rung true through the group, as if with this hard realization, such a new, benevolent life could prick the problem with kindness and cause a stir of different thoughts. Everyone dragged their gentle, inquiring eyes to Libby, as if to state in the silence that they had never even thought of said notion.

"We've been there," Nox's voice croaked as he rubbed his jaw, sniffled and gestured to Throttle. He cleared his throat, rubbed his eye in growing agitation and grimaced, "I-I've never been to Sugar Rush, though, so... I can't really compare the two."

"If Turbo DID have a girlfriend from Sweet Streets, I wasn't around long enough to remember," Throttle started, so to get the attention off of Nox, "If anyone were to remember her, it'd be Lash... I escaped to End Of Line Academy and Nox, well... Became an EZ Living beach bum."

"Best two decades ever," Nox chuckled as he looked down, everyone shared in knowing laughter, though Ace came alongside Nox and squeezed his shoulder in a brotherly show of care and camaraderie.

"Ahh, Sweet Streets, it... It was such a cute little game, sort of primitive," Throttle sighed as he squinted and looked off, as if to try and remember, "Such bright colors... I remember Sweet Streets had a hierarchy, just like Sugar Rush."

"Did you ever meet their Queen? Was it just a different version of Vanellope?" Zed wondered softly as everyone grew more and more curious.

"I... I must've met her once, I don't really remember who any of them were, their names, or anything," Throttle shrugged, though Tessa urgently gestured to Throttle.

"Well, if an exterior swap helped pull random memories out of Nox, it HAS to work on others, right?" Tessa wondered curiously, though everyone softly peered to Ace in confusion.

"I... I could definitely try, though somehow, the memory we accessed, from Nox, wasn't willed upon," Ace stated sorrowfully, though Zed nodded in agreeing and closed his eyes.

"The coding is a tricky thing, because it harbors so much binary, so much information, but so much of it is just strings of memory and data that is something you can't totally access," Zed heaved a soft sigh and shook his head, "It's in your subconscious... Sure, there are millions of memory files, and the part of your brain and the coding where it is stationed, but... Digging through it for such a specific year, specific day, specific hour... It's deemed to be nearly impossible. You'd be here forever, trying to dig through all thirty years worth."

It was at this time did everyone notice Vanellope had successfully drifted away from the group, and in the soft lull of information that had hit everyone, they tilted their gazes to Sugar Rush's Queen. She looked wholly beside herself, totally rocked from the planet, and with such, they let her mull over everything that she needed to. Her arms were crossed, she was dressed in tattered skinny jeans and a comfortable tank that had old logos of Fix-It Felix Jr., her black hair was down and glossed over her shoulders; she looked as casual as ever, a strange, adorable, yet sweetly ironic sight to behold. Someone with so much power over her lost kingdom, so daintily plucked in her grandson's warm abode, as if she was simply an every day commoner.

"You okay, mom?" Tessa worried, though as Vanellope's nervous hazel eyes drew up Ace's wood floorings, and into her daughter's wary eye contact, she shook her head and furrowed her brow.

"I feel terrible..." Vanellope uttered softly, she squinted and gestured her arm outward, as if to beg understanding, "All this time, I thought that maybe he just was power hungry, and it all went to his head... But now that we have this information..."

"... He was just grieving the loss of whatever girlfriend he had in Sweet Streets," Throttle grumbled as he glanced over to Nox in gently curiosity.

"It hits home," Vanellope urged, she suddenly grew tense with energy and stepped closer to the group, "This game was Sugar Rush's predecessor... That was my humble beginning... It's no wonder he dove head first into Sugar Rush and laid waste... He was in a really dark spot."

"Do you remember when he came into your game and introduced himself?" Zed pressed, and it was in this raw moment did they realize that Nox's simple memory opened up a lot of doors.

"Yeah... He looked nearly just like Nox does, now. Him and Lash were upgraded, from Sweet Streets... I guess while all four of you boys were in Sweet Streets, the demo got a visual update and everyone was upgraded from, well... Our little chibi counterparts to more humanoid appearances," Vanellope patiently explained as everyone eagerly listened, "He... He explained that our demo was his old home, and since it just got unplugged, he begged for a place to rest his head while they looked for a new home. It was that night did he overthrow the game, program himself as King Candy, and... He ruled, that way, for almost two decades."

"Sugar Rush was brand new, to the Arcade, and not even the first week in and it was overthrown?" Tessa hissed in growing sorrow as she stepped closer to her mother.

"We were dewy eyed, innocent little beings... We didn't think someone was going to try and come in and steal the code room away," Vanellope worried as she shook her head, "Sure, Turbo eventually went mad, but... Now, looking back at all of it... I really feel for him."

"What?" Taffyta squinted in near offense, though Vanellope shook her head and held her hands up.

"I'm not saying it was justified," Vanellope assured, "But... To be so in love with someone, to swap your own coding with them, and then... They're GONE? Put yourself in his shoes..."

The whole group fell silent, once more, and as Vanellope lay gentleness over the group, she looked down, shook her head and long blinked her idle gaze to the flooring below.

"I can't imagine his pain... And though, what he did was really sucky, it's obvious he was doing anything and everything he could to keep the memory of his lost girlfriend alive," Vanellope stated in a croak as she kept her eyes down in sulking realization, "I'm sure Sugar Rush was like his escape... He felt closest to her, there... Even though he overthrew the game, wiped our memories and banished the Queen."

"I wish he was still here..." Ace dared as he gently peered to Nox, "At least then I could reverse his coding... But it's useless, now."

"He died, as a cy-bug, in Sugar Rush," Vanellope uttered as everyone kept their nervous gazes to Sugar Rush's Queen, "If... It weren't for that, I'd say he'd likely have regenerated, and you'd get that chance, Ace."

"Well, so where do you think Lash went?" Throttle wondered as everyone grew stiff with the unfolding of this issue, Throttle urgently peered to Nox, to Ace and then Vanellope, "You said that... Both Turbo and Lash came into the game, on that fateful day."

Vanellope grimaced and quickly peered to Taffyta, though just before Taffyta was about to shrug and state she had no clue about the second, mysterious TurboTwin, she bulged her eyes and pointed her finger.

"... Didn't King Candy have some sort of little, weird henchman? What was his name?" Taffyta gasped as Vanellope's eyes bulged in growing terror.

"Sour Bill," Vanellope hissed, though everyone urgently peered to each other and back to Taffyta and Vanellope.

"Whose Sour Bill?" Tessa urged desperately.

"Do you think he's the reason behind all this Radex drama?" Taffyta ogled.

"Where did he even GO?" Vanellope wondered loudly as everyone became riled with apprehension.

"What if HE IS Radex?!" Nox screeched in growing fear, though Vanellope shook her head and urgently gestured her hands downward.

"Let's just CALM DOWN," Vanellope stated through a hard laugh, though she peered to Nox in growing curiosity, "Sour Bill was this little sour gum drop... Thing... He can't possibly be Radex, he was so slow and... Un-intimidating."

"It's the slow, little, quiet ones you have to keep an eye on," Nox pointed his finger and raised his eyebrows.

"It's history, anyways... This all happened so long ago," Tessa shrugged, "What we need to focus on, now, is finding Radex, and hopefully finding a way to split Uncle Rancis's coding from Radex."

"And to somehow... Detain Radex?" Throttle shrugged as everyone slowly peered their curious gazes to Ace, though Ace slumped his shoulders.

"Who I'll either have to kill or hold down," Ace rolled his eyes, though he showed through a hint of a smile, "I guess whichever feels right in the moment...?"

"Why does this Sugar Rush trip have to be next week?" Vanellope grumbled as she shoved her face into her hands, though Taffyta shrugged and looked about.

"... It doesn't HAVE to be next week. You insinuating you want it to be sooner?" Taffyta questioned as she gently glanced to Tessa in growing question.

"I want it to be NOW," Vanellope demanded suddenly, everyone flinched as she grew tense, "I'm so tired of sitting and waiting... I just want to find Radex, I want the game back, I want this over with!"

"Uhh... Pack your bags, everyone?" Ace stammered nervously, though Vanellope inhaled a readied breath and lightly peered out Ace's window.

"Change of plans... We're leaving tomorrow," Vanellope ruled as everyone remained silent in the power of Sugar Rush's core. Vanellope squinted and uttered her determined conclusion, "We're finding that bastard, if it's the last thing I do."


	130. Chapter 130

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** Baww, don't wish it to be over too soon! I actually am only about half way finished with this story... I am easily sitting on about 100 more chapters of plot. So uh... Get comfortable, cause it will be awhile xD

 **Snake557 :** Thank you so much!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Well, those were all the groups' speculations... No one said they were true ;) Also, I expand more on the subject of Taffyta. Her and Vanellope have a bit of a fight over it, actually.

 **WildVirus :** Hahaha ahh. I have so much I want to say but I can't spoil anything xD And yes! FOR SUGAR RUSH! haha

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha too true. Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you! I actually can't answer your Sour Bill question, because whatever I say about him will spoil quite a bit, so I'm going to have to leave you with that question unanswered, I apologize! If I explain why I was able to squeeze him in, and the intention behind that, I'll reveal a bit too much. You'll understand why, eventually. Sorry about that. And, Ralph and Vanellope have long come to the conclusion that Zed is clearly not going anywhere, and is definitely a good suitor for Tessa, alongside a good fit for future King. The one they 'worry' about is technically Nox, but after this next chapter, there won't be much they can do about that ;)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Sooner Or Later by Aaron Carter**

 ***Chapter 130***

"Great, mom. Just great," Tessa stated in a deep, muttering tone of hushed annoyance. She quickly filed after her mother, she was the first to descend down the spiral staircase that encompassed Ace's tower, and as they passed Nox's front door, they continued on down the broad, wide steps; Ace's tower was very quickly being overtaken by a nearby jungle tree and all of it's sprawling, creeping vines and foliage. Vanellope huffed a soft noise of annoyed understanding, towards her first born, lightly moved a vine out of the way and glanced back at Tessa as her stubborn daughter continued on, "So, what are you going to tell dad? I suddenly have to tell Finn the change of plans, because now HE has a game day tomorrow... I-I still have to prep Orph for that Tron flyer, I have to also warn Penny, who likely is well on her way to going to sleep-"

"Tessa," Vanellope urged in growing dismay as she whirled around half way down the steps, and as the two stopped, the three behind them, being Throttle, Taffyta and Zed, came to a soft halt as well, they honed their curious gazes to the two Queens before them, and as Vanellope slid her hands to the tops of Tessa's shoulders, Tessa only just held her breath and tried to settle, "I-I know this is sudden... I'm sorry to pull rank, here, but... I want to just dive in and get this over with."

"Mom, Sugar Rush is so large," Tessa squinted and shook her head, and as the sound of the pattering rain finally set in to everyone's ears, the crisp, nighttime air picked up in a gust of the oncoming rainstorm, "We... We want to find Radex immediately, but at what cost? Everyone so suddenly jumping into this mission first thing in the morning? We have the dragons and Balba to think about, as well... They'll be doing nearly all of the work, for these trips. We need to put them as a priority."

"I thought about that," Vanellope sighed, she peered up the steps to the three that lingered behind Tessa, and as their gazes fell to Vanellope, they all looked on, as if to state they were indifferent about whether this trip was tomorrow or not. Vanellope slumped her shoulders and peered into her daughter's nervous eyes, "I just... Hate being a sitting duck. We're all having a grand time, here, but... I want to do everything in my power to get the game back. I want to at least say we kept trying."

Tessa finally exhaled a breath and lulled her eyes closed in understanding, and as she, and everyone else fell silent, the wind chime hanging outside the common-room's front door softly made itself known, the lulling sounds of the hollow wood tapping against each other. The ambiance was palpable, and as the rain came and went in soft spurts, Tessa looked out to the gorgeous scene before her and finally released the reigns she so desperately tried to keep hold of. As she drew her gaze back into her mother's eyes, which were one step below her on the staircase, she nodded a little and let a look of wry acceptance fall over her.

"I understand," Tessa eased, and though she knew she was likely the first to get up in arms about this kind of thing, she felt reserved this time around; it nearly made her reel with an attempt to collect her thoughts.

"I'll tell everyone, just... Leave the problem to me, since I'm the source of it," Vanellope assured as she finally began to turn heel and head down the stairs.

Tessa slumped her shoulders and let all of the information, from Ace and Nox, lay slick over her, and as Taffyta and Throttle ever so gently pushed past her and continued downwards, to follow Vanellope, Tessa looked down to her bare feet, the damp, wide jungle wood below her, and was relieved to feel Zed join her, on her step, and stop next to her. Tessa slowly looked up at him in confusion and kept her eyes honed to his, and as he gave her the same demeanor back, he somehow gave her a small smile, slipped his hand into hers and shook his head, as if to begin to assure her that everything would be alright.

"There's... A lot of questions still hanging in the air, Tess," Zed's deep voice so softly glossed over her, his electric blue hair was lightly flattened to his head from when the group was in small patches of rain down this stairwell, "I see both sides... But, we have a strong team, stronger flyers. We'll all be just fine. It is a little sudden, but... Vanellope's got a point. Better to dive in and at least make head way, there's nothing we'd be doing between now and the next ten days, before the trip, anyways."

"Prepping? Mom still has a lot to teach Ace," Tessa worried, though she felt her face get hot with mild embarrassment as Zed wrinkled his nose and side-eyed his fiance.

"... What about you?" Zed inquired lightly, "You're the daughter of the glitch master, herself... I'm thinking your skill level is not too far off, from Queen Sugar Rush, m'lady."

Tessa raised her eyebrows softly and gazed deep into Zed's eyes, and though she so badly wanted to beam him a knowing smile and blindly agree, she forced it away and let her eyes idly gloss his chest and collar. Just as she was about to collectively disagree and state just how much more Vanellope knew, and how much more capable of a teacher she was, Zed gently hooked his finger underneath Tessa's chin and squinted, so to look deeper into her eyes. His voice carried on, a tender roll of deep, caring masculinity that eked from his being.

"He's already gotten a good dose of Vanellope's tough love," Zed near whispered, he shook his head and smiled life into Tessa's soul, "It's time his own mother takes him under her wing... Vanellope is a great teacher, and she has her whole life of experience, but you... You know what it's like to be thrown around, to be kicked while you're down, and because of all the struggle, you've come out on top, stronger than ever. Who better to teach a rare breed, so close to your heart, than you, Tess?"

Tessa felt goosebumps trail her arms, and it was in this moment she could hardly believe tears began to sting her eyes. She huffed a soft giggle of humility, looked down and tried to hide that smile she was keeping down, though Zed warmly cupped her face in his hands and nuzzled his nose into hers.

"Vanellope is likely the first one to understand all the things listed, as well, but... You have the edge," Zed began to bring out a sneaky smile, he continued on in a sneer of whole, good-intentioned playfullness, "You have Mr. Unbeatable's coding."

Her smile only broadened, and as she pushed into his strong warmth, she heaved a shaky sigh on his mouth and let her eyes lull closed. Zed warmly pushed a few kisses to her lips, and as they settled, he eased his strong forehead into hers and continued to keep her head and jaws firm in his loving grip.

"You'll have time to teach Ace in Sugar Rush, I'm positive," Zed whispered, "I'll help in any way that I possibly can, you know that."

"Thank you," Tessa meeped with a small smile that wouldn't fade, though Zed raised his eyebrows and snuck in one last peck to her mouth.

* * *

"What do I even pack for this nonsense?" Nox uttered in wry dismay, he ruffled his hair and began to look agitated, angry. Ace raised his eyebrows, warily glanced to Libby and then back to Nox as he continued on, "I thought I had over a week to prepare for this... I-I've never been to Sugar Rush. Am I even allowed? My own brother destroyed the game!"

"Nox, it's all right, just relax," Ace eased quietly as Nox paced Ace's kitchen, though his brilliantly glowing eyes pierced into Ace's with fervor.

"I haven't even had a chance to right everything with Koko, and here I am, just running head first into Sugar Rush with you guys," Nox staggered as he firmly gestured to Ace's front door.

"Then go talk to her now," Libby stated in a gentle demand as she waved her hand towards the direction of Ace's door as well, as if to retort back at him with mocking his gestures, "For User's sakes, Nox, c'mon. Y'pack a few coats and socks, throw a beanie in there, puff your chest and GO TO HER."

"I can't just happen upon her door, right now," Nox urged, he began to grow mildly angry, though Libby knew it wasn't against her, she knew he wasn't mad at her, though she also knew he was prepared to take it out on her, "I've been mindlessly teasing her all week... And now I'll be gone for User knows how long. What if she becomes disinterested me in the time I'm gone?"

"Nox, that's ridiculous," Libby worried, though she smiled in dry sarcasm and shook her head.

"What do I even say? Where do I even begin?" Nox stammered, though just as Ace was going to interject, Libby took a step closer to Nox and gained a bit more figurative height over both boys.

"You start at the beginning, you tell her the truth!" Libby demanded as she pointed her finger downward, "You love Koko, right?"

"Libby," Nox complained as he squinted, as if to show mild bashfulness over the select words she chose, though Libby largely side eyed him.

"You can't tell me you've put this much thought into trying to gain her affections if you don't have deeper feelings for her," Libby argued, though Nox huffed a hard breath and looked up to the ceiling in exasperated annoyance.

"Fine, Libby, I love her! I love her," Nox uttered in revealed, conflicted mixture of sorrow and delight. He beamed a curious, incredulous smile and nearly welled up, "I've never met such a gorgeous, wonderful, kind creature in my life..."

"Then what is STOPPING YOU?" Libby nearly raised her voice, though Nox matched her.

"TURBO!" Nox yelled; Ace, at this point, kept his steady eye on the escalating situation, and though he wasn't too fond of someone shouting at his girlfriend, he knew Libby was only fueling the fire and said fight was hers to fight. Nox grappled the chest of his shirt desperately, looked about in an ogling mess of confusion and huffed a shaky few breaths of staggering, flitting words, "Turbo terrified me for so much as making friends... I-I've kept well enough away from people because I was always worried about his dreaded words. Somewhere along the lines, I must've just forgotten he was the source of it, and just stuck with the notion that getting too close to people could land me in a dire situation similar to Turbo's..."

"So, what, Nox? You're just going to live your life wondering?" Ace shook his head, "You're just going to deny a wonderful love, right in the palm of your hand, simply because someone warned you of their own problem? A problem literally no one can help?"

"No one but you," Libby volleyed, and it was in this instance did Ace see that Libby clearly had a middle stance between the boys and was on neither of their side; Ace reeled, furrowed his brow and peered to her in incredulous shock. Libby squinted, shook her head and grew confused in tired annoyance, "Ace, you can reverse coding..."

"Uh! Says who!" Ace ogled as he gestured outwards, and though Nox and Libby volleyed retorts at him, he held up his hands in hard annoyance and shook his head firmly, "I've NEVER reversed someone's swapped coding, I have no idea how to do that!"

"You still harbor that capability!" Libby complained, she motioned towards Nox and directed her attention to him, "Doesn't that make you feel any better? User forbid something were to happen, and you were trapped with Koko's coding, does it bring you comfort knowing it can be reversed?"

"No," Nox spat, Libby furrowed her brow harder.

"Why not?" She volleyed.

"BECAUSE! What a slap to the face!" Nox begged as he took a step closer to Libby, though his body language was gentle. He motioned towards Ace and peered his sorrowful, sincere gaze into Libby's surprised eyes, "Libby... Do you realize what you just said? Put yourself in Turbo's place..."

Libby shook her head in confusion and kept her whole attention to Nox's eyes, and it was in this raw instance did she feel the weight of Nox's thirty wise years cloak over her measly one year in the Arcade, and as if the tables had largely turned, she reeled inside herself and gave Nox the floor.

"Libby, one day, you are going to be swap mates with this incredible guy, here," Nox's deep voice glossed her surprised, and though her face turned red in stunned bashfulness, he carried on in tenderness he knew just when and how to properly utilize. He warmly cupped one of her hands in his, tilted his head, squinted and peered deeper into her conflicted gaze, "You look me in the eye, right now, and tell me that once you have his coding that you'd want it gone from your system User forbid he had a game over?"

Libby flinched and felt her skin go cold, Nox's stern, square-pupil gaze stabbed into hers with a smack of tough love, and though his body language wasn't aggressive or overbearing, he still held a massive amount of much-needed dominance in this situation, as if he had had enough of laying low for the night. His masculine chest expanded slowly as he took a readied breath, and as Ace and Libby fell painfully silent, Nox's kind, deep and croaking voice carried on in a lull of glossed sorrow over the room.

"It'd be all you had left of him, Libby... Look him in the eyes and tell him you'd want every last pixel of him gone from your existence, for good," Nox unhanded her, with one of his hands, and gently pointed to Ace, across the room.

Libby shut her mouth tight and apprehensively dragged her gaze to Ace, and it was in this raw moment did Nox's words ring true in her head. She exhaled a shaky sigh through her nose, shook her head and wouldn't sway to Nox's inquiry, she knew she couldn't possibly want said notion. Ace looked near-dejected, though it was only as if Nox had brought this to light for both of them, and he hadn't have thought about it in this way. Ace heaved a soft sigh, looked down to the tiles and felt the same wave of defeat Libby was enduring, right in this moment. Libby shook her head and felt tears well in her eyes.

"I hear you," Libby uttered softly with a nod of understanding as Nox relaxed his shoulders.

"I think if Ace could've offered Turbo help, all those years ago... I don't think Turbo would've taken him up on that offer," Nox side-eyed Libby and let his voice grow even more gentle, "He had the only speckle of Sweet Streets left, known to Arcade, under his skin... If that got erased, as well, then... It's simply like his late girlfriend didn't even exist."

Ace and Libby remained quiet in their defeat, and as Nox tenderly unhanded Libby's hands, he took a few steps across the kitchen and felt no eyes on him. Ace and Libby sorrowfully peered to the wooden floors underneath them, though as Nox's presence grew farther and farther away, they urgently looked up and watched him reach the front door.

"What are you doing?" Ace inquired with no urgency, he knew there was nothing left to say.

"... I'm finally disregarding my brother's words," Nox's voice croaked, and though it held a heavy amount of sorrow, somehow the ends of his words held a lilt of inspired mischief, renewed love and energy that finally came rushing to his red honeycombs, and before Ace and Libby could press him for details, he gently removed himself from Ace's warm abode.

* * *

 _11:56pm Sunday 9/18/2016_

 _Keeks : Hey, um... My mom told me, about an hour ago, that your trip is suddenly bumped to tomorrow. Are you okay with that? I'm assuming you already know huh._

 _Keeks : Just message me when you can, I'm sure you're packing and stuff._

 _12:35am Monday 9/19/2016  
_

 _Keeks : Nox?_

 _12:54am_

 _Keeks : Alright, I get it. Solid._

Koko exhaled a nasally sigh, and as she glared down at her communicator, she shook her head and decided just powering down for the night was best. As she rolled over in her bed, she let her communicator slide to her low nightstand, and as she sunk into her billowy white pillows, she peered her teary gaze up to her high ceilings. High arches of white wood, the chandelier in her room was off, though the pretty crystals glistened with the small, dim, string lantern lights that draped the frame of her headboard in a romantic, whimsical delight of ambiance. She shook her head and lulled her eyes closed in final defeat, as if to state to herself that she should just put this chase to rest, everything she had done was now likely pushing Nox away. She inhaled a shaky breath, sat up and finally prepared to turn everything off for the night. She knew she likely wouldn't see Nox before he left for Sugar Rush, though she wrinkled her nose in angry disgust and knew she likely wouldn't totally want to see him, prior, anyhow.

Just as Koko inhaled a readied breath, prepared to let all of it finally slide off of her shoulders, her communicator lit up with the gentle blue glow, a notification she finally wasn't holding her breath for anymore, and as she froze in the action of pulling her hair out of the high ponytail it was in, she cocked an eyebrow, eyed the communicator and was nearly scared to see just who messaged her. Just as her stomach muscles clenched in the action of preparing to lean over, she shut her eyes tight, halted her movement and shook her head, as if to state she simply didn't want to see just who messaged her. She inhaled a shaky breath, sat up straight and peered across her bedroom in a drag of billowing apprehension.

Before she could sit and wallow in continued confusion, she felt her heart jolt clear out of her chest as to just the sight behind her creamy, slightly translucent curtains. Though the sight would likely scare the pants off of any other castle member, the gentle glow of yellow that cast from Nox's eye level only just barely showed his silhouette from outside, on Koko's open porch balcony that lead to the backyard, and as a soft flicker of lightning caused an even softer drum of thunder in the distance, she felt a strange prickle of goosebumps plague her skin, alongside a stranger coat of comfort that soak over her heart. She froze, and before she could wonder if she was seeing things, Nox gingerly knocked two knuckles to the metal of her sliding glass door, and as he slowly blinked his downward facing eyes, the glow only diminished for a moment before returning, his idle gaze was seemingly to the ground.

Koko huffed an incredulous blurt of a breath, scrambled to her feet and urgently crossed her room. As she unlocked her sliding glass door, she pulled back the curtain, slowly slid the door open and caught in the whirl of Nox's urgent, loving eye contact of mild desperation. Koko froze as the cold breeze whisped into her room, she kept one hand to the handle of her sliding glass door and rested her other hand to the wall it would connect to. The rain continued to gently fall outside, and as the castle grounds seemingly were silent and asleep for the night, she was hooked to Nox's eye contact, as if he was simply stating that this night was far from over, the smolder of nervous determination on his face proved to Koko that he likely had a storm on his mind, and he was so desperately seeking the eye of it. Nox's eyes bashfully fell, looked down in gentle thought and finally came back to Koko's surprised, anticipating gaze.

His voice inquired in a crackle of deep, coy charm, "... May I come in?"


	131. Chapter 131

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Yes and yes haha xD Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** You really think I'd reveal the whole plot of the entire story in that one little chapter? xD That's not even close to being a fourth of the extent of it. Have faith haha. and yes! I've definitely given that away, with my spoiler pictures on deviantART :P Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** More or less, yes xD Thank you! yay

 **SamanthaR1987 :** I'm glad you feel that way haha. Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** LOL She might as well do that xD Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Haha nope, sorry about that. And Cory is indifferent, he loves my hair either way. He loves the strands of silver and orange (I'm Irish) - I'm very fortunate that he is the type of boyfriend that doesn't care what I do to my body/what happens to it, like my hair graying or whatever. Just as long as I'm happy, he's happy haha. That was an odd question xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Sooner Or Later by Aaron Carter**

 ***Chapter 131***

As Nox's voice rung through Koko's head, she let her eyes gently narrow to a near annoyed squint, though it was in this action she knew not to do anything that would likely make Nox reel away and stop this full force of confidence he seemed to be pushing forth. Koko peered hard into Nox's glorious eyes, a haunting presence of a soul anyone else would be certain was simply here to wreak havoc. He was unwavering, a ironic touch of humility and daring attitude soaked his presence, and before Koko could worsen her glower, snip at him to get lost, bring light to the unspoken issue at hand, she felt her heart soften. The tender way he'd blink, and the light would vanish only for the time his eyes were closed, the draw of his masculine hand to his forearm in a grip of confidence that had begun to slowly slip from him, the way he cleared his throat and felt safe holding his eerie eye contact to hers, she felt her wall come down, as did her arms from the door and it's frame.

Without words, Koko gently took a small step back and welcomed Nox into her room. With a pause, just to be sure, he allowed said hesitation to watch for any negative cues Koko could possibly send his way. As he noticed the coast was clear, he politely took off his dirty shoes, left them on her sliding glass doorstep and warmly stepped in. As he pushed into Koko's warm room, his eyes heightened in a glow to get accustomed to the dim surroundings. He nervously looked about and, though it was made aware that Koko was well on her way to being ready for bed, her dim lantern lights lit the room in a romantic, welcoming aura, something he knew she wasn't planning for him, and with this, he held his breath and was delighted that this energy was strictly apart of her character. He bit his lip, and as he gazed across Koko's lovely room, he let his eyes lull closed, in a draw into the back of his head, as he heard Koko shut and lock her sliding glass door. He inhaled a shaky breath, finally opened his eyes and slowly turned around, he knew they needed to face this problem head on.

"I-I guess... I sort of have some explaining to do," Nox stammered nervously, the glow of his eyes held a frozen charm of solid captivation, an aura of goodness he was hoping would help Koko warm up to him in the bout of a spat they have suddenly found themselves in, and as Koko crossed her arms and gave him an annoyed glower of limited patience, he huffed a shaky sigh and looked down, "I guess... Thirty years of solitude has really messed with my ability to acknowledge and respect other's feelings."

Koko remained frozen, and as Nox finally got a good look at her, she noticed she was only lightly dressed. She wore a pair of comfortable, grey cotton shorts that exposed mostly all of her thighs, she also wore a slouched black t shirt; Nox struggled to swallow as he also tried his very best not to largely notice that she wasn't wearing anything underneath. He felt his hands begin to tremble, the sheer fact that her gorgeous, womanly figure alone was enough to make his head swim in the never ending vat of confidence he was so desperately trying to keep his head above. He swallowed hard, expelled a huff of a tremble and only briefly glanced to her frozen solid figure.

"I owe you an apology..." Nox frowned, though after a moment he finally mustered the confidence to look her in the eye, "I've been a real jerk... I-I can explain-"

"You don't need to explain anything," Koko stabbed quietly, and it was in this raw moment did he see just exactly the weight of her female relatives, of which had enormous stature in the castle; Tessa and Vanellope's snarky, sharp attitude so easily eked from Koko's pores.

"... What?" Nox asked, though more in the sense of plain confusion.

"I get what's going on," Koko stated quietly as she looked away and shook her head, "I get it. You're not interested in me, anymore."

Nox flinched and felt his world turn on it's head, and though he suddenly let a wide, confused, incredulous smile fly free, he remained still and desperately tried to reel from her weird words. He uttered a stammering noise, shook his head and peered to her in raw confusion.

"... Wait," Nox urged quietly with a huff of a chuckle, though just as he took a step forward, Koko took a step to the side and lulled her moseying walk to no where specific.

"No, Nox... It's... You know, I get it," Koko eased, she shook her head and peered her humbled gaze to his, and though she still looked irritated, Nox wondered if said irritation was aimed strictly at herself. She breathed a small laugh of irony and smiled the same, "I drove you away... I-I guess I just... Fell harder than you did. I get it. You don't have to explain anything."

"...Koko, I-"

"Nox, I know you're just wanting to beat around the bush, so to spare my feelings, but I'm a big girl, I understand," Koko pressed as she looked down a little, in defeat, "Just peel it off like a band-aid, it's fine."

"That's opposite of what's going on," Nox blurt quietly, he tried to keep his voice down; he knew her room wasn't sound proof. He gently marched across their gap and grew closer to her as he continued, "Please, listen to me."

"There's nothing else you can say, Nox," Koko pleaded quietly as she squinted and looked as if she could potentially be holding back tears, "I know when I've reached the limit. I-I guess I should've taken my cues and left you alone."

"That's not it, at all," Nox huffed as he suddenly felt a wave of confidence swell over him, and in the whirl of their mutterings and disputes, Nox swept his hands up, cupped Koko's soft face in his grey, masculine hands, scrunched his shoulders and nearly hovered over her. In the draw of so desperately wanting to pull her into a passionate kiss, he inhaled a shaky breath and slowly drummed to a halt before he could follow through. The glow of his eyes only gently illuminated her red cheeks as the two froze in the whirl of delightful confusion, though before Nox could physically press on, he glanced to her mouth and uttered a shaky breath as the wave dipped, like what he expected, "It's quite the contrary..."

"What... Are you saying?" Koko eased tenderly, as if her stubborn, annoyed front was something she was relieved to let go of, though she flinched as Nox bit his bottom lip and quickly stepped away from Koko.

"I was pushing you away, because..." Nox shook his head, he had his back turned to her and had successfully stepped a good four or five steps away. He rubbed his forehead, in agitation towards himself, and heaved a long, tired sigh. He shook his head, once more, and gently peered his golden gaze over his shoulder, "I guess I just was scared. I-I... I had these adolescent ideologies on just how a relationship is to unfold... Coupled with my biggest brother scaring the crap out of me."

"Wait... Turbo?" Koko squinted and took a step forward, though she hesitated and grew confused.

"Yeah... Ace and Libby were attempting to calm me down, and... Amidst helping me through an exterior swap, it triggered a full blown memory I had of the last time I saw Turbo," Nox looked down to Koko's floor and slumped his shoulders, though he finally turned to face her and gave her a sorrowful frown, "... Turbo had a swap mate."

"H-He did?" Koko huffed as she put her hand over her chest, she grew flustered and urgently began to look for her communicator, "W-Well, we need to tell my mom, or something, because-"

"Sh-she already knows, trust me," Nox chuckled and enjoyed watching her suddenly halt and peer her confused gaze to Nox's, "... That's the whole reason the trip is suddenly bumped to tomorrow."

"Oh," Koko huffed as she slumped her shoulders, "My mom only messaged me briefly about it. She DID say it was a long story."

"Turbo's swap mate was from Sweet Streets... Sugar Rush's demo, which got unplugged," Nox stated knowingly as he looked down and sighed, "He... He warned me never to find myself a swap mate. Strictly because, upon swap, it's irreversible... And if your swap mate dies..."

"You're... Trapped with their coding?" Koko inquired quietly, and knowingly, and as Nox nodded and dragged his nervous gaze to hers, she felt her face get hot in a draw of understanding. She heaved a shaky sigh and nearly smiled, though she knew this was a trying time and to not get confused, "I see..."

"I hadn't remembered this memory, that's the thing... I was riding on my subconscious, and... Somewhere, my mind told me to prolong whatever we have, here," Nox urged quietly, though Koko held her attentive, honey brown eyes to his in growing, confused glee, though she reserved it nicely. Nox grappled his hair and uttered a small noise of dire annoyance as he continued on, "I-I was so conflicted... I got the scoop on opposed swaps, I had Ace swap our source codes, I was prepared... I was prepared to make this the real deal."

"...Us?" Koko gawked quietly, though Nox flagged his hand and looked up in growing desperation.

"Us," Nox agreed in a gripe of dire annoyance towards himself, though he peered his pleading eye contact to hers and shook his head as he squinted, "I knew to take things slow, once we, well... Hit that bump in the road, after your birthday."

Koko raised her eyebrows and looked down bashfully, she knew that was likely the smart move, though she held her breath and now wondered if it likely had given Nox a weird flash of mixed signals.

"For some reason, I felt the need to play that game, as well," Nox long blinked and looked down in bashful sorrow, "I... I really enjoyed being wanted, for once. Your messages were so addicting, I never wanted to stop feeling needed. I never wanted to give in because... I was so worried that you'd get your fill and that'd be that... But then, when I relived that memory I had with Turbo, I very quickly realized that his advice was strictly from past experience, and all he was trying to do was protect me."

"... You really thought, that if we swapped once, I'd want only that one time?" Koko side-eyed Nox and frowned. He slumped his shoulders and looked sheepish, "You thought somehow it'd be a fling and we'd go on living with each other's coding, not wanting refills? Not wanting to be with each other? No... No US?"

"I must've taken Turbo's advice, ran with it, and then forgot about it until it was something that pertained to me," Nox mumbled as he remained still, though he shrugged and peered to her in soft desperation in a squint, "No one has ever taken this much interest in me, and when I started to... Feel things for you, it scared me. I guess my subconscious remembered what Turbo went through, and in order to protect myself, I just..."

"... Played hard to get?" Koko sneered, she dared to smile, though Nox huffed a croak of a sigh and looked down.

"That was a really shitty thing of me to do, to you, and I'm very sorry," Nox uttered shakily, he humbly peered to her in a frown and shook his head, "Is there any way you can forgive me?"

Held in gentle stillness, Koko's arms were crossed, and as her eyes glossed Nox's solid figure, she narrowed her gaze a little and assessed him wholly. An adorable character, his short, gangly figure was lightly masked by decent amount muscle, and as his stance seemed wary and innocent, his demeanor was anything but. He held confidence in his body, though it was as if he wasn't even aware of it. Having been cooped up a tree nearly his whole life, it were as if he had acquired the skills and traits he needed, to make a good mate, but didn't even realize any of it. Koko huffed a small laugh, at said irony, and finally gave Nox a gentle smile.

"I think so," Koko breathed, and though she so badly wanted to knock him around a bit, she felt her heart swell for his adorable, genuinely humbled demeanor, and as a smile gently graced his face, she knew she had made the right choice.

Nox nodded a little, and though he didn't get a solid sentence of forgiveness out of her, he knew that was likely as good as it would get. He squinted, looked down to the wood flooring around her feet and contemplated something. Though the two hadn't known each other but maybe a few months, he still felt an unwavering, solid friendship about them. It was in her act of showing interest, holding eye contact and showing no fear did he know full well that she was a gem, and though he was excited to finally be able to pursue a mate, hopefully make a girlfriend and a swap mate out of this beauty, he had a hard time swallowing the hard fact that it'd take nearly every last ounce of his responsibility, a notion in which he wasn't very familiar with because of all of those lazy, endless EZ Living days.

"So... All those missed messages? All those short replies?" Koko wondered dryly, she confidently began to take a few steps closer to him.

"... All intended," Nox admitted sorrowfully, he peered to her in pure, apologetic defeat, "I thought it'd be a good thing."

"To drive me up a wall?" Koko finished with a hard giggle, though Nox finally beamed and looked down.

"I was hoping it'd drive you crazy," Nox smiled bashfully, he wrinkled his nose and gave Koko a look of knowing humility, "Libby got her claws on me, though... So I guess you can thank her for knocking some sense into me."

"Oh trust me, she'll be getting a massive thank you," Koko stated with a wide smile, though Nox's smile only continued to broaden, "Be thankful it was her claws and not my fists."

"Can I be honest with you?" Nox stammered, and it was in this sentence did Koko finally realize just how shaky and trembling his voice was becoming, and as she assessed him, she noticed his confident demeanor sink into a shell of bashful, collected giddiness.

"Please," Koko breathed as she stood a foot or two before him.

Nox swallowed hard, collected himself, inhaled a shaky breath and peered his determined eye contact into hers, as if he were simply wanting to get a lifetime of secrets off of his chest, and as he spoke, his tender voice glossed over her in a roll of honesty he was certain would drown him.

"I love you," Nox concluded kindly. He huffed a shaky laugh and, as the words rolled from his mouth for the very first time, he shook his head incredulously, beamed a wider smile and laughed a little, as if to be surprised at himself; someone like him accepting the feeling of romance that had plagued him, the feeling of falling in love, he gladly embraced it and felt his heart rapidly pound in his chest as he peered lovingly into Koko's eyes, "I love you."

Koko raised her eyebrows and did everything in her power not to begin to do cartwheels around her bedroom. She kept her arms crossed, and as she wholly froze, she kept her gaze strict to Nox's and soaked in his repeated words for a moment. Before she could properly convey her feelings back to him, he scoffed a harder laugh, flagged his hands out to his sides, let them messily drape back to his body, and he continued on in a shrug of plucked delight he wasn't sure he could ever feel, in his life.

"I'm not even a little uncertain," Nox huffed through a confident laugh, he shook his head and was thrilled his laughter was contagious enough to draw a few girly giggles out of Koko's figure. He gingerly let the backs of his knuckles nudge her lower arms, which were still crossed over her chest, though he bounced a little and inhaled a deep breath, "I can't stop smiling... I-I love you. A lot."

"I love you too," Koko finally admitted as Nox's eyes were aimed downwards, though as the words hit his brain, he froze, raised his eyebrows and peered hard into her eyes, as if he was totally positive she wouldn't reciprocate.

"... R-Really?" He huffed in disbelief, though he beamed a wider smile of loving humility and dared to step closer to her. He warmly took her upper arms in his trembling hands, squinted and shook his head through his proud, beaming smile, "I-I'm so terrible at this."

"Well, I'm not," Koko eased kindly as she unraveled, let her fingertips find his chest, and as she tilted her head up in preparation for an overflow of his love, she narrowed her gaze as well and let her voice hush to just above a whisper, "You can take my lead until you're comfortable."

"I-I'll try and keep up," Nox stammered as quietly as he could, and as if he could hardly even begin to believe that all of this was real, he cocked an eyebrow and finally let the room go absent of his golden gaze's glow.

As Nox's gently hands finally returned to her cheeks, he swept her into that passionate kiss he had bookmarked. He sharply inhaled, a long draw of reeling in her scent, and as he could feel her tender hands slide up his chest, he felt his head begin to swim with the impending act upon them. He furrowed his brow and, as the two tilted to deepen their kiss, he felt their body language fall quickly into rhythm with each other's. As Koko warmly began to push on his chest, so to suggest he step backwards, he followed her movements and was thrilled she was feeling dominant, in this realm. As the two gasped for a breath, they sunk back into each other through hot draws of grippy hands and inhales of each other's breath, the stick and pull of their lips doing everything they could to taste the other's kiss.

Before Nox could begin to finally focus on simply deepening their kiss, Koko jumped a few steps ahead of him and gingerly let her larger hands find his hip bones. Upon doing so, he flinched as the backs of his lower legs suddenly eased into her foot board, and upon this, Nox barely jolted and felt the weight of the situation at hand. Koko's strong hands softly pushed him down, and as he suddenly sat onto the edge of her comfortable bed, they broke the kiss. Nox raised his eyebrows in collected surprise as he desperately tried to keep up, like he promised, though he began to feel wholly thrown through the ringer, at this point. He opened his boggled eye sight, let the golden gaze gloss her shoulder and before he could even question, to himself, just where to go next, he exhaled a shaky breath and warmly welcomed Koko onto his lap.

As she straddled him, her knees pressed firmly to her bed, she tucked into his neck and urgently tasted his skin, grey hues of warmth and goodness that was simply soaked in goosebumps, and as Nox finally relaxed his spine, he beamed a delirious smile across the room, closed his eyes and let his hands slide down Koko's back. He exhaled a deep groan of a chuckle as she began to nibble at his skin, she tucked into his neck, just under his ear. He scrunched his shoulders and began to grow bashful in a draw of hot, collected knowing. He wrinkled his nose and was floored in delight to hear her laugh alongside him, and it was with this that he knew they would have a lot of fun in this venture. As he tightened his embrace around her, he inhaled and exhaled a shaky huff of a groan, though he raised his eyebrows in hard surprise as she hovered her wet lips just on his ear.

"My room isn't sound proofed," Koko warned quietly, though Nox cocked an eyebrow and felt the fleeting feeling of confidence rush to him in the form of witty banter he was so good at.

"Is that a challenge?" Nox dared, he let his eyes lull closed in a knowing way as he dared to slide his hands farther down her back, "I can't tell whose benefit that warning is for..."

"You feeling confident in yourself?" Koko stabbed, it was clearly playful, a coy display of irresistible girly goodness, though before she could tuck into his neck and drive him crazy, she gasped a small noise as Nox gingerly pulled her harder into his lap.

"Why don't we get this show on the road and you can find out for yourself," Nox's voice nearly growled onto her shoulder, though he raised his eyebrows in surprise as said gentle threats only riled her further.

As a silent giggle escaped her figure, she easily welcomed Nox's grabby hands, and as he tucked her tighter into his hips and body, she eagerly hugged her arms about his neck. As the two stirred in a meandrous draw of pent up delight, Koko cocked an eyebrow, amidst her trail of hot kisses along Nox's collar and was floored to feel the weight of Nox's words hit her head on. As she was gingerly tugged deeper into his lap, she felt her heart begin to pulse in such a way that nearly warned her it was about to give up beating. Upon feeling said distention, she felt uneducated delight soak over her, and it was in this raw moment did she understand wholly that the gentle, humble and adorably shy front Nox often gives off is totally genuine, a humble cover and skillful show of undercompensation.

Koko gasped a little, and as she hovered over Nox's ear, she heaved a silent giggle to him and wholly enjoyed the plague of goosebumps she kept his skin riddled with. As his hands did anything and everything to saddle her on him, keep her in motion, squirm and silently beg for this wild ride to begin, she felt a daring sense of urgency cloak over her. As smoothly as she could, she gingerly unbuttoned the two buttons on the front of Nox's lazy black cotton pajama pants, and without much effort, she gripped him in a gentle tug of collective desire. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and though the gauge of everything was difficult because of her larger hands, she still felt her stomach dip in a writhe of whole, delightful surprise. She bit her lip bashfully and felt her whole entire spine turn to goo at the sheer sound of his trembling breath simply getting caught in the back of his throat. She wrinkled her nose in a smirk of scheming delight and knew this was simply her way of expressing that she had the reigns, and she would do anything and everything to make him pay for the games he played on her.

Koko quietly giggled into his shoulder as his spine went rigid, and as she gingerly drove her hand along his smooth skin, she uttered a few soft notions into his ear. Nox rolled his eyes in dire, exhausted, delightful annoyance, and as he desperately peered up to her ceiling, he felt as if the walls were caving in on him, and everything he was so urgently warned about was thrust out the window with one simple dip to desire. He lulled his eyes closed and could feel himself nearly go cross-eyed with the amount of pleasure Koko soaked over him, and as she continued on with her smooth, simple movement of her hand, he exhaled a shaky breath and very quickly felt the drive to seek more. He raised an eyebrow in delirious attempt to gain clarity, and as his grippy hands clawed at her shorts, he was surprised to feel her gently sit up a little higher and allow him to follow through with his wants. As quickly as he possibly could, he did absolutely everything he could to get her shorts and underwear off of her body, and with such, she raised her eyebrows and finally peered down into his desperate eyes.

"This is crazy," Nox huffed shakily, as if to state to her that stopping was probably wise, though he was very aware nothing of the sort would happen this far into the game, "We're done for..."

"So be it," Koko whispered on his wet lips, and as she finally guided him to normality, she began to drive him to her center in a slow and pleasurably exhausting slide.

Nox grimaced, grit his teeth and nearly clawed her bare hips, and once they were glued, he tugged her harder into his lap and uttered a whisper of a groan. It was at this point did he quickly realize that Koko's previous warning, about her non-sound proofed room, was for his benefit, and though he was ultimately certain she could probably yell her lungs out, with the throw around, he bit his lip in dire delight and was excited to see just what their future relationship would hold. For now, he was excited to focus on finding just what could make her nearly want to let it all out, just what could possibly drive her crazy in this raw moment of having to keep their voices down. Koko fluttered her eyes in delirious surprise, lulled her head back and so gently clawed the back of Nox's head in her able hands, and as the two drove to solid connection, Nox slid his trembling hands up her smooth back and into her loose shirt.

Just as Nox felt a smile grace his face, he was suddenly stunned to feel her lift her hips a little, and upon doing so, he felt his spine go rigid once more. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and exhausted a huff of a trembling breath as she softly sat back down on him. Her knees dug into the bed, on either sides of his thighs, and as she picked up the pace and got used to the heightened predicament they had found themselves in, she gained a further amount of confidence and leaned back a little. It was in this draw did Nox's eyes quickly drag from their connection in a gloss up her beautiful, curvy body, and as his hands slid to the dip of her waist, he peered his vehement golden gaze into hers. The glow illuminated her gorgeous, blushed face, and as she smiled in a gape of delight, he long blinked in a pluck of raw disbelief and could swear this was simply a wild, crazy dream he had no control over. Nox exhaled a trembling sigh that caught with the tight squeeze of her movements, and as he grappled the small of her waist, he began to feel further confidence come to him.

Koko gave him a smolder of a smile, she tucked her hands into her hair and raised her arms, and as Nox began to help her move, he welcomed her upper body tighter into his. He let his golden eyes flutter closed as he sunk his head and face into her chest, though as he nuzzled between her clothed, loose breasts, he suddenly felt her coding begin to plague his in a draw of curiosity that crawled over them. Nox flinched and felt an overwhelming heap of information hit his brain, and as their coding sprawled in a mix of an aggressive exterior swap, he uttered a trembling noise, above the whispers they had kept strict to, and idly gazed into her shirt in a draw of delirious shock. He slumped into her a little, and as she so lovingly hugged his head and continued to move, he soaked in every single last inch of her coding, every last pixel of her whole entire being glossed his in a display of unconditional love he knew she gave best. He held onto her tight, he kissed her covered chest, on her sternum, and so desperately wished this predicament wasn't a fragile one.

Nox uttered a soft noise, and through their gasps and sighs that coat the room in an overload of delicate passion, Nox began to feel himself succumb to this act, something of which he was very heavily warned about. He squinted his eyes shut, exhaled a shaky breath and grappled his arms about Koko's waist, and with such, she eagerly hugged his head in return. She showered the top of his head with kisses, and as the two continued on through the movement of solid rhythm they had found themselves in, Nox's heavenly thoughts were only gently popped from the sound of her bed that began to make a bit of noise. Upon the first few louder creaks, Koko quickly drew to a stop, peered down to Nox in gentle sheepishness and shook her head with a small smile. He peeled his eyes open, practically from the back of his skull, and looked up at Koko in gentle curiosity. Before he could be bashful and question just what they could do to alleviate the noise, he held his breath, let his eyes gloss her body and finally drag to the wall across her bedroom.

Nox held his breath and froze. He knew doing something as brand new as preparing to code swap, or even having sex, was something he only viewed as a pipe dream, though somehow he got caught up in the fact that it was, indeed, a real thing happening to him in this moment. As much as he wanted to likely take himself out of the equation and just experience this whole thing selfishly, without having to put in effort and feel fear of being shot down, he reeled and remembered just where he was, and who exactly he was with. As he peered up into Koko's eyes, he saw a beautiful woman of understanding, of delight, she gave him the world in one slew of a simple smolder of eye contact, and with this non-verbal form of camaraderie, he felt like a million bucks. With one swift movement, his strong arms did everything they could to pick Koko up, underneath her thighs, and as he stood, she yelped a quiet noise of surprise, hooked her legs tight around his waist and grappled onto him like a lifeline.

She uttered a girly question of exhausted delight into his ear, though Nox nudged his chin into her shoulder, marched his powerful stance across the room, successfully kept the two hooked together, and in a writhing stir of movement, he firmly shoved her to the wall nearest her bathroom. Upon the push, he drove deeper into her body, which caused her to arch her back in sudden surprise. She inhaled a sharp gasp, grappled the back of Nox's neck, gaped and lulled her eyes closed. Nox cocked an eyebrow, huffed a breath of surprise and felt strange, new sensations they simply weren't reaching by staying slouched on her bed, and with this, Nox squinted and finally felt a solid embrace of confidence keep to his skin, just what he needed to fully blow her mind. Koko shrunk into the wall and peered up to Nox for once, during this escapade, and as he darkly hovered over her, he gave her a smirk as if to playfully and cleverly display that it was his turn to drive her wild.

Koko huffed a shaky breath as her face turned beet red, and as Nox gently began to drive into her, she stiffened, grappled her thighs around his body and urgently gripped his shoulders. She raised her eyebrows and gaped in a hot draw of writhing surprise, and as Nox kept his steady feet planted so firmly into the ground, he nudged his forehead into hers and whispered a few daring notions onto the bridge of her nose, as if to so secretly reveal that confident, boastful side of himself he was only comfortable showing Koko the full extent of. As she did everything to keep her voice quiet, she grimaced and lulled her head to the side amidst the overwhelm of defeat that seemingly plowed over her. She exhaled a shaky giggle as Nox's movement continued on strong and true, and with this, she felt her coding begin to dance that particular dance of a heightened frenzy.

Nox bit his lip in a trembling draw of conflicted ideas. He knew following through with this risky swap was crazy, though his mind reeled to the two couples amidst the castle that made it work and were successful with said notion. He shut his eyes and fought with himself, though as Koko's coding continued to lovingly gloss over his, it mixed perfectly, a strange sensation of old and new coming together as one, he wondered if it likely wasn't as dangerous as they once thought. As he peered his curious gaze down to hers, he urgently wondered if she was in the same boat as him, and as every single last inch of his honeycombed coding grappled to her circuits with great fervor, a long draw of excited want, he grimaced and was almost certain of their demise. Before he could overthink the situation, he held his breath and wondered just what could be on the other side of this confusing situation of smoke and mirrors.


	132. Chapter 132

**Reviews :**

 **ArchDev :** Baww c'mon have a little more faith xD

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you so much! :'D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha yeah, she was definitely close to slamming the door in his face huh xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks!

 **Retrokill :**... What is that supposed to mean? Like really xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yeahhh it's definitely going to be something the two struggle with, for sure haha. Thank you!

 **StillAintBovvered :** I'm glad! :D

* * *

 **A/N : Uhhhhhh. Sooooo I just realized that I'm 132 chapters into Rectifying Origin and I've practically passed Wrecking Limit's word count. What also scares me is I'm sitting on at least 80-100 more chapters of plot. I always knew Rectifying Origin would be a behemoth but shit! I'm scaring MYSELF here xD**

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Dearly Departed by Aaron Carter (his new album THO.)**

 ***Chapter 132***

In a slow, gentle mosey of the group that wandered through Sugar Rush's wires, it was clear everyone was simply just prolonging the feeling of still waking up. It was a few hours before the open arcade call, and though the sun had just risen, Vanellope lead the group through the darkness. Her coding was flared on her arms, so everyone could see, and as the light at the end of the tunnel shown through, so did Sugar Rush's delicious, cold breeze. Ace inhaled a deep breath, let his eyes flutter closed and allowed the soak of sugary goodness coat his soul, the very essence his coding was made of, and though they still had a long journey ahead of them, he was floored to be able to one day call Sugar Rush his home. Though it was a pipe dream, he also secretly pined for the crown. He knew he'd have to get in line behind his own father, however.

"I'm going to make a bet with you," Royal stated to Ace quietly as they kept in tow with each other.

Ace furrowed his brow, let his eyes gloss the group of his eight family members, as well as Balba and Lickity, ahead of the two, and as he dragged his sleepy gaze to Royal's beautiful golden eyes, he let a wide smile grace his face. Though Royal was obviously not his blood relative, Ace still treat him like a brother, and even through the lessons of growing up together, he knew the two would never grow apart. Ace gingerly let his larger hand grace the scales on the side of Royal's lower neck, near the end of his clavicle, and continued to keep close to the large beast next to him.

"Really? We've been awake for thirty minutes and already you want to start making bets?" Ace wondered in a deep croak of kind delight, he beamed and shook his head in a sleepy manner, "The day is VERY young, Roy."

"I'm going to bet you every single last drop of sugar, in all of Sugar Rush, that Nox will go through the force field last," Royal stated quietly; the group ahead of them gently chattered with each other, though Nox hung near the back of the group and was suspiciously quiet.

"... That's a rather specific bet," Ace prod tenderly as he eyed Royal, though Royal flattened his ears and peered to Ace in the corner of his large eye and further wrinkled his bat-like snout.

"I forgot, you humans have a terrible sense of smell," Royal eased through a solid breath as he shook his head and continued on in an exasperated sigh, "That kid ekes of something fierce. I know that scent, dude."

"...Pheromones?" Ace wrinkled his nose as he caught on, though his eyes glossed to the back of Nox's head.

"Yeah. Usually it's you stinkin' up the place, but... Like you said, the day is still very young," Royal stated in quiet teasing, though Ace's face turned beet red as he gave Royal a surprised glower.

"...Me?" Ace gawked tiredly, though Royal laughed and wobbled a little as Ace firmly nudged him, "C'mon, now..."

"So, y'bettin' or not?" Royal chuckled, he beamed his fang-filled smile and softened his side-eye to Ace's curious gaze.

"...No, you clearly know something I don't," Ace mumbled as he eyed Nox, once more, "Did Nox tell you something? What's going on?"

"Tell me something?" Royal gawked as Zed, Orph and Vanellope let out a soft few calls of laughter, at the head of the group, "He doesn't have to say anything, it's written all over his face."

"WHAT is?" Ace argued quietly as they grew closer to the gaping entrance of Sugar Rush's gorgeous landscape.

"The kid got some, last night," Royal muttered as he flattened his ears, "C'mon, Jack of Spades, y'gotta sharpen your senses."

"Ace... Of Hearts..." Ace stabbed in chuckling annoyance, though Royal furrowed his eyebrow muscles and gave Ace a knowing look of irritated urgency. Ace slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes, "Alright, so... Enlighten me. How can you quite possibly tell, just by looking at someone, that they had sex?"

"Well, I may not be a human, but you creatures are way too easy to read," Royal mumbled as the two eyed Nox, "First off, lookit what he's wearing. He's put care into himself, his clothes are thought out. Also, the painful way he's so desperately trying to be nonchalant. You see that bounce in his step, don't you?"

Ace furrowed his brow and peered to his best friend, and though the two hadn't talked once, yet, today, Nox's demeanor did look a bit more heightened, more tidy. He seemed sharper, more conscious of his surroundings and himself, and though there was no physical bounce to his step, his demeanor did certainly hold a lighter air. Ace finally dragged his gaze of mild disbelief to Royal's, and before Ace could likely counter Royal and state that Nox and Koko still had a long ways to go, Royal shook his head, looked away in exasperated tiredness and smiled.

"Just sayin'! You don't have to believe me!" Royal hissed quietly through a chuckle as the group slowly happened upon the force field of Sugar Rush's entrance.

"... He DID go see Koko, last night, before Libby and I parted for the evening," Ace stated to himself as he rubbed his chin and began to mosey with Royal, "I... I don't think he would've gathered enough courage to actually swap with Koko, though."

"Well, you'll find out in literally two minutes," Royal grumbled with a cheeky smile as he gestured the wrist of his wing to the force field they were maybe fifty feet from, "Crossing over means showing ALL your colors."

Ace furrowed his brow and peered to Nox curiously, though he shook his head gently and figured that, if anything happened between him and Koko last night, it likely didn't involve a thorough swap and probably just ended after fooling around, at most. Ace tried not to think too hard about it, though as the group came upon the force field, he felt the gears in his head turn a little harder as Nox's demeanor proved Royal to be right, and much to Ace's surprise, Nox wormed his way to the back of the group so he could go through the force field last. Ace hovered upon the force field's intimidating electric buzz, though with every last fiber of his incredible power, he sunk past it and hung right between both worlds. The force field's angry red circuitry buzzed in confusion, as Ace made a proper opening.

As everyone lightly chattered with amazement, with the sheer fact that this was all possible due to Ace's powers, Ace out reached his hands for the first person closest to him, being his great Aunt Taffyta. One by one, they took turns getting through the force field with the help of Ace's coding, and as everyone passed through, their coding sprawled their skin due to the exterior swap that was unavoidable. As Ace gently helped through Vanellope, his mother, his father, his uncle Orph, his aunt Penny, Balba, Lickity and Royal, he eyed the last two beings and was beginning to grow even more wary of Royal's foretelling just minutes prior. He furrowed his brow in contemplation, and though he simply glanced at Libby, he wondered if goading Nox into passing through second to last would be a thing, though much to his surprise, Nox stammered a few notions and gestured to Libby in kind nervousness.

"... Ladies first," Nox eased politely, ultimately thwarting Ace's idea.

Ace gave Libby a kind smile and tried not to seem too obvious. He gingerly pulled Libby through the force field, to the other side, and let his eyes scan Sugar Rush's entrance hill, to see just where everyone was. Ace furrowed his brow in dumbfounded surprise and was floored to see that they had moved at least two dozen feet off and quietly chattered about the direction they will be heading in, the fact that they'll be gone for five days, and as Libby skipped off to join the group, Ace's eyes caught with Royal's over his shoulder. Royal cocked an eyebrow, eyed Nox in a knowing way, flattened his ears with a smug smile and returned to chatting with Balba. Ace held his breath, felt his skin go cold in surprised knowing and peered back to Nox, through the other side of the force field.

"... Y'comin'?" Ace wondered lightly, as if to prove he wasn't suspicious, though Nox uttered a soft noise, rubbed the back of his head and gave Ace a small, sheepish look. Ace furrowed his brow and continued to play dumb, "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet, now."

"No, I'm not... I just... Can you please promise me something?" Nox eased nervously, his golden gaze peered into Ace's with genuine apprehension, and it was in this raw instance did Ace hold his breath and begin to feel the overflow of excitement hit him.

"Sure, dude, what's up?" Ace eased casually as Nox stepped a little closer.

As Nox warmly took Ace's hand, so to be pulled through the force field, Ace held his breath a little harder and peered down to their conjoined hands. As Nox's body was peeled through the angry force field, his skin was harshly riddled with a spark of his handsome, brand new coding, and as the two flit about in a jolt of pixels, Ace finally eased Nox into Sugar Rush for good. Ace exhaled a breath of surprise, let go of Nox's hand and let his eyes drag up Nox's arms, to his eyes. His neck urgently sprawled with a gorgeous mixture of a near crimson-purple combination of honeycombs and circuit lines, a design Ace was used to seeing upon his and Libby's skin. Ace huffed a surprised breath, pierced his stare into Nox's and shook his head in secretive surprise.

"... Koko and I swapped," Nox breathed quietly as the group further down the way began to grow a bit more boisterous and awake with life. Ace breathed a quiet, surprised chuckle and gently gestured to Nox, as if to state he seriously had no clue where to begin, "I'm... I still have yet to tell Vanellope, or anyone else, for that matter, so... Can you please keep this between us until I muster up the courage?"

Ace froze and peered to Nox in hard surprise. Not only had he successfully accomplished the opposed swap, he was now related to Ace, by code, because of one simple swipe of an act. Ace shook his head and gave Nox a look of brotherly love, a sweep of surprise he couldn't seem to wipe from his face, and as Ace gently pat Nox's shoulder, a silent form of congratulations, Nox beamed a humbled smile and reached out to return the brotherly pat. Said firm pats, on the arms and shoulders, quickly turned into a grapple of a hug. Ace firmly pat Nox's back a few times, amidst their hug, and as they pulled away, Ace nudged Nox's arm and narrowed his eyes.

"It's safe with me," Ace eased quietly, though he gave Nox a knowing, brotherly smile and nodded, "Welcome to the family."

Nox raised his eyebrows in gentle surprise and, for the first time since him and Koko swapped hours prior, the notion of Ace's words hit him head on. By swapping with Koko, Nox had successfully sat himself in the same family tree as the Schweetz's, the very core of Sugar Rush. Nox looked off in collected surprise, as if he hadn't even thought of it like that, and with said notion, he felt a wide, humbled smile sprawl his face. As Sugar Rush's sweet, welcoming breeze pushed into Nox for the very first time, he inhaled a deep breath and let the core of the game soak into every single last pixel of his being. Having been suddenly saddled with Sugar Rush's own sweet, delicious coding, through Koko's purple circuits, he felt a strange sweep of belonging gloss him. He squinted and peered out to Sugar Rush's gorgeous, sprawling landscape and shook his head as the wind brushed past him, once more. As Ace pat his back once more, as they neared the group, Nox felt a notion hit his heart head on; the warmth of home and family, belonging and welcoming, right at his fingertips, and though he was now soaked with the sweet charm of Koko's coding, he wrinkled his nose and knew the old, sarcastic cheek of his own honeycombs was certainly going nowhere.

"... This technically makes you my nephew," Nox stabbed quietly with a widening smile, and though Ace furrowed his brow and nearly retort, he slumped his shoulder in defeat, as the information soaked over him. Ace heaved a hot sigh through his nose and peered to Nox in annoyed cheek.

"You're right," Ace grumbled, though both boys blurt in hard laughter, "Uncle Nox."

"I actually don't like that, don't call me that," Nox rushed as they eased upon the group.

"Sweet, I know what pisses you off, now," Ace muttered, though Nox shot him an annoyed look of stuffed delight.

"I'll allow whatever children you have to call me that, but otherwise, I'll kill you," Nox teased, both boys tried their hardest to stifle their laughter.

* * *

Koko inhaled a sharp breath, sat up and was suddenly whisked away from her pleasant dreams. Her bedroom was still, the lull of her oscillating floor fan soaked the room in a delightful aura of white noise that helped her sleep, and as her chocolate brown hair gently wavered as the fan blew her way, she rubbed her eye and peered across her room. She felt her cheeks get hot in delightful, delirious surprise as she was floored to find that last night wasn't simply a dream. With her clothes strewn about her floor, just by her bed, and Nox's socks and tank top left behind, she inhaled a shaky breath and felt Nox's coding so gingerly coat her heart in an ironic kiss of deep want. She exhaled said shaky breath and peered down to her palm, and as she allowed her new coding to come forward to her skin, the glow that made her pupil's shrink brought extreme joy to her heart.

The gorgeous mixture of deep reds and purples soaked her skin in an easy fashion of overflowing love, and as the flickering honeycombs welcomed tiers of her advanced circuits, she near-giggled at the fuzzy-soft feeling Nox's old coding brought to her fresh pixels. She could practically feel the witty, sarcastic, bantering cheek of his character poke and prod her in a playful tease of a morning routine, as if to simply state that he was with her, even though they were physically apart. She heaved a wistful sigh, cupped her hands to her chest and felt her face get hot as the memories of last night coat her soul. She knew she needed to tell someone, though just as she reached for her communicator, so to likely gab to Libby about it, she felt coldness wash over her as she remembered the Sugar Rush scout was to leave at sunrise. She frowned and grappled for her communicator with nervous intent now, and as she pressed the home button, her heart jolted with the message waiting for her.

 _5:47am_

 _Noxtastic : Hey you. Don't have too much fun without me this week, okay?_

 _Noxtastic : I'll be back before you know it. I'll miss you lots._

 _Noxtastic : I love you._

Koko sighed through her nose and sunk her bare body back into her billowy bed sheets, pillows and blankets, which were properly strewn from the handfuls of throw-arounds her and Nox had endured, and though the both of them got a very little amount of sleep, she lulled her eyes closed and allowed her heart to race and keep her up with her lovely thoughts. She hugged her communicator to her bare chest and felt her heart swell with love for him, and though she soaked in her new coding, she re-opened her eyes and felt a weird sensation of mild dread come over her. She knew swapping was new to her, and the sheer level of want and desire would only escalate from here, she had to wonder if swapping right before being away from Nox, for five days straight, was likely not the smartest thing to do. She shut her eyes tight in apprehension, slumped her shoulders and let an annoyed smirk play across her face. She knew there was literally nothing to be done about it now, and she was thankful she at least had his coding with her, for good.

As the hours went by, Koko lazed in and out of snoozing and daydreaming. She hugged her fluffy pillows tight to her bare body and gladly soaked in the cool morning, the rays of sunshine that glinted past her tall, light wooden shoji screen, and as she sagged into her messy bed for the last time, she finally decided to get up and greet the day, as well as the very few castle residents that would likely be home right now. She knew it'd only consist of Oliver, Emery, Tammy and Throttle, for the rest of the Kalivar boys were hard at work for their quarter alerts. Koko dressed in a comfortable black tank, skinny jeans that hugged her figure nicely and a messy bun atop her head. She finally opened her bedroom door, stepped out into the hallway and inhaled a shaky breath of growing nervousness.

She furrowed her brow and wondered just how she would tell everyone. She quickly wondered if she should potentially wait for Nox to return, though it quickly brought her to the realization that she likely couldn't wait that long. She knew she'd likely overload Tammy with all the details, and because Tammy had experience with opposed swapping, with Finn, she figured Tammy was likely her best bet. She knew Emery would likely want in on the girly gossip as well. Koko held her breath in a draw of collected apprehension as she suddenly realized just who she would also be approaching said tender topic with; her big brother Oliver and bigger wrecker of a dad, Ralph. Koko halted in her tracks, half way down the hall, and bulged her eyes in a spark of fear.

She hiccuped a noise, which caused her glitching coding to sprawl her neck, shoulder and arms in a draw of powers that were now new and foreign to her. She rubbed her forehead, collected herself and inhaled a shaky breath. She knew telling Ralph was going to be the hardest venture yet, though she somehow wondered if she could prolong said issue by potentially getting Oliver on her side. Koko was aware no one would technically be upset with her, for swapping, though she grimaced lightly and knew swapping her precious Sugar Rush coding with a TurboTwin likely was one of the last things anyone would ever dream would happen. She slumped her shoulders and continued on her march down the hall, no matter how much she dread it. She beamed a sneaky, annoyed smile to herself and figured this is what she got for bending the rules of society.

"So there I was, ready for this to go down, and what's he doing?" Tammy urged in dull annoyance, her voice carried as Koko entered the kitchen, "He's across the bedroom, fixing shit!"

"Tammy, I hate to say it, but it's your fault," Oliver sneered playfully as him, Emery and Throttle blurt into hard laughter.

"Uh! No it's not!" Tammy cried, the kitchen was soaked with love, and though the number of residents so largely dwindled due to the scout that left early in the morning, Koko beamed a knowing smile and was excited to melt into the small group of individuals she could get to know a little better. Tammy joined in on everyone's laughter and urgently gestured her hand, "Thank my father! I didn't ask to carry on the fixing gene!"

"At least you didn't pass on the wrecking gene," Koko stated with a small giggle as she nonchalantly eased into the kitchen, though as she opened the fridge, she bulged her eyes and silently, but so angrily, scolded herself for touching so very close to the topic she was desperately trying to avoid. She scrunched her face in tight dread, squinted and prayed to User almighty that everyone would gloss past her comment; to her dismay, nothing of the sort happened.

"Well, Koko, whatever guy you swap with won't have to worry as much as Zed likely did," Oliver grumbled as he leaned his hands to the kitchen's large island, he huffed a soft breath and chuckled in Koko's direction, "Tessa got more of the wrecking gene, than you did."

"What about you?" Koko volleyed, to hopefully get the heat off of herself; she was thrilled to see Emery tense, raise her finger to join in and send a playful scowl in Oliver's direction.

"UH, Oliver takes the cake, when it comes to the overload of wrecking genes passed on," Emery stated bluntly in a draw of hard annoyance, everyone eased into knowing, prodding laughter towards Oliver.

"G'morning, Koko," Throttle stated warmly with a small nod, though he heaved a soft sigh and looked about in gentle dismay, "It's so quiet, this morning... I know it'll be nice having a break from the chaos, but... I'm certainly going to miss everyone."

"Meee too," Koko stated through a hiss of a collected sigh as she sunk into the kitchen island and rested her hands on the counter, and though the weight of her words went farther than anyone at the island could imagine, she suddenly felt a strange prickle of sheepishness come over her as she could see Tammy eyeing her, as if to silently wonder just what was different about Koko.

"... Did you do something different with your hair?" Tammy wondered slyly, she side-eyed Koko and so freakishly held that tight, cunning air that Calhoun harbored, the sharpest of intuition, everyone knew literally nothing got past Tammy.

"U-Uh... No, I just... Put it into a bun, is all?" Koko stammered as her face turned red, though she inwardly cursed herself for being like her oldest sister; wearing her heart on her sleeve seemed to be something she did best.

"Huh," Tammy huffed curiously as she peered at Koko down the bridge of her nose, as if to urgently and silently contemplate just what was different, something Koko wasn't saying, and as Emery continued to chatter on with Oliver and Throttle, Koko could feel the burn of Tammy's eye contact fall on her every now and then.


	133. Chapter 133

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** Yessss a million yes xD

 **ArchDev :** LOL well, I'm not going to spoil anything, but I'm pretty sure I will at least sort of break your guys' hearts, with this story. At least make you guys hold your breath xD

 **Nikki Firesong :** Naw that's okay lol. I just hope none of you think I'd actually reveal the whole plot, in one little chapter, right smack dab in the middle of the story, like such xD I appreciate it! And yes! Koko lives! haha

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Definitely lol

 **Retrokill :** oh okay haha. Same xD Thank you!

* * *

 ***Chapter 133***

Koko inhaled a refreshed breath, her eyes scanned her glorious, sun soaked room, and as she opened her large sliding glass door, to let in the noon time breeze, she somehow relished in the fact that the backyard was quiet. She knew, after a day or two, she'd most definitely miss seeing Lickity, Royal and Balba romping about the backyard, causing havok in the pool and entertaining everyone for hours, though for now, she soaked in the peace. The sound of lively jungle birds could be heard, noises she hadn't quite heard before. She breathed a content sigh and slumped to her large bean bag chair, across her room, though just as she soaked into it's soft comfort and let the peaceful atmosphere let her white curtains flutter in the breeze, a sudden presence soaked into her room. Koko jolted, held herself up on her elbows and peered to the formidable force that entered her domain.

"Wow, I thought Oliver was a lot sharper than to skim over your blatant, flashing neon signs," Tammy muttered in dry annoyance, her figure hung near the doorway. Tammy furrowed her brow, peered over her shoulder and inconspicuously peered down the long hallway, out of Koko's sunny room. She finally gave Koko a flash of a smile and nearly playfully glared, "I know your dirty little secret."

"Okay, okay, umm..." Koko stammered, she awkwardly began to try and get out of the squishy bean bag chair that somehow turned into a trap. She grimaced in a hard few blurts of a giggle and finally stood on her wooden floors. Tammy was lost in laughter, though before Tammy could blurt and reveal Koko's drama, Koko flagged her hand downward and sharply shushed her, "I-I haven't told anyone!"

"Well, clearly!" Tammy hissed as she peered back to Koko's wide open door, though she dragged her excited eyes back to her little cousin and crossed her arms, "You looked as if you were holding in the urge to pee your pants!"

"I was not!" Koko urged as she tucked her fists to her chest in blaring embarrassment, she smiled through and through, though she was certain her face was beet red.

"You swapped the swap," Tammy waggled her finger, "Youuu swapped coooodes-"

"Shut up!" Koko hissed in a sharper whisper as she urgently grappled Tammy's hands, though Tammy beamed a large smile down to her little cousin and giggled; she shrugged her shoulders, she wore one of Finn's comfortable white tanks and a pair of her own comfortable cotton shorts, of which were a pretty coral color. Koko huffed a shaky breath and finally let a wide smile sprawl her face, "... I've been bursting at the seams."

"So, spill then!" Tammy gestured firmly, though before Koko could begin to let everything loose, a third pair of footsteps were heard pushing into the room. Tammy and Koko raised their eyebrows in surprise and whirled around, though as their eyes laid upon Emery's gorgeous green eyes, they froze in confused anticipation.

"You canNOT leave me out of this swapping drama, anymore," Emery demanded quietly as she stepped into Koko's bedroom and politely shut the door, though both Koko and Tammy breathed a quiet few breaths of knowing laughter. Emery was dressed in a pretty, comfortable sun dress of which was a sweet, lighter pink. Her emerald hair was long down her back, similar to Libby's. She pushed into the room and grouped with the two girls as they began to stir and bounce on their feet, in rapidly growing excitement, "SPILL."

"I-I don't even know where to begin," Koko stammered bashfully as her face heat up, though Emery flagged her hands and presented Koko her own palms.

"Okay, first... Show off the new code," Emery's voice trailed in girly knowing as she let her own palms soak with hers and Oliver's gorgeous, olive green coding.

Koko's eyes lit up as she ogled the pretty swirls of gorgeous greens that Emery seemed to be simply made of, though before too much time could pass, she hesitantly revealed hers and Nox's coding; a strange combination of honeycombs and circuit lines that danced about each other in an array of delightful confusion. Soaked with berry goodness, a red pop of crimsons and corals that eased through her deliciously sweet coding, the center of their little pow-wow was lit with all sorts of colors, though Tammy huffed a hard sigh and looked up to Koko's arched ceilings in total dismay.

"... Glitchers," Tammy muttered as Emery and Koko quietly complimented each other on their own coding, a new addition to themselves, as if to simply and kindly acknowledge that the other was fortunate to have obtained such awesome boyfriends, though before Tammy could utter any more complaints, both glitchers quickly swiped Tammy's arms in their hands and allowed her coding to jolt about and boast it's gorgeousness in it's own, rightful way. Tammy heaved a sharp giggle, scrunched her shoulders and peered down to her curious coding too, which was a delightful few pops of oranges, golds and turquoise, "Ow, ow! That... That feels weird!"

"I'm so glad we're all in the swapping business now," Emery wrinkled her nose and heaved a long sigh, she beamed and shook her head, "I felt bad overloading Tessa with all my inquiries... Poor thing had to sit and listen to all these things she likely didn't want to know about her little brother."

"You're... Not going to find too much luck with us, either, there Ems..." Tammy giggled as Koko covered her mouth and raised her eyebrows, though all three girls relaxed a little and eased from one another, "Your best bet is Libby."

"... Libby?" Emery ogled as she suddenly jolted and gave Tammy a look of floored surprise, "She... Her and Ace swapped?!"

"WHAT?" Koko barked, though Tammy gave both girls an incredulous look, bulged her eyes and raised her hands.

"No! No! I mean, when she DOES swap with Ace, THEN you'll be able to go to her and not have to be worried about her being weirded out, y'know... By talking about Oliver," Tammy explained quietly.

"That's going to take another two years," Emery groaned in exaggerated sarcasm as she slumped her shoulders, though Koko crossed her arms and eyed Emery kindly.

"Ehh, I don't knowww," Koko trailed, she looked up mischievously and shrugged, "Nox says that Ace and Libby are on a slippery slope..."

"I guess the whole castle will know about THAT drama, anyhow," Tammy muttered as she rubbed her forehead, "Two Users... Like the Arcade can even handle one."

"Tell us," Emery hissed in growing excitement as she gripped Koko's wrists and gave her a girly look of the gossip unfolding, "Is he old fashioned?"

"Shy?" Tammy prod.

"Let's you lead?" Emery added, though Koko huffed a staggering giggle and tried to catch her breath.

"O-Oh for User's sakes, he's... He's amazing," Koko sighed wistfully as Emery uttered a quiet squeal of appreciation, "You would not believe the coding, on the guy, it's... Man it's intense."

"Intense?" Tammy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"I feel yah, receiving Oliver's was like being knocked into another dimension... All that wrecking power?" Emery gawked, "I can only imagine how Vanellope felt when she swapped with Ralph, for the first time."

"Wait, what do you guys mean?" Tammy ogled, though Koko and Emery peered to Tammy in growing confusion, "I-I... I don't recall a push back. I do, however, have a bunch of knowledge on racing and astronomy I never thought I'd ever acquire."

"Uh... Tams... If you're not feeling the knock back, then it's Finn who is," Emery stated warmly, though both her and Koko broke out in hard laughter as Tammys face turned beet red; Emery continued on through kind laughter, "You have the big, bad Calhoun on your side... I'm certain her even so much as being related to you was enough for Finn to reel for days afterwards."

"... He DID mention how exhausted he was, for awhile," Tammy rubbed her chin and furrowed her brow, "Well, so wait... What does that mean? Is that bad?"

"No, it's not bad, it just means your gamer traits were just a bit more aggressive than his. It's nothing to be worried about," Emery shrugged, though she peered to Koko, "Although, I have to say... With how shy Nox is, I'm surprised you're the one feeling the kick."

"I am too, but... User, did he surprise me," Koko breathed bashfully as she looked down and long blinked in collective thought, "I-I... I've never seen his eyes glow with such intensity. It was amazing."

"Sheesh," Emery huffed, Tammy beamed a nearly annoyed smile and wrinkled her nose.

"Well... I'm glad you made it. That opposed swap was tricky, huh," Tammy uttered, Koko bulged her eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, we... We had to stop three times because we kept chickening out," Koko admitted sheepishly, to which Tammy laughed at.

"Wow, you're lucky... I don't think I could've gotten Finn to stop even if I wanted to," Tammy blurt as she put her hands on her hips; all three girls laughed.

"It was incredible, but..." Koko shook her head and looked down, and as a sullen cloak began to cast over the group, both Tammy and Emery nervously glanced to each other, "I'm terribly nervous to tell my father..."

All three girls fell silent, and it was in this hot moment did Tammy and Emery understand the weight of Koko's situation. Emery heaved a gentle sigh, nodded and looked down as well, though before the three could continue sulking, Tammy furrowed her brow and shrugged in defiance.

"Well... What's the worse Uncle Ralph can say or do? The deed is done," Tammy assured quietly, Koko's nervous, innocent brown eyes lulled up to her older cousin, and with such, Tammy gave Koko a loving smile, "There's no harm... No one got hurt, you're both still alive, Nox clearly cares about you to saddle himself with your coding, for good..."

"Still," Koko stammered as she gestured to her now clean, neat and tidy bed, all billowed with white downs, "...I swapped with a TurboTwin. I-I may not know way too much about Sugar Rush's history, with TurboTime, but... I know enough that giving my Sugar Rush coding to one of it's members is going to piss mom and dad off, to no end."

"Well, didn't Nox get their blessing?" Tammy inquired softly as her and Emery knowingly caught eyes, "That's, at least, what I heard."

"He did, he did," Koko assured quietly with a bob of a nervous nod, and as she began to step across her wooden floors, she tucked her gorgeous, chocolate brown hair behind her ears and shook her head, "He told me he'd face my dad, and he had no fear... I know his heart. I have his coding, for crying out loud. I know he wouldn't dare break their trust, the fragile situation TurboTime has with Sugar Rush."

"Well... Maybe it's a generational thing," Emery gently shrugged, "Ralph and Vanellope are only wary of anything TurboTime because, well... Let's face it. Sugar Rush was once plagued by that game, for fifteen years."

"They have every right to be wary and cautious," Koko assured nervously as she peered out her window, the sun caught with tiny flecks of jungle leaves and flower petals than began to shake loose from the trees in the backyard, "But I just don't even know how I'm going to present this to my dad."

"You'll be fine, Koko," Tammy affirmed with a smile as she approached Koko and placed a loving hand on her shoulder, "Just... Make it known how much you guys love each other, how much this situation differs from anything Sugar Rush has been wrought with. It's not like he's actually Turbo, or anything... This could potentially give Sugar Rush an advantage. You now have the inside scoop on how Nox's existence operates."

"Pieces to the puzzle," Emery shrugged gently as she, too, approached, "Maybe it'll help you guys find Lash."

"If he's even alive," Koko mumbled, though Tammy gripped her shoulder harder.

"Well, you certainly obtained Nox's broodiness,there," Tammy giggled as she caught Koko's line of sight, "Don't worry... Uncle Ralph always has been hot-tempered, and though he may throw his fists about, he ALWAYS comes back around. You may have to give him time... But it'd be best to tell him quick, so that he has time to mull it over before Nox gets home."

"I have five days," Koko mumbled nervously, though Emery gestured her finger and cocked an eyebrow.

"Better start rehearsing your lines," She stated with great cheek.

* * *

After an endless, tiring day of the long haul, the nine scout members, as well as the three flyers, stopped to rest for the night amidst a gorgeous Sugar Rush sunset. After heading East all day long, it was noted that the weather grew warmer and warmer, and much to everyone's mild annoyance, they had to shed their heavy winter clothes and gripe over the fact that they had over packed warm garb. After everything had been packed away, and they were stripped to comfortable tanks and loose shorts and pants, the group had gathered in a thick candy cane forest. Said forest wasn't like the typical candy trees sought out during Sugar Rush's prime days. These candy cane trees were of staggering height and girth, towering at least two hundred feet in the air with a diameter too large to even have the nine scout members surround one entirely; said playing field, of dense trees, was the perfect spot for glitch training, and Vanellope knew to utilize their time wisely.

"Alright, the sun may be going down, but that doesn't mean we can't still practice our skills," Vanellope called with a knowing smile as the fire, just a dozen feet away, was large enough to cast dancing shadows about the place. Vanellope dusted her hands off and assessed the group about her, "Alright, glitchers. Front and center."

Just as Tessa, Zed and Ace eased forward, Penny, Orph, Libby, Taffyta and Nox began to sit, get comfortable and prepare to watch the show unfold. Ace raised his eyebrows in plucked surprise, softly drew his curious eyes to Nox's and felt a strange lump form in his throat. He knew Vanellope's training was tough, though he also knew it was much needed. Nox cocked an eyebrow in Ace's direction and gave him a knowing smirk, as if to state that he was aware he now was apart of the glitching community, that seemed to be growing, though Nox also knew that his and Koko's swapping escapade was still strictly a secret between both boys. Ace slumped his shoulders and nearly felt bad, he knew Nox was likely itching to join now that he could hone his brand new skill. Nonetheless, Ace huffed a long, silent sigh, faced his grandmother and crossed his arms in forced nonchalance. He figured, after they got home from Sugar Rush, he'd train Nox in private until his secret was out.

"Okay, guys, tonight we should focus on the infamous wall-jump," Vanellope raised a finger. Clothed in a mint colored t-shirt and comfortable, charcoal colored jeans with a few tears in the thighs, she looked to be taking this little workout lesson lightly, as if it was going to be a casual teaching tonight. Ace looked about the huge trees and suddenly realized that the trunks could easily be used for said maneuver, and thus began to grow excited. Vanellope paced a little and peered to her daughter, grandson and future son in law as she continued, "Mario was the one to perfect this move... Though, our difference is, you're going to do it amidst a glitch-hop."

"Glitch-hop-wall-jump," Tessa stammered, Zed stifled a small laugh as Ace glanced in his parent's directions; he knew he should be listening, though his mind still held soaked to the fact that the brand new glitcher, sat patiently on the side-lines, was potentially itching to stretch his wings.

"It's not as easy as it looks," Vanellope prod as she gestured to the trees, "I'll demonstrate."

As Vanellope peeled from the clearing, she carried herself across a dozen feet in a second flat, amidst her glitch-hop, though as she approached one of the massive candy trees, her powerful purple coding zipped like a current, and as quick as lightning, she jumped from the trunk of one tree, to another. After she made her rounds of at least five trees, she jumped from the nearest one, back to where she was previously standing, just before Tessa, Ace and Zed. All three looked on in bewildered surprise, though Vanellope huffed a few breaths and began to tuck her hair into a high ponytail, which lead to suggest that it was likely more of a workout than she had lead on.

"Let's start small... Just try and get from one tree to the other," Vanellope explained as she caught her breath, though Tessa took her mother's cue and began to put her hair up into a ponytail, as well. Vanellope carried on with an excited smile, "After you guys have the hang of that, we'll work on gaining altitude strictly between two vertical surfaces... The proper form of a wall-jump. Alright, Tess. Show 'em how it's done."

Tessa nodded once, inhaled a deep breath and let hers, Ace's and Zed's gorgeous silver coding carry her across the clearing in an excited pop of a current, and as she reached the nearest candy cane tree, she followed Vanellope's physical instruction with the greatest of ease. Seamlessly, she hopped from one tree to the other, and though her form was a tiny bit sloppier, she still completed said mission in about the same amount of time Vanellope did. Being the second sharpest glitcher, Vanellope knew Tessa was the least of her worries, when it came to training and guiding. As Tessa zipped back to the clearing, she huffed a breath and staggered backwards a little, she got a good look up at the candy trees she had just shared a dance with and rubbed her forehead.

"Y-Yeah, that is a lot harder than it looks," Tessa panted as her silver coding lightly hiccuped on her feet and ankles, it caused the soft, candy-green grass, undertow, to wig out a bit, "Suddenly your glitching power is plagued with your own weight."

"Well, aren't I just so excited," Ace muttered in dull annoyance as he glanced to his father; though Ace had lost a decent amount of his baby fat, he was still built larger than his father, having Ralph's genuine genes in his coding and physical build.

"This test will teach you that, even though you feel weightless running through the glitch-hop, as it effortlessly carries you forward, moving upward is a lot more difficult due to gravity," Vanellope explained as she gestured towards Ace, "It's not anything anyone can help, but yes... Heavier glitchers, such as you, Oliver and Ralph, will have a harder time with the wall-jumping move. Go ahead and give it a try, Ace."

"O-Okay," Ace mumbled nervously, though as he passed Tessa, his mother gave him a warm pat on the back and mumbled a few kind, encouraging notions towards him.

Ace gave her a warm smile, though he still already began to feel mildly pathetic. As Ace's larger, bare feet gently dragged a few feet away from his mother, father and grandmother, his eyes scanned his surroundings. Massive, towering, taunting trees that were solid in their home, the sunset between the flowering canopy only just barely peeked through to kiss the tops of his bare shoulders, and as Ace inhaled a deep, long breath, he knew he was more in shape than he likely gave himself credit. He was aware he still had a ways to go, though he also began to wonder if his old mindset was simply warning him that this was a doubtful experiment, though his new form could easily handle the challenge. With a sharp inhale, Ace allowed his vigorous silver coding to plague his skin, and as he glitch-hopped across the clearing, he saw himself nearing the first tree, in his mind's eye.

As Ace felt his feet kick from trunk to trunk, he heavily took note of that pesky gravity issue Vanellope had just mentioned. He quickly felt frustration over the fact that his much lighter mother and grandmother made this trick look so simple and effortless, as if they were simply gazelle's leaping through grassland, as graceful as could be; he was certain his show was a lot more ponderous, uncertain, uneducated. He knew he was simply just a mass of information being directed in such a way that could only closely resemble lightning, though he was also aware that, unlike lightning, he had a whole lot more mass. He grimaced, amidst his third jump and felt his feet scrape with the hard bark of the tree, and amidst the prick of pain that shot through his ankles, he uttered a hard noise of dismay and leaped down to the base of the massive tree. He heaved a few pants to the ground as he hunched over and placed his hands on his knees in a look of only mild distress.

"You okay?" Tessa called nervously, Ace was still a good thirty feet off.

Ace didn't answer, simply because he was trying to catch his breath, and it was amidst this did he feel his face get hot with a little embarrassment. He knew Libby was watching, and though he was also aware she'd never judge or make fun of him, in this time of learning and growing, he also felt bad that Nox was now being introduced to the glitching business in such a raw, unnerving fashion. He grit his teeth and grimaced at the fact that his feet stung. He urgently looked up to the candy trees, in growing annoyance, and was certain the slick, though also sharp bark of the candy trees, was what was making this venture even harder.

"The bark is sharp," Ace urged to the group, who eagerly peered to him across the way, and as he began to saunter back to the group in a show of completed defeat, Tessa began to walk in his direction, so to close the gap with him quicker.

"You're gunna have to get used to harsh terrain, Ace," Vanellope called sternly as she gestured, "You won't have the luxury of the soft jungle trees you're used to, back in Dead Zed."

"I-I know," Ace worried, he rubbed his forehead and continued on in a hushed tone, only to finish his sentence to himself, "If I could lose the last this User-damned weight, I'd likely be flying circles around you, anyhow..."

"Y'okay?" Tessa's warm voice eased, Ace knew he shouldn't be so secretively mean towards the very woman that made it so his glitching abilities were possible, though he also knew his grandmother was a strict teacher, one who took no nonsense in these trying times, and when it came to the raw core of glitching powers, he knew he had no stance when it came to challenging Vanellope; he felt relieved to see his own mother's gentle eyes, as she grew closer.

"I-I'm okay, I'm okay... Just beating myself up, I guess," Ace smiled wryly as he shook his head, "I'll get the hang of it. Like Ma said... I'm used to the softness of the jungle."

Tessa wrinkled her nose and gave Ace a look of smiling incredulous stillness.

"... Dead Zed?" Tessa uttered with a stifled giggle, "Love... That woman has spent all of two months in Dead Zed. You were born there. You know full well the jungle is full of hostile textures and the like. You're doing just fine... These skills take practice."

"My weight isn't helping the situation," Ace grumbled as he pat his stomach, and though he had gotten used to lightly jiggling pudge about, there was hardly any extra pudge left to grapple for. He furrowed his brow and peered down to his chest in collective surprise, though he jolted as Tessa gingerly put her fist into his core.

"... You're aware that muscle weighs more than fat, right?" Tessa cocked an eyebrow.

"C'mon, girls, we got training to do, we can gossip later!" Vanellope called, though Ace huffed his breath to a halt and gave his mother a sorrowful, though utterly annoyed glare.

"Get your panties out of the knot it's in, Queen Bee, it's not like we're in a hurry," Taffyta bantered with Vanellope, and it was in this cue did Orph and Libby join in with their own witty commentary and laughter.

"... Thanks, mom," Ace eased politely as the two began to slowly walk back to the group, which could be seen beyond one of the trees Ace had jumped from, "I'm really trying my best to... Well..."

"Get in shape?" Tessa prod kindly, she eyed Ace, "Y'got a lady, now. I know she sees your progress."

"You really think so?" Ace wondered gently, and though this was likely one of the first times him and his mother were openly talking about his and Libby's confirmed relationship, he felt it to be natural and easy.

"Hey... Libby fancied you when you were pudgy, didn't she?" Tessa shrugged and gave Ace a knowing smile, "That speaks volumes, love... Anything you can do, to make it so you look better than what she already liked about you, well then... I'd say you're totally set."

"Thank you," Ace stated in warm relief, Tessa nodded and gestured her head in the direction of Vanellope.

"Don't mind my mother... She means well," Tessa said softly as they came into the clearing, "Take her abuse, she's only got good intentions for you... But, if it's too much to handle, I can start training you as well, if you'd like."

"... You'd do that?" Ace wondered humbly, though Tessa flashed him an annoyed smile.

"Course I'd do that, Ace, you're my son," Tessa stated quietly through a giggle, though Ace gave her a warm look of pure gratefulness.

"I really could use the encouragement," Ace concluded as Tessa lovingly gripped his upper arm, squeezed and stood on tip toes to give his cheek a firm, motherly smooch.

"You've got it, kid," Tessa mumbled as the two finally eased back into the loose teaching group, though Ace's eyes nervously fell to Vanellope's.

"What happened?" Vanellope wondered gently, though Ace huffed a nervous breath and so desperately tried not to fixate his attention to Nox's and Libby's figures, close by.

"I-I think my weight got the better of me, and the bark was sharp," Ace admitted sorrowfully, "I-It looks so slick and shiny, I guess I wasn't expecting it."

"Well, in the heat of a fight, where you won't have time to even think, you won't be able to baby yourself when it comes to just where your feet will be landing," Vanellope stated as she put her hands on her hips, "Adrenaline will typically override any sort of 'needs', if you will... You could be flying about a bed of nails, but you'd never put a thought to it if it meant your own life was in someone else's ability to keep up with you."

"Yes, ma'am," Ace mumbled politely with a gentle bob, though he finally gave in a dragged his gaze to Nox and Libby; both peered to him in collective sorrow, though Nox looked as though he nearly had something he wanted to say.

"Alright... Zed, why don't you take a stab at it?" Vanellope eased to Zed with an excited smile, though as Zed flashed Tessa a nervous look, in the corner of his eye, he inhaled a readied breath and was off.

As Zed accomplished Vanellope's training set with greater ease than Ace, Vanellope made one-worded comments of praise and critique as Zed moved about the trunks of the trees, and before Zed could come back to the clearing, Vanellope uttered a concluding noise of mild distaste and flagged her hand.

"I'm wondering why you three take that weird break, just before your feet hit the trunk of the next tree," Vanellope urged, though Zed stumbled to the ground and showed the same display Ace did. Though Zed was wearing shoes, he still hunched over, put his hands to his knees and panted. With this being something that wasn't your typical workout, all three beings were beginning to feel the weight of Vanellope's powerful glitching skills. Vanellope huffed a long sigh and peered out to the group of non-glitchers in teasing dismay, "Am I the only one seeing it?"

"I don't speak glitch," Taffyta called loudly, though her words were dripping in toxic sarcasm; Vanellope slumped her shoulders and sent her a hard, annoyed glower as Orph and Penny stifled a laugh.

"I-I guess I see what you're saying," Libby chimed politely, her voice was strictly sweet and neutral, so not to act as if she was simply picking on Tessa, Zed and Ace. Libby shrugged a little and gestured to the trees, "There's the tiniest gap just before your coding makes contact with something physical. A hesitation... It's what's slowing you down and adding weight to your flight."

"We could use you on the glitching side, there, Libby," Vanellope cooed seriously, though it was at this time did everyone's eyes fall to Ace.

Ace scrunched his shoulders in near-terrified bashfulness and uttered a stammering few words of incoherent babbling. His face turned beet red as he only painfully glanced in the direction of Libby, though before he could feel that raw urge of stage fright crawl over his skin, Nox burst their bubble with rising dominance.

"I think they're doing great," Nox suddenly stabbed; Vanellope furrowed her brow and drove her sharp gaze to the TurboTwin; said gaze was eons more dominant.

"... Who says otherwise?" Vanellope stabbed back, it was in this instance was it clear Vanellope was showing mild insecurity for holding the eager and happy attention of a teaching crowd.

"No one," Nox shrugged as he eyed Libby, though she nervously eyed him back, as if to silently state to him that he had a death wish, "Though, you certainly aren't showing much praise, on the other side of the coin..."

"You're cute, Nox," Vanellope huffed in growing annoyance, though Tessa furrowed her brow and peered to Nox in rising fear, as if to state to him that if you mess with the bull, you will only get the horns.

"Oh, I know," Nox cheesed, he beamed a close-mouthed smile and so gently tapped his fingers to Libby's forearm in a gesture, "Libby's right... There's a mild form of hesitation between you three... Before your feet hits the tree, there's a gap where your coding reveals your original form, and you're taken out of that coded flight. It's when you come out of that 'lightning' speed does gravity get ahold of your physical form, and weighs you down."

Everyone slowly dragged their stares to Nox in hard, collected terror, frozen amidst a cheeky, cocky TurboTwin and a seething Queen of a fallen kingdom, everyone's eyes bulged in growing surprise. Vanellope was frozen in plucked surprise and kept her terrifying, dominant gaze hooked to Nox's challenging, pixel-cubed, creepy-eyed stare.

"I hate to say it, Vanellope, but you've got the slightest hesitation as well," Nox eased, and though his voice was polite, and he was brand new to this glitching realm, he saw just how Vanellope's tough-love teaching was affecting her pupils, and he wondered if it was up to him to put it to an end, "Somehow, keeping that solid connection of lightning drive seems to be the struggle, in this little teaching group."

"Well, my love, if you think you can do it better," Vanellope scoffed as she gestured to the trees, though much to everyone's surprise, Nox exhaled a nonchalant grunt and so slowly got to his feet.

"Thought you'd never ask."


	134. Chapter 134

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you! :)

 **ArchDev :** Hahaha that's what Nox does best xD

 **Nikki Firesong : EVENTUALLYYYYYY** I know you guys don't want this story to end so soon xD Enjoy the ride!

 **Retrokill :** He's now going to be famous for it haha.

 **Snake557 :** Oh yeah! I'll likely post a PSA soon here. That actually might be a smarter idea than everyone filing through the last 50 chapters for a request. I'll be posting an A/N about it shortly :) But yes! Go ahead and tell me your requests, I'll write them down for when the time comes.

 **Wild Virus :** omg that's hilarious xD I'm really glad you're rereading and enjoying Wrecking Limits! :D

 **gannon28131 :** He's definitely finding his feet, that's for sure xD

* * *

 ***Chapter 134***

As Nox got to his feet, he began to wonder why the surge of Sugar Rush confidence, that came rushing to his circuits, wasn't dying down. Now that he had Vanellope's very own glitching coding coursing through him, he felt just how hard that kick of competitiveness was, and what the Schweetz family line had to deal with every day. He knew he already had a good dose of this drama, being from TurboTime, and being cast in Turbo's shadow on the daily, he somehow had to wonder if Lash got the brunt of that second place anger. Nonetheless, he inhaled a refreshed breath and somehow didn't feel phased by the piercing, terrifying stare-down Vanellope was giving him, as he slowly approached. He knew he was in for it the second he saw Ace slump his face into his larger palm, in his peripheral.

"I guess you could say it's a good thing you guys somehow 'appreciate' that weird break, right before your coding hits an object," Nox gestured his hands a little, and as he approached Vanellope's unwavering stance, he felt somehow tall, he felt heard, and it was in this raw moment did he realize just the weight and rarity of Koko's, and the Schweetz family's incredible coding. He softly peered about to the trees, and though the competitiveness in his heart truly soared, he tried to remain humble before the Queen of Sugar Rush; he knew he was still simply dealing with the fact that this powerful woman, before him, was his swap-mate's own mother, "If you just let your mind go blank... You can allow yourself to remain in that lightning form, you're trying to achieve."

"A lot of talk for someone who can't glitch," Vanellope snipped with a mean glower, though Nox huffed a shaky breath, glanced his golden eyes to the ground and so slowly dragged them back to Vanellope's. It was in this raw, ogling glance of eye contact did Nox see Vanellope's naive expression slope from snide irritation to a slump of unadulterated, raw surprise, "You... Can't glitch... Can you?"

"Seems pretty smart of me to reveal it to you in a game where I could have a permanent game over, huh?" Nox side-eyed Vanellope and though he was definitely trying her patience, he tried to remain humble about his exposure, "... Allow me to demonstrate just what I'm getting at."

Vanellope slumped her shoulders farther, dropped her arms from their tightly crossed position and long blinked in rapidly growing shock, though just before she could reach her arm out and get the raw information out of Nox, he inhaled a readied breath and began to try his new coding on for size. Just as Vanellope took a step closer to him, everyone within a five foot radius of him largely flinched, raised their hands in mild defense and felt the gentle draft as Nox was suddenly whisked away in a show of his and Koko's new honeycombed, crimson pop of berry-circuited goodness. Vanellope bulged her eyes in shock as his glitch-hop form was effortless, and as he zipped to the nearby trees, she whirled around, shook her head and wondered if this was reality.

Without a single break in formation, Nox completed said task, that he was getting at, with flowing effort that was truly seamless. His live-wired coding did everything it could to even hold back on this raw, new experience, and as he zipped from trunk to trunk, he made his rounds across nearly a dozen trees, which was double what anyone else had accomplished thusfar. As he suddenly came back down to the ground in a skipping jolt of a jog, he bulged his eyes in raw surprise, felt his knees buckle and toppled to the ground with an exasperated grunt. Just as Ace and Zed began to rush him, to see if he was okay, he rolled onto his back and panted out a few hard laughs to the sky.

"WHOA that was a lot more fun than I ever expected it to be!" Nox laughed between breaths, though as Ace and Zed quickly rushed over, Ace was the first to speak as he reached his hand out.

"That was awesome!" Ace barked with a contagious laugh as Zed joined the two, Ace slipped his hand into Nox's to help him up.

"Don't get too overzealous, y'know circuit stretching is a thing," Zed muttered as Ace brought Nox to a stand, though as Nox brushed off his shirt and wildly panted, he nervously peered his smiling, sheepish demeanor into Zed's and Ace's.

"Y-You mean you guys could just glitch-hop any time you wanted and never did it?" Nox wondered as his facial expression was permanently glued with floored excitement.

"I mean... We could," Zed shrugged with a curious smile, though it was easy to tell that the entire scout group began to quickly rush the three; Zed continued on as he nervously scanned the group for Vanellope's figure, "It definitely makes getting from place to place easier, but... It takes a lot of energy."

Just as Nox was to inquire a billion more notions for his new skill, the group that noisily approached was quickly parted by Vanellope. She pushed through the crowd, pointed a finger in Nox's direction and gave him a hard glower, though it was hard to tell if it was aimed simply at him or likely for the fact that her last little hatchling was literally no longer a little kid any longer. Just as Nox felt the intense high of confidence cloak over him, it largely dwindled, just as he suspected. He knew now was likely the best time to let Vanellope get whatever she needed to off of her chest, for he knew this was likely a lot to swallow all at once.

"Ohh man I can't wait to see the look on Ralph's face when we get home," Vanellope growled as she pushed closer to Nox, Zed and Ace, all strong boys who held fast and proud to their abilities, no matter how long they've acquired them.

"Y-You and Koko?" Tessa inquired in hard, delighted shock as Tessa and Taffyta quickly caught eyes.

"Yes, I... I guess I could've picked a less snotty way to reveal it," Nox stammered with a nervous, polite smile, though he flinched as Vanellope's sharp voice rung through.

"You think?" Vanellope stabbed, though before Nox could sink into himself, he furrowed his brow in growing sorrow and gave Vanellope his full attention.

Totally coated in disbelief, Vanellope looked to be a million different emotions right now. She shook her head and peered to Nox, as if to somehow state that expressing just how conflicted she truly was, was something that would be virtually impossible. The way Zed's and Ace's eyes fell to Nox in growing excitement, a new-found brother in code they had garnered, Vanellope's stomach dipped in the ultimate form of conflicted feelings. She knew Nox wasn't just simply anyone, and though she had a hard time getting her head around the fact that her youngest child swapped with an age-old TurboTwin, she somehow tried to keep herself from reeling.

"My apologies," Nox cleared his throat, put his hand to his chest and gave Vanellope a kind smile, "I-I guess... Sugar Rush couldn't swap the attitude out of me."

"Sugar Rush probably gave you MORE of it, if anything," Taffyta urged with a hard laugh as Penny nudged her elbow.

"Why didn't you... You could've... Koko was..." Vanellope urgently stammered on her words, gestured her hands softly for good measure, and peered to Nox in a strange form of delightful defeat, as if she wanted to be elated, though somehow holding on to that last shred of wariness was all she had left.

"You gave me your blessing, didn't you?" Nox wondered kindly with a frown, though he could tell, in this raw moment, he simply was the only one that could comfort his future mother in law, "I told you, on that one fateful night, just my intentions with Koko."

Vanellope heaved a shaky sigh and peered to Nox in frozen, concealed terror, the raw fact that a TurboTwin now harbored Sugar Rush's precious coding, something everyone so diligently fought to keep out of Turbo's grippy hands. Vanellope shook her head, though not to disagree with Nox. She gave him a look of nervous understanding and let her gaze soften for him, though just as she was about to shell away, snip at him to keep Koko's heart in one piece or else, Nox so warmly took her hand in his and peered to her, as if to ask permission of something.

"I can see you're scared," Nox volleyed tenderly as he side-eyed Vanellope, as if to simply state, in one sweep of a notion, that he was now saddled with her familiar coding and could see right through her tough, cold front.

"... I'm terrified," Vanellope admitted as the group tenderly formed about the two in stunned silence.

"I see," Nox nodded, his wise eyes dragged to Vanellope's wrist and hand in the gentlest of sorrow, though before he could speak any longer, he let his brand new coding do all the talking. With his new-found powers, he let his palms come to life with his and Koko's delicate coding, and as if it caught Vanellope out of left field, she gasped in collected surprise, stiffened her spine a little and allowed Nox's new coding to swarm her shivering purple circuits with care, "You're... Scared that a direct relative, to Turbo, has Sugar Rush's coding under his skin... Right?"

Vanellope gave him a tight-lipped look of sorrow, as if to say that his notion was definitely correct, though she didn't want to admit it. She heaved a shaky sigh through her nose and finally peered down to their conjoined hands, though it was in this raw moment did Nox's coding soak over hers with all the comfort in Arcade. She raised her eyebrows in delightful surprise and gripped Nox's hand in a now needy fashion, and as she was allowed to his coding, a vulnerable act made possible by him, she began to un-tense. His coding so lovingly gave her glimpses of the large amount of years, he had over her, in the arcade. FLeeting glances of his home city, Vidrix, the bright TurboTime sky that was so brilliant, it was nearly white. The vastly misunderstood three-set of brothers everyone so diligently despised, Vanellope nearly cried just thinking about how wrong she was, how wrong everyone was, with the amount of loving tenderness, he supplied, that softened her heart.

"I'm aware my oldest brother laid waste and... Gave you likely a permanent, negative view of TurboTime and any of it's inhabitants," Nox expressed warmly, he bravely took Vanellope's other hand and kept her still in his loving, masculine grasp; his grey skin was so beautifully sprawled with the product of his and Koko's love, "... I promised you before, and I'll promise you again. There's nothing that I want more, than to get Sugar Rush back for you. I wouldn't dare take this privilege, this trust, and ruin it... You must see this in me, by now."

"I do," Vanellope admitted quietly as she continued to peer down to his and her coding that sprawled and danced in enjoyment, though she heaved a shaky giggle and raised her eyebrows as tears gathered in her eyes, "I guess... I'm just terrified of what's out of my control."

"Who isn't?" Nox assured with a gentle squint of his golden eyes, "We're all terrified of the unknown, just what is to happen of this kingdom take-back of ours, but I know one thing... Unlike Turbo, I'd like to take this game back..."

Vanellope furrowed her brow and peered her nervous gaze into Nox's, as if to state that he had won this battle, he had Sugar Rush's coding, and if he were to express allegiance to Turbo right now, there'd be little to nothing stopping him from wreaking some sort of havoc on the game. She gripped his hands in a silent plea of love, to beg that he wasn't going to go rogue, to pray that he was on their team for good, and as her coding quietly expressed to him that they needed him now more than ever, he scoffed a gentle chuckle of understanding and squeezed her hands in return.

"For you..." Nox concluded lovingly, he tilted his head and peered deeper into her motherly eyes, "I love your daughter... I was so heavily warned against swapping, but... I went over to her room to apologize for a few misunderstandings, and... There was something telling me that I just needed to disregard Turbo's warning."

"He tried to steer you away from swapping because... I guess that was part of his demise?" Taffyta inquired lightly as Orph and Penny nervously looked on, this being new information to them.

"I made sure I had all the information I needed, and with her blessing, we decided that was the next step for us," Nox eased warmly as a crumpling smile of delight finally sprawled Vanellope's face. Nox squinted a little, chuckled and shook her hands just barely, "Who knows... Maybe after this whole fiasco is figured out, I'll be asking you and Ralph for a very different kind of blessing."

Vanellope beamed, looked down and gently swept her gaze from Nox to Zed in gentle understanding, and it was in this raw moment did she see those two boys for everything they were. Both largely misunderstood, adorable in their own right, men that were honest, brave and good. Vanellope knew this was simply a cue her own daughters were taking after her, and she was thrilled she at least set a good example of just what kind of men to seek in the world. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head as Zed gave her a knowing, playful smile of a glare.

"No babies, no weddings, no proposals until this game is back in Vanellope's name," Zed urged firmly with a laugh, the group began to relax with said notion, though Nox peered to Zed with kind intuition.

"We seem to be having a hard time sticking to the plan," Tessa stated dully as she gestured to the gorgeous engagement ring on her finger.

"Nonetheless," Vanellope eased with a comforted smile, she finally gave Nox her confident stare and shook her head, "I'm... I'm really proud of you. You showed bravery in the face of adversity, and though Turbo gave you a very valid warning, you stuck to your guns and did what was best for you. That takes guts. Strong backbone Sugar Rush could use more of."

"Yeah, kid, help me out," Penny snapped with a sarcastic smile that only broadened as everyone laughed.

"I see the way you make Koko smile, how happy and confident she has become... It's been a real treat to see you two pry each other out of your thorny shells," Vanellope teased as everyone began to lightly volley kind notion towards Nox, though Vanellope continued on quietly, "Welcome to the team, Nox... Sugar Rush is proud to have you."

Nox huffed a silent breath of a smile and slumped his shoulders in disbelief, and as he gripped Vanellope's hands, he knew this was simply the first step to helping his loved ones and proving to the Arcade that taking risks is just what life was all about. As Zed warmly pat Nox's back, in a brotherly fashion, he lightly chimed in.

"You signed yourself up for a beating, there, Nox," Zed stated firmly through a laugh as everyone began to join in, though Nox peered to Zed in growing terror, "Y'get Ralph's fists when you get home and you'll get a kick in the ass by Vanellope's glitch training."

"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad," Vanellope urged in dry annoyance as her and Nox delicately released each other of their live-wired hands.

"Mom... You make my attitude look like a cake walk to endure," Tessa gawked as she firmly gestured to herself, though Ace bulged his eyes and just barely nodded, which got a giggle out of Libby.

"What?" Vanellope griped.

"I'm glad I'm not a glitch, at this point," Penny muttered with a teasing smile as her and her mother playfully caught eyes in a string of knowing, as if eluding Vanellope's strict training was most definitely worth it.

"Turbo should've warned you, like... 'Don't swap with a glitch... Vanellope will make you rue the day'," Ace stated warily as everyone roared with laughter, though Vanellope slumped her arms to her sides in defeat and gaped.

"I'm not that bad, c'mon! I just what you guys to get good!" Vanellope barked in annoyed sarcasm, though Nox reached his hands out, once more, and simply held her hands, code-free this time.

"You're a great teacher, and I'd be honored if you could teach me and group me with the other glitchers," Nox wondered kindly as he motioned his head to Ace, Zed and Tessa, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave Vanellope a nervous smile, "Maybe... Ease up on the tough love. We've each got our struggles. User-knows I have a very long road ahead of me."

"What with all that glitch-hopping nonsense?" Vanellope urged in an incredulous tone as she gestured her hand to the trees all around them, everyone griped and put in their two cents though Nox shut his eyes and shook his head.

"Just because I'm good at one thing doesn't mean I'll be great at all of them!" Nox rushed in a high pitched tone, to get the edge over everybody, though they all laughed at his notion as he beamed Vanellope an apologetic smile, "I'm like Ace in the fact that I will learn upon encouragement... Think we can all start from there?"

"Please?" Ace added quietly with a sheepish frown, Tessa playfully nudged him.

"I'm sorry, I guess... I just have a routine and don't like it to be broken," Vanellope shrugged as she gave her grandson a sorrowful frown, "I'm sorry, guys... I'll try and lighten up."

"You're a fantastic teacher," Zed included with a small nod, and he was floored to see Tessa, and nearly everyone else, nod with genuine intentions, "We just need to stick together, work together. We'll have these skills down in no time."

"Yeah, in the mean time, have Nox teach this glitch-wall jumping nonsense," Taffyta flagged, "That was nuts."

"What... Was your secret?" Vanellope tenderly inquired, she let her walls down as Nox smiled and gently shrugged.

"I don't know, I just... Let go of what was on my mind," Nox eased, "The problem is, you were thinking too hard about where you were going to land, and it interrupted your flight. If you just allow the code to carry, you'll be prepared for a surface sooner or later, and you can just go from there, with the previous, careful planning."

"And you were worried he'd take over Sugar Rush," Zed garbled loudly with an incredulous smile as he bent over and gestured his hands, everyone blurt out in laughter, "He's so committed to your teaching and his new abilities, he doesn't have TIME to take over Sugar Rush. Shoulda seen this from a mile away."

"I know, I'm an idiot," Vanellope volleyed as everyone laughed and cooed opposing notions towards Vanellope's harsh statement, though as her eyes softly sunk to Nox's, once more, she officially welcomed him into the brood, and as confidence came back to her, she gave the glitchers a glancing smile and hooked her gaze back to Nox's, "Alright, glitchers, let's go again."


	135. Chapter 135

**Reviews :**

 **ArchDev :** Don't worry, said notion will be expanded on. It's just about the only thing he's fantastic at lol. I wish you guys would give me the benefit of the doubt here xD

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! I'll write it down :)

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha thank you

 **Retrokill :** Aw lol. Well it was similar to that, just not as dramatic I guess. Vanellope and Ralph gave Nox their blessing, and though Vanellope's stance on the whole thing was a tad more lenient, you'll learn that Ralph has swept a lot under the rug...

* * *

 ***Chapter 135***

As the evening carried on, Koko felt safe knowing hers and Nox's secret was going to be kept quiet between Tammy and Emery. Both girls knew the importance of Koko being the one to reveal said information, to Ralph and Oliver, and to help that notion along, all three girls calmly stayed in each other's presence, in the kitchen. The castle was filled with the scent of sweetness, cinnamon that soaked the air in a creeping warmth that everyone knew came with the finally approaching holiday season. Koko, Tammy and Emery tried their hand at Vanellope's and Taffyta's infamous sugar cookie recipe, though they added their own cinnamon sugar twist. As the girls giggled, stirred, mixed, poured, shaped and crafted, wearing dainty aprons Emery insisted on, Chepi hung on their heels for any dregs that just so happened to drop, and with such, they quietly laughed and conversed, a little, cheery escape Koko knew she needed.

Even though Koko was having a great time, and Tammy and Emery were making it very easy to forget her troubles, it was in the pauses and gentle eases of quiet delight, in cooking, did Koko's mind painfully soak into the chore at hand. She bit her lip nervously and acutely allowed herself to dip her toes into the topic, and though she was aware Oliver would likely have a much easier time swallowing this information, she had to wonder if even telling her father, right when everyone was deep into Sugar Rush, was wise. She furrowed her brow as opened possibilities came rushing to her, and as much as she so desperately wanted to maybe hold off and let hers and Nox's relationship gradually build and build, until it were painfully obvious, she knew Nox was spending an entire week with her family, in Sugar Rush; the secret was bound to be out, by now. With a heavy, silent sigh, her eyes drooped to the mixture she began to idly prod at.

"Stop worrying," Tammy eased as quietly as she could; she knew Oliver, Throttle and the rest of Dead Zed's racers, were hanging about. The majority of them hung out in the living room and near the dining room table. Tammy's eyes caught with Emery's, in growing kindness, and she finally gave her understanding smile to Koko, "I know just how you feel... If anything, Finn probably understands it more. Having to tell an opinionated parent JUST what you did, is never easy... But there's nothing any of us can do to change that simple fact, so... If you just make clear, that moving forward, this is what you want, there should be no issue."

"My dad has Arcade's temper, ten fold... I've seen how uneasy he is around Throttle, and especially Nox," Koko sighed as she slumped her hands and arms, eased the bowl to the counter, and gave Tammy a nervous look, "I don't know how I'm going to even begin to go about this."

"Rip it off, like band-aid," Emery suggested tenderly as she gave Tammy a small nod, "The longer you sit on it, the more anxious you'll get. You don't want to over think this issue, cause that will just make you more and more worried. Just sit him down, tell him what's up, and let the universe do the rest."

Koko heaved a hot sigh through her nose and glanced to Emery's gorgeous, emerald eyes. Both girls kept their unwavering, sisterly love to Koko, and though they all weren't directly related, Koko and Emery only simply by code, Koko felt honored to have all this tight support from the girls she had grown close with.

"Thanks, guys," Koko sighed as she peered down to the cookies, though a long, ogling thought hit her brain in tired confusion, "Shouldn't they be home by now? I know we all fended for ourselves, for dinner, but… I didn't think the Trek from Game Central Station, to here, took that long."

"It doesn't," Tammy stated as she rubbed her forehead and continued portioning out the cookie dough on the sheet, to which they'd soon put in the oven, "I guess Fix-It Felix Jr. has been going through some code room issues. Tired old game… I just hope they're working on a solution… Would suck if they got unplugged."

"Unplugged?" Koko worried with a sudden frown as she pierced her now agitated gaze to her older cousin, "Can't be that huge of an issue, can it?"

"I guess there's this graphical bug, during game play. Somehow it's making Felix's power up all distorted and sluggish, which… Obviously is making the players upset. Power-ups are supposed to be quick and seamless."

"Poor Felix," Emery eased sorrowfully as she tucked her green hair behind her ears, she began to put a few ingredients in the fridge, for which they didn't need anymore, "It's probably rough being from an old game as it is, huh."

"Supposedly mom went over there yesterday, after the Arcade closed, to try to figure out just what makes the game tick," Tammy bobbed her head, raised her eyebrows, shook her head and placed the second to last blob of cookie dough on the sheet before her. She sighed and shook her head, "It honestly sounds like a job for either Tessa, Vanellope, or Zed… Or all three."

"I guess Throttle has a few coding tricks up his sleeve, as well," Koko inquired lightly with a gentle shrug, though just as Tammy was about to inquire about it, a sudden, sharp call of irritated banter could be heard coming from the Sky Room.

As Ralph, Felix and Calhoun made their way across the Sky Room, via a side door tucked near Ralph and Vanellope's room that they must have entered through, Koko felt her skin crawl with goosebumps, her heart began to race with rapid uncertainty, and just as she glanced to the long stretch of hallway, to her left, that concealed everyone's bedrooms, including hers, she felt her coding nearly wig out on itself with the sight of her three relatives that skulked out of the Sky Room, just before she could bolt. She huffed a faltered sigh, urgently peered down at the bowl of cookie dough before her and finally held her breath. It was in this act did Emery tenderly place a hand on Koko's shoulder, to silently ease her, and as Koko's idle stare finally snapped out, she dragged her nervous eyes to her sister, through code, and gave her a pleading look.

"Maybe it has something to do with the external hardware," Ralph grumbled, he gestured his larger hand; all three of them were in their game-day clothes, though certain aspects of them seemed to be lightly dusted and dirty, as if they had continued their hard work long after the Arcade closed, "I mean, think about it… The housing, of our cabinet, has been sitting in this busy arcade for three decades, now. Y'know how many children run around Litwak's with their dirty shoes, crumbs of food and germs everywhere?"

"Thats valid," Calhoun nodded, she heaved a tired sigh and gently leaned her large, tall gun against the far wall, near the dining room table. Felix skipped a few times, to keep up with Ralph's brooding pace, though he came to a sharp halt, alongside Ralph as Calhoun quickly continued, "Maybe the inner workings, of the Fix-It Felix cabinet just needs to be cleaned out…"

"Who are we going to get to accomplish that?" Ralph urged, his voice was deep and irritated, and it was clear he had been tested all day long. The way his eyebrows were held in a disgruntled grimace, Koko could practically see it all without having to turn around. Ralph loudly continued on, and it was in this instance did he cue Oliver's and Throttle's attention, "Get Zed and Tessa to risk their lives, once more, escape through Tron and lollygag about the Arcade until no one is looking?"

"… Sort of worked last time, didn't it?" Calhoun muttered as she put her hand on her hip and gestured her other hand in mild annoyance.

"What's going on?" Throttle wondered quietly as he stood and approached the kitchen with wariness, though Oliver gently pushed past him with more confidence.

"Fix-It Felix Jr. seems to be encountering some graphical issues," Ralph grumbled, he gestured to Throttle and was nearly about to let his bad mood take hold of his words, "... You'd probably know all about it, considering TurboTime."

Throttle looked taken aback, he furrowed his black brows and pierced his creepy pixel-cubed gaze to Ralph's. Without moving his head, or making a single move, he dart his eyes all the way down to Felix's naive and nervous demeanor and straight up to Calhoun's stoic and still eyes, from across the way. He narrowed his eyes a little, at Calhoun, as if to silently ask if Ralph was about to be taking stabs or not. Calhoun raised her eyebrows in exasperated annoyance, tiredly covered her forehead with her hand, slumped her shoulders and shook her head, as if to positively answer Throttle's question and beg to be left out of the mess.

"I beg your pardon?" Throttle wondered gently, though his voice held a stern bite. He squinted and decided to take the stab personally, judging by the mildly annoyed grimace on Ralph's face, "My home only got to see the light of day for five years, friend. The amount of dust it collected was nothing compared to your game, now."

Everyone felt silent, and as the three girls in the kitchen continued to silently work, Koko furrowed her brow and kept her whole entire existence to herself. She knew, in this raw moment, that tonight, or even tomorrow, wasn't a good time to tell Ralph just of hers and Nox's new coding. She bit her lip and remained a fly on the wall, her next chore. She subtly glanced to Tammy to see just what she thought about all of this, though Tammy's whole attention was glued to the scene that lay behind Koko, on the other side of the island.

"Your game's coding is old, which is something I'm very familiar with… Maybe you can convince me to come with you, tomorrow, to help out," Throttle so gently and eloquently stabbed. He held his gangly arms behind his back, puffed his chest a little and kept his terrifyingly creepy eyes narrowed. Koko so subtly peered to Throttle out of the corner of her eye and felt a sneaky smile sprawl her face; she felt proud to be a part of the same code stream as someone so noble and proud. Throttle cleared his throat and began to look mildly irritated, "Vanellope and Tessa likely would be of great help, as well, but… For the next week, you're stuck with me."

"Gee, we would love the extra help," Felix stammered as he so gingerly gripped the cuffs of his working gloves, he glanced his wary eye contact up to his big brother and nearly dared to pat his knee, just where his height lay, "That sounds like a plan, right Ralph?"

"We'd appreciate it, Throttle, thank you," Ralph stated deeply as he gave Throttle a look of honest appreciation, though he seemed to be lightly forcing it through the grit of his teeth, the weight of anxiousness still hovered over the group, especially Ralph and Felix. Ralph heaved a long sigh and turned to the island, though before he could fully turn heel, he wrinkled his nose in dire curiosity and pointed a finger upwards. As his massive, powerful body language reeled, he drew his agitated attention back to Throttle, "Wait a second… You always said you'd never be caught out in the stations, for anyone to see you. What gives?"

"… I crossed the station to get here, didn't I?" Throttle wondered gently, he had been in the process of turning heel as well, though both men drew their full attention back to the conversation at hand, a conversation Throttle thought was good and settled.

"Three outlets down from Academy?" Ralph wondered before he bit the side of his lower lip in mean cheek; it was clear his massively bad, worrisome day was just about ready to be unloaded on the first, unwavering soul he could get his wrecking skill on, and much to Koko's massive dismay, it had to be someone of which she was now practically related to, by code.

With this notion, she could feel an odd, protective rage come over her, something of which she knew she likely got from Nox, though somehow it adapted to her coding, a certain, unwavering love she had acquired over time for their other resident TurboTime addition. Koko tried so desperately to peel her attention back to the bowl on the counter before her, the task at hand. She inhaled a shaky breath and knew full well Throttle could handle himself, though something inside her felt the need to protect him, a sisterly act she was familiar with for Tessa and Oliver. She shut her eyes tight, unbeknownst to anyone, and desperately prayed that her dad would lay off anymore cheeky comments.

"I guess it's not as massive of a stretch, as, say, going to Game Central Station," Throttle furrowed his brow and felt odd having to defend himself, "… I offered to come and help, isn't that enough? Why do I need to justify my previous words of not wanting to be seen in public?"

"Just seems odd," Ralph side-eyed Throttle and was now well on his way to gaining anger and losing his ability to rationalize, "Why would someone, like you, want to willingly cross stations… To get to our helpless little code room?"

"… Someone like me," Throttle repeated in gentle awe, as if he was uncertain this conversation was even happening, "Y-You're really going to compare me to someone who went crazy?"

"Hey, you said it," Ralph grumbled as he clenched his fists, though Felix put up his hands and began to grow agitated as well.

"Now, Ralph, you can't compare Throttle to the bad fortune of his student," Felix urgently warned as he gripped the lip of his hat, though Ralph took a step forward, ultimately making Felix wobble out of the way.

"I'm a bad guy… I know my stance," Ralph growled, "There's a difference between programmed bad guys… And good guys that go bad. I'm not about to take that chance, here."

"Dad, what are you even saying?" Oliver gawked as he gestured towards Throttle, "Throttle's been living here for months now, and there hasn't been a single issue."

"At least, issues that we know of," Throttle furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, "I've been staying here peacefully… Not aware of the stereotyping beings I've resided with."

"I'm not stereotyping you," Ralph urged louder as he took a daunting step closer to Throttle's figure, and with such, Throttle took a nervous step backwards. Ralph pointed his finger to Throttle, in full aggression, and narrowed his impatient gaze, "I just care about my home… I thought maybe someone like you would understand my boundary."

"Boundary?" Throttle spat as he tilted his head down, though he kept his menacing gaze stabbed into Ralph's, "Bigotry's more like it."

Koko raised her eyebrows in high surprise and knew that was likely the last straw, if she knew her father at all. In a sweep of confidence that she was plagued with, all her life, she scrunched her eyes shut tight, inhaled a sharp breath and allowed her new coding to become unleashed. She examined her surroundings, simply from the coding on the soles of her feet, and as she got a blind reading on every single piece of furniture, every divide of grout on the tiles, every being in the vicinity, she could feel everyone's solid presence alongside Ralph's suddenly jolting intentions. She reopened her eyes, let her raw, angry honeycombs sprawl her arms in a vicious display of adrenaline and whirled around.

Amidst the turn around, she saw her father with his hands so angrily clenched, arms raised and ready to wreck, and it was in this greater gather of information did she know just what she needed to do. As if she was simply put into overdrive, a fast-motion play amidst the frozen bodies around her, she glitch-hopped a single bounce in front of Throttle, sprawled her fingers and, in a hot mess of skill she knew she still needed to so desperately hone, she glued her attention to the massive being before her and let her sticky honeycombs sprawl Ralph's arms and fists. With a loud grunt of a cry, a firm downstroke of her telekinetic glitching abilities, Ralph's fists successfully came down to the tile below everyone, though he was massively shoved backwards, via Koko's coding.

Ralph uttered a hard grunt as he was nearly thrown across the gaping room, and as he skid across the tiles on his feet, his back largely thud with the wall conjoined with the hallway of the racer's bedrooms. With a loud thud, the wall angrily crackled all the way to the high ceilings, and as drywall and debris trickled from the crevices, Ralph exhaled a hard, growling few breaths, shook his head in raw surprise and peered his boggled gaze across the stretch of destroyed tile his fists were ultimately dragged through. He was wholly floored to see Koko standing on the other end of the mess, the girl who delivered the blow, and with as much confidence and power to rattle the entire game, her clenched wrecking fists were sprawled with the proof of her love for Nox, and his precious, lost home game.

"BIGOTRY'S MORE LIKE IT!" Koko repeated Throttle's raw words, she hollered deeply as Felix had now urgently scrambled to get out of the way of the chaos; the whole castle fell silent as all eyes were on Throttle, Koko and Ralph. Koko inhaled a seething breath and allowed herself to feel all of Nox's bottled emotions. So many tiers of dread, of homesickness, of sorrow… Koko shook her head and nearly didn't know where to begin with the overload, though she knew one thing that came easily to her; Ralph's eager, wrecking anger. She grit her teeth and clenched her honeycombed fists as tight as she could, "Can't play it like that, anymore, dad! You can say what you want about TurboTime… But Throttle is my family now, as well."

Ralph raised his eyebrows and remained solid frozen in collected awe, and as if he didn't know just where to begin, he stammered on a few incoherent words of whole disbelief. The dust rose from the mess, and as Koko grew angrier, she so badly wanted to march over to Ralph and give him what for, though she remained solid in front of Throttle, an urgent stance to protect her new branch of family.

"I DARE you to say one more cross thing about Throttle! I DARE you to blindly judge him, and Nox!" Koko shouted, a vein nearly bulged on her forehead, she continued on in the angriest growl she could potentially muster, "I dare you to insult the very coding now coursing through me… I dare you to TRY. ME."


	136. Chapter 136

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** That was the plan! :) Since theirs was so controversial lol

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey! OH I may have gotten it, but I think it was under Guest... Anonymous reviews often get lost/go unnoticed because they have to be approved and a lot of the time I don't get those. They have an approval pending time and often I see them after it's too late. Sorry about that! But yes, I did get this one! And no, you didn't offend me or anything haha. I also REALLY appreciate you taking note of that - I definitely wanted this to be the breaking point, for the two. After being in charge for so long, and then losing their kingdom out from under them, they sort of have this cocky air about themselves I've now nipped in the bud. So yeah, I really am grateful it was noticed cause that's what I was going for :D Thank you!

 **ArchitectDreams :** No worries, I totally get it! Glad you're back :D Thank you so much!

 **Retrokill :** Omg xD Seriously, why would Vanellope act that enraged? He was SUCCESSFUL in swapping with Koko... I can see her getting pissed if he killed her on accident, but omg c'mon lol. Thanks!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thanks!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D

 **Nikki Firesong :** EYOOOOO

 **chuckiboo :** Yes! That's definitely the vibe I was going for! :D I'm glad you remembered that haha. Thank you!

 **gannon28131 :** Aww, wow! Thank you so much, that totally made my day! :D I'm really glad!

* * *

 **A/N:** **REAL quick! If you see the word 'Cox's' as opposed to 'Nox's'... Please DISREGARD. I just recently got a new computer (a Mac Mini) and I forgot that Safari has bitchin' autocorrect... Much to Nox's dismay, Safari believes his name doesn't exist. So if you see me talking about someone named Cox, I'm referring to NOX hahaha. I figured you guys would understand, and I've scoured my chapter for any typos but I'm positive I've missed a few. Bear with me lol**

 **ALSO... This story is now well over 600k words and I've maybe 80-90 more chapters in me. I am SCARED.**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Eye of the Storm (ft. Laura Brehm) by Tut Tut Child (first half of the chapter)**

 **Aladar and Neera (score) by James Newton Howard (last half)**

 ***Chapter 136***

Ralph grunted a cough, shook his head and peered down to his fists. Scraped just like he endured a single quarter alert, his eyes dragged through the messy tiles and debris his massive hands just created. He flinched as Koko's stern demeanor took a firm step forward, to further defend Throttle and Nox. She was practically on fire, and with this, Ralph was wholly rocked from his bad day, everything that he was ever worried about came suddenly screeching to a dead halt with this uprising.

"Koko," Ralph huffed shakily as he peered to her in near-growing fear, he squinted in dire curiosity as the whole castle fell silent, though before he could get anything else out, Koko inhaled a sharp breath, pointed back to Throttle and let her powerful voice coat Ralph's with as much ferocity as Vanellope's.

"How dare you… How dare you!" Koko hollered, she clenched her other fist and kept her arms, wrists and hands coated in hers and Nox's honeycombed fire. She shook her head and side-eyed her dad, "Don't sit here and think you can patronize my new family member. He graciously offered his expertise, who the hell are you to deny his help!"

Throttle swallowed a nervous gulp and though he twiddled his fingers before his chest in growing nervousness, he let a small, grateful smile sprawl his face, his heart raced with the thoughts that quickly came rushing to him, the sheer idea that her and Nox were successful in their opposed swap. He finally dragged his grateful gaze to the back of Koko's head and nearly reeled; the simple fact that this powerful woman, before him, held strands of his very own code stream, because of Nox. He knew the two were now not only in the public eye of the castle, but a true spectacle amidst the other opposed swap couples. He inhaled a shaky breath and flinched as Koko's piercing voice echoed the still halls of the Kalivar castle.

"I was going to sit you down and have a nice, long, difficult conversation with you about my news, revealed to you, but you know what? I don't think you deserve that any longer," Koko shouted, Ralph uttered a nervous breath and glossed the tiles in rapidly growing sorrow, "Nox and I swapped codes, as you can so clearly see. I was terrified to tell you because I knew just how sensitive you were about all of this… I didn't think it stemmed to this amount of degrading bullshit."

"Y-You… You made it work," Ralph uttered softly, he longingly peered to Koko in a sheer amount of regret and sorrow that cloaked him, though he slowly corrected his posture and kept his safe distance.

"WE made it work," Koko stabbed, "How does it feel, dad? I have the same code as the very man that nearly destroyed Sugar Rush… You gunna treat me just like how you treated Throttle? The mean looks you give Nox when you think he's not looking? The snide remarks you tell mom?"

"I-… Just…" Ralph stammered nervously.

"Don't think I don't hear it," Koko seethed as she tilted her head down and sent an unforgiving glare into her father's skin, "You think I'm gunna go Turbo? Think I'm going to take over the next game I see? You think all these boys have the same mindset?"

"I never said th-"

"Actions speak louder than words, dad," Koko stated sternly, "You've clearly done enough to prove it."

As Koko fell silent, everyone anxiously peered to the unfolding drama, and before Ralph could even begin to think about uttering an apology, Koko slowly turned to look at Throttle, over her shoulder. He raised his eyebrows in plucked surprise that this drama was now wholly honed to him, and as he inhaled a shaky breath, he allowed Koko to approach him. As if it was difficult to shake the anger coursing through her, she pushed a knowing smirk of a smile to her face and so gently reached out her hand, for Throttle; it was still lit with hers and Nox's berry honeycombs, and as Throttle welcomed her hand in his, his original red coding took to hers as easy as could be, because of the familiarity of Nox's coding coursing through hers.

"I'm proud of you two," Throttle uttered quietly to her, his voice was deep and just barely above a hushed whisper. Koko beamed a closed-mouth smile and shook her head a tiny bit, though Throttle jostled her hand, "You carved your own path… This irony will prove a lot, in the time to come."

"What do you mean?" Koko inquired lightly, though Throttle inhaled a readied breath and broadened his tone for the rest of their audience.

"This woman, this beauty… Sugar Rush's second princess entrusted someone whom of which is related to a labelled monster," Throttle explained as he looked about, though he kept his hand lovingly gripped to Koko's, "This is where the labelling ends. This is where the twisted lies, the false accusations, the shifty eyes Nox and I get… This is where it ends, with the union of two opposing forces. Probably the largest opposition amongst the opposed-code couples we've garnered."

Everyone sorrowfully, and guiltily glanced to one another in hot strings of curious eye contact, as if to state that, in one way or another, everyone has fallen victim to Throttle's points, whether it be intentional or not.

"I think it to be disheartening… That you believe your own daughter, your own flesh and blood, would make a decision that could mean the end of Sugar Rush entirely," Throttle side-eyed Ralph, "… You're worried Nox took Koko's coding and is now traipsing through Sugar Rush, seeking ways to take it over, simply because he's related to someone who actually DID do those things?"

Ralph remained silent in defeat, he long blinked a few times, and though he sought to avoid eye contact with Throttle, he finally dragged his eye through the debris of tile and gave Throttle his urgent, guilty eye contact. He shook his head softly, to answer Throttles question, though to also silently state that Ralph maybe once was worried about said notion.

"Not only is Nox now compatible with Sugar Rush, but he's now in line for the throne," Throttle stabbed, to get his point across further. "Nox is loyal, compassionate, sweet, and… A little naive at times," Throttle shrugged, he caught eyes with Koko and jostled her hand, once more, "He's undeniably funny… Likely one of the reasons you fell in love with him, huh."

Koko beamed a bashful, closed-mouth smile, nodded and felt a blush cross her face. She looked down to hers and Throttle's conjoined hands with renewed hope, she sat in his untimely wisdom, soaked in every last ounce of his now familiar coding and felt comforted in the fact that she and Throttle were now on the same page, in the same branch of family. She squinted and knew she couldn't have ever imagined herself here, right now, though she also thought back and knew she wouldn't change any of this for the world.

"Sure, he's brash around people he's comfortable with, he's a little lazy sometimes and can come across as brooding or moody, but… A monster?" Throttle side-eyed Ralph and shook his head, "No… Not even a blip on the radar. I am technically in the same code-stream as Turbo, Lash and Nox, and even though the boys have always sort of viewed me as an uncle, I am still technically their oldest brother."

Koko stabbed her eyes to Throttle's, and though Throttle's stare was dug into Ralph's, she felt a wave of surprise hit her skin. She knew Throttle was related to the three boys, in some way, though with the raw fact that Throttle just spilled, she felt her heart beat accelerate with excitement. Koko huffed a small giggle of surprise, which caused Throttle's bashful eyes to just barely clip with hers in a knowing way.

"Say what you want about me, about TurboTime," Throttle grumbled as his eyes finally came back to Koko's, he squeezed her hand with fervor and finally cupped the top of her hand with his other one. He shook his head and squinted into Koko's stare a little harder, though after a moment of contemplation, he dragged his dagger-like eye contact back to Ralph's, "Any cross thing you have to say, about Turbo or Nox, falls directly on your own daughter's shoulders. So watch your step… Your highness."

Koko's eyes bulged a little at the sheer stab Throttle delivered, and as Throttles unwavering glare held tight to Ralph's, Koko nearly didn't want to turn around and see just the state her own father was in. After a moment of raw, terrified collectedness of the group, Koko peered to her father, over her shoulder, and cocked an eyebrow. Ralph looked disheveled, sorrowful, defeated, which was a rare occurrence. Koko frowned and gripped her hand tighter to Throttle's. She knew her and her father had a long road of recovery before them, and the daunting fact that she had to wait five days to throw Nox in the mix, she nearly felt sick to her stomach.

"I apologize," Ralph uttered shakily with a small nod of acceptance, "We'd greatly appreciate your help, tomorrow… That is, if you're still willing."

"Of course I'm still willing," Throttle eased, he gently peered to Koko and gave her a snarky smile, somewhere, deep in his coding, he held the same amount of mischief as his three younger brothers, "Us oldies gotta stick together… No matter the circumstance."

"Right," Koko gently agreed, though just as she turned around to begin speaking to her father, Ralph huffed a shaky breath and gently began to step out of the room.

Koko raised her eyebrows in hard surprise and figured now would be the time for reconciliation, though as Ralph firmly stepped into the Sky Room, and vanished, Koko held up her hand and stammered on a noise of nervousness. After a few moments of Ralph's presence disappearing, Koko held her breath and felt Tammy, Emery, Calhoun, Felix, Oliver and the rest of Dead Zed's racers urgently hold to the burning hot epicenter of the game. Koko heaved a shaky breath and allowed hers and Nox's coding to gently dwindle away from her skin, for the first time in this escapade, and though she desperately tried to hold back tears, she knew she likely had done a number on her father's heart, and reconciliation likely wouldn't come easy.

* * *

As the firewood began to slowly simmer down, a crackling jostle of embers that flit scents of sharp mint and sugar into the still, nighttime air, Penny gently lobbed a few fresh cuts of wood into the pile and plopped down. Tessa, Zed, Taffyta and Orph, as well as the three flyers, were long gone, asleep and ready to recoup for the next day of travel, though Vanellope, Nox, Libby, Ace and Penny remained awake. They quickly sat with each other in a tight, collective group, so to easy converse without waking up the others. Sat at the heart of the group was Nox and Vanellope, and though Ace, Libby and Penny quietly remained in their own separate conversation, they kept their lazy attention to just what Nox and Vanellope were up to.

"It's all fun and games until you over exert yourself," Vanellope eased as softly as she could, she gently gripped Nox's arm, in the bend, and began to run her fingers down his forearm. With her coding desperately trying to ease out the knots of the mild circuit stretching he had gotten himself into, he grimaced and rubbed his forehead, with his free hand, in pure agitation. Vanellope shook her head and gave Nox a kind, snarky smile, "Thought trying to out-do everyone wouldn't come with consequences, huh?"

"I apologized," Nox grunted with a small laugh as Vanellope's purple coding desperately tried to soothe his angry, berry-electric honeycombs.

"I can't stay in one movement for too long," Vanellope inquired as she finally wriggled her strong grip to Nox's wrist and so desperately dug at the curled circuits under his skin, "Your coding is beginning to burn, a little."

"I was going to inquire about that," Penny started softly as she pointed, ultimately merging the two small groups, "I thought... The honeycomb coding wasn't compatible with regular circuits, because of said burning, but... You swapped with Koko sans burns?"

Nox felt his face heat up, and even though his and Vanellope's coding was mingled in an angry dance of an exterior swap, so to help iron out the small bout of circuit stretching he had, he wondered if somehow his thoughts wouldn't totally transcend in this growing spiral of awkwardness Penny had so gently plopped him in. Nox inhaled a shaky breath, shrugged a little and only bashfully glanced eyes with Vanellope.

"I-I'm not totally sure... My reasoning was mood. Kind of similar to like-sided magnets," Nox shrugged a little, "If they're on the same wavelength, they don't resist, y'know?"

"So, everything cooperates if both beings are willing?" Penny wondered softly, though Libby felt her face heat up as she could see Ace curiously glance to her, in her peripheral.

"I guess so," Nox grunted as he grit his teeth and inhaled a sharp breath of pain, Vanellope tenderly gripped his arm and began to slid her strong fingers down his forearm once more, the wrinkles had only finally begun to think about cooperating.

"Ow, ow, ow," Vanellope suddenly yelped, and though she tried to keep her voice down, she yanked her hand away, waggled it in mild pain and locked eyes with Nox. Both beings laughed, though Nox exhaled a breath he had likely been holding and wiped his forehead free of sweat, "Yeah, only reason his coding is burning me is because he's angry with me, right now."

"I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at myself," Nox laughed softly, both their codings quickly flickered away in a shy display of nervous retreat, though as Vanellope brought her timid coding back to her palms, to begin again, she reached for his arm and peered to him in quiet curiosity, as if to wonder if it were okay to continue helping him. Nox huffed a shaky breath and slowly returned his arm to her bubble, "I-I dove face first into a skill I knew nothing about..."

"Well, at least now you have teachers that can help you gradually expand," Vanellope's voice was soft, and as hers and Nox's coding mingled once more, both of their arms sprawled, again, with a vivid, dark purple mix of hot honeycombs. Vanellope felt Nox's coding begin to want to get hotter and hotter, a form of potential self defense. Vanellope squinted and wondered if the two could find even ground, "You have me, Zed, Tessa, Koko, Ralph Oliver, and even Emery."

"You also have Mr. User," Penny stated with a smile, a warming up phase she was secretly practicing.

"I think I'm better at wrecking," Ace grumbled, he tucked his chin into his knees, hugged his legs to his chest and let his eyes soak to Vanellope's chore, at hand; Libby scoffed a knowing noise of disagreement, smiled, and lovingly rubbed his back.

"Yes, we can't forget Ace," Vanellope stated with a kind laugh as she began to drag her hand down Nox's arm, though within doing so, Nox reeled a little, inhaled a sharp breath of pain and let his coding do all the talking. Vanellope flinched and only grappled his arm harder, and though his coding began to finally burn her in a show of a warning, Vanellope gingerly let her free hand grapple his lower arm as well. As she remained still, she shushed him in a coo of love, "Easy, easy... It sounds sucky, but allow yourself to feel it."

"Feel the pain?" Nox grimaced as he shut his eyes tight, stiffened his spine and shook his head.

"If you resist, it just makes this process longer," Vanellope stated sternly, and though she so badly wanted to stick to routine, to follow her usual route of demanding requirements and stating sharp facts, she let her eyes soak into Nox's. He winced and tried to take in her words, though he looked a little scared. Vanellope softened her shoulders and let Nox's fearful, shivering coding gloss hers in a display of need and nervousness. She heaved a long, hot sight though her nose, long blinked her now delicate gaze back down to Nox's arm and let a small smile come to the surface of her demeanor, "You're doing great, so far, Nox... Just try and relax, I'm not going to let this continue on any longer than I can help, okay?"

Nox raised his eyebrows in collected surprise, gently pierced his gaze to Vanellope's and felt his skin ease a bit. As he began to slowly sag his posture in comfort, he soaked in Vanellope's loving words, a strange notion to be coming from their strict head honcho. Nox breathed a shaky sigh, nodded and noticed Vanellope's unwavering hands gripped to his left lower arm. He glanced down at their connection, cocked an eyebrow and ogled the mess of darker honeycombs. Just as the sound of the crackling embers, from behind their group, soaked into the night air, Vanellope's voice popped his thought bubble.

"That's it," Vanellope whispered as Penny, Ace and Libby all eagerly watched the show at hand, and before anyone could inquire about how the both of them were feeling, Vanellope let out a small giggle and glanced her attention to the three beings to her right, "... That was easy. No more burns."

"Wow, so it really is just a comfort thing, then?" Libby wondered softly as Ace nodded and shrugged, "Both parties have to sort of, well... Be on good terms, then?"

"I guess so," Vanellope smiled, and as she finally began to drag her fingers down Nox's arm again, he furrowed his brow in growing pain, though he replayed her soothing, positive words. He heaved a shaky breath, and though he looked agitated, the wriggling pain seemed to finally dwindle, just like she promised, "I guess this means Nox and I are friends now."

"Friends?" Nox choked with a small chuckle, which cued Penny, Ace and Libby to softly laugh as well, "I'm honored... Thank User."

"Don't thank me, you did all the work," Ace mumbled, which had everyone in continuous laughter.

"That term is hard to throw around, nowadays," Penny agreed with a giggle.

"Proud of you, momma," Ace grumbled quietly, as his eyes soaked to the gorgeous display of coding on Nox's and Vanellope's arms.

"Hmm? For what?" Vanellope prod quietly as Vanellope began to dig at Nox's arm again, though his coding began to finally unwind as they seemingly found each other on the same page.

"... For taking Nox's advice," Ace stated kindly, his twinkling eyes glossed Vanellope's eyes as she merely bashfully glanced at him. She smiled a sneaky, small sheepish smile and kept her bashful eyes trained to what she was doing, "Your positive reinforcement worked, and now you're both moving forward."

"... I owe you guys an apology," Vanellope mumbled quietly as everyone peered their attention to their Queen Bee. Vanellope heaved a long sigh and finally began to hone her attention to Nox's hand, she tenderly massaged the padding of his palms and fingers, "I guess... I'm just so hard on myself, and I let that transfer over to you guys... You don't deserve to be treated that way. I'm sorry... I-I'll try harder to be a bit nicer."

"You're a great teacher," Ace assured gently as Penny, Libby and Nox all chimed in kind notions of affirmation, "You mean well... The way you come across? Not so much... But, no matter what, we know you love us."

"Every single last one of you," Vanellope assured, she gingerly jostled Nox's hand about, for emphasis, to which he beamed and chuckled in a knowing way, "You gunna give me more grand babies?"

"... UH?" Nox's eyes bulged in hard surprise, though Ace, Libby and Penny had to largely stifle their excited laughter. Nox felt his face heat up to a billion degrees as he remained conjoined with Vanellope, "Whoa, whoa, let's uh... Y'know... Things only got serious, between Koko and I, last night!"

"I'm teasing," Vanellope assured as she shook her head and laughed, "I just wanted to see if it was true... Your face really CAN produce blush."

"It is SKIN, after all," Nox grumbled as he anxiously rubbed the back of his head and tried to hide the widest, most bashful smile.

"I wonder what they'd look like," Penny stated kindly, not in a teasing way. Nox bashfully peered to her and noticed the change in tone, "Would they have yellow eyes? Koko's skin color? Would they have grey hair?"

"The possibilities are endless," Libby stated in quiet girlyness, she knew just what topic to dive into the next time she was with Koko.

"No matter... Maybe we'll find out, one day," Vanellope eased through a quiet sigh as Nox finally relaxed, he shook his head in mild annoyance with a snarky smile, though he knew full well his face was likely still bright red. Vanellope rubbed her thumbs into the palm of Nox's hand and raised her eyebrows, "Pain's gone, yeah?"

"... Yeah, it is," Nox stated incredulously, he scoffed a breath of disbelief and smiled, "I totally forgot..."

"It's because you relaxed," Vanellope giggled, though Ace waggled his finger.

"It's because of your kind words, mom," Ace reminded tenderly, "You deserve half the credit."

"Teamwork at it's finest," Penny concluded with a nod as she directed her gaze to the dark canopies over head.

"That'll see us through," Vanellope agreed quietly as she unravelled the last strand of Nox's wrinkled coding.


	137. Chapter 137

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** Haha yeah, that was the point. Tessa and Oliver don't technically have 'sweet' candy names (I did that on purpose, I didn't want it to be cliche) but I always liked the name Koko and found it fitting, since it is HEARD as 'cocoa' - or, chocolate haha. But that works too xD Thank you!

 **TheDoctorDusty :** Aww yay :D I'm glad!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! :) Yes, Throttle expands on it in later chapters. No, Nox and them knew that Throttle was their eldest brother, he just wasn't as tight-knit with them, was programmed as a more stoic 'teacher' like figure in their lives, and thus sort of treated him like an uncle. He has his goofy/warm moments though and it shows as the story goes on and certain characters are added.

 **Retrokill :** Haha thank you for checking xD I'm glad.

 **ArchDev :** Yeahhh Ralph's not the brightest - but I guess everyone has their moments here and there xD

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Okay good haha. Thank you so much! :D

 **Snake557 :** It nearly hurt my brain trying to come up with children combinations for those two hahaha

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, really quick! I apologize for the late update. I've recently got a public Minecraft server going! If you play Minecraft, are fun-loving and want to come build with us, PM me. I'm currently in the process of building an ENTIRE replica of the Kalivar castle, so that'll be a ton of fun to actually 'tour' once it's done :D **

**This is for serious inquiries only - I am not afraid of the ban button :) This is also only for my loyal reviewers, friends I've gotten to know over the months/years. If you don't review, or we haven't ever talked on here, deviantART or anywhere else on the web, do not expect to be** **included - my apologies!**

 **My server is large enough for 36 people and it already has about 4, so let me know if you're interested to come hang with me, my boyfriend Cory, and my friends Elle and Huck (Snake557) :D**

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Lost and Found by Ellie Goulding**

 **The Highest Step in the World by Adam Young**

 ***Chapter 137***

"C'mon, Ace, she can't be that difficult to goad!" Nox bellowed; him, Orph, Taffyta and Libby eagerly watched from across the field. They each were sat perched atop the cold boulders that precariously sprout from the rugged, glorious green grass.

Ace grumbled a hard, annoyed noise and largely shoved on Lickity's snout, in which she happily bellowed a honk and, with even just a small force of her strength, she knocked Ace to the ground with a hard thud. He jolted and coughed a hard exhale as he landed on his back, though he slowly rolled over, in stiff pain, and let a largely annoyed glare burn into Lickity's wild, excited eyes.

"C'mon, Lickity, c'mon," Ace muttered deeply and quietly under his breath, "Not in front of Libby, why do you have to be so stubborn? You practically helped raised me! Just give me one controlled-flight, and I-I won't ask anything else of you!"

Lickity slumped her wings and gave Ace a massively annoyed, sloping expression of disinterest. She often resorted to a more animalistic behavior when rough-housing, though she gave Ace a snide look of playful discontent and muttered a volleying retort of sarcasm under her breath.

"Y'got a girl watching, dude, show Lickity whose boss!" Orph cupped his hands over his mouth to get the message across the fifty foot distance they possessed.

"A girl?" Libby wrinkled her nose and shot Orph a wildly annoyed smile, "Best friend? Grew up with him? Has seen him do stupider?"

"You just wait and see, missy, you'll be surprised, he'll knock your socks off with how much stupid he will overload you with," Orph muttered, he shot her a sly look of knowing, though it was strangely mixed with a curious kindness.

"I don't know if anything will top this, Orph... He's trying to make an agreement with the fastest dragon in all of Arcade," Taffyta flung her arm out in hard annoyance before she began to clumsily take off her hoodie.

"If there's one thing I've noticed, Lickity is very picky... I doubt she'd let Ace on her, so much as take the reigns," Libby stated knowingly, she crossed her arms over her tan shirt. It had fraying pops of coral color at the bottom, likely a comfortable shirt she used to wear in her tribe. She looked up to the skies in dallying sass and smiled to Sugar Rush's gorgeous, boastful clouds, "He's flown Balba before, though."

"Dragons are different... You own a massively over-sized puppy dog," Orph snapped, though the two shared a mix of friendly glares.

"Wolf mix, thank you very much," Libby muttered as she narrowed her eyes and stared Orph down harder, though the two shared an annoyed laugh.

Taffyta just barely glanced over her shoulder, as she successfully swiped off her hoodie, though she caught sight of someone approaching from across the field behind them. She slumped her shoulders and peeled her eyes to the wrestling situation in front of them. Lickity's hard grumbles and excited, playful barks echoed down the grass, as well as Ace's annoyed, loud arguments towards her.

"Y'think Tessa would be mad that we dared Ace to do this?" Nox hissed in an eager whisper with a wide smile; Orph rolled his eyes.

"Probably, but this is hilarious, so I don't really care," Orph muttered, "He'll either fly away from this or... Or..."

Taffyta muttered as she idly gazed up to the sky and used her fingers to count, "Three, two, one-"

"Or maybe he'll piss Lickity off so badly, she'll set the whole field on fire," Tessa barked with an eager smile as she largely nudged the back of Orph's head. He grunted a complaint and stiffened his spine in growing fear, "Trying to toughen up your nephew, there? Think it's a good idea to use Lickity as a ploy?"

"Oh come on, it's harmless!" Orph wildly gestured outwards.

"I've been given a game over by Lickity's fire, before," Tessa snapped down to him with a wide, growing smile full of diminishing patience for her brother, "Not something that'll toughen you up, Orph! Don't be an idiot. You guys know Lickity won't let anyone fly her, but me and Zed."

"Told you," Libby sneered to Orph quietly, her wide, playfully mean smile was all Sugar Rush.

"Yeah, yeah," Orph grumbled as he clumsily got to his feet and began to stretch.

He lulled his head back and allowed Sugar Rush's gorgeous morning flood his lungs with the sweet scent of the candy clouds the hung over head. As Orph's eyes dragged, he noticed Vanellope, Penny, Zed, Royal and Balba crossing the stretch of the field, and as they slowly approached, Vanellope could be seen nervously peering over her shoulder. Off in the distance, they had spot a single sprawling city, far off. So to avoid confusion, they opted for landing on the outskirts of the town and melting into the metropolis, so to fit in a little easier. Outside of this small town were sprawling fields, and though snow clung to the ground here and there, the late morning time sun promised a warmer day.

"Alright, what's the verdict," Tessa eased softly as her mother approached, though Zed huffed a readied sigh and ruffled his hair.

"The city is so quiet," Zed started gently, "We got as close as we could, to potentially see if there was life in the city, but it's just too difficult with the sun where it is in the sky, right now."

"Well, let's just GO there," Orph urged as he gestured his arms towards the peaks of buildings they could see in the close distance, "Surely, if there's anyone there, they'll be totally stoked to see their Queen, right?"

"It's true, I guess... I just never know how Radex rewired the game," Vanellope nervously glanced to Taffyta, for she knew this was a touchy subject for both her and Penny, "What if he took the citizens and brainwashed them into thinking maybe I'm an enemy?"

"...I never thought about it like that," Tessa mumbled as she looked down to the soft grass everybody stood on.

"He really wanted us off the throne," Vanellope garbled, she bulged her eyes and gestured her hands as emphasis, "I mean he REALLY wanted us off that throne. So much so, he made it so you couldn't even get into Game Central Station... I just doubt he would've stopped there."

"Well, so where are all the other racers, then?" Nox prod quietly; he knew he had a voice in this equation, though he still laid low.

"We have no idea," Taffyta shook her head and looked up, her choppy white bangs rested on her forehead in a messy way, "Obviously, SOMEONE is still keeping the game up and running... Otherwise, we wouldn't even be in Litwak's, any longer."

"Well... Let's go into the city," Libby kindly chimed as she shrugged and gestured her hands, though Balba lovingly came up behind her and nudged her snout into the back of her elbow. Libby gently ruffled the top of Balba's head and smiled in the direction of Vanellope's nervous gaze, "Surely, if there are people there, they won't recognize the lot of us... We can do all the digging for you."

"Blondey has a point," Nox mumbled positively, though he flinched as Libby shot him a beaming look of gentle annoyance.

"My hair's white," Libby snipped with a smile as she crossed her arms.

"I'm the only blonde one here, folks," Penny's unfamiliar voice croaked in dainty gentleness as she lazily pointed to herself in an action of dismay.

"Libby's hair is more white than mine," Taffyta barked, everyone eased into knowing laughter as Libby and Nox continued to playfully bicker.

"Blondey! It means someone with light colored hair, c'mon people," Nox barked as Libby laughed and swung her arm over Nox's shoulder, though everyone flinched as Ace finally sauntered up to the group, he was panting heavily.

"A-Alright, we uh... D-decide on a... Game plan?" Ace heaved as he looked about the group in dewy cuteness, though sweat dripped down his temples; everyone burst out laughing, which caused his kind demeanor to slip to mild annoyance. He began to push through the center of the group and marched onwards, towards the city, "You guys suck. I'm not doing that ever again."

"Y'shouldn't have done that to begin with!" Tessa called with a hard laugh as Lickity strolled up as well, though she looked to be in better sorts, she side-eyed Tessa with a knowing smirk of deviance.

"Alright, guys, let's go," Vanellope stated in a dull tone, as if this daunting task ahead of them was likely too big to mentally tackle in this moment.

As the group began to stroll across the field, they fell in and out of subgroups, gentle chatter that so quietly carried about the grass and beautiful spikes of boulders that jut out of the grass, like rocks in a green sea. The air was crisp and cool, and as Sugar Rush's pretty pink clouds head West from above, a quick sweeping motion, the wind blew everyone's hair and clothes about in a gust of refreshment they knew they all needed. As they finally approached the bank of the field they were in, which was a little higher in elevation than the city before them, they peered down to the sprawling buildings in quiet anticipation, and it was with this tight proximity to other buildings did they come to one raw conclusion.

"Aaannd another abandoned city," Taffyta grumbled, and though she didn't speak loudly, her voice strangely caught with the walls of a few nearby buildings and bounced about the emptiness, "Seriously, where IS everyone."

"He couldn't have deleted everyone, could he?" Tessa worried as she gained presence next to her mother, though Vanellope lulled her eyes closed, shook her head and felt defeat continue to crawl over her.

"I was hoping there'd be people here... We then could at least get information," Vanellope mumbled as she rubbed her forehead in mild agitation, she finally opened her eyes and peered out to the cute, urban little sprawl of buildings, both tall, short, wide and in an array of different shapes and colors.

"Maybe... We could see just who was living here," Zed inquired as everyone formed a line against the drop off, which wasn't too drastic. The wind whipped about, a carried current that was only halted by the buildings before them, "Check out their stuff... Were they up an deleted? Or were they forced to evacuate?"

"We won't know just sitting here," Nox grunted as he bent over, got a good holding, and jumped down the small slope of a drop. His shoes skid on the chocolate dirt and gravel, though he began to jog down the rest of the climbable slop.

Vanellope raised her eyebrows and watched him continue to carve the path, though before she could laugh and inquire about his gutsiness, Ace kindly agreed and followed Nox's lead, as did Libby and Tessa. Vanellope slumped her shoulders and smiled a little, and as the flyers were the last to ease their great bodies over the bend, Taffyta gently held a hand to Vanellope's shoulder and gave her a kind smile as the two remained.

"Stop worrying so much..." Taffyta stated warmly, "I've let go of what was... I've accepted that this game is in ruins, and whatever gem we may stumble upon is going to be of use..."

"I think I'm in a continuous state of denial," Vanellope said sorrowfully, though both girls began to help each other over the drop. As they jumped to the ground below, Vanellope dusted her arms off and peered to their lively group down the slope; they chattered and seemed hopeful, "I never thought Sugar Rush could be turned upside down so many times, but to have it wind up like this?"

"Hey... We're on the right path, aren't we?" Taffyta gestured out towards their group, "We're finding other cities and such... Shouldn't be long before we eventually find the castle. It's got to be around here somewhere."

Vanellope nodded and peered out to the city they began to finally melt into. Though it was silent and held a very real amount of creepy abandonment, somehow the echoey bounces of her family's voices soaked her mind with renewed love. She brushed her black hair out of her face and took in the familiar architecture. She furrowed her brow in gentle confusion and tried her hardest to figure out just what city this was, and as they grew deeper into the strange, gorgeous city, with pops of vibrant colors and cute murals of ads and the like, abstract displays of street art, Vanellope wrinkled her nose and grew more and more curious. She was certain she had never had her eye on this city, when the game was in normality, and with such a broad spectrum placed on her all at once, she felt a weird wave of release come over her.

As her and Taffyta quietly soaked into the background, she noticed everyone had fallen into flits of giggling conversation, gentle bobs and weaves of bodies, a nonchalant saunter of life down a dead road. Vanellope held her breath and took in the vivid scene, her mismatched band of family embarked on a journey, their hearts full of hope and the smiles on their faces proving every last ounce of their goodness. It was in this raw moment did Vanellope finally realize that she was no longer in charge of this journey, this fight wasn't just hers to run. She knew this group of hers were simply selfless beings on the charge for justice, though she knew, in the end, she'd owe the whole kingdom to every single last person that had their hand in helping. With the strange sweep of the figurative step-down, she felt a weight lifted. She knew this kingdom was still her responsibility, though she knew just when to throw in the towel and humbly ask for help.

"C'mon, Queen Bee, you're falling behind," Orph suddenly barked right in the middle of the vibrant, loud story he was telling; everyone glossed their eyes over their shoulders and lovingly glanced in the direction of Vanellope, and as she perked up and kept in tow with them, she felt that sneaky smile of adoring love sprawl her face. She looked down to the loved pink cobbles underneath her feet and only felt as if her mental sentiments were solidified.

"So, then I said, you're crazy... Jootas don't fly this far South," Orph started, everyone eased in knowing notions and laughs as Orph continued on with his story, "Sure enough, I walk outside... There are seven perched on my bike."

"How'd you get them off?" Libby stated through laughter as everyone honed to Orph's exciting story.

"What! You've ever tangled with a joota? The beaks on those things!" Orph ogled as he gave Libby an incredulous gape, though she covered her face and wildly laughed, "We all looked like idiots trying to convince them to fly away! I nearly lost my fingers."

"Y'lost something, I'll tell you that," Zed muttered teasingly with a snide smile in the direction of his younger brother.

"They just decided to pick your bike, out of everything to land on in Ekreth, to perch on?" Vanellope inquired incredulously, though Orph gave her a dumbfounded look and gestured outwards in hard annoyance.

"It's a nice bike okay!" Orph loudly defended, Vanellope threw her head back and laughed as Taffyta teasingly nudged Orph's shoulder, "I-It likely was shiny, something about it made them drawn to it."

"Maybe it was bad karma for being a dick to the barista behind the counter," Zed laughed as he rubbed his forehead in agitation.

"She probably spit in my drink, too," Orph sighed as he peered forward, "That was a bad day for Orph."

"He was telling this story because we noticed some sugar swallows heading East," Penny's quiet voice chimed in as gently as she could, and with the stark difference, everyone softly settled; as if hearing Penny's voice was a rarity, they proved their nosiness, "Not sure why, though... They're not migratory birds. We may need to watch out for storms."

"She speaks!" Ace exclaimed lovingly, everyone eased into laughter of understanding as Penny tried to hide a bashful smile down to her feet.

"Yeah, Pens, you're so quiet, surely you've tangled with some crazy beasts," Orph prod curiously, though Penny shot him a daring smile and cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, wouldn't you like to know," She snipped, though the group cooed and lightly gawked with the stab; Orph uttered an exasperated grunt and held his hand over his chest, as if to state he hand been wounded.

"Damn," Orph hissed with a wide smile.

* * *

It was in this point of the week where Koko began to so sorely miss the noise of her friends and family. Tucked near the back of the Kalivar backyard, Koko sat peacefully on the large tree swing. Though she did nothing to physically swing, the ropes still gently swayed with the cool breeze that soaked over the atmosphere. She wore a comfortable pair of colorful sweats and one of Nox's grey tanks. She relished in his familiar scent, just the right amount of movements would jostle the scent of his musk out into the air, and though she knew she was likely just plopped right in the middle of the honeymooner's phase, of a brand new relationship, she knew she could never get enough of him, no matter what. She heaved wistful sigh and so desperately wished that happy thoughts were the only thing on her mind. She narrowed her gaze across the bright pop of greens and blues, from the sun's vivid splash onto the pool to it's remaining hot hues to the grass about the jungle and trees, she let her mind soak into the evening to come, the task at hand.

She frowned a frown full of sorrow, she shook her head and let her larger hands grapple the loved ropes of the tree swing she sat on, the long, flat piece of wood that was sanded down smooth for comfort, she lulled her eyes closed for a moment and rested her head against the thick ropes. Her bare feet only just barely caught with the cold, damp grass underneath her, and before she could get way too lost in thought, the idea of Throttle going with her to visit Fix-It Felix Jr.'s code room trailed into her mind. She flinched as she could hear Throttle's front door open from a few dozen feet behind her. His abode was also tucked underneath said tree Koko was swinging from, though with the massive sprawl of it's canopy, it was easy to fit nearly half of the backyard underneath it. She reopened her eyes in gentle knowing as Throttle's door could be heard softly closing. His bare footsteps moved across the planks of his deck, and as they vanished, she knew he had stepped out onto the grass to approach her.

"It's a lot to take in, huh," Throttle's deep, warm voice cooed. He approached her from her back, left diagonal, though he kept a respectful amount of distance and only slowly came alongside her, "Y'learn anything new about TurboTime at all? Subconsciously, anyhow?"

"I had a strange dream last night," Koko assured as she squinted and kept her eyes glossed to their large backyard pool, which was across the stretch of the fire flowers in front of Ace's tower, "A huge city... So pristine, so white and so beautiful. It was unlike anything I have ever seen."

Throttle huffed a silent breath of a laugh, he smiled and looked down to his bare feet as his toes messed into the grass. He nodded a little, tucked his hands into the pockets of his torn black jeans and inhaled a readied, near-sorrowful breath through his nose. After a few moments of silence, contemplation, Throttle threw his gaze out to the sprawling scene before the two, as well.

"Vidrix," Throttle assured with a smile, "TurboTime's largest city... It was like living in the clouds. I'm not being biased when I say... I have yet to see prettier imagery."

"But the cabinet was so old... How could the graphics handle it?" Koko wondered quietly, she squinted and finally let her pupils go from shrunk in the harsh sunlight, to dilated on the shaded being to her left.

"I'm not certain... It obviously had it's restrictions, and the world map wasn't very large, but..." Throttle shook his head once more and looked as if he was slowly becoming lost in nostalgia, "Even bumping into the limitations of the sky box, if you went too far out of range, wasn't that bad of a thing... Endless sky. It was like Heaven. I can't tell you how badly I miss it."

"I guess... Whatever memories Nox has, of Vidrix, popped up in a dream of mine, last night," Koko sighed, shook her head and frowned, "It's a real shame we won't ever be able to visit Vidrix... I'm sure words don't do it justice."

"Not nearly," Throttle quickly agreed, though he finally gave his loving gaze to Koko and furrowed his brow, "So, what are you doing out here by yourself? You missing everyone so soon?"

"I didn't think I'd miss them THIS badly," Koko complained lightly, she shook her head, "It's only been a day and a half and already I'm about to rip my hair out from boredom."

"Well, what about Oliver, Emery and Tammy?" Throttle chuckled, and though Koko's face turned red and a bashful smile sprawled her face, Throttle tried not to show that the hint only just hit him, "... You're just missing Nox, huh."

"No, it's not just him," Koko stated honestly, though she giggled and shook her head in mild embarrassment, "I just... I wish they'd come back quick... Everything that happened with my dad, y'know."

"That was a doozy, huh," Throttle nodded a little and glanced back to the pool, though after a moment, he exhaled a huff of a sigh and gained closer proximity to Koko, on the tree swing, "I'm more worried about crossing the stations... Might as well be the whole galaxy, for me. It's been thirty years since I've hopped on one of those trains."

"Really?" Koko looked shocked, Throttle nodded and smiled in a knowing way, "Well... Hopefully you won't be too uncomfortable?"

"Nah, I won't... I'm sure, whatever games were around when TurboTime was unplugged, likely aren't even around any longer," Throttle sighed and so gently gripped the rope of the swing closest to him, he stood next to Koko and glanced down at her gently, "Pretty sure no one will recognize me..."

"Well, I'll throw 'em around if someone has a problem," Koko spat with defensive love for her new brother, she gave him a gentle nod and a look of soft urgency, as if to promise him that this loyalty wasn't a temporary thing.

"Everything will be just fine," Throttle assured, though in such a way that proved he meant for deeper reasons, "... What are you worried about?"

Koko huffed a hard sigh and let her eyes lull to the grass before her. She shook her head, wrinkled her nose and so gently peered back up to Throttle's gaze, and though it was likely the creepiest, between him and Nox, Koko found comfort and familiarity in it. She peered to him in gentle question, as if to state that she didn't know where to start. Her eyes lazily glossed the chest of his olive green shirt, and as she found herself in a fit of defeat, she spoke out about it anyways.

"I'm just... Surprised my dad backed down, so easily, yesterday," Koko whimpered, her eyes flit to his in a bout of raw concern; Throttle nodded and shrugged a bit.

"Well, he did because he knew he was wrong," Throttle affirmed softly, "Ralph is the King of Sugar Rush... That's not a measly title, or one for the faint of heart... A King must remain humble, at all times, even in the face of humility and defeat. He knew he was wrong, so he bowed out. He knew fighting fire with fire wasn't going to solve anything."

Koko peered to Throttle in quiet listening, though she looked surprised, as if she hadn't have thought about it in such a way, and as she soaked up all of Throttle's wisdom, she long blinked in soft knowing and patiently waited for him to carry on.

"Sure, he... He sort of has been discriminating against Nox and I, but... The mark of a great King is knowing which battle to rush into, and which battle to back out of," Throttle warmly explained, "He may have wronged me, and my family, but, he made up for it by witnessing the very detrimental fragility of his mistakes, and any further mistakes to be made. He's pretty smart."

Koko huffed a long sigh, slumped her shoulders and peered out to the backyard, once more, though she lightly sulked. Throttle cocked an eyebrow, peered to her and finally uttered a soft chuckle of understanding.

"I know that's not what you wanted to hear, friend," Throttle's voice crackled with warmth and love as he gingerly nudged his knuckles into the side of Koko's arm. She huffed an annoyed giggle, rolled her eyes and looked away with a kind smile of understanding.

"It's not what I wanted to hear, but it's likely what I needed to hear," Koko mumbled. She shook her head and let that small smile dwindle to a nervous frown, "I'm... I'm so worried that he's disappointed in me... I-I... I swapped with someone related to the very guy everyone HATES."

"He's not disappointed in you," Throttle softly assured, though before he could continue on, Koko abruptly stood and got off the swing she was on; it teetered with the differential and began to sway away in the breeze with it's lightness.

"You saw the look on his face, Tee," Koko urged as she peered deep into Throttle's nervous eyes. Koko slumped her shoulders, looked about just barely, in an exasperated way, and huffed an impatient sigh, "How do I even begin to approach this, once more? What I did was practically a slap to the face."

"What you did was noble," Throttle reassured firmly, he pointed to the ground, "What you did was in your defense... You and Nox aren't simply just dating or flirting, any longer. He's your code... He's your first priority. With a priority switch, in family, it's always a difficult adjustment for some... You just need to give it time."

"I'm tired of giving it time," Koko urged nervously, "I-I... I've been sitting out here for hours, running over potential conversations I could have with my dad and they ALL end with me just... Just!-... Being really angry and yelling!"

"That's... What you're doing now," Throttle chuckled as he gestured for her to relax, though he flinched as Koko whirled around in a huff, groaned and grappled the hair on the side of her head.

Throttle peered to her in delicate confusion and shook his head. He knew this was a terribly confusing time for her, and the fact that Nox wasn't around to give her a proper amount of comfort, to quickly settle everything with Ralph, he was aware this whole 'be patient' act was likely becoming overwhelming. Throttle heaved a hot sigh through his nose, lazily dragged his eyes back to his pretty abode and bit his lip in gentle contemplation. He finally dragged his eyes back to Koko's rigid figure and felt a small smile grace his face.

"Hey," Throttle cooed quietly, "I... I may not have ever grown up with a sister, or... Even a girl for that matter, but... I-I have potentially picked up on a few things, because of my stay here."

"Yeah?" Koko spat sarcastically as she wiped a few tears from her cheeks, she gave him a glower, though Throttle knew this anger wasn't aimed at him whatsoever.

"Yeah," Throttle retort sarcastically in return, though he huffed a soft laugh and carefully approached her.

As easily and gently as he could, he opened his arms a little, stepped into Koko's bubble and pulled her into his warm chest. He raised his eyebrows in mild surprise and was shocked that said notion even worked, and as Koko's strong arms came around the middle of his back, he could feel her spine un-tense in his arms, she heaved a shaky sigh into his shirt and gripped him tight into a hug. As Throttle rested his chin atop Koko's head, he lulled his eyes closed and kept her close. He warmly rubbed her upper shoulder, squeezed her tighter and let a small, humble smile grace his cheeks.

"Thank you for sticking up for me," Throttle breathed warmly, "For us... I've always wanted a little sister."

"Yeah?" Koko repeated, though this time, her voice was gentle and sincere. She inhaled a sharp sniffle, buried her face into Throttle's chest and had to wonder how such an awkward-looking, gangly being could offer such comforting hugs. She finally pushed a small, sheepish, bashful smile to her face and relaxed in his brotherly embrace, "I-I... I already have a big brother, but, there's always room in my heart for more."

"I'm honored," Throttle chuckled as he squeezed her a little harder and released the squeeze, though he still held her into his embrace, "Tonight will be fine... Fixing Ralph's game could likely be a nice ice-breaker, anyhow."

"... And if you can't fix it?" Koko croaked in curiosity as she opened her eyes and softly peered across the back of the field, which lead to Throttle's abode; a chuckle shook from his warm chest.

"... Well, then, it was nice knowing' yah."

* * *

 **A/N : I drew fanart for this chapter, quite awhile back - it's titled 'Nice Try' sort of far back on my deviantART. My username is Vyntresser :D**


	138. Chapter 138

**Reviews :**

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Sure, if you'd like. I'd need your Minecraft name so I can OP you :) and thank you! Throttle and Koko's little relationship gets expanded on :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yes, it's been a hot minute, I'm pretty sure I hadn't stated RO, like you said. It's crazy how time flies!

 **Burgie :** Bahahah. Guess you'll have to keep reading and find out! ;) You'll discover what's going on with all of them, not sure you guys will totally enjoy it tho lol.

 **Snake557 :** Thanks! :D

 **MightyNinja2000 :** I'll be posting the finished pictures of it to my deviantART :)

* * *

 ***Chapter 138***

"Oh, cool! What kind of a building is this?" Ace exclaimed quietly as the group began to mosey in a lazy fashion down the abandoned streets. As the chattering individuals slowly came to a halt before this massive, round building, they gawked and lulled their heads back to get a good look at the height of it all. Ace pointed in through the large, towering arches and raised his eyebrows, his voice echoed against the cold, beige stucco, "Maybe a school?"

"A school?" Tessa inquired in solid disbelief, she shook her head, though as everyone began to stroll through the large arches and pillars, she cocked an eyebrow and peered about, "... Sugar Rush has schools? Even though Academy exists?"

"I'm beginning to think that... If you're privileged enough to live close to the exit of Sugar Rush, you attend Academy," Vanellope mumbled as she fingered her lip, though she inhaled a solid breath, shook her head and peered abut the desolate, plant-covered surroundings, as if Sugar Rush was beginning to claim the city back for itself. The wind howled through the quiet, sunlit halls, and as everyone curiously began to mosey in a sauntering, slow draw of potentially branching off and going on silent tangents into the unknown, Vanellope eyed each being in growing curiosity and finally stabbed her knowing eye contact to Taffyta's, and though the two were having a totally different conversation, she carried on with the verbal flow of words the gang had fallen into, "Otherwise, I guess these cities, from far off, build their own schools and the like..."

"Are any of them as prestigious as the game station Academies?" Zed gently wondered, though before he knew it, everyone had paired into small groups and had become lightly separated in the massive, high-ceiling lobby they had wandered into. Zed furrowed his brow and noted that him, Tessa, Nox and Lickity had lightly clung together and had begun climbing a set of stairs near a long, receptionist-like row of offices and front desk.

"Guess we'll never know," Nox mumbled with a hard chuckle as he peered over his shoulder and took note that Taffyta and Vanellope had stopped to quietly chat with each other in the lobby, Ace, Libby, Royal and Balba had strolled away, in proper couple fashion, though Nox eyed the last pair and felt surprise hit his skin; Orph took a dallying, aimless attempt at nonchalantly trailing after Penny down an airy, sunlit hallway that lead to the streets outside, alongside those glorious arches. Nox nudged Zed's arm and gestured with a chuckle, "We're all pairing off..."

"By pairing off, you meannn," Lickity flattened her ears and climbed the stairs after the two, though she caught Nox's line of sight and stumbled a bit up the staircase, her paws and claws clacked with the tiles. She narrowed her sharp gaze and let a protective stare chase after Penny, though she felt defeat hit her scales, "O-Oh, you mean..."

"Orph and Penny?" Tessa muttered with a knowing, excited smile, she bit her lower lip and nodded, "Let it happen. I'd love to see what kind of battle scares Orph gets out of it."

"I thought we were talking about Ace and Libby," Zed chuckled as they came to a landing, though they quickly noticed that it overlooked a gorgeous auditorium, amphitheater of sorts.

"Well, them too," Nox huffed with a smile, though his voice carried. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as everyone slowly came to the railings that overlooked the rows and rows of seating below them, which ultimately led to the stage. It was only then did they noticed Ace, Libby, Balba and Royal slowly strolling through the seat alleys, loudly laughing and flirtatiously joking with each other in kind blips of chaos that the acoustic walls caught and carried. Nox shook his head and beamed down at them, "The castle is only getting stronger, with these code swaps and such... I'm just glad I am finally physically of use for a good fight. User knows Sugar Rush needs it."

"I think it's more than just strength and ability, Nox," Tessa eased kindly as she stood next to him, though everyone largely flinched as Lickity uttered a grunt, launched herself from the railings, sprawled her massive bat wings and began to glide towards the stage; the four below took note, pointed and loudly sent joking notions to the overgrown bat that popped their conversation. Tessa laughed softly, rested her elbows on the railing and wistfully peered down to the cute scene below as Lickity landed in center stage, "Everyone brings something to the table... You did before you swapped with Koko. You didn't need glitching abilities to be of use to everyone."

"I see Nox's plight, love," Zed's deep voice grumbled in gentle humility, he gave Tessa a kind smile of understanding, stood alongside her and rested his hand on her lower back, "It's hard to find your footing amidst gamers with outward, physical abilities... I understand smarts, coding and the like will always hold value, but Nox means he can actually help with the good fight. When the time comes to face Radex, he can jump right in and be of physical help."

"That's it," Nox stated with a nod, he gave Tessa an apologetic smile as she shook her head in gentle defeat and peered to Nox with an exasperated, defeated smile, "I really appreciate that notion, though... I've always been good with my hands, I'm smart and have a lot of prior Arcade knowledge, but... Now, thanks to Koko, I can really jump in and be of use. I'm excited to hone this skill of mine... I just don't want to go through circuit stretching again. That sucked."

"It does suck," Zed muttered, he cocked an eyebrow and gave Tessa a knowing grimace, to which she bobbed a nod and peered down to the stage in which Ace, Libby, Royal and Balba were finally approaching.

"I just hope everyone is ready," Tessa eased quietly, "Ace is still so uncertain... Even he doesn't know what he's capable of."

"I guess only time will tell," Zed shrugged, "These trips may do the trick."

* * *

"What do you want?" Penny gently snipped, her voice was sharp, yet it had a strange lilt of girly curiosity. She grimaced a knowing smile forward and let her pupils shrink as they glossed the sharp, morning rays before her.

"...Ouch, what the hell!" Orph barked quietly in a jolt of surprise as he grappled the chest of his shirt, "I literally said nothing to you."

"Exactly," Penny tried her damnedest to hide that sprawling smile that came to her face. She rubbed her chin a little and did everything and anything to prolong the show of her teeth, "You said nothing and chose to follow me. You've been cracking jokes with Nox and Zed all day long, have my mother wrapped around your finger, and even dared to get within ten feet of Lickity... Yet, you chose to follow the quietest person in the whole group."

"So I'm intrigued," Orph stated smoothly as he sunk his hands into his baggy jeans, he cocked an eyebrow and peered to the back of Penny's head; she wore a tattered black tank, grey cargo pants and proudly sport her two swords. Though she was thin, and very short, she had a hint of a muscular build, a strong warriors mold, she was definitely not one to be trifled with; something Orph had now quickly wondered if said notion was something he was attracted to. He inhaled a readied breath, raised his eyebrows in a lull of preparation and, in a smooth maneuver, his footwork stepped out, in front of Penny and skillfully kept him in rhythm with her speed. He walked backwards and kept a two foot distance directly in front of her, "You're quiet, you got secrets, you only speak like seven times a day... There's obviously something brewing up there."

"Dig all you want," Penny retort as she stabbed her piercing blue stare into Orph's sweet, gentlemanly, yet sassy silver orbs. Penny cocked an eyebrow and gave him an annoyed smile, "You'll never break me. I don't have secrets. I just like being alone."

"Ah, I see, I see," Orph eased politely as he finally side-stepped and let Penny walk freely, once more. He huffed a small chuckle, peered out to his right and looked about the sprawling buildings, just outside the perimeter of the building they seemed to be scanning, "You haven't told me to leave you alone, just yet, though... So what does that mean?"

"It means that I'm tolerating you," Penny stated dully, though she side-eyed the building to her left and felt that itching smile so desperately want to burst forth; she inwardly scolded herself and felt whole confusion come over herself.

She felt weird with the way goosebumps came crawling to her neck at the very sound of his deep, throaty chuckle of knowing. The sarcastic lilt of delight his whole aura radiated, she furrowed her brow in contemplation and dragged her stare forward. She felt that strange sensation in her stomach, she knew she had heard Tessa's girly tangents go on and on about it, in the past, and as every single last conversation of late-night giggling, girl talk in their massive, Sugar Rush castle about the sexy blue-haired boy the two girls often gabbed about, she felt knowing coat her entire existence. She held her breath and felt her face get hot, and as realization very firmly crawled over her like a cloak she could now never remove, she dared to drag her gaze in Orph's general direction. She furrowed her eyebrows and now realized just what all this persistence was for, and though she wasn't educated in this realm, whatsoever, she wondered why the neon lights weren't blinding her at this point.

"Tolerating me?" Orph huffed with an easy smile as his footsteps were kind and patient, dallying and slow, so to let her little legs walk with ease, "C'mon, I know I'm weird looking, but you gotta at least like my jokes. I'm worth keeping around, right?"

Penny felt a wave of gentle, longing appreciation secretly fall over her as she broadened her perspective and soaked in Orph's mannerisms, once and for all, she began to recognize a totally different creature in him. He seemed patient, at ease, and though he was stubborn in this persistence in praying he'd get Penny to like him, he was still gentlemanly and polite. Penny cocked an eyebrow in curious dabbling and let her mind soak in all this new information. She knew romance was the last thing on her mind, and any comfort he had offered her in the past was something she kept at a strict arms length, for fear of letting anyone in, though she had to wonder if the cliche was a real thing, and his gentle, loving, kind persistence was something she was finally cued to. She long-blinked in hot realization and now wondered why her hands began to feel clammy.

"I-I mean," Penny halted her words and was floored that, for the first time in over a year, she was uncertain with what could potentially roll off her tongue.

Usually aided with sharp wit, planned, thought out retorts, and sass she took pride in the fact rivaled her mother's, she faltered and huffed a shaky breath of utter confusion. She felt speechless, normal, and overall, terrified. She felt her cheeks get hot, and as her sweet, gooey, playful sensitive side finally banged at the undersides of her skin, she felt a extraordinarily weird wave of release come over her as she breathed a small giggle, in response to Orph's remark.

Orph raised his eyebrows slowly, peered forward in aimless disbelief and let his lazy gaze slowly fall to the short, adorable little being that kept in tow next to him. He peered down at the side of her head in raw confusion, the sound that emit from her lungs, he could swear it was a giggle. He furrowed his brows in hard surprise, wrinkled a curious smile and finally side-eyed her, unbeknownst to him. He uttered a chuckle, so not to embarrass her, and wondered if he could potentially watch this rare flower show her petals even more so than she already was; he knew this instance was special, for there was now something about him that brought this tender side of her out.

"That's typically how it goes, right?" Orph joked with a handsome smile, he so gently nudged Penny's shoulder and dared to walk a little closer to her, though he tried not to seem too eager, "Can't have it all. Unfortunately, User gave me a ton of jokes and no good looks. Guess we all will have to deal."

Orph felt his heart jolt in gentle surprise as Penny now uttered a cuter giggle and a smile she seemed to be forcing away, she held the back of her hand to her lips and smiled on the skin of her fingers in dallying dismay towards herself, as if it were simply a crime to be showing this kind of expression. She had been so deeply tucked away, in her own little world, she felt it odd she was now finally letting someone in, that wasn't Tessa. She hummed a giggle, cleared her throat a little and desperately tried to play it off, though she nervously tidied her hair, looked down to her feet and pursed her lips to keep from smiling.

"You're terrible at that," Orph barked, though it was at this point a full-fledged, beaming smile finally graced Penny's face, and it was in this instance did Orph feel that rush of confidence, the raw fact that his undying patience was beginning to pay off, and with this, he felt his heart begin to race with success.

"Shut up," Penny laughed quietly, she tried to keep it down as their voices so gently carried down the sunny corridor they travelled.

"So, now I know that if I make fun of myself, you'll smile and laugh," Orph stated kindly as he pointed a little, he bit down on his tongue, nodded in a knowing way and huffed to himself, "Dutifully noted."

"You've always been funny," Penny stifled gently, she bashfully glanced to Orph and wondered if this new attitude was safe and sound with his bubbly, adorable personality, "I just... I guess I just have been-"

"-PAINFULLY pursing your lips to keep from laughing at me?" Orph garbled, though Penny beamed a wide smile and barked a hard laugh at his outburst, she firmly nudged his arm and shoved him away a little, and though he stumbled with the firm movement, he laughed alongside her, "So, you'll laugh if I make fun of you, too."

"I've just been trying to ignore you," Penny stated through knowing laughter as she seemingly looked weightless, her shoulders were relaxed, her swords now clanked on her back in a lazy fashion as the two strolled; she slowly began to radiate a small, quaint light of gentle joy, something she had been stuffing, though at this point, she grimaced and wondered just why.

"I know you have," Orph argued with a deep chuckle, "Can't run from me. I'm a Kalivar."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Penny stated with great sass, a wide smile full of excitement and eyes that finally stabbed into Orph's with girly cheek; something he was certain was all a ruse, a simple dream he'd wake from, though with the genuine twinkle in her eye, the strange aura of radiating beauty he was now enraptured in, he knew his confidence was key, here.

Orph huffed a chuckle, and with his swift footwork from prior, he gently dallied his way in front of Penny again, though this time they came to a slow stop before a gaping corridor that connected into the building. He held his breath and gently peered down to her, and as she flinched with the height difference, her beautiful golden lashes fluttered in confusion as she peered up into his eyes. In readjusting alertness, she wrinkled her nose and resorted to her old, annoyed tactics, though it was laced with the girly goodness she knew was still in her. She huffed a small exhale of curiosity, shook her head and opened her mouth to softly question just what he meant by his last statement, though she felt her face grow hot as she saw the gears practically turning in Orph's mind. She raised her eyebrows in soft surprise and felt her heart jolt in a rush of disbelief, and as she finally focused her whole attention to the being in front of her, she was totally shocked with the raw fact that he was slowly leaning down and she was allowing it, dare she wonder if she was secretly anticipating it.

Orph lulled his eyes closed and so slowly leaned down, a little, and as he came into her bubble, he felt his veins do a wiggly dance of pure fear, though he'd never tell. He furrowed his brow, tenderly found his bearings and so warmly eased a gentle kiss to her lips with a slow tilt. In a careful draw of confusion and delight on both ends, Orph inhaled a shaky breath on her lips and felt the stick of a release, and upon the one-inch hover before each other's faces, he held in suspended animation and wondered if this was when he was to be slapped, yelled at, had Lickity sicced upon him, or all of the above; he so gently fluttered his eyes open and got a hazy view of the bridge of her cute button nose, the kiss of freckles on her cheeks, her dainty golden lashes that slowly fluttered in a narrow gaze on his face as well. He tried his hardest not to even breathe, he so badly wanted to swallow as he felt that shaky, out-of-body experience want to burst forth and run away from this deathly tricky situation, though he cocked an eyebrow in surprise as he could feel one of Penny's hands so invitingly, and daintily, rest on his lower chest.

Penny exhaled a shaky breath on Orph's lips, and upon this raw form of expression she was unsure she was even capable of anymore, she felt as if turning back now wasn't an option, and every single last one of her pent up emotions were now strictly meant for this incredibly brave being before her. She tenderly groped her fingers on his warm shirt, a silent plea to him, as if to quietly beg that this remain a secret and likely even an unspoken thing between the two. She knew words were hard, though she also wondered if he was cued to said notion and knew to likely worm the gooey center out of her via actions. Just as Penny was to wonder if that was likely it, a one and done, a few seconds of a fling to come quietly crashing to a halt, she felt solid surprise come over her as Orph's masculine, gentlemanly hands slowly reached for her little face and cupped her jaws as tenderly as he could.

Penny inhaled a slow, readied breath and could swear her heartbeat was on surround sound throughout the lovely, sunlit, magical corridor they were in, simply relished in it's flits of boasting beauty. She felt a sneaky smile come to her lips as Orph closed the gap, once more, and as passion lit the rays on fire, she bravely returned his kiss with curious intention, and though she never thought, in a million years, that this Sugar Rush trip would present her with her first kiss, she felt the scars on her heart begin to be a tad bit easier to process through. As if the world was simply spinning and they were the solid, quiet epicenter, Penny raised her eyebrows in girly, delirious surprise as Orph just barely deepened the kiss and tilted his head. Just as Penny was about to potentially let her hands slide up his chest and warily welcome him in even more than he already was, she was surprised to feel him lastingly, slowly break the kiss, open his eyes and peer his gaze to her boggled demeanor. He huffed a long exhale of relief through his nose and began to teasingly back step in a saunter down the bend of a corridor they had stopped at. He gingerly pointed towards her, gave her a look of pure coy and smiled with great intention as he finally had the ball in his court, once and for all.

"Guess that's for you to find out," His deep voice volleyed as he turned heel and began to slowly walk into the building, so to seek out the others.

Penny raised her eyebrows, remained frozen and watched Orph slip away, though she huffed a faltered breath, held her hands out where Orph was previously standing, where she was going to begin to eagerly push into his broad chest, she felt duped. Though this feeling of being beat at her own game made her face hot in quiet embarrassment, she felt her heart wildly race, and it was in this instance she knew just what kind of a person she wanted to pursue. She gently let her arms fall in defeat and felt an annoyed, dallying smile chase after Orph; anyone who was brave enough to play her game right back at her was definitely someone worth keeping. She desperately tried to steady her racing heart and knew that this chase was far from over. Penny lightly looked up in contemplation, rolled her eyes in the process and peered out to the city before her; she knew these next few days would be interesting, to say the least.


	139. Chapter 139

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** Yes, Orph and Penny have some fluffy scenes coming up :D They're fun to write for, that's for sure! And yes, there is more drama, but Koko and Ralph eventually patch up their differences :)

 **SamanthaR1987 :** It's true, she finally becomes a bit more in touch with her old self from here on out :)

 **chris . low2456 :** Aww I'm really glad! :D I love keeping you guys on your toesies! :P

 **Retrokill :** It's okay, I get the gist haha. Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** ORPH IS BAE. All the Kalivar boys! Ah who am I kidding, I love ALL the boys, all of them xD Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! Yeah I love abandoned places as well, so fascinating to me!

 **Burgie :** Yes, he definitely worms it out of her even more, in upcoming chapters, but it brings for some tension and drama as well haha. Thank you!

* * *

 ***Chapter 139***

"Teach us something, oh grand Poobah," Orph called upon his nephew, on the stage, from the center of the sprawling rows of audience chairs. He shrugged his hands into his lazy pants pockets and though he had a smug, refreshed smile on his face, he knew his and Penny's little secret was going to remain as such. He inhaled a readied breath, merely glanced to Zed, Nox and Tessa, who had made their way closer to the stage, and softly gestured his hand, "Or, act out a play. Something to lighten the mood."

"I can do impressions," Ace called, his deep voice carried, and with this notion, Tessa's hand flew up in eager excitement.

"Ohh! Do Libby's accent," Tessa pleaded with a wide smile as everyone laughed with Tessa's idea; all eyes fell to Libby as she scrunched her shoulders, beamed a girly, bashful smile and gave Ace a mildly annoyed look of an inquiry.

"Oh for User's sake," Ace barked with a laugh as everyone's chuckles became more and more contagious. Ace cleared his throat and glanced to Lickity; they were the only two on stage. Ace cocked an eyebrow, struggled to make his voice a higher pitch and pretended to play with long hair that would drape down his chest, such like Libby's. He carried on in her cute, sing-song accent, though it was muddled, forced and uncertain, "Balba, your feathers are getting all muddy."

"Spot on," Tessa cried with a hard laugh as her and Nox were in stitches, Libby covered her face and laughed as well.

"I wonder if Ma and Zeddy will let me keep this flock of baby jungle gulls!" Ace continued on, though his voice largely cracked, and with such, he coughed a few times and forced the rest out with staggering laughter.

"I wonder if Vanellope will see me sneaking these doughnut holes," Libby suddenly called with a deepened tone and a normal accent outside of her thick Teltokuan roots. Everyone howled with laughter, a joyous, lazy air was set upon the room, and as Libby pointed upwards and gave Ace a snarky smile, he wrinkled his nose and enjoyed that she was playing along, "Y'think dad will notice that his cheese nips are gone?"

"STOP EATING MY FOOD!" Zed suddenly barked up at the stage, towards Ace; everyone was lost in an incredible amount of laughter, including Ace and Libby.

"I am a growing boy!" Ace stated down to his father in a loud, playful retort as he gestured to his chest, though just before he were to continue on, Tessa loudly interrupted him.

"You stopped growing two months ago, son, you can't use that excuse any longer," Tessa laughed and laughed, and though Nox wanted to jump in and banter along, he was nearly inconsolable.

"I'm still growing, I promise!" Ace retort with a wide, excited smile, though just before he could even think about continuing on the fun times to be had, the coding inside of him somehow felt the lightning quick switch in the air before the current was even visible, and as the thick blue hairs on his arms raised in prickled adrenaline, the sudden zap of atmosphere flip was nearly too quick to process.

Before Ace could even take a breath, a sudden zip of an angry, electric orange current bolted about a ten foot radius of him, and just as quickly as he practically dropped the funny topic at hand, all the coding inside him practically oozed out his pores and came alive on his hands and arms, as if to prove it could sense the impending danger before his own eyes could wonder if he was deceived. In this split second zip of a coded being that suddenly lunged at him, he let his eyes fall closed, and amidst this rather risky trick, he allowed his coding to see the whole amphitheater for everything it was. As his incredibly powerful coding mapped every single being, every single chair, every cross beam of the cat walk behind the stage, he scrunched his eyes and made a split-second decision that was nearly beyond him; a knee-jerk reaction he was wondering would potentially come back to bite him.

In a single side step, he skillfully dodged the angry being that lunged for him in a fiery, red hot pass of anger and aggression, and as he circled, turned to face his opponent, and steadied himself, his rigid fingers did anything and everything to grip the Sugar Rush grid underneath him. With pure silence from his powerful being, he threw his fists to the grid, in proper wrecking form, and skillfully traced the damage to separate his loved ones from the chaos at hand, and in doing so, he placed every single being behind him in a User-tight, protective dome of his silver coding, an ultimate show of protection. Although this whole process was happening at the speed of light, he made sure he let his mind soak in the nano seconds, to make certain every precious being behind him was secure and safe from harm, and once he was convinced he was now free to throw his powers around without repercussion, he opened his diligent, determined glare, broadened his perspective and noticed this angry bolt of orange lightning quickly circle and come back for him with a greater vengeance.

Ace squinted, marked it's abilities, it's traits, it's flaws, everything it was made of, and immediately threw his rigid hands out before him. In a livid swipe of full fledged determination, pent up energy and undying loyalty to the very game that gave his mother life, he suddenly grappled this strange being in an unforgiving choke hold of his incredibly powerful coding, the mark of the User, the end-all for any living creature that just so happens to cross him. Ace narrowed his gaze and wasn't surprised to have made this strict lightning bolt come to an immediate halt, though just as the angry orange coding flickered away in hot confusion, he felt his skin go pale as to just who was now being practically strangled in his raw, formidable power. He slumped his shoulders and held his breath as his adrenaline rush continued to soar on without his mind set.

"... Aunt Taffyta," Ace huffed loudly in cold, dreaded fear that suddenly soaked over him, and it was in this instance did Ace finally cue to all the crazy, rumbling debris that began to haphazardly crash from the ceiling over head, the disruption of the earth underfoot desperately trying to settle from the light rearranging he had just caused, and with such, his sudden drop in action caused his hands to shake in concluding, confused fear, "What... What the hell is going on here!?"

Taffyta uttered a sheepish noise of a choke as she remained frozen in his incredibly strong, silver coded grip, though just as Ace jolted, unhanded her from his control and took a faltering, stumbling few steps backwards, Taffyta opened her mouth to confess the field test at hand. Before she could get words out, Vanellope's masterful, glitching self popped onto the crumbling center stage with the two, in a flash of neon purple.

"Don't blame Taffyta, this was my ploy," Vanellope called suddenly as Ace flinched and took yet another step backwards, though in doing so, his heels hit, what seemed to be, the edge of the stage.

"...What is all of this for! You scared the shit out of me!" Ace suddenly bellowed as he glared down his grandmother, a vein nearly bulged on his forehead, though as he wobbled and peered down at the edge of the stage, he largely double took and realized that he wasn't simply on the edge of the stage; he had distorted the lay of the amphitheater so drastically, in such a short amount of time, that the stage was now a dozen feet higher, above the audience, than what it was.

"This was a test!" Vanellope urged with an annoyed smile, she gestured out to the 'crowd' below the three, and as she gently put her hand on Taffyta's back, to see if she was okay, Taffyta nodded in confidence and peered to Ace in mild knowing.

"A TEST?!" Ace's broad chest heaved, he clenched his fists, the veins in his lightly muscular arms, his jugular and his temples bulged in the short lived, heightened frenzy of it all. Silver circuits angrily glowed hear his arteries, and as he panted, they pulsed with light. His pupils were so far dilated that he long blinked with the over exposure hitting his brain. He shook his head, urgently peered to Vanellope and gave her the angriest look he could, "Have you learned NOTHING?!"

"Ace, I need you to do something for me," Vanellope stated calmly; she knew this whole 'tough love' act was something she was comfortable in, and it nearly took all of her not to let it rain down on Ace in this moment. She inhaled a readied breath, remained calm before her fuming grandson and warmly gestured out to the audience below him, "Turn around."

Ace panted through his nose, trembling sighs of relief and anger that coat his skin, and as his eyes gently sunk to the glossy stage underfoot, which was continuing to lightly crumple, he warily looked over his shoulder and peered down to the chairs below him. Trapped in near-individual bubbles of un-poppable silver coding, each one of his friends and family members, including Lickity, Royal and Balba, they stood motionless in raw, terrified confusion, equally as rocked from the earth as Ace was. Ace slumped his shoulders and peered down to everyone in rapidly growing sorrow, and as the lesson at hand began to hit his skin, he lulled his eyes closed in dreaded knowing, slumped his shoulders further and felt his grandmother's warm presence come alongside him.

"C'mon, love... Lower the stage," Vanellope eased patiently with a gentle gesture as she dared to place a tender hand to Ace's lower shoulder, "Let's go back and see what can be done differently about this..."

Ace exhaled a long, shaky breath through his mouth and felt his circuits do all sorts of wiggly shakes under his skin. He lulled his eyes closed in hard dismay, towards himself, and knew exactly what was coming. As his gentle coding gripped the raised stage, brought up by staggering Earth that had been holding the building up, he lowered the stage to normality and peered out to his trapped family members. As Vanellope and Taffyta slowly lead him to the first bubble, which was Lickity, Vanellope gently gestured out to the silver domes of protection and glanced to Ace.

"Can you bring the force fields down, please?" Vanellope stated kindly, and as Ace did as instructed, his hands and arms shook with the reverb of the adrenaline rush that so viciously soaked his whole system. He long-blinked in gentle fear and sheepishly let his eyes barely glance with Lickity's; Vanellope gestured to the glorious beast that was Lickity, as well as Royal and Balba behind her, "Y'see these three magnificent creatures? Look how powerful they are..."

"Momma," Ace pleaded as gently as he could, in the quietest, most sincerely apologetic tone, and though Vanellope peered to him in warm understanding, she still gave him a motherly look as if to state that she was in charge here. Ace slumped his shoulders and dragged his further-more apologetic stare back to Lickity's.

"Look at their strong legs, their fangs... Huge ears that can hear just about anything, wings as sharp as razors, and fire-breathing abilities RIGHT here at your advantage," Vanellope listed kindly, "... Yet, you bubbled them."

"... Yes ma'am," Ace eased, he huffed a shaky sigh and dragged his defeated gaze to Vanellope's feet, though as if he was hoping she'd just cut to the chase and realize he was sorry, she gestured to the next group and made him follow her and his aunt Taffyta.

"What about these two, hmm?" Vanellope gestured as she came upon Tessa and Zed. Vanellope gave them a proud, kind smile, straightened her posture and spoke loud and clear, "My first born, who is likely just as good at glitching as I am, her agility paired with her incredible wrecking skill makes her the master at footwork, she is a guru at planning ahead, and any game plan she dreams up is a winner. Your mother holds insight and intuition that is truly remarkable... Something you will desperately need... Yet, you bubbled her."

"Yes ma'am," Ace repeated, he knew this was all he could do from here; Vanellope nodded, as if to state that she knew he had goofed, yet she diligently continued on.

"A Mr. Zedian Kalivar, tried and true, he is incredibly fast, sharp witted, terrifyingly sneaky and full of surprises," Vanellope listed as she gave Zed a smile, and though everyone was floored this was all just a set up, everyone panted and looked wholly shaken; even though they now knew this was a simple field test and the explanation was necessary for Ace, they looked wholly disheveled. Vanellope carried on in a kind tone, though she dragged her stare to her grandson as she kept a warm, loving hand on his lower arm, "Your father is the spine of whatever ordeal he is found it... Like your shadow, he will ALWAYS be there to catch you when you fall. Something you will most definitely need... Yet, you bubbled him."

"... Yes ma'am," Ace stated again, his sullen eyes didn't dare look into his father's.

"Following up with Nox, here... Your best friend, is he not?" Vanellope inquired as they lightly strolled a few feet away and over to Nox, he looked wholly terrified as well, though he panted and attempted to collect himself. He peered to Ace in cold confusion, everyone's eyes looked as if they had just been mildly betrayed by their go-to User. Nox slumped his shoulders and near-desperately peered to Ace, as if to ask just how he could possibly shut him out like that. Vanellope gestured to her new future son-in-law and tilted her head to Ace; she narrowed her eyes for emphasis, "Your best friend has obtained new glitching powers, a physical trait that you can utilize... Nox sees a situation as a whole and will find an enemy's weakness in two seconds flat. Mix that with glitching powers and a bond that is as solid as brothers, and you've got one fire-cracker of a teammate... Yet..."

"... I-I bubbled him," Ace muttered in dark annoyance as his heart finally began to settle, though it still loudly thud, it drummed into hard annoyance at this point, disappointment towards himself.

"Y'got your Uncle Orph back there, lookit him," Vanellope lightly complained, and though Orph was a good half a dozen rows back, he still had his whips out, unravelled and ready to use to his full advantage, "He may be goofy and loud and funny, but you have a being that is ready to spring into action, to give the good fight, no matter the cost... Orph is able, willing and is likely the first one to rush into battle for you... Yet, you bubbled him!"

"Yes ma'am," Ace grunted with a huff of an exhale as his eyes sorrowfully glanced to his uncle up the steps, Orph's whips were splayed on the ground, as if he was just about to unleash his absolute worst, he was ready to give his nephew the strongest fight he could give, a sacrifice everyone on this trip knew they'd have to make eventually.

"C'mere, Ace, this last one is likely of the most importance," Vanellope muttered, and as her and Ace turned, he felt his heart drop in total dread as they slowly happened upon Libby.

She stood with her hands to her chest in gentle confusion, she panted in lingering fear as well, and though everyone else had a weapon, an ability of some sort, Ace felt tears practically soak his eyes with the sheer fact that she was likely the only person he could've gotten away with bubbling. He furrowed his brow in impending mental pain and knew just exactly where this dreaded topic was leading, and before he could beg that he understood Vanellope's plight, she urgently gestured towards Libby.

"Ace, look at this woman," Vanellope hissed, she squinted and shook her head at Ace as she stood before the two. Vanellope tenderly took Libby's hand in hers and peered her urgent gaze to her grandson, "Look at the love in her eyes, look at the dedication she has to you... She doesn't have any physical game abilities to her name, yet she is standing here, ready to jump in head first into whatever mess she has to. She is on this journey with us, knowing full well she hardly has anything to her name, to protect herself with."

Ace exhaled a shaky sigh and finally mustered the courage to peer his gaze into hers, and as she sorrowfully peered back, he finally gave Vanellope his nervous eye contact a she lovingly, though urgently, carried on.

"One day, this incredible being is going to have the very coding coursing through your veins right this second, running through hers as well," Vanellope pointed her two fingers into the top of Ace's arm and narrowed her gaze for emphasis, "She is going to harbor every single last drop of your raw, User ability... Yet... You BUBBLED her?!"

"I-I get it! I GET IT," Ace suddenly stabbed, his booming voice made Libby flinch in heightened surprise, though Vanellope didn't budge, "I screwed up, I-I made a stupid decision."

"Ace," Vanellope huffed sorrowfully as she lovingly took his arm and kept calm, "You have tried to convince us that you KNOW you don't have to fight this fight alone... Yet, you just proved, that when it counts... You're willing to go back on your word."

"I don't want to lose any of you!" Ace boomed, tears welled in his eyes as his frustrated gaze stabbed into Vanellope's, "I-I did that because... Because-!..."

Ace uttered a hard grunt, whirled around, took a few brooding steps away, covered his face and uttered a shaky sigh of a silent cry into his hand. He swiped his face, peered up to the ceiling and so desperately tried to collect himself. He grimaced, shook his head and lulled his eyes closed as tears soaked his jaw.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost any one of you guys... I have the power to keep everyone safe all while getting shit done. Why can't you guys just let me have this?" Ace argued as he finally turned around and urgently peered to his grandmother.

"We're all family, Ace, we make sacrifices for one another," Vanellope urged, "You can't win this battle on your own, Ace. Radex is no force to be reckoned with. Radex has the power of the entire game in his hands... It seems he's in good with the stations, as well, seeing as he was able to put forcefields before the train station in Game Central."

Vanellope's powerful voice reverberated against the acoustics of the amphitheater, and as she pointed a firm finger to the ground, all eyes fell to her as she loudly continued on.

"You may have all this incredible power that you have no clue what to do with, but HE has a very substantial amount that he has every SINGLE clue what to do with."

Ace huffed a shaky breath and let his eyes sink to the ground in defeat, and before he could say anything else, he could feel the presence of his family members tightening around him in a bubble of nervous, shaken love. Vanellope tenderly peered to Libby in a gentle nod, and as everyone slowly closed in on him, for reassurance, Vanellope continued on.

"We need you Ace, but... You also need every single last one of us," Vanellope urged as Ace slumped his shoulders in growing defeat, "When the big-time hits, you know we're all going to be there for you, fighting alongside you. This isn't your battle to win... It's time for that notion to fall away... For good."

"Yes, ma'am," Ace repeated once more, though this time it was more willing and understanding. He shook his head, grimaced to the ground and scoffed a noise, as if to state that he was beyond annoyed that he was duped like such, and though it was important for this notion to finally be drilled into his head, he still felt sore, "I'll be back..."

"Where are you going?" Libby urged quietly and nervously, her voice shook as Ace dominantly peeled away from the group.

"I need fresh air," Ace grumbled as he walked up the lightly jostled stone steps of the sun-lit amphitheater.

"Leave him," Vanellope stated quietly to Libby as she jolted to keep Libby from rushing after him. Libby flinched and nervously peered back to Vanellope as she halted in her steps, though she sorrowfully let her apprehensive gaze chase after her new boyfriend. Vanellope smiled a little and carried on, "He'll be fine... He just needs to sulk."

"Typical boys," Taffyta muttered, though Nox and Zed furrowed their gaze and shot her playfully annoyed looks, "What, it's true!"

"How did you do that glitching trick, anyhow?" Nox wondered in dire confusion as Taffyta beamed a sneaky smile and eyed Vanellope.

"Exterior swap," Tessa mumbled as she rubbed her face in tired agitation, "A very powerful exterior swap..."

"The temporary transfer of one's powers to another being," Zed stated in gentle knowing as he pat Nox's back, in a brotherly way, "We've got a lot to teach you, my friend."

"Apparently, I'm not the only one still learning about all this stuff, huh," Nox huffed gently as his sullen eyes also chased after his best friend, whom of which could be seen finally slipping out of the high arches of the base of the amphitheater.


	140. Chapter 140

**A/N :** **I'm excluding the reviews for this chapter because I'm feeling hurt. I'll reply to my reviews, for the next chapter. Thanks for understanding.**

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **How To Love by Cash Cash (ft. Sofia Reyes)**

 **The Walk by Imogen Heap**

* * *

 ***Chapter 140***

"C'mon, Throttle... You've gotten this far, already!" Koko stated through a choke of a giggle.

The two had successfully driven the train from End of Line station, where Dead Zed resides, all the way to Game Central Station, where Sugar Rush and Fix-It Felix Jr. resides. As Throttle gingerly stepped off the glorious white speed train, that zipped between stations, Koko assessed him. Dressed in one of Nox's dark charcoal hoodies and black jeans, the hood was tucked over his head, so to attempt to avoid eye contact with anyone. In stark difference, Koko was dressed in a lazy peach colored t-shirt and cream shorts. She giggled at his self conscious stance, he was huddled into himself and looked beyond nervous.

"Tee," Koko laughed, she rolled her eyes, groaned in a knowing way and grappled his lower arm. She yanked him forward, and with such, he yelped a startled chuckle and kept close to his new sister. He nervously looked about, and as his creepy eyes dragged around, he was floored to be reminded just how beautiful Game Central Station was. Koko pat his arm a little and gave him a kind smile, "See? It's not so hard. No angry mobs, no pointing fingers."

"It's cause I'm hidden," Throttle muttered as the two linked arms and continued to stroll down the beautifully lit, evening time station.

Koko shook her head at his words and smiled in a knowing way, and as they continued on, she let her eyes gloss down the station in growing dread. She knew she hadn't seen her father since last night, when she got in his face and nearly laid a smack down. She wondered if he was mad at her, if they'd reconvene and just realize that maybe time apart was good, for the time being. She lulled her eyes closed and kept tight in Throttle's supportive grasp, though she remembered that she was his escort in this mess. She kept in tow with him, though before she could open her mouth and inquire lightly about the subject at hand, Throttle uttered a worried noise of a notion and slowed his footwork.

"Um... What got unplugged?" Throttle grumbled in dread that he soaked over Koko.

Koko furrowed her brow in a swipe of confusion and finally focused her attention to the end of the station, and much to her surprise, light beamed into Game Central, from an opened outlet. In a slow drag to Throttle's creepy, square-pupil gaze, they caught eyes in horrific knowing, and before the two could converse, they jolted and began to run across the golden tiles, all while dodging individuals, and as they got closer and closer to the crowd drawn tight around the opened, and unplugged, outlet, Koko began to look horrified in the sheer fact that it was her father's outlet. She huffed a noise of pure terror and began to shove past people, gamers of all shapes and sizes, people she never could even dream existed, and as they all quickly assumed who she was, they peered to her in collected sorrow.

"DAD!" Koko hollered in pure fear as she peered out the gaping holes, where Fix-It Felix Jr. once sat. Her eyes gripped with the weird reality beyond their world, huge fuzzy draws of the Arcade carpet alongside an angry red forcefield. Koko shook her head and began to urgently peer about, "What happened, what's going on?"

"The game got unplugged," One gamer stated in a worried tone, though everyone began to look like a blur. He continued on as Koko whirled around, in search for Throttle, "I-I never thought I'd see the day a good, old, trusty game, like Felix Jr., would be unplugged..."

"I wonder what happened," Someone else mumbled, and as the crowd drew their sorrowful gazes to Koko, she gestured to Throttle and gave him a look of horror.

"Throttle, what do we do?!" Koko urged as tears welled in her eyes, though in this raw moment of sheer terror, she quickly realized that she revealed Throttle's name.

In this weird draw of a turn of events, everyone gasped quietly and began to murmur curiosities to each other, and as they drew their confused, surprised eyes to the TurboTime rarity behind them, Throttle held his breath and peered his terrified eye contact to Koko's. He knew this was a dire situation, and his standing in the Arcade wasn't something he should even be remotely worried about right now, though he still felt a lump gather in his throat. Just as he was about to push out of his insecurity, once and for all, and aid Koko in this awful time, everyone gently glared to him.

"Throttle?" another gamer mumbled, everyone gasped and began to step away in sheer terror.

"Turbo's racing coach!" Someone hollered in collected fear, and as quickly as the crowd had begun to look apologetic and kind towards Koko, they gasped in horror and began to scatter like roaches.

"Y'see why I had the disguise? It's been thirty User-damned years and people STILL fear the name," Throttle loudly grumbled to Koko as his gangly figure finally held a strong appearance, a tough front Koko was uncertain he could obtain, until now; he firmly began to cross the rushing crowd, straight for Koko. He glared out to the scared gamers that stumbled out of his way and gave each and every single one of them a mean smile, "Yeah, still alive, what're you gunna do about it? I'm best friends with Wreck-It Ralph's daughter. I dare you to try it."

"Throttle, I-I'm really sorry, I just... I-I was just..." Koko whimpered as Throttle ripped off his hood, approached Koko and lovingly took her hands.

"Stop, it's not what's important right now," Throttle shook his head and peered into her scared eyes, though just as he was about to soften and at least somehow swallow the unfortunate event that had just taken place, a dark shadow fell over them.

Throttle's eyes widened as he peered out the bright outlet, in which Koko's back was to, and as the shadow tightened over them for good, Koko gasped and tucked into Throttle's protective embrace as a game outlet was slowly, yet firmly, plugged back in. With the rushing wind that whipped their hair and clothes around, the station rumbled with the motion. The two largely wobbled, caught each other in loud gasps and desperately tried to get their footing. Koko raised her eyebrows in hard surprise, brushed her hair out of her face and desperately peered up to the game's red lettered game plate, and as the outlet light flickered in a renewed way, the words 'Fix-It Felix Jr.' came right back to the forefront of her eyes. Koko huffed a shaky breath and peered into the dark game wire that was sturdy in front of her, and before she could consult Throttle for anything that just happened, she grappled his arm, came alive with her's and Nox's coding and readied Throttle for the glitch-hopping nonsense that was about to ensue; she knew she had to get into the game as fast as she possibly could.

* * *

With Sugar Rush's falling sun set ablaze on the horizon, the gang had taken the entire day to scour their small, abandoned city. Without much luck, they shuffled on, and though the day was sapped with conflict and a nosedive in energy and happiness, the group somehow attempted to bounce back. Ace remained distant, and though Libby was kindly instructed to simply leave him be, she hovered near him and held in suspended wait, longing strings of baited eye contact that soaked into the back of his head, she grew restless and nervous. Though the rest of the group came back to a level of mild joy, eventually, Ace hovered in lonely sulking, and everyone knew approaching him right now wasn't best. With the small grapples of camaraderie that eventually came back to the group, one other soul remained solid in the confines of her rushing, confused thoughts, and unlike Ace, she hovered far ahead of the group and lead the way; Sugar Rush's future Queen, the headstrong first born of the pack.

With vanishing light, the group sought out refuge in an abandoned hotel. With sneaky ways to get the doors unlocked, they comfortably reside in the top floors of the towering, desolate hotel, and though there were more than enough rooms and beds for everyone, they stuck close and opted to bunking and snuggling. With hard laughs coming from the boy's room, Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise and knew Ace was thrown in the mess of Zed, Nox and Orph. With a wondering smile of renewed hope, her heart skipped a beat in baited wait as she took an inconspicuous step backwards and peered into the boys' bedroom from across the hall. So desperate to see Ace finally warming up, after the incident today, she sought him out, though it was much to her sorrowful dismay to find Ace sat in a dusty lounge chair, his aimless, defeated, grief-stricken gaze lazily glossed to the carpet underneath. Tessa's hopeful smile dropped, and as sadness soaked her heart in coldness, it hardened with ice as a frozen rage very quickly came over her.

"Have you guys seen my coat?" Vanellope asked nonchalantly as she came out of her room, one door to the left of the boys' room; her and Taffyta were hunkered together in a single-bed room. With a curious smile, she peeked into the boys' room and tucked her long black hair behind her ears, "Dark green, has the little mint swirls on the arms?"

"I think you may have accidentally left it in the lobby when we were coming up," Orph called quietly as the boys continued to joke and be weird, and with the simplest smile, not a worry in the world, Vanellope nodded and began to step down the hall and out of sight, in search for her coat downstairs.

Tessa narrowed her gaze, inhaled a readied breath and let her eyes refocus on Ace, once Vanellope's body had stepped out of the way, and it was at this point did Ace's sorrowful slope of sadness furrow to a grimace of rising frustration; the simple fact that Vanellope's voice, innocent questions, kind statements, could rile him. Tessa squinted at Ace across the hallway, unbeknownst to him, and continued to inhale the long, hot single breath she had been sucking in, so desperately hoping it'd calm her, though it didn't. Tessa finally held said breath and slowly set down her pack. She carefully and gently took off her coat, to reveal a black t-shirt and her lazy khaki shorts, that came to her knees. She gave Penny a smile, so to not give herself away, and nonchalantly waggled her hand.

"I'll be right back, I could've sworn I saw a bowl of candy in the lobby," Tessa stated softly with faked warmth, a smooth transition she knew she needed to keep under wraps.

"Ooo, bring the whole damn thing up," Penny urged as she began to fluff hers, Libby's and Tessa's pillows, "Come back quick though, I have something I need to tell you."

"... You do?" Tessa wondered as she jolted to a stop and peered to her cousin in the gentle break of her angry concentration. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and glanced to Libby with a curious smile, though Libby shrugged and huffed a giggle as she began to braid her long, white hair.

"Yes, hurry, go get the candy," Penny barked as she waggled her hand downward, to shoo Tessa out of the room.

Tessa huffed a small giggle and kept the facade up perfectly, and in a simple swipe of agile footwork, she stepped out of the girls' bedroom, pushed into the hall and let her angry gaze soak into the end of the dark, long hotel hallway. As she could see her mother turn the corner and begin to head down the stairs, due to the elevators not working, Tessa furrowed her brow in seething, rising anger and felt the solid, protective rage properly gloss her in an expression of no return. With silent footwork, she followed her mother down the stairs and into the foyer and lobby of the hotel. With glorious, golden tiles that desperately tried to grip to any sunlight the day had left, Tessa let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She felt her glare get deeper and deeper, and as her mother crossed the massive lobby, Tessa silently stepped out and prepared herself, her shivering soul had nothing but a mother's rage burning deep inside of her.

"There it is," Vanellope hissed to herself, as she truly thought she was alone, and as she grappled for her hoodie, which was strewn on a comfortable lounger in the lobby, she smiled to herself, turned heel, and had begun to step in rhythm of her back tracking; before she could get two steps, Vanellope jolted in cold fear, let a hard, sharp gasp soak the lobby, and as Tessa's livid, quiet silver coding gripped the soles of her mother's feet, Vanellope nearly choked in fear and only was able to meekly utter a few words, "T-Tessa, what are you-"

"I'm going to make this real easy for you," Tessa's voice was as smooth as honey, and though the softness and warmth in her voice was as tender as a summer's morning, her body language was dominant and powerful.

Vanellope largely reeled and quickly discovered that she couldn't step backwards, due to Tessa's coding that kept her mother's feet grounded. Tessa took a few quick steps up to her mother and physically challenged her presence. As both girls froze, Tessa hovered less than three inches from the side of Vanellope's face, so close that eye contact wasn't able to be achieved. Vanellope exhaled a trembling, faltered breath and furrowed her brow in raw confusion, though as she opened her mouth to inquire just what was going on, Tessa inhaled a slow, hot breath, narrowed her gaze and let her burning, angry eye contact practically burn a hole into her mother's shoulder and collar bone.

"You're going to listen to me very closely," Tessa eased in deathly silence, she held in anticipated wait, the pauses and breaks in her stern words had Vanellope frozen in confused fear.

Vanellope furrowed her brow in surprised dismay and grew the same motherly, stern stare Tessa was typically very scared of, though as if every single fleeting pixel of anger was on Tessa's side, Tessa held true to her solid dominance and didn't let her own mother's dominance rise higher. Just as Vanellope uttered a few words of dire, confused protest, Tessa loudly snapped her fingers a few times, ultimately shutting Vanellope up immediately. Tessa leaned her head back, gained cold eye contact and so gently gestured her two fingers upwards to her own eyes.

"I'm talking. Look right here," Tessa's voice finally lost it's gentle warmth, and as her cold gaze pierced her mother's, in the tight proximity, Vanellope sagged her shoulders in falling defeat and raised her eyebrows in cold knowing.

Tessa narrowed her gaze and kept tight in her mother's bubble, so close, she knew it was making Vanellope uncomfortable. Vanellope froze, kept her hoodie tight to her chest and remained as stiff as could be. Tessa squinted harder, a healthy glare she set straight into her mother's eyes, and as if this was likely one of the hardest things she had to do, she knew it had to be done. In attempt to keep all of her writhing, angry wrecking fury at bay, she inhaled a long, shaky breath, a skill she had been honing for a very long time now; keeping her anger from strictly becoming loud and physical.

"You could be Queen of Sugar Rush," Tessa started daintily, and though the tone potentially suggested she had largely eased up, her demeanor hovered over Vanellope's like a dark spirit coming to quietly steal her soul; Tessa's voice remained just above the gentlest whisper as she carried on, "You could be the Queen of Litwak's... You could be Queen of all of the world, you could be Queen of the entire... Damned... Universe."

Tessa squinted harder, shook her head just barely, grit her teeth and pointed a finger down to the tiles underneath the two; her coding remained in a death grip on the soles of her mother's feet, the only light below them made Tessa look a million times more menacing than Vanellope could even imagine.

"I do not care who you are," Tessa's voice shook in it's gentleness, though she grit her teeth and carried on in the quietest, though most threatening growl she could, "You will never treat my son that way... Ever again."

"... T-Tes-"

"We've all been through shit, Vanellope," Tessa snapped as she dared to hover even closer to her mother's face, though Vanellope immediately shut her mouth, shrunk into herself and felt her Queenly dominance rapidly slump to the ground, "If you think deploying crazy field-tests on my child is going to somehow get him to toughen up and be that token game-ender you so desperately want, then you've got another thing coming."

Vanellope was frozen in fear, and as she so badly wanted to puff her chest and claim rank over her own daughter, she somehow couldn't pull from Tessa's powerful gravity, the piercing gaze of solid anger stabbed straight into Vanellope's soul, she could hardly look Tessa directly in the eye. Vanellope huffed a shaky sigh and nervously dragged her eyes down and to the side, though she largely flinched as Tessa's larger fingers suddenly snapped the cold, crisp, abandoned air.

"You will look me in the eye," Tessa snapped through the grit of her teeth as she gestured her two fingers to her eyes, once more, "You hold right here, y'see me?"

"Yes ma'am," Vanellope's voice wavered nervously as she held eye contact with her daughter, and it was in this raw moment did Vanellope rapidly realize she had been playing with fire.

"You of all people should know the dangers of messing with a mother's cub," Tessa hissed as she lightly shook her head, though she kept tight eye contact to Vanellope's, "I've let you step all over Ace's feelings up until now... You've taken this kingdom take-back way too far... Your priorities are out of whack, and until you do a bit of digging, by yourself, you are not to lay a single life lesson on my son, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am," Vanellope whimpered in quiet defeat as her eyes welled with tears, though she knew Tessa wasn't phased, even in the slightest.

"The charge is under my lead, now," Tessa stated, as if the decision was not to be wavered, "If you have a problem with this, then you're not obliged to join us on these scouts anymore."

Vanellope huffed a shaky breath of guilty defeat, sagged her shoulders and was too nervous to peer into Tessa's eyes, the solid grip Tessa had on Vanellope's feet, she rapidly realized she potentially over stepped a boundary, big time.

"You may be Queen, but I am vying for that spot," Tessa titled her head down a little, though she kept her pin-point, precise, stabbing gaze straight into her mother's, "... And I will do anything and everything to make sure this game, as well as the individuals trying to save it, are safe from harm, whether it be physical, mental, emotional... Even if it means taking you out of the equation."

"Harm," Vanellope huffed above a shaky whisper as she just barely shook her head in dreaded, sorrowful curiosity.

"The amount of emotional turmoil you are putting that cute, innocent ball of love through is down right TORTURE," Tessa growled as she dared to take a step deeper into her mother's bubble, she hovered her forehead just before Vanellope's and finished through gritted teeth, "Lay off, and you and I won't have an issue. Understand?"

Vanellope huffed a shaky breath and only barely tried to keep from tears leaving her eyes, though she was unsuccessful. Tessa furrowed her brow harder, barely shook her head in question and continued to remain in her mother's face.

"Do I need to speak louder?" Tessa suddenly barked in Vanellope's face, which caused her to jump in a reel of the drastic difference in voice volume; Tessa's voice echoed in the glossy, tiled lobby.

"N-No, I hear you," Vanellope uttered in staggered shakiness, though she held whatever composure she had left and nodded in placating defeat, "Understood."

With a swipe, Tessa's coding unhanded Vanellope's, and just as quickly as Tessa had arrived, she immediately turned heel and began to quietly storm away, towards the corridor of their bedrooms. Vanellope exhaled a trembling breath and watched her daughter step away in cold, surprised terror. The way her powerful shoulders were scrunched in writhing agitation, the firm march of her larger bare feet, Vanellope felt her skin prickle with the event just laid on her. Just as soon as Tessa's figure vanished, and Vanellope was alone, she slumped her shoulders and gently buried her face into her retrieved hoodie, and with a quiet sob, she knew she likely had a lot of apologies to give.


	141. Chapter 141

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Very very true! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :) Thank you so much!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Yeah, I'm okay :( *hug* I hate making you guys upset, is all. Thank you!

 **jonnyne :** Aww xD Yeah they're fine, that'll be expanded on in the next chapter. Thank you!

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Very true! I greatly appreciate it, I'm glad :)

 **WildVirus :** I knew at least someone would understand/know me better than to just leave you guys hanging :P Thanks love! AW You're in Georgia? If I was anywhere near Atlanta I'd opt to hopefully bumping into yah for a quick hello, but I'm all the way near Tallahassee. In no-man's land of Georgia XD

 **Xaehttium :** No, not the reviews on the site. I have a few reviewers that don't have a fanfiction account, so they opt to emailing me their thoughts. Those got sticky and some of them were rather mean.. And, thank you! Yeah, I think it's safe to say most of us are currently Team Tess xD

 **Snake557 :** Haha thanks friend :) You'll find out what happened to the FIF Jr. gang in the next chapter!

 **Burgie :** It was Koko and Throttle going into FIF Jr., but I guess both those boys are easy to confuse haha. You'll find out in the next chapter! Thank you! :)

 **chuckiboo :** WOOT. Yeah it was a TON of fun to write that scene. I'm currently in the process of painting said scene too, so that'll be fun to see your guys' opinions of that :) Thank you!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Silver Comforts Jim by James Newton Howard (Treasure Planet score)**

 ***Chapter 141***

Tessa exhaled a long, hot sigh of the rest of her pent up anger. She stormed down the long hallway, towards their bedrooms, the big bowl of candy in hand, and as she came upon the chattering groups of lively individuals, she slowed her roll and finally unraveled the angry glare from her face. With softened worry, she sneakily peered into the boy's bedroom. Nox, Orph and Zed loudly chatted, and though they were aware to leave Ace alone and let him just attempt to be at peace with himself, they lightly tried to include him in the conversation. Ace's eyes were red, sunken and aimless across the room. He had his fist tucked under his chin, and as his gaze was just in an idle, empty stare at the cozy room lamp, on the desk that he sat at, he looked wholly disheveled.

Tessa heaved a gentle, refreshed sigh through her nose and dragged her eyes down to the bowl of candy tucked underneath her arm. All sorts of delicious looking Sugar Rush candies lay in shiny, colorful wrappers, just waiting to be eaten. She wrinkled her nose in a knowing sort of way, understanding full well that said bowl of candy would be devoured by the end of the night, though just before she could sink away into her bedroom, with Penny and Libby, she jolted, stopped her movement and peered back to Ace, from the hallway. She furrowed her brow in contemplation; she knew he needed an overdose of love, right now, the rattle of the day was likely something that needed tenderness to recoup from. Though she was aware the boys would likely eventually bring out his smiles, she knew his heart better than anyone.

"Hey," Tessa chirped gently, and with this, Ace's eyes dragged to the door in sharp surprise, he sat up in readiness, almost out of a reflex of fear. Tessa gave him a knowing smile and softly tilted her head towards her's, Penny's and Libby's bedroom. She bit her tongue, gestured to the candy and waggled her eyebrows, "C'mon."

Ace gently glanced to Orph, Zed and Nox, who were lazily strewn about chairs and beds, and as softly and secretively as he could, he got to his feet and left the bedroom in a silent rush of a hurry. He tenderly bumped into Tessa, because of the quick glide across the room, and as the two let out quiet chuckles, Tessa's ears pricked at the sound of Vanellope's footsteps approaching from down the hall. Tessa's relaxed stance slowly grew rigid, and as she merely glanced at her mother's approaching figure, she gingerly put her hand on Ace's lower back and began to push him towards the girl's bedroom.

"C'mon, bud, you'll be with us tonight," Tessa eased quietly, though she knew Vanellope could hear.

Ace cocked an eyebrow in gentle confusion and slowly stepped into Tessa's, Penny's and Libby's bedroom. Amidst doing so, Tessa firmly followed, and as Penny and Libby chimed kind, gentle, knowing notions towards Ace, Tessa tightly shut and locked their bedroom door behind them; she knew it was passive aggressive of her to do so, though she also knew it was either that or live up to her father's standard of wrecking the building.

"Ace," Libby eased in quiet, girly surprise as her face got red, though Penny heaved an excited laugh and dragged her eyes from Ace, to the bowl of candy tucked in Tessa's arm.

"You said bowl, not VAT!" Penny cried with an excited laugh, and as Ace looked over his shoulder and curiously ogled the candy, Tessa rolled her eyes, set the bowl down on the table and waggled her hand near it.

"Ahh-Ahh not yet, hold your horses, the candy's not going anywhere," Tessa barked loudly as Penny's hand drew closer and closer. As Ace nervously pushed deeper into the room, an aimless wander of uncertainty of just where he was allowed amidst the girls' territory, his eyes apprehensively scanned the room as Tessa gently approached Ace, "We all need to talk, first and foremost."

"I really don't want to talk about earlier, I just don't," Ace pleaded quietly, though Tessa gave him a soft, though stern smile and cocked an eyebrow.

"Too bad, my love, have a seat," Tessa eased warmly as she gestured to the edge of the bed Penny would be sleeping in.

"Mom," Ace's voice retort in a rasp of dismay, though Tessa froze, stabbed her stare into his and raised her eyebrows high, as if to state that she knew what she was doing. Ace huffed a long, tired sigh, nearly rolled his eyes and sat down on the end of the bed, like instructed.

"Lookit me," Tessa's warm, motherly voice began to soak Ace in all the love and care she knew he needed; though she knew not to baby him, she wondered if she could spoil him, just this once. Tessa chuckled just barely and gently gripped underneath his chin, to make him look at her, "C'mon, don't make me force a smile outta yah. Lookit me."

Ace scoffed a small noise, close to a half-hearted chuckle, though his sorrowful eyes finally sagged into hers as his demeanor remained defeated. He raised his eyebrows in collected sorrow and finally honed his entire attention to his mother. The rapid switch-back from stern to radiating the warmth of the sun, he was certain she was a gem, a magical being capable of more than she even led on. Ace felt his heart begin to pound, and though he knew his mother's demeanor was warm and welcoming, he knew some form of motherly sternness was bound to come about, in this event, somehow. He knew the beat down couldn't be anything compared to how terrible he had felt all day long.

"I just went to bat for you, son," Tessa stated with a gentle huff of a giggle as she shook her head, and though her demeanor was solid, she brought up her free hand and splayed out her fingers; everyone drew attention to her hand and quickly noticed that it had a gentle tremble to it. Ace furrowed his brow in hard confusion and gave Tessa his urgent stare, once more, "I have never been more terrified in my entire life, just now."

"What happened?" Ace worried as he dropped his sullen act and began to look honestly nervous, though as Tessa breathed a silent chuckle and shook her head, Penny and Libby raised their eyebrows in cold knowing and stole glances to each other.

"I crowned myself Queen of Sugar Rush, that's what happened," Tessa hissed in a sharp whisper as she narrowed her gaze, broadened her cheeky smile and peered deeper into Ace's eyes.

"... You sneaky brat," Penny stabbed playfully as she crossed her arms, though she dropped them and put on a casual front as she mocked Tessa's deeper, womanly voice, "Oh, there's candy in the lobby. I'm also gunna go beat my mother into submission while I'm down there, so brb!"

"What?" Ace hissed quiet shock, though Tessa shook her head and nudged Ace's chest.

"I'm tired of her pushing you around, and I'm tired of you getting the run around on these lessons," Tessa stated as she pointed down to the ground, "You're my son... You're my brood. You will learn everything you need to know, from me."

"... You'll be my new coach?" Ace wondered with a smile that began to broaden and beam as bright as the sun, though Libby huffed an excited giggle and covered her mouth.

"Damn straight," Tessa barked with an excited smile.

"Mom, what did you do to have Vanellope so willingly hand over the reigns?" Ace wondered in gentle relief as it looked as if a physical weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I played my role as a mother bear whose cub was just messed with," Tessa stated darkly as she furrowed her eyebrows and gestured down to Ace, "All day I've been fuming, wondering if this feeling would pass... But I couldn't hold it in any longer."

"Zeddy seemed pretty pissed to," Libby wondered tenderly, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and softly nodded.

"He is," Tessa assured, "We've just kept quiet, cause... Well..."

"Vanellope was in charge," Penny muttered, though she cocked an eyebrow and peered to Tessa, "... Sure, you went mom mode, but... What did you do to get her to back off? How is that even possible? She's Vanellope Von Schweetz... THE Vanellope Von Schweetz."

"It's not what's important, here," Tessa stated quietly, she knew, deep down, she felt guilty for having to yank the reigns from her mother, and even more so, move Ace out of the situation a little further, though she shut her eyes tight, shook her head and knew time healed all wounds, "What's important is she'll now be leaving you alone."

"You didn't have to do that, mom," Ace staggered as he looked down sorrowfully, "I... I really need to fight my own battles."

"That's where you're half-wrong," Tessa suddenly stabbed, though Ace raised his eyebrows and was shocked that she was now becoming stern. Tessa knelt to his level, which was lower because he was sat on Penny's low to the ground bed. Tessa put her first two fingers into Ace's chest, a gentle yet dominant way of keeping his solid attention, "Look where that got you today, don't think your little stunt was just something we're going to gloss over."

"I-I didn't mean to, I didn't think," Ace urged in sorrowful annoyance, "I-I just... I don't want you guys to have to get hurt, or killed, just... For me..."

"Son, broaden your perspective," Tessa shook her head, "This isn't just about you... I've lost a future kingdom, the racers have practically lost a game, the Arcade is wrought with a virus that could easily spread to other games."

Ace slumped his shoulders and desperately tried to relax, though his heart began to pound in nervousness. He began to feel at ease as Libby and Penny noted his apprehension, and as if the girls knew this was exactly what he needed, they began to warmly close the gap and reach out with love. Libby was first to gently sit herself right next to Ace, on the bed, and though she made it obvious that she was here for him, she tried her hardest not to take any attention away from Tessa. Tessa lovingly removed her fingers from Ace's chest and rested her larger hand on Libby's forearm, so to include her in on the small pow-wow and make it known that she was valid here.

"This isn't about any one individual... This is about justice," Tessa nodded, tilted her head down and kept her stern, motherly gaze into Ace's, "This is about doing what's right... None of us have to be here, doing this alongside you, alongside everyone... But y'know why we're here?"

Ace heaved a shaky sigh and shut his eyes in a lull of defeat, and though he shook his head, he quickly nodded, as if to state that 'no' wasn't his answer. He unraveled his scrunched face and sorrowfully looked down to his lap for a moment, but before he could sulk for too long, Tessa cupped his chin one more time and pierced her loving eyes into his teary ones.

"Because we all care so deeply for one another," Tessa shook her head, "You don't want us to get hurt... Ace... We don't want YOU to get hurt either... You want to know how we can all protect each other amidst a huge, crazy battle, similar to the test-run today?"

Ace heaved a shaky sigh, nodded in knowing regret and lulled his eyes closed. Within doing so, tears escaped him, yet again.

"Not bubbling anyone," Ace mumbled, though Penny barked a small laugh, ultimately causing a chain reaction.

"Stop bubbling everyone," Tessa grumbled in an exaggerated tone as she gently gripped Ace's chin a little harder and jostled his head about, "It was noble... But, you're only hurting yourself... That's where my mother was correct, Ace."

"I'm sorry," Ace sighed as he shook his head, "I... I didn't even think about it. I just... Wanted you guys to remain safe while I dealt with whatever was happening."

"We know you had good intentions," Libby stated warmly, she gently peered down to Ace's arm and began to fiddle with the long, thick, dark blue strands of hair, "... Those bubbles weren't very protective, though."

"What?" Ace worried as Tessa gently unhanded him, he peered his urgent attention to his right and straight into Libby's eyes.

"Yeah, it... It started to get insanely hot, and air tight," Libby mumbled, though she peered to Tessa curiously, as if to wonder if the same thing happened to her.

"I was going to bring that up," Tessa cocked an eyebrow, nodded and closed her eyes, "I need to teach you how to preform that bubbling trick without it harming who you're trying to protect..."

"... I thought you said you didn't want me to bubble anyone anymore?" Ace staggered, though him, Libby and Penny uttered knowing laughter and stole glances to each other.

"Ace, you really think what you did and bubbling someone for a moment of protection, are the same things?" Tessa argued, though Ace slumped his shoulders in defeat and looked down, "You only bubble someone, or yourself, if you need a second of protection... Not a lifetime. You can't keep everyone from harms way, forever."

"You certainly tried," Libby mumbled playfully to him, though he shot her an annoyed smile and so gently nudged her smaller arm, to which she giggled to.

"Alright, no more sulking, you've had all day, okay?" Tessa urged as she gripped Ace's shoulder, "From now on, you report to me. I'll teach you everything you need to know, from here on out. Any glitching questions you have, you can find the answer with me. Stick to that plan, and I'll get you into the physical and mental shape you need to be in... I just need one thing from you."

"Anything," Ace eased in relief as he shook his head and gave his mother a grateful smile.

"No more moping," Tessa pointed, he closed his eyes in smiling annoyance and finally nodded in agreeing.

"I'm sorry," Ace mumbled as Tessa finally stood.

"No sorries either, just hugs," Tessa quipped as she gestured her arms outwards a little.

Without any hesitation, Ace stood and quickly scooped his mother into his arms. As tight as he could squeeze her, he huffed a shaky breath on her shoulder and nuzzled into her warmth. He knew he was spoiled to have such a wonderful set of parents, and though he knew his grandparents were wonderful in their own respect, he was aware the road to recovery might be awhile. He shut his eyes tight and lightly grimaced, and as badly as he fought to keep tears from forming, once more, they ultimately slipped through and dot the top of Tessa's shoulder. With the wetness, and his sniffles, Tessa cooed a knowing noise and fastened her arms tight around his chest, and as she began to gently sway him, she pushed a few firm kisses into his cheek and whispered her undying love for him in his ear. She smiled on his shoulder as he squeezed her even tighter, and as Penny and Libby softly gathered for a group hug that was forming, Tessa lulled her head against Ace's strong, broad shoulder and relaxed in his grip.

"You're doing an amazing job, son... Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Tessa meeped, though it was in this instance did everyone grow surprised that she was becoming emotional as well. Ace raised his eyebrows and gingerly pulled away, just so he could see the proof. Tessa furrowed her brow and shook her head, and as she peered her loving, teary gaze up into Ace's, she grimaced and held firm to him, "You're too wonderful to be tossed around... Promise me you'll seek solid ground, here. Promise me you won't take no for an answer... You're tough, bud."

"I promise," Ace assured in a crackle of the desperate restraint of more tears. He choked a small noise and rubbed his eye a little, "Mom, don't say anymore, I've been practically crying all day."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Here," Tessa urgently gestured to Libby and warmly gripped Libby's hand, "Give this one some love and attention, she's been worried sick about you, all day long."

Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered down into Libby's eyes, and as he welcomed her into his embrace, no questions asked, he grappled her as well and squeezed. He smiled into the top of her head, and as he placed a few kisses onto her glorious white hair, he lulled his eyes closed and finally felt at peace with the day. Libby hummed a small noise into the side of his chest, rested her ear over his heart beat and closed her eyes as well.

"Penny likely won't be able to handle the sap for much longer, guys, so don't prolong anything," Tessa mumbled, she had moved across the room, though the sound of deafening silence, from Penny, caused Tessa to stop what she was doing and peer her whole attention to her younger cousin in collected confusion, "Or... Not?"

"I can kiss Libby, will that do the trick?" Ace wondered dryly, though he side-eyed Libby in a knowing way and was floored to see her face turn beet red.

"That'll make Penny leave the game, don't do that," Tessa rushed as she began to ready her side of the bed, in which she knew she was now likely going to share with Penny. As Tessa continued to do her thing, she noted that Penny was still remained in a dead silent game of conflicted feelings, with herself. Tessa stopped what she was doing, idly peered down at the bed in collected knowing and dragged her molasses like sweep of eye contact across the room, "... Penny."

"Yes," Penny piped sheepishly as she bit her lip, her face turned beet red; Tessa crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow and eyed her cousin in curiousness.

"... What's uh... What's goin' on?" Tessa wondered in sarcastic nonchalance as she cocked an eyebrow and waved her hand about, "What is that uh... Little 'something' you were going to share with the class?"

"Wait a second," Ace hissed in hard knowing, and though him and Libby were still tangled in a loose hug, he softly unhanded her and pointed a finger to his Aunt Penny, "Wait... A... SECOND!"

"ALRIGHT I admit it," Penny growled with a gentle laugh as she unfolded her arms and took a defensive, annoyed stance, though her smile proved she was practically wanting to just glow with her fresh news, "I know it's obvious."

"... Am I missing something?" Libby ogled in hard annoyance, though Tessa sharply gasped and pointed as well, her and Ace caught stares in floored, wide-eyed knowing.

"Noooo," Tessa gasped loudly as she gaped a wide smile and kept her finger firmly pointed, "ORPH?!"

"Say it louder!" Penny sharply hissed sarcastically as she flagged her hands down, her face was near-purple at this point.

"You and Orph!" Libby chimed quietly as she cupped her hands to her cheeks in excited, girly delight.

"Is that why you weren't around for me to bubble you?" Ace wondered as he shook his head, though Penny side-eyed her nephew in hard annoyance and furrowed her eyebrows.

"That man TRICKED me," Penny garbled sarcastically, though Tessa flopped onto the bed, onto her back, and wailed with excited laughter.

"WHAT!" Ace urged, as if Penny couldn't possibly get the information out fast enough.

"What do you mean?!" Libby squealed, though they all desperately tried to keep their voices down.

"He's a terrible dude, a bad bad man," Penny barked in sarcastic anger, though she huffed a hard sigh, darted her eyes between Ace and Libby and furrowed her eyebrows in sheepish, collective defeat, "He's a great kisser, but he's BAD."

"He WHAT!" Tessa hollered, though it was at this point did Penny throw her hands up, lull her head back and begin to angrily cross the room, as if to state she wanted to leave but there was no where to go. Tessa flew to her feet, crossed the room in riled delight and quickly took ahold of Penny's shoulders; she huffed a quiet laugh and peered into Penny's bashful eyes, her face was hot red, "H-He kissed you?"

"Yeah," Penny muttered through an excited smile she so desperately tried to hide, though she felt as if she couldn't possibly keep her true self from spilling over any longer. She beamed a curious smile to Tessa and grappled the undersides of Tessa's arms, "It was amazing."

"PENNY!" Tessa cried with a wide smile as she lunged into Penny and slapped her arms about her neck. Penny laughed in choking annoyance and wobbled, though Tessa firmly pulled away and kept her hands glued to Penny's shoulders, "So, what does this mean?"

"How am I supposed to know, he kissed me and then trailed away like a tease!" Penny urged quietly in calm desperation, though Ace beamed a wide smile and covered his face as him and Libby were in hysterics.

"Ohhh you're done for," Tessa garbled as she crossed her arms and pointed a little, "He's as stubborn as they come, my friend, you're... Toast."

"I don't know what to do, I don't even know where it came from, it was so unprovoked!" Penny urged nervously, though Libby massively side-eyed Penny in a gape of disagreeable.

"Unprovoked?" Libby gawked, though Tessa and Ace flinched and peered to Libby in hard surprise, "I see those looks you two give each other!"

"Ohh ho! I haven't been paying close enough attention," Tessa stated in sing-song as Ace grinned in a knowing way and crossed his arms.

"Is this what girl gossip is like?" Ace muttered with a cheesy smile and a bob of a nod, "You guys just talk about us boys all day long?"

"Yeah," Penny, Tessa and Libby all dully chimed at the same time, though Ace dropped his arms, furrowed his eyebrows in incredulous surprise and glanced between the three girls in curious worry.

"... Wait, really?" Ace worried as he grew more and more incredulous, though Libby cocked an eyebrow and gave him a sly look, though only to freak him out further.

"It doesn't matter anyhow," Penny sighed as she began to move to her side of the bed she'd be sharing with Tessa, she fluffed her blanket and gently tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear, "I'm not sure how to even go about this... Now that my secret is out..."

"... Out?" Libby worried, she sorrowfully glanced at Ace, and he shrugged in gentle knowing as well. Libby gave Penny a gentle look of sadness and shook her head, "Your secret isn't going to leave this room, Penny..."

"... What?" Penny eased in soft, sullen surprise, "Really?"

"Penny... If you want us to keep this to ourselves, we will," Tessa urged honestly with a gentle nod, "So, it was a kiss... Doesn't mean it has to be all weird. Just maybe see where it goes, from there, y'know?"

"... It was really nice," Penny stated in quiet honesty that began to show through in warm, lovely girlyness; Tessa squinted, in a smile, and relished in this moment. She knew it was either fleeting, or a one and done.

"Uncle Orph is a wily one, that's for sure," Ace stated knowingly as he rubbed his chin.

"Whose to say you can't play his game right back at him, though," Libby shrugged with girly coy as she gave Penny a sneaky smile, though Penny furrowed her brow and side-eyed Libby.

"... Go on," Penny mumbled curiously, though Ace grumbled and covered his face.

"Auuhg I didn't realize it'd go on this long, though," Ace muttered, in reference to the girly gossip he was now trapped in; he made his way to the bowl of candy that everyone seemingly forgot about.

"Ace, even though you're out of my mother's clutches, I'm still going to be keeping tabs on your diet and workout regimen," Tessa rushed as she waggled her hand towards the bowl of candy Ace was eagerly approaching.

"... Dammit," He choked.

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 **A/N:** **Just to let you guys know, I just uploaded a painting of the scene in the last chapter, where Tessa gets in Vanellope's face - it was SUPER fun to paint, so if you want to go check it out, it's titled 'Mother May I' on my deviantART - username Vyntresser :)**


	142. Chapter 142

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** LOL yeah I wrote that last sentence and was like aww dammit. whatever xD

 **Snake557 :** haha Ace can't catch a break xD

 **Burgie :** Oh that's okay, I get them confused all the time, as well haha. Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** Rest in pasta hahahahaha. brilliant. Aweee. I'm like WAY out in the boonies. I'm 30 miles from Tallahassee :( Sad moment.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hahahaha Aw, yeah I got all your pieces of your review, don't worry :) I really appreciate the compliments and kind words! Also, Vanellope doesn't ever threaten to take the crown away because she knows Tessa is more than fit for Queen - this is expanded on in future chapters :) Also, Penny is not in line for the throne. The only people who are in line for the throne, by 'blood', are Tessa, Oliver, Koko, Ace and Tessa and Zed's second born (tba) Also, thank you so much or that encouragement. I try to keep everyone flawed in one way or another - Taffyta definitely gets her time to 'shine', in that aspect, as well xD

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Walking in the Wind by One Direction**

 **Stutter by Mariana's Trench**

* * *

 ***Chapter 142***

With lightning quick abilities, Koko glitch-hopped through her father's game wires, something of which she was terrified would likely be unplugged, once more. With Throttle tight in her grip, they were a mess of colorful coding that now seemingly agreed with each other; a flare of honeycombs, pixel-blobs and circuit lines sparked the dark wires like an angry lightning storm about to burst forth. Just as the two rushed to the small opening of the game, the familiar little train station and square-pixeled trees that lined Ralph's game, Koko brought her and Throttle out of the glitch-hop with sudden force, and as the two stumbled and wobbled into each other, they caught their footing, panted, and curiously peered to each other in a draw of collected surprise.

"...What the hell was all that about!" Throttle choked with a hard laugh, he was happy that his words got a genuine sprawl of a smile out of Koko, though before she could soak into his first experience in the glitching realm, she huffed a staggering breath and peered about the game in a flurry.

"I need to find my dad and uncle," Koko uttered nervously as she took off, running this time; Throttle jolted to keep up.

Koko's eyes nervously scanned the tidy grass, the massive brick pile her father used to reside in, the gleaming Niceland building; it was all in pristine condition, like brand new. Koko continued to run, and though the game was painfully quiet and she was uncertain where to even begin looking. The front doors to the Niceland building burst open in a flurry, and leading the charge of confused Nicelanders was none other than Ralph. He looked floored in confused terror, and as his eyes dart to the train station and exit area of the game, he jolted as his eyes fell short to his youngest daughter, whom of which was now running towards him full speed. Koko uttered a noise of an inquiry and felt her feet move faster and faster. The second the two locked eyes, Koko knew exactly the feeling in her heart, a feeling she was having a difficult time grasping when it came to finding her footing with the new father figure in her life. As tears began to stream her cheeks, she felt an overflow of love for him hit her soul head on, and without any form of hesitation, the two urgently picked up the speed towards each other.

"Dad," Koko called through staggering tears, the very idea of potentially almost losing him was now suddenly way to hard to even bear. As the two neared and created a slow of a buffer, they filled the gap with purpose and grappled into each other's embrace. Ralph skid to his knees amongst scooping up his young daughter into his powerful embrace, and as Koko slapped her arms about his neck, she cried quietly into his shoulder and panted in her conclusion, "Dad, I thought I lost you, I-I didn't know... I-I wasn't... Sure even where to begin... I don't know what I'd do without y-!"

"I'm here, we're okay," Ralph uttered shakily as he, too, was out of breath. He shook his head, scrunched his eyes tight in a draw of fear of the unknown, and as he tucked his face into the top of Koko's shoulder, he squeezed her harder and rubbed her back a little.

"I love you, dad," Koko cried, she could hear the little pitter patter of the Nicelander's all came about the two in a gather of delirious confusion, "I'm so sorry for yesterday, I just... I was just...!"

"You were standing up for what's right," Ralph grumbled as he slowly pulled away from Koko, though he kept his arms lightly around her. She peered up to him in guilty gentleness, the tears in her eyes made all of the brightly twinkling stars glisten a display of her soul, and as she kept her eyes honed to her father's, he shook his head and continued on with a knowing smile, "You were protecting your new family members..."

"Dad, you're my family too," Koko urged nervously as her hands shook, she kept them planted to Ralph's broad shoulders, "I just want everyone to get along..."

"What exactly happened?" Throttle wondered in staggering panting as he came up, though as he did, he felt that wave of fear cross over him, once more, as every single little Nicelander dragged their now terrified stares to the TurboTime rarity before them.

"A-Are you from TurboTime?" One asked, and as the words rolled out into the atmosphere, everyone gasped and nervously took a handful of steps backwards.

"Oops, forgot the hood," Throttle muttered sarcastically as he tugged it tight over his head, though he flailed his arm and swiped it off his head, once more, "Who am I kidding."

"I don't know what happened, Litwak put an 'out of order' sign on our cabinet about a half an hour after the Arcade was supposed to close," Ralph rushed as he gently stood from Koko's warm presence, though he kept close to her as Felix quickly rushed up. Ralph peered down to Felix in collected fear and shrugged, "When we saw him beginning to move the cabinet from it's original spot, we all began to make a break for the exit but, we were too late..."

"... Why did he unplug you guys, just to plug you back in?" Throttle rushed, he urgently tried to push past the fact that the little people, all about him, were muttering and shooting him looks of terrified disgust.

"I'm not sure," Ralph grunted, though everyone flinched as Litwak's booming voice could be heard from the other side of the glass; he was clearly talking to another Arcade worker.

"Just needed a good cleaning," Litwak chimed happily, his loud voice echoed through the empty Arcade, and as shuffling could be heard, everyone gasped as Litwak came upon the screen and looked in with a grandfatherly smile.

Ralph grunted a knowing noise of urgency and began to push everyone out of the sight of the screen, and once they were hidden, Ralph heaved a shaky sigh and kept frozen, alongside everyone else.

"My power ups were out of control, all day," Felix worried as he tugged his hat tighter on his head and looked up to Koko in distress, "I couldn't fix anything... I don't know what was wrong with me."

"I guess the cabinet was getting clogged with dust," Throttle nodded with a shrug, "Dust is a video game itch. Won't do way too much damage, but enough build up could be the downfall."

"You would know a lot about the downfall of video games, huh," Muttered a Nicelander near Throttle's feet, though before Throttle could turn on his scary face and let loose all his anger, Ralph pointed an angry finger down to all the little Nicelanders and inhaled a raspy grunt of a breath.

"If I catch any more of you guys muttering under your breath about how terrible Throttle is, here, I'm going to wreck every single last one of you," Ralph growled loudly down to the small group, whom of which scrunched deeper into themselves and peered up to Ralph in collective fear.

"H-He's Turbo's racing coach," Deanna stated as she gestured her little arms outward, she looked upset and nervous, "Aren't you even a little curious as to why he's here?"

"He's here because he's one of my best friends," Koko snapped as she put her hands on her hips, "We also were on our way over here to try and figure out Felix's power-up dilemma."

"Looks like Litwak has got it all figured out for us," Gene stated in a neutral tone as he gestured to the video game screen, it brightly streamed in light.

"I'm sure that did the trick," Litwak's other male employee chimed kindly, he wasn't visible, though Litwak bobbed his head in a small nod and grimaced his brows in curiosity.

"Really only one way to find out," Litwak mumbled with a boyish smile as he began to dig into his pant's pockets, "I know I got a quarter here, somewhere..."

"Quarter alert," Ralph hissed as he froze and raised his eyebrows, though as quickly as the words hit everyone, all the Nicelanders began to run around the back side of the Niceland building to prepare for said game-play. Ralph jolted, peered down to Felix in a draw of terror and shook his head, "We haven't started all our presets or anything like that, the code room is still opened."

"I-I'm sure Koko knows a thing or two about code rooms," Felix rushed as he lovingly took Koko's larger hand and urgently peered to the game screen, they were desperate for Litwak to take his time finding that quarter. Koko peered up to her father in collected terror and shook her head with wide eyes.

"D-Dad, I hardly know a lick about code rooms," Koko rushed in a pleading, nervous tone as she squeezed her uncle's hand, "Tessa is the coding guru, I-I... I just know how to wreck crap really well, mom's never really given me a proper coding lesson before!"

"The code room will be fine, we just... Gotta play like normal, I'm sure all the presets will be fine," Felix rushed nervously, though as Litwak grumbled a noise of inquisition and pulled change out of his pocket, he kindly exclaimed the finding of a quarter, once and for all.

Ralph huffed a shaky breath and, for the first time in his life, he lulled his eyes closed and let his walls come down. He dragged his stare to Koko, how valiant of a fighter she was, how quickly she dropped every single last problem the two had to show her undying love for her own father, someone of which she largely disagreed with. Ralph knew she had TurboTime coding coursing through her, though her eyes remained the same twinkling, Sugar Rush-ridden sparkle of love Ralph knew would never ever fade. He peaked a small smile, shook his head and finally brought his eyes to Throttle's creepy stare. Though the square pupil-stare was hard to decipher mood from, Throttle looked as if he was nearly on the brink of giving up trying to prove himself, though as Ralph's gaze deepened on Throttle's nearly translucent skin, his demeanor grew more and more hopeful.

"Koko may not... But I know Throttle does," Ralph eased tenderly, and as hard as it was for him to hand his very own code room over to a quiet stranger, one labelled with such a conniving back-story, he firmly grappled the top of Throttle's broad shoulder, knelt down a little and gave Throttle his solid gaze, full of desperation, "Throttle... Please. We need you in the code room."

Felix raised his eyebrows, took off his hate and held it over his chin and mouth in surprise. He darted his eyes between Ralph, Throttle and Koko in a stun of surprise, though he beamed a knowing smile towards his much bigger brother and shook his head in a knowing way. Throttle raised his eyebrows in whole surprise and staggered a few huffs of indecipherable words, as if he was totally beside himself. He clutched his chest in an expel of a breath that he nearly choked on, though he beamed an excited smile to Koko and continued to stutter on nonsense.

"We need an answer, yes or no," Ralph grumbled with a gentle laugh as he jostled Throttle's shoulder in playfulness, though as the four grew in contagious laughter, they flinched as Litwak huffed a few notions towards his employee, who began to playfully tease Litwak for wanting to play a round of Fix-It Felix Jr. Ralph inhaled a shaky breath, glanced back at the screen and peeled his urgent gaze back to Throttle's, "Can I trust you?"

"I-I don't know, can you?" Throttle cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms, though just before Ralph could jostle his whole being into another dimension, Throttle barked a laugh, held his hands out in defense and wheezed a small noise of compliance, "Alright, alright, I'll help."

"Thank you," Ralph huffed as he gave Throttle's shoulder and back a friendly pat, though Koko perked up and peered up to her dad in raw, childish delight.

"We get to witness a quarter alert?" Koko uttered in surprise, though Ralph chuckled as him and Felix began to saunter closer to their starting markers.

"Guess so," Ralph eased with a knowing smile as he winked, though he gestured towards the building and pointed to the two, "Floor above the penthouse, it's the only room on that floor. Hurry, guys."

"C'mon," Throttle urged in boyish delight as he was the one to grapple Koko's arm, for once, and dart towards the Niceland building in growing glee.

Koko jolted with a startled laugh and began to quickly trail behind Throttle, and as they rounded the back of the building, they burst in through the back door and began to scramble towards the elevator. Inside, Nicelanders hurried about and tried to ready themselves for a quarter alert they were not even prepared for, though as the elevator doors closed, Koko raised her eyebrows in surprised and could hear the game call a retro, old-timey quarter alert call. She held her breath, peered to Throttle and felt the silence of the elevator soak them in collected knowing. The two panted, and as they peered to each other in rapidly increasing curiosity, Throttle huffed a chuckle and shook his head with an incredulous smile.

"Your dad just gave me free reign of the code room," Throttle eased in a roll off his tongue, as if it were that simple, though he grappled his hair, shook his head and bent over a little, "I-I... I haven't been in an original, retro code room, since, well... Well...!"

"TurboTime?" Koko eased with a curious smile, though Throttle shook his head and peered to Koko in furthermore boyish delight that was impossible to wipe.

"TurboTime was the latest and greatest, at the time," Throttle staggered, and as the elevator finally reached the code room's floor, he inhaled a shaky breath and urgently peered to the red, pixelated numbers above the glossy elevator doors, "It wasn't considered retro... But this, now..."

As the doors opened, it revealed a darker, narrow hallway that lead to a wide opened door, the code room hung inside in a dark vat of shivering anxiousness, and as the red code boxes bobbed about in pixely delight, Throttle huffed a shaky sigh, covered his chest with a slightly trembling hand and began to stumble off the elevator; he left Koko behind, unbeknownst to him. He continued to breath soft noises of delight as he budged into Ralph's and Felix's code room, and as the boxes began to lull closer to him, an innocent presence, one of which the game seemingly trusted because of his old, rare coding, Throttle shook his head in awe, let the code room's main hull of a box hover above his trembling white hands. With a widening smile, he turned around with the main box, to gauge Koko's expression, though he flinched and was surprised to see her still stationed inside the elevator.

"... Y-You comin'?" Throttle uttered with a nervous, excited smile, though his shoulders sagged in growing apprehension as Koko shook her head and smiled a sneaky smile up to the ceiling of the elevator.

"I think you've got it covered, up here, friend," Koko stated warmly with a loving smile that finally met his. She waggled her eyebrows in a knowing way, shoved her finger into the 3rd floor button and allowed the chime of the elevator to soak over her. As the doors began to slowly close, she gave Throttle a sneaky smile, "I've got some wreckin' to do."

Throttle beamed an annoyed smile towards her, though as the doors closed for good, and he was alone with the game's shivering code room, he flinched as the room became dark amidst the glowing red boxes. As he faced the whole of the smaller code room, he inhaled a long, shaky breath and allowed his eyes to soak in the familiar sight. He smirked a renewed smile and held out his hands with growing confidence.

"Alright, code room..." Throttle's voice rung through the boxes, ultimately showing it just who was in charge right now, "Let's see if this ol' bat's still got it..."

Koko anxiously wiggled in place inside the elevator. Her heart raced, and as she could hear game noises of all sorts outside the elevator, she furrowed her eyebrows in rapidly growing surprise as her father's voice was becoming angry and upset. She giggled, and as the elevator chimed and opened it's glossy doors, she firmly stepped out and was greet with a dead silent hallway, lined with tidy, cute, pixely apartments. She exhaled a faltered breath as the whole atmosphere went dead silent, though before she could call out into the hallway to wonder just where everyone was, she practically choked on her words and stumbled to the ground. With the loud, core-shaking reverberating bang that seemingly wiggled the entire spine of the building, Koko gasped in surprise, caught herself on her hands and peered to the glistening, pretty sunlit window at the end of the hall.

As debris began to shake from the crease of the ceilings and walls, she furrowed her brow in whole confusion before the realization hit her. She huffed an excited noise, jumped to her feet and felt excitement hit her, head on. As she ran down the hallway, her heart raced with the thrill of everything. A dozen feet from the end of the hallway, which was the side of the building that was to be wrecked, she ducked into a long lobby that overlooked the gameplay at hand. She flinched in overwhelmed surprise as a flash of a shadow crossed multiple windows, and as floors above her were easily destroyed, she cupped the side of her head in rising glee and was nearly annoyed to see Felix rapidly repairing all of her father's wrecked mess.

"Fix it, Felix!" The Nicelanders chimed in unison as they began to scramble about the lobby in pure chaos.

"THAT'S MY DAD!" Kok hollered in pure glee, over the noise of the chaos, and as the building rumbled above them, they wobbled with the shake.

"WE KNOW," The Nicelanders, in the lobby, uttered in playful annoyance, though with such, Koko felt her heart jolt in furthermore excitement as she remembered Ralph's infamous game call.

Koko felt as if she had endured tunnel vision, and with the familiar call that rang in her head, she inhaled a deep breath, clenched her fists and grinned a near-menacing, though playful grin. She puffed her chest, watched the Nicelanders scramble in the exaggerated, staged drama of it all, and before she could likely get way too ahead of herself and let her coding come alive, she white-knuckled her fists and hollered her dad's game-call in unison with him.

"I'M GUNNA WRECK-IT!" Koko urged aloud, which ultimately had every single Nicelander in the lobby frozen in fear, as if to worry if they now had two wreckers to flee from, though as if all their worrying was quite simply realized, Koko swung her fist outward, caught a side table, lamp and chair in the cross fire.

As wood, blocks of pixel debris and glass all carried across the lobby, the Nicelanders abandoned their positions, at the window, and began urgently, and playfully, begging Koko not to go AWOL. Koko huffed a mean laugh, and though she knew this was all in good fun, her heart raced at the speed of light, the true feeling of having her very own game day; a self-programmed gamer's ultimate dream. With a high jump, she landed on the ground with both her wrecking fists and feet and tore through the thin flooring, straight down into the level underneath.

Just after her feet hit the tiles on the floor below, the ceiling nearly came in on her, and as she tucked into a hallway, so not to be seen by Litwak, she gasped, whirled around and caught sight of the front of building's raw structure, torn apart; Ralph stood in all his glory, fists high, debris dribbling from nearly everywhere. Koko inhaled a gasp of surprise, tucked her fists to her chest and longingly peered to the situation, as if it were all in slow motion, and before she could fangirl over how cool this all was, she flinched and peered down the separate hallway she had ducked into. A handful of Nicelanders jolted, as she caught eyes with them, and urgently began to scramble away with their little legs running a million miles a minute. Koko furrowed her brow in mean, playful delight and as her grin broadened, she huffed a menacing giggle through her teeth and felt totally riled.

Just before Koko was about to jolt down the hallway and begin terrorizing the Nicelanders even more, she suddenly choked in cold surprise and felt her pixels blob nearly in and out of existence. In a long blink of surprise, she suddenly was thrust to the cold, black ground of the code room. She urgently looked around, though before she could get her bearings, she jumped in hard surprise as Throttle's voice suddenly barked down to her, in the concealed code room.

"Okay, missy, I can ONLY CONTROL ONE WRECKER, OKAY?!" Throttle shrieked through a trembling laugh; he was urgently panning through tiers and tiers of data, all presets and controls that made it clear he was running the game on strictly manual, "Ralph wasn't kidding, EVERYTHING has been reset."

"So, what does this mean for game play?" Koko panted as the wrecking tangent, she was just on, was hardly wiggling from her existence. She urgently scooped hair out of her sweaty face and shook her head.

"It means, I'm in control of nearly everything," Throttle huffed shakily as he began to type a few commands into the wide open terminal, he urgently scrambled to allow the code room to coincide with Felix's power up, though like clock work, all his old code room days quickly came flooding back to him, "Can't say it's way too difficult, I'm just rusty."

"Looks like you've got a handle on it," Koko encouraged with a wide smile as she put her hands on her hips, though she loudly panted; Throttle cocked an eyebrow and gave her an annoyed side-eye with a knowing smile.

"That was some nice wrecking, m'lady," Throttle admitted in a gentle grumble, "Confused the hell outta me. I didn't think you were serious! All of the sudden, the 3rd floor just starts losing structural data and Ralph is all the way on the 9th floor."

"Good, I aim to confuse," Koko sneered with an equally playful smile.

Throttle huffed her a soft noise, and as he moved about a little bit, so to keep up with everything, the code room finally blinked a flash of a brighter red, in it's boxes. Throttle raised his hands in defense, as if he potentially could've touched a wrong button, though a the whirring of the clean code room came to a gentle settle, as if a fan was turned off, he exhaled a long, shaky breath and urgently peered into the terminal. Before he could conclude that this was maybe the end of the quarter alert, Koko barked an excited laugh, scooped Throttle up in her arms and twirled his gangly figure around once, in her strong grip.

"Woohoo!" Koko squealed as Throttle choked a laugh, "You DID IT!"

"I-I did!" Throttle urged with a wider smile as Koko gently set him down, though as everything finally settled once and for all, Throttle sagged his shoulders and hit a refresh on the game; within doing so, he sent in the bulldozers to clean up the remaining bricks, and as he gently pressed the massive 'Fix-All' button, the building chimed a refreshed bleep of tidy cleanliness it knew all too well. Throttle panned everything, so only the terminal was open, though he crossed his arms and gave Koko a smug smile, "Easy as cake."

"Pie," Koko corrected, though Throttle furrowed his brow.

"Pie?" Throttle uttered, though Koko pointed to the little pie icon, inside the terminal, "Usually, Uncle Felix gets a thing of pie and a medal if he wins."

"But... He didn't win," Throttle huffed as he cocked an eyebrow, though Koko gave him a shocked look and a widening smile.

"OH! Dad won?" Koko choked wth a grin, though they flinched as the elevator behind them kindly chimed with the oncoming presence of someone.

As the elevator doors opened, Felix was the first one to bounce out, his signature jumping sound was quiet and muted in the code room. He removed his hat in a flurry of emotion and quickly approached Throttle. With a firm grapple of Throttle's hand, Felix began to urgently shake his hand in due respect. He panted and heaved a joyous chuckle, and with a simple shake of his head and a look of solid gratitude, he long blinked in wondrous glee and beamed.

"Thank you... Oh my User, thank you," Felix heaved with great daintiness, though he breathed a throaty chuckle and shook his head, "Thank you, from the bottom of my little heart."

"That was some awesome fixin', Felix," Ralph stated with a cheeky smile as Koko whirled around and gave her father a knowing smirk.

"You deserved that win, brother," Felix waggled his free hand in nonchalance and peered back up to Throttle in pure gratefulness, "You kept the game running smoothly and helped me get my power up back. That's more than enough for me, friend..."

"I-I'm really glad it went smoothly," Throttle huffed as Felix gently removed his hand, "I was flying blind at first, but... Y'know, it all came back to me, real quick. I forgot just what this all entailed."

Ralph exhaled a long breath of release, and as he finally had a chance to actually collect himself and be still with Throttle and Koko, he gently knelt down to one knee, so to be at their eye level. Ralph gingerly held Koko's hand in his right hand and warmly held the back of Throttle's shoulder with his left. He peered deep into Koko's eyes and softly shook his head, as if to show an absorbent amount of guilt. He continued to shake his head, just barely, as he looked down to Felix with a gentle grimace of continued humility.

"I owe you two... A huge apology," Ralph's raspy voice was deep in a grumble, he brought his eyes back to Koko in rapidly growing sorrow, "Being so set in my ways, it was... Just easy to label anyone associated with Turbo as someone who is mischievous and no-good."

Throttle exhaled a slow, shaky breath and gently glanced his knowing eyes to Koko; she stood proud before her father. When she first came to the Kalivar castle, she was an unsure, dainty, bumbling heap of hands and love, though as Throttle fixated his eyes to her, he saw a strong woman, one of ferocity, easily glossed with her mother's and sister's determination. Throttle smile broadened, and with the quick switch, he was floored that she was the woman his littlest brother sought out. Tough as nails, cute as a button, Koko was the perfect dollop of a smiley, power-punch Nox needed. He knew Koko's decision, to ultimately share coding with someone straight from the forbidden game at hand, was a massive risk on her part, both on a social and emotional aspect; he furrowed his eyebrows and saw not a single waver of confidence in her stance as she peered up to the big bad Ralph, King of the castle, someone who held his eyes lower than hers in this raw instance.

"Please bear with me... This transition, of adding TurboTime characters to our family tree, has been very difficult for your mother and I," Ralph explained humbly as he glanced between Koko and Throttle, and as Felix gently took one of Koko's hands, she smiled down at him with a quick glance of love.

"This instance here, in our code room, should speak volumes to you, brother," Felix eased calmly, with a knowing smile, as he cocked an eyebrow.

"It does," Ralph assured gently, he nodded and peered to Throttle with a grateful smile, "If you would've told me, two years ago, that Turbo's racing coach, his eldest brother, would have had the fate of our code room in his hands for a quarter alert, I'd say you were crazy."

The group eased in knowing laughter and stolen glances of delight, though Ralph shook his head and gingerly jostled Throttle in a squeeze of love and appreciation that had rightfully glossed over him.

"I'd lay the code room in your hands once more, in a heartbeat, my friend," Ralph uttered quietly as he tilted his head down and kept sharp eye contact to Throttle's gaze, "You could've easily left us hanging, messed our power-ups and our cues, leaving Litwak to truly believe that our game was done for..."

Throttle exhaled a slow breath and tried to steady his heart, the fact that he was getting acceptance from someone so important made his veins wiggle in pure glee.

"We could've easily been unplugged, for good," Ralph uttered shakily as he shook his head, the room fell silent in hot knowing as everyone dragged their stares to Throttle, who ultimately saved the day, "You're the reason we're still plugged in right now."

"You did awesome, Tee," Koko kindly assured as she nudged her's and Felix's conjoined hands into the side of his arm; all three beings chuckled.

"We owe you our lives," Ralph stated humbly as he squeezed Throttle's shoulder, once more, "I can't thank you enough... Thank you, for rising to the challenge, and proving me very wrong."

"Y-You're welcome," Throttle eased as gently as he could as a bashful smile sprawled his face. He nervously looked down and huffed a shaky sigh, though his eyes caught down with Felix's adoring, blue orbs, "I was happy to help. It was a lot of fun."

"Y'kept up nicely with Ralph," Felix eased, though he wrinkled his nose and peered up to his niece, "And, if I do recall... I thought I heard Koko doing some wrecking of her own, no?"

"I couldn't help myself," Koko hissed in joyous delight as she bobbed on the balls of her bare feet, just barely, though Ralph laughed softly, squeezed her hand and diverted his attention into her eyes.

"You were amazing," Ralph assured honestly, "Don't think I didn't hear yah yelling alongside me... I'm so proud to have three strong wreckers. You, Olly and Tess make me very proud."

"I could hardly keep up with the two of 'em," Throttle blurt gently, which caused a chain of soft laughter; Koko looked down with a bashful blush of a smile and felt her father squeeze her hand, once more.

"Lookit me," Ralph eased tenderly as Koko raised her eyebrows and gave him her honest attention. Ralph shook his head and narrowed his gaze in overflowing guilt, "I promised to give Nox a chance, to let him court you and win you over, to be the man you deserve... But I've done a poor job of showing my support."

"I understand, dad," Koko eased above a whisper as she shook her head and assured to him that his shortcomings weren't something she was going to hold onto, though Ralph jostled her hand a little.

"Maybe so, but it doesn't make it right," Ralph grumbled, "If you trust Nox, then so do I... No questions asked."

"Dad," Koko huffed in soft surprise as she squinted and peered to him in an incredulous way.

"I'm so sorry for putting you guys through this, and I only wish it was brought to my attention sooner... Please forgive me," Ralph begged quietly as he kept his strict gaze straight into Koko's.

"Dad, of course I forgive you," Koko uttered shakily as the very image of his outlet being unplugged plagued her mind. She shook her head, covered her mouth and desperately tried to hold back tears, though she failed. Ralph cooed a soft noise of an inquiry and warmly gestured for her to come closer to him, for a hug. She quickly filled the gap and wrapped her arms around his neck, and as he tightly held her upper back, she began to quietly cry in conclusion, into his shoulder, "I can't tell you how painful it was to come upon your outlet and... You were just... Gone!"

"I-I'm really sorry that happened," Ralph stammered nervously as he squeezed Koko tight into his cuddly chest, Throttle and Felix looked on in growing sorrow. Ralph cleared his throat, after a few moments of gently shushing Koko's worries, though he smiled in a knowing way and leaned back enough so he could look her in the eye, "Hey... Everything is solved, everyone is safe... The game is still plugged in, thanks to Throttle, and, well... Nox has got some wrecking lessons waiting for him, when he returns."

"Y-You mean it?" Koko whimpered through a small laugh as she wiped her tears, though Ralph furrowed his brow in a beaming smile of incredulous annoyance and shook Koko a little.

"You kidding? I thought I hit jackpot knowing I had a third daughter that could wreck... Not to mention Zed, Emery and Ace," Ralph rushed as the small group, in the code room, began to lighten with renewed love.

"I know he'd love to be taught," Koko nodded as she wiped the last of her tears.

"Who better to teach him than you?" Throttle wondered to Ralph with a knowing smile as Ralph finally stood.

"I'd be honored," Ralph concluded in warm honesty.


	143. Chapter 143

**Reviews :**

 **chris . low2456 :** Aww lol! I'm flattered! I try to spoil you guys with the every other day uploads. I don't think it's common for that quick of updates, from writers, but I try to keep everything flowing smoothly and quickly. Every day would be too much for me - if I had a part time job, then maybe I could do every day! xD but for now, I try and stick to the every other day uploads. Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed that last chapter :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I appreciate it! The drama, on the Sugar Rush scout, eventually all evens out, but for now, it's a tiny bit rocky between the Queen and her Princess xD

 **Retrokill :** Nah, that'd be odd. Just Litwak cleaning out one of his fav. games ;)

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you! I try not to overwhelm with too many breaks or scene switches in the chapters, but I also don't want to fall into the habit of every other chapter is a different scene, cause then a lot is forgotten from the previous time said scene was written and it just has confused people in the past lol.

 **Xaehttium :** You're very right, he does have a prominent role - unfortunately, he doesn't have a big role in Rectifying Origin. His major roll comes in for the fourth story ;) He's not oblivious, you're right! Thank you! :D

 **Snake557 :** Haha I agree. Thanks Huck!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Something Wild (ft. Andrew McMahon) by Lindsey Sterling**

 ***Chapter 143***

Ace huffed a choke of a breath and unglued his eyes from his deep sleep. He long blinked in rapidly growing tiredness, and as he inhaled a long draw of a sleepy breath, he groped the bed next to him in search for Libby; once he realized she wasn't present, he opened his eyes further and assessed the bedroom. Penny and Tessa were sound asleep, across the room; the two had shared a bed, and though there was potential for awkwardness, over the fact that he was to share a bed with Libby amidst his aunt and mother being in the room, he felt respected in this aspect and knew he should gloss over the twinge of the minor cringe-worthy notion. Due to the curtains being black-out, the morning sunshine only barely peaked through the cracks at the edges, and though he wanted to potentially worry about Libby's whereabouts, he quelled his mind and knew she was a creature of habit.

A woman of nature, Ace was well aware Libby likely was soaking up the sunrise out in the sprawling field, full of rolling hills, just outside the hotel grounds, which was stationed on the outskirts of the small city they reside in for the night. With agile, quiet footwork, he left the bedroom, quietly strolled down the long hallway, made it down the few flights of stairs and finally made it to the side entrance, just beyond the hotel's abandoned, now sea-green pool water, which was due to lack of any form of upkeep or care. As Ace's feet left the cobbles and thick concrete tiling of the hotel grounds, he was relieved the golden Sugar Rush grass, under his bare feet, was as soft as velvet. Just as he suspected, he could see Libby stationed on a lull of a grassy hill, an easy flow of the land, though much to his surprise, he could see Nox stationed a dozen feet away from her; he was sat comfortably on the ground.

As Ace approached the two, he noticed something about Libby's posture. She stood still in poised readiness, her gorgeous long hair fluttered in the wind, and though Ace knew he could budge into her bubble at any time, he realized that she was likely meditating, something he had learned about her, something she practiced early in the morning and right before bed. Though typically she is sitting, she stood solid as a rock, her arms gently outstretched in a bend outwards and in front of her, and as Ace continued on, he realized he should likely leave her be; he budged into Nox's silent presence and, with a quiet grunt, he sat down a few feet from him and tilted his head towards his best friend, a silent form of a hello.

"'Morning," Nox's voice was raspy and quiet, though he cocked an eyebrow and gently eyed Libby from across the grass, "She, uhh... She was out here first. I thought coming out here, to catch the sunrise, would be my idea."

"Guess we all had the same mindset," Ace chuckled as he got comfortable and leaned his larger arms against his knees, his legs were loosely tucked to his body. He huffed a long sigh and gently glanced in Libby's direction; though she was nearly out of earshot, because of the white noise of the breeze, he knew him and Nox were to keep their voices quiet so she could continue to be at peace, "I'm learning a lot about her... I had no clue she meditated until last week when I accidentally interrupted it."

"Yeah, she's... She's been solid still, standing there, eyes closed and everything," Nox stated curiously as he leaned back on his arms and inhaled Sugar Rush's glorious, delicious smelling air, "If that were me, I'd lose my balance. Or fall asleep. All of the above."

"She's a curious one," Ace eased above a whisper as he gently eyed her.

She was like a statue, the only thing animated about her was her hair and her clothes, which ruffled in the breeze. She wore a pretty, dark burgundy colored, bohemian-like skirt with a sash of beads and delicate trinkets about her hips. Strapped in a lazy tank to boot, she was the epitome of freedom. Her extraordinarily long hair waved in the wind, alongside the tall, golden grass, and as Ace narrowed his gaze to the raw beauty before them, he felt his heart sink from the incident that happened yesterday. Ace caught a silent falter of a breath in his throat and let his eyes soak ahead of him, the sunrise on the horizon made his pupils shrink, and as he bit his lip with the rushing, dreaded thoughts that came to him, he wondered if touching base, with Nox, would be wise. He furrowed his brow in rapidly growing sorrow and divert his attention to Nox, who was sat to his immediate left.

"Hey, uh..." Ace uttered quietly as his gaze got lost amidst the pretty, swaying billows of sweet grass, "I... Didn't make you mad, yesterday, did I?"

"Mad?" Nox wondered as he squinted and moved his stare from the rolling hills straight into Ace's eyes, "Why would I be mad?"

"Well... The whole... Bubbling issue," Ace stammered, the two made sure to keep their conversation above a whisper, for Libby's sake, "... Libby told me those bubble's were air-tight and ridiculously hot."

"Oh, that," Nox huffed, though he lulled his eyes from Ace's, in such a way that assured Ace that he likely had an opinion at the subject at hand, "Mad? No..."

Ace slumped his shoulders in relief and was just about to sag into further affirmation, though Nox's eyes gingerly stabbed his, once more.

"Frustrated? Yes," Nox admitted as gently as he could, though Ace held his breath and frowned.

"Frustrated?" Ace worried, though Nox gave him a kind smile and gingerly shook his head, his dusty grey hair ruffled in the warm breeze.

"Yeah, man... You can't expect me to sit inside that little bubble and watch Radex throw my best friend around," Nox huffed quietly, Ace kept his whole attention honed to Nox in curious unravelling, "I would go crazy... What if... Something happened to you?"

Ace remained frozen, he huffed a silent falter of an inquiry and knew the two were due this type of overflow, though he wondered if this was potentially difficult for Nox. Nox shook his head and finally peered his gaze outwards.

"Now that I can glitch, and wreck, and REALLY be of good use, in battle..." Nox staggered, he looked to be sagging from frustration straight into sadness, "I don't want you to do this all on your own, Ace. We want to help you. Bubbling every single last one of us, for good, was an extreme kindness. You want to protect us..."

"More than anything," Ace nearly whimpered as his eyes remained lost in the swaying grass, though he dragged his defeated gaze to Nox and broadened his frown.

"We want to protect you too, Ace," Nox huffed, he gave Ace a weak, nervous smile and shook his head, "We can't do that from inside User-made bubbles... To have to sit back and watch something terrible happen to you, Ace? I..."

Ace's frown and sorrowful expression continued to broaden as Nox scrunched his face in impending release of emotion, though he remained collected. He quickly, and tightly, shook his head, as if to express he likely didn't want to carry on strictly for the fact that thinking about it too hard was impossible for his brain to wrap around.

"I pounded on the walls of that bubble with wrecking force I was brand new to, Ace," Nox chuckled sorrowfully as Ace continued to remain frozen, Nox huffed a shaky breath and squinted as his voice held a suspicious tremble, "It burned my hands a little, but I was going to stop at nothing to get OUT of that bubble, to aid you... Don't you understand?"

Ace long blinked as Nox's difficult words glossed his heart, and as the two soaked in the sounds of the nature about them, Ace allowed the silence between the three and knew if Nox continued on, he'd likely let tears escape, tears he potentially wasn't ready to unload on his best friend, just yet. Ace grimaced a smile full of love and understanding and soaked his retina's to the burning sunrise outstretched before them.

"I'm still learning," Ace stated quietly, Nox nodded in understanding and closed his eyes in tight obedience, to himself, to keep from welling up.

"You're doing great, Ace," Nox's deep voice concluded in a stroke of ultimate pride and happiness, "Just promise me you'll let us help... You need us just as much as we need you, okay?"

"Done," Ace agreed gently, though he snuck a sneaky smile in Nox's direction and felt their brotherly bond tighten, a friendship that was very easily becoming tough as nails, and with such camaraderie about him, he felt as if his heart was nearing the brink of overflowing.

"This has been some trip, huh," Nox's voice became lighter and more airy, he cleared his throat and rubbed his eye in a sneaky way, though before the topic could get deeper, he exhaled a breath of collectedness and gestured out to the sprawling plains before them, "I-I was thinking, we should go approach that herd of horses, down there, and see if they'll let us ride them."

"Those horses?" Ace wondered as he pointed, far down the stretch of plains was a herd of about twenty cream furred horses, beautiful creatures that grazed in the morning sunlight. Ace squinted, tried to get a better look, from far away, and tilted his head in curiosity, "If I'm not mistaken... Those are Crumblekit horses. Mom is always talking about how soft their coat is. Supposedly, they were sought out for clothing."

"Sad..." Nox furrowed his brow, "Guess they're likely finicky beings, then."

"I doubt any form of wild horses would let us get close, anyhow," Ace grumbled as he buried his chin into his hands and arms, they were lazily hugged about his knees.

"I could goad them over here," Libby stated in a prick of warmth, though both boys flinched and eagerly shot their attention to her, she was standing ahead of them a little, though she was ultimately to their right.

"Welcome back," Nox chuckled, their voices gained confidence, though Libby opened her refreshed eyes and peered to Nox and Ace with an overflow of gentle love.

"Thanks," She eased with warmth.

"You... Can get that whole herd of horses to come TO us?" Nox wondered I disbelief, he gestured his arm out, "They're at least five hundred feet away."

Ace lazily raised his eyebrows and dragged his eyes to Nox in a draw of mild, slumped opposition.

"Don't doubt her abilities, when it comes to animals," Ace mumbled in a dull way of sarcastic charm, he shook his head and chuckled, "This is the same girl that can put Lickity to sleep strictly via belly rub."

"Shit, why am I never around for the interesting stuff?" Nox barked with a gentle laugh as Libby relaxed her stance, though she peered out to the field once more, for a few moments longer, and finally closed her eyes.

This cued both boys to believe she was likely going to continue meditating and remain one with strictly herself and the quiet, and with such, both boys immediately fell silent and gave her the massive, appropriate show of due respect. Ace heaved a hot sigh through his nose and relaxed, and as everyone fell back into the lull of quiet, nothing but the sound of nature about them, they relaxed with each other's silence. Ace long blinked in the softness of everything, the atmosphere about them smiled down on the three, though, in his peripheral, he noticed Libby's posture straighten. As she inhaled a long, thick intake of a breath, she expanded her rib cage, loosely cupped her hands over her mouth and suddenly soaked the crisp morning air in a high pitched, head-tone of solid song.

Ace flinched and urgently peered to her, as he was certain Nox did as well. Ace huffed a silent scoff of disbelief and finally held his breath, and as Libby remained with her eyes closed, she glossed Sugar Rush's sweet air with the simple, haunting tune of a call; a gentle melody of different, few tones, a wordless anthem of ancient tradition Ace knew was likely buried so deep in her roots, something she couldn't shake, no matter how long she remained in their modern lifestyle. Ace froze and kept his eyes glued to his girlfriend in frozen awe, she opened her eyes, huffed sharp tones of strict, sudden staccato and gingerly shook her head in tribal fervor she so often stifled in fear of genuinely freaking out her new family. Though, amidst the safe audience she had, she knew now was likely the time to let them into her world, even if it was just a shred of it.

Ace finally huffed a silent chuckle of disbelief and kept his eyes glossed to her in sharp surprise, so many treasures and hidden, secretive talents she harbored, he shook his head gently and felt his heart throb at the strict fact that he had so much to learn about her, so much he was desperate to memorize. As if rarer than even an individual's finger print, Libby's voice so easily glossed the valley in a haunting echo of cross-tones that mixed beautifully, and just before Ace could get totally lost in her mesmerizing song of routine, he flinched and peered out to the valley before them. In awe he was very quickly losing a handle of, he noticed the massive herd of crumblekit horses so easily began to trot their way straight for them, and before Ace could even begin to wrap his mind around the magic that was taking place, he dragged his eyes back up to Libby's figure and peered to her in solid pride, pure enchantment, whole gratefulness that this magnificent woman had chosen him as a mate.

"You've got... To be kidding me..." Nox grumbled in awe, as well, and as Ace finally dragged his eyes back to the field, he noticed the herd of horses rapidly growing closer, though as they reached a nervous fifty foot distance, they began to slow their roll, sniff the air in confusion and altogether look wary.

"Don't speak," Libby finally stated after a few seconds of her calling that had come to an end, she gingerly gestured to them and kept her voice as soft as possible, a stark difference from just what was taking place second prior, "Don't speak, don't move..."

Both boys froze and kept their eyes glued to the peculiar situation at hand, though as the herd sniffled the area, strut about in collected confusion and delight, Libby gently set out a few more calls, though they were quieter due to the herd now being so close. Libby eagerly kept her stance, she knew even the slightest waver of movement would send the whole herd fleeing, and before she could begin to feel defeat, the herd very slowly closed the gap. Libby exhaled a long, hot breath through her nose and slowly dropped her hands to her sides, and as the herd's hooves thud to the ground in slow approach, soft grunts of the large, magnificent beasts that came near, their eyes looked scared yet curious, their short, white fur, manes and tails wavered in the warm breeze, and though their ears were taut on their head in solid attention, they eked of rising trust.

"Hey, hey," Libby practically whispered in a warm breath of a smile as she gingerly outreached her hand, and as a single horse came near and sniffled her hand, she was finally free to rub her fingers into it's muzzle. She beamed a wide smile and so gently cupped it's chin in her hand as the herd quickly realized these three beings were harmless, "Easy-peasy."

"Libby," Nox muttered in quiet curiosity, though as Libby peered to him, she let out a soft giggle and noticed that a few horses had gathered about him and were eagerly sniffing his hair and the top of his head, "Uhhh... You said not to move... But I am worried."

"Don't be worried," Libby giggled as she shook her head and warmly pat the back of another horse that came alongside her, "Horses, of really any kind, are going to be wary of us..."

"We're just sitting here out in the open," Ace inquired, though not in a way to test her; Libby nodded and softly reached for the mane of the brave soul that had approached her first, she gingerly began to braid a few strands.

"We're predatory creatures, don't you realize?" Libby's voice was still and soft, she motioned to the face of the horse she was currently hair-dressing, "Lookit his face... He has eyes on the sides of his head. That makes him prey."

"... So any creature with eyes on the sides of it's head is ultimately prey?" Nox wondered quietly as the few horses had finally lost interest in him, though they were easily soaked right into the middle of the lazy herd that continued to graze about them.

"They have to have a broadened peripheral, to look for prey... But then, look at me, look at Ace," Libby gestured to her own eyes, "We have eyes on the front of our face, direct, sharp eyesight... We are essentially predators, and they can see that."

"So, then, explain that... Ridiculously creepy but awesome chant you were just doing?" Nox questioned with a small laugh, and though Ace wanted to chime in and gush about just how awesome she was, he eagerly peered to her and awaited her answer; she shrugged and slowly continued to braid down the mane of the male horse that rested in her calm presence.

"Herd calling," Libby uttered, though she furrowed her brow in confusion and peered to the two boys with a smile, "... Too much?"

"Too much?" Ace uttered, though as slowly and as carefully as he could, he stood, so not to startle any of the horses; surprised that he was successful, he warmly approached the horse Libby was tending to and softly rubbed his larger hand down the front of it's long face. Ace shook his head and held his longing eye contact to hers, "That was incredible..."

"Thank you," Libby eased with a humble smile as she bashfully peered down to her work, her face turned red as she could feel Ace's amazed stare deepen to her skin.

"I-I mean it, that was... Amazing," Ace huffed, he long blinked and kept his raw gaze burned into her, and as her aura practically realized it, she dragged her bashful gaze to his and let a small, mischievous smile gloss Ace in girly charm as he continued on, "... I want to know more about your culture, Libby."

"Yeah?" Libby inquired, her voice held a suspicious, excited tremble as her smile only broadened in tidy delight, as if she was potentially previously worried about opening up and revealing more about her true self, her heritage. Ace eagerly nodded and warmly continued to pet the horse the two were stood with.

"Yes, please," Ace nearly begged, he peered to her urgently and breathed a small, incredulous chuckle, "I-I... I knew the Teltokuan people lived a very different lifestyle, but, I guess I didn't think it differed that much from what I'm used to."

"It's... Extremely different," Libby tip toed about the conversation, she nearly felt Ace's eagerness and was almost worried he'd bring up potentially seeking out her tribe for a proper tour.

"Please teach me, Kaji," Ace's deep voice pressed in warm humility, though Libby dragged her warm, surprised gaze to his and let her smile continue to broaden.

She furrowed her brow and felt a new wave of information hit her brain; though the two were bound to swap codes eventually, she knew he'd learn everything he needed to know amidst that one simple act. Libby finally felt her heart swell in hard knowing that hit her skin, and as Ace's gentlemanly gaze kept strict to hers, she rapidly realized just what he was getting at. The fact that he wanted to learn every single little thing about her, strictly through her words, her example, her state of being, Libby felt as if it simply weren't even logical for him to be this painfully patient. She beamed him a gentle smile and wondered if this was his ploy; she knew his everlasting patience would be very heavily rewarded, one day, though she had to wonder if this was his sneaky, humble way of speeding up that process. She giggled and wondered if he knew that she could see right through his absent-minded, subconscious mannerisms.

"Name a time and place, my love," Libby affirmed as she wrinkled her nose and gave him a coy smile of girly charm, she scrunched her shoulders in success as his face turned red, alongside his excited smile, "Anything for you."

* * *

 **A/N : I have been very painfully waiting to write this special scene. I have fanart for this chapter on my deviantART titled 'Something Wild' - username Vyntresser :)**

 **Also, Libby was herd calling, and though it's not exactly in line with the ancient Scandinavian kulning, it still is pretty similar. If you want to hear something similar to what Libby was doing, look up 'kulning' on YouTube. You will not be disappointed - it's ridiculously awesome.**


	144. Chapter 144

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hahah I don't mind it one bit! I appreciate lengthy reviews, I love reading them and they show care, so I am grateful! :) Thank you! Yes, Libby is a good melting pot of real life tribes and cultures. She is definitely more leaning towards a Hawaiian, jungle/like vibe, though ancient Scandinavian blips sort of make their way to the surface. It's not designated to one inspiration, I guess you could say. I just sort of take bits and pieces that I see fit, from certain cultures, and weave it together to form Libby's tribe. They're very much jungle people, they fish, they love the water, they love animals and etc., though their culture and their ways are sort of similar to that of Norway, or Sweden. Very viking-esque. It all doesn't sound like it would melt together, but... You guys get to see the inner workings of Libby's tribe, coming up :) And yes, the royalty aspect of it all just deals with the blood line. In Wrecking Limits, none of them had children or anything, so of course, the crown would be handed to one of Vanellope's 'sisters', but here, Vanellope has Tessa, who in turn has Ace and eventually Berri, so that all adds up - not to mention Oliver, Emery and their first born. Taffyta's and Rancis's children have a 'spot' in there, as well, but it is, indeed, farther down the line.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yeah, it's weird finally writing for a scene I've drawn almost a year ago haha. Definitely something that makes me reflect and think about the story, as a whole. I really appreciate your kind words! Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Thank you!

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Oh? No Radex didn't show up... That was Taffyta. Was that not clear? xD Thank you!

 **Snake577 :** Thanks friend!

 **VoiceAlex77 :** OMG! ;_; Thank you SO MUCH for this! I must've read your review like a dozen times cause I was so stunned by all the kind things you said. I so greatly appreciate that, it's reviews and comments like such that make me want to push on and be greater, and give you guys all I have to offer, when it comes to my imagination and the like. I can't tell you how wide I smiled, reading your sweet words. Thank you so very very much.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **One of the Family by Henry Jackman (BH6 score)**

 ***Chapter 144***

As the cool, Dead Zed evening came to a close, all of the game's racers hung in a lazy lull about the kitchen and living room. With less bodies in the castle, it was far quieter than what it was days prior. With only the sound of the television on a quiet murmur, Finn, Tammy, Koko and Throttle comfortably lounged about the long dining room table. Finn and Tammy sat close while Koko and Throttle eased in and out of their quiet conversation. As the rain came down in aggressive waves of the gorgeous storm that passed through, Finn had Zed's master digital pad, as well as his own communicator, opened and splayed in all of it's intricate, hologram details before him. His eyes were sharp, he accessed tiers of information about the game, his masculine, gentle hands worked with such precision, it was only a matter of time before Tammy wrinkled her nose in curiosity and popped his bubble, after the few moments of silence.

"... Do you enjoy running the game when Zed is gone?" Tammy asked in quiet, honest question; Finn raised his eyebrows and only turned his head, to show that he had heard Tammy's question, though his eyes remained hooked into what he was doing, causing him to peer at his work in his peripheral.

"Greatly," Finn huffed in soft honesty, a sneaky smile sprawled his face as he continued on in a quiet mutter, "I'm banking on them winning Sugar Rush over so he can be crowned King."

"...Is this so YOU can be crowned King as well?" Tammy giggled, which cued Throttle and Koko as well, though Finn beamed a sheepish smile and shrugged, though his demeanor was humble and mildly excited.

"One can dream," Finn breathed softly, he shook his head and bulged his eyes, "In all seriousness... It's more work than he even remotely leads on."

"Really?" Koko inquired lightly, Finn nodded and huffed a long sigh.

"I have more cities, than just Ekreth, to keep an eye on," Finn sighed as he scanned through a few brightly lit options, all gorgeously splayed with Tessa's and Zed's silver coding. Thunder clapped the skies overhead, and as Duke and Jax loudly commented about it, from the living room, Finn raised his eyebrows in knowing and tabbed out of what he was doing, "This storm reminds me... I need to lower the castle's energy output."

"Last thing we need is a power outage," Throttle grumbled politely, he cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Finn with a small smile though he ultimately was honed to his single game of solitaire; worn out playing cards the boys had abused during their poker nights.

"The code room wouldn't go caput, would it?" Tammy worried as she nervously glanced to Throttle and finally honed her gaze to Finn's.

"No, that's the only thing that would remain," Finn assured, though he looked off with wariness, "Buuut... An out-of-game storm, in the Arcade, could cause a power outage and ultimately shut everything off."

"W-We wouldn't... Die, would we?" Koko staggered as Ralph slowly emerged from the Sky Room; he was dressed in a lazy tank and sweats, though his shirt showed off the muscle he had gained nicely.

"No, we'd just be turned off," Finn shrugged and gave Koko an affirming smile, "It'd be like we'd blink and it'd be over with... But, no need to worry. I can handle in-game storms."

"King Finn," Ralph mumbled playfully as he strolled by, he gently nudged Finn's shoulder, in a notion of fatherly knowing, and with a gentle smirk, Ralph pushed into the living room to join Tej, Jax and Duke were lazing in.

"You ARE, ultimately, in line to run this game," Throttle's deep voice glossed Finn, and though Finn knew this notion to be true, he still peered his boyish, humbled gaze straight into Throttle's, "You know Zed will likely hand the reigns to you, once he's married to Tessa."

"Y-You think?" Finn staggered, his original coding blipped underneath his skin, and as uncertainty cloaked him, he gave Tammy a weak smile and shrugged, "I-I mean... I know I'm literally at his right hand, but... He'd likely still want to run the game, right?"

"Think about it," Throttle croaked as he sat up straighter and set down his handful of cards. He gestured his hands a little and gave Finn his entire attention, "When Zed marries Tessa, they're in line for Sugar Rush's throne... If Ralph and Vanellope see them fit for King and Queen of Sugar Rush, Zed will then have the ENTIRETY of Sugar Rush to think about."

"Sugar Rush is about ten times the expansion of Dead Zed," Koko mumbled, as if her words were simply information, and fact, that she had gotten from someone who knew said notion to be absolute truth.

"He wouldn't have the time," Tammy wondered in a breath as everyone dragged their stares to Finn, who rapidly began to look more and more apprehensive, though the twinkle of excitement and hope never left his eyes.

"Dead Zed would be yours, Finn," Koko giggled quietly, though Finn beamed a sheepish smile and buried his nose back into his work, hoping and praying that his head didn't look too big, "Dead Finn!"

Everyone cued into a burst of laughter, and as Tammy lovingly reached her hand and arm out, she rubbed his upper back and scoot a little closer to him. She peered into his work and mildly gawked; she knew he was well suited to run this entire game, no questions asked, and when the time would come to hand it over to him, she furrowed her brow and immediately wondered just where that'd put her. Just as she was about to question it, it seemed as though Throttle and Koko had subconsciously segued into said notion, as well, in which she knew to be true by the way Koko's facial expression scrunched in curiosity.

"... Wouldn't that make Tammy in charge, as well?" Koko wondered with a cheeky smile as she waggled her finger, though Finn raised his eyebrows and peered to Tammy in gentle curiosity.

"Hot damn," Tammy muttered, which had all four of them in a burst of more laughter, "Wouldn't THAT be cool."

"Would you build a new castle, or... Just keep this one? The Kalivar castle?" Throttle wondered gently, though he furrowed his brow and was now quickly wondering just where that'd put him.

"Well... If Sugar Rush gets set back to normal, I know the entirety of Sugar Rush's brood will want to go home," Tammy wondered softly, everyone peered to Finn curiously, "That would mean Ralph, Vanellope, Taffyta, Vanellope's children and their swap mates... Ace, Libby, Nox..."

"Pretty much everyone," Koko assured as softly as she could, though Finn heaved a gentle sigh and peered up to their high, arched ceilings above; the pretty, warm ceiling lights shone down on them through the storm that swept through.

"This castle has been home to so many bodies, but... Once everyone leaves," Finn staggered, though he smiled in hopefulness, "We'll just have to potentially build a different place for me and my little brothers... As well as Tammy, of course."

"There will only be six of you," Throttle chuckled, "As opposed to the two dozen we have now..."

"Stark difference," Koko worried as she dragged her stare to Finn, and though she knew no one would be separated for good, somehow the notion of everyone not all being under the same roof anymore made her feel as if the bittersweet nostalgia was setting in too soon, "Would you guys be okay with that?"

"Oh yeah, we'd be fine," Finn shrugged, which ultimately quelled Koko's worries. He scrunched his face, in a wink towards Koko, and chuckled, "In all honesty, we'd probably go back to the tree village we had settled in, prior to reuniting with Zed... Likely make the place nicer and more structurally sound, but... Not a day goes by where I don't hear those four boys chat about how much they miss those parts of the jungle."

"You could place the teleportation pad nearby," Koko cued with a smile and a nod, "Make it so you can get out of the game quickly, y'know? So we could easily see each other."

"Not much would change," Finn agreed in conclusion, he smiled a the three about him in an assuring manner, "We'd just have to downsize... But we'd all still be together. I'll make sure of it."

* * *

Deep into the night of Sugar Rush's cool, high altitude breeze, Tessa lead the charge in the quiet. The scout was now headed back home, the notion of sweeping East and finding new land went out the window with the sudden change of who was to be in charge. With silent flight, from Lickity, Royal and Balba, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of the two Tron flyers above the rest. With the gentle blue glow of said Tron flyers, Tessa's eyes dragged from the dark, sweet and delicious landscape straight up into the tail-end of Zed's flyer. Not far behind him was Orph, and as the group flew in the peace of the night, Tessa inhaled a shaky breath and let her largely dilated eyes just simply soak into the void. She shook her head amidst the near-nothingness they flew through, though she knew Penny, who was stationed behind her, aboard Lickity, was cued to her demeanor.

"Tess," Penny's voice was gentle, she kept quiet, for she knew if she were to speak any louder than what she was, her voice would likely carry. She could feel Tessa ever so gently look over her shoulder, to try and get a glimpse of her little cousin. Penny huffed a quiet chuckle and rested her hand on the back of Tessa's left shoulder, "Stop worrying... Everything will be okay."

Tessa exhaled a shaky sigh and, in a bob of a nod, she peered forward again. With her now being in charge of the scout, she furrowed her brows in contemplation and knew what was said to Vanellope had to be said. She narrowed her eyes and was very aware she could've likely toned the meanness down a little, though she shut her eyes tight, shook her head once more, and knew she couldn't change a single thing about it. She finally reopened her eyes and peered down to the top of Lickity's head. Her large ears were flat on her head, so to make her more streamline, though her energy was changed, it was more lively. Tessa gingerly let her fingers run into the cute tufts of fur behind Lickity's ears, and with such touch, Lickity cued to it and tilted her head a little, as if to quietly ask for more scratches.

"I think flying at night is better for everyone," Penny agreed gently, though Tessa held her breath and peered out to the dark world, once more.

"My mother always told us not to be out and about at night," Tessa stated, their voices were still hushed, "...Things are different now. I don't know why I didn't really think about this before."

"What, scouting at night and resting during the day?" Penny wondered, Tessa's ultimate game-changing plan for said scout back home.

"Yeah, I mean.. It makes more sense, for the situation we're in now," Tessa continued to lovingly rub the back of Lickity's large skull, "These flyers are nocturnal... Sure, we have to rely on them for sight and will be tired aboard this flight, but... They're our ticket home. We should be catering to them."

"Lickity's done great, thus far," Penny quietly encouraged as she pat the sturdy skin flap of Lickity's wing, which was fully extended out in a glide.

"Lickity didn't complain because... We all were just under mom's lead, it was just... 'Get out there, go, go, go,'," Tessa mumbled as she flagged her hand outward, "We have to be smart about this... Especially if we're to be diving into hotter Sugar Rush weather. We're not going to be able to function underneath staggering heat of the sun."

"Makes sense," Penny agreed softly with a proud smile towards her older cousin.

"We cover more ground if our flyers are well rested and are awake during times they'd naturally be awake," Tessa grumbled as she furrowed her brow, "... I feel bad swiping the lead from my mom, but... I feel as though I was sort of left with no choice."

"We just need to get home," Penny grumbled as she rubbed her eye in sleepiness, "This trip has been... Over stimulating, for everyone."

"... Is that an innuendo for-"

"No, it's not," Penny snipped with a blurt of a bashful laugh as she grumbled and covered her face, in loo of her ordeal with Orph, "For User's sakes I don't even know where to begin with that."

"I can't wait to be home, either," Tessa evened out with a lull of a sigh and a smile over her shoulder. Her eyes caught with the figures following diligently behind her, the moonlight cast softly over Royal and Balba, as well as their riders. Tessa peered at them through the darkness, only momentarily, before she set her sights forward once more, "... I hope dad won't be mad at me."

"Why would Uncle Ralph mad at you?" Penny worried as she peered to the back of Tessa's head.

"I just know mom is going to tell him everything that happened," Tessa muttered through grit teeth, "How I... Practically got in my mom's face... He never liked when her and I fought. I think he just doesn't like the fact that the Queen, and Queen-runner up, go toe-to-toe more often than he'd like."

"It's just the dynamic of your personalities," Penny shrugged, "Aunt Vanellope is bubbly, fun loving, yet sharp and... Likes things her way."

"Tell me about it," Tessa mumbled impatiently, though Penny lightly giggled.

"You're determined, thorough, and unwavering," Penny's warm voice glossed Tessa's back with care, "You're just like Uncle Ralph, and... I think she sees that in you. She's been so busy trying to build you up to be this exact replica of the Queen she is, but... You're a very different person, you have different ideas and a different way of going about things."

"I'm sure she's disappointed," Tessa's voice crackled as she kept her strict gaze forward, though Penny grimaced in surprise.

"... I highly doubt that, Tess," Penny's voice grew a greater depth of warmth, "It's a rough patch, but... I know for a fact, this minor coo you've been instructing will eventually speak volumes. You're taking charge and charting your own path... The true mark of a Queen."

Tessa huffed a shaky breath and let a few tears slide down her cheeks, unbeknownst to anyone. Her glassy, sorrowful eyes peered out to her landscape, and though she knew, one day, she'd have the honor of wearing the crown, she so hoped her mother would hand it over with a look of ultimate pride on her face; not sorrowful regret. Tessa gingerly wiped her cheeks and let herself be still in Penny's words. She knew her younger cousin's advice had full merit, though she still felt herself sinking with the fact that she ultimately had gotten in her mother's face, an act she had never ever dreamed of doing. Before she could sulk in it any longer, she remembered just who she had stood up for, the very reason she pushed on. Flashes of the raw look of dejection on Ace's face came to her brain, and as she scrunched her face, shook her head and tried to shuffle it away, she held her breath and swore she'd do absolutely anything for her first born.

"I'll follow you 'till the ends of the Earth, Tess," Penny stated warmly, she gently nudged Tessa's shoulder and leaned closer to her cousin's warmth, "No doubt about it, everyone feels the same..."

"Thank you, Penny," Tessa croaked quietly, ultimately giving away that she was crying, though Penny huffed a noise of acknowledgement and lovingly wrapped her arms about Tessa's center for a hug.

"You're welcome," Penny mumbled softly as she rested her cheek, and the side of her head, against Tessa's back.

Tessa exhaled a soft breath of relief and could feel the still, warm sleepiness of the scout behind her. She knew everyone was likely going doze or nap, on this nighttime excursion, though she was glad their flyers were at their peak in energy. She knew they were happier flying without the harsh sunlight beating on them, and the raw fact that all three flyer's eyesight was far more advanced in darkness, she gingerly continued to rub Lickity's head and knew she had made the right choice. As her eyes scanned the dark landscape underneath, full of familiar candy trees and chocolate mountain ranges in which she was certain was all a dream, she gently lulled her gaze to the sea of stars above and gave Sugar Rush a silent swear that she'd correct everything, with every single last ounce of energy she had left.

As her eyes longingly caught with the glorious stars, the swirls of the atmosphere, stardust that smiled down on the game's heroes, she shook her head and allowed the cool wind to engulf her with everything it had. As her yearning nearly became vocal, she lulled her eyes closed, once more, and continued to send silent promise out to the heavens above her. She knew the game hadn't given up on itself, just yet, the very thought of Radex hulled away in it's precious code room had her stomach churning, though with the hope of the sun on the horizon, she knew the metaphor well. Her eyes glossed the sky, as it grew in shades of pink and mint on the edge of the Earth; she wrinkled her nose and narrowed her gaze, ultimately challenging the essence of Radex, that hung in the air, to give her everything he's got. She knew she could give hell back, ten fold.


	145. Chapter 145

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Hahaha very true. I agree xD I'm very much like Finn as well! I SO wish I had this kind of setup, how awesome would it be to just live in a castle with close friends and family. I'd be so down lol

 **Retrokill :** *back atcha*

 **Snake557 :** Thanks friend!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, this is true! There are a TON of changes that will be put into motion, once the story nears the end, and the 4th story begins, so they definitely are starting to wonder just what kind of changes those will be. It's definitely a lot of shuffling around, but nothing any of them can't handle! :) Thank you so much!

* * *

 **A/N :** I didn't have the heart to halve this chapter, so that's why it's so damn long. I didn't want this chapter to be on a cliff hanger, because it's pretty important. I hope no one gets mad at me, again lol.

* * *

 **Okay, so, I listen to a lot of movie score, it helps me focus cause it's wordless and easy to write to. The two scores I listened to, this time, are from the Karate Kid (2010 version) - Score composed by James Horner and it is an absolute beautiful listen, I highly recommend it. Just prefacing because of the weird titles haha. But these scores definitely set the moods, for my chapters, so if you really want to be immersed, I suggest listening to these scores alongside reading (also note the change in mood, in the chapter, that's typically when the music change happens too)**

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Looking For Mr. Han**

 **Han's Kung Fu - James Horner**

* * *

 ***Chapter 145***

With a deep inhale, steadied thoughts and a straight posture, Tessa peered out to their landing spot, for the day. Set in a gorgeous green valley, full of sharp hills that were scattered with all sorts of candied foliage, the scene looked absolutely surreal. With grass as green as could be, and pockets of shallow, crystal clear pools, massive, white-trunked candy cane trees, with blossoming green and pink sprouts overhead, towered over the group. Tessa slowly marched across the grass and was head in a direction away from the three flyers she had simply helped get settled for their bedtime. Alongside leaving them underneath a shady patch of trees, Vanellope sauntered near them, as well. It was likely she had been up all night, as well, and couldn't sleep; Tessa wrinkled her nose and knew this was due to the sudden change in flight pattern, and though she was aware she couldn't make everyone happy with some of her decision making, she grimaced and wondered just why it had to be the woman she challenged not twenty four hours prior.

With a head lull and a whispered, scolding notion towards herself, Tessa came upon a small ridge and looked down into the valley. With the heat blaring down, she smiled and noticed her traveling group getting familiar with their surroundings. Stripped down to clothes appropriate to swim in, the group laughed and waded about in the gorgeous pools of water. The grass, underneath, swayed with the movement of the waves they made. Tessa narrowed her gaze and noticed Nox, Libby and Zed loudly laughing with each other, they each were quietly trying to goad Penny into the water. Tessa huffed a giggle and began to prepare to join them, though she raised her eyebrows and noticed Ace at the other edge of the oasis, attempting to practice his bubbling technique. Tessa cocked an eyebrow in thought and wondered if now would be a good time for a lesson. With a wary glance over her shoulder, she hoped her mother went to sleep, so to make this little lesson a bit easier.

"You know your mother didn't sleep a wink, last night, right?" Taffyta suddenly blurt to Tessa's left, ultimately popping Tessa out of her own little bubble.

Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise and jolted; she knew her mother and aunt were attached at the hip, inseparable, a bond just as tight as her's and Penny's relationship, and with said notion that tugged on her arms, she huffed shaky sigh and bobbed a nod.

"I-I figured," Tessa uttered in growing wariness, she knew she was ultimately in charge of this mess, though somehow, her Aunt Taffyta's powerful demeanor was something she didn't want to attempt to challenge, in this instance.

"Y'gotta clue me in, Tessy, where's this uh... Take-charge streak comin' from?" Taffyta uttered with a teasing smile, and with this, Tessa very rapidly realized her Aunt Taffyta was most definitely on her mother's side. Taffyta chuckled, tucked her white hair behind her ears and looked down into the valley with Tessa, "You weren't this gung-ho on the whole way out here... What changed?"

"She crossed a boundary," Tessa snipped with stoic depth as she, too, peered out to the flawless scene about them. She narrowed her gaze and peered down to where Ace was; he continued to attempt his little bubbling technique, to which ultimately made Tessa's heart sore with love, "I'm tired of everything being upside down... We're not going to get anywhere by rushing in, reversing flight patterns for creatures that are nocturnal, and deploying crazy field tests on a poor boy that only just realized he was a User not two months ago..."

Taffyta intently listened to her niece, practically as if this was the first time she was hearing someone's opinion that wasn't Vanellope's. Taffyta crossed her arms and honed her gorgeous blue eyes straight for Tessa's hazel orbs, and with such respect paid, Tessa felt confidence come right back to her. Tessa inhaled a shaky breath, furrowed her brow and shook her head in confusion.

"My mother has never been this impulsive, or uncertain," Tessa hissed in a sorrowful whisper, "I don't know what's gotten into her... She wants the best for everyone, but, ultimately... She just wants Sugar Rush back, even at the cost of her whole family's mental health. You saw how scared Ace was..."

"She wasn't trying to tear down anyone's emotional walls, or anything," Taffyta stated warmly, "She simply wants everyone to be ready... I mean, lookit... We're all out here, having a swim, it's a grand ol' time."

Tessa slumped her shoulders and peered out to the group down the valley. They'd definitely were nonchalantly having a great time, relaxed bodies that sunk into the cool, crystal clear waters, laughter was abundant. Tessa huffed a hot sigh through her nose and dragged her eyes back to her aunt.

"Anything could happen, at any single moment..." Taffyta stated as they locked eyes, once more, "... Though, I will admit, I don't think Ace even needs any further training. He had me locked frozen five seconds in."

"He's got more power than he realizes," Tessa eased as her idle gaze glanced about the ground near their feet. She grimaced and shook her head, "I don't want fear to be his source of that unfathomable energy, Aunt Taffyta..."

Taffyta fell silent and respectfully peered to her niece, and though both beings were on opposite sides of this spectrum, the way Taffyta's shoulders sagged cued to Tessa that she was letting her walls come down. Tessa set a gentle glare into her aunt's eyes, for the few seconds of confidence she could muster, and remained still.

"I know that kid better than anyone here... He responds best to words of encouragement," Tessa stated firmly, "I will not sit back and watch my mother try to toughen him up with fear tactics. What kind of a User do you want out there, on the front lines, hmm? One whose scared and doesn't have confidence?"

"...No," Taffyta admitted quietly as she remained in Tessa's tight vicinity.

"Or one that holds his head high and knows exactly what move to take next?" Tessa side-eyed her aunt and gave her a cheeky smile, "I'm thinking the latter sounds more appropriate."

"Just... Remember," Taffyta shook her head and huffed a sigh, "This woman is your mother, you're dealing with. Not some individual who stepped in and had poor intentions."

"I know," Tessa mumbled in a peak of guilt she didn't want anyone to know that she was drowning in.

"She's hurt, pretty badly... But, I am proud of you for taking a stand for what is right," Taffyta concluded, as if she likely didn't want Vanellope to hear. She sagged her demeanor and looked about sheepishly, "I... I'm sorry I was sort of in on that field test. The way Vanellope described it, it genuinely did sound like a good idea. Looking back, I guess we could've been smarter."

"I know everyone wants their hands in helping Ace grow, to be the greatest gamer we've known, but..." Tessa looked off, towards their group, once more, "Not all of us can be his teacher. Not all of us has advice and lessons that are going to really sink in, with him."

"I hear you," Taffyta eased, as if she potentially came into this conversation with a different view point, other than Vanellope's, though she heaved a soft sigh and nodded, "I hear you... Just... Understand, you and your mother will likely need a good long sit-down."

"I don't have time for that, right now," Tessa stated dryly, and for once in her life, she reeled inside herself and was surprised that she was able to lay emotion aside and see the situation with a level head. Tessa rolled with it, while it was still fresh, and gave her aunt a small smile, "I know healing will come, in time, but right now... I have a few things I'd like to teach Ace."

"...Another lesson?" Taffyta blurt with a chuckle as they gently strolled closer to the edge of the sloping hill, together. The soft grass undertow ruffled with the warm morning breeze.

"Yeah, lookit him," Tessa giggled as she gestured out; everyone was laughing and having fun, except Ace, who sat across the water, desperately attempting to bubble a small plant. Both girls laughed a little, at the sweet notion, though Taffyta turned to Tessa and wrinkled her nose.

"... Your mother was right, y'know," Taffyta huffed quietly, she eyed her young niece and even though her and Vanellope were on uneven ground, Taffyta knew everything would sort out eventually. Taffyta inhaled a readied breath, and with a look of pure sincerity, she nodded a little, "You will make a fantastic Queen, one day."

Tessa raised her eyebrows and honed her gaze straight for her aunt's, and with every ounce of unwavering love, Tessa was aware that even in the heat of this drama, her mother still had kind things to say about her. Tessa huffed a shaky breath and humbly nodded, though with such, she squinted and shook her head in question.

"... She said that?" Tessa wondered in quiet disbelief, though Taffyta chuckled and nudged her arm.

"She loves you, Tess... No amount of cat-fighting is going to change any of that," Taffyta grumbled as she eyed her niece, though she finally hooked her arm about Tessa's neck and shoulder and tugged her into a large hug, "But it wouldn't hurt to play nice, from time to time, Tessy."

"Me? Play nice?" Tessa laughed as Taffyta lugged Tessa deeper into her grip and gave her a noogie. Tessa grimaced with a harder laugh and began to playfully shove on her aunt's arms. She grunted a conclusion, "Do you know me at all?"

"Yeah-yeah, git," Taffyta snipped with a laugh as she finally unhanded her niece and nudged her closer to the direction of the group, across the grass. Tessa gave her a flash of an annoyed smile, fixed her hair and stuck out her tongue, "If you want that boy to play nice, I don't think you're the teacher for it."

"Neither are you, so don't get your hopes up," Tessa sarcastically called, which ultimately had both girls laughing.

"C'mon, it's only cold for like... A second," Libby eased in the quiet sing-song of her accent.

She wore a swimsuit-like top, it was a dark brown fabric, thick yet comfortable. It showed her midrift nicely. She also wore a pair of comfortable sweats in which she had rolled to just underneath her knees. She bent down a little and tested the water with her fingers, though she was already knee-deep in the crystal clear paradise. All the boys were shirtless and in pants similar to what Libby had going on, though Penny was the only one fully clothed and not prepared to set foot into the water. Orph carelessly flopped into the deeper portion of the little pool, the deepest parts were likely six to seven feet deep, at most. He choked a breath, as he came up, his silver hair splayed flat all over the top of his head, though he shot her a goofy smile and waved a little, from across the stretch of gorgeous, inviting water.

"It's not cold anymore, you just have to grin and bear it for a tiny while," Orph assured as Zed and Nox dragged their welcoming gazes back to Penny.

"Y'guys might as well try to goad a mule over a rickety bridge," Tessa grunted as she strolled up, she gently began to take her shirt off, which revealed a grey sports bra she had on underneath. She huffed a small laugh, tossed her shirt aside and eyed Penny in a knowing way, "You'll have more luck with that than getting Penny into cold water."

"It's not the fact that it's cold water," Penny huffed as she began to slowly stroll up the hill, in which eventually dipped into the valley of water they were currently enjoying. The soft grass was something everyone took advantage of, and no shoes were in sight. She relished in her home game's beauty and softness as she slowly reached the peak, which was only half a dozen feet from where she was previously standing, though she had a decent amount of height over everyone; she continued on as she began to sit down amidst the tall candy-green grass, "It's the fact that we're not on castle grounds, we're out in the wilderness. Sugar Rush wilderness. May seem starkly more tame than Dead Zed, but... I've seen some shit, okay?"

"The water is crystal clear, you worried a shark is gunna pop out?" Nox teased, though Libby furrowed her brow and nervously peered to the deepest end of the pool. Though she could clearly see the bottom, she still scrunched her brow and gave Nox an annoyed glower for even putting that information in her head.

"No, the water is totally see-through," Penny retort with a hard laugh as the brisk wind whipped her hair about; it was beginning to show length on the side, her original cut from a year ago. She shook her head and tucked some of it behind her ears, "I mean our surroundings. User forbid something comes running from the woods, over there, and we're all lollygagging in the water."

"Your loss," Orph barked as he ducked his jaw under the water, sucked some into his mouth and spit it out like a fountain above him, though he flinched and ogled down at the water, "Uhh Tess... Is this water supposed to taste like cotton candy?"

"If it didn't, I'd be concerned," Tessa stated plainly, as if said cotton candy flavored water was something she was numb to. Orph's boyish eyes widened as he peered down to the magical water around him, though he began to quickly drink it with much fervor. Tessa, including everyone else, laughed into the crisp air, though before any remarks could be made towards Orph and his antics, Tessa dragged her gaze across the pond and cued to Ace, "Hey, bud?"

"Yeah?" Ace uttered in a stagger of concentration, though he raised his eyebrows and looked over his shoulder in dewy curiosity.

"C'mere, please," Tessa called patiently, though she carried on through a small fit of laughter, "Bring that... Little bubbling technique with you."

"I-I was just... Practicing," Ace mumbled as he crossed the thirty foot difference and bashfully rubbed his arm.

Tessa furrowed her brow and peered to her son; though he was a heavier build than his father, Tessa noticed he was losing even more of his puppy-dog weight. He sauntered in such a way that was humble and shy, as if he was still certain he was in his old body, which was previously a smidge overweight and held a bit of a pudge on his stomach, though as Tessa furrowed her brow and glanced to Zed, who was very-well sculpted beyond Ace, she dragged her eyes back to Ace and was surprised to see that Ace was well on his way to being nearly as sculpted as his father. She wrinkled her nose and wondered if the two were maybe spending a lot of time together, though as he neared, she put her hands on her hips and narrowed her gaze.

"... Is any of that code-room alteration, son?" Tessa wondered quietly with a small giggle, though more so in a way where she was expressing that she knew it wholly wasn't any form of code-room alteration. Ace's facial expression washed flat in sorrowful surprise as he glanced to his father for support.

"N-No, I-I've been working out with dad," Ace bashfully pointed to Zed, he glanced down, "A-And Vanellope."

"Well, then what are you standing all hunched and shy for!" Tessa eased with a small laugh as she gingerly took his hand and raised it a little. Ace huffed a bashful laugh of a smile and looked down, though Tessa furrowed her brow and warmly pushed up on his chest, so to get him to stand up straight, "Here... Put your shoulders back."

"Mom," Ace grumbled with a chuff of a small laugh, though this had Nox and Zed laughing in a knowing way as well.

"C'mon, dude, lookit you!" Tessa gawked, she gestured to Zed and shook her head, "If I were you, I'd be thanking your father every waking second of your life."

"I-I've thanked him," Ace assured softly, his bashful eyes glanced to Zed's, he was thrilled Zed nodded and closed his eyes in a long few blinks of acknowledgment.

"Hold your head up, stand with confidence," Tessa assured warmly, she desperately tried not to bring Libby into this, or even look at her, for fear of making the two become an overload of shy bundles of nerves, "Hold yourself tall... You're a Kalivar, son."

"Yes, ma'am," Ace eased quietly, and for once, he huffed a long, shaky breath, dropped his shoulders and allowed his posture to straighten with confidence he was slowly seeking.

"Be proud, you've accomplished a lot," Tessa encouraged lovingly, which had him at ease, "It's okay to let the world know that you're proud of what you've accomplished."

"User knows you have enough bragging room for all of us," Nox grumbled as he crossed his arms, him and Zed shot each other knowing grins, "Y'hardly talk about your powers or, uh, the fact that you could simply delete someone just by lookin' at 'em."

"I-I don't think I could do that," Ace furrowed his brow, though he felt his face turn beet red at the sheer fact that he could see Libby's eyes bashfully trained to his figure, in his peripheral; Ace desperately tried not to make it obvious, to Libby, that he could see her eyeing him up, no matter how subtle she was doing it.

"Okay, we need a guinea pig, for this demonstration," Tessa chirped as she glanced about the group, "Who had sex last?"

Upon her words, everyone in the group flinched in hot surprise, and with this, Orph's hand flew up, from across the water. He choked a laugh as Tessa gave him an exaggerated glower, in return.

"ME!" Orph choked, though Tessa held her breath, scrunched her face and desperately tried to make her ogling glance, in Penny's direction, as subtle as she could.

Once she caught eyes with her, Penny bit her lower lip in rising urgency and just barely shook her head, as if to beg Tessa to keep the innocent kiss, between her and Orph, on the down low. She also shut her eyes tight and then looked up, as if to show exasperation over the raw fact that Orph was talking out of his ass.

"Don't be stupid," Tessa barked to Zed's younger brother, though Orph huffed a hard laugh and dunked under the water.

"You only are using that plight because everyone knows the person to have sex last was me," Nox barked in growing, playful irritation; everyone quietly laughed as Zed gently nudged Nox's shoulder.

"Y'caught me, I just want to torture you for stealing my sister's coding," Tessa snipped with a kind smile as she stepped aside, though she gingerly touched her fingers to Libby's lower arm as well as the center of Zed's chest, "Here... Let's all move aside, Nox, you stay there."

"Why," Nox's voice held a low, curious lilt, he inhaled a shaky breath in growing, nervous irritation as he cocked an eyebrow and let his eyes follow where Tessa, Zed and Libby were headed.

"Alright, Ace, go ahead and bubble Nox like how you did yesterday," Tessa encouraged gently as she gestured out to the water in which Nox was ankle deep in.

"... I-I really don't think I can make a bubble that big, just... Willingly," Ace murmured softly, he desperately tried not to hunch his posture; it took everything in him to keep his stance strong and solid.

"'Course you can, son, you bubbled everyone yesterday," Zed eyed Ace with a kind smile as he crossed his arms, "If you can bubble every single person, including all three of our massive flyers, in an adrenaline rush... You can bubble Nox upon will. I know you can do it."

"You just have to focus," Tessa eased patiently, "Don't worry so much about technique, just... Focus on actually bubbling him, and we'll go from there."

"Alright," Ace stated anxiously as he finally dragged his eyes to Nox's figure.

Nox looked nervous. He was shirtless and wore a pair of black sweats, in which were rolled to the middle of his lower legs. His grey skin glistened where water held on, he was nearly as gangly as Throttle, though his chest and core held a bit of muscle. He fiddled his fingers before his chest in rising cheek and gave his best friend a pleading look, as if to beg that somehow the bubble remained around him and didn't potentially clip a limb or anything strange or dangerous. Ace inhaled a shaky breath, outstretched his hands a little and allowed his powerful, silver coding to gloss his palms in an uneasy manner. Just as Ace was certain that this likely was harder than he suspected, he began to make progress. Tiers of coding began to gently form a three foot distance abut Nox, a bubble in which he could be safe from literally everything.

"You did it!" Tessa chimed happily as she began to step over to Ace, though he held onto the bubble and kept Nox tight inside of it. Nox raised his eyebrows in poised surprise and curiously peered about the gorgeous silver circuitry that swirled and glowed about him, though he began to fan himself, as if to express the bubble was getting hot. Tessa froze and gestured to Nox, "Is it heating up?"

"Yeah," Nox uttered nervously as he dared to reach out and touch the forcefield bubble about him; tough enough to keep him safe, though it was also tough enough to make it so he couldn't escape.

"Alright, Ace... Try to focus on making the bubble breathable, but still able to protect Nox," Tessa gestured to Nox's ankles, "See how you've managed to keep the water out? Keep that going, but just think of the coding like mesh. It's tough, but breathable. Will your thoughts into actions."

Ace nodded and inhaled a steady breath, and as he kept his thoughts collected, and the bubble tight about Nox, he lulled his eyes closed just barely and did as his mother instructed. With ease, the angry silver coding, of the dome, began to just barely vanish, though much to everyone's surprise, Nox huffed a loud exhale of relief and smiled; it was then did everyone notice the breeze, that whisked through the valley, made Nox's dusty grey hair ruffle. Tessa beamed a wide smile and noticed that the water that Nox was previously standing in, was bowing and making way for the silver bubble he was standing in. Tessa's smile broadened as she peered to Ace in knowing pride.

"Good job! That was easier than I thought it'd be," Tessa praised, Ace huffed a breath of surprise and gently slumped his shoulders, he loosened his stance and got used to his honed power, and with such, Tessa gestured out to Nox, "Okay... Now, release the bubble and try and recreate it. This time, though, try and recreate the breathable mesh like material upon contact."

"Y-You mean like... Make the bubble breathable first and foremost?" Ace wondered as he let his silver coding flicker away, which ultimately shivered away and plopped Nox back into the ankle-deep water he was in.

"That was so cool," Nox cheesed.

"Yes... In the heat of the moment, you won't have time to sit and will a breathable material over whoever you're trying to protect," Tessa encouraged as she gently rested her hand on Ace's bare back, "You need to provide a safe, breathable bubble first thing. Go ahead and try it again."

"Okay," Ace nodded, this time, his stance held more certainty.

As a steady breath escaped him in slow calmness, he pierced his gaze to Nox and allowed his coding to quickly come alive with more strength, and upon willing his thoughts into solid action, a whole bubble appeared about Nox. The water budged out of the vicinity of the bubble, though at the same time, the breeze continued to ruffle Nox's hair, cueing to everyone that said task was successful. Ace beamed a floored smile and chuckled in a knowing way, he glanced to his mother in boyish glee and noticed Libby gently stroll over to said bubble. She gently laid her hand to it, to prove to everyone that nothing could get past the protective coding. Nox laid his hands on it as well, for good measure.

"Outstanding," Tessa breathed as she dragged her eyes up to Ace's, and as he let the bubble disappear, once more, everyone peered to Ace in growing happiness.

"Fast learner," Orph agreed in an honest, kind tone as he emerged from the water and ruffled his hair.

"It's true," Zed agreed with a bob of a nod as everyone eagerly assessed Ace and Tessa.

"Alright, love," Tessa eased, her voice gained volume as she began to trudge up the hill that Penny was perched on, Orph slowly began to join them, "Got a little game for you."

"A game?" Ace wondered gently as he glanced to his father, Libby, and then back to his mother, who held height over everyone, including Penny who was sat criss-cross on the ground, and Orph who sat down next to her.

"We're going to repeat yesterday's field test..." Tessa eased into this sticky topic, and though Ace's facial expression sloped in growing, surprised dismay, Tessa put her hands on her hips, "You're going to do anything and everything to get Radex in your coded grip, to hold him down and keep him from fighting... Though this time... You're going to take everything you've learned, from yesterday, and reshape it to what you know now."

Ace huffed a shaky breath and looked about, as if to wonder just whose side his mother was on. He furrowed his brows and half expected Taffyta or Vanellope to come jumping out from the shadows, though as the atmosphere was still about them. He peered his confused gaze up to his mother and nearly sent a glower of distrust up into her skin, though before he could fearfully protest, Tessa warmly gestured her hand to Libby and eyed her son.

"You have to remember just who you're around... Take note of who can glitch, and who can't," Tessa eased gently, the group grew tense in hot knowing, "You have the luxury of us glitchers becoming more abundant here, what with Nox added to the family."

"Radex?" Ace repeated her words in nervousness, he knew Radex wasn't anywhere near here, though he had to wonder just who she was to use as his fill-in.

"Right," Tessa huffed with a small smile as she eyed Zed.

Zed inhaled a deep breath, his sculpted, powerful bare chest rose with the intake, and as he clenched his fists, a proper wrecking form, his arms and hands came alive with their familiar silver coding. Ace raised his eyebrows in staggering surprise as him, Nox and Libby eagerly took a handful of steps away from Zed.

"Go all out, Zed's a big boy," Tessa chimed, as if her and Zed had previously discussed this matter.

Ace raised his eyebrows in cold surprise and peered to his father, who began to look almost menacing, though with this weird switch up, he felt it coated with love and care, as opposed to yesterday. He inhaled a shaky breath and only nervously glanced to Libby, who was almost directly behind Zed. He replayed his mother's words in his head, over and over and over; the raw fact that Libby was ultimately helpless in this weird turn of events. His mind raced; he knew his first line of action was to get to Libby, as quickly as he could, to quickly exterior swap with her. Upon the gears rolling in his head, he noticed Zed's legs and feet suddenly flare with his silver coding, and upon the jump, he lunged for Ace.

Ace choked a noise, and with quicker coding, he dodged Zed's rapid-fire jump and immediately glitched about the grass and straight for Libby. Upon reaching her, the two urgently reached for each other, and as their coding excitedly flared to their burning, golden honeycombs, Ace whirled around and noticed the lightning streak, that was Zed, head straight for Nox, who was stumbling to get out of the water he had been wading in. Nox uttered a nervous noise, and just as Ace suspected, fear overrode any form of rational thinking, on Nox's end; his and Koko's glorious, berry-crimson, honeycomb coding flared on his legs, as if to attempt to jolt away, though the water tight on his skin made it impossible to follow through. Ace uttered Nox's name and immediately drew a proper, breathable bubble about Nox, and in a single swipe, he flung said bubble, with Nox inside, across the grass and out of the way of Zed's angry lightning streak of solid speed.

Nox grunted and fell to his knees on the grass, though as Ace dropped said bubble, Nox immediately got to his feet and shook it off. He allowed his new glitching abilities to come forth, and upon letting his coding flare on his feet, he lunged for the lightning bolt that was rapidly approaching Ace and Libby. Ace held his breath in adrenaline that was rapidly now coursing through him, though as Libby urgently glitched away, he outstretched his hands and was prepared to take the fight like a champ. He grit his teeth and braced himself for impact, though he choked a startled noise as Nox suddenly cut Zed at the quick, glossed over the surface of the water that was nearby and skid to a sharp stop on the other side of the small oasis. Ace urgently back stepped a few times as Zed tumbled to the ground, he grunted a noise of mild pain, though Ace knew this little game was far from over.

Ace furrowed his eyebrows and urgently began to charge Zed, though upon this, Zed huffed a noise of inquiry and immediately glitched away. Ace staggered, raised his eyebrows and watched his father's lightning bolt like appearance zip across the grass, though Ace narrowed his gaze and was suddenly floored; the urge to chase was way beyond him. Ace allowed his and Libby's glorious honeycomb coding to come to life, and as he took off running after his father, he could hear Libby's and Nox's buzzing of trails not far behind him in solid camaraderie, a strong team he knew he had been subconsciously hard at work building at over the months. With such solid teamwork, Ace felt his heart soar with added adrenaline that coursed through his whole body. As he neared his father, outstretched his hands and was prepared to lock Zed in a death grip of frozen coding to keep him still, like lightning, Zed took a hair-pin turn and caused Ace to practically stagger out of his regimen.

Ace grunted an annoyed notion and bumbled, he tripped a bit and skid to the grass, on his knees, though he loudly uttered a loud growl and threw his fists to the ground as he watched his father immediately take off in a whole new direction. Ace flinched as Nox and Libby zipped right on past him, in urgent, lightning-fast speed; he knew they could keep up with Zed easier, and it was with this did Ace realize he needed to work on his agility. He stuffed it, for the time being, and took off, once more, after his teammates and his father, who was now getting away. As pixels and grass flew, their coding made the game practically shake in a show of raw coding that flared and popped. Ace knew this was definitely one for the books, though catching his father was something he was certain was now likely impossible.

Libby allowed herself to float through Ace's impossibly powerful coding, and with such, she relished in it's heightened warmth. She smirked a sneaky smile in Zed's direction, and cued to everything Ace was made of, she tried not to get way too ahead of herself. In the draw of their high-speed chase, Libby found herself nearing Zed. Upon closing a ten foot gap between her and Ace's father, she uttered a hard grunt and, with a hover of her hand over passing water, she allowed her honeycomb coding to soak into a good chunk of it. Upon raising it out of the water, all riddled with confused, pixelated honeycombs, like a swarm of electrified, angry bees, she inhaled a sharp breath and willed her thoughts into actions, Tessa's words rung clear through her mind. As the water immediately turned into icicles, upon willpower, she shut her eyes tight and was nearly praying she would miss these shots, though she took them, anyhow.

Libby threw her hands down and stumbled in her glitch-hop. As if Zed was aware of every tiny little thing that was happening behind him, he glitched in rapid-fire agility and dodged every single one of the shards that Libby sent his way. In aggressive stabs that were sent rocketing into nearby tree trunks, the three whizzed past the damaged trunks of the towering, white candy canes. The valley shook with the power set upon the atmosphere, and as Ace finally caught up with Nox and Libby, he found that he was rapidly running out of the burst of energy his adrenaline rush had been giving him. As the three came to a skid of a halt, as they neared the small lake that Tessa, Penny and Orph were perched above, the three came out of their staggering run and gawked as to just what Zed was now up to.

Ace uttered a nervous noise of sheer exhaustion and quickly realized that, the nearby tree that Zed had swarmed with his silver coding, was now angrily coming crashing to the ground. Ace grit his teeth in growing terror and noticed that said massive tree was falling just in line with where Tessa, Penny and Orph were sitting. Ace furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief and knew his father wouldn't possibly take it this far, though with the way his mother, his aunt and uncle were simply staying put, allowing said towering, beast of a tree to come rocket down on them, Ace knew he had to act fast. Upon seeing the leaves come chaotically swiping to the ground, towards his family, who were leaving themselves vulnerable for whatever was to come, Ace barked an urgent plea of desperation and jumped in a few bounds of a glitch hop, closer to the situation.

With great urgency, Ace dove and immediately bubbled his mother, aunt and uncle in a protective, breathable silver dome, and as the tree came down to the ground, it chaotically crashed about the indestructible bubble, sending shards of white candy cane flying in all directions. Ace squinted and continued onwards towards the whole chaos, and before he could even begin to question if this was going to go on for any longer, his sharp eyes spot his father through the leaves of the fallen tree, and with every single ounce of power he had left in his exhausted body, Ace upped his power and urgently outstretched his hands. Upon doing so, he glitch-hopped to the top of the bubble his three family members were underneath, and with a bound into the air, he immediately cleared whatever leaves and branches were possibly in his way and grappled his father tight in his aggressive coding.

With a loud grunt of pain and aggression, from both men, Ace firmly shoved Zed to the ground and held him down by the broad of his chest. Zed choked a startled noise and peered up to Ace in whole bewilderment, and with this, Ace's livid, golden honeycomb circuitry plagued Zed's with the grapple of unforgiveness. He kept Zed still and urgently peered down to his father. Both boys loudly panted, though it was with this did Ace very quickly realize he had to come back to the Arcade, and this was simply just a test. Ace huffed a staggering few chokes of loud panting and desperately tried to calm himself, though as Zed panted back at him, in a gape of the rush of everything, a wide, proud smile sprawled Zed's face.

"Good game," Zed stifled through loud, near-growls of panting, though Ace so gently unhanded his father and let his wiggly coding bring him to a stand.

Upon everything that settled, and Nox and Libby that quickly approached, Ace let go of the bubble he had Tessa, Penny and Orph in. Ace panted loudly and peered back to his mother in raw surprise, though as if this was exactly how yesterday was supposed to go, he beamed his mother a wide, proud smile and shook his head in hard dismay.

"Alright, mom," Ace heavily panted, his sweaty chest heaved as his adrenaline rush was prepared to give a third wind, "What's the verdict?"

"That was the coolest thing EVER," Penny gawked in excited thrill as she pumped her fists, the three eagerly approached Ace and Zed.

"O-Oh, sorry, dad," Ace staggered curiously as he quickly reached his hand out and offered Zed a hand up, and as Zed slipped his strong hand into Ace's, both boys came to a stand before each other.

"Don't be sorry, I asked for it," Zed grunted as he, too, was lost in a panting mess. He shot Ace a cheeky smile and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"That was incredibly difficult," Nox blurt as he came close as well, though he urgently gestured to the tree Zed had so easily taken down, "How the hell did you manage that!"

"Practice," Zed huffed as he put his hands on his hips and looked down in whole exhaustion. He cocked an eyebrow and merely glanced to the three that were in training, "I've only had a year of practice, this glitching mess... Think of how much time Radex has had."

"We're doomed," Libby grumbled with a small giggle, to somehow show that she was at least attempting to be sarcastic.

"That was exemplary," Tessa huffed with a proud smile to her son, she gently gathered Nox and Libby as well and peered to them with fervor, "So much teamwork and diligence, to one another... That was incredible."

"Libby... H-How did you make those ice shards?" Ace softly wondered, he continued to try and catch his breath, as did everyone else.

"I-I... I really don't know," Libby furrowed her brow, "I just knew I had to at least try and get a weapon, of some sort."

"Resourceful," Tessa encouraged, "You used the land about you to your advantage. It's key, and it's extremely open-minded."

"What about Nox, he practically cut my legs off," Zed blurt with a laugh, though Ace heaved a shaky breath and gave his best friend a knowing smile.

"Ace helped me," Nox shrugged, "You scratch my back I'll scratch yours."

"You're quicker than you think," Zed chuckled as he pat Nox's shoulder, though Nox bulged his eyes.

"Uh, you too, dude," Nox choked.

"It was impossible trying to keep up with you," Libby panted as she quickly began to tuck her hair into a high ponytail, so to get it off of her neck and face.

"What have you guys learned?" Tessa inquired softly as everyone finally began to settle.

"You're mean," Ace grumbled with a playful smile, everyone blurt into knowing laughter, though Tessa nervously looked down and fiddled her fingers. Ace heaved a shaky sigh and gently approached his mother. He warmly took her hands and tilted his head, "...Thank you."

"For what?" Tessa huffed nervously, though Ace furrowed his brow and glanced to Libby and Nox.

"For preparing us... I-I learned that I need to work on my agility," Ace grumbled in annoyance, towards himself. He cocked an eyebrow and shook his head, "I could work on my speed, as well."

"I learned that I need to be more strategic, think farther ahead," Libby nodded, "I got so caught up in what was happening, it was hard to think clearly... But I guess this battle, with Radex, won't be planned... I need to work better with spontaneity."

"I need to be more confident," Nox mumbled, he eyed Libby and nodded softly, as if to agree with her notion as well, "I got so jumbled with what to do first that it was easy to become sort of shell shocked."

"I learned that I need a nap," Zed grumbled as he gingerly lugged Tessa into his side, she beamed a guilty smile and looked down to the grass, though she peered to Ace in growing pride, "I volunteered to be Radex, in this mess."

"Risky move, repeating yesterday's drama, there, Tess," Orph chuckled as he crossed his arms, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and nodded.

"I knew I was asking for it," Tessa muttered as she peered to Ace in growing curiosity, "I'm just glad this time resulted in growth, and not anger... From here, we can all move forward and learn about what we can work on... Hell, I still have stuff to work on, as well. It took all of me not to jump in and join you guys."

"You would've caught me in an instant, that's why you sat on the side lines," Zed mumbled in tired, playful annoyance, though Tessa beamed a wide, bashful smile and shook her head.

"So, you opted instead to let yourself be nearly crushed by a tree," Ace ogled as he gestured his arm out, the massive tree, that had fallen, was splayed about in torn chaos.

"I knew you wouldn't let us be harmed," Tessa stated lovingly to Ace, her eyes were warm and welcoming, "If we were in the heat of battle, helpless upon something or someone coming our way, I know you'd do anything and everything you could to make sure everyone was safe. You made that very clear, yesterday."

"Someone could've been killed," Orph muttered, he nervously eyed Libby, "Homegirl isn't afraid to pull out all the stops."

"I'm not so cute and cuddly when I'm mad," Libby stated through the grit of her cheery grin, though Penny huffed a noise of agreeing and nodded.

"Be thankful I wasn't out there with my swords, as well," Penny giggled, everyone began to laugh in rising nervousness, "I would've accidentally taken someone's leg off, I'm sure of it."

"So, we all know what we need to work on," Ace grumbled with a slope of a smile he brought to Penny, "Aunt Penny needs to forever sit on the side lines."

"I could be the one to win us this fight," Penny cheesed as everyone fell into a final amount of calmed laughter, "You guys just wait and see."


	146. Chapter 146

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Thank you! :D

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! ;_; Him and Libby, both separately and as a couple, have been my chore for this particular story, and I love focusing on them, honing their characters, I appreciate your kind words!

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 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I'm glad that all was obvious and the like! I really value every kind thing you say, in your reviews :D Thank you!

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 **Retrokill :** good to know... lol thank you!

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 **A/N : ** Uh... So, it's becoming apparent that I don't know when to stop writing a chapter, or just properly halve it. So have another long ass chapter. I'm very slowly finding it hard to write LESS. I really hope this isn't like irritating to some people.

*gets email that Vyn has uploaded* FUCK 7k words? what is her problem!

What I hope is you guys get excited that there is MORE to read, in each chapter... I'm praying this situation causes the latter. This chapter is so gooey and lovely and sweet and cavity inducing that I couldn't POSSIBLY chop it in half. You'll see why.

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **No Such Thing As A Broken Heart - Old Dominion** (even if you're not into Country, I highly advise you listen to this song - It's not overly country. It's SO sweet and sets the mood for the chapter, which is gooey and full of fluff and kisses)

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 ***Chapter 146***

"Alright, guys... Let's hang here, for a second," Zed instructed sleepily.

It was near midnight, and because of the switch in flight patterns that Tessa had instructed for the flight home, out of Sugar Rush, they arrived back to Dead Zed a day early. As all three flyers, Taffyta, Vanellope, Orph, Penny, Nox, Ace, Libby and Tessa lolly gagged in the grass near the Kalivar castle's front gate, Zed pulled out his communicator and powered it on for the first time in four days. Zed huffed a tired sigh, rubbed his scruffy jaw a little and squinted as it powered on, the white light shone up at him as a cue that it was booting. Zed furrowed his brow in confusion as a few notifications popped up, ones he couldn't receive outside of Dead Zed and was only finally receiving now.

 _10:59am_ _Tuesday 9/20/2016_

 _AtlasK : shit, man, how do you set the castle to incognito again?_

 _AtlasK : There were some hikers coming dangerously close to the back entrance and I just got weirded out, I forget where that option is in the code room._

 _11:23am_

 _AtlasK : ...I'm an idiot and forgot you're likely hundreds of miles deep into Sugar Rush._

 _AtlasK : I found it, btw._

Zed scoffed a small laugh, furrowed his brow and let the small amount of murmured chatter coat his soul, his family grumbled and shuffled in sleepiness, though somehow, Ace and Libby droned on with an odd amount of energy. Zed furrowed his brow deeper into his tired face and had to wonder if they somehow had a nap, or something similar; they quietly joked and laughed with each other, they hung tight in each other's warmth.

 _1:42am Thursday 9/22/2016_

 _Imdead : Hey, we've arrived home early. Can you disarm the castle and let us in please?_

Zed lowered his communicator and softly peered to the ground about him. He took note that Vanellope and Tessa were stood on polar opposite ends of the group, from each other. Taffyta sleepily stood with Balba and Lickity, and as Nox, Penny and Orph stood with their hands in their pockets, looking as exhausted as ever, he cued to Ace and Libby once more. He assessed them with great care and took note that they seemed to be easing into their little relationship at such a snails pace, that even prolonged eye contact looked to be fleeting, unsure and something that would cause an overload of butterflies. Zed wrinkled a smile and listened in on their conversation; Ace was busy at work, prying Libby for information about her culture, though she spoke in a hushed tone, as if she were to keep to their unspoken promise and was only going to let Ace this deep into her heart. Zed lulled his eyes closed and soaked in the sweetness, though he flinched as his communicator buzzed. He peered down to it with a jolt.

 _AtlasK : Oh! Yeah man, one second._

"We're good to go," Zed chimed in kind tiredness, and as his words left his figure, the castle's large, towering gates suddenly croaked in a jolt of moveable parts.

The gates slowly began to open in unison, and as they cracked just enough to let everyone through, Finn remotely closed them just as Royal was the last one to make his way onto Kalivar grounds. With a thud, the castle sealed everyone in, for good, and as sleepiness continued to plague the group, they moseyed to the front doors and, one by one, they trudged into the castle. The three flyers easily parted from everyone, outside, and made their way to their backyard enclosure, a haven of trees they were excited to sink into and relax in for the few hours left of calm darkness the night had. Once inside, Finn and Tammy greet everyone with hugs and notions of their unforeseen, short arrival.

Tessa smiled and hugged her older cousin, though just as Tessa was about to explain just why they were so early, she felt a knot form in her stomach. She held her breath and felt the group go quiet as Vanellope pushed through everyone and firmly marched across the foyer, through the dining area and hooked a hard left straight into the Sky Room, where hers and Ralph's bedroom was located. Tessa exhaled a hot, annoyed breath through her nose and let her eternally annoyed glare chase after her mother, though as Taffyta slowly began to follow Vanellope's lead, Taffyta waggled her hand back at the group and playfully rolled her eyes with a smile, as if to express to the group, she was peeling from, that all Vanellope needed was space and a good night's sleep. Tessa slumped her shoulders and nervously caught eyes with Zed and Penny.

"...Diiiid something bad happen while you guys were away?" Tammy mumbled quietly in nervousness; her and Finn were dressed in comfortable clothes, though it was apparent that they had still been awake, likely going over code room details, constellations or the like.

"Where do I begin?" Tessa muttered as she shook her head, she pleadingly peered to her older cousin and huffed a shaky sigh, "I-I stood up for Ace and changed the flight pattern, of the trip... I doubt I'll be forgiven, for quite some time."

"It's... Been an interesting trip, to say the least," Zed eased in a croak, though just as he was going to inhale a deep breath and try and find the energy to help Tessa explain just what went down, Finn flagged his hand down and shook his head.

"You guys should head to bed... You all look totally exhausted," Finn instructed softly, his deep voice glossed over everyone with care, and as a weight seemingly lifted from the group, Tessa nodded and looked down in mild defeat, "We can discuss the trip after everyone gets a good night's sleep... Sound good?"

"Yes," Orph grumbled as he firmly rubbed his eyes and eased his presence closer to both of his older brothers. He gently pat Finn's shoulder and gave him a grateful smile, "Thanks for filling in on my quarter alerts, while I was gone."

"No problemo," Finn stated gently as he pat and nudged Orph back, though Zed joined in and gave Finn a firm nod.

"And for watching the code room," Zed eased deeply, he caught eyes with Finn and noted the twinkle in his little brother's eyes, "I always know I can trust you with the entirety of the game."

"Thank you," Finn stated with a humble smile as everyone softly began to sleepily disperse, "Everything is stable, nothing eventful to report."

"You found the incognito button?" Zed teased as him, Tessa and Tammy began to slowly saunter towards the direction of Finn's teleportation pad and the entrance to the Sky Room.

"Yes... Well, Tammy found it," Finn chuckled, Tammy held her head up and gave Zed a knowing smirk, "Sharp eyes, that one."

"You guys are the best," Zed stated warmly as the four tenderly slowed their roll and noticed Ace and Libby push towards the back door with a strange amount of zest and energy. They finally stopped in their tracks and watched the heavy back door slowly shut, and out the small window of the massive, round door, Ace and Libby could be seen laughing and smiling, heading towards Ace's tower. Zed furrowed his brow in tight confusion and peered to Tessa, "...How do they have so much energy right now?"

"They napped on the final stretch home," Tessa mumbled with a small giggle, "Poor Nox was out there steering Balba all on his own while the two snoozed against his back."

"Ace seems a bit more chatty, all of the sudden," Finn wondered as he dragged his eyes to Tessa's and Zed's.

"I overhead them discussing a few customs of the Teltokuan people," Tessa shrugged, "Looks like Ace is worming his way deeper into Libby's heart."

"Kid should feel grateful," Tammy nodded, "Libby won't even reveal how to curse in Teltokuan, no matter how kindly I ask ... It's always, 'oh, I don't think I should be repeating those words'" Tammy scrunched her shoulders, pitched her voice and tried to copy Libby's strict, cute accent; everyone laughed in a tired manner.

"I often hear Ace giving her one-worded answers, in Teltokuan," Finn shrugged as he shook his head and gave Tessa and Zed a knowing smirk, "Looks like she's prepping him for the big swap..."

"My brain hurts," Tessa grumbled as she covered her face and shut her eyes tight.

"Sounds about right," Zed chuckled, in agreeing to Finn's conclusion.

* * *

"Alright, uhh... How do you say 'hello'?" Ace inquired, the two bumbled and moseyed with each other.

As they gingerly crossed their glorious field of fire flowers, aglow with a blaze of nighttime love, it soaked their faces with the splash of color to hide the crazy amount of blushing smiles they so desperately tried to avoiding beaming each other with. Libby giggled as she gently wobbled and gripped her arm around Ace's, which was lazy by his side. He chuckled and steadied her, though they slowly pressed on, careful not to step on a single one of their glorious fire flowers. Libby heaved a soft sigh and peered up to Ace's beautiful tower, the warm exterior lights soaked the sky with welcoming, and though the Kalivar grounds were silent for the nighttime reset, she had to wonder if User tower was going to continue going well into the morning.

"Kanna," Libby eased with a warm smile, she hooked her beautiful blue eyes into his, and as the two finally stepped onto the tan cobbles near the common room's entrance, they slowly hooked right and followed the spiral staircase that swirled all the way to the top floor, which was Libby's home.

"Kanna, Kaji," Ace stated gentlemanly, Libby furrowed her brow and shook her head a little, they continued to slowly climb through the tiers of vines and jungle trees that shaded the back side of the tower.

"Well, if you're greeting someone, you have to have a directive... So, since we're in an informal setting, you'd state 'kanna'te Kaji," Libby explained, Ace intently listened and desperately tried to focus on not losing his footing, "It loosely translates to 'hello to you, Kaji' or, 'What's up, Kaji.' It's pretty casual."

"Okay, so... What if we didn't know each other except by first name?" Ace inquired curiously, Libby was a step or two ahead of him, which had him peering up to her with eager, adoring eyes.

"A formal greeting? You'd replace 'te', which is a casual completion of a greeting, with 'sen'," Libby gestured her hands a little, "It's then you'd use my whole first name..."

"Kanna'sen Kajiksana," Ace stated with great ease, which had Libby's eyebrows raised in solid surprise.

"...You're sounding more and more like a native," Libby encouraged as they slowly strolled past Nox's dark room, they knew he'd likely be back, from the main castle shortly, though they pressed on. Libby tucked her long hair over her shoulder and began to braid it down the side of her chest, "You'll be fluent in no time."

"Okay, so... How about 'goodbye'?" Ace wondered as he sped up to keep in tow with her slender figure, he puppy-dogged after her and knew it was apparent, he huffed a small chuckle and shook his head, "Shut me up when this starts to become tiring..."

"No, it's not tiring at all," Libby giggled, "I want to teach you. Y'know, there are still things about your culture I need to learn about, too."

"... What? Really?" Ace furrowed his brow, the three slowly continued on, though as they reached Ace's landing, they didn't pay a second thought to the fact that the two didn't stop at his front door; they carried on, knowing full well they'd want to spend more time with each other, and also see Chepi after a long four days away.

"Well, yeah, I mean... It still astounds me, to this day, that you have showers INDOORS," Libby laughed softly as the three continued on to the final swoop of stairs that hooked to Libby's fourth floor landing.

"... Teltokuans shower outside?" Ace gawked with a bark of a laugh that cued to Libby as well; both a laughing mess of bashfulness, they finally slowed to Libby's front door, "What other things do you guys do differently, than us!"

"Loads," Libby huffed as she shook her head and slowly opened her door. Upon stepping inside, she flipped on the main ceiling light and gasped a small, excited noise as to just who perked her head up on Libby's bed, "Chepi!"

"Oops, she was sleeping," Ace chuckled as Libby welcomed him in, he closed and locked the door behind the two and inhaled the sweet, familiar scent of her comforting room, "Man, feels good to be home... I love Sugar Rush and all, but... I'm excited to sleep in a bed, for the first time all week."

"You're telling me," Libby huffed with a wide smile as she quickly approached her bed, took her shoes off and knelt to cuddle and pet Chepi.

She breathed a small giggle as Chepi remained curled, though her long, fluffy fox tail wagged with excitement, and as Libby knelt closer to the ball of fluff, Chepi licked her own cheeks in rapidly growing excitement. Ace chuckled with the cute sight and though he sauntered into her still home and grew comfortable, he eyed the two and felt his heart swell with the fact that she was mumbling sweet inquiries, in Teltokuan, down to Chepi. Ace crossed his arms, furrowed his brow and desperately tried to pick at the few words he somehow recognized. After a moment, Libby stood and began to push into her kitchen with purpose.

"Koko took great care of you, huh," Libby inquired to Chepi, who barked a small, cute noise, stretched on Libby's gloriously made bed and jolted to keep in tow with Libby's bare feet against the glossy wooden floors.

"She's all brushed and clean, too," Ace pointed out with a small chuckle as he crossed his arms and slowly pushed into the kitchen with Libby; she began to prepare a bowl of food for Chepi, who excitedly began to circle about Libby's feet and whine in knowing noises of begging.

"You guys have showers inside, you eat wherever you see fit, and don't get me started on all your guys' clothing," Libby stated with a warm smile that she shot into Ace's eyes, he instinctively beamed her a smile in return and shook his head.

"Is it really all that strange?" Ace wondered tenderly, Libby shrugged and strolled across the kitchen to set Chepi's bowl down, full of fresh food.

"It's just far more relaxed... Not to mention, your culture is so touchy-feely," Libby's voice grew a soft amount of tenderness as the two began to very slowly wind down.

"...Touchy-feely?" Ace staggered on his words curiously as Libby stood and began to saunter away from Chepi, she eagerly began to munch on her food with great fervor.

"Yeah... You guys are always hugging, high-fiving, patting... I see Zeddy kiss Ma at least a billion times a day," Libby waggled her hand towards her front door with a bashful smile, "So much love to go around."

"That's not a normal thing for Teltokuans?" Ace wondered as he rested his lower back against her kitchen counter and crossed his arms, Libby sighed and aimlessly gazed across her room.

"Well, it is between like... A group of girls," Libby shrugged, "Not the kissing aspect, but... Like hugging and love-pats. Even between couples or married people, close intimacy, like that, isn't deemed important."

"... So coming here was stark, for you, huh," Ace blurt a chuckle and shook his head, "This whole castle is overflowing with love."

"You're telling me," Libby cocked an eyebrow, "I was introduced to it at such an impressionable age, though, so it wasn't so much of a shock, to me."

"So even romance, between two lovers... That's not normal?" Ace frowned and peered to her, as if to somehow wonder if this was something she was worried she'd miss out on, and all in the same swoop of confident eye contact, he hoped to convey that he had a whole entire, burning, lifetime of a vat of intimacy, just for her, waiting to bubble over.

"Nope," Libby chirped as she raised her eyebrows and sorrowfully looked down with a bittersweet smile, though she waggled her finger and brought her demeanor back to his, "Although, there is a few customs between married couples that may seem a bit much, to you guys."

"Like what?" Ace wondered patiently, Libby began to tidy her braid and unraveled the end of it, so to fix a few kinks.

"Well... I've heard that if the couple fights, it's custom that, after the fight, in a show of forgiveness and grace, you uh... well..." Libby trailed off and heaved a gentle giggle, "You bathe each other."

"Bathe each other?" Ace repeated, as if he didn't hear her right, though she huffed a giggle and scrunched her shoulders to her head, her face turned pink.

"Y-yeah, it's like... Strange, I know," Libby concluded in a rush as she waggled her hands and shook her head.

"N-No, it's not strange... Different, but not strange, I can understand the sentiment," Ace eased patiently, in hopes to draw her back out of her shell, one she had so quickly sunk back into. He chuckled softly and took a careful step away from the counter, closer to her, "It's like... You both maybe have said some things you didn't mean, so you are washing them of that negativity, and physically showing forgiveness. I think it's sweet."

"Exactly," Libby said through a gentle sigh of relief and a bob of a nod as she let her arms rest by her side, though she bashfully eyed Ace in contemplation, "I guess, outside of Teltokuans, that seems a bit much. A simple 'I'm sorry' will suffice, but... I've always learned that, a marriage, or intimate relationship, is something vastly more special. Something you treat with greater care than just the simple apologies and forgiveness."

"I agree," Ace stated with warmth and a small nod, though he narrowed his gaze and peered to Libby in growing curiosity, "... So what are you saying, then?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Libby eased in girlyness as she looked down and tucked stray strands of her white hair behind her ears, she heaved a small giggle as Ace shook his head and grimaced a little.

"I-I need to know what you expect of me, here," Ace blurt with a chuckle as he gestured to himself, though Libby joined in on his laughter and shook her head in bashfulness, "If we fight, am I to take you to the bathroom for a bath?"

"No, no, User, no," Libby huffed in solid embarrassment with an uprising of the giggle-fit she was caught in, she covered her face and shook her head, "W-We can stick to your customs, w-we can find a middle ground... Forget I said anything."

"I'm just pulling your leg," Ace stated warmly as he turned around and gently began to wash his hands, in Libby's kitchen sink; his hands were still dirty from their Sugar Rush trip, though he gently dried his hands and gave her a forgiving smile, "So, intimacy isn't a thing for Teltokuans, huh."

"Not totally," Libby sighed as she couldn't seem to wipe the smile from her face. She heaved a small giggle, she so desperately tried to stifle, though she failed. She inhaled a shaky breath and looked off, "I mean, like I said, I'm more used to it, having been around you guys for the better half of my childhood... But, for the most part, we're a pretty serious conglomerate of people."

"Well... I-I may be no expert, but we have loads of different forms of intimacy," Ace blurt quietly, he could practically feel the shyness, in him, want so desperately to strangle him and tell him to shut up, though he had to wonder if a few more steps forward here, with Libby, was somehow instructed; the way her welcoming smile couldn't be swiped, the twinkle in her eye, he narrowed his gaze tenderly and so desperately wondered if he could somehow attempt to dig a little deeper. He knew it didn't go so well, last time, due to him potentially being overzealous and the two not being on the same page, though he wondered if this time could be different. With a shaky inhale, he remained still and gave her a proper amount of space, "We havvve... Different kinds of hugs, different ways to kiss. There was even a whole entire ancient text written for hundreds of different... Well... Sex positions."

"...HUNDREDS?" Libby gawked, and though Ace was certain that this step forward would get her to shy away even further, he was surprised to see her eyes light up with curiosity, even if it was strictly for the fact that his words were mind-bobbling, and not for the fact that she was interested to try them, just yet.

"That's not even MY culture," Ace chuckled as he bashfully rubbed the back of his head, "It's, uh... An ancient culture, on Earth. I guess information just trickles into the Arcade and, well... We have the knowledge."

"Do YOU?" Libby pressed, though her face was beet red and it was clear she was likely wanting to not be way too forward, she somehow couldn't help it.

"D-Do... I?" Ace stammered, he now was certain his throat was closing, "I-I mean... I'm... Clearly no expert, but uh... Yeah, I know a bit about it."

"Huh," Libby fingered her lip a little and narrowed her gaze, and though the silence between them was near painful, she somehow knew she had to segue away from this weird blip of a situation they had found themselves in, "You said there's... Different forms of kissing? Even kissing, in my culture, is not something that is considered normal."

"... Even between two lovers?" Ace wondered sorrowfully, though Libby shrugged and bobbed a nod.

"Well, yeah... We're worlds apart, Ace," Libby teased as she shook her head, "All I know is you pucker... And that's that."

"Oh, wow," Ace clutched his chest and grimaced in a playful, bittersweet notion, "There's... A lot more to it."

"Is there?" Libby wondered coyly, she softly looked down, raised her eyebrows in collected surprise and felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest, and though she felt the reel of that urge to keep things at a slow pace so desperately tug at the back of her mind, she let her eyes gloss the floor before her, for a second, before she inhaled with confidence and peered her welcoming gaze to Ace, full of trust and readiness, "Show me."

Ace cocked an eyebrow and gently side-eyed her in rapidly growing confusion. He froze and peered to her in solid wariness, though with the way she tucked her hands behind her back, peered to him in expectance and girly cuteness, he let a curious smile sprawl his face, one of pure incredulous wondering. He huffed a shaky chuckle and shook his head in question, and though he remained solid, he wanted so badly to rush her and just finish it, finally.

"Uh... Sh-Show you?" Ace staggered, though Libby giggled bashfully and gestured out to him, though in doing so, she motioned for him to step closer to her.

"Yeah, you... You said there are different ways to kiss, and clearly I only know one way, so..." Libby raised her eyebrows high in continued expectance and heaved a shaky giggle, as if she was trying to convey she was confident, bold and ready, though her demeanor shook in cute giddiness. She covered her face a little, huffed a readied breath and tucked her hair behind her ears, "So uh... Teach me. I've been teaching you crap all night."

"O-Okay," Ace stammered nervously, he huffed a nervous inquiry, cleared his throat and now stepped closer to her in rising terror. He finally huffed a laugh as Libby eyed him, as if to state that she could see he was clearly very nervous. Ace slumped his arms to his sides and gave her a pleading look, "Okay, I-I only KNOW of these techniques, I've never actually... Tried them..."

"So, let's practice, then, together," Libby pressed warmly as she motioned for Ace to come closer, still.

Ace nodded bashfully and eyed her with sweetness in his eyes, and as he closed their gap, he stood a foot before her and huffed a shaky sigh. He peered down into her expectant eyes, though before he could become wholly riddled with an overflow of stage fright, Libby giggled and puckered her lips in a playful notion. She made a quiet kissy noise, which was enough to cue the two into a laughing fit. Ace beamed the widest smile he could, and as they peered into each other's eyes, he knew, no matter what life threw their way, they'd be alright. He finally raised his hands and prepared to cup her face, though he hovered his fingertips near the sides of her jaws and prepped himself. Before he was about to potentially spill more worries down to her, preface her and warn her that he was likely no good at this mess, she warmly long blinked, hovered closer in his vicinity and gave him her twinkling, forgiving eye contact.

"What's this one called?" Libby inquired about the kiss to come, her voice was soft and tender, and as they hovered half a foot from each other's noses, she kept tight, lulling eye contact up into his warm, hazel eyes.

"Well... There's one that isn't even from my culture, either," Ace blurt a chuckle, though Libby furrowed her brows and began to open her mouth to question, though Ace concluded quietly, "Just... Things we've adopted, over time, I guess. Said kiss is called the French kiss."

"French?" Libby repeated curiously, the way her naive eyes soaked into his assured him that she had never heard of it, to which he was relieved.

"Yeah... Uh... Could also be labelled as amorous, passionate," Ace staggered, he was aware his face was beet red, though with the way Libby's eyes peered to him, he wondered if he should likely warn her before he dove right in, "Uh... Includes nibbling, use of uh... Your tongue."

"...What in User's name?" Libby blurt with a small, embarrassed laugh, though Ace shook his head and was confident she'd think differently, afterwards.

"No, trust me, it's not as weird as you'd think," Ace pleaded quietly, he knew they had come this far, he was desperate for her to continue to be adventurous, "We can start smaller, if you want... Th-that one is kind of advanced."

"I'm following your lead, puba," Libby giggled bashfully, their laughter was contagious.

"Okay, well... We have, the Eskimo kiss," Ace eased warmly as he pushed his nose into hers and nuzzled, she lulled her eyes closed and as she wrinkled her nose, amidst her giggling, she followed his nuzzling motion and eased closer to him.

"...That one doesn't involve your mouth?" Libby wondered curiously, though Ace shook his head.

"Nope," Ace chirped, Libby furrowed her brow in confusion, "There's... The air kiss."

Ace beamed a cheeky, close-mouth smile and gently kissed her left cheek, just barely, and then her right. Libby furrowed her brow and shot an incredulous glower up into Ace's eyes.

"... None of these involve your mouth!" Libby urged with a giggle of growing, irritated anticipation, she gingerly allowed her hands and fingertips to find the drum of his heartbeat, they crinkled the chest of his shirt, just barely.

"I got the standard kiss down, don't you think?" Ace's voice was warm and playful, low and sweet. He so tenderly leaned down and pushed his soft lips to hers, in a slow and careful draw of bumbling precision he tried to keep hold of. As Libby returned the kiss and inhaled his sweet scent, she fluttered her eyes as he just barely pulled away and continued on, in a whisper, "I think that one involves your mouth... Right?"

"Ace," Libby huffed a silent giggle and smiled with ease, she shifted on her feet, and upon doing so, she sunk deeper into his gravity.

"Lemme make sure, hold still," Ace grumbled as he scrunched his face in playful, certain curiosity and smushed his lips into hers, once more, a simple closed-mouth kiss that was sweet, warm, innocent yet inviting, and with such, Libby exhaled a giggle through her nose and allowed him such pleasures; dare she allow herself to it, as well. Ace pulled away just barely and cocked an eyebrow, though he peered down at her in continued playful curiosity, "That's how it's done, right? Is my aim off?"

"I don't know, try again," Libby blurt softly with a wide, bashful smile she knew was going to be impossible to wipe, though as she was about to tease him further, he bobbed a small nod of a shrug and leaned down, yet again, to sink his lips to hers. She fluttered her eyes closed in a lull of whole delight as she felt his skin, and with this gentle push, she felt a weird instinct kick in. With such, her hands grappled the chest of his shirt, and as her fingertips felt the muscles of his chest, she inhaled a shaky breath as he pulled away. As the two hovered before each other, both uncertain, both ready to pounce, Libby exhaled said faltering breath and dared to press the issue, further, "Hey, what's uh... What's that French one all about?"

"I was wondering, as well," Ace's voice glossed over her mouth in the quietest, playful grumble, though as he tucked in for the seemingly the hundredth time, he lulled his eyes closed and hoped this playful amount of confidence wouldn't be jinxed.

As the two softly met in a whirl of continued pushes of love, Ace hoped he wasn't about to startle her, like last time. He knew to take things slow, and whatever speed he thought was slow, he was aware that even that could potentially be too quick. He wondered when the speed limit would change, though for now, he knew to keep things at her pace. With the gentle nudge of a kiss, he so gently pushed into her a little more and tucked in again. He gingerly tilted his head and somehow hoped skill would be on his side, he warmly loosened and kissed her lower lip in a tease of push and pull. As he eased out of the kiss, just barely, he fluttered his eyes, peered down to the bridge of her nose, got his bearings and warmly cupped her jaws in his larger hands. As her little fingers began to gingerly grip the chest of his shirt, once more, and her ribcage expanded with a shaky, excited inhale, he lulled his eyes closed, once more, and took this as a proper green light.

In cues of tenderness, a push and pull, nudges and gaps of rhythm, Ace gingerly kept his hands underneath her jaws and wrapped around the back of her head, just barely. He initially worried that hovering over her, amidst keeping her head still, likely was too intimidating, though with the way her hands practically itched to run down his chest, he cocked an eyebrow and wondered if maybe, just maybe, she was keeping her desires tight at bay. He kept all his senses honed to her every whim, any signs that she could potentially not be enjoying every second of this, he knew to end it quick, though no such signs came about. With a smile that came to his mouth, upon hearing her murmur a small, delightfully nervous inquiry, he tried to quell his trembling heart and knew he had to just up and follow through, no matter how excitedly terrified he was. As he tilted his head and dug in a bit deeper, he gently gaped his kisses and hoped whatever display of confidence he could muster would entice her and wiggle her inner intimacy out to play, as well.

As if they both were on the edge of cues they weren't certain who should hit first, Ace finally swallowed any amount of hesitation he had and decided to become a bit more firm with the process, a risk he was wondering if she was hoping he'd just take. As he so gently tugged her tighter into his embrace, his hands passionately cupped the back of her head. He tilted his head just a little more and warmly sucked her bottom lip in the simple movement of their gaping kiss, and before he knew it, he was floored to hear her suck in a shaky, readied inhale through her nose. As her hands finally dragged down his chest upon defeat of resisting the urge to get her hands on his becoming body, he huffed a silent, daring chuckle on her lips, smirked in a hint of knowing and allowed her to do whatever she wanted, or needed, in this raw time of uncertainty and heat.

In a whirl of solid enchantment, they met once more, in a gentle gape of their deepened kiss, and as Libby's hands finally were palm-pushed to his chest in a full show of neediness, Ace followed her careful cues and seductively ran his tongue over the underside of her top lip. With such tease, he huffed a small noise of a chuckle and broke their kiss, though only barely. With this, Libby furrowed her brow in growing irritation, at said tease, and finally grappled the chest of his shirt. In a soft tug, she eased him down into her and soaked into each other's unconditional love, a ring of passion they felt their way through, and as their romantic kiss began to escalate to something a bit more heated and exciting, their hands and arms simply moved in unison, a cue somehow their brains were now tied to. Amidst Libby's grippy hands that soaked up the front of Ace's broad chest, she gently hugged her arms around his neck as his larger, masculine hands moved down to the middle of her back; though he wanted so badly to tug her into him, as tight as he could, he still kept her in loosened tenderness, so to show that she had control here.

Amidst their vehement display of an escalating frenzy, Libby felt as if her head was spinning. She felt every single last one of her troubles fall to the wayside, a skill she knew they both were beyond eager to test out, though with such raw display of romance thrust upon her, she raised her eyebrows in solid surprise and allowed her mind to soak into the obvious. The two inhaled each other's gasps, the give and take of gapes and tenderness, the push of their magical kiss allowed for different sensations, ones of which Libby was uncertain even existed, and with this, she could feel the tightening grip of Ace's hands on the middle of her back. She was well aware that any intimacy, beyond their much-needed make-out session they were so suddenly caught up in, was likely going to be a wild ride of pent up emotions the two so desperately kept trying to stuff. With this, she furrowed her brow and nearly forgot just why they were taking things as slow as they were. She knew she could so easily let all of her walls come down, right here, right now, and he'd take flawless care of her. She knew it with every last fiber of her being that she'd be wholly protected and cherished, no matter what, and with this, she felt a hard urge of desperate words practically crawl out of her throat.

"Ace?" Libby murmured amidst one of their many close-proximity breaks, though he huffed a shaky grumble of an inquiry and felt safe; he tucked into her for a few more kisses, long smooches of continued neediness, as if her lips were the only thing he wanted to taste, for the rest of his life. He raised his eyebrows in continued inquiry, as if to state that she would just have to say what she needed to say through the breaks. She giggled, at said notion and lovingly draped her arms about the back of Ace's head and neck, "Ace, I-I..."

"Hmm?" Ace eased with such warmth, the sweetness in his half-moon gaze that just barely peeked open to assess her demeanor, and with the affirmation of her dainty, blushed, near-delirious smile, she huffed a shaky, silent giggle and allowed him to tuck into her for continuous love, though amidst a final break he eventually allowed, he raised his eyebrows a little higher and anticipated her words, though he playfully demonstrated that he wasn't going to wait for much longer.

"How, uh..." Libby stammered, she could feel her heart race at the speed of light, though as if she could hardly keep these words in her for any longer, she breathed a playful giggle, scrunched her shoulders, and was well aware her face was flushed with whole, bashful delight. She exhaled on Ace's wet, warm lips and fluttered her eyes closed in gentle knowing, "How do you say 'I love you' in English?"

Ace long blinked once or twice, though as the words hit him head on, he forgot all about wanting to simply kiss her words away. He huffed a silent breath of disbelief and replayed her words in his head and rapid speed. He knew she was simply being playful, she knew just how to say what she said in English, though as soon as it all clicked, he slumped his shoulders in raw surprise and felt as if his heart was nearly about to give out on him. He breathed a surprised chuckle on her mouth, which caused her to giggle with the small present she had suddenly given to him. He gave her a look of solid, earnest delight and squinted, as if this was likely too good to be true.

"C-Cause I really wanna say it to you," Libby rushed with a bashful, nervous smile as the two panted.

Ace's smile broadened as the two kept their tight proximity, and as his arms tightened around her, he breathed an incredulous chuckle on her lips, once again, and shook his head. He continued to keep his adoring, narrow gaze straight to the bridge of her nose, though as she tilted her head up a little more, they gained eye contact. Ace warmly slid his hands to underneath her jaws, and the back of her head, once more, and as he cradled her close and kept her safe, he knew this was the step they were needing, another peg of trust added to the board, and he knew, in no time, they'd be headed for gold. He gave her a cheeky look of floored delight and continued to soak into her contagious, bashful giggling, her cheeks were nearly permanently blushed.

"I love you," Ace stated, as if to answer her question, though he knew this was also his way of getting the words out in the atmosphere, for her to do what she would want with it.

"I love you," Libby repeated, like he was teaching her just how to say it properly, though as the two were simply all smiles, held tight in the gap of their passionate kiss, he warmly pushed a few warm smooches to her readied lips and kept her tight to him.

"I love you too," Ace wheezed in a croak of whole delight, simply as if he was wanting to say it for centuries now, and as the two soaked in each others unending, gooey love, they tucked in for a few more simple smooches. Ace so gently stroked the sides of her cheeks with his larger thumbs, and as they continued to hold tight with each other, he raised his eyebrows in inquiry and gazed down into her twinkling blue eyes, "How do you say it in Teltokuan?"

"Byuleeb'yah," Libby stated through continuous, bashful giggling, which had Ace's mouth forever formed in a giddy, gentlemanly smile.

"Byuleeb'yah... Too," Ace staggered, which had Libby's giggling growing into full laughter, they stumbled as she lost her balance a little.

"Y'sure you haven't had practice with that there, uh... French kiss?" Libby stabbed with laughter that quieted to bashful giggling, once more, though Ace furrowed his brow and gave her a hard look of floored incredulousness.

"Libby, you've known me for forever, now," Ace stifled a laugh as they continued to ooze an overflow of giddy romance, "Have you ever heard me mention any other girl I've been even remotely interested in?"

Libby mumbled her answer underneath her quiet, annoyed giggling, though Ace side-eyed her and gaped a cheesy, annoyed smile.

"HUH? What was that?" Ace's voice teasingly grew in volume, as did Libby's contagious laughter.

"NO," She blurt as Ace firmly, and now playfully, held her cheeks. She gripped the chest of his shirt and continued to practically tear up from laughter, "No, I haven't."

"No, you haven't," Ace concluded with a nod, "You're my fire flower. You just solidified it with that 'I love you' lesson, okay?"

"Okay," Libby snorted a giggle.


	147. Chapter 147

**Reviews :**

 **ArchDev :** I'm glad, thank you! The long chapters are apparently hit or miss for me. Sometimes I can't stop myself and other times it's hard to reach 4K haha.

 **SamanthaR1989 :** Thank you! :D and, yay! I'm really relieved at that haha

 **ArchitectDreams :** Oh User, 10K? I mean, I have that in me, but I'd likely have to wait a week before continuing on, just so everyone could catch up haha

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha I'm the master at fluff, melting full grown men into puddles of lovey dovey gooeyness. xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **King by Lauren Aquilina**

 **Zehnaseeb from Hasee Toh Phasee**

* * *

 ***Chapter 147***

Through a deep, raspy inhale, Ralph grumbled a small noise, rubbed his face and gently rolled over. His and Vanellope's bed whispered a croak as it settled, though with Ralph's slow turn, he soaked into the middle of the bed and was still in the mindset that Vanellope wouldn't return until the next night. He itched his cheek, tucked his larger hand underneath his and Vanellope's fluffy pillows and merely opened his eyes, to see just what time it was, how many more hours of sleep he had. Upon the blur of sleepiness, he scrunched his face in tired curiosity and suddenly felt his stomach dip in a slow, heavy trail of dread. Just outside their patio, off of their bedroom, he could see a figure through the sheer curtain. As rain gently trickled down, he opened his eyes a little wider and remained frozen at the sheer fact that someone was on his patio.

Ralph remained solid and studied the figure; obviously a woman, they were sat hunched and still. Ralph furrowed his brow and now reeled with confusion. He knew Vanellope couldn't possibly be back, from Sugar Rush, so soon. He wondered if Emery, Tammy or Koko had made a weird mistake, those three women being the only women that didn't attend the Sugar Rush scout. Just as Ralph was about to sit up, because this strange daydream wasn't vanishing, the darker, sheer curtain fluttered out of the way of the window and revealed color to Ralph's retina's. Vanellope sat with her face in her hands, she looked wholly disheveled, defeated. She was clearly crying, though she was silent and still, her dark grey hoodie was loose over her slender figure. She looked as if she had come into their bedroom, slipped on comfortable pants and immediately went to sit outside.

Ralph gently removed himself from their bed, and as he approached the patio, he grappled his hand for his lazy red t-shirt and tugged it over his crazy bedhead. He rubbed his eyes and desperately continued to wonder if this was simply a dream, though upon stepping out into the crisp air, he shuffled his feet loudly, so not to startle Vanellope. Ralph scrunched his face and was delighted that said shuffling was successful, Vanellope slowly looked up at him in a collected way of whole sorrow. She looked as if she had just been told that Sugar Rush was unplugged for good, something of that severity. The twinkle in her eye had dulled, it were as if she was simply a shell of forgotten hopes and dreams, and with this, Ralph's brain finally began to search for the panicky, nervous emotions that were still asleep.

"Vanellope," Ralph croaked, his voice broke a bit as he was still waking up. He rubbed the back of his head and began to step over to her; he was just in his shirt and black boxers. He warmly sat down next to her, on their comfortable outdoor furniture, and so warmly let his large hand cup her back in softness, "You're... Home early?"

"Thank Tessa," Vanellope stated through her nasally voice, which was quiet and muted. She nodded, rubbed her cheeks and lulled her eyes closed, "It was her idea to, uh... Switch up the flight pattern. I guess I always knew Lickity, Royal and Balba were nocturnal, but I never gave it a second thought."

"... What's going on?" Ralph wondered nervously, he shook his head and peered to her urgently, "Did something bad happen?"

"No, nothing bad happened," Vanellope sighed through her mouth, mostly because her nose was totally clogged, "I uh... I'm not sure I'll be going on the next scout."

"What?" Ralph hissed as he gave Vanellope a look of floored confusion, "What is going on?"

"Nothing," Vanellope huffed as her eyes glossed the dark, wet foliage beyond their patio, as well as the side of Tessa's and Zed's own domed room, a branch of the Sky Room. She shook her head, yet again, and lulled her eyes closed, "I don't think it's wise I go, anymore... It's becoming apparent that Tessa doesn't want me there."

"Why would you suggest that?" Ralph urged tiredly, he nervously glanced over to Tessa's and Zed's dome, and though they clearly couldn't see in, it still was a reflex, "Wh-what happened with you and Tessa?"

"I guess I crossed some sort of line I wasn't even aware I crossed," Vanellope stated dully, "Somehow, somewhere down the line, I was bullying Ace without knowing it, and... She got in my face about it."

Ralph grimaced a little and peered to the side of Vanellope's face, and though he so desperately wanted to puff his chest, get pissed at everyone for making his wife upset, his grimace very easily sloped into an annoyed, grit of teeth and tired apprehension. Vanellope continued to look away, which was how said facial expression was still a thing, though after a few moments, he heaved a hot sigh through his nose and was certain Tessa's fuse had finally been blown. Ralph knew Vanellope had been rather tough on their grandson, and though Ralph didn't get way too many shows of said toughness, he was aware that she likely could've toned it down a notch. Not anticipating a blow-out on their Sugar Rush scout, he had been saving said warning conversation for when Vanellope returned; he rolled his eyes at the fact that it was now too late.

"What exactly did she say?" Ralph wondered quietly, he knew pretending to get uppity and pissed was likely going to not be believable, and for just how sleepy he was, he was thrilled he was a neutral person in this mess. He sleepily rubbed his face and concluded through a tired grumble, "Enough for me to talk to her in the morning, or not enough to where this maybe just needs a good night's sleep?"

"Well, nothing was wrecked, if that answers your question," Vanellope growled as her sorrowful demeanor was very slowly slipping to dark irritation. She shook her head and continued to peer out to the still world, minus the small sprinkles of rain that drizzled down, "Just my feelings."

Ralph genuinely frowned and peered to her, and with her words, his 'you had it coming' feelings were now raising to blips of concern. He assessed her defeated demeanor, lazy and tired, he was certain the trip was a big one, though even amidst being exhausted, Vanellope typically still carried herself with dignity, she held her head high and didn't let much of anything get her down. The look of whole defeat continued to just gloss over her, like black molasses, coating her in a shell that would eventually harden and be something that likely no one could pry her from. Before she could permanently be soaked in this nonsense, Ralph lovingly rubbed up and down her back and tilted his head.

"She's a tough cookie, that one," Ralph grumbled, as if to agree with Vanellope, though he narrowed his gaze and playfully peered out to the world in aimless thought, "She reminds me a lot of someone..."

"You?" Vanellope retort in dull annoyance as she spiked a smile of sarcasm, though she rolled her eyes, lulled them closed and shook her head in total exhaustion, though before Ralph could even pretend he was offended, he gingerly cupped Vanellope's chin and made her look up at him.

"You," Ralph huffed sternly, though he held onto a loving smile. He narrowed his gaze further and was thrilled to have Vanellope's now surprised eye contact. Ralph opened his mouth to speak, though he let a few moments of prickled silence coat Vanellope's irritated soul with love. He tilted his head a little and let his face get closer to hers, for emphasis, "You don't know who you're doing this for, do you..."

"What... Do you mean?" Vanellope uttered nervously, as if this little knock-back was all it took for that mean, irritated, exhausted front of Vanellope's to slide off of her skin. Her little hands tenderly shook as she gripped Ralph's large wrist.

"Sugar Rush is ours... That Kingdom is something we've so patiently, so diligently cured and cared for," Ralph's voice was soft yet it still held that stern bite; Vanellope knew this came with raising children, "That whole entire land, the entirety of it's cities, all of it... Is ours."

Vanellope's eyes welled with big tears, tears of whole defeat and sadness, unlike the tears of frustration and irritation that had been drowning her soul. Ralph gripped her chin a little bit more, so she wouldn't look away, though his large thumb tenderly stroked her cheek in a firm swipe, so to get rid of a tear that escaped.

"... Then, we had those three beautiful children," Ralph whispered as a small, bashful smile peaked on his lips. He long blinked, as if he wanted to let his words soak sunshine to her pale skin. He shook his head and breathed a warm chuckle to her face, "Those three gorgeous, incredibly talented children... The second we decided to have children was the second we decided to give them Sugar Rush, babe."

Vanellope's eyebrows raised in a hit of knowing, Ralph's words melted that dark molasses she had been allowing to harden to her skin, and as Vanellope grimaced a hiccup of a cry and remained in Ralph's gravitational pull, she allowed her tears to fall like the rain about them. She remained silent and desperately tried to contain herself, though as Ralph allowed her to cry and do what she needed, he didn't allow her to leave his strict warmth.

"You've raised a Queen, Vanellope," Ralph chuckled warmly as Vanellope's dewy, glassy hazel orbs peered up to him with all the innocence, all the sorrow, all the understanding in Arcade, and as Ralph brought her back to the ground, he warmly gripped her free hand in his and continued to hold her chin with his other, "Tessa knows her responsibilities, as a Queen... As a mother. You're sitting here, so upset over the fact that your daughter may have challenged you, but, Vanellope... You should be flattered."

"Flattered?" Vanellope whispered in stark, earnest surprise.

"Yes, flattered," Ralph repeated with a quiet chuckle, "She has learned enough from you to know that she needs to fight for what's right... She was brave enough to stand up to you, she took a huge risk going toe-to-toe with you, and with this... You should rest assured that that special little lady is going to stop at nothing to set things straight."

Vanellope frowned and continued to let tears of near-relief soak down her cheeks, and as Ralph's wisdom cloaked her with warmth she had been seeking all week, she hovered in his bubble and was grateful he had woken up, shaken her from this funk she had found herself in. She grimaced the smallest, most humble smile and shook her head.

"I'd be very lost, without you," Vanellope's voice croaked, though Ralph shook his head in disagreeing kindness. Vanellope huffed a long breath and felt her shoulders slump a little, "I'm so glad I have you... I've had a stick up my ass, lately, huh..."

"It's not your fault, Vanellope, you're just scared," Ralph assured gently, he continued to hold her, "I'm scared too... I-I guess... I just show my insecurities with outward bigotry."

"...Wait, what?" Vanellope jolted in solid confusion, though Ralph sheepishly looked down.

"... Tessa's not the only one who isn't afraid to take a stand against a parent," Ralph muttered with a sheepish, annoyed smile, though Vanellope's curiosity broadened.

"Koko?" Vanellope huffed gently, though she very quickly was reminded over the fact that Koko had swapped with a TurboTwin. Vanellope breathed a knowing giggle to Ralph's face and nudged his chest a little, "Got a kick outta the fact that she swapped with Nox, huh."

"She destroyed the kitchen, Vanellope," Ralph muttered, though Vanellope's laughs only grew, as did Ralph's knowing smile, "She stood up for Nox and Throttle... I've been a real ass about those two, but... Throttle really helped Fix-It Felix Jr. in a time of need, while you were gone."

"Really?" Vanellope tenderly prod, Ralph bobbed a nod and gingerly released Vanellope, though he remained close.

"We're outnumbered, Vanellope," Ralph chuckled, he eyed his wife and gave her a knowing smirk, "It's just a matter of time before Oliver gets pissed about something and dives on one of us."

"I think you and I may have a bad case of top-dogs," Vanellope sighed, she shook her head and let that dreaded glower come back to her, "... Tessa's forbid me from teaching Ace, any longer."

"... What?" Ralph huffed in total disbelief, though Vanellope shrugged and shook her head.

"I told you, I'm not going on the next scout," Vanellope repeated as her sorrowful eyes soaked up into his, once more, "I can't speak for Taffyta, but I'm not going... I-I guess I just... Need to distance myself. She seems gung-ho, she took charge and now has Ace underneath her wing, for all his glitching and wrecking lessons. Who am I to stand in the way..."

"Well... I would typically say you should talk to her about it, but..." Ralph heaved a hot sigh and soaked into the back of the couch, he finally relaxed his spine and allowed himself to continue feeling sleepy, "Maybe you should just give her some space. She'll respect it, anyhow."

"She did basically tell me to back off," Vanellope muttered, she closed her eyes and rubbed the tears that had settled on her jawline, with the back of her sleeved wrist. She inhaled a hard, long sniffle and let her wet eyes soak with the equally as wet surroundings, "I guess... I'll just keep my eyes down and, if she needs me, she knows where to find me."

"Don't let this hiccup of yours make you lose sight of what's important," Ralph urged softly as he peered to her, though she curiously peered back.

"What's that?" Vanellope prod softly, though Ralph gestured to the game, as if to gesture to the entire Kalivar lot.

"Family," Ralph eased, he peered back to her and let a small smile wrinkle across his face, "Our children have expanded our coding and beyond. We're related to half the people under this roof. We're all working towards one objective... Sure, we may step on each other's toes, here and there, but... I know it'll all get ironed out."

"I just feel as though I can't even speak to Ace without being heavily watched," Vanellope mumbled sorrowfully, though Ralph shook his head.

"Just keep things simple... If Tessa lets her head get big, in this switch-up, you know I'll come down on her like hot water," Ralph assured sleepily as his fingers prod at his hair, to maybe potentially think about tidying it, though he opted to resting his arms behind his head.

"I appreciate it," Vanellope stated through a shaky sigh as more tears welled in her eyes,

"Just... For now, lay low and let them figure out what they need to do," Ralph bobbed a nod, "Maybe it's wise to sit out this next trip. She clearly wants to stretch her wings and take charge. Let her... Maybe she'll find something. It sucks knowing that one day, your kingdom will simply be passed to someone else, but... You have to understand that that certain someone else is your own flesh and blood, someone who loves that game as much, if not more, than you and I combined."

"Yeah," Vanellope meeped in a small bout of agreeing as she nodded, tucked her knees to her chest and buried her chin into her arms. She grimaced, shut her eyes and knew this pain would only be temporary, having to sit back and watch from the side lines, though she felt a weird weight be lifted, as if her sole responsibility, for the time being, was to let humility run it's course, to take some time for herself and figure out her footing.

"Don't worry," Ralph stated with a knowing smile and a bob of a nod, "You know, in the end, everything shakes out. It always has."

* * *

Ace shivered, rubbed up and down his arms with his larger hands and slowly pushed closer to the large, round door of their massive outdoor patio. Having come down from his tower, likely early enough to catch his uncles before they head off for game day, Ace took note of the cold and wondered just how his uncles even continued game days through the changing seasons. Ace grimaced and knew he was spoiled; it never got way too cold, in Dead Zed, though winter mornings and nights still held a bite. Ace raised his eyebrows in tiredness and smiled to himself in the calm of everything, and as he reached for the handle of the back door, he thanked himself for throwing on a hoodie.

As he swung the door open, he furrowed his brow a little and took note of the lack of energy, in the castle. With a wide view of the great room, the kitchen, dining room and living room underneath one massive, arched ceiling, he squinted a little, as the rays of the morning sun glinted through the windows near the front door. He slumped his shoulders and suddenly wondered if maybe he had slept longer than he thought, ultimately missing the opportunity to see his uncles before they sped away for quarter alerts. He felt warmth return to his skin as he noticed his aunt Koko stationed at the large, marble kitchen island. She sat, tidying her hair and preparing it for a braid. She, too, was wearing a hoodie, though the smell of deliciousness filled Ace's lungs, and he was quick to realize that she was making herself a small breakfast. Ace squinted a little and suddenly wondered if maybe no one knew the whole gang had made it home, from Sugar Rush.

"Hey, Keeks," Ace stated with a sleepy smile as he strolled up, bed head and all.

Koko's attention flew up from her quiet, content loneliness, and as her eyes drew to him in stunned surprise, she scoffed a noise of disbelief and slowly got off of the stool she was on. With a widening smile and a look of floored, incredulous disbelief, she worked her away around the island and quickly approached her nephew.

"... Ace!" Koko finally expressed with gentle quietness; she assumed she was all alone. She shook her head with an even wider smile and quickly slapped her arms around Ace's neck. Ace the two tightly embraced for a moment, she pulled away and kept her larger hands firm to Ace's shoulders, "A-Are all of you guys back?"

"Yeah, we got in really early, this morning," Ace concluded with a gentle nod, and as the two softly gave each other a tiny bit of distance, Koko still peered up to Ace in solid surprise. Ace realized that the gears were now turning in her head, and as she connected the dots, she pulled out her communicator in solid confusion and dragged her nervous gaze up into her nephew's.

"Well... I-I didn't get any notification from Nox, is h-he... Here?" Koko staggered, as if to show that she was floored he was home, though confused as to why he didn't make his presence known.

"Oh, he was so exhausted, don't take him not messaging you personally," Ace assured as he scrunched his face and shrugged, to prove to Koko that no ill-intent was present, "I saw him sauntering back to the tower the minute we got in. He was very tired."

"Oh, okay," Koko relaxed with a gentle, bashful smile; her face visibly turned red as she huffed a shaky breath and looked away, though she cocked an eyebrow, "Did he uh... S-Say anything-"

"Everyone knows," Ace blurt, his voice crackled from sleepiness, though he gave his smaller aunt a cheeky, teasing smile; she rolled her eyes and began to lazily step back over to the stool she was sat at.

"I knew he wouldn't be able to keep it in," Koko huffed a knowing giggle, though Ace bobbed a nod and looked about gently.

"Not even a little," He stated through a long, tired sigh, though his demeanor was happy and at peace; his mind desperately wanted to wander to the night prior, with him and Libby, though he focused his attention to his aunt, who began to look giddy over the fact that Nox had returned back to her, "I suppose everyone on your end knows, as well?"

"Yep... Dad got the brunt of it," Koko stated through a soft grumble, and though the end of her sentence trailed an understanding smile, she still scrunched her face, peered towards the Sky Room and got a little confused, "I... I don't remember seeing dad leave, for quarter alerts, though..."

"Really?" Ace worried as he pulled his communicator out of the pouch pocket of his hoodie, he noticed the Arcade was to open in twenty minutes, "Well, uh... Should I go check if he's awake or not?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Koko gestured, which cued Ace to gently stand and hurry towards the Sky Room.

Koko heaved a shaky sigh, looked down to her hands and quickly began to tidy her hair. Just as she finished putting it into a long braid, down her back, she exhaled another shaky breath and yanked out her communicator. She thumbed through it, and with her's and Nox's conversation towards the bottom of the list, because of the lack of messages, she tabbed into it and sent him a small hello message, something he could wake up to, a gentle inquiry she hoped he'd jump on. With this distance, she understood the pain of being away from your swap-mate for an extended amount of time, and though she knew none of this was strictly physical, she couldn't wait to hull away with him and hear all about his trip, soak in his funny attitude, his terrible jokes, and most importantly, his cuddly embrace. Koko heaved a sigh and wistfully looked up to the arched ceilings; she allowed herself to get lost in gentle daydreaming.

Before Ace could return, or any larger amount of time could pass, Koko suddenly jolted out of her thoughts as the back door flung open in a frenzy. A wild, panting mess, Nox stood hunched, grappling the door handle, he burst into the room and came to a jolt of a halt. His bed head was disastrous, the look in his crazed, golden eyes was that of startled apprehension, though just before Koko could urgently inquire if he was okay and forget all of her whimsical daydreams, Nox began to stammer on a string of incoherent inquiries, worries all slewed into one. Koko laughed and flagged her hand, as if to beg him to slow down and start from the beginning.

"H-How long have I been asleep?!" Nox barked, his voice echoed through the barren, sunlit house; Koko harped a laugh and gave him the wildest, incredulous smile.

"Probably like four hours!" Koko stabbed back, she laughed and laughed, "Why are you panicking?"

"...What!" Nox urged in growing, tired desperation, "I-I thought I slept through an entire day!"

"No! You got in early this morning, right?" Koko continued to giggle, she knew this likely wasn't the way she wanted to reunite with Nox, though his adorable, sleepy demeanor made it all okay. Koko peered down at the clock, on her communicator, and waggled it about, "It's only nine forty-five!"

"Oh, so I got eight hours," Nox furrowed his brow in whole confusion and looked down to the tiles, he rubbed his forehead in sleepy contemplation and shook his head as he continued to ponder something, "Why, then, am I still so exhausted? I got your message and thought maybe I had slept a whole twenty four hours."

"Slept heavy, huh?" Koko wondered nonchalantly, though he nodded and finally brought himself to the room, and just the woman he was finally with.

"Well, uh..." Nox staggered, he dragged his lazy eyes to Koko and broadened a bashful, though daring smile. He tilted his head to the back door, cocked an eyebrow and gave her a knowing look, "Wanna, uh... Head back to the tower with me?"

"What a wonderful idea," Ralph suddenly grumbled, and as his voice glossed over the top of Nox's head, he noticed his little figure go cold-rigid. Ralph breathed a huff of a chuckle and wrapped his pointer finger, and thumb, around the back of Nox's neck and held him in a solid grip of teasing, "I'll come with. You can sleep with my hand around your neck, like this, right?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Nox staggered in cold terror as he shut his eyes tight and began to count every single last good memory to his name, though before Nox could shrink into himself and be fully aware that he was done for, Ralph unhanded him and laughed in growing understanding. He gently nudged Nox's shoulder and began to step away.

"I'm only teasing," Ralph breathed as him and Nox caught eyes, though Nox cocked an eyebrow and remained frozen solid in cold, terrified confusion, "I-I overslept... Was up all night comforting Vanellope."

"What's wrong with mom?" Koko wondered, though Nox shot her a look and was curious as to just why she was so nonchalant about the brief, laziness of Ralph's understanding that her coding was now laced with his. He dragged his boggled gaze back to Ralph as he hurried towards the front door.

"I-I guess some serious business went down, between her and Tess, on the trip... I'm sure they'll tell you more, I'm just thankful Ace came and woke me up. I'd miss my quarter alerts," Ralph staggered as he shot his grandson a look of whole gratefulness.

"Anytime, Paw," Ace stated as he lazily saluted his grandfather with a warm smile, though he came alongside Nox and gave him a knowing side-eye.

"Hey, will you be ready for wrecking lessons when I get back?" Ralph called across the room quietly, though everyone remained silent; everyone knew Ralph was talking to Nox, though it was clear Nox was still reeling. Ralph huffed a chuckle and gestured his large hand, a little, "O-Or... Is it too intimidating right out the gate?"

"M-Me?" Nox's voice trembled, though Ralph slumped his shoulders and gave him a playful glower.

"You ARE a wrecker now, aren't you?" Ralph urged gently, the love in his voice was laced alongside his strong front, "I gotta take any wreckers, this castle garners, under my wing... Y'up for it?"

"A-Am I?" No repeated with a widening, floored smile. He scoffed a noise, and though his demeanor was still sleepy, he grappled his bed head, bent his knees a little, for emphasis, and gave Ralph a look of whole, grateful excitement, "I-I'm beyond 'up for it'."

"Good," Ralph pointed with a kind, though challenging smile, "See you after quittin' time, yeah?"

"Yeah," Nox breathed as he slumped his shoulders, he looked wholly relieved, glossed with floored excitement, and as Ralph gently closed the massive castle doors behind him, Nox stabbed his urgent gaze into Ace's. Ace crossed his arms and gave Nox a knowing look, "D-Did you SEE THAT?"

"Tessa isn't the only one to get on one of our parent's cases, this week, I guess," Koko grumbled as she peered across the castle, a loving glower chased after her father as he left, and as she dragged her eyes to Nox's, with an overflow of love, she smiled and shook her head, "Hope you're prepared. His wrecking lessons will have you sore for days."

"I'll take it," Nox stated gratefully as he clenched his fists and peered down to them, and though he was uncertain just what kind of power he wielded, in this department, he was beyond excited to discover it with none-other than the original wrecker himself.


	148. Chapter 148

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki : CONGRATS!** You're my _**1200th reviewer!**_ I'm really grateful for every single one of your reviews. They're so full on insight and understanding, and I always anticipate reading them! So, thank you! :D - Yeahhh Nox definitely learns about how powers are balanced, in this chapter. You'll see how.

 **Snake557 :** You'll definitely be saying that about him at the end of this chapter, as well xD

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you! :D Oliver doesn't really go toe-to-toe with anyone really. He has his moments, but ever since that throw around with Tessa, I think he knows better now haha. And yes, I agree, girls are worse! I was, and likely still am, the most 'tame' of my sisters. I'm the black sheep of the family lol so no one really bothers with me.

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Pure Spirits of the Forest - James Horner**

 **Blind ft. Young Brother - Built By Titan**

* * *

 ***Chapter 148***

As the heat of the day came and went too quickly, the Dead Zed sun began to find it's way below the horizon, and though the day was settling, everyone knew it was far from over. With Nox anxiously asking all of the wreckers, of the house, just what to expect of Ralph wrecking lesson to come, it was easy to tell that everyone was rapidly becoming more and more excited to add more familiar coding to the castle. Tessa gabbed with Nox, Zed and Oliver, though she had instances where she'd laugh and turn to make a kind remark to her mother, but she was nowhere to be found. Tessa felt this continuous sting throughout the day. She knew her mother and Aunt Taffyta were making it obvious that their distance was stark and empty, and though Taffyta was a neutral party, she knew sticking to her sister, and keeping her company in this confusing time, was likely best. Tessa tried her hardest to shove these thoughts to the back of her mind, a task for another day; for now, she was grateful she had Nox's dewy, naive and excited eyes to focus on, a new wrecker eager to learn just how far he could push his strength.

The second Ralph came home was the second everyone started putting on their shoes and growing even more excited. Even Ace's uncles showed fervor in wanting to come watch, and as everyone slowly began to mosey towards the front doors of the castle, Ace did a quick head count. He bit his lip and noted each one of his uncles were going to tag along. He noted his mother and father, his Uncle Oliver and Aunt Emery, he knew his Aunt Koko and Nox were tight on Ralph's heels, Tammy's fix-it hammer dangled on her belt loop in preparation for a solid amount of clean up, though Ace furrowed his brow and reeled as to just who were missing. He was fully aware his grandmother and great Aunt Taffyta likely weren't going to join on this mission, and his second cousin, Penny, likely was already in her bedroom, preparing for a reset. He scanned the group and finally realized it was missing his jungle princess.

"You guys go, I'll catch up," Ace instructed over the chatter, to which only a few people cued to, Ralph being one of them.

"Where are you going?" Ralph urged with a smile as he swung the castle's front door open, though Ace grimaced and gestured towards the back door, in which he was closest to.

"Im going to get Libby, I'm not sure where she laid off too, but I know she'll want to join," Ace called kindly, and as he got an affirmative nod from his grandfather, mother and father, he gently slipped out the back door and grimaced at the sudden rush of cool air that hit him head on.

Ace faltered a little and grappled his upper arms with his larger hands, and as he rubbed up and down, to warm himself up, he let his gaze gloss the front of his tower. Splashed with speckles of the setting sun, through the thick jungle trees, Libby's floor was just barely shroud in humidity, a thin fog that hung over the castle and it's grounds. Ace smiled a little as his pupil's dilated, they gently soaked to the hundreds of fire flowers that were simply the threshold of his tower, a reminder that this ground was built on love, something they walked through everyday in the utmost of care, so not to kill any of the flowers; everyone knew the fire flower field wasn't simply something to go strolling through, unless you were to be admiring it's beauty, careful of your footwork.

Just as Ace was going to become wholly lost in the depth of his and Libby's detrimental relationship, he flinched in a startled way as a sudden, short hiss of an inquiry was volleyed his way. He quickly looked over his shoulder, in sharpness and was stunned to see Royal lounging near the outdoor bar, a grassy area of remaining sun just near Taffyta's abode and patio, and before he could squint his gaze and wonder just why Royal was snipping random, silent inquires at him, Royal gestured his head across the field and held his chameleon finger and claw up to his mouth, as if to warn Ace to remain quiet. Ace jostled his footwork to a nervous crawl and spanned his attention across and to the right of his tower and the fire flower field. As Ace scanned the dark trees, the one massive jungle tree that hung in solitude before Lickity's enclosure, which also housed a tree swing, he felt his heart do a giddy dance of bewilderment as he locked eyes with Balba.

Balba sat comfortably curled about Libby, both girls were totally solid still, though Balba's ears and eyes were directly honed to Ace. Ace felt a wiggly, scared dance jostle up the veins in his spine, and before he could comprehend that he was safe, his pupils tightened in a draw of solid fear, as if he was simply prey that was being watched for an absorbent amount of time, far beyond his knowledge; a predator that was as silent as the night, eyes like an eagle and hearing nearly as wonderful as Lickity's. He knew Balba was likely the proper gatekeeper to Libby's heart, her protector, her camaraderie and her sister. Ace narrowed his gaze, just barely, and took note that Libby was sat perfectly still in meditation, a routine she was becoming more and more comfortable with showing. Ace dared to divert his path from to his tower, to Libby and her keep across the grass.

Even though his feet were larger and his demeanor was bumbling, he didn't dare step through his field of fire flowers without the ultimate care. As he jostled past the warm, glowing petals, they gave off warm flints of speckles, puffs of lively, fiery pollen that daintily danced about his feet. He peered straight into Balba's soul and nearly challenged her. He knew Balba was likely giving him a stare down, so to make it clear that Libby was to not be disturbed, though he lovingly glared Balba down, as if to communicate that he wasn't going to pop Libby's bubble. With the calmest demeanor, he did everything he could to remain silent and ease into their space. With silent footwork that even shocked him, he so gently sat down half a dozen feet in front of Libby. Libby was sat cross-legged, her shoulders were relaxed and it simply looked as if she didn't need to breath; she was a lithe, gentle presence simply among the living, eyes closed and head held high in blinded confidence.

Ace assessed her figure, and though he knew the two were wanted at the wrecking scene, just outside the castle, he slowed his heart rate and decided to take this opportunity to discover just a little more from his fire flower. Balba's gaze hadn't left Ace's, and though she was still honed to him, her wings relaxed; gorgeous splays of greens and creams that melted with the grass and made for a flawless camouflage. Ace finally peered his eyes back to her and felt a twinge of worry come over him. He knew not to disturb Libby, and he was successful thus far, though he gently bowed his head and kept his eyes honed to Balba's, as if to pay respect and to silently communicate that he wasn't here to bother or disrupt, like how he has accidentally done in the past. Ace was thrilled to see Balba, just barely, give him a small nod of her large skull; her ears relaxed, once and for all, and with the small bout of trust laid thick over the three, Ace felt confidence come back to him.

Ace held his breath and now wondered if he could learn a thing or two by simply mocking Libby. He let his eyes lull closed, so softly repositioned his legs and copied her posture. With the final touch of his opened palms laid to rest on his knees and lower thighs, he slumped his shoulders and allowed his core to find relaxation. As he sat, he let his mind wander curiously. He wondered just what she did, here, just what she thought about, and what it was for. He knew he could open right up and ask her, though somehow, he wondered if simply just mocking her would help aid him. He furrowed his brow as whips of thoughts came to his mind, lightning quick responses, he dared to let a curious smile sprawl his face as he thought about just how Nox was going to handle Ralph's wrecking lesson. Before he could dabble in that too much, his mind soaked to the beautiful woman before him.

He cocked an eyebrow and delved deeper into his private thoughts, prods and wonderings of just when the two would become closer and closer, what kind of different intimacies would she open up for him next, anything he could learn more about her was something he was incredibly anxious and excited for. He wondered if his heartbeat was on stereo with the way his mind began to slope to other things, deeper inquiries his brain often allowed him to think about. He knew patience was a virtue in this endeavor, and anything outside of Libby's limits was something he would just have to deal with, though he also knew he was safe with his own thoughts, his own deeper wants and desires. Before he could go further down the rabbit hole, Libby's tender voice popped his thoughts in such a way that he wasn't even certain it were reality.

"You're mind is like chaos," Libby's warm, gentle voice coat over his ears, though s Ace jolted his eyes open and pried them from the back of his skull, he stared into her beautiful eyes in sudden surprise and froze in prickled sheepishness. Libby assessed his busied, though still demeanor and breathed a small giggle, "You were so quiet up until you were still and closed your eyes."

"I-I was making noise?" Ace asked in whole, solid embarrassment, though before he could utterly apologize, Libby's smile broadened as she shook her head.

"No, not physically," Libby cocked an eyebrow, "... You were radiating so much busyness, I could practically hear your mind running a mile a minute."

"O-Oh, I... I just... Was trying to clear my mind, I guess," Ace shrugged and sheepishly looked down, though guilt soaked over him, "I... I'm really sorry for interrupting your meditation... Again."

"You didn't interrupt," Libby assured warmly, her smile broadened as Ace's sorrowful eyes dragged to hers, "Your energy just sort of soaked in with mine and suddenly I was so curious as to just why my heart began to pick up pace... Something like adding hot water to cold water... It stirs it, it's warm, exciting and quick."

"I do have a lot on my mind, I guess," Ace mumbled, though he gently rubbed the back of his head and continued to look wholly apologetic, "I didn't come over here to stir the pot, or anything. I just was trying to see what this meditation stuff was all about."

"I can teach you more, later, if you'd like?" Libby prod gently with a smile, "A busied person, like yourself, could use it, quite frankly... Keeps you centered, helps you rid your mind of unnecessary build up."

"I'd love if you taught me," Ace staggered with a bashful smile, and with such, Libby nodded with a kind smile.

"Then it will be done," Libby's voice was as gentle as ever, though she cocked an eyebrow and glanced her attention to the back door, where Ace had emerged from a handful of minutes prior, "...Did I miss the wrecking lesson?"

"No, not at all," Ace eased, he glanced back to the door as well and felt excitement hit his skin, once more, "I... I came out here to collect you, for said wrecking lessons."

"To watch, hopefully," Libby giggled with a kind smile as she side-eyed Ace and wondered what his bashfulness was all about, though Ace choked a noise of mild embarrassment and grappled the chest of his hoodie.

"Oh, well yeah, obviously... Uh... I-I mean it uh..." Ace swallowed hard and tried his very hardest to remain confident. Instead, he gave Libby a dorky smile, "I-It all might be relevant, one day."

"This is true," Libby fluidly agreed, which nearly rocked Ace off of the face of the Earth. Ace furrowed his eyebrows in sudden surprise and felt his face get hot.

"U-Uh, really?" Ace staggered, though Libby gave him a confused look and wondered just how many times they'd have to dance around this bush, let alone thinking about beating it.

"Yes, one day," Libby chimed in girly cuteness as she softly stood and let her gingerly footwork close their gap. She held her hands out and down to him, to insinuate she was going to help him to a stand, "That is... If you'll have me."

Ace peered up at her as if light was coming off of her. He huffed a small, silent noise of a laugh and let their eyes lock in solid confidence, and before he could sink into himself and become unsure, bashful, terrified and giddy all in one go, he warmly slipped his hands into hers and let her help him in pulling him to a stand. As he gained half a foot over her, he brushed his chest a little and exhaled a shaky breath. As he peered down into her eyes, he let a wrinkle of a knowing smile cross his face, and before he could spill his heart out and state that he'd more than gladly follow through with her notions, he shook his head just barely and knew he was unworthy.

"... I really should be saying that," Ace's deep voice was laced in a croak of delightful confidence he felt comfortable wearing, for once, and as Libby raised her eyebrows, the blush across her cheeks stated everything Ace was wanting to know.

"What do you mean by that?" Libby asked in gentle curiosity, though as Ace heaved a sigh through his nose, the two turned to begin their small journey across the castle and to the exciting wrecking lesson that was to take place.

"You stated 'if you'll have me' as if you were simply doing me the pleasure, like it was something you were gifting to me... Like I even remotely was deserving of it," Ace stated tenderly, though Libby grimaced and peered up at him as they crossed the grass, Balba slowly lingered behind them and Royal got up from his lounging spot to join the three.

"I'm pretty sure this is a mutual thing, actually," Libby giggled, though she warmly placed her hand on Ace's lower arm and tilted her head, so she could peer deeper into his eyes, "And... It'd be just as much a gift to me as it would to you, Ace. You're a User, for crying out loud..."

"I mean, yeah, but... You didn't always know me as such," Ace shrugged, "I'm still me, right?"

"You tell me," Libby quipped with a sly, kind smile as she peered at him down her nose, he grimaced and gave her a confused, boyish look of adorable curiosity, "I think you still have a ton to learn about yourself... Far before you're likely comfortable handing over your powers to someone."

"Someone," Ace stated firmly, he nodded and looked off, though as they pushed underneath the overhang of the patio, their surroundings dimmed from the lack of the setting sun. He cocked an eyebrow and side-eyed Libby, "...How long are we going to do this?"

"As long as we can," Libby stated through a giggle, though Ace furrowed his eyebrows in gentle confusion.

As the two pushed into the castle, he eyed the back of her head and sent her a sly smile to the whiteness of her hair. He squinted and suddenly wondered if she likely had more information, about himself, than even he did. It was clear she was alright with this extended patience, the idea of a swap wasn't as simply nonchalant as the two would prefer, considering Ace's incredible powers. Ace furrowed his brow in contemplation and let Libby's simple sweet words reverberate in the back of his skull. He knew this pace was nearly at a stand still, and everything around them was moving in double time. He heaved a shaky, silent breath to himself as the two silently crossed their quiet abode, the Kalivar castle was empty of souls. He eyed her, once more, and now seriously wondered if the two were potentially in way over their heads.

* * *

"Alright, Nox," Ralph uttered with a kind smile as he grunted and moved an impossibly huge boulder out of the way.

The group of spectators, simply there to watch, were on higher ground, amidst the hills of grass, sparse jungle trees and random juts of silver boulders and mountain rocks. Though they were well out of the way, they were still within earshot. This included Finn, Tammy, Penny, Duke, Orph, Jax, Tej and Throttle. Anyone who harbored wrecking code were slowly filing in to the makeshift arena, ready to spot their new pupil, Nox, and guide him into proper forms and skills. Ralph huffed a hard breath and looked about; they were surrounded by boulders and sharp rocks of all sizes, as well as a few smaller jungle trees. Ralph gestured about and laughed a little, which cued everyone else into a fit of chuckling.

"This is our playground, for now," Ralph stated, "Maybe later we can visit the Niceland building after hours."

"I'd kill for that trip, again," Koko uttered with a sly smile as Tessa shot her a confused, eager look.

"Alright, guys, we need everyone's input here," Ralph stated, though he cocked an eyebrow and looked up, "Rather... We need Zed's and Emery's input."

Zed and Emery gently peered to each other in kind knowing, and as everyone volleyed glances of understanding to the two, everyone fell silent and gave the respective teachers the floor.

"What is the first emotion that hits your skin when you clench your fists and prepare to wreck?" Ralph questioned as he did just as he said, he clenched his fists and held them by his sides, "Since you two weren't programmed with wrecking, or glitching, this kind of emotion was foreign and new, at first."

"I feel control, pent up anger," Zed admitted, and though he knew not to allow anger to be the driving force behind wrecking, he knew being honest here was key, so Nox wouldn't potentially feel alienated.

"If you want my honest input, I feel worry," Emery stated softly as she tucked her brilliant emerald hair behind her ears.

"Worry?" Ralph inquired gently, and as everyone honed their attention to Emery, she gestured her hand back to Oliver and nodded.

"When Oliver gave me my first wrecking lesson, in the abandoned city of Stone Crest, I was worried for my own well being," Emery gestured to her now open palms and shook her head, "I didn't want to hurt myself, or others. It's a very real, scary power to have in one single go."

"I believe Emery is the only woman to obtain wrecking power from a natural born wrecker, excluding Vanellope," Ralph finished quietly, though everyone subtly looked about, as if to wonder if Vanellope had potentially slipped in through the back, though she hadn't. Ralph shot a glance in Tessa's direction and wasn't surprised to see her eyes just barely roll into the back of her head and close in a draw of exasperated worries that continued to sit on her. Ralph uttered a sheepish chuckle and gestured to Nox, "S-So, Nox... You have glitching down, right?"

"DOES he?" Zed spat with a friendly smile in Nox's direction, "Practically out-glitched us out of Sugar Rush."

"Thank you," Nox's voice was humble and quiet as he gave Zed a grateful smile, though he turned back to Ralph and clenched his fists, though he seemed uncertain, "I-I don't know what I feel... What are you supposed to feel?"

"Power," Tessa eased.

"Drive," Oliver volleyed, Koko nodded in agreeing and quipped her response as well.

"Certainty."

"There's no original, right or wrong feeling to it," Ralph gestured.

"Odd," Nox uttered, he near-sorrowfully peered down to his hands and looked as if he was uncertain of something, though before too much time could carry on, he gently peered to Ralph and inhaled a steadied breath, "Can I, uh... Try it out?"

"Sure," Ralph uttered, and as if the whole atmosphere shifted, Ralph stumbled to take a few steps back, as did everyone, and as Nox stepped to the center of the area, dirt kicked up underneath his bare feet.

He huffed a shaky breath as Ralph grunted and rolled a smaller boulder to him, and once it settled underneath the crunch of the earth and dirt, Ralph gestured to it and took a few apprehensive steps away. Ralph crossed his arms, furrowed his brow and wondered just what Nox would do, without much of any prior instruction, though Nox clenched his fists a little tighter and glared down the boulder beneath him. Nox felt a shaky breath roll from his ribcage, and before he could get swept away with the nervous feelings that tried so desperately to steal his faked confidence, he grit his teeth, glowered down at his victim and raised his fists high. With wrecking coding he was certain was at his core, because of Koko's share, he felt the overload of wrecking rage come rushing to his circuits, though as his fists came rocketing down to the boulder, he let out a hard grunt and came down to a cold, crashing realization.

As his fists hit the boulder, his vision nearly immediately sparked white, and as he stumbled, his blurry vision only barely showed the still intact boulder before him, though he found it odd that it was now splayed with a decent amount of blood. Nox uttered a nervous noise and squinted, as if he was simply watching all of this unfold from a different perspective. His veins wiggled with the impact and protected him from the oncoming, sheer amount of pain, though before his brain could connect the dots, he looked down at his hands and felt confusion wash over his cold demeanor. As if all of the bystanders watching had now fallen out of his perspective, he grimaced and took note that his hands looked mildly disfigured, broken bones and an incredible amount of searing pain couldn't hit his nerves quick enough.

As if the pain of the realization that he somehow hadn't obtained any wrecking coding was far more painful than his wounds, he somehow could still feel that punch of wrecking anger and denial come crawling over him, and with such, he inhaled a shaky breath and peered out to the blurry world about him, as if it were simply taunting him, begging him to wreck away, even though he physically couldn't. Among the ringing in his ears, he could hear gasps and concerned, urgent words of his peers, though before he could turn to them and beg for help amidst the pain from his broken hands, he grimaced and felt his new glitching ability seemingly try and take over, as if to shush his worries and state that at least it was of use and was more than happy to help aid him in whatever destruction he suddenly had in mind.


	149. Chapter 149

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you SO much! I appreciate it! Yeah, Vanellope isn't gone forever, and this fight won't last, but that's exactly what I'm practicing her, is the development from their flaws and what is to come of this hiccup. It all gets ironed out, in an awesome way, so they won't be 'gone' forever. There will still be scenes with Vanellope and Taffyta, but Vanellope just has decided to lay low, thus the lack other outgoing presence anywhere. Everyone begins to miss her, she's still a very much tangible thing between everyone and the story lol. Also, no, Nox's coding isn't trying to technically heal him, it's just more of an urgent 'there's something wrong with this body part and I'm warning you about it' kind of thing. Similar to how your brain may think an extremely hot surface is cold to the touch, at first, but then it immediately burns you like wow and you're like WTF LOL. And, thank you for the compliment about my shoes, in IG! :D If you wan, I can put together a pair for you, for super cheap. Message me if you're interested - it only took me 10 minutes to do and knock-off flats are super cheap, so it'd be no biggie :) I can do any design you'd like!

 **Retrokill :** Wow, thank you! I take that as a compliment. The Ace-Libby scene will make sense in this chapter, and was foreshadowing for future chapters :) I feel bad confusing everyone with random blips of things, but I promise it'll all make sense soon enough xD

 **Snake557 :** OUCH indeed!

 **Jay Sketchin :** IS OKEY BB ;_;

* * *

 **Song Listened To :** **Blind Ft. Young Brother - Built By Titan**

* * *

 ***Chapter 149***

Through reddening eyes that scanned the dirt in rapid speed, Nox exhaled a faltered, grumbling noise and urgently began to look about and assess the area. He could hear everyone around him urgently begin to rush him, to call to him and beg for him to hold still so they could look into getting him inside for a proper reset, to somehow reset the coding of his broken hands back to normal. In a swipe of information to Dead Zed's grid, he firmly set his bare feet to the ground and sent a shock wave of his and Koko's delirious, berry honeycombs to the grid, and in an instant, he calculated just where everyone was; tiny details such as their heart rate, their direction, even blips of emotion kissed his skin with such detailed, intricate information about each of the beings around him, and though this was all happening so fast, he could suddenly feel Ralph's larger hand grapple for his arm.

Just before Ralph's grip could get around Nox's arm, he glitched out of the circle that was beginning to form about him, and as everyone whirled around in growing terror, Nox faced the valley, a gorgeous, massive sprawl of land just outside their castle, which housed the city of Ekreth. He huffed a shaky breath and felt a reign of whole sorrow, anger, guilt, decades worth of emotion just so suddenly come rushing through his brain at lightning speed, he grimaced and nearly could comprehend all of it at once. He uttered a shaky noise and uttered a hard noise of total pain as he went to clench his fists, though his tendons, broken bones, bruised muscles, knuckles that were now gnarly, he hollered another noise of the searing pain that only finally hit his brain, and with the whiplash his coding was putting him through, he wondered if this was the closest feeling to going Turbo, the forbidden outrage everyone views as whole taboo, he had ever felt.

Berry honeycombs swarmed and danced about his skin in a rapid fire of light and anger, and as they quickly began to shine a hot white, his hands were simply engulfed in light. A single, massive honeycomb formed underneath him, and as he peered back down to another boulder, yet again, he gave it a challenging grimace and knew he had to try again, he knew he couldn't come simply in second or third, the thought of not being the best... He shut his eyes tight, grimaced a hard holler, clenched his fists high above his head and sent them rocketing down to the boulder underneath. With a slew of success, this time around, the boulder practically popped like a balloon, and as shards of honeycomb-riddled rock went flying in all directions, every single glitcher scattered in different shots of lightning.

Nox grunted a hard growl and finally steadied his eye contact. Hunched over, blood dripping from his hands, he heavily panted and noticed the Dead Zed racers, in his peripheral, were urgently running towards the castle, hollering for Ace's aid. Nox squinted and furrowed his brow, and as the land about him suddenly settled and got suspiciously quiet, he was left alone with his thoughts. His skin rapidly swirled with the gorgeous display of his and Koko's honeycomb, circuit-riddled coding, like tiers of a light display down his back, his shoulders and arms, it urgently spike with his pounding pulse and desperately swarmed his hands, as if to beg for him to let up, to plea that this nonsense was to stop here, for the sheer fact that he was well on his way to losing his hands entirely.

"I'm DONE coming in last," Nox's deep voice suddenly hollered, which reverberated off of the boulders, he inhaled a raspy breath, whirled around and shouted his conclusion out to the world, "I'm DONE not being good enough!"

Nox panted and, through the grit of his teeth, his raspy breathing remained erratic, and as every single last image, every last memory of simply not being fast enough, not having just what it took to cross that finish line in first, he shook his head and felt hot tears sting his eyes. He desperately looked about for the rest of his family, ones that so easily scattered amongst the chaos, though he began to feel extremely dizzy. He shook his head, largely stumbled and let his hands fall to his sides. Just before he felt as if he was going to lose consciousness, he felt a searing volt of electricity come straight for him, and as said silver streak of lightning came shooting forward, he grimaced, furrowed his brow and set a hard, unforgiving glare into the jolt of coding in which he knew was either likely Tessa or Zed. Just as he was about to put up a fight, one of which to prove he was, indeed, stronger, he felt as if he couldn't keep up the facade any longer. As he could feel his knees buckle, he noticed said figure pop out from the streak of silver coding, the shattered image of Ace urgently scrambling to catch Nox before he fell.

Ace glitch hopped a few times, huffed a hard noise of unadulterated terror and desperately jolted to catch Nox before his skull hit the rocks underneath. Ace skid to a hard stop, on his knees, and as he grappled Nox firmly into his chest, he huffed a hard breath and looked down at his best friend in his arms. Ace urgently brushed the dusty hair from Nox's forehead and swiped his eyes down his chest, to his arms, though once he caught sight of Nox's mangled, bloodied hands, Ace uttered a shaky breath of whole surprise and grimaced his face in a scrunch of tight horror. He threw his head up and took note that each of the glitchers about him had returned; it was clear they were simply making a barrier about Nox, so he couldn't go on a game-wide destroying tangent. Ace caught eyes with his father, and as everyone had begun to panic at just what happened, Ace grunted a hard breath through his noise, laid Nox on the ground and took a few steps away.

As Ace's posture dropped, he closed his eyes, lifted his head a little and so desperately tried to center his chaotic, swirling thoughts. He grimaced, the very image of Nox's mangled hands, his defeated figure at his feet, Ace shook his head and so urgently tried to claw his thoughts away from the damage that had unfolded within seconds flat, hardly any time to even begin to comprehend the lot of it. He breathed a trembling breath out to the universe and knew trying to haul Nox across the field, over the hills and though the entire lot of the Kalivar castle was a waste of precious time, and he knew he had to empty his mind of everything but the task at hand, he so desperately tried to narrow everything down to one very simple task : bringing the code room to him.

Ace grit his teeth, let his opened palms and fingers go tight and rigid with the amount of power this was taking on his coding, and as the ground swirled with his angry, incredible silver circuits, everyone uttered noise of whole concern and took a few bumbling steps away; everyone but one person. As the wind whipped around, Libby peered at Ace though the drag of her white hair, the debris that began to pick up, she gave him a proud smile and could feel his energy doing anything and everything to drop everything and focus on what had to be done. Before she could begin to wonder what she could do to help, everyone flinched as suddenly a white spire of the code room jut from the ground, just half a dozen feet away from Nox, and as jagged pieces of Dead Zed's code room began to rise from it's deep underground hideaway, the whole universe shook underneath Ace's incredible power.

Libby raised her eyebrows in whole surprise as the ground shook, the trees rattled, the clouds part and everything aligned with the situation at hand, and before Libby could turn away and seek shelter, just like everyone else, her eyes followed Ace's glorious, swirling circuits, which began to lovingly crawl all over Nox's limp arms and hands, as if it knew it needed to tend to the brokenness of the situation at hand. Libby fixated her gaze to Ace, and though he was doing a marvelous job at successfully raising the code room from the depths in which it was built, she knew he was struggling with his attention, simple circuits that so desperately wanted to skip ahead a few chapters and help out his best friend, to get to the end of it all and heal before the work was completely finished. Libby held her breath and was aware Ace needed to learn how to separate emotion from urgent tasks at hand, though she shook her head and knew a nudge in the right direction wouldn't hurt.

Libby took a few firm steps forward and allowed her bare feet to soak into the many live-wired curcuits that sprawled the silver rock, and as it flared with her coding, she jolted in whole terror and fell to her knees with the sheer amount of Ace's power set upon her. She choked a startled noise, grappled the center of her chest and suddenly panted with the incredible amount of power that soaked through her little body, and though it was a lot all at once, she felt the familiarity of it gloss her pretty skin, as if to kindly welcome her in, a simple kiss of trust she knew she had earned, and as she could feel every single one of Ace's terrified, urgent and raw emotions go shooting through her brain, she shut her eyes tight and realized she had to also separate herself from it all, if she were to be of any help.

As the wind whipped about, she stood, legs slightly shaking, and as she mocked Ace's posture, she held her arms and hands out lightly before her, bent at the elbows in gentleness, her palms lazily faced upwards. She opened her eyes, through the whipping of her hair, and allowed her coding to finally come forth with this mini project Ace had suddenly set upon the place. Libby kept her stern glare to Ace and silently begged him not to be disrupted by her presence, she knew she was playing with fire by allowing her lovely coding to soak into his, though much to her surprise, she could practically feel Ace state her a simple, warm hello, a kind thank you, and continue on with what he was attempting to accomplish, alongside her help. Libby beamed an elated, excited smile and fully felt as if their teamwork was now matched, and they could accomplish the impossible.

As the ground continued to viciously shake, the trees all about shook with the chaos, shards of their precious, gloriously glowing white code room shot from the ground, making a beacon up into the sky, and as their marvelous golden honeycombs illuminated the whole entire Arcade, the bowl of the code room finally soaked into their surroundings, even if it was in shards and cut at the equator of the dome. As if the final push to this nonsense, Ace felt a whole entire jump of release soak over him as Coder, the code room orb, suddenly flickered into being before him. Ace blinked his eyes open in solid surprise and heavily panted, though as he caught eyes with Libby just across the gap, he gave her a small nod, a knowing smile, a whole slew of grateful notions in one go. He knew there was no time to rush up to her and give her the solid amount of thanks she deserved, though he also knew she, too, was more concerned about Nox's wellbeing.

Through Ace's wiggly veins, him and Libby disconnected their coding in a shy flicker of near-lightning that struck the sky, and as everything finally settled, the debris and the trees finally frozen in time. As everything went quiet, and Coder hung out in the open, a raw display of whole trust, Ace gingerly gestured Coder to his left, let it hover in his left palm, and peered down at Nox to assess just what he was to do first. Ace gingerly let Coder hover, and as he knelt to Nox, he gently readjusted him onto a small, flat and comfortable piece of the code room that had jut from the ground. Rested in a tilt against said piece of the white, soft glowing platform, Ace knelt next to Nox, gestured for Coder to come closer, and began to work. As Nox's head lulled to the side, Ace glanced to his face and was glad he was out cold for this drama; he was aware the next few steps likely were going to be uncomfortable.

"Aunt Koko?" Ace suddenly inquired from across the gap, to his terrified group of family members that hung in anticipated wait, though as Koko nervously began to glitch over, everyone else inched closer to the incredible situation at hand. As Koko neared, she furrowed her brow in whole terror, covered her mouth and uttered a hard cry of despair. She uttered Nox's name a few times and froze in her steps, though Ace peered to her in kind, pleading comfort, "He'll be okay, Aunt Koko, I promise you... I need your help, I need you to stay strong for me through this... I'm going to heal his hands, but I can't do it without your help."

"Wh-what do you need me to do?" Koko staggered as tears ran down her cheeks, she rubbed her forehead as her hands began to shake, she could hardly look at the bloodied sight before her.

"I need you to kneel at Nox's head," Ace gently gestured to the free spot by Nox's head, though he quickly brushed some of the bloodied, dirtied hair out from the crease of Nox's closed eyes, "I need you to keep him asleep, for me... This is not going to be easy, and we can't have him waking up during this."

"Okay, I-I'll try," Koko nervously stumbled over and knelt before Nox's head, though she hovered her shaky hands before his temples, "With my coding?"

"Yes, please," Ace nodded as he gestured to Coder, tabbed into Nox's details and thumbed to his statistics and physical wellbeing.

Koko nodded, and as tears streamed her cheeks, she warmly cupped Nox's head and jaws with her larger hands as she hovered over his head. Her fingers soaked into his jugular, and as she allowed for their coding to swarm his temples, his throat, her arms and hands, she nervously began to bury her forehead into his. She quietly cried and kept their comforting coding strong and true, though she whispered nervous, shaky notions to him, soft words that he'd be okay and that everything was going to be alright. Her tears gently dot Nox's grey cheeks, and as Ace finally tabbed open everything he needed to get to work, he felt his heart tug at the sorrowful show before him. He squinted and could see his family members begin to tighten about the shards of the glowing code room that had come forth, though he gently looked up and gave them a look of solid understanding that they needed to give the three a wider berth.

As the surrounding group of glitchers, wreckers and racers alike respected Ace's wants, Ace heaved a readied noise and knew this was going to become messy. As if fight or flight was simply overriding any squeamish tendencies he had towards gore, he kept a straight face and dove right into his work. As gently as he could, he jostled Nox's mangled right hand and rested it in his own larger left hand. As he cupped his right hand over the bloodied mess, as if to sandwich Nox's broken hand, Ace inhaled a readied breath and closed his eyes, once more. As he allowed his powerful coding to swarm Nox's honeycombed coding, he grimaced and diligently began to work at all the damage, as if to put pieces of a puzzle back together, and though Ace knew he was simply flying blind, he jolted and suddenly realized that all of this power, collected thought for the greater good, wasn't simply riding on an adrenaline rush any longer.

Ace peeled his eyes open, in surprise at himself, and peered to Nox's still figure. He squinted and aimlessly continued to heal Nox's hand, though he felt a small smile sprawl his face at the sheer fact that he was subconsciously honing his powers, they weren't simply something he couldn't achieve unless he was numb with fright. He felt his heart steady, and as his strong coding continued to right just what went wrong, Ace exhaled a shaky breath and opened his hands, to reveal Nox's. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as to just how much had healed, though it still wasn't wholly complete. He gently looked back to Coder and wondered if a hard reset here would likely help the process along.

"Aunt Koko, I'm going to need you to up the voltage on your coding, to try and keep him asleep at all costs," Ace grumbled, as if he was delivering bad news, "A hard reset likely won't reverse all of this coded damage... But it will help it along."

"Will it wake him up?" Koko staggered through her tears as she peered Ace in the eye, her chocolate brown hair draped down her shoulder and spilled onto the top of Nox's.

"Well, since his whole body will attempt to reset, it will resend all of those pain signals back to his brain, refreshed and new," Ace stated softly with a nod, "It will likely startle him, and he may wake up... If he does, just be prepared for... Well..."

"Screaming?" Koko uttered through a half-hearted chuckle, though Ace grimaced and bobbed a nod.

"Coder, please reset Nox's coding to the grid," Ace instructed quietly.

Coder flickered a small blip of light and ran the instructions, and as Nox's coding urgently flickered on his body, he flickered a few times, in a jolt of his raw coding, and came back fully reset. With this, though, Nox's eyes jolted open and he urgently gasped and attempted to sit up. Ace uttered a strict few words of protest, gentle comforting words as he pushed his larger, bloodied hand to Nox's chest and kept him down. Koko aided in this as well and gripped his shoulders, though Nox began to look about in a crazed scared way. He heavily panted and, before he could attempt to sit up once more, he did himself the disservice of trying to move his hands. Nox uttered a hard, long cry of whole agony, he arched his back and dug the back of his skull into the platform he was on, though before he could throw a full-out tantrum from the sheer amount of pain he was in, Ace urgently kept his right hand steady to Nox's chest and grappled for Nox's still mangled left hand.

Koko desperately began to swarm Nox with their coding once more, and as she shushed calming words to him, he began to settle in his own little world of total pain and confusion. Ace nervously peered to Nox and took note that his infamous, golden glowing eyes were a deep, crimson red, full of anger and fear, something Ace was hoping he'd never have too see in his best friend. Ace grimaced and let his own silver circuits swarm Nox's hand, and with this, Nox uttered another hard cry of total agony out to the sky. Ace kept him steady, firm to the platform beneath him, though he stole a sneaky glance to Nox's right hand and was thrilled to find that the hard reset, alongside Ace's helpful coding, had nearly totally healed his right hand. Ace smiled a little and kept his diligent thought process to his work, the safe haven of a bubble they were in shone with all the light and power in Arcade.

"Almost there, almost there," Ace eased down to Nox, who heavily panted and grimaced his face scrunched in a tight squeeze of unbearable pain.

"Make it stop," Nox wheezed through the grit of his teeth as he squirmed and nearly attempted to yank his hand away from Ace's helpful grip, though Ace kept tight to his work and finally finished his end of the deal.

"Coder, please reset Nox to the grid, one last time," Ace instructed firmly, and as Coder flickered his response, Nox's coding swarmed with regranted honeycombs.

As Nox's body flickered back to the grid, he heavily panted and grimaced in pain, though it wasn't nearly as bad this time around. Everyone urgently peered to Nox's hands and were wholly relieved to see that his hands were healed, sans a few bruises and cuts on his knuckles. Ace heaved a hard, shaky sigh through his mouth, slumped his shoulders and sat back on his legs in total exhaustion. Nox sat up a little and peered to his trembling hands, and as both boys remained frozen in each other's raw presence, Nox dragged his eyes to Ace's, which were fading from it's angry crimson to a blood orange of a glow.

"... Wh-Why didn't you tell me wrecking wasn't anything but a curse?" Nox stabbed with a tremble as he glared into Ace's eyes, though Ace raised his eyebrows in whole surprise and froze, "Wh-Why didn't physical wrecking power transfer over to me? Am I not GOOD ENOUGH?"

"Nox, it's not a curse, it's-"

"All those memories, all the hatred, being handed a bronze medal my whole life," Nox stabbed as he tried to stand. Ace quickly stood, alongside him and got to his feet faster. As Nox's legs wobbled, like Ace expected, Nox stumbled and slumped into Ace's side. Ace grunted, bent a little and quickly grappled Nox's figure to help him to a stand, though Nox uttered an annoyed growl and shoved Ace away, "Y-You never warned me it would just flood me with all those memories I tried so hard to keep away! I can't believe you'd simply keep this bullshit, from me!"

"... Ace just saved your behind, Nox," Koko uttered in shaky dismay, as if she wanted to express anger, though the fact that she had to witness him go through this sheer amount of pain, she couldn't bring herself to scolding Nox any harder than what she already did.

"... You're welcome, by the way!" Ace finally stood his ground as he gestured to Nox's hands, he glared into Nox's eyes and took a daring step closer to his best friend, "If it weren't for me, your coding would've just attempted to heal itself on it's own, resulting in... In... Velociraptor claws for the rest of your life!" Ace blurt with a hard, angry laugh as he gestured his hand outward.

"Thank you," Nox stabbed as he urgently grimaced and tried his hardest to move his fingers, though it was clear his hands were still weak.

Ace tilted his head down and glowered at Nox; it was clear Nox was just scared, spewing nonsense for no reason, the rile of wrecking power that he didn't physically have came crashing to his heart tenfold in a display of haunting memories and hardships he has previously gone through, Ace was aware obtaining so much power, all in one slew, was difficult, especially with the fact that Nox couldn't physically let it all out. Before Ace could begin yelling unforgivable things to his best friend, who only gave off the vibe that he was ungrateful, Ace inhaled a sharp breath, gently gestured Coder away and allowed for the code room to suddenly sink back into the ground. Everyone urgently wobbled, but Ace, and as the shards of glowing code room finally sunk back into it's proper position, hidden underground, Ace shoved a finger into Nox's chest and got in his face.

"Don't ever say I didn't have your back, in your time of need, I only have the best intentions for the people I love," Ace growled, he hovered over Nox in whole intimidation, even with the sheer amount of love he had just glossed over his brother, "Watch your step... You don't want to go making enemies with the wrong person."

Nox's orange, glowing eyes gently flickered to a dull, nervous yellow, once more, and as Ace shoved his shoulder into Nox's, he stormed out of their bubble and quickly glitch-hopped towards the castle in a flash of lightning that came and went. As the ground settled, everyone remained frozen in the raw display of everything that had just happened, and as Nox nervously dragged his eyes to Koko, he also glanced his defeated eyes to the wreckers and glitchers that hovered about. It was in this hard time did he realize he needed to take a step back and really think about his hardships. He uttered a shaky sigh and drowned in the fact that all of his previous trails were buried, like a dormant volcano, just waiting to erupt all over. Little did he know that it'd coat the people he loved, and who also loved him, in a cold layer of ash and devastation.

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 **A/N:** **Keep your eyes peeled, for these seemingly 'filler' chapters... This chapter, in particular, holds a crazy amount of foreshadowing~**

 **ALSO - it's that time again! Seems like the latest sketch dump was just recently uploaded lol, but it's time for another one! You can either review your requests for THIS and the NEXT chapter, or you can PM me, wherever you'd like - as long as it's somewhere I can see it, then it'll go on the list :) So have at me!**

 **ANOTHER also - I uploaded a panting, to my deviantART of Ace and Nox, in which ties to this chapter - it's huge spoilers, so if you don't want spoilers, then don't go read the text attached to it xD But, if you're into that kind of thing, the piece is titled 'Brother Of Mine' - Username Vyntresser :)**


	150. Chapter 150

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yeah, it's definitely one of the biggest spats these two boys have, they're both so easy going, so you don't see them go head-to-head much. This will likely be the first and last major hiccup. Typically they get along very well :) And, I've written down your requests! YAY!

 **chuckiboo :** Aw, thank you! Yes, I'm trying not to make Ace TOO humble. He has his moments lol :) And, I've written down your requests! Thank you!

 **WreckItOliver :** Okay, but... Which scenes?

 **Snake557 :** Well yeah, he's a TurboTwin... The youngest to be exact xD He wasn't ALWAYS third, but the majority of the time, he was.

 **Retrokill :** Okay friend, y'gotta tell me what scenes cause I can't draw the ENTIRE chapter lol.

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 **A/N : OKAY GUYS! We did it! Another 50 chapters! :D Y'know what that means...**

 **If you have a sketch idea for ANY chapter between 100 and 150, please review or PM me your sketch request. AGAIN, please make clear which scene you'd like - please don't just bark a chapter number at me, that means nothing to me lol and your request won't be honored. So please be clear which scene you'd like to see drawn, and it will be posted to my deviantART (Vyntresser) within the next couple weeks! :D**

* * *

 ***Chapter 150***

Amidst anxious pacing, everyone in the kitchen began to grow tired of Ace's circling; mindless wanders about the whole entire kitchen, living room and dining area. He weaved about the chairs, came in and out of the carpeted, downslope of the living room, biting the skin on the sides of his fingers nearly raw. All of his uncles, Ralph, Tessa and Libby remained lazed about the kitchen and living room. They idly chat, quiet conversing about random topics here and there, though much to Ace's dismay, they would occasionally come back to the awkward subject at hand; the fact that Nox and Ace were now in a pickle. Ace's eyes dragged to the back door, for the millionth time, though before he could heave another grumbling sigh and wonder just what to do about this issue, Duke and Jax loudly sighed and grumbled in such a way to playfully mock Ace.

"Oh, come ON!" Jax urged, he grappled his light blue hair, bent over a little and was joined in laughter by Tej, Duke, Finn, Tessa and Ralph, "Just go out there, already, he's not going to eat you!"

"I-I... I don't know what you're talking about," Ace stabbed as he furrowed his brow and sent an embarrassed glower to his uncle Jax, though everyone groaned a louder groan in unison.

"Son, Jax is right... I know Koko is out there, likely comforting him as best as she quite possibly can, but..." Tessa sighed and peered to her father, who gave her an equally as sorrowful shrug, "I know that he likely needs some reassurance from you... Having dad there might not be such a bad idea, as well."

"He's been avoiding me," Ace snipped as he looked up to the massive, sloping ceilings overhead, the glorious ceiling lights shone through the night, "What am I even supposed to say? I practically got in his face, earlier."

"It's been a few hours, he's been reset a few times," Tessa stated warmly, though she cocked an eyebrow and leaned over to get a good look out the small, tinted window on their massive, round, back door. She could barely see the top of Nox's, Koko's, Zed's and Throttle's heads; they were all gathered about, likely helping assure Nox that he wasn't useless, like his own assumptions that had suddenly risen. Tessa gently eyed Ace and shrugged, "Why don't you go out there and make peace with him... Just letting it be won't help."

"I don't think that's wise," Ace grumbled as he, too, peered out the back door's window, though he tried not to seem as eager as he could, "What did he even mean by that? He wasn't... Good enough?"

"Guess it must go back to his TurboTime days," Ralph grumbled as he shifted on his feet, grunted, and relaxed in a lean against the kitchen island, he slumped his chin into his hand and eyed Tessa as she brought up a small snippet of Nox's details, via her master digital pad, "Think about it... He's the youngest TurboTwin. I'm sure there were times he may have come in first place, but... When you're up against Turbo, one of the greatest, fastest racers this Arcade ever knew..."

"Not to mention, both Turbo and Lash seemingly vanished and left him to live all by himself in EZ Living for the last thirty years," Tessa nodded and panned to a few details pertaining to the injuries his hands endured, "That huge amount of time in solidarity, with no friends or family, will eventually mess with you."

"He's just finally coming to a place where he's accepted," Duke's deep voice glossed over the group. He inhaled a deep breath, crossed his arms and gently eyed Ace, in a stern wave of love, "Not only has he been grouped with two dozen individuals who enjoy his company, he's also scooped himself a mate... Sugar Rush's princess, nonetheless."

Ace slumped his shoulders and nervously held eye contact with his uncle Duke, and though this particular Uncle of his was rather quiet, brooding and mellow, there were instances where he let his firm, loving, brotherly side come out; it often lay thick over his very own, special nephew, and though Ace grew up complaining about it, he was aware there was nothing but love that Duke had to offer.

"And now, Nox has found himself a new brother... Though he has gained Throttle back, it is very clear that that little dude looks up to you," Duke cocked an eyebrow and kept his kind, loving gaze straight into Ace's, "And, I don't mean that strictly because he's half a foot shorter than you, bud... Not only is he your best friend, that love is coupled with the fact that you're a User, Sugar Rush's Prince, you mean more to this Arcade than I think you sometimes even believe, Ace Von Thaddeus..."

Ace raised his eyebrows and sorrowfully looked down, though before he could get too swamped with guilt, he softly peered his now gentler gaze towards the back door and caught a glimpse of Nox; he looked sad, his eyes were nervously gripped to Koko's, and it was clear that she, Zed and Throttle were taking turns reminding Nox that he was, indeed, of great value to this castle, and to this family. Ace sighed long and hard through his nose and looked down to the glossy tiles below as Duke lovingly, though deeply continued on.

"Sure, Nox may not fully have that physical wrecking gene he was so excited to finally get, an extra dollop of camaraderie him and Koko, as well as half the people here, could suddenly share, but... You know full well that doesn't make him useless," Duke nodded, everyone in the room gently murmured agreeing notions, though Duke peered his gaze to Ace's, in growing sorrow, and shook his head, "We all know and understand this, but... He doesn't. He's been on the back burner, for so long, and just when he thought this was his moment to shine, to make Koko's father beam with pride... It's all down the drain."

Ace nervously dragged his eyes to Duke's and then to Ralph's, who was standing right beside him at the kitchen island, and before Ace could continue pacing, from across the room, he lulled his head a little and caught eyes with Libby, who had her back to him, though she peered at Ace over her shoulder.

"Here," Jax chirped quietly as he suddenly turned towards the fridge and began to rummage through it.

As Ace held his composure, he softly approached the kitchen island and stood to Libby's right. Libby softly peered up at him, through understanding eyes, and as she warmly let her hand rest on the middle of Ace's back, Jax came back to the kitchen island with a few ingredients for a proper drink. Ace furrowed his brow, in kind confusion, as Jax whipped up a delicious looking alcoholic beverage. Ace beamed a cheeky smile and shook his head.

"I mean, if you insist," Ace grumbled with a smile that showed grateful relief, though as Jax handed Ace the frosty glass, he furrowed his brow and beamed his nephew an annoyed grin.

"This isn't for you, y'dingus," Jax barked, everyone blurt into a laughing fit as Ace sheepishly looked down at the light blue drink; it tinkered with ice cubes and smelled of delicious raspberry pineapple of sorts, "Go out there and sort this thing out... That is your ticket in. That's your peace offering."

"That's your white flag," Duke chuckled, as did everyone else, and as Ace heaved a nervous sigh and began to step away from the kitchen island, Duke pointed after Ace and let his voice carry, "J-Just don't go waving it around."

"I'd better join Ace, for this one," Ralph grumbled as he grunted and brought himself to a stand, and as both boys apprehensively made their way to the back door, Libby relaxed in her seat and wondered if she should stick this one out and let the boys sort it through.

As Ace could feel Ralph's heavy footsteps following tight behind him, he scrunched his eyes tight, inhaled a readied breath and let it out in solid smoothness, as if to prep himself for the unfolding situation. As Ace slowly pushed open the back door, he fixated his eyes to Nox's figure, from across the gap, and relished in the nighttime cool air that came rushing to him. He gripped the glass in his right hand, and as the door gently thud shut, behind Ralph, it cued to everyone sitting at the outdoor furniture, just before the bend of patios that connected to the long row of two story bedrooms. Ace felt his heart jolt as all eyes were on him and Ralph, and as Nox and Ace caught eyes, Ace felt his emotions wash flat at the sheer sight before him.

Nox looked as if he had been crying, though what stunned Ace the most is the lack of a golden glow his eyes gave off. He was aware detrimental mood called for the subtle changes in the intensity of his glowing eyes, though it took a lot for said glow to vanish entirely. Ace furrowed his brow and felt his veins wiggle in sorrow and fear. He gently peered down at the drink in his hand and knew if there was one thing he was a pro at, it was giving comfort. He smiled a little as he approached, and as he assessed the small table the four were sat about, he noticed Koko and Nox were locked in a lazy exterior swap, likely to help ease the pain in Nox's hands. Nox glowered up at Ace, as if to express he likely wanted Ace's camaraderie, though he wasn't certain how to ask for it, so he opted to giving a look of pure longing greatly masked with a dirty look.

"Mind if we join you guys?" Ace asked tenderly as Ralph made his presence further known to Ace's left, and as Nox worriedly eyed Ralph, he heaved a shaky breath and just barely shook his head.

Ace smiled a little and peered down to the table, and as if Koko knew Ace was likely bound to help Nox's hands, in some form or another, she hurried to scoot over so Ace could sit directly across from Nox. With a few kind notions and grateful words expressed to his aunt, Ace softly sat down, where Koko was sitting, and set the drink in front of Nox. Nox sat back a little, stared down at the delicious drink in curiosity and peered his creepy eyes into Ace's. Ace felt a shiver go up his spine; he knew the only thing creepier than Nox's pixel-cubed, glowing golden gaze was said gaze on a blank, grey slate, the same color as his skin. Ace swallowed hard and politely sat before Nox, as if to express he was ready to hash out whatever they needed to, in a calm and collected manner.

"... What's this for?" Nox stabbed in a croak, his nose was clogged.

"For you," Ace chuckled, he gestured to Nox and side-eyed him in a non-intimidating way, "Truce?"

Nox leered Ace into oblivion, and though Ace was aware this type of treatment was simply just a protective front, Ace held his ground and kept his demeanor level and neutral. Nox's mean glare eventually sloped to genuine apprehension, though as he glanced at the enticing drink, once more, he cocked an eyebrow and wondered if somehow it'd dull the pain in his hands. He finally huffed a chuckle and bobbed a nod, though he still held tight to a mildly annoyed glower.

"Truce," Nox uttered.

"W-We were discussing the damage in Nox's hands, son," Zed stated quietly as he handed his own digital pad to Ace. Ace raised his eyebrows in knowing anticipation, gratefully took the pad and began to assess the information before him. Nearly x-ray like displays of Nox's hands showed damaged circuitry in the tendons, bones and muscles all along the outsides of his hands, where impact was met first upon wrecking. Ace grimaced and huffed a shaky sigh, though he dared to shoot a glance at Nox's hands; they held a decent tremble as they remained rested around the frosty glass of his new drink. Zed gently gestured to the pad and eyed Ralph a little, "We, um... We were stating that Nox was reset two or three times, but the reason everything isn't coming back, good as new, is likely a mixture of him not being of Dead Zed origin and, well... The fact that his coding is so old."

"Makes sense," Ace bobbed a nod, though he gently zoomed into his left pinky finger, the palm pad and muscles attached to it and squinted a little, "Well... The healing, I did earlier, seems to have caught on nicely. Looks like a little physical therapy is in order. This coding is damaged, but it's not too far gone that it can't be reversed."

"So, it'll just take time?" Ralph wondered as he nervously glanced in Nox's direction as he made himself comfortable to Ace's left, he was across from Nox as well.

"Time, patience, and, well... You'll need me," Ace raised his eyebrows and was glad the two boys caught eyes, Nox cocked an eyebrow in mild annoyance as Ace continued on, "I know that's likely the last thing you want."

"... I'm grateful," Nox uttered, as if he was annoyed that he had to remind Ace.

"Do me a favor," Ace eased quietly, he breezed past Nox's sharpness and rested his elbow on the table. Ace clenched his fist and gestured to Nox, "Clench a fist, for me, please."

Nox furrowed his eyebrows in growing sorrow and gently lifted his hand, and though he was successful with that motion, as he went to clench his hand into fist, he grimaced and could only barely form a loose claw. His hand trembled, and as Nox grit his teeth and desperately tried to follow through, Ace waved his hand a little and shook his head.

"O-Okay, that's all the information I needed," Ace chuckled, he gently scoot the drink closer to Nox and tilted his head, a little, "You're going to need that... We'll have to take baby steps, from here."

"Baby steps?" Nox uttered nervously, he flinched as Ace allowed his silver coding to light his palm alive with a glow of warmth and comfort, and as Ace rested the back of his hand flat to the table, he eased it closer to Nox and remained still.

"Go ahead and rest your hand in mine," Ace instructed quietly.

Nox glared down at Ace's hand and held his breath. He knew Ace had literally all the power in Arcade, though the simple fact that his incredible powers were so subtly contained in a tiny flame, simply in the palm of his hand, Nox knew he was spoiled as all get-out. Nox heaved a shaky sigh and finally allowed his snarky, stabbing side to drop, and as his trembling left palm rested flat in Ace's right palm, Nox grimaced a hiccup of surprise as Ace's coding suddenly grappled onto Nox's like a vice, heat immediately began to soak to all the damaged coding of Nox's hand, and though Nox wanted to so desperately remain mad at Ace, he knew he was now fooling no one.

"Since earlier I had to work fast, and didn't have a chance to actually see what was going on, I can now look further into this issue," Ace stated, he didn't bat a lash, and though Nox began to pant with the incredible amount of power that was shooting through his dusty coding, he shook his head in a boggled way and eagerly peered down at the digital pad Ace was scrolling through. Ace squinted down at the pad and was unaware of the looks of smug pride Ralph and Zed were shooting each other. Ace nodded a little and continued to drag his finger along the pad, scouring every edge of Nox's ability coding, just what powers he had obtained in his and Koko's swap, "So... Good news, you DO have wrecking power."

"Good news," Nox spat as he furrowed his brow in hard annoyance, "NEW news, more like it..."

"You... Have the ability, but, for some reason, it's labelled as a recessive gene that got carried over," Ace furrowed his brow, though everyone curiously peered to Ace.

"Recessive?" Throttle croaked curiously, "How... How, then, does everyone have the glitching AND wrecking power, but Nox somehow got a smaller dosage?"

"Game traits seem to either come on strong from all angles, or get muddled away if the gamer has more than two or three abilities..." Ace dragged, though he gave Nox a curious smile and shook his head, "Got any other gamer abilities we don't know about?"

"I-I... Um..." Nox staggered, shook his head and furrowed his brow, "I, do, technically have... A racing ability I really don't ever utilize."

"What is it?" Koko suddenly staggered, as if she was now learning something new about herself with the raw fact that her and Nox share coding.

With this onslaught of cute curiosity, Ace flinched and was surprised to see the color come sparking back to Nox's eyes, and with such, the group lightened. Ace's smile broadened, as did Nox's, and before Ace could spoil it and go digging for the answer himself, he waited for Nox to reveal it.

"It's... Something I try to forget about, or else I would simply use it all the time," Nox uttered shakily, though he winced as Ace's coding continued to swarm his palm and begin to attempt correcting the damage, "I-I... Under the right circumstances, I have invisibility powers."

"...WHAT!" Koko barked, and though everyone flinched, they drew into a fit of laughter as the smile on Koko's face began to broaden, "You're telling me I have the power to just be invisible now? Whenever?!"

"L-Likely," Nox staggered with a sheepish smile, though everyone gawked at Nox and beamed the widest smiles.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Ace laughed as he set the digital pad down, for a moment.

"Ohh, when your hands are better, I'm having you teach me THAT one," Koko stabbed with a proud smile as she crossed her arms, though Nox chuckled and shook his head with a smile he was trying to hide.

"I-It just wasn't relevant... It's not something you can just hold onto and make it last, forever. It has a bit of a time frame," Nox explained softly, though he suddenly inhaled a sharp wince and scrunched his face, "Th-This... Hurts..."

"Well... That solves it," Ace stated softly as he lowered the amount of coding, that swarmed Nox's hand, "I'm guessing, what happened here, is on rare occasion, if a gamer with game powers, swaps with another gamer with very DIFFERENT powers... Something gets tossed to the wayside, and isn't as dominant as the rest."

"So he can glitch and become invisible," Zed stated dully as he shook his head, "Likely the sneakiest of us, here, yeah?"

"I-I have lost touch with the ability, it'd take me a few tries to actually get it right," Nox staggered, though Ace picked up the digital pad and began to scan through the list he was on.

"Well... That's the underlying issue here," Ace bobbed a nod, "You have the wrecking gene, it's just not dominant..."

Nox's smile slowly began to fall, and as the group grew quiet, Nox slumped his shoulders and sorrowfully peered down to his and Ace's conjoined hand. He felt sorrow finally hit his sin, without any form of anger or resentment attached to it; simple acceptance and the dreaded feeling of grief that came along with it. Nox knew he'd likely have to just deal with it, he grimaced a little and desperately tried to keep from crying, yet again. He knew he had done enough of that, for a lifetime now. After a few moments of quiet, calm silence between the group, Nox nodded in full acceptance and exhaled a shaky breath as tears welled in his eyes, though before Nox could fully come to terms with it, Ace wrinkled a small smile and gently tabbed into an area of Nox's left fist, on Zed's digital pad.

"...That doesn't mean you can't learn," Ace eased, though Nox furrowed his brow harder and peered his urgent, confused gaze into Ace's.

"What... Do you mean?" Nox staggered, though everyone quietly glanced each other curious looks.

"Well... You have this trait, and although it was given to you via Koko, it's something you can't utilize right now. Think of it like a muscle... You have to work it, stretch it and exercise it, in order for it to be strong and of use," Ace gently explained, he shook his head in bewilderment and chuckled as he eyed the pad to his left, "It's... Really territory I'm unfamiliar with, in the coding realm, but... What it looks like, to me, is you have that ability. You're just going to need teaching, and patience... And a lot of it."

"Wish we would've found this out sooner, cause he can't do anything until his hands are healed," Zed mumbled, Koko nodded in nervous agreeing.

"So I... I can learn to wreck?" Nox staggered, though Koko waggled her hand a little.

"Well, then what was the deal, earlier? The first time you hit the boulder, you were unsuccessful, but the second time you hit it, it exploded upon contact," Koko wondered curiously, though Ace gently gave her a look of dull knowing, as if going through that solid amount of an adrenaline rush is no joke.

"He was likely so hyped, his coding just sort of was willing to make anything and everything happen, in that moment of heightened adrenaline," Ace softly explained, though Nox huffed an annoyed breath and gestured to his left hand.

"So, what, this is going to take... Way too long," Nox staggered nervously, "Even once my hands are all healed, how long before I can wreck as great as all the other wreckers, here?"

"Shouldn't take too long," Zed eased patiently, his voice was uplifting as everyone nodded in an encouraging way, "You have Ace to help heal your hands, and, well..."

"You have a whole team of wreckers who stick together when times are hard," Ralph interjected warmly as he gave Nox a kind smile, though Nox's facial expression sloped to a flat wash of endeared surprise. Ralph gently reached out, jostled Nox's right shoulder and continued on through a chuckle, "You can't think we all won't teach you and build you up, even if it is from the ground up...Right?"

"I-I guess," Nox uttered shakily, and it was clear, at this point, he was desperately wanted to shove that massive, two-ton weight off of his chest.

Ace squinted a little and peered to Nox's demeanor, and though Nox was composing himself, it was still done in such a way that assured Ace that he was on his way to a melt down if he didn't get some heaping form of affirmation and love. Ace smiled a little and upped the voltage on their exterior connection, and as Nox flinched with the added power, he drew his intelligent eyes straight into Ace's. Ace shook his head a little, gave Nox a knowing smile and furrowed his brow in contemplation.

"Nox, it's... Clear that this wrecking power was given to you in the form of power blocked of an outlet," Ace sighed, he nervously glanced to Ralph and was glad Ralph gave him a knowing look in return, "You suddenly have all this incredible, furious wrecking power, and nowhere to direct it... So it's seemingly targeting your past hardships, your worries. It's probably heightened everything. Stop me if I'm wrong."

"No, you're right," Nox uttered, and it was at this point did Nox make it clear that he wasn't able to hold the flood gates any longer. Tears quickly streamed his face, though he cleared his throat and wiped away his tears with his trembling right hand, though it was in a messy fashion. He inhaled a sharp sniffle, shook his head and urgently peered down to the healing power Ace was transferring over to him, "I-I was fine, upon mine and Koko's initial swap, but... Something about standing there, before that boulder... Emery, Zed and Tessa were listing off the things I should feel and, really the only thing I COULD feel was all this anger and hatred."

"This dabbles into uncharted territory, for us," Zed grumbled as he eyed Ace, "Now we're pushing into code swaps where some powers resist the gamer it's being transferred into."

"Game changer, for sure," Throttle eased alongside Zed's soothing voice.

"Well, so we just have to teach his new wrecking coding to get along with, well... All that original Nox coding?" Koko stammered through an exasperated chuckle, to which everyone cued to.

"More or less," Ace mumbled, though he gave Nox a smile and shrugged, "Shouldn't be too difficult... You have the power. You're just going to need a lot of attention. The better half of said attention is making sure your hands heal."

"Dr. Ace," Zed mumbled, everyone blurt into soft laughter, which managed to peak a smile from Nox's teary face.

"You know you're good enough for all of this, right?" Ace eased to his best friend, which caused Nox's smile to softly drop in needy sorrow as he peered to Ace. Nox lulled his eyes closed and gently nodded, as if he knew full well he was in the right place, with the right people, though somehow anger grabbed him by the throat and begged for some form of release. Ace remained with his soothing coding available for Nox, and as the silver circuits gripped to the damaged areas of Nox's left hand, Ace could tell they were well on their way to correcting the problem. Ace tilted his head a little and squinted, "You understand that you wouldn't be here, you wouldn't be loved by the lot of us... If we didn't think you were fit for this bunch."

Nox exhaled a shaky breath and nodded, and as he slumped his shoulders, Ace was thrilled to see that two-ton weight prepare to slip away. Nox bit his bottom lip and urgently peered to the mess of circuit lines and honeycombs that sprawled the boys' arms, a delicate touch of oranges, crimsons and creamy silvers swirled about in a healing, soothing manner, and as a few more tears escaped Nox's now brightly glowing eyes, he grimaced and tried to contain himself as he hiccuped silently. He flinched a little as Ace finally hooked his fingers about Nox's hand and squeezed, just barely.

"I know you didn't mean what you said... You know the traits you were given aren't a curse," Ace stated in a knowing tone as he side-eyed Nox and gently glanced to Koko, "I'm sure years of being misunderstood has dug in deep."

"It has," Nox staggered in a croak as he rubbed his jawline free of tears that had gathered, though at this point, Throttle placed a loving hand to Nox's left shoulder and squeezed, as if to quietly state that he, too, was here for him, as his eldest brother. Nox nodded and gave everyone his sorrowful, defeated eye contact, "I'm really sorry for how I acted... I have never felt so angry in my entire life."

"Welcome to my world," Ralph grumbled, which cued smiles and laughter, and as everyone gently pat Nox's shoulders and arms, a tight bubble of love that engulfed him in this difficult time, Nox's shoulders slumped and a relaxed, relieved smile gently sprawled his face.

"You're forgiven," Ace stated softly, though he grimaced a little and gave Nox the same amount of guilt back, "I'm... I'm sorry for threatening you. You're not my enemy. You never will be."

"It's okay," Nox chuckled as he peered down at their hands, "I-I deserved it."

"I think we all need to both give and receive a beating, every now and then," Ralph grunted as he began to stand, everyone laughed and volleyed knowing notions in his directions. Ralph bugged his eyes, beamed a cheeky smile and before he began to head back into the building, he gave Nox's shoulder one last good squeeze, "Welcome to the club, my friend."

* * *

 **A/N (repeat): OKAY GUYS! We did it! Another 50 chapters! :D Y'know what that means...**

 **If you have a sketch idea for ANY chapter between 100 and 150, please review or PM me your sketch request. AGAIN, please make clear which scene you'd like - please don't just bark a chapter number at me, that means nothing to me lol and your request won't be honored. So please be clear which scene you'd like to see drawn, and it will be posted to my deviantART (Vyntresser) within the next couple weeks! :D**


	151. Chapter 151

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey! I appreciate this question - well, the reason they haven't really set up a sort of system, for this kind of aggression and anger, is because it's assumed that you just sort of have to allow yourself to feel that wrecking 'anger' - that kind of emotion isn't something anyone should stuff, especially being graced with the lot of it. The only issue here, is, they had NO clue that he wouldn't be given the actual ability right off the bat. Usually, they get mad, maybe take out their aggression on a few things, and then learn to hone it. No harm in that - only problem is they had no clue he wouldn't be able to physically wreck. He just went wild and destroyed his hands and they were like UHHHH. WAIT? and, once he was pissed and nearly had gone Turbo, it was too late. Also, thank you SO MUCH for all your requests! They have been added! :D

 **WildVirus :** Thank you! Your request as been added :)

 **SonicEvolution :** Yes, they will be! Orph and Penny have a bit of romance, and a swap scene, coming up within the next 20 chapters or so :)

 **WreckItOliver :** Thanks for the clarification! Your requests have been added :D

 **Snake557 :** Yes indeed!

 **Retrokill :** Omg thank you so much for the details! Seriously, adding the chapter number with the description seriously helps me out A TON. Thank you! All your requests have been added :D

* * *

 **A/N : (REPEAT) OKAY GUYS! We did it! Another 50 chapters! :D Y'know what that means...**

 **If you have a sketch idea for ANY chapter between 100 and 150, please review or PM me your sketch request. AGAIN, please make clear which scene you'd like - please don't just bark a chapter number at me, that means nothing to me lol and your request won't be honored. So please be clear which scene you'd like to see drawn, and it will be posted to my deviantART (Vyntresser) within the next couple weeks! :D**

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Stars Appear by Adam Young**

 **Starving ft. Zedd by Hailee Steinfeld & Grey**

* * *

 ***Chapter 151***

As Ace sat up on the edge of his bed, he squinted and peered across his still, dim room. The jungle trees, outside his window, swayed in hues of greens and blues, the misty, humid morning promised a kiss of heat later in the day, though Ace grimaced and knew that it was likely going to be a cold morning. Nonetheless, the sun's glow held promise on the horizon, and though he was always grateful to watch the sunrises with his grandmother, he scrunched his face in tired agitation, stood and crossed the room with a heavy heart. He knew this workout was likely going to be a lonely one, though he knew to keep up with his routine if he were to get into the physical shape he was reaching for. As he finally slipped workout clothes on, as well as a hoodie, he grabbed a water bottle from his small fridge and head for his front door. He glanced back at his bed and immediately berated himself for doing so; the billowy comforters practically beckoned him to come back.

Ace rolled his eyes, at himself, and as he opened his front door, it took everything inside him not to go rushing back inside and cuddle deep into his blankets for the rest of the morning. He huffed a trembling breath as he closed his front door behind him and carefully locked it; he knew his upstairs and downstairs neighbors were still asleep, and though he was beginning to itch for some camaraderie, he knew this separation, from Vanellope, was likely best. As the cold, humid jungle air hit his face in a small whisk of a breeze, he scrunched his shoulders and peered down to the castle's backyard off of his front balcony. He shivered and was excited to get moving, so to quickly heat up, though he ogled the gorgeous scene before him. With the sun still tucked below the horizon, and not raised in the sky enough just yet, the patio and castle's backyard ambience lights were still ablaze, it dot the atmosphere in a cool, misty, frozen heaven, as if the game was simply on pause, the quietest part of the day.

Ace smiled and took in the silence, though as he began to head down the spiral staircase, of his tower, he could hear the wooden planks creak, as if someone was headed up. Ace furrowed his brow and reeled as to just who it could be, and with this, he nearly began to panic. He knew Nox wouldn't ever be seen awake at this hour, even if it was to exercise and reach a goal of a rockin' bod. Ace grimaced a little harder and suddenly worried if said footsteps were that of Vanellope's; Ace knew Tessa would have a complete and total hay-day if she found out Vanellope was still persistent in not leaving Ace alone. Before Ace could nervously back track and head back to his house, a shred of an excuse to go back to bed, he flinched and allowed his eyes to take in the sight of his mother slowly, and clumsily stepping up the steps, as quietly as she could. Ace jolted, beamed a curious smile and finally relaxed his shoulders.

"... Mom?" Ace uttered in the softest whisper, for he knew the two were hanging just outside Nox's long, spanning window, which was tightly concealed behind black-out curtains.

Tessa huffed a shaky breath, which fogged before her, though as she halted on the steps, she slumped her arms to her sides and gave Ace a beyond exhausted look of annoyed cheek. Ace grimaced a little harder, shook his head, and slowly filled their gap because of the obvious bout of annoyance Tessa had for climbing stairs first thing in the morning. Ace assessed his mother amidst the quiet. She was dressed in similar attire to Ace, which included a dark blue hoodie clad in a proper Sugar Rush logo. Ace tenderly came within a few feet of her and looked down at her, because of the height he had over her and the fact that she was a few steps down the stairs from him. Ace curiously peered to the back patio of the castle before he gave his mother his sleepy, confused eye contact.

"What... Are you doing here?" Ace staggered in a gentle croak, though Tessa huffed another breath and smiled.

"I'm here to workout with you," Tessa's voice crackled, it was clear that was likely the first words she had uttered since waking up. She rubbed her eye in a sleepy fashion and shook her head, "I-I know you and my mom always are up at this time, to workout... I didn't want you going by yourself, so... Here I am."

"Mom, that's... That's really nice of you," Ace stated patiently as a loving, grateful smile began to sprawl his cheeks. He tucked his fists into his hoodie pocket and eyed his mother; he was well aware she wouldn't have nearly as much energy as Vanellope usually did, though for some reason, he was grateful for that. He wondered if it'd potentially make him want to work harder, and maybe help her better her own standing, "You really didn't have to do this, for me... I accepted the fact that I'd likely be going alone."

"Well, surprise, now that I'm up," Tessa waggled her hand, though she turned heel and gently gestured for him to follow her away from Nox's home, "So, where did you and mom typically go, then? Tell me your routine."

"Mom, it's okay if you want to just stay silent and wake up," Ace grumbled quietly as the two tried their very best to make it to the bottom of the stairs without waking Nox or Libby, "Momma always would immediately soak me in conversation, first thing, but... If you're anything like me..."

"Oh, thank User, I was worried you wanted an immediate amount of stimulation or something," Tessa garbled through a tired hiss as she continued to rub the sleep from her eye, she shot Ace a grateful smile and bobbed a nod, "Just lead me to wherever you guys would workout... We can talk once we wake up enough, yeah?"

"Perfect," Ace sighed with a smile as the two finally hit the last landing and began to head towards the back gates of the castle.

Ace eyed his mother in his peripheral and was floored with the switch up. He knew Vanellope had great intentions, she'd immediately talk his ear off and prep him for the workouts to come, though somehow, the stillness of his own mother's aura, they were on the same wavelength. Ace felt at ease in her presence, and it was in this soft and gentle flow, between the two, did he realize that this was what he was missing from his workout; clear motivation, a tender build up to exertion, a lovely stroll in silence with a woman he held in such high regard, he lulled his eyes closed and thanked his lucky stars that said woman had his back in every single aspect in life. He quietly broke their little silence truce and gratefully eyed his mother.

"Love you," Ace's deep voice croaked down to her, and as she gently glanced up at him through her beautiful, tired hazel eyes, everything he was mulling over only solidified.

"Love you too, bud," Tessa grumbled as she warmly nudged her elbow and arm into his.

As the morning went on, Ace's and Tessa's workout came and went in an easy breeze of a build up and hard work, laced with motivating conversation and a light air of a genuine want for bettering each other. Ace knew that this switch up was fantastic, and he'd give anything to make the tension between Tessa and Vanellope lighter, though for now, he relished in the fact that his mother was a much easier, relaxing workout partner to be with. Someone who wasn't too strict with regimen, but also who wasn't going to sit back and let Ace slack. Ace knew this perfect, happy medium was what he needed to really push forward and better himself, and with such, he tried his hardest not to wonder just when Vanellope's antics would come creeping back to the surface.

With the high noon sun, Ace sat comfortably with Nox and Koko at the castle's outside patio, underneath the shaded overhang. Across the tiles, at the outdoor bar and lounge area, Taffyta lingered alongside a few of Ace's uncles, predominantly Orph, Oliver and Tej. Amidst the quiet, Koko, Ace and Nox softly conversed as Ace began day one of Nox's physical therapy, on both of his hands. With both boys wrapped in a healing session of an exterior swap, both hands gripped with softly glowing honeycombs and circuit lines, Koko's soft and cute voice trailed on a little bit as both boys just soaked in her conversation, adding their own blips here and there.

"So, I went across the field here and Libby starts flailing her arms at me," Koko giggled and softly gestured to her left, and behind her a little bit. Sat in the hot, glorious sunshine was Ace's and Libby's sprawling field of fire flowers, soaking up any amount of sun their glowing petals could grab, and amidst the glorious scene, the tall grass and flowers swayed with the cool Dead Zed breeze. Ace raised his eyebrows and softly looked to said field, the very field him and Libby first met in. He breathed a knowing chuckle and nodded as Koko continued on with a giggle, "'Don't step!'... She said something sadly in Teltokuan I didn't understand. It was so sweet. I wasn't going to step on the flowers... She should know that. It was so cute how protective she got of the field."

"Yeah... They're pretty important to us," Ace chuckled, though he shook his head and grimaced, "Can't say I haven't accidentally let my big, clumsy feet accidentally bend one down to the point of no return. There's hundreds of them, and they're not hard to grow, so..."

"Oooo I'm telling," Nox grumbled with a smirk, though Ace furrowed his brow and playfully glowered.

"It was so cute, she was worried you'd be upset," Koko smiled toward Ace, though she lovingly glossed her eyes to Nox's and rubbed his back a little, "I guess Tessa was telling me that there are even different colors of fire flowers, out there."

"... There are?" Ace's eyes jolted to Koko's in whole surprise, though he huffed a faltered breath and looked about in curiosity, "Wh-Where? What colors?"

"Oh, I have no idea," Koko sighed as she peered down at both boy's hands, Nox's just barely trembled in Ace's loving grip, and it was clear he was getting the full fledged healing treatment he needed. Though it was a long road, Nox looked more relaxed than the day prior, which was a huge relief to everyone. Libby's presence, across the way, caught Koko's attention in her peripheral, and she continued on as she gave Libby her kind, welcoming eye contact from afar, "You may just have to set out and go lookin' for some."

"Not a bad idea," Ace grumbled with a curious smile as Libby slowly strolled up.

"How's the healing going?" Libby chimed quietly as she strolled up, and in a single swipe of a cocked eyebrow and a subtle glance, Ace looked Libby over. Dressed in pale skinny jeans and a comfortable, black t-shirt, alongside bare feet and delightfully messy, white hair that cascaded down her back, she was literally everything that made Ace's heart race. Ace desperately tried not to ogle, so he gave her a nonchalant smile and hurried to focus his whole attention to Nox's hands on the table, below him. Libby gingerly crossed her arms and assessed their work as Nox and Koko curiously peered up at her, "Your hands aren't trembling as badly, today."

"Yeah, it only really subsides when Ace's coding is a work," Nox mumbled sheepishly as he glanced down at their conjoined hands, though he furrowed his eyebrows and gave Ace a confused smile.

"You look so good in those jeans, Libs, I don't think I've ever seen you wear skinnies before," Koko ogled in girly kindness as she nudged the backs of her knuckles to the top of Libby's right thigh. Libby beamed her a kind smile as Koko peered her happy, chocolate brown eyes up to Libby's glowing demeanor, "Where'd you get them?"

"Oh, thank you! I had Tessa code me some new clothes for the fall... More modern clothing I'm not used to, but I figured I'd give it a go," Libby chimed delightfully, her naive and cute expression glossed over Ace, "I like the way they fit. Ace thinks I look good in them, too."

"Yeah, I'lllll bet he does," Nox grunted as he repositioned the way he was sitting and eased a small chuckle as Koko raised her eyebrows and shot Ace a surprised, beaming smile.

"Oh, sorry," Libby giggled as she covered her mouth and realized just what she was insinuating, though Ace shot her a sneaky, mildly annoyed smile and pierced his cheeky, charming eyes directly into hers. Just as she was about to stroll away and leave the three with the information Libby had just laid out, Libby huffed an excited giggle as Ace suddenly grappled for her arm and lovingly tugged her closer to her.

"C'mere, not so fast," Ace grunted playfully as he successfully, though carefully, pulled her over and down to him. As gently as he could, he sat her directly next to her, and though his left hand was still confidently gripped to Nox's right hand, he lovingly wrapped his right arm about Libby's upper back and squeezed her bashful, giggling self tighter into his side-embrace. He wrinkled his nose and nudged his mouth and the front of his face into her left ear and the side of her head. He lovingly grumbled into her ear, she scrunched her shoulders and eased tighter into his bubble. She giggled quietly, a sheepish display of an overload of cute bashfulness eked from the both of them, he grunted a grumbling, low, playfully seductive tone into her ear, "You're giving away all my secrets, Kajiksana."

"Yeah right, secret's been out for a long time, now, dude," Koko staggered through laughter as Nox joined.

"Yah'kasehte," Libby eased through a small giggle, which translated to 'I'm sorry'; her face was bright pink and the smile on her face was broader and brighter than anything the sun could boast.

"Tiko'amo," Ace grumbled with a wrinkle of an embarrassed smile, which translated to 'It's okay'.

"Dude, I can't freaking hear ANYTHING," Nox suddenly stated loudly as he gestured his free, lightly trembling hand down to both boy's conjoined hands, which were riddled with a slew of silver and berry colored circuit lines and honeycombs. Everyone erupted in hard laughter as Nox continued on through staggered words, "Your pulse is pounding in my ears louder than anything, right now!"

"Aww, someone's shy," Koko teased as both Ace's and Libby's faces turned beet red, riddled with sheepish, coy smiles of whole delight.

"Someone's head over heels, that's what," Nox grunted, he eyed Koko, as if the two knew the feeling well.

"Can you blame me?" Ace wondered softly as his demeanor softened, he kept his arm tight about Libby's upper back as she leaned into his warm chest and side-embrace.

"You're learning Teltokuan?" Koko wondered kindly, Ace bobbed a nod and glanced to Libby.

"Can't say I'm catching on as fast as she'd probably like, but... It's a start," Ace eased quietly with a warm smile as he diverted his gaze back to Koko's, "I know the basics."

"Sayyy... Nox smells," Koko stated through a huff of a small laugh, Nox playfully eyed her in whole dismay.

"Nox'te pubjita," Libby eased in a roll of a nonchalant sigh, which quickly turned into a hard giggle as Nox and Koko suddenly gave her an incredulous grin.

"Rude?" Nox stabbed as everyone lulled into a bout of laughter, the warm atmosphere held the four in a tight bond of a double-date esque relationship.

As the small group of four continued to loudly chatter, young love that blossomed so nicely in the crisp, fall atmosphere, the group of more seasoned adults lightly glanced over at the dewy, bright-eyed couples across the stretch of patio. Taffyta furrowed her brow in curiosity and peered her whole attention to the four, and as the small group settled and continued to quietly chat and flirt amongst each other, Taffyta finally broadened a smile, turned around and brought her attention back to the group she was enraptured in. Having left Vanellope in her own bedroom for an afternoon nap, she decided to bump elbows with a few of the boys in the castle. With Tej an Orph on a day off of racing, due to Finn and Zed wanting a bit of the action and having taken over their quarter alerts, both boys, including Oliver, volleyed notions of racing and other activities, simply white noise Taffyta knew she could easily soak into, though she opted to quietly listening.

Taffyta heaved a hot sigh through her nose and slumped her chin into her palm, her elbow to the granite counters below her, and as her eyes soaked to the grout of the counter's tiles, she fell into her own little world and simply didn't realize that she had an onlooker. She furrowed her brow and began to drown in her own thoughts, simple at first, gradually sloping into the issue at hand, with Tessa and Vanellope. She lulled her eyes closed in a long blink of inquiring deeper thoughts and simply letting the boys' conversation soak into the background of her mind. She furrowed her brow a little harder and allowed the sting of Rancis's missing self finally gloss over her being, and with such, she tried her hardest not to let her heart pound into oblivion, a simple nervousness and anxiousness she had grown used to. Before she could get lost in worry that seemed to be bubbling to the top of her skin, a prickle of a warm voice was so lightly tossed in her direction.

"Too cool for school?" Tej's deep voice eased, though as Taffyta's eyebrows raised in high surprise, she shot her curious eye contact to Tej's and felt her heart do a weird bounce, as if she had been caught losing her own self in her own thoughts.

"O-Oh, sorry," Taffyta shook her head and removed that gooey, exposed self of hers. She smiled a confident, assertive smile, perked up and peered to the three boys, though it was with her attentive eye contact did she quickly realize that Orph and Oliver had slowly lost Tej, as well, and had continued on. Taffyta furrowed her brow in confusion and finally hooked her eye's to Tej's, as he did for her. She huffed a confused laugh and slumped her shoulders, "... You too, then?"

"Yeah, I stopped paying attention long ago," Tej grumbled, he shot Oliver and Orph a curious smile as they continued to loudly chat about certain types of race cars, "I mean... I love racing as much as the next person, but shit."

"Yeah, don't get Tessa and Gloyd in the same room, together," Taffyta grumbled, and though it had been such a long time since they had seen the other racers of Sugar Rush, memories of the kid's childhood came rushing back to her. She heaved a soft, nostalgic sigh and shook her head, her eyes glossed the counters, once more, though she thought it sweet that Tej's attentive gaze kept firm to her demeanor, and with such, Taffyta felt safe carrying on and opening up, even if it was a little, "It... It seems like it was just yesterday."

"Y'miss the lot of 'em?" Tej wondered quietly; his aura was so much softer and quieter than the rest of the Kalivar boys, though as Taffyta continued to glance into his eyes, she could very easily see that similar, smoldering heat each one of these boys had, no matter how dug in deep it was. His smile was contagious, so much so that Taffyta nearly double took on him and furrowed her brow in mild confusion. Tej noted the silence, stiffened a little and wiped the look of coy confidence he had somehow mustered. He rubbed the back of his head in nervous agitation and nervously dart his eyes about Taffyta's being, "U-uh, if... If it's too hard to talk about, just... Forget I said anything."

"O-Oh, no! It's... It's okay," Taffyta huffed a nervous giggle, though she scrunched her face and suddenly felt a weird bout of giddiness gloss over her, a strange patter to her heart. She shook her head and tried so desperately to wipe it. She figured it simply was because Tej was typically so quiet and reserved, speaking to him freely, like such, was similar to meeting a stranger for the first time. She stuck with that excuse, though she inwardly rolled her eyes at herself and could hear her subconscious practically laugh at her, "I miss them so much... I just... I just hope they're okay, y'know?"

"I'm sure they're all fine," Tej assured softly, his alluring, emerald eyes so gently looked down to the counter, and then back to Taffyta's piercing blue stare; a weird bout of push and pull, hot and cold, Tej's still and near-enchanting demeanor was something Taffyta was wholly certain wasn't even noticeable until now. She wondered, if the outgoing chatter and handsomeness, of the other Kalivar boys, simply masked their shy and delightfully sensitive youngest racer. Tej grunted a knowing noise, looked down, stood up straight and tidied the wrinkles down the front of his chest, "I mean, Sugar Rush is still plugged in. It's clear they're still up and doin' what they do best. You guys will find them. I know it."

"Thank you," Taffyta eased quietly, she bashfully looked down and continued to hear her subconscious shout confused and concerned notions towards her.

Somehow, this little, tiny bout of butterflies that began to line her stomach had her reeling in whole and total confusion. She near-anxiously peered down at her wedding ring and bit her lip, her stomach dipped with guilt, though at the same time, she furrowed her brow and felt a weird wave of unknown come crashing down to her. She grimaced, knowing full well she was married, and flirting, no matter how innocent it was, was way off limits. In this confusing slap of a dilemma she was sat in, she dared to look at the other side of this issue, the whole ordeal with Rancis. She volleyed the notion in her head. If he was alive, she knew she'd be over the moon relieved, ecstatic and floored to have her husband back, though she finally let the realistic side of her soak into her brainstem; what would happen if he wasn't to be resurrected? She furrowed her brow and felt a whole slew of pain come crashing into her, and before she could even begin to decipher these confusing stabs of emotions, Tej's warm voice glossed over her worries, once more.

"You're welcome," Tej chirped, he gently back stepped and eyed Taffyta with a small smile, "You, uh... You look concerned. Would you like me to make you something?"

"Oh, no, I'm..." Taffyta furrowed her brow and contemplated Tej's words, though before she could wholly deny his kind request, she slumped her shoulders, bobbed a nod and lightly shrugged, "Y'know what... That'd be great."

"Take the edge off," Tej chuckled, he bulged his eyes and shook his head as he opened the outdoor fridge, and as he came back with proper ingredients to make Taffyta a lunch-time beverage, he gave her a kind smile and eyed her a little, "Y'look like you're having a fight with yourself."

"Ah, no I just... Have a ton on my mind, I guess," Taffyta rolled her eyes and chuckled, and though she so badly wanted to open up to someone, pour all her worries to someone other than Vanellope, she stiffened and felt her hard exterior practically beg her to clam up, once more, something she was fantastic at. She cleared her throat, side-eyed Tej and waggled her finger towards him, a little, "So... A little birdy told me something about you, and I want to know if it's true."

"Oh yeah? Is this birdy any one of my older brothers?" Tej barked a chuckle, his personality was lightly exposed due to the lack of bodies and bumbling personalities that typically hid his shy eyes, though as he began to shake the delicious drink for Taffyta, he rolled his eyes as her gaze on him grew more intrigued, "Because, if it is, whatever they told you is a lie."

"I was told that you have a certain, special, uh... Rather bold piercing," Taffyta eyed Tej sneakily, though as Tej's face washed flat, he stopped shaking the drink and stabbed his near-embarrassed eyes to Taffyta's, and with such a break in confidence, Taffyta beamed the widest smile and pointed, "AHA! It IS true!"

"Alright, who do I have to strangle?" Tej muttered with a smile he so desperately tried to hide, his face turned beet red, though whatever bout of confidence he had slowly slipped down the drain as he popped the lid, to the drink shaker, and began to fumble for a glass, for Taffyta.

"Zed," Taffyta blurt with a grunt as she readjusted her sitting position and eyed Tej with a girly, knowing smile, "Did it hurt?"

"Like a bitch," Tej muttered under his breath, though Taffyta laughed, and as her smile broadened, so did his. He finally huffed a chuckle of mild relief and poured the pink drink he had just made for Taffyta. He shook his head and wrinkled his nose, "It was so long ago, I forgot really just how painful it was. Zed was there when I got it done, but he said I didn't even flinch."

"You probably were frozen in fear," Taffyta continued to giggle, though Tej lulled his head, in a nod, and looked up.

"Alright, so you know my dirty little secret," Tej grumbled as he softly handed the adorably sweet, delicious looking drink to Taffyta. He eyed her and narrowed his eyes, "Enjoy your drink and your further knowledge about me."

"Eh, that's not so bad, I think it's cool," Taffyta shrugged, "Weird placement, and for User knows why, but hey... You've got guts."

"So I'm discovering," Tej mumbled as he eyed Taffyta and lightly cocked an eyebrow, and though she closed her eyes and sipped the delicious drink he had made her, he huffed a faltered, silent breath and began to feel his heart beat faster, an odd mixture of red flags and green lights, he held his breath and was certain he'd never find himself in a situation similar to this one.


	152. Chapter 152

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, you are correct there! Taffyta doesn't have Rancis's original coding, so it is technically easier for her to feel disassociated, if you will. Thank you!

 **WildVirus :** Hahaha Libby is definitely a sweetheart :) Not that I could ever make my own language, but I keep track of what everything means haha.

 **chris . low2456 :** Haha I aim to confuse. Thank you!

 **Retrokill :**... You think 5k chapters are short? Every other day? Are you serious? Well, then you're going to be shouting 'deeper' with THIS short chapter, then. Hate to disappoint lol. And yes, Taff and Tej are (awkwardly) a thing. Even if it is a tiny bit

 **Snake557 :** Yeah, it is definitely very conflicting

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 **A/N :** **Hey guys, forgive the tiny, short-ass chapter... It's been difficult to write, as of late, cause my manager doesn't believe in scheduling me normal shifts. So I'll work really late one day and then really early the next day after, and it's just exhausting. I'm also in the midst of opening an** **Etsy account (if anyone is interested), I'm working on the sketch dump now, annnnd I'm actually in a lull, in the story right now, and pulling out of lulls, between Sugar Rush scouts, is actually relatively difficult. More, exciting stuff to come with the next chapters, which includes topic-touchy chapters between Taff and Tej, some romance between Orph and Penny, cool glitching lessons and a ton of sass from Vanellope and Tessa LOL**

 **Again, sorry for the short chapter... PLEASE bear with me.**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Cheap Sunglasses ft. Matthew Koma by RAC**

* * *

 ***Chapter 152***

As the afternoon fell, and the racing, gaming day came to another conclusion, everyone fended for themselves for dinner and lazed into an evening of never ending rest. They were well aware Sunday was the next day on the agenda; the laziest, closed Arcade day of the week. As the majority of the racers and Kalivar residents split off and head to their own rooms and abodes for the night, Tessa remained in the castle's kitchen, alongside Zed, Libby, Ace and Penny. In quiet conversation, and comfortable, fall pajamas, they delightfully prickled the cool night air with lively conversation, a second wind of energy they had somehow obtained with each other, and over steaming cups of hot chocolate and marshmallows, they seemingly lost track of time, well into the night.

"So, Mr. Quarter Alert gets his face rubbed in the dirt, huh?" Penny only teasingly sneered, to which everyone shot their excited attention to Zed; they were all warmly huddled about the kitchen island together.

"I was on Tej's bike," Zed muttered as he tucked his dark grey mug tighter to his lips in bashfulness, "I only am invincible on my course, my bike."

"You ate it?" Ace wondered incredulously, though Zed slumped his shoulders as everyone roared with laughter.

"I didn't EAT IT..." Zed looked off nervously, "T-Tej's track is in a really rainy section of the jungle..."

"How did it feel to be beat all day long?" Tessa wondered as she cocked an eyebrow and set a few dishes in the sink, though Zed shot her a playful glower, alongside an annoyed smile, and waggled his finger.

"It was fine," Zed's deep voice glossed her, "Cause I knew I'd win, at the end of the day."

"Dad," Ace groaned as he messily shoved his face into his larger hands, his elbows were planted to the kitchen island counter; everyone laughed at their teasing antics, "This is how I happened, isn't it."

"What, Tessa promising Zed would win?" Penny snorted, everyone continued to howl with laughter.

"It was all a matter of untimed nonsense, quite frankly," Tessa urged loudly, over everyone's input and laughter. They lulled out, in quiet snickering and honed their curious attention to Tessa and Zed, who began to look bashful, "I was in the middle of changing and Zed barged in on me."

"UH, okay, you have it all twisted to make me look like the bad guy," Zed rushed loudly as everyone began to coo knowing notions towards Zed, "I was in the shower and was simply leaving the bathroom to get my clothes. I didn't know you had come back to the room!"

"Mom you totally did that on purpose, didn't you," Ace grumbled, though Tessa widely gaped and pointed to Zed.

"I was doing anything and everything to change as quickly as I could!" Tessa argued, the kitchen was alive with laughter, "We were fighting! Quite frankly, I wanted nothing to do with Zed!"

"It's true," Zed bobbed a nod and looked away with a cheeky smile.

"But you made up!" Libby chimed innocently with a kind smile, to which everyone grumbled playful stabs towards Zed.

"Made up, alright," Penny muttered as she side-eyed Tessa and Zed, "Fast forward to two weeks later, where you see Tessa holding a screaming baby whilst ripping Zed's hair out."

"It's painful how accurate that is," Zed stated under his breath, though he barked a laugh as Tessa suddenly nudged him, to which he wobbled.

"Cool, I'm the result of make-up sex," Ace grunted, he furrowed his brow and eyed Libby in solid, playful irritation, "The more you know."

"I think it's sweet," Libby cooed through a giggle, though before the group could continue to make remarks towards their King and Queen, Orph slowly moseyed into their tight bubble and opened the fridge.

"What are we arguing about now?" Orph stated with a warm, cheeky smile as he pulled out an ice cold soda and popped the cap, though just as he scanned the group and assumed everyone here was comfortable with each other, he suddenly noticed Penny's whole demeanor slip to solid, concealed annoyance, a rigid display of immediate irritation. Orph furrowed his brow in confusion as everyone else remained in light spirits.

"No, don't repeat it, change topics please," Ace begged in a rush as he grimaced his eyes shut tight and shook his head, everyone lulled into soft laughter, except Penny.

"We were just discussing how Zed was pretending to be Tej all day long," Tessa eased through a giggle as she lovingly pat Orph's lower back, he easily lulled his presence tighter into the group and smiled down to Tessa in appreciation, though he shot Zed a knowing smirk.

"From last to first, huh," Orph snickered, Zed rolled his eyes and nodded, "Y'should let one of us on that bike of yours, one of these days."

"How about a big hell no," Zed smiled a cocky smile in his younger brother's direction.

"What, you let Tessa on it," Orph stabbed, though Ace immediately let out a loud groan into his hands and slumped his forehead to the counter, once more.

"That's not the only thing," Zed muttered, to which Ace practically croaked a noise of whole distaste, "I'm only pressing the issue further cause Mr. User-man is becoming extremely uncomfortable at the idea."

"Y'think?!" Ace barked into the cold marble counter top.

Zed opened his mouth to retort in a playful notion to his son, though before he could get anything out, Penny suddenly set her cup down, scoot the stool away from the island and began to quickly leave the kitchen. Everyone froze and nervously watched her leave, though as she rounded the corner and disappeared, everyone remained silent until they heard Penny's bedroom door, down the long hallway, suddenly clack shut in tight annoyance. Orph exhaled a long, shaky, annoyed breath and slumped his shoulders in whole dismay, and though Tessa, Ace and Libby knew exactly what all the tension was about, Zed furrowed his brow in total confusion and dart his eyes between his four family members.

"Uhhh... Someone want to clue me in, here?" Zed uttered quietly as Libby and Ace softly gave each other looks of soft uncertainty, and as they volleyed said expressions to Tessa, she slumped her shoulders and peered to Orph for permission to reveal to Zed just what Orph and Penny had done, on their Sugar Rush scout.

"Well... On the Sugar Rush scout..." Tessa trailed off a little and gestured her hand, as if to express just where to begin, though Orph softly laid a hand to her shoulder and peered his nervous, yet confident gaze into Zed's eyes.

"Penny and I kissed," Orph completed softly, and as Zed's eyebrows raised in solid surprise, the look of whole delight came and went in a fleeting movement of confusion that finally slipped over him.

"I-If... You kissed, then what was that all about?" Zed gestured to where Penny had laid off to, "She stormed off."

"Don't ask me," Orph shrugged, "She's... A totally different person when I'm alone with her. She actually smiles, and laughs. It's weird."

"Yeah, the second you came into the room, she clammed up real bad," Ace stated above the quietest whisper as he eyed the drink his aunt Penny had left.

"She's just shy," Tessa waved her hand soft, "Just... Give her some time, and don't force the issue. She'll come around."

"She may be tired, too, who knows," Libby shrugged as she shook her head, she furrowed her brow and gently peered to Ace, "She, uh... She seemed pretty stoked about your guys' kiss, so... I don't know what's going on."

"She what?" Orph wondered in hard curiosity as he leaned in a little, his face grew red.

"Penny told me, Libby and Ace that you two kissed," Tessa stated warmly as she rested her hand on Orph's shoulder, "She seemed really thrilled about it, so... I don't know what this cold front is all about."

"Should I ask her?" Orph staggered nervously, though Zed quickly shook his head.

"No, don't... Don't make her clam up any more than she already is," Zed instructed in a rush.

"Yeah, just give her time," Tessa shrugged a little, "I guess if it keeps happening, it won't hurt to ask about it, but for now, just let her get used to things. She may very well not know how to act around you, in front of others."

"And here I was thinking that kiss was likely going to make things easier," Orph muttered as he looked down to his glass bottle of soda, he heaved a hard sigh and shook his head, "Ah, well... I'm a patient guy. I've waited this long, haven't I?"

Orph heaved a nervous chuckle and was nearly stunned to see his young nephew shoot him a beyond annoyed, dull glower, unbeknownst to Libby. Orph furrowed his brow in solid, incredulous disbelief and huffed a chuckle alongside it; it was with this did he quickly realize that a lot of the boys, in the castle, were in the midst of having their patience put to the ultimate test, and with this, he was glad he at least had some camaraderie.

"Don't worry," Tessa stated, though she covered her mouth and quietly yawned. She shook her head, cleared her cup and noticed the group had begun to grow tired and quiet, amidst the weird lull Penny had suddenly set upon everyone. Just as Tessa was about to leave the kitchen, she jolted and pointed to Ace gently, "Hey, if you see Nox and Koko tonight, or before I do tomorrow, let them know that I've arranged a bit of a glitching exercise, for tomorrow."

"Ooo, what does this consist of?" Ace wondered kindly as he eagerly glanced to Libby, who had an equal amount of fervor in her eyes.

"It involves all three of our flyers, so I hope they're up for some fun, as well," Tessa mumbled as she rubbed her eye, though she nervously peered to Zed and furrowed her brow, "I... Guess this means I need to make mom aware, as well."

"Would be best, love," Zed's deep voice grumbled in a knowing way, though Tessa heaved a hot sigh through her nose and bobbed a nod.

"I'll do that now," Tessa mumbled as the group began to disperse, "I guess I'll message Oliver and Emery about it before bed... I'll see you guys tomorrow, make sure to be up by ten, okay?"

"Okay," Both Ace and Libby chimed in unison, and as Tessa and Zed began to slowly mosey away from Ace, Libby and Orph, and into the Sky Room, Zed warmly hooked his hand into hers and eyed her a little.

"So... Y'think Penny's words were proper foreshadowing?" Zed muttered slyly down to her, he wrinkled her a teasing smile as the two slowly eased into the darker Sky Room, the whole dome was littered with a gorgeous display of stars.

"Maybe," Tessa breathed in a sigh as her eyes glossed to his, they were excited and kind, and though the pain of their miscarriage, over a week or two ago, was still fresh and painful, Tessa still gave him a promising smile.

"Maybe," Zed repeated in a croak, he fell into step with her and so warmly hooked his arm around the backs of her shoulder. He squeezed her into a side hug and nuzzled his nose and face into the side of her head, "Maybe so?"

Tessa breathed a bashful giggle and, for the first time in weeks, she felt normality wiggle back to her veins. Just as she was about to potentially play coy and open up to the idea Zed had softly laid out before her, she flinched and reeled in a motion of forgetfulness. The sound of her mother's and her aunt Taffyta's voice quietly carried out into the Sky Room, and as Tessa and Zed froze in their tracks, and peered their curious stares to Taffyta's bedroom, which was to the right of their own bedroom, they curiously drew their gazes to each other and held their breath. Amidst the chatter, Tessa furrowed her brow in hard contemplation and studied the words that were so softy flitting from Taffyta's bedroom.

"I guess it's just tricky," Taffyta's voice just barely echoed, and if it hadn't have been for their dead silent stand still, Taffyta's words wouldn't be decipherable. Still, Taffyta continued on, "I-I just don't know where to stand, here. It's too much for me to think about. I've never even remotely thought about the idea of... Me and HIM."

Tessa's brow furrowed deeper into solid confusion, as did Zed's, and before the two could desperately attempt to keep their nose out of other people's business, they gingerly took a few steps closer to Taffyta's bedroom and remained hidden, due to the door being cracked.

"Well... I mean, if I were to put myself in your shoes, I'd be pretty confused, too," Vanellope droned on in a sleepy manner; both girls were just about to head to bed, though it was clear Taffyta likely couldn't take her own stewing any longer and simply needed to speak to her sister about the issue at hand.

"It's so rough," Taffyta urged nervously as she paced the tiles below her, "I'm... MARRIED. I'm married! I can't simply be entertaining the idea of starting all over, like this. What would Penny think? What would ANYONE think?"

"It's just hard because you're left in this sort of limbo, I guess," Vanellope rubbed her eye, her hair was down and a light mess, "On one side... What if, well... Rancis isn't alive any longer? What if he's morphed with Radex and there's just no reviving him?"

"I know," Taffyta urged in tired agreeing.

"You don't have Rancis's coding, any longer... As much as it sucks, your coding technically doesn't need him, any longer, in order to not go crazy, anyhow," Vanellope waggled her hands and looked up to Taffyta's sprawling dome of stars, overhead, "You eventually get to a spot where you've grieved, and... It's tricky but, you feel as though your heart is ready to move on, right?"

"I mean... I-I'm sort of scaring myself a little, but I fear I may be near the verge of it," Tafftya uttered sorrowfully, and as she continued on, her eyes welled with tears she desperately tried to hide, "Nothing will ever amount to what Rancis and I had, and... Not a day goes by where I don't miss him..."

Vanellope squinted and eyed her sister in mild suspicion, and as Taffyta wiped her tears, she shook her head and looked up in exasperated agony.

"I just... Want to be held. I want to be taken off of my feet and reminded that everything will be okay," Taffyta uttered through her tears as she closed her eyes and let her head lull back, she peered up to the stars in whole sorrow, "It was so bizarre, the way he just so subtly came at me, like that. I wasn't expecting it, at all, but... For the first time, since this whole mess, I've felt that twinge of happiness come back to me. He was so sweet, his eyes... I had never seen it before."

"Well, Tej is extremely shy," Vanellope bobbed a nod and crossed her arms, "He's quieter than Throttle, even. I haven't heard the guy say more than a few words, at a time."

"To get him alone, in single conversation like that," Taffyta's eyes bulged, she shook her head and though she desperately tried to hide a wide smile, her blushed cheeks made it all too apparent, "It was so nice. He's really funny, he's very similar to those other boys, and... For User's sakes, I shouldn't even be entertaining the idea."

"Yes and no," Vanellope shrugged, she huffed a long sigh and looked down, "But, what do I know. I wouldn't take my advice, anyhow. Clearly my help doesn't get too far, around here."

"... Ahem," Tessa eased as she cleared her throat and gingerly tapped the backs of her knuckles in a gentle few knocks on Taffyta's bedroom door, and as Taffyta whirled around in total surprise and irritated embarrassment, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and let her eyes meet with the two deers in headlights, "...May I come in?"

Vanellope slowly stood and allowed a soft glower to lay thick into her daughter's skin, and as both strong figureheads, of Sugar Rush's suddenly found themselves discovered amidst the Queen-to-be, Vanellope tilted her head down, in intimidation, and kept her tight, exhausted glare deep into Tessa's unwavering presence.

"How much of that did you hear?" Vanellope tried to ask as lightly as she could, though her voice was mildly threatening.

Tessa furrowed her brow and held her ground in a flawless act of dominance she held over the entire game, and as she inhaled a long, annoyed breath, she knew this situation was very quickly getting sticky.

"Enough," Tessa uttered in dark cheek as she cocked an eyebrow and peered her surprised stare straight into her aunt Taffyta's.


	153. Chapter 153

**Reviews :**

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** That's totally fine! I am not one to talk, or complain! I understand :) Thank you so much for thinking of me, though! And yes, the levels of sass are deathly xD

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Yeah, I put myself in Taffyta's shoes for this whole drama and I am 50/50 torn... Even though I know the outcome of it all, 'reader' me is like omg Taff GET IT but at the same time... RANCIS! D: Yeah, it's tricky. It all shakes out for the better :) And, omg, PORCH. How crazy xD And yes, the sass isn't overboard but, it's most definitely enough to light the room on fire lol!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Totally, Taffyta definitely has it rough. She never makes much mention of it, just for the sheer fact that she's conflicted as is. It all shakes out for the better, but it'll definitely be an interesting thing between her, Tej and everyone under the Kalivar roof lol! She comes back out of her shell in no time, don't worry :) And yes! Those scenes have been added to the sketch dump :D I'm very excited to get started on those!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! I appreciate that!

 **Retrokill :** Oh, I getcha. Yeah the way it was worded was like ... OKAY I'm trying my best here! I don't get paid for any of this xD Yeah, Tej is the quietest, of ANY of my characters, including (mean)Penny and Throttle. Duke comes in a very close 2nd there. But, with this weird issue, you'll learn a little bit more about him. Thank you!

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 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Color Sky by Ben Prunty**

 **Stay by Zedd & Alessia Cara**

 ***Chapter 153***

Even though the castle was dead quiet, and everyone was now settling in for the night, the three in Taffyta's room shot each other looks of deathly stillness that was nearly reverberating a glass-shattering bass through the thicks of their skulls. Simply as if the bubble they were in was just about to explode, and the simple pop before the break was what they were enduring in slow motion. Tessa so gently waved her hand in a fluid motion behind her, and though she knew Zed was hanging in the balance outside, in the Sky Room, Tessa allowed Taffyta's bedroom door to crawl with her silver circuits and follow her movement. As the door so softly clacked shut, Tessa narrowed her gaze a little tighter and dragged her molten hot glare into her aunt Taffyta's eyes, as if she was wholly floored by the information that was just laid on her.

"You and Tej, huh?" Tessa eased quietly, it was clear her voice wasn't threatening, though with the simpleness of it, Vanellope squinted and now wasn't wholly sure if Tessa was simply masking an explosion to come.

"Well... No, not technically," Taffyta's voice staggered, she furrowed her brow and gave her niece a look of challenge, as if she was trembling in her spot, though once backed into a corner, there was no holding back the cat fight. Taffyta volleyed the look of full sass and deepened her defensive grimace, "What's it to you, anyhow?"

Tessa huffed a long breath through her nose, let her shoulders and stance relax, and as she lulled her head in a show of nonchalance, she peered down to her blunt fingernails and cocked an eyebrow through a cheeky smile whilst biting the tip of her tongue.

"Well, I just so happen to have access to the code room, Auntie Taff," Tessa's soft voice muttered, "I just need this information if I am to throw up a firewall and all the other fun stuff that comes with code swapping."

"You're... Not mad?" Vanellope uttered in solid confusion as she side-eyed her daughter, though Tessa held her breath and stabbed her surprised, offended stare into her mother's.

"...Why would I be mad?" Tessa urged quietly, Vanellope quickly caught eyes with Taffyta, as if Taffyta was also certain Tessa would be upset with this information.

"Well... Due to past experiences, you don't really like when things are out of the order you deem them to be in," Vanellope lobbed in an underlying tone of soft sass, she desperately tried to contain it, for the fear of making their stance, on pins and needles, immediate spikes of time bombs.

Tessa narrowed her gaze and side-eyed her mother in solid irritation, and before Tessa could quickly stomp out Vanellope's fire, Taffyta raised her hands in soft concern and shook her head.

"T-Tej and I are NOT going to swap codes," Taffyta scoffed in disbelief as she shook her head and pierced her confused gaze into her niece, "I-I... I'm technically still married. I don't think I have enough brain power for this topic, right now, anyways..."

"It's okay, y'know," Tessa eased quietly, and though she remained a neutral stance, her eyes softly glossed over Vanellope as if to state that Vanellope was simply the only one on thin ice, here, "I get it. You don't have Uncle Rancis's coding anymore, you need to get yours, it makes sense."

"I..." Taffyta staggered, she simply couldn't find the words to say. She let her mouth hang open in a scoff of a grunt that rolled into a chuckle of disbelief. She shook her head and peered harder to her niece in floored surprise, "You think you have it all figured out, then, yeah?"

"Well... I was sort of wondering when all of this would come up," Tessa shrugged, "You have your original coding, you're busy watching everyone else simply find love and obtain swaps left and right. I never thought it'd be with Tej, though, I always figured Jax would break you down."

"His cooking," Vanellope so quietly, and playfully stabbed, towards her sister, to which Taffyta stiffened and pointed a finger.

"Food isn't everything, over here, okay?" Taffyta argued quietly, to which Vanellope stifled a small laugh she was certain she wasn't allowed to.

"Sure, it's... Weird, seeing you with another man that's not Uncle Rancis, but... I understand that need," Tessa stated honestly, and though her words were soft and caring, her tone still remained in a cold neutral, as did her stance, her gaze, her demeanor. Vanellope squinted and tried so desperately to read her, though somehow, it was becoming harder and harder, "... I have one question, though."

Taffyta held her breath and peered to her young, mature niece in whole, collected terror, as if simply being put on the spot, like such, was way out of her element. Typically she was the one putting others on the spot, especially hers and Vanellope's younglings, though to see Tessa's mature, dominated figure hover over the two like a higher being, one of great stature and she knew it, Taffyta tried her hardest not to swallow a hard, loud gulp.

"What are you going to do when I bring Uncle Rancis back?" Tessa uttered darkly as she narrowed her eyes and glared into her aunt's eyes.

"Bring him back," Vanellope suddenly scoffed as she found a bit of her confidence, though it nearly all rolled down the drain as Tessa's eyes suddenly stabbed into Vanellope's. Vanellope crossed her arms and huffed a shaky noise of now forced disbelief, "You mean to tell me, you really believe that Rancis is just simply out there, void of Radex, going about a game day without a care in the world..."

"I'm not saying that at all," Tessa stabbed as she flagged her hand down a little, "What I'm saying is, the fact that you guys have simply closed your minds to that raw possibility is shocking. You're so ready to give up on finding Uncle Rancis?"

"If you find Rancis, you find Radex," Taffyta barked, Tessa jolted her surprised eye contact to her aunt's and glowered a little harder, "We've been through this... You don't know what it was like, to see Radex holding YOUR loading box, to see your own husband sacrifice himself right before your eyes. Reintegration isn't something you can simply just sit back and enjoy, Tessa. It's not like that slice, to Radex's throat, was a one and done."

"What are you saying?" Tessa quipped.

"I'm saying, there are too many ties, between the two. There are way too many strings attached, and through this whole entire mess that YOU caused, I KNOW Rancis didn't simply just walk away, free of Radex," Taffyta pointed her finger down to the ground and dared to take a step closer to Tessa, "With that game-wide, exterior reset, there's no way he's just simply out there, knowing full well the whole game got torn apart, and not doing anything about it."

"Sugar Rush is pretty large," Tessa volleyed, still in her dominantly neutral stance, a mature hold that was now seemingly driving Taffyta and Vanellope up a wall.

"Well, I've done my crying," Taffyta suddenly raised her voice and continued to push closer to her young niece, "You guys can see it as betrayal, whatever the hell you want... I can't sit back and wonder just what's going on, whilst my emotional wellbeing is simply being thrown through the ringer."

"It's okay, Aunt Taffyta... I'm the last person to judge you," Tessa calmed, though she still held that stern bite in her voice, "But just keep that thought in mind... There are over two dozen ears and eyes in this castle. Some would agree with the notion that it's your own prerogative... Others, not so much."

"Tej and I aren't even a thing, it was just... Simple flirting, it was innocent," Taffyta waggled her hand around and peered to Vanellope in an exasperated way, "If he miraculously comes back, then... It'll be everything I ever DREAMED. If he doesn't come back, well, then..."

"I'm GOING to find Uncle Rancis," Tessa stabbed firmly, which caused Taffyta to flinch.

"Your next scout, yeah?" Vanellope lulled sarcastically, she crossed her arms in a lazy fashion.

"Yes, the one I'll be in charge of," Tessa simply volleyed back to her mother, which nearly shut her up.

"Honey, if you brought back Rancis, I'd get on my knees before you, and BOW, so quickly," Vanellope's voice grew a tangible level of dark, sarcastic cheek as a roll of a small giggle came from the back of her throat, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and let a smirk cross her cheeks.

"Well, I guess that gives you plenty of time to practice, while I'm gone, then, doesn't it?" Tessa retort without missing a single beat, and with this, both Taffyta and Vanellope's faces washed flat in a lull of stunned surprise. Tessa scoffed a small chuckle, at their stupor, and slowly reopened Taffyta's door, "I'm instructing a glitching lesson, all glitchers will be training aboard Balba, Royal and Lickity tomorrow. I came over here to tell you that we'll be meeting in front of Ace's tower tomorrow morning at ten."

"Go without me," Vanellope snipped through the grit of her teeth in solid anger.

"Be square, then," Tessa stated lightly with a smile that was almost too kind to be mean, and as Tessa quietly left Taffyta's room and shut the door, both girls slowly dragged their molten, surprised glares to each other's eyes.

* * *

 _12:19am Sunday 09/25/2016_

 _Orph4prez : Hey, I think Tessa left something in front of your door, for you._

 _Fluggers : Why are you messaging me?_

 _Orph4prez : Shit, I just was heading upstairs and saw it hanging out by your door. Figured I'd let you know._

 _Fluggers : She hasn't messaged me. If this is a prank, I swear to User I will kick your ass._

 _Orph4prez : Will you just open the damned door and bring it into your room, it's gunna sit there all night otherwise._

Penny huffed a long, hard, annoyed sigh and grappled for her door handle, though the second she swung her door open and peered down to the tiles outside, in the hallway, she flinched to see a pair of bare feet. She held her breath, froze, shut her eyes tight and so desperately tried to inhale a calming breath. She finally slumped her shoulders and allowed her narrowed eyes to gloss all the way up Orph's body in searing, blinding annoyance, and once she finally caught eyes with his cheeky orbs, she nodded a little and bit her tongue.

"It's gunna sit out here all night, otherwise?" Penny retort in a dull tone, just above a whisper; the whole castle was silent and dark. Penny shook her head and glanced down the dark hall that was only illuminated from her warm bedroom light, her bedroom was the last one down the hall on the bottom floor.

"I mean, it was, lookit it, it's just... Wasting away," Orph grunted quietly as he gestured to himself, though he cocked an eyebrow and lightly glanced into her bedroom, a territory in which he has only ever been allowed but maybe once, if he could ever recall.

"What do you want?" Penny snipped quietly, though with her demeanor, Orph was pleased to see that her harsh, angry front had largely fallen to the wayside, and though she was still acting cold and unwelcoming, Orph was now confident her angry facade, from earlier, was only put on around others.

"I just... Wanted to make sure you were okay," Orph eased softly, he desperately tried to let his cheeky, sarcastic front fall away. He rubbed the back of his head and long-glanced down the dark hallway he was previously consumed in, "You, uh... Sort of stormed off, earlier, and I just wasn't sure if I did something to make you mad."

"No, you didn't," Penny muttered as she tightened her lip and looked off in mild bashfulness, a creeping, girly, delicate crawl that so desperately wanted to come over her.

"W-Well... Um..." Orph staggered; he suddenly felt out of his element. He was hyper aware that their few kisses, from Sugar Rush, likely rocked the boat and made things between them confusing, and without so much as a confident closure as to just where said kisses landed the two, he was certain she was probably feeling uncertain. Orph raised his eyebrows slowly and peered to her in a draw of understanding, and it was in this he suddenly felt as if he needed to rush to her aid, bandage her wounds and reassure her of his intentions. Without seeming too pushy, he relaxed his arms a little and tried to eke confidence, for the first time since she opened her bedroom door, "I... I would like to talk to you about something, if that's okay."

"This can't be done through messages?" Penny inquired dully, as if she was trying to make it seem that he was intruding, though she knew that was far from the truth.

"... Well, it could, but," Orph's voice trembled, he shook himself silly, inside his mind, at how ridiculous he was acting; he knew he wouldn't be caught dead sounding so impish and uncertain on a regular basis, though why Penny's cute, little figure had his palms sweating was another cue to him that this was something he should continue to pursue, no matter how much it shook him, "I think... We owe it to each other, to just have a quick once over, of uh... What happened, in, uh... Sugar-"

"Okay, okay, tell the whole castle," Penny hissed as she suddenly grappled the chest of Orph's shirt and pulled him into her bedroom, and it was with this did he beam a smile of bashful success. He grunted and stumbled into her bedroom, and before he could get comfortable and take a wandering look about Penny's inner sanctuary, Penny's door clacked shut and she turned around to continue, "Look... I'm sorry for storming off, I just... I'm having a hard time swallowing all of this."

"All of..." Orph gestured his hand in confusion, and with this, Penny furrowed her brow and suddenly wondered if she was maybe hyping this more than it really was.

"Uh... Well... Now, I'm not certain," Penny muttered as she bashfully looked down with a frown.

"Are you embarrassed of me?" Orph wondered quietly, "I mean... I get it, I'm a pretty loud, weird dude, I understand why no one wants to be seen with me."

"That's not it," Penny huffed, she desperately forced back a smile, as well as a chuckle. She flagged her hand down and looked off as she continued in a sigh, "Quite the contrary..."

Orph side-eyed her with a widening, cheeky smile and narrowed his gaze a little.

"So you DID enjoy that kiss," Orph boldly wondered with a sly smile, though Penny furrowed her brow in solid agitation and shook her head in confused annoyance.

"Enjoy it?" Penny gawked silently, she looked about, in a flabbergasted kind of way, and urgently gestured her hands, "You walked away way too soon! Enjoy it," She spat in repeating annoyance as she eyed Orph, as if to somehow blame him for showing her such kindness.

"Well, then, what's the issue! We share a wonderful kiss, I think maybe you'll warm up," Orph placed his hands out, as if to show physical plot points, "I come into the kitchen to join the group and suddenly it's like you have a stick up your ass."

"I-I just don't know how to act, I don't know what to do," Penny argued in growing agitation, as if her wall, that had just began to crumple away, was beginning to be built back up, for her own protection.

"You're scared what others are going to think of you, is that it?" Orph wondered as he narrowed his gaze, "What's a powerful, strict, badass chick doing with a doof like Orph? I'm not offended, toots, I get it."

"That's not it," Penny urged firmly, though Orph's glower worsened.

"Look, if you don't want anything to do with me, then just... TELL ME," Orph gestured to himself firmly, "I know I should've just left you be, and waited it out, but... You know, your feelings aren't the only ones, here. That kiss meant a lot to me, too, okay?"

"I'm not trying to string you along," Penny barked, though she desperately tried to keep her voice down.

"But you are," Orph argued, which caused Penny's glare to deepen, as well.

"Did you just come down stairs to harass me? You simply just wanted to get a rise out of me?" Penny waved her hand down and shook her head, her blonde hair, which was now beginning to show it's length, bounced with the curls that were more abundant after her shower.

"I wanted to come down here to see where we stood, after that kiss," Orph stated firmly, in a solid tone, as if he so desperately wanted to get to the point.

"I don't know," Penny stabbed, which caused Orph's facial expression to wash flat in sorrowful surprise. Penny shook her head and gestured to herself, "I-I... You caught me so out of left field, I... I don't know how to feel, I don't know what to say. Just... I need time to think, okay?"

"Okay," Orph agreed, even though it was painful. He huffed a sarcastic noise of displeasure and marched to Penny's bedroom door, "You know where to find me, then... In any room that you're NOT in, okay?"

Penny furrowed her brow in solid annoyance and so desperately wanted to volley an easy retort, sass that was engraved in her coding, though somehow she couldn't bring herself to it. She knew her feelings for Orph were simply on the edge of being spilled over, though somehow that wall still held her tight in reserves, and as she watched Orph swing her door wide open, she opened her mouth to utter words that would make him stay. Before she could get any sort of coherence out, he left her room in a huff and shut the door firmly after himself. Penny huffed a shaky breath of sorrow and reached her hand for the door, though as the frame rattled a little, she froze and peered to her still room in guilty surprise.

Penny finally exhaled all the air in her lungs, and as a few tears slipped down her cheeks, she knew this was all temporary, and somehow it'd all get ironed out. She wiped her eyes, shook her head and crossed her room in search for her communicator. She quickly opened it and thumbed to her's and Orph's conversation, and as she hovered her thumbs over the dim light that beamed up at her, she bit her lip in trembling, conflicting thoughts and wondered just where this would lead. She furrowed her brow in growing apprehension and wondered if even messaging him would be wise. Before she could convince herself to set her communicator down and just let it blow over, she jolted as she suddenly saw the infamous words appear on her screen.

 _Orph4prez is typing..._

Penny cocked an eyebrow and hovered over her communicator, as if she was simply going to be receiving heavy news. She felt her heart dip into guilt, she wondered if doing all of this directly to Orph's face was likely too difficult, for now. She felt her hands began to shake in giddy nervousness, and it was with this did she begin to accept the fact that these rushing feelings simply weren't fleeting; she knew her heart was softening to him, dare she say she was potentially falling for him. She bit her lip harder and scolded herself for even allowing herself to think it.

 _12:27am_

 _Orph4prez : Can you do me a favor, please, and warn me where you'll be, in common areas? I can't take many more times of you shooting me death glares of hatred, followed by storming off. Okay it's hard enough as it is._

Penny slumped her shoulders and felt her heart sink harder, into guilt. She knew he was likely pushing the issue a little too much, though she knew she owed him an explanation. She felt relieved that they were still on the conversation, even if it wasn't in person.

 _Fluggers : Orph, look. I'm sorry. I really don't know how to act in this situation._

 _Orph4prez : Well, get good, or something, cause I'm seriously just trying to figure this out, okay? I want to either be on the same page as you, or forget the chapter even existed._

 _Fluggers : I'm terrible at this 'in person' thing. I guess I should've prefaced. That, or you should've listened to me when I asked if you could just message me what you wanted to say._

 _Orph4prez : Well it's too late for that. I'm sorry to barge in and ruin your night._

 _Fluggers : You didn't ruin anything... I really appreciate you being honest and open._

Penny bit her lip and slowly back stepped, and as she made her way to her bed, she softly sat down and hugged her communicator tighter to her. With such, she felt that giddy wave of butterflies come back to her, and this time, she allowed it to encompass everything she was. She heaved a long, soft sigh out to her room and relaxed, once and for all. Before she could begin to entertain the idea of pouring her heart out to him, her communicator snipped a vibrate after a few, long minutes.

 _12:35am_

 _O_ _rph4prez : Please tell me that kiss wasn't in vain_

Penny peered down at her communicator and nearly felt tears well in her eyes. She began to urgently type out a few things, though she huffed a scoff of annoyance and rapidly deleted it. After the fourth time of rewording just what she wanted to say, she sharply exhaled a noise and shook her head, as if to silently berate herself and just get it done with.

 _Fluggers : It wasn't... I really like you._

Penny held her breath and glared down at her phone in whole, girly agitation. She grimaced a tight glower down to the blue glow of her screen, and just as the typing action showed up, on Orph's end, she raised her eyebrows in solid surprise and fumbled to toss her phone across her bed. She urgently hugged her knees to her chest and held her breath, and before she could up and turn her communicator off entirely, the device buzzed in reply. She heaved a shaky sigh and finally flung herself to grapple for it, as if it were simply a bomb she needed to defuse.

 _Orph4prez : Wait, really?_

"You dumbass, NO, it was a typo!" Penny blared down to her communicator, though she covered her mouth and scrunched her shoulders in tight agitation. She huffed a hard, annoyed breath down to her communicator, rolled her eyes and began to thumb a quick response.

 _Fluggers : Yeah, I do. I have a really stupid way of showing it. I don't know how to speak to people, anymore. This is all so new to me, and especially after all the crap that happened with Sugar Rush, and my father... It's been rough opening up. I'm sorry you're in the cross fire._

 _Orph4prez : Wow, this was definitely much easier than trying to confront you in person. I guess I should've heeded your warning._

 _Fluggers : I'm always right. Get used to it._

 _Orph4prez : Gladly. Can we make a compromise?_

Penny beamed a wide smile she wouldn't dare broaden beyond her own closed doors, and as she felt her face get hot, she allowed a tiny, girly, squeak to emit from her lungs. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and softly fell onto her back, and as she clumsily replied, she bit her lip and was now relishing in the fact that her heart was racing.

 _Fluggers : Sure :)_

 _Orph4prez : It may be unconventional, but... Why don't we just get to know each other through here, a bit? Until you're comfortable, that is. I just don't want to make this difficult for you, y'know?_

 _Fluggers : You mean through text? Keep us a secret?_

 _Orph4prez : ... So there's an US now?_

Penny raised her eyebrows in hot, solid, scared surprise and felt her pupils tighten. She scrolled through everything he had said and found that no where had he suggested that they were a 'thing'. She long blinked in prickled, terrified surprise and immediately began to scramble to reply.

 _Fluggers : OH that's not what I meant, I guess. IDK what I meant. I mean just like... idk_

Penny grunted and began to smack her forehead in solid irritation right after she hit send. She muttered urgent, scolding notions towards herself and peeked down to her communicator as it buzzed a few times.

 _Orph4prez : I can play the part of a secret boyfriend_

 _Orph4prez : If you'll have me_

 _Orph4prez : :heart:_

Penny blurt a small giggle and furrowed her brow in a girly whirl of confused surprise. She heaved a long, shaky sigh and peered across her room in a stupor of a daze.

"The idiot used a heart emoji," Penny staggered on a shaky giggle, to no one but herself, and as she peered back down to her communicator in longing delight, a heart that grew sore with growing affection, she brushed the hair out of her eyes and rolled onto her side to curl into a tight, giddy ball on her bed.

 _Fluggers : I can get on board with that_

 _Fluggers : Thank you for understanding... Sorry for, uh, well... Complicating things, I guess._

 _Orph4prez : It's not complicated. Could be fun, yeah? Just... Please don't storm off anymore. I really like hanging out with you. Your dirty looks are funny to receive._

 _Fluggers : There's no shortage of those, so no danger there._

 _Orph4prez : Thanks for allowing me that kiss. I was certain you were going to claw my eyes out._

 _Orph4prez : I really like you too, btw._

 _Fluggers : I was certain that'd be something I would do, too, but I guess I made an_ _exception... Thank you, Orph._

 _Orph4prez : You're the best_

Penny was now certain she was to become one with her blankets and pillows, and as she rolled over amidst her messy downs and sheets, she heaved a long, hard sigh up to the canopy of her bed and lulled her eyes closed in whole delight. She locked her communicator and rested it on her chest as she sprawled her arms, and though she wanted so desperately to rush upstairs and bang down Orph's bedroom door, like what he had nearly done for her, she calmed the wiggles in her veins and knew there'd be a time and a place for the rush of added romance. She knew, for now, to let the ride even out; she was aware the blindside of the loop-de-loop was to be anticipated, at one point or another.


	154. Chapter 154

**Reviews :**

 **ArchitectDreams :** Thank you! I'm really glad :D Thought you'd also like to know that you were my 1234th reviewer. I thought that was cool xD

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Yes! That scene is actually going to be coming up, shortly! I'm really excited for it :D Thank you! And yes, I enjoy making Tessa hard to read lol. She's going through a lot of inner struggle that she's now vowed to not really show very much, and I'm glad that's being properly portrayed lol

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

* * *

 **A/N :** Hey guys, I just wanted to warn you first off, there is quite a bit of Teltokuan-talk in this chapter, and in order for you guys to 'understand' Ace and Libby. I'll be writing what they're saying in Teltokuan and then writing said translation in _italics_ directly after it - hope that doesn't get confusing! I want to keep the language IN the story, as much as possible, to keep that aspect strong, as it is important to the story! Thanks for understanding guys :)

* * *

 ***Chapter 154***

In the stillness of the morning sunshine, the group of readied glitchers stood in quiet, which included Ace, Nox, Koko, Oliver, Emery and Zed. Libby decided to join the group, and though she tried not to make her reasoning obvious, she was aware everyone knew just why she was joining today. Even though it was closer to ten in the morning, inching towards lunch time, the group of seven individuals, including Lickity, Royal and Balba, stood quiet in lazy morning sleepiness. Ace lulled his eyes closed a little, he had his hands outstretched outward in a soft display of coded, silver circuit lines, and as Nox had his hands rested in Ace's, he was aware this daily healing session was slowly becoming something the two boys didn't really have to think about any more. Just as Ace's brain began to stray from the healing directive and lightly go fuzzy with white noise, he jolted as Nox upped his own coding voltage and shocked a small spark through Ace's skin.

"Dude, if you fall asleep, I'll be right behind you," Nox grumbled into the cool air, and as both boy's soft, tired laughter soaked the quiet, crisp atmosphere, their tight group of lingering onlookers slowly peered to them and allowed warm smiles to sprawl their faces.

"I didn't workout this morning," Ace stated in a croak of tiredness, though he peeled his eyes open in sleepiness and let his retina's slowly adjust to his and Nox's hands, out before him. He squinted a little and dared to drag his eyes up and to his left, to where Libby was stationed next to him. He squinted harder with the fact that she was standing half in the shade and half in the sun, "Typically my workouts wake me up, for the day, but..."

"Sleeping in is a ton more fun, for now," Oliver finally croaked, his first words all day. He huffed a long, tired sigh and stretched his gaze all the way up Ace's tall, four story tower. He squinted, as well, and let his mouth hang open in a lull of laziness, "User, where's Tessa..."

"She's coming," Zed finally croaked, as well. He just barely peeked his eyes open, from the hang of his dark blue hoodie and dragged his tired gaze across the grass, "When we get home, I'm napping for the rest of the day."

"Lazy day Sunday, huh," Libby sighed as the group remained still and quiet in soft camaraderie, they patiently waited for Tessa, who had gone inside to potentially see about coercing her mother to join them, one last time, "In my tribe, Sunday was a day of work. We'd fish, hunt, repair buildings... Definitely different, knowing the whole Arcade is closed today."

"You'd do all that on Sunday?" Ace inquired softly as his eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, the cool breeze rippled through the group and made the stalks of fire flowers sway just a handful of feet away from them, "Was there ever a day of rest?"

"Not really, come to think of it," Libby stated with great warmth, her brilliant eyes gently glossed Ace's with a wrinkle of a sleepy smile, "We did all of our relaxing after sunset. Shorter days in the winter meant for more time to relax, anyhow."

"Makes sense," Ace eased in a tired croak.

Before he could continue on with his and Libby's quiet conversation, Lickity, who was standing right next to Ace, opened her mouth slowly in a deep inhale, and as her jaws suddenly spread as wide as she could, she heaved a hard, deep, throaty yawn. A core-shaking, reverberating bass that rumbled through the group, her rib cage expanded with her refreshing, morning yawn. Her massive, nearly black tongue sagged beyond her dagger-like teeth, her eyes squinted shut and her ears laid entirely flat before she huffed a hot, long breath and snapped her mouth shut with a few smacks. With such, Ace and Nox's hair and shirts blew about in the hot gust of dragon breath she had sent their way, and though Ace was entirely used to this, Nox largely wrinkled his nose and glared Lickity down.

"The smell will leave your nose eventually, don't worry," Ace stated in an annoyed, low mumble as Lickity closed her eyes in continued sleepiness.

"Uh-oh, uh-oh," Royal suddenly grunted as he perked his ears, which cued Lickity and Balba to suddenly jolt into attention, "Aunt Tess's coming. She's pissed."

"Again?" Zed grumbled up to the sky, which had Ace and Nox in a fit of soft laughter, though before anyone could continue teasing Zed, Tessa came storming out of the back patio, though everyone was surprised to see Ralph hot on her heels.

"I don't care, dad, it's so stupid that she can't just put our problems aside, for two seconds, for the greater good," Tessa blurt, she crossed the beige tiles with a rigid, scrunched posture, her fists were clenched in her red hoodie, and as she stepped out into the grass and squinted because of the sunshine, she fixated her glare to the group and continued on, "I put it aside, temporarily, I don't see why she can't as well."

"You two are very different people, Tess," Ralph urged, and as the two slowly melted into the quiet group, the stark difference of an aura, over both groups, grew with confusion. The stillness of the awaiting group, mixed with the riled tension Ralph and Tessa had set upon the place, suddenly flood the vicinity with prickled confusion, Ralph huffed a long, exhausted sigh and let his eyes gloss over his little brood of wreckers and glitchers, all gamers that shared his power-ups, "Stop fretting... She will come around, okay?"

"I just want everyone to get along, is that so much to ask for?" Tessa complained as she brought her aura down to that of the group about her, she sagged a sorrowful smile as everyone began to lovingly coo knowing notions towards her, and before she could shell up and become stern, once more, Zed sleepily slumped his arm over the tops of her shoulders and tilted his head, to get a good look into her eyes.

"Do you see all of those who surround you right now?" Zed grumbled as the two locked eyes, though everyone blurt in soft laughter. Zed gestured about, to Ace and Nox, as well as Ralph and lazily waggled his hand about, "You had Ace and Nox fighting the other day, no one here knows how to keep their cool. Hell, even Oliver was getting in a heated argument, with Taffyta, the other day."

"That sucked," Oliver grunted, everyone curiously peered to him, though Ralph lovingly pat his hand to the whole of Tessa's back and took a curious, long ogling glance up the front of Ace's glorious tower.

"You definitely made a decision, Tess... One of which has hurt your mother's feelings," Ralph grumbled, though Tessa's face sloped to that of dull annoyance and guilt, though she nervously glossed her eyes up to her father's, "But, I know she's done things to hurt YOUR feelings... You pulled rank. Whatever those offerings, or consequences land you with, you have to stick by your actions, and own them. There's no sense getting worked up. Just hold your head high and move forward."

"...That is farthest from what I thought you were going to say," Oliver stated deeply with a roll of a chuckle, which cued everyone else.

"We have an important lesson, today," Tessa mumbled as she gestured out to everyone, all eyes honed to her and sought her guidance, and it was in this instance did she rapidly realize that they were all so greatly looking up to her, championing her in every step of this messy mosaic. Tessa huffed a long breath and finally nodded, "I guess... She'll come around eventually. We have work to do."

"That's my girl," Ralph nodded softly as he eased up and stood up straighter.

"Where are we headed?" Ace wondered quietly as he brought his silver coding to a close and gently eased his hands away from Nox's, though within doing so, both boys honed their attention to their little healing session, and though Ace didn't state words, he clenched a fist and quietly instructed Nox to follow suite. Nox winced and tried his best, and though it was getting better, he still couldn't hold a proper wrecking form. Ace nodded in understanding and finally flexed open his fingers, to which Nox followed his instructions and copied; whilst held in their silent notion of physical therapy, Tessa finally let her problems soak to the way side and brought out her communicator.

"I've cleared an area a few miles East of here," Tessa stated with a small sigh, the dregs of fighting with her mother still wanted to desperately hold on, though she knew if she were to properly instruct this lesson, she had to have a clear mind. As her's and Zed's communicator's were the only ones equipped with code room access, she brought up a detailed, inclusive map of the surrounding area and gently looked up to everyone, "We're going to teleport there, so everyone huddle close."

As Tessa remained at the center, everyone nervously began to shuffle tighter into the circle, and once everyone was nearly touching shoulders and arms, Tessa gently touched her finger to the 'teleport' option, in which everyone was safely inside the cue. In an instant, everyone was suddenly zipped to a starkly different surrounding. As everyone eased out of the tight bubble, including the flyers, they took an ogling look around and took everything in. Set in about a two mile perfect circle void of trees or plants, the flat field of a sprawling stretch of grass was only halted by the massive, towering jungle trees that bowled them in. A perfect playing field for whatever Tessa had up her sleeve.

The morning sun happily shone down on everyone, though it was with a long, ogling glance around did everyone quickly realize they were housed in a massive dome of Tessa's and Zed's silver coding, a forcefield they knew enough of, Tessa made a makeshift training arena. Tessa slumped her communicator in her hoodie pocket and gestured about, though before she could get any preparation words out, Libby suddenly uttered a noise of exasperated, soft terror. She held the side of her head in solid, struck surprise and urgently gestured out to the glorious, two mile stretch of field they were just barely eking from the trees into.

"Wh-where did the trees go?" Libby urged in rapidly growing terror, though as everyone halted their curious mumblings, they anxiously peered their whole attention to their jungle princess. Libby huffed a noise of only escalating worry and tore her gaze to find Tessa's, an urgent display of nearly begging someone to explain all of this to her, "All those trees, all those animals, and their homes! Kehe talmha'te tenah kotepth?!" ' _They're all just destroyed?!'_

"Libby," Tessa eased in soft worry as she quickly swiped out her communicator and began to pull up the plan for their training exercise, "It's all put on pause, Libby, nothing was-"

"Kit te'he tenah kotepth iki-talmha'te! Firt'seh?" _'You can't just destroy their homes! And for what?'_ Libby pressed on in her own native tongue, she began to look as if she were becoming very angry, though everyone froze at the sheer fact that they didn't understand a single word of what she was saying.

"Libby," Ace interjected as he began to push closer to Libby and Tessa, though Tessa urgently peered to Ace in whole confusion, as if to pray he at least somehow understood a little bit of what she was saying, "Libby, those homes weren't destroyed, they were simply-"

"No kawltapteh timfet se'a tem NIKT," _'No training lesson is worth THIS'_ Libby suddenly stabbed, though before Tessa could begin to feed off of Libby's anger and become riled for no reason, she noticed tears beginning to well in Libby's eyes, and before Libby could sharply carry on, Tessa was suddenly floored to feel Ace push deeper into their tight little bubble and carry on, in what Tessa could swear, was near-perfect Teltokuan.

"Libby, solmha'te kotepth, kemma nikt m-malta... a'oseh," _'Libby,_ _nothing got destroyed, mom has this part of the m-map... saved'_ Ace staggered on his words in rapidly growing uncertainty, though with the way Libby's teary eyes finally hooked to his in growing clarity, he was thrilled he at least got her attention. Ace huffed a nervous breath and was now wholly aware all eyes were on him, with how quickly the group fell silent, though he furrowed his brow and knew to really get to Libby's level, in this weird bout of confusion they had found themselves in. With as much love and care in the world, Ace gently tucked some of Libby's glorious, white hair behind her ears. He shook his head and furrowed his brow as he bravely continued on, with his limited knowledge on her language, though with this exercise, he was floored by just how much he had picked up, "Limkeh, yah'ateh." _'Look, I'll show you.'_

Tessa remained frozen in their tight bubble and only flinched as Ace so gently took the communicator from her own hands, and as he brought it closer to Libby, he thumbed through a few things and warmly hovered his arm around her back, to provide warmth and stability. Libby inhaled a sharp sniffle and urgently peered to the communicator, she wiped her cheeks and was desperately trying to get on the same page as Ace. Ace gingerly thumbed through the map and showed her that Tessa only created this gap, in the jungle, for training purposes, and every single shred of life, and trees, were preserved on files and could be put back with no issue whatsoever. Libby slumped her shoulders and allowed Ace's staggering Teltokuan to ease calm into her skin, even if he still had a long way to go.

"Kemma se'he kunji... k-otepth a'golek ek... a'helteh," _'Mom isn't going to... destroy the birds or... trees'_ Ace stumbled, though his voice remained confident, even though he was aware he had likely said one or two of those words wrong. Libby huffed a quiet giggle and continued to hover close to him, she gave him a kind look of knowing and opened her mouth in a croak.

"A'heltick," Libby corrected his word for 'trees', though Ace huffed an apologetic noise and bobbed a nod.

"I-I knew it couldn't last forever," Ace grumbled, in correlation to his string of near-perfect Teltokuan, though Tessa crossed her arms and gave Ace a sly smile.

"... That was really cool, bud," Tessa stated warmly as Ace's and Libby's demeanor's both eked very different things. Libby looked totally apologetic, though she still seemed wary and rocked from the planet. Tessa eyed Ace, as if to state she was going to revisit that whole Teltokuan fiasco, though she lovingly held Libby's hand in hers and shook her head, "Libby, you don't really think I'd simply destroy this section of the jungle and not take into account the beings that live here, do you?"

"I... I guess I just... Got upset, I'm sorry," Libby mumbled, her face turned red at the sheer fact that her native language comes crawling out whenever she is heightened, and with such, she was aware no one even understood said nonsense, except Ace with a few words of clarity here and there, "I-I just saw the clearing and... Panicked..."

"... Does this have to stem from something that happened to you, in the past, or something?" Ace bravely wondered as both him and Tessa held tight around Libby, and it was at this point did Balba slowly mosey up to join in on the comforting, as well.

"I just... Don't want any creature to be without a home," Libby urged in quiet sorrow as her eyes welled with tears, once more, "I... Know what that's like."

"Alright, everything's okay," Tessa eased patiently, and though she desperately wanted to halt everything for the day and hull Libby away for a good, long therapy session, she was aware that this could take awhile, and was likely something Ace was potentially wanting to brave with her, in their own privacy. Tessa warmly gripped Libby's arms and rubbed up and down her soft skin, "All the animals, and the trees are going to be safely put back after our training session... Would you like to do the honors, then?"

"Yes, please," Libby meeped with a nod, as did Tessa.

"Done deal, okay?" Tessa quelled, though she lovingly rubbed her fingers to Balba's snout and turned to peer to the rest of the group, dewy expressions of surprised onlookers, who eagerly watched the show, and as Ace braved the face of the many behind him, he felt his cheeks turn red at the sheer fact that they were all in a figurative spot light. Tessa huffed a breath and a chuckle and gestured to Lickity and Royal, "Alright, before we do anything, each one of you is going to take a turn on one of these flyers, just to get your bearings, in the sky, and to get a proper feel for flying, okay?"

"Is this the one exception Lickity will have towards letting anyone fly her?" Nox wondered with great cheek, "Oh, can I go first?"

"ONE exception, is this training lesson," Lickity grumbled as Nox quickly bounced over to her.

"I call Balba," Emery chimed with an excited smile as Balba perked her ears and grew excited, the thrill of being in the sky was always something to wake the group up.

"Why don't you hop on Royal and go get some good, fresh air, okay?" Tessa eased to Libby as Royal slowly sauntered up, and as Libby nodded and gave Royal a kind smile, Tessa gently shot Ace a concerned look.

"So, what's this training going to be about, today?" Koko wondered quietly as Royal allowed Libby onto her spine, and before any of the flyers took off, Tessa put her hands on her hips and instructed out to each of them.

"Today, we're going to be utilizing your glitching power with the powers of these flyers," Tessa called, to which Nox raised his eyebrows and gestured down to Lickity.

"Uh... The ability to breathe fire?" Nox staggered, to which everyone began to look nervously excited.

"That'd be correct," Tessa nodded, "Now, take a few laps around the field, don't leave the dome. Get a feel for your flyer and get used to being that high in the air. We'll take turns, once you come back."

"Hold onto yourself," Lickity muttered with a snarky smirk as she sprawled her wings, and before Nox could utter a complaint, she jumped into the sky and took off with a hard down flap; shortly following behind was Balba, with Emery aboard, and Royal, who safely housed Libby.

As the three, beautiful, majestic flyers suddenly soared up and out to the gorgeous field, Royal and Balba began to follow Lickity in their lofty speeds of letting the wind carry them. As Tessa watched the flyers soak away, over the beautiful green field, she furrowed her brow and softly dragged her line of sight to Ace's. As Ralph, Zed, Koko and Oliver slowly strolled up, Ace scrunched his shoulders and was now aware as to just why said three people escaped to the sky as quickly as they could. He huffed a staggering breath and nervously held to every single pair of silent eye contact that laid on him.

"Son, are you learning Teltokuan?" Zed wondered in kind cheek as everyone curiously peered to him, "Like REALLY learning it?"

"Yeah, Libby is teaching me," Ace stated confidently, though his face remained beet red.

"I mean, forget that whole fiasco with Libby and the trees... That was pretty damn awesome, Ace," Koko muttered proudly as she crossed her arms, though Ace slumped his shoulders in relief.

"... Really?" Ace wondered in kind confusion, though Zed nodded and gave him a proud smile.

"You're allowing her to teach you things, at her own speed," Zed shrugged and gently peered up to Ralph, "Typically, a code swap will give you ALL of that information in one single swipe."

"Well..." Ace dragged, he grimaced a little and gestured out as if to softly explain why that was impossible, right now.

"You're being a good boyfriend," Tessa stated with great warmth and a small nod, "That's really noble of you, bud."

"I-I just... Want her to be comfortable," Ace stumbled on his words, and though he knew he was in safe, great company, he also knew that every single pair of eyes on him, right now, simply had so much stature over him.

"Is it a hard language to learn?" Koko inquired, and with this span of information that hit Ace's brain all at once, he gently took in just who he was in the center of.

His own mother and father, his grandfather, his uncle Oliver and his aunt Koko, all of extreme importance to him, he relished in the fact that they were all peering to him in kind genuineness, as if everything Ace had to say, from here on out, was of whole value. Long gone were the days where his little, youngling complaints were glossed over by the adults, and it was in this raw moment did he finally feel as if he was running with the big dogs. He exhaled a faltered breath and only bashfully noticed his mother and father's look of sheer, nostalgic pride amongst their facial expressions.

"A little bit, but she's being very patient in teaching me," Ace stated kindly, "Getting the accent is what's pretty difficult."

"It's a very abrupt language, there," Oliver agreed as him and Koko caught eyes.

"The way she says it all, though, it's so beautiful and sing-song ish," Koko giggled as Tessa bobbed an agreeing nod.

"I sound like a chicken caught in a fan, I'm sure," Ace grunted, to which everyone laughed; Tessa drew her gaze out to the field, to see just where her three pupils were.

"With time, and practice," Zed shrugged, though he eyed Ace with a kind, proud smile and nodded a little, "Y'got a whole team here whose really proud of you. Don't ever forget that."

"Thanks, dad," Ace mumbled quietly as he looked down, though Ralph grappled his shoulder in agreeing and jostled him a little.

"And the day you start spouting flawless Teltokuan, like Libby, we'll all know what went down," Ralph barked as the whole group began to laugh, though Ace's face turned beet red.

"Well, don't hold your breath, cause I don't know when that will be a thing," Ace staggered in an embarrassed way, with a cheeky smile.

"Won't just be Ace that adopts new abilities," Oliver stated knowingly as the group relaxed, and as the three flyers made a bee-line back for the group on the ground, Ace huffed a shaky breath and continued to eavesdrop on Oliver's words, "We'll wake up one morning and find Libby has used her new User-powers to rearrange the whole castle, or something."

"Definitely will be interesting to see," Ralph agreed quietly, though Ace furrowed his brow in contemplation and eyed Royal, who was drawing near and housed Ace's own swap-mate to be.

Ace heaved a shaky breath and let his eyes gloss the horizon of trees, a little. He was aware this whole patience thing was going to earn him big rewards, when the time was right, though he furrowed his brow and felt that weird itch at the back of his mind, one of sexual frustration and billowing inquiry, one that he successfully had shoved away, until right now. He allowed himself to drown in it, and though he was floored to be giving Libby all the patience in the world, every single last ounce of understanding, he wondered just where his feelings came into play, at this point. He furrowed his brow a little bit harder and wondered if this was dangerous territory, something he could likely bring up to her without seeming too rude or pushy. Before he could allow his mind to stew on the topic at hand, any longer, the three flyers landed a few dozen feet away and began to trot over to the group that had remained grounded.

"You said we're including fireball action in on this mess?" Nox stated with wild, excited eyes; it was clear that small flight, around the patch of field, was enough to wake him up for days to come.

"Yep, so I hope that little test flight at least somewhat prepared you," Tessa called, though she looked over her shoulder and gave Zed a nervous smile, "I'm not so sure we should start Nox out, on Lickity. With a team like that, the whole jungle will go up in flames."

"I was just about to say the same thing," Zed huffed under his breath as they both shared a laugh.


	155. Chapter 155

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake : I'm REALLY glad you feel this way, I was worried everyone would be bored to tears xD Which I'm certain a few people would be, but, what can you do. *shrug* I appreciate that! Thank you! :D**

 **Retrokill : Thank you! :D I hope it's as cool written as I envision it in my brain xD**

 **Snake557 : Pretty much hahaha. Thank you!**

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Soft Spoken by Puppet**

 **Better Off Alone by Plug In Stereo**

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 ***Chapter 155***

"Alright, guys, time to really wake up," Tessa called.

As the group huddled close together, they peered out to Tessa, who stood about a dozen feet before them. Lickity, Royal and Balba stood poised and ready behind her, they stood decently spaced from each other, their wings were tucked tight to their bodies, their postures were strong and proud. Tessa waggled her hands, and as she slowly paced back and forth, on the softest Dead Zed jungle grass, she allowed her silver coding to swarm her left palm with all of it's glorious power. With this, she finally slowed her pacing once she neared Lickity and honed her attention to her dragon, a solid companion she's remained tight with for a long while, now.

"In this lesson, you're going to utilize the flyer's powers with your own. One of the many things, these guys are fantastic for, is not only sharp flying, but their ability to breathe fire," Tessa explained, and as she glossed her eyes over her small batch of students, she shot her attention to Balba and gave her a curious smirk, "I'm certain Royal gave you said power, right Balba?"

"We learned that the hard way," Royal grunted as he flattened his ears, lowered his head and peered to his mate across the grass; Balba and Royal were on either side of Lickity and Tessa.

"Is THAT why my porch caught on fire?!" Nox screeched in solid terror, he gestured to Ace in dumbfounded surprise, "Ace told me he lost track of what he left on the stove, and that's why!"

"Yeah, sorry dude, I was covering for Balba," Ace muttered through his teeth as the whole group began to laugh, Balba perked her ears in sheepish pride and gently eyed Tessa in a knowing way.

"Yep... That was my fault," Balba stated warmly, as if she was somehow floored over said notion, though she softened her stance and shifted on her paws a bit, "And yes, Royal gave me that ability. As well as talking, annnd..."

"Camouflage," Royal huffed with a sneaky smirk, though Lickity flattened her ears in rapidly growing annoyance and slunk her irritated gaze to her son, a being who was a decent bit larger than both females to his left.

"Did she happen to give anything to you, or are you just the king of overloading your mate with all these weird power-ups?" Lickity snipped with a toothy, fang-filled smile, though Royal's ears sagged as the group's laughter caused him milder embarrassment.

"Don't you dare tell," Balba snapped in even further growing embarrassment as she pointed a furry, and sharply clawed finger in Royal's direction, though everyone began to volley excited, urging notions towards them. Balba suddenly flagged her feathery wings and showed her teeth, "No, no! It's private, just drop it, for User's sakes!"

"I know what it is," Libby muttered as she cocked an eyebrow and dragged her eyes to Royal, she crossed her arms and watched Royal's eternally bumbling, shy presence become even further riddled with embarrassment, "Let's just say Balba threw a dog a... Bone."

"Gah, can we... Yeah, mom, keep going with the lesson, for User's sakes, Royal's like my brother," Ace stated in a loud, hard rush as he urgently gestured his hands.

"How do you think I feel whenever you get that weird musky smell and that stupid look in your eye whenever Libby-"

"CAN WE NOT," Ace stated alongside a loud laugh, to ultimately cut Royal off; the group was in stitches, especially Nox.

"ALRIGHT, pay attention," Tessa snapped loudly as the group stifled hard laughter, Tessa desperately tried to hide it. She huffed an exhausted breath and shook her head amidst a smile she was also trying to hide, though she failed. She gestured to Lickity, Royal and Balba, in order, "Now... I sat these three down, yesterday, and made sure this venture was something they were consenting to... Today, you're going to learn how to utilize these flyers as mere weapons. An extension of your glitching powers, you and your flyer will work as one mind to complete one simple task."

"Like... Flying dive-bomb kamikazes?" Nox uttered nervously, everyone blurt into continued laughter the lively group couldn't seem to contain.

"No, more like a propelled canon ball you can aim," Tessa stated with a cheeky smile, Lickity perked her ears, puffed her chest and looked wholly floored to practice said lesson, and as Tessa allowed her hand to reignite with her's, Zed's and Ace's glorious silver coding, she gingerly hovered her hand over Lickity's snout, "I'll tell you one thing about Lickity, that is likely the same for Royal, and now Balba... They have an incredibly powerful fire-shot. It's obviously not utilized often, we don't really ever get a chance to see it in action because there's just no need, but... With how difficult it's been to find Radex, and the castle, as well as all of Sugar Rush's racers... I'm beginning to think we may be up against a stronger force than any of use realize."

"We'll basically be manning a dragon in which we can control where their fire blast goes?" Koko wondered with an incredible, excited fire in her eyes, she cupped her hands together and looked wholly floored to begin training.

"Precisely... This isn't something to abuse, and this doesn't mean you have full control of whatever flyer you're on," Tessa instructed as she gently climbed aboard Lickity's back, and as she took a proper seat just at the base of Lickity's neck, Lickity softly bowed her head, flattened her ears and let her eyes hone to Tessa's right hand that hovered sharply over Lickity's snout.

Before anyone could interject or ask questions, Tessa allowed her glitching coding to mesh with the coding atop Lckity's head, causing Lickity's gorgeous rose gold coding to swirl with Tessa's. Tessa exhaled a slow breath, and she gingerly moved her hand back and forth, Lickity allowed Tessa full control of her skull, a strange sight to see such a smaller hand, in size comparison, controlling Lickity's larger head. Lickity willingly opened her mouth wide, fangs bared and all, to show just how this would look in the heat of everything, though she took it one step further and allowed a burning, crazy hot glow of molten energy begin to shine at the base of her gullet. Just as everyone realized just what was going on, they urgently scrambled out of the way, and just as Tessa was aware of the suddenly parted clearing everyone had graced her with, Tessa furrowed her brow in a jolt of energy and willed her thoughts into action.

With a bark of a growl, Lickity suddenly huffed a short, electric hot beam of a molten fireball straight into the ground a few dozen feet where everyone had scrambled from. Lickity finally lifted her head a little, barred her fangs and though the slit of her tightened pupils, steam rose from between her fangs as she erupted in a deep, throaty growl. Everyone barked nervous, terrified and excited notions for what had just taken place, and as they peered their eager attention to Tessa and Lickity, they instantaneously began to crowed Tessa and her three flyers.

"Oh, I HAVE to try this," Oliver grunted excitedly as he clenched his fists and peered to Tessa in pure pleading. Tessa laughed, nodded a little and flagged her hand, and though Lickity puffed her chest and looked as if she had a never ending supply of said fireballs, Tessa gently slid off of Lickity's spine and gingerly held her hand underneath Lickity's chin.

"This is a teamwork... Not for a single second do I want to see ANY of you mistreating these three guys," Tessa stated firmly as she held Lickity's chin in one of her hands and pointed her free hand down to the ground, in a stern manner, "You aren't the only one in control, and in the heat of any battle we may find ourselves in, they have a say, and they have the right to shake you free of said exterior swap, if they do so decide. You're working with a being that has free will... The first person to abuse this trust will answer to ME."

Everyone fell silent and allowed the weight of the situation fall on everyone, and as Tessa made sure everyone caught eyes with her and noticed her words were clear as day, Tessa relaxed a little and softly stroked Lickity's snout, as a job well done.

"For this lesson, I have designed a small game. Obviously, only three people are to play at a time," Tessa instructed quietly as she gingerly made her way over to Royal, who stood proud and ready for his aunt to lay any form of instruction on him, "On the field, I will place digital targets, that you will be able to see from the sky, via my digital pad. The person to hit the most targets, both stationary and moving, will win."

"What's the prize?" Ralph wondered with great cheek; he knew he likely wasn't needed for this lesson, for the chance of him being in Sugar Rush for this drama was likely slim, due to his quarter alerts, though he knew he spoke for everyone that curiously hung in the balance. As he glanced down to the backs of everyone's heads, they all eagerly stole excited glances to each other and nodded, which had Ralph beaming in scheming delight.

"I didn't think that far ahead, I'm not going to lie," Tessa muttered, everyone chuckled in dismay towards her, though she shook her hand and flagged her hand downwards, "I'll think of something. For now, everyone line up, you're going to take turns familiarizing you coding with Lickity, Royal and Balba."

"We're not going to be designated one flyer?" Koko wondered, though as everyone piled forward with eagerness, Koko jolted and noticed Libby and Nox remain still.

She was aware Libby was likely waiting further instruction, for the fact that she wasn't a glitch just yet, though Koko urgently glossed her eyes to Nox and felt a wave of growing nervousness come over her. Koko furrowed her brow, and in a quick swipe, she peered to Nox's unsure hands. They unwillingly trembled, and with this realization that crawled over Koko, she was aware Nox was uncertain of just what this meant for him. She lovingly let a small smile sprawl her face, and as she reached back for his hand, he choked a nervous noise and stumbled to keep up as she grappled his hand.

"Nope," Tessa stated warmly as she eyed Nox and Koko with great cheek, though she began to feel worry gloss over her as well, for the fact that Nox's hands weren't totally healed just yet. She noticed Koko and Nox share a quiet, cute, worrisome exchange within close proximity of each other, though with the way Nox's eyes looked hopeful, she knew Koko had this situation under control, "It just got me thinking... If suddenly we have to spring into action, I want whoever is nearest the closest flyer to hop on board and do whatever you can do, to help, from the air. That's something we certainly have against Radex... The sky."

"So, even if he's jumping about, dodging us on the ground," Ace twirled his finger forward a little and carried on his mother's wisdom, "Whoever the six of us, that are in the air, will have a bird's eye view of the drama and be able to end this quicker. Is that where you're going with this?"

"Exactly," Tessa bobbed a nod, though she stood aside as everyone picked a flyer, stood in line and awaited to familiarize their coding with the majestic beasts they were to be working with.

"It's just... I-I don't think I'll be able to control or steer well, with my hands all trembly, like this," Nox stated so quietly to Koko as they hovered near Royal, and with such, Royal cued to their oh so quiet conversation, due to his incredible hearing. Royal softened his stance a little and noticed Nox becoming apprehensive as he approached.

"I think you'll be alright, whatever flyer you're working with will help steady you, babe," Koko eased with all the warmth, she was grateful only her and Nox had lined up in front of Royal, for right now; she knew they needed a minute to figure this out, anyhow.

"I-I just want to be of use, somehow, y'know?" Nox staggered as he winced and allowed his and Koko's coding to swarm his grey skin, on his palm, though he sorrowfully peered into Koko's eyes and huffed a nervous breath, "I... I really did myself a disservice by thinking I could wreck without the physical power of it..."

"You didn't know, no one knew," Koko shook her head, though with great ease, she smiled as she noticed Royal flatten his ears, so to seem less intimidating.

He lowered his head a little, and as Nox's palm was gaped and ready, Royal lovingly eased his snout into Nox's live-wired hand. Both boys suddenly flinched with the massive amount of coded difference between them, both animal and human, thirty years of honeycomb coding to brand new, one year old dragon circuits, they both widened their eyes and remained glued to each other. Royal huffed a bark of a soft noise, shifted on his feet in solid surprise and let his massive golden orbs close with a lull into the back of his skull, and as both boys took in each other's massively stark differences, they fought to find the common ground of teamwork.

"See, it's okay," Koko smiled, though Nox's hand gently trembled against Royal's snout. As easily as Koko could, she allowed her coding to flare as well, and as she cupped her larger hand over Nox's, on Royal's bat-like nose, she eased stillness into Nox's system, "Just relax... Obviously Royal can handle it, right bub?"

"Yeah, it's not as trembling as I anticipated," Royal said with great warmth, his deep, crackly and adorably boyish voice coat the group as everyone had fallen silent to watch the intriguing show at hand, Royal bobbed a nod and let his posture gain confidence, once more, "It won't make mine or his aiming bad, or anything, I'll just have to stabilize it a little. Nothing teamwork can't solve."

"I-I'm glad," Nox stated with a shaky breath, though he finally let a genuine chuckle and a smile sprawl his face as Koko hovered close to him, a loving act she was aware would take Ace's expertise, though she knew her own dose of love was much needed here, as well.

"You're with extremely smart creatures, here," Tessa stated knowingly as everyone honed to the delicate situation at hand, "Even without their talking abilities, I don't doubt for a second we'd still have a solid team."

"Talking just makes it more fun," Balba's cute voice croaked quietly, which cued everyone into smiles and soft laughter.

"Talking BACK, you mean," Lickity lulled her head, shifted on her feet and flexed her wings a little; Balba bobbed an eager nod, her gorgeous green fur rippled with the soft, cool breeze that was abundant.

"Alright, guys, get familiarized, I'll pick three people to go for the first round in a minute, okay?" Tessa eased quietly as she made her way from her group of family, as well as the three flyers that patiently waited for their suspecting riders.

Tessa heaved a long, shaky sigh, raised her eyebrows high and crossed the grass; the one person who hung back, with his hands on his hips, was her father. He gave her a smug, proud smile, bobbed a nod and looked down the grass as she slowly strolled up, which was a decent stretch away from the group she had split from. Tessa gently approached her father and took a stand next to him, and as the two peered to the small group of glitcher's, Tessa's new students, Ralph furrowed his brow in a contemplative, kind show of pride and gingerly nudged Tessa's shoulder. Tessa wobbled a little, blurt a hiss of a giggle and shoved her father's arm back, just gently.

"What," Tessa mumbled with a bashful smile she tried to hide.

"Lookit you," Ralph chuckled, he softly gestured out to the group of seven glitchers that diligently familiarized themselves with Lickity, Royal and Balba, "You've got this in the bag."

"What do you mean?" Tessa stated in a dull, lightly annoyed manner, and though she didn't want to be doted on and reminded that she was Queen material, she knew, deep down, she'd never get tired of it.

"I'm not going to say your mother could've taught this lesson better or worse, but..." Ralph shook his head, beamed a soft smile down to his first born and nodded a little, the look of pride on his face continued to grow, "You've come a very long way, Tessy. I'm very proud of the woman, the leader, you're turning into."

"Thanks, dad," Tessa stated warmly as she crossed her arms, though her eyes began to sag in sadness as she let them gloss over Ace, Libby, Nox, Koko, Zed, Oliver and Emery; all beings who happily chattered and laughed together. Tessa heaved a shaky sigh, shook her head and long blinked in growing apprehension, "I really wish mom felt the same way."

"Love, you know she does..." Ralph grumbled as they stood close to each other, and as Ralph gently eyed Sugar Rush's future Queen, he still couldn't wipe the smile of pride from his face, even if he wanted to, "She's just hurting... It'll all iron itself out, eventually. You should look into having a little talk with her, before the Sugar Rush scout, though. Not immediately, but, in due time... This is nothing you can technically fix, right now, anyhow."

"... Not even with a golden hammer?" Tessa staggered as she gave her father a dull look of scheming delight; Ralph largely rolled his eyes and dragged them upward, towards the brilliant blue sky.

"Nope, not even then," Ralph grunted, he huffed a laugh, with a smile and dragged his gaze back down to his beautiful first born, "You took a stance, as a leader. Doing that comes with consequences, and will ALWAYS make at least someone upset."

"Just had to be mom," Tessa worried with a frown as her eyes idly glossed the front of Ralph's red A-shirt, though Ralph gingerly tapped his large pointer finger on the underside of Tessa's chin and cocked an eyebrow.

"Get used to it, doll," Ralph grumbled, "You're already on your way to gaining an extremely thick skin. This is just fuel to the fire. Learn from it, don't hold the situation with a fist, stay humble and remember just who brought you into this world..."

Tessa sagged her shoulders in further defeat and bobbed a small nod, though she gratefully eyed her father, even if it was in rapidly growing remorse, humility and a dash of cheek.

"Thanks, dad," Tessa stated truthfully, her tone was that of warm defeat, something that wasn't technically prepared to let keep her down. She knew she'd have far bigger trails, if she were to one day be crowned Queen; she figured now was a good place to start developing a feel for these trails, anyhow.

"Always here for you," Ralph stated warmly with a nod, though he gestured out to the field and changed the air of the topic, "So, how does this game work, anyhow?"

"Oh, I'll show you," Tessa stated with slowly returning excitement. She pulled out her digital pad, thumbed through a few options, and before she could explain, she allowed the grass, underneath her and Ralph, to suddenly illuminate with a massive, bright blue target; it's diameter stretched to about fifty feet, which cued the attention of the group across the way. Tessa gave the group a knowing smile, and as they began to saunter over to Ralph and Tessa, she began explaining at a volume everyone could hear, "I will make these targets appear on the field... The first person to hit ten targets, will win."

"Have you decided a prize, just yet?" Zed stated as he crossed his arms and beamed Tessa a cheeky smile.

"Not yet, but I'll make sure it's good," Tessa eased knowingly as she waggled her digital pad about, "Alright... Whose ready to have some fun?"

* * *

As the late morning sun glinted through the sky lights above the kitchen, Penny sat at the kitchen island amongst a few other bodies in the room. Among them were Finn, Tammy, Duke, Jax and Throttle. Penny minded her business, she wore a comfortable pair of leggings amidst a larger, lazy black t-shirt. She felt her heart lightly pound at the sheer fact that she was becoming a bit more comfortable around everyone, she wasn't afraid to let those strict walls begin to come down. She wrinkled her nose down into her communicator and new this was the product of finding love. She thumbed into her's and Tessa's conversation, bit her lip a little and allowed her mind to drown out the soft, lulling conversation of those about her.

 _11:01am Sunday 09/25/2016_

Fluggers : Hey Tess, I know you're in the middle of your glitching lesson right now, but when you get back, I'd really like to ask you a few things.

Fluggers : And yes, it involves boy talk, just want to get that over with, really.

Fluggers : Don't tell anyone please

Penny hovered her thumbs over the conversation, and though she was aware Tessa likely wouldn't be replying anytime too soon, she glared down Tessa's end of the text and held her breath, as if to anticipate seeing the infamous 'typing' symbol. Before she could get too lost in her running, giddy thoughts, she felt her heart dip in near-delighted terror and noticed Orph come from around the corner, in her peripheral. She held her breath even harder, raised her eyebrows in dewy surprise and so desperately tried not to seem too obvious in the fact that she was floored he was here. With that odd rush of excitement came the same rush of annoyance; the same notion that coat her skin the day prior. She tore her eyes from Orph's figure, though once he was deep enough into the kitchen, enough to have his back to her a little, she cocked an eyebrow and glued her eyes to him in whole, girly curiosity.

Dressed in a lazy tank top, his silver hair was darker and lightly fluffed to his scalp, due to having just taken a shower. He idly chat with Jax, who hovered over the stove and made a tasty, toasted sandwich of sorts. Both boys laughed and playfully argued a few notions, Orph began to teasingly prod at Jax's food, or at least pretend to, and as their laughter grew, Penny knew she was allowed more time to really assess Orph, to get a good, whole reading on him. She felt a small smile sprawl her face at the simple fact that he was sticking to their little deal. He didn't acknowledge her, and though she typically wondered if this notion should upset her one day, for now, she relished in their little secret, and in the fact that he was very good at keeping their budding relationship secret right from the get go.

Penny smiled a little, down to her communicator, and felt a wave of grateful relief crawl over her. She knew this was likely going to be a weird transition, once the two were to be eventually out in the open about their new status, though for now, she was totally floored with how flawless his aloof execution was. She almost grimaced at the sheer fact that she was now wholly uncertain if their conversation, the night prior, even took place. Just before she were to work herself into the ground, she noticed Orph mosey away, in her peripheral, and just as he was about to hover near the kitchen's massive walk-in pantry, her communicator softly vibrated. Penny felt her pupils tighten in a draw of girly surprise as she noticed Orph's name notify her at the top of the screen.

 _11:07am_

 _Orph4prez : Would you like me to make you some lunch?_

 _Orph4prez : Good morning, btw :]_

Without lifting her head, or moving a muscle, Penny softly dart her eyes to where Orph was stationed and got a good look into his eyes, she was surprise he had his gaze fixated on hers. He raised his eyebrows a little, as if to lovingly inquire that he had not forgotten about her, and though he didn't make it outwardly obvious that her presence was noticed, he knew he had to at least somehow prove to her that he was a lot more attentive than she likely knew. Penny just barely gave him a bashful smile, and as Orph slunk into the walk-in pantry, Penny quickly let her fingers tap away.

 _Fluggers : That'd be great, thank you_

 _Fluggers : ...I wasn't just sitting here waiting for someone to make me lunch, did I give off that vibe?_

 _Orph4prez : Yeah, don't be needy, Jesus._

Penny suddenly blurt a hard laugh at Orph's insatiable sarcasm, though she flinched and realized that everyone suddenly drew their curious attention to Penny. Penny raised her eyebrows, shut her mouth tight and scrunched her shoulders in a draw of hot surprise, though as she nervously waved everyone off, she felt her throat tighten in now solid, embarrassed annoyance as Orph quickly took this opportunity to shoot her another message.

 _Orph4prez : You're going to be the one to spill the beans first, I can almost promise you that right now._

 _Fluggers : Stop saying funny shit, you're making this difficult_

 _Orph4prez : What are you hungry for?_

 _Fluggers : Surprise me_

 _Orph4prez : Babe, don't give me that kind of freedom._

Penny felt a smile broaden across her cheeks, and hard. She pushed the backs of her knuckles to her mouth and so desperately tried to hide it, though with the way her heart nearly jumped into her throat, she knew she couldn't take it. She puckered her lips in tight annoyance, and though her face was likely beet red, she huffed a shaky breath, shook off the feeling, outwardly anyways, and slouched, once more.

 _Orph4prez : I can see you puckering trying to get that smile to go away_

 _Fluggers : STOP lol_

Penny finally beamed a genuine smile down to her communicator and tucked tighter into herself, though she felt her whole stomach tense as Tammy suddenly made an inquiring noise.

"What are you giggling about, over here?" Tammy stated curiously as she crossed her arms and gave Penny a look of floored incredulousness.

"O-Oh, I... I was having a really funny conversation with Tessa, last night," Penny stammered through a bright smile, a glowing appearance she was now certain was going to give herself away, and with this, she was beginning to realize Orph's words were likely going to come true. Before she could continue, she noticed Orph come strolling out of the pantry with a smug look on his face, he held a few ingredients for a proper lunch, for the two. Penny cocked an eyebrow at him and nearly sent him an annoyed, playful glower, though it was subtle, "I-I just stumbled upon it again, and it was funnier the second time I read it."

"What were you guys talking about?" Jax wondered dryly, unsuspectedly.

"Yeah, had to have been hilarious," Orph eased nonchalantly as he began to poke through the fridge, though Penny grit her teeth and sent an eternally annoyed glower to the back of Orph's head.

"It's personal, sorry guys," Penny stated sharply, a hard front she was comfortable with, and like routine, everyone knew just when Penny had had enough antics; with such, everyone eased off, no questions asked.

"Girl talk, huh," Orph mumbled in mild annoyance as he peered to her, though the two caught eyes in a whirl of whole bashfulness, a kind cue they suddenly were enraptured in.

Before either one of them could peel their eyes away, they shared a silent conversation, one of prodding curiosity, the thrill of their secret, the fact that it was diligently unspoken, something about the rush made the forbidden aspect of it made it all that much more exciting. Penny staggered a breath and was the first to peel her eyes away from Orph's, and though no one even bat a lash at the two, Penny still felt more exposed than she had in a very long while. As Orph turned his back to begin making the two lunch, she eyed his strong shoulders and figure and felt a shaky breath of relief leave her chest. She cocked an eyebrow down to her communicator and could hardly wait for Tessa to come home; she knew all of her secrets, inquiries and worries were wholly safe with the one who was the source of this mess.

* * *

 **A/N:** ***taps mic* You guys still there?**

 **I have a few pieces of the sketchdump finished, and I'm pleased to say that there will be a scene or two I will make into a mini comic! Hope you guys are excited :D It'll all fit with the sketch dump, so it won't be like pages and pages, but there are just some scenes that you guys have requested that can't really be simply summed up by one picture.**

 **ALSO I am in the middle of painting a cool scene of their in-air training lessons and I'm about half way done with it, so keep your eye on my deviantART cause that's where it will end up - Username Vyntresser :) Thanks guys!**


	156. Chapter 156

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** Yes indeed :D Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks friend! :)

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :**... Wait, what? xD I never promised tears, did I? Look, I've cried enough, in the duration of all three of these stories, for each and every single one of my readers as is lol. I've done all the crying FOR you guys, believe it or not, so you can be BURDEN FREE xD Hey, I don't want the ridiculously high standard of attempting to make people cry from emotion, do you know how much stress I'm currently in? I'm not about to saddle myself with another chore, here haha. I'm one venti quad espresso on ice away from having permanent heart palpitations, over here, don't talk to me about crying. LMAO... But I will tell you, the end of the story is very sad - ends happy! Lots of sadness in between. I always warn you guys to embrace the good times, cause when the bad times hit, they'll hit hard. But I guess you'll be the judge of that, then. As for the spoilers you've seen, are you talking about the picture of Nox holding Ace while he's down? Yeah that chapter is uh... Yep, I 100% guarantee I'll bawl during it.

 **SamanthaR197 :** Thank you SO much! I'm really glad you're also enjoying my artwork :D

* * *

 **A/N :** Sorry for the incredible amount of filler-ish conversation, in this chapter. The next chapter will have a good dose of funny romance, from both OrphxPenny and TammyxFinn. Stay tuned you guys! :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To**

 **It's Called Wayfinding - Moana movie score**

 **Pixel by Tokyo Machine ( This is a good song to blast in your car whilst going 90mph on the highway - just don't let the cops find you ;] )**

* * *

 ***Chapter 156***

"Alright, who wants to go first," Tessa exclaimed kindly as she clapped her hands together and gave everyone an excited smile, though she jolted as literally everyone flagged their hands up and gave her eager notions of just why they thought they should go first. Tessa huffed a flattered breath, held her hands up in confusion and looked about everyone in growing cheek and nervousness, "Uh, I-I can only pick three at a time."

"Let them decide amongst themselves," Ralph grunted as he came up behind Tessa, though just as he said that, everyone began to loudly bicker. Ralph and Tess quickly peered to each other in rising apprehension, "A-Alright, bad idea."

"Alright, I'm going to say Emery, Koko and Zed are up first," Tessa called, and as everyone, who was not called, began to gripe and complain, Tessa quickly noticed the one glitcher in the group who looked mildly relieved. Nox slumped his shoulders with a sigh of relief and looked down at his hands in growing sorrow, though Tessa knew this was her opportunity to really lift Nox up and prepare him for whenever his turn would come, "Alright, you three, pick a flyer and wait for your mark."

"You're not allowed on Lickity," Koko suddenly stabbed to Zed as she quickly made a beeline for Tessa's dragon, though Zed gaped.

"Why not!" Zed urged, everyone laughed as they began to file away from the three that were up first.

"Because, you know how to fly Lickity almost as well as Tessa does, and you'd instantly win," Koko urged in hard frustration as she gestured to Balba, "You should fly a flyer you're not used to... Like Balba."

"C'mon, Zed, we'll show 'em what for," Balba huffed as she bared her fangs and gave her foes a challenging look, Zed equally joined her fervor.

"Yeah," Zed scoffed with a cocky smile as he slowly boarded Balba, "Should be cake."

"Don't let your head get too big, there," Emery grunted as she gladly boarded Royal's spine.

"Does this mean I'm not allowed to fly Royal, then?" Ace grumbled as he eyed his dragon, everyone sagged their shoulders and groaned in unison.

"I wish I had my own flyer," Zed snapped back, Ace flinched with a nearly annoyed smile.

"We just gunna bring back all the dragons and lykatas so everyone has one of their own, then?" Ace called with an eager smile as Zed, Emery and Koko prepared themselves for the game at hand.

"Would be cool," Oliver stated as he eyed his nephew.

"Okay, guys," Tessa called as she stepped out of the ground of onlookers and approached the three powerful beasts that stood tall and proud. Tessa waggled about her digital pad and gestured out to the field, "There will be no attacking each other... You are simply to fire your shots at the target and nothing else. I'll end the game the second any one of you takes a shot at another opponent."

"Dammit," Koko muttered as she eyed Zed, to which Emery blurt a laugh at Zed's incredulous gape.

"For User's sakes," Zed blurt, Koko stifled a sneaky laugh and covered her mouth in growing mischief.

"You'll have three minutes to hit as many targets as you can... Only one will be placed down anywhere on the field at a time, so you'll have to move and maneuver quickly in order to win."

"I'm ready," Emery stated with great competitiveness as she hunkered to Royal's spine.

"Alright, hit the sky, the count down will be displayed on the field," Tessa gestured, and before she could likely spout off more rules or worries, all three flyers largely flapped their wings in an excited downstroke and took to the skies.

As the grass, everyone's hair and clothing rippled in the sudden gust of wind about them, the atmosphere settled, even if just for a few moments. As Tessa stepped a little deeper into the field, and created a small, safe haven for the group of onlookers, she began the round and a massive, brilliant blue countdown appeared in the middle of the field, the perfect vantage point for her three flyers to see. Once the round had begun, everyone eagerly watched as Zed, Emery and Koko, from way up in the air, handled this experiment and though everyone was certain it'd likely be fumbling or even on the brink of being disastrous, the six, in the sky, handled their new task with ease and grace. As the seconds went on, their competitiveness became largely more abundant as the fire-shots, that rocketed to the ground, became louder, bigger and more aggressive.

Ace eagerly watched with a wide smile, as did everyone else, though as his eyes glossed the back of his mother's head, his attention went from watching Tessa hurry to place new targets on the field, via her digital pad, to the idea that Nox wasn't as excited as he likely wanted to be. Ace furrowed his brow and gently dragged his attention to Nox, who stood close to Libby, likely for comfort. Libby, on the other hand, remained in his tight bubble, though her eager, excited eyes were totally focused to the game at hand, it was clear she was beyond excited to get out there and try her hand at it, even though it'd bank on her holding an exterior swap with Ace and keeping that strict form after separating from him.

"Hey, Nox," Ace called quietly, he was a handful of feet away. Nox raised his eyebrows and shook himself out of his deep thoughts, he honed his golden eyes straight for Ace's.

"Yeah?" Nox inquired, Ace warmly gestured him over and gave him a knowing, playful glare, as if to state to Nox that he could practically feel the worry radiating from him. Nox slumped his shoulders, tenderly moved past Libby and Oliver and pressed into Ace's presence, "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes," Ace grumbled as he let his larger palms come alive with his glowing, silver coding, and as he rested his hands out and presented them for Nox, Nox let his palms lay flat on Ace's, though he huffed a shaky inhale as Ace's exterior coding flood his in a bout of upped power. Ace shook his head and got a good look into Nox's shivering soul, "Why are you so nervous?"

"I don't know, I guess... I just don't want to let anyone down," Nox staggered, though Ace cocked an eyebrow.

"Let anyone down? Or let yourself down?" Ace hit the nail on the head, he knew he did so by the way Nox's facial expression washed flat in guilty knowing.

"Two for two," Nox grumbled, though everyone largely flinched as the field rumbled with the sudden pang of power that hit it; Royal, Lickity and Balba each had an incredible amount of energy, in their fire-shots, that hit the grass, wherever the targets lay. Nox breathed a shaky sigh, though full of relief, and dragged his eyes back for Ace's presence, "I'm going to lose this, dude, I just know it."

"Well, considering mom hasn't even picked a prize, yet, don't be too down on yourself," Ace huffed, he narrowed his gaze and eyed the back of his mother's head, in a playful way, though as Nox uttered a small laugh, Ace smiled and brought himself back to Nox's line of sight.

"I guess that's true," Nox eased quietly as Ace continued to transfer healing coding directly into Nox's.

As the group eagerly watched the show, a high speed display of only the best flyers around, it was easy to tell the hype and tension, amongst everyone, was rapidly billowing. Nox desperately tried to keep up with everyones excited chatter, though he nervously kept tight in Ace's bubble, as if to clearly state that he needed every single last ounce of Ace's healing abilities before he was thrown to the wolves. Ace understood Nox's silent pleas, and though he was nearly helping Nox get a leg up, over him, on the competition, Ace knew it wasn't dire if he lost to Nox. Though Ace was so eagerly wrapped in conversation with Libby, Oliver, Tessa and Ralph, he still held Nox as his priority in this moment. Before any more boasting and bets could be placed, on just who would win, Tessa ended the first round and rallied in the three flyers, as well as her three pupils. As Lickity, Royal and Balba all galloped to a halt on the grass, they panted and strolled up with a look of whole, unadulterated excitement in their eyes.

"I won that round, I know it," Koko called in hard anticipation, though as the three slid off of their respective flyer's backs, Tessa grit her teeth and peered down at her digital pad with a sheepish smile.

"Emery was the victor, for this round," Tessa rushed, though Emery gaped a wide smile, pumped her fists and pointed fingers in Koko's and Zed's faces.

"...OH!" Emery barked, a boasty, playfully bratty and excitable side she often hid, very well, though she flaunted it with glee, "All that bickering you two, were doing, and I just slid on past for first place. No biggie!"

"Mhmm," Koko muttered as she eyed Emery in whole annoyance, though everyone knew this was just friendly fire.

"Koko, you hit four targets, Zed hit seven and Emery hit a staggering eleven," Tessa raised her eyebrows and peered down to her digital pad in whole surprise, though Emery put her hands on her hips and gave Oliver, Nox, Libby and Ace a cheeky look of whole delight.

"I dare you guys to beat THAT," Emery chimed as her pretty green hair rippled with the cool breeze that brisked by, though Tessa huffed a soft laugh and eyed her son.

"Alright, up next will be me, Libby and Oliver," Tessa stated, she waggled her pad about and softly nudged it to Ace's upper arm, "Bud, you wanna do the honors of placing the targets?"

"Oh, sure," Ace's eyes lit up in boyish delight as he peered to his mother's digital pad, a portal into the coding of the entire game, something he was wholly excited he was entrusted with, day in and day out.

"Well, then Ace and Nox are going to be competing in the last round... Who will be the third person to compete, then?" Koko stabbed, the weight of her loss still hung on her in dregs of annoyed anger, though Tessa faltered, cocked an eyebrow and glanced to Zed and Oliver.

"Uhh... You can go again, if you want, Keeks," Tessa huffed with a small giggle, though she largely flinched as Oliver hurriedly flagged his hand.

"No way you're allowed to be on Lickity, this round," Oliver stabbed, everyone knowingly laughed, "I call Lickity."

"I wasn't going to choose Lickity, anyways," Tessa urged after her younger brother with a snide smile, "I'd smoke you guys clear out of the jungle, if that was the case."

"I probably shouldn't fly Balba, then," Libby giggled shyly as she gently eyed Ace, and though this was a tricky next step, she softly gestured her hand out to him and gave him a kind, charming smile, "Uh... I-I'll need your help, there, puba."

"Are you calling him Poobah? As in the 'oh grand' one?" Nox wondered with a curious smile as he crossed his arms and watched the show, though as Zed, Emery and Koko filed past Tessa and Oliver, to sulk with Ralph, Ace felt his face turn red as he eyed Libby with a curious smile.

"N-No, she's saying puba, which means 'bear' in Teltokuan," Ace staggered with a shy smile that only broadened as Libby's eyes glossed his, "I-Its a nickname."

"Ohh, I thought she was saying like... 'Grand Poobah'," Nox huffed a laugh as Libby so gently held her curious hands out to him, to politely ask for an exterior swap so she could properly play along with Tessa and Oliver, "I was gunna say... She's got you 'round her finger, dude."

"I don't think he'd complain," Libby stated in coy girlyness, likely more than she intended to give off, though she eyed Ace with a sly smile and allowed him to sink his hand into hers.

Ace raised his eyebrows a little and only bashfully glued his eyes down to Libby's hands; he could feel the intrigued, sly and knowing stares being caught from all about his family members, and before he could huff a nervous noise and insist everyone cut it out, he inhaled a steady breath and decided to own this weird, wiggly aspect of his and Libby's flowering relationship. He knew, sooner or later, things would grow deeper, get more intense, cut to a point where this witty, sexual banter was most definitely put to good use; he wondered if approaching it with confidence would somehow scoot it along a little bit more prominently.

"Not a single bit," Ace stated cooly as his and Libby's coding lovingly mixed on their hands, though he gave her an upped amount of voltage for good measure.

She shot him a surprised look, as if to state she was unprepared for him to mildly retaliate as such, and with this, she huffed a shaky breath and was on the bashful, scrunching, sheepish side of this mess, for once. She giggled a nervous noise and gratefully allowed Ace's coding to cling onto hers. Once they were solidified, an act they had been practicing, she gently began to step away from him, though she kept her palms alive with their glorious, rare, golden honeycombs of love. She sauntered backwards, kept her eyes honed to him, and in a subtle display of further retaliation, she winked, a seductive, girly charm she often wondered would suit her nicely. Ace held his breath and watched as she turned heel and began to saunter towards Royal, who also caught onto their figurative mating dance. Royal cocked an eyebrow muscle and shot his brother a look of floored knowing, though he flattened his ears and welcomed Libby's presence.

"Damn, dude, chill out," Nox muttered with a boyish chuckle, though Ace breathed a faltering breath and wiggled his fingers a little; though he didn't need to keep Libby's exterior coding, he held onto it and relished in it's warmth and familiarity.

"This sucks, man," Ace stated, just to him, though Nox nodded vigorously and gave him an empathetic look of cheeky sorrow.

"I'll say, it's hard enough sitting back and watching," Nox choked, he shook his head, and as the team took to the skies, Ace readied his pad and allowed Libby's coding to softly vanish from his existence, for now. Nox crossed his arms, he could hear Emery, Koko and Zed bickering with Ralph a few feet behind them, "When you guys gunna finish the deed? Seems as though she's digging the idea, no?"

"I have no idea," Ace grumbled, he shook his head, "Things are moving at a decent pace, I just... Don't know how to come out and ask her about it without it seeming abrupt. I feel as though no time is a good time, with her weird predicament."

"You should just... Catch her at a time where you're both hanging out, or something," Nox shrugged, "Maybe you have a lot of time on your hands, she's laughing at all of your jokes... She gives you THAT look, I mean damn, that was an invitation in of itself, man."

"Really?" Ace innocently wondered, and though he began the countdown on the field, most of his attention was glued to his and Nox's conversation.

"Yeah, man, the wink, the exterior coding, the walk she walked away from you?" Nox choked, he looked over his shoulder and softly gestured to his own mate, who was in a riled discussing with Zed, currently, "Anyone with a brainstem can see that she's into the idea, man, that was solid proof. And you have witnesses, here."

"Huh," Ace breathed, he let his mind suddenly soak to the new ideas that were opening up to him, "Should I just... Take my chances? I don't want to abruptly present the idea, of swapping, to her and have it be too sudden... That'd be one step forward, two steps back, y'know?"

"Yeah, you really have to watch your step, because of what happened to her," Nox grumbled, though he grimaced and shook his head, "But, I mean, c'mon! She trusts you, you guys are clearly head over heels, it's obvious you guys are a ticking time bomb... Everyone else sees it. There's two sides to this coin. Which one fate will land on is really unclear, unguessable."

"I'll just stick to my subtle tactics," Ace sighed in soft defeat as he began to diligently place targets on the field, via his mother's digital pad. Once someone hit the target, he found a new spot for one, though his attention was still mostly glued to his and Nox's conversation, "It'll eventually spill over, right? I should just let her come to me."

"You have feelings too, though," Nox eased carefully, "Just make sure she's aware that while you're showing her respect, you deserve it too. Not saying she has to do anything she's uncomfortable with or not ready for, but... It's only fair she at least acknowledges that it takes two to tango, here."

"You don't think she's stringing me along, do you?" Ace wondered in growing irritation, "She wouldn't use her traumatic experience to her advantage, like that, would she?"

"I highly doubt she'd do it intentionally," Nox trailed with a curious shrug as his brilliant golden eyes nervously hooked into Ace's, "You're a big softy... She knows it. It wouldn't hurt to make sure everything stays in check, y'know?"

"Guess you're right," Ace sighed with a frown as he shook his head and continued to go through the motions of placing a new target once the old one was hit, "

"In the end, it doesn't hurt to take things slow," Nox stated as both boys had their lazy guess fixated to the game at hand, eons away from them, and though it was far off, the rumble of each fire-shot could still be felt. Nox cocked an eyebrow and huffed a cheeky scoff, "Don't take it from anyone else, in this castle. Y'got Tammy and Finn, and now Koko and I that dove in nearly head first... Guess you, Libby, Penny and Orph take the cake for endurance, there."

"... Penny and Orph?" Ace played dumb, he furrowed his brow and peered to Nox.

"Yeah, isn't it obvious?" Nox wondered softly, though he shook his head as if to wonder if he was potentially confused.

"Oh, I guess maybe, I see them glancing at each other from time to time," Ace shrugged, though just before both boys could delve down another long winded topic of confused feelings, his mother's digital pad called a soft alarm, stating that the round was over.

As all three flyers came back to the meeting point, which was just at the edge of the cleared space of jungle, Ace scrolled to the top of the digital page and beamed in delight, as to just who was the winner. As Lickity came to the ground first, the look on Oliver's face was that of floored delight. Once Royal and Balba trot up behind him, all three of them on fire for the task at hand, Oliver quickly jumped off of Lickity, nudged her snout in a bout of excitement and gestured his hand urgently, his palms were still fresh and alive with his and Emery's glorious, olive green coding.

"Okay, tell me your favorite Uncle Oliver won," Oliver blurt with an eager smile, though as Ace's sheepish eye contact slid from his uncle's straight to his girlfriend, everyone quickly caught on.

"... Libby won this round," Ace stated with a proud smile, though she cupped her hands over her mouth in shock and froze atop Royal. Royal bared his fangs, excitedly, and bobbed a nod as Ace continued with the scoreboard, "Uncle Oliver hit six, mom hit ten and Libby hit twelve."

"AW MAN!" Emery wailed in solid annoyance at the sheer fact that Libby beat her score by one. Libby scrunched her shoulders, as she finally slid off of Royal, though as Emery began to march over to Libby, Libby drew in a nervous frown and tucked into the side of Royal's face, just behind the protective spikes on his jaw. Emery pointed to Royal in solid annoyance, "Do you just get sharper over time, or something?"

"You really gunna blame me?" Royal snipped, he flattened his ears and looked about, though Lickity and Balba shot him annoyed looks. Royal sagged his wings a little, though his left wing was doing a decent job at subconsciously keeping Libby close to him, a protection he had grown over Ace's love. Royal's facial expression sloped to genuine sheepishness, "Wow, you're really gunna blame me."

"You're a lot sharper than you think, there, Roy," Ace grumbled with a knowing smile as Tessa gave Balba's snout, jaw and neck a good few pats and rubs.

"This competition relies on the flyers, as well," Tessa stated knowingly, she eaed closer to Ace and gratefully took the pad from him, "They're just as much a part of this as the glitchers. Hell, they make it all possible."

"So, so far, Royal and Libby are winning," Lickity grumbled, she flattened her ears and eyed Balba; both girls looked playfully annoyed, "We gotta step up our game."

"Looks like I won't be flying Royal on this round, though," Ace grumbled, he eyed Nox with growing cheek and gestured to Royal, who tenderly unhanded Libby, "You want to take Roy this time around? You already got familiar with him, y'know?"

"I guess that'd be a good idea, huh," Nox stated sorrowfully, Ace gently gestured out towards Royal and continued listening to Nox, "Sorry, Roy... Looks like your winning streak ends here."

"Why do you say that?" Royal uttered sorrowfully as Nox approached, though before Nox could spout any worries about his hands, to Royal, Royal hunkered down, bared his fangs and gave Nox an excited smile, "Nah, don't even think about it, like that. We'll win this thing. Just gotta trust me."

"I'll fly Balba, this time," Koko muttered in solid annoyance, still over the fact that she was wholly losing this competition; her and Balba exchanged a few excited notions, though Ace dragged his floored eyes to the very beast that was the Queen of speed.

"... Does this mean I get to fly THE Lickity Split?" Ace ogled with solid enjoyment, everyone began to lull annoyed notions towards the two. Tessa covered her face, giggled and shook her head.

"Oh, User, we're in for a show," Tessa huffed as Zed, Oliver, Emery, Ralph and Libby hung together in preparation to watch the final show down.

"Alright... We'll be fine, we can do this," Nox uttered nervously as he board Royal's back, once more, and took one last look at the group on the ground.

Before Nox could throw in the towel long before their competition even started, Royal sprawled his wings and eagerly took to the skies, with Lickity and Balba, once more. Nox relished in the way the breeze hit him, head on. A cool, crisp lick of the promise of fall, Nox's eyes scanned the playing field, a massive sprawl of flat grass, he was certain this was likely going to be a lot harder than it looked. Nox staggered a little, peered down to Royal's larger skull and assessed his spines. His center was lined with these long, dull spines, all down his back, though his jaw and cheeks were unique in that each side of his jaw had two, long spines that jut from the bone; perfect handle-bar like positioning. Nox furrowed his brow in contemplation, and just as he was about to hover his palm over the top of Royals head, like suggested, he gingerly let his grey hands grapple the two spines on the back of his jaws, near his ears. Royal perked his large bat ears in curiosity and continued to soar over the field, a good stretch of distance away from Lickity, who had Ace as a Rider, and Balba who housed Koko.

"I-Is it okay if I hold right here, Royal?" Nox wondered gently, he grunted a little, repositioned his sitting style and leaned his chest over the top of Royal's head.

"That's interesting, test it out," Royal encouraged as he flattened his ears once more, so Nox had a better vantage. As Nox allowed his and Koko's coding to flood Royal's, Nox gently jostled Royal's skull, strictly by the power of his coding and the teamwork both boys demonstrated. Royal huffed a small laugh and allowed Nox to continue testing out this new riding style, "Hey, that actually feels a lot more stable than what Libby and Emery had going on."

"Like handle bars," Nox laughed, Royal joined and flattened his ears a little tighter and tucked his limbs tighter to his body, to prepare for the game to begin, "You gunna be okay with this positioning?"

"Only if you are, the trembling isn't too much, is it?" Nox worried, he could feel his heart begin to race, though he felt a competitive smile grace his face as Royal shook his head a little.

"No, not at all," Royal grunted, though both boys became tighter with alertness as the field properly displayed the countdown of the game, and before anymore time could pass, Nox steadied himself and urgently allowed his creepy gaze to soak into the entirety of the field, as well as the direction of Royal's powerful body. Once the countdown hit one, Royal huffed a chuckle and tightened his posture, "Game on!"

Nox held his breath, and before his retinas could even begin to process the very sight of the target on the ground that rapidly appeared, Nox stiffened his spine, dug his knees into his positioning and quickly willed both beings into a tight turn. Royal breathed an excited growl of a breath, tightened his wingspan and willingly followed every single last silent, coded command from Nox. Just as Royal began to practically nose dive for the target, a good two or three hundred feet in the air, Nox felt a wave of solid electricity soak over his old coding, and with willed thoughts and a beast of power he cut through the air on, he grit his teeth and felt Royal intake a sharp, massive breath of cold air. What expelled from Royal's body, with such force, was nothing short of incredible. With a reverberating bang to the grass underneath, Royal's fire-shot soaked the target in the bullseye, and though Nox wanted so badly to celebrate, he furrowed his brow, shoved his chest down into Royal's head, tugged up and allowed Royal to suddenly dart upwards and sink into a tight few aileron rolls.

The brilliant, sun kissed blue sky was tossed all about Nox's peripheral, though he kept tight tabs on just where the ground was, and once Royal popped out of his dart-like formation, Nox immediately sat up, peered down to the field in rapid-fire adrenaline and noticed the next target appear, far across the stretch. Nox suddenly jolted in surprise as Lickity, with Ace aboard, shot past the two and dove straight for the target. Nox grit his teeth tight and felt his heart soar with the incredible amount of rushing coding Koko had blessed him with, and with a sudden bank, a tight turn nearly vertical with the ground, Nox aimed Royal's head in a bend he was comfortable with and allowed his very own coding to practically become one with the idea of fire breathing. As if it was his own skill, something Nox was suddenly given, he willed yet another fire-shot. As Royal's powerful body expelled another burst of molten energy, Nox's eyes followed the lightning quick strike across the field. Once it stabbed the outer rings of the target, way across the field, Nox let go of Royal's spines, threw his hands up and loudly cheered.

"Sugar, sugar rush!" Royal blurt in excited sing song as Nox hunkered back to Royal's head, and before Nox could loudly join in, he honed his entire attention back to the field.

Just as another target appeared, nearly directly below him, Nox and Royal suddenly jolted in solid surprise as Balba nearly sliced the two in half, in a perfect nose dive. Royal barked a growl, wildly flapped his massive, thick wings and hovered in the air for a moment. Nox unboggled his brain and felt his competitiveness practically sky rocket with the sheer fact that Balba had gotten to that target first. Nox uttered a loud, annoyed noise and flagged his hands, though Royal quickly soaked back into the sky and kept his eyes peeled for the next target.

"It's not enough to keep your eyes on the target, but you have to keep your eyes peeled for your opponents! If they mess with me, they also mess with you," Royal quickly reminded, though Nox nodded and volleyed a kind notion of gratefulness for Royal's wise words.

As the game carried on, a vicious test of the fastest flyers and the quickest of multitasking, Nox nearly was able to forget about the tremble in his hands. The only reason it began to creep back into his mind was the fact that his coding was soaked on overdrive, a solid sweep of adrenaline that never let up, and with this, the sensitive coding in his hands nearly began to burn. He grimaced and wondered if Royal could feel it too, though Royal never made a complaint, never wavered from their strict teamwork, and before the three knew it, they could feel the tension of the closing game time coming to a quick end. Nox panted, Royal's endurance held way more solid than anything Nox could keep up with, and though he was aware him and Royal and hit a ton of targets, he lost count of just how many, and was well aware their four opponents were quick in the skies, as well.

Nox felt his heart race in whole exhaustion, it pound in his chest and begged him to let up on this high speed game of cat and mouse, and before he could tug back on the reigns and beg Royal to call it quits too soon, he noticed one last target show up dead in the middle of the field. Nox's eyes immediately noticed Lickity to his far left and Balba just up above him, and as if the tension in the game was simply about to explode, he grit his teeth and forced all of his concerned thoughts to the back burner, yet again. Just as Royal had dipped into his lull of a thought stream, and jolted with the change of mind, Royal tightened his posture accordingly and began to rapidly flag his wings to gain speed. As they dove, top speed, to their target, Nox shut one eye, aimed, grit his teeth and allowed every last ounce of his power to soak Royal's will power into a molten breath of fire he was hoping won him this game.

Just as nearly every last ounce of power escaped Royal's body, Nox gasped a noise, watched the end result and flinched as his fire-shot hit the ground in a flurry of confusion. As the target seemingly fizzled out, the grass caught fire, as opposed to vanishing amongst the protection of the target. Nox gasped as Royal popped open his wings, to desperately attempt to stop, though as Royal's feet caught the grass, he sprinted in a solid gallop across the gap of fire and sprawled his wings wider. Nox relaxed his shoulders and wildly panted as he was quickly reminded that Royal and Lickity were immune to hovering about fire, and as Nox peered at his group of family members, across the way, he was floored to see everyone cheering with solid excitement; in the little tidbits of words he pieced together, both him and Royal froze amidst the crackling of the fire about them and realized just what the group was chanting.

"We won," Royal barked with a wide, fang filled smile as Lickity and Balba quickly shot past them, over head, wings sprawled to their fullest. Royal bounced on his feet, lazily flagged his wings with excitement and jostled Nox about, who was frozen in confused awe, "Nox, we won!"

"We won?" Nox staggered in a panting mess as he messily draped his fingers into the sweaty bangs on his forehead. He beamed a cheesy smile of relief and shook his head, "I-I can't believe it!"

"What's the prize, what's the prize!" Royal suddenly barked as he jolted forward and began to prance towards the group in a bumbling run of puppy-dog goodness.

"Ohh, it better be something good," Nox beamed in floored delight.


	157. Chapter 157

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! I appreciate it :D Yeah, Ace is definitely in a weird position, when it comes to him and Libby - definitely ruffles feathers, eventually haha.

 **Retrokill :** FANTASTIC lol. Thank you! You'll discover the prize in the next chapter :)

 **Snake557 :** Oh, I wish too! That'd be awesome. And, thank you! I love Royal as well, definitely more bumbling and sweet, of the other two flyers haha.

 **jonnyne :** I really am grateful for that, the reviews definitely keep me motivated, for sure!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** No worries! I appreciate the reviews, nonetheless :D Thank you! I love love LOVE writing Ralph and Tessa scenes, they are a fun dynamic, and since she's grown and mature, it's sweet writing them on the same mental plane. Sure, she's still his daughter, but he treats her with the utmost respect, as future Queen, and it always makes me all warm to write for those scenes :) I'm also glad you're enjoying the more broader view on the minor characters! I have to be careful, there, though... I tend to go on tangents and I really need to stay on track, with the core group. As much as I'd love to really delve in deep with every single couple and character, it's virtually impossible for me to do so all while keeping the story fluid and attention grabbing. I sneak it where I can, cause I know it's important to you guys! I also totally know what you mean about Ace and Libby - I know it's driving you guys up a wall, but imagine how I'm feeling! I have every single last sentence in my head and I have to WAIT to get it all out hahaha. I love that you guys are rooting for them, though - their swap scene, and the whole way it all comes together, is pure magic, and I can't wait to overload you guys with it :D Thank you SO MUCH - yes, you can note me any time, I'd be happy to answer any of your questions!

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Propeller Seeds by Imogen Heap**

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 ***Chapter 157***

"You're holding up your wrist too loosely," Calhoun stated in a soft grumble; she was dressed in a black t-shirt and charcoal skinny jeans with tears down the thighs. She hovered at the sun kissed kitchen island, marble that glistened with the early afternoon sun. She tapped her fingers, in an anxious way, and urgently gestured towards Finn, "Y-You're dealing with an all-fixing hammer, here, friend... Not a regular one!"

"I'm just nervous, I guess," Finn staggered, he was dressed in comfortable clothes as well, the standard for the closed Arcade Sunday. He cleared his throat and cautiously glanced to Felix, who hovered just near Finn's knees, his hands were prepared to catch his precious hammer just in case Finn were to drop it.

"Don't be," Calhoun barked with a calming smile, she leaned forward a little and gripped Finn's wrist, as well as the golden hammer in her other hand. She shook him a little, which forced him to hold the hammer a little tighter, "Keep the grip tight. The tip of this hammer will fix, or intensify literally anything it taps, so you can't be careless or uncertain."

"Have him try it out, on something," Tammy urged quietly as she set her own fixing hammer down on the counter, she looked about for something fragile to break, and once she came in sight with a glass of water that was abandoned, she gripped it, poured the dregs of water out and set it down in front of Finn. Before she could walk away, she furrowed her brow, tilted the glass firmly on it's side and was thrilled with the shattering that happened. Everyone scoffed noises of incredulous delight, though Tammy softly gestured to the broken glass, out before Finn, and lovingly squeezed his shoulder, "There. Just a gentle flick is all it takes, with something this small."

"... There's different levels of volume, when it comes to this?" Finn wondered, almost nervously, as if the idea of fixing was something his coding now could handle, though he almost wondered if he needed to take notes; he was wholly uncertain that it would contain this much depth.

"Yeah, the bigger the broken object, the more blunt force it's going to need," Tammy explained, Felix and Calhoun nodded softly in agreeing. Tammy picked up her own hammer, for demonstration, and very softly let the tip of her hammer hit the glass before them. The cup made a few blips of noises before little pixels quickly zipped to fix the mess. Once the glass came back to perfect normality, Tammy smiled wide and let her eyes catch with Finn's, "Y'see?"

"Yeah, I can handle that," Finn became more confident, he nodded and allowed Tammy to hit the glass against the marble, once more, causing it to split and shatter with shards in a collected area.

Finn gently tipped the hammer to the mess, and though he had confidence, his form was nearly too light. The glass tinked in confusion, though as if it wasn't enough force, the glass only half put itself back together. Finn furrowed his eyebrows in total dismay and shook his head, as if to urgently wonder, to the glass, just what went wrong.

"I-I did everything right," Finn barked with a scoff of a laugh, sudden abrasive behavior he knew only stemmed from Calhoun's coding, in Tammy; with this, Calhoun flinched and grappled the top of his shoulder with care, she squeezed with a soft laugh and shook her head.

"Relax," Calhoun chuckled, to which Felix bashfully fixed his hair and eyed his wife. Calhoun shook her head and gave Tammy a floored smile, "We got a lot of fixing studies to get through before we are to give you a Hero's Duty gun, there, soldier."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Finn begged quietly as he hugged the hammer closer to himself, "I just feel as if I hit it too hard, it'll break even more."

"That's the natural response," Felix's voice chimed quietly, he pulled over a stool an began to climb it, so he could properly see just what Finn was up against. Felix sat next to Finn's standing figure, and as lovingly as he could, he held Finn's wrist and waggled the hammer, "You're not going to break it further... If anything, more force would make the glass thicker. Why don't you go ahead and try that?"

"Okay," Finn nodded as he peered down at the mess, though with more confidence for a more blunt venture, he firmly lobbed the hammer into the mess and flinched in solid surprise as the glass went from a thin, dainty drinking glass to a thicker cup, nearly like a goblet; everyone erupted in laughter.

"That's one way to do it!" Calhoun laughed, everyone was riled with excitement, though before they could continue on with their little lesson, for Finn, the backdoor creaked open.

"Nox, I'll tell you the surprise when we're done with it, okay?" Tessa giggled, Nox hung onto her like a puppy dog. He jostled her arm around in a playful manner, though Tessa dully looked on, as if he had been at it for quite a bit now. Tessa finally huffed a small laugh, and as everyone, on the glitching team, filed past the two, they volleyed knowing, playful notions towards them.

"Got a sore winner, here," Ace grumbled with a teasing smile as he nudged Nox's arm and followed Libby into the airy, calm kitchen area and living room.

"I'm not sore, I'm excited!" Nox cheesed, he jostled Tessa's arm, once more, and gave her puppy dog eyes, "PLEASE tell me what it is."

"For User's sake, Nox, I-"

"PLEAAASE," Nox whined.

"NOX," Tessa barked with a hard laugh, as did everyone, and before Nox could get anymore gripes out, Tessa gripped her hands firmly to the sides of Nox's face and held him still in a solid, playful jostle, "I will give you your surprise later today, okay! It's a surprise, we WILL have it for you. I promise!"

"Okey," Nox muttered through the purse of his lips, which was caused by Tessa squishing his cheeks together with her larger hands.

Once she unhanded him, he blew a exasperated raspberry and slumped his shoulders in defeat. As Ralph, Emery, Oliver and Zed gently filed into the kitchen and inquired what the group of fixers were up to, they grew excited and began to look for more things to wreck, just so Finn could practice fixing it. Ace and Libby strolled to the living room, and though their tension was moving in and out of becoming unbearable to light hearted, something Nox very eagerly enjoyed watching, he decided to give it a rest and join the excitement, of the group, in the kitchen.

Tessa huffed a long sigh and lingered in the massive foyer of their castle, which had a perfect vantage point of the room as a whole; the kitchen, the dining area and the living room. She let her eyes gloss the bodies under one roof, all lost in their own drum of conversations and excitements, though just as she pulled out her communicator to maybe message her mother and humbly state that she was missed, at said glitching lesson, she noticed she had missed messages from Penny. Before Tessa could read them, she broadened her gaze and sharply looked about for her younger, blonde-haired cousin. As she scanned the house, once more, she noticed Ace and Libby sitting close on the couch. Next to Libby was Duke, with Jax haphazardly splayed on the comfortable carpet before them, happily snoozing. As her eyes dragged to the recliner, which was lightly secluded and acted as a reading chair for Finn, she noticed Orph, curled away, with his nose buried in his communicator. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and nearly let a wide, knowing smile sprawl her face.

Tessa shook her head, peered down at her communicator, and once she read that Penny was dying to speak to her, a proper boy talk the two were way long over-due for, she tried not to make it obvious that she was in a hurry to find Penny's bedroom. Once Tessa subtly slipped out of the sight of each of her family members, in the kitchen, she power-walked down the long corridor of bedrooms. First to pass Oliver and Emery's room, then Koko's, then Tammy's. Whens he got to Penny's, she noticed the door shut tight, though she was well aware Penny was hulled away in a fit of whole delight she nearly couldn't contain to the walls of her bedroom, something Tessa could fully sense. As Tessa's larger knuckles so softly tapped on Penny's door, she heard Penny's bed urgently croak and rapid footsteps flew to greet whoever it was.

"You rang?" Tessa's voice croaked dully as she came face to face with Penny, though before Tessa could quietly inquire anymore, Tessa jolted with a grunt as Penny grappled her hands and yanked her into her bedroom. Tessa fumbled to shut Penny's door, though Penny shushed her cousin and quickly gestured to Tessa's communicator.

"Can you sound proof my room, please? Real quick?" Penny whispered, though Tessa choked a laugh and began to thumb through her powerful digital pad; she was aware Penny likely needed to let something off of her chest.

"Sure, what's going on?" Tessa giggled as the widest smile broadened her face, and before she could even finish her sentence about how the room was finally sound proof, Penny blurt into an open flame.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING," Penny suddenly shrieked as she flailed her arms, Tessa jolted with a hard laugh and a bewildered stare into her cousin's eyes, though it was with this massive outburst did Tessa finally feel as if Penny had totally come back to the Arcade, all her girly, witty self had finally returned, and as if she didn't even want to dare take this prevailing moment away from Penny, Tessa crossed her arms and diligently let Penny carry on, "I-I... I'm going absolutely nuts, over here. I've never felt this way, ever! I don't even know how to go about this! Do I ignore him around others? Do I... Suck it up and come out with it? When should I kiss him again?! SHOULD I INVITE HIM TO MY ROOM?!"

"WHOA Penny, whoa," Tessa loudly laughed as she sunk her larger hands to the tops of Penny's shoulders, "I mean, do whatever you must, but I'm just grateful I know to put a firewall protection over your guys' coding! Not to mention swap your source coding."

"We're opposed codes! I'm TERRIFIED!" Penny's eyes were wild, the smile on her face was that of pre-Radex drama, and as if Tessa couldn't get enough of seeing her cousin's true colors, once again, she wished she could rewind all of this outburst and replay it over and over, as if to finally believe it all to be true, "I-I'm YOU, two years into the future! Is this how you felt with Zed?! Cause I don't think I can take it!"

"Penny, relax, it's OKAY!" Tessa urged as she jostled her cousin, "This is all normal! Yes, I was a little scared, but... We have the knowledge to help you two, User knows when, but... Don't be scared!"

"What do I say to him?" Penny whined as she finally lulled out of Tessa's presence, slumped her shoulders, and urgently looked about her room, "I-I... I've been nothing but a cold-hearted bitch to everyone, and the second HE comes along, and shows me all this care, all this... Persistence!"

"He's not a quitter," Tessa bobbed a nod and rolled her eyes.

"He totally swept me off my feet, with that kiss," Penny shook her head and glared Tessa down, "You didn't tell me these boys were this sly and charming."

"I didn't think I had to, it's written all over their faces! You practically watched mine and Zed's relationship flower like such! It's torture!" Tessa wildly gestured her hands, "I thought you'd pick up on that!"

"I didn't know he had a whole SLEW of sexy brothers trailing behind him, waiting to pry at the nearest clam!" Penny hollered, both girls were lost in hysterics and excited laughter. Penny grappled her hair and let her crazed eyes soak into her bedroom door, in an aimless way, "I-I never thought I'd ever feel this way about someone, just the way he didn't ever give up on proving his worth, he really was dedicated... And then to have it all solidified last night, I just... I don't know if I'm ready, I'm really nervous, and he's out there, messaging me all these sweet things, and really prying me open and I'm TRYING TO WALL UP, HERE!"

"Well DON'T!" Tessa urged excitedly, she wildly gestured to Penny's bedroom door, "You're clearly crazy about Orph, and it's neon lights that he's nuts about you, too, Pens... He's out there, curled in Finn's recliner with the DORKIEST smile on his face, right now!"

"Really?" Penny chimed in high pitched, girly delight as she cupped her hands to her chin and scrunched her shoulders.

"Yeah! Don't squander this awesome opportunity just because you're both new to this," Tessa shook her head, "This could be wonderful, y'know? And don't worry about what everyone else, thinks... A-Are you guys currently a secret, right now?"

"Well, yeah, but... I don't want to hurt his feelings," Penny worried, her heightened demeanor began to soften to a lull of concern, "I don't want him to think I'm embarrassed of him, or anything. I just really want to be careful."

"He knows all of this, right?" Tessa inquired.

"Yeah, we talked about it last night, he seemed understanding," Penny nodded with a small shrug.

"... So you two are going to pretend you're not in a relationship, under a roof of over two dozen beings?" Tessa gawked, Penny rolled her eyes in total dismay, towards herself, and griped. Tessa giggled, lulled her head back and nodded in great cheek, "Oh yeah, good luck!"

"It's worked thus far!" Penny complained though she slumped her shoulders in further agitation, "Well... Actually, I think Tammy is beginning to catch on."

"Yeah, Tammy has Calhoun-code in her," Tessa muttered as she looked away, "Nothing gets past Tammy..."

"I want to hang out with Orph and get to know him in person, better, but I'm not ready for that, in the castle," Penny urged nervously, she shook her head and largely frowned, "I mean... I don't want our relationship to remain strictly through text, forever."

"Well... Why don't you go into Ekreth? Or, better yet, hang out in EZ Living?" Tessa snapped her fingers, with a smile, "Maybe invite Ace and Libby... Since they're a part of the only ones, that knows your's and Orph's secret, maybe it'd be fun to get out and have a double-date night. You'll get to know Orph better, and you'll also have a great time with another couple."

"Why don't you and Zed come with, as well?" Penny wondered with a widening smile, though Tessa shook her head a little.

"Cause I don't think Zed is fully aware," Tessa stated with a nervous smile, "If Zed knew you two were dating, he'd likely pull 'big brother' rank, over Orph, and give him the opposed-code swap talk and all that nonsense. It might be better for you to start out with two people that already are aware of what's going on, that won't harp at you."

"That's a good idea," Penny fingered her lip, "Should... Should I suggest we go tonight? You think Ace and Libby would be up for it?"

"I know they would," Tessa bobbed a nod and put her hands on her hips, "Those two need a breather, from the tower, anyhow. Why don't you message Orph about it, and then ask Ace and Libby if they'd like to join. That'd be fun, for you guys!"

"You're right," Penny huffed as she grappled her communicator and began typing to Orph, though once she was done, she jolted in soft nervousness and gripped Tessa's hands, "Oh my User... What do I wear! You have to help me!"

"You want to know how long I've been waiting to hear you say all of this?" Tessa garbled as both girls trailed to Penny's bathroom in a fit of girly delight, "I'll hull myself away in here, all night, if I have to!"


	158. Chapter 158

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha and to think, I ALMOST let myself get carried away with said girl talk xD I could've slipped in the very ending, of the plot, of the story, amidst that girl talk, and you would've missed the entirety of it! xD

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Thank you! Yes, she finally comes back to her normal self - getting herself to SHOW that side, around others, is pretty difficult for her, right now haha

 **Snake557 :** Well, they ARE gamers, and people... You never saw them take a crap, in the movie, but they still function as such haha. It's just as simple as dropping something, but they don't break things with their hammers, that's for certain.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, it was Selka :D Killing him definitely did cause some havoc on poor Penny's girl side - but she's coming out of her shell!

 **The Winged Guardian Alanshee :** Hey, no issue! I hope you're doing okay! And, I can't wait to see! It'll be great! Thanks! :D ( I have references of all my characters all over my deivantART, if you need a guide - I'm not sure what you meant by seeing my characters, in this format... I draw them all the time xD)

 **Burgie :** Thank you! YAY me too :D

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** No I wasn't mad haha. If I was mad, I would've personally messaged you and kept it from being public. :) I was just teasing. Thanks friend! I'm pretty stoked about Penny being more like herself, as well! You guys have been so patient!

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 **A/N :** **SO sorry for the delay, guys - Cory's 28th birthday was yesterday, so I was busy. I'll also be busy this weekend because we'll be properly celebrating his birthday at the beach! I'm VERY excited to live only about 2 hours from a beach! Stark difference, from where I grew up! From Phoenix to any sort of familiar beach was a near 7 hour drive lol. I'm REALLY excited, but forgive any slowness that happens between the end of this week and the beginning of** **next week! Thanks guys!**

* * *

 ***Chapter 158***

Game Central Station was warmly lit, a golden glow cast down upon it's shiny tiles, and though the station was old and showed worn love, it still was as majestic and as marvelous as always. As it neared dinner time, an evening into the cool, Fall weather, the station was softly littered with gamers here and there. The four were aware, on a Sunday evening, EZ Living was bound to be crawling with whatever life the weekend had left in it. As Ace, Libby, Penny and Orph casually fell into a saunter with each other, the air was calm and easy. Four bumbling souls, so desperately attempting to find their feet among their confusing relationships, and as if the universe knew the four odd-balls needed this break away, they slipped out of Dead Zed, out of Game Central Station and onto the lightning quick train without a hitch.

"Oh, come on, I wasn't THAT much of a problem child," Ace barked, the whole group loudly laughed as they finally strolled into EZ Living's much smaller station and outlet; their excitement and enthusiastic chatter only grew as happy souls came and went from EZ Living.

"I'm sure he's exaggerating," Penny stabbed towards Orph, though she jolted a small stifle of a laugh as he furrowed his silver brow and shot her an incredulous gape.

"The kid would wake up with the thought 'wreck on sight!'," Orph complained, and it was at this point were Libby and Penny lost in laughter with each other.

"I can nearly attest to the fact that you may be exaggerating, Orph, I was around for a part of Ace's childhood," Libby staggered through giggling as her and Penny lightly bumped into each other; their height difference was truly endearing.

"Oh, he was FAR more shy when you were around, Libby, c'mon..." Orph huffed, he eyed Ace's girlfriend with great cheek as Ace grumbled and covered his face in playful dismay, "The second you left, he had to get all that energy out SOMEHOW."

"Are you saying all this cause you miss the old me?" Ace wondered in sarcastic sorrow, he shot his uncle a look of floored, playful delight and covered his chest, "How things used to be? Are you getting nostalgic on us, so soon?"

"I might shed a tear," Libby played along as she pretended to pout.

"Get out the mini violin," Penny muttered with a choke of a laugh, though Orph threw his hands up and uttered an exasperated sigh out to the glorious EZ Living sunset they had slowly strolled into.

"Oh my USER," Orph staggered in solid annoyance, though Ace looked at him expectantly.

"Yes?" Ace chimed with a lilt, everyone was lost in laughter, though before Orph could stab back at him, purely in playfulness, he nervously looked about and were well aware they now had to be on their best behavior.

"Better uh... Keep that on the downlow, there, bud," Orph reminded to his nephew as everyone softly slowed to a halt. Upon Orph's words, they finally looked about in gentle wariness as Orph continued on, "I really don't think the Arcade even knows you, as, well... A you-know-what, exists."

"I have to just pretend to be normal, I get it," Ace huffed with a cheeky, nearly annoyed smile, though Penny cocked an eyebrow and softly looked about.

"People are sharper than you'd think, Ace," Penny reminded tenderly, her eyes twinkled with the remaining sun, in the sky, as she finally dragged her apprehensive stare up to her second cousin's eyes, "Best to just play dumb, then, I guess."

"Wish I were you, playing dumb is what I do best," Orph stated confidently as he straightened out his shirt with a cheesy smile.

"...We know," Penny, Ace and Libby all mumbled in unison.

As the group slowly moseyed down the boardwalk, the beach, and surrounding shops and restaurants, were littered with nightlife. Though the sun was setting on the ocean, the night was young, and everyone knew it. With easy banter and abundant laughter and chatter, the four fell into a rhythm with each other, a give and take of witty remarks from the sharpest of the Kalivar residents. Though Penny and Orph's brand new relationship was on the down-low, back in Dead Zed, Ace and Libby were pleased to see it on full force, here in EZ Living. Orph's hair was out of it's typical mo-hawk and was fluffed to his scalp, and as a proper tint of a disguise, his hair was touched down a few shades darker and more in the hue of an amber brown. Ace wondered if he, too, should've done something about the color of his hair, though he decided against it strictly for the fact that his face wasn't the one plastered on the outside of Dead Zed's game cabinet.

Dressed in casual street clothes, the four were comfortable and easy-going for this warm EZ Living night, though it was clear the girls dolled up a tiny bit more than usual. Libby began to lean more into her modern clothes, of which Tessa had supplied her with. Though her tattoo sport her tribal heritage, she wore sleek black skinny jeans and a petty white, sleeveless blouse; it was the perfect kiss of sexiness topped with innocence she sport almost effortlessly. Her gorgeous white hair was down and in a long, loose braid down her back. Penny, on the other hand, wore more loose fitting jeans and a black spaghetti strap; she knew she could afford only really coming out of her shell so quickly, and though she wondered if dolling up a little more would get Orph's further attention, she knew she'd go far, with just her personality, anyways. Her hair was finally becoming a little bit longer on the sides, though she knew it'd be a hot minute before it was back to the length she used to wear it at.

As the four sauntered, weaving past crowds of night-goers, street performers and the like, they came to a bar and restaurant that was crumbling the beach with it's sheer amount of energy; loud music, bright lights and an energetic aura. A few people strolled inside, from their vantage, and as Penny and Libby continued to chatter on and on, Orph cocked an eyebrow and softly honed his attention to his nephew. As a line of a handful of long-boarders divided the boys from the girls, Orph swallowed nervously and snuck closer to his nephew, as if to only hone in on him.

"Hey, uh... A-Am I doing okay, so far?" Orph staggered, he suddenly felt alien asking his younger nephew this question, though with the way Ace's mature, kind eyes hooked to his, Orph felt his demeanor mellow out; he knew his inquiries were safe with Ace, and he was thrilled to finally have another neutral-party guy to confide in.

"Yeah, man, you're good," Ace nodded, he subtly looked back at the two girls, whom of which found a food menu, from the noisy restaurant and bar they were about to enter; he gently dragged his eyes back to his uncle and cocked an eyebrow, "Won't hurt to maybe try holding her hand, or putting your arm around her, or something, y'know?"

"I just didn't want to make her uncomfortable," Orph grumbled.

"You know those few times she sort of accidentally jostled into you, your arms nudged and she apologized for not walking straight?" Ace stated dully, Orph nodded innocently and peered his nervous gaze into Ace's. Ace slumped his shoulders and gave his uncle a sheepish, knowing smirk, "That's 'girl' for she wants you to hold her hand."

"...WHAT!" Orph choked, though this garnered the attention of both Penny and Libby, who were previously enraptured in what they should order off of the menu; Orph choked a nervous noise, tugged at his collar and waved the two girls off. They giggled, in confusion, to each other, and continued on with what they were doing. Orph huffed a shaky breath and peered his incredulous gaze to Ace's, "I repeat... What?"

"Yeahhh, took me a bit to discover that Libby is fluent in THREE languages," Ace mumbled, he held up his hand and began to count on his fingers, "Teltokuan, English... and GIRL."

"Kill me," Orph mumbled nervously as he longingly peered his nervous gaze to the back of Penny's head, though Ace shook his head with a smile.

"Don't be like that, I'll help you, I've picked up a thing or two," Ace nodded as he raised his eyebrows and looked as if he could potentially try and end up one step ahead of the girls, though he knew he was kidding himself.

"Little Ace all grown up and wanting to teach the big dogs a thing or two about the ladies?" Orph cocked an eyebrow, crossed his arms and looked at Ace down his nose, in pure playfulness, though Ace puffed his chest in a show of subconscious dominance and felt as if he was wearing his new confidence skin nicely.

"Didn't think it'd end up this way, huh?" Ace's deep voice grumbled, though Orph rolled his eyes and nudged Ace's shoulder, which caused him to wobble with a small laugh, "Alright, I may only have two months of experience, but I have picked up on subtleties. Touch is important. If she brushes your arm or intently looks you in the eye when you talk, she's interested in advancement."

"Advancement," Orph repeated, as if he needed clarity.

"Yeah, nothing crazy. This means hand holding, hand on the middle of her back, I don't know..." Ace shrugged and looked about nonchalantly, "Kiss on the cheek, simple stuff."

"Y-You see her giving off any more neon lights?" Orph wondered nervously in a rush as he began to notice the girls come to their conclusions and look as if they were about to walk away from the outdoor menu.

"Not currently, but dude, y'gotta be more gentlemanly," Ace stated with an eternal depth of warmth, and as the girls very slowly began to mosey back over, Ace continued on with quietness, just for his uncle, "Pull her chair out, hold open doors for her, offer her to order her food first, don't begin eating until she does."

"Shit, dude, where'd you learn this stuff?" Orph staggered, and it was in this raw moment of confusion did Ace realize something exponential; Orph never had a parental or paternal figure in his life. Ace let his smile broaden in great humility, he raised his eyebrows a little and looked deeper into his uncle's eyes.

"Mr. Zedian Kalivar," Ace's deep voice reverberated, though Orph's face washed to gentle knowing, and with a bob of a nod, it was in this weird instance did Ace feel as if he had properly begun to take Orph under his wing; a curious circumstance he was surprised was even initiated in the first place, "Throw in Tessa Schweetz, for good measure."

"Alright, seems legit," Orph nodded kindly, he nervously glanced back to Penny and bit his lip, "Mind, uh... Helping me out, if I need?"

"No prob," Ace agreed softly as Libby and Penny grew within earshot, though they loudly chatted, "Happy to help, Uncle Orph."

"I owe you," Orph uttered sincerely as he gave Ace a brotherly pat on his upper arm, and as they softened for the two ladies that approached, Libby was first to speak.

"Penny and I made a bet with each other," Libby giggled, Penny beamed her glorious, excited blue eyes up at her new best friend and then into Ace's and Orph's eyes, "She bet that I can't go the whole night without wavering from my Teltokuan accent."

"Well? Did you agree to the bet?" Orph wondered as everyone eagerly peered to Libby, though she huffed an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Starting NOW," Penny flagged her hand and peered up to Libby in cheeky surprise, "Well? How well can you handle the American accent?"

"... I-I'm still learning," Libby stated outside of her flowy, beautiful, ancient accent, though she hit the American accent on the head; everyone raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"Damn, Libby, not bad!" Orph encouraged with a laugh, though Libby shook her head with a teasing smile.

"It's what I get hanging around you folk all day, everyday," Libby chimed in this strange newness, which nearly had Ace shellshocked.

As Penny and Libby linked arms and began to saunter closer to the doors of the establishment they were upon, Orph watched them come upon the door and felt his stomach dip in hot knowing. As Penny's little hand reached for the handle of the door, Orph jolted, uttered a noise of concern, skipped a few steps and grappled the door handle. Both girls froze in surprise as Orph cleared his throat and kindly opened the door for both Penny and Libby, and with this, he desperately tried to push forth a kind smile that didn't look as if he was riddled with nerves. Penny and Libby kindly and lovingly cooed at him for his sweet gesture, and as both girls slipped inside, Ace cocked an eyebrow and followed suit.

"Good," Ace rewarded softly as he firmly pat Orph's arm and pushed inside, as well, "It's key... Keep spare distance, but be readily available for a situation like such."

"What if I can't get to the situation on time?" Orph worried as they filed in.

"Just let her know you tried," Ace shrugged with a confused smile, "They're understanding... They're women, not drill sergeants."

"You and I are playin' in a whole different ball-game, my friend," Orph muttered nervously as he eyed the back of Penny's head.

* * *

Through the warm glow of Nox's bedroom, he glossed his eyes over his girlfriend. Koko was dressed in a comfortable coral colored hoodie, her chocolate brown hair was down and in waves down her shoulders and back, and though the two remained in each other's comfortable silence, Nox felt a storm brewing around in his head. He knew today was a total whirlwind of information, the thrill of fighting valiantly, and winning, today's glitching lesson, he furrowed his dark grew brows and nearly forgot all about his prize. His golden, glowing eyes remained lazily honed to Koko's figure, and as the two remained comfortably sitting with each other, on his couch, his smaller television buzzed on about Game Central Station; something about upping the protection on each outlet. Nox huffed a hot, long sigh through his nose and sunk into his side of the couch, big enough for the two of them to comfortably lounge.

Koko raised her eyebrows in inquiry and softly glanced to Nox; the colors of the light, from the television, glared about his soft grey skin, and though the glow in his eyes was muted, due to extra light in the room, they still illuminated the bridge of his nose, an endearing sight Koko knew she couldn't ever get enough of. Little did Nox know, she thumbed through her conversation with Tessa about his prize for winning the glitching lesson, and though both girls nearly wanted to remain sore for not winning, they both came to the conclusion that Nox winning was something great, and definitely deserved. Koko lightly glanced to Nox, once more, and noticed his eyes were lost on the screen out before him, as if to assume the position in pretending to pay attention to the information being subtly volleyed at the two.

"Babe," Koko inquired tenderly, which cued Nox to raise his eyebrows and hone his entire attention to Koko, across the span of couch from him; the two were cuddled in a throw or two.

"Yeah?" Nox staggered, his voice crackled from not using it for awhile.

"You doing okay, there?" Koko uttered a small giggle and eyed Nox's hands, though they trembled as he fought to keep the remote close to him.

"Yeah, I'm... Fine," Nox huffed nervously, he shook his head and forced a small smile in Koko's direction, "I just will need another therapy session, soon, probably..."

"Well, Ace is likely going to be gone for the night," Koko huffed, and though she knew exactly where Ace laid off to, everyone else in the castle were simply told that only Ace and Libby were to be gone. Koko shrugged, eyed Nox's hands and pushed a nervous smile to her face, "I know I don't have proper, User-healing abilities, but... I could try and ease the tension, yeah?"

"Yes, please," Nox uttered under his breath as he set the remote down and began to reposition himself.

"Alright, go ahead and clenched a fist," Koko instructed as she scoot closer to him, as well, and as Nox resituated himself, he held up his hands and desperately tried to form proper fists; upon this, his fingers angrily curled and could barely take form into properly closing. Nox winced, uttered a noise of growing anguish and huffed a shaky breath as Koko gestured to him to let up, "O-Okay, okay, relax... We'll take it easy."

"I can't believe I did this to myself," Nox grumbled, and as Koko allowed their glorious, berry-honeycomb and circuit riddled coding to swarm her palms, he gratefully sunk his trembling hands into hers, "I just... Was blinded by rage. I wanted nothing but to just... Destroy everything."

"All of us wreckers feel like that, from time to time," Koko stated warmly, she nodded and kept her demeanor as calm as she could, she hoped said aura would transfer over well, "You're in a brood of emotions no one really knows just what to do with... At least you're in good company."

Nox pushed a smile to his face and melted into the warmth of his and Koko's familiar code, and as their coding danced about in a frenzy of love that was begging to be refreshed, he cocked an eyebrow and desperately tried not to leak said emotions into their shared thought stream. With a great deal of unsuccessfulness, Koko huffed a silent giggle, scrunched her shoulders and shook her head with a knowing, bashful smile.

"I-I'm sorry," Nox staggered, he huffed an embarrassed breath and looked down and to the side in boyish shyness he knew he'd never be able to fully shake, "I... I just... Really miss you."

"Miss me?" Koko wondered tenderly, their honeyglow was nearly palpable, the air filled with warmth, and though she was certain she knew just what he was talking about, she decided to play coy and worm it out of him.

"Well, we... We code swapped before my trip into Sugar Rush," Nox stated softly, almost under his breath, as if to seem shy, and as the redness in his cheeks grew, so did the flare of their berry coding. Koko breathed a small laugh as his bashful smile broadened; with this, she was surprised to feel the trembling in his hands subside, "I just... We only swapped twice, that night. I just miss you. I-I... I love you."

"I love you too," Koko stated knowingly with a louder giggle, which cued Nox to join in on their bashful laughter. Koko took this moment to warmly grip his hands in hers, and though she leaned forward to maybe insinuate wanting a kiss, she raised her eyebrows, softened her gaze and squeezed his hands a little tighter, "Maybe I can help you out in more ways than just one."

"... Y-yeah?" Nox stifled in surprise as he furrowed his eyebrows and peered to her in whole shock and delight, Koko nodded and bit her lip.

"Yeah, but first... You should answer the door," Koko whispered, though just as Nox furrowed his brow and peered to her in whole confusion, a soft knock came upon Nox's door.

Nox jolted, peered to his door in whole confusion and sat up straight. Even though Koko was able to worm her way out of their little bubble of mischief, Nox was seemingly popped from it. He nervously got to his feet, pulled from Koko's alluring coding and crossed the room; he wore nothing but lazy, black cotton shorts that came to his knees. As Nox's bare feet crossed the glossy wooden flooring, he reached his door and slowly opened it in a curious tilt of confusion. Once he had broadened the entry way, Koko stood with a knowing smile at Nox's visitors. Tessa, Zed and Throttle stood with Royal on his front porch, and as Nox's curious smile got larger, he huffed an exasperated chuckle and shook his head in growing curiosity.

"What's... Going on?" Nox wondered with a lilt of cute wondering, though he eyed Tessa as she held something behind her back.

"Well... We didn't forget about your prize, Nox," Tessa giggled, Zed and Throttle chuckled, "We already gave Royal his prize, for both you boys winning today's glitching lesson... Originally, whoever won, I was going to allow them full right to messing with the racer's hair colors, in the code room... Which, I guess you can still have that right, if you want.

"Oh, I'm game," Nox blurt, though Zed huffed a breath of a sigh and looked down with a nervous smile, and though everyone laughed, Tessa's voice grew in warmth.

"As Zed and I thought about it longer, we knew we had to do something special for you," Tessa eased, she looked down and kept whatever was behind her back in strict secrecy, "You're the newest member to the glitching and wrecking family, and... Though you're off to a rocky start, with your hands and the lack of the physical wrecking power, we really admire how tough and willing you've been through all of this."

"You bounced back with an awesome glitching performance, today," Zed added with a nod as both his and Tessa's eyes honed to Nox's in sheer pride, and as Nox slumped his shoulders and allowed their kind words to soak over him, his smile broadened as he wondered just what his prize would be.

"We know you miss TurboTime... We know you miss Lash, Turbo, even your home city, Vidrix," Tessa stated sorrowfully as she raised her eyebrows in concern, "I know it's likely been comforting knowing Throttle is here, with you, but we wanted to go the extra mile and replicate a little piece of home, for you..."

"We know you're trying to stuff the urge, but we can tell how badly you'd like to get behind the wheel and race, again," Zed stated knowingly as he gave Nox a cheeky side-eye.

"We want you to join us on the tracks," Tessa stated warmly, "Even though you and I can't join, for quarter alerts, we always go for a spin around the courses whenever we see fit."

"You want me to join you guys?" Nox ogled in solid surprise, and though he knew he was a fantastic racer, he was certain these top dogs were way out of his league.

"You're gunna need the gear, for it," Zed stated knowingly with a bob of a nod, and as Tessa eased her shoulders, she brought Nox's prize into the light.

Nox furrowed his brow in curiosity and allowed his eyes to scan just what Tessa was holding out to him. As if decades had simply shot by in the span of seconds, his life fleeting by in grasping handfuls of forgotten memories, Nox winced and peered down at his near-original, shiny blue TurboTime helmet, complete with the white racing stripe. Nox slumped his shoulders in sheer surprise and froze, and as everyone eagerly hone their eyes to the raw situation, Nox shook his head in solid surprise and huffed a shaky breath of disbelief.

"M-My... My helmet," Nox uttered shakily as he so desperately tried not to well up, though as Tessa presented it to him, she warmly allowed her hands to lay over his as he gratefully took the helmet into his possession.

"It's not the original, but... We had Throttle help us program this helmet," Tessa eased softly as Nox's eyes scanned the glossy, gorgeous helmet, the familiarity of it was nearly as if it was his original. Nox huffed a startled breath and glued his eyes to Tessa's before he gazed across the gape to Throttle's knowing, cheeky expression of brotherly love. Tessa continued on in solid warmth, "We know this transition is hard for you, but we want you to know that you're accepted, here. You're family now. And we want you out there, kicking ass like how you used to."

"I-I... I don't know what to say," Nox staggered through the breaks in his crackling, teary demeanor. He breathed a knowing chuckle as Koko rubbed up and down his back in tender loving care, and as he subtly wiped his eyes, he nodded and hugged his helmet closer to him, "I-I'd be honored, really. I'd love that. I-I've... I've been meaning to ask if I could join, but..."

"You didn't think it was your place?" Zed wondered, he furrowed his blue brow and eyed Nox.

"It's... Not my home-game, I know you guys have routine," Nox shrugged, he shook his head and long blinked tears away, "I just figured my racing days were over."

"Far from," Tessa urged lovingly as she tapped the top of his gorgeous, shiny blue helmet, "We'd love to have you out there, alongside us racers. Whatdoyahsay?"

Koko eagerly peered to him, as did everyone, and even though Koko had racing in her blood, she didn't express too much interest in it on the daily; she knew she, too, was welcomed out there, though everyone knew this was likely a big deal for Nox. As Nox nodded, and smiles grew wider, everyone lovingly surrounded Nox and pat him on the back and shoulders.

"I'd love to," Nox breathed as he peered down at his near-original helmet, an image that flood him with good memories, "I'd be honored."

"The honor is all ours," Zed concluded as him, Tessa, Throttle and Royal began to so slowly ease away, for they knew Nox and Koko were having downtime with each other, "Maybe we'll all go out, on the tracks, tomorrow?"

"I'll be there," Nox urged quietly, he tried not to show too much eagerness, though he nodded and hugged the helmet closer to his chest, "I-I wouldn't miss it."

"Holdin' you to it," Tessa pointed in playful challenge as the group slowly slipped away, but not without their warm goodnight's shared.

Nox breathed a shaky sigh, stepped back into his room and shut the door, though as his eyes trailed his familiar helmet with a boyish smile of solid delight, he peered his excited attention to Koko with a huge grin. He flinched as Koko huffed a giggle, nudged his arm and shook her head.

"Look's like your night is on the up-and-up, fella," Koko chimed in a knowing way, though as he softly slipped his helmet snug over his head, a perfect fit like always, he knocked his knuckles against it and gave her a coy, knowing look of teasing seduction.

"At least now I have the helmet for whatever chaos you had in mind," Nox muttered with a cheeky smile.


	159. Chapter 159

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki-Firesong :** Thank you! hahaha it's true xD I appreciate it! And yes, it is scraping by, but it'll pick up soon here, don't worry :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you :D Yeah, Nox definitely gets some good love and appreciation. He's always had it, but they knew it was time to over flow him with it, especially with all the BS that happened to his hands.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Thank you :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **End Of Line (Photek Remix) from the TRON Legacy** **Soundtrack**

* * *

 ***Chapter 159***

Amidst the crowd of noisy beach-goers, partiers and the like, the four melted into their own, fast paced conversation full of laughs and quick banter. The place was dark, though lit with colorful lights, loud music, and a vibe that seemed as if it was on a roll of unending amount of energy, something the sunrise couldn't even tame. Stationed in the heart of the room, standing at a comfortable bar table, the four rapidly grew more and more comfortable, a systematic rhythm of flow, between the strange dynamic of the two couples, that Ace was even uncertain would vibe well. As their food vey quickly came and went, they decided now to stay back and hang in each other's comfortable presence, the night was still young and it was rapidly becoming a show of just how comfortable Penny and Orph could get with their now exposed relationship, even if it was just for Ace and Libby.

"You've had one all night," Orph urged to Penny in soft confusion, he lulled his glass about, furrowed his eyebrows and only carefully glanced to Ace; an act he had occasionally fell into, as if to silently ask Ace if his actions and words were to cause a red or green light, "You don't like alcohol?"

"It's not that I don't like it," Penny snipped with a playful smile as she wrinkled her nose and leaned a little closer to Orph, the two stood tight next to each other, across from Ace and Libby, at the little, comfortable table they shared, "Do you see how small I am? If I down a drink too quick, I'll be on the floor."

Orph furrowed his brow in collected confusion as Libby stifled a laugh and looked down to her glass of water; her and Ace had been careful with just how much alcohol they had, though Orph was working on his third drink. Penny and Orph held tight eye contact, and it was clear Orph was continuing to grow confused. Penny and Libby's laughter grew in solid annoyance, and it was only now did Ace stifle laughter and shake his head.

"... Passed out!" Penny completed, though Orph grew further confused and looked down to his glass.

"Seriously? Two beers and I'm still solid," Orph argued, though Penny shrugged and waggled her hands.

"I'm little, I have no tolerance for it," Penny listed, she eyed Orph in complete dominance and pointed, "Not something to take advantage of. Don't drink-shame me."

"I-I was doing nothing of the sort, I was just curious!" Orph rushed in annoyed nervousness, though it was clear their banter was collected and kind-hearted.

"I'm weird about alcohol, too, Pens, don't feel bad," Libby stated warmly, she kept strict with practicing her American accent.

"I'm like Uncle Orph, I'm solid for awhile," Ace grimaced playfully, though Orph jeered a noise of acknowledgment and raised his half empty glass of beer, Ace rolled his eyes, lifted his glass and clinked it against Orph's.

"You're doing good though, Libby," Penny stated with a kind smile as she leaned her arms to the table, though with this, her elbow softly nudged into Orph's arm.

Orph raised an eyebrow just barely, and before he could even glue his eyes to Ace in solid confusion, he held his breath and subtly welcomed Penny into his side. With a softened demeanor, he slid his hand to Penny's upper back and dared to slide to the middle of her back, like instructed prior. He smiled in success as Penny's shy smile was met with his, she coyly glanced at him and leaned a little deeper into his side embrace, though she re-glued her attention to Libby's and remained comfortable in Orph's gentlemanly grip.

"Took me a hot minute," Libby muttered, she looked down to the table in an idle stare and tried not to let it drag her down. She inhaled a shaky breath, shook it off, stiffened her posture in confidence and gave Ace a warm, refreshed smile, "It's becoming easier. It helps to have a good support system."

"Speaking of such," Ace started tenderly as his larger hand lovingly swept some hair behind Libby's ear; she peered to him in kind knowing, "They sell moon juju here... I'm going to go sneak me a glass. Would you like one?"

Everyone fell silent and nervously peered to Libby in stunned surprise; they were aware Libby was coming out of a hard time, and everything Ace had done for her further proved to her that he was to be trusted, though the topic was still sensitive and everyone knew to tread lightly. Libby huffed a nervous sigh, glossed her eyes across the establishment and to the crowded bar. The bartender easily catered to everyone along the stools, everything was gloriously lit in gold and blue hues of warm lights, an inviting atmosphere to say the least. Libby knew this place was safe, and though Ace wasn't the one making her drink, she nodded in acceptance and gave Ace an apprehensive smile.

"I'd love one, thank you," Libby concluded calmly, to which Ace nodded in nobility and slowly peeled away from the group.

"Damn, Libby, that's bold," Penny choked, though Libby covered her face and planted her elbows to the table.

"Yeah, it's... It's getting better, though," Libby sighed as she removed her hands and gave Orph and Penny a refreshed smile.

"Ace is a good kid," Orph stated seriously with a proud smile and a nod, "He'll do anything to make sure you're comfortable, Libby, don't ever forget that."

"Not for a second," Libby agreed with a gentle nod, her eyes softly glossed across the way and hooked to Ace's figure as he stepped away and messed into the crowd at the bar.

In a saunter of even further growing confidence, Ace moved across the glossy black floors and took a good look around. Gamers of all kinds, EZ Living folk, beach bums with sandy surf shorts, girls in bikinis, all sorts of individuals lined the crowded, noisy bar and restaurant. With the sea breeze that filled the room with lively excitement, Ace knew this building was likely going to be pounding bass well into the early hours of the morning. Ace gently straightened his black t-shirt, he was casually dressed in jeans, though he proudly sport the 'no shoes' rule his mother, uncle Oliver, aunt Koko and grandfather, Ralph, always would. He knew, one day, it'd likely backfire on him, he'd likely step on something sharp and regret not at least attempting to program a large pair of shoes, or the like, but for now, he relished in the cold tile underfoot and finally approached the bar.

As he squeezed into a small, one person gape at the sturdy, glossy wooden bar top, he eased with nonchalance, onto his arms and looked about for the bartender; way at the other end of the bend, she was busy helping others. He relaxed, had his line of sight prepared to get the bartender's attention and patiently waited his turn. His eyes soaked into his surroundings, a glorious line of the different types of alcohol sold at this location, all sorts of glassy, colorful bottles lined the wall, and before he could squint to potentially interest himself in something, for future reference, he felt his heart pang in a dribble of confusion as familiar words hit his brain, words in which he was surprised to hear outside of his home game and home station.

"What are these swappers even interested in teaching us? It's not like we're in need of extra gamers," One guy blabbed loudly, he had scaly red skin, creepy, cat like eyes and a demeanor that looked secretive and closed off; he had two other guys and a girl tight in his bubble, right at the bar. He clanked his drink to the glossy bar top, in growing agitation, and shook his head in whole dismay, "Who do those racers think they are, then? Filthy swappers... You heard about the drama at End Of Line Academy, didn't you?"

"No, what's going on, now?" One of the other guys prod, his hair was jet black, a normal, human beach goer. He had a scraggly, unkept beard; every one of them had half-empty glasses of some form of ale.

"Word's gone 'round that Sugar Rush's banished princess went and swapped with Dead Zed himself," the first guy hissed as he leaned in tighter to everyone; it was at this point did Ace hold his breath and nonchalantly gloss his gaze elsewhere, though his hearing was firmly held to the group without fail. He carried on in low grumbling, almost too quiet to hear, "I guess she attended End Of Line Academy and was kicked out... She was trying to conform everyone to become a swapper. Filthy faux-code..."

"You're kidding," The girl muttered, she shook her head; a normal beach goer as well, she was dressed in a hot coral bikini top and jean shorts. Her messy brown hair was short and dangled in beachy waves, just above her shoulders. She looked forward, took a swig of her drink and rolled her eyes, "Damn... Where'd she lay off to, then? Clearly not Sugar Rush."

"Must've crawled back to Dead Zed, the whole lot of those six racers are well on their way to becoming swappers, as well," The first male uttered, his voice grew louder with agitation, "People are starting to get real pissed. I think they're trying to start a cult, swap their power ups, becoming stronger than usual. They'll use that to take over the Arcade... Similar to what Turbo tried to do."

"They're all going Turbo, then?" The third, quieter guy chimed in nervousness, "Should we... I don't know... Do something about it?"

"Well, you saw what happened in Game Central, last week, didn't you?" The second, black haired male countered, though everyone peered to him in nervous incredulousness, "Fix-It Felix Jr. nearly got unplugged, and standing amongst the rubble was Throttle, himself... Guess the guy is still alive."

"Turbo's ally?" The brown haired girl shot in soft terror, everyone nodded and bugged their eyes in rapidly growing horror.

"Somethin's not right," The first, red scaled guy muttered into his cup before he sucked down the last of his drink. He slumped his drink messily to the counter and flagged his hand in a lazy array of an attention grabbing wave, "All I know is, everyone is on the lookout for those blue haired freaks. They don't dare leave Dead Zed."

"Blue, that's hardly fair," The girl stabbed as she wildly gestured about the establishment, though it was at this point did Ace flinch in solid fear and wonder if he should quickly back out now. He held his breath and begged for the woman next to him to remain peering out to her left, like what she had been doing this entire time, though much to his dismay, she did a whole 360 and continued on, "I've spot at least four people, here, with some form of blue hair. Look, I'm even standing next to one."

Ace remained quiet as the group loudly chuckled in solid, knowing annoyance, though they didn't seem to pay Ace any mind. They gestured to him, made loud remarks about how Ace was likely harmless, and continued on with their annoyed chatter.

"I've seen many a gamer with blue hair, but none quite as handsome as you," Stated the girl to Ace's left, and it was with this did Ace cock an eyebrow and peer down to her in his peripheral, nearly to express to her that he was wholly uninterested, though he gave her a kind smile with rapid-fire, shoot down status.

"I appreciate it," Ace stated coldly, he gingerly flagged his finger a little once the bartender was turned in his direction, though he grimaced inwardly as this girl, next to him, finally turned her body language and looked as if she wanted to engage in further conversation.

"What game are you from?" She inquired kindly, her eyes were inviting, a bright brown with speckles of gold. She was pretty, her skin glistened from drying, sunkissed ocean water that still barely clung to her.

"Unplugged," Ace mumbled, though he winced and now realized that his salty statement likely only opened more doors for her to dote on him and take pity, a hook, line and sinking technique Ace knew he'd potentially use if he were single, though he could practically feel Libby's stare burn into the back of his skull, at this point.

"I'm so sorry," she cooed, just like Ace knew she would, and as he remained tight in his own bubble, he felt his heart sink even harder once her hand gingerly reached out and rested on Ace's larger forearm, in a comforting manner, "I wish I had a home game. I'm just an extra, here in EZ Living."

"Livin' the dream," Ace mumbled kindly, though he tried not to give her too much ammunition.

* * *

"No, no, let me guess," Orph laughed as he waved his hand and gestured towards Libby, as if to gain her help. Libby choked a giggle as Penny nudged her forehead into the table top before her, "C'mon, it's not THAT embarrassing, is it?"

"No, you're just making a big deal out of nothing!" Penny barked, the group of three was lost in laughter.

"Your greatest fear is... Spiders," Orph pointed, though Penny sat up and shot Orph an annoyed glare.

"Spiders," Penny repeated, though Libby covered her face and laughed, as if to state that Orph had it all backwards.

"This person has taken down the craziest beasts imaginable, and she's scared of SPIDERS, Orph?" Libby sarcastically inquired, though Orph bugged his eyes and wildly gestured his arms.

"So then TELL ME!" Orph argued, Penny and Libby were wholly lost in laughter.

"It's not a huge deal, either," Penny muttered through stifled giggling, to which Libby softened as well, "It's more psychological damage, if anything."

"What, like we're all not riddled with that? I'd say you're in good company, then, love," Orph stated with a dollop of warmth, something Penny had grown to crave as the night went on. She lovingly peered up to him, and as their eyes met, they held a silent, whimsical, dance of a conversation with just their eye contact, even if it was for mere split seconds.

"Well, it's not spiders," Penny mumbled with a bashful curl of a smile she tried to pucker away, like usual, though it was becoming difficult to get it to all be hidden, after all. She finally let a wider smile sprawl her face as she looked down, "I'll tell you later. It's heavy... We're having fun tonight, so I don't want to spoil it with my own drama."

"I'll hold you to it," Orph's deeper voice grumbled down to her, though he felt a daring sweep of tenderness come over him, and as easily as he could, he squeezed Penny into a gentle side hug and planted an innocent kiss to the side of her head.

Orph was thrilled to feel Penny sink tighter into his side, and as her left arm and hand did everything they could to hook around his back in a gentle grab of a loving, needy fashion, Orph smiled a sneaky smile into the side of her head and squeezed her just a little bit tighter into his grip. He knew their night likely held a tiny bit of romance, that would hopefully eke into the later hours of the night, once they got home, though he knew he needed to play his cards right up until that time. Before the three could press on, Penny broadened her gaze to Libby's line of sight and slumped her shoulders in soft curiosity.

"You look pissed, Libs, you okay?" Penny giggled nervously, which caused Libby to peel from her strict gaze across the bar, though not quick enough to where Orph couldn't follow said line of sight.

"Uh oh," Orph muttered as he peered over his shoulder and noticed his nephew, across the way, saddled with a woman, in their tight proximity, at the bar, "Looks like Ace has picked up a little gal pal."

"Stop it," Penny barely swat at Orph's chest, though Orph shrugged, furrowed his brow and peered his incredulous gaze down to Penny.

"What? Not saying Ace is doing anything to egg that on, he's not stupid," Orph barked with a laugh, "He's well aware he's in ALL of our sight."

"It's fine," Libby chimed in sly, poisonous charm with a smile to match, though with the way her eagle eyes honed in on the situation, Penny and Orph nervously stole glances to each other.

"You can trust Ace, Libby, he'd never do anything to jeopardize your guys' standing," Penny assured confidently, Orph nodded in fervor.

"Oh, I know, I trust Ace to the moon and back," Libby stated in solid knowing with a small nod as her eyes collected back to Penny and Orph, though in a slow drag of a glare, she peered to the two across the gap and glowered, "It's her I have to keep my eye on."

"Phasers set from stun," Orph waggled his hand with a cheesy smile him and Penny fell into, and as they hooked eyes, they bobbed knowing nods and dragged their gazes back to Libby in growing apprehension, "To kill..."

"Cheating, in my tribe, is kindly rewarded with a sentence to death," Libby stated with a dollop of ironic charm, a cute, lithe air about herself Orph and Penny both knew was simply a cloak of kindness that draped over the powerful, jungle lioness she was. She raised her eyebrows in plucked knowing and honed her gaze across the bar, as if her stare could divide the crowd, "You're tied up whilst your genitals are chopped off and fed to the lykatas. Typically, you're left to bleed out, but sometimes the pain is just too overbearing and your body is just sent into shock."

Orph swallowed an audible gulp, warily looked down to Penny and then again to Libby. Before the two could potentially try and calm her nerves, Libby cleared her throat, gave the two a knowing smile laced with all the snark in the world, and as she straightened her pretty white, sleeveless blouse, tucked her hair behind her ears and adjusted herself, she inhaled a steady breath and sarcastically carried on in her strict, American accent she didn't dare waver from.

"Excuse me, one moment," She eased politely, though as her firm, strong body posture trailed away, Orph and Penny nervously watched her leave in a gape of horror, the show that was just about to unfold.

* * *

"A nomad, true to Arcade," she stated valiantly as she raised her hand a little; Ace huffed an annoyed chuckle and shook his head.

"Naw, just... Trying to get a drink, is all," Ace stated, he wondered if he could potentially egg her on just for the sake of hearing what other ridiculous things she had to say. He wrinkled his nose, looked off and wondered if he could worm some information out of her, "So, what are these... 'Swappers' I hear mention of?"

"Swappers? Ick... I don't know how anyone could fully swap their code with someone, like such," The girl stated in whole disgust as she sorrowfully shook her head, "You're just trapped with their coding forever, nothing you can do can change it back. You turn into this sorry, leeching sack of confused coding that doesn't have an out... It's what Turbo went through, right? Don't people know about the block, anyhow?"

"Yeah, you'd think," Ace played along, though his heart began to race with whole concern, "So, uh... Those Dead Zed freaks, huh?"

"Keep your eyes peeled, supposedly they're trying to overthrow other racing games, from what I've heard," She hissed in nervousness, "They've acquired this whole band of swappers, and they've swapped their power ups to each other, so they can become stronger. I hear Wreck-It Ralph is in on the drama, as well."

"That's crazy," Ace mumbled, and though the night was quickly sinking into a fun double date, he now felt as if rushing back to Dead Zed would be wise, "How many people know about this, then?"

"Oh, mostly just games that are close to Dead Zed, in End of Line, but it's spreading like wild fire," She stated with a nonchalant flag of her hand, though she cocked an eyebrow and gave Ace a kind, flirty smile, "Hey, why don't I buy you a drink? A guy like you doesn't have a home game, surely it's hard to come across a friendly face."

"I-I... Well, I appreciate it, but I shouldn't," Ace stated in gentle dullness, though before he could continue to protest, she obnoxiously flagged down the bartender and got her attention. Once she rattled off the two drinks, Ace huffed a long, annoyed sigh, unbeknownst to her and let his idle gaze gloss the wall, lined with colorful bottles, in mild desperation, "I'm... Here with someone."

"Are you?" She inquired in solid skeptic as she gingerly looked about, though she shrugged, "Well, she doesn't seem too concerned about coming to collect you, then."

"You don't see her, but trust me... She sees you," Ace muttered, mostly to himself, he grit his teeth and nearly chuckled at the fact, he could practically feel the burn of Libby's glare on him, and he knew it.

"Speaking of code block," She stated in girly kindness as the bartender began to approach with the two drinks the brown haired girl had ordered, one for her and one for Ace, she gingerly allowed her fingertips to find Ace's lower arm, once more, "Why don't we put ours to good use?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ace staggered, he tried not to seem too uneducated in the weird terminology she was using, though this only seemed to entice her further.

"Well, you don't have a home to go back to, do you?" She giggled, she scrunched her shoulders and shifted on her feet, which caused her breasts to bounce in a flirty draw of seduction she hoped she'd eventually have Ace buying into, "Why don't you come on home with me, then? I can teach you all about it. You seem as if... You're new to this."

"I-I guess you could say that, but no thank you, I'm not interested," Ace mumbled, he furrowed his brow and only lightly glanced to her, though once the bartender was within earshot, he opened his mouth to begin ordering his and Libby's drinks.

Before Ace could even get words out, he flinched in solid surprise as to just who so gingerly wedged her way in between the brown haired girl and Ace's lazy formation. He raised his eyebrows, felt his heart drop in solid fear and knew the sudden pop of white hair, just before him, surely meant this other poor girl was wholly done for. Ace held his breath, froze and nearly didn't want to see what Libby had planned, though before he could get any words out, to Libby, to the brown haired girl, to the bartender, anyone, Libby's tender hands softly picked up one of the drinks the bartender had set down.

"Hi! ... You don't know me," Libby started in a stab of cuteness, she looked the girl over in a roll of stoic dominance and raised her eyebrows in a perk of deathly sweet delight, though as she finished her last statement, her grave, dark anger honed in on her prey as her voice dribbled to that of a solid threat, "...And you don't want to."

Libby smiled a close-mouthed smile, and before the girl could get any form of coherent words out, Libby gingerly clinked her new drink's glass to the rim of the brown haired girl's old glass and tilted her head in a bob of mean sarcasm.

"Cheers," Libby huffed in a breath of kind, ironic delight, and before anything else could be said, Libby just barely flicked her hair over her shoulder and pushed out of her's and Ace's bubble.

Ace cocked an eyebrow and so obviously watched Libby walk away, a full body ogle and all, and before he could tell this girl that he was sorry and that he had to go, he beamed a dorky smile of whole delight, took his new drink in his larger hand, raised it in a stale 'cheers' to her and quickly tucked the mouth of the glass to his lips as he urgently walked away to properly chase after Libby.

"Told you," Ace muttered into his glass with great cheek.


	160. Chapter 160

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** Same, except mine wasn't so drawn out lol. Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you for your questions! I think some of your questions will be asked in this chapter - though, the thing about everyone being 'up in arms' about Sugar Rush is, at least in my mind, I view the stations as 'every game for themselves' and have just assumed that game jumping seems to be a big no-no, so it's not normal for strangers just to visit Sugar Rush or etc., typically everyone sticks to their own home. So, it's sort of like, if your game is on the fritz, then it's your own problem sort of attitude, if that makes any sense. The arcade isn't quick to help your game if it's suffering - it's every game for itself, a fight to keep plugged in.

 **Snake557 :** That's interesting you took it that way :) Could be similar! Definitely ties in with the fact that there are some life styles that a massive amount of people don't agree with, here on Earth, and etc.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys, SO sorry for the long gap of a wait. If you don't follow me on deviantART, I made aware to everyone that Cory and I went on a small weekend getaway to Panama City Beach (it was INCREDIBLE) but then after that, I was slammed with long shifts, back to back, and haven't had time to wind down. I'm finally on a day or two off, and had time to catch up. Hopefully I can continue on with my schedule :) I hope everyone is enjoying so far... I apologize for the lull, but stuff will pick up shortly, here. I promise! More drama on the way!

* * *

 ***Chapter 160***

In a smooth shuffle of trying to keep all of his garnered information under wraps, Ace desperately tried to hone his whole attention to the back of Libby's body, a distraction he was praying would somehow make his nervous demeanor sink and calm. He cursed himself for wearing his heart on his sleeve, a trait he very easily was given from his mother, though he knew if the four were to get out of EZ Living without being noticed, he'd have to remain cool. As Libby approached the table first, her and Penny giggled loudly at her triumph, though they weren't aware of the bomb Ace was about to drop on them. As Ace neared, he felt his heart sink at just how poor his mask was with the fact that his uncle Orph flinched and gave him a confused, bewildered look.

"What's your deal? Were you actually caught flirting with that girl?" Orph ogled, to which Libby cocked an eyebrow and shot Ace a look as if to state to him that he'd best just be honest, if it were the case.

"No, but we gotta get out of here," Ace eased calmly under his breath, his demeanor was cloaked with a sudden lull of darkness, something the group suddenly sparked to, and with their frozen postures reeled in solid confusion, they gingerly glanced to one another to wonder if Ace was maybe kidding, "That group at the bar, which that one girl was included in on, said a lot of things I can't explain out in the open... Bottom line, Kalivar castle residents are not welcomed. We've gotta leave."

"Now?" Libby suddenly worried, as quietly as she could. The three took nervous turns glancing towards the bar, though they desperately tried not to make it obvious.

"Hang for a minute, we don't want to seem obvious," Ace grumbled, though just as he turned to just barely glance over his shoulder, his heart dropped as the girl, as well as the three men she was with, began chatting and urgently pointing in Ace's direct spot. Ace huffed a shaky breath, bobbed a nod and eyed his second cousin in growing, irritated worry, "Nevermind... Bail out. We've got company."

With a sudden tension laid over the group, and an abandoned table of four drinks, they swiftly and stealthily split from each other in a weaving formation of organized chaos. Tightly tuned to one another, their agile, trained footwork so easily bobbed and weaved about noisy party goers. Ace held his breath and laid his attention to every single pixel cube in the vicinity, and with such a honed skill mapped to the grid, he furrowed his brow in growing dismay as he could feel the four, at the bar, suddenly jolt into action. Ace held his breath, sought out Orph, Libby and Penny and was thrilled that even though they weren't directly behind Ace, they were still hot on his heels. Once the four were out of the establishment, Ace huffed a shaky breath, gingerly reached for Libby's hand and gave her a knowing look.

"You glitch-hop with Penny, keep her tight to you," Ace instructed quietly as he secretly let his silver coding flare on his hand, and as it sparked and transferred to Libby, in a soft exterior swap, she nodded diligently as Penny snuck tight into Libby's side. Ace continued on as Orph did the same for him, "I've got uncle Orph. Haul ass, stop for no one."

"Done," Libby assured in a snip, and just as Orph and Ace locked hands, they took off in a bolt of light that was nearly impossible to even keep up with.

Libby inhaled a nervous breath and, just before she took off with Penny, she peered over her shoulder and noticed the four angry group members skid to a halt outside of the building, but before they could properly look around and lay eyes on Libby and Penny, Libby skillfully took off in a glitch in stream of golden honeycombs to follow Ace and Orph. With a zip of information, dark yet glowing illuminated buildings whipped by, and as Libby played catch-up with Ace, they veered a soft left and booked it for EZ Living's outlet, a fast motion chase they were certain no one really even knew was taking place. With zipping information that shot by at light speed, they bounced about the outlet's winding wires, and once they skid to a gentle, trotting halt in EZ Living's game station, everyone let go of each other and continued to hustle on, though Ace looked over his shoulder to seek Libby and Penny; he was relieved, though not totally surprised, to see that Libby had kept up nicely.

"Eyes down, I'll explain when we get home," Ace instructed, and though he knew they were far from the gossiping four, back at the bar, he grimaced and wondered just how many eyes had been on them this whole time, without him even being aware of it.

He kicked himself, the four sat in painful silence the whole train ride back to End Of Line Station, and as the tinking, wakeful fluorescent lights, aboard the bullet train, made the four soak with their stagnant thoughts, Ace held his head in his hands and continued to feel guilt. Guilt for not being more careful, guilt for simply assuming the Arcade was a carefree, sun-soaked place where judgement wasn't passed, though the more he reminded himself just who his own grandfather was, the harder her rolled his eyes at himself. He shook his head, softly looked up from his hunched position and caught eyes with Libby. In a solid, stern stare to his shivering eyes, he flinched and felt a sudden wave of understanding hit him.

Libby, though was his best friend, someone he had known for what he felt was forever, he always felt her gaze to be something newly discovered, every day. Each peer held so many different emotions, some Ace was even uncertain he could pair with a name, though each time was as enchanting as the last, a high he never grew tired of. He held his breath and kept his sharp hazel gaze glued to hers, her eyes held so many questions, she was his rare jungle enchantress, everything about her eked some form of uncertainty, though in the slew of everything, her demeanor almost humbly admitted that she held the answers to the universe, everything up for grabs, just by picking her brain. Ace furrowed his brow in a spark of deeper confusion and now felt as if Libby suddenly had clarity for him, and though Ace wanted to open his mouth and break his own rules, he stuck to his guns and knew their castle was safe to unload at.

With pure, painful silence between the four, they swiftly navigated their way through End Of Line Station, through Dead Zed's dark wires and straight for the teleportation pad, in which was hidden and secure, a quick jump to the very entrance of their castle. Upon reaching the stark difference in weather, the entrance of the game being swamped with a thunderstorm and the huge jump of calmness they were teleported to, they nearly reeled in the suddenness of it all. As everyone panted softly and curiously glanced to one another, Ace huffed a shaky breath, shook his head and so sorrowfully peered to his teammates, as if somehow he had let them down, even though he knew that not to be true. Ace staggered of a breath of a noise as everyone remained solid, not even to shift on their feet or breath too loudly.

"I-I'm so sorry," Ace huffed, he shook his head in a jostle of mild confusion as his eyelids fluttered with the rapid-fire hits of the information to his brain; he always knew his family was likely of a rare brood, though to be openly mocked and hated, by the majority of the grid, he grimaced and somehow wondered if this could correlate with Sugar Rush's downfall. He grimaced even harder at the thought, his roots being such cause.

"For what?" Libby exhaled in dainty confusion as she shrugged her hands to her sides and barely looked about, "What happened?"

"I don't even know how to begin," Ace staggered, he longingly peered to the entrance of their beautiful castle, a haven of love, of acceptance, and now, misfits.

"Well... Penny and I are going to sneak in the back," Orph grunted as he shyly gestured to his brand new girlfriend, she bashfully nodded and looked down, "Are you, uh..."

"Calling a castle meeting? Yes," Ace stabbed as fervor came back to his veins. He nodded as his diligent eye contact glossed to Libby's, and then again to that of his uncle's apprehensive stare, "It's mandatory."

"Done," Orph stated in calm sternness with a bob of a nod, his electric silver stare pierced Ace's, as if to so diligently express that Orph was aware of Ace's dominance over the lot of them.

In a jolt of action, Orph and Penny peeled from Ace and Libby, and as they each trailed through the thick, lush jungle grass about them, they sought out different entrances of their beloved castle. As Orph and Penny disappeared, Ace and Libby climbed the small, shallow stoop of their castle, pushed past the loved, engrave stone and happened upon the front doors. With a gentle, seasoned swipe of his User powers, something of which he was beginning to get a hold of, the massive front doors opened to reveal the foyer, step-down living room, kitchen and dining area, all under one massive, swooping ceiling dot with the warmest, coziest of house lights. Though his abode was filled to the brim with comfort, a palpable love each and every member soaked the place in, he stabbed through it's gooey heart with purpose and knew he'd have to lay detrimental, agitating news on everyone present.

"Huddle up," Ace calmly instructed to his older uncles lazily sprawled on the couch, before the television.

With Oliver Jax, Tej and Duke in lazy clothes, so still and comfortably strewn, they each nervously lifted their heads in frozen surprise and dart their concerned eye contact to one another. Once they slid their frozen, scared eye contact to Finn, who properly held his positioning slumped into his recliner with a good book, he inhaled sharply, slapped his book closed and immediately got to his feet. The second Finn's chair croaked with the movement, all three of his younger brothers, as well as Oliver, popped up like fireworks and diligently followed instruction of their leader, one of which had not even verbally communicated and established said dominance, though as if it was simply an unspoken rule, everyone respected the notion that one day, Ace would nobly call the shots, and whenever that moment came about, everyone knew they'd be in solid care; they urgently followed after Ace in silent obedience as Ace's powerful demeanor soaked into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Zed urged deeply, his hot blue gaze pierced Ace's as his son approached the kitchen island, to which Tessa, Zed, Emery, Nox, Koko and Tammy were perched at.

"I need everyone front and center," Ace eased softly, he gave his father a respectful nod and softly looked about to count the heads that were so quickly lined up and gathered around; he noticed a few beings missing, and with such, he groped his pocket for his communicator and sent out a mass text to the rest of the Kalivar castle residents.

"Are we in danger?" Tessa asked sternly as everyone went from calm kindness to dead-solid attention and high alert.

"No, not for the time being," Ace complied, though it was clear he didn't want to unload until every person was present.

Upon the words leaving his mouth, Throttle nervously stepped into the kitchen via the side door, a small alcove that lead outside, ultimately to his own abode. As he filed closer to the group, and lingered near Nox, heavy footsteps were heard, accompanied by Taffyta and Vanellope, coming from the Sky Room. As Ralph, Taffyta and Vanellope piled into the kitchen, Vanellope crossed her arms, eyed Tessa in mild annoyance and honed her attention to her grandson in growing wariness. Once Orph and Penny seemingly nonchalantly came from the bend of the racer's bedrooms, Ace huffed a long, shaky sigh and looked down to his hands. Before he could begin, his eyes nervously peered to Libby in growing despair, the act of giving yourself wholly to the one you love, the ultimate code swap, Ace grimaced at the sheer fact that it had now made him and his brood a lot of hated outcasts.

"Ace," Tessa's sternness rose, as did the anxiety in the group, and before Tessa could firmly continue to pry at Ace, he looked up and glossed his attention to his mother, father and grandfather.

"Libby and I were at a club tonight, in EZ Living, and for only a moment I left Libby to get us something to drink," Ace firmly explained as his broad chest and shoulders remained solid in the stance of strength he had so easily saddled himself in, he knew, in this raw moment, he was the center of the game's core, the leader everyone was praying Ace would become, a stronghold for their conscious, "Four gamers to my left have somehow garnered information... About all of us."

"Dead Zed?" Ralph stabbed in worry, everyone took turns shooting scared glances to one another.

"The lot of us standing in this kitchen, right at this moment," Ace's voice shook in the depth of regret it hit in the reverberating roll of dread he glossed over the innocent souls before him. He shut his eyes, shook his head and sorrowfully peered to his uncle, "They think of us as nasty code givers... Have given us the title 'swappers', and... Word is going around that we, in this castle, are building a coo... Somehow, we are to swap all of our power-ups with each other and become unstoppable."

"That's not what we're doing at all," Finn argued in shock, everyone mumbled shocked, annoyed notions, simply as if the nay-sayers could hear them in this moment, though Ace huffed a hard sigh and looked down.

"They think we're going to take over Arcade, and are somehow tying it with Turbo," Ace uttered, his eyes nervously found and hooked to Nox's, and as both boys held a solid, scared gaze, Ace shook his head and grimaced, "Libby and I nearly didn't get out of there fast enough."

"You were in danger?" Zed demanded nervously as Tessa fearfully peered up to him, though they stabbed their gazes into Ace's, "D-Do they know you're a-"

"User? Dad, I'm not about to give myself that kind of pressure," Ace's deep voice grew strength, he gestured his arms out and dared to push forth a smile of growing confidence, it borderline a well-deserved cocky air about himself, "I'm not about to give myself that kind of power..."

"So, what... They don't... Swap codes? Is that so bizarre?" Tammy urged in solid annoyance, she gestured her hand out as everyone gained more confidence in speaking out.

"Surely others swap codes, right? I mean, isn't it only natural?" Penny now wondered, she tried not to glance in Orph's direction.

"The girl that started to chat with me mentioned something about... A 'code block'," Ace uttered softly as he peered to his dad, as if to ask if he potentially knew what that meant.

"Is that similar to a cock block?" Jax blurt, though only Orph and Duke stifled laughter.

"The code block," Ralph grumbled knowingly, he bobbed a nod, though as his eyes dragged to Throttle's, Throttle raised his eyebrows, looked down and sighed, as if he knew this information as well, information that had been buried underneath simple loads of new memories his life had given him.

"You know what that is?" Vanellope asked in surprise, Ralph peered down to her and softly shrugged.

"I mean... I never think about it, I think it's... An odd way out of a responsibility," Ralph grumbled, though everyone looked confused.

"What IS it?" Koko wondered nervously as her and Nox stole glances.

"Sounds painful," Tammy muttered, Jax and Tej mumbled agreeing notions towards her.

"A code block... Was something that came about shortly after TurboTime was unplugged," Ralph stated, the attention shifted to him in sullenness, "It's a way of code swapping without permanently meshing your code with someone else... It's a skill that nearly became mandatory, in the past. You don't gain power-ups, from your partner, and vice-versa. It was something that was simply made as a suggestion, and once Surge was installed, it became code, and it was just what was taught from the get-go."

"So, what, code swapping fully isn't normal? No one does it, anymore?" Nox worried, he peered about to his fellow brothers, the few men that had fully given their code to their woman of choice, whom of which stood proud in this room, "How... How is it done, then?"

"I thought it was just a fad that died out, it was just a way to have some quick fun without the responsibility of being technically 'stuck' with someone, until game over," Ralph used air quotes and softly peered his conflicted gaze to Ace's, "It was enforced and encouraged because too many gamers were giving their coding over to someone else, and then being deleted or killed. It was where the source of crime came from. Forgotten souls who lost their other half... Surge didn't want chaos to spread, so it was simply frowned upon to fully give your coding to someone else."

"You didn't listen," Throttle eased kindly to Ralph, insinuating his successful swap with Vanellope, one of which that had brought Tessa, Oliver and Koko into this world.

"I didn't listen," Ralph agreed with a kind smile, he furrowed his brow and peered to Ace, "I thought maybe that fad died out, long ago... Besides. I only just lost my coding, to Vanellope, about four years ago. No one talked about code swapping, I guess because the code block thing was just normalized... It just had become sex. That's all it was."

"So, we're over here, fully swapping our codes, the natural thing to do... Towards someone you love, someone you want to spend your life with," Ace grimaced in soft confusion, squinted and shook his head, "And we're being labelled as a cult?"

"We're not hurting anyone," Libby demanded in nervous frustration as she gestured her arms out, "So, what, we don't turn off a stupid function in our coding to cause a halt in that important, bond-sealing code exchange?"

"Still sounds painful," Tammy muttered, a little louder this time, though Throttle bobbed a nod and gave the group a dark side-glare.

"It is," Throttle admitted, though everyone raised their eyebrows in surprise and peered to Throttle in soft terror, and though Throttle didn't continue on with his statement, everyone got the gist of Throttle's minor blip in the conversation.

"But, to those that don't even know of the other side of the swap, they don't know any different," Ralph said through a warm sigh as he looked down to his hands and long-blinked in confusion, "I didn't realize just how stark this gap was. I figured maybe everyone fell out of the whole code blocking fad and moved on, because they saw that fully code swapping wasn't causing harm."

"Close minded people," Finn muttered nervously, everyone slowly peered to Ace in confusion.

"Arcade thinks we're forming a small army, they believe we're here to game jump and all-around cause harm," Ace worried, he gestured his hand in confusion, "They know about mom attending End Of Line... They know Throttle is alive. They know paw is in on this swapping nonsense, as well. They know who we are, and I fear that we have an unknown bounty on our heads."

"A-Are we safe?" Koko worried as she urgently peered to Ralph, Vanellope, Tessa and Zed.

"We are safe inside the game," Zed confirmed nervously with a wave of his hand, as if to state that the worry and hype would eventually die down, though he shook his head and peered out to the crowd, "Seems as though that's likely the only place..."

"What about coming to and from Dead Zed?" Orph worried, for similar situations like traveling between his home game and EZ Living, or even Sugar Rush.

"You stated that you and Libby nearly didn't get out of there fast enough," Tessa stated sorrowfully with a nervous frown, "They tried to fight you?"

"I truly believe they would've tried to kill us, mom," Ace stated in solid regret, though the look of horror of Tessa's face broadened. Ace inhaled a calming breath, closed his eyes, tilted his head down and tried to center his rushing, scared thoughts, "One second longer, of lingering, and I genuinely believe we would've been harmed. I don't know how they caught on, they likely picked up on my vibe. I was trying so hard to remain cool..."

"You don't think my stunt had anything to do with it, did it?" Libby worried with a frown, though Orph smiled a sneaky smile down to the ground and relished in the memory.

"Doubtful, you're not distinguishable, y'know?" Ace stated gently, "To them, you're just another gamer... They didn't seem phased by the fact that I had blue hair, but, then again, maybe they were bluffing."

"No more trips to EZ Living," Tessa nervously urged, she shook her head and peered to Zed in rapidly growing anxiousness, though it was clear to tell she was also becoming mad and protective.

"Tessa's right, we need to remain in the game as much as we can," Zed nodded.

"What about me? I practically commute back and forth, for game day," Ralph worried, though Zed frowned and peered to Tessa.

"You haven't had any issues, going back and forth, have you dad?" Tessa wondered as all eyes honed to Ralph.

"Well, no, but after this... I'm not even sure what to look out for," Ralph grumbled as he shrugged.

"All I know is our 'kind' isn't welcome out there," Ace urged nervously, he dared to drag his eyes to Libby's; she hooked to his in rapidly growing fear and tucked her fists to her chest as Ace's deep voice continued to gloss over the group, "It's clear there's no reasoning with nay-sayers. The sooner we save Sugar Rush, the sooner we'll go from traitors to heroes."


	161. Chapter 161

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** hey, no worries! I'm an one book for a lot of it, but you're right, most of it is spoilers and will eventually be answered, so I don't want to give too much away. Also, thank you! Yeah, I sort of envisioned Arcade like the world... Some countries get along, some don't. Some help each other out, others are ignored. It's all politics, no matter what. Game jumping and going rogue was practically considered blasphemy, a terrorist attack on another game, it's all relative, in my opinion. The movie never expanded much on this, but I just quickly adopted the idea that the Arcade was far from perfect - hence, the crazy amount of stereotyping about bad guys and etc. Also, to answer your questions... Unfortunately, no, Finn and Tammy do not have any children in the 4th story (I could end up changing my mind, who really knows) - I already have a handful of younglings/proposals/weddings to cater to, for the 4th story, so I don't want to overwhelm everyone. And, as for my doodle of the Kalivar boys, no, Duke isn't daydreaming about anyone xD I just posed him like that. I REALLY appreciate your questions and love for my story, I'm really glad you're enjoying it so far! :D

 **emonekocindi1 :** AW. Thank you SO much! That seriously made my whole day, I can't tell you how much your words mean to me. Thank you so much. I really hope you enjoy the rest of the story :D

 **Alisi Thorndyke :** Haha yes, that's why I had the gang lay low, cause Ace could've just exploded the whole place, though Libby might've beat him to it hahaha. Thank you! I appreciate it!

 **Retrokill :** Score!

 **Snake557 :** Well, the trouble with that is they can't teleport between games - they're not technically connected, via code rooms, so that wouldn't really work. Good point tho!

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 **A/N:** Sorry for the delay - pushing through the lulls of any of my stories is difficult - the next chapter introduces a special character you guys have likely been waiting for :) (no, it's not Turbo lol)

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Stop This Train by John Mayer**

 ***Chapter 161***

With an exasperated grunt, Taffyta's hands did everything they could to grip the slippery porcelain of the potted plants she was caring for. Thunder clapped the sky over head, and with a startled flinch, she jolted and grappled the pot a little harder. She winced as rain pelted her, the swimming pool she was now trying to clamor from splayed with loud ripples of the downpour that soaked the land. The sky was a dim grey, the sunset was muted from behind the clouds, and though Taffyta knew she was going to eventually get the lot of her plants under cover, she almost felt a strange tick in her coding yell at her that none of it mattered. She furrowed her brow and felt the prick of her bloom of leaves and flowers she was carrying away, though the stab was a reminder that these poor plants were on the way to dying, simply making it known by the ends of their wrinkling, browning stems.

With another, even more exasperated grunt, Taffyta gently thrust the heavy pot to the ground, just under the cover of her balcony. She swiped her forehead as the cold, Dead Zed rain dribbled down her clothes and skin. She looked down at herself, her black t-shirt and white washed skinny jeans were soaked, every single last thread. She tucked her wet, white, choppy hair behind her ears and let her aimless eye sight log in a direction near the castle's swooping back patio, a path that lead from said patio to the pool, as well as Ace's tower. She cocked an eyebrow in surprise and didn't notice the being that had somehow snuck up on her and was now getting his hands grappled tight around another one of her potted flowers.

"Oh," Taffyta quipped in curiosity as she tensed and felt a sweep of uncertainty come over her. She felt her heart jolt in a wild gasp of uncertain, delighted terror, a kiss of irony she somehow didn't know how to battle, and as said figure stood, it assured all of Taffyta's rushing, confusing emotions. Tej grunted a small chuckle and began to haul one of Taffyta's plants away from the spot across the grass, a particular spot that got a good dose of sunshine on a typical day. Taffyta smiled and felt her veins begin to tremble with wiggly, delighted uncertainty, "Thank you! You... Really didn't have to."

"I'm not going to sit on Duke's balcony and continue to watch you suffer in the pouring rain," Tej chuckled and shot her a knowing look of disbelief; he softly shuffled past her and set the pot, he was carrying, down next to the one Taffyta had shielded from the intense rain. He brushed his hands free, looked about his own body and griped a small, understanding chuckle, "When it rains, it pours."

"You have no clue," Taffyta huffed with a small laugh as the two quickly moved back into the rain, to rescue her other plants.

The two grimaced as they rushed out into the pouring rain, once more. Thunder continued to clap the sky in an impressive display of Dead Zed's jungle storms, the castle was warmly lit and contained every last member, cozy and tucked into the warmth of love the lot had to offer. As Tej and Taffyta reached the last of her plants, they each picked one up and began to hustle back to Taffyta's patio, in which overlooked the pool and had an impressive view of Ace's tower. Taffyta giggled at the situation as the two bumped into each other to seek shelter, and once they set the rest of her pots down, they stood, peered out to the soaked land before them and relaxed for a second. Tej furrowed his brow a little and revisited Taffyta's words.

"What did you mean by that?" Tej wondered with a huff of a breath, Taffyta eyed him in a quick glance of mild apprehension, though she chuckled, shook her head and turned to tend to her plants.

"Ah, y'know," Taffyta huffed, she sat down, on her patio furniture, and hoisted one of the smaller potted plants into her lap. She winced and inspected the dying petals, "Just... The whole issue with Sugar Rush, tension between Tessa and Vanellope... The list goes on."

"I see," Tej gently let it go, he eyed what she was doing, as well as her whole being, and wondered if staying back with her would be wise. He looked down to her glossy, wet, beige outdoor tiles. They reflected the overhang, and the sky, above them, in diluted images of the mirrored water, and before Tej could let his mind soak to the details his eyes lay comfortable on, he closed his eyes and huffed a hot sigh through his nose. At war with himself, he decided to take a few steps closer to Taffyta and welcome himself into her presence, "I didn't know you liked to garden."

"I... I don't," Taffyta admitted sheepishly, she shook her head and frowned, "I'm terrible at it, now..."

"... Now?" Tej wondered gently, he eyed her in growing curiosity and got within a few feet of her. He watched as she meticulously peeled dead and dried leaves from her dying plant, one of which used to be huge, blooming and beautiful.

"Yeah, well... It was a trait I was given when I swapped with Rancis," Taffyta stated nervously, she wondered if this were to eventually get confusing and weird; she worried that now was that time.

"I see, he liked to garden?" Tej stated kindly, he hoped that he wouldn't seem too abrasive with the gesture of making it known that he was a shoulder to lean on.

"It was a part of him, no one really knows why... The garden, on Sugar Rush's castle grounds, it's just... Beyond anything you can imagine," Taffyta huffed in a whisper as she shook her head and finally gave up tending to the plant, for the time being. She set the pot down by her feet and nearly glowered at it for failing her, or rather, the reverse, "I was so great at it until... Our coding got reversed. Now my main characteristic is being fast on the tracks and... Really, not knowing when to shut up, apparently."

"It's okay," Tej smiled, he warmly chuckled and finally felt it appropriate to sit down next to her. He let out a long breath and tried to hide the tremble in it, and though he kept his distance from her, on her outdoor chase, he raised his eyebrows a little and eyed her, "It's... Curious to me, how you can be bad, or neutral at something, and then, given the right power-up, through a code swap... You're suddenly amazing at it."

"I guess, in my case, it's the reverse," Taffyta sighed as she tried not to look down at the flowers at her feet, flowers of which had given up, "I thought I was doing great, but... Something that hit me, the other day, was that... Rancis never taught me to garden, or sword fight, or any of that stuff. We just swapped, and I had the knowledge."

"I have no clue what that even feels like," Tej squinted, he shook his head as the two finally held curious, kind eye contact, an innocent conversation they nervously danced on, "To just... Know what you know, and then upon one act, you're suddenly saddled with someone else's entire knowledge on life, their take on everything. How bizarre."

"It is bizarre," Taffyta nodded, they peered out to the land before them, one of which was being pelted by the storm they somehow didn't seem phased from, "And, from what Ace brought back to the table, last night, I'm really not certain what to think, anymore."

"Oh, with the whole 'code blocking' thing?" Tej inquired, Taffyta nodded, as did he, "Yeah, that sort of threw me, too... Sort of nervous to leave the game, or even go into town, really. How come no one told us this whole swapping business wasn't normal, or that it was frowned upon? How come we, as a collected 'family' unit didn't know this information?"

"I have no clue... Vanellope and I were never really social in the Arcade, and when her and Ralph fell in love, they just went full force, and what came of it was this beautiful union," Taffyta shrugged, she tried not to get to sappy, simply because she didn't want to freak Tej out, though at the same time, she didn't feel like re-hashing old memories of her and Rancis. She sighed, in such a way that cued Tej into wondering if this topic was getting too touchy, "None of us questioned it... And from there, Candlehead and Gloyd followed suit. It started this snowball effect, and everyone was on board with just being strapped with that one person you fell in love with. Who knew there was an out, a code blocking way of keeping your own coding but still fulfilling a sexual relationship with someone."

"I've never even heard of it, and Tammy was on the money, with that one... It sounds painful," Tej grimaced, Taffyta huffed a small laugh and a near-forced smile.

"Guess we're all hated for living under a rock," Taffyta stated in a tone that was far too nonchalant for her words, she shook her head and let her dying, aimless gaze peer across the dark backyard, to Ace's illuminated, gorgeous tower, "What else is new, then..."

Tej frowned and softly dragged his eyes to her hands, which held in her lap in such a way that expressed she was near sitting limp, save for her spine. He furrowed his brow, deepened his gaze and longingly peered to her. With her gaze far across the backyard, he felt comfortable staring, though he knew she was aware of his melting, inquiring leer. Before Taffyta could continue to ignore his silent questioning, she long blinked and gently brought her gaze to her right, to where he was sitting. She was only daring enough to let her blue gaze meet the chest of his shirt, though just as his deep voice prickled her existence, she finally lobbed her wavering eye contact into his, a bashful, dewy look of whole concern, a solid irony of feelings.

"I can tell you miss him," Tej braved, his loving gaze was beyond understanding, something that made Taffyta's exterior melt, the fact that she was being given whole acceptance, speaking about a topic that was so sensitive and touchy that really only talking to a near-stranger about it was what was going to ease her rushing mind, "I know that when you guys find him, you'll want to give him your all, once more."

Taffyta opened her mouth to retort, agree, throw blame, be annoyed, she wasn't sure which to let arise first. She staggered on a few words, shook her head and huffed a noise of confusion before she finally scoffed and looked out to the pouring world, once more. Tej raised an eyebrow and eyed her, as if he knew he had stumped her, and though his words were previously confident of her future endeavors, he knew he had caught her in her own secretive conflicts.

"Of course I want that," Taffyta whimpered, she grimaced and desperately tried not to cry, "I... I'd give anything to feel his coding through mine, once more."

Tej narrowed his gaze and only briefly peered across the dark, rain-splattered landscape before them, though he nervously brought his gaze back to her and almost dared to put himself into this weird triangle they weren't even sure existed, simply for the fact that it was forbidden and not ever mentioned.

"But...?" Tej pressed kindly, not for his benefit, and though his words stated otherwise, he was hoping she'd be able to see the genuine heart behind it.

"But... Nothing, I don't know," Taffyta complained, she stood suddenly and tucked her hair behind her ears, and as her confused hands gripped the back of her neck in a hang of whole confusion, she lulled her head back and peered up and out to the dark, stormy sky, "There have been so many times where I was trapped with Rancis's coding, and I wasn't even sure he'd come back to me, alive or not... I've gambled the sanity of my coding so many times, it just seems as if... Somehow, we're like opposite magnets."

"This kind of thing has happened before?" Tej worried, he, too, stood and softly held his presence in her bubble, as if to state that he wanted to help her, help each other, get to the bottom of this issue.

"Well... He reintegrated himself with Radex, the first time we had an issue with that virus," Taffyta stated shakily, it was at this point did Tej become aware that she was near tears, "Prior to that, we hadn't swapped but.. He had somehow developed some form of inner coded trauma and was turned into a hologram."

"Still, emotional connections to him likely drove you mad, during those times," Tej complied, Taffyta eagerly nodded.

"And now, this!" Taffyta huffed as she couldn't hold it back any longer. She grimaced a small, silent cry as tears slipped down her cheeks; she did nothing to wipe them away, her glass blue gaze held tight to the dark world before her, "If he is found, what am I supposed to do.. Swap with him again? And what of it, something ELSE happens and I'm just... Thrown through this roller coaster one again?"

"Yes," Tej eased nervously, though Taffyta raised her eyebrows in hot surprise and glued her confused gaze to Tej. Tej slumped his shoulders and felt his heart pang with the delicate conclusion he had to bring their tiny fling to, "Your answer is yes..."

"Yes?" Taffyta hissed with great uncertainty.

"Taffyta, you... You're technically still married to him, you have a child with him," Tej urged quietly as Taffyta's innocent, teary gaze remained glued to his, "Surely you want more children with him... I know you love that man, and would do anything and everything to bring him back, full swap and all."

"I'd do anything," Taffyta whispered as she grimaced and allowed more tears to soak her cheeks; she felt surprise hit her dead on, the sheer fact that she was allowing Tej, someone who she didn't know extraordinarily well enough just yet, to see her cry.

"You'd do anything," Tej grunted, he bobbed a nod and gave her a knowing, stern look, as if to solidify their curious endeavors to a halt, something he knew as noble but also pretty difficult, "Including wait... Wait for that solid answer. Either that he's returned, and you can regroup, or..."

"Or what?" Taffyta huffed in a nervous whisper, "He's dead? Then what?"

Tej wrinkled a frown, he knew this was terribly sensitive, the prospected death of a loved one was never easy to talk about, though with the look of sheer confusion in Taffyta's eyes, he felt his heart jump. He knew she was strictly a married woman, strictly another man's bride, something he knew to never tamper with, he wondered if she'd appreciate the idea of continuous support.

"... Then, I'll wait you for," Tej stated carefully with the curl of a small, innocent smile, a bashful splay of silver lining. He breathed an embarrassed breath of a bashful chuckle, looked down and shook his head, "It's... Probably not anything on your radar, but..."

Taffyta froze and peered up at Tej's strong figure; one of the shorter Kalivar boys, he still held a decent amount of muscle and strength. The often sullen look in his eye was very quickly appreciated whenever his smile caused his half-moon orbs to narrow in a squint of gentlemanly delight. She felt her heart race with whole uncertainty, just where to go from here, what step to take next, and with such, she slumped her shoulders and felt an odd form of relief hit her skin. She shook her head and glowered to the ground.

"I don't want to do that to you," Taffyta whispered, she knew now they were likely a hot-point in castle gossip, having been seen likely shooting each other ogling glances from across stretches.

"You're not doing anything to anyone," Tej shook his head, ultimately wanting to take any pressure off of her. He shrugged and raised his eyebrows in soft, loving acceptance, "If... This quest isn't to be fulfilled in the way we're all hoping, and you someday decide you would like to move forward, after a proper amount of grieving..."

Taffyta let her face slope to genuine acceptance of this horrible situation, the silver lining, no matter how small it looked, she was relieved she had a friend in this instance, one that showed support really no other person, in this raw situation, could give her, and with such relief, she covered her face, grimaced a cry and shook her head a little. Tej raised his eyebrows with a frown, and though he knew Taffyta wasn't his, a beautiful, rarity of a woman that was still technically off limits, he heaved a soft sigh through his nose and allowed his arms to itch closer to her. With gentle defeat, from both parties, he gingerly coerced Taffyta into his embrace and held her amidst the sound of the pouring rain, the clap of the thunder overhead, the looming dread that hung over the entirety of the castle; Tej was certain love was the only thing that was going to see everyone through, he knew everyone had a part to play, no matter how big or small.

"If you ever need an ear," Tej's voice grumbled in a soft whisper down to her, he smiled into the top of her head and closed his eyes; he knew to remain neutral, a painful endeavor, though he knew it was strictly a must, "No matter what comes of this... I'll always be a friend."

"Thank you," Taffyta cried quietly into his chest, the side of her head rested right on his sternum, and as the lull of the white noise about the quelled them into an enchanted bubble of suspended, innocent love, they knew the two had to come back to the planet and face the reality of the situation head on. Taffyta scrunched her face tight and knew this was the best option; most painful, most wise.

"You're welcome," Tej chirped quietly with a loving smile, and as the two gingerly pulled away, Tej scrunched his face into a nonchalant, worry-free smile, shrugged and shook his head at her, "There's no need to worry. Y'got this."

"Yeah," Taffyta nodded through an exhale of relief, she wiped her cheeks and sucked it up, and though all she wanted to do was just lay in Tej's embrace and cry into the never-ending comfort, she knew peeling away, in this instance, was likely best, "Thanks for... Everything."

"You know where to find me," Tej reminded with a kind, non-obligatory air about himself, and as he gave her one last longing smile, he gently peeled from her being and turned his back.

As he crossed the outdoor patio, shielded by the storm, Taffyta exhaled a shaky breath and watched him leave. With a whole slew of feelings that came rushing to her, she knew this distanced stance was wise, and though she wanted so badly to immediately rebound and soak into the comforting love she had been used to, she knew centering herself, preparing her heart for the worst and grieving the impending loss was wise. She slumped her shoulders and fully entertained the idea of her and Tej, and though the soaked thought of her and Rancis was ideal, easy, comfortable, familiar and everything she wanted, she somehow saw the desire of stepping into something unfamiliar and was glad Tej took note of this dangerous situation, as well. With a conscious that was slowly becoming clear, she bobbed a small nod, to herself, and knew this distance was best, she knew to continue to honor her's and Rancis's standing, until death do they part.


	162. Chapter 162

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Hey! Thank you SO much! Yes, I got your note and I will be properly responding to all of it on my next day off, when I have a bit more time to digest it all and properly begin to thank you. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know!

 **Retrokill :** Aww. It is very bittersweet... I mean, even I'M torn :/

 **Snake557 :** Thank you very much! Yes, t'was sad :(

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 **A/N :** **Sorry for the short chapter... Phoenix comicon is coming up in 3 weeks (YES I'm flying out to PHX!) and I have a ton of work to do for my cosplays. I also am transitioning through a new work schedule, so things have been a bit bumpy on my end, schedule** **wise. Hopefully things will get ironed out shortly and I can keep updating regularly. My goal is to get a good heap of chapters ahead of you guys so I can upload during the time I am away from home (Georgia)** **\- So, please forgive my shorter chapters! I'm pushing through to some REALLY important chapters, that are coming up, so just bear with me! I'm doing some much needed character development and the like! Thanks guys! :D**

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Forbidden Friendship by John Powell & Gavin Greenaway **

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***Chapter 162***

On a misty, cool jungle morning, Zed's bare feet began to just barely go numb from the amount of trekking he had done on the tar of his race track. A desolate climb through canopy-ridden cliffs, hills, secretive waterfalls and dives into the gorgeous scenery unknown, his race track didn't see quarter alerts. Although he wasn't a part of the game-day roster, Zed's tracks were used to simply goof off and have fun after hours. As Zed tirelessly removed some overgrown vines and branches near the starting line, he grimaced and noticed the track's black and white checker flag paint had begun to fade. Through a hard, tired sigh heaved, he wiped his brow and gently dragged his gaze up to the high canopies above.

Shaded through the thick, rustling shade of splayed leaves, he squinted as little glints of the morning sun peered through and cast all sorts of dancing shadows over his figure. He felt his communicator vibrate in his pocket, and before he could take it out and inquire just where Ace had laid off to, he narrowed his gaze, held completely still and suddenly felt goosebumps plague his skin. He furrowed his blue brows in tight, sudden agitated curiosity and felt his whole spine do an unnoticeable dance of an inquiry, an intuition he knew he was programmed with. Being the head and core of his own game, he knew he could heavily rely on gut instinct. With a frozen demeanor, as still as the ground beneath him, he let his eyes scan his surroundings in suspicion.

Upon the scan, he couldn't hear nor see Ace, not a single thing out of touch. He huffed a long sigh through his nose and felt stumped, this time around. He went on to continue shuffling scattered, overbearing leaves, branches and vines away from the starting point of his race track. Zed muttered a small notion to himself, a small reminder of house chores and other duties he had waiting for him when him and Ace returned home. He was aware game day was happening in this instance, so he was assured the castle was likely quiet. Before he could go on to continue moving branches out of the tar tracks, he grunted and was faced with a large branch that was much too heavy to lift on his own. Just as he pulled out his communicator to find Ace, once and for all, Ace beat him to it.

"Dad, some of your check points need a little bit of love, too," Ace called quietly, his voice carried down the stretch as he approached in a slow shuffle of a trot.

"I only assumed so," Zed mumbled in growing distaste as he turned around to get a good look at his son, who approached. Zed knew he needed to keep better tabs on his own course, though the sinking feeling of not getting a race day only came to an abrupt halt as Ace's demeanor sunk to solid, surprised fear.

"... Dad," Ace huffed in tremble as he froze and gingerly pointed his finger to what lay beyond Zed.

"What," Zed inquired through a breath of confusion, though as he slowly looked over his shoulder, he felt his heart surge in a rush of rapidly billowing fear.

Ace and Zed froze entirely, though what could be seen standing maybe two dozen feet across the tracks was a powerful creature, a being of solid enchantment, an aura of pure dominance, the white maned lykata. Zed felt the repeat of said shiver travel up his spine, and it was in this raw instance did he curse himself for shooing away his previous intuition, the one that told him that there was something watching him. Zed held his breath, raised his eyebrows and locked eyes with this incredible creature. A lykata of pure power, her coat was a charcoal grey on her ventral, though with the stark pop of white and cream fur on her dorsal side, she was most definitely a being to be remembered.

With ears held tight in a perked position on her head, her white mane fluttered in the wind, as well as her gorgeous white wings, and with the display of the marbleized grey, golds and whites that melted into her fur like a mirage of a painting, Ace rested his hand on his chest in a lazy fashion of awestruck surprise; he could've sworn he'd never see this infamous lykata again; Libby's surrogate mother, a creature of awesome stature, Dead Zed's very first programmed lykata. With haunting silver eyes that pierced straight into Zed's, it was a stand off for dominance at this point, and though Zed knew he was literally no match for such an incredible, unmistakably powerful deity-like enchantress, he somehow wondered if this stance, between the two, was a curious balancing act, a display of friendship and union pending.

"Dad," Ace urged in a scared whisper just as Zed began to gently peel his bare feet from the tar and move closer towards the dangerous looking lykata, though Zed didn't heed his warning.

Zed took two faltering, uncertain steps and stopped, as if to express to Ace he simply wanted to ignore his warnings, though the only reason he stopped was the plain fact that this wonderful creature perked her ears tighter to Zed's being and stiffened in curious alertness. Ace heaved a shaky breath and knew that said creature meant business, though Ace furrowed his brow and had to wonder just where that soft, sensitive and motherly side was. He felt his heart race with wonder, Ace recalled the very first time he had met Marble, and though it was in harsh circumstances, he took this moment to really take in her raw, incredible beauty. A creature with a vast amount of knowledge, a solid understanding on the universe and, very clearly, a need for camaraderie.

Before the two boys could begin thinking about calling out towards Marble, with ears still perked high in dominance, she lowered her head, let her snout wrinkle as she sniffled the ground and took a few gentle steps with her clawed paws; non-retractible claws that acted as cleats for high speed running, though the look was still terribly intimidating. Marble loosened the grip of her wings, and as they sagged, little feathers and tufts of fur caught the breeze and revealed marbleized coloring, golden flecks of fur closer to her skin. She was a wonderfully gorgeous creature, and it was in these awesome minutes did Ace try his hardest not to get too excited; he had hoped Marble would one day return to them, simply for the sake of Libby having her 'mother' back, though he also knew Marble would make a great addition to the castle.

In right circumstances, Ace knew she'd likely return, as did Libby, though with such a powerful creature and high stature, Ace was aware her and Zed would likely go head-to-head on just who held rank here. He knew both had their advantages and disadvantages, though before Ace could continue mulling over the drama, he let his shoulders slump as the thought finally soaked into his mind, and before Ace could inquire to his father that this likely was Zed's chance at forming a 'flyer' bond with Marble, Zed dared to take a few more careful strides in Marble's direction. Ace raised his eyebrows in collected surprise, fear, uncertainty; he held his breath and nearly feared for either one of their well-being.

Zed held his breath and carefully strolled out towards Marble, though as Marble lifted her head, she gained height over Zed and honed her electrified gaze into his. As if to state to Zed that she was in charge here, it was nearly a challenge to break her, to see just what the core of the game was made of, if he honestly had the balls to face Dead Zed's fiercest, fastest, wisest first lykata. With this, Zed felt his heart race with the idea of everything that had fallen over him, something pushed him to continue his trail out to her, and though he honestly had no clue what he was doing, or even who this creature was, something in his gut told him to keep on pushing forward. With his intuition begging him to seal this curious bond, he picked up the pace.

Much to Marble's distaste in his fervor, she perked her ears tighter atop her head and allowed her snout and mouth to wrinkle into a soft warning of a snarl. Dagger like teeth shone proud and true, a smile of sweet death, she made clear he was becoming too pushy, and with this, Zed nearly stopped his footwork altogether. Zed raised his eyebrows in sorrowful, apologetic surprise and tucked his hands to his center, in which he was just about to reach a hand out and inquire that he gain permission to pet her. Once Zed stopped moving, Marble closed her mouth, though her nose still held wrinkled in the promise of more snarling, a warning that Zed was becoming overzealous in this weird, delicate situation; as if the universe of the game was begging these two strong-holds to get along, though like opposing magnets, too much all at once was overbearing.

Zed heaved a shaky sigh and didn't dare to let his eyes waver from Marble's, and though he so desperately wanted to look over his shoulder and gain Ace's perspective on things, he held true to continuing out towards her, though in a much slower, less abrasive pace. He was thrilled the snarling quit, though she still looked apprehensive, simply as if she maybe didn't want this union and was doing just fine on her own, though with the call of the wild, the two knew somehow the castle needed to become stronger. A fight for Sugar Rush's wellbeing, a fight between good and evil, Zed swallowed through his shaky, trembling breath and knew the world worked in mysterious ways; he knew this was simply the universe giving the fight another soldier, another piece of armor in this battle they were desperate to win.

As Zed finally budged into Marble's bubble, he felt his skin crawl with pure intimidation, it was clear she didn't want to give up her powerful position over him, though as his gently outstretched hand came alive with his benevolent silver coding, a souvenir from his and Tessa's act of defiance, Marble's eyes hooked to the show before her. It was only then did her demeanor gingerly sag, and before Zed could even open his mouth to inquire about this drama, Marble long-blinked in curiosity and allowed her ears to gently flatten. Upon the proverbial act of rolling over and showing submission, she kept her dominant eyes still glued to Zed's, as if to somehow wonder if she could bargain with him, if the two could simply remain on the same page, bow to no one, be leaders that stood side by side. Upon this act of agreeing and camaraderie, Zed dared to wrinkle his fingers into the soft, glorious grey fur of her long, wolf-like snout.

Zed scoffed a small, quiet laugh of relief and slumped his shoulders, and as Marble finally flattened her ears entirely, she closed her eyes and allowed their special union, she knew, being the Teltokuan cheif's lykata, it was time to hand over the torch to someone far more deserving, someone of a greater stature than she. Zed beamed a wider smile and lovingly stroked his hand to her cheek, her large skull nearly rested into his palm. As her figure practically hovered over Zed, she remained unphased as Ace ever so slowly began to make his way over, as well. Zed felt his coding surge with excitement, as if he had suddenly gained a teammate, one of which he suddenly couldn't imagine his life without, and as if the sky had simply leaned down and blessed this situation, he narrowed his gaze and felt as if this was curious timing.

"Marble," Ace inquired so gently, and with such, Marble's eyes popped open to peer to Zed's son. Ace breathed a nervous chuckle, nodded a little and peered to his father, "What's she saying to you?"

"S-Saying?" Zed staggered in wiggly enchantment, he urgently peered back to Marble and shook his head.

"She... She communicates telepathically, you can't actually hear her speak... Just through your mind," Ace pointed to his temple and tried to keep a respectable distance.

"You've met this lykata before? Y-You know just what lykata this is, right?" Zed continued to stagger in pure awe.

"It's the first programmed lykata," Ace assured gingerly, he gave Marble a look of knowing love and nodded in respect, "She's also Libby's mother... A very high honor, dad. She... She seems to have chosen you, or something."

"Chosen me?" Zed wondered in his still trembling demeanor, he peered back to Marble with wide, innocent, dewy eyes of delightful confusion, "I don't understand."

"I don't either," Ace chuckled, "She's not saying anything to you?"

"No, I don't think so," Zed mumbled, though Ace took a few steps away and motioned towards his dad.

"Here, walk away... See if she follows you," Ace encouraged softly, to which Zed immediately obliged.

As Zed and Ace quickly began to walk away, Marble snorted a noise of whole confusion, perked her ears, stiffened her body and nervously began to trot after the two. With her long tail that swayed behind her, her fur ruffled in the breeze, and as her mane dragged like silk, she uttered a soft yelp of a puppy-dog noise, bowed her head and tucked her snout into Zed's arm a little. Zed beamed the widest smile, welcomed her tighter into his bubble and held her jaws and cheeks with his gentle hands, and as Ace put his hands on his hips, he bobbed a nod, beamed and felt his heart begin to race with the idea that the castle was only getting bigger, their bubble of love was expanding to the bursting point.

"Y'got yourself a flyer, dad," Ace grunted, both men laughed a little as they gave each other looks of floored bewilderment, "Not just any flyer... The first one."

"Seems fitting," Zed mumbled as Marble rested in Zed's powerful, calm presence, and though the two had only just met, the connection between them was curiously charged with an overflow of energy, "I... I wish she'd talk to me, I'd love to know what this is all about. Seems sort of sudden, y'know?"

"Well, there's a certain white-haired Teltokuan back home who will likely have the answers," Ace concluded with a kind smile as both boys remained humbled in Marble's glorious presence. Ace and Zed caught eyes in curious knowing, "I doubt Marble'll let you fly her back to the castle, however..."

"Looks like we're walking, then," Zed mumbled curiously as Marble gave him a cheeky look of subtle sass, as if to express that he'd have to earn her trust, and though they were now on equal ground, Zed was aware he had a very long way to go before he could ever equate their relationship to that of Ace and Royal, Libby and Balba or Tessa and Lickity.

* * *

 **A/N : Woohoo! I'm glad you guys are finally introduced to Marble! I have only about 2 or 3 pictures of her, on my deviantART. She's in a piece titled 'Snowhere', as well as a piece titled 'Tough Love' - username Vyntresser**

 **ALSO - I'm about half way finished with the sketch dump! This one is difficult to finish because of the scheduling issues I stated in my A/N in the beginning of this chapter, but it'll all get posted before Phoenix comicon (end of May) - I'll keep you guys posted! Thanks again! :D**


	163. Chapter 163

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** No worries! YUSH I love HTTYD, so obviously my story is laced with hints of it! :D Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you! :D I appreciate it! I always worry that my imagined original crap won't be believable, but I'm glad everyone is enjoying it thusfar. You guys will get more glimpses into Libby's tribe, Teltokua - maybe not a whole entire delve, but information will be revealed here and there :) Thank you again!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so much! Yes, I had a lot of fun with that painting of Rey, she's a total badass :D I appreciate it! And yes! I am greatly influenced by the HTTYD universe, so that leaks into my story quite a bit. Thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** I REALLY appreciate that! I have a lot of chapters like such. If I didn't have the character development stuff, this story probably would've been over 100 chapters ago. But alas, it is my largest story to date, and I'm pretty stoked you guys are enjoying the ride so far :D and YES Marble is love - she is rather bratty and snarky, as you guys will come to discover. All out of love! But she may eventually annoy you xD

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **silversurfer :** Thank you so much!

 **ArchDev :** Digital birth control? You mean the firewall? Uhh... That's been a prevalent thing since the beginning of Wrecking Limits xD I eased you into it 400 chapters worth. Dunno how much slower I could ease you into something, there, friend haha. If you're talking about the code-block, that's not birth control. That's the block from permanently swapping codes, though you can still reproduce with it. It'll be explained further on. Thanks for the compliments!

* * *

 **A/N : ** Oh my USERRRR I AM THE WORST YOU GUYS. I am so sorry I've taken forever to upload. Fanfiction was being a butt last weeks. I uploaded and it didn't notify ANYONE. So I've had this stupid chapter up and no one knew. I'm thankful some of you checked up on me (TY! ;_;) and reviewed, but damn... I'm really sorry guys. These next two weeks are going to be chaos because *I* am visiting my hometown and am attending ALL 4 days of Phoenix Comicon! I also will be meeting Alan Tudyk (voice of King Candy) and will be getting him to sign my pop figure of King Candy. I'm PRETTY fucking excited.

I also got a crazy new work schedule that allows me to get my hours AND have permanent 4-day weekends, so on my long weekends, I'll be more prominent in uploading and etc. - during my 3 long work days, I likely won't be uploading much. So my upload schedule may shift a tiny bit, but I will still try and keep the every other day routine constant. You guys seem to be alright with that, but if not, lemme know.

Again SO sorry about FF being a butt and for all around not being consistent. The end of May is always difficult for me because of comicon and preparing cosplays, but I really appreciate your guys' support. Thanks again! :D

* * *

 ***Chapter 163***

"Your hair is so beautiful, Libby, I am rather jealous," Koko snipped in a purely teasing manner.

Both girls sat comfortably on the castle's outdoor patio furniture, a cozy area which consisted of a large, swooping couch, coffee table, two love seats and a proper chase. Libby heaved a small giggle and looked down at her hands, she furrowed her brow in soft contemplation and allowed Koko's steady, patient and gentle hands to properly tuck Libby's hair into a gorgeous, meticulously placed French braid.

"Don't be jealous... I wish I had the curls and bounce your hair has," Libby uttered softly, she peaked a smile as the soft, late morning breeze whisked about the two. Libby cocked an eyebrow and peered to her left, the sudden sound of Lickity's heavy breathing drifted into their attention. Lickity splayed near Taffyta's sprawling balcony, across the way, she lazily slept with her wings and tail flopped in nearly all directions, a haphazard show of ultimate peace. Libby giggled at the endearing sight and brought her mind back to her and Koko, "If I cut it, it'll probably hold a bit of a curl at the ends, but otherwise... Flat city."

"Flat," Koko scoffed, "I wouldn't say flat. Straight? Silky?... It IS very long."

"I probably should cut it, huh," Libby huffed under her breath, nearly towards herself, "It'd probably look weird, anyhow. I haven't had a single hair cut in my entire life."

"... Seriously?" Koko ogled softly, she bobbed a nod and looked at the result of Libby's notion, her gorgeous hair very easily kissed the backs of Libby's knees when she was standing, "Well, guess that adds up, though I don't think you'd look weird."

"I'll consider it," Libby stated warmly with a smile as her eyes glossed out towards the backyard, which was just within their reach; the flawless, waving sea of fire flowers, which was nestled between the outdoor patio and Ace's tower, was something that Libby very much enjoyed simply gazing upon, as if it were simply a time capsule on display, constantly growing in terms of her's and Ace's relationship. She heaved a wistful sigh and shook her head, "Koko, I... I need some advice."

"Sure thing," Koko hummed warmly.

"It's... It's about Ace," Libby admitted, she could practically feel Koko's hands stop what she was doing with Libby's long braid.

"Ah-yeah?" Koko eased as she cocked an eyebrow and beamed a cheesy smile to the back of Libby's head, unbeknownst to her, "What's going on?"

"Well... Not a whole lot, unfortunately," Libby's voice trembled with anxious excitement, as if talking about this topic freely was nerve-wracking, as if the very idea of letting in another soul, aside from Ace, was going to cost her.

"I hope everything's okay between you two," Koko frowned, the air between them grew solid with apprehension hanging in the balance.

"Oh, no... Everything is perfectly..." Libby inhaled a shaky breath and nodded, though she released it in a joyously defeated kind of way, "Perfect."

"... Ahhh, I see where this is going," Koko grumbled as she began to finally reach the end of Libby's braid. She gingerly stood so she could properly tie the end of the braid to seal it, "Want to push it forward a little bit but not sure how to?"

"I'm practically crippled, here," Libby argued nervously, and as Koko finished Libby's hair, Libby slowly turned to face her best friend. Koko gave Libby a delightfully sorrowful smile and sat back down, "I mean... I'm sure I've put Ace in a weird position."

"Surely you haven't... Y-You mean with the whole..." Koko gestured her hand softly and eyed Libby in rapidly growing worry; she knew not to even dare to say the words of the event that happened to Libby, she was aware even so much as saying the words would cause a trigger effect.

"Ace knows everything, he knows where I stand," Libby argued to herself, she shook her head, leaned her elbows on her lower thighs and hunched over herself. She shook her head, once more and let her eyes lazily gloss to the tiles underneath, "I sort of put us in this weird position where the act of swapping should awkwardly be prefaced, first. Now I'm sort of eating my words."

"Prefaced? Like, outwardly discussed right before the act?" Koko wondered in bewilderment, as if that territory was rather foreign.

"Yeah, I... To be frank, we have a small pact. He has an item, in which he gave me, when we were children. I returned it back to him when I came back to the Kalivar lot after, well... After I was raped," Libby explained tenderly, her soft accent was laced in mild, lithe embarrassment, "I told him that when he was technically 'ready', to give me back the item, and only when he was ready."

"... You then give him an item in return?" Koko pressed kindly, as if this notion now wasn't as odd as she particularly thought prior.

"That's the issue, I've nothing to give to him," Libby suddenly burst into a small giggle, which cued Koko to wrinkle her nose and join in.

"Nothing?" Koko squinted and side-eyed Libby in a knowing way, which caused Libby's face to turn beet red.

"Nothing tangible," Libby argued with a small laugh, Koko continued on her giggle fit as Libby's smile broadened, "I... I want to give him something, to express that, but I really don't know what to give him."

"WAIT, you... You want to do this like... Soon?" Koko ogled as she stiffened in rushing surprise and peered hard into Libby's eyes, though Libby's mature smile broadened in a glowing, bashful kind of way.

"Yeah, I... I believe I'm ready," Libby nodded bashfully, though she largely flinched as Koko uttered a squeal and grappled for Libby's arm.

"THIS IS SO EXCITING," Koko hissed loudly in a sharp display of an overload of ecstatic frenzy, Libby laughed and grew more and more bashful, "Give him a fire flower!"

"... A fire flower," Libby urged in dire annoyance, which caused Koko to shrug and stand, Libby barked a solid laugh in her best friend's direction and gently stood as well, "There's a hundred fire flowers in that field, right there... You really think I'm going to pick one and give THAT to him?"

"Well, I don't know! What else holds a crazy amount of importance for yours and Ace's relationship?" Koko blurt, though the two knew to keep this conversation quiet.

"I'm not sure," Libby's voice shook, she looked out to the field and squinted, "I know there are other colors of fire flowers, but... User knows where."

"... User DOES know where," Koko chimed as she snapped her fingers and stepped closer to Libby, "Why don't you ask Ace where other colors of fire flowers are, and then when he's not around, you sneak out and go get one!"

"He'll see right through that," Libby mumbled, though Koko flagged her hands towards her.

"You don't need anything tangible, Libby, he's a guy!" Koko barked, which had Libby in stitches, "All you have to do is say the words and he's there!"

"I know, I know!" Libby argued in an exasperated laugh as she returned to the couch, she slumped down to it and hunched over herself, once more. She held her head in her hands and groaned in nervous anticipation, "I'm not even certain I'm ready to do this, sometimes."

"Well... I mean, don't push yourself. You know Ace certainly won't push you," Koko egged, she desperately tried to calm down as she noticed Libby's demeanor slip. She heaved a long, tired sigh through her nose and gingerly sat down next to Libby. She placed her larger hand on Libby's upper back and tenderly rubbed, "Hey, it's okay... You know, no matter what happens, that kid is going to take amazing care of you. You know that, right?"

"I do," Libby nodded as she lifted her head, slumped her shoulders and let her knowing, nervous smile gloss across the back patio. Her beautiful eyes glistened as her pupils tightened with the added sunlight that had beamed from the edges of a cloud, "I know he'd be understanding, no matter what. I just want to do this right... I want it to be perfect."

"It will," Koko pressed in a hiss of excitement, she lovingly tucked some of Libby's stray white hair behind her ear, "And it doesn't need to include a ton of prefacing or planning... Just... Let it happen. Yeah, it's a wonderful, carefully timed act, but... All the crap that happens, leading up to it, is pretty much free game and shouldn't be over-thought."

"You're right," Libby sighed with a small nod as her eyes remained aimlessly elsewhere, as if she desperately wanted to soak into thought, though she grimaced and kept tight to Koko's assuring advice, "I just don't want to get nervous and bail out in the last minute."

"Well... Even if you did, I'm sure it'd be for good reason," Koko shrugged, "I know you wouldn't just string him along, purposefully anyhow. Plus, you should jump on the bandwagon. Code swapping is ridiculously fun."

"It is?" Libby pressed in a meek, bashful way, though the small smile on her face, as well as the tint of pink her cheeks held, was enough evidence that she was finally coming to terms with her past and conquering it.

"Uh, YEAH," Koko stabbed with a wide smile, Libby laughed and eyed her best friend, "I mean, I guess I can't really tell you exactly how it's going to be for you, cause Ace and Nox are two completely different people, but... Yeah, you're going to have a blast."

Libby pursed a small smile and desperately tried not to explode all over Koko, to beg for more information, to cue a proper girl talk the two were just barely hanging on the edge of. She knew once the deed was done, her and Koko would have eons more to discuss, though from this stand point, all Libby wanted to do was soak into her new thoughts, coming to terms with everything was overwhelming enough. She bobbed a nod and long blinked her gaze to the tiles underneath.

"Thank you, Koko," Libby huffed, "I'm so nervous... Really, I am. Last time obviously didn't go so well."

"That wasn't official, you know that," Koko mused, she twirled her hair, shook her head and looked up, "You have a lot to look forward to. It's fun, exciting, overwhelming at times, and... The code transfer?"

Libby's eyes nearly sparkled, and though this whole topic was foreign territory, she felt honored to have such a good friend, such as Koko, to be there for her and support her along the way. Koko scrunched her shoulders and rolled her eyes.

"Indescribable," Koko huffed, Libby heaved a small laugh and shook her head in mild annoyance, though her giddiness quickly slumped to nervous agitation.

"Well... I seem to be tip-toeing around Ace," Libby sighed, "He often will sort of make romantic advances and... I feel terrible, but I just cut him right at the quick, where I can."

"It's okay to be nervous," Koko added kindly, though she cocked an eyebrow and eyed Libby a little, "Just don't shut him out entirely. You'll be grateful you didn't, trust me."

"I'm sure he'd be eternally grateful for this advice you're giving me," Libby stated through a long, hot sigh as her eyes glossed the field of fire flowers, though the two girls perked up as the back gates, of the Kalivar lot, began to creak open. Libby furrowed her eyebrows in solid confusion, "Whose... Using the back gates? Those are only used when the backyard gets cleaned and mowed."

"Good question," Koko mumbled as both girls began to stand and mosey out of the overhang of the patio, though before they could continue inquiring to each other, Lickity jolted out of her sleep, skillfully sunk onto her feet and sleepily took a solid, fully alert stance of confusion.

Libby nervously peered to Lickity, though as she dragged her eyes to the back castle's gates, she felt her world roll in slow motion, and as Ace and Zed came into view, she was wholly floored as to just who was trailing tight on Zed's heels. Libby slumped her shoulders in a pang of warm nostalgia, the very image of her surrogate mother, the game's first lykata and previously paired with the chief of the Teltokuan tribe, Marble looked as if she had handed over the torch to a rightful, new match, Dead Zed's very core, and with this, Libby wondered if her brain was going to even begin to wonder how to process all the information rushing through her circuits.

"Mimi," Libby uttered with a shake as she clutched her hand over her chest and began to urgently run across the tall grass of the field, though before Libby could properly round the area of the pool and excitedly welcome her long lost mother figure back into her life, Libby jolted in scared surprise and froze in her tracks as Lickity loudly called a threat of a warning, as if to urgently express that said lykata was encroaching on Kalivar territory.

"Ah, shit," Zed hissed nervously as Marble's ears perked in whole attention, as as her and Lickity locked eyes, from across the field, Zed felt his heart drop on solid, scared guilt. He urgently glanced to Ace and jostled his head in confusion, "I-I forgot Lickity hates lykatas, save for Balba..."

"This is practically Balba's mother, can't Lickity be reasoned with?" Ace rushed as both men urgently peered their nervous gazes for Lickity, though they both sunk into themselves as Lickity's powerful aura soaked over the place, her firm, dominant footsteps began to march over to everyone, and as Lickity's wings sprawled, her snout wrinkled higher into an extremely threatening rumble of a snarl that nearly reverberated off the castle walls.

"Lickity, c'mon," Zed barked in solid agitation, typically a beast that could be reasoned with alongside a show of proper dominance, though as the slit of her pupils only got smaller and smaller, Zed huffed a shaky breath and accidentally stepped back into Marble, his bare back soaked into the soft fur of her chest; Zed felt a wash of fear roll over him as a deep growl began to resonate from the back of Marble's throat.

"Dad," Ace urged nervously, though as Libby began to call out scared notions for the situation at hand, from across the stretch, Ace clenched his fists and was almost scared that he was seriously preparing for a fight with a creature he had grown up with, a beast he had known as his 'removed aunt', but before Lickity could burst out in an all-out lunge towards the intruding lykata, Ace and Zed flinched in solid surprise as to just who came skidding into their corner.

With a louder boom of a growl that wasn't ever typically on display, Royal loudly barked a threat and took his stance before Marble, Zed and Ace; Lickity skid to a halt, sagged her wings in hard confusion and peered to her son, as if to wonder just what side he was on. With a great rise of dominance everyone knew Royal was capable of, he uttered a hard roar, thrusted his powerful front paws to the grass underneath, sprawled his wings and flared his emotions on blast. His gorgeous, colorful scales rippled with all sorts of reds and oranges, the pops of golds and blues that suddenly draped his being was the closest thing to one of the most terrifying threat displays anyone has ever seen out of him, and though Royal was a gentle giant through and through, it was clear just where his stance suddenly was. With the knowledge of his mate's surrogate mother on Kalivar grounds, Royal knew this was his moment to show everyone just where he stood.

With this uprise, Lickity looked offended, and though they all could speak, it was clear their animalistic, natural way of communicating came about in times like this. Lickity bared her fangs harder and so desperately tried to look big before Royal, she stood on her hind feet and growled with all the riled anger her scales could muster, though before things could get way out of hand, Royal inhaled a sharp grunt of a breath, lunged himself up onto his hind legs and easily gained height over Lickity. With a bellowing growl down to his mother, anger so extraordinarily flared, Lickity finally flattened her ears, sagged back down to the ground and grunted a snort of defeat. As Lickity sprawled her wings, she bellowed a snarl of a retort and quickly took to the skies. Once Lickity was long gone from the grounds, Royal quietly sagged back down to the ground and panted.

Ace and Zed remained frozen behind the safety of Marble's wing, as they stood and watched the show in awe, though as Ace kept his surprised eyes to his dragon, his brother, Royal's scales delicately swirled from the angry reds back to the creams and whites of which were his natural colors. Royal continued to pant, though as if to show bashful sorrow, he nervously shifted on his feet, faced Marble from a distance, flattened his ears and bowed his head closer to the ground, as if a polite notion to express he simply didn't want the two meeting in this fashion. Royal sniffled the grass a little, and as everyone remained frozen in silence as to the raw, unadulterated beauty that was taking place, Royal dared to approach Marble in tenderness. Once Marble softened and expressed warmth towards her protector, strong, brave and true, Royal gently shuffled closer and allowed Marble to nudge her snout into his a little, a proper greeting.

"Well, I'll be damned," Ace uttered through a shaky chuckle as him and Zed caught glances, "Roy-boy went to bat for Balba..."

"As he should," Zed nodded, "Boy had to 'leave momma's nest' eventually, y'know?"

Ace furrowed his eyebrows and longingly peered off in the direction in which Lickity left, the skies were vacant. Ace sagged his shoulders and allowed the similarities hit him head on. He knew him and Libby were just fine, and no one had an issue with them, though he had to wonder if the similar situations were somehow tied.

"Don't worry about Lickity," Zed grumbled as Marble and Royal quietly got acquainted, in their own dainty kind of way, which included flattened, submissive ears and demeanors, "She'll be back... Don't know how she's going to take to this, though."

"She'll have to understand," Ace urged nervously, though he felt his heart jolt at the sheer fact that Libby had tenderly pushed closer, in whole surprise.

"It'll take some negotiating, but... After that show Royal just put out, all it'll take is a good night's sleep," Zed shrugged as he crossed his arms.

It was in this instance, of Marble gently peeling away her attention from Royal, to soak her own kin in love. Libby and Marble quickly wrapped in their own little world as Libby's urgent arms draped about Marble's fluffy neck, and as Libby cooed kind, teary notions up to Marble, in soft, lithe Teltokuan, Ace squinted and marveled at the cute sight. Though, with this sight, Ace felt a lump gather in his throat. He knew he was spoiled in the fact that he technically didn't have to win over the hearts of any one of Libby's parents, making his stance as 'to-be swap mate' an easy task. With this switch up, Ace suddenly felt the blood leave his face as he resonated in the hard fact that he would now likely have to win over Marble's heart if he were to properly and successfully court Libby.


	164. Chapter 164

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** I can't tell you ENOUGH how much I appreciate that! I only hope everyone loves the gradual build of character development! Thank you so much! and YES! The winged-wolf lover in me couldn't resist, as well. I actually came up with this breed, the lykatas, LONG before Wreck It Ralph was even a thing. So it's a special thing for me, as well! :D

 **Snake557 :** Thank you, friend!

* * *

 ***Chapter 164***

As the evening fell and Dead Zed's racers came home for the evening, everyone settled into their own spaces, their own abodes and relished in the cool comfort of the crisp, evening fall weather. Sat scattered comfortably around their single tree swing, which was attached by thick, never-ending dangling ropes, Zed, Libby, Ace, Tessa, Royal, Marble and Balba sat in the tall, swaying grass. Stationary on the tree swing, Tessa sat hunched over her crossed legs, her elbows to her legs and her chin in her palms. Fireflies began to dot their surroundings, though it was still light enough outside to sit and properly see the scenery.

Like a mother cat tending to her kit, Marble and Balba sat tightly cuddled, wings and feathers meshed and splayed. Balba comfortably laid on her back, her floppy paws dangled above her chest, and as her head set nestled onto the tops of Marble's crossed legs, Marble lovingly groomed the fur on Balba's neck, a proper, loving notion of their reunion. Zed sat close, he curiously watched their little display of love and felt his heart pound with the thought of everything, the fact that the universe somehow plucked the two together and made it so, everything about their union was as if destined, nearly as though the two weren't totally prepared for it. Zed was aware he had a ton to learn, and he was thrilled he had Libby and Balba to make sure he got his footing.

Ace sat lounged with Royal against the left side of his body and Libby made herself comfortably nestled up against the broad of Royal's chest, between his two front legs. Royal's head was up and on high alert for his mother, he was aware Lickity would bring no harm to a being that simply meant so much to Balba and Libby, though he remained the group's watch dog as a precaution. A few sparks of laughter could be heard across the backyard, and as everyone lazily and nonchalantly dragged their attention to see what the fuss was about, they noticed Penny and Orph bumbling away from the pool area, and though they hadn't gotten in the water and were fully clothed, they trailed their slapping, soaked feet across the tiles and looked as if they were potentially going to head inside.

"Lykata's come in all sorts of colors, right?" Ace inquired gently, the air about the group was still and peaceful.

"It really depends on the terrain... Then again, I've never really seen any lykata's outside of our tribe," Libby shrugged as she, too, intently watched as Marble's slow, long laps against Balba's fur was meticulous and patient. Her grey tongue was lined with sharp, comb-like prickles, similar to that of a cat, "We used to see a small pack of cliff dwelling lykatas pass over our tribe to head north for the summer... They were beautiful, dark brown and green feathers on top with bright blue bellies."

"What about more unnatural colors?" Ace pressed with a broadening smile, "What would it take to see an orange lykata?"

"Orange?" Libby wrinkled her nose and blurt a small laugh, Tessa smiled and looked down to her lap in aimless pondering, "That would take cross breeding, or... A one in a million chance."

"Cross breeding?" Zed wondered as he furrowed his brow and dragged his attention to Libby in soft curiosity, though everyone sunk their knowing gazes to Royal.

"Why did I know this was going to be brought up?" Royal muttered as he continued to remain on high alert for his mother, and though Balba was lost in the love her surrogate mother supplied her, her chest cavity still shook a giggle.

"Royal has pops of gold... His father is also a hot orange chameleon with pops of bright blue," Tessa shrugged and looked up to the swaying canopies over head, they sprinkled little snippets of the dimming, evening sky above the group, "Really, it's a guessing game, at that point. We'll just have to wait and find out."

"All spectrums of the rainbow," Zed mumbled with a small laugh as everyone volleyed knowing notions towards Royal and Balba, as well. Zed heaved a long sigh and softly let his gaze melt into the marbleized swirls of Marble's fur, "I feel like a fish out of water."

"How so?" Tessa inquired.

"Well... Tess, you and Lickity sort of rescued each other, when you met," Zed gestured towards Tessa, her swing gently lulled with the breeze, "Ace and Royal were born at the same time, so they grew up together... It was clear just who belonged to who and the fact that you had a solid companion of a flyer... I have this bizarre connection with Marble, but I'm just not sure how to utilize it."

"Just let it come naturally," Libby shrugged with a kind smile, "She'll talk to you, eventually."

"Sh-she can talk?" Zed uttered, he shot his attention to Marble in solid curiosity, and much to his surprise, Marble opened her silver eyes and merely glanced Zed a cheeky look of pure delight as she continued to groom Balba.

"She can talk, telepathically," Ace explained as he poked his pointer finger to his temple, he looked to Libby for affirmation of his words, "Talked to me once, it was terrifying."

"I forgot you've had an encounter with her, before," Tessa stated quietly, as if to inquire he explain.

"Vanellope and I were glitch-training on one of my uncle's tracks, and... I guess my User powers sort of flared and I got to cocky with the training," Ace admitted sheepishly, he frowned and rubbed the back of his head bashfully, though he gestured to Marble and sighed a little, "Marble, I guess... Caught on to my antics and put me in my place, claiming that she was always watching, and if I were to screw up one more time, she'd come down hard on me."

"Wow," Zed huffed, he grimaced and gave Marble an impressed smirk, "The parent of all lykatas."

"She's the head," Libby nodded knowingly and gave Zed a small smile, "She never really was wholly paired with the chief of my tribe... She just lingered with us, and was at his right hand simply because he held power. She never would just sit and be still with us, like this. She only really ever relaxed when it was just me and Balba."

"You mean... This kind of a set up is rare?" Tessa wondered as she fixated her hands a little, as if to gesture to the whole group that sat in the soft grass, as still and as peaceful as could be.

"Yep," Libby chirped, she shook her head and giggled, "Quite frankly, it's taken all of me to not blab about it... She never gets this comfortable with people, so suddenly. I've never seen her so at peace with a group of strangers."

"She didn't put up much of a fight, when you approached her earlier... She just showed up," Ace shrugged, "Dad got close and, he went too quickly for a second, which caused her to growl a little, but after that, it was like... They were both tied."

"It's a strange sensation, I-I don't even feel as though she wants it," Zed laughed quietly, which everyone cued to, "It's almost as if she's taking higher orders from someone above her."

"She is," Libby eased kindly as she eyed Zed, "... You."

"Me?" Zed worried as he held his hand to his chest, he shook his head and grimaced, "I-I... I'm not ordering her to do anything."

"Lykatas are social creatures, yes, but... Who they involve themselves with is peculiar," Libby explained as she sat up and inhaled a readied breath, "They are typically very picky when it comes to choosing just who is in their pack. Lone lykatas will chose a human companion. There is no in-between."

"She chose you, dad," Ace chimed kindly with a bob of a nod, though Zed gently dragged his curios gaze to Marble. It looked as if she simply was lost in continuing to groom Balba, and though it took all of him to not stand up and just beg Marble to explain herself, he wondered if eventually, she'd come around and fully open up to Zed, trust him with every last ounce of her wisdom.

"She did... I've never seen her so content," Libby nodded, "She'll open up to you, Zeddy... She may be confident and the head of the lykata species, but she is also pretty shy and reserved."

"Won't be flying her anytime soon, then," Royal joked, though he was quiet so to continue keeping a lookout.

"You'd be surprised, Roy," Libby eased with a kind smile as she looked up to the underside of his jaw, which was directly above Libby's head, "I can teach you to fly Marble, or a lykata... They're pretty different from dragons."

"A lot more zippy," Ace stated with bulged eyes, as if to express that even he was thrown.

"Zippy?" Zed worried, he eyed Marble and Balba.

"Not necessarily faster than dragons, they just have much sharper agility, in the air," Libby explained, "It's difficult to ride them on land, as well... They're extremely fast runners. Takes a lot of skill to stay aboard and not go rocketing off their spine."

"Damn," Zed hissed as he sagged his spine and relaxed in the tall grass that swayed about them, he let his eyes melt into their surroundings, the dim grey and warm hues of greens that littered the scenery with a gorgeous display of evening enchantment.

"Got yourself a flyer and now you don't know what to do with yourself," Tessa giggled, everyone quietly joined in her fervor, though she sagged her demeanor as well and nervously peered to the skies, "I just... Hope Lickity makes it home, sometime soon. I'm starting to worry."

"Roy and I can go searching for her," Ace assured tenderly with a nod, Tessa bobbed a nod as well and peered down to her son.

"I'll go with you," Tessa concluded, though she furrowed her brow harder and peered to Libby for clarity, "I wonder why dragons hate the lykatas so much...

"It's never been clear," Libby stated sorrowfully, "I don't really know much about dragons, excluding Lickity's behavior and such, but... I'm assuming maybe Lickity's kind just don't get along with the lykatas."

"I wonder where Lickity's breed is most common," Ace pressed, Zed furrowed his brow and peered to Ace in growing curiosity as well, "I haven't seen a single one of her kind, ever..."

"That's a good point, neither have I," Zed urged in solid confusion, "I've been all over the stretch of this game and have never seen another dragon like Lickity."

"Seriously?" Tessa pressed, and though she was present in the conversation, it was clear she was desperate to take to the skies and look for her beloved best friend.

"Odd... She's of Dead Zed origin, right?" Libby prod, Zed nodded and glanced between Ace and Libby.

"Yeah, she is... That's weird," Zed huffed.

"She can't possibly be the last one, can she?" Ace worried, the air about the group began to rise and become hot with questions and curiosity, though before it could carry on, Tessa gingerly set her feet to the grass, stood and peered down to Ace expectantly.

"I'm starting to think Lickity may be harboring more secrets than we even know," Tessa urged as Marble stopped what she was doing and peered to Tessa in nervous question. Tessa huffed a sigh and gestured to Ace and Royal, as kindly as she could, "C'mon, let's... Let's go before it starts getting too dark."

"Aw man," Libby playfully griped as she sat up, so that Royal could get to a stand, and as his powerful body stood above Libby, her eyes delightfully glossed to Zed's, "Well, I guess then that gives Zeddy and I more time to talk about what to expect out of your new lykata companion."

"I would love every single last ounce of advice you have for me," Zed chimed kindly as Libby gently scoot over to Zed and sat near him, Marble and Balba.

"We won't be long," Ace huffed as he stood, brushed his legs free of stray pieces of grass and eyed Royal and his mother, "Hopefully..."

* * *

"Alright, what was all that about?" Orph grunted under an irritated whisper, he slowly welcomed himself into Penny's room, thankfully going unnoticed.

"What are you talking about?" Penny murmured, she rummaged through her drawers in search of a comfortable shirt for the night time reset.

"You know what I'm talking about... One minute we're talking about weapons and other cool battle strategies... And the next, you're ignoring me and making snide remarks if I even so much as open my mouth," Orph argued, and though his tone lead to suggest he was upset, his face held a simply annoyed smile. He gently closed Penny's bedroom door and soaked into her comfortable, warmly lit room, though he turned around and was now getting further confused at the fact that she was avoiding eye contact, "What, we're just... Going to go on pretending we hate each other, in front of everyone, forever?"

"No, I just... Please just cut me some slack, okay?" Penny urged softly, she shook her head and looked down to the tiles under her feet, "I guess this is just a little difficult for me."

"I gotcha," Orph huffed, as if to express he was just going to give up now and cut the argument at the quick, though Penny grimaced and looked about in such a way that seemed as if she was searching for the right words to say.

"Look... I'm not meaning to do it on purpose, it's just hard for me to suddenly be something different in front of all these people," Penny urged as she gestured her arm outward, a little.

"So, those mean, snide remarks weren't actually you talkin'?" Orph wondered slyly, he gave her a curious smile and began to approach slowly, "You just put up a front? You scared of what my brothers might think if they found out you and I were going out?"

"It's nothing personal," Penny stated dryly, she shuffled a few papers on her glorious, dark wooden dresser, tidied a few things and shut the sheets into a larger book. She shook her head and wistfully looked off towards her patio to continue, though before she could, she heard a few clanks coming from her stand across the room. She urgently splayed her attention to Orph and was floored to find that he had taken her two, infamous, dangerous swords off of the display they were on. She tensed in whole agitation and jolted forward a step, "Hey!"

"Hey! How yah doin'?" Orph teased, he held both her swords, long and sharp, they glistened beautifully underneath her bedroom lights, "Why don't we do an activity together, when we hang out in front of others, then?"

"Activity?" Penny urged in solid annoyance as she began to march over to him, to hopefully retrieve her beloved swords.

"Yeah! Why don't... Why don't you teach me a little bit about these swords," Orph stated, though it was in his tone did Penny slow her roll and realize he was being genuine. He carefully held her swords, though he got into a fighting stance, a sloppy one, and gave her a playfully menacing look, "That way, you can berate me and yell at me all you want... That'll help you ease up, won't it?"

"I mean, I'll do that behind closed doors," Penny blurt a laugh as Orph relaxed his stance and gave her an annoyed smile of a grimace.

"Is sword fighting just something you picked up on while you were stranded in Sugar Rush?" Orph asked lightly as he swung the sword, he was far enough away from Penny, or anything else, to avoid hitting.

Orph took another gentle swing and took note of just how light the swords were, though as the air grew quiet, he furrowed his brow and peered to Penny in soft, collected confusion. Penny's eyes looked sullen, her gaze about Orph was lazy and unsure, and though Orph was wondering if he had hit a tender spot, he grimaced and sagged his shoulders a little. Before he could speak and potentially inquire just what was wrong, Penny inhaled a shaky breath and shook her head.

"My... My father taught me," Penny uttered tenderly, she looked away and scrunched her face as the feeling of tears began to try and sting her eyes, the threat of crying was among her.

"Oh, I'm... I'm really sorry, I wasn't trying to bring up a sore spot," Orph rushed as he sagged his stance even further and began to walk towards her display to put her swords back, though he flinched and peered his whole attention to Penny as she became animated.

"I nearly don't want to go on this next Sugar Rush scout," Penny argued, she whirled around and gestured her hands in solid irritation, though Orph looked down to her beautiful swords in confusion, the gorgeous displays of the candy cane pops, the mint swirls of Ralph's and Vanellope's cross-striped candy cane branch.

"Whynot?" Orph egged gently.

"Because... I know we're searching for the castle, but... Tessa also told me that our new quest, alongside this drama, is to try and find my dad," Penny shook her head and grimaced, "It's... It's impossible, he's obviously morphed back with Radex."

"Well... H-How do you know that?" Orph prod softly as he so delicately placed her swords back on their proper stand, though he sagged his hands into his pockets and began to stroll closer to her, "What if... He's just out there? Hiding out? Waiting for a search party to come along?"

"What if he's different? What if... He's been brain washed too? What if he doesn't remember any of us?" Penny unloaded, she began to look scared as her eyes welled with tears, "What if I never get him back? I-I've been seeing my mom and Tej hit it off, lately... M-My whole family is being torn in so many different directions-"

"Hey, hey," Orph cooed as he got close, he lovingly reached out and held her upper arm, and though he bent over to gain proper eye contact, he shook his head and gave her a tender smile as he tried to calm her worries, "You're getting ahead of yourself, quite frankly... I think you should just wait to tackle this issue once it's properly presented. No need in overthinking it."

"Overthinking?" Penny pressed as her lip quivered, Orph shrugged and nodded as he looked about a little.

"Well, yeah... You're worried he's meshed with Radex, that's the real verdict here," Orph eased with a great amount of warmth, though as Penny's beautiful, big eyes peered up into Orph's silver orbs, he tried to make his demeanor as still as he possibly could, "You're jumping ahead of yourself... If he's meshed with Radex, well then, we know what needs to be done."

"A-And if he's not?" Penny whimpered.

"Well, then you'll take it from there. Play twenty questions," Orph shrugged, he heaved a soft laugh and desperately tried to lighten the mood, "There's nothing you can do from this stand point... If he is still his old self, and you guys somehow manage to find him, well then... You'll take it from there."

Penny nodded and let her eyes gloss to Orph's chest in whole worry, though before she could continue on, Orphan huffed a chuckle and shook his head.

"I'm scared, too," Orph admitted quietly, though Penny's watery eyes peered up to Orph's in whole confusion.

"Scared?" Penny inquired innocently.

"Put the pieces together, Pens... If your dad comes back, I'm pretty sure he's going to make sure I don't come within a twenty foot radius of you, as your new boyfriend," Orph grumbled playfully as he bashfully tried to hold eye contact with Penny, though as soon as Penny thought that smiling was off of the agenda for the night, her face sprawled into a wide smile, "I'll have to live by his rules."

"This much is true," Penny giggled as she felt safe to be herself, in Orph's presence, "Sorry about that..."

"I'm not," Orph furrowed his brow and shrugged, "Comes with the territory... Like Ralph with Tessa and Koko. It's the natural order of things. I've prepared myself."

"Y-You have?" Penny wondered daintily, though she tried not to scrunch her shoulders in bashfulness.

"O-Of course I have... I hope that's not too forward," Orph staggered, he nervously rubbed the back of his head, "Of course I'd ask your dad if it was okay to be your boyfriend... I sort of lucked out, with your mom."

"She adores you," Penny grumbled with a playful eye roll Orph caught onto, though she blurt a hard giggle as he gently poked his finger into her stomach, and before she could squirm away, he grappled her into a hug. The two laughed and laughed, though Orph took this opportunity to hopefully soak her in some much needed love. He squeezed his arms tight around her middle and nuzzled his face into the side of her head, and as they settled into each other, he huffed a shaky conclusion on her ear, "I think I figured out your biggest fear."

Penny breathed a soft sigh into the center of Orph's collar, shut her eyes and lulled her head into his sturdy chest, and as she sat warmly tucked into his arms, with her arms snuggled in between them, she mumbled a small noise of an inquiry and peeked one eye open to aimlessly gaze across her room, though his chin and the side of his face were tight in her peripheral.

"You're scared of the unknown," Orph stated warmly, he sighed a little and squeezed her deeper into his embrace, "I can tell you're worried about Sugar Rush, but I know your top priority..."

"I-I know, it's selfish," Penny muttered in a squeak, though Orph furrowed his brow in solid confusion and shook his head.

"It's the opposite of such," Orph huffed, "You're worried about your dad... Rightfully so. I would be too."

"I really want to find him," Penny whispered, as if her secret desires should likely remain as such, "I'd put off this whole castle search just to find my dad... No way I could tell Tessa that."

"Well... Honestly, what's the harm?" Orph pressed, he shook his head and just barely pulled away, to get a good look into her eyes, "I think you should bring this up to her."

"We have three trips left, out of this year," Penny began to argue, though Orph shook his head and interjected.

"What, ONE can't just be strictly dedicated to finding your dad?" Orph urged, Penny looked as if she was going to retort, though she breathed a hard sigh out of her mouth and slumped her shoulders, "I think it's worth the shot... Sure, you guys are flying about and can keep you eyes peeled, where you can, but... If you're so confident he's out there, I think it's worth looking into."

Penny frowned and gazed down to Orph's chest once more, and before she could even begin to think of excuses as to why that'd be a bad idea, she sagged her demeanor in kind defeat and bobbed a small nod.

"Tessa's understanding," Orph nodded, "I think you should talk to her, about it..."

"You're right," Penny eased warmly, "She's already on a Queen Bee streak, though... I'd hate to interject and be side-lined, like Aunt Vanellope."

"She won't do that to you," Orph stated confidently, "I may not know Tessa as well as you do, but I know she is reasonable... You ARE her right hand woman, aren't you?"

Penny raised her eyebrows in tender remembrance and peered up at Orph, as if he had struck gold. Life came back to her demeanor, and with such, she confidently nodded and gave Orph a small, nervous, cheeky smile.

"You have a say, as that important, honorable position," Orph gently gripped Penny's upper arms, "She's trying on her crown, for size... I think you should do the same, love."

Penny nodded once more and soaked in Orph's wise words, and though night had fallen, Penny suddenly felt a spike of hot sunshine stab into her heart with purpose.

* * *

 **A/N :** **Hey guys, so... I'm really hoping FF is done being a butt. For the last two chapters, literally NO ONE was notified that I had uploaded, and strangely enough, my chapters still get the same amount of views, but my friends and reviewers have sort of fallen away :( I'm really sad about it, and I messaged FF about it, and I've literally gotten no sign of existence, on their end. I'm going to assume they're similar to the staff over on Tumblr, but I'll upload this chapter and pray that you guys get notified. It's been the past 2 chapters in a row and everyone I talk to says they weren** **'t even aware I uploaded. Please let me know if you guys get this chapter notification, in your inbox.**


	165. Chapter 165

**Reviews :**

 **Chris . low2456 :** Wow, I appreciate that! Thank you so much :)

 **StillAintBovvered :** No worries! Yeah, I had no clue what was going on either, I was just as in the dark as the rest of you guys. I appreciate the support :)

 **Burgie :** I think Marble may allow that, though she's definitely not as immediately warm and friendly as say Royal or Balba haha.

 **Retrokill :** Yeah, FF was having issues and then on top of that, my readers drop off during exam crunch cause duh. But thank you! Yes, you guys are getting closer to the scene where Zed just sky dives off of Marble haha.

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** YAY I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, thank you so much for all of your support! I also apologize for not responding to your note. I got the entirety of it, and I really REALLY value everything you said, I've just been so crazy busy preparing for my trip to AZ, and work gets in the way... You know the routine lol. I just hope you guys know how appreciated you truly are, even though I have a hard time really making my rounds and properly thanking everyone in the detail I really want to D:

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thanks a lot, that means a ton to me! I'm glad everyone is getting the notifications now haha.

 **SamanthaR1987 :** No worries, I've been crazy busy too, but thank you for letting me know! I appreciate the support :)

 **Snake557 :** Thanks friend! :)

* * *

 **A/N :** **Alright, guys... It's that time of year again! Next week is Phoenix Comicon and Michaela and I WILL be there, in cosplay! We have 3 cosplays this year. Be on the lookout for us! We will be cosplaying Judy and Nick, from Zootopia, Katara and Toph from Avatar The Last Airbender, and of COURSE, Taffyta and Vanellope from Wreck It Ralph :D This also means the story will likely not be updated while I am away, because I will be visiting my family for the first time in over half a year, and will want to put in as much quality time with them as possible. I have a whole entire week off, once I get back home (Georgia) so you guys can THEN expect an overload of chapters AND the sketch dump to be finally finished. So stay tuned! I appreciate you guys more than you could ever know! D:**

* * *

 ***Chapter 165***

As the cold, Dead Zed wind whipped through Tessa's and Ace's hair, she squinted and hunkered a little harder to Royal's neck and spine. She shuddered with the cool weather now setting in, and even though she was desperate to return home and slip into warm pajamas for the night, her heart was in further desperation to now find Lickity and bring her home. Having no radar outside of the Kalivar grounds, due to the privacy that comes with being a wild creature, Lickity was untraceable off the castle's grid, and though Tessa respected Lickity's wishes, she almost wondered if they should have something installed in case of emergencies, such as this case. She heaved a shaky sigh as she could feel Ace's larger hand gingerly rub up and down her back, she knew he was well aware of her inner turmoil.

"We'll find her, mom," Ace assured, he sat behind her aboard Royal's spine, and as Royal's gorgeous, massive wings came and went in a solid, though soft downstroke, he glided through the clear night sky with much ease.

"I have an inkling to where she might be," Royal stated warmly with a bob of a nod, and though he typically waited for Tessa's or Ace's flying directions, he took it upon himself to slightly change course and head for the destination he had in mind; he wasn't shocked at the fact that Tessa nor Ace didn't argue with his decision.

"Where?" Ace wondered as the air current, they soaked in, was now flowing in their favor; Royal picked up speed with the tailwind.

"There's a cliffside her and I love to visit, on occasion," Royal's voice was calm, as if he was almost certain she'd be there, now that he had remembered, "It's beautiful... Overlooks a waterfall into all the greenery. We go there to sunbathe, sometimes. It's a place of peace... I'm certain that's where she laid off to. She knows better than to simply run away from home, where she knows she's loved."

"I hope so," Tessa urged in a meek tone as she grimaced and tried not to shiver, for the thousandth time.

"I know so," Royal assured softly, and as he gently banked to get closer to the towering canopies, he perked his large, bat-like ears and began to listen for any sign of her presence.

Tessa and Ace remained quiet as Royal uttered a few calls, similar to howls, though with a more throaty, neutral sound. Royal's wings held strict in a glide as they effortlessly, and silently, soared above the still canopies. Tessa's eyes desperately scanned the darkness, and though Dead Zed's two moons were full and proudly shone, it was still becoming extremely difficult to even make out details of the sprawling jungle below. She huffed a shaky sigh, though as soon as her eyes caught with the glistening of water, she perked up and was cued to Royal's fervor, as well. He flapped a few times and began to head towards said speckle of glistening water, on their path.

Though the three remained silent, it was clear Royal had found Lickity. In the small amount of time it took to softly bank to a nearby cliff side, one that overlooked said glorious waterfall, all of their questions had been answered. Lickity remained solid at the edge of the cliffside, her wings sagged, she stood in a stance that was lazy and near defeated. The soft breeze caused the thick fur and feathers, that lined her spine, to ruffle and fluttered about. Her ears, though typically sat perked and on alert, were sagged to her skull in aloofness. Although she was a powerful beast, one full of life and energy, the dragon that sat before them was eking anything but. Tessa heaved a shaky sigh, quickly dismounted Royal and began to cautiously approach Lickity, from her back right.

"Babe?" Tessa eased in genuine sorrow, towards Lickity, and without even a single movement from her beloved best friend, Tessa felt her heart begin to race with the sheer fact that this issue might likely be deeper and a lot more painful than Lickity even lead on.

Ace remained on Royal's spine, and as both boys stayed back to let Tessa and Lickity sort this all out, they still held their undivided attention to the show unfolding before them. With nothing but the bright moonlight cast upon the four, Tessa's bare feet did everything they could to easily approach Lickity atop their rocky cliff side. The roar of the waterfall was a lulling calm, clearly filling whatever void Lickity was desperate to attempt to fill. Tessa braved getting within a dozen feet of Lickity, and though Lickity didn't appear to look threatening in this instance, Tessa was still aware that, deep down, she was a wild animal.

"Lickity," Tessa's voice soothed, a motherly love she would so easily soak anyone with, a tender care she sought to utilize whenever anyone needed it.

"I owe you guys an apology," Lickity uttered, and it was in this instance did Tessa realize something extraordinary, something that hit her dead on in one single uttered sentence. Lickity's eyes were glassy, as if she had been crying, and with this realization, Tessa quickly came to the conclusion that she hadn't ever seen Lickity cry. It wasn't apart of her original coding, the urge or even ability to cry tears from sorrow. Tessa squinted her eyes in a grief stricken grimace and immediately knew she wasn't going to make it out of this conversation without crying as well. Lickity inhaled a shaky breath, shook her head and gently looked down to her front paws, "We have greater things to worry about, and... I'm really only making things harder by dragging my own issues into it."

"What issues?" Tessa pressed as tenderly as she could, "Lickity, you know that, out of anyone on Kalivar grounds... You can always come to me, for any issue that you have. I mother everyone else, under that roof, how come you think you'd be exempt?"

"Because I don't want your one strong shoulder, one of the only people you rely on to remain strong, to suddenly come down on you with issues of their own," Lickity's voice croaked, and once and for all, she dragged her defeated gaze up to Tessa's in softness, "I try to keep my problems at bay. It's... Not really anything that can be helped, anyways."

"Please talk to me, Lickity... What is all of this about?" Tessa urged, a little bit more persistently this time, and although Lickity likely may seem as if she was going to be tough to crack, she nodded in a defeated way and lulled her eyes closed, "I-I'm aware Zed may have accidentally sprung the idea of adding a lykata to the castle, but... I-I really don't know what to do about it. If it was any old lykata, I'd likely be more persistent about having her home-away from the castle, but... I-I mean, this is Libby's surrogate mother."

"It's... Not the lykata in particular, Marble did nothing wrong," Lickity assured gently, the tone she held was unlike anything, and as if Tessa was certain she knew anything and everything about Lickity, she reeled with the raw fact that Lickity had a lot more layers than she lead on.

"You've had this long-running hatred for lykatas, I... I always assumed it just was a dragon thing," Tessa gestured her hands a little, and as the breeze caused the waterfall to mist the four in a haze of a mystic nighttime atmosphere, Lickity's glorious feathers glistened against the moonlight, little beads of water gathered where they could. As Lickity heaved a long sigh through her nose, Tessa gently side-eyed Lickity and remained patient as she carried on, "I'm beginning to believe it's simply a Lickity thing..."

"I just... Don't have fond memories," Lickity started, and though Tessa so desperately wanted her to continue on, she knew to give her as much patience as possible.

"You're not the last of your kind, are you, Aunt Lickity?" Ace chimed as softly and tenderly as he could, he knew to likely let his mother do all the talking, though he knew his affirming presence could likely ease the tension.

"I don't think so," Lickity stated with confidence in her words, and though she still held an idle gaze out to the scenery, she inhaled a deep breath and shook her head, "I'm probably the last of my pack, but... I'm sure there are more of my breed, somewhere in this User forsaken game."

"There's so much grid we haven't even discovered, I'm sure there are more of your kind, somewhere," Tessa assured as well, though she furrowed her brow and felt her heart begin to pang in rapidly rising sorrow, "Lickity, did something bad happen to you? Dealing with lykatas?"

Lickity huffed a long sigh through her mouth and continued to let her idle gaze become even more aimless and comfortable. She nodded a little, and though she didn't look as if she was wholly prepared to open up every last inch of her shivering heart, she was aware she had to start somewhere. Lickity knew her sorrows, her thoughts, all the words she had been wanting to give life to, were all safe with the small group that had sought her out. Lickity finally closed her eyes, tilted her head down and let her wings sag even more so, and though she looked as if she was about to entertain the thought of shelling up and remain silent with the topic at hand, her piercing green eyes opened as she dragged her gaze to Tessa's direction.

"My pack had been looking for a place to have their babies... We're a non-migratory breed, so wherever we relocate to, it's typically a place we call home for many generations to come," Lickity explained tenderly, Ace, Tessa and Royal remained gripped to her brand new words, a raw unveil of backstory the group knew was a rare experience, "My... Little sister, and I, were born late winter and, like the rest of the babies, in our pack, that had hatched with us, we were excited to begin to learn how to fly in the beginning of the summer."

Lickity inhaled a shaky breath and so desperately tried to carry on with her story, without welling up, though she knew it was a futile attempt. She puffed her chest, stiffened her posture a little and desperately tried to come off as the strong, positive being she always was seen as, and though she was aware Tessa, Ace and Royal could see right through her, she continued on with the facade anyways.

"Little did my pack know... W-We had accidentally settled in on the summer spot of a herd of cliff-dwelling lykatas" Lickity's voice crackled, she shook her head and peered out to the sky, in desperate attempt to keep from welling up, "Th-They migrated south, to return to their summer breeding grounds and... The lykatas arrived to find that my small family herd had made themselves at home. Strictly by accident."

Tessa crossed her arms and furrowed her brow in whole sorrow, and it was in this raw instance could she tell just where Lickity's story was headed. Tessa finally shook her head and covered her mouth, simply the sight of Lickity's whole being just shattered with sorrow was enough to make her question every shred of happiness that had ever come to her. Lickity uttered a small hiccup and failed her attempt at letting tears fall, though her scales glistened with the wetness against the harsh moonlight.

"It was a blood bath," Lickity whimpered, she grimaced her fangs and heaved a small cry, "Left and right, pups that I had grown close with were... Simply being eaten alive, thrown off the cliffside... The elders tried to fight back, but... Their herd was so incredibly massive, we were outnumbered ten to one. There was no reasoning... We had so drastically encroached on their territory that they showed literally no mercy."

The three remained silent in a stunned stupor, as if they were simply not ready for the amount of heaviness Lickity had been so secretly harboring. Lickity rubbed the back of her paw to her bat-like snout, sniffled and huffed a shaky breath to boot. She lulled her eyes closed, which caused more tears to soak her face, and with this raw show of defeat, Lickity finally gave up trying to be strong.

"M-My mother... She fought for us. Though no words could be exchanged, she urged me and my sister to fly away, as fast as we could," Lickity explained with a great amount of tremble in her voice, she looked out to the double mooned sky and longingly gazed upon them, "I had only been branching, stretching my wings... My little sister was a late bloomer, but, in the rush of everything, I simply grabbed her and took to the skies... Something of which I thought would one day be accompanied by my mother and father, looking down upon me from the gleaming sunshine, praising me of my new flying abilities..."

Lickity looked down and furrowed her brow in a slow, bubbling anger that had found it's way to the surface of her scales.

"My first flying lesson included me looking back, escaping the destruction of my entire pack, with nothing but the cries of war on my ears and my little sister in a death grip in my paws," Lickity remained still and gazed across the horizon, though her gaze was sinking, "We were the only survivors."

"You have a sister," Royal eased, and though his tone was gentle and neutral, it was clear it held a lilt of excitement for the sheer fact that he had a blood-related aunt, somewhere on the horizon.

"I do... User knows if she's alive," Lickity huffed shakily, "Since the escape was my first time ever flying, I tired really quick and made a rough landing about five miles into the forest beyond the cliffs. My sister and I must've been out for hours and hours, I just remember only wanting sleep... Escape... I didn't want to think about what had just taken place, all the friends and family I had just lost. I was woken up by a man... One of which I was praying was going to give me and my sister refuge."

Tessa felt her pupils tighten in a hot draw of terrified surprise, and as everything came full circle in her brain, she covered her mouth and grimaced a small noise of near terror as to just where this dark story was turning. Tessa shook her head as tears stung her eyes, and as she desperately peered to Lickity and prayed that it wasn't true, she uttered a name she never thought she'd utter out of disappointment.

"Orph," Tessa meekly questioned, and as a few more tears spilled from Lickity's gorgeous, glassy green eyes, she tightened her lip and nodded.

"My sister was alive, but... Since I was the only one conscious, he... Rallied me up, took me back to his base and, well..." Lickity trailed off and was beginning to show signs of not wanting to talk about this topic, any longer, "I never saw my sister again. I was Orph's token racing dragon. I raced, and won him many awards, and though I was his lucky charm, he treated me like trash."

The three stood in stunned silence, the raw amount of disbelief that hung over everyone was nearly on blast, and though Lickity grunted a noise and tried to stiffen her composure, tears still spilled from her eyes as she looked away and flattened her ears in begrudged anger.

"You know the rest of the story, from there... I-If it weren't for Zed freeing me, I would've never run into you," Lickity huffed softly, and before Tessa could agree or show any sign of love, Lickity's piercing, wise eyes finally stabbed into Tessa's. She grimaced and shook her head in disbelief as Lickity carried on, "Such a small world, huh. Hope that uh... Sheds light on my little outburst, against Marble, earlier."

"You feel triggered whenever you see a lykata," Ace stated knowingly with a small, apologetic nod, though Royal looked down in mild confusion.

"You were always so kind to Balba, though?" Royal wondered tenderly, though Lickity flattened her ears harder and began to tuck back into her hard exterior.

"It took literally all of me not to rip Balba to shreds, the second her and Libby happened upon our lot, for the first time," Lickity nearly growled, though she softened and let her eyes soak to her surroundings, "I-I restrained myself. I knew that'd be bad karma, on me. I knew I was wronged, so early in life, but who was I to repeat history? Just to kill for the sake of revenge... I knew it wasn't right. Balba was too cute, anyhow, with Libby clinging to her like so. Even though she was a helpless pup, and I had such vivid, terrible memories of the last day I saw my family, I knew not to become the monster I so passionately hated."

"You basically mothered Balba, while she was around," Royal stated nervously, Lickity nodded.

"I knew it was the right thing to do," Lickity croaked, "I don't regret it for a second. It was easy with Balba because she was so little... Seeing Marble saunter onto our property, however..."

"I can imagine that was difficult," Ace's voice warmly stated, he sheepishly looked down, "I'm really sorry, Aunt Lickity... I-I wouldn't have so carelessly let her onto the property, had I known."

"You couldn't have known," Lickity pushed forth a forced smile and shrugged, she finally stood and shifted her position so it was more open towards the three behind her, "No one knew... No one could've prevented it."

"W-We want you to come home, Lickity, we... We don't want to lose you," Tessa begged nervously, she began to look desperate, as if this was likely a breaking point for Lickity, and her return wasn't to be granted, though Lickity gave Tessa a look of defeated, ironic delight and looked down to Tessa's feet. Tessa's voice crackled and trembled as she stepped closer to Lickity, "I need you home, Lickity, I can't lose you."

"You won't lose me," Lickity assured deeply as Tessa quickly pushed into Lickity's chest and wrapped her arms about Lickity's strong neck. Lickity flattened her ears, tucked her jaw tight over Tessa's shoulder and upper back and swiftly held her large paw tight around Tessa's being. Lickity uttered a shaky noise and shut her eyes tight, "I'm not going anywhere... Even if this is extremely hard for me."

"Marble wasn't a part of this pack, that killed your family... Was she?" Ace uttered nervously, though Lickity shook her head and looked off.

"No, the cliff dwellers have really dark fur with speckles of blue," Lickity sighed through her nose, "Marble's colorings and patterns are pretty rare, from what I know. I've never seen another like her."

"Well, she's the first programmed lykata, so that probably explains it," Royal grumbled gently, though Lickity bobbed a nod of surprise and looked down.

"That's probably why," Lickity agreed as she gently unhanded Tessa, she peered down to her and shook her head, "I-I'm sorry for the confusion... I'll learn to live with it. Just... Please be patient with me. Living on the same grounds, with the very creature that tore my life apart, is going to be difficult."

"You can do whatever is easiest for you," Tessa uttered shakily, though she grimaced and looked as if she was going to continue crying, "E-Even if it means not staying on Kalivar grounds."

"I'll stay on the grounds," Lickity assured as she sagged her wings in defeat and nearly pleadingly looked down to Tessa, in a sheepish way, "I-I might just crash in yours and Zed's room, if... That's not weird."

"I'd rather you stay with us than away from the castle," Tessa pleaded, though Lickity bobbed a nod and tried to collect herself.

"Won't be for long... This is... Just a lot to swallow," Lickity uttered, though Royal and Ace both scoffed noises of agreeing.

"You're telling us," Royal barked, though he gave his mother a sorrowful look and tried to remain calm, "You just... Had all this sorrow, all this past grief, and never told anyone, mom? Not even me?"

"Why would I burden you with all this past information that I didn't think would ever be relevant?" Lickity worried as she grimaced and sauntered a little closer to Royal, she outstretched her wing and peered deep into Royal's eyes, "As far as I was concerned, I was ready to simply move on and let the past be just that..."

"But... You have a sister that could so very easily be alive," Ace wondered as the group began to show signs of rolling back to a more positive outlook on the situation, "Don't you want to find her?"

"Of course I do, but... How would we even go about doing that?" Lickity asked in a defeated tone, though it was clear the twinkle in her eye was anything but defeated, "The last time I saw her, we were both pups less than half the size I am now."

"Surely if we all put our heads together, we can think of a way to find her," Ace nodded in assurance as him and Tessa caught eyes.

"We already have enough issues to worry about, it's... Sort of why I never mentioned any of this," Lickity grumbled, though Tessa shrugged and waggled her finger a little.

"It's not off the table, we can find her in a number of ways," Tessa encouraged as the group tightened with love and strength, and as Lickity gave Tessa a look of undying gratefulness, Tessa bobbed a nod and peered to Ace with a knowing smirk, "It helps that we have a User on our side. There's one thing I've learned, through all this chaos... Nothing is impossible."


	166. Chapter 166

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much :D Yes, Lickity has many layers really no one knew much of, until now. One of my favorite characters, I fully intended to shell her out with development the second she started talking. I'll be posting lots of pictures to my Instagram, I'm sure! :)

 **Snake557 :** Aw, yeah, it's definitely sad... But yes! Her sister is found, in the 4th story :) Thank you!

 **Burgie :** They do eventually find her sister :D I'll likely be drawing her, sometime soon. Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** It is! It's a lot more complex, and doesn't really get expanded on until the 4th story, but yes, you pretty much nailed it :) Thank you!

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 **A/N:** **Hey guys! This will likely be the last chapter I upload, until after my trip to Phoenix. I will probably be WAY too busy to write. I was really hoping I'd have chapters to sit on, and to upload as a part of my routine, but I** **wasn't fortunate. Once I get home, I'll have a ton of time to veg and bust out chapters, so it should pick up from there! Thanks for your patience, guys! I appreciate it! :D**

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Fractures (ft. Nevve) by Illenium**

 ***Chapter 166***

Through a long, shaky huff of a breath, a hot exhale that draped out her fangs, Lickity's eyes nervously scanned the Kalivar castle backyard and lot. Littered with a gorgeous array of towering jungle trees, the moonlight casted shadows all throughout the land, simply illuminating the glow of Ace's fire flowers and making the embers of their petals known. Like fireflies that flitted into the atmosphere, the castle was a haven of enchantment at any time of the day. Lickity appreciated her home, though her heart sunk in apprehension. As Royal slowly trailed ahead of her, the serpent like winding in his large body posture, and stride, his massively curled tail was drooped in relaxation, and as his big paws moved through the grass, he rustled up fireflies in the process of his way made towards their enclosure.

Lickity slowed amidst the field of fire flowers she carefully pressed to, and just as she was about to turn and join Tessa inside the castle, for the night, she felt her heart jump in a fit of anxiety that near crippled her stance. A pair of haunting, silver eyes could be seen peering through the thin veil of trees in their backyard, a being that politely hung near the backside of Throttle's home, and with such a still, calm and eerie presence, Lickity knew she'd have to face her demons eventually. With not much fight left in her, she sagged her shoulders and didn't dare take her large eyes off of Marble's piercing, silver gaze that captured her soul from clear across the backyard. With a shaky inhale, Lickity braved the first few steps towards the castle's newest member, though this time, it was with clarity and an apologetic air. She held her head high, kept her stance of dominance over this new being, and though she was aware she'd have to learn to get along with the game's very first lykata, she struggled to feel importance, any longer.

As Lickity approached, Marble slowly stood and ruffled her gorgeous, feathery wings. Royal nervously glanced at the two, over his shoulder, and as he pushed deeper into their dark enclosure, he was greet by Balba; they nuzzled snouts and apprehensively vanished into their home, hopefully awaiting Lickity's arrival eventually. Lickity heaved a long breath, slowed her roll and stood with all the power in arcade before her new friend or foe. With ears held high in tight dominance, she was glad Marble's ears were laid flat to show respect, even if it was mildly undeserved. Lickity narrowed her gaze a little and felt confidence finally come back to her, and as she gingerly, and just barely, spread her wings, to appear larger, Marble slowed her gentle stride and stood about a dozen feet before Lickity. Though it was clear that Lickity held the higher ground here, Marble still stood proud and confident, albeit in a more non-intimidating way.

"I owe you an apology," Marble started, words that only Lickity could hear, mere sounds that were transferred telepathically. Lickity furrowed her brow in rising confusion and remained patient for Marble's words, "As I grew closer to the castle, I could feel a negative, disturbed energy that would likely clash with mine... Yet, still, I pressed on."

"What are you saying?" Lickity gently snapped, out to the air, and with anyone potentially watching, it appeared as if Lickity could be having a full-blown conversation to no one but Marble's silent being, though as clear as day, Marble's deep, motherly voice of matured wisdom rung true in Lickity's head.

"I may have years of energy reading under my wings, though I do admit to fault, on occasion... I figured it could be something that we would calmly work on, right upon my arrival," Marble's eyes finally stole away from Lickity's and looked down to the gorgeous display of grass underneath her agile, cheetah-like paws, exposed dew claws and all, "I didn't realize just how vast your grief was, how deep it ran. You were hurt at such a young age."

"How do you know all of this?" Lickity began to grow agitated, and though she promised herself to keep her cool, her pupils grew into slits to show further irritation, "G-Get out of my head, please."

"I-I'm not in your head, I can't read your thoughts," Marble explained patiently, and though Lickity put up a great challenge, Marble held her own nicely, "I can simply read your energy, small snippets of what you put out into the universe... You wear your heart on your sleeve. You're in great company. Your rider does, as well."

"I didn't come over here for a palm reading," Lickity's snide tone held a perfect bite of venom, something she was vastly underestimated for, and as Marble flinched, Lickity wondered if she should reel it in a little.

"... That wasn't an insult to you, or Tessa," Marble eased softly as she shook her head, her gorgeous white mane fluttered in the nighttime breeze, "Everyone here has amazing qualities and traits... I-I'm almost sorry I caused such an upheave of unwant, by squeezing my way into this clan."

"Why are you here, anyways? You're the game's all-seeing lykata, practically a diety to your species, not to mention the Teltokua," Lickity side-eyed Marble, "What use do you have with us? Why here, why now?"

Marble sighed through her snout and gently looked down. Her ears finally sagged from her strict, flattened positioning against her skull, and as she relaxed, so did Lickity. Lickity furrowed her brow and shook her head a little, Marble's presence was soaked with comfort, eked of a calm in the storm, something Lickity wondered if she began to crave, her sweet disposition was welcoming enough to approach, though once you were roped in, one couldn't help but stand in awe of just how majestic and stoic she really was.

"I sensed a great deal of urgency, on this side of the map... Ever since Libby and Balba ran away, I've felt rather out of touch. They were the first, and really only, creatures I've ever taken under my wing and treated as my own brood," Marble gently explained, it was clear the sorrow in her eyes, and with this, Lickity knew she couldn't remain upset, "I know Libby has found a mate... A being more powerful than all of us put together."

"Ace," Lickity stated gently, Marble nodded once and kept her hypnotic, glowing silver eyes honed to Lickity's.

"I know you guys may believe you're dealing with some simple virus, a game that simply just needs a little straightening out," Marble's voice grew dark, she shook her head and narrowed her eyes, "It's beyond anything you guys could even imagine..."

"... You somehow know more about Sugar Rush's issues at hand?" Lickity wondered with great snark, though Marble looked off and subtly glanced towards Ace's tower.

"I know that little white haired jungle princess harbors a great deal of information beyond anyone's knowledge," Marble explained, she finally hooked her eyes to Lickitys, once more, and began to grow more confident in her stance, her white mane glistened in the moonlight, "Nothing even she really fully understands... User knows if she ever will."

"What are you saying?" Lickity egged, her tone was dark and becoming protective.

"Has Libby ever told you just where she came from?" Marble pressed tenderly, she shook her head and eyed Lickity as Lickity's demeanor began to slip with uncertainty, "She says she's Teltokuan. She was raised by the people, knows the language, the custom, the traditions..."

"Spit it out," Lickity stated sharply.

"Libby wasn't born from any two parents... Her coding manifested... That's something that has only happened with iso's," Marble stated in bewilderment, her voice sounded lost, she looked flabbergasted, as if even this phenomena was wholly beyond her wise being, "I witnessed it. Like a swarm of bees, honeycombs that just came into being... And before me, was a helpless baby, nestled between a bushel of lily pads amidst the clear waters of the Kajiksana river."

"Kajiksana... Y-You named her?" Lickity wondered, and it was in this instance did she quickly let go of her anger towards lykatas as a whole and grasped onto Marble's story as if her life depended on it.

"She's the closest thing to a daughter I've ever had," Marble stated warmly with a gentle smile as she looked down, her eyes grew aimless as she barely shook her head, "I've never understood her... No one has. Yet, she's just carried on."

"Who renamed her 'Libby'?" Lickity wondered softly.

"She did," Marble retort with a huff of a laugh as she showed her fangs in a smile, "No one has a single clue why. It's not a Teltokuan name... She just insisted one day. No one called her 'Libby' except herself... Honestly, I think it's why she became so gripped to Ace, and why she would run away to the Kalivar lot every single day. None of the girls, in the tribe, really accepted Kaji."

"How come? She's... Wonderful, so kind," Lickity listed sorrowfully, Marble shrugged and huffed a chuckle.

"When you have white hair and complexion amidst a tribe of tan, black haired individuals, you tend to get picked on," Marble grumbled, "She was extremely different... begging that we call her anything other than her very strictly Teltokuan name, really freaked a lot of people out... Yet, she somehow garnered the attention of the chief's second born."

"He was stringy," Lickity mumbled as she recalled the blood-fest her, Royal and Balba had on Hilotem and his two guards; thankfully, Marble chuckled.

"He deserved it, that was a good show," Marble stated in an impressed tone, though Lickity furrowed her brow and looked confused.

"You... Were there?" Lickity trailed, Marble nodded and looked off.

"I so badly wanted to join, but... I'm good at just sitting, unseen, and watching," Marble huffed, "I've had my eyes on the castle for awhile... Something drew me here. Something told me that a greater power was among us, a greater fight, bigger than anything I've seen, needed soldiers."

"You're here to help with the whole Sugar Rush issue?" Lickity wondered, she shook her head, "But... Why? It doesn't technically concern you."

"It didn't... Until my surrogate daughter chose a man with Sugar Rush coding," Marble eyed Lickity in a knowing way, "You have Sugar Rush, in your coding, as well... Don't you dare sit here and pretend like you wouldn't die for the safety of your rider's new kingdom."

Lickity exhaled a faltered breath and fell silent of words. She shut her mouth and gave Marble a defeated look, as if to express that she was, indeed, correct. She inhaled and exhaled a long, shaky breath with a nod.

"It's your home, it's in your blood, now... It's a part of who you are, now... It's everything you want to defend and become enraptured in," Marble's wise, calm voice soaked over Lickity's mind, "My only brood plays a major role in all of this drama. Who am I to sit back and pretend like I shouldn't help out? It's not my place?"

"We could always use more flyers, for the haul through Sugar Rush," Lickity mumbled in agreeing, Marble bobbed a nod and chuckled.

"The conditions were right... I just so happened to bump into Zed and Ace this morning, something about the way we all were caught in a bubble," Marble shrugged, "I-I didn't really choose this. It was as if the universe sort of collected the time, and breathed life into our intentions. I've never... Ever had a flyer, I've never had someone equal to me, working towards a greater purpose."

"Welp... You chose the master of the game," Lickity stated with a snarky smile and a small nod, though her eyes scanned the grass in gentle defeat, "Really... Can't get much greater than that."

"You're worried," Marble eased in wondering, though Lickity flattened her ears and shelled up.

"I-I'm just having a hard day," Lickity stated in a short tone, though Marble smiled and dared to take a few steps closer, her paws quietly pushed through the tall grass.

"You're not being replaced, y'know," Marble chuckled, she eked the warmest, kindest demeanor, one of which had Lickity's strict posture wiggling to that of surrender, and as Marble pushed closer, she realized the two were nearly the same size; Marble was likely the largest of her breed, a creature of great stature and awesome power, though her beautiful, lithe figure so easily mocked Libby's disposition. As strange as Lickity thought it to be, she could see Marble's and Libby's resemblance, even if they were species and worlds apart, "You're worried throwing another flyer in the mix is going to make Tessa and Zed, and everyone else, throw their attention away from you... You've fought, your whole life, for fairness. For justice..."

"Everything I love just keeps getting taken away," Lickity grimaced, and it was in Marble's motherly presence did Lickity feel the strange urge to break down, the urge to be held, to be cradled and mothered, something she had vastly missed out on. Lickity desperately fought the tears that stung her eyes, though she knew she was about to fail herself soon, here. She carried on through a croak of urgency, "Y-You try flying way from your family, for the first time, knowing you'll never see them again."

Marble's loving, sympathetic eye contact only grew with the amount of love she had to give, and as she grew closer to Lickity, she so warmly opened up her wing, the dark grey ventral feathers soaked in with their dark surroundings, though the pop of her all white dorsal glowed in the moonlight. Soft feathers so cautiously made their way around Lickity's shoulder as Marble flattened her ears and kept her motherly, understanding gaze soaked into Lickity's teary orbs.

"I-I have to live day in and day out with the very man that beat and abused me, would hardly feed me before and after races, threatened to clip my wings if I ever lost," Lickity rushed as tears soaked her cheeks, though she succumbed to Marble's motherly love and gently soaked into her soft, velvety fur. Lickity grimaced and shoved her face into the side of Marble's neck to unload, "A-and now, I have to sit back and watch my best friend suffer the anticipated loss of her future kingdom... Everyone just fake-smiling and forced uplift, and all I can really do is take them about Sugar Rush and ride on the dregs of false hope!"

"I understand," Marble cooed so gently as she tucked her chin to the back of Lickity's neck, where fluffs of tan feather met with the top of her head. Marble's wing tucked tight about Lickity's shoulders as Lickity finally sat on her rump and slumped into the front of Marble's chest in whole defeat.

"It's like a house of cards," Lickity huffed shakily into Marble's fur, which was becoming wet with tears, "One more thing, and it'll all come crashing down... I do everything in my power to keep everyone's energy up."

"That's a heavy burden to bear, with the past you're already carrying, Lickity," Marble eased warmly, the two stood tight in each other's embrace, something Lickity didn't realize just how desperately she needed, "You're carrying the weight of everyone's sorrow on your back, thinking you need to fix it, or you need to be the epicenter of everyone's happiness. That's how strong souls are destroyed... No one can fully carry on, here, without getting to the root of their issues. Rushing into battle, with drama, probably isn't the wisest."

"I already unloaded on Tessa, Royal and Ace, just a bit ago," Lickity huffed nasally as she remained tight in Marble's warmth, she shut her eyes and sagged her shoulders through a sigh of relief her rib cage collapsed with, "I really only have beef with one person, on these grounds..."

"Orph," Marble stated knowingly, without even any indication that said individual was the correct one. She lulled her eyes across the Kalivar lot and sighed audibly, "Imagine yourself in battle, in Sugar Rush... Now, imagine Orph is in trouble and you're the only one readily available to help him... Would you?"

"No," Lickity growled as she reopened her eyes and angrily glared into Marble's gorgeous fur, "Let him suffer... Repay for all the terrible things he's ever done to me."

"I know you don't really mean that," Marble stated as tenderly as she could, which ultimately shut Lickity up, "How can you cope with everything that has happened to you, and walk out of it feeling refreshed, all while still holding so much resentment and anger in your grasp?"

"I want him to know my pain," Lickity stated shakily, "I wish he knew just how scared and terrified he made me feel..."

"You know, he may never know... But I do know no progress will be made, on any aspect of the board, with this much hatred soaked into your whole brood," Marble's words resonated in the back of Lickity's skull, like motherly advice she knew was absolutely right, though she wanted nothing to do with. Marble's eyes soaked to the fire flowers, just beyond the lot, "Like a phoenix from the ashes... Something has to budge. Something has to be deconstructed and torn down in order to come out better, newer, cleaner."

"I'll think about it," Lickity stated through grit fangs, as if even so much as stating those phasing words was one of the most difficult things she had to do.

"How would you feel, if you won Sugar Rush back... Everyone's cheering, celebrating, and there you see Orph, celebrating alongside everyone," Marble started as her wing remained tight about Lickity, "You'd feel this weird pit in your stomach... The dead pit of hatred. Your joy stolen, everything you'd fought so valiantly for... Just lost upon hate... I know you're better than that."

"I just wish he'd apologize," Lickity hiccuped, she grimaced and shook her head, "I wish he'd fall to his knees and state just how much of an idiot he was."

"Just be honest with him," Marble stated warmly, she eyed Orph's bedroom balcony, which was nearby; his light was on, which shone through his sliding glass door curtains, "I've only been here for a day and I can see a man getting quite used to the idea of love, of patience, of understanding... You really have Penny to thank."

"Penny," Lickity huffed as she opened her eyes and peered past Throttle's abode, Penny's downstairs balcony was at the very end of the stretch.

"She seems to be the toughest cookie out of everyone here... If SHE sees the good in him," Marble chuckled, tucked her claw under Lickity's chin and peered into her eyes, in a motherly fashion, "Then I know you can, too..."

Lickity chuffed a noise of sarcastic disagreeing and looked away, and it was in this moment did she feel as if even she had been taken under Marble's wing, as an adopted soul. She finally softened and peered to Marble in apologetic gentleness.

"Now I owe you an apology," Lickity eased gently as she looked down, and as the two gained a small amount of distance, Marble shook her head and longblinked her conclusion.

"No apology needed here," Marble stated warmly, "The only way to go, from here, is up."


	167. Chapter 167

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong :** Hey! Congrats on being my **1300th** reviewer! Thank you SO much for all the reviews, insight and love you've given my story. I really appreciate it :) What do you mean by sing reference? I don't think I will ever move my WL saga to another fanfiction-like website, I have too many years invested here at FF and it's always been home. It has it's bugs, but it always gets fixed. I'm comfortable here, so I won't be moving, but you do what you need to do! I always appreciate your support, so I give mine in return!

 **Burgie :** Thank you! I liked the switch up as well. Lickity could use a shoulder, that isn't Tessa's (a human)

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! Yes, I enjoyed writing for these two. Lickity gets a decent amount of character development, in this story, so this is just a good segue :) And, yes! Libby is a strange one, indeed.

 **Retrokill :** YAY! I'm tired too haha

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** I appreciate your support and your patience! I read your note, 100%. Replying back has proven to be difficult D: Thanks for your compliments and support! I wish I had more time to expand on all the creatures of Dead Zed, but this story is already so cram packed with everything that I just need to sometimes calm down and realize I can't properly get to everything xD

 **silversurfer :** Thank you so much! :D

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hahaha yeah, doing that many cosplays is a bit stressful! We ended up doing three, as opposed to the four we were planning. We did Vanellope and Taffyta from Wrecking Limits, we did Nick and Judy from Zootopia and then we did Vanellope and Taffyta canon from the movie :) It was a ton of fun! Thank you for the kind words! It was a ton of fun writing a chapter that was just strictly the animals. I love animals, so they've always been easy to write for, behavior wise and the like, but the chapters where it's just them are definitely far and few in between. Marble can't technically talk, so that's added a weird/different dynamic as well. It wasn't technically harder, I just have to switch gears lol. Thank you so much for all your kind words, and for loving my story just as hard as I do! You're the best!

* * *

 **A/N :** GUYS I'm back! For those of you that follow me on Instagram/deviantART, you got a good dose of just what I've been up to! I'm going to make this quick cause I'm exhausted and have a lot of the sketch dump to catch up on, but Phoenix Comicon was a BLAST! We got to cosplay, I got to show my sister comicon for the first time, AND I got to meet Alan Tudyk (the voice of King Candy/Turbo) ! HE WAS SO NICE and he talked to us in his King Candy voice, cause we were in our Vanellope and Taffyta cosplay. It was incredible. We also got to play on an actual Fix It Felix cabinet... The whole week was just pure win, and I couldn't believe half of it was real. I am EXHAUSTED, but I have the week off to work on the sketch dump and pump out new chapters! Thanks for understanding, guys! I missed you all!

* * *

 ***Chapter 167***

As Penny silently moved through the castle's hallways, she was successful in avoiding the attention of the small group of individuals in the kitchen. Moving in a quiet shuffle, she managed to slip into the hub of the Sky Room and cross its stretch with ease. As she came upon Tessa's and Zed's beautiful bedroom door arches, she was thrilled to see the door was cracked. To avoid interrupting anything she potentially wasn't supposed to be in on, she came to the door and resisted the urge to peer inside. She cleared her throat audibly and gingerly tapped her knuckles to the thick wood of their massive, round bedroom door.

"Tess?" Penny eased quietly, and as she heard the gentle drum of Tessa's and Zed's voice slow to a halt, and footwork shuffle towards the entrance of their bedroom, she was thrilled to see Tessa open the door wider and peer to Penny in kind expectancy.

"Penny, is everything okay?" Tessa eased, Penny glanced over Tessa's shoulder and noticed Zed stand from the glorious, sprawling work desk they had across the stretch of their bedroom; he ruffled his electric blue hair and crossed the stretch, so to be in on just what was going on.

"Everything is fine, is there a chance I can speak with you? A-about the next Sugar Rush trip?" Penny inquired lightly as Tessa let her in, and upon hearing Penny's words, Tessa shut her bedroom door, locked the latch and was prepared to potentially shut any listening ears out of this now private conversation.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Tessa wondered, and as Penny gently greet Zed with a hug, she otherwise sauntered into the room and gently scuffed her bare heel against the glorious, marble tiles of Tessa's and Zed's bedroom.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking... About my father," Penny stated in a sheepish way, she fiddled her fingers and knew just exactly where she stood, in Tessa's future reign, though the fact that she was now stepping up to the plate and trying it all on for size, had her knees nearly trembling, "I... hate to interject and propose ideas that could potentially lead us off course to find the castle, but I have a rather large request."

Tessa furrowed her brow in contemplation, and though everyone knew Tessa's hand was firmly grasped around the neck of the next trip, she glanced her potentially swayed eye contact towards Zed for his silent thoughts, and with a small bob of a nod, Tessa brought her diligent attention back to Penny.

"Fire away," Tessa encouraged, and though she knew where this was going, she was hoping Penny could spread her wings and follow through on her own.

"I propose we make this next trip a little bit shorter.. a bit more sporadic," Penny inquired tenderly, her big, innocent blue eyes held tight to Tessa's, as if to express this was the only favor she'd ever ask of Sugar Rush's future queen, "... I really would love if this next trip was about finding my dad. I know he's out there, somewhere. I can just feel it in me..."

Tessa let a wide smile broaden her face, and as she scoffed a small chuckle, hooked her fingers into her side pockets and looked down to her bare feet, she shook her head and gave Zed an incredulous look.

"Coincidence, or no?" Tessa barked with a laugh, to which Zed gladly cued to.

"I don't know, I think we're all riding the same brain waves," Zed bantered, Penny drew them a confused smile and shrugged a little.

"What do you guys mean?" Penny staggered in mild confusion.

"Well... I'm not sure if you've noticed any of the secretive drama between your mom and Tej, have you?" Tessa delicately wondered, though to her relief, Penny rolled her eyes.

"Have I... I went to mom's room, the other evening, and found her and Tej on her patio," Penny stated as if to potentially be irritated, she shook her head and began o look exasperated, "I'm all for mom moving on, if... Dad is to never be resurrected from Radex's shenanigans, but I wish the wound would heal first, at least."

"Well, the way I see it, it seems as though Taffyta is trying to fill a void, the loss of Rancis," Zed shrugged and lulled his gaze to Tessa's, "It's only natural, but I can see how it'd make you the most uncomfortable."

"I just... I know my dad is out there, I know there's a way we can track him down and save him," Penny urged, she peered her curious gaze to Tessa's, dug hard in a near pleading look of rising sorrow, "He may be Sugar Rush's knight, the Queen's right hand man, but... I'd like to follow in those footsteps. I'd like to have a share of the say, in this next trip."

Tessa felt her heart grow sore with love, and as her eyes soaked to the glorious tiles underneath their feet, she heaved a long sigh through her nose and knew Penny was absolutely correct. Her and Zed met eyes, and as if this was potentially their first little decision making as the next King and Queen of Sugar Rush, they came to a silent agreement and nodded gently in Penny's direction. Penny's eyes began to light up with glee as the three slowly grew closer to one another.

"I wasn't lying when I said you would be at my right hand, if and when I'm passed the crown," Tessa stated softly, her voice was laced with warmth, and as she approached her cousin, Penny beamed a grateful smile and tucked her fists to her chest in rising excitement, "Of course we can go look for Uncle Rancis. You know I'd do anything to have him back, as well."

"Thank you, Tess, y-you don't know what this means for me," Penny urged as her voice crackled, and the threat of consuming tears consumed her. As Tessa smiled a welcoming smile, the two tightly embraced and squeezed in a small grip of love, "I won't let you down."

"I don't doubt that for a second," Tessa's voice rasped over Penny's shoulder as the two gave each other one last squeeze, though as they pulled apart, and a small exchange of knowing smiles were given, Tessa gestured over to their work table and motioned for Penny and Zed to follow, "Zed and I were just about to run over a course of action, for the next trip, anyhow. It'd be best if you were in on it, now."

"R-Really?" Penny ogled quietly as the three moved closer to the larger work station, and as they approached, Penny's eyes glossed over the gorgeous displays of holographic screens and different aspects of the code room all on display for them. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and felt a roll of chills wash over her, the fact that she had always been clued in on the way the higher-up's operated, though having a front row seat, and even a say in decision making, nearly made her head spin, "Wow, I always wondered what castle meetings were like."

"You'll be right at the heart of them, with us, one day," Zed's deep, comforting voice cued, and as they hovered about the different notes and jots of information before them, Tessa swiped her finger on one of the screens and brought up a proper map of all their past travels about Sugar Rush.

"I'd be honored," Penny uttered in gentle bewilderment, and as Tessa gently picked up the digital pad, she motioned to Sugar Rush's entrance, on the map, and heaved a gentle sigh.

"So far, we've travelled in every single direction but West and Southwest," Tessa motioned, "Of course... Over the duration of all of our trips, not once have we changed direction half way through."

"That leaves room for variation," Zed shrugged, he leaned in to look at the map, as well, "If Rancis was alive, thrown out to the wilderness, where do you think he'd likely try and seek refuge?"

"Well, knowing my dad, he's always been handy when it came to the outdoors," Penny crossed her arms and let her eyes lull to the digital pad Tessa held out for everyone to see, she began to scan her fingers West a little, though Penny pointed as well, "He's not one to sit still, either... If he is out there, he'd be constantly traveling, I know that. Constantly seeking refuge, trying to find other forms of life."

"Cause, let's face it, we've come across no signs of life, excluding animals," Zed grumbled, he shook his head and scratched the back of his scalp in confusion, "Where the heck would all the racers be? Surely they're somewhere, Sugar Rush is still plugged in and working..."

"I have no clue," Penny grunted as she motioned her hand to the map in solid confusion, "Hopefully they're not trapped, somewhere... Hopefully dad is with them."

"Uncle Rancis IS on the roster," Tessa eyed Penny knowingly, and then Zed, "If we find Uncle Rancis, we'll hopefully find the rest of the racers."

"So, for this trip, we need to fly low and be mindful of just where we are," Zed stated as Tessa gently passed him the digital pad, "We aren't scanning the far horizon for the spires of the castle, any longer... We're looking for one individual, their point of refuge and any signs of civilization that we can get our eyes on."

"This means keeping closer to the ground, a more sporadic flight pattern," Penny suggested as she kept tight with their speed, "This can't simply be us hitting a thousand feet and coasting in the sky until our next resting point. We need to be so low that we have to avoid trees and mountains."

"This also comes with the dangers of any creatures on the ground," Tessa urged quietly, "More chances of being spotted, attacked or worse... Killed."

"We'll need a solid group, like prior," Zed bobbed a nod as Tessa brought up a small chart of every castle resident, "We have me, you, Penny... I'm positive Nox and Koko will want to come along, again."

"Ace and Libby," Penny chimed with a nod, though Zed and Tessa peered to her with kind smiles.

"Is Orph coming, this time?" Zed wondered innocently, though Penny felt her pupils tighten in nervousness as her face turned red.

"O-Oh, uh... I-I'm sure he might, I guess someone could ask," Penny bluffed nonchalantly, though Tessa secretively nudged Zed's elbow and gave him an annoyed smirk.

"There are now four flyers, including the Tron flyers we'll have to make sure are up to speed for the trip," Tessa huffed gently as she began to add names to the search party list, "We have Lickity, Royal, Balba and now Marble. We'll be taking night flights, for the sake of our nocturnal flyers, and will be sleeping during the day."

"Sounds good to me," Penny bobbed a nod, as did Zed.

"When do we fly out, your majesty?" Zed eased in genuine politeness towards Tessa, to which she cocked an eyebrow and gave him a knowing smile.

"I'd say we should head out October 21st, we'll arrive home late Wednesday the 26th," Tessa stated confidently as she pulled up a calendar, which cued her other notes to make way for, "This gives us a handful of nights away... A decent amount of time."

"Which direction will we be heading in?" Penny inquired as she peered to one of the three screens on their workstation, which patiently displayed the map of Sugar Rush and it's entrance.

"We'll be heading West of the entrance," Tessa pointed as she took a step or two closer to the screen, "We'll fly out the night of the 20th, get a good night's full of travel, and rest during the day on the 21st."

"Should we... Go over the details with Vanellope? Even though she's not coming?" Zed pressed as tenderly as he could, he was prepared for Tessa's mood to suddenly be brought to a halt, though she gave Zed a snarky smile in return and flattened her demeanor.

"Nope, she'll be aware of when we're leaving and coming home," Tessa stated sternly, "She could use the space, the rest, and she can stay home and be confident that the trip is in good hands."

"... Still mad about what happened?" Penny wondered in a dull tone, though she gave Tessa a sorrowful look of nervousness.

"Bitter would be the proper word, now," Tessa shrugged, "Time heals all wounds... I'm just glad she heeded my warning."

"She hasn't tried talking to Ace at all, since the last Sugar Rush trip?" Penny further inquired, though Zed heaved a long sigh of mild dismay and crossed his arms.

"Not that I'm aware of," Tessa snipped in sarcastic charm as she powered off her digital pad and gave Penny a smirk, "I'm thinking the dust just need to settle. I won't let her down, but I also won't let her step all over mine or my son's feelings."

"She definitely was hard on him," Penny muttered as Zed bobbed a nod and looked down.

"What's past is past, what's important now is healing," Zed eyed Tessa and began to grow stern with her, "Which requires a little more than just sweeping it under the rug, my love..."

"It'll remain under the rug until I'm ready for spring cleaning, okay?" Tessa barked in solid annoyance as she huffed a chuckle with an irritated smile. She shook her head and began to move off, Penny reluctantly followed, "I've got a scout to plan for. She's been sulking, anyhow."

"Don't let it go unnoticed," Zed muttered as he continued to eye Tessa from across the room, "Pretty soon, you're going to need more than a rug to cover all this nonsense..."

* * *

Amidst the quietness of Ace's bedroom, his oscillating fan brought the gentle drum of white noise, a perfect ambience for a quiet, still jungle night. Libby and Ace sat comfortably at his dining room table. The wood was scattered with a few tools, here and there, and as his big hands fumbled to tie a few knots with the string Libby had provided, she uttered a few quips and notions as he continued on with the small craft they had found themselves in on. With Libby's expertise, she kindly taught him how to properly tie a small portion of a net the Teltokuans would use for fishing. With the sophisticated netting and the weave of the fibers, Libby's smaller hands were definitely more suited for this drama.

"I-I just can't seem to grab this piece, after I pull these two through," Ace grunted in mild annoyance as his larger pointer finger and thumb did everything they could to squeeze into the small loops of the fibers, though Libby giggled and placed her hand on the back of his.

"It's okay, you want me to do this part?" Libby wondered tenderly, though Ace was visibly irritated at himself.

"Well, no, I want to learn how to do this on my own," Ace grunted, though Libby sagged her shoulders and eased off a little.

She smiled a sneaky smile in his direction and kindly watched him, now as a bystander. She furrowed her eyebrows and felt her mind begin to get lost. Shirtless and as handsome as ever, Ace's dark blue hair was ruffled in a few different directions; after having just showered, his hair had begun to dry in the adorable cowlicks they were in. She felt her face get hot, and though she felt bad the Ace was so frustrated, her girly thoughts began to trail down a road she was nervous to trek down, though she did anyway.

Her eyes trailed to Ace's powerful arms, lined with a decent amount of muscle, she bit her bottom lip and tried not to jump in head first to these vulnerable thoughts. She inhaled a shaky, silent breath and recalled his hugs, how warm and strong they were, though her face began to burn up at the sheer thought of being wholly tangled with him, lost in romance, the act of love making, something she was near terrified of until recently. She scrunched her face in though and tried to put on a fake look of concentration, as if to pretend she was interested in just what Ace was trying to accomplish.

She cocked an eyebrow in subtly and watched as his powerful arms flexed just barely as he mildly wrestled with the knots and strings he was becoming lightly entangled in. His deep voice grunted a noise, his prominent adam's apple glided down his jugular, the little flecks of dark blue hairs that handsomely trailed from his strong jawline to his broad chest; Libby huffed a nervous noise and now felt as if she was losing herself in these new thoughts. She shook her head, unboggled her mind and desperately peeled her eyes from Ace's whole being, though she so badly wanted to sit in this moment for centuries, just admiring this new angle she had on him.

"See?!" Ace suddenly blurt, which ultimately popped Libby from her drooly, girly thoughts. She recoiled in surprise and was desperately hoping he didn't catch on to the fact that she was blushing like mad.

"Puba, you're supposed to pull it three times before making the loop," Libby giggled shakily, she eased into his bubble and went to reach for what he was doing, though he set it down in a huff of irritation and lulled his head back.

"I knew I was forgetting something," Ace grunted loudly, though as he was to bring his arms back to his craft, his fingers accidentally grazed Libby's breast, to which he did not pay mind or attention to.

"I-It goes like this," Libby uttered in a roll of whole delighted shock, she so desperately tried to reign her fluttering heart, though as she leaned in closer to him and brought the fibers back to his hands, she felt goosebumps plague her skin as she leaned her body softly into his, so to show him the proper technique.

She began to weave the knots together, with great expertise, though she went slow. She bashfully glanced to Ace and wondered if he had caught on to the accident he had caused, though she flinched and was nearly annoyed to see his face plastered in a permanent scowl of dismay towards himself, not a hint of bashfulness or awareness on his demeanor. Libby sagged her shoulders a little and wondered if she could potentially put more effort into garnering his attention.

"The key to these fishing nets are... Not to tie them too tightly," Libby eased in a girly tone, she knew she had a few tricks up her sleeve, though she wondered if Ace's grumpy mood would cloud his ability to cue to them; she tried, anyhow, "If they're too tight, then they'll fasten closed and you won't be able to snag any fish."

"I might have to make bigger knots, my hands are just too big for this kind of delicate craft," Ace grumbled, though Libby's eyes scanned Ace's hands in hot knowing.

Masculine, wrecking hands, his knuckles were so tenderly and daintily lined with little tufts of his dark blue hair, a cute array of a manly trait she was wondering why it had taken her so long to appreciate. She huffed a noise of opposition, towards him, and so gently ran her hand along the back of his, as he prepared to complete his first few knots.

"Nooo... They're just fine," Libby's voice cooed tenderly, a womanly show of flirtatious appreciation, though just as she was about to continue on with her act, Ace uttered a noise of dismay and waggled his finger a little as he accidentally tied his finger into the knot.

"I-Im really trying my best, but I don't think I can do it," Ace grunted in solid dismay, completely disregarding Libby's compliment, though she knew it wasn't on purpose, "I may just have to throw in the towel, with this one... Surely there are other Teltokuan traditions I can follow with, that don't require having small hands."

"I-I'm sure there are," Libby pressed as she gently untangled his hands from the knots, "W-We can go over them, if you'd like... Or we can just go sit and relax, from this."

"I am pretty beat," Ace stated in a low, normal tone, though Libby began to mildly feel frustrated with just how blind he was to her little advancement inquiries, "Maybe we should just call it a night, then..."

"Sure thing, we can just... Take it easy," Libby pressed quietly as she set down the start of the net and scrunched her shoulders; she wore a tank top that generously showed a little bit of cleavage, and though she was certain somehow she'd catch his eye, she was wondering if it wasn't going to be tonight, much to her surprise.

"That went well," Ace mumbled in irritation towards himself.

"You want to come up to my room for some dessert?" Libby eased in a low, girly tone as she gave him a kind, innocent, though hopefully direct smile about her choice in words, though she flinched as Ace heaved a hard yawn, stood and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, maybe tomorrow night... I-I guess mom is going to have me back in my eating routine, starting tomorrow morning, with our workout," Ace grumbled as he stretched; Libby furrowed her brow and felt taunted, at this point. His abs and muscular chest boasted his power as he grunted a noise to complete his upward stretch, though as he huffed a long breath and let his arm come back down to his side, he gave her a casual smile and shrugged, "Maybe you can sneak me some dessert, tomorrow night."

"That sounds good," Libby stated dully, in the act of finally giving up. She nodded and knew not to drape herself all over him, if he was disinterested for now. She gingerly stood, gathered her hoodie and began to press towards his door.

"Just message me tomorrow, once you're awake," Ace eased kindly, Libby began to grow frustrated with just how blinded he was to her small advancements, no matter how delicate they were, "You gunna teach my dad how to fly Marble?"

"Yeah, that's first on the agenda," Libby eased, though she wondered if she could now volley the whole 'play hard to get' notion back at him. She knew Ace was wholly unaware that she was even trying to flirt her way to advancement with him, though she still felt the need to deliver the whole 'play dumb' act in return, "I-I'll be pretty busy tomorrow, so I hope we can hang out, potentially."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Ace eased with a kind smile as he gestured back to the table, "Thanks for dealing with me, tonight... Hopefully there is something better I can handle, that you can show me."

"I'm sure there is," Libby near-grumbled and prayed he didn't get the insinuation.


	168. Chapter 168

**Reviews :**

 **Xaehttium :** Bawww c'mon now. No, Ace isn't technically that dense, but after having been numb to being so exponentially polite, I'm sure it'd go over my head as well xD It gets worse, just fair warning. You guys will likely be rolling your eyes for a bit haha. Also, what do you mean about Sugar Rush's RAM? It's the same game, with the same amount of space and etc. - he's just chaotically switched everything around and distanced it all from Sugar Rush's entrance.

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha he doesn't fall off of Marble but only once, unfortunately xD But it still is funny!

 **Snake557 :** Haha xD Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** hahaha yes, the tables have now turned, and poor Ace will very rapidly not know what to do with himself xD Oh, cool! YAY! Happy early birthday! haha

* * *

 ***Chapter 168***

As the cool morning air whisked through Libby's white hair, she shivered and tucked the long sleeves, of her tan and tribal pattern clad hoodie, further down her arms. As she exhaled, her breath fogged the air just barely, insinuating to her that even cooler weather was well on it's way. She smiled and pulled out her communicator, she favored the cooler weather strictly due to being able to cuddle Balba and not break a sweat. A few more flitting thoughts crossed her mind as she sauntered down the spiral stairwell of Ace's tower, and as she crossed Ace's front porch, she eyed his door and felt her heart begin to throb in a weird twinge of nervousness. She furrowed her brow and scanned the windows for any sign of life, though she knew he was likely long gone, well into his morning workout routine with Tessa.

Libby peeled her eyes from Ace's front door and continued on down the stairwell, on to Nox's floor. She tabbed open her communicator and peered down at the few apps she had installed. One of which was simply the castle's messaging application, and though she noticed she had an unread notification, she knew it wasn't from Ace. She gently tabbed open the messages and scanned the list of people she had been recently messaging. Zed's name was at the top, bold faced and signified that he was the one that messaged her, an unread note about just where to meet up for flying lessons this morning. Libby scanned his small message, indicating that he was to be waiting on the castle's front patio, though as her eyes sagged down the list, she noticed that Koko, Nox, Tessa and even Penny's names came before Ace's; she wondered when the last time she had even messaged him was.

She heaved a hot sigh, crossed Nox's silent front balcony and head for the last flight of stairs, that simply lead to the ground. She shook her head, quickly replied to Zed and shoved her communicator away. She knew this weird game of back and forth, with Ace, was likely driving the two mad, though she grimaced and wondered simply just when the two would land on the same page. Libby felt relieved that he had been so patient with her, during this weird time of grieving and accepting her past, though she felt a twinge of guilt come over her. She wondered if maybe in the act of being so painfully patient, did he slowly lose interest in the idea of code swapping altogether. She recounted the last time the two had even been remotely intimate; she grimaced and felt bad to say it had been a decent amount of time.

Libby patiently took her time to enter Lickity's enclosure, quietly retrieve Balba and Marble, and lead them around the back of Throttle's abode, so to squeeze their way to the front patio of the castle. With the two large, sleepy wolves in tow, big paws that were silent against the glossy exterior tiles, though their claws clacked with strength. Libby quickly began to put her hair into a low ponytail, so to prepare for flying, and as the three rounded the corner of the front of the castle, she was thrilled to see Zed patiently hanging out by the outside of the castle's front doors. She felt her mind quickly grow more and more alert, and though the issues with Ace were desperately attempting to cloud anything her mind could conjure up, she felt relieved that this little flying lesson, with Zed, would easily distract her until she saw Ace again.

"Solke'te," Libby eased in a croak of her morning voice, to which Zed curiously jolted his attention to her and gave her a small, bewildered smile. Libby huffed a giggle as she continued to approach, though Balba and Marble rolled to a gentle halt, "It means good morning."

"Ah, well... S-sol...keh..." Zed staggered, he gestured his hand as if to beg his pardon; Libby breathed a louder giggle and shoved her hands into her hoodie pocket.

"Solke'te," Libby repeated, to which Zed finally got out properly. Libby raised her eyebrows and peered out to the castle's front gates, large, gleaming beams of safety that hugged a gorgeous array of sprawling grass fields, flowers and jungle trees, "So, you ready for your flying lesson?"

"I-I guess, I'm sort of nervous," Zed itched, he nervously eyed Marble, who stood and peered down at him in a stoic, sleepy manner.

"Ah, don't be nervous, Marble wouldn't hurt a fly," Libby waggled her hand, though as she began to step down the large stoop that lead to their front door, Balba and Marble slowly followed suit; Zed took his cue and quickly kept up the pace as they began to mosey from the safety of the castle's overhang, "Although, I will warn you... She probably won't let you steer."

"Wh-what?" Zed uttered nervously as he shot his curious attention to Marble, and once the four were stood in the epicenter of the front yard, a massive, rounded splay of bright silver and tan concrete that lead to the garage of the castle, Zed crossed his arms and peered to Marble in solid annoyance, "Kinda hard to fully play out teamwork when the very thing, rocketing me through the sky, won't even let me steer..."

"Sh-she has a will and mind of her own," Libby shrugged, "I don't think Marble's really ever let anyone technically call the shots, in the air. It's all about trust. Maybe one day she'll cave."

"I don't know about this," Zed worried as he glanced to Balba and then back to Libby, "I mean, what about Balba, does she let you steer? Surely this isn't just a lykata thing."

"No, it's... It's a Marble thing," Libby giggled as Marble huffed a breath through her snout, adjusted her stance and eked a demeanor of mild annoyance that they had to be up this early, "You'll be just fine, Marble is a lofty flyer... Much bigger than a typical lykata, she's not going to be darting all around the sky, especially with a human on her back. She'll be kind to you. Don't worry so much..."

"I wish I could say that helped," Zed muttered, though Libby and Balba giggled out to the cold air and shifted on their feet, "S-So, where's Marble's saddle? You've saddled Balba up..."

"Uh, yeah... Again, with the whole 'never has had a rider' thing," Libby gave Zed a sheepish look, "I don't think you're ever going to be able to get a saddle on this ol' girl. She's as wild as they come. Having her even so much as agree to this little flying lesson is a massive step, as is."

"I have to forever fly her bare back?" Zed worried in staggered surprise as he shot his now annoyed look to Marble, though he flinched in surprise and could feel her silver hot stare simply burn a hole through his forehead.

"Word of advice," Balba snipped with a sneaky smile in quietness towards Zed, though she eyed Marble, "Don't tug on her mane... Won't go over well."

"Alright, then I'll just be free falling through this entire process," Zed grumbled, "She won't save me from plummeting to the earth, will she?"

"Guess we'll find out," Libby uttered in a high pitched tone of sheepishness with a shrug, though Zed rolled his eyes and looked away which caused her to slump her shoulders and utter a loud groan, "Oh, it'll be FINE, come on... Why don't we start with boarding. It's a little different than a dragon. I'll demonstrate."

"Alright," Zed huffed as he crossed his arms and kept his attention to Libby, she faced Balba and was prepared to fall into routine.

"Okay, so to mount a lykata, you must wait for their cue. You'll hoist yourself up with the help of your lykata's front left paw. Proper etiquette is to board from the left," Libby kindly explained, her accent soaked into the morning air like a song of enchanted delight. Without any hesitation, Balba gently extended her forearm and left paw, and with one easy step, Libby got her footing on Balba's forearm, swung her leg over and mounted Balba's spine, "See? Like so. Why don't you try."

Zed felt his nervous gaze drag to the formidable beast that hung near him, and before he could argue with Libby that this wasn't going to work, he sucked it up and carefully approached Marble's left. Marble flattened her ears, shifted on her feet in an agitated manner and flicked her tail. With a hot chuff through her nose, of pure dismay, she broadened her furry chest, stood proud and nearly peered at Zed down the bridge of her wolf-like snout. Zed grimaced a nervous noise, gestured to her left front leg and anxiously peered back to Libby. Marble stood solid in stubbornness and refused to allow Zed to mount her.

"C'mon, Mimi, stop being so stubborn," Libby cooed in mild annoyance, though Marble lowered her head and looked away in annoyed guilt, "You're really going to treat the head of our game with such disrespect?"

Marble blew a hard raspberry of a chuff and with a furrowed glower sent in Libby's direction, she finally gave Zed a proper, ogling glance, as if to size him up. With much hesitation, Marble finally extended her left leg and paw, albeit in a sloppy, undesired manner. Zed smiled with the progress and began to gently hoist himself up onto Marble, though with the slickness of her fur, and the sloppiness of her stance, he rapidly lost his footing, slipped and quickly thumped to the ground before Marble's powerful paws with a loud grunt.

"Zeddy, you okay?" Libby urgently wondered as she stiffened and looked as if she was going to dismount Balba, to help, though Zed coughed a few noises, opened his boggled eyes and peered up to the stubborn donkey above him.

"I-I'm fine," Zed grunted in solid, embarrassed dismay, though Marble nearly shot him a cheeky look of delight as she huffed, what Zed could swear, the few breaths of laughter. Zed glowered up at her, quickly stood, brushed himself off and puffed his chest, "Alright, I'm done messing around. Flying takes teamwork, are you really going to treat this as a joke?"

Marble's ears gently sagged, as did her demeanor, and though she looked genuinely apologetic, she still held onto that sneaky, stubborn aura about herself. Like pulling teeth, she finally huffed an annoyed sigh, extended her leg in a much more solid way and allowed Zed to mount her. With greater ease than last time, Zed finally swung his leg and got into the proper positioning. Zed heaved a shaky sigh and peered down to the back of Marble's head. She grunted a noise of uncertainty, shifted on her feet suddenly, in agitation, and flicked the gorgeous splay of her wings, as if to express she had the ability to buck, and she was not afraid to send Zed flying. Zed uttered a few notions down to Marble and tenderly pet down the back of her head, to which he was surprised actually calmed her down.

"Good! This flight might be rocky... I-I'd say just let her do her own thing, don't try and take too much control," Libby urged quietly as Marble and Balba settled, "Unlike flying a dragon, you're supposed to be mounted between their wing and shoulder blades, as opposed to the back of their necks, like you would a dragon."

"Okay," Zed grunted as he scoot back, on Marble's spine, a little, "So, if she flies off and I have no control... It was nice knowing you."

"I won't let that happen," Libby stated sternly as she gave Marble a look of solid dismay, to which Marble flattened her ears and gave Libby a look of annoyed challenge, "Be nice, Mimi. This is my future father-in-law."

Zed furrowed his eyebrows in collected knowing, peered down to Marble's gorgeous fur and shot Libby a delighted, curious smile.

"...Ah-yeah?" Zed wondered as said smile only broadened, though Libby's face turned beet red, as if she simply forgot that Zed was sitting right here, and those words came rolling out of her mouth.

"I-I mean... I-I think maybe one day, I just... Didn't think before I said that," Libby stammered, though Balba cooed a noise of delight and tried to peer at Libby over her shoulder.

"A Mrs. Libby Kalivar," Balba teased out of pure kindness, to which Libby tucked her sleeve covered hand to her mouth and bashfully peered to Zed, who only longingly gave her a look of pure love and acceptance.

"Has a nice ring to it, love," Zed stated knowingly with a bob of a nod, though he could see Libby becoming overwhelmed with bashfulness. He gingerly pat the side of Marble's neck and peered up to the skies, clear as day, beckoning a good go around the game, "Alright, Libby... You lead the way. I have no choice in the matter."

"O-Okay... No funny business, Mimi," Libby pointed, to which Marble looked away and flattened her ears, as if she simply didn't want to be apart of something she had never even tried, the urge to have a solid companion, a sense of camaraderie, a tight hold with the core of the game; she knew it came with giving up a few notions of freedom, though she had to wonder if perks filled the gaps.

Zed heaved a shaky sigh and braced himself for what was to come, and before he could even properly say all of his prayers and hope for the best, Balba spread her gorgeous green wings, braced herself and leaped to the sky in a few bounds of grace. Zed hunkered tight to Marble's furry spine and felt her body tense, and just as she sprawled her flawless silk wings, he felt the need to simply forget all of his worries and take in this creature's stunning beauty. With a firm gallop and a thrust into the air, her powerful wings flapped with a great amount of strength, and in no time, they were high above the game, diligently trailing behind Balba and Libby.

Zed huffed a noise of relief and felt himself want to fall into the notions of needing to steer, though before he could tenderly grip the shorter white fur on her shoulder blades, he ogled her gorgeous feathers and wings. Sprawled to their full extent, they boasted the morning sunshine with the hot white trail that was her dorsal. With the stark difference of charcoal grey, on her ventral side, he relished in every angle and side of difference she had to offer, and though she was definitely a force to be reckoned with, he grimaced a curious smile and wondered just why it all seemed so familiar; he was aware they were likely two peas in a pod, though getting through that thick layer of understanding was what deemed to be the hardest part of all of this.

With a wing span that easily stretched beyond Balba's, Marble's wings flapped in slow progression because of their size, her beautiful, silky feathers caught the wind with great agility, and as Zed peered over his shoulder to get an ogling glance down the rest of Marble's body, he noticed her long, platypus-like tail was sprawled to it's full extent, as well; dark, under belly feathers were splayed alongside her creamy white dorsal feathers, and with a huff of disbelief in such raw beauty, he finally dragged his eyes out to what was in front of him. Balba, in all her glory, was a much lighter, smaller lykata that took to the skies with nearly greater ease than Lickity. A much lither, littler creature truly resonated in the definition of being as light as a feather.

"So far so good, huh?" Libby called as Balba leveled out and slowly sunk to Marble's right, just across the way.

"Seemingly so," Zed chuckled as he peered to his right and gave Libby a thumbs up; his electric blue hair waved about in a frenzy of the cold, morning, high altitude air they soared through.

"So, what's going to be different about lykatas, compared to dragons, is they're a lot sharper in the air... Not technically faster, just have tighter turning and agility," Libby called softly, Zed bobbed a nod and peered down to the back of Marble's head, "Go ahead and see if she'll maybe let you steer..."

Zed nodded again, and as gently as he could, he grappled some of the shorter, durable tufts of her white fur in his hands and planted his knees into the pockets of her wings, where it connected with her belly. In the gentlest tug, he leaned down and to his right, to cue her to bank right, though Marble snorted a noise of defiance, largely flapped her wings to get him to re-situate his knees and knocked Zed out of his own formation. Zed grunted, grappled the muscle of her wing and peered Libby a look of solid dismay.

"No luck," Zed huffed in now whole annoyance, he glared to the back of Marble's head and felt taunted, at this point.

"I figured, didn't hurt to try," Libby shrugged, "Alright... Let her do her own thing, I'll fly slow. She'll follow Balba, just hold on tight."

"Alright," Zed urged in nervousness as Balba flapped to pick up the pace, and as she finally got a few yards before Marble, the two lykatas picked up speed.

Zed glowered out to the world about him, his own game, every single last fiber and pixel of the game's existence was under his own rule, though as he sat aboard said stubborn lykata, he felt alien not being in control, in this instance. He grimaced an annoyed noise and so desperately tried to let go of the feeling absolute, of needing to hold everything with his fist, he wondered if Marble was simply trying to teach him something, though he also knew full-well that flying was a diligent teamwork. He heaved a shaky breath and felt nervous; he knew, at any given moment, Marble could so easily throw him, and though he knew he'd regenerate, he rolled his eyes and was beyond aware that this isn't how he would like to spend any morning.

"I'm going to bank a few times, try and lean into each turn and act as if you are simply the one steering," Libby called behind her, "We just need to ease into this slowly."

"Okay," Zed called in compliance, though as he noticed Balba gently tuck her left wing in, sprawl her right wing farther and bank left, he could feel Marble's body go through the same motion.

Zed bit his lip in apprehension and gripped the shorter fur on her spine, though as Marble began to bank with Balba's movements, he returned to his original riding position and eased into the same motion, as if he was simply the one deciding this direction, even though he knew he wasn't. With great ease, he was thrilled to feel this go so much easier than last time, though the second the four leveled out, Marble huffed an irritated noise of defiance, flapped her wings in a small bout of a haphazard flutter and shake Zed's knees out from the typical spot he'd need them in, for proper flying. Zed shifted his positioning, glared down at the back of Marble's head and felt his heart want to give up.

He sagged his demeanor and peered out to the skies in solid sorrow, he knew he could fly Lickity and Royal with literally no issue, whatsoever, so the fact that getting Marble to cooperate was the largest chore in history, had his heart sinking in defeat. He finally allowed sadness to gloss him, and in doing so, he tenderly allowed his hands to rub the fur he was gripping. As the cold, silent wind whipped around him, his blue eyes glossed Marble's beautiful fur. He shook his head, rubbed her gently and was surprised to feel her demeanor peak from stubborn annoyance to now perked curiosity.

"I understand why you're upset," Zed's deep voice grumbled, he shook his head and closed his eyes, "You don't need a rider... You need a friend."

Marble gently flapped her wings once and remained in a glide behind Balba, though it was in this instance could he tell that Marble was now intently listening. He sighed out to the world in silence, sat up a little straighter and allowed both his hands and arms to sprawl out with her wings. His fingers weaved with her flawless white feathers, and as he felt every single muscle of her wings move in diligence, he smiled and shook his head once more.

"I wish we could come to an agreement, but it just looks like... We're both too stubborn to give the other full control," Zed grumbled, "I've never been used to this issue because... Well... The only two flyers I've even flown have sort of been like family, to me. It's been easy... Unconditional."

Marble sagged her demeanor a little and peered out to the world in growing defeat, and though she wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet, she felt Zed's still posture, his kind hands, his sweet soul resonate everything she knew she needed. She heaved a hot breath through her nose and held onto that stubborn front she knew she'd have to give up eventually, though she held out for as long as she could.

"I understand if this is something you don't want," Zed breathed quietly out to the breeze, though Marble's ears perked in nervousness, as if to somehow silently express to him that this was genuinely something she wanted, though getting there deemed to be difficult for her stubborn heart.

"You're awfully quiet, back there," Libby called nervously as Balba flapped a few times, and as she slowed to let her and Marble be even in the sky, Libby kept her curious gaze pierced to Zed's, "Everything alright?"

Zed peered down at the back of Marble's head and felt as if Libby's words had brought him back to the hard reality of the matter, the fact that she still would not let him steer, and it was in this moment of vulnerability between the two did he begin to feel as if he had given everything he had to give, with still no form of progression or success.

"She's still not letting me steer," Zed grumbled in his growing, discouraged tone.

He huffed a hard sigh and peered to Libby across the gap of sky, her and Balba easily held aloft in a glide. Zed knew exactly how to fly dragons, and any large creature that was to be entrusted and trained, though he knew Marble was a whole different animal. Zed carefully grappled the glorious white fur that lined Marble's spine, and with previous cues he was so used to from flying Lickity and Royal, he tugged gently; Marble choked a near sarcastic huff of a bark, as if to merely laugh at Zed's efforts.

"See?" Zed gestured down to Marble in dire annoyance, though Libby waggled her hands and rolled her eyes.

"So... She's a little stubborn. She obviously took a liking to you," Libby shook her head and gave Zed a kind smile, "Obviously she wouldn't let you onto her back if she didn't even remotely trust you."

"What's it gunna take?" Zed muttered as he slumped and let this massive lykata steer herself, he was simply a passenger aboard this rocket.

"Just patience, I guess," Libby giggled, though she flinched as suddenly Zed's demeanor tensed.

Zed got to his feet, aboard Marble's spine, took two running steps and lunged himself off of the top of Marble's head, and straight into plummeting to the earth below them. Libby called Zed's name in pure terror as she flung her arm out, though it quickly dribbled to angry, sarcastic cursing in Teltokuan as her and Balba quickly averted their attention to the dangerous situation at hand. All at once, Marble yipped a loud noise of concern, flapped her massive, glorious wings in pure chaos, and as she noticed her new rider suddenly dive bomb for the planet, Marble tried to steady herself amidst the whirlwind of feathers and the haphazard flapping of her wings. With a hard bark of solid concern, she urgently took a sharp nosedive after Zed and did everything she could to rocket straight after him; a new emotion of a caring, valiant attempt to catch him, before he hit the ground, burned through her hot white fur like it was her soul purpose in life.

* * *

 **A/N :** I drew fanart, for that last part, titled 'You've Lost Your Marbles' on my deviantART :) Username - Vyntresser

 **ALSO!**

 **I have created a public, open Facebook group for my artwork! But not just any artwork - ALLLL the crap that doesn't make it to deviantART!**

 **So, this means any and all doodles no one has seen before, Works In Progress for the artwork of Rectifying Origin, and anything else that isn't 'polished' enough to make it to my deviantART. I am constantly drawing and doodling - and I've finally found a way to share all of it**

 **I also have posted the majority of your guys' sketchdump requests to this page! (the third R.O. sketch dump is coming soon!)**

 **If you're interested, go ahead and follow me at Vyn's Creations! I'll be uploading all my doodles, WIP's and other BS frequently!**

 **Since I can't link, here on FF** **...**

 **The Facebook page is called 'Vyn's Creations' - the URL username situation thing is 'vynniecreates'**

 **You'll know you're in the right spot, it's an open/public group and all my artwork is plastered all over it xD**


	169. Chapter 169

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** No worries! I'm happy to see your reviews, they always brighten my day :D Yes, Ace is a bit of a space cadet, for a small while... I hope it doesn't drive everyone TOO bonkers haha. And, yes! The picture I have on deviantART, with Rancis, Penny, Vanellope and Lickity, will be coming up in a bit. Not extremely soon, but it's still a thing :) Thank you so much!

 **Retrokill :** Haha thank you! He may be the core, and future king, but he still is a squishy blue bundle of nerves haha

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Up The Spirit Caverns Walls (ft. Tom Boyd) by Gareth Coker (Ori and the Blind Forest Soundtrack)**

 ***Chapter 169***

With the cool, morning wind that so rapidly turned to near-blistering cold, due to Marble's sudden nose-dive, she squinted and kept her silver eyes honed to Zed in a solid hold of determined fear. She uttered a loud call of a noise, as if to somehow scold Zed for doing just what he did, and it was in this high speed chase of urgency did Marble's heart race with fear, the ultimate show of care for another being, and with this, she flattened her ears, tucked her wings tight to her body and did everything she could to catch up to Zed in their nosedive to the planet.

Zed squinted and could hear Marble nervously calling after him, as if he had any control on stopping, though he smiled a sneaky smile and was curious to see just how far she'd take this sudden display of love and care. With tactics he had picked up from flying Lickity for so long, he grappled the ends of his hoodie, near his waist, and pulled it taut to his right, to create a make-shift wing. With a single bounce of effort, he suddenly banked to the right and not only began to dive faster, he managed to do so with an incredible amount of agility.

Marble uttered a noise of growing concern and now felt as if she was being taunted, though it was in this weird bout of terror and frustration did she continue to come to the conclusion that Zed simply had no way of safely landing, and in this, she knew she had no choice but to catch up to him immediately. With an even tighter dive, she finally began to approach him through the rushing, whipping wind that was now seemingly unforgiving. She narrowed her gaze as she happened upon Zed, though just as she remembered how rapidly the ground was approaching, she widened her eyes and realized they weren't simply plummeting over land; they dove straight for one of Dead Zed's oceans, littered with pockets of land and dangerous, towering trees.

Zed nervously peered down at his demise, and in this little field test he knew was likely a low blow, he suddenly began to grow worried; even though she was desperately trying to keep up, to save Zed, he had to wonder if she wasn't quick enough for the job, and no matter how hard she tried, he brought this pain on himself. He grimaced and remembered that hitting water, from this high up, was similar to hitting concrete, though he rolled his eyes and knew regeneration was a beautiful thing. He braced himself for the pain and finally closed his eyes, once he realized he was within a two hundred feet stretch of his death. He scrunched his face and prepared for pain, though before any more thoughts of apprehension could dart into his mind, he was suddenly shook from his positioning and rushed away.

Zed coughed a noise, grappled his hands to the fur on Marble's spine, and urgently opened his eyes just in time to see Marble's beautiful wings chaotically flap to bring the two to correction, though before any form of straightening out could be redeemed, the two haphazardly slapped to the water in a glide of solid speed, and as water suddenly splayed the air in all directions, Marble's large body continued to cut the air in half. In the mere milliseconds Zed had to determine just where his positioning was on the planet, he firmly dug his knees into the proper positioning and gripped Marble's fur in a show of solid dominance. He uttered a hard yell, tugged up and so desperately tried to pull her to correction.

Marble uttered a hard roar, finally peeled from the water at high speed and continued to rocket towards oncoming jungle trees. Zed flinched as the water sprayed at them at full speed, though as Marble finally flapped her wings to correction and held tight with her steadying positioning, Zed realized the two were going way too fast to simply stop cold turkey. Zed firmly hunkered to Marble's spine, and without any form of communication, preparation or bracing, he held tight to cues he normally would when it came to flying Lickity or Royal. With gentle digs into her side, from his knees, and abrupt tugs of agile steering, Marble's gloriously mesmerizing feathers and body immediately trained to Zed's every move, and with such a single aligned camaraderie, Marble aileron rolled through a few thickets of jungle trees, popped out the other side and remained in a tight glide above the roaring ocean underneath.

As quickly as the chaos ensued, it settled, and with this, Zed remained frozen atop Marble's spine. He shook in solid surprise as his hair whipped around in a wet slop of the throw around, and before he could inquire if Marble was okay, she grunted a noise of concerned dismay, steered a hard left, flapped her wings firmly a few times and began to scale a small peak of land upwards towards the clifftop. Once she reached it, amidst the hug of an open glide, she leveled out on the peak, flapped a few times and allowed her paws to finally rest on the land. Once planted, she suddenly shook her spine, flapped her wings and was successful in near-bucking Zed from her back. He grunted a noise of complaint, hit the ground and grappled his side in pain, though before he could holler up at her that said punishment wasn't fair, Marble bared her fangs, shoved her paw firmly to Zed's chest and let loose a trembling growl that rode on the dregs of her adrenaline.

"Don't EVER scare me like that, ever again!" Marble yelled, her telepathic abilities rung true in Zed's brain, and as Zed un-boggled his mind and peered up at Marble in solid shock, he remained frozen underneath her as her loud snarling continued, "I don't know what kind of an idiot you think you are, but you certainly are a special brand I'm not even aware of!"

Zed heavily panted, and as the atmosphere about the two fell silent in the whispering lull of the jungle trees that swayed in the cool breeze, sunlight began to shine and filter through Marble's gorgeous mane. Zed peered up at her with a renewed sense of friendship, and it was with this did a goofy, excited smile finally sprawl his face. He huffed a delirious chuckle, shook his head and remained planted underneath Marble's powerful paw.

"This isn't funny!" Marble shouted, her snarling continued, though it finally grew tired and dribbled off.

"You love me," Zed cheesed as he titled his head and gave Marble a look of dorky delight, though he flinched as Marble uttered a loud groan of dire annoyance, swiped her paw away from him and began to saunter away in a pacing frenzy of uncertainty.

Zed breathed a shaky chuckle, groaned in the small amount of pain and rolled onto his side so he could properly bring himself to a sitting. He rubbed his forehead free of the ocean water, huffed a collected breath and gently peered his attention to the glorious beast to his right. Splayed in sunlight, she peered off the cliff's edge in contemplation, and in all of her enchanted, majestic beauty, she shook her head in kind defeat and remained solid in her stance. Zed sagged his shoulders and felt as if they had properly broke down that wall of distrust they had set upon each other, and it was in this raw, unconventional moment of love did he finally feel as if they were making progress. He smiled down to his hands and gently got to his feet. Once he carefully approached her, she tilted her ear in his direction and just barely faced him, as if to show a shy display of remorse.

"I-I've never really... Had a friend," Marble admitted, her gentle voice coat the inside of Zed's head like a warm blanket on a cold night. He looked down to her paws in sorrow and shook his head.

"What about Balba and Libby?" Zed inquired softly, though he flinched once Marble's gorgeous silver eyes looked to his in a final instance of trust, instead of feeling as if she was about to burn a hole through his being.

"I raised them," Marble stated softly as he white mane rippled with the breeze, flickered in the rising sunlight, glints of water made it look as if she was simply a heavenly presence Zed had the glory of basking in, "It's different..."

"What you're saying is... You've never had an equal," Zed's deep voice inquired, his hot blue hair was splayed in different directions, soaked and near matted to his scalp. He heaved a long sigh, rung the ends of his shirt and hoodie free of water and finally relaxed.

Marble shook her head and continued to hold her vulnerable gaze to Zed's, as if she was on the brink of letting him in, oh how desperately she wanted to continue to have no ties, she knew somehow those days had come to an end.

"You know you don't have to give up any form of freedom, by being my companion, by being my friend," Zed shrugged as he side-eyed her, as if to state that she should've known this all along.

"You're the head of the game," Marble admitted, ultimately handing him the reigns to this trust issue. She sagged her wings as her fur continued to lightly drip water underneath.

"Doesn't mean I have full say in everything you do," Zed shrugged, "Look at Lickity, Royal... Even Balba. I don't consider them my property. They're beings with their own minds, their own will. User forbid Lickity wanted to fly the coop, be apart of her own situation, say goodbye to us... We wouldn't have any right to stop her from living her life."

Marble's eyes sagged down Zed's chest in understanding, though as she gently peered out to the skies, where she sought freedom, she nervously heaved a long sigh and wondered if anything would change.

"You're not giving up anything, by being a part of our family," Zed held his hand to his chest and stepped closer to her, he lovingly tilted his head and gave her a look of gentle delight, "You'd only be gaining my trust... My friendship."

"I trust you," Marble admitted quietly as her ears flattened, a show of handing over dominance, and it was in this act did she hesitantly lower her head and keep her eyes trained to Zed's.

"C'mon, it doesn't have to be like that," Zed chuckled as he lovingly cupped Marble's soft chin, ultimately bringing her back to his line of sight, and as Marble's ears perked in gentle delight, the happiness and relief finally came back to her demeanor, "Thank you... For saving me."

"The next time you decide sky-diving off of me is a grand idea, you're on your own," Marble teased in a low grumble, though Zed rolled his eyes and looked away.

"I know you don't mean that," Zed smiled, he gave her a look of loving gratefulness and shook his head, "I'm really glad I have you. I-I've always wanted my own flyer."

"Well... What about Lickity?" Marble inquired, "She seems to really like you."

"I love Lickity, but she's not technically my flyer," Zed stated as his face washed flat in soft knowing, he looked down and bobbed a nod, "She's Tessa's."

"Well... I haven't really ever wanted a rider," Marble stated nervously, though as the two caught eyes, once more, she huffed a small noise of defeat and bared her teeth in a gentle smile, "I guess a change of heart is necessary sometimes, in life... Happy to oblige."

"Will you please let me steer us home?" Zed stated in a gentle laugh of annoyance, though Marble gave him a cheeky look and snapped her fangs shut in a sneaky smile of defiance.

"Nope."

* * *

With bumbling steps, Penny sleepily made her way towards her bedroom door and was prepared to hopefully get in some practice, with her swords, before breakfast. The sun had just risen, a sleepy aura the cool, enchanted jungle trees set upon the land, she was aware the castle's head were simply out and about for other duties; Zed with Libby and Tessa with Ace. She knew she had a spot in mind, a spot close by she had often escaped to so she could properly practice her swordsmanship, her fighting techniques, without having to destroy any of the Kalivar lot's gorgeous tree trunks. She was aware she could likely get Tessa to code her a proper dummy to practice on, one that could take a stab or two, though she relished in her little escape, every single day. Although long gone were the days where she'd vanish for nearly a week on end, she knew she had to at least get out every morning to quell her wandering, curious heart.

Penny sport a tight, black tank top, comfortable jeans with rips in the knees, and was now comfortable with the fact that her hair was long enough to put into a small ponytail. She grimaced and often wondered if she should cut it again, like how it used to be, though the flitting thought of her brand new boyfriend came to her mind. She knew, Orph of all people, wouldn't be phased by the way her hair looked, though she felt a nostalgic, riveting spirit about herself, the fact that she could now wear her hair down and doll up for her new love interest. She bashfully exhaled a long sigh, tumultuous noise that buzzed inside her head, she knew her and Orph's relationship was only brand new, and moving way too quickly would not only startle the two, but everyone around her. She bit her lip and wondered if there were any ways they could gently inch things forward in private, without it being too overbearing.

Upon her thoughts, she swung her door open quietly, stepped out into the comfortably sunlit hallway and was surprised to hear a few voices that bounced off of the high arched acoustics of the castle walls. She cocked an eyebrow and peered down the row of bedrooms to her right, though as her swords remained tightly strapped to her body, she began to inch to her left, in the direction of the back door, which ultimately led to a small intersection between the kitchen's back door, the entrance to the garage and a small, shaded patio that lead to the backyard and Throttle's abode. Upon her secretive stepping, and her eyes sharply glued down the stretch of hallway to her right, she was so suddenly jostled out of her silent footsteps in a bump of a halt and grappling hands that lovingly, though clumsily, held tight to the backs of her upper arms, as her and said sudden individual steadied themselves from too much stumbling.

"Whoa, there, ms. sneaks-about, castle living has made your hunter hearing dull, eh?" Orph only teased as he gingerly swung Penny a little, so that her back was to her exit of choice and his back was now to the gaping hallway Penny's eyes were previously glued down.

"O-Oh, I... I... Just-" Penny staggered in a huff and rush of delirious confusion, the rile of her dainty, girly daydreaming so suddenly becoming a reality right before her. She inhaled the shakiest breath and dared to drag her eyes up the broad of Orph's sculpted, bare chest. He had a small, white towel draped over the front of his shoulder, and it was in this quick whirl about did Penny gather and collect enough information to understand that Orph had likely just gone for a run with the rising sun. Her small hands gripped the tops of his forearms as they held in a small bubble of warm, quiet enchantment, though she felt her face turn beet red as she finally caught eyes with him, "I-I'm sorry, I just... Was going to..."

"You don't need to justify yourself to sneaking out, I won't breathe a word... Good morning, by the way," Orph's deep voice quietly glossed the tops of Penny's nose and cheek, and in a small tug, he gingerly leaned down, placed a warm kiss to the side of Penny's cheek, near her jaw and neck, and slowly pulled away. He back stepped a bit, gently pointed in her direction and slapped the towel snug over his other shoulder, "We'll hang after quittin' time, yeah?"

"Uh... Y-Yeah, I'd love that," Penny urged with a bashful smile and a gentle wrinkle of her fingers in a wave of complete, girly delight; Orph chuckled, bobbed a nod and began to saunter away.

"See yah, blondie," Orph called, though as he walked away, Penny sagged her arms to her sides in a stupor of delight and now felt wholly conflicted about leaving the building.

She shook her head, back-stepped a few times and knew now she really needed to get out and clear her head, though before she could push out of the back door, Orph called after her, far down the hall.

"Watch your step, there's a big, mean dragon hanging outside that door," Orph warned with an annoyed chuckle, "Nearly snapped me in two."

Penny furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, shoved out the door and knew his voice was only even more so of an enticing invite to simply stay and spoil their secrets to every single castle member on the Kalivar lot, though as she heaved herself outside, and the door swung shut quietly, she plowed her back to the wall next to it, bugged her eyes and pierced her gaze firmly to the outer wall of the garage, in which she was now across from. She grumbled an annoyed noise to herself, sagged her shoulders, closed her eyes and felt her heart race in a flurry of feelings. Annoyance that she was caught leaving, delight as to the person who caught her in said act, and hope for the evening to come. She finally reopened her eyes in a staggering shot of the sunlight that flitted through the jungle leaves above, though she jumped clear out of her skin at the voice that choked into existence, to her left.

"He's right, y'know," Lickity suddenly barked, though Penny gasped, clutched her chest and bugged her eyes in solid confusion, as if to wonder just what else was going to be tossed her way.

"L-Lickity!" Penny urged in a hiss of a whisper as she froze and tried to calm her racing heart, "I-I... For User's sakes, does EVERYONE wake up at this hour, now?"

"Well, I typically go to sleep once it's about seven or eight, but... I saw Orph crossing the lot," Lickity grumbled, though she furrowed her brow and began to sniffle at Penny's lightly trembling hands, "You, uh... Gunna be okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Penny urged in a stagger of now growing annoyance, the need to keep hers and Orph's precious secret at bay, the urge to run away for the morning, she wondered just who else was going to stop her, though in the rush of everything, she grew confused and peered to Lickity in solid curiosity that soaked over her, "Wait a second... Why do you care what Orph's up to?"

"Well... I-I typically don't," Lickity uttered, and it was clear she was struggling to find the proper words, "I just... I was trying to talk to him."

"TALK to Orph, you?" Penny cocked an eyebrow and was somehow becoming defensive of Orph. She knew what Orph had done to Lickity, in the past, was extremely terrible, though she was somehow curious if they would ever get along, "You usually want nothing to do with him."

"Well... That is very true, but... Look, I know about you and Orph," Lickity finally admitted, though Penny's face grew hot in embarrassed surprise.

"Who told you," Penny huffed in mild annoyance, the fact that she now had to write someone on her list of 'do not trust with secrets'.

"No one told me," Lickity gave Penny a smug, incredulous smile, "I'm an animal. Typically, me, Royal and Balba can sniff out a relationship before any of you guys are even aware of it. It's called pheromones."

"Ehh, yuck, okay, point taken," Penny waggled her hand, though she drew her fingers to her temples, rubbed them and began to look even further agitated, "Just... Please keep it to yourself."

"I have been," Lickity eased as she flattened her ears, though she looked down and sighed.

"Not like you'd have anything to talk about, with Orph, don't you two like... I don't know, hate each other?" Penny argued, she continued to keep her stance, though Lickity straightened her posture and looked beyond the stretch of the garage walls, which lead to the front patio of the castle.

"Why don't we both go to your little runaway location, for the morning," Lickity eased, she eyed Penny, "Looks like we both have a lot on our chests, about Orph."


	170. Chapter 170

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** I'm glad you feel that way! Yeah, I'm trying to fill the gaps where I can, all while moving the story along in such a way that is believable and at just the right pace. I'm really apologetic for all these fillers, but at the same time, I want the story to be full and well rounded. I'm going to try my hardest not to really leave anyone behind character wise. Yes, I love Penny's arc - it's been interesting to write for, having her go from so sweet and innocent, to hardened and bitter, and then having to come out of that lifestyle, it's definitely been interesting, but it's taught me a lot, as a writer, so it's been good! I appreciate your kind words :D

 **chuckiboo :** I'm happy you like the flyers! I was worried adding the lot of them would muddle the story and you guys would become disinterested, but I'm glad you guys have stuck around and given these fluffy, scaly guys some love as well! Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** You'll definitely find out! :) Thank you!

 **Silversurfer :** Hey thanks a lot! :D Yes, it was an amazing trip, I also am very glad to be home, as I am very much a homebody xD I appreciate the love! Thank you! Listening to game and movie scores certainly helps when it comes to having to describe environment!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

Up The Spirit Caverns Walls (ft. Tom Boyd) from Ori and the Blind Forest soundtrack

* * *

 ***Chapter 170***

Through the thicket of the jungle trees, Penny and Lickity slowly strolled, single file, in the quiet, misty morning atmosphere. Shroud in humidity that was thick and damp near the jungle's floor, both girls knew that high above the canopy, the sky's limits held onto a crisp, cool breeze they nearly longed for. Though, for now, they stepped every which way, crossing over risen roots of moss covered trenches, sprawling bushes of gaping palm leaves and wild flowers galore, the jungle definitely catered to every single sense.

As Penny ducked a bit to clear a low hanging branch that seemingly carried on through the jungle and vanished to the unforeseeable, she exhaled a satisfied sigh, stood up straight, put her hands on her hips and peered to the smaller, brighter clearing she was oh so familiar with. Lickity huffed a small noise of near annoyance, the fact that she was simply walking through all this dirt, mud and foliage when she typically flew, and though she was aware she could just snatch Penny up and they would've reached Penny's destination a little faster, she relished in the silence the two potentially needed; they both were aware of the tension hanging, and as if the quiet moments between them were enough time to digest that this conversation likely wasn't to be the easiest.

"How'd you find this place?" Lickity's voice pierced the clearing in softness, flits of jungle leaves glinted through the rays of warm sunshine that seemingly bevelled in and out of existence, through the jungle's canopies. Glorious, morning song birds could be heard with their exotic calls, their native chants of the morning's gift of sunshine, and as Penny gently knelt, jumped off of the boulder the two were leveled with, she eased into the small valley of a clearing. Lickity flinched and watched as Penny began to mosey over towards a massive stump, where a tree used to likely stand proudly. She wrinkled her bat snout and cocked her head, "You're lucky it's close to the castle... Getting lost out here is likely the last thing you'll ever do."

"I know how to track, where to go," Penny explained, and though she maybe came across as entitled and simply speaking about tracking to a wild animal seemed pointless, she gently pointed up to the sky, and again to the foliage nearby, "I always keep track of the sun, even through rain. Also, these gorgeous blue flowers, here, only face East... Which, from here, is the direction of the castle."

"Wise," Lickity explained with a bob of a nod, she simply didn't need to look around due to the fact that those were skills instilled in her from the time she was a young pup. Lickity huffed a long exhale, neared Penny's workout area and sat on her hindquarters. She sagged the wrists of her wings to the ground, relaxed her tail and the fins that lined it, and flattened her ears, "So... You practice on this poor tree?"

"Well... What's left of it," Penny shrugged, the clearing seemed to perfectly boast the trunk. About twenty feet around and likely a dozen feet to the shards of the last of it, it still stood proud, even though it lacked a majority of it's own being. It was beaten up and left with good sized slices, from Penny's previous adventures out to this spot. Penny neared the trunk and so gingerly trailed her fingers across one of the slices, her eager eyes glossed to Lickity's as she continued on, "I was just out moseying when I stumbled across this little haven. Pretty, isn't it?"

"It is," Lickity stated in a cheerful, though nonchalant hum as she looked about, her gorgeous green eyes tightened the slit of her pupils as they drew up towards the sun, "I'd be honored to show you prettier, one of these days."

"I'd like that," Penny nodded, though she tried not to become too much of an opened book for Lickity to go traipsing into. Before either girls could get more words out, Penny quickly swiped out one of her swords, Rancis's infamous double striped, and in a thrust of a swipe, she unsheathed the cross-striped sword, the branch from Ralph's and Vanellope's rare find of a tree, "Don't want to wander too far, though... Tessa's told me all about that one time she got lost out here, while Ace was just a baby."

"For User's sakes, I thought we'd lost that girl altogether," Lickity shuddered at the thought of Tessa blindly trailing away in the jungle's nightlife. Lickity flinched as Penny's form was sharp and precise, she sliced into the study trunk with all her force, and although she had good form, Lickity couldn't help but notice she maybe was lacking simply because her target was a stationary, inanimate object. Lickity flattened her ears a little harder and side-eyed Penny as she continued to swipe in fighting aggression, "May... I suggest something?"

"... Sure?" Penny urged in such a way to seem jarred, as if she potentially didn't want Lickity's advice, and the simple fact that Lickity wanted to give it without it being asked for, called for more of an urgency to push Lickity away.

"You seem as though you're becoming slow on your feet... How many of those wild beasts have you actually gone toe to toe with?" Lickity prod, and though she was aware Penny might become defensive, she was prepared for the backlash.

"... Roughly a dozen," Penny muttered as she slowed her roll and shot Lickity a dirty look, something Lickity already anticipated.

"Yeah?" Lickity boasted as she finally stood, sprawled her wings a bit and puffed her chest. She bared her fangs slightly, in a passive aggressive smile and began to look mildly intimidating, "So... If I were to come at you right now, full animalistic rage... You'd be able to end me and come out of this battle alive?"

Penny now peered to Lickity in solid fear, though she was frozen and the look on her face read disbelief. Penny's arms sagged a bit, as if she was simply hoping to come out here for a mere pow-wow, not a full on battle of strength. Penny cocked an eyebrow and put on a show of confidence, however forced it may be, and sized Lickity up. A creature that simply exuded speed and power, Penny was well aware she was a force to be reckoned with, and anything Lickity had to throw her way was simply something she was unprepared for.

"I-I wouldn't come out of it unscathed, but... I'm confident I'd be the victor," Penny flubbed, she grappled the grips of her swords in now near-terrified confusion, though Lickity huffed a small laugh and shook her head. She bowed a little and began to sneakily come closer, the blades of her shoulders wormed in a slithering way, as if she were simply a panther stalking her prey.

"Next question, since you and Orph seem to be... Getting along nicely," Lickity snipped with a smile as she began to press closer, "Betcha he didn't tell you about the time I blasted his ass clear across the stretch with just my fire."

Penny swallowed hard and began to back step as Lickity grew closer, though as Penny glowered to Lickity's directions and raised her swords, Lickity's powerful, clawed paws grappled with the sturdy ground underneath as she expanded her broad chest.

"How many creatures in Sugar Rush, that you come up against, could breathe fire?" Lickity's voice grew, which caused Penny's nervousness to rise.

"None," Penny mumbled with uncertainty as she carefully back-stepped, though she fumbled a bit; she knew she was out of practice.

"Whatever you throw at me will simply be better training for you, so why don't you go ahead and try me," Lickity lightly barked, she gave Penny a look of hard knowing and tilted her head down, though her terrifyingly slit pupils never left Penny's trembling core, "Nothing could be worse than Orph's whips coming at my face every single day."

"Lickity," Penny urged nervously, though it was clear she was beginning to show the very beginnings of fight or flight, and in this instance, she raised her swords and prepared to stand her ground.

"No one will know just what I went through, and though I'm aware it's in the past, it's simply hard to believe that man has the tenderness to reverse his actions," Lickity began to show her fangs in simply a manner of grief-ridden annoyance, as opposed to taking this all out on Penny, "Let alone actually attract a mate and care of said mate with the very hands that sought to destroy me!"

"Lickity, he's not like that any longer! He's-"

"DIFFERENT!" Lickity suddenly yelled mockingly, and it was in this action of adrenaline did Penny finally top her back-stepping and stand her ground to Lickity before she was pushed into the thicket of the jungle about them, every last feather and strand of fur, on Lickity's spine, was sprawled and puffed in a rush of solid power that coursed through her circuits; she sprawled her wings and tried her hardest not to look so threatening that it scarred Penny, though she definitely hoped this would somehow help get out her conflicting emotions, "The only reason he's like this is because now he has Zed and Tessa keeping a close eye on him!"

"That's not it at all, people can have a change of heart, Lickity, if you'd just give him a chance!" Penny shouted as she gently crossed her swords before her, to warn Lickity not to come any closer.

"Believe you me, I'd love to sit here and believe that man actually has changed his mind on animal cruelty, but I can't be swayed simply because he acts right and has garnered a girl," Lickity growled, though in the act of everything, Penny grit her teeth and lunged towards Lickity in a draw of attack, and although Penny was fast, Lickity was faster. Lickity skid to the side, kicked up some debris and glared and Penny over her shoulder, "I know you're smarter than to fall into his trap, Penny... Don't fall into it like I did."

"There is no trap! There is no fooling anyone!" Penny hollered as she pointed her left sword down to the ground in a show of dominance, though Lickity quickly garnered her stance and took a few powerful strides towards Penny, "You simply are too stubborn to let go of your hard feelings because you somehow believe he owes you the world!"

"He ruined the better half of my adolescent life!" Lickity yelled through a growl, and though she lunged at Penny simply for the sake of practicing her footwork, she now became enraptured in the rage and gave Penny a little bit more of her actual anger than intended. Penny dove, tucked and rolled and quickly slashed her sword towards Lickity's feet, to which Lickity immediately retaliated by taking Penny's legs completely out from under her with a single swipe of her massive, sturdy tail. Penny yelped a noise of discomfort as she fell to the ground, though as Lickity turned around and reared up, she dove for Penny once more, "Whose to say he won't do that to the NEXT helpless, unfortunate being in his path!"

"Because I probably know him better than anyone, at this standpoint," Penny urged loudly as she dodged Lickity's attacked, ducked from the swipe of her powerful wings and whirled around with the footwork and agility her father so diligently taught her. She pointed the double striped sword straight for Lickity and prepared for another one of Lickity's strikes, though she began to grow genuinely angry at this previously harmless outing, "How can you say that Orph can't possibly grow from this?! You have!"

"I've grown stronger, wiser!" Lickity urged through the show of her fangs, her snarling only persisted, and as she took a deep breath, Penny felt her pupils tighten in a fearful draw of anticipation, "I so badly want to make amends with that man, though I just simply can't help but fear for your wellbeing whenever I see you with him."

"Honestly, the only thing he could likely kill me with, at this stand point, is his coding," Penny barked with a snide smile, which only angered Lickity further. She reared up and began to prepare to dive for Penny, once more, and as smoke began to trail from her fangs, Penny readied herself.

"Why the HELL would you want THAT!" Lickity full on shouted as she finally took the dive for Penny, and in a single swipe, Penny thrust her sword outward and felt the hot blow of Lickity's fire that came crawling towards her.

In the whirl of everything, Penny urgently tucked out of the way, caught her bearings and stood in a tall inhale of strength and dominance. As Lickity quickly reeled and came back from their downfall, Penny suddenly swiped her sword to Lickity's cheek, as hard as she could, and although the blade wasn't strong enough to do much damage to Lickity's tough scales, it still managed to clip some feathers and fur from her cheek, and leave a cut. Lickity barked a noise of pain, and because she was in mid jump, the pushback sent her to the ground. Lickity coughed a noise, skid to a halt on her neck and jaw, uttered a bark of defiance and opened her boggled eyes. In a sudden flinch of just who the victor was, Penny firmly stabbed the cross striped sword straight into the dirt just inches before Lickity's snout; simply to signify that said dig was the final blow, and if this battle were to be real, Penny would walk away from this battle the victor, like she had claimed.

"Because I love him!" Penny suddenly shouted down to Lickity, getting in her face a bit, though in the whirl around, she paced away from Lickity and began to mutter indecipherable things to herself amidst the chaos.

Lickity choked a noise of disbelief and peered at the sparkling, gorgeous blade stabbed into the ground just before her face, and although Lickity wanted to show her strength, get to her feet and show Penny just who was boss, she huffed a shaky breath and slowly stood. Although the simple wound on her cheek wasn't bleeding, it still was red and irritated. Lickity flattened her ears and panted in defeat as she stood and glossed her surprised gaze to the warrior before her, Penny's back was to her in a writhing show of anguished annoyance. Penny grunted a few more notions to the trees before them and grappled her hair. Lickity sagged her wings and felt overcome with a mixture of all sorts of emotions.

Lickity knew Penny was in the right, and everything Penny spoke of was true; Orph was a changed man, and although Lickity simply didn't want to admit it, she was aware this stubborn attitude of hers was going to be her downfall, the only way she wouldn't be able to carry on with the Kalivar clan. Lickity shook her head and felt tears sting her eyes, the simple fact of letting go was something she genuinely did not want to do, and before she could shell up and become stubborn, she finally decided to open up her heart and let Penny's words and guidance inside.

"Y-You... Love him?" Lickity uttered in a shaky breath, though she largely flinched as Penny whirled around and stabbed a finger in her direction.

"Tell ANYONE that and I really WILL have the final word, here!" Penny urgently shouted, a vein nearly bulged on her forehead. Lickity huffed a shaky chuckle and held up her paw to signify she was on the defense.

"I-I won't tell anyone," Lickity mumbled in humble honesty, she shook her head and narrowed her gaze, "I... I'm totally shocked you actually love that man."

"Yeah, I'm pretty shocked, as well," Penny barked sarcastically as she scuffed her foot on the dirt and mockingly looked about, "Join the club, okay? I'm well aware of his past, I'm well aware he used to abuse you, he has a lot of other darker secrets you probably wouldn't care to know about either! But you know what?!"

Lickity sagged her whole existence and allowed Penny to have the floor, her dominance rose and rose. Penny took a few firm steps closer to Lickity and tucked her fingers into her own chest, to signify she was motioning to herself.

"I've got some pretty terrifying skeletons in my closet, as well," Penny urged darkly as she shook her head and gave Lickity a glower, "Birds of a feather."

"... Flock together," Lickity finished in a nonchalant, though quiet tone. Lickity's eyes sagged down to the ground in growing sorrow and suddenly flinched as Penny's voice continued to pierce her ears.

"Why do you think you and Tessa fit together so well? Or even Tessa and Zed?" Penny side-eyed Lickity and crossed her arms, "Common interests, similar trails, you guys all relate... Simply outcasts and misfits that... Fit together."

"Really, the whole Kalivar lot falls into that category," Lickity mumbled, though Penny gestured outward in annoyance.

"So why is this so hard for you, then?!" Penny urged in dire sorrow, "Surely I understand having to hang around your past abuser isn't something you want to do, but have you tried TALKING to Orph? He wouldn't hurt a fly, he's actually pretty hilarious and... And...!"

Lickity cocked an eyebrow muscle and was now surprised to see Penny unwinding, a hard exterior everyone was genuinely wondering what it took to get through. Penny slumped her arms to her sides and bashfully looked down.

"When he speaks to me, when he holds me... It's with such care, such kindness," Penny stated softly, her eyes welled with tears, "I can see the pain in his eyes, I can understand just where that tenderness comes from. He... Was never treated with such care, that's simply why he took it all out on you, and why his past is as dark as it is."

Lickity frowned and felt Penny's words gloss over the clearing, and as the two finally garnered peace and warmth, Licity felt safe to gingerly approach Penny.

"The second he was reunited with his brothers, the second that castle added Ace and then all of us," Penny shook her head and peered her glassy eyes into Lickity's with gentle desperation, "The second he was shown love... It does amazing things to people, Lickity... You, of all beings, should understand this notion."

"I just... Never thought Orph would ever fall back into that category," Lickity mumbled nervously, her heart raced with the new opportunities presented to her.

"Pick his brain, sometime, Lickity... The next time you both are in the same room together, resist leaving the second he comes by," Penny snipped as she gave Lickity a knowing glower, "Maybe, just maybe, you'll learn something new about him."


	171. Chapter 171

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong :** IKR! I was thinking the same thing! I think I'll start holding prizes or something, the numbers seem to be adding up quick and I would love to show my appreciation for you guys :D And yes, the next trip certainly will be a bit of a doozy, that is for sure xD Totally hit me up for commissions! I'm having a half off sale right now. The prices are on my deviantART :) Thank you! YOu're the best!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Lickity and Porch hahahaha. I used to not like that pairing name, but now I think it's so hilarious and fitting for some strange reason, I can't see calling PennyxOrph anything else xD And, thank you so much! I am constantly astounded that you guys enjoy my fillers. I am always so worried... The action will pick up shortly here, however. I'd say within the next 5 or so chapters :D I really don't know, at this point, which character is my favorite to develop. The relationship between Ace and Libby is my top priority, as they are my focus, but I do love the budding little beginnings of Orph's and Lickity's friendship, as well, or what will become of it. So that's exciting! Thanks for all the love!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes! Very true - both are at Tessa's right hand, and although Penny is more a forefront 'right hand woman', Lickity still is one of Tessa's best friends, and has a firm say, seeing as she has Orion's royal coding as well. So that's interesting to see, and it's nice to hear that you guys are enjoying their bonding time as well - more of it will come, and Lickity verrry slowly warms up to Orph xD Very slowly lol. Thanks for the love! I appreciate it so much!

 **Retrokill :** Yeah, could potentially get sticky, and Lickity's always game to hold onto a grudge xD But things workout. Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you! Penny very easily may have dropped the L-word, but when she'll actually get up the courage and flat out tell Orph that she loves him? Won't be for awhile xD Actually, a lot happens in their relationship before the word love is even thrown at each other, so hopefully that gives you bit of an idea of the situation at hand. I appreciate the compliments! Lickity definitely is as stubborn as they come, though growing up, Orph abusing her was all she ever knew, so coming out of it is pretty difficult. She'll come around! :D Thank you! ALSO to answer your question - I DO still have the animation, and I actually was a decent chunk into animating it, but it's fallen on the back burner. I moved, and then life just happened. I may revisit it, but my ADHD makes it so sticking to a project is rather impossible. It's been mind boggling how long I've stuck with the Wrecking Limits saga, let me tell you.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! Aw, I hope you feel better :(

 **Silversurfer :** Thank you so much! All your inquires will definitely be answered within the next 10-15 chapters, I presume. (haven't written them yet, it's just my guess). Penny's character is definitely one of my biggest projects. Her arc is so broad and spans over such a stark array of opposition, it's been a lot of fun learning how to be gradual with such a character, one who has been hurt but still harbors such a secretive amount of girly joy and love inside of her. It's been awesome, and I'm really glad you guys love Penny as well. She IS very skilled with those blades; Rancis would be proud ;)

* * *

 ***Chapter 171***

Through hot sunshine that was nearly wiped away by the cool breeze, the atmosphere amidst a small haven of a waterfall cove was where the gang had decided to reside for the game day. Nox, Ace, Oliver, Koko, Emery, Tammy and Libby easily sprawled the gorgeous scenery, though it was still a small, intimate little area centered around a crystal clear lake. The boys hung out near the base of the waterfall and loudly contemplated hiking to the top of the rise and jumping into the deep, sprawling, colorful blue pool below, whilst the girls waded in the shallows and enjoyed the sunlight that glint through the jungle trees. Birds of all kinds sang their joyous songs and dot the foliage with much love and anticipation to share their home with the group of visitors.

Drenched with the very last dregs of humid heat the game had to offer, everyone was dressed in colorful swim suits. Emery and Tammy loudly laughed, Emery loosely bobbed in the cool, crystal clear waters, neck deep whilst Tammy disrupted the piece and took a running jump; water splashed about, and both girls eagerly began to tease one another, though as Koko jolted to join in on the fun, she flashed Libby a smile and took a double take on her white haired, jungle princess of a best friend. Koko furrowed her brow, slowed her roll and assessed Libby; she looked deep in thought, both arms crossed, her fixated gaze was strict across the pond, and as Koko followed her line of sight, she could tell her solid eyesight was stabbed to the only blue haired dork across the way.

"... Libs," Koko huffed with a small giggle as she dragged her attention back to Libby, though she shook her head in surprise, rattled her confused thoughts away and gave Koko a look as if to potentially be sheepish about being caught with her crazy train of thought.

"What-yeah-huh?" Libby rushed in a string of a breath, she fixed her gaze to Koko's incredulous gaze and became even more bashful.

"You, uh... Alright there?" Koko cocked an eyebrow, to which Libby rolled her eyes, sighed and knew she was caught.

"I don't even know," Libby huffed as she began to step out of the shallows, she flagged her hands up and began to cross the sandy stretch to the makeshift hammock the girls had conjured together.

"Wait wait wait, talk to me!" Koko urged quietly as she quickly began to trail after Libby, she gingerly gripped Libby's little hand and beamed a sympathetic smile, "C'mon, what's going on? You looked like you were in pain."

"Kind of," Libby rolled her eyes, and as both girls gently strolled onto the grass, they could hear Emery and Tammy's squeals and laughter continue on behind them. Libby huffed a long sigh, turned around and fixated her sharp gaze to the blue haired wrecker way across the pond, and although he was far off, she still felt her heart jump at the mere sight of him, "I'm just annoyed."

"To be here?" Koko ogled, she gestured out her arm in awe and was nearly floored anyone, from anywhere, would complain about their current surroundings.

"No, no, not because of that," Libby huffed, she gestured out towards Ace, who was across the stretch, and gave Koko a dumfounded look, "Seriously, what's it gunna take."

"...We're talking about Ace, aren't we," Koko stated in a curious tone as her glimmering eyes peered across the clear pond, and then again to Libby's wild gaze.

"Maybe I'm not trying hard enough, I'm in a freaking bikini and he hasn't bat a lash," Libby gestured to herself, she was dressed in her pretty coral bikini with delicate, white tribal markings near the top. She shook her head and breathed a sarcastic laugh, "I don't want to flat out throw myself on him!"

"You might have to!" Koko laughed and laughed, though Libby grappled her hair on her forehead, looked up and sagged herself as she hung her head back, she gazed up to the canopies in whole defeat as she groaned a loud noise of dismay. Koko gently pat Libby's arm and began to nudge her towards the direction of the bend, the path that lead to the boys about the pond and to the waterfall, "Well, what are you waiting for! The boy's never gunna get the hint from all the way over here."

"What do you mean?" Libby staggered now in girly embarrassment as she began to stumble in the direction Koko was pressing her in, though Koko gripped the backs of Libby's shoulders and forced her to walk.

"Look, you want to move things forward with Ace... Without being blunt or outright about it, correct?" Koko stabbed, though Libby swallowed nervously and now fixated her gaze across the pond in growing nervousness.

"Y-Yeah," Libby urged nervously, though Koko laughed.

"Then GET over there and make your presence known! You're showing skin, you're adorable, you're confident, you're Libby, you're eventually going to be a User one day, this is no time to be shy and nervous," Koko rushed teasingly with a small laugh, though Libby rolled her eyes and stumbled a bit.

"What if he just plays dumb again?" Libby wondered as Koko finally gave her one last shove in the right direction, though Libby nervously looked over her shoulder, "I'm beginning to think he's doing this on purpose..."

"He's not, he's... Probably just trying to remain polite," Koko shrugged, "Not to mention, he'd probably be more comfortable with this kind of thing if you two were alone."

"I put in effort last night, in his bedroom, and he nonchalantly showed me the door," Libby muttered in whole dismay; Koko's confident smile gently drooped to that of dull annoyance, "He even accidentally touched my boob!"

"...C'mon, Ace, you're not THAT stupid," Koko stated loudly, across the pond, though the boys clearly couldn't hear them over the roar of the waterfall.

"I-I just fear I'll keep trying and trying and TRYING to push things forward that I myself will be over it!" Libby urged nervously with a trail of a giggle, signifying to both girls that Libby was well aware her words her false.

"GIT, go over there, stop doubting yourself, and just... Be coy, be flirty," Koko waggled her hand in mild annoyance and tried to shoo Libby away, "Bat your eyes, touch his chest... I don't know! Just... Do the thing."

"The thing?" Libby stammered nervously as she continued walking away slowly, though she back-stepped to keep conversing with Koko.

"The thing," Koko shrugged, though she ruffled her long, chocolate brown hair a little and began to so subtly adjust her bikini top, ultimately making her breasts look a bit more prominent. Libby barked a laugh and slumped her shoulders in whole defeat, though Koko innocently shrugged and twirled her hair, "Y'know... The thing!"

"A-Alright, I'll try the... Thing," Libby side-eyed Koko in a look of playful annoyance and finally began to trail away, "Wish me luck..."

"Good luck," Koko barked in annoyance towards her nephew, whom of which she eyed in solid irritation and shook her head, "You're gunna need it, obviously. You'd think the status 'User' would make you sharp in all areas."

* * *

"Yeah, dude, it's too shallow in this part," Oliver urged nervously; him, Ace and Nox were perched on a boulder a good dozen or so feet above the crystal clear pond. It sprawled from shallows to a decent depth where the waterfall ran, though Oliver still noticed good chunks of rock platforms, underneath the surface of the water, where simply diving could be dangerous, "We'd just... Have to be careful to not dive into those areas, right there."

"Just follow the falls," Ace pointed, his outstretched arm reached to the sky, where the falling water so gently sprayed them in it's mist, and as he dragged his arm down to the pond below, he gestured to the deepest part of the water and shrugged, "Simple enough... Just fall with it."

"I could do that," Nox hummed as he put his hands on his hips and bobbed a nod, all three boys were in swim trunks, their skin glistened from the water that gently sprayed on them from time to time, "You think the girls would join us?"

"I'm sure Emery might," Oliver bobbed a nod, he peered over the edge and located his girlfriend, and upon finding her, he scanned the pond for the rest of the ladies; he furrowed his brow and noticed Libby was missing, "Hey, uh... Where did Libby go?"

"Libby?" Ace eased as he furrowed his eyebrows and broadened his perspective, he felt the gears whirl in his mind as he only noticed Emery, Tammy and Koko wading in the shallows, though before he could grow worried and utter more notions about where she laid off to, Libby's kind voice soaked into their ears.

"Hi, boys," Libby eased, though Ace flinched and whirled around in solid surprise.

He cocked an eyebrow and smiled a little, and in this whirl around he desperately tried not to let his eyes wander her slender body. He smiled a soft smile and soaked his eyes to hers in gratefulness and anticipated her to simply be curious about what the guys were up to.

"Hey, babe," Ace stated with kindness, though just as he was about to take a step closer to the edge of the boulder and explain Libby his, Nox's and Oliver's plan, he felt the circuits in his legs freeze as Libby confidently began to push closer to Ace.

"Hey, you," Libby's voice was kind and soft, though it trailed with a bite of some form of mischief. Ace felt his heart jolt in apprehension as she neared, and just as he was certain she'd potentially be too shy to show affection in front of his best friend and uncle, she warmly pushed into his body and gave him a tight hug about his upper chest.

"E-Everything okay?" Ace staggered in nervousness as Libby's wet skin warmly pressed to his, and as his strong arms draped about her back, he gripped her to himself and felt his heart begin to thud in confusion; just as he was going to relish in her being a bit gutsy, and keep her to him, she pulled away in a coy act and shrugged shoulders, tilted her chin to her shoulder and gave a bashful draw of her gorgeous eyes to boot.

"Oh yeah, just came up here to see what you boys were up to," Libby's voice trailed in her alluring accent, she kindly eyed Nox, and although she unleashed Ace, she hovered a foot or two before him, she was diligent in keeping her confident front apparent.

"We're gunna jump from the falls, though... Getting up there seems to be the issue, here," Nox chuckled, he eyed Oliver in a knowing way, and as Oliver's suspiciously stunned eyes stabbed to Nox's, both boys eagerly watched the show before them.

"I could get you guys up there," Libby eased as she furrowed her brow and now concentrated her eyes to the small cliffside they hung near; shroud in vines, climbing boulders and foliage of all kinds, Libby's adventurous heart knew the way.

"It's okay Libs, we'll probably just have Royal help us out," Ace staggered, he subtly eyed her pretty body and was well aware climbing in what little she was wearing would not only be difficult but would likely result in scraped elbows and knees.

Ace inhaled a nervous breath and could somehow see the front Libby was putting forth, though he desperately tried to keep his cool. He put his hands on his hips and allowed Libby to stand close, his strong, powerful broad chest expanded with the inhale he took, and as he faced her confidence with his, he cocked an eyebrow and gave the back of her head a look as if to state that he was curious at this strange new attitude about herself. His eyes trailed down the small path she had taken to get up here, and as Royal sauntered up, he shook himself free of water, like a dog would, and flapped his wet, scaley wings a little.

"What fun is that?" Libby's voice trailed with a lilt of cute seductiveness, and as her eyes gently soaked into Ace's, she huffed a small giggle and reached her hand out. As her gentle fingertips trailed down the muscles of his chest and subtly rippled to the strong abs on his core, she finally flicked her hair over her shoulder, peeled herself from Ace's presence and began to approach the cliffside, "Here, I'll show you how it's done."

Royal cocked an eyebrow muscle as he strolled up, having witnessed the last of Libby's and Ace's little encounter, and as everyone watched Libby walk away, Ace swallowed hard, cocked an eyebrow and eyed Libby's backside, from head to toe, however subtle he could. All boys remained frozen, and as Nox, Royal and Oliver finally dragged their eyes to Ace's being, Ace held his breath and sheepishly glanced to all three males that stared him down, as if they all wondered if he was seeing this as well.

"If you were a dragon, you'd never catch a mate, dude," Royal's deep voice suddenly grumbled as Libby strolled out of earshot, "You would simply think her mating dance was just a display of self-expression."

"If you didn't get the memo, we're here to tell you..." Oliver huffed a chuckle, he gingerly raised his large wrecking hand into a fist and so gently began to knock on the top of Ace's skull, "'How to read neon lights 101'."

"Dude," Nox scoffed as he gestured towards Libby, he gave Ace a look of boyish, annoyed despair, as if to simply state to Ace that this gorgeous girl was all his for the taking, yet he still looked as if he was in a confused stupor.

"Guys, that's not what's going on," Ace stammered stubbornly, and even though he knew in his heart that it clearly was what was going on, he pushed it away and felt his circuits swell with rising apprehension; he bit his lip and nervously peered to Libby, and although he was well aware she was coming out of her shell and opening up more to the idea of furthering intimacy with him, he wondered if holding onto his polite, abstaining gentlemanliness was still something they desperately needed, "C'mon, we're gunna lose her."

"She's already half way up the cliff and you're already half way out of excuses," Nox stabbed with a cheeky smile as Ace quickly trailed off in an annoyed huff, Nox shook his head as he and Oliver nudged each other in a boyish fashion.

"Better tell your coding to make room, there," Oliver choked to his nephew, both boys were aware Ace could hear them.

Ace huffed an annoyed noise and reached the sudden stagger of rock wall that Libby had successfully begun to scale, and as his eyes trailed up the vines and foliage, he could see peeks of Libby's gorgeous, flowing hair. He gingerly put his hand on the rough rock and sagged his shoulders, his heart raced with the thought of the very act he had so desperately been wanting to overflow Libby with, though somehow, the fact that she was showing clear signs of being ready for it made him feel as if he simply wasn't, somehow. He shuddered at the thought of handing over his limitless power to another being, and although he was well aware the two would be just fine, he grimaced and now wondered if this was something he was unprepared for. He rolled his eyes at himself and was beginning to feel weird at the reversed roles, though he dragged his gaze upwards, once more, and was well aware both beings had done a very fair amount of painful waiting.


	172. Chapter 172

**Reviews:**

 **Retrokill :** YES It's coming up sometime soon here - nothing immediate, but it's coming!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :)

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** LOL! Yeah that chapter was a ton of fun to write :D Yes, Ace is just nervous - more of this is explained in my small spoiler AN below if you're interested!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hahaha yes, it does indeed backfire on their relationship xD They come out of it alive but it does cause drama. And yes! I got your PM, I'll reply shortly! :D Thank you!

 **Silversurfer :** Aww thank you! :) Yes, Ace needs to just buckle down and go for it lol!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :** Gone by JR JR

* * *

 **A/N :**

 ***ACE &LIBBY SPOILERS***

Hey guys! A few of you in the review board, and in anon messages, have inquired about just when this elusive swap scene between Ace and Libby is (and I can tell a handful of you have already sniffed out the fact that it's soon, which you are indeed RIGHT) - For those of you trying desperately to hold your breath and wonder just when the crap this scene happens, I will tell you so you can anticipate it and be put at ease. It happens after this next Sugar Rush trip, and YES, the tension does eventually explode into their first sort of bigger fight. Their first swap scene is actually makeup sex xD Then again, Tessa's and Zed's first swap was pretty similar, in regards to making up LOL.

So yeah, just to prep you guys, it happens VERY shortly after the next Sugar Rush scout, for those of you getting antsy and feel sort of strung along! Trust me, I can't wait to get there either, I've literally been sitting on that whole scene for a very long time (as I usually do for the extremely important swap scenes) so just sit tight! I foresee it being within the next 15(ish) or so chapters! YAY!

... Which also means this story is going to 100% push past the 200 chapter count because the swap scene marks the 3/4th's mark of the story. *dies*

 ***END SPOILERS***

* * *

 ***Chapter 172***

Lickity lounged comfortably in the dining area of the massive gathering room, the cold tiles where the splayed kitchen met the down steps of the living room. She rested on her stomach, as opposed to laying belly up in whole comfort. Her ears were pricked a little, and though she knew she was safe, she still felt a little bit on edge with Zed's new addition under the Kalivar name. Marble was harmless, a calm being of complete zen, she kept a good distance from Lickity and knew Lickity had grown territorial over the past day or two. She respected Lickty's need for distance and was well aware this front would fade as trust grew.

Marble calmly laid on the opposite side of the tiles, near the kitchen's walk-in pantry space. Her gorgeous feathers and fur splayed a little on the glossy tiles. She intently watched the group, over at the long dining room table, rummage through a few boxes. Zed, Tessa and Penny began to sort through a few Christmas decorations, likely weeding through just what would be used for the year and what would potentially either be tossed or stored away for another year. Penny loudly laughed as Tessa began to decorate Zed with a few things, namely a pair of pretend Santa suspenders wedged deep at the bottom of the box.

"Please tell me those weren't actually supposed to belong in your bedroom, or something," Penny loudly gawked as Zed shot her a bewildered look of floored surprise, Tessa furrowed her brow and looked up to her high ceilings.

"Noooo, we pretended to have Santa come by, last year, because Ace was still little and still believed in Santa last Christmas," Tessa groaned in tired annoyance, though a smile crossed her face as Ace chimed in, from the living room.

"Who said I stopped believing in him?" Ace argued with a look of pretend distraught, to which Oliver and Nox burst out into laughter; the three boys, including Libby and Koko, began to sort through strings of Christmas lights. Ace used his glitching abilities to light up the strings, without having to plug them in, so to see just which lights worked and which didn't. He grappled a string of gorgeous green lights and swung them a little bit, he cocked an eyebrow and glared at his mother across the room, in a playful manner, "Don't tell me the tooth fairy doesn't exist, either."

"Son," Tessa grumbled with a hint of a playful smile that she couldn't stuff, though Zed slapped the suspenders on his broad chest and inhaled a deep breath.

"HO HO HO, MERRY CHRI-" Zed choked to a laughing halt as Tessa firmly poked her finger into Zed's puffed chest and stomach; everyone continued to loudly laugh.

"It'll be weird celebrating again," Oliver huffed, he nervously peered to the entrance of the Sky Room and began to wonder where his mother had laid off to; he knew Tessa and Vanellope were currently feuding, though the fact that it was dragging had the castle on pins and needles, "We didn't celebrate last year... The year before was pretty fun, though."

"Sugar Rush Christmases are always the best," Tessa stated through a calm, nostalgic sigh as her sad eyes dragged down to the dainty, fragile tree ornaments she picked up; little gold stars and sparkly spheres that glistened like brand new, "Last year was pretty fun, though. Our tree was a jungle tree, as opposed to an actual pine tree."

"How'd that go?" Penny wrinkled her nose and gave Tessa a bewildered look.

"Well, it was short enough for the dome of the Sky Room, but too tall to put a star on top," Tessa laughed, Zed nodded and gently set another box on the table.

"Ace was floored, really we had such a celebratory Christmas, last year, because it was Ace's first... And he was a child," Zed shrugged and gave his son, across the way, a warm smile, "So, we went all out."

"I had a blast," Ace nodded as he gently handed the working strings to Libby, she gratefully took them and tidied them in a pile.

"We don't typically go all out, for Christmas, but it was a nice change," Zed included as he smiled to Tessa, "It... Was hard for Tessa, being away from Sugar Rush for Christmas, but I'm sure it was one to remember."

"It filled the void, it was a lot of fun," Tessa nodded, though her eyes lit up as she began to tidily set the ornaments in it's proper spot, "This year will be even better because we have everyone together."

"Who knows, maybe we'll have Sugar Rush by the time Christmas comes around," Penny shrugged, the hope in her eyes finally began to subside Tessa's mildly grumpy mood.

"I'm confident, that sounds like it could be doable," Zed shrugged and bobbed a nod, as did Ace and Oliver from across the room.

As the group quietly chat amongst themselves, the front door to the castle finally creaked open and in filed all of the racers. Finn, Duke, Orph, Jax and Tej tiredly mumbled and talked with each other as they came inside with dirty gear they had attempted to clean off before coming inside. As the boys greet everyone in the living space, they moseyed on through the kitchen and to their proper rooms, though Orph diligently hung back and was about to go through the motions of greeting his girlfriend. In the weird in between of not making their relationship public, he grimaced and wondered just how to go about all of this.

He sagged his eyes around the room and noticed everyone was busy, though he also knew that likely everyone here was at least aware of their hints of attraction. He inhaled a shaky breath and finally landed his eyes on Penny. She had been glancing in his direction, though once they caught eyes, he was surprised to see her broaden a bashful smile and wrinkle her fingers in a wave of acceptance. Orph smiled and felt confidence rush him, and as he took off his racing coat, and fluffed his silver mohawk, he puffed his chest and approached Penny, so to properly greet her.

In this act of Orph making his presence, in the room and the group known, Lickity opened her eyes upon seeing and smelling him and felt her legs and spine tense, so to get up and leave. Upon doing this, however, she drew her motions to a halt and only half stood. She sagged her wings and shoulders in hot knowing and kept her eyes trained to Orph, and though he nervously glanced over at her and gave her a look as if to somehow be apologetic for staying, making it so she was uncomfortable, she felt a pang of guilt hit her heart. In the draw of a difficult decision, she noticed Orph kindly making a beeline for Penny and knew, deep in her heart, this was becoming the new norm, and in order for anything to heal, she knew she needed to accept what was taking place. In a gentle slide of her scales back to the tile, she relaxed back to where she was laying and decided to listen to Penny's advice and stay in the room that Orph was present in.

"What are you guys up to?" Orph stated generally, as he approached Tessa, Zed and Penny; they all peered to him in kind expectancy and welcomed him to their little organizing party.

"Just going through the Christmas decorations, figuring out what to use this year," Tessa shrugged with a kind smile as she went back to digging, though she could see Orph simply wanting to reach out and give Penny a kind greeting of a hug.

"How are you?" Orph stated warmly to Penny, though Zed just barely eyed the two and was nearly elated at the sheer amount of polite warmth Orph was humbly exuding, something he previously wasn't very good at.

"I'm great," Penny stated softly as she, without much hesitation, leaned into Orph's body for a small side hug. With a small squeeze, and her head nestled to his chest for a moment, as well as her arm tight around his back, the two unleashed each other and was strictly aware that much physical contact was likely the limit, in front of their peers, for the time being.

"Christmas is like three months off, how come you're doing this so soon?" Orph chuckled as he hooked his finger into one of the boxes, he laughed a little louder and sunk a floppy Santa hat over his head.

"Well, yeah, I mean... There are so many of us, it'd just be easier to sort through this drama now, so that we can just hang everything up once the time comes," Tessa shrugged, Zed nodded, and as Penny peered up at Orph and covered her mouth with a snicker at his new look.

"Guess that makes sense," Orph bobbed a nod, he gave Penny a sarcastic look, as if to potentially be offended that she thought his new hat was a joke, though he softly pushed away from Tessa and Zed and closer to what Ace, Oliver, Nox, Koko and Libby were doing; he was delighted to feel Penny right on his heels, he eyed her over his shoulder, "Makin' fun of me, blondie?"

"Maybe," Penny huffed a giggle, and in this weird bout of being vulnerable, she felt safe. She stood on tip toes, tucked her hands behind her back and gave Orph a sly smile, "Red looks good on you."

"Why, thank you, madam," Orph stated in a deep voice, laced with playful intentions, he tipped the fuzzy hat, barely bowed and pushed closer to Ace and everyone, "So what are you dweebs doing, then?"

"Gee thanks," Koko stabbed with a wide, annoyed smile as everyone laughed, though Ace huffed a chuckle and wrangled his uncle's wrist with the string of white lights he was testing.

"We're seeing which lights work and which ones don't," Ace stated with a snarky smile as he lit the string up, using his glitching abilities, though Orph ogled down at the string tied around his hand and wiggled his wrist free of it.

"Already getting into the Christmas spirit, huh," Orph chuckled as he put his hands on his hips and peered about the group, though Ace began to ravel the last string of lights.

"Mom, this blue string still works, it just has a few bulbs missing," Ace explained across the stretch as he showed Tessa the string of lights. With his powers, the string illuminated, though Ace pointed at the few points in which bulbs were missing.

"That won't be much of a problem, leave it out... I'm sure there's extra bulbs around here, somewhere," Tessa bobbed a nod, and though she was prepared to go back to rummaging through the few boxes she had with Zed, she stopped what she was doing and fixated her gaze to Penny and Orph; she nudged Zed's arm and silently told him to get a load of what was unfolding between the two.

"Christmas will definitely be nice, this year," Orph nodded and looked about the group, though his eyes fixated to Penny's; she grew bashful, though she still somehow felt as if this was a decent speed that they were moving, one step closer to revealing to everyone that they were a couple. She bit her lip and began to rapidly wonder if today was the day, a lot sooner than she anticipated, though she remained still and knew to just let whatever happen, happen.

"Yeah, the castle is double the size it was last year," Ace smiled and looked to his Aunt Koko and Uncle Oliver; they smiled and began to help Libby ravel the string lights, save for the blue string that remained.

"It'll definitely be a Christmas to remember, that's for sure," Tessa huffed as her and Zed slowly began to bring the two remaining boxes over to the living room, where everyone loosely stood. Tessa brushed her hair out of her eyes, exhaled a long sigh and put her hands on her hips, "These are the last boxes... Zed and I just briefly went through them but you guys can dig about. Just throw away any ornaments and such that are broken."

"This Christmas will be a warm and fuzzy one, I just know it," Koko chimed, and without seeming too suspicious, she eyed Orph and Penny as they took a step or two back to give Ace, Libby, Nox and Oliver space to sort through the boxes. They set the boxes on the low coffee table and finished raveling the string lights, so to properly put them away, "So many new relationships have formed, these last few months. It'll be great to have a romantic Christmas."

"... This will be my first Christmas celebrated, to be honest," Nox stated bashfully, and though everyone was half fixating on the fact that Orph and Penny were showing a bit more to their secretive ways, everyone drew their attention to Nox and Koko for the moment.

"Aww, you'll get to really cozy up and have a great first experience!" Libby chimed as she cupped her hands to her chin and eyed the two with a girly air of excitement, though she was somehow desperately hoping her words would resonate in the back of Ace's head, "I celebrated the winter solstice, last winter... Not technically Christmas, but us Teltokua get into the festivities."

"It'll be great all around," Orph smiled, he managed to sneak a small look in Penny's direction, and just as he was praying, it was received well; she blushed and looked down to her feet in a bashful manner before she perked her eyes back to the group and wondered just what everyone was potentially thinking about.

"Uh oh, I found the mistletoe," Ace urged with a hard chuckle as everyone began to obnoxiously coo, though it was in this weird flip of the situation did Penny suddenly wonder where the brakes were to this nonsense. She held her breath, lightly bulged her eyes and was desperately hoping her family members wouldn't resort to playful banter, due to the warmth and softness she just had exposed to everyone.

"Get it away from me," Nox grumbled, strictly in a teasing manner, though he choked a laugh as Koko barked a noise of dismay and grappled the collar of his shirt, "Kidding, KIDDING!"

"You want a good first Christmas, don't you?" Libby state to Nox with a laugh, though she gently handed Ace the mistletoe and gave him a look, as if to somehow hope all these insinuations would echo in his brain, though she now knew it was likely useless; being direct with him was simply a better option, an option she was discovering may very well be her last resort.

"It'll be the best one yet, I know that," Orph sighed softly, he raised his eyebrows and gave Oliver a knowing look, though he was surprised to drag his eyes to Penny and be met with an equal amount of warmth, though she held a twinge of growing nervousness.

Tessa bit her tongue, eyed Zed's younger brother and then dart her eyes back to Zed, who looked equally as cheeky. Zed cleared his throat, grappled the blue string lights and huffed a small chuckle. He narrowed his gaze and counted just how many bulbs were missing, though he knew it still worked. With his glitching powers, he lit up the string in a flicker of a glow that illuminated the room, and in a gentle swing, he cocked an eyebrow and noticed the group began to meander and spread out a bit, so to easy sift through the two boxes that were left.

"Ace, put that mistletoe away before Lickity gets ideas about eating it," Tessa mumbled as she waved Ace off. She could see Lickity shoot her a bewildered side-eye in her peripheral.

"Y'know what would suck, before we put up these lights?" Zed wondered, he sent a scheming smolder in Tessa's direction as he swung the loose end of the blue, unplugged Christmas lights. He lightly slapped his suspenders to his broad chest before he let his palms come alive with his hot, silver coding, which quickly sparked the energy of the Christmas lights even brighter. The whole string lit up in a growing frenzy, though Tessa flinched with a girly giggle as Zed shoved the other end of the long string into Tessa's hands. Zed jolted away and rushed to continue on, "If they got ALL tangled up and we just... I don't know, maybe accidentally got people caught in the mess."

"That would be the WORST," Tessa urged dramatically with a wide smile as she noticed Zed duck around the side of Penny and Orph and quickly began to string the pretty blue lights around the two.

"Don't sound too hung up about it," Orph urged through a naive laugh as he messily removed the tattered santa hat from over the top of his head and eyes, though he flinched in surprise as he noticed Tessa and Zed quickly ducking and weaving about the two.

Before Orph could attempt to step out of the mess, that was idly dangling above the ground, the lights were suddenly fastened, and with a hard jolt, him and Penny were scrunched together in the chaos. The two uttered a grunt of protest and froze. With the sudden outburst of the group around them, they largely looked each other over in surprise, as if to be beside themselves that this close proximity was happening, though Orph could finally feel his startled, annoyed demeanor want to fall to the wayside. Penny, however, looked as if she was prepared to immediately shell away, like previously.

"Uh," Orph uttered nervously, he largely swallowed and, though his hands were held taut with crippling anxiety, he felt warmth attempt to creep into his actions, "I-I... I'm sorry."

"Mom, I think the mistletoe should stay out year round... Should I hang the mistletoe HERE?" Ace wondered with the widest, most cheekiest smile as he dangled a few leaves nearly above Penny and Orph.

"Ohh, I get it," Penny started loudly, which caused Orph to flinch. He raised his eyebrows higher in poised, scared surprise and was beginning to feel that itching warmth slip to dreaded fear. Penny exhaled a loud, sarcastic, mean giggle and shot Zed a death glare, "Yeah, get tangled in the mess... CUTE!"

Just as Orph was about to rush to her aid and agree with her sarcastic notions, as if to potentially play teacher's pet, he suddenly flinched as she shoved her hand firmly into her pocket, yanked out her pocket knife, swiped it open and held the sharp blade to the Christmas lights. With a hard, confused flicker from the pretty lights, and lightning fast reflexes, Penny swiped her knife in four or five different places before the strings fell to the floor like messy vines. Alongside Zed's glitching powers, the string buzzed and flickered with the confusion. Penny huffed a hard noise, shoved out of Orph's lazy embrace and stormed off, knife in hand. Everyone froze, though Tessa heaved a long, tired sigh and caught eyes with Libby's dewy, naively innocent expression.

"Poor Orph," Zed muttered, though the two held eye contact that could literally burn the place to the ground, "I'll kiss'yah."

"Y'okay, there, uncle Orph?" Ace wondered softly as he fiddled the mistletoe between his large fingers; Orph visibly shook.

"Juuust dandy," Orph uttered, though he desperately tried to hide the bashful smile that so badly wanted to curl across his face.

"Ahh that did not go as planned," Tessa uttered through a grimace as she apologetically looked at Orph and rubbed her forehead, "I'm sorry."

"Thought she'd take that easier," Zed grunted in goring sorrow as he looked down at the mess of cut up string lights at everyone's feet.

"Y'really thought that'd go smoothly, guys? Really?" Orph laughed, and it was in this instance was Tessa grateful that Orph was being a good sport about this.

"You two uh... Taking a decent liking to each other, yeah?" Oliver prod as tenderly as he could, though Orph heaved a shaky sigh and bobbed a small nod, he bashfully caught eyes with his older brother.

"...Yeah, I... I think she's warming up to me," Orph stated gently, to which Koko and Libby cooed at; Nox put his hands on his hips and eyed Ace and Libby, he waggled his finger.

"Everyone seems to be pairing off, just in time for the holidays," Nox's voice dragged on in suspected knowing, "Seems like the cooler weather brings people together, anyhow."

"Orrr so I thought," Tessa muttered as she gave the corridor of bedrooms, just off the tail end of the kitchen, an apologetic frown; the massive hall in which Penny had disappeared down, "Guess I should go apologize to Penny."

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 **A/N :** Hey guys! I did fan art for this chapter a long time ago! My beloved piece titled 'Stars Aligned' on deviantART - Username Vyntresser :D squee!


	173. Chapter 173

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** YUSH! There will be another sex scene that'll sneak up on you here, soon, as well ;D Thank you!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Haha I think you may be the ONLY one to think that said scene came up quickly. I've been sitting on that scene, and that drawing, for nearly 2 years now! I was astounded to finally come up to the scene and finally write it. It felt weird, tbh. But yes, they're in October of 2016 now. Ace, Libby and Koko turned 1 in about July/August, which was around the time that everyone was reunited again with Vanellope, Taffyta and them. As for the every other day thing, I can't really do that during the week any longer. I now have a 3 day work schedule where I work 3 eleven hour shifts in a row, and have a four day weekend. I'm trying to catch up to where I can bust out 2-3 chapters over my 4 day weekend and be able to supply you guys with chapters. I try my best to stay on my every other day schedule, and for the most part, I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job keeping up with this behemoth like I always have. If I need a break, I'm not shy to tell anyone, you don't need to remind me xD I'm pretty vocal when it comes to my needs and won't allow this story to get too far ahead of me. I appreciate the concern, but I'll voice an opinion if I need! If I'm late to upload, just know I have other stuff going on to where I can't be at my computer to write - I haven't, nor will I ever, forget this story or my loyal reviewers.

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** omg ME TOO I am like wanting to just bust out ALL these chapters right now, so I can just hurry up and get to it, but omg it's driving me nuts as well. And as for Orph and this whole ordeal, don't worry... He gets his 'revenge' in the next chapter ;) And yes xD Christmas, with all of them, holds MANY surprises... I'm excited for that.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you

 **Retrokill :** LOL belt it xD

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yes, Penny likes to harbor her feelings, but it all comes spilling out eventually :) Yes, that scene definitely had to sit on the back burner for a hot minute, but I'm glad it finally came around and I was able to properly insert it into the story!

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 **Song Listened To : Truce by Frenship **

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***Chapter 173***

Tessa's bare feet so gingerly soaked through the castle's cold tiles, thunder clapped the night sky in a show of reverberating light that melted over her castle's high walls. Through not even a flinch, she felt the electricity of the storm pass over her aura, and as her tired eyes remained defeatedly glossed to the glass of her handheld, she felt as if her nose was going to become permanently one with her's and Penny's very one sided conversation. She grimaced a little, furrowed her brow and must've reread her message sent, twenty minutes ago, over a hundred times.

 _10:30pm Saturday 10/08/2016_

 _QueenB : Hey Penny, look... I'm really sorry for embarrassing you earlier, you know I didn't mean to. You and Orph just looked so cute together and I assumed you'd be comfortable with that kind of banter by now, but I was wrong. _

Tessa furrowed her brow harder than previously and scanned her words, she wondered just why Penny would simply leave her on read; she was well aware her younger cousin was awake. She had asked Orph, in passing, if Penny had spoken to him recently and he had confirmed. Tessa let her thoughts gloss the air with worry, and as she slumped her opened handheld to her side in annoyance, she sagged her shoulders and finally allowed her eyes to look up from the hollow of the Sky Room's corridor entrance and exit. Rain softly splattered the glass behemoth of a dome, and sat comfortably underneath the castle's care and protection was her immediately family.

Ralph and Oliver loudly choked laughter with each other whilst Koko and Taffyta snickered to themselves and shot the boys looks of confused, playful annoyance. The group, as a whole, chit chat and volleyed joking conversation back and forth, an air of whole comfort Tessa felt she should likely sink into. She knew Penny would eventually come out of her hidey-hole and fix the issue at hand, though for now, Tessa inhaled a readied breath and braced to join in on the fun. Just before her bare feet could shuffle out of the dregs of her comfortable black sweats, she halted her movement as she noticed her mother lazily mosey from her's and Ralph's bedroom and make a gentle bee-line for the group lounging on the Sky Room's massive, swooping couch.

Tessa held said inhale, the very inhale that was just about to expel worry and frustration for the night, though she kept it tight in her lungs and desperately tried to convince her brain that she needed to hold on. She immediately sent a glare out to the Sky Room, from her dark corner, and although she was glad she remained unseen, she felt resentment tightly begin to coat her actions, ones of which she wanted to display in a great show of simply wrecking the building. She felt her spine want to sag in defeat, she knew she shouldn't hold such a tight grudge on her mother, she knew Vanellope had been very respectful when it came to keeping her paws off of Ace and distancing herself as a whole, though somehow she felt the need to simply hold onto this unnecessary, vindictive cloak she was only oppressing herself with.

Tessa felt her ears prick with the haunting, cold air of guilt that practically leveled in her core, the sound of her mother's genuine laughter, amidst her tight family, made her vision blur. She huffed a hot sigh and noticed Zed, in her peripheral, slowly mosey out of his and Tessa's bedroom, attached to the Sky Room, and begin to show signs of joining in on the fun, the fun Tessa knew she so badly wanted to join into as well. She shook her head and knew this next Sugar Rush trip was likely just what she needed, to get away and to be in charge for a hot minute. She was well aware the space would broaden perspective and would allow time to heal the wounds, though she somehow couldn't help but feel she likely needed to at least suture the wound before she left, to make even the slightest amends before she went traipsing into Sugar Rush's void.

 _10:48pm_

 _Fluggers_ _: It's okay Tess, I'm not mad at you._

Tessa felt her pupils tighten as she reread Penny's words over and over and over. Her thumbs quickly hovered over the digital keyboard as she frantically searched for kind words to volley back to Penny, though somehow the whiplash was paralyzing, having to come out of her resonating resentment with her mother and straight into apologetic, belly-up behavior with her right hand woman; she grimaced and tried not to feel dizzy. She felt relief hit her skin once she noticed Penny was typing.

 _Fluggers : I appreciate the apology... I'm not mad at anyone, I guess I'm just frustrated at myself. I sort of cleared the air with Orph, but he doesn't know when to shut up, so that's been cool._

 _QueenB_ _: Can I come to your room? There's currently a Sugar Rush party in the Sky Room that I don't want to invite myself to._

 _Fluggers : Your mom being, yknow, a person and socializing with people?_

 _QueenB_ _: Fight me_

 _Fluggers : Last room on the bottom floor, toots, you know where to find me for fisticuffs. _

Tessa flashed a smile and huffed a silent giggle, though as she looked up to do so, she nearly jolted straight out of her skin and came face to face with her mother, who was quietly approaching; her body language read that she simply wanted to scoot past Tessa and make her way to the kitchen. Tessa dropped her light and airy demeanor, which was fleeting anyhow, though she desperately tried not to hold onto a tight grimace as her mother came near; she held eye contact, something Vanellope wasn't known to do as of late.

"Hey, Tessy," Vanellope's words were motherly and soft, though defeated and nearly flat with sorrow; her little smile told a different story.

"Hi, mom," Tessa volleyed, though without much more, Tessa turned heel and began to make a beeline for Penny's room, ultimately leaving her mother's presence without so much as a 'goodbye'.

 _Fluggers_ _: Just kidding, I'm in the Tower's common room... We can fight here._

Tessa breathed another giggle and knew her cousin's words were playful, she hooked a tight turn for the castle's back door and removed herself from the glue of the Sky Room. With the change in scenery, she winced and let her feet hit the even colder concrete tiles underneath the patio's overhang. The trees swayed with the angry storm, and as rain splattered the ground, she eyed the path that was glossy with water, illuminated by Ace's gorgeous field of fire flowers, she nearly closed her eyes in knowing kindness and could hear the single downswipe of her best friend's wings.

As Lickity's large, dark presence made itself known right at the mouth of the overhang, she sprawled a wing for Tessa and hung it high, so to express to Tessa that she would act as an umbrella to wherever she needed to go. Tessa laughed silently, shook her head and slowed her roll as she approached Lickity. Held tight in a high stance, her left wing splattered with rain, and as Lickity's flattened ears and kind eyes trained to Tessa, she felt a weird sense of release hit her heart. She knew she wanted to hold onto anger, and she wanted to be bitter, though she also knew family was all she had in the dark world. As Tessa's hand gently ruffled into the side of Lickity's neck, her wet feathers and fur scrunched a bit, though Lickity didn't seem to mind the weather.

"Thank you," Tessa eased as the two began to walk, with Tessa safe under Lickity's massive wing.

"You're welcome," Lickity's boyish voice eased with kindness, and as the two sauntered past Ace's brightly burning field of fire flowers, Lickity puffed her wet feathers a bit and inhaled a deep breath, "I just so happened to be in the area and noticed you making a bee-line for the Tower."

"You hunting?" Tessa asked nonchalantly, Lickity nodded.

"Yep, and I'm pretty sure Royal is getting annoyed with me chauffeuring you guys across the backyard," Lickity giggled as she perked her ears in the direction that Royal could potentially be, "Penny's inside, I'm assuming you already know that."

"I do," Tessa wrinkled her nose in confusion, and as Lickity's body slowed to a stop, her wing continued to outstretch so that not a single drop of rain got onto Tessa; she sprawled her left wing far enough until Tessa was under the overhang of the Tower. Tessa whirled around, put her hands on her hips and peered at Lickity with curiosity, "... You never bail out from a hunt, old bat, what's the deal?"

"Just... trying to be nicer, I guess," Lickity stated, as if she was bashful about it. She hugged her wings tight to her body and simply allowed the pouring rain to splatter her gorgeous scales, the dark of the night and the gloss of the water made Lickity look like a formidable beast you only approach in your nightmares, "Thank Penny."

Tessa narrowed her eyes in confusion and gently fell into the motion of wanting to look over her shoulder, to peer at the common room's closed door, though she flinched and only caught Lickity immediately shoot into the sky with a lunge and a sharp downflap of her wet wings. Tessa covered her head a little and watched her gorgeous flyer not only vanish into the dark, but shoot completely out of sight and sound in two seconds flat. Tessa held her breath and remained silent, to see if she could potentially hear Lickity and Royal far off, though her incredible hearing picked nothing up. She finally sagged her shoulders, raised her eyebrows in a stupor of surprise and opened the common room door, the foggy glass was illuminated with the warm house lights inside.

"I'm not prepared to fight, I have my mouth full!" Penny barked with food in her mouth as she hung out in front of the common room's fridge; Tessa loudly laughed and shut the door behind her.

"You eating the Tower's food? You know how protective Nox gets about this fridge," Tessa giggled as she pushed past the common room's two couches, single massive bean bag chair and dining room area. As she eased into the kitchen, she put her hands on her hips and furrowed her brow in confusion, "... Lickity just told me to thank you for her being nicer to people, lately. What's the deal with that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Penny grumbled as she swallowed and shut the fridge. She brushed off her hands and breathed an annoyed giggle, "Lickity and I had a good talk this morning, I went to go practice some of my sword fighting and she came with me."

"How'd that go?" Tessa prod, Penny tucked her blond hair behind her ears and had a bit more of a girly air about herself.

"It got hairy for a second, but we reached even ground eventually," Penny shrugged, as if the small battle her and Lickity had was to remain their little secret, "I think Lickity wants to make amends with Orph but doesn't really know where to start... So she's starting by just being nicer to people, in general."

"Gotta start somewhere I guess," Tessa huffed, she shook her head and gave Penny a small smile "So... What's this all about? You're upset at yourself for what happened earlier?"

"I don't know... Orph messaged me and apologized for it, as well, but... It's my fault for just being a sore sport, I guess," Penny shrugged and scuffed the ground, "I-I... I just don't know how to go about this whole thing."

"You guys are official, aren't you," Tessa muttered with a smirk of a smile, though Penny's bashful eyes just barely hooked to Tessa's.

"It's obvious, I'm terrible at hiding my true feelings," Penny sighed, she shook her head, though she flinched as her communicator buzzed twice; her eyes grew crazed and bulged in solid annoyance, "He won't leave me alone!"

"Well! Maybe you should talk to him!" Tessa and Penny laughed as Penny waved her buzzing communicator around, "It'll help get these things off of your chest, I mean... I get wanting to keep your relationship secret while it's still small and blooming, but you can't just keep everything bottled and wait for it to explode."

Penny fell silent and stared Tessa down, though it was in this instance did Penny cock an eyebrow and open her mouth for a readied inhale did Tessa realize she had just fallen into a trap.

"Alright, listen... As the woman at your right hand, I'm going to stop you right there," Penny held up a finger and took a few steps closer to Tessa, "My relationship with Orph is still new, and we're still learning... Your relationship with your mother is matured and solid."

"Penny," Tessa stabbed in a sigh of mild annoyance, though Penny flagged her hand.

"Ah-ah, I said listen," Penny quietly demanded, and as she held her ground against Sugar Rush's future Queen, Tessa lowered her defenses and allowed Penny's wisdom in, "Tell me again, the words you just told me."

"...Don't let things bottle and wait for them to explode," Tessa muttered in solid annoyance, as if she was simply a young child being scolded for wrong-doing, she looked away and slumped her shoulders as Penny firmly continued on.

"You're a fantastic mentor, you're wise beyond your years Tess, and everyone knows that... You have the marks of a true Queen," Penny's cute and bashfully girly demeanor very quickly sloped to stern and broadly powerful, even for such a small and short individual, "It's time you invest that back into yourself... Whose going to take care of you, but yourself? Sure, Zed is a strong hold of this castle, of your relationship, and one day, of Sugar Rush... But you don't want the foundation of your city to crumble on the back of your's and your mother's issues, do you?"

"...No," Tessa huffed in defeat as she gave Penny a sorrowful look.

"It sucks, she's the Queen and she has your crown, the one you're working for, but... Bottom line Tess, she's the Queen," Penny grimaced and knew these words were likely hard to swallow, "She reserves the right to hold onto that crown, if she suddenly believes you're not fit for the position anymore. That crown has your name all over it... But there's no time frame that states exactly when you'll be handed that special crown. She could very easily prolong it in an act of spite. This grudge you guys are holding onto each other could turn into years of feuding... Tessa, I know this isn't what you want."

Tessa felt the whole slew of defeat hit her shoulders and she looked down and to the side, Penny's words coat over her like a nightmare coming to steal her soul, though with this weird bout of Penny's stance, she knew warmth was very abundant on the other side of this drama. Tessa's glassy, defeated eyes finally pierced Penny's with guilt, and as she bobbed a nod, a few tears rolled down Tessa's cheeks. Penny slumped her shoulders and approached her cousin with the very warmth she knew she would deliver sooner or later.

"Tess, I'm sorry... I'm not here to make you cry," Penny huffed softly, she gingerly gripped Tessa's lower arm and squeezed, "You assigned me here, at your right hand, to be at your side... And I won't let you down. I promised, didn't I?"

"Thank you, Penny," Tessa nodded and wiped her face a little, Tessa gently wormed her arm out of Penny's hand and gripped said hand instead, "I don't know why I'm so upset..."

"She messed with your cub, you have every right to be upset," Penny chuckled and shook her head, her beautiful blue eyes looked up into Tessa's glassy hazel orbs, "You went mama bear on someone who crossed a line, that was instinct you were right to roll with... Though, now it's time to make amends and go into Sugar Rush with a clear conscious. We have a job to do, we can't let it just soak with uncertainty and resentment and anger."

"You're right," Tessa staggered as she rubbed her eye and groaned a little, "I just don't want to confront her... I just need to collect myself."

"Here's the deal, you talk to your mother before the trip..." Penny nearly halted her sentence, though she bit her lip and knew she had to follow through with this little truce, "And... I'll tell the Kalivar lot that Orph and I are official."

"... Whoa, what a deal," Tessa barked with a nasally laugh as she outstretched her hand for a handshake, "I'll do that, no problem."

Penny rolled her eyes and confidently shook Tessa's hand, though it was clear that the nervous twinkle in Penny's eyes was only going to broaden over time.

"Deal," Penny muttered with an irritated smile, "I'm going to go to bed... Hopefully Orph gets the hint."

"You gunna ignore him now?" Tessa wondered as she completed wiping the last of her tears from her cheeks, though she giggled and shook her head, "Poor guy, he just wants love."

"That he does," Penny put her hand on her hip and looked away, "I don't know if I want to let him in or not, just yet..."

"Well, Zed and I made sure to swap your source code and put firewalls up and such," Tessa mumbled nonchalantly as she took her turn to look into the fridge; she could see Penny gape in her peripheral, "So... I guess go hog wild, if the opportunity arises."

"WHAT?" Penny ogled, both girls laughed, "For User's sake, don't tell Orph that, he'll climb all over me!"

"Isn't that what you want?!" Tessa argued, "C'mon, swapping is so much fun, you'll be sad you didn't do it sooner."

"I can't even begin to think about that right now," Penny choked, her face turned beet red.

"Well, you can marinate in it all day tomorrow, then, I guess," Tessa laughed as she gave up searching and closed the fridge, "Zed has arranged a castle-wide beach day tomorrow. There's a large sprawl of beach just by a few shallows and coves, North of here."

"EVERYONE'S going?" Penny gawked quietly, Tessa shrugged and bobbed a nod.

"It IS Sunday, after all. I think even Calhoun and Felix are joining in," Tessa smiled, "It's getting more dangerous for our little clan, here, to leave the game, so... If we can't go to EZ Living, we'll just bring EZ Living to us."

"I could go for a beach day," Penny looked off and bobbed a nod, though Tessa scoffed and gave Penny a knowing smirk.

"Anything to see Orph shirtless, eh?" Tessa teased, though both girls laughed as Penny began to swat at her.


	174. Chapter 174

**Reviews :**

 **Silversurfer :** Thank you so much! All your inquires should be answered shortly :)

 **Retrokill :** TAKE COVER! lol!

 **Snake557 :** They do :) Thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** YESH Lots of xmas surprises :D And I mean lots lol. And yes, the whole issue with Vanellope gets resolved in due time, it doesn't drag out for too much longer - Penny is definitely lookin' out for Tess. Thanks so much for your kind words! It means a lot to me!

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 **Song Listened To : Bad Liar by Selena Gomez**

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 ***WARNING***

 **This chapter contains a (small) sex scene ;)**

* * *

 ***Chapter 174***

Through the glint of the morning sunshine, Penny softly sat up in her ruffled, comfortable sprawling downs. She winced and looked about her sun kissed bedroom. With her blond hair, grown out to about an inch or two longer than she would've liked about a year ago, she ran her fingers through it lazily and relished in the length one more. She grappled her communicator, on her nightstand, and immediately regret clicking the lock to highlight her screen; Orph's four late night messages continued to go unread. Penny heaved a long, hard sigh and finally decided to open them and see just what he wanted.

 _1:05am Sunday 10/09/2016_

 _Orph4Prez : I mean, I understand maybe being shy, but I think we got something great going. Don't you ever want to brag about it?_

 _Orph4Prez : I'm brag worthy, right? I mean I'd like to think so. I can rock your world you if you just give me a chance, y'know?_

 _Orph4Prez : That... Came across pretty sexual and I did not intend it that way. I mean like if I could actually treat you like my girlfriend in front of others, and not just behind closed doors or... Through this silly texting regimen we've fallen into. Now you have me babbling. I'm half awake anyways so lol._

 _Orph4Prez : Look, do you want to just come up to my room so we can properly talk this out? We can't keep doing this kind of thing through text, I'd prefer to actually, yknow... Look at you?_

Penny rolled her eyes, slumped her communicator to her sheets and slowly got out of bed. She huffed a small giggle, glared down at the communicator and felt her heart jump in a flurry of confused delight. She halted what she was doing and continued to glare down her phone as she ran through Orph's message. She side-eyed the device harder and harder, she suddenly felt as if she was aware of the game Orph was likely playing with her.

"You intended it and you know it," Penny grumbled to no one but her now auto-shut off screened communicator.

Penny scoffed a laugh, shook her head and knew she could remain a few steps ahead of him, if she just simply remembered that he was likely trying to tip toe his way around her strict walls. She stepped into her bathroom, washed up for the day and dried her hands. She knew she'd likely just be able to ease back into hanging out with Orph at their little beach party, today. She figured just having a restful morning to herself would be good, so to clear her thoughts and stuff whatever tension she had building up. She heaved a relaxed sigh and enjoyed the feeling of the morning sun's rays. She knew likely no one was awake quite yet, save for potentially Zed, Ace or Tessa. As she swiped her favorite book off of her other nightstand, she opened her patio doors and welcomed the cool breeze.

As she left her patio door open, she peered about the solid still backyard and was thrilled no one was around. She relaxed her shoulders, smiled and pushed across her patio; said patio was a swooping, broad stretch of a patio she also shared with Tammy, Koko, Oliver, Emery and Throttle's front door. The whole floor above theirs also had the same set up and was shared by Duke, Orph, Jax and Tej. The whole backyard was aglow with the gorgeous morning sun, the dregs of rain clouds hung on the horizon and the humidity of the storm, the night prior, fogged every single window on the lot. Slapped in a comfortable pair of short black shorts and a mint green spaghetti strap, Penny sat down at her patio's higher table, designed for two. In a flick of getting settled, she sat down, unraveled her book and began to dive into the fantasy world she had become recently enraptured in; even still, she furrowed her brow hard into the pages and practically begged the book to erase her reoccurring thoughts about Orph.

She glared down the few sentences she had to reread twice now; Orph's words resonated deep into her skull, and although she wondered if potentially just opening up and letting loose every single last worry she had, in the security of Orph's arms, didn't sound so bad, she bit her tongue and continued to ponder just how one would go about those next steps. Becoming official to the lot of the castle, pushing forward with the different social structures that come with a relationship, she was well aware that the reason her heart was now currently racing wasn't simply because she thought Orph was as cute as a button, strictly an innocent notion she tried to keep her mind to. She huffed a hard sigh to herself, let the book slump to the solid table she sat at, she was quick to glower out to the trees before her. She shook her head firmly, rid her rushing thoughts and bit her lip in solid concentration at the page she had likely let her eyes just simply gloss over for the past ten minutes, without retaining any of the information.

Penny rolled her eyes, dug back into her book and held it closer to her face, as if to wonder if potentially keeping it closer to her eyes would block out her thoughts about Orph. In a sweep of success, she read a solid paragraph without melting back into her confused, rushing thoughts, though before she could even hope to keep that train rolling, a sudden thumping noise became present directly above her. Penny flinched in a hard recoil, and as if the universe simply just loved messing with her, she suddenly reeled and was floored to see Orph gently climbing over the railing of the balcony over head. With a grunt and grappling hands, muscles that did hard work to lug him over the banister, he dangled for a moment before he released his hands and came down to the grass half a dozen feet from Penny.

Penny gaped in solid annoyance and glared him down as he stood, cheeky, dorky smile and all as he brush his hands are from the dirt and grass he just landed in. He was shirtless, which of course had Penny loudly cursing inside her head. She slapped her book closed, let it hit the table and as quickly as she could, she stood and gestured her arm out in whole annoyed confusion. Orph blurt a hard chuckle, a loud one that reverberated against any solid surface around, which had Penny loudly shushing him. She flagged her hand down and urgently gestured at him to shut up, though in doing so, Orph covered his mouth in a cute display of bashfulness, he scrunched his muscular shoulders and nervously looked around; Penny angrily ogled him, though her heart began to burst with the pure need to simply just grab him and have him right now.

"What the hell are you doing?" Penny loudly whispered as his bare feet gently thud against the patio's glossy wooden tile like flooring, he ruffled his silver hair, which was out of it's usual mohawk style.

"You're ignoring me," Orph huffed with a sneaky smile, "You can't ignore me. I'm Orph Tyler Kalivar... I'm impossible to ignore, so nice try, blondie."

Penny felt as if she was at a loss for words; she knew they had practically resolved what had happened yesterday, though the fact that she didn't want to confront Orph with her other rushing worries, she knew this was bound to come to a screeching halt at some point. She put her hands on her hips and began to grow more and more annoyed at every second, every step that Orph took to get closer to her; the second he sat down at her little table for two, she rolled her eyes and began to deeply wonder just what all this annoyance was about; her heart raced and raced, and with this, she sat in her pool of confusion for a second and very quickly began to realize the bubbling tension between them. In an instant, she figured she should let down her wall and finally just let him in, though the second Orph opened his mouth to continue to be a dweeb, Penny knew this was going to be a lot more difficult than she thought.

"Aww, do I annoy you, Fluggerbutter?" Orph whispered.

Penny scoffed sarcastically and began to leave the sun-kissed patio, stationed right off of her sliding glass bedroom door. She reeled, marched back and began to grapple for her book, though Orph swiped it in a hiss of a victorious chuckle and began to play keep away with her.

"YES, you do," Penny spat, they kept their voices quiet, with the sun just peeking over the trees, the rest of the Kalivar residents were still sound asleep, "Give it."

"What's in it for me?" Orph cocked an eyebrow and gave Penny a sly smile, though he flinched as her strong hands finally swiped at the book, her upper body lightly lunged over the high table for two, in which Orph was now sat at; to no avail, she fumbled as he yanked it away and gave her a cheesier smile, "I sincerely hope you hit me."

"So you're saying you're masochistic?" Penny stabbed in continued whispering, though she nearly broke in a full fledged smile. She stifled whatever laughter she could and desperately tried to keep face.

"C'mon, I bug the crap outta you, I'm sure a good swing is in there, somewhere," Orph dared to chuckle a little louder as Penny's swipes grew more vigorous. Orph tilted his head, pointed firmly to his chin and squinted, "C'mon, one hit. Gimme your best shot."

Penny furrowed her brow and gave Orph a hard glower, how desperately she just wanted to pop him square in the face, and the fact that he simply was allowing it in this raw moment, she clenched her fists and knew her glowing moment had come. In a rush of wanting to swipe at him for literally no other reason other than to potentially justify why she was all pent up, she bit her lip and felt herself succumbing to her secretive wants. Orph's cute smile, his electric silver eyes peered at her from the corner of his gaze, and as he pointed to his chin and continued to tease her, she inhaled a readied breath and figured she'd do just what she was told; give him her best shot.

As she approached, the look on Orph's face grew rapidly concerned, as if he was certain she wasn't going to follow through with such nonsense until now, to actually lash out and hit him, though as she leaned over the table, the strict finger that was pointed firmly into his own chin sagged as he slumped a little in delightful confusion. Penny quickly leaned in, and as if she had potentially waited for way too long to get another romantic, sweeping kiss out of him, she sunk her lips to his and gave him an urgent, firm kiss. A small enough smack to state that she was so riled about all of this drama that she potentially had no other way of expressing to him that all she wanted was to be swept away and reassured until the night fell. As she pulled away, the two locked eyes in solid confusion, Orph furrowed his brow in whole shock and froze, his words failed, something Penny was wholly uncertain could even happen.

Orph suddenly flinched as Penny groaned a sudden sharp bark of a grunt, she swiped herself away from him and clenched her fists in whole frustration, and as Orph long blinked a few times and watched her aimlessly pace herself into the ground, he huffed a small, confused, bashful chuckle and slumped his arms to the table he was at. Penny grappled her hair and began to mutter incoherent obscenities to herself, simply as if she was now mad at herself. Orph blurt another chuckle, a little louder this time, though just as he got down from the table, Penny had now managed to pace her way back into her bedroom. She ease on and off of the patio, from her carpeted bedroom, and as she inched deeper into her own sanctuary, she continued to let her eyes angrily gloss the ground, she muttered arguments to herself in a flustered frenzy, as if what she had just done was worthy of punishing herself over.

Orph cocked an eyebrow and let his eyes finally soak to her being; although she was short, she had beautiful slender legs she hardly ever sport. With a lounging, comfortable attire she wore in this moment, Orph huffed a shaky breath and was thrilled she was at her most relaxed. He knew this likely was his chance to strike, because of said notion, though as he popped his own thoughts for a second, and looked about the back yard, he was thrilled to find everything was still dead quiet, not a soul to be found. With this, he peered back to Penny and noticed she had now vanished inside her room entirely. Orph inhaled a readied breath, puffed his chest, gave himself a small confidence boost in his mind and pushed into her bedroom slowly. As he closed and locked the sliding glass door behind him, he was thrilled to find that it had all gone unnoticed by Penny, who continued to urgently pace in whole annoyance.

"Alright, what's this about?" Orph stated in a normal volume, which caused Penny to flinch and jolt out of her thoughts, she peered at hm in urgent dismay, though her face was nearly beet red.

"Shush!" Penny hissed, though she realized that her room was sound proofed by Tessa a few weeks back; Orph cocked an eyebrow and began to slowly move closer to her.

"I know your room is sound proofed, Tessa told me so," Orph continued on with a cocky smile, he side-eyed Penny and shook his head, "So, what, we're dating but we're just going to pretend we're not, in front of others, I get it..."

"I-I mean, I thought we were doing a good job," Penny demanded, she so desperately tried to hold onto her angry front, though she felt her wiggly veins want to do something different with all these rushing emotions.

"Oh yeah those goo-goo eyes you were making at me, yesterday, DEFINITELY went unnoticed," Orph barked a laugh; Penny forced down a chuckle, the sheer fact that nearly everything he did was contagious had Penny even more riled, "The second you left the room, everyone guessed it."

"They KNOW?!" Penny shrieked in confused horror, though Orph gave her a wide, toothy, annoyed smile and waved his hand down.

"NO I didn't say anything, what I'm saying to you NOW is that they've practically sniffed us out," Orph laughed, he continued to step closer to her, and although he was across the room, Penny felt her chest rise and fall with continued anticipation; she began to wonder why he was closing the gap so slowly, "What exactly are you so worried about?"

"I-I don't know, just... Th-The social conduct of-"

"Oh come OFF IT!" Orph barked with an incredulous laugh, he narrowed his gaze and shook his head, "You KNOW you want just what the other couples of the castle have... The ability to express themselves? The other guys don't have to hide what they have with their partner... And GUESS WHAT?"

"Orph," Penny begged in solid annoyance, though she held her hands to her chest and took a step back, a subtle game of 'come and get me' she wondered if would egg him on or not.

"Literally no one is phased," Orph choked a laugh, "So, what are we doing, here? We're progressing naturally and everything is just unfolding as it should, yet you STILL somehow want to make that come to a screeching halt."

"I-I... Just..." Penny stammered for words, she so desperately tried to rebut everything Orph was saying, though somehow, by him just simply being here, he had called checkmate. Penny shook her head and tried not to just leave her mouth agape, scrounging for an argument, though Orph swooped into her silence and continued on.

"What do you NEED to feel comfortable? What needs to happen to where we can boast about our new relationship?" Orph wondered, he began to look as if he could potentially be sad, though his body language continued to read uplift, as if he was here simply to wash away any worries Penny had. He scoffed a laugh and peered at her across the gap he was eventually closing, "What is it... Do you need a hug?"

"Orph," Penny blurt a laugh she couldn't keep in, though she looked away and desperately tried to stifle herself; Orph chuckled and opened his arms out a little, he closed in on a dozen feet from her and continued on.

"What needs to happen, you need a back rub, a heart to heart? Want me to do your nails? What other girly things can I think up?" Orph only teased, and with this, Penny's bashful smile broadened; Orph cocked an eyebrow and glossed his eyes down to the ground, though as he reached a few feet in front of her, his voice softened to the deep rumble she could swear could make her heart stop in one instant, "What, maybe a little stress reliever?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Penny staggered as she narrowed her gaze and even still tried to keep her front up, though Orph tilted his head down, cocked an eyebrow and shook his head a little; the silver strands, that messily ruffled the top of his head, dangled before his eyebrows a little.

"Of course you do," Orph's grumbling voice coat the bridge of her sun kissed nose, and as he was close enough to reach out and touch, she fluttered her eyes to his strong, bare collar bones. He inhaled slowly, his powerful chest rose, and with such, she could see the pulse on his jugular throb. She caught her breath, swallowed nervously and finally dared to give him eye contact. He huffed a chuckle through his nose and long blinked, his cheeky demeanor and smile still remained, though he drastically softened to exude all the hidden emotions and moods he was very good at concealing, "I can do that for you, y'know."

"... I-I'm nervous," Penny nearly whispered as she could feel her knees begin to shake, though Orph narrowed his gaze a little and showed his teeth harder in a cute, knowing smile.

"About what, I don't bite," The lilt in his voice and chuckle was something he knew was irresistible, and with this ump in his game, he knew he had successfully captured this rare and wild creature by the way her little fingers gingerly rested on his lower chest. With this, Orph slowly followed cues and softly reached his hands to hold her around her upper back. As he sunk her into his body a little, she just barely nestled her head to the broad of his chest; she was just tall enough to where the top of her head could barely nestle into his neck. Upon doing this, Orph breathed a small chuckle on her ear and leaned in closer, so to expel a small secret, "I'm a little nervous, too, y'know, so... You're in good company."

"But, nothing phases you," Penny retort quietly as she so gently eased into his warmth and kept her arms tucked between herself and his chest, though she felt her skin plague with goosebumps as he rested a few kisses on her lower jaw.

"Hmm, you'd be surprised," Orph stated in a hum, though as he gently tightened his grip about her body, Penny heaved a shaky breath and sunk deeper into his warm embrace.

Through a trembled breath, Penny felt her world begin to turn on it's side. The way Orph's hands gingerly cupped behind her back, keeping her snug to his much larger, taller body, she felt tremors practically shoot down her spine as her fingers felt the muscles on his broad chest. She sagged her shoulders in a show of defeat, a final succumb to him, and with this, he heaved a hot breath through his nose and onto the side of her throat as he dug in. His soft and gentle kisses began to turn eager down her neck, and as he squeezed her up and tightly cocooned into his warm, comforting chest, she dared to let a small hum of an inquiry escape her; he barely lifted her feet off the ground, she could so very easily foresee her tiny little body becoming largely overwhelmed by his, and with this, she nearly cursed herself for not getting advice in advanced from her Aunt Vanellope.

In a simple step or two, Orph gingerly made Penny back step closer to her bed, and once they were there, he followed through with pushing her back onto it. She easily sunk into the head of her bed, nearly onto her pillows, and with such, she gasped a little and was surprised with just how much confidence oozed from Orph's being. As if he had somehow had practice with this, he so gently sunk onto her body a bit, knelt so not to squish her, and as they squirmed in a writhe of rising passion, his kisses began to grow a bit more firm on the side and front of Penny's neck. Penny breathed a gentle chuckle and lulled her head back in the delightful confusion he was politely throwing her into, and with such, his name gently reverberated from her throat.

Orph felt his ears prick, his heart raced, the feeling of her small body getting settled underneath and before him, he could hardly believe he was sat in this very rapidly escalating situation. He choked a small noise as he began to brace himself, though as Penny mumbled a small noise of delightful nervousness and inched her arms tight about Orph's neck in a drape of growing desire, he heaved a trembling breath and dug his face and forehead into the nook of her neck and throat. They squirmed, the bed sheets began to wrinkle, and as they pushed deeper into her big billowy pillows, his hot kisses never-ended on the side of her throat. He was floored to feel her squirm her little legs so that he was laid and knelt between them.

Penny gasped a little as he took the invitation and ran with it, and as he dug his hips, as well as the obvious, firmly into her little body, he choked a breath and could feel his coding very quickly go from biding it's time to near-ballistic want to be released. Before he could wonder just what to do with his hands, his legs, his everything, he shut his eyes tight and so quickly began to fumble with the nonsense of a few buttons on his comfortable, dark red faded sweats. Penny uttered a small notion, a kind few words that nearly begged him to hurry, and as her soft legs sprawled a little wider, he uttered her a polite few words, reminding her that he was here to give her everything she quite possibly needed. Orph inhaled a readied breath and felt every single last fleeting bit of information, about this act, desperately come reaching to him, and as he pulled the leg of Penny's short shorts aside, he scrunched his face and braced the two for the throw around.

Orph uttered a faltered breath on her shoulder, and as he firmly dug into her, though as gently as he possibly could, he dug his teeth into the top of her shoulder and felt his brain wash hot at the mere feel of her tiny body go rigid with all these changes. He grimaced at the squeeze and tightly cocooned Penny deep into his chest, and as he hovered over her, he firmly completed their connection and exhaled a hot breath atop her head. As she lulled her head back in a gape of defeat, her head hit the head board with a thud to prove simply just how much she had already given up. Orph gently swiped his hand over the side of her face, to brush her hair out of her eyes, and as he hovered over her, both a panting mess, he looked at her as a whole and simply knew, in this moment, this small split second was the calm before the storm.

Before he could waste time, sit and wonder just where to potentially go from here, he knew he just needed to dig in and drive all her insecurities out of her whole existence. With a single draw back and a thrust, he was floored with just how much further her body could go rigid, and with the nudge of her upper back and shoulders into the headboard, she tossed her head back once more and let loose a gasp of a moan to the room. Orph cocked an eyebrow and now wholly felt done for, and as he gently pulled back and relished in the tight squeeze of her recoil, he was now excited to potentially keep one-upping himself, he wondered just how much noise he could possibly get out of her tiny body.

Penny urgently gripped Orph's upper arms as he moved to support himself on his hands, on either side of her, on the bed. Her eyes fluttered closed in shock, and with a gape of hot surprise, he wasted no time, he knew they simply didn't need a warm up; with just how writhing and grabby her body continued to prove itself to be, underneath him, he was very well aware she was secretly praying for this battle to happen practically yesterday. The bed loudly croaked, though Penny was louder; she slapped her arms about Orph's neck as he leaned down and began to firmly trail hot kisses down her sternum, once more. He huffed a groaning breath of a chuckle into her chest and continued to turn the whole room upside down.

Orph smiled onto her now sweaty skin, and as he skillfully continued to thrust and plow into her little body, the bed creaked and complained with all the nonsense. As the headboard continued to slap the wall, the call of his name that rolled off her lips only got louder and more urgent. With this, Orph dug his knees into the bed a little harder and dared to give in to her pleas, and as his groans turned into gasps of encouraging words, he begged her to tell him just who owned the whole entire room. As her needy body, limbs and all did everything they could to keep him moving, to keep this nonsense up no matter the cost, she began to claw on his shoulders in an urgent draw of the ultimate neediness. Orph choked a small, seductive chuckle and felt simply as if his coding was nearly about to rage quit on itself, the simple mission he had set out to complete turned into a whole adventure he was nearly not prepared for.

Through all the calls and hollers, Penny finally choked a laugh of disbelief and lulled her arm up and over her head, she lightly covered her eyes with the bend of her upper arm and exhaled an exasperated few breathes of whole exhaustion, though she was glad Orph didn't dare quit. His strong, larger body heaved and continued to plow into her without any fail, though as the two writhed and squirmed with the onset of exploding passion, the sound of a loud, rhythmic buzzing was suddenly apparent. Orph huffed a hot few pants onto Penny's chest and slowed his roll, though as he unboggled his brain and brought himself back to the Arcade, he realized his communicator, in his pants pocket, was receiving a call. Orph choked a noise of confused annoyance and urgently pat his pocket, though he froze as him and Penny urgently peered into each other's eyes, as if to pray to User Almighty that the room was indeed soundproof, and they weren't discovered.

"Wh-Who knows you're even awake? O-Or here right now?" Penny uttered in a stagger of desperately trying to catch her breath, though as Orph fumbled to swipe his phone out of his pants, he angrily peered down at his phone and groaned a loud noise, Penny arched her back and desperately hugged her arms about Orph's neck, "WE'RE BUSY!"

"Of ALL the times Zed has to call me it's when I'm FINALLY having sex," Orph rushed in solid annoyance, though he apologetically peered to Penny, as if to wonder just what to do now.

"W-Well pick up! If you don't, he'll get suspicious!" Penny urged in a nervous tone as she jostled the phone closer to Orph's chest, though he huffed a knowing noise and slid his finger on the screen, so to answer Zed's call.

Orph silently cleared his throat, desperately tried to catch his breath and as he long blinked to get his bearings, he hovered over Penny and brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello," Orph chimed nonchalantly, simply as if nothing was going on; Penny flinched and beamed a wide, curiously annoyed smile at just how good he was at pretending.

"Hey man, where are you? I'm out here waitin'," Zed's kind voice could be heard from up to Orph's ear, in Penny's quiet room.

"Shit... I forgot, I-I uh... I just woke up. I'll be out there in five, can I take Royal out to you?" Orph grunted as he got situated atop Penny, he grimaced, as did Penny, due to them still being connected.

"Yeah, you should, Ace won't mind. I saw Royal in the Sky Room earlier this morning, he should still be there," Zed volleyed nonchalantly, "It's just me and Marble right now, I just need help holding the spot while we get set up for the day."

"Yeah man, I'll be there as soon as possible, I'm sorry," Orph rushed politely as he bobbed a nod and rolled his eyes.

"It's cool, see you soon," Zed stated kindly, and as the two said a quick goodbye, Orph hung up the phone and lobbed it over his shoulder in whole annoyance.

"I forgot I have to go help Zed set up today, at the beach," Orph staggered in solid annoyance, though just as he was about to unglue himself from Penny, she urgently grappled her little legs around his backside and kept him to her.

"Nooo that's not even fair," Penny whined as Orph groaned a long noise and gave her body one gentle, deep thrust; she grew rigid before exhaling a noise of pure, satisfied delight.

"I'm really sorry," Orph mumbled into her neck as he trailed his firm, warm kisses up her neck and to her cheek, "I-I promised him and I totally forgot... If I stay here, he'll become nosey."

"Oh, whatever," Penny groaned, though she smiled in a bit of a daze as Orph gingerly pushed a few warm smooches to her mouth. She draped her arms about his neck, though she grimaced as he began to finally leave her body, "C-Can we... Can we pick this up again later tonight?"

"You don't even have to ask," Orph's deep voice mumbled on her wet mouth, and as he finally slid out of her small body, the two groaned noises of the mild relief; Penny flinched as Orph corrected himself and fumbled to escape her bed, "Didn't think you'd be starting your day off like that, didja?"

"Not even a little," Penny huffed through a satisfied groan as she slumped into her bed, her feet and legs wriggled underneath her sheets and blankets, though as Orph ruffled his hair and tried to seem normal, he began to nervously stroll over to Penny's bedroom door, "Promise me, tonight?"

"Ohh I promise," Orph pointed, he huffed a shaky chuckle and shook his head, "Hold onto that feeling, blondie."

"Nooo danger there, dude," Penny stated with a daze of a smirk, and as Orph wrinkled her a small wave and left her bedroom, she soaked into every single last wonderful feeling he had left her with, and although it ended way too soon, she bit her lip and was floored she had that to look forward to, once the day was finished.

* * *

 **A/N :** **I drew fanart for the beginning of this chapter, titled 'Your Best Shot' on my deviantART! Username - Vyntresser :D**


	175. Chapter 175

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** YES lots of teasing, lots of geeking out haha :D The fun only begins from here!

 **WildVirus(?) :** I'm assuming this is you, it says 'Guest' but it sounds like you, so I'm just going to assume xD Yeah, writing the part where Orph had to stop because of his phone, was pretty difficult for me as well LOL! Also, I GREATLY appreciate that! I pride myself in the fact that I've never used an explicit word for ANY of my sex scenes!

 **Silversurfer :** Oh good! I'm glad that worked out, I sometimes hesitate to put the warning but I shouldn't assume everyone likes those types of scenes. I'm glad you enjoyed the other parts of the chapter anyhow! :D

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **Nikki Firesong :** LOL! Too true, I'm surprised the walls just haven't spontaneously combusted already, especially with the heat between Ace and Libby coming up xD Thank you so much!

 **Retrokill :** omg don't die lol!

* * *

 ***Chapter 175***

As Orph quickly hustled down the spiral staircase that lead from the upstairs hallway of bedrooms, he yanked a comfortable tank over his shoulders. With a spring in his step, a grin on his face, he huffed a small chuckle to himself, clapped his hands together once in a loud pang of a reverberating crack and hit the final landing of the stairs. He puffed his chest, beamed out to the castle's kitchen with pride and snapped his fingers. Even the sight of Lickity, laid comfortably on the tiles, wasn't enough to rock him from the top of the world he was on. He blurt a chuckle, pointed to Lickity and gave her a snarky smile as she lifted her head in whole confusion.

"Heyyy old bat, fast cat," Orph barked as he jabbed his fingers in her direction with a cheesy smile, though as he hustled through the empty kitchen to the Sky Room, Lickity furrowed her brow in whole confusion, "Lucky Lickity, my prized number '99."

Just as she was about to vastly ignore his nostalgic remarks and lay her head back down to continue napping, the air Orph had jostled and wafted through the space flitted her way, and in a jolt of eyes popped wide open, she lifted her head, gaped in solid surprise and flattened her ears. In a slide of a clumsy jolt to get up, her claws clacked and scraped as she finally got to her feet and began to urgently bumble towards the Sky Room, to where Orph vanished.

"Roy-boy, my main man," Orph chimed as Royal snorted a noise and peered his curious, golden eyes to Orph. Royal bared his fangs in a curious wrinkle of a smile and let his ears sag in a show of equal ground with Orph, who rapidly approached, "Would you mind maybe flying me North a few miles? I promised Zed I'd help him set up, for the day."

Royal opened his mouth further to reply, though as Orph neared, Royal froze and wrinkled his snout in an urgent, sniffling motion. He flattened his ears tighter, slowly got to his feet and near-towered over Orph, who began to sag into himself in solid confusion. Royal side-eyed Orph with a cheeky, fang-filled smile that only broadened with every passing second, and as Orph finally realized just why Royal was becoming so incredibly curious, he huffed a shaky breath and began to take a few nervous steps away from Royal.

"Whatcha been up to?" Royal's deep voice near whispered, he was aware the residents of the Sky Room were still sound asleep.

"I-I don't... Understand, I just woke up," Orph lied as he looked about, ultimately giving away the fact that he was indeed fibbing.

"Oh, okay, so... You just wake up reeking of Penny and musk," Royal shrugged as he fluffed his wings a little and stretched his tail, after being curled and laid comfortably on the tile; Orph's face turned beet red.

"I-I... Um..." Orph staggered, he shrugged and began to look mildly defensive, though Royal broadened his stance a little and blurt a chuckle.

"You're going to sit here and actually try to pretend we haven't all been over this a billion times," Royal shoved his clawed paw to the front of his own chest and extended his neck for emphasis, "I'm an ANIMAL! My sense of smell is beyond anything you can even begin to imagine."

"So you have super sonic senses, I get it," Orph shrugged, Royal shook his head and beamed.

"So how's that new coding, huh?" Royal volleyed, though Orph cheesed a smile and tucked his hands behind his back.

"I actually didn't have the pleasure, my friend," Orph snapped back, toothy grin and all, "I forgot I had to meet up with Zed... If you could uh, just keep this between us, that'd be awesome."

"C'mon dude, you really gunna leave her hanging?" Royal laughed, he nudged the wrist of his wing into Orph's shoulder; he wobbled and blurt a laugh.

"I don't have a choice, please take me, please?" Orph begged with a gentle laugh as he began to look desperate to drop this conversation, though as Royal rolled his eyes, and both boys began to march towards the exit of the Sky Room, they came to a sharp halt as they noticed Lickity hanging in the exit corridor, the only way out.

She had her wings sprawled to encompass the whole stretch of the corridor, so no one could get through. She huffed a hard chuff through her nostrils and as her ears remained tightly perked atop her head, a show of ultimate dominance, she finally showed her teeth in a gentle snarl and glared Orph down. Orph slumped his shoulders and, for once in his life, he felt genuine sorrow prick him. He furrowed his brow in confusion, and although he remained still, he wondered just why Lickity was getting all pissy; he was well aware she likely knew what was up, though he huffed a soft breath and shook his head. Orph gingerly began to approach Lickity, though as he came near, he was surprised to see her just barely relax her wings, as if to feel wholly conflicted.

"What, why are you mad at me?" Orph barked softly, Lickity flinched and glared into his eyes in a solid act of this raw dilemma, to be upset for going the distance, with Penny, or to at least attempt to be happy for them, "I did something that shows Penny that I genuinely care about her, it's an act of LOVE, Lickity, get your panties out of a knot."

Lickity flinched and sagged her wings just a little more, and although she remained still in mild confusion, her eyes dart about Orph's chest in slowly falling defeat.

"Look, I know you hate me, but cut me some slack," Orph snapped, he gave Lickity a snarky smile and just barely got in her face, "User forbid I actually spread a little bit of this love about, y'know? You gunna blame me for, oh I don't know... Committing myself to someone I care about?"

"Hurt her, and I hurt you," Lickity near-growled, though Orph rolled his eyes and, although he was mildly frightened at Lickity's sheer size and strength against him, he pushed past Lickity's strong front legs, shoved on her wing and was successful in worming his way around her.

"I know the drill, same goes for every single other couple under this roof, Lickity, join the club... I get it, protect the women, be good spouses, OR ELSE," Orph huffed dramatically, and although he agreed with all those things, he rolled his eyes and was convinced literally nothing could wipe this amazing mood he was in, "Hold me to it, Lickity. I'll make you proud one day, you'll see."

Lickity tightened her wings snug to her body as Royal scoot past her as well, though he nuzzled under her neck, in a loving fashion, just before trotting after Orph; the two successfully slipped past Lickity and vanished out the castle's back door. As Lickity nervously eyed the back door as it shut, she slumped her shoulders in rapidly growing defeat and so desperately tried to hang onto Orph's words, to truly believe this was his shining chance to prove he did, indeed, have a heart of gold and was capable of genuinely and selflessly taking care of another being.

* * *

As Royal's powerful, massive wings gracefully float through the clouds and down to the spot on the beach Zed was nonchalantly preserving, Orph chuckled in an incredulous way and got a good look about as Royal's chameleon paws made contact with the sand undertow. With a gentle pat to Royal's neck, he thanked Ace's flyer and was grateful Royal helped him dismount his dull-thorned spine. As Orph got a better look about, he noticed Zed and Marble acknowledge their presence and close the two or so dozen foot gap. Orph waved, as did Zed; Royal chuffed a snort of a sneeze, at the presence of the puff of sand he had accidentally kicked up, though he wrinkled his snout further and began to paw at his bat-like nose, as if to become further agitated.

"Hey, sorry for waking you," Zed stated with a sly smile as he eyed his younger brother, though he furrowed his brow harder and began to notice Royal's antics were becoming a bit flared and obvious. Royal, who stood a handful of feet behind Orph, bulged his eyes a little and gestured his wing to Orph, as if to clearly state something was new or different. Zed slowed his roll and felt Marble slowly come up to his left side, she exhaled a breath that closely resembled a chuckle.

"You didn't wake him," Marble's voice telepathically floated into Zed's mind, alongside a motherly breath of a laugh, "From the smell of it, he's been up and 'busy' for about an hour now."

"Bah, it's fine, I forgot to set an alarm like an idiot," Orph cheesed, his smile was vastly more toothy and energetic, his aura read that of whole uplift, and with such, Zed crossed his arms and gave Orph a knowing smile.

"You don't have to play dumb, dude," Zed muttered, Royal suddenly barked a laugh, though as Orph quickly whirled around and gave him a death flare, Royal shut his mouth in a clamp, flattened his ears, stood frozen and allowed his pupils to grow large and endearing; the second Orph slowly drew back to speak to Zed, Royal rolled his eyes, and in a flop, he suddenly thrust himself into the sand and began to dig vigorously, as if to somehow get out of this awkward conversation.

"What do you mean?" Orph smiled in whole annoyance, though Zed shook his head and slowly stepped closer to him.

"You better get any and all information out of me, while you can, cause in about a half an hour, we're going to have the whole crew here, on this beach," Zed stated knowingly, he eyed his little brother with a twinkle of a smile and wrinkled his nose, "I'm just glad it's you and not Finn, again... That sucked."

"You've lost me," Orph choked, desperately trying to keep up the facade.

"He knows, you idiot, he knows!" Royal suddenly yelped from his dig about twenty feet away, he flailed his wings, which caused sand and sea shells to fly in all directions.

"You're doing a terrible job at hiding it," Zed smiled, though he could tell Orph was slowly beginning to accept the fact that his brand new secret was now exposed, though safe with Zed and the two flyers present. With this fallen wall of stubbornness, Orph began to radiate a sense of vulnerability, his silver eyes pierced Zed's with uncertainty, though somehow, alongside a dollop of trust. Zed pat Orph's shoulder in a brotherly way and shook his head, "So, do you actually need my help or did you manage to swap codes successfully? I know Penny's still alive, cause if you accidentally killed her, via mis-timed code swap, something's telling me you wouldn't be so collected right now."

"No, we... We didn't swap," Orph finally caved, he slumped his shoulders and nervously looked away, though he finally stabbed his annoyed, cheeky gaze straight into Zed's and gave him a playful glower, "You called and interrupted everything."

"Damn, I'm sorry," Zed choked, Marble wheezed a noise and looked up, as if to want to so badly expel a laugh, "If I would've known, you know I would've left you alone."

"Yeah, next time I won't be so forgiving," Orph muttered with a knowing smile.

"Next time, don't pick up the damn phone," Zed volleyed with his typical, fatherly sternness, he shook his head and gave Orph an annoyed smile, "That's rule number one, when having sex. Ignore. The. PHONE."

"This situation was different! Penny told me to pick up!" Orph argued, both boys laughed, though Zed lovingly hooked his arm over Orph's shoulder and began to lead him to the spot where Zed was saving, which was across the stretch of beach they were on.

"Fine, you're off the hook," Zed muttered, though Orph huffed a shaky breath and nervously eyed his big brother.

"So, what's this fancy secret you, Finn and Nox seem to have down?" Orph wondered tenderly as Zed gently eyed him, "And, pretty soon here, Ace..."

"Don't even get me started on Ace and Libby," Zed groaned, Orph laughed and ruffled his messy silver hair, "That poor girl won't know what hit her. Can't imagine being saddled with User coding, all at once, like that."

"I'm sure she knows what she's getting herself into," Orph shrugged, "Besides, just because he has powerful coding doesn't mean it's unforgiving. I'm sure they'll be fine. Now, what are us lowly mortals up against, here?"

"You have to finish the deed together, you have to rely on communication to get it right... I always use the 'zipper' metaphor," Zed stated simply, he was thrilled he was speaking about this with Orph, face to face, and not Finn; he was aware both boys were vastly different, and where Finn was shy, unsure and embarrassed, Orph was confident, proud and cocky about any situation he was handed, "I'm sure Tessa's chat with Penny all about this, so before you guys go setting your bedroom on fire, make sure you sit down and talk to Penny about all of this... Unless you want to just wade in the 'let's have sex but not swap' phase."

"I'm not sure how long either of us can wade in that phase, but... I'm not so sure I really want to swap with her, right at this time, anyhow," Orph's voice became serious, though Zed looked at him with a slew of incredulous disbelief, "I-I mean... I would love to, it's not a matter of her or anything, but... Somehow, not getting her mother's and father's permission just doesn't seem right."

"That's where Finn and I failed," Zed laughed, he looked off, the beach was soaked in morning sunshine, and although there were still foggy clouds that hung on from the nighttime, the cool breeze and the hot sunshine promised a delightful day, "Finn neglected to get Calhoun and Felix's permission, and, well... I was planning on actually marrying Tessa before any form of swapping were to go down, but I didn't really have much of an option."

"... Yes you did," Orph blurt a laugh, though Zed sent Orph a glower.

"Oh yeah, you tell me that you and Penny are code free for a night of crazy sex and you'd abstain," Zed barked, Orph doubled over with laughter of defeat.

"Alright, I'm joking, I get it," Orph choked, Zed gently shoved his shoulder as both boys laughed.

"That's pretty... Mature of you, Orph, I... Hate to say this to you, but, I'm surprised," Zed stated as softly and as honestly as he could, both boys slowed their barefoot stroll in the sand and stopped to stand before one another.

Zed peered deep into Orph's eyes, he was a bright, intelligent, rambunctious being, one of the gutsiest of the six racers, though as Zed had a whole look at him, his disposition eked of a hidden tenderness, the gentle warmth in his smile and the love seen in his eyes, Zed narrowed his gaze and was glad Orph was finally coming into his own. He was aware of the fact that Penny coming into Orph's life had likely altered that bad-boy attitude Orph always flaunted, the need for no-ties, something about him was softer, and with this, his whole aura radiated maturity. Although Zed was very well aware that there was still a very hyper, rambunctious boy underneath it all, Orph's soul began to show signs of having the capability of pure stillness, proper thought process and the whole, collected ability to decipher good from bad.

"I-I'm pretty surprised too, dude," Orph's voice grew soft, as if he was now becoming shy to show this tender side to anyone but Penny. He inhaled a shaky breath, shook his head and looked down, "I don't know what it is, man, she makes me feel... Happy, and like... Having that special someone isn't such a sissy thing."

"It's a partnership, it's work," Zed nodded, he was thrilled to gain Orph's confident eye contact once more, "Your relationship with Penny won't be easy, no relationship is. There is, and never has been, anything sissy about it."

Orph bobbed a nod and looked down, and as he began to grow nervous, Zed gently grappled Orph's shoulder and both boys locked eyes, once more.

"But I know you'll take care of her, I can see the shift in you," Zed eased, he squeezed Orph's shoulder a little harder and shook a chuckle out of his younger brother, and with such, Orph pat Zed's other shoulder, both boys loved on each other in a brotherly way, "You've got a lot to learn, but I know you and Penny will make a good team."

"Thank you, Zed," Orph huffed with a gentle breath and a humble smile.

"You're welcome... Are you going to chat with Taffyta first?" Zed began to tread lightly, "I-I mean... What if Rancis is never found?"

"Then I'll talk with Taffyta, that's as good as I can get," Orph sighed, "But, for now... Hopefully she'll understand where I'm coming from. This morning was amazing, but I just want to go about this right. I saw how pissed Calhoun was, at Finn. I don't want that on my shoulders, I already bear a lot of burdens, here."

"Good man," Zed chuckled, "Finn's since rectified that issue with Tammy's parents, but you're right... It's just a mess you don't need to get yourself into, and you're wise to lead by example, whether it be a good or bad one."

"I want what you all have, you, Nox, Finn... Even Oliver, Ralph and Ace," Orph shook his head and gave Zed a hopeful smile, "I just hope that I can follow the right steps."

"Well, I can fill you in on everything in further detail later tonight, if you'd like," Zed nodded, to which Orph agreed, "Though, don't make the same mistake me, Finn and Nox all made..."

"What's that?" Orph worried.

"Don't wait until after the swap to tell Penny your whole name," Zed muttered in a knowing way, to which Orph rolled his eyes, towards himself, and looked down.

"No one calls me by my whole name, anyhow," Orph argued, "Tej and Duke are so lucky to just always have their whole name out in the open."

"I still don't think anyone knows Nox's full name, even to this day," Zed laughed, though he gave Orph a knowing look, "Either way, just get it right... Penny will be flattered if you entrust her with it, something that no one else calls you. I mean, think about Ace and Libby. I've only ever heard him call her 'Kaji', but we still don't know her entire name. That's just a nickname to her full name. Only he knows it... And that's something special they have, together."

"I-I'll tell Penny everything tonight," Orph stated with a shaky sigh as he peered out to the horizon, "I'm sure she'll be glad I did."

* * *

 **A/N: HEY GUYS! I've submitted the 3rd installment of our lovely sketch dump requests! It's in my gallery on my deviantART, Username Vyntresser! GO GO GO! :D **


	176. Chapter 176

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** YUSH! Lickity is VERY slowly coming around. Orph is already pretty much there, Lickity is just as stubborn as they come haha.

 **Silversurfer :** Thank you so much! That means a lot to me :D And yes, I've learned my lesson, I typically always put a warning for my mature scenes.

 **WildVirus(?) :** Yes, he's a cutey xD I love Royal so much. And yes, it would be awkward for pets to do that OMG.

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Morrison by Frenship**

 **Together We Map The World by John Powell**

* * *

 ***Chapter 176***

"Lookit her," Tammy barked a remark; sun glinted through the palm trees across her sunbathing, beach loving girls. Lickity, Balba, Tessa, Koko, Libby, Calhoun, Taffyta and Vanellope slowly lulled their lazy, nonchalant gazes across the way over to where Penny was stood, happily chatting with Nox and Zed. Tammy blurt a giggle as she rolled over on the few massive beach blankets they all shared, she sat up, and as she raised her sunglasses off of her freckled nose, she eyed Tessa, "She looks like she slept with a hanger in her mouth."

"We all know what that means," Emery chimed as she laid flat and tucked her arms behind her head, she peered up at the gorgeous noon-time clouds.

"Orph handed her ass to her, apparently," Calhoun choked as she sat up, though she cocked an eyebrow and caught eyes with Taffyta, who shot her a bemused, surprised smile, "Oh, what, like I'm the only one thinking it."

"Yeah, that dork has been grinning all morning long, too," Koko waggled her hand as her and Tessa caught eyes in confusion, and although the group of girls giggled and chattered amongst each other, Vanellope kept quiet and observed for the time being, even though she was included in on the group.

"I thought maybe he was just gassy," Taffyta uttered, she furrowed her brow in whole, concerned contemplation and eyed her daughter from across the sand, and as Orph strolled up to Nox and Penny, the group of girls fell silent and so desperately tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, even over the roar of the waves, the whisper of the sea breeze and the chatter of the crowds that had gathered about them. Taffyta hunched over her legs and glared a little harder "I mean, he typically gets that weird kink in his face when he is, doesn't he?"

"Grimacing," Tessa agree with a bob of a nod, though her and Koko blurt into laughter, "I doubt Orph would've garnered the courage to wrangle Penny in, so soon, anyhow."

"I don't know, they were pretty handsy the other day, you saw," Koko nudged Tessa's shoulder, though Tessa huffed a small laugh, shrugged a bit and tried to act as if she knew less than what she really did. She was aware Penny and Orph were now official, though she cocked an eyebrow and now had to wonder further just why the both of them were outwardly more chipper.

"Remind me to have a little talk with Orph, later," Taffyta muttered to Vanellope, both girls caught eyes in a knowing manner and began to look incredulous that this was even a topic.

"Oh, what's the big deal, so they're digging each other," Koko blurt, though Tessa heaved a long sigh and allowed the breeze to ruffle her gorgeous auburn hair with the breeze, and as Ace and Ralph made their way into the small group, which consisted of Orph, Nox, Zed and Penny, Tessa narrowed her perspective into a tighter hone on Orph and Penny.

"It's not a big deal until it's your own children, Keeks," Vanellope stated calmly with a knowing smile as her and Koko caught eyes, and with such, Koko's face turned red.

"I don't even want to begin to brace myself for THAT nonsense," Tessa stated through a long sigh, though it was only a matter of time before everyone drew their cheeky attention to Libby; in expectancy to see Libby grow bashful and coy, she huffed a hard noise, sat up to begin to stand and tucked her long, white hair behind her ears.

"Don't hold your breath, Ma, Ace might as well be a new-born pony when it comes to cues," Libby blurt in solid, cheeky annoyance, though as she stood, strolled out into the sand and didn't look back, the group fell silent in whole, delightful confusion; Balba apologetically smiled back at the group and followed Libby obediently.

With a sudden outcry of laughter amongst all the women Libby had so daintily left behind, they all began to paw at Tessa and remind her that Ace had definitely caught a wild one. Tessa shook her head and almost sorrowfully watched Libby stroll away, and with this, she decided to take her diligent attention off of Orph and Penny, and quickly alter routes and hone her tight gaze to Ace and Libby. Amidst the group's antics, across the sand, she noticed Ace and Libby approach each other as best friends, even a high five and a small side hug, and although Ace hung close to her and the group chit chat, Libby still looked as if she was somehow itching for more attention from Ace's loving, bumbling demeanor.

"Poor Libby... I guess Ace might need a nudge in the right direction," Tammy sighed, she beamed a knowing smile and eyed Tessa, "Seems like the castle is just overflowing with new love, huh."

"I think we just need to get everyone on the same page, when it comes to code swapping," Tessa rubbed her temples nervously and lulled her eyes closed in an exhausted manner, "Then we can all stop worrying about it and move on..."

"Easier said than done," Vanellope volleyed as her, Taffyta and Calhoun shot each other smiles.

"You think Ace just needs someone to flat out tell him?" Koko wondered quietly, Tessa softly gave her younger sister her gentle gaze and looked curiously confused.

"Tell him what?" Tessa wondered, though Koko gawked and gestured her hand out vigorously to Libby and Ace, across the way.

"'Yo, User-dude... Libby wants you, bad... Like YESTERDAY,'" Tammy choked, everyone howled with laughter.

"Just LOOK! The poor girl is literally hanging on his arm, as we speak," Koko choked a laugh, as did everyone else, though they gave Tessa kind, understanding notions as Tessa exhaled a flabbergasted noise of uncertainty. Libby gently had her smaller hand hooked around Ace's lower, larger wrecking arm and with this, she looked up at him longingly every now and then, especially when he spoke, "It's the puppy love that we're all used to, except now it's in reverse. Poor girl has adopted all his love-sick antics and he's somehow oblivious to all of it, even though that's all Ace has EVER wanted from Libby. Literally WHAT."

"It IS confusing," Emery chimed as she grimaced and narrowed her gaze, the hot sunshine made so the white sand was near-blinding to look at.

"He can't possibly be THAT blind to it," Calhoun muttered as she rubbed her chin.

"Maybe I'll have Zed chat with him, or something," Tessa sighed nervously, "I-I want all this swapping nonsense to be over with, just as much as everyone, but... Y-You guys have to understand."

"It's your baby, it's hard to let go," Vanellope stated kindly, and for the first time in weeks, Tessa and Vanellope caught eyes in a string of gentleness and care. The twinkle in Vanellope's eyes proved to be forgiving, and as she glanced between Tessa and Koko, she continued on, "You know Ace will take good care of Libby, and she for him. Only thing you have to worry about is the waiting game... Which... I guess, if you speak to Zed, you can speed that up a bit."

"User knows they're on the edge of it," Tammy muttered, "Could've sworn they'd have that whole swapping nonsense long behind them, by now. They've been little lovers since, what... They were kids?"

"Oh, he's pined over her since day one," Tessa's smile broadened at the sweet and tender memories of Ace's and Libby's cute childhood antics.

"They're both pretty shy, don't you think?" Emery wondered as she began to put her emerald hair into a high ponytail, each girl sport a proper bikini to represent their likes in colors and styles.

"Ehh don't be so quick to label them both as shy," Tessa cocked an eyebrow and began to look mildly displeased, though in a playful way, "I've seen Ace's paws take a few grabby swipes at Libby."

"Damn, what are they even waiting for, anyways?" Koko giggled with an annoyed shrug.

"Well, you have to remember... Libby was raped," Tessa stated tenderly, which cued everyone into a knowing drone of sorrowful notions of remembrance, "It's probably pretty difficult for the both of them."

"She hides that tragedy well," Tammy mumbled in surprise, as if to be impressed, "If I were her, I'd never be the same."

"Well, clearly she's okay with everything, what with these neon lights she's giving Ace," Koko gestured, "Hell, even Oliver said, yesterday, that the poor girl was nearly hanging all over him and he just acted plainly."

"For User's sake, Ace," Tessa rubbed her face, "Something tells me he's not as dumb as he's coming off as... He may have a different agenda. He could be very well protecting her."

"Protecting her from... Himself?" Koko worried.

"Who knows... Not us," Tammy shrugged, everyone mumbled knowing notions and silently agreed to drop it, for the time being, "I guess we have Penny and Orph's drama to tide us over, for now."

"Maybe Penny's just having a good day, I mean... It's not often we all get together and go to the beach," Emery shrugged as she innocently looked back to Tessa.

"I'm sure if something happened, Penny would tell me," Tessa sighed, "Guess it's nothing."

Just before everyone could relax, Lickity suddenly blurt a snort of a laugh, as if to beg to differ, and with such an outburst, the conversation went from tanking to soaring. Everyone bulged their eyes and eagerly peered to Lickity as she began to innocently bury her face with her paws. As everyone began to laugh and gape at the very idea that Lickity was harboring information, Lickity began to tightly tuck her wings over her head and body, to avoid anyone getting any gossip out of her.

"Welp, cat's out of the bag," Tammy stated with a wide smile, though as everyone nervously dragged their eyes to Taffyta, the Queen's right hand woman, she inhaled a deep breath and very collectedly got to her feet.

"Looks like this conversation with Orph might be happening a lot sooner than we'd expect," Taffyta stated in forced cheeriness, and as Taffyta began to march off, all the girls underneath the trees and beach umbrellas began to chant and egg Taffyta on, sat up in quick draws of the exciting show about to unfold.

* * *

As Taffyta crossed the sand, she took note of the wind that gently ruffled her hair about. As she looked down the sprawl of the beach, so many fellow gamers had gathered from the nearby city, a much smaller city than Ekreth, though still held a solid abundance off the Northern ridge, just on the other side of the valley. Said city's buildings could be seen just beyond the beach, over the tops of the towering palm trees. As Taffyta's eyes wandered the gorgeous scenery, the colorful kites that dot the sun kissed blue sky, she approached her rowdy group of family and greet everyone with a smile.

"Well, I was trying to hit those waves out on the deeper parts, but locals kept trying to talk with me," Zed laughed, Ralph rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky in exasperated annoyance.

"You're the game's bad guy and you STILL get gawkers wanting your attention," Ralph grumbled, "Must be nice to not have everyone fleeing from you."

"Hey, you literally are stuck with ALL of us simply because one candy-haired girl DIDN'T run away from you," Nox stated as-a-matter-of-factly, he put his hands on his hips as everyone began to loudly gawk at the unfolding situation, though Zed crossed his arms and gave Ralph a smug smile, "You swapped with her, dude, and said product of all your swapping nonsense landing you HERE, with ZED."

"Owned," Orph choked, Taffyta strolled up and eyed Orph with a knowing smile, though she tried not to seem too obvious to want his attention.

"Sue me," Ralph grunted as he adjusted his swim trunks and eyed his grandson, whom of which was beaming Ralph a cheesy, knowing smile, "Oh, what are you all smug about, you wouldn't be here cause of me either, dude!"

Ralph quickly lugged Ace into a grappling side hug and firmly gave him a noogie atop his dark blue hair, and as Ace blurt a laugh and grunted to get out of Ralph's powerful grip, Zed choked a laugh at the endearing sight and quickly picked up his board, once more; this cued Nox to pick up his board, as well, and as they began to slowly stroll back out to the water, Nox nervously looked about.

"You were doing fine, that last time, you just have to find your center," Zed stated to Nox as both boys trailed off, surf boards tightly hooked underneath their arms, "Don't worry so much about strangers, either, dude... You're with me. I'll make sure no one bugs you."

"Thanks, man... Pretty sure it's sort of in my head," Nox huffed as both boys walked off, though Zed hooked his arm atop Nox's shoulders, in a brotherly fashion.

"I think Duke was wanting help with that huge hole he was digging," Ralph huffed a long sigh, he tenderly released Ace, though as Ace began to try and re-situate his hair and shirt, Ralph nudged his massive knuckles into Ace's broad chest and choked a bashful, boyish giggle out of his grandson, "Why don't you help me, wrecker Jr."

"Duke's digging a hole?" Libby gawked, Penny gently linked arms with Libby and looked up at her much taller friend.

"It's huge, come see!" Penny chimed as she gestured for Orph, as well as her mother to follow.

"What is this hole even for?" Orph laughed as he began to quickly follow Ralph, Ace, Libby and Penny, though he felt his ears prick in solid nervousness as Taffyta blatantly cleared her throat.

As Orph faltered in his steps on the soft and gooey sand, he raised his eyebrows in plucked nervousness, slowed his roll and peered over his shoulder. Taffyta crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow and gave him a knowing look, as if to inquire just where he thought he was going. Orph held his breath, froze and suddenly felt his whole center go cold. He finally exhaled the breath he was holding, nervously looked on and was now wholly terrified that the group, he was trying to join, trailed off without a care. Orph stabbed his attention back to Taffyta's and, by the look of scheming delight on her face, he felt his blood come to a near stop under his skin. He exhaled another trembling breath and very nervously began to approach Taffyta; he knew he was wholly discovered, from his and Penny's secret adventures this morning.

"So," Taffyta chimed as she so gently reached her hand out and tapped her fingers to Orph's forearm, "You uh... You gunna tell me just why my first and only daughter has a goofiest, widest grin on her face? Something she can't seem to wipe?"

"I-I uh... I guess today is just turning out to be really gr-"

"Try again," Taffyta snapped with a snide smile.

"I-I... Uh..." Orph felt his hands began to shake, though as he caught eyes with Penny's confident, intimidating mother, piercing blue eyes that seemingly could see through walls, he felt his heart began to shiver in rapidly growing terror; with this, he was well aware being honest, and conquering this impending talk now, was the best thing to do. Orph eased a calm, shaky sigh through his teeth, glanced about the sand they stood on and bobbed a nod, "I uh... Guess I'm the reason behind all the smiles, today."

"You're aware you could've killed my daughter, single handedly, and you didn't even have the balls to come and get my permission for all this bullshit, first?" Taffyta suddenly growled as she took a few intimidating steps closer to Orph, though Orph held his hand out in defense and gave Taffyta a look of sheer sorrow.

"I-I was going to approach you about it, w-we... We haven't even swapped codes yet," Orph rushed to get out, he nearly choked, though he was thrilled to see this at least calmed Taffyta's billowing fire.

"... You were going to talk to me about this?" Taffyta inquired curiously, as if it was a surprise, though Orph began to look mildly offended.

"Well, yeah, I haven't even properly talked to Penny about all this," Orph blurt sadly, though he was glad their main group had moved off, and Taffyta was the only person that could hear him, "Honestly, Taffyta, I... I was going to wait to do anything until if, or when, Rancis was found... So I could then talk to you both."

Taffyta raised her eyebrows in plucked surprise and felt guilt hit her, head on. She sagged her eyes down Orph's broad chest, and then to the sand. She exhaled a long, hot sigh through her nose and let her eyes close in a fit of further-shown guilt. She bobbed a nod, reopened her eyes and finally brought her attention back to Orph. Being someone she had gotten along with, from the get go, she knew she needed to let Penny go eventually and trust her decisions, and although Orph seemed to be a wiley one, the look of sincerity and firecrackers of love, in his eyes and in his disposition, were promising. She long blinked in humility and gave Orph an apologetic look.

"Look, we may have had a go at each other, a-and maybe Zed interrupted everything, but I-I swear, I wasn't going to swap with Penny until I at least had your permission," Orph laid his hand on his chest and gave Taffyta his sincere, honest eye contact, "That's permanent, I mean... That's a higher commitment over marriage. I'm, in all actuality, doing this backwards."

"Aren't we all," Taffyta choked with a small laugh as she tossed her hands up, Orph felt grateful for the jokes and let a wide smile sprawl his face.

"I... Maybe allowed things to get ahead of us, this morning, and... I apologize," Orph uttered nervously, though Taffyta gave him a curious frown.

"Don't be sorry, I'm actually glad you two are getting along just fine," Taffyta gave him a knowing smile and side-eyed him, "Only reason I was about to burn down the beach was because I thought maybe you had swapped with her without even so much as running it by me. Seems like the parents are very quickly being left out of the loop, especially since all of our precious self-programmed gamers seem to be pairing off with all the user-made gamers... A dangerous task, quite frankly."

"N-No, I'd never swap with her without getting the green light," Orph choked softly, "I uh... Wasn't expecting this morning to well... Take off, like it did."

"I'm surprised you even got her to agree to such things," Taffyta laughed, Orph beamed a bashful smile and looked down as he rubbed the back of his head, though he furrowed his brow in solid confusion and jolted his suddenly concerned eye contact to Taffyta.

"-Hey wait... How do YOU know about this morning?" Orph blurt in solid surprise, though Taffyta rolled her eyes in a lull of cheeky annoyance and volleyed her gaze across the stretch of sand; her and Orph were saddled with the sight of every single last pair of females staring them down, sans Libby, Penny, Marble and Balba, from their shady getaway further up the beach. Orph huffed a long, hot sigh through his nose and glowered in their direction, even though he was aware likely none of them could see his facial expressions from this far off, "Say no more..."

"The women outnumber the men," Taffyta cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, she jostled her head and beamed, "Y'got at least nineteen pairs of eyes and ears constantly in use... Not to mention, we're all pretty sharp."

"My money's on Lickity," Orph grunted in solid annoyance.

"Shut up," Taffyta muttered, though they both broke out in laughter as Taffyta firmly nudged his chest, "Alright, dude... What's gunna happen, then, if Rancis doesn't come back?"

Orph's wide smile quickly sloped to genuine concern, and although he knew Taffyta had likely been over the prospect of Rancis's lack of return, a million times, he was surprised at just how blunt and open the topic was becoming. Orph breathed a faltered breath, shook his head and winced as the breeze ruffled his silver hair over his eyes.

"I-I... I mean, I don't want to really sit here and pretend he is or isn't coming back," Orph shrugged, "If he comes back, great... I'll make sure we can all sit down and have a proper talk."

"And if not?" Taffyta side-eyed Orph, as if to show a dollop of premature acceptance, she smiled a cheeky smile and gave him a knowing look.

"Well, then I'll have to fight it out with just you," Orph blurt, they both laughed, though before Orph could put on a serious face, bookmark the topic and swear to Taffyta that he'd revisit it, Taffyta took a few steps closer to him and pulled him into a hug. Orph raised his eyebrows high in surprise and gingerly welcomed Taffyta into his embrace, and as she squeezed him, he began to feel his heart grow even softer for the Fluggerbutter clan, something he was unsure was even possible from this melting stand point.

"You have my blessing, no matter what happens," Taffyta's softness was rare, and although Orph knew full well it was fleeting, he soaked in it and relished in this new step of the relationship he had with his future swap-mate's mother. As the two pulled apart, Taffyta gripped his shoulder and wrinkled her nose with a sly smile, "Just be good to her... She needs a solid male figure, in her life, now more than ever."

"I promise," Orph huffed with a nod of confidence, and as Taffyta pat his shoulder in a firm, loving way, they began to slowly trail off towards the digging crew, who hooped and hollered and had a grand time across the stretch.

"Just do us all a favor and pry her out of her shell, some more," Taffyta blurt, "She used to be so loud and girly... I know she still has it in her."

"Boy does she," Orph grunted, though Taffyta eyed him in a flare of excited annoyance.

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 **A/N : Just another friendly reminder that the R.O. sketch dump has been uploaded to my deviantART! Username - Vyntresser**


	177. Chapter 177

**Reviews :**

 **Silversurfer :** haha don't worry so much about Taffyta and Tej, that was just a minor fling, if you can even call it that. As for Ralph and Felix, there's not a ton centered around them at this moment, so prominent speaking roles for them would be tedious and out of place. I try to keep everything flowing with the characters that are currently center of focus, but my other characters most certainly haven't been forgotten. Thanks for your kind words :)

 **Snake557 :** don't worry about it, thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** you're very right, that is a main center of conflict, alongside a few other factors that Ace will eventually bring up. Shape eyes! :) thanks so much for the compliments and encouragement!

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 **Song Listened To : Cake By The Ocean by DNCE (uncensored)**

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 ***Chapter 177***

As the day went on, beach goers came and went, the ocean breeze continuously set a calm, soothing air about the place. Zed gave Nox and Tej proper surf lessons, for what seemed to be hours, and although Duke, Ralph and Ace were busy at work digging the beach's largest hole, they still stopped to faff around, which eventually lead to the tide coming in and filling said hole with the cool ocean current. As a sure fire sign to give up, the group lazily began to meld in and out of different social groups. Although a few different gamers would occasionally gawk over the fact that Dead Zed's racers were present, the day went smoothly and everyone soaked up the sun's rays with the greatest sense of the ultimate relaxation.

Beyond the beach's soft, white sand lay gorgeous alcoves of deep, crystal clear wading pools, something the tide had brought in long ago and formed amongst the lush, jungle land. As smooth as a painting, the white sand slowly melted into sharp, white rock that formed the alcoves just beyond the sandy shores, and although the tucked away areas were a tad bit quieter than the noisy beach, there was still a decent amount of social life amidst these hidden treasures. The beach could still be seen from said alcoves, wading pools that weave in and out of strangely beautiful formation of the white rock that gladly boasted the sun's glory.

Of the few individuals, of the Kalivar clan, to steal away to explore said formations, Libby was beyond thrilled Ace had subconsciously agreed to become glued to her hip, for the time being. Libby was well aware Ace was the best company to have, not a dull moment, conversation was warm and easy, his eyes were something to simply melt into; the kindest, softest gaze imaginable, though the more Libby got ogling glances into his soul, she could most certainly tell there was a wild animal behind that wall of bumbling, tender adoration. How badly she wanted to pry it out of him, Libby was aware Ace more than definitely had it in him, ready to burst forth, though from time to time, she'd let her idle gaze soak elsewhere to simply wonder just why he was diligently keeping her at bay, or if he was even aware of it.

"My dad is eating up all this attention him and my uncles are getting," Ace chuckled, the two waded chest deep in the crystal clear waters, and although they slowly moved to where they could properly stand, they hung close to each other and squinted in the bright sunshine. Libby flashed him a curious smile, over her shoulder, and began to lead the both of them to a small, shady overhang, which had a place they could properly rest without having to tread water, "I guess dad used to be treated terribly, by the people of this game."

"Wonder why? Zeddy's a softy," Libby's voice chimed, Ace chuckled and bobbed a nod, alongside a shrug.

"Not sure, guess it has to do with his previous encounters with Radex, or whatever," Ace mumbled, and as the two finally soaked into the shady over hang, the sound of the lapping water echoed alongside the cavern walls, the water practically glistened and illuminated their skin, under the water, in a shiny sprawl of glassy tiers. Ace's prominent voice nearly made the cave walls ring like a bell, the bounce of his words had Libby looking about in cheeky curiosity, "I guess people have forgotten, or something... Maybe it just blew over."

"Either way, you're right, he DOES seem pretty thrilled," Libby sighed as she let her hand soak to the rough walls, she was waist deep in the water and was finally able to properly stand, "I wonder what would happen if you told people you were a User."

"Ugh, I don't want to think about it," Ace grumbled, though as he properly stood as well, he cocked an eyebrow and eyed Libby's slender body; she wore a cute, dark green bikini with an artistic mermaid-scales print on it. Her skin, as well as her gorgeous tattoo, was shiny and slick, her glossy white hair clung to her skin, all over her shoulders and back, though as she flicked her attention to his, over her shoulder, he tightened up and desperately tried to avoid getting caught ogling her beautiful body. He stammered on a few words and dodged a bullet, "I-I'm pretty sure we'd have to leave the beach. Half the people here would want to meet me, and the other half would probably think I was an abomination."

"It's probably for the better you don't tell anyone," Libby chimed in a snide way as she shot him a playfully snotty look of growing sorrow, "All those pretty girls fawning all over you? I'd just become white noise... No pun intended."

Ace blurt a laugh, contagious enough to make Libby drop her jealous, playful front, and as Ace grunted an annoyed noise and scooped Libby into a loose hug, she blurt a giggle and so gladly allowed him to wrap his strong, wrecking arms about her wet body. She beamed a smile of whole delight as he pushed a few firm kisses to the back of her shoulder, though with such a gentle swirl around, the water splashed about. Ace's fingers began to gently tickle her stomach, and once she was successful from pushing away from his tender fingers, she whirled around, gave his chest a coy shove and stumbled a bit; both were simply lost in giddy, love struck laughter, though Libby grimaced a sharp noise and immediately looked down in soft concern, as did Ace.

"Oh, you okay?" Ace inquired nervously as she bent down, dunked her hand and arm into the clear water, and pulled out a small chunk of white rock that seemingly crumbled from the main wall. She waggled it about and cocked an eyebrow.

"Looks like chalk," Libby inquired as she softly sat down in the water, which now sloshed to her chest. Ace furrowed his brow and watched as she began to scratch small, white lines onto the face of the cave wall, and with such, she beamed Ace a wide smile and pointed, "Hey! It worked!"

"Let's play tic-tac-toe," Ace stated plainly as he sat down next to her, though Libby gave him a confused frown.

"How do you play?" Libby wondered, though Ace gave her a gawking look of annoyed surprise, and with such, Libby rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't do this to me."

"Kaji," Ace blurt in a laugh, which caused a wide grin to sprawl Libby's blushing face, "You've never played tic-tac-toe before?"

"Well CLEARLY not!" Libby shouted with a hard laugh as she gently shoved the piece of chalk into Ace's chest, he fumbled to take it from her, "Why don't you teach me, oh high and mighty User-boy."

"Uh, User-man, thank you," Ace forced his voice to stretch to a depth of playfulness, for emphasis, though he blurt a chuckle as Libby swat at him, "A-alright, look, it's easy... You draw a three-by-three grid."

"Easy enough," Libby nodded as Ace messily made the board on the wall, and in a gentle swipe, he put a circle in the top middle space.

"I'll be O's, you and be X's. So, we each take turns putting our letter in one of these boxes," Ace tapped the chalk to each open spot, "First one to make a straight line of their own letters, wins."

"I see," Libby fingered her lip, though she flinched as Ace gently handed her the chalk. She quickly scratched an X in the bottom right box, closest to Ace, "Alright... Your turn."

With this, Ace didn't take any time to ponder his next move, he quickly swirled a circle in the middle right box and handed the chalk back to Libby. Libby fingered her lip, eyed Ace a few times in whole, girly annoyance, though before long, she finally placed an X in the top left box, closest to where she was sat. As she handed the chalk back to Ace, he swiped an O right in the middle box, though as he gave the chalk back to Libby, she uttered a noise of nervousness, at the fact that he was close to winning, and without much thought, she quickly scribbled a messy X right over his O, in the middle box, and drew a line diagonally through the board to unfairly show that she had won.

"I WIN, sorry puba!" Libby chimed in girly cuteness as she waggled the chalk around.

"Gimme that," Ace snipped in playful annoyance, though Libby flung her arm upward, with the hand holding the chalk, and blurt a loud laugh as she struggled to play keep away from Ace.

"Nope, I won, I'm sorry!" Libby squealed, though Ace pushed on her hand and inched closer to her in a jolt of growing playfulness, though in doing so, the cool water began to slosh about.

Ace and Libby easily soaked the cavern walls with their laughter, they both urgently pawed at each other, so to grab and keep the chalk away from one another, though in said attempt at close proximity keep away, Ace grunted a noise of growing defeat and opted to grappling his arms about Libby's small waist. Libby scrunched her shoulders, heaved a loud giggle and more that willingly allowed him to have his way. She seductively draped her arms about his neck and shoulders, and in the draw of their playful, child-like energy, they slowly settled as Ace's grabby, tickling antics melted into something more wanting and tender. With the gentle swing in mood, the rise in maturity, Libby settled through a few hums of girly giggles into the base of his strong, thick neck, and as if she had finally felt like she hit jack pot, she prayed and prayed that he'd at least allow the two to soak in the romance for longer than a hot minute.

Ace's deep voice reverberated a chuckle, from the back of his throat, and as Libby got settled in his lap, she pushed deeper into his arms and desperately tried to show him that this kind of thing was more than welcomed. She hoped she didn't come across as too needy, though she smiled a wide, smug, closed-mouth smile into the base of Ace's neck and shoulder in solid victory as Ace so tenderly began to place loving kisses atop Libby's little shoulder. With the playful air still among them, she scrunched her shoulders and bashfully giggled into the side of his face and ear, which caused him to chuckle on her skin; Libby raised her eyebrows in dewy surprise as his hot breath tickled her wet, glossy skin. As if she was finally confident that he was wholly sat in this moment, she let her eyes soak over Ace's wet skin in a prickle of contemplation and wondered if this could potentially be the perfect time to bring him onto her level.

"Ace?" Libby started as softly as she could, she knew the two were alone and likely unseen, and with such, she furrowed her brow and began to rapidly wonder just maybe where this conversation could lead, just what possibilities were on the other side of this gentle venture.

"Yes, ma'am?" Ace's crackling, gentle whisper nearly melted over Libby's skin, and with such, she fluttered her eyes and was slowly realizing she was becoming desperate for them to further things, she wondered if he was putting on this seductive, innocent air, about himself, on purpose.

"I-I have something I need to tell you," Libby could feel her voice begin to want to shake, though she was floored to feel Ace pay her no mind, his warm arms so tightly and lovingly held her about the small of her waist, his strong hands cupped her back and shoulders firmly in a cradle of eternal care, and with this blanket of the ultimate safety, she tightened her arms about his neck and shut her eyes tight; in a draw of becoming very shy, she pushed her forehead to Ace's jaw and tried to steady her thoughts.

"Anything, kep'leah," Ace breathed into her ear, though as the two gently stirred, they gained a small amount of distance so they could see each other.

Libby uttered a breath of a noise, as if she was prepared to begin saying just what her heart so desperately wanted to say, though the two caught eyes in a whirl of glistening enchantment, and as if Ace simply couldn't resist it, he leaned in and warmly eased his lips into hers. Libby near rolled her eyes and sunk into his kiss, as if he was surely going to be her demise. She gripped her arms about the back of his head and neck, and as the two gently pulled apart and returned for seconds and thirds, their warm, soft kisses lingered and included tender quips of breathy giggles, Libby was certain he'd hear her out, and as he continued to dip into her for more kisses, his strong hands gripped her even tighter. She heaved a shaky breath on his mouth as he finally eased up, so she could speak, though Libby nearly had to center herself and remind herself that she wasn't dreaming.

"Is everything okay?" Ace inquired lightly as he gave her a concerned look of love, his hot breath coat her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, and as they hovered before each other, Libby inhaled a shaky breath and nodded.

"I just..." Libby staggered, though she finally inhaled a slow breath and steadied her rushing thoughts, and just what would happen after said thoughts were finally out in the universe, something she had been wanting for forever now. She finally collected herself and patiently continued on in girly delight, her adorable accent as prominent as ever, "I-I really feel as if I'm ready to-"

"ACE! Get over here, Royal currently has a crab attached to his tongue!" Orph hollered from somewhere across the wading pool, closest to the sands of the beach.

As if simply shaken from the most beautiful, ultimate dream in heaven Libby could imagine, she largely flinched as Ace retched his neck to look over his shoulder, and although the two could see Orph, Orph's gaze was elsewhere and in curious search for his nephew. Ace blurt a chuckle and furrowed his brow, though so much to Libby's dismay, Ace gingerly wormed Libby off of his lap, stood out of their spot of secrecy and was successful in getting Orph's attention.

"How'd that happen?" Ace volleyed across the pool, though Orph barked a laugh and urgently gestured for Ace to follow.

"I don't know, he was just playing in the sand when suddenly he started flailing about, they're trying to get the crab to let go now," Orph gestured and began to quickly hustle away, "Hurry! It's HILARIOUS!"

"Coming!" Ace beamed in whole excitement, though he diligently turned back to Libby and jolted in gentle apologetic cuteness, "I'm sorry baby, what were you going to say you're ready for?"

Libby dewily peered up at him with a gentle wall of kindness that was so vastly hiding an atomic bomb of rising anger. She clenched her fists and could only imagine the feeling of his wrecking coding coursing through her circuits, though the fact that it still wasn't something she was blessed with, simply made the pressure and anger rise more. She choked a near-annoyed chuckle and felt her whole body wash flat in the rise and fall of this rollercoaster she knew she was only putting herself through.

"O-Oh I was just saying I... Might be ready for a bit of a hair cut," Libby wholly fibbed as Ace helped her to a stand, though Ace raised his eyebrows in kind surprise.

"Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?" Ace encouraged lovingly, he knew he loved her long hair, though he was confident that no matter what she did with it, it'd still look good; little did he know, this was not something on Libby's radar whatsoever.

"I don't know, maybe a foot or two off the bottom," Libby shrugged, she looked down at her near-calf length hair, that soaked into the water, and kept the facade up nicely, "Maybe bangs. You're the first one I'm telling, so I just figured it'd be safe with you, cause I'm not sure yet."

"You'll look great no matter what," Ace stated lovingly as he helped her out of the cavern and into the deeper water, though as the two began to wade across the pool, to finally return to the beach, Libby glowered at the back of Ace's head and huffed a hard, silent noise of whole annoyance.

"Yeah, remind me to strangle Orph with that crab once Royal's free of it," Libby muttered meanly, unbeknownst to Ace.

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 **A/N:** **Hey guys, I drew a scene from this chapter, it's on my DeviantART gallery titled 'Cheater Cheater' - Username Vyntresser :)**


	178. Chapter 178

**Reviews :**

 **Retrokill :** It's killing me too, don't worry lol

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D

 **Silversurfer :** Thank you so much! Aww, and I really appreciate your statement about me not giving up the story... I know I didn't finish my Vyntresser (ATLA) trilogy, and it worries the lot of you, I look back at that time and understand the circumstances. I was fourteen years old when I wrote that trilogy, over a decade ago. On the other hand, my WIR saga has snowballed into something I can't just simply drop and forget about, from this stand point. I've invested my time into too many original characters, precious babes I've solely come up with, it's been my largest project to date, and I am extremely proud to call it mine. You're hearing it here, right now - there is NO WAY in HELL I will ever forget about this series. It means way too much to me, and you all deserve a solid, finished series for how much encouragement, love and support you've given me over the years. I owe it to you guys. You WILL get a finished story, I promise.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey, thank you for the love towards my artwork! YES That reference sheet, for Marble, was definitely a doozy. It was a lot of fun to do, and I was glad to put the detail in there, I'm just glad you guys have a proper reference for hers (and Balba's) breed, and her as a character! My other flyers will be done as reference shortly here. Also, I'm really glad you asked this question about Rancis! I won't spoil much, cause if I go into great detail, it'll give a lot away, but I'll answer you as simply as I can. I actually am VERY excited to be adding Rancis back into the mix, as I have spoiled several times prior, and I am confident to write for him again. The difference here is that he is most definitely not the same person he was when you guys last saw him, and that'll be apparent when the time comes that he's back in the story. To put it shortly, he has gone through a LOT during the time we've been without him, and as such, his character has changed quite a bit (for the better!) And though I haven't written for Rancis in a hot minute, I'm excited to bring a more humble, fresh perspective to his character. It'll be great, a sigh of relief for you guys, and I can't wait to get to those scenes, which are actually coming up shortly here! Thank you again for such an intuitive question, I appreciate those the most! (and, no, he holds no resentment towards Zed)

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Bon Appétit by Katy Perry ft. Migos**

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 **WARNING : The second half of this chapter contains a sex scene ;) **

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***Chapter 178***

As the sun began to set and every single last beach goer began to settle into smaller groups of nighttime chit chat, bon fires and late night walks on the beach, the group of the Kalivar lot slowly began to gather their things and head back to the castle, for the evening. After a long day of fun in the sun, everyone slowly began to huddle about Zed and Tessa, who would successfully teleport the whole group back to the front gates of the castle. Although the flyers decided to fly home, so to stretch their wings after a hot day of lazing in the sun, the rest of the group began to assess their area and make sure they didn't forget anything; without fail, Penny barked a noise, flung her arm out and quickly began to push past people.

"I almost forgot my shirt!" Penny worried as Duke, Ace, Orph and Koko gently made way or her.

As she hustled over to the spot where her things had currently reside, her black shirt was crumpled in the sand and nearly got lost from the lack of sunlight. Orph cocked an eyebrow and gently looked over his shoulder, and as he watched Penny bend over, grab her shirt and begin to move back to the group, he inhaled a silent, shaky breath and knew his heart was heavy with all kinds of different thoughts. He was well aware the two were bound to spend a special night together, though he also felt his veins do a wiggly dance of anticipation at the sheer, obvious fact that he was soon to let her into his world, to reveal his desires and wants, on all angles of this situation, and what made him the most anxious, revealing his whole name to her.

He furrowed his brow in solid confusion towards himself and tried not to ogle Penny as she quickly came back to the circle, though he bit his lip and wondered just why he was now nervous. He knew their act, from this morning, was definitely something to look forward to, though all the details that came with finally committing to someone made him feel completely out of his element. He knew he was more than ready, and the desire to settle in with one individual and get lost in their own coding, and she for him, was something that was definitely on his radar, though somehow, he felt as if his own coding was now sitting back and figuratively asking just who he was and what did he do with Orph. As Tessa and Zed successfully teleported everyone back to the gorgeous, sprawling front stoop of the Kalivar lot, everyone happily began to mosey up the steps as preparation for a relaxing night began to set in.

"I have sand in my ear," Orph grumbled, everyone diligently filed into the massive, towering front doors of the Kalivar castle.

"Better than where I have sand," Tej muttered as him, Duke, Finn and Jax all moseyed inside, after Orph.

"I don't need the details," Orph grumbled as he rubbed his chest, he heaved a long sigh and was glad to be welcomed by the castle's cool air conditioning.

He raised his eyebrows, took a look back at the group entering the castle and felt his eyes search for his one and only. Penny came inside with her towel slung over her shoulder, and although her bikini was covered by said towel, that cascaded down her chest, Orph cocked an eyebrow and eyed her beautiful legs. He huffed a small chuckle to himself and could hardly believe that he nearly forgot the impending part two of their little escapade, something they both had been secretly looking forward to all day, though they never made mention of it to each other; it simply was obvious. Orph dragged his eyes to the tall archway, the hallway that lead to the corridor of up and downstairs bedrooms, and as he was thrilled to see a few of the castle residents begin to slowly steal away to their own sanctuaries for the night, heft his heart begin to pound with growing excitement.

"I'm pooped," Ralph grunted, though he cocked an eyebrow I growing cheek as he looked down to the nook of his arm; tucked tight to him was his much littler brother, fast asleep and exhausted from a long day. Everyone silently cooed at the sweet sight, though Ralph heaved an exasperated sigh and eyed Calhoun, "I wish I was small enough to be carried... Better go set up the Sky Room, for this dude."

"I'm not about train rides, after a busy day like this, anyhow," Calhoun mumbled tiredly with a grateful smile towards Ralph, who diligently carried Felix; the two moseyed towards the Sky Room.

"You're small enough for Royal and Lickity," Tessa mumbled as her and Zed softly pushed past everyone, and tight on their heels was Libby; she looked mildly distressed and annoyed.

"I'm not carrying anyone right now," Lickity grumbled as she scoot about everyone, she dipped into the lower level of the living room to get around the group that had gathered in the foyer; as everyone volleyed teasing notions and laughter after her, she, including Marble and Royal, began to sleepily saunter to the back door in preparation for an evening nap before their midnight hunt.

"I could go for some dessert," Ace blurt with a wide smile, though his eyes were sunk with the exhaustion of the long day, as well, and as him and Nox high-fived and moved to the kitchen island alongside Koko and Tammy. As Tessa, Zed and Taffyta began to mosey towards the freezer, in search for said ice cream, Ace furrowed his eyebrows and looked about for his white haired beauty. He flinched in solid surprise to see Libby defeatedly walking towards the back door, she kept in tow with Lickity, Royal, Marble and Balba. Ace choked a noise of concern and reached out his hand, "Hey, Libs, you... Joining us?"

"No, I'm... Bushed, I'm headed to bed," Libby stated meekly with a small smile, though it was clear there was mild frustration and sadness in her eyes, "You guys have fun, I'll see you tomorrow."

"You sure?" Ace uttered sorrowfully, though his frown broadened as she nodded, the smile on her face was anything but promising. She slowly let herself, as well as the four flyers, out into the backyard patio, and as the back door softly shut, he sadly peered to Nox in whole confusion, "... Is she okay?"

"I know I wouldn't be," Koko muttered under her breath as she cocked an eyebrow and caught eyes with Taffyta; both girls stifled a giggle.

"My son, a User... AND a cock-tease?" Zed gasped quietly into the freezer, him and Tessa were buried in; Zed furrowed his brow and gave Tessa a sarcastic grimace, "Nooo, NEVER."

"'Is she okay'," Nox mocked with sarcastic air-quotes and a wide, annoyed smile, the glow in his eyes intensified as he simply side-eyed his best friend, "Does Lickity shit in the woods?"

"...Well, technically, we're in a jung-"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN," Nox interrupted Ace as he jostled his head about sarcastically; everyone howled with laughter.

"Just leave her be for now," Taffyta indulged, she raised her eyebrows in excited surprise as Zed grunted to put the heavy box of ice-cream in the center of the island, "Today HAS been exhausting."

"I'll say, guess who else called it an early night," Tessa muttered as she cocked an eyebrow, and it was in this instance of everyone looking about did they notice all of the racer's presence vanished, including a certain, short little Fluggerbutter. Tessa heaved a laugh, rummaged in her board shorts pocket for her communicator and began to thumb through it, "Welp... I guess sex is better than ice cream, anyhow."

"Shh don't say that in front of our innocent ears, here," Nox blurt as he tenderly lad his hands to both sides of Ace's head, over his ears, in a starkly sarcastic way, though Ace uttered a loud grunt of solid annoyance and jostled Nox's hands away in a flurry of laughs and grunts of irritation.

"Excuse me," Ace huffed, though Tessa thumbed through the details, of the code room, and made a diligent act to sound proof Orph's room, as well as double check their coding status and make sure their firewall was on and ready.

"You can have your ice cream and eat it too," Zed stated deeply to Tessa, and although his tone was gentle and innocent, Ace groaned a loud noise, yet again, and slumped his forehead to the counter before him; Taffyta and Koko were in stitches.

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Penny huffed a hard noise of mild, contemplative distress and paced her room. She slapped the straps of her dark green bikini, looked about her still bedroom and furrowed her brow. She occasionally glanced to her communicator, which lay still and silent on her bed. She held her breath, crossed her arms and felt as if her heart was about to burst clear out of her chest; she knew Orph had promised her a night of passion, from their previous bookmark of this morning's spontaneous adventures, though she felt her heart sink slightly as the thought of Orph simply forgetting crossed her mind. She bit her lip and knew this wasn't over, and even if she had to simply barge into his room and remind him, she knew she'd stop at nothing to somehow get more love from him.

She shook her head in solid dismay, towards herself, and was now well aware of the things Tessa would always tell her. Penny didn't want to believe her, the simple fact that said expression of love was addicting, something Penny was certain she'd never be this riled and would over. In a swipe of growing agitation at all angles, she rolled her eyes, threw her hands down, and marched to her bedroom door. As she swung it open, turned her lights out and stepped into the dark hallway, she grimaced and could hear voices in the kitchen. Even though it had been an hour since the gang had returned home from the beach, she could distinctly hear Taffyta, Ralph, Zed, Koko and Tessa chatting. She bit her lip and knew she'd have to simply slip up the staircase, near the entrance of the hallway and the kitchen, without being seen.

As she peeked her head about the corner, she noticed said individuals were gawking at just what was on the television, on the opposite side of the living room, and as all their heads were turned, Penny silently slipped up the stairs. Once on the second floor landing, she peered down the dark hallway and knew to be silent; she was aware Duke, Tej and Jax all had to get up early for quarter alerts, and though she also knew that Orph did, as well, she furrowed her brow in rising adrenaline and knew she wasn't going to simply let him get away with teasing her this morning. As she carefully trekked down the stretch of hallway, she passed Duke's room. Penny held her breath as she came upon Orph's door, and without a single knock, she allowed herself in.

With a gentle swing and a clack of a rush to close the door behind her, she flinched and felt suddenly alien; she swallowed hard and was very starkly aware of the fact that she had never been in Orph's bedroom before. A dim room with grey walls, a gentlemanly air and a proper hammock-like book loft overhead, Penny furrowed her eyebrows in solid surprise and was now wholly taken aback. She was simply used to Orph, the dorky, sarcastic, snarky character he had always been, Penny long blinked in confusion and was delightfully surprised to see Orph's abode, his sanctuary was matured and cozy, airy and lovely all at the same time. Before Penny could get into further details, she was surprised at just how much this adorable irony riled her further.

Penny jolted in solid surprise as Orph's bathroom door, just to her right, swung open slowly. As Orph stepped out, his skin glistened with the wetness, his silver hair looked dark grey, because it was wet, and was slopped to his scalp. Although he had a towel about his waist, he jumped in whole surprise, as he had stepped out into his bedroom, and was beyond floored to see Penny simply welcome herself inside. Orph choked a noise of uncertainty, he grappled the waistband-like grip of the towel, about his waist, and hunched over a little. He was aware the two had simply gone all the way earlier, though he was also still aware they had never fully seen each other naked.

"P-Penny, what... UH?" Orph beamed a bashful, wide smile as his face turned beet red, though he took a clumsy step backwards and was beyond surprised to see her not even phased by this sudden, bumbling show of uncertainty.

"I've been waiting for your word for like an hour now," Penny barked in annoyance, though Orph raised his eyebrows in growing excitement and nervously began to look about for his communicator.

"I-I was just taking a quick shower, I was going to message you right after," Orph rushed to get out, though he beamed a cheeky, nervous smile as Penny continued to cross his room and gain proximity to him; she wore nothing but her beautiful, strappy dark green bikini.

"I can't just sit and wait any longer," Penny stated darkly, though the look of solid cheek and seductiveness held true, and with this, Orph froze and suddenly wondered just what he was in for; he figured he'd at least figuratively puff his chest and play her game right back at her.

"Well, come and get me, chica, you got nothing to lose," Orph blurt a chuckle as he finally stood up confidently and spread his arms out in a teasing manner, he showed off his chest and core muscles nicely; they glistened with the wetness and the cascading bathroom light, as well as his soft bedroom lamp up in his reading loft.

Penny exhaled a shaky breath and began to firmly saunter towards Orph, as if to simply hone in on her prey, and as she gained perspective of the room about her, she was thrilled they two weren't too far from his perfectly cozy looking bed. In the sweep of her peripheral, she felt her heart jump in pure excitement at the sheer sight of just what was hanging on his wall, in a near-decorative fashion; she noticed his long, menacing looking whip, one of which he had used in his dragon racing days, and with this invigorating thought suddenly planted in her brain, she knew she had the upper tier in this little game of love they've clumsily traipsed into. Before she could act, speak, or do anything further, she flung her hand out, swiped the whip from the wall, and firmly grappled it with both her hands; the rope twisted and croaked a noise of the grip simply being rung, and with this, Orph's confident demeanor immediately sunk as he could feel his pupils tighten with impending, excited fear.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, uh, babe, c'mon we can talk about this," Orph rushed with a cheeky, nervous smile as he began to urgently back step, though Penny grinned in a cunning manner and kept up with him nicely. Orph held his hand out in rising terror, though for some strange reason, he felt his heart begin to beat at the speed of light, "I KNOW I should get rid of that thing, I understand the pain I put Lickity through, y-you don't need to treat me to such... Uh..."

"Abuse?" Penny side-eyed Orph with a cheeky smile, though she rolled her eyes and pushed closer to him, "Will you relax?"

"Kinda hard when the most intimidating woman on this whole lot is marching towards your naked body with a whip...!" Orph rushed through his teeth as he stumbled backwards, though he jolted a laugh as Penny shoved her fist, as well as the rope of the coiled whip, into his chest; he fumbled down to his bed and urgently peered up to Penny in rapidly growing surprise.

"I intimidate you?" Penny's voice was soft and delicate, though in a swift movement, she gently wormed her way onto Orph's bed and hovered over him a little; Orph breathed a chuckle and gingerly rested his hands to her upper arms as she sat up, though she snapped the rope's coil once, the snapping noise present made Orph's ears prick in agitation.

"Yeah," Orph huffed in shaky breath he could hardly catch, and although he felt nervous, he also somehow felt wholly invigorated; he furrowed his brow in total confusion and allowed himself to contemplate this feeling, a lot of which were brand new to him as of this morning.

"Well, like you told me this morning," Penny's voice was as smooth as honey, soaked over Orph's skin, and just as Orph was about to further sit up and adjust himself on the bed, with her on top of him, she firmly uncoiled the whip, hooked a simple rung about his left wrist and gingerly tugged, "I don't bite."

Orph could swear his pulse was obvious, on both his jugular and with his heaving bare chest, he flinched as Penny so skillfully caught his right wrist in the nonsense, as well, and before he knew it, he huffed a noise of scared, excited surprise and was floored at the simple fact that he was near-hog tied. He peered up at Penny with brand new respect, and as her gorgeous body got situated atop him, he sagged into himself and tried to sit back on his elbows, with his hands loosely snug beside either side of her thighs, her knees dug into the bed as she widely straddled his lap.

"Y-you're really strong," Orph huffed through a shaky tremble in total surprise, he felt chills simply go down his spine as Penny gingerly grappled the waist band of the towel, tied tight about Orph's waist, and as she began to tug it of of his body, he bit his lip and felt a wash of impending excitement fall over him. Once he was finally free of the fuzzy grey towel, Penny flinched in solid, girly surprise at said distention, that was revealed, and with such, she shot Orph a look of whole, delighted shock. The two blurt a laugh, though Orph's voice trembled in anticipation as he desperately tried to squirm his arms to normality, "Y-You're not the only one bothered all day, blondie."

"Bothered seems to be an understatement," Penny sneered playfully as she shook her head, though as she felt Orph's hands tenderly rest on Penny's bare knees.

Penny huffed a noise, tightened the whip about Orph's wrists and made it so his hands were now snug to his spine as he rested back on his elbows; he choked a noise of surprise, though as Orph peered up at Penny in the delirious throw around, he felt his heart burst with purpose, the whole fact that he was immobilized, simply there for her to do whatever with, he was now slightly terrified about that promise he had previously made with Penny's mother... Not to swap until certain circumstances were fulfilled.


	179. Chapter 179

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** :D Remind me when the next sketch dump comes around! Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** Yes, it IS soon! And yes, Ace DOES realize that Libby is sending him neon lights haha. It'll all be explained - Ace is not simply that blind to it :)

 **StillAintBovvered :** YAS me too haha

 **Silversurfer :** YAY Thank you so very much! I really appreciate that!

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Bon Appétit by Katy Perry ft. Migos**

 **Peter Pan by Kelsea Ballerini**

* * *

 **WARNING :** **The FIRST half of this chapter contains a sex scene - anything after said scene will be safely marked with this symbol (-)**

* * *

 ***Chapter 179***

With a hard grunt, Orph struggled to sit on his elbows as his hands were tightly fastened behind his back. He nervously peered up at Penny, though somehow he could swear the air about her was simply aglow. She radiated the best show of confidence, a look of whole, playful coy remained glued to her demeanor, and as she yanked up on the coiled whip, in which Orph was tied up in, he nearly grimaced and felt his pulse shoot through the top of his skull. With a simple repositioning, Penny readjusted herself, atop Orph, and although she was gentle, she grappled him in a firm grip, which easily caused his eyes to bulge with the suddenness. With such, Penny choked a laugh and was grateful he followed suit.

"Easy," Orph near-whimpered, though with the look of sheer determination, a tigress ready to pounce, he felt his vision nearly go dizzy at the impending thoughts that plagued him.

In the heat of everything, the struggle of a stir Orph caused by simply being tied, Penny adjusted him to correction, pulled her dark green swim suit bottoms aside and fumbled to complete the deed. As both bodies grew rigid in each other's tight presence, Penny gaped and wondered just why this felt like brand new information hitting her brain. She knew she had a good throw around, earlier this morning, though as she pushed firm into Orph's body and solidified their connection, she unboggled her mind and gazed down at Orph amidst the hot draw of gasps upon wet mouths, the look of delirious surprise they volleyed to each other, the air rapidly grew tense with the fun adventure they both were eager to begin.

As Penny's little hands shook to grip the handle and the length of the long whip she had Orph's wrists tied in, she took a deep breath and shoved her knees firmly into the bed, on either side of Orph's hips, and as she begin to slowly move, to test the waters, she raised her eyebrows in a haze of delight as Orph sagged into himself, grit his teeth and lulled his head back. He squirmed his thighs and knees, bending them up a little, and with a gentle nudge to Penny's rear, he jolted her in a bump of encouragement. Penny choked a giggle and finally felt her confidence begin to sky rocket, and with such, she gripped her hands tight to Orph's upper arms, and although she held the whip taut, Orph cocked an eyebrow and began to try and see if he could wriggle free, just so he could plot eventually giving her a taste of her own medicine.

Through the bounce and wrestling croak of Orph's bed, Penny beamed a gape of a smile, threw her head back and allowed his name to tremble from the back of her throat. She shoved down on the broad of his chest, her fingers did everything to feel the wetness of his sculpted chest, and though she nearly felt bad that his hands were immobilized, she felt invigorated at the sheer fact that he was allowing her to anything and everything he was, this raw moment of trust she knew meant a lot, and with the silent truce of communication between the two, Penny arched her back in a recoil and gave it to him with a bit more fervor. Orph mumbled a noise of utter delight, and as he allowed his eyes to gloss her beautiful, little body, he long blinked and let her have full control, something he was uncertain he'd ever have a front row seat to, until now.

Through a small gape of a mischievous smirk, a toothy look of cunning delight, she tilted her head in a cute display of curiosity, towards him. As the growing length of her blonde hair dangled over Orph, he peered up at her in his sagged, trapped position as if he was simply being blessed by an angel, simply given one of the best gifts he could even dream of, and as the two continued in a writhing fervor of exciting want, Orph bit his lip, furrowed his brow a little and gingerly wriggled his hands free of the whip, which was previously keeping him pinned. In a quick act he knew he needed to follow through with as swiftly as possible, he sat up, grappled his arms about her body and rolled over to his right.

As Penny squealed a surprised giggle and slapped her arms about Orph's neck, the two very quickly rolled over so that Orph was finally on top, though just as Orph was able to sink her little body into the bed underneath him, he jolted in surprise as she firmly wrapped her short legs about his lower back, shoved up on his shoulders, and successfully continued to roll the two. Orph barked a noise of playful protest, though he flinched in solid surprise as Penny was not only successful in rolling him over, she had properly taken her rightful spot atop him, once more, all whilst giving his upper back and shoulders a solid, final shove into his headboard. He jolted, shook his head in surprise and peered up at her, as if to simply wonder just what she was made of.

"H-How...?" Orph huffed, the two panted in a mix of the whirl of excitement, and the throw around that had just taken place.

"I've wrangled beasts much larger than you, dude," Penny choked with a laugh as she firmly held her little hands to the tops of Orph's shoulders, he sagged into her touch and allowed her to keep her dominant positioning atop him.

"Alright, you win," Orph's raspy voice chuckled as Penny readjusted her knees into the bed, as she widely straddled his lap.

"Get used to it," Penny's voice croaked down to Orph, her breath glossed his cheeks as she darkly hovered over him, though she was floored to see him peer up at her with a look of solid gratitude, as if said notion was just forever alright with him.

"Yes, ma'am," Orph volleyed back with an eager smile.

Orph sunk his hands into the blanket in which they had gotten wrapped up in, amidst the throw around, and as he eagerly held his hands tight to Penny's hips and rear, he gripped her skin and gently helped her to continue on with their venture. As she took his cues, she draped her fingertips down his wet chest and sat over him. His gentle aid began to turn into firm progression as her body did practically everything to nearly swallow him in one simple go. With the call of his name to the ceiling, he heaved a shaky breath, bit his lip, and peered up at her like she was the most magical, perfect being he could possibly dream up. He choked a chuckle of delirious delight and ogled her body, the lack of support her thin bikini top provided made his brain melt to coded goo.

As her little hands ran up and down his chest, gripped the base of his neck and shoulders and swiftly moved to hold the back of his head, he began to feel his coding bubble to a boil. He long blinked in growing surprise and felt the bookmarked worry, from earlier, very quickly come back to him. With the thoughts that hit him, he could swear Penny's coding was just begging him to forget about it, to just get this over with and beg for forgiveness, from her parents, later, though as he shut his eyes tight and felt that new, promised good-boy character come back to him, he exhaled a long sigh of a grumble, to himself, and grappled Penny's hips to slow her down.

 **(-)**

As Penny finally got the hint, she slowed her roll, huffed a few hot exhales on Orph's jaw and peered to him in growing curiosity. Her small shoulders and chest rose and fell with the heat, and as sweat dripped down both of their temples, they sat amidst their bubble of passion and collected themselves for a moment. Orph tilted his head, let his skull thud against his tall headboard, and as his silver eyes peered up to her with all the adoration in the world, he gave her a cheeky smile as if to apologize for stopping and wish for more, all in one go. Penny gingerly cupped his cheeks in a draw of confusion. She furrowed her brow, shook her head a little and tried to catch her breath.

"What's the matter?" Penny's voice shook in girly exhaustion, though as she draped her trembling fingertips down Orph's broad, heaving chest, he shut his eyes tight and shook his head with the growing dilemma.

"Nothing's wrong... I-I just need a breather," Orph staggered, he reopened his eyes and was thrilled this was enough for her; she bobbed a nod and relaxed atop him, and although they were still connected, she remained still.

"Something's wrong," Penny uttered nervously as she sagged her demeanor and peered to him as if to show whole concern, though he urgently shook his head and gave her an earnest look of apologetic, boyish cuteness.

"No, there's nothing wrong, I just... Th-this really isn't the best timing, I know, but... I really need to talk with you," Orph finally caught his breath, his masculine, gentlemanly hands lovingly swooped up Penny's lower back and into the dip of her waist.

"A-Am I doing okay?" Penny suddenly worried, and with how quickly her spark of confidence slipped, Orph blurt a small laugh and was warmly reminded just how tender and sweet her core was.

"My User, you're doing great," Orph's voice shook with sincerity as he shook his head and peered up at her with genuineness, "I just... I really would love to swap with you, but..."

"I-I know what you're going to say," Penny uttered as she sat up a little, though with their connection, they both grimaced at the blunt reminder. Penny tucked her hair behind her ears and peered into Orph's twinkling eyes with understanding, "You want my parents permission, don't you..."

Orph nodded, tightened his lip and inhaled a deep breath through his nose. As his strong, bare chest rose, Penny let her eager hands soak into his damp skin, and as he exhaled said big breath, she rubbed his chest in growing understanding. Orph sagged into himself and gave Penny a look as if to simply state that this was pretty difficult for him, to cut cold turkey; he knew it was that way for her, as well.

"I'm pretty sure my mom would give you her blessing," Penny nodded, though the look of tender sorrow began to show on her face, as if to simply imply that her mother's blessing may be the only one gained, strictly for not being able to see her father ever again.

"She already has," Orph wrinkled his nose and gave Penny a sly smile, though she gaped an annoyed smile and swat at his chest. He blurt a laugh and scrunched his shoulders.

"Already spoiling our secrets," Penny muttered.

As their passionate mood so gently began to sink into a flickering ember of romance, Orph so gingerly removed Penny from their connection and sat up. With gentle work, he sat her in his lap, the both of them cross-legged, and as he finally gained sitting height over her, she wrapped her arms up and around his neck. She breathed a small giggle and nuzzled her face into his neck, and as he so gingerly held the back of her head with one hand, and his other tightly hooked about her upper back, he shut his eyes tight and felt his veins wiggle with something new, something more vulnerable than he had ever known until tonight. As he reopened his eyes and peered across his dim room, he knew this continued venture, with her, was something promising, not something that was simply fleeting.

"I have... A request," Orph staggered as he sat back and gained her eye contact, and as she peered up at him quietly, he shakily continued on, "It may not make sense, or be plausible, but... I-I'll make you a deal."

"A deal?" Penny inquired lightly, though Orph huffed a long sigh and looked about.

"If you allow me this one request, I-I'll... I'll tell you my real name," Orph gave her a bashful smile his face simply couldn't contain, and with such, a bright smile broadened on Penny's cheeks as well.

"... Y-You haven't told anyone-"

"I'm telling you," Orph interrupted as he lovingly held her lower arms and jostled a bit, she giggled and gave him a look of sincere gratitude, though as she glossed her eyes up his bare chest, she bobbed a nod and gave him a confident smile.

"What's my end of the deal, to uphold?" Penny wondered tenderly as her blue, twinkling eyes peered to his with the ultimate, girly cuteness.

"Keep your coding..." Orph uttered near-sorrowfully, though Penny's shoulders began to sag in sadness, "It's in no, way shape or form over the fact that I don't desire it... I-I'd love to have that intimacy and trust with you."

Penny nodded nervously and gave him a look of mild confusion, though she allowed him to continue on.

"I just really want to do this right... I want to get BOTH of your parent's approval. I don't want to do what Finn did," Orph tilted his head down, kept his eyes tight to hers and gripped her lower arms, "I know he may have righted his wrongs, but I've learned from his example... I know I have Taffyta's approval. I would like Rancis's."

"But..." Penny uttered nervously as she looked away and shook her head, though she flinched as Orph uttered a noise of defiance, to stop her thoughts in her track.

"You're going to find him," Orph huffed as he hovered his forehead over hers, "I can feel it..."

Penny raised her eyebrows and kept her eyes hooked to his, though as she felt his confidence soak over her soul, she gave him a grateful smile and felt her eyes well with tears. She huffed a small, silent giggle, nodded and finally accepted the fact that no one had given up on Rancis, and she shouldn't either. She heaved a shaky breath, blinked back tears and nodded once more, with more fervor.

"Deal," Penny smiled lovingly, though she gingerly rubbed his collar bone and gave him a coy look of girly nervousness, "Nowww... About that name of yours."

"Well, I think you already know my middle name, I've said it before," Orph bobbed a nod, to which Penny bit her tongue and gave him a cheeky smile of anticipation.

"Tyler," Penny stated in a gentle lilt of adoration, though Orph huffed a bashful chuckle and looked away. Penny tilted her head and gave him a smile of earnest curiosity, as if to lovingly convey that his secret was safe with her, "My name's Penny... And yours?"

Orph peered his nervous eyes to her, he was aware this wasn't that big of a deal, though the fact that only his brothers were aware of his name, one of which was never used or said to anyone, he was floored at the fact that he was letting Penny into that tight circle of family. He long blinked once, contemplated this move, for a moment, before he narrowed his gaze and gave her a gentle look of kind humility.

"Soreph," He stated quietly, yet proudly, and with such, he was delighted to see Penny's eyes light up.

"Soreph Tyler Kalivar," Penny stated kindly with a giggle, though she squeezed his shoulder and jostled a chuckle out of him, "That's such a handsome name, why were you so worried?"

"You're the only one that knows, besides my brothers," Orph stuffed a laugh and peered to her with bashful relief.

"I'm honored," Penny concluded as she gave his shoulder one last loving squeeze.

* * *

"I can't believe Zed laughed so hard that ice cream came out his nose," Koko choked, which caused her and Nox to be thrown into yet another laughing fit.

Koko, Nox and Ace slowly moseyed to the Tower, though Ace trailed behind. His eyes sorrowfully dragged through his and Libby's precious, vibrantly glowing fire flower field, and with such a slump in mood, he felt bad that he couldn't keep in tow with Koko's and Nox's light, joking air. He sagged his eyes to the backs of his friend's heads and felt the sorrowful sting of just who was perched at the very top of their precious tower. In a slide of regret, he aimed his sights for Libby's high up perch, the fourth floor of their glorious, humble tower. Libby's house and porch lights were off, signaling to anyone and everyone that she was either asleep, didn't want to be bothered, or both. In this realization, Ace just barely tucked his phone out of his pocket to see if he had any new notifications; none.

"I didn't even think it was possible," Nox stabbed as the three slowly began to climb the stairwell; it was becoming apparent, to Ace, that Koko was likely going to spend a nice evening in with Nox, doing who knows what. Ace slightly rolled his eyes, in jealousy, at the thought.

"I mean, I guess anything's possible with Zed, and a good joke from Tessa," Koko giggled as the two bumbled in each other, on the stairwell.

"Y'doing okay there, friend?" Nox inquired lovingly to his best friend as he stopped on a step and waited for Ace to catch up, though Ace forced a smile.

"Oh, yeah, just tired," Ace fibbed with a believable smile, though Nox eyed him.

The glow of Nox's eyes was enough to light up the stairwell, though it was also enough to nearly peer into Ace's soul. Ace avoided further eye contact with his best friend and continued on the path up the stairwell. Koko and Nox softly peered to each other in gentle concern, and as they silently continued to follow Ace up the stairwell, the two bickered and chit-chat in continuous flow of love and happiness. Ace sagged his hands into his front pockets, shook his head and felt agitation and confliction keep his thoughts from ever getting anything accomplished. He lulled his eyes closed as the three reached Nox's landing, though just as Ace suspected, they stopped at Nox's front door and volleyed a notion after Ace.

"Ace, you're not gunna come in and chill with us?" Nox wondered, though he frowned as Ace stopped in his tracks, turned around and shrugged his arms out.

"I-I just need to go upstairs, I have a lot on my mind," Ace staggered in a rush, and though he sounded aloof and monotone, so to keep from Nox and Koko sniffing out his insecurities, Nox took this opportunity to hopefully pry Ace out of his shell.

"Ace," Nox stabbed in concern, and as both boys caught eyes in a whirl of frozen silence, Nox shrugged and gave him a hopeful smile of potential encouragement, "Just talk to her, man... She's vying for your attention."

"I know she is," Ace barked quietly as he clenched his fists, though with such, Nox and Koko raised their eyebrows in surprise and could've sworn the tension, on Ace's end, didn't run this deep, "I know... You guys may think I'm blind to it all and are irritated with how air-headed I'm acting about her advances, but I see them all... Clear as day."

"So... Wh-Why not rush up to her room and... Get lost in it?" Nox hissed in sorrow as he tried to take a step closer to Ace, "Clearly she's ready, isn't that what you want?"

"More than anything," Ace huffed in agitated sorrow, though just as Nox suspected, his loving steps closer were met with Ace taking hesitant steps away. He shook his head, looked up the stretch of stairwell, that simply led to his own landing, and breathed a sigh of defeat, "I got some stuff I have to work out. You wouldn't understand..."

"What would I not understand, Ace?" Nox near-pleaded, he was surprised he got this far, though just before he could continue on, he flinched as Ace's dominant eyes stabbed to Nox's glowing gaze.

"Don't worry about it," Ace snipped as he finally took a few steps back, head up the stairwell and firmly began to leave their presence, "See you guys tomorrow."

Nox huffed a hard breath, slapped his arm to his side and sagged his shoulders. As he gave Koko his confused eye contact, the two peered to each other in rapidly growing concern, as if they were surprised this ran much deeper than they thought. They remained silent as they heard Ace reach his landing, open his door, shut and lock it tight behind him, and disappear into his room. Although it was a sheer pipe dream to potentially hear him rush past his landing and hurry to Libby's front door, they both wondered just what the road block was. As if simply left at a cliffhanger, the two decided to just assume defeat and come to the conclusion that this simply wasn't something they couldn't help Ace with; yet, at least.


	180. Chapter 180

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :)

 **ArchDev :** LOL! Yes, I like to break the 4th wall where I see fit :P

 **Retrokill :** Yep, sharp eyes. It'll obviously be expanded on, but yes, that's the gist of it. Thank you!

 **Silversurfer :** Thank you so much! Yes, they go into Sugar Rush shortly, here - Ace's issues get massively ironed out, there haha

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey, thank you SO MUCH for that acknowledgement and encouragement. It really makes me feel cherished and appreciated, and although this story is through my own volition, it still REALLY helps to have this awesome support network of people all around the web and the world. I've actually been sitting on this animation idea since Valentine's Day, and wasn't really confident enough to go through with it until recently. I've been working on this project for almost 3 weeks now and have a whole 60 seconds of it finished, so it'll be another month or so until it's done, but as soon as it's up, you guys will know about it. :) As for Berri, I don't know if I meant to have her come off as shy or reserved, but she's definitely not. She's the opposite of Ace, in this aspect. Ace has a lot of his uncle Oliver's personality, as well as Zed's, but Berri is very hard headed, blunt and outgoing like how Tessa was, growing up. She's a lot girlier than Tessa, and is likely about as girly as Penny is(was) - She's got a lot more of a girly, sassy charm paired with Zed's energy and cunningness, so she's definitely a handful for Sugar Rush xD It'll be great, makes for some great conflict. Her and Ace are best friends, but they don't always see eye to eye, and the fact that he's a User and she's not makes for a lot of tension between the two, whilst she's growing up. Berri likes to be in charge, but because she's not directly in line for the throne, it makes her a bit antsy and insecure.

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 **Song Listened To : Capsize by Frenship**

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 ***Chapter 180***

As the days passed, the weather finally began to show it's true, fall ambience. The nights were chillier, and although the heat had finally let go of it's death grip on the jungle, the humidity still desperately kept it coming in the peak of the day. With calmer, cooler nights, the gang would often have dinner or a bon fire outside, in the backyard, though, on this particular night, it was too rainy to do such things. Instead, a few helping hands began to aid Tessa in bringing in some of her warmer weather flowers. Big, potted beasts that were heavy to carry, though it wasn't impossible. Although these talk, stalks of gorgeous flowers were potted by the aid of Taffyta, said flowers were particularly special to Tessa; they were her own little experiment, a cross breed of Ace's fire flowers and another, radiantly blooming flower native to Sugar Rush. With such, she hovered and nervously made sure all of her precious flowers made it back into the house, safely.

"It's so strange that you were able to actually successfully create a whole new flower, like you did... From two different games, no less," Oliver chuckled as he hoisted one of the pots up to his chest with ease. There were six big pots total, and as Oliver, Ace, Vanellope, Tessa, Zed and Taffyta stuck together and helped spot each other to get into the house with the large pots, Zed wrinkled his nose and began to notice Tessa hovering a bit more heavily, towards her mother, than usual, as if she didn't totally trust Vanellope with this venture. With the back door was held open wide, letting the cool, nighttime air inside, Oliver was careful to set the big pot he was holding down near the entrance to the Sky Room; he continued on with a flash of a smile, "I wonder what Libby makes of this cross breed, Ace?"

"Not sure," Ace mumbled in gentle defeat as he, too, set one of the pots right next to the one his Uncle Oliver had just set down.

"... Haven't talked to her recently?" Oliver staggered in a worrisome way as both boys began to head towards the back door, to continue helping.

"I have," Ace stated, his tone was short and distant; Oliver furrowed his black brows and eyed his nephew in gentle contemplation.

"Guys, be careful of the lip of the back door's stripping, on the tile," Tessa rushed as she urgently pointed her finger; she was outside and bent over, just about to pick up the last pot to be brought into the house.

"I can't tell you how many times I've stubbed my toe on that thing," Taffyta muttered as she successfully made it into the house with the third pot; Zed quickly filed after her.

"I think we'll be making some changes, to the castle, shortly," Zed droned with a gentle chuckle as he held the fourth pot. He grunted and patiently waited for Taffyta to set down the pot she was holding, the gorgeous orange blooms were tall and healthy, "Seems like there are a few things, here and there, that-"

With a hard gasp, a mess of a jolting stumble and an ear-splitting crash to the ground, Vanellope had accidentally stumbled over said lip, on the tiling, sending Tessa's fifth potted flowers to the ground in a mess of petals, soil, roots and marbled porcelain. Vanellope jolted, covered her mouth in horror and peered down to the mess she had accidentally made. Everyone froze and urgently peered to Vanellope in a dire look of dread, not because she had ruined the flowers, though simply because she had to be the poor soul to immediately push herself deeper into Tessa's bad side. Vanellope whirled about, urgently gave her first born daughter a look of whole, apologetic plea and shook her hands in a show of not even knowing where to begin.

"Tessa, I-I'm so sorry!" Vanellope pleaded sorrowfully, though just as she was about to urge Zed to maybe tab into the code room and see if he could put the mess of coding back together, Tessa burst into Vanellope's presence and peered down at the slew of a mess in the doorway.

"Is everyone okay?" Orph barked in concern as he came about the arch of the hallway, Penny followed hot on his heels as well.

"We're fine, Vanellope, are you okay?" Zed wondered tenderly as Ace gently rested his hand to his grandmother's lower arm and eased her away from the sharp shards.

"I-I'm fine-"

"Of COURSE she's fine, it's not like the pot decided to not be inanimate any longer and leap out of mom's hands or anything," Tessa snipped, words like daggers and a stare like a viper, the room grew cold as Tessa knelt down to the mess and began cleaning up the shards with an air that only read caution.

"...M-Mom, c'mon, I'll clean it," Ace urged gently as Zed crossed his arms and gave the back of Tessa's head an agitated glower.

"I'm really sorry, Tess," Vanellope blurt an apologetic, shake of a chuckle and looked back at the lip of the door, which caused her fall, "I-I really should've kept an eye on it, seeing as we were just talking about it-"

"Yeah, you'd think the topic at hand would somehow sink in," Tessa stabbed in very rapidly growing, snide remarks. She shrugged and continued to clumsily sit the shards of porcelain in her hands and arms in a delicate way.

"Please, let me help-"

"You've done enough!" Tessa shouted as she whirled her attention up to her mother.

Tessa's voice rung in a reverberating echo throughout the whole castle, not a single soul spoke or moved. Zed furrowed his blue eyebrows harder into his eyes as he glared down at his fiancee, and as Vanellope nervously stood from her helpful, kneeling position, she looked as if she so badly wanted to take a fighting stab at her daughter. It was clear, from this standpoint, Vanellope was beginning to lose the energy to fight with her daughter, any longer. She knew this ran much deeper than just a mess of porcelain and soil to the tiles, everyone could feel the tension build and build.

"Mother," Ace's deep voice volleyed in dominant sternness down to Tessa, something he was never typically caught doing, though he knew it was wholly justified here.

Tessa darted her eye sight to Ace, and as the image of him keeping his firm stance next to his grandmother burned into her brain stem, Tessa gave Ace and Vanellope one last glower before she got to her feet and turned to storm off. To make matters worse, she grunted an annoyed notion as Zed stood slightly in her direct path. Once she saw he wasn't budging from getting out of her way, she meanly brushed her shoulder to his, a firm shove of having the 'final word'. Zed held his breath, shut his eyes tight and recoiled a little, and although he wanted to explode as well, he inhaled a long, deep breath and so desperately tried to collect himself.

"What crawled up your ass and died, mom," Ace called in solid annoyance as Tessa barged out the side door, which ultimately lead to the side of the backyard and garage, though Zed jolted his eyes opened and firmly pointed his finger to his son.

"You watch your mouth, that is your mother," Zed sternly stabbed, which caused Ace's pupils to tighten in a reel of surprise, he could've sworn his father would be on his side for that comment.

"Alright, alright, let's breathe," Taffyta uttered loudly with a hard chuckle as her, Penny and Orph bulged their eyes, beamed nervous smiles to each other and looked about the very suddenly tense group of individuals.

"Sorry," Ace muttered in whole annoyance, though he knelt down to the ground, placed his fingertips to the tile below and concentrated on his craft.

"It was an accident, I-I know reconstruction coding," Vanellope shook her head and watched as Ace's fingertips began to glow proudly with his silver coding, "... Tessa knows this is nothing that can't be solved with some reconstructing skill."

"Radex could've dropped it and Tessa would've treated HIM nicer about it," Oliver mumbled as he watched the gentle curtain, of the back door that Tessa had barged out of, finally settle from all the rattling it had just endured, "You okay, mom?"

"I'm fine, I just wish..." Vanellope shook her head, furrowed her brow and watched as the soil, flowers, bits of porcelain and the tile, that Ace had in his silver coded grip, began to so delicately reverse and reconstruct itself in a satisfying show of correction. Vanellope so desperately tried to hold back tears, "I just want my baby back."

"If you'll excuse me," Zed's deep, dominant voice glossed over the group, and as he gently began to leave the kitchen and head out the door Tessa had just explosively exited from, everyone bulged their eyes in solid nervousness and shot each other looks of impending doom on Tessa's soul.

* * *

Zed confidently pushed out the side door, heard it shut in a rush of a clack and continued on the outdoor tiles, a small cobbled path that lead to the back and side of the backyard, just snug between a side entrance to the corridor of bedrooms, as well as the garage and front patio, on the opposite side of said path. He furrowed his brow, heat rose in his wrecking coding, and as he clenched his fists and let his bare feet slap to the cold tiles, his powerful coding sprawled the tiles and grass with silver grid. In a show of just where Tessa had taken off to, he wasn't surprised to see she had trailed into Lickity's enclosure. He knew that was her escape, to climb some tree and vent her issues to Lickity, though Zed knew he had to stop this madness right in it's tracks.

As Zed inhaled a long, deep breath, he allowed himself to have full reign of his home game, and although he didn't technically enjoy putting on the King's crown to figuratively play human chess with any of his loved ones, he knew this instance called for some tough love. As he released his long, solid breath, his coding spread like wildfire, silver tiers that caught with every grass blade, every tree, every boulder, and in a show of ultimate power, he clenched his fists a little harder and ordered the trees, of Lickity's enclosure, to part and make way for the game's core. Each tree glitched and flit about in a show of holographic change and rearranging, and once the trees settled, Zed honed his eyes on the very being he was looking for.

Surprised to see just what was going on, Tessa whirled around and gave Zed a death glare of stunned annoyance, and although she was loosely surrounded by all four flyers, Zed knew there was no arguing with the core once this show of dominance was on display. Zed firmly bit his bottom lip and let loose a high pitched, sharp whistle, one of which he only ever used towards the flyers to indicate that everything he said, goes. As he firmly marched onto the grass and pushed closer to Balba, she flattened her ears in a show of receding agreement and gingerly took a few steps back. As Zed neared Royal and Marble, they very quickly followed suit, though as Zed came up to Lickity, he knew she'd be a much tougher foe to convince.

"Step aside, please," Zed ordered with as much respect and gentleness as he could in these fuming moments, and as he caught firm eye contact with Lickity, he didn't waver. With much hesitation, Lickity finally lowered her ears and slowly sagged away from Tessa and Zed.

"What do you want?" Tessa snapped as she crossed her arms, both beings kept a down foot distance from each other as Lickity finally soaked into the group of other flyers.

"You having a good time?" Zed sneered sternly as he put his hands on his hips and held square with Tessa, he knew fighting with her wasn't something he really genuinely ever liked doing, though he also knew if there was anyone brave enough to go head to head with the future Queen, he was likely the only one for the job.

"Oh, yeah, what gave it away?" Tessa sarcastically smiled and flung her arm out.

"Do you treat everyone with that much respect?" Zed's voice grew dark, and as he took a gentle, though stern, few steps closer to her, he narrowed his gaze, "I'm really impressed with how kindly you're treating your own mother."

"Stay out of it," Tessa barked as the two glared each other down, Tessa firmly held her ground as Zed continued to approach.

"You think it'll make you a good leader? To hold grudges and take every single tiny problem and blow it out of proportion like what you do?" Zed growled, though Tessa began to speak and interrupt him, he spoke louder so to rightfully cut her off, "Vanellope's literally done nothing to you, since the last Sugar Rush trip."

"I'm teaching her a lesson," Tessa's voice raised as she clenched her fists and continued to stand her ground, though she was surprised at just how brave Zed was being and how dangerously close he was getting to the Queen lioness of the lot.

"You're also teaching someone else a lesson, Tessa, you want to know who else has solid eyes on you?" Zed hissed as he narrowed his eyes and was now a mere foot from Tessa, "A being in which you raised and loved and cared for, a USER with UNFATHOMABLE power... And here you are, stupidly teaching him just how to treat the woman who gave birth to you."

"It's not the same," Tessa spat.

"He shot a smart-ass remark to you as you left! Did you not hear it?" Zed yelled, a vein bulged on his temple, "It most DEFINITELY is the same. No matter how old he gets, no matter if he gets married and has children of his own... He will ALWAYS look up to you, and will ALWAYS live by our example."

"Well, GOOD! Maybe he'll be able to spot when someone else is becoming heavy handed with their training tactics, in the future!" Tessa loudly volleyed.

"If you want to make a fantastic figurehead one day, if you want to pass on good traits to our only son, the Prince of Sugar Rush, with dignity and respect, then you best wise up and drop this stupid grudge you're holding on Vanellope," Zed rushed through the grit of his teeth, his voice was deep and stern.

"Why don't you just let me handle it by myself? I know my mother better than anyone," Tessa yelled in a growl as the two got in each other's faces.

"Cause I'm the future King of Sugar Rush and in those vows I have promised to uphold, keeping your shortcomings in check makes the list, love!" Zed barked through a hard, snide smile of a glower down to his future bride, "This fight is stupid, way prolonged and has turned into a stupid game for you! Your mother is nothing but a marionette you just toss around, all because of a mistake she is clearly remorseful over!"

"I'm not treating this as a game," Tessa growled as tears stung her eyes, she dared to take a half of a step closer to Zed, the two hovered in each others faces, riled with teetering dominance from both ends, and with the flare of power in their figurative bubble, Tessa clenched her fists, stomped her foot down to the ground and created a cracking rift of confused, silver grid lines with the mini earthquake, "How DARE you put me on blast and label me as the bad guy, in this!"

"I don't have to label you as such, you ARE the bad guy, here!" Zed hollered as glitch lines of silver coding chaotically sprawled the nearby trees, confused power that didn't have a proper outlet, "Your poor mother has done nothing but leave Ace alone, give a respectful amount of space and keep well out of sight! What the HELL has she done to deserve your shitty attitude!"

"I'm DONE appearing WEAK!" Tessa near-screamed as tears suddenly streamed her cheeks, and though Zed flinched and felt his anger streak sudden come to a screeching halt, Tessa shook her head and blurt a small cry of despair as she continued on, "You have it so easy, Zed! You don't understand how hard this is for me, this image I have to keep up!"

"Wh-what are you even talking about?" Zed urged sorrowfully as the mood so rapidly changed, and with the look of pure despair Tessa's whole soul suddenly couldn't keep hidden, any longer, he sagged his shoulders and felt his heart begin to ache with the way this was all coming out.

"You have all your brothers who look up to you, you're the core of this game, you have everything you could ever want," Tessa cried as a large amount of tears streaked her cheeks, "You're HOME!"

"Tess, this... This is your home," Zed grimaced nervously, though Tessa shut her eyes tight, whimpered a cry and messily wiped her jaw.

"This is my escape," Tessa hissed in whole despair as she peered her glassy, hazel eyes into his. She shook her head and hiccuped a small cry, "Sugar Rush is my home... And it's upside down."

"We'll get it back, Tessa, you just... Can't keep treating your mother with such hate," Zed rushed gently, though Tessa covered her face and sagged into herself in whole defeat.

"I-I just don't know how else to prove to her that I'm in charge, I want that responsibility to bring Sugar Rush to normality," Tessa wept into her hands, "I show one sign of vulnerability, and no one will take me seriously..."

"Tess, that's the farthest thing from the truth," Zed griped quietly, though Tessa shook her head gently in her hands and remained still.

Zed slumped his shoulders, frowned and looked at her as a whole. With both moons casting their gentle glow atop his future bride's messy, auburn hair, he felt his heart swell for her. A wonderfully confused, magical being he had fallen so deeply in love with, he was certain that no matter what form of turmoil was rocketed their way, Zed knew the two would get through it hand in hand. As Zed heaved a long, shaky sigh of residual anger, he warmly closed the gap and wrapped his strong arms about his Queen. As Tessa gratefully sunk into his chest and buried her face into his shoulder, he squeezed her to him as tightly as he possibly could. Zed shut his eyes tight, held the back of her head and shoved his face into the top of her shaking shoulder as she cried.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," Zed eased sincerely as he gingerly pet the back of her head.

"I'm sorry too," Tessa whimpered as she gripped her arms tight about his chest, and though they remained in silence for a few minutes, Zed heaved a long, hot sigh through his nose and shook his head.

"Babe, you've got to get this sorted... You can't keep treating your mother like this, she doesn't deserve all this resentment," Zed eased quietly, "Where, exactly, does all this anger stem from?"

"I just want to prove myself," Tessa whimpered nasally as she finally rested her ear to Zed's chest, she closed her eyes and sat in continued tears, "I want her to see me as a strong leader... Someone who doesn't take shit from anyone."

"Tessa, your mother isn't just 'anyone'," Zed tenderly reminded, "She's your mother... Not to mention, the one holding that title you so badly want... I don't think treating her like this is going to win her over."

"I just hate what she did to Ace," Tessa breathed in a whisper as she kept her eyes shut tight, "I'm really protective of him..."

"We all are, he's a bumbling puppy dog of a demigod," Zed blurt a chuckle and shook his head, "He harbors more power than we can even begin to fathom... Even HE still hasn't found his footing. You have every right to be protective of him, but c'mon, Tess... Vanellope got the hint, long ago. This isn't about Ace anymore, is it."

"I don't know," Tessa complained in a croak as she slumped into Zed's chest, "I-I'm sorry... I just feel as though being stern will justify that I'm ready for this."

"But... You're not ready, are you," Zed stated as tenderly as he could, and as the two softly pulled apart, Zed moved his loving hands to the tops of Tessa's shoulders and was relieved to be hit with her humble, sorrowful eye contact, "You're masking the fact that you're not ready with anger and mean words... It's okay to show that you're not ready, Tess. It's okay to be vulnerable. None of us will ever treat you differently... If anything, it proves you're secure with progress that needs to be made."

Tessa's sullen gaze peered to Zed's in understanding, and as she bobbed a gentle nod of agreeing, Zed gingerly shook her shoulders.

"We both have a long way to go... But we have each other, and we have a huge family that understands that we're not perfect beings," Zed eased kindly, though Tessa wrinkled her nose and almost dared to smile.

"What about Ace?" Tessa muttered in mild annoyance, though Zed blurt a chuckle.

"Ace is a human, he's the epitome of imperfection," Zed smiled and was floored to see Tessa's half smile broaden to something genuine, "Come on... Stop holding this whole situation with your fist. You need to just sort out the issue with your mother, come clean with the rude remarks, and get on the same page as her."

"I will," Tessa mumbled in a half-hearted promise, though Zed cocked an eyebrow and allowed his sternness to return.

"I'd like you to do this right now," Zed instructed tenderly as he kept his loving hands to her shoulders, though as her nervous eye contact soaked into his in hot realization, Zed shook his head, narrowed his gaze and held tight to Tessa's fervor, "We're head of the charge into Sugar Rush, coming up... I'm not about to let you into that game without rectifying this issue, with your mother."

Tessa's teary, nervous eyes peered to Zed's in astonished sorrow, and though she knew he was dead-right about everything, she felt her veins wiggle with nervousness at the raw fact that she was now instructed to finally bring this issue, with her mother, to it's knees, right in this very moment. With a bob of a nod of final acceptance, Tessa re-glued her gaze of humility to Zed's and accepted his plea.


	181. Chapter 181

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** That's not too far off :)

 **Silversurfer :** Thank you! I can't get this published because it's fan fiction. I'd be sued haha. I don't mind it being free for everyone to enjoy. I don't think I'd make much profit off of it, anyways, if I were to somehow legally publish it. Would be cool! But for now, it's here for you guys to read. And, thank you! Ace and Libby hit a few bumps, coming up, but it's nothing that doesn't eventually get solved :)

* * *

 ***Chapter 181***

As Tessa and Zed slowly came back into the main building, from the side entrance the two had burst through a little while back, they were greet with Ace, Oliver, Orph and Penny's nervous looking smiles, from the kitchen island. Tessa felt guilt plague her skin, and as she kept her eyes down, she felt a wave of forgiveness gloss over her, via Zed's gentle hand to her lower back. Tessa nervously peered back to him in a glance of curiosity, though as her eyes met his in a string of acceptance, she heaved a soft sigh and gently approached the quiet group at the kitchen counter.

"I-I'm... Sorry for exploding," Tessa stated sorrowfully, she rubbed her arm and nervously caught eyes with Ace, a boy in which she knew had his sharp wits about him, though even he could easily follow his own mother's bad example. Tessa longingly peered to him and shook her head, "I... Just let my frustration get the better of me. You know how the wrecking code goes."

"Boy do I... Mom, I'm sorry for the comment I made towards you," Ace mumbled as he gave his father an apologetic look as well, "I just want us all to get along."

"I know you do," Tessa's warm voice glossed over his agitated demeanor in a sweep of her tender hand to his cheek, and as she trailed her hand to his shoulder and squeezed, she finally drifted from the presence of the group.

"What's going on?" Penny inquired quietly once Tessa had slipped into the Sky Room, Zed cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Penny before the group slowly peered their curious attention to just where Tessa had laid off to.

"She's going to go finally have that talk with Vanellope," Zed said quietly, though everyone shot mildly shocked looks of nervousness to each other in full hope that the Sky Room would still be standing after all this.

As Tessa slowly crossed the quiet Sky Room, she bit her lip in rising nervousness and approached her mother's bedroom. SHe noticed the door was ajar, and although she was aware she was welcomed in her mother's presence, at any time, she still felt as if she was somehow not worthy of this moment. With a deep inhale of a breath, she pressed closer to the arch way, steadied her rushing heart and gingerly knocked on the hard wood. In this instant, she could hear her mother, father and Aunt Taffyta all come to a quick halt in their conversation, and with such, Tessa felt a lump gather in her throat as she dared to push into her mother's and father's sanctuary.

"Can I come in?" Tessa wondered softly as she got a good look about the room.

Vanellope and Tafftya were comfortably sat at the end of Ralph's and Vanellope's gorgeous canopy bed. Both girls sat with their legs criss-crossed, in comfortable clothes, though it was clear they weren't simply having a girls pow-wow. Their dagger-like gazes, across the room, was enough to tell Tessa that Vanellope had likely been in here crying for a decent amount of time. Taffyta gently held Vanellope's hand in a protective show of rising dominance, and as Ralph grunted a noise and got to his feet, from the large lounge chair across the room, he clenched his fists and stood closer to the two girls on the bed, a continued show of protectiveness from both parties.

"Mom, can we talk?" Tessa asked gently, and although she still held a defensive front, towards her mother, she heaved a shaky sigh and knew, bottom line, she needed to drop this facade.

Ralph, Taffyta and Vanellope slowly shot looks of contemplation to each other, the three most powerful beings in all of Sugar Rush, inseperable friends and partners, Tessa knew she was massively outnumbered; though, with this thought, she somehow knew that in wronging her mother, she had also wronged the King and their right hand woman. Tessa breathed a nervous noise of confusion as Taffyta and Ralph hesitantly began to leave Vanellope's side, and look as if they were to leave the bedroom, to give Vanellope and Tessa privacy, though Tessa took a step to the side and gently held up her hands, to her father and aunt.

"This... Should concern all of us, come to think of it," Tessa corrected gingerly, and as Ralph and Taffyta drummed to a slow stop, they honed their gazes to Tessa, in plucked surprise, and softly looked back at Vanellope with a show of acknowleding forethought, on Tessa's part.

"Alright, talk," Vanellope finally muttered after a moment of silence in waiting for Ralph and Taffyta to get comfortable in the room, once more.

Tessa felt her viens wiggle to goo, and as all three higher-ups held their solid attention to Tessa, she hugged her arms to her chest in nervousness and began to stammer on a few words of indecipherable confusion. She shook her head, mumbled something about wanting to have this talk for awhile now, and looked out her mother's and father's balcony doors before Vanellope snipped correction into Tessa's train of thought.

"Spit it out already, Tess, shoulders back, chin up," Vanellope spat, and with such, Tessa immediately did as instructed, though she held onto a nearly annoyed glower whilst straightening her posture, "Speak with dignity. You're Sugar Rush's future Queen."

With Vanellope's spark of words, Tessa flinched in a reel of shock and gave her mother a stare down of solid disbelief. Tessa just barely shook her head, and as her mouth hung agape in continued disbelief, Vanellope huffed a small giggle, at her daughter's facial expression, which caused Ralph and Taffyta to follow suit.

"What, you thought I was going to take it away from you?" Vanellope cooed in a mildly snotty tone, though Tessa huffed a flabbergasted breath, shrugged her arm out, slapped it back to her side and looked across the room in confusion.

"I-I mean, after how crappy I've been treating you," Tessa stammered, merely as if she didn't want to admit it, though she knew she had to, "I guess I wouldn't be surprised."

"Tess," Vanellope huffed with a small chuckle, though Ralph and Taffyta's quiet snickering quickly turned into joined chuckling, alongside Vanellope.

"It... Would take quite a lot for us to yank that crown from you, Tessy," Ralph gave her a small smile, and although Tessa knew this wasn't simply all three of them letting her off the hook, she suddenly felt safe, a feeling she was certain she wouldn't feel amidst this conversation.

"Radex-status, love," Taffyta wrinkled her nose and gave Tessa a knowing smirk, and although Tessa could feel the edges of her mouth want to curl into a smile, as well, she exhaled a shaky breath and nodded instead.

"I just... Wanted to come in here and apologize for how rude I was to you, that one night in Sugar Rush, mom," Tessa's voice trembled, and it was in this raw moment did all of her valiant day dreams of conquering this conversation with all limbs tied and no advantages, she suddenly felt the weight of it all, the massive disservice she had been doing to herself, simply where an inflated ego will get you. Tessa furrowed her brow and so desperately began to fight back tears for the sheer fact that she wasn't as almighty and strong as she once thought she would be, in this exact moment, "You... You made me so mad, I was so protective of Ace, I just..."

"Ran away with your feelings," Vanellope finished, and though it was clear she wanted to be snide and have her claws out, towards Tessa, Vanellope inhaled a steady breath through her nose, looked down and bobbed a nod, "Tess, you're a mother... You'll go to war for your children. It's just the selfless act you sign up for when you have a baby... It's involuntary, in that moment. You would go to the ends of the Arcade for your own baby, wouldn't you?"

"I-I'm so protective of him," Tessa whimpered, she knew mentioning sweet, bumbling Ace was enough to make the waterworks start, and although she put up a good fight, she grimaced and allowed tears to slip down her cheeks. She sniffled, wiped her jaw and shook her head, "I try to keep my distance, but it was just the final straw, mom, you basically had him in a choke hold, with all that training..."

"I know, and, I'm really sorry," Vanellope admitted with a nod, she gave Tessa her sincere, apologetic eye contact, "You know I had no ill intent..."

"I know you're the master glitch, and everything, but... Ace doesn't respond well to tough love, some people do," Tessa shrugged and gave the group the benefit of the doubt as she gestured her arm, "But, I know my child, and I felt I had no choice but to step in."

"You know we're proud of you for that, right?" Ralph interjected kindly, though his voice was deep and monotone, so not to make Tessa believe all of this was simply solved and dandy. Tessa grimaced a small noise, shook her head and shrugged in whole disbelief.

"... Proud? For locking mom's feet to the ground and getting in her face?" Tessa's eyes narrowed as more tears began to billow and cascade down her rosy cheeks, "For telling her to stay away from her own grandson, for being nothing but the biggest bitch to her for the last month... For NO reason other than the need to fill some sort of vengeful desire I had?"

"Yeah, you could've gone about it differently," Ralph grumbled, him and Taffyta chuckled as Vanellope took a step closer to Tessa.

"You were protecting your cub," Vanellope urged, she shook her head and locked eyes with Tessa's wild gaze, soaked in sorrow and guilt, trembling with the onslaught of promised crying. Vanellope caught a breath and peered at her beautiful daughter, the first born with the rights to it all, Vanellope tenderly swept her hand to Tessa's cheek and narrowed her gaze, "Tessa, I would've done the same exact thing for you, if I were in your shoes..."

"Y-You would have?" Tessa huffed in a breath of disbelief.

"You know, at first I could hardly believe how you treated me, what you said to me," Vanellope shook her head and stroked a few tears off of Tessa's cheek, "It stung, and it wasn't technically handled very well, but... I put myself in your shoes, and I'd be up in arms, as well. No one harms my babies."

"Penny and Zed have been telling me to just talk with you, but... I didn't want to, I just get so angry," Tessa mumbled, though Ralph rolled his eyes and looked up with a knowing smile.

"I wonder where you get that from," Ralph grumbled, though he grunted as he pushed off from leaning on the bed post, he gently budged into Tessa's and Vanellope's bubble and warmly rested his large hand on Tessa's shoulder and arm, "Tess, you're a wonderful mother. I can't count how many times we've all been caught in conversation and I see your mother peering at you, like you're simply the glow from the sun."

Tessa felt her heart begin to race, she furrowed her brow and shook her head gently, as if to politely decline the incredibly sweet compliment, though Ralph grappled her shoulder a little harder and bent down to peer into her eyes.

"It's true, Tess... You radiate it, you have what it takes," Ralph smiled, though he side-eyed her and wrinkled his nose, "You've got to work on how you approach a confrontation, but then again, us wreckers have never been the most graceful fighters, huh."

"I ballsed that one up," Tessa muttered with a half-hearted chuckle, she looked down and inhaled a few sniffles as Taffyta gingerly joined their tight bubble of love.

"We all could learn something from this, it's not just you, Tess," Taffyta stated knowingly, though she put a loving hand on Vanellope's shoulder, "Maybe Vanellope got overzealous with the training... You have to remember, we've only known Ace for a few months. You've known him for his whole, little life. You know how many birth marks he has, you know just what it takes to get him to smile, you know all of his fears and insecurities..."

Tessa looked up as more tears billowed and slid down her cheeks, she nodded as memories of baby Ace came rushing back to her, and with all of these tender, nostalgic thoughts, she began to feel herself wanting to crumple into tears.

"You HAVE to be patient with us, because we don't know Ace as well as you do," Taffyta urged tenderly, she gestured to Vanellope, "When Vanellope trained you how to glitch, you responded well to the tough love, it made you stronger."

"Buuuut, when it came Oliver's turn," Ralph mumbled as he cocked an eyebrow and gave Taffyta and Vanellope a knowing smile; everyone laughed, and much to their surprise, Tessa cracked a genuine smile and looked down.

"Oliver cried more times than I can count," Vanellope laughed, "Koko was a happy medium... But Ace just... Took it in silence. That was the difference."

"He hides," Tessa muttered to the ground, "I'm discovering just how much of a hermit that kid really is, when he's feeling sad or upset. He hides..."

"Even YOU are now discovering that," Vanellope gently wiped the excess tears from Tessa's jaw and chin, she lovingly swept Tessa's messy hair from the right side of her face and tucked it behind her right ear, "I apologize for being so hard on him. You know it won't happen again. If I only knew he was so bothered, I would've switched things up. You know I'm not a tyrant, Tess."

"I know," Tessa sighed as Ralph and Taffyta laughed a little, though Tessa longingly peered to her mother, "I'm really sorry. I've been meaning to have this conversation with you, I just... Felt as if I needed to keep face, in front of everyone."

"You're next top dog, you want respect, we get it," Ralph shrugged, he looked up and wrinkled a smile, "You know crapping on the people in charge is going to do the total opposite, right?"

"Yes, sir," Tessa huffed shakily with a nod as she finally gave Ralph a meek look of whole understanding, almost as if to beg not to rub salt in the wound.

"You're strong willed, determined, sharp," Vanellope listed as she gently tucked her hand underneath Tessa's chin and made her look up at the three that hovered before her, "It gets you into trouble, sometimes... But you know we'll always be here for you, even when you are in charge."

"We'll be stepping down," Ralph eyed Tessa with a kind, cheeky smile, "Not stepping away... Y'know?"

"Thank you," Tessa nodded and heaved a trembling sigh as she so desperately tried to get ahold of her tears, she knew after a month or so, of keeping all of this bottled, it was bound to overflow with emotion.

"We love you, Tessa Von Schweetz," Vanellope firmly reminded, which finally got a broad, appreciative smile out of Tessa, and with such, all three elders blurt into knowing, cooing laughter, "There she is."

"Don't," Tessa muttered as she now tried to desperately hide her widening smile, though Vanellope firmly lugged her eldest into a tight embrace.

Tessa didn't hesitate to grapple her arms about her mother's back, and with such, she pushed her face into Vanellope's shoulder, a spot of safety and love, she kept tight to her mother's familiar figure. Tessa shut her eyes tight, felt more tears sting her eyes, and with such, she buried deeper into her mother's neck. As she could feel her mother's hand so lovingly pet the back of her head, which included gentle love-pats from Ralph and Taffyta, Tessa exhaled one final breath of clarity and was relieved everything was now smoothed over. She sagged her shoulders and instantly could feel the promise of a good night's sleep.

"I love you guys, too," Tessa finally answered in a meep of tears, though she smiled and breathed a nasally laugh as everybody clamored for a tight group hug with Tessa right at the center.

"Future Queen," Vanellope playfully sneered as she pushed a firm, loving kiss into Tessa's cheek, "So, who bribed you to come in here?"

"Future King," Tessa muttered, the group howled with laughter.

"Zed's filing those non-existent shoes of yours nicely, there, Wreck-It," Taffyta gently nudged Ralph's shoulder, to which he breathed a hot sigh and nodded.

"A great future King, indeed," Vanellope assured with a giggle of a sigh as the group squeezed in their hug, one last time, "Remind me to thank him."

"Same," Tessa grumbled humbly as the group finally sagged from their tight bubble, Tessa wiped her cheeks and gave her mother a sincere smile.

"Next task of the Kalivar lot," Vanellope stated with a readied sigh as she cocked an eyebrow and gave Tessa a knowing look, "Getting that poor User out of his shell, a little."

"The GOO-GOO EYES those two shoot to each other, I'm tired of the sexual tension!" Taffyta suddenly blurt, which had everyone peering to her in stunned surprise. Taffyta flailed her hands a little and looked back at the three in a flabbergasted way, "I KNOW I'm not the only one thinking it."

"You're not, Ace is... Going through a difficult time, I think," Tessa rubbed her jaw in mild confusion, "I'm sort of too nervous to talk with him about it because... I think it deals with him wanting to swap codes with Libby."

"Sounds like a talk for the guys," Vanellope coined as everyone eyed Ralph, though Ralph rubbed his face in agitation.

"Sounds like a father-son talk," Ralph corrected, he waggled his finger, "Throw in an uncle and Nox and it's a party."

"Poor guy," Tessa chuckled, "I'll... Talk to Zed. Maybe the guys can wrangle Ace in, on our Sugar Rush scout... You guys coming for that scout?"

In this instance, Ralph, Vanellope and Taffyta grew silent and each shot knowing glances to one another. In unison, because of the sudden awkward silence, all four heads, in the room, burst out in laughter, though Tessa shook her head in confusion and held her hand out in a baffled gesture.

"Or don't answer me, that's cool too," Tessa blurt as everyone eased into a warmth they didn't think they'd reach any time soon.

"Tess, we've been discussing it," Vanellope chuckled, she gently took her daughters hand and squeezed, "I know you sort of... Threatened me to either puppy dog after you or don't go on the next trip, and I think that was definitely your subconscious begging to be in charge."

"That was me being an asshole," Tessa choked, everyone continued to laugh, as did she, though she grimaced, shook her head and looked deep into her mother's eyes for clarity, "Mom, I... I can try and lead the scout by myself, but, I want you there."

"You'll have fun without me, you kids are smart," Vanellope gave Tessa a cheeky side-eye of knowing, "You're ready... You may think you're not, but you are. I know you are."

"Please bring me back some of Sugar Rush's lily pad chocolate, if you find it," Taffyta huffed silently in a swoop of a side annotation, Tessa chuckled and nodded in agreeing.

"If you guys are sure," Tessa eased in a mildly nervous tone; suddenly, such an in-charge trip seemed a little daunting.

"You'll do great," Vanellope nudged Tessa's arm a little and gave her a loving smile, "You're kin of the greats. Time to show us what you got."

* * *

 **A/N :** **WOW, so this story just hit 800k words! x_x SERIOUSLY I'm worried lol! I am wondering if this story will just barely touch 1mil words by the time it's finished, cause where we're all standing right now, folks... I'm only 3/4th's of the way finished with RO. I did not expect RO to be such a BEAST, but I guess that's what comes with so many new OC's, conflicts and the like. I really hope you guys are enjoying it, so far. There are a few of my favorite reviewers, people that I've chat with here and there, that I'm beginning to lost touch with, and it makes me really sad :( I genuinely hope you guys are doing okay, and are enjoying this behemoth! I love you all more than you can even imagine.**


	182. Chapter 182

**Reviews :**

 **SkyBlueFan33 :** That's not a stupid question at all! Yes, oral could still be a possibility without actually swapping codes. I don't really prefer to write scenes that include oral. I think I did ONCE in Wrecking Limits and it just felt weird. I guess I don't mention it much, as an alternative, but just be aware that if there are any couples holding out for a swap (excluding Ace and Libby) - on their 'away' time, that's likely how they are intimate with each other, eg. Penny and Orph. Otherwise, they just abstain lol.

 **Nikki Firesong :** YES! You're one of few (that makes their presence known, I'm sure I have some loyal lurkers as well lol) I appreciate the lot of you, those of you that are new and especially those of you that have seen me at my humble beginnings! It means the world to me! I'm also REALLY glad you like all my Turbo spoilers, I always worry that no one wants/appreciates them. Even had a handful of you guys get mad at me for such spoilers, I thought that was odd haha

 **Retrokill :** I nearly didn't either, until I pressed upload and saw the number drastically change and I was like ohhh dang xD Thank you!

 **Silversurfer :** Yes, all very true! Thank you! I'm sure I will reach 1mil, I still have a decent chunk of plot left. And, I WOULD write a completely different story... But that'd mean halting this one altogether. I know I don't want that, I don't think you guys want that either haha.

 **SamanthaR1987 :** No worries! I feel that, this story is pretty much what's keeping my head above water haha. Thanks for the support!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! I totally can, I have faith haha

 **chris . low2456 :** Oh good, I'm glad! :D Thanks friend!

* * *

 ***Chapter 182***

Through the gentle, nighttime fog out her round, front door's little circle of a window, Libby bit her bottom lip and was reminded of just what time of the night it was. Although she was aware likely everyone was asleep, she felt her heart thud with prolonged nervousness as she saw the Sky Room's dome lit in softness, a gentle, hue of a glow that radiated and comforted her with the sheer fact that at least someone else was awake in these wee hours of the morning. Not knowing exactly who it is, she narrowed it down to any of the individuals that reside directly off of the branch of the Sky Room; either Ralph, Vanellope, Tessa, Zed or Taffyta. With this much encouragement, she knew either one of them would likely understand and hear out her little issue, no matter how personal it may be; she knew she had to at least get it off her chest, and waiting until mid morning, for Koko to finally be awake, wasn't an option.

As her bare feet tread the quiet, cool tiles of the main building of the castle, after crossing hers and Ace's fire flower field with as much absent-minded thought as she could possibly muster, she tucked her little hands into her dark grey hoodie, though she grimaced and looked down at it in mild annoyance; one of Ace's super comfortable articles of clothing, she knew no matter what, she couldn't get enough of him and his warm, familiar scent. Even in this weird bout of confusion the two had found themselves in, she heaved a silent, shaky sigh, rolled her eyes and tried not to smile at the mere thought of her wonderful boyfriend. As she rounded the bend of the Sky Room with as much silence as possible, she felt her heart sag with ultimate relief as she saw Tessa and Zed comfortably sat on the sprawling, grey couches in the middle of the Sky Room; they had their noses buried in their digital pads, little holographic displays that showed Dead Zed's inner workings. Just as Libby stepped out to so gently inquire their undivided attention, she flinched as Tessa gingerly raised her hand.

"C'mere, baby," Tessa cooed tenderly; her incredible sense of hearing, as well as the electric presence of the newcomer, was only palpable to Tessa, and even though Tessa's and Zed's backs were to Libby, Libby was wholly floored that she had said super power, even though she knew, by now, she shouldn't be surprised.

Libby huffed a smaller apologetic giggle and moved deeper into the Sky Room with a bit more purpose. As she rounded the open gape of the couch and assessed the two, she was thrilled to see the both of them dressed in comfortable clothes for the night, they sat close and enjoyed each other's company in the dim, warm light of the Sky Room and the glow of their work before them.

"I'm glad you guys are wake," Libby said softly as she sat on the bend of the couch, there was a decent gape of tile between Libby and the two pairs of heads, though it was still close enough to feel intimate for a private conversation.

"That makes one of us," Zed mumbled sleepily, though he gave Libby a teasing, wrinkle of a fatherly smile and shook his head in a joking manner; Libby began to nervously fiddle with her long, draping white hair.

"What's on your mind?" Tessa inquired lightly, she knew Libby had come across the Kalivar lot for one reason and one reason alone; the nervous, bubbling antics that only Ace and Libby seemed to be struggling with, Tessa knew it was bound to come overflowing on them sooner or later.

"I need some guidance," Libby pressed nervously, and with this, Zed exhaled a small grunt, sat up a little straighter, held his hand out a little and allowed the air about the three to spark with a current of electricity. Before too long, a whole, lovely, encompassing dome of glowing, silver circuitry enveloped the three with care and privacy. Libby cocked an eyebrow, looked up and inspected Zed's handiwork, and before long, she gave her two surrogates a grateful, humble smile, "I really appreciate it..."

"Anything you need," Zed stated easily, and with such, both him and Tessa gently set their digital pads to the side to rest on the spare couch cushions next to them, simply to signify that Libby had their undivided attention.

"I think I know what this is about," Tessa said kindly as she sat up a little, positioned herself to sit criss-crossed, and tucked her hair behind her ears, so to get even more comfortable.

"I'm pretty sure the whole castle would know what this is about," Libby muttered softly, though as she glanced to Ace's parents, she suddenly realized just how real all of this was.

Even though the two were very good friends of Libby's, she also realized that these two practically helped raised her, and with such, she felt her stomach knot with growing nausea. The sheer fact that she was comfortable enough to come to Ace's parents for this code swap dilemma was what threw her for a moment, and in said moment, she wondered if this was maybe too awkward. As her eyes glossed Tessa's and Zed's patient, understanding demeanors, she felt her shoulders sag with the exception, she knew these two were good at taking themselves out of the equation, at giving an outsider's perspective of golden advice, Libby was well aware she was in great hands, and their advice was desperately needed.

"Well, whatever you have to say in this bubble, will stay in this bubble," Tessa assured gently, she shook her head and narrowed her gaze, "I've been meaning to get with you, anyhow... What, exactly, is going on with you and Ace?"

"He seems distant, lately," Zed mumbled as the two peered to Libby, as if to somehow state that she may have more information, something else that continued to throw Libby through a loop.

"Well, you... You guys know him better than I do," Libby urged sorrowfully with a shrug and a genuine look of confusion, she shook her head as her little fingers continued to aimlessly braid the loose ends of her hair.

"... What?" Zed choked quietly as him and Tessa grimaced smiles of confusion.

"How do you figure that, love? You know him better than anyone," Tessa affirmed, though Libby peered on in surprise.

"Me?" Libby staggered, Zed huffed a small laugh.

"You!" Zed urged, him and Tessa chuckled, "Sure, he's our son, but... You're romantically involved with him. He tells you all his fears, hopes, wants... Well beyond things we ever should or will know."

"We will always have that special parental bond with him, but we will never have that deep of a connection with him," Tessa gestured to Libby, "It's... Been hard, to let go, but I have to put myself in his shoes. I mean, Zed knows me better than anyone, but that comes with the territory of a code swap, a future marriage, running a game together, having a child together. He knows eons more about me than my parents will ever know. That's just how the universe falls into place, it's not anything any of us can help."

"Well, right now, I'M at a loss of what to even do," Libby huffed a nervous laugh and looked on, "For how much faith you guys have in me, for knowing Ace inside and out, I'm... Pretty much flying blind from this standpoint and on."

"That remains to be seen," Zed huffed, he re-situated his sitting position and bobbed a nod, "Seems as though the train came to a rolling stop just before code swap station, huh."

"Yep," Libby chirped in genuine defeat as she looked down and to the side, at the glossy tiles underfoot, "After... What happened to me, it was really difficult to bounce back, but..."

"He makes you feel safe, huh," Zed smiled, he eyed Libby with a kind twinkling of a knowing look, "It's obvious. You two have a good ebb and flow about yourselves."

"He's a big teddy bear, for sure," Tessa agreed, both heads were pleased that this got a bashful smile out of Libby's delicate demeanor.

"I... I feel ready, I never thought I'd ever get to this point, and I even warned him that it'd likely be awhile," Libby stammered bashfully, though she was floored that Tessa's and Zed's unwavering eye contact was solid, loving and understanding. Libby shook her head, heaved an exasperated sigh and began to frown, "But... Just as I started hinting that I was ready, he started backing off... Now, I'm not even sure what's going on."

"Have you tried talking to him?" Zed eased, Libby shook her head and shrugged.

"No, it's really only been about a week or two, of this... I-I tried talking to him about it last week, but Orph interrupted us," Libby stated in mild annoyance as she looked away.

"That kid doesn't know when to shut up," Zed laughed, Tessa blurt a giggle as well as their endearing, third motocross racer crossed their minds.

"Ma, it's... It's come to the point where I'm not even sure I want to go on this next scout, with you guys," Libby staggered sorrowfully, she shook her head and grimaced in such a way to force back tears, "Things just feel so tense, with him... I-I think I just maybe need some space to really think about what I want, and how to go about it."

"A little space didn't do anyone any harm," Tessa shrugged, she peered to Zed for guidance; he bobbed a positive nod as well, though Tessa looked to Libby in gentle concern, "I'm sure if you just sat him down and were to be transparent with your feelings, you both would feel better."

"I'M not even sure I can understand my own feelings, transparently," Libby urged nervously as she gestured to herself, to which Zed looked down a little and sighed.

"You definitely don't want to make things messy, and you don't want to fight about something as tender and sensitive as a first-time swap," Zed cooed as gently as he could, to which Tessa nodded to, Zed inhaled a deep breath and gave Libby loving eye contact, "You may be right... Space might be good."

"You don't think Ace would take that wrong, do you?" Tessa worried, though Zed began to shake his head.

"I-It's not like I don't want to be his girlfriend, I just... It's a lot to take in. This all comes in waves," Libby started nervously, "Y'know... There are days, even hours where I feel ready, and I constantly am asking myself 'if this were to happen right now, would I be ready?'"

"... Well, would you?" Tessa pressed gently, Libby shrugged.

"Seventy-five percent of the time I'm telling myself 'yes' and am wondering just what will get his attention," Libby blurt, all three of them softly laughed over it.

"Love, you'll hear it straight from the horse's mouth... Us guys need a direct statement, most of the time," Zed mumbled with a sorrowful smile, to which Tessa rolled her eyes and lulled her head back in agreeing annoyance; both her and Libby laughed, "We don't often pick up on hints, and as sharp of a guy as Ace is, he's still a guy... You need to be straight forward with him, sit him down and tell him exactly what you want."

"Just tell him you're ready, but you're nervous," Tessa shrugged, she gave Libby a gentle smile and shook her head, "You know Ace would drop everything he was doing."

"...And wearing," Zed rolled his eyes, everyone blurt into hard laughter.

"I, personally, think you should just sit him down, a private setting, just tell him everything on your mind," Tessa urged gently, she warmly reached out and cupped Libby's hand, "Not much will get solved by playing keep-away... But, if you're not feeling comfortable and you need some space, you shouldn't force this kind of thing, either."

"I guess... Him just sort of becoming distanced has really discouraged me, y'know... Whatever confidence I had, with this topic, just quickly dwindled and now I'm feeling a little tossed aside," Libby near-whimpered, it was clear her feelings were extremely fragile here, and once her lip quivered and tears billowed in her beautiful blue eyes, Tessa's frown massively broadened.

"Babe, you KNOW he'd never do anything to make you intentionally feel unwanted," Tessa begged quietly, she shook her head and stabbed her assuring eye contact into Libby's trembling, teary orbs, "You know, deep down, he's dying for you two to make amends and commit to you, for good. You know that, right?"

Libby inhaled a small sniffle as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She nodded, closed her eyes and steadied her breathing.

"You know he means no harm... Hell, if he were sitting here with us, listening to all of this, he'd probably sweep you away right now," Tessa laughed quietly, as did Zed, and though Libby only briefly bashfully smiled, Tessa held onto it, "But, you need to listen to what your gut is telling you. If you need space, then you need space."

"He probably needs it too, if he's distancing himself, it's probably his weird way of telling you he needs the same thing," Zed shrugged, "He probably doesn't want to outright tell you that cause he's terrified he'll either hurt your feelings or lose you."

"He will never lose me," Libby sighed as she looked down to her lap and tried to stop the tears from welling in her eyes.

"You will never lose him, either," Tessa urged softly, she wrinkled a smile and tilted her head, so to gain better eye contact with Libby, "We all will make sure of it... He didn't wait in that field of fire flowers, every damned day, waiting for you to return, for no reason, lovely..."

Libby exhaled a steady breath for once and felt clarity come to her. She felt her heart surge with the amount of love she had towards Ace, and as space was further mentioned, she began to feel relief. She nodded, gave Tessa and Zed a grateful smile and sagged her shoulders a little.

"He'll be grateful of the space, too," Zed nodded and looked up to their glorious, glowing dome of silver circuits, "I'll get him into a group talk, with the boys. We'll get to the source of it. Something tells me he's struggling with the fact that he'd be handing over limitless power... Not that he doesn't trust you."

"That's a lot for one individual to cope with, no matter what," Tessa agreed quietly, "Nonetheless, we'll come back from Sugar Rush refreshed and the both of you will be clear-minded and ready to tackle this situation, however you guys please," Tessa encouraged, which caused a brighter smile to sprawl Libby's face.

"I really appreciate it... Should I tell him I'm not going?" Libby grimaced a little, Tessa shrugged.

"One of us can tell him, for you, if it will just open up a can of worms... A-Are you planning on keeping your whole distance from him, until the trip next week?" Tessa wondered nervously, though Libby shrugged.

"I don't know... I-I probably won't hang out with him alone, or else then it may all come to a head and I just... Worry we'll fight," Libby pressed sorrowfully, " I'll... Fill him in. I don't think I have the heart to tell him that I won't be coming to the Sugar Rush scout."

"Well the meeting, for the scout, is tomorrow evening... I can tell him, before the meeting, that you won't be joining on the trip," Tessa stated gently, Libby nodded a little, "From there, he can get further clarity from you, if that sounds good?"

"Yeah, I think I can handle that," Libby sighed with relief and peered her grateful stares to her surrogate mother and father, both of whom diligently dropped what they were doing and kept their promise solid with the fact that they were there to help her, no matter what, no matter the time of the night. Libby wiped her eyes, once and for all, and sighed once more, "Thank you, guys... Hopefully this bit of space will help. I'll be able to just hang with the girls, it'll be nice."

"Sometimes it's good to just get space, even Zed and I... There are times where we'll spend a decent amount of time without each other," Tessa shrugged and peered to Zed, he nodded in an encouraging manner, "We love each other, but we can't constantly be around the people we love, twenty-four-seven, without needing our own personal space to recoup and regenerate, y'know?"

"The same thing applies here," Zed warmly continued on for Tessa, "Your relationship with Ace is still a few months new, you're still learning about what makes the other tick, and I'm sure you're very aware, by now, that Ace gets into these low moods where he slinks away and distances himself if he has a lot on his mind... And, for someone who has more power than any single one gamer in the whole entire Arcade... I'm sure living with that fact is not easy."

"SPACE," Tessa huffed with a chuckle, everyone laughed and nodded, "Space will be great. I'll make sure the message gets relayed to Ace, you don't have to worry, Libs."

"Thank you," Libby stated with much relief as she slumped her shoulders and peered to Tessa and Zed with the utmost amount of gratitude, "You don't know how much you guys mean to me..."

"Well, Libby, Tessa and I have the same regards towards you, every single day," Zed urged in a fatherly way, he gave Libby a loving, earnest smile, as did Tessa, "We're honored that you'll be a part of the family... One day."

"One day," Libby assured tenderly, though confidently, solidified with a single nod and knowing smile.

Tessa smiled to Libby and felt her heart swell with adoring love; the same, wild eyed, adorable, pale little white haired girl she had helped raise, Libby had nicely matured. Although she was an adult, she still greatly held onto that girly, childish charm, something innocent and coy enough to crown little Libby with that dash of womanly maturity everyone knew Ace was so drawn to. With such a raw conversation and topic and hand, Tessa rapidly began to realize just what a heavy load she had suddenly taken on, and with such, she had remained sleepless, she tossed and turned for the better half of the early morning, rising sun and all. Just as Tessa could hear birds begin to chirp with morning excitement, did she finally cave to her subconscious.

As the day pressed, the sunny sky made it's rare appearance, during the stormy, end of the fall months. Of all days the sun had to be shining so brightly, Tessa grimaced and felt the lack of sleep, the night prior, egging at the back of her brain, desperately reminding her that her bed was not too far away. Even though she felt as if this was weighing on her, she kept a sharp eye on Ace and Libby. Their interactions seemed normal, they laughed, joked, touched and were all-around warm to each other, though Tessa could tell that there was a very sharp underlying tone of nervousness, as if the both of them were on the edge of their seat, desperately wondering just what to say and do that'll pick their relationship back up to an exciting speed; Tessa grimaced and wondered just when she should pull Ace aside.

Well into the evening, Tessa made sure to group message everyone who was included in on the Sugar Rush scout meeting. In this instance, she sadly sought to exclude Libby from the group chat, and with such, she hoped that said notion would cue Ace to the subject at hand. As Tessa prepared the kitchen island for their meet, said goodnight to Duke, Jax and Tej, and contemplated a coffee to wake herself up, she flinched in gentle awareness as her communicator buzzed a few times in urgency. Tessa held her breath, looked down at it and was relieved to see that Ace had gotten the hint Tessa had dropped, simply by not adding Libby to the group chat.

 _10:34pm Thursday 10/22/2016_

 _User : Mom, why didn't you include Kaji in the group chat?_

Tessa thumbed her finger on the side of her communicator and contemplated her next move. As she peered about the room, she noticed Nox, Zed and Orph clamored onto the couch, surfing through channels; Koko and Penny had diligently joined them. Tessa knew she probably had a small amount of time, before the meeting, to catch Ace up to speed.

 _QueenB : Can you meet me right now out back? Under the patio's overhang?_

 _User : Sure_

Tessa stood from her leaned position on the counter, locked her communicator, slid it into her jean pockets and head for the back door. As she quietly slipped out, her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the cozy outdoor hanging lights. With affirmation, she felt relief hit her skin as she could see Ace crossing the stepping stone path, that lead from Ace's tower to the main castle, that also hugged his small field of fire flowers. Ace hustled to reach his mom, and as he did, he nervously gestured to her and shook his head in rapidly growing confusion.

"What's going on?" Ace worried as he finally came within close proximity to Tessa, and with this, Tessa felt as if the coffee wasn't needed any longer.

As Tessa's eyes gained clarity on her son, she peered up at him in humbled awe, as if to simply be astounded that this being was her own flesh and blood. Dark blue hair that had it's gentle hints of dark grey and a ghost of a kiss of auburn to a select few fly aways, he was perfectly imperfect. The arch of his father's nose that ended with the simple button cuteness his mother had, hazel eyes that radiated an eternity of warmth and forgiveness, Tessa now began to feel remorseful over the fact that she was about to let this wonderful being down. His attentive gaze only strengthened as Tessa remained silent and got lost in her thoughts.

"Mom, you're freaking me out," Ace urged quietly in a hiss of a whisper, though Tessa shook her head.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm trying to... Think about what I need to tell you," Tessa mumbled as she rubbed her eye, "I lost sleep over it, to be honest."

"Wh-what's wrong?" Ace uttered, as if he now almost was scared to know, he looked up and down Tessa's body, as if to immediately assume maybe something was wrong with her, physically or mentally.

"It's nothing huge, I just wanted to relay some information," Tessa lovingly grabbed Ace's hands and squeezed, "The reason I excluded Libby from the group chat was because... She has decided not to go on the Sugar Rush scout, this time around."

"...What?" Ace huffed just barely as he gaped just barely and shook his head in whole, baffled confusion, "She's... She's not going?"

"She told me, last night, that she just needed a bit of space," Tessa eased as softly as she could, she gave Ace an understanding smile, "She didn't want to hurt your feelings, or make it seem as if she was upset at you. She just told me she feels like she needs to be alone, and would appreciate the space."

"... Away from me?" Ace muttered, he now began to slide from whole concern to mild, agitated annoyance, "You know she's been sort of avoiding me all week, right?"

"Bud, I'm sure she feels the same way about you," Tessa stammered as she gestured her hands, she knew it wasn't her place to express to Ace just what was wrong, and before he could get way too carried away with his worries, she gripped his lower arm and made strict eye contact, "Look... I think it's wise, a little bit of breathing room never hurt anyone. This gives you both a chance to... Think about what you both want."

Ace raised his eyebrows a little and now peered to his mother as if to wonder if she had more information, about the two, than she lead on. In this hot moment of realization, as the two held eyes, Ace felt his annoyance easily wiggle to understanding. As Ace finally heaved a hot sigh through his nose, and looked down, he bobbed a nod and finally gave his mother his humble, honest eye contact.

"I understand," Ace eased sorrowfully, though he sadly peered to his tower, across the stretch, "But... Should I ask her what's bothering her?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Tessa shrugged, "That's not for anyone to tell you to do or not to do... You two need to figure it out, together, but it's clear some space will be good for the both of you. One small trip into Sugar Rush, and we'll reconvene afterwards with fresh minds."

"You're right," Ace frowned as he slowly brought his now nervous eye contact back to Tessa, though as she warmly squeezed his arm, she tilted her head and gave him a loving look of understanding.

"I just wanted to brace you, she won't be coming to this meeting," Tessa stated as gently as she could.

"Thanks for prepping me," Ace said softly, and although he had a mildly dejected look about himself, Tessa could tell this only added to the nervousness about his questioning, brooding spirit.


	183. Chapter 183

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Yes, they do - takes a hot minute, and a good shout match, but yes, they eventually work it out xD

* * *

 ***Chapter 183***

"Alright, knock it off, everyone focus," Tessa grumbled loudly as she came to the head of the island.

Packed tightly in eager, dewy eyes of excitement was the entire fleet of flyers, of which hovered outside the band of people at the kitchen island. To Tessa's right, and onward, was Penny, Orph, and Zed. To Tessa's left, and onward, was Koko, Nox, and Ace. Sat directly on the opposite side of the island was Ralph, Vanellope and Taffyta, and even though the three weren't going on the Sugar Rush scout, Tessa thought it'd be wise that they at least be a part of the meeting. Tessa rested her hands on the counter, cleared her throat and was thrilled the group's chatter dulled to quiet, a respect everyone gave Sugar Rush's future Queen.

"To start off with, I need to break a little bit of news on you guys, and I need you to hear me," Tessa urged gently, though in the whirl of this, she caught eyes with Ace and frowned a little, "I don't want any questions asked, I don't need any of you going to go dig your nose into things that aren't your business. That said, Libby will not be joining us on this one scout. If you're brave enough to go seeking for a reason, you will go to Libby directly and not through the grapevine."

In a pang of solid silence, everyone, excluding Zed, dragged their sorrowful gazes to Ace. He heaved a shaky breath, looked down and tried to seem inconspicuous, though he nervously caught eyes with Nox. Nox near-glowered in his direction, as if to somehow beg that his best friend finally open up to him, once and for all. Everyone silently stole curious glances to each other and rapidly realized that they were, indeed, missing their very own jungle princess, the second future-User they had already accepted as such. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and caught eyes with Nox, Koko, Orph and Penny.

"Y'hear me?" Tessa reminded sternly, to which everyone volleyed their intent, nervous gazes back to Tessa, and as the group politely drummed a 'yes ma'am' in unison, Tessa let a small smile grace her face, "Good. Let's get started... Now I think Penny and I decided, about a month ago, that this meeting was technically pointless and we were going to stick it to the man and forfeit it altogether, buuut..."

"Here we are," Orph chuckled, everyone blurt into knowing laughter.

"Here we are... We have decided to switch things up, for this trip. I've gotten with Penny, and we have decided that we will be treating this trip specifically for looking for my Uncle Rancis," Tessa explained, and with this new information that hit Ralph, Vanellope and Taffyta head on, Tessa felt her pupils tighten with the draw of oncoming excitement, "We're pretty stoked... And as much as searching for the castle is a top priority, Penny and I have concluded that this certain scout is long overdue."

"What will be different about this trip?" Nox inquired gently.

"Well, we're going to stick with the flyer's flight and sleep patterns. We will be turning our schedules around for this trip, so to better suit the needs of the nature of the scout," Tessa gently lifted the larger digital pad from the kitchen island and began to thumb through a few options, before too long, she brought up a slapped together map of the entrance to Sugar Rush, as well as the directions they have previously travelled in, "For this trip, we will be heading Southwest of Sugar Rush's entrance. We will fly low to the ground, weaving with mountain ranges and following rivers."

"As opposed to keeping above the clouds and out of sight," Zed joined in on Tessa's instruction, to which she was grateful for, "It'll mean keeping a sharper eye out for enemies... As well as a sharper eye out for any civilization. Cause where there's civilization, well..."

"There could be anyone," Tessa continued, she shrugged and panned out on the map, which caused it to hover above the kitchen island's counter, "We could easily bump into the other racers, citizens that may have information about the whereabouts of the castle... Anything."

"You're hoping to run into Rancis?" Taffyta inquired lightly, her eyes had that twinkle of hope, though it was apparent that she also had a sag of defeat, as if simply getting Rancis back might likely be a pipe dream.

"That's... Definitely the goal. A very broad goal," Tessa grimaced, "It would be like winning jackpot, if we somehow bumped into Uncle Rancis, and he was split from Radex... We're simply using that as our goal, though what we're anticipating us finding any form of civilization... Like we haven't this entire time."

"Flying at night will benefit you, in that aspect, though," Vanellope included kindly as she gestured her hand out; she knew to let Tessa lead this meeting, though she was also reminded that she still was head of the very game the group was about to go rocketing into, "At night, it'll be easier to see city or house lights... Or if someone has a fire lit, smoke will rise from the chimneys."

"Exactly my thinking," Tessa pointed, "As much as this would benefit our nocturnal flyers, the very creatures that make this possible, it'll also be easier to spot life amidst a dark landscape."

"Wise," Ralph's fatherly voice grumbled with kind sincerity as he gave Tessa a look of pride.

"Thank you," Tessa reciprocated with a wrinkle of a bashful smile as she tucked her hair behind her ear; Zed beamed a small, cheeky smile to his hands and felt pride sweep over him as well, though he quietly admired her from across the island as she continued on, her voice steadfast and soaked in gentle confidence, "We have Lickity, Balba and Marble, whom of which can fly two people each, where as Royal can fly three."

"We have seven people and four flyers," Koko shrugged gently and gave the group a smile, "Should be easy, yeah?"

"I thought we'd need one of my Tron flyers, but I guess not," Zed shrugged, "Ace will take Royal, Tess with Lickity and me with Marble. Orph, Penny, Nox and Koko, you can pick and choose just who you'd like to fly with, as well as who wants to fly Balba."

"We also have to take into account the fact that we could potentially come home with passengers," Penny shrugged, and though it was a shot in the dark, she still nodded and looked to Tessa, as if to beg her to remain hopeful.

"This is true," Tessa shrugged gently, and though she was aware it wouldn't simply be that easy, she gave Penny the benefit of the doubt and wholly agreed.

"How come you're picking that direction, mom?" Ace asked gently, the look of soft sullen on his face lead Tessa to believe that he was only asking this question to somehow appear strong and unphased, by Libby's absence, in front of his peers.

"Well, so far we've gone South to Stonecrest, where mom and aunt Taffyta lived for that long year... We've been North to the rock candy tree forest, Ace, if you remember," Tessa rattled off, and though she kept diligent eye contact with her son, his haze orbs continued to hold a gentle sag of defeat, as if he was simply begging for anyone to erase this issue, something he was well aware could only be healed by time and space. Tessa heaved a soft breath, as if to silently tell him that she sympathized, though she carried on, "We went Northeast on the last trip, and directly East on the trip prior to that."

"Figure the western board should get some love," Zed mumbled with a snarky smile, everyone blurt into gentle laughter.

"More or less," Tessa huffed a small laugh as the group lightened, though Ace only briefly wrinkled a smile and looked down to his larger hands, "We'll be heading Southwest because we have yet to travel in that direction... We'll be flying lower, slower and out of a straight path."

"Please be careful," Vanellope huffed silently as she covered her face with her palms and shook her head in impending worry, though everyone cooed her soft noises of understanding.

"We'll be careful, mom," Tessa assured lovingly as Zed gently reached out and rubbed Vanellope's upper arm for comfort.

"You'll just be flying so low, I would hate for anything, or anyone, to see you and track you down," Vanellope pressed, she waggled her hand to the map, before them, and shook her head, "Sure, you'd be safe in the air, but once you land... You'll all be asleep."

"We have each other, we'll stick together," Orph assured gently with a nod, Penny wrinkled a small, encouraged smile in his direction.

"We have five people who can glitch, two that are incredible fighters, and four flying beasts," Nox chuckled as he gestured to Lickity and Royal, who were calmly sat behind him on their hind legs.

"We'll be okay," Tessa eased warmly with a nod, "I genuinely don't know what the weather will be like, on this trip, but if we're going in any direction that is even remotely close to Stonecrest, you all are going to want to pack warm hoodies and boots. It may be snowy."

"Yay snow," Koko muttered sarcastically as she waved her finger about; her, Vanellope and Taffyta all joined in on the sarcastic quips about snow, having been trapped in snowy Stonecrest for an entire year.

"We will be leaving AFTER game day, next Friday," Zed gently interjected, "So, use that day to sleep... Make sure you're packed prior, cause Friday night, into Saturday morning, will be spent traveling."

"Sounds good," Penny stated with a gentle nod and a smile.

"I'll need to get with-" Zed droned his voice to a gentle halt as Finn's teleportation pad, over by the Sky Room, buzzed with his presence. As he came into the room, he slowed to a halt and raised his eyebrows in surprise, though Zed chuckled and continued, "Speak of the devil, I was just about to say, I'll need to get with Finn for code room protocols and such."

"Sorry, didn't realize there was a meeting going on," Finn smiled sheepishly; he was shirtless, his dreads were down and kissed the tops of his shoulders, and although he looked sleepy, it was clear he had likely been down in his hull, with Tammy, doing User-knows what; Zed wrinkled his nose, in a knowing way, at the faint, though visible claw marks that lined his upper arms and shoulders.

"You're good, it's just about finished, anyhow," Tessa smiled as everyone began to gingerly relax and think about parting from the island, though just as Nox and Zed stood in a gentle array of wanting to potentially mosey either back to the couch or to the fridge for a late night snack, Finn staggered closer to the island and lazily pointed to Orph.

"Orph, why... Why are you in this meeting?" Finn wondered kindly, though with such a raw question laid over the group, everyone fell silent and suddenly came to a drumming realization; he had no ties to anyone in this group, or so anyone thought.

Penny held her breath, stared Finn down and felt as if her skin was suddenly about to come sliding off of her body. She cocked an eyebrow and peered to Orph in an inconspicuous way, though with the way Orph tightened his lip and nervously glanced about to everyone, she began to see that he was beginning to do everything that he quite possibly could to keep his and Penny's little relationship still a secret, something Penny felt grateful for.

"I... Do I need a reason, Finn? I want to help out," Orph droned in a stab of growing annoyance as he glowered a look of irritation to Finn, "I-I'm sorry, I've... Been also meaning to talk to you about-"

"Just who is filling your shoes when you're gone, on the Dead Zed racing roster?" Finn urged in stern dominance that rose, and although Orph was somehow praying his biggest brother Zed would come raining on Finn's testosterone parade, Zed crossed his arms and nervously eyed the secret couple, at the island.

"I'm really sorry, Finn, I was going to ask you," Orph stated, he tried his very best to remain as warm and as neutral as possible, though Finn furrowed his brow harder and smiled a snarky grin.

"Are you going to be going on every single scout, from here on in, or something?" Finn wondered with great cheek, he narrowed his gaze and shook his head, as if continuing to tease Orph would finally get that rise out of him that Finn knew he could always achieve, "What's the deal, you suddenly forget that you have quarter alerts? Something that keeps Dead Zed running?"

"I invited him," Penny stabbed suddenly as she stood, which ultimately caused everyone to flinch in a jolt of humbled surprise.

Finn sagged his shoulders and felt that mean, teasing front come to a screeching halt, someone as important as Tessa's right hand woman, who had suddenly taken a firm stand, was no match for him, and he knew it. Orph raised his eyebrows in surprise and peered to Penny, as if to wonder if this was actually happening. Orph had so diligently done everything he could to protect Penny's feelings, to keep their little secret safe, just like what she wished for, though with every snide remark Finn had to make, Penny clenched her fists a little tighter and felt as if this was likely the final straw to their secrecy. She was aware it'd have to come out sooner or later.

"I want him there, he's a great asset to this team and... And..." Penny staggered, she looked about in a flustered kind of way before she straightened her posture and gave Finn a final, dominant stare down, "He has a duty to uphold, to Sugar Rush, now."

"How do you figure that?" Finn wondered in flabbergasted, quiet surprise, though he tried not to test Penny any further.

"When I figured he'd make a great boyfriend and future swap-mate," Penny stabbed with a roll of her electric, cunning charm.

Orph's eyes dragged from the counter top, in whole surprise, and landed straight to the blond haired woman next to him. He raised his eyebrows in humbled shock and felt whole, he knew this was likely pretty hard for Penny, though he blurt a small chuckle of relief and narrowed Finn a sharp gaze, as if Penny's confidence had given him said boost, as well. Penny inhaled a deep breath, steadied her rising frustration and shook her head at Finn.

"It's my fault he probably hasn't asked you about it, yet... I was keeping our new relationship on the down low, asked him to please do the same, and being the loyal, awesome dude he is, he didn't let me down," Penny stated sternly, yet softly, she sheepishly looked down and tucked her growing hair behind her ear, "It would mean a lot if you could continue to uphold this favor for us, Finn."

"O-Oh um... Of course... You know I'm happy to help, I appreciate the heads-up," Finn uttered in a huff, he nervously rubbed the back of his head and just barely shot Orph a look of surprise mixed with apologetic humility. He gently took a step towards the side door, near the living room, so to head to the garage, his previous bee-line, "Uh, Zed, is the dryer free?"

"Yeah, I just cleared some stuff outta there," Zed waggled his hand towards the back door; the laundry room being stationed in a tucked away corner of the garage.

"Thanks," Finn eased as he finally made his way across the room and out the side door. After the door softly shut, and Finn was out of sight, everyone at the island sagged and peered their dewy, delighted attention to Penny and Orph.

"You guyyys," Koko cheesed in a girly way as she gestured towards the two.

"Congrats," Ace smiled, he was surprised his face could properly form the genuineness.

"Did you know about this?" Ralph barked quietly, down to Taffyta, as he pointed his large finger to Orph and Penny; the group was in stitches.

"More or less," Taffyta shrugged as she nudged Ralph's hand away, "I think it's great, relax."

"Thank you," Orph stated warmly to Penny as she relaxed her stance, she breathed an annoyed giggle and placed a warm hand to his left shoulder.

"You're welcome," Penny sighed in a roll of relief as Zed firmly pat Orph's back.

"Poor Finn was so blindsided," Nox choked an apologetic laugh, as did everyone.

"You sure you're so keen on finding Rancis, out there, now?" Vanellope crossed her arms and gave Orph a knowing, motherly smile that everyone caught onto, "You find him, you'll meet your match... The gatekeeper to Penny's heart."

"Welp! Have fun, kids!" Taffyta barked loudly with a wide smile as her, Vanellope and Ralph began to mosey away, they quietly laughed amongst themselves as Orph sagged his shoulders and felt his nervous eyes drag about the group.

"Look what you've gotten yourself into, dude," Nox choked as he reached over and nudged Orph's shoulder, as if to tease and congratulate him all at the same time.

"User help me," Orph muttered plainly, though he cocked an eyebrow as Ace huffed a noise and looked off.

"User can't even help himself, how is he supposed to help you?" Ace barked, and with this lighter air about himself, Tessa knew this trip was likely going to be a great refresher for everyone, even though they'd be leaving with a little bit of baggage from home.


	184. Chapter 184

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** YES! Romance will definitely explode everywhere, after the trip. As well as a decent uprise of an argument xD It's all in good fun, though! I really appreciate all the kind words you've said to me, both on here and deviantART. All the love and support you give is so encouraging and I am so grateful! Thank you so much.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **Retrokill :** Hahaha Yeah Koko's over it xD

 **jonnyne :** Oh hey! Thank you so much for that! I often wonder if I've lost the lot of you, but I really appreciate the heads up. Things will DEFINITELY be picking up here, within the next chapter or two!

 **Silversurfer :** Wow, thank you SO MUCH! Tessa is my favorite developed character, fleshing out her traits and flaws has been my absolute favorite, so far - also including Ace. They're my babies! And, thank you so much for that compliment about the descriptions and such, I try to paint a picture for you guys to best get an idea what's going on. I'm glad it's easily conveyed! :D Thank you!

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 **A/N :** **ALRIGHT. Here's a lengthy chapter for you guys, I KNOW you all are itching for the story to pick back up - I promise, chapter 185 will definitely be the start of some fun stuff, and you guys will hopefully be thrilled as to what's coming up! :D So, stay tuned! Cause it all will slowly escalate from here!**

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 **Songs Listened To :**

 **All About Us by** **He Is We**

 **Brave Heart by Hilary Duff**

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 ***Chapter 184***

Through the calm of the night, twinkling stars that shone down through the glorious, massive dome of the Sky Room, Tessa tidied the couch cushions, tucked her hair behind her ears, looked up in a fleeting glance and felt as if the universe had finally settled. The castle was quiet, and although she knew Ralph and Zed were in the kitchen, likely cleaning up and preparing to turn lights out, she felt her heart sing a song, for the first time in months. She breathed a relaxed sigh, set the last cushion down, tilted her head back to the ceiling of the dome and smiled up to the night sky, once and for all. She knew she had been previously harboring grief, hers and her mother's once strangled relationship now finally at ease, the next scout wholly on her charge, Tessa's smile kissed the stars, she silently thanked whoever was watching over her, she knew the world had a way of shaking everything out, once and for all.

In a small hiccup of a fluttering heart, Tessa's soft humming turned into counting in step, and with fluid movements that came rushing back to her like beloved memories, her feet fell into a few steps of the motion to waltzing, something Zed had diligently taught her lifetimes ago, it seemed. Tessa raised her eyebrows, looked down at her feet, scoffed a small noise to simply congratulate herself over the fact that she still remembered the steps. She breathed a small giggle, followed through a few more steps, by herself, before she finally stumbled and gave up. She shook her head, beamed a smile to nowhere and began to stumble out of the center of the Sky Room, one of which was simply soaked in the two moon's casting glow. As she turned to head to the kitchen, to find Ralph and Zed, she jolted in surprise as she looked up. Zed stood a dozen or so feet away, hands in his pockets, a cheeky grin on his face; Tessa immediately became shy.

"... You lose him?" Zed's deep voice glossed the tiles of their gape, and with the familiar conversation they had once relayed out, vivid memories of the Academy Ball came flooding back to Tessa, once more, and as she twiddled her fingers in rising bashfulness, she finally wrinkled her nose and volleyed Zed a good dose of sass.

"Lose him?" Tessa sneered as she shook her head, "HE lost ME."

Zed huffed a laugh, looked down to his feet, shook his head and couldn't wipe the smile from his face. He wrinkled his smile into a look of whole gratitude over the fact that Tessa caught on to their little, re-lived moment from so long ago, and with such, Zed began to slowly approach her. She was dressed in comfy, baggy pants that cuffed and hugged her lower legs in a bunch, a cute, cream and grey striped tank, her gorgeous hair was down and messy, just like Zed loved. He allowed his eyes to soak over her beautiful figure, and as he came up to her still demeanor, he so gingerly took her hands, like they did so long ago, and with a simple lead he took, he bit his lip and was thrilled to feel Tessa allow him to swoop her into a spontaneous waltz, a simple cue to jog their memory.

"Atta girl," Zed finished, Tessa blurt a laugh as the two just barely stumbled to find their footing, Tessa squeezed his shoulder and his hand in a draw of adoration, and as the two finally gave the sprawling tiles of the Sky Room purpose, they flowed about the stars and owned the entire night sky. Zed wrinkled his nose and gave her a cheeky look of suspect, "Don't think I didn't see you in here practicing."

"I wasn't practicing, I just... Fell into step and remembered," Tessa begged through laughter as Zed interrupted her softly through her statement with 'yeah-huh's and other nonsensical words of disbelief.

"It's been awhile," Zed breathed as he tucked his future bride closer to her, and as her grippy arms welcomed him, they hovered close and continued to soak into their old routines. Tessa's gorgeous, auburn hair glistened in the moonlight as they began to pick up the pace and confidence.

"Over a year," Tessa huffed though Zed choked a noise as if to be in total disbelief.

"Nooo," Zed furrowed his brow and gave Tessa an even further look of floored disbelief, "Really? Only?"

"Yeah, Zed... It was the day before I started Academy, we attended the Academy Ball," Tessa staggered, she shook her head and felt her eyes grow wide with just how many lightyears away that seemed, "A few months later, everything in Sugar Rush went to to shit, we left the Arcade... And two weeks after that, we had Ace."

"Dang," Zed huffed as he continued to softly lead the two, though they still held tight to their conversation, dancing was something they'd never ever forget how to do, something so engraved in the blossoming beginnings of their humble relationship, and as Zed's strong hand kept tight to Tessa's waist, there was no where else on the planet that she felt safe. Zed smiled into her dewy eyes, and in this moment, he felt a pang of realization hit him, "We've... Grown, so much. So much as changed."

"For the better?" Tessa inquired delicately, though she blurt a giggle as Zed finally reeled her in a twirl; her gorgeous hair splayed about, and as Zed fought to keep up with her and pull her back into his lead, he tucked his hand tight to her waist, once more, and hovered his forehead to hers as they continued on.

"For the better," Zed answered calmly, a kind, loving smile that held a generous amount of seductive charm, he finally pushed his forehead to hers and hovered his nose and mouth over hers, "I'm honored that you're mine..."

"You mean it?" Tessa whispered as the two almost began to slow, and with such, Zed gently leaned her back in a final dip, held her body splayed just a foot above the ground, and as his strong arm kept her sturdy, he peered down into her eyes and breathed a small chuckle onto her lips.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't," Zed concluded kindly to her.

As Zed so gently brought Tessa back up to a standing, the two soaked into their own little bubble, tight with love, held in a slow dance of draped arms and kind whisperings. The two continued to just barely sway, amidst their initial sweeps of steps, included in their engrave waltzing routines, though as the Sky Room hugged the two in adorned, matured love, Tessa sagged her shoulders and felt as if reality was finally soaking into her bones. The fact that even though she had currently no grips to her future kingdom, she somehow felt satisfied. Even if she managed to lose Sugar Rush entirely, she remembered just how many beings on this lot cared for her and loved her so, how many people would jump at a moment's notice to make sure the glue, to this crazy family, remained as such.

"I'm proud of you, Tess," Zed's voice glossed Tessa's cheeks, though she furrowed her brow in contemplation and peered up to him in coy surprise.

"Proud," Tessa scoffed as she narrowed her eyes, "What are you proud of?"

"Well... You brought a User into this world, you've dealt with me and five other men for the good majority of Ace's upbringing," Zed began to softly list, Tessa looked down and became shy, "You welcomed two TurboTime gamers into the safety of our abode, as if they were your own code, you successfully found your family and are tirelessly seeking Sugar Rush's castle... You haven't given up... On any of us."

"Why would I?" Tessa's voice softly inquired, she frowned and peered deep into Zed's glorious blue eyes.

"I don't know... I know it's been a long, hard road for you," Zed mumbled, he hugged Tessa tighter to him and nuzzled his nose into hers a little, "I'm just glad we've stuck together. I can't wait to finally get settled in Sugar Rush with you."

"... Oh yeah?" Tessa cocked an eyebrow, though Zed's face turned beet red at the sheer fact that he had likely gotten ahead of himself, though much to Tessa's delight, "You uh... Eager to wear that crown, then?"

"A little," Zed mumbled as he bashfully tucked his face into the side of Tessa's neck, she scrunched her shoulders and blurt a soft laugh as he suddenly began to push soft kisses into her skin, the two stumbled in their once delicate slow-dance swaying.

Delightfully forgotten off in the shadows stood Ralph, who had previously been heading to the Sky Room with Zed. With his large arms crossed, he diligently watched Tessa and Zed from afar, admiring their little show of affection, and although Ralph had previously had a hard time letting go of his little girl, he finally breathed a long sigh, sagged his shoulders and allowed his heart to soften. With the kind smile that finally sprawled his face, he relaxed and knew to potentially lave the two alone, for the time being. Just as he was about to turn to head back to the kitchen, he felt a wave of goosebumps plague his left arm, and as he noticed another figure in his left peripheral, he flinched and nervously stabbed his gaze to the being nearly behind him.

"Sorry, Paw, I-I didn't mean to sneak up on you," Ace staggered quietly as Ralph clutched his chest.

"You scared the pixels out of me," Ralph breathed in a whisper, which caused a snort of a chuckle out of Ace's figure.

"I'm sorry," Ace eased as he finally took his stand next to his grandfather. As Ace looked up Ralph's large arm, his formidable figure that towered over everyone in the castle, the softness in his eyes spoke volumes. Ace relaxed his shoulders, dragged his gaze across the moonlit Sky Room and heaved a long sigh, "I-I... I didn't know mom and dad could dance."

"It's not really something you see, very often, huh," Ralph grumbled, "Everyone has their secrets... I knew the two were at least knowledge, but this?"

Ace and Ralph huffed soft chuckles of knowing, gave each other gentle smiles and threw their unsuspecting gaze back to the Sky Room, in which Tessa and Zed continued to very slowly sway with each other.

"I wonder why they never told me," Ace prod with a growing frown, "That's really special..."

"Well... That's probably why," Ralph shrugged, "It's special. It's special to them, something they, I guess, only have between each other. I don't totally blame them... I'm sure you and Libby have something special that you like to do together, in a similar fashion."

"W-well... Yeah, of course. She's teaching me Teltokuan," Ace eased tenderly, the thought of Libby finally pierced his brain like a harpoon through water, and although he so desperately didn't want to even begin to think about the strain him and Libby were currently drowning in, he breathed a shaky sigh and allowed it, once and for all, "It's... Been awhile, unfortunately."

"... You guys doing okay?" Ralph prod quietly, and although he knew the gist of what was wrong, he eyed Ace and wondered if maybe he had a different point of view, from all this drama.

"I guess we're alright," Ace sighed sorrowfully, he shook his head and let his eyes blur in a comfortable stare across the Sky Room, though Ralph kept his gaze fixated to his grandson, "... I'm sure it'll all even itself out, eventually."

Ralph gently kept his diligent gaze down to his grandson; a big bundle of love, heaped with maturity, power to his structure and muscle that proved he was a very hard worker, Ralph knew Ace was deeply struggling with just how much incredible power he harbored, just how much power could so easily get away from him. Ralph was aware this was the reason he was holding back from giving Libby his all, the very thing that was beginning to strain their blooming flower of love, and it was in this instance did Ralph see an opportunity. Ralph breathed a chuckle, bobbed a nod and looked on.

"You know, Vanellope and I were in a very similar situation as you, bud, once upon a time," Ralph's fatherly voice glossed Ace's figure, and as Ace came back to the planet, he furrowed his eyebrows and peered up to his grandfather in prickled knowing. Ralph cocked an eyebrow and side-eyed Ace, "I may not be a User, but I'm the biggest, baddest guy on the block. I wield more power than I let on, my friend."

Ace sagged his shoulders with the sudden, figurative hug of camaraderie, and with such, he bashfully held his attention to his grandfather, wise words from a very well- seasoned pro, Ace suddenly felt safe. Ace bobbed a nod of understanding and felt his heart begin to pound in solid knowing, the simple fact that Ralph had picked up on Ace's insecurities, just why Ace was keeping Libby so strictly at bay.

"You know," Ralph grunted as he adjusted his crossed arms, "These girls are a lot smarter than I think we give them credit for... They know their limits, and aren't afraid to change that green light to red in two seconds flat."

Ace looked off and breathed a nervous sigh through his nose, and although he really didn't feel like opening up to anyone, about this topic, anytime soon, he allowed Ralph to continue to speak.

"The night Vanellope and I swapped codes, I felt nervous, as well," Ralph's voice grumbled with a knowing smile, "Sure, my worries probably weren't as grand as yours, but... I mean, lookit us. The next morning, every being in the castle was surprised Vanellope survived the event, simply for the fact that I'm, well... ME."

Ace blurt a quiet laugh, as did Ralph, and as Ralph's large knuckles nudged Ace's shoulder with a wobble and a shove, to his grandfather, in return, the two settled once more and soaked in their little bubble of trust.

"I gave her the option to opt out, I made it clear that she was in control," Ralph shrugged, "And she was confident in her positive answer... My life has, very clearly, never been the same since... Everything changed, for the better."

"You trusted each other," Ace concluded kindly, though Ralph cocked an eyebrow and dragged his knowing gaze down to Ace.

"... Do you trust Libby?" Ralph huffed, though Ace felt his skin practically freeze.

"Of course I trust her," Ace uttered in a breath, as if to convey to Ralph that he had never really thought about it like this, before; Ralph's smile broadened, his gap-toothed charm that he was delighted to see was passed on, even to his grandchild.

"Then that's all you need, bud, but I gotta tell you... I'm pretty sure she trusts you, as well," Ralph's voice was soft and warm, and as he bobbed a nod, he cocked his eyebrow and gestured to the back door of the castle, "Tessa's scout takes off tomorrow night... Methinks you should really get that final talk in, with Libby, before you're separated for a week."

"I... I don't even know what to say to her," Ace's voice trembled as the two peered out to the Sky Room; Tessa's and Zed's lovey swaying hadn't ceased.

"Be honest, be brief... Don't leave her hanging," Ralph shrugged, "Let her know you're struggling with your thoughts, the space will benefit you both and... Convey to her how much you love her."

Ace nodded and felt his veins begin to shake with nervousness, he knew he needed to just get with Libby and at least attempt to clear the air, no matter how confusing and difficult it could be. Ace rubbed his forehead and tried his hardest to inhale a readied breath.

"Don't leave loose ends... Prove to her that you'll be doing some thinking, on your trip away, and she should do the same," Ralph encouraged, "It's not every day you're forced to spend this much time away from each other. You two really need to take advantage of it, clear your minds away from each other. You'll come back refreshed and ready to tackle whatever situation lies ahead, and you'll be able to do it with a clear mind. Y'know?"

"Yes, sir," Ace stated gratefully, he finally heaved a sigh of mild relief and gave Ralph his sincere eye contact, "... Thanks, Paw."

"You can always come to me for anything," Ralph grunted as he lugged Ace into a tight side hug, his massive arm nearly engulfed Ace's upper body, though Ace blurt a quiet chuckle as Ralph began to give the top of Ace's head a firm noogie, "I started all this code swapping nonsense, I don't care how unbeatable your dad is, I'm the top dog, here."

"Okay okay, you win," Ace whined with a grunt of a chuckle as Ralph finally unhanded him, though he gingerly shoved Ace's upper back and egged him closer to the back door of the castle.

"Now git, go find Libby before she goes to sleep," Ralph firmly instructed, "Rip it off like a bandaid."

"Pretty sure a bandaid wouldn't even begin to cover this issue," Ace grumbled as he rubbed his face in tired, nervous irritation.

As Ace gently stumbled outside in a slow saunter of uncertainty, he let the back door clack behind him. His eyes dragged across the tiles that lead outside the overhang of the outdoor patio, and with such, his eyes soaked into the glow of his and Libby's field of precious fire flowers. As if near-forbidden to cross them, he grimaced as he neared and wondered just when their own little ember of love would blossom, like the budding fire flowers he trudged near. As he finally tore his eyes from the gorgeous flowers that practically taunted him of this massive dilemma, he approached the common room of his tower; in a glimpse, he could see the top of Libby's head, she sat comfortably on the couch. Ace felt his heart dip with rising apprehension with the grapple of the front door's handle.

As he stepped inside, he felt his insides drop even further at just who was hanging out with Libby; Nox and Koko. Amidst coming inside, the group fell silent and sent longing looks of hesitation in Ace's direction, signaling to him that the three were very likely discussing the very issue at hand, and with such, Ace felt his veins wiggle with continuously rising tension this whole predicament was causing. As he rubbed his eyes, with his left thumb and pointer finger, he grimaced into his hand, huffed a hard breath, shrugged his arm to his side in a lazy gesture to Nox and Koko and began to feel protective of Libby. He was certain Nox and Koko were simply trying to make Libby feel better about this whole issue, though this only motivated him to finally remedy it himself, as if a fire was finally lit underneath him.

"I... I hate to break it up, but can I please speak to Libby privately?" Ace inquired gently, he knew he was becoming irritated, and he was hoping to not let it spill onto his aunt and best friend, two innocent beings who were just trying to help.

"Sure," Nox stated warmly, though him and Koko nervously glanced back at Libby as they both stood and slowly head towards the front door of the common room.

Ace uttered a soft thank you, moved aside for the two, lovingly accepted a hug from his Aunt Koko and tried to silently close the door after them. Once the room was silent, Ace peered at the door handle his fist was gripped around, and as the silence in the room behind him was becoming deafening, he bit his lip and began to feel his fingers and hands start to shake with nervousness. He furrowed his brow, slowly turned to face Libby and sauntered across the room to approach her. Once he was in the cozy sitting area, he sat down on the couch next to her and kept a respectful distance. He knew, from the way Libby didn't greet him, that she was upset with him. No amount of welcoming warmth radiated from her, for now, and he was well aware she was likely in the dark, because of him.

"L-Look, I... First off, want to apologize for how I've been acting lately," Ace staggered, his voice noticeable crackled in boyish cuteness, his hands visibly trembled, though he clenched his fists to hide it.

"You're shaking," Libby cooed quietly, and as Ace dragged his nervous eye contact straight into hers, his retinas near-tightened at the simple draw of her gorgeous face, riddled with an expression that only read defeated confusion.

With her white hair cleanly tucked over the front of her right shoulder, she was draped in a baggy, more than comfortable grey hoodie. With her legs tucked underneath her body, she was sagged into the couch, as if she had been sitting there for a hot minute. She cleanly began to slice her fingers through the ends of her slick hair, with care and tenderness, she cocked an eyebrow and gave Ace a look he had never seen in his life; one of rising irritation towards him. He swallowed hard and knew their little, budding relationship of good intentions would obviously come with the usual tiffs and problems that made any relationship healthy, though he reeled and wondered if he was quite simply ready for it; he was well aware she was, for certain.

"Yeah, I... I'm the total opposite of my mother in the fact that I don't like confrontation, I've discovered," Ace huffed a breathy, nervous chuckle as he clenched his fists harder, only to see if it would get the shaking to stop; it didn't.

"We're just talking, Ace, it's okay," Libby mumbled as she gave Ace a cheeky side-eye, as if to express that she was secretly content with the fact that she was wholly collected and he wasn't, somehow a tiny form of revenge she had on him for stringing her along all month.

"I just... I-I need you to know that... I'm well aware that I've maybe become a little distant, as of late," Ace huffed as he tried to gather his thoughts, he leaned over his knees and looked across the room in contemplation, "I have a lot weighing on my heart. A lot that includes you, I just am not sure how to present it to you."

"Well, I have all night," Libby stated calmly, though Ace could very clearly tell she was on the edge of irritation; she kept it nicely at bay, which he was eternally grateful for.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark, here," Ace huffed nervously, he gently peered to her with the utmost amount of earnest, and though he knew this was difficult to stumble into, he knew he just had to puff his chest and get the ball rolling, somehow, "You're wondering just where my Ace of Hearts card is at and why I'm not waving it around?"

Libby blurt a small giggle, and in this, she knew keeping her irritated air about herself was going to be difficult with just how cute Ace was, even in times of hard conversation. She covered her mouth, shook her head and only mildly rolled her eyes as she bashfully tucked her hair behind her ear.

"... Yeah, I am," Libby admitted quietly with a bob of a nod and a look of honesty volleyed in his direction; she could tell he was and wasn't prepared for that answer, all at the same time, "I-I'm aware I probably should've just been straight forward with you, and... I don't think we made it easy on ourselves, Ace. We didn't assign anything for me to give you, when I felt as if I was ready to swap codes."

"That's true, I guess we could've been more thorough," Ace cocked an eyebrow and bashfully looked away.

"... I probably would've given you said trinket like... Two weeks ago," Libby blurt quietly, her tone of irritation very slowly came creeping back, much to Ace's dismay.

"Yeah, I... It was obvious," Ace admitted sorrowfully as he looked down and twiddled his thumbs a little, "I apologize for acting blind to them... I genuinely just... Didn't know how to handle it."

Libby's facial expression softened in gentle understanding, and as realization soaked over her, she felt a wave of guilt also follow suit, tumbling over her like a tidal wave. She gently clutched her chest in a lazy fashion and leaned forward a little, her eye contact grew more remorseful.

"... You're not ready, are you," Libby huffed softly, and with such, Ace dragged his apologetic gaze to hers, as if to wonder if he had totally let her down.

"No, I'm not," Ace uttered, and in this weird notion of a reversal, he furrowed his brow and felt sorrow pang his heart harder than he could ever imagine, "It's not you at all, I mean... For User's sakes, all I want in my life is to just... Share everything I am, with you. I love you, Libby, you know this... I've loved you since day one."

"You have no idea, puba... I-I understand," Libby staggered as she looked down to her lap and nodded, "I'm sure handing over that much power, in one single act, is a scary thought... Hell, receiving it will surely have my head spinning."

Ace cocked an eyebrow and so desperately tried to stuff a coy, innuendo of a remark, he held his breath so to avoid even thinking about letting it out, though he was shocked to see Libby catch on to his secret little fight with himself as she blurt a small laugh and covered her blushing face. Ace beamed a smile and shot her a snotty look of annoyance.

"Shut up, I wasn't going to say anything," Ace rushed in a mutter of shy cuteness, though Libby covered her face with both of her hands, harder this time and scrunched deeper into the couch.

"Ace, it's fine," Libby breathed a small laugh and seemed to lighten up, to which Ace was relieved to see, "If you aren't ready, you can just tell me. I'm the LAST person to get upset about something like that. You know what I've been through."

"I just... Imagined this being so different," Ace huffed a laugh and relaxed as well, Libby nodded in agreeing and shrugged as he continued on, "Since you've been through hell and back, I figured it'd be me dogging after you, and you telling ME you weren't ready... I never saw this coming."

"Neither did I, but... You've been so patient with me," Libby's soft demeanor finally soaked back into the room, she had that familiar, light and loving air about herself, "Who am I to turn around and not allow you to the space you need, then?"

"I appreciate it, I just... Have so much I need to think through," Ace stumbled on his words, his face turned red, "I'm... I'm really sad you won't be coming on this Sugar Rush scout, tomorrow."

"Well, it looks as if it may be for the best," Libby shrugged once more, "I love you to death, but... It looks like we both need time away to just think and collect ourselves."

"I love you, too," Ace volleyed in a worried tone as he stabbed his eyes to her, as if to beg that they somehow wouldn't be put on hold, or anything, though Libby blurt a small laugh and gave him an ironic look of sorrowful delight.

"What are you so sad for?" Libby chuckled, though Ace bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"I-I don't know, I don't want this to put us in weird standing," Ace blurt, "I just... I-I just-!"

"You need space! I need it too, this trip will be good," Libby cooed as she lovingly rested her hand on his, "You'll go and have a mini adventure, I'll stay here and have some girl time with Vanellope, Taffyta, Tammy and Emery, and... When you get back, we can reconvene... Give each other a status update on this whole issue."

Ace gratefully peered to her, though he kept his mouth shut and prayed that she would continue on with this reassurance she was so wonderful at giving.

"It's a lot that we likely haven't considered, and... The whole reason I was upset was because I thought you were disregarding my advances and just stringing me along, on purpose," Libby rolled her eyes and looked away, though the longer that statement resonated in the air, the harder Ace's eyebrows furrowed into his grinning facial expression of whole disbelief.

"... You DO realize how silly that sounded, right?" Ace blurt a laugh, as did Libby, though she swat at him in an annoyed fashion and shook her head.

"I just was so inside my head, and... This topic isn't the easiest to talk about, you know that," Libby staggered, though in a gentle scoot of a movement, Ace eased closer to her and extended his arm, so to hopefully welcome her into a hug.

"Okay, well that should just end here," Ace eased quietly, and with such, he was thrilled that Libby took him up on his offer and sunk into his warm embrace. As she tucked her face into his shoulder, he sighed a breath of relief and squeezed his arms about her upper back, "I'll miss you..."

"Bah, no you won't, you'll be having so much fun," Libby giggled as she tucked tighter into his cuddly hug, "... I'll miss you more. I can't wait to hear all about it. I can make that one Teltokuan dish you love so much, the night you come home, yeah?"

"I would love that," Ace breathed with a smile of relief, a weight lifted off the both of them. He chuckled and squeezed her a little tighter, "It's a date."


	185. Chapter 185

**Reviews :**

 **Silversurfer :** Oh wow, yeah I'm genuinely surprised you survived through Wrecking Limits all whilst not enjoying the Jawbreaker pairing. MAJOR kudos to you, my friend xD Thank you for the sweet words, and for clearly sticking with me, no matter what! That means a lot!

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Aww thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks friend :D

 **chuckiboo :** Ace certainly weaves his way through the family, that is for sure - he has a good dose of dude-bonding time, here on this special Sugar Rush scout :) Yes, I'm excited for them to come back to Dead Zed tho, lots of fun stuff all around! Thanks so much :D

* * *

 ***Chapter 185***

As the cool, Dead Zed night came to a close, the castle was anything but quiet. Everyone, who was in on the Sugar Rush scout, scampered about the kitchen, as well as the corridor of bedrooms that it hid, in preparation to leave for the night. With all four flyers tucked at the ready, at the foyer of the castle, Tessa and Zed stood at the kitchen island alongside Finn, Tammy, Ralph, Vanellope and Taffyta to run through game protocols and the like. Aware that Finn and Tammy had a firm handle on the game, Tessa and Zed kept their speech brief and kindly reminded the five of certain house and ground rules, when it came to their precious code room. Once Ace, Libby, Nox and Koko strolled in from the back door, dressed and ready to head out, Finn merely glanced to them, as well as the corridor that lead down to where Penny's bedroom was, at the very end of the hall.

"I've been so spoiled by so few quarter alerts, having to get up and at 'em every day is always difficult for me," Finn mumbled, though Ralph rolled his eyes and dragged his annoyed glower to Zed's right hand man, though Finn sagged into himself.

"Try doing it for thirty years without fail, my friend," Ralph barked through a laugh, which caused Vanellope and Taffyta to burst out in a laughing fit as well.

"I-I'm sorry, you're right," Finn mumbled bashfully as he rubbed the back of his head, though Zed gently gripped his younger brother's shoulder.

"It'll only be for a week," Zed kindly reminded, "Besides, you love filling in for our younger brothers, on occasion. This time will be no different."

"That's true," Finn eased as him and Tammy caught eyes in a whirl of knowing, though Finn felt himself want to sink farther and farther away from the one topic he knew he likely shouldn't have brought up; much to his dismay, Zed squeezed his shoulder a little tighter and leaned in close.

"Finn, if I were you, I'd make amends with Orph before we head out," Zed's deep voice stated quietly as the rest of the beings, at the island, began to chatter amongst themselves, "These trips aren't just silly little vacations... May I remind you, going into Sugar Rush doesn't always guarantee we'll return. We are, after all, outside of our own ga-"

"I get it, I get it," Finn rushed in solid annoyance, though Zed flinched and dared to up his concerned, brotherly stare to a stern, fatherly glower.

"Pull yourself together, Finn, what has gotten into you?" Zed urged in a grumble as he gave Finn a look of near playful incredulous, "You've always had it out for Orph, which... I get that you guys have a personality clash, but... Methinks you should at least try to put it behind you. Orph's really come into his own, and he's really trying to better himself. This new relationship he has, with Penny, has really taught him about compassion and tenderness... I feel as though you, of all people, would recognize it."

"I'm sorry," Finn mumbled in annoyance, he knew Zed was right, though he looked away and shook his head, "He'll always be my annoying little brother Orph."

"... And you'll always be my stubborn little brother Finn," Zed mocked with a blurt of a chuckle, this ultimately caused Finn's demeanor to sag with knowing as Zed lovingly gripped his shoulder, "C'mon... You're his big brother. Sure, you don't always get along, but... He's really trying to better himself, here. He wants to make us proud, and if he can mature enough to garner Penny's attention, I think that you can set aside your differences for a minute and honestly tell him how much he means to you before we leave."

"Zed," Finn began to grow stern in his annoyance, though he knew he could never overpower someone like Zed.

"Finn Atlas," Zed stabbed back with a bit of an annoyed laugh, though Finn urgently gestured towards the corridor in which Orph and Penny were to eventually come out of.

"Zed, what am I even supposed to say? He practically hates me, anyways," Finn urged nervously, though Zed flinched in a reel of surprise at Finn's words.

"Hates you...? You really think Orph hates you?" Zed staggered, and although Finn lazily went on to agree and bring up a few examples, Zed cut him short, "There's no way he hates you, Finn. He's brash and irritable towards you because you play the typical big brother card on him, a lot."

"What, something you never do?" Finn wondered dryly, as if to make it very known that he wasn't taking a deliberate stab at Zed.

"Well, clearly not because aren't you being brash and irritable towards me, right this second?" Zed snapped back sarcastically, and with this, Finn finally shut his mouth and peered to Zed in an annoyed, defeated manner, "Orph is joining the ranks, leaving his troublemaker tendencies behind and is likely in need of some encouragement. He's coming to Sugar Rush, with us, and Penny, because, well... Penny was right. If he's going to commit to her, he now upholds a very important duty to Sugar Rush."

Finn sighed and looked off, he knew Zed was right, and he was aware he'd have to go give Orph a good dose of his own genuine, honest love before he was gone for the week. Even though it wasn't something he ever typically did towards Orph, he knew Orph was sacrificing himself so to help aid in this venture.

"You're eventually going to be in charge of this whole game, Finn, you understand this, right?" Zed stated deeply to his younger brother, though Finn raised his eyebrows in tender, plucked surprised and dragged his dark blue stare directly to Zed's electric gaze.

"M-Me?" Finn staggered, Zed simply huffed a laugh of disbelief.

"You, dude... And Tammy," Zed shook his head and narrowed his gaze, "You knew this was a thing... I'm eventually going to be crowned King of Sugar Rush. You really think I'm even going to be able to run two games across Game Central Station? I'm only one guy."

"I-I mean... I figured as such, but-"

"You have until we save Sugar Rush to really buckle down and figure out just what's important to you," Zed stated sternly, though the care in his eyes never wavered, "I'm counting on you to make sure all those racers, all our brothers, stick together... Don't make the same mistake I did, Finn..."

Finn and Zed held eyes in a solid string of cold remembrance, and although Zed held a fatherly, stoic air about himself, he softened, breathed a long sigh, looked to their feet and let a small smile sprawl his face.

"Make amends, strengthen your bond with your little brothers," Zed's deep voice coated Finn with warmth and understanding, "You can't make a great leader if the people you're directly leading are on the outs with you."

"Yes, sir," Finn mumbled in a half-hearted tone, though Zed knew Finn retained every single last word just spoken to him; with this end-thought, Orph and Penny finally came around the bend of the corridor, dressed appropriately and strapped with their respective weapons and things they may need.

Zed cocked an eyebrow, long-glanced in their direction and brought his attention back to Finn. With a single squeeze and a small chuckle to boot, Zed gingerly peeled from Finn to allow him to do what he needed to do, and as Zed reconvened with Tessa, Finn heaved a raspy sigh and watched as Orph and Penny gently began to mingle in the readied group by the front door, which consisted of all four flyers, Ace, Libby, Nox and Koko. Finn inhaled a steady breath, readied himself and began to march over with purpose. As Finn slowly came close, he fiddled his fingers a little, an idle twitch that eventually moved to the drawstrings of his hoodie. Once near, he felt comfort in the fact that Penny and Orph were quietly talking with each other, though as he budged into their bubble, they slowed their conversation and peered to Finn in a mildly annoyed, expectant kind of way.

"H-Hey, uh... I-I really hope you guys find Rancis," Finn stumbled on his words, he cursed himself for not typically being quick on his feet, and although he had Tammy's confident traits of coding coursing through his veins, he furrowed his brow and wondered just when it would decide to surface and help him out. Finn choked a small breath of a chuckle and bashfully rubbed the back of his head, "I... I want to apologize for how I acted, the other night, during your scout meeting. I didn't mean to come off all judgmental and... Y'know-"

"Rude?" Penny blurt confidently, which caused Orph and Finn to flinch in surprise, and although Orph knew Penny was very protective of her new boyfriend's feelings, he gently laid a hand to her left shoulder and calmed her.

"I-It's okay, Penny," Orph stated warmly to her, he was thrilled to see her shoulders gently relax, she gave him a softening look of delighted surprise.

"No, it's not okay, it was rude," Finn stated humbly in dejected agreeing as he looked off, "I wasn't aware you two were, well... Officially a couple. Hell, I didn't even know you two liked each other enough."

"She's good at hiding it," Orph complimented as he crossed his arms, she finally allowed a genuine smile to cross her face.

"You're good at playing along," Penny volleyed, the three shared a small laugh.

"I'm happy for you guys," Finn said honestly, though he dragged his nervous eye contact to Orph and got a good look into his little brother's silver gaze; coated in honesty, he looked as if his perspective on life was broadening, and although he always would remain a trickster, a fun-loving, mischievous gamer, Finn could see the switch up, "I didn't mean to be so unsupportive, earlier. I'm just... Protective of our game, and it's quarter alerts, y'know..."

"You'll be in charge, one day," Orph shrugged, and although he wanted to be snarky towards his older brother, he sagged his shoulders and knew his audience was Penny, and although she was but one person, he was aware the way he carried himself spoke volumes to her. He shook any sarcastic quips away and knew to be a gentleman in this situation, "Your head was in the right place... How could you have known Penny and I were together? We never sent out a memo. Guess that's on us."

"It's okay, I'm just glad the scout has added help," Finn smiled, he gently pat Orph's shoulder and gripped, so to suggest he was open for a brotherly hug, though he didn't push it, "The team could use your sharp eyes, anyhow."

Orph softened, and although he wanted to keep his defenses up and volley unending remarks to his older brother, just to simply watch Finn's crumbling confidence crash and burn, he remained still and allowed himself to soak in Finn's more dominant, original traits; that of softness, genuinity and compassion. With such, he somehow could see underlying tones of Zed's more softer, loving traits as well, and as he finally recognized it, instead of shoving Finn away, Orph began to feel more and more familiar with just how to deal with this kind of a send off. With an unsure step closer, Orph finally edged into Finn's original cue and offered up a gesture of a hug in return, and as both boys gripped each other in a tight squeeze of brotherly pats and chuckles, they finally released and smiled at the fact that they were finally coming to terms with their stark differences.

"You'll be missed, you were last time," Finn admitted, his final words concluded in a muttering tone, as if he didn't want to say it; Orph cocked an eyebrow and shot a bewildered look to Penny.

"Did I hear that right?" Orph barked, which cued everyone else's attention over to the three, "Finn MISSED ME!"

"Shut up," Finn grimaced in the drastic slope of now brotherly annoyance, though he choked a small laugh as Orph firmly pat his arm.

"I hate to say it, but I didn't miss you," Orph blurt with a laugh, everyone was all smiles, though Orph shook his head and squeezed Finn's shoulder for emphasis, "But I will this time around... A little."

"A lot," Penny egged as she gave Orph a knowing smile.

"A little, a lot, whatever," Orph grumbled loudly as Finn beamed a genuine, loving smile to his little brother, and as everyone at the kitchen island began to convene at the front foyer, Duke, Jax, Tej, Oliver and Throttle slowly crawled out of the woodwork, as well.

"Alright, gang... Please be safe out there," Ralph stated, his booming voice coat the castle walls in such a way that let everyone know he was to be intently listened to, he trudged up to the group, and as Tessa and Zed slowly stepped up as well, Ralph gently lugged Zed into a side-hug, ruffled his hot blue hair and afterwards move his hand to gently hold Tessa's shoulder, "You have two incredible leaders, on this journey, but you all need to watch each other's backs."

"We care about Sugar Rush, but... We care about you guys more," Vanellope chimed in as the lot of the Kalivar group gathered tightly amongst each other, and as everyone cooed notions of grateful understanding, Vanellope squeezed tighter to Tessa and Koko, "We'll miss you guys."

"We'll miss you all too," Tessa urged, and as everyone began to say their goodbyes and give their final hugs to each departing person, the scout group finally began to inch out the massive doors of the front of the castle, ultimately revealing the setting Dead Zed sun.

"Don't forget the chocolates I requested!" Taffyta called after the group, Orph raised his hand and pointed.

"Top of my priority!" Orph called, to which everyone laughed at.

Ace beamed a smile at said quips, though as the group began to quickly push towards the entrance of the castle, he drummed to a stop and looked over his shoulder. With a heavy heart, he peered back to Libby. She stood at the front entrance, tucked tight with Ace's grandmother and grandfather, and with such a sight, he felt a weird rush of nervousness come over him. A small shred of him so wished he could stay behind and sweep Libby into his arms, soak into this hot mess with her and figure it all out before the sun came up, though he knew the space that they were about to endure was very needed. In a knee-jerk reaction, he quickly faced the castle and began to hustle back to the front stoop, ultimately to show that he wanted one last, final goodbye hug from Libby; he was glad she caught on and trot down the stoop to meet him half way.

Ace quickly lugged Libby into his arms and held her tight around the middle of her back, and as her arms fastened about his neck, he lifted her off the ground a little. As he shut his eyes tight and buried his nose into her hair, he inhaled her scent one last time and felt sorrow creep over him. He knew this distance was healthy, and he'd come right back feeling renewed and refreshed about the prospect of their relationship, though somehow, letting her go was proving to be near-impossible. Libby uttered a small whimper of an inquiry into Ace's shoulder and tucked tighter into his embrace as he uttered soft words onto her shoulder.

"I love you, Libby," Ace uttered sadly as he squeezed one last time, though she huffed a giggle of sorrowful delight and held her hand to the back of his head.

"I love you too, Ace," She breathed in a sense of relief, and as they gently pulled apart, the group began to volley egging complaints about how they were simply love-birds slowing up the progress. She wrinkled her nose and nudged him a little, as if to tell him to get a move on, "I'll be waitin' for yah."

"It'll go by fast," Ace assured with a nonchalant shrug and an adorable smile to boot, and as they finally peeled away, once and for all, the group at the front door hung by to watch the scout get settled and simply teleport away from their existence.

Once the air was clear of pixels, and the land was still, Libby sagged her shoulders and heaved a shaky sigh as her eyes soaked into the now closing front gates of the castle. In a gentle turn, she head back up the stoop and reconvened with Ralph, Vanellope, Taffyta and Tammy. With a small laugh, Tammy lugged her arm over Libby's shoulders and pulled her into a loose, bumbling side-hug.

"You need some girl time, methinks," Tammy cued, Vanellope and Taffyta garbled a laugh of whole agreeing.

"We've got a lot of catching up to do," Vanellope encouraged as Emery joined their little, girly pow-wow.

"I got a lot of z's to catch," Ralph barked with a wide smile as him, Oliver, Throttle, Duke, Tej and Jax all loudly agreed and began to disperse into their own areas of the castle.

"Alright, team, they just left Dead Zed," Finn huffed nervously as he panned through the small code room details on Zed's larger, digital pad. He heaved a long sigh and peered towards the still gaping front door, "Hopefully they're successful, in this venture..."

* * *

Safely held at a glide, the team quietly kept tight in Sugar Rush's atmosphere, and although they flew low, it was an easy, uneventful flight from the direction they had picked. Soaring over a stark, never-ending sprawl of grasslands, the only thing entertaining to the eye were the handful of rivers that snaked about the grid. With the first few hours of their midnight flight chipper and full of stories, jokes and the like, the group grew quieter and quieter as they came into the seventh hour of the trip. Sat properly at the very head of the charge was Lickity, whom of which Tessa and Penny were aboard. Nox and Koko diligently flew Balba, Zed sat tight with Marble and Ace was glad to have company with Orph, aboard Royal. After about a half an hour of solid silence, from the group, a low, belly-noise of a grumbling yawn came from the way back of the group; Royal's reverberating yawn could be heard for miles, it seemed.

"Got a quitter, back here," Ace groaned above the gentle whisper of the wind they soared through. The cold, Sugar Rush air was crisp and clean. Royal sagged his wings in a lazy downflap, shook his head a little and desperately tried to stay alert.

"Just about right, the sun is rising," Tessa urged quietly over her shoulder.

Penny rubbed her eye in growing sleepiness, as well, and looked back at the group of flyers that trailed behind them. Sugar Rush's sky was finally crowned with sunlight, a dusty, pale purple that held onto the promise of it's typical minty blue. The atmosphere high above them held a foggy shroud of grey cotton candy strings, though the horizon held onto said moisture as well. Tessa narrowed her gaze and peered across the dead-flat land. She rubbed her forehead and suddenly began to grow worried.

"When should we land, mom?" Ace inquired at the back of the group, to which Orph huffed a nervous chuckle; everyone quietly looked down and about, noting there was literally nothing to shield them from the sun.

"That's a great question," Tessa muttered in stark annoyance, "I-I didn't realize Sugar Rush had such flat biomes... We may just have to suffer and sleep through blistering sunshine."

"I don't think we have a choice," Penny's voice crackled with sleepiness, though Tessa squinted a little harder and finally decided to look in all directions.

"There has to be something, somewhere," Tessa mumbled tiredly, though as her eyes scanned the foggy, brightening horizon, she jolted as her eyes nearly deceived her. She long-blinked, squinted harder and kept her eyes tight to something just beyond the fog, far to the group's back right, ultimately more West than the group was traveling. Tessa pointed, gestured to Zed and urgently sat up a little higher, "Is it just me, or... Is there a ridge off in the distance, there?"

"Nope, not just you," Zed eased as everyone eagerly dragged their attention to where Tessa was pointing, and with such, everyone quietly agreed and was on the same page.

"How did we miss it?" Nox wondered as he remained still, Koko sat slumped against his back and desperately tried to not fall asleep.

"... That ridge wasn't there ten minutes ago," Zed stated nervously.

"Maybe it was, the horizon is just so foggy," Ace shrugged.

"It also was pretty dark?" Royal mumbled as all four glider's wings held in a tight glide, as if to prepare to change course at Tessa's command.

"Think we should go check it out?" Tessa inquired softly, "It's bound to have trees, some place we can tuck away for the day to sleep and regroup."

"You're the boss," Penny eased tenderly, her voice was kind in her gentle reminder, and with such, Tessa bobbed a nod.

"Bank right," Tessa instructed to all four flyers, and as wings trained to the Western wind, they set their sights for the ridge far off, in the distance, "If we keep this pace, we'll be there within the next half an hour... Think you guys can hold out that long?"

"I have to pee," Nox sleepily staggered, and with such, the group reawakened with the energy and laughter they had started this trip out on.

"If you think you're going to try relieving yourself from way up here, you got another thing coming," Balba playfully snapped.


	186. Chapter 186

**Reviews :**

 **Silversurfer :** Oh wow, thank you so much! I'm glad you decided to check it out! Yes, all those drawings are 100% done by me. I have a Mac Mini and I work in Photoshop CC on my Wacom digital tablet. I don't work on my phone, so I don't use an 'app' for any of my artwork lol. Everything is hand drawn, digitally. I appreciate all your compliments! I'm not a very good teacher, and I only really can advise you to just keep practicing and keep working, otherwise you can ask me specific questions if you'd like. I'm also really glad you like my story so much, it's taking all of me to keep it straight forward and true to the original characters! Thanks again!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks

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 **Songs Listened To :**

 **The Crystal Chamber by James Newton Howard**

 **Budo! by Alex Heffes**

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 ***Chapter 186***

Through a dragging half an hour, or more, every single being in Sugar Rush's pale sky was beginning to fade fast. Orph had slumped to his back, aboard Royal's spine, and with such, Ace had slumped forward and planted his chin to the side of Royal's head, so to avoid his spikes. Ace lazily kept his eyes on the slowly approaching ridge, and even though they were getting closer to it, he almost wondered if it was now playing keep-away with them. Ace inhaled a deep breath, his strong chest expanded against the back of Royal's neck, and as Ace let out a grumbling groan of solid annoyance, Royal gladly followed suit and did everything he could to keep in a tight glide.

"I have half a mind to test out my User powers and bring the damn ridge TO us," Ace blurt sleepily, which ultimately jolted Orph awake with a snort.

"Almost... There..." Tessa huffed as she, too, eased in a slumped position against the top of Lickity's head, though she was more concerned for their diligent flyers.

"The first tree I see, I'm hiking up it and ignoring all y'all until sundown," Lickity blurt in rising annoyance as they finally came within at least half a mile of the ridge.

"I second that," Royal muttered.

"Third," Balba chuffed.

Marble loudly uttered an exhausted noise of a growl, as if to chime in with the rest of the flyers, in her own little language. Ace beamed a sleepy smile, rested his cheek to Royal's scales and let his eyes lull closed, though before they could fully close, he got a good image of Marble and Balba in all their feathery, fluffy glory, their colorful coats popped against the pale, morning sky. Just as Ace was due to relax for a few minutes, he felt his coding begin to itch in a dull, prickling sensation. He shut his eyes tight, honed in on it and felt his body try its hardest to peel him away from sleepiness. Silver circuits began to grow more and more agitated, and the more his skin nearly began to burn, Ace huffed a hard noise, jolted to a sitting and peered out towards the ridge in solid urgency.

"Wait, guys, stop! There's something wrong, stop-stop-stop!" Ace begged suddenly, and with such a startling outburst, all four flyers perked up, flapped in a hard fit of chaos and sunk closer to the ground; they were only about fifty feet from the soft grass.

"What is it?!" Tessa uttered in near-panic as all four flyers touched down to the ground with a hard skid, each one of the riders jolted and gripped each other in a rush of urgency, though they froze as Ace jumped off of Royal and sagged into the soft grass.

Ace wobbled, his knees buckled a little, and as he caught himself and brushed his shirt clean, he tenderly took a few steps out before everyone and slowed to a stop. As his eyes scanned the gorgeous, dewy morning grass and up the near-haunting ridge, he felt his veins wiggle with adrenaline, settling coding that so desperately begged him to listen to his near-Godly intuition. Ace caught a breath in the back of his throat, the gorgeous view of the dark, jagged ridge up against the pale morning sky, beautiful clouds cascaded from the lot of the sunshine's rays, he held his chest and felt as if somehow they had stumbled upon no ordinary ridge. Crowned with beautiful, green stones of near-jade honeydew, as well as the ever-so rare green twizzler trees, Ace furrowed his brow a little harder and fingered his chin in contemplation.

"Son, you're freaking us out, what's going on?" Zed barked as Marble uttered a high pitched whimper, flattened her ears and gently began to take a few steps back; Royal, Lickity and Balba nervously followed suit.

"Ohh, it's not a good sign when animals show hesitation," Nox muttered across the way to Tessa and Penny, though Tessa grunted and quickly dismounted Lickity's spine.

"Ace, what's going on?" Tessa now demanded as she quickly trudged up to him, though as she squinted and finally had a good view of the very ridge before her, staggering heights of jagged rock that seemed to go on forever, crowned with kisses of snow, Tessa huffed a faltered breath, that nearly fogged, and sagged her shoulders.

"You may need to tell me," Ace retort with a huff of a nervous chuckle, though he tenderly reached out his hand, for reasons nearly beyond him.

As Ace took a few steps forward, that irritating buzzing and burning, underneath his skin, grew stronger, though the second his fingertips unwillingly flared with silver coding, he jumped in surprise, took a step back and reeled with the simple fact that he had successfully sniffed out an invisible forcefield. A ten foot sprawl of circuits shot upward, in a lulling, angry manner, though as everything disappeared, Ace felt the group behind him go completely silent in frozen awe. Ace shook his head slowly, in a draw of stunned surprise, and exhaled a trembling breath with the reverberating shock of power that coursed through him. In a hazy draw, he slowly turned to look over his shoulder, and the second he caught eyes with his mother, he knew she was likely a billowing mess of information that had suddenly refreshed in her coding, like a hard reboot to her system.

"Honeydew Ridge," Tessa huffed with a shaky exhale, she shook her head and peered up at it's glorious, haunting spires, gorgeous trees that cascaded all along the tops and around the plateaued side of the ridge, unseen, she clutched the chest of her hoodie and allowed her eyes to gloss it in it's entirety, "I-I can't believe we found it..."

"What's... Important about this ridge?" Ace eased nervously as he averted his attention back to the glorious sight before the three, though he drew more attention to the invisible forcefield before them.

"Well, aside from the fact that our parents used to bring us here for snowy getaways," Tessa quickly pressed, she stepped closer to Ace and glanced over her shoulder; everyone, especially Penny, looked on in whole shock, "... Mom always told me there used to be really weird, suspicious Radex activity, here, once upon a time... Long before I was born."

"Coincidence that there's a forcefield here, that my coding sniffed out?" Ace gestured out, though in the swing, his fist accidentally caught with the forcefield.

In a pop of silver circuits and angry pixels, as well as reverberating bass and a mess of grid lines, the forcefield suddenly sprawled with the ripple effect, and as everyone scurried to take clumsy steps backwards, the forcefield angrily revealed itself in a massive, dome-like protection that encased the entirety of the ridge. It circuits that sprawled even beyond the clouds, and back again, Ace finally fogged the air with an incredulous breath of a chuckle and shook his head in rapidly rising shock.

"Did it always have this forcefield around it?" Ace barked with an annoyed chuckle as he let his silver coding flare on his fingertips, and as he came up to the invisible wall, he bit his lip and dared to inch into it.

"No, it didn't... I-It was always a safe place to come and go," Tessa rushed in a nervous tone, though her eyes widened as Ace was successful in getting past it, just like the forcefield over the entrance to Sugar Rush.

"Well... There's obviously a reason this ridge is protected, like such," Zed urged as the group began to slowly push closer to the forcefield, though Ace successfully got to the other side of it, he peered up towards the ridge he was now in the entire presence of; the wind kicked up, causing everyone's hair and fur to ruffle about with the cool breeze, "Clearly, whoever put that forcefield up wants to keep us out of this ridge..."

"... Or, wants to keep whoever is here IN," Ace volleyed as he cocked an eyebrow and peered to his mother and father, in solid contemplation.

As everyone silently took in Ace's words for consideration, they slowly pushed closer to him in preparation to ease beyond the forcefield, something they would never be able to do without Ace's help. As everyone slowly filed past Tessa, they did their flyers a service by dismounting and getting to their feet, for the first time in a few hours. Once Ace had successfully pulled everyone through the forcefield, strands of everyone's coding and all, everyone finally began to slowly march towards the upwards, sloping climb of the ridge they were upon, though now that they were in it's presence, it's towering spires looked more mountainous than anything.

"Okay, okay, first test as Queen, first test as Queen," Tessa huffed to herself as everyone quickly trudged forward, through the high grass; Penny nearly was lost amongst it.

Ace cocked an eyebrow, volleyed a small, knowing smile towards his mother and breathed a chuckle as their stepping became quicker and more confident. Tessa shoved her two fingers into the center of her forehead as she looked down and grimaced a few nervous complaints to herself. After a moment of listening to Tessa go through the motions of just what to do, Ace finally blurt a small laugh and scrunched his shoulders in a bashful show of wanting to desperately keep his voice down. Everyone else gently laughed and followed with Ace's idea of sticking close and staying quiet.

"For User's sakes, let's just... Waltz up this mountain, no big deal," Tessa huffed in a sharp whisper as they finally grew closer to the towering twizzler trees, soaked into the soft, snowy dirt and honeydew colored rocks that decorated honeydew ridge.

"I've got a good feeling about this," Penny huffed as she popped out of the tall grass, pushed past everyone and began to climb the tree covered ridge, though Tessa jolted as everyone quickly began to follow suit, especially the flyers.

"... W-wait wait, you guys!" Tessa urged nervously as she flung her arm out, though she was thrilled to see Lickity turn and kindly wait for her to catch up; everyone had very rapidly caught a second wind, due to the excitement, "We... We can't just march up this ridge, one of which has a forcefield around the ENTIRETY of it, you really think it's wise to just... Barge into this territory as such?"

"Well, it's probably smarter that we're on the ground," Zed chimed gently as everyone continued to mosey in a near-single filed line up the ridge, they weaved past trees and brush alike. Zed gently pat Marble's snout as she helped him and Penny up a small lift of a boulder, "I mean, if we were flying, whoever was on the ground would see us."

"Would that be a bad thing?" Koko staggered as she eyed Tessa and Zed, though everyone confidently continued to carry on, "You're making it sound like whoever is here is hostile."

"Well? We just don't know," Tessa urged quietly, she desperately tried to collect words, to stop Penny from leading this random little charge, though the more she tried to get ahead, the more she could see Penny firmly wandering off ahead, as if she simply had more information than anyone else.

At this point, Tessa began to feel dominance overtake her, and with quick decision making, she soaked her whole entire being into her coding, allowed herself to glitch-hop from tree to tree, and once she had jumped ahead of the group, she zipped to a sharp stop directly in front of Penny, causing the entire group to come to a halt. Penny flinched, looked up at Tessa in a reel of surprise and tucked her hands to her chest in dubious girlyness.

"Guys, we can't just rush up here blindly, we don't know who or WHAT lives on this ridge," Tessa urged in a dominant tone as the group finally collected underneath Tessa's wing, once more, though she dug her nervous stare into Penny's.

"We just have to make it to the cabin," Penny begged quietly as she shook her head and nervously peered up to her older cousin, "Surely someone lives there, you think?"

"What if it's abandoned?" Tessa wondered gently, though she shook her head and grimaced, "Or... Inhabited by someone we really don't want to tangle with."

"You suggesting Radex is up the cliff?" Nox worried as everyone shot uncertain glances to each other, though Penny huffed a hard breath and shook her head in a flabbergasted kind of way.

"What if it's my dad?" Penny uttered, though Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and knew the group simply just wouldn't get so lucky in one go.

"What if it isn't?" Tessa staggered nervously, and although she hated playing the role of suggesting devil's advocate, she knew she had to at least keep everyone grounded, somehow.

"What if it IS?" Penny stabbed, though in a move of bravery, she gently pushed past Tessa, reached up and behind her shoulder blades and marched on.

In a solid swipe, and a slice of the piercing strength of her candy cane swords, she drew both of them and kept solid to the path, the plateau of the ridge could been seen, just ahead. Everyone watched as Penny pushed forward, though they remained frozen underneath Tessa's charge, and as everyone bashfully glanced back and forth between her and Zed, for direction, the silence was broken by Tessa who let out a noisy, annoyed grumble of a breath. In a single swipe, she turned around in hunched annoyance, dragged her feet, and began to diligently follow her right hand woman up the cliff. With such, everyone quickly began to follow suit, though as Tessa kept her eyes tight to Penny's little figure, up ahead, she squinted and noticed prominent sunlight glinting through the trees, just beyond where Penny nearly disappeared to.

"Penny," Tessa hissed in rising nervousness, and though she was thrilled to feel her teammates keeping tight to her heels, she sagged her shoulders a little and could feel her heart begin to race with nostalgic emotions that came rushing to her.

With familiar trees, the sweetest scent of the minty bark and forest green twizzlers that hung over head, Tessa huffed a hard breath and felt her nose sting a little, the same sensation she got when her, Penny and Oliver were out in the snow for too long, when they were children. She winced, allowed all the tender feelings to hit her at once, and in this strange mixup of emotions, she almost began to feel protective of their precious Honeydew Ridge, a place of gathering and of love between her and her family members; she couldn't bear to know that someone else simply had made it their home, their getaway cabin. Just as Tessa was about to become upset at her own conclusions, the gang pushed past the final break of trees and bushes.

Blinking into the sunrise's rays, Tessa covered her face a little and peered out to where the cabin sat, and with such, she felt her skin nearly slide off of her bones. Penny stood, confidently poised with her swords by her side, peering out to the beloved, snowy, beautifully stark scene they had been so familiar with, and as the group rolled to a stop, Tessa covered her mouth in whole shock and felt the atmosphere freeze with the simple soak of realization that came over the entire game. Just yards away from Penny's feet sat a sprawling, wild garden, even amidst the snow and the dirt, sagged into the greenest, freshest grass. All sorts of vibrant flowers, even pockets of grown food and plants, here and there, and with this influx of information, Tessa knew this could only be the handiwork of her Uncle Rancis.

"Dad's garden," Penny whispered as her eyes trailed through every single proper placement of plants, Rancis's routines and tidied, strategic way of gardening, Penny was aware it could only be his doing.

"Penny," Tessa huffed in rising terror, simply for the fact that they weren't even certain Rancis was here, let alone split from Radex. Just as she was about to step out and inquire to Penny that they take this slowly, she jolted as Penny suddenly began to take a running start towards the nicely upkept cabin they had always visited, one of which had smoke coming out of the chimney. Tessa reeled in a hit of shock and outstretched her hand in motherly horror, she hissed a louder whisper after her little cousin, "Penny, WAIT."

Penny urgently stepped through the clear path of the garden, her heart on fire, she crossed the vast field and made a solid bee-line towards the cabin, it's glorious little stoop was tidy and clean, and although there was no sign of life outside the cabin, she knew she needed to just knock on the door, simply see who would welcome her in, somehow the familiar flowers and plants, all beckoning her to keep pushing forward, she knew she needed to rush in blindly. Tessa jolted in a sudden swipe as she held her arm out and stopped Ace right in his tracks, and as everyone watched in frozen horror as Penny pushed on with solid confidence, they wondered just exactly what would come of this little, unannounced arrival.


	187. Chapter 187

**Reviews :**

 **clowery722 :** Hey! You have a new login? Remind me who you were before your new ID? :D Thanks much!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Hahaha you're definitely on the right track their, it's pretty explosive! xD And, thank you! Yes, Penny often acts as if she has it all together but she just sometimes has her naive moments.

 **SilverSuferann :** Hey there, thank you! I appreciate it! And, the tablet I use is a Wacom Intous - you can google it, it'll direct you to the Wacom website :)

 **Snake557 :** It's okay, the 4th sketchdump is actually coming up, shortly here! :) Thank you!

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 ***Chapter 187***

With sure footsteps that very quickly began to fumble to childish uncertainty, Penny felt her heart race faster and faster, the closer she grew to the stoop. A stoop in which she had run up and down a million times, one of which she had dove through the front door from, having been chased in a riveting game of tag, with her two cousins, a getaway in which had become her home away from home; one that very quickly began to eke of a weird sense of possession that wasn't hers anymore. In a gentle flinch, her eyes sagged to the right of the large, round wooden door, and what was lazily slumped on the foot mat were a pair of her father's shoes. More worn and rugged than she remembered, dark brown, tired old things with the glint of the orange stripe or two down the heel.

In a tremble of a lightly fogged breath, with the crisp morning air, sun glinted to the loved, beautiful front porch she stood on. As Penny sheathed both her swords, she swallowed a gulp, reached out her fist and went to go knock on the front door. Before she could let her white knuckled fist hit the wood, she flinched as she could suddenly hear a deep grunt come from around the side of the building. As she looked on, to her left, she froze and heard rustling continue to happen, and in no time, she began to hear the sound of someone chopping wood. She suddenly became very aware of her surroundings, including all of it's sounds, and she was very surprised to hear Tessa, and everyone else, nervously hang back at the beginning of Rancis's humble garden, though the second she began to dart for the side of the building, she could hear the group begin to jump into action, as if letting Penny out of their sight was dangerous; she knew otherwise.

Penny huffed a silent breath, pushed about the edge of the cabin and let her eyes gloss the dirty, snowy and slightly grassy path. The field, in which sprawled alongside the edges of the cabin, on all side, was massive and held the prettiest sea of golden, tall grass. In the summer, it was rich in color, and although the trees remained green all year long, she knew them to become unruly towards winter. Penny squinted as the stark morning sunrise glinted off of the shiny twizzler tree vines, and as her eyes dragged to the blue casted shadow of the tall cabin, her eyes lay on a figure. A figure she was certain had to be a mirage. Penny slowed her roll, fumbled to a halt and exhaled one final breath to the world about her, and as if every single little drop of fuzzy snow in the sky came lilting to the quietest halt, the universe about her sweetly froze in time.

With another grunt, said figure raised two swords, gleaming green blades that were nearly translucent. Made from the sharp, sturdy honeydew stone, only found on said ridge, he took a swing or two at a few thick branches and vines, ones that were getting too close to the side of the cabin. With the loud crackling of fresh wood, the branches and vines came crumbling to the ground. The man huffed a noise of near-delighted surprise, scurried out of the way and firmly held both swords to his side, a stance that was near melted into Penny's brain, one of true familiarity, and with such, Penny squinted and felt her heart begin to pound with realization. The same golden curl, the tattered Fluggerbutter hoodie, Penny shook her head and knew this could only mean one thing.

"...Dad?" Penny stated confidently, though her voice shook with the apprehension and nervousness it was undoubtedly coated.

In a firm jolt of whole shock, this figure very quickly drew his swords, once more, and held them out in an offensive stance. He suddenly drew his dark blue gaze to Penny in near terror, and as the two finally caught eyes, from their two-dozen foot distance, they froze and peered to each other in a draw of confused shock. He panted in a roll of adrenaline that had coursed through him, the air about them fogged a bit, though as they remained in their loose bubble of curiosity, his stance grew more and more lackadaisical. Penny remained still, and in this hard moment she had to very quickly wonder just what she had gotten into. She knew this man looked like her father, though she very quickly began to reel and wonder if maybe it wasn't; just as she thought she had this reunion rehearsed to a T, she very quickly realized that all of the questions she was going to ask him, that only Rancis would know, were immediately coming up short.

Penny bravely dared to take a step or two closer, and with such, she was relieved to see Rancis soften his shoulders a little. He just barley shook his head, as if to be in whole disbelief, and as Penny got a little bit closer, she wondered just when he'd believe this was all real, and they could likely push on to twenty questions. Penny finally felt her brain run at full speed, once more, and as hot tears stung her eyes, she shook her head and got a good look at this man. Likely tucked on this ridge for the entirety of Radex's reign, Rancis's hair had grown long, scraggly and unkept. He had a decent sized beard, of which was lazily kept, though it looked as if he at least put effort there. His dark blue eyes were soaked with the onslaught of tears, he was roughed up, a stronger build, he looked as if he had genuinely had to stick to his guns, out on this lonely ridge, and the wilderness had greatly tested him.

"This... Isn't..." Rancis staggered, his voice croaked, as if he maybe hadn't used it in awhile. He nervously took a step back, fumbled and as his shaking hands clumsily dropped both his swords, he covered his mouth in whole disbelief and shook his head, "This isn't real..."

"Please tell me it's you, please," Penny begged quietly as her eyes billowed with tears, she nearly wanted to reach her hands out, a similar action she did when she was just a child wanting her father's embrace, and just as she began to follow through with the action, Rancis finally stopped backstepping.

"Th-The dome, how... How did you get in?" Rancis's voice begged in a croak of a whisper, he narrowed his gaze and grimaced with a show of oncoming anguish, "How did you find me?"

"Pure luck," Penny blurt with a small laugh as tears finally soaked her cheeks, though as she dared to step closer to him, she could somehow sense, deep in her gut, that her intuition wasn't failing her.

"Penny," Rancis huffed quietly as a multiple slew of tears soaked down his cheeks and into his facial hair. He blurt an anguished chuckle of disbelief and grimaced a small cry alongside it as he finally took a step into Penny's bubble, "My lucky Penny...!"

In a collision of a grappling hug, the two finally latched onto each other like a lifeline, and as Penny pushed her face into his strong shoulder, his warm scent still heavily lingered on his clothes, one of which she was certain she'd never be able to experience again. Penny gasped in surprise, and as Rancis's fatherly arms quickly embraced her into the tightest, biggest hug he could even muster, the two squeezed into an eternity of warmth. Rancis choked a cry and firmly held his hand to the back of Penny's head, and as the two didn't dare let go of each other, for anything, everything in the world seemed right. Not a single pebble out of place.

"I can't believe you're here," Rancis near-wheezed into Penny's shoulder as she cried into his chest, he firmly held the back of her head and kept her as tight into his safety as he possibly could. He gently swayed her, looked up to the sky in aimless praise and finally lulled his eyes shut tight, he quietly cried, "I can't believe this is real..."

"I-I was so scared," Penny admitted through her tears as she shut her eyes tight and buried into Rancis's shoulder, "I thought we'd never find you void of Radex..."

"I'm here, I'm here..." Rancis whispered as he tightly clung to her, though after a moment, the two finally pulled apart, though Rancis gripped the tops of Penny's shoulders and peered hard into her eyes. He continued on in a hard whisper, as if this was a top secret discussion, "H-How did you find me? How'd you get past the forcefield?"

"W-Well..." Penny staggered as she looked off, though her mouth curled into a bashful smile at the thought of her second cousin, Ace's incredible User powers, and all the other surprises Rancis was in store for.

Rancis furrowed his brow harder as Penny gently looked over her shoulder, and as the two released from each other, Tessa could finally be seen coming around the font porch of the cabin. She stumbled into the grass a bit, though once she got a good look at the two, she came to a frozen halt and soaked into the mind-numbing image she could've sworn she'd never see. Rancis whispered her name in a stagger of floored glee, and though he showed a want to go lunging forward and welcome his young niece into a hug, he froze and hesitated with the conflicted look upon Tessa's face.

With a slow, uncertain saunter of his niece, Tessa approached with as much caution as she could, and once she was within a few feet of Rancis's strong, burly-looking self, she allowed her dominant silver coding to snake to the soles of Rancis's boots, and although it took a second to get directly to his bare skin and coding, Rancis jolted in a fit of surprise as Tessa held him in a deadlock to the grid, she read every single last line of his binary. Penny flinched in naive surprise and took a small step back, though both girls remained still in approaching relief as the coding, about Rancis's feet, glowed his original, golden yellow slews of circuits.

Rancis choked a small noise as Tessa read his coding, for everything it was, to make extra certain he was void of Radex, though once he gently dragged his eyes from his feet straight into Tessa's matured, womanly gaze, he flinched as she suddenly dropped the coding act and lunged into his arms for a reuniting hug. Rancis choked a laugh, grappled his arms tight about Tessa's back and squeezed her into an embrace of whole disbelief. Penny covered her mouth, amidst an ironic smile of near-grief ridden surprise and allowed more tears to soak her cheeks. With such, she choked a tremble of a giggle and joined in on the hug, to which Rancis eagerly welcomed her into. The three held tight, though Tessa huffed a shaky breath into Rancis's shoulder and shook her head in stunned disbelief.

"Who woudlathunk," Tessa blurt with a small giggle as tears welled in her eyes as well, "We would've just flown past this ridge if it weren't for us looking for a place to rest."

"I-I can't believe this is all real," Rancis staggered as the two girls finally pulled away, tough they finally beamed teary smiles of excited delight as a proper reunion could finally take place. Rancis grappled Tessa's left shoulder with his right hand and Penny's right shoulder with his left, he kept the girls tight in front of him and gave them both floored looks of surprise, "Lookit the two of you!"

"Lookit us, lookit YOU!" Tessa blurt as the three easily laughed, though Rancis shook his head and heaved a shaky sigh.

"Dad, you need grooming, hardcore," Penny choked, everyone's laughter grew.

"We can take care of that," Tessa eased with a wider smile.

"How did you get past the forcefield?" Rancis ogled, though Penny cocked an eyebrow and peered to Tessa with a knowing smile. Tessa raised her eyebrows in bashful surprise as Rancis side-eyed his niece, "What's with the shyness, what's going on here? I need answers."

"We have a billion questions for you, too," Penny urged with a widening smile, though the little group was gently interrupted as Zed loudly cleared his throat, from the bend of the front porch.

"... How many more of you are back there!" Rancis blurt with a small laugh, and as the three aimed their attention to where Zed stood, Tessa felt her face heat up at the sheer, unadulterated fact that her uncle Rancis was practically about to have his ass handed to him in the form of surprises on surprises.

"Dang, we uh... We've got a lot of catching up to do, uncle Rancis," Tessa teased as the three slowly began to mosey closer to the front porch, and as the small group gently came upon the larger group, on the front porch, Rancis raised his eyebrows in bashful surprise and counted just how many beings were there peering back at him, not to mention all the incredible flyers that stood on the outskirts of Rancis's garden.

"Zed," Rancis huffed shakily with a relieved smile, though it only broadened once Zed gave him a welcoming, brotherly smile and stepped forward for a handshake and a hug. Both boys gripped into an overflow of small, teasing quips towards each other, as well as a good dose of brotherly pats to the upper arms and shoulders, "Mr. Dead Zed, master game ender, huh?"

"Yeahhh I'm aware I'm due for a beat down from all the heads of Sugar Rush," Zed choked, everyone blurt in laughter, "Yours is the last to endure."

"Vanellope, Ralph and Taff already got to yah, huh?" Rancis put his hands on his hips, bobbed a nod and began to show a bit more confidence, though his hands clearly still shook from the whole overload of beings and camaraderie, a switch up he was strictly not prepared for.

"Yes, sir," Zed wrinkled his nose and smiled, though as the two quipped a few more teasing notions towards each other, Rancis peered about the group and felt his skin crawl with the urgency to name everyone in the group, though he simply couldn't.

"Uncle, you uh... You have quite a few surprises, standing before you," Tessa uttered with a shaky giggle as everyone stood poised and ready for the breaks of news, dewy eyed and excited for this moment to finally come.

"Surprises, okay," Rancis breathed nervously, his widening smile never wavered, his kind, dark blue eyes glossed the group of nervous individuals, though he peered back to Tessa in expectancy and raised his eyebrows.

"So, first thing's first... Let me see if you can guess this one's name," Tessa giggled as she gingerly gripped Koko's hands and brought her closer.

Koko so bashfully kept tight to her older sister, and as both girls peered to Rancis in dewy, floored excitement, Rancis furrowed his brow in hard contemplation, shook his head and gently side-eyed Koko. Just as he raised a finger, lazily waggled it and huffed a small laugh, Koko's knowing smile broadened.

"I can't believe I know your name and we haven't properly met, yet," Rancis stated in whole, gentle surprise as he long-blinked in disbelief and got a better look into Koko's sweet eyes, "Vanellope's smile, Ralph's eyes... You must be Koko."

"... How did you know her name?" Zed uttered in high-pitched surprise as he gave Rancis an incredulous look.

"Ohh, I've known about this cookie for awhile now," Rancis gave his youngest niece a loving smile as the two gently closed their gap, and as the two embraced, Rancis so gently squeezed her tight, "You're all Ralph and Vanellope could talk about... They always wanted a third child. Had names picked out for eons."

"I-I can't believe I'm finally meeting the infamous uncle Rancis I've been told so much about," Koko giggled as the two pulled apart.

"Hopefully all good things," Rancis muttered with a cheeky smile as he nudged Penny's shoulder, everyone quietly laughed.

"All good things," Tessa assured with a light, relaxed air about herself, though she heaved a shaky breath and so gently brought her eyes to Orph; it was in this instance did Penny's pupils tighten in a slew of stunned fear, and although she was aware Tessa could introduce Orph for herself, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and kindly peered to Penny, as if to insinuate that she should likely do the honors.

"D-dad, I uh... I-I want you to meet someone pretty important to me," Penny staggered as Koko gently stepped aside, everyone lovingly glossed their eyes to Orph, who stood closer to the tight group than Ace or even Nox did.

Dressed in a dark charcoal jacket, black jeans and a comfortable golden hoodie that peaked from the zipper and buttons of his thick winter garb, Orph looked plucked with whole, boyish uncertainty. He knew he had wanted this, though in this cold instance, he suddenly realized that he needed to be way more careful for what he wished for. As Orph gently peered to Rancis, he was nervously shocked to find that Rancis, although an average sized dude, still held a very palpable amount of dominance over the group, one that even rivaled Zed. With such observation, Orph fumbled to get his hands out of his pockets quick enough and knew politeness was ultimately key here. He jolted to outstretch his hand, for a handshake, as Penny gingerly stood close to Orph and gestured.

"This is Orph," Penny's voice shook in girly, delightful cuteness, though it was clear she was not prepared for this union. She huffed a shaky breath and looked about, "H-He's uh... He's my uh..."

"Boyfriend?" Rancis blurt with a widening, cheeky smile, though he gripped Orph's hand in a firm, friendly handshake; Orph beamed, bashfully nodded and felt as if his whole entire existence was simply going to turn to goo.

"B-Boyfriend, that's the word," Penny choked as she nervously scratched her forehead, her face was beet red, and although she tried to collect herself, she couldn't wipe that bashful smile from her face.

"Honored to finally meet you," Orph staggered, though he kept up nicely, his aura eked of bashful, palpable uncertainty, though it was endearment at it's finest.

"Orph is Zed's younger brother," Penny finally gained a bit of confidence as Rancis raised his eyebrows, smiled to Zed and nodded in delight.

"Eases my mind. Good guys, Dead Zed racers," Rancis stated kindly and honestly, though he peered back to Orph with all the fatherly dominance he could muster, he radiated it with the ultimate ease, though he firmly pat Orph's shoulder and gave him a narrowing look of cheeky suspense, "Looking forward to getting to know you."

"Yes, sir," Orph nodded once in whole nervousness, though he kept his chin up and held his ground nicely; once Tessa's voice eased the place and continued on, Orph cocked an eyebrow and caught eyes with Penny in a whirl of delightful apprehension.

"Next, down the line, uh... I-I'm not really sure how you'll take this, uncle Rancis, but we just need you to remain neutral, okay?" Tessa eased, though Rancis furrowed his brow and glossed his eyes across the porch to the two individuals who hung tight to each other.

Ace and Nox weren't too far behind, though it was very obvious Ace was tending to Nox's worries; the fear of immediate judgement the second someone realized he was a TurboTwin, and with such, Nox finally dared to volley his infamous gaze towards Rancis. Just as suspected, Rancis's shoulders tightened, he took a wary step back, held his hand out in defense and grit his teeth in a rushing jolt of fear.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I-I'm sorry I'm not remaining neutral but what the hell is he doing here?" Rancis barked, though Nox sagged his shoulders in rising fear and glanced up to Ace in curiosity.

"No, uncle Rancis, he's-"

"Alright, where's Lash, then?" Rancis blurt to cut Tessa off, "The infamous Nitro of TurboTime, surely you've got the other boys on your heels?"

"Dad," Penny urged as she furrowed her brow and held a firm hand to his chest, though Rancis raised his eyebrows nervously and peered down to Penny.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Nox stabbed as he finally gained a bit of confidence, and as he pressed closer to the group, Ace hesitantly joined, "I've been cooped up in EZ Living this entire time. Honestly, if it weren't for Tessa and Zed, I'd still be homeless."

"EZ Living?" Rancis prod in mild disbelief.

"Nox is with us, he's been a wonderful addition to the family," Zed eased, he knew he likely needed to step in. He gently hooked his brotherly arm about Nox's shoulders and tugged him under the safety of his wing.

"... Ralph and Vanellope are cool with this?" Rancis wondered as he wrinkled his nose, though he slowly softened and came to terms with everything.

"Well, uh... They better, considering I got their permission to swap codes with Koko," Nox stabbed once more, he huffed a shaky breath as everyone glanced to Koko, though Rancis shut his mouth in whole, cold surprise.

Koko gently dragged her eyes to her new uncle Rancis, and as the two met in a whirl of confusion, Koko beamed Vanellope's cute, snarky smile, raised her fingers and waggled the circuit-ridden honeycomb coding along her fingers, cued with the berry, crimson kiss of hers and Nox's colorful coding. Rancis raised his eyebrows in collected surprise, sagged his shoulders and apologetically peered to Koko.

"This is only the beginning, my friend," Zed muttered as him and Ace caught eyes, Ace of which was bashful and uncertain.

"I-I apologize," Rancis huffed nervously as he carefully approached Nox, he gently held out his hand for a handshake and warily peered into Nox's hypnotic gaze, "I-It's going to take me some getting used to, but... If my entire family trusts you, then I trust you."

"Thanks," Nox eased warily, though he finally gave Rancis a warm smile and shook his hand. He daringly gripped Rancis's hand, tugged it closer to him and leaned in for a comical show of a not-so-secret whisper, "By the way, thanks for giving away my real name."

"I was gunna say," Orph choked, everybody eased into kind laughter as Rancis and Nox finally peeled from each other.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a nickname you preferred," Rancis rubbed the back of his head and cued a small smile.

"Nox'll do," Nox bobbed a nod and gave Koko a bashful smile, "Koko was the only one that knew my full name, Nitro."

"I WAS special, thank you very much," Koko playfully stabbed towards Rancis, though the group eased into a bigger swell of kind laughter.

"Alright, so, keep laying it on me, who do we have here?" Rancis pressed with an eager smile, his excited eyes drew to Ace's in a roll of continuation, though as both boys slowed, Rancis sagged his shoulders in rising understanding and held tight to Ace's aura.

Zed chuckled a little, lovingly tugged Ace into a small side hug and released him once he got a cute, bashful chuckle out of his son. Ace looked down to his larger, wrecking hands, dragged them about the group and then again to his great uncle's eyes. Rancis looked frozen in awe, wholly delighted and floored as to just who was before him, and as the group grew quiet, Rancis finally breathed a small, easy huff of a chuckle and shook his head.

"I'll be damned," Rancis barely said as he squinted and finally dart his eyes to Tessa's and Zed's giddy demeanors, "I'm a great uncle, aren't I."

"You've ALWAYS been a great uncle," Tessa cooed in rising excitement as the group began to just burst with the palpable amount of love that was overflowing the ridge, the game. Ace beamed a bashful smile to his feet as Tessa continued on, "But now, you legitimately ARE a great uncle!"

"I'm Ace," He lovingly stated, his demeanor was filled with warmth, though the dregs of protecting his best friend still hung in the balance, "I'm Tessa's and Zed's son."

"I don't believe it," Rancis huffed in a choke of the potential of oncoming tears, and though both boys firmly shook hands, they still grappled into a loving hug, one of which easily showed Ace's size; though they were nearly the same height, Ace had a substantial amount of mass and bulk over Rancis.

"This all feels like a dream," Penny chimed, "I don't want to wake up."

"It's real," Tessa urged as she gestured to the cabin, though Rancis jolted and knew to finally keep up with his manners.

"I-I'm so sorry, you guys should come inside," Rancis urged, he peered across his garden, gestured to the flyers and blurt a laugh, "I-I'm assuming all those creatures are with you?"

"Yes, they are," Tessa urged as she flagged the four patiently waiting flyers to come forth, though once they did, Lickity was first to push into Rancis's bubble.

"Is that... Lickity Split?" Rancis beamed the widest smile, though as she came near, he lovingly rubbed her snout like how he always used to.

"T'is me!" Lickity retort in playful sass, though Rancis jolted and peered to her in whole surprise.

"... You can TALK?" Rancis blurt, though the group began to laugh.

"Yeah... Uncle, there's an eternity of information we need to fill you in on," Tessa wheezed as Lickity wagged her tail in whole excitement.

"Oh, love, the coin has two sides," Rancis sighed, he bobbed a nod, though as everyone peered to him in rising curiosity, Rancis looked about in agitated quickness, "We... Probably should get inside before we say any more."

"Why? What's wrong?" Tessa muttered quietly as she, too, began to nervously look about.

"... This bubble, I'm in, isn't technically void of listeners," Rancis muttered as he began to backstep towards his front door, and as everyone began to eagerly inch closer, to file inside, Rancis cocked an eyebrow and peered up to where the invisible forcefield lay, "I may be the only being out here, but I know I'm not truly alone..."


	188. Chapter 188

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** YAY I'm glad you're loving it so far! :D And yes, the reunion with Taffyta will be very very special!

 **Snake557 :** Woohoo! :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I KNOWWW And I can't tell you how terrible I feel for making you guys wait over 200 chapters...! Seriously, WOW. I'm surprised I haven't gotten angrier reviews or anything, but I am grateful for the people that stuck it out, like yourself :D Thank you SO much! Yes, Penny definitely comes back to her normal self now that Rancis is back and all of that can be healed, she has a good heart to heart with him later on. And, thank you for the birthday wishes! I appreciate it!

 **SamanthaR1987 :** I'm glad you're thrilled! Writing for Rancis again DEFINITELY feels good, he was sorely missed by me as well :)

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Simple Song by Passenger**

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 ***Chapter 188***

With dirt still messily splayed across his hands, Rancis gently shut and lock the large, round front door, and with a soft clack, he bolted the latch and peered at it in a roll of disbelief. He very quickly wondered if his ears deceived him, the sound of his family, old and new, cooing and excitedly praising the fact that they were successful in their ventures, the tired yawns and innocent quips about the long journey, Rancis sagged his shoulders and dragged his peer of disbelief over his shoulder, to the group that began to wonder if they were allowed to make themselves at home. Honeydew's single cabin was a three bedroom, two bathroom, modern little abode on the cliff side, with views out the living rooms windows, to the right, as well as a good show of the sprawling fields beyond the kitchen, to the left, said cabin was cozy and kept nature right in the forefront of their minds.

"I really hate to be a stick in the mud, uncle, but... W-We've been traveling since about eight last night," Tessa grimaced as she glossed her eyes about her tired group, their eyes were sagged, and any amount of the second wind, they all had just endured, was now dwindling, "I-I'm sure you're itching for answers, huh..."

"You guys haven't slept?" Rancis choked as he gently eased into the group.

Rancis flinched as all four flyers, of which were nearly too much for the cabin to hold, grumbled noises of agreeing and gently filed past him. The cabin's small living room was cozy in the fact that there were a few steps down into the soft carpet, hugged by a massive, sweeping cream colored couch that hugged a humble fireplace. Without so much as any form of communication, each beast picked a spot, slumped down and nearly piled on top of one another to find a comfortable position to sleep. Tessa laughed, gestured to the big pile of fur, feathers, scales, paws, tails and wings alike and volleyed her uncle a look of cheek.

"Not a wink..." Tessa huffed tiredly, she heaved a shaky breath and gestured back to the familiar rooms she knew well, though she also knew this likely had been Rancis's new home, for awhile, and didn't want to intrude on any privacy, "Would... Would it be okay if we all maybe caught a few hours of sleep before we really reconvene and get into the massive details of this mess?"

"Of course, that's totally fine, just... C-Can you please answer at least some of my questions first?" Rancis urged gently as he tilted his head down, though he kept his gaze tight to Tessa's in curious concern.

"Of course," Tessa smiled, though Rancis bobbed a nod, and as he kindly gestured for everyone to follow him down the wide hallway, which lead to all the bedrooms, he cleared his throat.

"First off... How did you guys get past the dome of the forcefield, over Honeydew?" Rancis pressed, and as they happened upon the first bedroom on the right, he gently turned the door handle, "I-I... I haven't used these spare two bedrooms in forever, I've just been hulled up in the master bedroom. Sorry if you guys find clutter, or anything, but you guys are welcome to any of the beds in the cabin."

"Thank you, Uncle Rancis... I-I don't care who sleeps next to me, I'm crashing," Ace uttered tiredly, letting people through the forcefields was something he found to be rather draining.

"Can I be the little spoon this time?" Nox blurt in a groggy tone, though it trailed a chuckle; this caused an exhausted outburst of laughter from the rest of the group, clearly the last of their energy spent.

"Sure, sure," Ace rolled his eyes with an exhausted smile as he flopped onto his stomach and groaned, and with such, the rest of the group knew to bow out.

"Make way," Orph snipped as he rubbed his eye and heaved a hard yawn, he slipped in just before Tessa could shut the door, and once all three boys were tucked away, the remaining group laughed and quietly shut the door.

"Well, uncle... That's a pretty big dose of news I think I should save for when we've all gotten some rest," Tessa mumbled as she desperately tried to keep her eyes open, though Rancis peered to her nearly pleadingly.

"Alright, as you wish," Rancis sighed, though they happened upon the bedroom on the left. Rancis softly opened the door, it shuttered and croaked with the lack of use, though he took a step back and peered to the smaller group he was now with.

"Koko and I can share this room," Penny suggested as she softly looked back to Tessa and Zed, with all the love in the world, "You and Zed can have the master, Tess."

"... Pens, you sure?" Tessa frowned, though her and Koko nodded in selflessness.

"Sure, we'll be fine in here," Penny smiled and peered into the dim room with much nostalgia, "This used to be our old room, you, mine and Oliver's... I'm right at home, here."

"It is weird, seeing it again," Tessa agreed tenderly with a small nod, and though she desperately wanted to step in and sift through the old memories and toys in the closet, to go way back with Penny, she grimaced with the sheer amount of tiredness on her and bobbed a nod, "Thank you, Penny... That's really nice of you."

"Yeah," Zed agreed gently as he gave Penny a look of earnest concern.

"Sleep well, guys," Koko's gentle voice croaked in tiredness, and as the two volleyed smiles to Rancis, Tessa and Zed, the door was gently closed after them.

The cabin was now strangely silent, with just how much exhaustion was laid over the scout, Tessa knew she shouldn't be surprised with how quickly everyone was able to get to sleep. Rancis huffed a small breath and continued on down the hallway, towards the master bedroom. Said bedroom was always reserved for Ralph and Vanellope, as King and Queen, during their Honeydew family getaways. Sometimes it was offered up to Taffyta and Rancis, though as they pressed further down the dim hallway, glinted with morning sunshine from the living room and kitchen, Tessa held her breath and felt her heart begin to race. The sheer fact that she was so close to being home, yet so far, had this tease seeming like a weird mixture of heaven and hell. Still, she relished in all the nostalgia and knew this was as good as it was going to get, for now.

"I uh... Clearly wasn't expecting company, so you'll have to forgive any messes," Rancis choked as he opened the bedroom door, rushed across to tidy a few things of dirty clothes and busied himself as Tessa and Zed came to a gentle stop.

Tessa raised her eyebrows and was surprised at just how clean and orderly Rancis had kept this bedroom. She assumed he had been living here for the entire year Sugar Rush was in ruins, though she knew both parties had a bunch of questions and answers to volley. With the loved, birch flooring and the gorgeous white walls, the morning sun shone into the bedroom with an untouched, dreamy haze. With the cream floor to ceiling curtains that lay as still as a photograph, the room was cold in an inviting kind of way, the kind of cool that begged anyone that entered, to simply cozy up under the downs and let the falling snow lull you to sleep. Tessa sagged her shoulders and felt as if the reality of all of this had yet to still hit her, though the second her uncle pressed back to her and Zed, after tidying the bed, he nervously gestured and rubbed the back of his head.

"I guess this beats camping out wherever you guys were planning, right?" Rancis furrowed his brow, shook his head just barely and dart his concerned gaze between Zed and Tessa, "Where, exactly, were you guys headed? H-How long have you guys been wandering?"

"We weren't wandering, this ridge is about a nine hour flight from the entrance of Sugar Rush," Zed stated, and it was in this weird bout of a moment did the two realize that Rancis literally had no answers, no idea where he, or anyone was. Rancis hung on their every word, his eyes were glued to Zed and Tessa like a lifeline, so Zed rushed to continue on, "Sugar Rush has been rearranged... We were just... Flying SouthWest of the entrance and we just so happened to see your ridge in the distance."

"We needed a place to rest and... Once we realized just what ridge this was, Penny took off up the cliff and we couldn't stop her," Tessa giggled, Zed joined with a tired chuckle and bobbed a nod, though Rancis near-pleadingly peered to the two.

"... Are we able to leave? Please take me with you guys," Rancis nearly begged, his voice was just above a whisper. He shut his eyes tight, clenched his fists and grimaced as he continued on in mild, emotional pain, "I-I can't stand being out here, all alone any longer... I... I can't tell you guys how much I missed... I-I need to see Taffyta again, I just... Please don't leave me here without-"

"Uncle Rancis, we're here to collect you, don't you worry," Tessa pleaded with a kind smile as her loving hand gently grappled for Rancis's hand, and once she was successful in holding it, Rancis peered his teary eyes down to his niece and nearly trembled. Tessa narrowed her gaze, shook her head and kept close to her uncle, "This scout was designated to finding you... Penny's orders."

"Really?" Rancis huffed with a widening smile, Zed nodded.

"It was Tessa's sharp eyes and idea to approach the ridge... It was Penny's quick thinking that dragged us UP the ridge," Zed choked, the three shared a quiet laugh.

"Well... You guys can rest up, do whatever you need, whenever you guys are planning on leaving, let me know so I can pack a few things," Rancis sighed with relief, and although the group had just arrived, Tessa peered to Zed and was well aware they had found just what they needed and had no purpose left in scouting, for this trip anyways.

"Why don't we... Spend a night or two here?" Tessa gently shrugged, "The castle isn't expecting us home anytime soon, we can use this time to catch up and, I don't know... Prepare Rancis for all the changes back home?"

"Home? Castle?" Rancis pressed, his alert eyes were simply the only ones with said prickled energy.

"We have a castle in Dead Zed, it's where we've been living for the past year, cause, well... Sugar Rush is nearly in ruins," Tessa's smile began to sag, she shook her head and tried not to ogle the look of how comfortable said king bed looked, right now.

"Currently houses over two dozen people, it's a full house, for sure," Zed's smile grew, he tried to keep the air light about them, "Got all my brothers, Ralph, Vanellope, Taffyta, Oliver, Emery, Tammy..."

"Then you have Koko, Nox, Ace, Libby, Throttle, the flyers," Tessa quickly listed on her fingers, Rancis bulged his eyes and beamed an incredulous grin.

"It's... Not as impressive as Sugar Rush's castle, once upon a time, but..." Zed raised his eyebrows, breathed a long sigh, sagged his hands into his pockets and peered to Tessa with a kind, expecting smile.

"It's home," Tessa nodded, she peered back to her uncle, "We'll take you there, I promise... Let's just... Regroup, have some fun, and we'll all head back... Together."

"Music to my ears," Rancis sighed as he nodded, "And here I was, expecting to have a full day of clearing those damn vines from the side of the cabin."

"We were just looking for a few trees to sleep under," Tessa laughed, though she gingerly jostled hers and Rancis's conjoined hands.

"I'll let you guys go to sleep, just... Please answer me that one question, please," Rancis pleaded gingerly, "How the hell did you get past that forcefield... I've been trying for months."

Tessa cocked an eyebrow and softly peered to Zed; they were both aware Ace's powers weren't something to just simply gloss over, and although they were aware Rancis could handle it, the idea of overloading Rancis like this, in one go, was beginning to seem like this year's understatement. Tessa smiled, looked down to their feet and breathed a nervous sigh.

"We got through the forcefield because of Ace," Tessa started gently as she peered into her uncle's eyes, "He's uh... He's got a few tricks up his sleeve."

"Yeah? He uh... Must've gotten some of those glitching powers, from you and Vanellope, huh?" Rancis pressed, he furrowed his brow in rising confusion and glanced to Zed.

"Uncle, you remember the day everything went wrong," Tessa eased, Rancis nodded and kept his eyes tight to Tessa's, "You, mom, dad and Aunt Taffyta rushed to Starkrem, to meet up with Orion."

"We were downgraded," Rancis nodded and narrowed his eyes, "I remember..."

"Zed and I... Well... Left Sugar Rush for Tron," Tessa's voice drummed to steadiness, the reveal of Ace's identity always had her pleasantly agitated.

"Y-You... You fixed the game from the outside," Rancis completed, and although he was simply throwing a guess out there, the second Tessa nodded, Rancis's eyes bulged in surprise, "I-I thought that was just a rumor...!"

"We tried our best to right our wrongs, but... I guess, in doing so, we must've accidentally refreshed Radex's coding to the grid," Tessa eased quietly, though she shook her head and closed her eyes, "That's not important right now... What's important is... What Zed and I brought back to the Arcade."

"You brought something back?" Rancis eased tenderly as he dared his gaze to Zed in dire curiosity, though the three fell silent.

"We uh... We brought Ace back with us," Tessa smiled, and although she was exhausted, she sagged her shoulders, nodded and felt her heart swell with the infinite amount of love she had for her son, "Ace was conceived outside of the Arcade..."

"That would make him a human," Rancis scoffed as he shook his head and gave Tessa a smile of whole disbelief, as if it simply wasn't true, though with the stillness in Tessa's and Zed's demeanor, Rancis's cheeky smile quickly sagged to a gentle gape of surprise, "That... Would make him..."

"A User," Zed's deep voice croaked in conclusion, and as the the three grew quiet, Zed knew this information always needed a minute to sink in.

"Oh, wow," Rancis's voice finally shook as he took a clumsy step or two away from Tessa and Zed, and as he messily covered his mouth a little, the look of dumbfounded shock hung on his whole entire being. He shook his head once more, gestured down the hallway, bent over a little for emphasis and choked a silent laugh, "You mean to tell me I have a User in my spare bedroom, Tess?"

"Yeah, Zed and I are constantly asking ourselves the same question," Tessa blurt a quiet giggle, the three held in a gentle lull of laughter they desperately tried to keep soft.

"Is he, uh... He's not going to go AWOL and destroy us all, is he?" Rancis wondered as he wrinkled his nose and shot a near-sarcastic look of nervousness to Tessa and Zed, though they scoffed noises of disbelief in his direction.

"That kid wouldn't hurt a fly, I'm not even too sure he knows how to go AWOL," Zed choked with a fatherly smile, "He's... He's still growing into his paws, there."

"It's a bit of a battle, right now, actually," Tessa rolled her eyes, though Zed beamed her a knowing smile.

"Girl trouble," Zed muttered, though Rancis tilted his head in curiosity and grew closer to the two.

"Girl trouble?" Rancis pressed, Tessa rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Ace has a girlfriend, back home, it's uh... It's a bit of a pickle, the two are in," Tessa waggled her hand, "That's a story for later on, but... Bottom line, the kid doesn't even fully realize just how much power he has."

"Still learning?" Rancis smiled lovingly, Tessa nodded.

"He's coming into his own, nicely... There's not much he can do outside of an adrenaline rush, but... He's been able to get us through the forcefields," Tessa stated gently, "Big softy, he is... So, no, he won't go AWOL and destroy us all."

"Damn, well... Kind of cool to know we have a User on our side," Rancis cocked an eyebrow and nodded, "Certainly is a game changer."

"He's been a big help," Tessa nodded, "He won't solve our problems, but we're all in this fight together."

"That's a big task, raising a User," Rancis scoffed, he shook his head and gave Tessa a loving smile, "I don't think that's even been done before... I'm proud of you two."

"Thank you," Both Tessa and Zed eased sincerely, at the same time.

"Enough of this, then," Rancis stated in a gentle grumble as he lovingly squeezed Tessa's hand and moved to give Zed a warm pat to the upper arm, "I'll leave you two be... I'll be, uh... Outside, tending to the vines on the side of the building. You guys please make yourselves at home... We can decide on a meal, once everyone wakes up."

"Thank you, uncle," Tessa eased as the two eased into a tight hug, and once their parting exchanges were made, Rancis gingerly shut the bedroom door behind himself, sagged into the hallway and allowed the feeling of disbelief to continue to fall over him.

After about five hours or so, Orph silently snorted an inhale, jolted his eyes opened and peered about the bedroom he was in. Coat with noon-time sun, that glinted in through the cream curtains, the white walls were crisp, and although the air was cool, Orph shifted his positioning and was glad Nox's and Ace's body heat had somehow marinated into the entire bed and kept the three warm. Sprawled in near chaos, Nox and Ace soundly continued to sleep, and though Orph tried to roll over and go back to sleep, he somehow felt as if that small cat nap he had taken, on the flight, had messed with how long he would typically sleep now. He finally decided to get to his feet, press across the bedroom, and brave the kitchen for some water.

Just as Orph opened the door, stepped out into the hall and latched the door behind him in silence, he held his breath and listened for any signs of life. Only the sounds of Lickity's, Royal's, Marble's and Balba's breathing and snoring could be heard, and with this, Orph felt is safe to continue on. He nervously peered into the kitchen, to the right of the exit of the long, wide hallway, and once he realized he was alone, excluding the four sleeping flyers, he confidently found purpose and pressed into the kitchen. A quaint area with a four-seater island, the cabin's kitchen was crowned with beautiful, brass sink, glossy, grey cabinets and dark granite counters, Orph cocked an eyebrow and could nearly see Tessa's taste in this set up, the way she designed and strategically decorated the Kalivar castle had it's own touches of Sugar Rush.

Orph smiled, ruffled his messy, silver hair and freed himself of his golden hoodie, which revealed a loved, grey t-shirt underneath. He croaked an annoyed noise towards himself at the fact that he didn't even bother to take his shoes off, before falling asleep. He finally freed himself of his warm shoes and socks and relished in the coldness of the birch flooring underneath. Once relaxed and unrestricted, he finally began to nervously mosey for a glass, for some water. As he pushed past the fridge and on to the cabinets, he cocked an eyebrow and was delightfully surprised to see a few messy picture frames along the counters. As he finally found a glass, he squinted and leaned in closer to the few pictures he had noticed. He almost frowned in sorrowful delight at the cute family pictures, and as the sight of Ralph, Vanellope, Taffyta, Rancis and their little kids burned into Orph's retinas, Orph nearly felt his heart sag with a hard realization; these pictures were all Rancis had, on this lonely ridge.

Orph sagged his shoulders and gently stepped over to the fridge, though his eyes held tight to the picture for a moment or two longer. Once he finally helped himself to some cold water, from the fridge, he took a few large gulps before the front door gently clacked open. Orph raised his eyebrows in hard surprise, felt his pupils tighten, and although he was aware Penny's father had been awake, he nearly forgot that, upon coming out into the cabin first, he would simply be left totally alone with Rancis, something Orph was certain he wasn't mentally prepared for, just yet. As Rancis came in, he wielded his two swords, the jade-like honeydew stone that glistened in the sunlight and looked ten times more menacing than the candy cane swords Penny had, which were previously Rancis's. Rancis huffed an exhausted, fogged breath, closed the door behind him, and finally noticed Orph in the kitchen.

"Ah, you're awake," Rancis stated warmly with a gentle nod in his direction, and as he crossed the foyer, he uttered a grunt, hoisted his two swords to their proper display case and looked over his shoulder, "Coulda sworn all you guys would sleep well into the night."

"I... Made the mistake of napping on the way to the ridge," Orph's voice croaked, he chuckled and bashfully looked into his glass of water, though he jostled it a bit and gave Rancis a nervous look of apologetic cheek, "I uh... Hope you don't mind, I got thirsty."

"No, not at all, help yourself," Rancis's voice was welcoming, though Orph knew to tread lightly. Rancis heaved a final breath of impending relaxation and began to take off his furry, hooded winter coat. Once he hung it on the coat rack and took off his shoes, he finally began to approach the kitchen to join Orph, "This all doesn't feel real. Was outside, just hacking away at the vines, and I had to keep reminding myself... My long lost family was inside, just sleeping the day away, like nothing had changed."

"Pretty strange, huh," Orph's voice was soft, pliable and agreeing, Rancis bobbed a nod and brushed a few flecks of debris off his chest; he wore a tattered, dark orange t-shirt and a pair of thick grey jeans, though now that his shoes and coat were off, he looked just as relaxed as Orph, "I've joined the group on the last Sugar Rush scout, but... It's still pretty weird waking up in a game that wasn't Dead Zed."

"Scouts?" Rancis inquired lightly, and it was at this point did Orph realize Rancis was likely keeping himself as busy as he could to avoid rushing in, waking every single last one of them up and begging for answers. His eyes hooked to Orph's in gentle curiosity, "You mean like... You guys have been in and out of Sugar Rush prior to now?"

"Yeah, well... Tessa, Zed and Vanellope and them have, but I-I just recently started coming along," Orph trailed, he very quickly felt his heart begin to race at the sheer fact he was trying to breeze past.

"... It was cause the girlfriend was going on these scouts, huh," Rancis peered at Orph down the bridge of his nose with a cheeky, dominant look of a smile, and as Orph scoffed a shaky chuckle, he nervously glanced down to his near-empty water cup and felt his hands begin to want to tremble.

"Yes, sir," Orph staggered, he tried to remain confident and hold eye contact with Rancis, "I-I wanted to help... I figured, that... Well..."

"You feel obligated," Rancis eased with a shrug, he gave Orph a gentle smile, "You want to show that you care, hmm?"

"Yeah," Orph nodded, he began to feel every single last skeleton, in his dark, damp and backlogged closet begin to bang at the shambles, he could practically see the hinges coming off the figurative doors.

"Welp, I'm glad you're up, then," Rancis's deep, patient and gentle words glossed over Orph, though as Orph's nervous, dewy eye contact collected with Rancis's, he continued on in kind softness, though with a gentle bite of fatherly authority, "Gives us a chance to have a little chat."


	189. Chapter 189

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes, you'll definitely get a good dose of all of that! Orph's and Rancis's talk gets pretty intense xD Thank you so much!

 **Snake557 :** Aww Thanks Huck! And, happy belated birthday! I hope it was great :D I really appreciate your kind words, I always knew you liked the story but I didn't know you felt that strongly towards it. That means a lot to me!

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Aww, the cliffhangers are a must, here and there xD Things will move along in time, trust me! :D

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 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Happiness by Red Velvet**

 **Confident by Demi Lovato**

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 **A/N : Okay... Forgive this extremely long chapter. As I was writing, it all got away from me, and once I reread everything and such, I realized I couldn't halve it anywhere. I figured I've left you guys hanging enough, as it is, so have this huge ass chapter and enjoy xD**

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 ***Chapter 189***

"You guys should get Zed's permission before you uh jump from that there waterfall," Taffyta called in a deep, playfully mocking voice as she moved her hands in gestures and actions that only Finn could be sweetly responsible for; the group of girls, that loitered in and about the pool, began to wildly laugh. Taffyta then straightened her spine, vigorously shaped her short, white hair into a very sloppy faux-hawk and puffed her chest, easily mocking Zed's demeanor, "Don't be a wimp, split your head open and see what happens!"

"Uncanny," Vanellope choked from the top of the collection of large boulders, in which spilled water down into the pool. She wore a cute, mint colored bikini, her dark hair was wet and splayed about her shoulders, chest and back, and as she finally got to her feet, she pointed down to Taffyta, who stood near the deep end and diving board. She uttered a girly giggle before she clenched her fists and desperately tried to replicate Ralph's voice, "This humidity is not kind to my hair. I'm not getting in the water! Don't make me wreck it!"

"We don't need to know about your sex life," Taffyta stabbed playfully, all the girls were loudly in stitches.

"Uncle Ralph's hair HAS gotten a bit crazier," Tammy added, she sat on the deep end's large, sprawling single step, so to make getting out of the pool easier. Akin to Calhoun's style, Tammy wore a strappy black bikini, her hair was tucked back into a high, choppy ponytail, she wore black shades to boot, "I didn't even think that was possible."

"What's up with all the men being weird about their hair?" Emery giggled, though she squealed a loud noise and tucked under the surface of the water the second she noticed Vanellope take a running jump off of the waterfall and into the deep, crystal blue water.

"Ems makes a good point!" Taffyta wheezed with laughter as water viciously splayed all over Tammy, and once Emery and Vanellope came up for air, the whole castle's backyard was soaked with their girly, excited howls of laughter.

"Aunt Vanellope," Tammy muttered as water dripped down her face, she delicately took off her sunglasses, spit water out of her mouth and glared at her aunt across the way, "If I was a glitch, I swear to User."

"Y'gunna fix it, Tams?" Vanellope sneered as she waded closer to her snarky niece, though once her and Emery joined Tammy under the sprawl of the shade from nearby, bright blue umbrellas and glorious palm trees, everyone flinched as thunder and lightning suddenly clapped the sky, "... Good thing we got Finn to put this biome-change over the backyard, huh."

"I wonder how much longer the code room is going to let us keep it up," Taffyta muttered nervously as all the girls looked up.

With a simple switch in the code room, a protective layer was placed over the Kalivar lot, and with such, eternal sunshine, heat and summertime goodness was added to the atmosphere. Outside of the Kalivar lot, a cold, raging thunderstorm passed through the jungle, leaving the lot untouched and kissed with the kindest of summer days, just what the girls wanted for their 'no boys allowed' staycation. Vanellope and Emery made themselves comfortable, though Vanellope reached towards Tammy's lawn chair, grabbed her golden hammer and lazily handed it to her, so she could reverse her messy hair and the wetness of her skin to normality.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, we used to do this in Sugar Rush, all the time," Vanellope sighed as her and Tammy had a small, apologetic exchange, and once she put Tammy's hammer back on her lawn chair, she stood and made her way to the diving board. Instead of preparing to dive, she gently sat down on the very end of it, the side that hung over the gaping, twelve foot depth of water underneath her. She shrugged, tried to ring her black hair dry and peered out to the odd sight of rain splatter the protective seal over the atmosphere of the Kalivar lot, "Dead Zed is over a decade newer than Sugar Rush... I don't think we give Dead Zed's code room enough credit."

"Tiny, but packs a punch," Tammy huffed a hot sigh and sagged her spine as she finally relaxed, her arms rested on the pebbled concrete of the pool, though she cocked an eyebrow and put her shades back on, "At least, that's what mom always says..."

Emery, Vanellope and Taffyta hung on Tammy's words for a moment, in mild confusion, though once they got the insinuation, they bulged their eyes and dragged their gazes to Tammy's mischievous grin. With such, all girls began to choke noises of dire, cooing urgency, as if to beg Tammy to indulge them on just exactly what she meant.

"That's mean," Taffyta chuckled as she took her shirt off, finally prepared to think about getting back into the water; she wore a dark pink bikini with cream and white swirls, signature to her racing gear.

"They're both happy, that's all that matters," Tammy laughed as she shook her head and lazily gestured her hands.

"This storm is getting crazy," Libby finally chimed as she strolled up, she had quickly marched across the backyard, from Ace's tower. Chepi was hot on her heels after waking up from her snooze and being fed. Libby's hair was in a long, lazy braid that was still damp from swimming, strapped in her gorgeous coral bikini, with the light blue and cream details, she kept her eye on Chepi and was glad she was able to get some energy out. She tucked her hair behind her ears, gently stepped her feet into the deep end's step, that Tammy and Emery sat on, and slowly began to return to the water, "What're we talking about?"

"Apparently, Felix's... 'stature'," Emery blurt quietly with a giggle as she pushed away from the step and waded out into the deep water, though she kept her hands gripped to the step and very lightly tread water. She bashfully sunk her mouth under the water and gave Libby a knowing look of a cocked eyebrow, her emerald green hair sprawled in the crystal clear pool.

"Wh-What?" Libby choked as she shot Tammy a look of floored curiosity, though everyone blurt in hard laughter. Before any words could get out, Taffyta took a running jump, away from the group, and dove into the water. Everyone eagerly watched her come up for air and prepared for her to join their tight pow-wow, "What in User's name brought up THIS topic?"

"I literally was just talking about Dead Zed's code room... I said it was small but packed a punch," Vanellope stated with a giggle as she pointed to her niece, "Tammy took it to a weird point, from there."

"Forgive me, believe it or not, adding the Kalivar coding to my system has included the stupid, giddy, dirty thoughts of a typical dude-bro," Tammy garbled, and although she was typically labelled the castle's tomboy, she was in great company with Tessa and Libby as such, as well.

"You're telling me... Tessa now has to snort back laughter whenever firewalls or code-sourcing is talked about," Vanellope gawked, everyone softly laughed as Taffyta finally waded over to the group, "Forget the topic of plugging in different environmental ports..."

"Whose plugging into whose port?" Taffyta wondered in a plain tone as she wiped her eyes free of water and held onto the edge of the pool, though everyone choked out into laughter, "Oh, sorry..."

"Guess it's not just a Kalivar thing," Emery muttered as she beamed Vanellope a knowing smirk.

"Nahhh that's just a Taffyta thing," Vanellope cocked an eyebrow and looked down to her sister, from the very edge of the diving board.

"HEY, I may have my original coding again, but you can blame the dude-Fluggerbutter for my remarks," Taffyta barked as she waggled her hand, though she hoisted herself out of the water, sat on the edge of the pool and kept her legs dangled in the cool water, "... I miss that kid."

"Me too," Vanellope bobbed a nod and looked up to the storm that raged far beyond their bright and sunny illusion of a day.

"Alright, so I guess we've established who is, quite literally the smallest... Who do you think is the biggest?" Taffyta sneakily wondered, though as everyone dragged their eyes to the lone, Sugar Rush Queen, legs dangled off the diving board, she bashfully peered to them in a look of whole, smitten nervousness and finally shot the group a bewildered gape of annoyance, "OKAY We're ruling out the obvious, here."

"Whose the next biggest dude, in comparison to height and build, other than Ralph?" Tammy giggled, everyone tried to reel in their laughter.

"Oliver," Emery muttered as she sunk into the water, once more, though everyone bobbed a nod and began to nudge Emery's shoulders in a knowing way.

"She's not wrong," Taffyta mumbled as she rubbed her face and grimaced a look of dismay, "I-I don't want to think about my nephew like that."

"That's my son, think about how I feel, right now," Vanellope volleyed to the group, though it was all in good fun.

"I'm sorry, Vanellope," Emery staggered through bashful laughter as she covered her face and kept close to the edge of the pool.

"The Kalivar boys are, well... Definitely not bluffing," Tammy scoffed as she shook her head and gave Libby a knowing look, though it sloped to mild confusion with the realization that Libby was the only girl, in this group, who had never swapped before. Still, Tammy continued on, "I have yet to get with Penny, for more solidification, but Tess has told me that Zed DEFINITELY-"

"GAH All my children are in this mess, can we exclude my children from this conversation!?" Vanellope suddenly garbled as she covered her ears, tucked her knees up to her chest and playfully curled into a ball; all the girls outwardly laughed towards her.

"ALRIGHT, next guy in line, after Oliver," Emery rushed, so to ease Vanellope's worries, though as the group fell silent in contemplation, everyone knowingly dragged their teasing gazes to Libby, whose face was now nearly purple from the overload of blushing.

"User-boy," Taffyta choked, and with such, everyone was rocketed into further laughter as Tammy gently hooked her arm over Libby's shoulder.

"Any dude who is a direct descendant of a Mr. Big Bad Wreck-It Ralph is due to have a verrrry happy girl on his arm," Tammy teased, and although Libby would originally want to shy as far away from this topic, she furrowed her brow and was well aware she was pent up about it all. She huffed a shaky breath, looked across the pool and felt safe in this small circle of women, and although she had previously just prepared herself to bluntly make it known that she didn't want to talk about it, she flipped the coin and wondered if she could get this issue off of her chest, once and for all. Tammy jostled Libby a little and lovingly continued on, "C'mon, Libs. We're all dying to know what's going on."

"W-Won't it make Vanellope uncomfortable?" Libby stammered with a bashful smile, she held the illusion that she was uncomfortable, strictly for a smoother segue into the fiery mess of pent up frustration she actually was.

"Shoot, he's not MY kid," Vanellope barked, to which everyone loudly laughed and volleyed encouraging smiles in Libby's direction.

"He's your grandchild!" Tammy uttered with a blurt of a laugh, everyone beamed sheepish smiles towards Vanellope.

"Not directly your child," Emery gently added.

"I-I think it helps that I wasn't around for his childhood," Vanellope shrugged and adjusted her bikini top a little.

"Spill your heart out, Libs, no one here is weirded out," Taffyta concluded as all eyes dragged back to Libby, though she huffed a long breath and shook her head.

"There's nothing to spill... I-I mean..." Libby looked down in a flustered way and shrugged a bit, though Tammy uttered a loud groan and lulled her head to the side in a lazy fashion.

"Of course there is," Tammy garbled, "Why else did you NOT go on the Sugar Rush scout?"

"Dat sexual tension," Emery snipped as she finally sat on the step and tried to tidy her long, emerald green hair.

"A practically-girls only staycation?" Taffyta waggled her eyebrows.

"He's probably feeling the pain of you not being around," Vanellope fingered her lip and looked up, "Smart call, chica... You've got him 'round your finger."

"I-I doubt that," Libby scoffed as her smile and demeanor grew more comfortable.

"Seasoned pros, here, girly," Taffyta crossed her arms and side-eyed Libby, "You've now got the ball in your court."

"So, what, he's going to come home and you guys are just going to... Hold hands," Tammy took off her sunglasses, sat up a bit straighter and was glad the group began to tighten, "Happily ever after... Holding hands."

"A-Ace and I sorted this all out, the other night," Libby begged, she shook her head and was beginning to look frustratingly flustered, her smile began to slide from delighted to irritated, though towards one boy and one boy only, "Sure, we're not on the same page, but... I guess he has a lot more reserves than I imagined."

"I TOLD you he wasn't just being stupid," Taffyta snipped to Vanellope, who gaped and gave Taffyta an annoyed shrug.

"You're saying all this like it's news, babe, but the castle is very aware," Tammy cocked an eyebrow and gave Libby an apologetic smile, "You two don't do a good job of keeping all of this secretive."

"That might be my fault," Libby stabbed in exasperated sighs of gestured hands and blue eyes that dart about the sky.

"He's really cute, huh?" Emery egged, she eyed Libby and hoped that by being supportive and encouraging, Libby would finally come out of her shell.

"Cute? All those muscles?" Tammy supported as she gently waggled her hand towards Emery, "Hot, how about?"

"You have no idea," Libby grumbled as she sagged her shoulders and aimlessly let her bashful gaze gloss over the sloshing pool water.

"So, what was the 'page' you two landed on, then, surely you'll kiss and make up when he gets home?" Emery shrugged.

"H-He's... I guess, reserved because he's nervous to hand over all that User coding to another person," Libby glanced between all the eager eyes in the group, "I don't blame him, really, but... But...!"

"You're dying for it, it's obvious," Tammy blurt, everyone softly laughed.

"It's thrilling," Taffyta scrunched her shoulders, to which Vanellope raised her eyebrows, nodded and looked away, "All that brand new, foreign coding just rushing through yours. It's steaming and freezing all in one go."

"Electrifying... And then settles," Emery added cooly as she flattened her hands to the clear water she sat waist deep in, Libby eagerly glanced between everyone who had an opinion.

"The prickling sensation on the undersides of your skin?" Tammy volleyed as she ran her fingers over her forearm, all the girls in the group, excluding Libby, cooed and moaned knowing notions of agreeing to everything that was being said, "It's indescribable."

"You guys," Libby whined in soft annoyance, and although she wanted the words of experience to settle, somehow she was eager for more, definitely listing just what she had to look forward to, "It's not so easy, with Ace and I."

"Well, why not?" Vanellope shrugged, Libby held her hands to the side of her head and urgently brought her voice to a drum louder than previously.

"Because he's a HUMAN! All that incredible coding will be mine! A-And what am I to do with it?" Libby begged in worry that now coat the group with prickled excitement, "No wonder he's so scared, I-I'm not even sure I'll survive the event!"

"Then how come you want it so bad?" Tammy wondered ironically as she cocked and eyebrow, though Libby clenched her fists and began to bring herself to a stand.

"Because every single last one of my honeycombs are going crazy, not once did I think anyone could ever help me get over all the bullshit that happened to me... I love the kid! Words aren't enough to express that, any longer," Libby urged with a hard laugh as she gestured her hands out, though she pointed to each girl and gave them an annoyed smirk, "I'll have you guys know that I loved him even before he worked for all those muscles, by the way."

"Ahh, the fluffy, puppy-dog phase he went through," Tammy laughed as she closed her eyes and nodded, "He was still a cutey."

"So what are you going to tell him when he gets back?" Emery begged with an eager smile as she scrunched her shoulders.

"Just tie him down," Tammy blurt, her and Taffyta shared a hard laugh as Vanellope rolled her eyes.

"I promised to make him dinner, he promised me a romantic date night... Hopefully we meet on the same page, then," Libby shrugged.

"Cook the pants right off him," Tammy blurt, once more, which again egged a larger laugh-fest out of her and Taffyta.

"Wear something pretty," Emery cooed, her dewy green eyes looked more and more intrigued, "I can help you pick something out!"

"Shit, don't wear anything at all! That'll get'im!" Tammy egged again, though with her final remark, Vanellope groaned a loud, annoyed noise to the group and lazily kamikaze'd right off the diving board and submerged underneath the water.

"I have all week to decide how to approach this," Libby crossed her arms, stepped out of the pool and fingered her lip.

"It's currently day one of six, practically," Emery shrugged as she, too, stood and began to follow Libby's idea of drying off.

"Just be cool, you don't want to scare him off, especially if HE'S the one with reserves," Taffyta added softly, though Tammy rubbed her forehead and lulled her eyes closed in mild, playful dismay.

"He does seem like the kind of guy that doesn't do well with surprises," Tammy muttered, though she opened her eyes and dragged her stare up to Libby, "Then again, you never know..."

"Well, we'll all know what's up if he comes back and the power goes out, later that night," Vanellope finally mumbled as she softly wade over to Tammy and Taffyta.

"... Is that even possible?" Libby worried as she froze and peered to everyone in the pool, she handed Emery her towel.

"He's a User," Tammy practically choked.

"YES, it's possible," Taffyta pointed to Vanellope and was thrilled to get a hard, bashful blush out of her sister, "Let me remind you of the Game Central Station fiasco of '13."

"I won't let you remind me, shut up," Vanellope rushed in a mutter as she sunk deeper into the water.

* * *

"I have to admit something," Orph eased quietly, and as his fingers traced the rim of his empty glass, he peered to Rancis across the kitchen island. Rancis cocked an eyebrow and only barely looked over his shoulder, and as he gently tidied the messy counters near the stove, "It's... Pretty difficult, being in the same presence as someone who looks identical to the man that corrupted my oldest brother's coding..."

"Radex," Rancis huffed in a knowing way, he bobbed a nod and gently turned around, and although Rancis knew that Radex was simply his clone, he was certain they had at least some external differences, however minor. Rancis raised his eyebrows, leaned his palms to the island, faced Orph and looked down, "There's literally nothing I can do to help that."

"Oh no, I-I didn't mean that in such a way that suggested you were irritating me, or anything," Orph staggered as he got comfortable on the stool he was on, "Radex was... Rather sickly looking, anyways. None of us trusted him."

"I have memories," Rancis admitted in a croak as he finally gaze Orph his humbled, sorrowful gaze, though Orph looked on curiously, "I don't have ties to Radex, any longer, but... Before I reintegrated with him, I was mentally present for all those visits to Dead Zed. Although it wasn't actually me, I still was connected, as odd as that seems."

"You just had no control over the situation," Orph shook his head.

"None whatsoever," Rancis shrugged, "What was worse is I didn't have control over what I saw, either. Sometimes I'd come in and out of his brain wave, and often it'd just be static, pure chaos. Like a jigsaw puzzle... But I vividly remember all the Dead Zed racers... How he tore all you guys apart."

"It sucked," Orph choked with a nod, though Rancis gave Orph a daring, toothy smile and narrowed his gaze.

"Tess was successful in ridding Zed of Radex's coding, but... It costed her Sugar Rush," Rancis huffed, though Orph sorrowfully nodded and began to grimace in such a way that resulted in something only Rancis could describe as rising hatred for this man, "... You okay?"

"It's... Half the reason I'm here," Orph stifled, he nervously dragged his gaze to Rancis and frowned, "Sure, I'm here for Penny and... To save Sugar Rush, and sure, we're all reunited with Zed but... We've all got unfinished business, in one way or another."

"Vengeance won't get you anywhere, son," Rancis's deep, authoritative voice soaked over Orph's existence, and with such, Orph's facial expression finally softened from anger to nervousness, "Sure, we all have a bone to pick with this guy... But no matter what, this fight needs to end with dignity... We're all reunited. We know the next step."

"... Well, hopefully it's not reintegration?" Orph staggered nervously, though he was thrilled to see Rancis beam a smile and look down.

"No, I think I've been wholly separated from him, this time around," Rancis furrowed his brow in curiosity and stabbed his dark blue gaze to Orph's silver stare, "I have no mental ties, no blips of brain wave connections, nothing... It's as if he's now an entirely different person. Maybe he was all along, he just removed me from the equation."

"How will we find out?" Orph urged in growing excitement, though Rancis rolled his eyes, smiled and looked away.

"We need to get to the castle," Rancis glossed nonchalantly, though Orph hung on the dregs of his words.

"You know where it is?" Orph rushed, though just as Rancis bobbed a nod, Orph felt his skin turn to goo, the sheer fact that he was the very first and only being to fully understand that Rancis, indeed, knew exactly where the castle was. Orph fumbled in his seat, sat up straighter and gave Rancis a floored look of urgency, "Wh-Where is it?"

"I'm not telling you here and now," Rancis choked with a laugh that nearly startled Orph back into his seat, "This ridge has eyes and ears EVERYWHERE... User knows if they're even still in use, but even so much as saying HIS name has me on edge."

"I-I'm sorry," Orph huffed, Rancis held up his hand.

"Not your fault... Let's just vow not to talk about this until we're out of Sugar Rush," Rancis grumbled with a small nod, "I'll be sure to tell everyone else that the topic should be off limits, until we're free."

"Aye-aye," Orph mumbled in mild disappointment he tried not to make too obvious, though with the way Rancis cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, Orph felt his pupils tighten in hot knowing.

"So, tell me a little bit about yourself, then," Rancis gave Orph a smug smile, "What have you and your brothers been up to, since Zed was gone?"

"Uh, w-well," Orph nearly choked, though as memories came rushing back to him, his eyes so gently began to trail to his right, just to where Lickity, amongst the pile of feathers and fur, lay strewn and comfortably asleep. The horrible memories of finding, racing and abusing Lickity came hot to the forefront of his mind, and although he wanted to B.S. something and make Rancis believe he was this perfect knight in shining armor sent just for Rancis's baby girl, he knew he should likely bite the bullet and be honest, "I uh... I did a lot of things I'm not proud of, if... We're being honest."

"That's bold of you," Rancis nodded, he honed his gaze tight to Orph and kept face, a tight-lipped act of authority both men knew held high over Orph, in this instance, though Rancis tried to give Orph an assuring smile, "We all have regrets. It's good to recognize it, and mature from them."

"Yes, sir," Orph stated sorrowfully, though he knew, in the handful of times he glanced to the pile of sleeping flyers, Rancis finally cocked an eyebrow and followed his line of sight.

"... Do you want me to fill in the blanks or are you going to answer my question?" Rancis chuckled a little and eased his dominant stance, he finally crossed his arms and tried to not look so threatening. He peered to the flyers for a moment before gesturing to them, he hooked his gaze to Orph, who was beginning to want to hang his head in shame, "I'm going to assume that this includes one of those... Throw rugs, over there."

"Yeah, the... Tan, scaly one," Orph muttered, and in this instance, he was praying Lickity was actually asleep.

Orph sorrowfully peered his stare to Rancis's, and as both boys gazed to each other, Rancis reeled at old memories he had from when Tessa first found Lickity. The hard gashes down Lickity's snout, the saddle that was somehow burned and welded to her very being, the gashes in her ankles from shackles that held her tight in imprisonment, Rancis's cheeky gaze softly slopped to that of humbled, sorrowful knowing. As Orph's stare grew more and more defeated and miserable, Rancis caught a breath, pointed in Lickity's direction and sagged his shoulders in realization.

"You're... Lickity's previous owner," Rancis staggered, though Orph held a tight-lipped, sarcastic smile, nodded and looked away in shame. Rancis scoffed a noise, let it all sink in and longingly peered his attention to the sleeping flyers, all of which quietly snored and slept the day away, "Wow... That was a shot in the dark, but... Shit..."

"You'd understand my surprise when Zed finally returned to us, and his girlfriend's pet was Lickity, low and behold," Orph barked quietly as he gestured to himself, this got a small laugh out of Rancis.

"I can see how that'd be uncomfortable," Rancis smiled, though he eyed Orph and narrowed his gaze, "I'm surprised she trusts you... I guess time heals all wounds, huh."

"She doesn't trust me," Orph glowered, he shook his head, "She hates me. Rightfully so... I don't think she'll ever forgive me, or be my friend... I don't blame her."

Rancis fingered his lip and contemplated all of this, though his furrowed gaze gently trailed from Lickity and back to Orph as the cabin grew quiet. Rancis titled his head curiously and waggled his finger.

"Well... You're currently courting my daughter. You seem to be a healthy choice of a suitor, no doubt?" Rancis eased, though Orph raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise and felt his face grow hot.

"... Y-Yes, sir," Orph near-choked, Rancis shrugged.

"You really think Lickity would allow something like that, if she wasn't slowly coming around?" Rancis shrugged, he smiled and side-eyed Orph, "Penny and Lickity go way back, Orph. Lickity is very protective of Tessa and Penny... Penny is practically Tessa's sister. Didn't you put that together?"

"I mean, I did, but..."

"You have nothing to worry about... Lickity is no threat to you anymore," Rancis eased, he raised his eyebrows and gave Orph a dominant, teasing grin, "The only being you have to worry about now... Is me."

Orph kept his mouth shut and felt as if his insides were simply about to fall out his butt. He choked to swallow and felt his hands begin to tremble, the mere thought of the delicious, exciting memories of him and Penny nearly swapping codes, the idea that Rancis was the man he wanted to get the go-ahead from, and now that he was simply in Rancis's presence, alone and ready for the jump, he could feel everything he had inside of him come to a screeching halt. He grit his teeth tight with his jaw and knew he simply couldn't ask for Penny's coding, here and now. With Rancis's gaze, however, he could practically feel the conversation steering down that path.

"Yes, sir," Orph repeated in whole respect, he kept his eyes down and wondered if this were the right way to play it.

He furrowed his gaze, peered to his empty cup and wondered just when a touch of dominance was needed. He held his breath and was aware the situation would present itself, it'd feel right, and he'd either meet Rancis at his level or be beaten back down a few notches; either way, he could practically feel the pulse in his jugular want to shoot straight out of his body. Rancis huffed a small laugh, narrowed his gaze and kept tight to the topic at hand, he returned his palms to the island and held whole dominance over the shivering soul across the counter.

"So, when did you meet Penny?" Rancis inquired lightly, though Orph knew these were all potentially loaded questions grossly marinated in coy lightness, a simple facade to prove to Orph that Rancis's precious baby girl was someone he'd throw himself in front of a bullet for.

"I met her about three months ago," Orph confidently answered, and it was in this did Orph finally straighten his spine and look Rancis in the eye, albeit nervously.

"Love at first sight?" Rancis asked teasingly as he shook his head, though Orph cheesed a small laugh, as well and rolled his eyes.

"I accidentally bumped into her... Causing her glass of water to go all over her," Orph blurt with an annoyed smile, "I certainly swept her off of her feet..."

"Ouch," Rancis choked, both men met in the camaraderie of a good laugh, though Rancis shook his head and volleyed the notion away, "So, how long have you two been dating, then?"

"A-About a month or so," Orph staggered as Rancis began to soak into more sensitive questions, he felt his face get hot, his heart beat was practically on surround sound.

"So, tell me how Taffyta feels about this?" Rancis volleyed, a massive amount of trust he had in the wife he hadn't seen for over a year, and with such, Orph felt his heart race faster and faster.

"Taffyta's great, we get along really well," Orph answered honestly.

"Ah-yeah?" Rancis chuckled, he bobbed a nod and kept a tight, dominant air over the whole topic, "So, certainly asking Taffyta for permission to eventually swap with Penny was no trouble at all, then?"

"No, it wasn't any trouble, sir," Orph stated confidently, a gamble he knew was a major risk, and with such, Rancis's stabbing gaze suddenly showed the true air and nature of this conversation.

"Look me in the eye, son, you tell me what color Penny's coding is, as it stands?" Rancis demanded softly, though his fatherly sternness was certainly enough to shatter concrete to dust.

"Orange," Orph staggered, he inhaled a shaky breath and desperately held his ground.

"Say again?" Rancis sarcastically cupped his hand to his ear and cocked an eyebrow.

"Orange, sir," Orph stated sharply, he stiffened his spine and felt as if his pupils were tightened into oblivion.

Rancis inhaled a deep breath, bobbed a nod, looked aimlessly across the house and bit his lip in cocky contemplation. He furrowed his brow, continued to gently nod and look as if he was mockingly deciding something. He finally stood up straight, eyed Orph and nearly smiled.

"Everyone in the castle was always so scared of me because I could sniff out a lie, every single time, hands down," Rancis's voice became scarily light and happy. He crossed his arms and let his dominant eye contact stab to Orph's. Orph struggled to swallow and felt Rancis's familiar, haunting gaze soak horrid memories of Radex into Orph's skin, "I was the castle's guard dog, my job was to search for trouble. I'm sure you've heard all the stories of Penny's upbringing... All the kids loved me, though they were also respectfully terrified of me. Ask me why."

"Why?" Orph shakily obliged.

"Because nothing... Got... Past... Me..." Rancis dragged darkly as he leaned forward a little, he narrowed his gaze and tightened the tension in the room, "You used to abuse Lickity, you have the shiftiness of someone who has killed a man, I'm also starkly aware of the fact that you detest authority and only really get along with people that are younger than you or hold no stature above you."

Orph held his breath and felt a weird sensation fall over him, and in this hot moment he vastly wondered just how Rancis got this knowledge. It was up until now did Orph think Rancis was simply just ridiculously good a reading people, though in this hard instance, Orph felt his blood go cold at just how near-hypnotic Rancis's sneaky demeanor, his stern, sharp eye contact, everything about him, truly was. Rancis simply read Orph like a wide open book; something Orph desperately strived not to be.

"If you've got something to say, you'd better come out with it right now, cause User-forbid I hear about anything, pertaining to you and Penny, through the grapevine," Rancis near-growled as he gripped the edge of the counter, though Orph staggered to finally find his breath.

"I made love to your daughter two weeks ago," Orph finally stabbed, though Rancis deepened his glower and remained still as Orph rushed to gently continue on, "I love Penny... She's... She's taught me a lot about compassion, about trust. I-I... I didn't get any form of permission, from Taffyta, before laying Penny down."

"How big does that make you feel?" Rancis firmly stabbed with a snide glower as he remained still, though Orph huffed a shaky breath.

"... I halted everything because I felt awful," Orph finally gave Rancis a gentle glare, "I wasn't about to follow in Finn's footsteps."

"... Finn?" Rancis huffed as the air finally began to become breathable.

"Finn full-on swapped with Tammy without Calhoun's or Felix's permission," Orph huffed, though Rancis sagged his stance and genuinely peered his sorrowful gaze to Orph as he continued on in a stab, "I... I may have made mistakes, I may have done stupid shit in the past, but I wasn't about to continue that trend with your daughter. I realize just how special she is... I told her that I'd feel more comfortable with... 'Us'... Once I got permission from her mother AND father."

Rancis frowned and peered his gentle gaze to Orph in soft surprise, though Orph cocked an eyebrow, looked down and finally let a nervous smile sprawl his cheeks.

"Sir, I was prepared to abstain until we finally found you, dead or alive, and I genuinely thought finding that truth would take an eternity," Orph laughed, though Rancis scoffed a small chuckle and finally peeled his dominant hover off of Orph. Orph gestured his hand nervously and frowned, "Penny is worth the wait, and although I am glad we found you quickly, I would've waited and waited... I already have proved myself to Taffyta. I knew proving myself to you would be tougher. You're Penny's father."

"You're right," Rancis nodded gently, though he apologetically looked to the kitchen island, "... I apologize for getting riled. I promised myself I'd take it easy on whoever Penny brought home, but... You're also a User-made gamer. You have to understand-"

"Tessa and Zed have helped two other opposed codec couples come out of that swap alive... I understand your worries. You also just got your family back, you don't want anyone so much as looking at them wrong," Orph shrugged, he narrowed his gaze and gave Rancis an incredulous smile, "I felt similar when we all finally got Zed back. I was sort of mean to Tessa, for a hot minute, there, and she was pregnant with his child... I didn't want anyone within arms reach of Zed... If there's anyone here that gets that, it's me."

Rancis sighed, smiled and nodded a little, and although both men fell silent, it was welcomed this time, and not so tense. Rancis finally gave Orph a genuine smirk and crossed his arms, once more.

"Thank you, for your honesty," Rancis eased warmly, he tried to come down from the rushing high the two were just on.

"You're welcome," Orph staggered nervously as he looked down, "I promised to take care of her... I also promised her I'd gain your permission, in all aspects of this relationship we're in."

"Well... You're not going to get it right here and now, I still hardly know you," Rancis chuckled, and although Orph looked mildly dejected, he finally caught eyes with Orph and gave him a look of promise, "Ask me again once we're settled in Dead Zed, and once I've reconvened with Taffyta... We'll all talk then."

"...Yes, sir," Orph stated once more with a nod and a more satisfied, yet nervous smile.


	190. Chapter 190

**Reviews :**

 **Silversurfer :** Hey thanks! Yes, the reunion for Taffyta and Rancis will indeed be special :)

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey there, long time no see! There are a few of you that have seemingly vanished, and it has me really sad... I'm glad you keep coming back, though, I definitely haven't forgotten about any of you. Thanks for your uplifting words, and I appreciate that you're enjoying Ace and Libby's 'imperfect' relationship - it gets a bit messy, which results in them fighting, and it always had me worried how you guys would react, but hearing you say that gave me confidence and I'm really glad it's stayed true to life :) No relationship is perfect, and I'm glad I can portray that! As for Emery, her and Libby DO have a bonding scene! I haven't forgotten :) Emery doesn't really have any dark secrets, the only thing she really has on her is her tragic past, how she lost her parents. She explained this to Ace nearly 100 chapters ago so it's easy to forget, cause it was awhile ago xD

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :)

 **flubber1680 :** Thanks! Yes, it'll be exciting - Tej and Rancis DO have a conversation about it. I won't spoil anything, but it does get a bit messy :P

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **All I Believe In by Amadou & Mariam & The Magic Numbers**

 **Riot by Ace Wilder**

* * *

 ***Chapter 190***

Through meticulous, long glances of the information before his hooked nose, Finn furrowed his dark blueish, grey brow deeper into his facial expression of whole concentration. The quietness of the castle was palpable, the lack of Tessa's and Zed's presence, as well as the rest of the scout, made Finn's heart gently ache with fondness, how much he always missed his family whenever they were deep in Sugar Rush's grip. He sighed, kept Zed's digital pad tight to his face and continued to run through protocols. He furrowed his brow and eyed Ace's tower; labelled with only one inhabitant for now, being Libby, he powered down Nox's and Ace's rooms from electricity and allowed the game's core to breath a little more.

"You're getting the hang of it," Vanellope stated with gentle warmth, she had been sitting with Finn, Tammy and Duke, at the kitchen island.

"What makes you say that?" Finn uttered softly as him and Tammy brought their eye contact to Vanellope, she sat with her elbows to the counter and her palms flush to her cheeks; her nose was near-buried in a good book.

"Your hand gestures, the look on your face," Vanellope prod tenderly as she finally dragged her eyes from the loved pages of her book, she shut the book with care and let her fingers find the spine of it as she soaked her whole attention to the budding couple, just across the stretch, "You used to look terrified to press buttons... The code room, in any game, won't let you down, won't let you make silly mistakes."

"Wise words from a true head, there, Mr. Finn," Felix chimed quietly as he passed through, he gently pointed to Vanellope and gave her a loving smile, "Best take any advice she gives you. Aside from Tessa's and Zed's wisdom, her word reigns."

"Thank you, Felix," Vanellope said shyly as she gave Finn and Tammy a wrinkle of a smile, as if to suggest that she didn't hold herself to a cocky stature, though said smile also suggested that Felix's words held a depth of truth.

"You used to ask Tammy questions she would try and fumble to help you through, as well, but... Have you noticed?" Vanellope side-eyed Finn and continued to give him that loving aura of soaked confidence she knew Finn needed, though Finn bashfully let the tablet sag as he glanced to Tammy, and then to Duke.

"You haven't said a single thing for the past half an hour," Duke's deep voice grumbled with a knowing breath of a chuckle, Tammy smiled and looked down to her hands in growing, bashful pride.

"Zed gave me a good dose of prepping, before they left," Finn sighed, he gingerly swiped his finger over the pad and zoomed out on the blueprint-like structure that showed the castle.

"Give yourself some credit, as well," Vanellope nodded, as did Duke, "You're doing great. What's next on the agenda?"

"Well," Finn huffed a sharp sigh and smiled as he brought the pad back into his able hands, "I just finished cutting off unnecessary energy being used, in the castle. My next task was surrounding cities... I-I have yet to have confidence in sprawling to farther cities."

"It's not so scary," Vanellope shrugged as she eyed just what was shown on Finn's digital pad, a strand of the code room and all of it's properties, "It wouldn't hurt to visit these places, either."

"I guess you're right," Finn sighed with a nod, though he cocked an eyebrow and peered to Vanellope nervously, "I really have a long way to go. I don't know how I'd handle something going wrong, o-or... A catastrophe, of sorts."

"Something like that has never happened," Duke stated gently, though his quiet and brooding demeanor held true, it was clear that he was beginning to show signs of wanting to go to sleep sometime soon. He cocked an eyebrow, messily brushed his near-blackish blue hair out of his eyes and shot his older brother a nervous smirk, "But... Doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"How do you even prepare for something like that?" Tammy uttered with an incredulous chuckle as she shook her head, everyone gave off the same air of disbelief as they peered to each other, and then to Vanellope, though just as Tammy continued on, Ralph, Oliver and Emery hustled in from the back door, their high-energies were prominent, "It's not like you can just prod at the code room and pretend."

"Well, I just so happen to know a guy that's pretty good at wrecking stuff," Vanellope stated nonchalantly, though as the three wreckers got closer, it was clear they had just returned from a nighttime workout and swim.

"We need something rogue, not planned," Tammy muttered as she eyed her aunt, though she did so, in such a way, as to nearly scold Vanellope for something she hadn't even had done yet.

"Who says anything is planned?" Vanellope prod curiously, she shrugged and eyed Ralph as the three came closer to the island, "Ralph, I have a question."

"Shoot, babe," Ralph snipped with a small smile, him and Oliver slowed to a halt as they leaned onto the kitchen island; both men were shirtless, their skin glistened from their nighttime swim.

"Pretend, oh I don't know... You were genuinely a bad guy," Vanellope started coyly, she looked up to the high ceiling and went on to continue, though Oliver's snort of a laugh and Ralph's gentle mumbling interrupted her.

"I AM a bad guy," Ralph stated in a deep, playful grumble, though Oliver nudged Ralph's arm and rolled his eyes.

"You guys," Finn staggered as he could practically smell trouble.

"She means like... Genuinely a terrible person?" Emery questioned as she strolled up, she was lazily dressed in Oliver's large, black shirt, her lime green bikini, underneath, only showed from the straps around her neck and shoulders.

"Yes, like you have bad intentions for anyone and anything," Vanellope rushed as she eyed Ralph and playful annoyance, though Ralph put his large hands on his hips and nodded once, as if to state he understood. Vanellope's gentle eye contact trailed down to Tammy's beautiful, golden hammer, sat on the island counter between the two girls, and in a slow reach, Vanellope was successful in collecting her hammer; she could see the agitation in Tammy begin to build, "So... Pretend you're a genuinely terrible person, and you have just stumbled upon this glorious castle on the Kalivar lot. You want to take over the game... What do you, and your band of side-kick wreckers, do first?"

"Get to the code room," Ralph shrugged, though he furrowed his eyebrow and froze, as did Emery and Oliver. Ralph furrowed his brow, ruffled his crazy auburn hair and smiled his typical, irresistible gap-toothed smile. His eyes dart between Duke and Finn, and before he could get words out, Duke threw his hands up in defense and began to lazily step away from the island.

"Look, I'll be on my balcony, having a smoke... Don't destroy my room, and we'll be okay," Duke blurt through a chuckle as he accidentally bumped into Oliver; both boys volleyed notions of gentle, boyish shoves and brotherly antics before Duke finally began to head out of the kitchen.

"Okay, let's uh... Let's not get to hasty, here," Finn ordered as he fumbled to keep the tablet close to him. He gave Vanellope a look of near terror, "No, I heard all about that crazy field test you set upon Ace, you... You can't tell me you're actually going to do that to me, are you?"

"Well, the beauty of this situation is, you're in your own game," Vanellope shrugged as she merely glanced to Ralph, though she held up her fingers and sharply snapped them once, "Your advantage is... The code room."

Just as Vanellope's sharp snap reverberated from the walls of the kitchen and main room, everyone, except Vanellope, largely flinched as Ralph, Oliver and Emery all jolted into excited action, like puppies let off a leash. Finn threw his hand out and uttered a loud notion, simply to beg them to stop what they were doing, but before he knew it, Ralph's fists caught with his end of the island, causing the marble to suddenly crackle and shatter to the tiles underneath. Finn and Tammy urgently flinched, covered their faces and were met with Ralph, Oliver and Emery suddenly tearing for the Sky Room, just where the code room was.

"Game on!" Vanellope shouted with a hard laugh, Finn choked a noise of urgency and began to fumble to get about the messy, shattered island.

"GAME ON?!" Finn shrieked as he coughed, from the dust in the air, and began to urgently jolt after the three wreckers, "I-I don't remember inserting quarters for this game!"

"I would be mad, but I don't think we have time," Tammy rushed as her and Finn began to dart for the Sky Room, though in a jolt of zipping electricity, Vanellope glitched before them, put her hands on her hips and stopped them dead in their tracks.

"You REALLY think diving head first into a pile of three wreckers is the best idea?" Vanellope shouted with a giggle as she gestured to the Sky Room, though all at once, an ear-shattering crash soaked the walls of the castle, the ground shook underneath, and in a look of pure terror, Finn tried to jolt past Vanellope. In a lunge of desperation, as well as a playful eyeroll, Vanellope grappled Finn's arm and blurt a laugh, "NO! The answer is NO! Where do you need to be, right now?"

"The code room!" Tammy uttered nervously, though Finn huffed a shaky breath and fumbled for the pad.

"Th-the code room," Finn staggered, he was begging that some of that coded confidence, that Tammy had blessed him with, would decide to surface sometime soon.

"That's your point of safety in an attack," Vanellope rushed with a smile as Finn's shaking hands did everything they could to bring up the teleportation options, "Hull away in the code room and deal with an attack from there. There's no safer spot."

"Got it," Finn shoved his finger to the readied, green button before, all at once, the three were collectively teleported to Tessa's and Zed's small, precious code room.

The atmosphere of the code room was definitely different than that of the rest of the castle, it was still and quiet, and although the code room was usually dim and only gently illuminated by Coder, it shone a stark white of pure terror, to which Vanellope, Finn and Tammy angrily squinted into. Finn staggered to put the pad away, and focus on calming Coder, though with the roll of the wrecking business happening outside the long corridor, which lead to the code room, Finn began to panic at the sheer idea of those three wreckers successfully wrecking their way into the code room. Vanellope lovingly held the back of Finn's shoulder and gestured to Coder.

"C'mon, Finn, no time to be uncertain. Calm the game down and get to work," Vanellope instructed, "In a time of an attack, you won't have these spare seconds to even think straight."

"You've got three wreckers that will clearly stop for nothing, so it seems," Tammy blurt in rising apprehension, though they wobbled and flinched in a roll of the reverberating bangs from Ralph, Oliver and Emery, and with such, Coder's light nervously flickered.

Finn raised his eyebrows in surprise as the two, sturdy sliding doors, that was the main entrance to the code room, opened and slammed shut in an urgent fit of confusion. In the small, ogling glimpse that Finn had down the empty corridor, which lead to Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, he could see the indestructible double doors, at the end of the hall, begin to crumble and bend inwards in such a way he didn't even think was possible. With the bangs and earthquakes becoming more abundant, Finn choked a nervous noise and gently held his hands out in a gesture, so to cue to Coder. In a beyond agitated flicker, Coder finally grew closer, the glowing orb that he was. Finn tabbed into the details, panted and felt his shoulders tremble, though with the very image of his precious code room being encroached on, he felt the protectiveness in his heart skyrocket.

"Now that you're here, what's the first thing you do?" Vanellope quickly asked in a snap as the three caught their footing, from the loud and core-shaking, thunderous breaks in the walls and concrete all around.

"Lockdown the game," Finn stabbed, he urgently scanned through a few options, shut down the main wiring to Game Central Station and put the game on a secure safe-mode, "The three threats now can't leave and harm the rest of the Arcade."

"Good man, step two," Vanellope stated loudly over the nonsense, though Tammy covered her eyes and grit her teeth in rising terror.

"Catch the culprit," Finn muttered as he inhaled a steady breath and finally found his bearings, nearly two minutes too slow.

He shook his head, inwardly scolded himself for it and unboggled his brain. With this new influx of rushing, Fix-It coding, he heaved a final breath, sprawled his fingers and was floored to see Coder obey his every single command. The code room sprawled with all sorts of details, urgent flashes of the Kalivar castle, the three beings that had gone rogue that weren't native to Dead Zed, excluding Emery; Finn tightened his vision, zoomed in and prepared the game to suck their coding right out of the air. Just as he was about to press his two fingers to Ralph and then Oliver, the whole code room shifted in a thud, and with a sudden shut down of the power to the grid and the doors keeping everyone safe, the code room doors urgently slid open and a loud alarm began to blare.

Vanellope, Tammy and Finn froze in collected fear as the massive, study door that Ralph and Oliver were so desperately trying to wreck down, slid open in crackling urgency, which caused sparks to harshly fly from the chaos. Finn held his breath, froze in his stance and, through the dark corridor, could only see Ralph's and Oliver's massive figures, hunched and panting, fists clenched in all adrenaline, and with such, Finn began to feel wholly out of sorts. In the stir of silence, it was quickly shattered by Ralph's fists coming down to the torn apart tiling, and with such, him and Oliver immediately began to shove down the corridor like two beasts out for blood. Finn huffed a staggered breath and, for once this entire time, it all felt cold and real. To his surprise, Coder remained nervously alert, shivering and uncertain of just what the hell was happening.

"Hurry-HURRY-HURRY!" Both Tammy and Vanellope began to screech in urgency as they dove for Finn and the code he harbored before him.

Finn wobbled in growing fear, urgently honed his eyes to the mess of coding before him, and even though he tried to keep steady, he could see Ralph and Oliver's dark silhouettes barging towards the three through the holograms he tried to focus on, the corridor eerily flickered with returning power as they came crashing down the shattered tiles of white concrete. With hands that moved faster than he even thought possible, Finn quickly garnered Oliver's and Ralph's coding, though in the whirl of it, his dark blue eyes dart about the map in cold fear, the fact that Emery's coding had gone missing. He held his breath and dragged about the map of the bedrooms, the kitchen, the backyard, the front foyer, and it wasn't until a zip of electric, olive green coding bounced across the tiles of the dark code room did Finn feel that protective rage crawl over him.

Finn grunted a holler, dragged Ralph's and Oliver's coding in a firm down swipe, and as he whirled around to catch sight of Emery's lightning quick coding, he grit his teeth in concentration and swiped at the quick coding on Coder's flickering map. Tammy and Vanellope could be seen urgently scrambling backwards, and as Finn finally had all three wreckers in his grasp, he inhaled a sharp breath through his nose, collected all pinpoints with his fingers and slammed down on a button labeled 'collect'. With such, all three wrecker's coding zipped in a fit of confusion, and as their code boxes suddenly bobbed into the dark, torn apart code room in a successful collection, Finn heaved a hard, shaky groan of a pant and shook his head in whole irritation.

Before Vanellope or Tammy could collapse to their knees and express to Finn just what a wonderful job he did, Finn sprawled his hands and fingers, near his side, and collected Coder's splay of a screen. As he collected back into an orb, bright and confidently shining, Coder finally hovered before Finn and swayed with his every move, as if to express he was obedient to Finn in Zed's absence. Finn heaved a shaky sigh and allowed Coder's power to soak into his coding, and as it all came rushing to him, he huffed a shaky chuckle and held his hands out to Coder.

"I can fix it," Finn stated proudly with a smirk as sweat came down his temples, and as he collected what seemed to be a coded hammer, a bit larger than Tammy's or Felix's, he gingerly pulled it from Coder's glowing self and took a good, hard swing.

With the pang of a million bells, the reverberation of tiers and rings of rippling sound, the whole game set out like a shockwave of fixing skill, and as a glow brighter than a thousand suns flood the entirety of the code room, Finn held his stance firm and shut his eyes tight. Within seconds, the game's crumpling, shattered state immediately reversed itself and put every single last bit of ruin back into order. As if the game breathed a sigh of relief, everything suddenly came to a silence within split seconds, the only thing heard was the panting of Ralph, Vanellope, Tammy, Emery and Oliver behind Finn's strict figure. Finn opened his eyes in a disarray of confusion, shook his head and lowered his new hammer. In a fit of confusion, he sagged his shoulders, peered down at the new tool in his hands and cocked an eyebrow.

As he slowly turned to face everyone, his trembling hands gripped the hammer, and although he wanted to so desperately get a good look at his new hammer, proudly earned, his humble, terrified eye contact stabbed to Vanellope, he desperately sought her acceptance, and as everyone's shoulders practically shook with the riled energy and the desperate attempts to catch their breath, smiles slowly sprawled their faces. Finn finally followed suit, blurt a hard chuckle and peered down to the hammer, once and for all. Glossed in gold, the handle was long and sturdy, the head looked a bit more like a metal mallet. He narrowed his gaze in curiosity and was floored to see a gorgeous, sprawl of blue etching near the head and neck of the hammer. In the whirl of everything, he flinched as Vanellope finally choked a laugh. Finn's eyes jolted up to her figure in surprise, she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in pride.

"It's safe to say... You're doing great, dude," Vanellope huffed with a smile and a bob of a nod.

* * *

 **A/N : OKAY GUYS, this is really weird to say but... R.O.'s FOURTH sketch dump will be coming up, and this time... the 4th sketch dump WON'T be the last! Crazy town! I'm very quickly coming up on 200 chapters, and I will very quickly soar RIGHT past it. I have about 40-60 more chapters left in me... As well as the first 50 chapters of the 4th story. I'm pretty sure I'm not human anymore lol**

 **I know that's not anything anyone signed up for, but... I have to get it all out of my body and onto Fanfiction or else I will hate myself. So I hope you guys are ready for at least 2 more sketch dumps, for R.O., cause this beast isn't going anywhere.**

 **That said, have your requests ready, cause once 200 hits then I will begin writing everything down! I've decided that THIS particular sketch dump can be of ANY scene in ANY chapter of ANY BOOK.**

 **You read that right.**

 **I'm giving you guys 10 chapters to collect your ideas. You have the three stories to pick from - Wrecking Limits, Defying Code AND Rectifying Origin.**

 **Y'all have 566 chapters to f*ck me up with.**

 **This is my way of saying one massive THANK YOU. So have fun! Don't hold back! Lay 'em on me! The good User knows how the hell this is all going to fit on DeviantART, but I'll make it work!**

 **...That was a Tim Gunn reference for anyone that got that lol**


	191. Chapter 191

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Haha thanks xD

 **gannon28131 :** Hey **CONGRATS!** You're my **1,400th** reviewer! :D Thank you so much! Aww, yeah I was hoping that scene would tug at your guys' heart strings. I am a huge sucker for father daughter moments seeing as I didn't really get a lot of those growing up - writing about it makes me feel as though I can sort of live it, vicariously. So while I can't totally relate, I'm really glad it's reached people in a different sense. I will DEFINITELY add it to my list! :) Thanks again!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** HEY! I love dissecting your long reviews - not being sarcastic! I genuinely do! :D So thank you so much for reviewing and keeping up, and don't worry about not reviewing sometimes, I totally get it! Omg I am SO SORRY, I know, Ace and Libby's little progression thing is like moving at 2mph LOL! They have a moment where it goes from 0-100 REAL quick, but... It results in drama, all condensed into like 2 or 3 chapters, so it'll be a pretty hair-pulling experience, from all angles, I'm sure! But the outcome is golden honeycombs, so really it's a win, in the end xD And yes, the positivity and 'family love' in the story picks up, with the reunion of Rancis - there obviously is going to be a massive bout of 'negative' chapters, towards the end and etc., but you guys know it always ends in sunshine. I think Defying Code was the only instance where it ended like... In a dark spot haha. But I intended it that way, I wanted the 2nd story to have a cliffhanger. But don't worry, with sad/intense chapters, I always make sure to sprinkle comedic relief. Also, the laughie-taffies DO have a role in this story, and not a pretty one! You'll find out more about them later! And YES I know, I'm insane, 566 chapters for you guys to dissect and murder me with xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey friend! Thanks so much! :D No, don't be worried! There isn't a single scene, in my trilogy, that I will think is 'obscure' - trust me, I wrote it all... And have read the entirety of it at least a dozen times. So fire away! :) I'm REALLY glad you're enjoying my more quieter/lesser known characters, I appreciate that! And, yes, I'm very aware WIR2 is a thing. I've known about this sequel for a handful of years now lol... Sort of a sensitive topic, to be honest. I'm excited and not excited all at the same time.

PS - yes, Duke smokes. You'll come to learn that Turbo does as well

PSS - Thanks! I'll get to it when I can.

PSSS - It is fluffy and teary, indeed xD

 **JaySketchin :** OH YAY! HELLO! I missed you! :D Thanks for the support, no matter what season of life we're all in, you know I'm always appreciative!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Hahaha I know, I've lost my mind xD I think I lost it a LONG time ago, so I guess there's no turning back. I appreciate all the LOVE! ;_; THANK YOU! That really means a lot to me! and YES! You can request a sketch from ANY chapter, seriously ANY of them. As for Candlehead and Gloyd, you will find out why they're MIA! There's a big reason, and it'll all come to a head shortly, don't you worry! Thank you so much for that last bit, about my writing. I genuinely do not know how I'm doing it either *knocks on wood* - I just write and draw and DO and don't look back. I love these characters more than anyone could imagine, they're huge part of my life, so keeping this ball rolling isn't so difficult. It also helps that you all love these guys as well, it makes me feel as though I'm at least doing something right! xD It also helps me with story building and story telling, so it's a lot of practice and such, on my end. Honestly, I just don't know how to stop lol. I just love writing. As if that wasn't obvious lol!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Perfect Color by Safety Suit**

 **Worse Things Than Love by TimeFlies**

* * *

 ***Chapter 191***

Tessa wrinkled her nose, inhaled a deep breath and felt the memories come flooding back to her, the soft and familiar scent of her Uncle Rancis was what she was simply marinating in. She opened her eyes, the sunset glinted across Rancis's bedroom, and with the rush of thoughts that immediately soaked her mind, she sat up, smiled sleepily and rubbed her eye. She slumped her hands into her lap, underneath the fluffy white downs and sheets, and just as she was about to get out of bed and rush to see her nearly whole family, the dream she had been wishing for, for a long time now, she froze and took in all the sounds coming from the kitchen. She sagged her shoulders, narrowed her gaze and peered out Rancis's bedroom door; from down the stretch, she could see the long corridor and the front door, though she could also see a mess of tails, shoes, feathers, scales and beings that accompanied flits of laughter and voices she found great comfort in.

With a swipe of the blankets, and excited footwork that pushed closer to the door, she came out into the hallway, pushed past the empty rooms and was wholly relieved to round the corner and see everyone she loved, gathered about the kitchen and dining area. She sagged her shoulders and took everything in, in the mere split seconds she had before anyone noticed she was awake, and with such a rare moment of being a fly on the wall, she grimaced with the way her heart grew so delightfully sore. Rancis, Zed and Ace laughed and laughed as they fought over who cooked bacon best, Penny, Orph and Koko tossed about a tattered deck of cards, about the white dining room table, and in the whirl of it, Lickity and Balba teasingly snickered whilst Nox allowed the two to crown his dark, dusty grey hair with Balba's stark green feathers. Tessa could only lay her hand to the wall she snuck around, and in the whirl of everything, she felt whole. Whole and complete.

"Good sleep, Aunt Tess?" Royal chimed, Tessa flinched and peered to her left.

Tessa smiled and was thrilled Royal's voice was deep enough to not draw attention, he sat lovingly curled with Marble, where the flyers were previously sleeping. It was clear the two were likely bonding, maybe even having conversation, even though Marble's half was telepathically. Tessa wrinkled her fingers in a small wave and peered into her dragon of a nephew's golden eyes, renewed and relaxed with love.

"Yeah, Roy, how about you?" Tessa inquired, and with such, the new, added voice cued to everyone in the cabin.

"There she is," Rancis blurt with a laugh, everybody's spirits livened as their line of sight immediately drew to Tessa, who was stood in the arch of the corridor and hesitantly looked as if she wanted to join in on the fun.

"Babe, tell him, my cooking is better," Zed urged with a wide grin as him and Ace turned around and peered to Tessa with a wide smile; Zed held a few strips of raw bacon, so to prepare to put it on the hot pan and cooktop; Ace cheekily shook his head at Tessa, so to beg her to disagree, to which Zed shut down with a snort of a laugh and an elbow to Ace's upper arm.

"I haven't had Uncle Rancis's cooking in a hot minute, so I-I..." Tessa started in a mumble, though as she came into the kitchen and her words became more prominent, Zed's demeanor playfully sagged and he quickly brought out the puppy-dog eyes. Tessa choked a laugh, rubbed her eye sleepily and gave him a teasingly patronizing smile, "... Would have to say that your cooking is far superior, bub."

"I make a mean omelet," Ace included, though as Tessa neared, Rancis gingerly tended to a few things on the stove and held his attention to his niece.

"You hungry?" Rancis inquired quietly to her as the two hovered by the sizzling stove that wafted the delicious smell of bacon and eggs into the air.

In a gentle sweep of Rancis's strong, fatherly arms, he tucked Tessa into a welcoming side hug. Tessa mumbled her positive answer with a bob of a nod, though as their side hug slowly intensified in squeeze and turned into a full hug, Tessa shut her eyes tight, gripped her arms about Rancis's middle and buried her face into his comforting chest. Rancis heaved a hard sigh over her shoulder and gingerly cupped the back of her head with his strong hand, and as the two held suspended amidst the loving, fun conversation of their family members, old and new, Rancis felt time freeze, everything was perfect, and nothing could erase the smile from his face. Shroud with the calm, warm atmosphere about them, Tessa barely opened her now teary eyes and was reminded just whose game she was sat in; one that wasn't in hers, or her family's, control. She finally shut her eyes tight, once more, though this only caused her tears to cascade her cheeks.

"I-I'm so sorry, Uncle Rancis," Tessa whispered to him, something only he heard, and with this ultimate plea, Rancis knew exactly just what she was apologizing for; something he wasn't about to tolerate.

"Hey, listen to me," Rancis urged quietly, and in the squeeze and sweep of their hug, Rancis gently pulled the two apart, just barely, and as he kept his hands firm to the top of Tessa's shoulders, he tilted his head down and kept tight eye contact with his niece, "There's no room for regret, for apologies, for what could've, would've, should've been..."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in surprise and felt the tears gather in a billowing mess, and as her lip quivered and her soul wavered with just as much nervous energy, she kept solid eye contact with him and felt frozen in his certain demeanor, the positivity he radiated, she furrowed her brow in mild confusion and was wholly certain she'd need to give him some form of huge explanation as to just why the game's coding went from sweet to sour. She shook her head in uncertainty and kept her hands to Rancis's sides.

"... You see where you are?" Rancis wondered quietly, he wrinkled his nose in a smiled tenderly swiped his thumbs to Tessa's cheeks, to rid her of falling tears, "You're with family... We may not have won this battle just yet, but... The search is over, love."

"But... Radex is-"

"No one," Rancis snipped with a cheeky smile, "We've all made a vow not to mention any of this drama until we're out of the game... We'll have a good dinner, lots of laughs, a good, long sleep, and we'll head out tomorrow night. Once we're in Dead Zed, then we can talk."

"Uncle, please," Tessa sighed in a shaky whisper, she peered to him, as if to wonder if she could at least begin to apologize for everything; he wasn't having it.

"It was an honest mistake," Rancis eased tenderly as his thumbs gingerly swiped at her cheeks, once more, "You had no ill intent, you and Zed, and you desperately tried to right your wrongs. No one holds anything against you... I'm not mad at you, no one is holding this over you, except yourself."

Tessa froze and peered to her uncle in cold surprise, and though she knew, deep down, he'd be someone who would be understanding, she was at least glad Zed filled him in on everything that happened. With his sharp words, she knew they were coated in love, and that he was, indeed, correct. She heaved a long sigh through her nose, sagged her eyes shut and bobbed a lazy nod. With such, Rancis's deep voice croaked a gentle chuckle of success.

"Take a load off, we're making breakfast for dinner," Rancis stated though his chuckling as he gently jostled Tessa's shoulder, she jolted her eyes opened and dared to smile through her tears, "You're doing just fine, Tess... You know, no matter what happens, I still believe you'll make Sugar Rush very proud, one day."

Tessa's snarky smile immediately sloped to gentle, humbled surprise, and as she caught eyes with Rancis, she held tight in the feeling of adoration, appreciation. She finally gave him a grateful smile and shook her head, though as Rancis finally pulled Tessa into another hug, he firmly planted a kiss to the side of her head and nodded in retaliation to her negative, physical notion. Tessa giggled, soaked into his comforting hug and relished in all of the nostalgic memories that came back to her.

"End of discussion," Rancis stated firmly in a playfully stern tone, though as they pulled apart, once more, he lovingly jostled her shoulder and wrinkled her a snarky smile, alongside a fatherly wink.

"Thank you," Tessa sighed as the two finally peeled from each other, and as she approached Zed and Ace, they peered to her in delicate curiosity. As she got closer, Zed gently tugged her into a welcoming hug as Ace rested his larger hand to her shoulder.

"We love you, mom," Ace eased deeply as everyone at the dining room table noticed Tessa's presence and stood to approach.

"How long have you guys been awake without me?" Tessa wondered quietly into Zed's neck, though her voice broadcasted so everyone could hear.

"About an hour or two," Penny smiled as they eagerly and comfortably collected at the island and bar stools, one of which hugged the kitchen in a 'U' shape.

"Orph was awake first," Nox staggered with a hard snort of a laugh as Balba playfully stuck one of her fallen feathers into the collar of his shirt.

"I'll probably be asleep while you guys are awake, through the night," Rancis sighed as he continued to cook; Zed unhanded Tessa and went back to quietly bickering with Ace, "Lickity told me you all were on an opposite schedule."

"Yeah, the flyers are nocturnal, so we operate on their schedule for these scouts," Tessa sighed, and although she so desperately wanted to get into it, she knew the topic of scouts, Radex and everything related to the drama was off limits for now.

"Must be some awesome sights, huh," Rancis smiled as he eyed Tessa, as if to kindly remind her to keep it light.

"Sugar Rush is gorgeous," Tessa sighed as she began to tidy her hair, "I-I mean, I always knew it was beautiful, but seeing it from so high up is something else."

"I remember when I was first introduced to Sugar Rush," Nox stated happily as he ironed out the wrinkles on his yellow shirt, Balba followed hot on his heels in a playful manner, "My nose ran."

"Sugar overload," Orph agreed, Nox bobbed a nod.

"Yeah, the particles in the air are so fine and sweet," Nox rubbed together his fingers and grimaced, "Almost unbearable."

"Alright guys, forget the sweets," Rancis called kindly from the stove as he set down a cooking utensil and hovered by one of the high up, open cabinet. He skillfully grabbed a good sized pile of plates and smiled over his shoulder, "Soup's on."

"YES, I'm starved," Orph huffed with an eager smile as him and Nox jolted to stand, though as the men bustled into the kitchen, Ace barked a loud notion towards his uncle and best friend.

"Guys, guys, ladies first," Ace ordered, and with such, Rancis cocked an eyebrow and volleyed Tessa a knowing smirk, as did Zed.

"Alright, Ace, here yah go," Nox stated in a dull tone as he gently swiped a plate from the counter and handed it to Ace; everyone loudly laughed.

"Wow, manners," Rancis eased with a loving smile as he crossed his arms, him, Ace and Zed all leaned against the island counter and watched as Orph and Nox politely gave Koko, Tessa and Penny a plate each, "You've got a good dose of an awesome upbringing, dude... Surely that goes far with the lady at home?"

"Ooo, you gots yourself a lady waiting," Nox teased as all the men kindly hung back and waited for Tessa, Penny and Koko to finish serving themselves food.

"What's her name?" Rancis wondered kindly as he peered to his great nephew, and as he noticed Ace become bashful and look down to his twiddling fingers with a nervous smirk, he elbowed Ace's lower arm a few times, "Don't be shy, what's she like?"

"Her name is Libby, she's uh... She's previously from one of Dead Zed's native tribes. She's Teltokuan," Ace explained humbly as he gave Rancis a nervous smile.

"Got yourself a jungle princess, huh?" Rancis chuckled, he lazily drew his eyes to the three girls at the stove who bickered and giggled amongst themselves, "How long have you two been a thing?"

"Ace and Libby go way back," Zed stated warmly as he pat Ace's shoulder, he quickly noticed Ace becoming overwhelmed with nerves, something he cued to and knew stepping in would likely be wise, "They were best buds, growing up... It's quite a situation."

"A heavy one?" Rancis cocked an eyebrow and now nervously eyed Ace and Zed.

"Well, yes and no," Ace shrugged with the same, heart melting smile that was passed down from Ralph himself.

"Sounds like a topic for guys only," Rancis huffed through a jolt of a chuckle, which cued Zed, Nox and Orph to join in kind agreeing, "How about drinks after dinner, eh?"

"No girls allowed," Royal blurt as he eagerly leaned onto the kitchen island counter and bared his fangs, though the three girls caught wind of these notions.

"Alright, under one condition," Tessa waved her fork about, she held her full plate tucked tight to her being.

"Fine," Rancis playful retort.

"We've GOT to do something about that beard of yours, Uncle Rancis," Tessa choked through laughter that loudly climbed with Penny's and Koko's.

"It has gotten out of hand, huh," Rancis grumbled as he scratched his scruffly jaw and caught eyes with Ace, who, in turn, stifled a laugh and tried to force back a wide smile.

"Dad, you passed 'out of hand' like half a year ago, it seems," Penny blurt as all three girls began to mosey out of the kitchen, which cued to the men that it was their turn to serve themselves some dinner.

"Yeah, yeah... Not sure Taffyta would appreciate this mountain man look, huh," Rancis heaved a hard sigh and shook his head.

"Don't underestimate the power of a good 'mountain man' look, every once in awhile," Zed muttered, to which everyone, but Ace, eagerly agreed to.

"Gross, dad, is that why you went like all of last month without shaving your face?" Ace blurt in whole irritation, though Nox slapped his shoulder in a brotherly way and gently shoved an empty, clean plate into Ace's chest.

"What you'll do for the ladies once you've swapped, dude," Nox mumbled, to which Ace cocked an eyebrow and felt like a deer in headlights. Nox jostled his shoulder and moved the two closer to the line that had formed by the food, "You'll understand soon."

"How does dad even get all this food?" Penny wondered as they three girls slowly moseyed away from the kitchen and to the sprawling couches of the living room. She gently looked over her shoulder and contemplated asking Rancis said question, though she stuffed it.

"He probably grew the majority of it," Koko stifled, Tessa bobbed a nod as the three girls sat close.

"I just can't wait to get back into Dead Zed... I have so many things I want to say and ask," Tessa stated through a long sigh, Penny and Koko quickly began to tuck into their food as Tessa idly prod her fork to the ceramic of her white plate.

"Won't be long now, Tess, everything will be answered shortly," Penny eased after she got done chewing, she gently looked over her shoulder and noticed said 'guys night' was likely going to be a prolonged thing, well past their trip back to Dead Zed, "We just... Don't know really if we're safe to discuss everything here, y'know?"

"There aren't like... Cameras," Koko wondered through a stutter as all three girls kept their heads down, though their eyes jolted up and about the place in still agitation.

"Doubtful," Tessa huffed, "I was going to do a thorough scan, of the place, once Uncle Rancis fell asleep."

"Good call," Koko nodded, Penny shrugged as the three continued to eat amongst their little circle of girls, one of which Lickity, Balba and Marble began to gravitate towards.

"The thing we first need to worry about is... Dad's hair," Penny stifled a laugh, which caused Koko and Tessa to burst into laughter.

"He's beyond mountain man, now," Koko admitted once the three female flyers were now in their vicinity.

"Hopefully he has scissors, somewhere," Lickity muttered, she heaved a loud grunt as her, Balba and Marble all collapsed into piles of cuddling laziness on the floor, before Tessa, Penny and Koko.

"Unless he's hid them," Balba snipped, Marble bared her fangs and huffed a noise of a breath to signify she was amused.

"He'll let us have our way, after all... It's hair care," Penny shrugged, "We're the ones that know what we're doing."

* * *

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Rancis grunted in agitation as he tried to stand from the hot seat, though he flinched as Penny grappled the backs of his bare shoulders and kept him down with loving firmness.

"Dad, we're women, of course we know what we're doing," Penny huffed as she peered at her father in the mirror, from over the top and back of his head.

"You see this fine shave?" Tessa blurt sarcastically as she bent over, in front of her uncle Rancis, and slowly slid her larger fingers across the left side of her scalp, practically shaved down to her skull, skillfully crafted and clean.

"Yes, I see it," Rancis uttered nervously through a grit of a smile as Ace bent down before Rancis, he rummaged in one of the drawers and clumsily handed Tessa a pair of scissors, the whole gang gathered in a heap of a mess in the master bathroom, all the lights illuminated the nighttime chill of an atmosphere.

"A-Are you sure you need alcohol to do this?" Rancis worried as he straightened his posture, cocked an eyebrow and ogled the small goblet of wine Tessa held in her right hand, though Nox blurt a small chuckle and jumped up onto the bathroom counter, just before where Ace was bent over; he waved about his full bottle of beer.

"Thank the Almighty User for materializers," Nox stated in sing song as Zed slowly moseyed over, from the entrance of the bathroom; he held said materializer out and cued a few options, such as shaving cream, a shaving blade and a few other sundries.

"You're welcome," Ace sarcastically mumbled as he shut the drawer and stood, everyone eased into laughter, though Rancis exhaled a nervous sigh and cocked an eyebrow in Zed's direction.

"Is it ironic that the only person I trust, in this room, is the one holding the razor blade?" Rancis blurt as he eyed Zed, though with this, Zed put his hand to his heart and gave Rancis a dewy, teasingly longing smile.

"I feel loved!" Zed cooed, everyone loudly continued to laugh.

"COME ON, we're just cutting your hair," Tessa argued as she set her glass next to Nox, who got comfortable sitting on the counter before everyone, though he made sure not to be in the way of Rancis's reflection, in the mirror, "Why do you trust Zed over us?"

"Cause Zed is a guy, who probably regularly shaves his face and knows what he's doing," Rancis rushed, though both Tessa and Penny shot each other beyond annoyed looks of playful irritation.

"We shave our legs, does that not count?" Tessa stabbed loudly.

"You have alcohol in your hand!" Rancis shrieked, everyone loudly howled with laughter.

"It'll be fine, stop worrying," Penny argued though a giggle, "We're just trimming it, anyhow... How come you let it get so out of hand, dad?"

"Well, for starters, I wasn't so lucky to be given a materializer," Rancis argued with a chuckle as Penny began to gently brush through Rancis's thick, curly, golden hair. He eyed Zed and gave the shaving tools, in his hands, a near grateful look of plea, "I would've chopped off my left pinky for a proper razor, all this time."

"That's why you have said mountain-man look," Zed eased curiously, though he cocked an eyebrow and looked up, "... What do we say we keep a little bit of it?"

"What would Taffyta like?" Orph wondered as he finally strolled over, him and Koko hung back and eagerly observed the chaos.

"She always appreciated a rugged look," Rancis bobbed a nod, Penny gently began to trim at the longer, scraggly hair on the back of Rancis's head; he grimaced and shut his eyes tight, as if to anticipate the worst.

"Mm, who doesn't," Tessa grunted, though Rancis bugged his eyes and peered to his niece in solid surprise; everyone loudly cackled as Rancis playfully, and slowly, began to reach for her glass of wine.

"Allllright, that's enough for you, my dear," Rancis uttered as he gingerly took the glass away from her, she was more than a few sips in.

"I'M FINE!" Tessa loudly argued, she sharply took the glass back from Rancis and gestured to herself in an agile and witted way to cue to him that she still had all of her faculties, "I'm not a child anymore, Uncle Rancis."

"I'll never get over it," Rancis grunted as he sagged back into the chair, though he cocked an eyebrow as Penny's hands worked quick and precisely, "You're... Doing really well, Pens, I'm surprised at you."

"You could at least pretend to not be patronizing, huh?" Penny stabbed in a cute tone as she cocked an eyebrow, bit her tongue and continued to work; Rancis rolled his eyes.

"Remember just how I got this shaved patch, though," Tessa muttered, though Nox, Ace, Koko and Orph eagerly peered to her in such a way to beg her to explain. While Penny began to laugh up a storm, Tessa sagged her hip to the counter and relaxed as she jostled her small glass about, "Penny and I were preparing for Academy's prom, and I wanted to clean up my hair so I would look nice for Zed."

"That seems like lifetimes ago," Zed smiled as he looked down to his hands bashfully.

"You guys went to PROM?" Ace ogled with a laugh, Nox nudged him in agreeing.

"Believe it or not," Tessa rolled her eyes and smiled, "I-I asked Penny to help me trim the dead ends off of my hair... Lickity sneezed and it startled Penny."

"I practically shoved the buzzer into Tessa's EYE," Penny blurt, everyone laughed, the walls of the bathroom practically shook with the excitement, "I got rid of the whole left chunk of her hair."

"You couldn't reverse it in the code room?" Ace ogled as everybody peered to Tessa.

"We could, but... I very quickly liked it and wondered if we could clean it up and make it into an edgy hairstyle," Tessa shrugged, Penny's scissors continued to snip away at Rancis's mane.

"This is not a comforting story to tell while the culprit has my hair in her hands," Rancis near-whimpered, though Penny choked an annoyed noise, snipped the scissors once or twice and gently poked Rancis's neck with them; he scrunched his shoulders and bashfully laughed.

"So you showed up to prom with your hair like it is now?" Ace wondered, his eyes practically twinkled, stories of his mother's and father's past always fascinated him.

"Babe, that is NOT how the story goes... At all," Zed blurt, everyone cooed knowing, suspenseful notions towards the two as they locked in a death glare, "You GOT that cut to coerce me into asking you to prom, even though I already was going to. You were pissed at me because I wasn't asking you out quick enough."

"Ohhh, damn," Orph rubbed the back of his head and gave Tessa a cheeky smile as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Mr. Dead Last is right," Penny mumbled gently as she eyed her cousin, though Tessa rolled her eyes and lulled her gaze to her son; he shrugged and gave Tessa a dumbfounded smirk.

"So it was a spite-cut," Koko stifled a snort of a laugh, threw her head back and let it out to the ceiling; everyone loudly joined as Tessa impatiently tapped her pointer finger against her glass in whole irritation.

"You look beautiful," Zed cooed kindly, he gave her a small smile as if to state that she was simply something else, no matter what.

"I really did let that buzzer get away from me, didn't I," Penny huffed as she finally brushed Rancis's shoulders free of hair, though she gestured to him and shrugged, "Okay, I got rid of the scraggly bits... Should I go shorter?"

"Do an Ace cut," Nox gestured, though Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered to Rancis.

"Shorter on the sides, gradually longer on top," Penny gestured, "Not quite a Zed-faux hawk, but still edgy enough."

"Fine, whatever, you know what..." Rancis threw his hands up, "Maybe get me a drink, too, and you can do whatever you want. If Taffyta laughs in my face, upon seeing me, I'm blaming ALL of you."

"Don't worry, Uncle Rancis," Tessa soothed with a laugh as everyone joined in, though Zed kindly materialized Rancis a cold drink and handed it to him, "By the time we're done with you, Aunt Taffyta won't be able to keep her paws off of yah."

* * *

 _ **This is a repeat of the last chapter's 'Author Note'**_

 **A/N : OKAY GUYS, this is really weird to say but... R.O.'s FOURTH sketch dump will be coming up, and this time... the 4th sketch dump WON'T be the last! Crazy town! I'm very quickly coming up on 200 chapters, and I will very quickly soar RIGHT past it. I have about 40-60 more chapters left in me... As well as the first 50 chapters of the 4th story. I'm pretty sure I'm not human anymore lol**

 **I know that's not anything anyone signed up for, but... I have to get it all out of my body and onto Fanfiction or else I will hate myself. So I hope you guys are ready for at least 2 more sketch dumps, for R.O., cause this beast isn't going anywhere.**

 **That said, have your requests ready, cause once 200 hits then I will begin writing everything down! I've decided that THIS particular sketch dump can be of ANY scene in ANY chapter of ANY BOOK.**

 **You read that right.**

 **I'm giving you guys 10 chapters to collect your ideas. You have the three stories to pick from - Wrecking Limits, Defying Code AND Rectifying Origin.**

 **Y'all have 566 chapters to f*ck me up with.**

 **This is my way of saying one massive THANK YOU. So have fun! Don't hold back! Lay 'em on me! The good User knows how the hell this is all going to fit on DeviantART, but I'll make it work!**

 **...That was a Tim Gunn reference for anyone that got that lol**


	192. Chapter 192

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Make sure you review your requests on chapter 200, or PM me a list of everything you'd like in one go :) Thank you!

 **Silversuferann :** Haha! Aww, well don't worry. Rancis is able to get everything off of his chest once they're safe inside Dead Zed :) Thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Hahaha yes, I'm prepared for a lot of people to request that scene, mountain man Rancis lol! Thank you so much for the encouragement! Yes, Rancis definitely needed his family and bros back, huh.

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Gypsy Heart by Colbie Caillat**

* * *

 ***Chapter 192***

 _9:46pm Tuesday 10/25/2016_

 _Libbers : Ems? I know I may be slightly paranoid from being in this big tower all by myself but I could swear I can hear banging and all sorts of scary noises._

Libby nervously sagged her communicator to her fluffy white downs, she sat cross-legged on her bed. Gentle pangs of rain soaked the top of Ace's tower, she was at the very top of their quiet abode. With such, her room was the only one to have a large, dome of an arched ceiling with all sorts of gorgeous sky lights. Underneath her canopy bed, draped in untouched white satin, she held suspended on her cloud of innocent love, a quiet getaway she called her sanctuary. Although she was comfortable, she felt her nerves get the better of her. Having not slept well the night prior, because of the lack of the two boys that lived underneath her, she grimaced and wondered if she could last the whole week sleeping all alone in their towering escape.

 _10:05pm Tuesday 10/25/2016_

 _Emeryville : Sorry Libby! Ralph, Oliver and I were having a bit of a wrecking fest. It was just us! Are you okay?_

 _Libbers : I'm okay, I think staying in this tower another night, by myself, is going to wear on me. I might need to come sleep in the Sky Room or something._

 _Emeryville : Why don't I come over then? You have room for me?_

Libby sat up with growing excitement and let a kind smile sprawl her face; with the perk in her demeanor, Chepi lifted her head and peered to her in curiosity as her fluffy tail began to wag.

 _Libbers : I'd love that!_

 _Emeryville : We can raid your closet for something to wear on your's and Ace's date_ _too ;) I'll be over shortly, just gotta calm Finn down._

 _Libbers : Is he okay?_

 _Emeryville : He's fine, we just spooked him with all our wrecking. Vanellope's idea._

Libby peered across her dim abode and smiled in mild annoyance at the fact that Vanellope was always making sure everyone was prepared. Even though it had caused issues in the past, Libby let it roll off of her shoulders and was well aware it was with all of Vanellope's best intent. As she scoot off of her bed, Chepi lifted her head higher and perked up. As both girls got off of Libby's comfortable bed, Libby crossed her abode and began tidying the studio of a space. She wore a comfortable white tank with matching white harem pants that had gorgeous, tan tribal markings down the legs. Her hands methodically wove her long hair into a single braid, down her back, and as her mind soaked back to Emery's written words, she cocked an eyebrow and peered down the direction of her bathroom, which also lead to her walk-in closet. She knew this dinner date, with Ace, wasn't going to be anything fancy, though she wondered if dolling up for it was appropriate. Just as Libby finished tidying, Emery gently knocked on her door, so not to startle her; she also concluded it with a calm 'it's me' for further assurance.

"Hey," Libby stated happily as she opened her large, round door wide and let Emery in from the sprinkling rain. As both girls tucked inside, and the door was secure to keep the warmth of Libby's abode in, the two girls gently hugged.

"Hey, sorry for the fuss," Emery stated in a long sigh as she began to take off her zip-up hoodie. She unravelled her glorious, long emerald green hair from her hood, as well, and hung her hoodie on Libby's coat rack, near the front door. She brushed excess droplets off of her hands and straightened out her comfortable grey shirt, as well as her faded skinny jeans, "I-I guess Vanellope's little idea of 'show Finn how to handle an emergency' quickly turned into 'what can Oliver, Ralph and I can destroy the fastest'."

"I'm going to say it's safe to assume that Finn had it all under control?" Libby giggled as Chepi yipped a few excited noises, jumped to her hind legs and pawed at Emery's thighs in a cute show of begging for the attention of the new person in the room.

"Yeah, he eventually got it all together," Emery sighed as she cooed cute notions to Chepi and lovingly rubbed her neck and cheeks, "I'll tell yah what, though, wrecking the crap out of everything right after a swim AND a workout is sort of overkill. I should've just laid back and let Ralph and Oliver have the fun."

"Ace would've loved that," Libby stated through a sigh she tried to not make sound so wistful, though she failed; in seeing Emery's twinkling eyes, in her peripheral, Libby turned to begin moseying towards her closet and desperately tried to swing away from the topic of Ace so soon, "Thank you for coming over... I didn't realize how quiet and lonely it'd get over here. I'm so used to my two guard dogs, two floors below me, but just feeling the presence of their empty rooms has me on edge."

"I don't blame you, I get the same sort of feeling," Emery cooed kindly as she took off her shoes, left them on the tile of the front door clearing and moved into Libby's warm little home; she had a relaxing scent of incense burning on her coffee table, the way her house was so carefully and daintily lit had Emery nearly believing she had just set foot into a secret, tranquil getaway. She sagged her shoulders and felt as if this little getaway, from her typical routine, was likely good for everyone, "I hope you're alright with us staying here, unless you wanted to bunk in the Sky Room. I would offer us to stay in my room, but Oliver is not technically the easiest person to doze off next to."

"Aw, why do you say that?" Libby blurt a giggle as both girls vanished out of Libby's main room, the arched hallway was illuminated by small floor lights amidst the glossy birch wood. Libby flipped a switch as the two finally made it to her walk in closet.

"You know wreckers," Emery eased nonchalantly, though as her fingers idly touched the soft, pretty fabric of a nearby shirt, on a hanger, she cocked an eyebrow and eyed the back of Libby's head as she seemingly tried to avoid Emery's advances, for said topic, "Well... I-I mean, as much as you can, right now."

"Does Oliver wreck in his sleep?" Libby wondered cheekily as she began to fan through a few options, across the closet; a decent sized space with a vast amount of clothes, most of which were tribal pieces from Libby's own heritage, ones of which Tessa helped her retrieve.

"Well, no, he's just a big dude," Emery laughed as she also fanned through a few things. She finally pulled down a pretty, faded orange skirt of Libby's; she held it up to her own body and ogled the gorgeous designs along the length of it, "One doesn't simply share a blanket with a wrecker. It's impossible."

"Unless the blanket is like three times a normal size, right?" Libby inquired bashfully, as if she had experience with this, though Emery shot her a curious smile and gently hung the skirt back up.

"Right," Emery's voice held a curious, slow lilt, though she finally waggled her hand and sat down at the low, comfortable cushiony chair in Libby's closet, "Okay, so what do you think you should wear to this date of yours and Ace's? Are you making it like a formal thing?"

"Well, I don't know, I don't think so," Libby shrugged as she now began to tidy a few messy shoes on her shoe rack, "It wasn't like wholly discussed... I just said I would make him one of his favorite Teltokuan dishes, of mine, and uh... Yeah."

"Dinner and then a kiss goodnight?" Emery stated in a blunt, dull tone, though Libby grinned in a bashful way and tried to hide it by looking away.

"I hope he stays the night," Libby huffed as she finished organizing a few of her canvas shoes, she shook her head, rested her fingers in a grapple on the edge of her shoe rack and looked off in a daze, "I really don't want to do anything he's uncomfortable with... But I want him to stay the night, afterwards, y'know? How do I go about showing him that?"

"Well, you guys already said you'd reconvene once he came home, right?" Emery shrugged as she began to idly braid a small portion of her hair, down her chest; she focused on her hair, though her mind's attention was wholly directed to Libby's plight, "Why don't you, I don't know... Have a good time, make him dinner, and uh... Maybe during dessert, just ask where you guys stand."

"I should really be that forward about it?" Libby wondered as she kept her hands idly grappled to her shoe rack, as if she so badly wanted to continue organizing and picking out an outfit, though she felt so crippled with thoughts, "Zeddy told me to just be blunt and straight forward, but... I-I don't know... That's not really in my nature."

"It's not in mine, either," Emery muttered as she bugged her eyes, though Libby finally relaxed, crossed the gap and faced Emery.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, then, but... H-How did you, well... Get Oliver to... Y'know," Libby gently gestured her hands, her innocent eyes peered to Emery's in delightful curiosity.

"Swap? Ohh, it wasn't too difficult," Emery giggled as she finished off her braid and sat up a little, though she wistfully looked up and tried to recall memories, "It was prom night... We had just dropped Tessa and Zed off at Stonecrest, where they were to run the city for a weekend. They had the Schweetz's getaway perch all to themselves, and well... Oliver and I had the whole Sugar Rush castle to ourselves, as well."

"Wow, the whole castle?" Libby ogled, both girls knowingly giggled, "You got very lucky, that castle is massive, I've heard."

"It was a huge castle," Emery bobbed a nod and sagged her shoulders as the memories came rushing back to her, "Oliver showed me his uncle Rancis's garden... It was incredible. From there, we... Well..."

"It all fell into place?" Libby wondered, she was somehow hoping that it wasn't the case, however.

"Sort of, yeah," Emery chimed happily as Libby looked down, "We went back to his room, I think the plan was to just change into something comfortable and... He was going to give me the grand tour of the castle."

"The night started and ended in the bedroom, huh," Libby muttered, though both girls blurt into a fit of laughter.

"He, well... He took off the coat to his tuxedo and I'm pretty sure I nearly jumped on him," Emery staggered through laughter that filled Libby's closet, she covered her face as Libby gave her an incredulous smile, "He was all in, from there. It just all came together, from there."

"You initiated it?" Libby gawked, Emery eagerly nodded.

"I was excited! I had to!" Emery squealed, both girls were lost in laughter, though Libby finally sighed, after a moment, and nervously began to comb through her stray hairs with her fingers.

"I wish I had your courage," Libby sighed, though Emery frowned, sat forward a little and leaned on her legs as Libby sat on the floor, across from Emery, and began to tidy the ruffles and tiers on her pretty rug, on the birch flooring.

"You could, you know," Emery cooed softly as she tucked her emerald hair behind her ears, "I wasn't so sure of myself, jumping after Oliver, like so... I was terrified he'd sort of get weirded out and push the notion aside, but... I followed through. Mostly because I know just how shy Oliver is."

"He is very quiet," Libby nodded as she gave Emery a kind smile, though her shoulders sagged as she furrowed her brow, "Ace does remind me a lot of Oliver."

"They are very similar, I think out of all of Ace's uncles, Ace is most like Oliver," Emery stated warmly, as if this was a good thing, strictly so Emery could gloss all of her knowledge over Libby's innocent, nervous demeanor, "They're both quiet and brooding, shy and cautious... I think Ace definitely has a bit more of a mischievous bite, due to being Zed's son, but, both wreckers are very much one in the same."

Libby frowned as her eyes draped to the open doorway, which lead to Libby's hallway and bathroom, though she finally dragged her eyes to Emery's. Emery cocked an eyebrow and peered to her a little harder and waited to continue on until she had Libby's full eye contact.

"I can prepare you for the inevitable, if you'd like?" Emery inquired softly as she tilted her head, "I know you and Ace are on the brink of wanting to swap... Two shy and uncertain individuals, trapped in this weird in-between, seems impossible to get out of. Trust me, I know... I've been there."

Libby nearly felt her eyes well with tears, and as she peered to Emery in mild desperation, Emery's alluring, near-magical green eyes gained so much more empathy than Libby could even imagine. As Emery reached her hand out and lovingly took Libby's, Libby nodded a little and wiped the few tears that fell down her cheeks.

"You don't need to be sad, it'll happen, I promise," Emery encouraged lovingly as she rubbed her thumb over the top of Libby's hand, "Sometimes it just takes a bit of bravery."

"I'm working on it," Libby staggered in a croak as she wiped her cheeks and inhaled a refreshed breath, "Ace and I have a small deal, with each other... When we were children, he gave me a playing card from his unfinished deck. It was the ace of hearts."

"Aww, that's so cute," Emery groaned in delightful seriousness as she gently unhanded Libby's hand, Libby sat up straighter and took another deep, refreshed breath.

"When I was forbidden from visiting Ace any longer, when we were little, I kept the card and knew I'd see him again one day," Libby nodded and looked down, "Then, I-I... I was raped and I ran away to find the Kalivars again."

"What happened to the card?" Emery nervously inquired.

"I gave it back to Ace after we reunited... He knew what had happened to me, and that I wasn't ready, but... I told him to give it back to me when we were at a point where we were comfortable thinking about becoming more than just two separate bodies of coding," Libby shrugged, she looked down and bashfully smiled as she spoke, though it sagged in sorrow, "He has yet to give it back to me... Which is fine, but I just feel stuck."

"Well, maybe this dinner will be your lucky night," Emery shrugged as she looked up, "Something is telling me this little 'reconvening date' isn't just what it seems to be, on the surface."

"You think?" Libby prod hopefully.

"Don't take my word for it, but... You never know," Emery smiled, "He's going to have all week with the boys, maybe he just needed to get out and clear his head. He'll come back to you all refreshed and ready to tackle this with you. Sounds about right, y'know?"

"I was thinking the same thing, I just thought it'd be too good to be true," Libby frowned as she peered to Emery in nervousness.

"I say you two should just have a comfortable night in, just hang out, be best friends like how you guys normally are," Emery eyed Libby, "I see your guys' insane chemistry... It's all there. Just landing on the same page seems to be what's difficult here, huh... It probably doesn't help that he'd be creating a whole other User..."

"... What?" Libby wondered in a stagger of confusion, though Emery shook her head and gestured to Libby.

"I think the reason he's being so incredibly cautious is because he'd be giving another being his incredible User powers. Not that he doesn't trust you, but... That's huge responsibility to have, all of the sudden. Have you thought about what will be weighing on your shoulders after you swap with him? That's a whole identity change, y'know?"

"I-I've considered it," Libby pondered as she looked off, "I just... I know nothing bad will happen. Our relationship wouldn't ever waver. I would never do anything to make him not trust me."

"I'm sure he knows that," Emery shrugged, "Maybe he needs to HEAR it from you. You guys should potentially discuss this before hand, y'know? The Arcade has one User, here... After that swap, we'll have two... Two more than our society has EVER had."

Libby raised her eyebrows as all her thoughts came rushing to her, old and new, and with this weird mix of nausea, she sagged her shoulders and marinated in Emery's words.

"It will certainly be incredible, and you two will probably feel like a million bucks afterwards, but... This isn't just any ordinary swap," Emery warned tenderly, "You'll be getting the lion's share, powers you likely had no idea existed."

"He's terrified, huh," Libby sighed in a shaky tone as she looked down, though Emery wrinkled her nose.

"I know he trusts you... It might take some hand holding, but I know you two will see it through," Emery's warm voice coated over Libby in affirmation, "You both just need to be brave and test the waters. Nothing good ever came from staying in one place for too long."

* * *

 _ **This is a repeat of the last chapter's 'Author Note'**_

 **A/N : OKAY GUYS, this is really weird to say but... R.O.'s FOURTH sketch dump will be coming up, and this time... the 4th sketch dump WON'T be the last! Crazy town! I'm very quickly coming up on 200 chapters, and I will very quickly soar RIGHT past it. I have about 40-60 more chapters left in me... As well as the first 50 chapters of the 4th story. I'm pretty sure I'm not human anymore lol**

 **I know that's not anything anyone signed up for, but... I have to get it all out of my body and onto Fanfiction or else I will hate myself. So I hope you guys are ready for at least 2 more sketch dumps, for R.O., cause this beast isn't going anywhere.**

 **That said, have your requests ready, cause once 200 hits then I will begin writing everything down! I've decided that THIS particular sketch dump can be of ANY scene in ANY chapter of ANY BOOK.**

 **You read that right.**

 **I'm giving you guys 10 chapters to collect your ideas. You have the three stories to pick from - Wrecking Limits, Defying Code AND Rectifying Origin.**

 **Y'all have 566 chapters to f*ck me up with.**

 **This is my way of saying one massive THANK YOU. So have fun! Don't hold back! Lay 'em on me! The good User knows how the hell this is all going to fit on DeviantART, but I'll make it work!**


	193. Chapter 193

**Reviews :**

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Yessss he is bae LOL. And, thank you SO much! I do love Emery, dearly. I know she doesn't get a lot of 'screen' time, but I do cherish all of my side-ish characters, more than I lead on.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur** : No worries, I really appreciate your encouragement and support. It's a battle, but I'll be okay. Thank you so much for your kind words :) and, yes please! You can PM me at any time, but it might be best to wait until 200 because then, if there are any scenes between now and chapter 200, you can add them in. If your list is LONG, then I suggest PMming me. If it's one or two requests, then a simple review will suffice :) Thank you!

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you! Yes, they'll be heading home in the next chapter :) YAY!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Show And Tell Ft. Claire Ridgley - Said The Sky Remix**

* * *

 ***Chapter 193***

"Do youuu... Have... A three!" Nox obnoxiously blurt as he waggled his cards, Orph cocked an eyebrow and hung in suspended wait.

"A three of...?" Orph lazily waved his hand, and while Zed and Rancis were busy preparing drinks for their guys night of poker and fun, Nox and Orph played a small, meaningless game of 'go fish' while they waited.

"A three of aces," Nox stated confidently as he looked down at his hand, though he jostled his head and furrowed his brow, "Spades, I mean spades. SEVEN!"

"WHICH ONE?!" Orph argued loudly, Ace clutched his stomach and was in stitches.

"He wants the whole deck," Ace wheezed, he tried to catch his breath as Nox began to clumsily sift through not only his pile, but also the consolidated deck between him and Orph.

"You are the worst person to play this game with," Orph muttered as he sagged his hand of cards to the table and gave up, "I have a three of spades, by the way."

"You said you didn't!" Nox loudly complained as Ace continued to laugh and laugh, this cued Orph to join in on his nephew's contagious laughter.

"I did not! You weren't specific and then I asked which one!" Orph argued, he gestured upwards, "The text is all there, mind you."

"You're going to have to materialize a few cards for that deck, I'm certain it's missing a few," Rancis mumbled from the kitchen; upon hearing his words, Ace bobbed a nod, tried to collect himself and pulled out the materializer, one of which his father entrusted him with.

"Alright, fools, I'm going to need the whole deck to determine which ones we need, give it," Ace instructed sternly, though playfully, and as Orph and Nox moved at glacial speed to collect the cars, Ace rolled his eyes and sagged his chin into his hand, "Next year will be great, I think we should set a date."

"Look, I'm moving as quickly as I can, I'm not my oldest brother, okay," Nox muttered, it was clear the alcohol was hitting him hardest.

"Make Nox's virgin," Ace instructed to Zed and Rancis, though as Nox finally handed Ace the deck, he gaped and grew agitated.

"What are you trying to say?" Nox argued, "I'm not a virgin! You are!"

"I surely do love being put on blast, Nox, really I do," Ace mumbled in whole annoyance as he began to sift through the deck methodically, "I meant your drink. Not you, yah-dingus."

"That's admirable, Ace," Rancis stated kindly as he gave his great nephew a kind smile from across the way, though Ace bashfully volleyed him an appreciative nod and kept his eyes down in a cue of rising shyness. Rancis gently continued on, nonetheless, "User knows all of us are so quick to hand our code to the first lady that makes us feel like a million bucks. I don't think Taffyta and I even blinked... Though, we didn't have the greatest examples," He eased teasingly.

Zed and Rancis went on to speak about Ralph and Vanellope, how their influence started this whole snowball effect. They went so far as to discuss just where they'd be without all the nonsense, and though it's caused ups and downs, they both quickly agreed that they'd certainly have it no other way. Ace numbed his mind, breathed a sigh and was successful in getting the thought of his and Libby's teetering, code swap issue out of his brain, though the second he realized just which card was missing, in Rancis's deck, he slowed his count to a drumming stop, sagged his shoulders and felt the universe lovingly put it's hand on his shoulder; it was time to clean the wound.

"Your deck is only missing one card, surprisingly," Ace eased nonchalantly, a front he was very good at forcing, though he could feel his stomach begin to churn in nervousness.

"Only one?" Rancis ogled as he poured some ice in a few glasses, for everyone; Zed began to mix a few ingredients.

"It's an ace, isn't it," Orph stated knowingly with a kind smile, though somehow, his eyes sagged into Ace's in a knowing manner, as if he somehow knew Ace's little secret.

"The ace of hearts," Ace bobbed a nod, looked down and felt his pupils tighten at the raw fact that not only had his uncle likely caught on, he was well aware Nox knew of Ace's playing card dilemma.

"Yikes, maybe Libby stole this one," Nox blurt insensitively, and though Ace knew not to take anything Nox had to say, in his tipsy stupor, seriously, he still felt the sting.

"C'mon, dude," Orph grumbled, though Ace softly stood and heaved a soft sigh.

"He's okay, he's probably right," Ace grumbled in a defeated way, and though Orph's and Nox's sorrowful gazes chased after Ace as he left the dining room table area, they slowly stood and sought to follow him to the kitchen, where he was headed.

"What's this nonsense about a missing ace?" Rancis inquired lightly, though as this topic continued to press, Ace was now floored to see his father grimace a small look of displeased sorrow and keep his eyes down; Ace finally rolled his eyes and felt the weight of everything come down on his shoulders, the universe was now jostling his soul about. Rancis held his hand up in defense and gave Ace a look of floored, gentle surprise, "I'm desperately trying to dodge a landmine, here, dude, please forgive me?"

"I-It's okay, I apologize for... I just..." Ace shook his head, looked down and rubbed his forehead in whole agitation, though as he slumped his hand to his side, looked out across the island to Nox's and Orph's concerned facial expressions, Zed finally slowly looked over his shoulder. All eyes were on Ace.

"I may be no feelings-guru, and... I may have just met you, but, you look very distracted," Rancis's fatherly voice tenderly began to come down on Ace, something he desperately needed, though with the refresh of having it from a near-stranger, someone that wasn't his own father, was a nice switch up. Rancis crossed his arms and eyed Ace up with a near annoyed smile, "You've been in and out of conversation all night, often looking off into space, I hardly know a lick about you and I've spent the last eight hours with you."

"I... I was hoping coming on this trip, without Libby, was going to clear my head, but... It's just made it foggier," Ace tenderly admitted, and with this, all the men in the house hung suspended on everything Ace had to say, as if they were finally getting a peak into the very depths of his emotions, something he didn't ever expose too often.

"You on the outs with your lady?" Rancis asked quickly, as if to state that he was completely down to solve this issue as quickly as possible, a manly show of bare it all and get it over with.

"Guess you could say that," Ace shook his head, and as he could feel his great uncle Rancis want to pry at his issues, he shelled away harder and knew he had to somehow win this battle, for fear of getting too personal with everyone.

"Does Libby usually come on these trips?" Rancis wondered lightly, Ace bobbed a nod and began to push closer to the fridge.

"Yeah," Ace answered quickly, and though he wanted this over with already, busying himself with a task wasn't enough to get the four men to drop the topic at hand.

"She didn't come because...?" Rancis knew this likely wasn't his place to poke and prod at his fully grown great nephew, whom of which he just met, though he was also aware that Ace's inner turmoil was creating unnecessary tension in the group.

"It was a compromise," Ace shrugged, he so desperately tried to force a light air about himself, though he could very quickly feel the universe's light jostle turn into a full blown earthquake, one of wrecking force. He grimaced and inwardly begged himself to keep it all together. Ace nonchalantly shrugged and looked away, "We both needed a bit of space, it's fine. Once I return, everything will fall back into place."

"Son, you may be a User, you may be the kin of one of the quickest, most mischievous racers ever," Rancis suddenly grew quiet in sternness, something everyone cued to, his darkening gaze honed in on Ace's as his fatherly voice pushed on, "But, I am the proud father of a smarty who is likely the clammiest of clams on this entire planet. Stop beating around the bush, what is the issue here, spit it out."

"She's upset that I won't give her my coding," Ace blurt, he could feel his pulse begin to rise with mild embarrassment and frustration, though he knew he had the floor the second his father dropped everything he was doing and turn around. Ace clenched his fists and felt his agitation rise, "She ran away from her tribe because she was raped, just around the time we both turned one... By the time we officially started dating, I had no clue when she'd ever be comfortable with the idea of swapping. I nearly assumed it'd be years before it ever even happened, I was prepared to wait! I was going to go that distance!"

Everyone silently peered to Ace as if he was simply the center of the universe, all their eyes held a never-ending gloss of care and concern, and as Ace urgently looked about in a gesture of rising emotion, he inhaled a shaky breath and so desperately tried to keep his feelings from spilling out all at once, in the form of wrecking, crying, yelling, he didn't know which to let rise through the bottleneck first.

"The more I thought about it, the more it terrified me, a-and then... Of COURSE when I start to feel terrified, she starts showing all these neon lights!" Ace blurt in a tone of gentle desperation; Rancis eyed Zed, Orph and Nox who all very softly chuckled and bobbed nods of agreeing, as if to state that Ace surely wasn't the only one to see all of Libby's advances. Rancis peaked a curious smile, crossed his arms tighter and honed his intrigued attention to his great nephew as he continued to billow with information, "I can't give her my coding, so soon, I just can't."

"Why not?" Rancis volleyed with a nonchalant shrug, as if he had the answer to this issue; Ace furrowed his brow and gestured to himself.

"... You know exactly what I am," Ace argued, he kept the word 'user' out of the equation strictly for Rancis's request not to talk too widely of terms and situations that could be eavesdropped on, "I-I... I'd just be handing ALL of that over...! And what if..."

"What if you duplicate what you are, and you go on your merry way?" Rancis argued with another shrug as he took a step closer to Ace, "What you're saying here is that you don't trust Libby."

"I trust Libby," Ace stated with a lilt of offense as he gave Rancis a mildly offended look, as if to wonder just how he could say such things.

"Then why don't you want to give her your coding?" Rancis rapid-fired, Ace sunk into himself and now began to wonder what the true answer was.

"I-I just... I don't know what's going to happen," Ace staggered as his rising anger began to sag into needy sorrow.

All the men in the group, two of them seasoned pros, began to softly chuckle at Ace's sweet notions. Ace bashfully looked around, twiddled his thumbs a bit and felt like a fish out of water, a man on the moon without a space suit, though he flinched as Rancis finally hooked his fatherly arm about Ace's shoulder and took him under his wing.

"It's because you've never tried it, and I can tell you right now what will happen," Rancis loudly chuckled, and with such, Zed, Orph and Nox grew in laughter and knowing smiles as well, "In rapid-fire, your brain will be able to count just how many hairs are on your body strictly from the goosebumps, your spine will feel like an electric eel, you'll be certain you're stomach is about to fall out your butt, all while your heart is simultaneously trying to climb it's way out your throat."

Everyone loudly burst into knowing laughter as they eased murmurs of agreeing remarks in Ace's direction, and with all of this tender understanding volleyed Ace's way, he heaved a shaky sigh and looked down as Rancis warmly jostled his defeated demeanor a little. He leaned in closer to his great nephew and gingerly shoved his pointer finger into the top of Ace's chest.

"You'll be certain you never knew what love even felt like until that one moment... You'll swear her skin is yours, every last strand of binary is a book you've memorized," Rancis's voice, though remained fatherly, softened with patience and understanding, "You love this woman, don't you?"

"More than anything, sir," Ace's voice croaked in a crackle of threatened tears, and as he finally peered into Rancis's eyes in defeated plea, Rancis scoffed a noise of delightful sorrow and squeezed Ace's shoulder.

"... Then what the hell are you waiting for?" Rancis huffed in a loud whisper as the room grew still, Ace long blinked and allowed Rancis's wise words to hit him head on, "You have, from the sounds of it, a wonderful woman, not only are you committed to her... You just told all of us, which I'm sure was pretty difficult... That you were willing to abstain until she was done grieving the tragedy that happened to her."

Ace quickly wiped a tear that escaped, inhaled a hard sniffle and bashfully peered to the small group beyond Rancis, and with such, everyone kindly waited for the two to continue on.

"Ace, that could've taken a lifetime," Rancis chuckled, though Ace nodded in agreeing.

"I would've waited," Ace argued quickly, "I waited for her, with no deadline, before... I'd do it all over again."

"Do you hear yourself?" Rancis blurt gently, though everyone loudly chuckled and cooed notions of whole, impatient annoyance towards the fact that Ace's and Libby's situation was slugging along, "So, you're handing over a great deal of coding... Think about it, Ace. She'd be receiving YOU. Do you wake up in the morning wanting to just run away with your powers? Destroy everything on sight? Forget the opinions of your loved ones?"

"No," Ace urged nervously, though Rancis jostled his hand in annoyance.

"So, what makes you think Libby would want to do that, after receiving your kind of coding?" Rancis ogled, all the men in the group agreed, "User-forbid she did... You'd still have ALL your powers. It's not like you, or the Arcade, would be helpless. Am I missing something?"

"No," Ace repeated in a sigh as he shook his head and looked down, "I feel so terrible for stringing her along. She must've been pawing at me for weeks until we finally sat down and talked about it, before this trip."

"What did you two conclude?" Rancis prod.

"... We concluded that me going on this trip, without her, would be best," Ace glossed his eyes to his great uncle Rancis and nodded, "We said the space would be best, and... Then, when I came home, we'd reconvene."

"She has no clue you'll be coming home a few days early, huh," Rancis said, Ace nodded and looked off.

"No, she doesn't," Ace eased.

"Ace, sometimes... You just have to live life by the seat of your pants," Rancis blurt, everybody laughed, "If you don't dive in and experience life with Libby, you're going to end up driving this special lady of yours away."

"What?" Ace worried, though Rancis shrugged.

"From the sounds of it, it'd take quite a lot to shake your guys' relationship, but, if there's one thing I've learned, as a married man..." Rancis eyed his glistening wedding ring, cocked an eyebrow and then eyed Zed with a snarky smile, "These ladies do not like to wait."

"You've already put two or three weeks on her, bud," Zed stated softly as him and Ace caught eyes in a whirl of gentle understanding.

"All of this turmoil is now on your end, when it originally was on her end," Rancis eased, "I'm sure you're feeling overwhelmed at the fact that all of the pressure is now on you, so soon, right?"

"Yeah," Ace urged, as if to show relief that someone understood.

"Well, I'm certain she'll be patient with you, if you really just don't feel right about it, you should tell her when you get home," Rancis egged dully, though he eyed his great nephew and could definitely see that twinkle of anticipation in Ace's eyes, "... But, something tells me you're tired of letting YOU hold yourself back."

"First time jitters," Nox eased as he came out of his obnoxious, playful antics; him and Zed shared a small nod.

"You gotta start somewhere," Rancis cocked an eyebrow, "You won't be able to experience all of life's wonders by simply biting your fingernails on the cliff's edge. Sure, your safe cliff top has a view, but that leap gives you experience. You just have to jump."

"I know," Ace stated through a heave of a refreshed sigh, and with such, his whole demeanor looked different, like a weight had finally been lifted.

"There you are," Zed grumbled as he eyed his son in playful annoyance, everyone gently laughed.

"You had all that bottled, clearly," Rancis squeezed Ace's shoulder and lovingly pat a few times, "You really are Oliver's nephew, that's for sure... Your worries are safe in the family, dude, you can't shove everything you're worried about into the depths of yourself and just hope it'll all go away.

"Especially girl trouble, man," Nox waggled his hand.

"Yeah, we're all in this mess together," Rancis laughed, and as his eyes glossed the group, he was thankful with how quiet Orph was on this sensitive subject matter; he politely hung at the island and simply listened, something Rancis dutifully noted.

"Thanks, guys," Ace breathed as he nodded and felt his posture finally want to straighten.

"C'mon, this is the last night any of us are going to have without the ladies, so let's have fun..." Rancis squeezed Ace into a side hug and began to join Zed at the counter, once more, "We'll worry about the sex later."

"That's not typically something I worry about, I don't know about you," Nox volleyed as everyone, now including Ace, fell into laughter; as Ace joined the group, Zed gave his shoulder an understanding squeeze, a notion of wordless love.

"No, I haven't had to worry about it for over a year, dude, I'm pretty sure I'm more scared than Ace," Rancis blurt as him and Zed continued making drinks.

"We gotta think up a fun way to reunite you back with Taffyta," Zed chimed, Nox, Ace and Orph slowly moseyed back to the table and loudly began to chatter about other things.

"For User's sakes, I've been avoiding the thought all day," Rancis huffed shakily, though Zed furrowed his brow and peered to Rancis curiously.

"How come?" Zed chuckled, Rancis nodded and smiled.

"I'm really nervous," Rancis eased bashfully with a kind look of anticipated excitement, "Please tell me she, uh... Still... Well..."

"She wears her ring, dude, you don't have to worry," Zed affirmed, Rancis breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "I will warn you, though..."

Rancis cocked an eyebrow gently lowered the drink shaker to the counter and froze. Zed held in suspended fear and nervously eyed Rancis's stiffening demeanor, and with the silence, excluding Ace's, Orph's and Nox's antics, he could feel Rancis's protectiveness practically eke through the ceiling.

"...Which one of you brothers do I have to kill, Zedian?" Rancis darkly asked, and with such information volleyed at him, Zed swallowed hard and was now certain Rancis was a mind-reader.

"Nothing has happened, nothing to concern you," Zed assured, "I have a brother who had eyes for Taffyta, a bit ago... I think they put it to an end, because, well..."

"I'm alive?" Rancis barked with a chuckle, Zed nodded.

"Taffyta's holding out for that hope," Zed stated, he was relieved to see Rancis continue doing what he was doing.

"Castle walls are gunna shake, my friend," Rancis grumbled darkly with a mean smile, "Tell them racers to run... Cause I'm back."

* * *

 _ **This is a repeat of the last chapter's 'Author Note'**_

 **A/N : OKAY GUYS, this is really weird to say but... R.O.'s FOURTH sketch dump will be coming up, and this time... the 4th sketch dump WON'T be the last! Crazy town! I'm very quickly coming up on 200 chapters, and I will very quickly soar RIGHT past it. I have about 40-60 more chapters left in me... As well as the first 50 chapters of the 4th story. I'm pretty sure I'm not human anymore lol**

 **I know that's not anything anyone signed up for, but... I have to get it all out of my body and onto Fanfiction or else I will hate myself. So I hope you guys are ready for at least 2 more sketch dumps, for R.O., cause this beast isn't going anywhere.**

 **That said, have your requests ready, cause once 200 hits then I will begin writing everything down! I've decided that THIS particular sketch dump can be of ANY scene in ANY chapter of ANY BOOK.**

 **You read that right.**

 **I'm giving you guys 10 chapters to collect your ideas. You have the three stories to pick from - Wrecking Limits, Defying Code AND Rectifying Origin.**

 **Y'all have 566 chapters to f*ck me up with.**

 **This is my way of saying one massive THANK YOU. So have fun! Don't hold back! Lay 'em on me! The good User knows how the hell this is all going to fit on DeviantART, but I'll make it work!**


	194. Chapter 194

**Reviews :**

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you! Yeahhhh... Rancis and Tej have a bit of a chapter, coming up LOL. I haven't really decided what route I'm going to take, with those two, whether it stays cordial or gets messy, but I guess I'll feel it out. Rancis plays guard dog on his bride, that's for sure! xD

 **Pumpkin Cupcake** : Aww, thank you so much! The reviews are definitely nice, and encouraging, but I wouldn't stop writing, even if no one ever reviewed ever again. I'd be sad, cause I've made some cool friends here, and I certainly do miss everyone when there's weird lulls of no reviewers, from my friends and such, but it's alright. There are also times where FF is a butt and reviewing isn't like... even possible, so sometimes it's not even anyone's fault. They tried to review but the site was under maintenance or whatever haha. Thank you for your kind words! Yes, Ace definitely needed that little kick in the butt - it helps him out, for sure! Same on Libby's end :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **The Worlds We Discovered by Twilight Meadow**

 **Kids by OneRepublic**

* * *

 ***Chapter 194***

Through a nervous shaky sigh, Rancis let his breath fog the air. As the group slowly stepped off of Honeydew's cabin property, Rancis hesitated to look back, though he did. With his garden very cleanly picked of everything, the cabin tightly locked and cleaned up for it's little stance of solidarity, for now, Rancis almost felt tears sting his eyes. He sagged his gloved hands into his coat's pockets as snow very gently began to dot the evening sky. He grimaced as everyone filed past him, except Penny. She diligently hung with her father, his home for the past year now seemed so small. Penny scoffed a small chuckle, pat Rancis's lower chest and held close to him, their own little bible of suspended nostalgia. Rancis furrowed his dirty blond brows and peered deep into Penny's blue eyes.

"We'll be back," Penny assured quietly as the group slowed to a patient halt and diligently waited for the two to come to terms with leaving, "We'll make sure Honeydew Ridge gets it's redeeming Christmas holiday hangout, you know we always do."

"I know, baby," Rancis's voice crackled with further coming tears, and as he rubbed his eyes with his right pointer finger and thumb, Penny cooed a small, understanding giggle and wrapped her arms about Rancis's middle, her small height only barely coming to the top of his chest. Rancis chuckled, shook his head and wrapped his arms tight about Penny's shoulders, "It's just hard... It's weird leaving this place. I just... Can't wait for everything to be set right, once and for all."

"In due time," Penny sighed as she buried her face into Rancis's chest, she fluttered her eyes shut and was in disbelief that she was in her father's arms, even after the whole twenty four hours she's now had with him back in her life. With a final squeeze, she shrugged a little and peered up at Rancis with a curious smirk, "C'mon... We can't waste time wondering what'll become of this ridge. We'll get it back, dad, I promise."

"Yes, ma'am," Rancis croaked as the two gingerly pulled apart, and as they gently tucked into each other's hands and began to step away, Rancis got one last ogling glance at his fairytale cottage on the most glorious view of a ridge this gorgeous game had to offer.

"You guys okay?" Tessa urged quietly as the group now began to carry on, into the thicket of the forest beyond the cabin's fields.

"We're fine, just hard letting go, I guess," Rancis sighed as they finally picked up the pace, all beings now eager to get past the ridge's forcefield and into the sky, "I surely can't wait to see Ralph and everyone."

"Once we're in the air, we need to brainstorm how we'll reunite you with mom," Penny urged, everybody loudly began to laugh and volley ideas back and forth, though nothing permanent.

"I just hope I'll be able to get out," Rancis worried as they carefully stepped down the hillsides, large gaps of boulders, thick tree roots and thickets of tall grass was what they finally sank into, and as the ridge finally cleared to the miles and miles of grassland they had flown over for the entire stretch, Rancis heaved a shaky breath and let his eyes soak into the flat, never-ending horizon, kissed with the evening sunset on the other side of the sky, "I also hope that... You know who, doesn't notice us leaving."

"He clearly didn't notice us come in," Orph stated calmly as everyone weaved in and out of stalks of grass that nearly towered over everyone, all four flyers patiently followed behind everyone to make sure nothing dangerous followed them down the cliffside, "Plus, we have Ace... Nothing stands up to his powers, y'know?"

"Thanks, uncle," Ace shot a bashful smile in Orph's direction, to his left, and as the two boys finally fell into step, Orph firmly pat Ace's broad shoulder.

"How is this going to work, anyhow?" Rancis wondered nervously, though just as the words left his mouth, Marble chuffed a noise as Ace held out his hand, to signify they were now within the limits of the forcefield.

Everyone drummed to a slow halt as Ace was the only one to press forward, and with such, he let his hand come alive with his, Tessa's and Zed's glorious, curious silver coding. Everyone looked on in knowing awe, though Rancis made sure to hold his diligent, surprised attention strict to just what Ace was doing. Having never seen anything like this in his life, Rancis held his breath and was totally floored to see Ace's strong wrecking hand come into contact with the angry forcefield, and sink right beyond it. Rancis choked a silent gasp, narrowed his gaze in disbelief and stood still in rising shock as everyone slowly began to file past his frozen demeanor. Single file, Ace began to let everyone through the forcefield, something Rancis was wholly certain he'd never be alive to see. Just as Rancis was about to convince himself that this was all a dream, Ace let Marble through, the last being besides him and Rancis, and as his loving, patient eyes dragged to his great uncle, he held his glowing hand out and calmly gestured.

"Y'coming?" Ace cued with a small chuckle at just how dumbfounded Rancis looked, though he scoffed a nervous, trembling laugh and dared to take a step backwards.

"I-I don't know about this," Rancis staggered in fear as he looked up to the tiers and tiers of halted coding Ace had instructed, the forcefield seemingly obeyed Ace's every command, though it looked brooding, as if Ace's time was running short, and any second now, the gang would be thwarted of their intentions.

"I do," Ace's voice was warm and patient, "Trust me... You're going to make it through, okay?"

Rancis held his breath and dragged his eyes from the tiers of angry coding straight down to his great nephew, someone of which wielded so much power being his knowledge, and with such a raw thought, Rancis's eyes shot to Ace's hand. A live wire, hanging out to catch just about anyone and anything to grace his coding, Rancis knew he had to just trust everything was going to be alright. He bit his lip, and just as he was finally about to take a hesitant step forward and put all of his trust into this incredible being, Ace cocked an eyebrow and chuckled a little louder.

"Life's a cliff top, remember?" Ace egged tenderly as him and Rancis caught eyes, and in the whirl of the switch up, Rancis finally choked an annoyed scoff of a laugh and dared to reach his hand out to his great nephew, "Just gotta jump..."

"Using my own advice against me, huh," Rancis playfully stabbed as Ace bashfully laughed, though as he sunk his hand into Ace's, he choked a surprised gasp and felt as if the voltage of his coding was amped by a billion watts.

Ace held suspended for a moment, simply so Rancis could brace himself and get used to the weird change, and as the two finally soaked into an agreeing exterior swap, Ace kept his diligent eye contact honed to his great uncle. In a single slide, Ace began to gingerly back step, cautiously bringing Rancis with him, and once the two very gently soaked through the forcefield, Rancis shut his eyes tight and prepared for the worst. Once the two had taken at least half a dozen steps, Ace stopped, unhanded Rancis and gingerly shook his shoulder. The whisper of his delighted voice filled Rancis's head with the good news.

"Y'made it," Ace's warmth and happiness was palpable, and as all four flyers perked their heads and prepared for their riders, Rancis exhaled a sharp breath, clutched his chest and urgently peered to Ace's eyes. Just as he dragged his shock gaze back to the spires of Honeydew Ridge, Ace firmly pat Rancis's shoulder and squeezed, "C'mon. Let's go home."

"Home," Rancis staggered, his breath fogged before him, and as he finally began to sag into the readied group of flyers, he took in one last sight of his glorious ridge, one that taught him so many things, put him through so many hardships, alienated and welcomed him in all in one go, he finally narrowed his gaze and peeled from it's view, one last time.

With their final departure, the final leap into the sky and their eyes set for Sugar Rush's entrance could not come faster. As the dark, minty blue evening sky was kissed with the pop of coral the last of the sunset had to give, the moon finally painted their atmosphere a pretty periwinkle. With the gang now flying in higher altitudes to catch higher currents of wind and hopefully arrive home faster, they loudly chat back and forth about Rancis's arrival, the things he missed and said things to look forward to. With keeping details brief, they finally caught a glimpse of Sugar Rush's beacon of an entrance on the horizon, likely hours ahead of time because of the higher wind currents caught.

"Captain," Nox chimed in a dorky fashion as he waggled his finger about, he looked over his shoulder and stabbed his gaze to Tessa and Penny, who were aboard Lickity, "We've got our sights on our departure."

"Please put your tray tables into an upright position while we are preparing for landing," Zed stated into his hand as he clearly mocked a walkie-talkie voice, "Current temperatures in Dead Zed is likely a really weird mixture of cold and humid, leaving us all confused on whether to turn on the air conditioner, or the heater."

Everyone loudly laughed as the four flyers grew a bit livelier in their flaps of feathers and scales, and as Rancis nervously peered over the top of Koko's head, both aboard Balba, he began to feel his heart pound in rising anxiousness. He flinched as Zed loudly and playfully continued, him and Orph were safely stationed on Marble.

"We're going to be seeing some thunderstorms later in the night that will wake us all up, scare the piss out of us and potentially will make the lights flicker," Zed puffed his chest and tried not to laugh as everyone was in stitches, "We hope you enjoy your stay in Dead Zed, and remember... Nice guys finish last. Thank you for flying Marble airlines."

"Marble airlines," Tessa blurt as everyone continued to laugh, "So that WHOLE announcement was for no one but you and Orph."

"You're just jealous Penny didn't give you and Lickity an in-flight snack," Orph waggled his eyebrows and lifted the small bag of chips Zed had hesitantly materialized for him, though once everyone gaped and shot the two beyond annoyed looks, Orph sagged into himself and endured Zed's death glare, over his shoulder.

"I do something nice for you and tell you not to tell anyone and what do you do?" Zed muttered as Orph quickly crumpled the bag of chips.

"I knew I shouldn't have given the materializer back," Ace muttered in exhaustion as he rubbed his face, him and Nox were comfortably lounged aboard Royal.

"Alright, for the rest of the duration of our flight, we HAVE to finally figure out how we're going to surprise mom," Penny chimed excitedly; with this brief escape from reality, Rancis raised his eyebrows and was, yet again, reminded of the inevitable.

"Oh yeah, let's shell this out now," Tessa stated eagerly as she rubbed her hands together, though Koko cocked an eyebrow and peered to her uncle over her shoulder.

"Your silence says a whole lot, uncle Rancis," Koko mumbled softly, Rancis gave her a cheeky smile and shrugged.

"I-I guess I'm just... A lot more nervous than I thought," Rancis stated shakily as he felt his heart begin to throb in anxious excitement, "I've only really had twenty four hours to swallow all of this..."

"You think we should wake mom up?" Penny wondered in a grimace.

"Why doesn't Rancis just like... Sneak into bed next to her?" Nox suggested, everyone laughed, "It IS like... Two in the morning, anyhow."

"You kidding? She wouldn't know who was laying in bed with her, she'd kick me straight in the nuts," Rancis shrieked, as if this was something that he had previously endured; everyone loudly laughed.

"Well, should you just... Sleep in the Sky Room then?" Zed rubbed his chin and pondered, everyone stole glances to one another and thought on it as well, "I mean... Ralph would probably see you first."

"Well, then dad would want to wake mom and aunt Taffyta and... He'd likely be late for quarter alerts cause he'd want to catch up with uncle Rancis," Tessa droned, everyone volleyed notions of agreeing, "Why don't I just... Manually wake Aunt Taffyta up from the code room?"

"You can do that?" Rancis furrowed his brow and shot his niece a confused smile, Tessa nodded and looked off in a cute act of mischief.

"It's not really disruptive... I can just cue her coding into thinking she's thirsty," Tessa shrugged, Zed snapped his fingers and nodded in agreeing towards his fiancé, "She'll wake up, come out to the kitchen and get herself a glass of water."

"Oh! Then when she goes back to her bedroom, Rancis will be in there," Nox was quick to add, though Ace grimaced and stifled a laugh.

"I'm pretty sure that'd scare the shit out of her," Ace blurt, everyone was thrown into riled laughter.

"Maybe it wouldn't scare her if say... Tessa and Penny, or someone, met her in the kitchen and walked her back to her bedroom?" Koko wondered as she looked over her shoulder to gauge everyone's reactions, and with such, the laughter settled and everyone bobbed nods of agreeing.

"That could work! Uncle Rancis could just hang back behind her door or something," Tessa urged as her and Penny became riled with ideas.

"She'll wonder why we're back so soon!" Penny loudly added, everyone grew excited.

"We can just be like 'oh, I don't know, by the way there's something behind your door'," Tessa rushed, everyone eagerly and loudly agreed as Rancis rubbed his face in whole, eager nervousness.

"Good User, you guys... She's going to kill me," Rancis choked a laugh and peeked his gaze to the large spire of a mountain on the horizon, the very mountain that held their escape; it slowly grew closer and closer.

"Then we can just slowly close you guys in! Easy!" Tessa clapped her hands together, Penny crossed her arms in a solidified, finalized nod, and with such, both girls high-fived.

"Say goodbye to your original coding, dude," Nox blurt to Rancis, everyone choked with laughter, "Again!"

"Okay, now you guys are scaring me," Rancis teased in rising, playful agitation, though as he leaned back on Balba's fluffy spine, Lickity eased a laugh and flattened her ears.

"Good thing practically everything in that User forsaken castle is sound proofed," Lickity muttered, and though everyone eagerly agreed in lilts of knowing tones, Orph very sharply cut his agreeing notions short and bashfully eyed Penny.

"Good thing for us," Royal grunted, "I'd never be able to view any of you guys the same if nothing was sound proofed."

"I'd live off of the castle grounds," Balba choked, everybody was alive with laughter, "I'd go crazy!"

"I'm glad you all have stuck together," Rancis finally caught his breath and let his smiling eyes finally soak to the horizon, and the entrance, with acceptance, "That's all I ever wished for..."

"We'll all be one again, shortly," Tessa huffed, "We can relax for a few days... But I certainly think we should be quick to make new plans, for the next scout."

"Oh, in due time, all of this drama will be discussed," Rancis now darkly eyed the horizon and felt his veins begin to wiggle, the very essence of all of the information he harbored, every single last drop of secrets he had to his name were clawing to get out of his body. He knew he'd likely shock the coding right out of everyone eventually, though he was glad that a good nights sleep was something to come first, "I'll tell you guys everything you need to know..."

"Thank User," Tessa huffed as she sagged, her and Penny caught eyes in the whirl of the excitement.

"You're welcome," Ace mumbled sarcastically, which had everyone laughing, once more.

"That never gets old," Nox grinned.

In the duration of the lofty night flight underneath Sugar Rush's sweet, gleaming moon, Rancis gripped the thighs of his pants and began to feel his hands grow sweaty with rising anxiousness. He knew he hadn't seen his bride in an eternity, so it seemed, and he was well aware the two were still married, still very much a thing, he somehow felt butterflies line his stomach. Like young love, seeing Taffyta on New Year's night, from the time she was all dolled up to the passionate throw around of nothing but skin and their burning love, later that same night... He swallowed hard and wondered if she still felt the same for him. He was very well aware they had a lifetime of catching up to do, though he had to wonder if all the words could be put on a hefty pause, if just for a night of relived, remembered embers of passion.

Within passing through Sugar Rush's forcefield and careful footsteps that approached the gaping outlet into Game Central Station, quiet and perfect in all it's stillness, Rancis held his breath and let his eyes scan the glorious gold tiles, the high ceilings and arches of their beloved memories, Rancis shook his head and was thrilled his traveling party hung on the sidelines and allowed him this intimate moment with coming back to reality. He scoffed a silent noise, put his hands on his hips, dragged his eyes about the station as he set out into it, and as he did a whole 360, he finally landed his eyes on his family, the whole traveling crew that rescued him. He narrowed his gaze and diligently gave each being a look of whole gratitude.

"This isn't real," Rancis huffed silently as he shook his head and tried his very hardest not to well up, and with such, he choked back a noise and attempted to clear his throat.

"Better believe it," Tessa stated lovingly as everyone's tender footsteps grew closer to him, and as they gathered, Rancis inhaled a deep breath, steadied himself and allowed Penny's presence to come underneath his arm and into his side.

With a tight squeeze of Penny into his fatherly embrace, he furrowed his eyebrows and peered off to the beckoning train station, just at the end of Game Central's massive hall. He nodded once, wrinkled the group a smile and exhaled a trembling breath.

"I'm ready to see my bride guys, let's get a move on," Rancis stated positively, though his tone was bashful, and as everyone quietly began to hoop and holler, merry skips of joyful bounds to the station turned into a full on run, all four flyers eagerly chased after the group that bounced and skipped towards the station in riot of loudness they knew was only rewarded to them this one time.

Once everyone stumbled down into the station, full of life and laughter, they eagerly board the train, that had just arrived, and made their diligent bee-line for End Of Line station, Dead Zed's humble home. With a much quieter approach, the group still managed to somehow obtain more bursts of energy the closer they got to their destination, and in a fumbling mess of near-tripping over each other in fits of stifled laughter and stabbing jokes galore, everyone stumbled into Dead Zed's humid atmosphere, once and for all. In the mess of getting everyone onto the well-hidden teleportation pad, near the entrance, the whole group was very quickly zipped away to proper coordinates on Dead Zed's map, and once the Kalivar castle had finally come into everyone's view, they hung in suspended silence at one sheer, solid fact - They made it.

"Alright, alright, I can do this," Rancis stabbed, everyone flinched, and as if it were now routine, everyone patiently sagged from the teleportation pad and waited for further instructions; Zed fumbled for his communicator and quickly began to message Finn.

"You can do this," Penny eagerly agreed as she gently clapped her hands in excitement, "Oh, my User, this is so exciting."

"Alright, Finn's awake, he said he'll let us in, in a second," Zed stated quickly as everyone waited for the castle's massive front gates to open, as well as the protective alarm of a shield to come down from around castle grounds.

"You sure we should wake her? You think that she'd just... Be too out of it to even comprehend what's going on?" Rancis urged quickly in a nervous, low tone, to Tessa and Penny; both girls honed their entire attentions to Rancis.

"Dad, if I were in mom's shoes, I'd most definitely want to be woken up for something like this," Penny rushed as Rancis hooked his intelligent gaze straight into his daughter's eyes, and with a firm nod, she gripped Rancis's lower arm and jostled it, "Imagine if mom found out you came in last night and we DIDN'T wake her, with the news..."

"She'd be pissed," Tessa muttered, Rancis cocked an eyebrow and nodded.

"You're right, she'd be pretty upset, huh," Rancis huffed shakily, though everyone flinched as the castle gates finally opened, and with such, all four flyers very kindly said their goodnights to everyone and took to the skies, so to round the back end of the castle and find their abode of an enclosure, in the backyard.

"Dad, you're shaking," Penny urged tenderly as everyone began to shuffle onto castle grounds and slowly up the main stoop; everyone quietly laughed and hovered about the delightfully escalating situation.

"Shaking, I'm about to pass out," Rancis one-upped the situation with a tremble of a laugh and a gesture of his hand, and as Zed held his hand to the front door, the master code, the door's bolts unlatched and they were finally let into the castle.

Rancis narrowed his gaze as he came into the warm, comfortable atmosphere, and as he silently took everything in, in whole delight, he still felt as if he had more pressing issues, at hand. Just as the front doors were closed, and everyone was finally gathered in the kitchen, Finn's teleportation pad softly buzzed, and him and Tammy came into clarity. Rancis raised his eyebrows and peered to the unfamiliar being, though as Tammy came into his vision, a wide, floored smile broke across his face, and with urgent shuffling, the two very quickly sought each other out, across the room.

"Uncle Rancis," Tammy urged quietly as she slapped her arms about her neck and latched on, and as Rancis welcomed his niece, no matter how removed, he squeezed her tight into his arms and huffed a shaky breath, "I can't believe they found you, I can't believe you're here..."

"Trust me, my head is still spinning," Rancis huffed shakily as he gently swayed Tammy, and once they pulled apart, he kept his hands to her sides and gave her eyes the most loving smile he could muster, "It's so good to see you, Tammy. I can't wait to see Ralph, Felix and everyone."

"Are you guys going to wake them up too?" Tammy urged excitedly as everyone so easily clung to this escalating situation and as all eyes drew to Tessa, Rancis, Penny and Zed, they shook their heads and gave Tammy and Finn mischievous smiles.

"We're only going to wake Taffyta," Zed stated calmly and quietly, he was grateful everyone remained with low, indoor voices, so not to accidentally wake anyone.

"You must be Finn," Rancis stated warmly as he approached Finn, though just as Rancis reached his hand to Finn for a handshake, Finn near-flinched and tried his very hardest not to look offended.

"For User's sakes, forgive me," Finn huffed darkly as he held his hands up and took a few steps back, and though Rancis sagged into himself and showed a ghostly look of immediate solace, Zed tucked his hand to the top of Rancis's shoulder and was glad he got Rancis to peel his sorrowful gaze from Finn.

"I-I guess I forgot to warn you... These boys have really bad memories of Radex, and... Well..." Zed gestured his hand nervously, and with this information, Rancis's understanding smile finally returned, "Finn, we've done code scans on his mainframe, he's separated from Radex... We can do a more thorough search, if it'll make you comfortable."

Finn dragged his eyes from Zed's to Rancis's, and although both Rancis and Radex were identical, physically, it was clear to Finn that Rancis's demeanor held a gentle, boyish lightness, where as Radex's was shroud in eternal exhaustion, bags under his eyes, pale and clammy looking skin, it was a stark difference. Finn heaved a soft sigh, nodded and gave Zed a trustful look.

"I'm sure it's all fine, but further tests should be run, anyways," Finn shrugged, Zed and Rancis nodded in agreeing, "Just for... Y'know..."

"Go the extra mile, good thinking," Zed firmly pat Finn's shoulder and gave him a proud smile, "But, trust me. This one won't bite."

"Rancis," Rancis introduced gently as he held his hand out, once more, for a handshake, and with such, he was floored to feel Finn finally relax and take him up on said introductory handshake.

"Finn," He eased warmly, though he still looked sharply prepared, "Forgive me... This is going to take some getting used to. We've y'know... Prepared for this moment, but it's not real until it's, well..."

"Real," Rancis huffed a small chuckle and sagged his hands into his pockets, "I understand. No need to justify it, I'll do whatever I can to make it so you guys are comfortable. I know how weird this can be for you all."

"We appreciate it," Finn stated gently, though Tessa softly approached the boys and gestured to the digital pad.

"Alright... No more heavy, okay?" Tessa wondered delicately as Finn sagged a nod and warmly gave Tessa a small side hug, a small, reuniting hello the two cued for, and as Finn gestured down to the pad in curiosity, Tessa waggled her eyebrows, "We're going to surprise Aunt Taffyta... We just all have to figure out how we're going to go about this."

"How about you and Penny hang in the kitchen... We all can hang in our bedroom," Zed gestured to the group, which included Rancis, Finn, Tammy, Ace, Nox, Orph and Koko, "Once we see Taffyta leave the Sky Room, we can get Rancis situated in Taffyta's room, and... Well..."

"Then, when Penny and I escort Aunt Taffyta back to her room," Tessa pointed as she dragged her excited eyes back to Penny's.

"... We can leave her with the surprise waiting for her," Penny urged with an excited, girly laugh, to which everybody cued to.

"Ohh I want to watch this go down," Tammy muttered as she crossed her arms, over her comfortable black t-shirt, "Where do we go? With you, Zed?"

"Yep, let's all silently go to mine and Tessa's room... We'll wait for Taffyta to leave her bedroom, then," Zed stated with a wide smile, though he jolted to a halt and eagerly peered back to Rancis, "... You ready?"

"We should give him a minute," Tammy chuckled as he jostled Rancis's shoulder, "He just came back to Arcade, finally excited for a good night's sleep, huh? And here we are throwing him into our shenanigans already."

"No no, it's okay, I... I really think we should rip off the bandaid," Rancis rushed as he grappled his hair, shook his head and heaved a shaky chuckle, "If we don't do this now, I'll just toss and turn all night so... Let's go."

"That's the spirit," Zed quietly clapped, he quickly gestured for the group to follow him, "Alright guys, quietly now... We can't wake anyone."


	195. Chapter 195

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** YAY I hope you guys like it! It spans into the beginning of the next chapter, as well. :D I'm glad you all are so hyped about it! I hope I do it justice!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you so much! :)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yes for sure! I'm excited for you guys to read :D And yes, things get a little tense with Rancis and the crew, and especially with Rancis and Throttle, as well as Rancis and Tej... Definitely a challenge for all the men in the castle, where as all the women are like omg how many more alpha males do we need under one roof LOL!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** YESS I hope you guys like it! And yes, you guys will eventually find out why Radex was just sort of letting them do whatever they want, by coming in and out of the game and etc. - it's not all just him playing dumb, I'll tell you that much! And, thank you! I'll respond shortly here :)

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Aww well thank you. Yeah, it would be hard without all my friends here, all you guys encouraging me and loving on my characters, but I would still push on. I have to get this all out of my body or else I will go nuts xD And yes! Lots and lots and LOTS of drama is to ensue, tension between Throttle, Tej and then the whole Ace and Libby fiasco - got lots of heat coming up! Thank you so much, for everything!

 **SonicEvolution :** Yeah, he does sometimes, doesn't he. Tessa has Ralph's brute stubbornness and heart of gold, an though Tessa has some of Vanellope's more snarky tendencies, Zed already had those underlying tones to begin with - flooding Zed with Tessa's own coding, the mixture of Ralph and Vanellope, definitely gave Zed a huge dose of all of it, as well. So some of Zed's traits became more heightened than others :)

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Afterglow by All Time Low**

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 ***Chapter 195***

As Rancis inhaled a shaky breath, he finally held it and was certain letting it go was something that wasn't going to happen. As him and Zed held in suspended wait, hidden in the archway of the small corridor that lead to Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, Rancis's skin prickled with the sound of the silent, excited chattering from inside Zed's bedroom from behind. The whole rest of the scout, which now included Tammy and Finn, held their dewy, twinkly-eyed attention to Rancis and Zed. Both men very patiently waited to see Taffyta's figure cross the dark Sky Room, and the second the sound of Taffyta's bedroom door croaked an echoing noise into the atmosphere, Rancis felt his heart jump clear out of his throat.

Rancis cocked an eyebrow and only barely dared to peak from around the corner. As if a beacon of light shone down from the heavens, the stars illuminated everything they had, Rancis's eyes finally locked on his bride. He froze in whole, enlightened glee and continued to hold his breath. The mere sight of her sleepy figure crossing the glossy tiles, her white hair was a slight mess, she was dressed in a dark red tank and long, grey sweats; even though she had just woken up, was totally vulnerable and excluded from this act of a surprise, Rancis still felt his bones literally do everything they could from not jolting out into the Sky Room and scooping Taffyta into the biggest embrace he could possibly muster. Instead, he clutched his chest and finally dragged his longing, delightfully grief-stricken expression straight into Zed's demeanor; both men did everything not to give their position away.

"C'mon, we gotta hurry," Zed just barely whispered as Taffyta finally rounded the corner to the kitchen and was out of sight.

As him and Zed quickly shuffled to Taffyta's bedroom, the small group within Zed's bedroom whispered small, encouraging notions of excitement towards Rancis, their way of wishing him luck and congratulating him for coming so far, from so long. Rancis gave the small group a quick wave, and as him and Zed hustled across the gap of the Sky Room, they sunk into Taffyta's opened bedroom door and into her room. Rancis long-blinked as his brain did everything and anything to keep up, and as the familiar touch of his bride's characteristics hit his retinas, he could begin to feel tears sting his eyes. Zed gestured for Rancis to stand behind the door, so that he wouldn't be immediately seen when Taffyta returned to her bedroom.

"Alright... You ready?" Zed whispered with a small chuckle as he nudged Rancis's arm and got him situated behind the large, half-opened door.

"I-I think so," Rancis staggered in a shaky whisper, he inhaled a deep breath and let it back out in a tremble, as if he had just ran a mile. He gestured to himself, scrunched his shoulders and gave Zed a concerned look, as if likely everything about him was wrong, "I probably look like shit, huh."

"You look fine, Taffyta's half awake anyways, she's not going to know what hit her," Zed rushed as he grimaced and barely peeked out Taffyta's bedroom door, "She's not going to care about how you look, she's just going to want to be with you... That's all."

"I'm terrified, man, I-I... Are you sure... Sh-she hasn't seen me in over a y-"

"Trust me, in quiet moments among smaller groups, you're the first thing she mentions," Zed gripped Rancis's shoulder and shook a little, as if to tell him to knock off being so wary, "She's going to be ecstatic. Just wait and see..."

"Thank you," Rancis nodded and inhaled yet another shaky breath, and with such, Zed knew he should likely leave it up to fate, from here.

"You got this," Zed encouraged softly as he began to step away, to leave, "Good luck, man."

Rancis nodded, looked down to his feet and sagged his trembling hands into his pockets. As if he was attempting to morph into a higher species and acquire Lickity-status hearing, he did everything and anything he could to listen for Tessa's, Penny's and Taffyta's voices, in which he knew would be eventually approaching. In this still moment of heightened wait, he finally cocked an eyebrow and dared to get a better look around. Taffyta's room was only dimly lit, though it was filled with warmth from soft lights that lined her small dome, one that mocked the Sky Room's much larger dome; stars flood the vicinity, the mixtures of the cool, milky blue atmosphere alongside her ember-warm house lights set the tone of the room to nothing short of tranquil.

With white furniture and touches of romantic reds, maroons and creams, Rancis was floored with just how matured her taste had gotten, and with such, he swallowed a gulp and very rapidly was reminded that he was, indeed, a married man, and was to be reunited with this wonderful woman he knew he could never forget about. Though, with these thoughts, he had to wonder just how many hours it'd take to catch up, to pace the room and use up all the oxygen in the atmosphere dedicated to questions and answers. He furrowed his brow and tried to steady his racing heart, how he wished they'd be able to find a calm lull in the night, to sink into each other's embrace and forget their troubles for as long as the moon smiled down on them. He steadied his footing and was well aware he was on the verge of falling over with just how anxious and excited he was.

Taffyta furrowed her brow, rubbed her eye in rapidly rising confusion and tenderly stepped out into the dimly lit kitchen. Upon reassuring herself that she wasn't dreaming, she noticed Tessa and Penny quietly speaking at the kitchen island. They were nonchalantly lounged, they had a mildly disappointed air about themselves, and with such, Taffyta felt her skin prickle with rising confusion. A million questions floated into her head, and before she could jolt into action and ask her young daughter and niece just what the heck they were doing home, her presence was enough to invoke their attention. They lifted their heads and peered to Taffyta in a bout of happiness to see her, though the fake front of disappointment and defeat they held was extremely believable.

"Mom," Penny urged warmly as she slowly removed herself from the island and took the few steps to her mother. Taffyta scoffed a small giggle and gently accepted Penny's loving hug, "We're home early."

"I-I thought maybe I was hallucinating," Taffyta choked sleepily as she squeezed Penny tightly, and with a small sway, the two finally pulled from each other, "I woke up dying of thirst, for some reason. What time did you guys get back?"

"Oh, about an hour ago," Tessa fibbed gently as she heaved a long sigh and shook her head, "We had to cut the scout short..."

"What happened?" Taffyta worried as she kept her whole attention to the two, though she made it a point to pour herself a frosty glass of water, so to quench her thirst, one of which was induced by Tessa, little did she know.

"Well, upon starting out, we noticed nasty storm clouds coming from the South," Tessa stated in a dejected tone, "We flew south-west for a small amount of time, but... As we went further out, the storm just got bigger and bigger."

"By the time it started pelting down rain, we knew we needed to turn around," Penny grimaced as she fiddle with a left-behind glass on the counter, "We figured better safe than sorry."

"We'll probably try and re-do the scout, next week. Hopefully the storm will be gone, by then," Tessa assured, Taffyta frowned and looked down, after she had taken a big gulp or two and set her empty cup in the kitchen sink.

"Well, that's a shame... It's probably for the best though, would suck to get stuck in those nasty storms," Taffyta gestured, "The ocean, from the southern waters, produces some really terrible storms. It was wise of you guys to turn around... Don't be so hard on yourselves."

"Just sucks, it was my first trip to take charge and really, y'know... Make progress," Tessa shrugged and eyed Penny in whole, faked annoyance; Penny did her best to play along, "Ah, well... I guess we should just hit the hay. Penny, I think you left a bag of yours, in my room."

"Oh, yeah, I'll go with you to get it now," Penny grunted as she stood from the kitchen island, and as all three girls began to walk back towards the Sky Room, Taffyta reached her arm up and heaved a very large yawn.

"Yeah, I'm going back to bed," Taffyta said through her gaping yawn, she finally brought her arm down and exhaled a long breath of sleepiness, "I was so thirsty... Guess it's for the better, I'm glad I bumped into you guys."

"You guys going to come on the next scout?" Tessa wondered plainly as she eyed her aunt, though Taffyta shrugged.

"I guess we can talk with Vanellope about it tomorrow morning, I wouldn't mind going," Taffyta stated quietly as they slowly crossed the Sky Room, though Penny and Tessa tried not to make it obvious that they were simply following Taffyta, "The second you guys left, I felt guilty for not simply tagging along... I'd like to play my part in finding Rancis, y'know. He is my husband, after all."

"Yeah, we... Clearly had to think about other priorities, unfortunately," Tessa grumbled believably as she looked away and rubbed the back of her head, "Y'know, Aunt Taff... I really think we should set our sights for the castle, anyhow, instead of, y'know... Looking for just ONE guy."

Taffyta reached her bedroom door, pushed it open a little more and hesitated to get inside. She furrowed her brow in rising protectiveness and narrowed her gaze. She peered across her seemingly empty bedroom, untouched by no one but herself, and as her niece's false words stung, she finally dragged her eyes down to the tile and remained silent.

"One guy," Taffyta repeated as she continued to marinate in the sting; she shook her head, chuffed an annoyed grimace and finally continued to push into her bedroom.

"Well, yeah I mean... Nothing against Uncle Rancis, or anything, but we really need to find the castle," Tessa urged nervously as Taffyta finally got all the way into her room, though she faced her bed, away from the gaping bedroom door in which Rancis was now openly standing next to.

"Once we find the castle, then we can look for dad," Penny stated in a tone that sounded dejected, yet forcefully cheerful.

"It'd be pointless to look for Uncle Rancis on the next scout, anyhow," Tessa blurt in a tone that could be easily read as snotty, so to hopefully get a reaction out of Taffyta, and just as Tessa and Penny were about to simply explode with the exciting news hanging just next to them, Taffyta finally turned around and volleyed the two girls a look of whole objection.

"POINTLESS? Why the hell would you say something like... that...?" Taffyta's words rolled out of her mouth in a slowing dribble as the information finally hit her retinas.

Just as Taffyta's eyes counted a third presence in the room, she felt every single pore on her body tighten with the prickle of near-molten goosebumps. She felt her heart jolt in a mix of total confusion as the look of excited cheek hung solid on Tessa's and Penny's faces, and just as the two girls held their hands up, waved their fingers in a teasing, cheeky show of a 'goodbye-have fun' notion, they softly shut the door behind themselves, ultimately leaving Taffyta and Rancis now closed in their room for the night, for good, once and for all.

Taffyta slowly covered her mouth with her hands, she could feel her whole existence begin to crumple under all the weight of emotions that now came rocketing at her, and as her eyes finally locked with Rancis's, she took in every single last pixel of this moment. Rancis huffed a shaky chuckle, sagged his hands into his jeans pockets, though he bashfully scrunched his shoulders and gave her a look as if to delightfully say 'it's me'. He narrowed his gaze, beamed an excited smile and, as his chest rose with a shaky inhale, he finally let out a solid breath, something he felt he hadn't done in a hot minute. He could feel his knees shake, the tears that gathered in his eyes, he was certain he was about to fall over dead, strictly from the amount of torture his nerves were being put through.

Rancis felt he was holding onto his tears with ease right up until Taffyta choked a small cry of a noise underneath the cup of her hands, over her mouth. She shut her eyes tight and finally covered her face, and as she lightly scrunched her shoulders and sank herself into a mess of wholly floored cries of quiet words filled with glee and disbelief, Rancis finally took the steps towards his bride and knew he had one duty to fulfill, in this moment. With the urgency in Rancis's pace came the grimace of his oncoming tears, as well, and as soon as he was close enough to Taffyta, for her to feel his presence, she looked up from her hands and held her slightly shaking arms and hands out, as if asking for a hug, in this instance, was a given. With one fluid movement, he scooped Taffyta into his tight, warm embrace, and as Taffyta slapped her arms tight about his neck and shoulders, everything was right with the world.

"Rancis," Taffyta sobbed into his shoulder as she urgently squeezed him, as tight as she could. She could swear the room about them was spinning, though they were at a constant stillness, everything about the entire universe simply orbited about them, and as Rancis scoffed another cheery chuckle, she couldn't help but beam the widest smile through the tears, as well. She shook her head and did everything she could to make her brain keep up with her, in this moment, "It's you... I-I can't believe it's you...!"

"I'm here," Rancis huffed shakily as his trembling hands did everything they could to carefully, yet firmly, hold the back of her head and shoulder. He shut his eyes tight, scrunched his expression through his tears and buried his face into the top of her little shoulder. He inhaled shakily and could feel Taffyta's chest cavity, tight against his, tremble silent cries out to the room. He shook his head and scrunched his face into a tighter, determined grimace, into her shoulder, as he tearfully breathed words into her ear, he knew his deep voice was every single last bit of comfort she ever needed, "I can't be separated from you like that again, I can't be without you... I can't live like that."

"I've missed you so much," Taffyta cried quietly over his shoulder, she gripped his jacket into her fists and kept him to her body, as tight as she possibly could, "I never lost hope, Rancis... I never lost hope."

"I didn't either," Rancis choked tearfully, he finally breathed an elated chuckle and just barely swayed her into a tighter squeeze of love; she finally beamed a wide, teary smile and nestled her face into the side of his neck.

"None of us did," Taffyta stated through a trembling exhale, she sagged her shoulders as Rancis finally eased their embrace apart, though only enough so he could tenderly cup her face with his hands.

He smiled and finally peered down into her beautiful, glassy eyes. She exhaled a small, nasally giggle and wiped Rancis's jacket, as well as the side of his jaw, which was now littered in wet spots from her tears. He chuckled, as well, though he was quick to keep her attention up at him, he so gently stroked Taffyta's wet cheeks with his thumbs and dried her tears. With such, he shook his head, glossed his eyes about her beautiful face and furrowed his eyebrows in rising, romantic tension.

"Will you marry me?" Rancis asked seriously, though his lips curled a bashfully knowing smile, a question in which he knew was pointless to ask, though he figured there was only one way to ease back into married life, so suddenly.

"My answer will always be yes," Taffyta choked a small laugh and scrunched her shoulders in bashfulness, and as the two smiled into each others eyes, Taffyta gripped the collar of his jacket, lovingly tugged a bit and encouraged his motion of leaning in.

As the two fluttered their teary eyes shut, Rancis gently tilted his head and eased his kiss into hers. As he gently held her jaws in his able hands, the gentle smush of their warm faces against one another, the familiar scent of each other, Rancis was certain Taffyta felt the same amount of weight being lifted from her shoulders, as well. In the tilt of rising passion, he finally slid his arms to her waist and wrapped her up in the most romantic scoop of a kiss he could quite possibly give, and as she wasted no time to wrap her arms about his neck, the two stirred in their reunion, the kiss of the century. Taffyta softly hummed a shaky noise of delightful disbelief as she gently felt the softness of Rancis's golden, curly hair, near the nape of his neck. She relished in everything suddenly presented before her, as did he.

As their tears simply became one, glistening freckles upon their cheeks, Taffyta inhaled a trembling breath on Rancis's mouth as they delicately parted, though in the split second of a gap, he was quick to fill the void, once more. Taffyta hummed the softest, most content little noise on his lips, and as they gently kissed, she soaked her fingers into his golden hair, on the back of his scalp, and relished in every single last bit of information that he was, a being she was beyond floored was tangled in her arms in this raw moment. As they came up for air, once more, Rancis smiled a few more kisses to her lips, he could see words forming on her wet mouth, and was eager to make it playfully difficult for her to get it all out.

"Y-You have a ton of explaining to do," Taffyta mumbled quietly between a kiss or two, long, lasting smooches of eternal warmth was what they easily soaked each other in, and as Rancis breathed a chuckle on her lips as they squished together, one last time, he finally sagged his shoulders, pulled his head away and kept his embrace tight about his bride.

"I honestly have no clue how much longer I'm going to last, unfortunately," Rancis mumbled, though his loving gaze remained tight to Taffyta's, "I'm about ready to fall over."

"That's okay, I'm exhausted as well," Taffyta sighed, though she shook her head, "Obviously not for the same reasons but... You have to at least fill me in a little."

"I'll tell you anything you want to know," Rancis stated warmly, though sleepily, as he long-blinked and surely showed his exhaustion, "I'm so glad we're out of Sugar Rush... We couldn't talk about anything that involved the castle, or Radex, or Ace being a User... None of it."

"How come?" Taffyta worried as she furrowed her eyebrows, and just as those words came out of Rancis's mouth, he gave her a tired, though floored look of knowing and inhaled a readied breath.

"Holy User, I'm out of Sugar Rush," Rancis declared, as if it was simply brand new information. He shook his head in an incredulous way and let a wide grin cross his face, "I can say whatever the hell I want, now."

"Okay so...!" The two gently unfolded from each other, she urgently gestured to herself and flagged her hand, "Lay it on me, please!"

"Wow," Rancis scoffed as he looked up to the Dead Zed sky, brand new stars he was now certain he'd never be able to see. He took a fumbling step away, shook his head and took it all in, "I don't think it actually hit me until right now."

"Blue balls over here, please tell me!" Taffyta laughed as she stepped closer to him, though upon doing so, she noticed a small, burlap duffle of Rancis's next to her dresser. She gently pointed to it and looked back to her husband, "That's yours, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I... I just packed some clothes and some things from the cabin," Rancis grunted as he gestured to it.

"Did you want to unpack it?" Taffyta asked lovingly, Rancis darted his eyes to her in rising, delightful confusion and curled a curious smile.

"... You have room for my clothes in your dressers?" Rancis delicately prod with a bashful, flattered smile.

Taffyta softly let her arm fall to her side, she cocked an eyebrow and gave him a knowing, nearly annoyed look of cheek. She finally scoffed a chuckle, shook her head and began to head to her glorious white dresser. Once there, she gently slid her fingertips onto the touch-sensitive lightswitch and instructed the house lights, in her dome of a room, to brighten. Rancis gently squinted with the new brightness and took in her familiar figure for everything it was. She peered to him through the large, gorgeously framed mirror that hung above her dresser, she shook her head once more and laughed.

"I did everything and anything to make believe you were actually here, hun," Taffyta admitted, and as she rested her palms on her dresser, straightened her elbows and leaned a little, she looked down to the top of her hip-level dresser and welled up, once more. Through her tears, she grimaced a small sniffle and narrowed her idle gaze to the white wood of her dresser, "Rancis, I... I don't even sleep in the middle of the bed."

"Taff... I'm sorry," Rancis eased tenderly as he approached her, and upon letting his hand find her lower back, she quickly turned to be welcomed into his tight embrace once more. He chuckled an understanding noise and firmly wrapped his arms about her shoulders. He kept her in a tight squeeze and warmly kissed the side of her head, a few times, "I'm honored... That's really noble of you."

"I love you, Rancis," Taffyta whispered through the croak and onslaught of quiet cries, and as she grappled her arms about his middle, he heaved a shaky sigh and shut his eyes tight, so to try and avoid welling up as well.

"I love you too, Taffyta," Rancis huffed through a tremble of an exhale, "My User do I love you, too..."

"See, look," Taffyta quipped quietly as she stiffened and gingerly moved out of Rancis's embrace, and as she looked down and gently opened the top drawer of her dresser, he pointed out that her undergarments and socks were securely tucked to one side of the long, wide drawer. She gestured to the empty space before quickly shutting that drawer and opening a few more, all of which were empty, "These ones are yours."

Rancis beamed a close-mouthed grin and sagged his hands into his jean pockets, he diligently watched her work, and once she opened the last empty drawer and peered up to him for approval, he narrowed his eyes in a wider smile and shook his head at her.

"You really didn't have to, love... I'm sure you could've used those drawers," Rancis eased tenderly, though she gestured to his duffle and messily wiped her cheeks.

"They're yours, Rancis, c'mon, lets... Lets get you settled," Taffyta urged quietly as she kept her eyes honed to Rancis's duffle, next to his legs, though she flinched as he so lovingly held her upper arms and got her attention.

"That can wait," Rancis's warmth was palpable, his deep voice croaked with exhaustion. He closed his eyes, shook his head and huffed a chuckle at her zest to set everything exactly right, "Can we just... I want to lay with you, can we lay down and talk?"

Taffyta raised her eyebrows and peered into his pleading eyes, the gorgeous dark blue orbs she thought she'd never come face to face with, ever again; a thought she desperately tried to stuff, no matter the cost. She finally gave him a loving, defeated smile and eased a bashful nod, and before she could begin to think about protesting and getting everything finished, once and for all, Rancis heaved a tired sigh and began to take his jacket off. With such, Taffyta furrowed her eyebrows in whole surprise at the sheer fact that Rancis had slightly bulked up. Rancis gently bent over, to properly take his shoes off, and just as Taffyta took a step back and put her hands on her hips, she waggled her hand in rising confusion.

"Hold up a second, whoa, hold on," Taffyta barked with a girly laugh as he finally stood, though he froze and gave her a look of floored, nervous surprise. As she grew closer to him, she so gently took the ends of his dark red shirt in her hands and peaked at his chest and core underneath. Rancis cocked an eyebrow and was certain his face couldn't become redder, "Okay, dude, what exactly have you been doing in Sugar Rush, then? Where'd these muscles come from?"

"You like?" Rancis croaked as he gave her a teasing smile, though Taffyta rolled her eyes and gently shoved on his chest.

"...Maybe," Taffyta quipped as she turned away and gently got into bed, diligently crawling to her side. She pat his side of the bed and was floored to get this opportunity, once more.

"I didn't endure over a year of isolation and a nine hour flight for a 'maybe', chica," Rancis stabbed playfully as he bashfully took off his shirt and began to unbuckle his belt, though Taffyta huffed a shaky giggle and covered her eyes. In the stumble to attempt to get out of his thick, dark jeans, he bounced on his bare feet a little and gave her a coy look of floored surprise, "Are you REALLY closing your eyes right now?"

"Rancis, don't do this to me!" Taffyta squealed with a loud giggle as she suddenly flopped into Rancis's side of the bed and buried her face into his pillows, just waiting to be used.

"Alright, alright," Rancis choked a laugh and was successful in stripping down to nothing but his black boxer briefs, and although he knew it was likely overzealous to jump right into the depths of intimacy with Taffyta, he lifted the covers and sunk close to her body despite the rush. He firmly snuggled into the side of her body and yanked her closer to her, and the second a lull of a rolling giggle escaped her figure, he felt his heart grow sore with love. He firmly nuzzled his face into the side of hers as she finally rolled over and allowed the two to get situated next to each other, underneath her comfortable, fluffy maroon and cream downs, "Forgive me."

"For what," Taffyta huffed a small giggle and partially sat up on her pillows, and as her facial expression sloped to bashful knowing, Rancis draped his arm about her middle and so gently rested his head on her shoulder, a proper snuggling position.

"For getting us into bed so quick," Rancis blurt in a jokingly girly voice, he scrunched his shoulders as Taffyta rolled her eyes and lulled her head to her headboard with a thud, "It's just... So fast. We hardly know each other!"

"Shut up," Taffyta choked a laugh, and as Rancis dropped his playful air, the two finally settled into the quiet of the night. Before Taffyta could even begin to allow the two to drift off, she eyed her canopy bed's drapery and narrowed her gaze in contemplation, "... Cabin?"

"Cabin?" Rancis asked curiously with a laugh as he finally eased his positioning back, so the two could look at each other.

"You said you had grabbed some clothes and things from the cabin," Taffyta's voice grew soft as she tucked her hair behind her left ear. She finally sunk into the pillows with Rancis and lay directly next to him, "...This cabin wouldn't happen to be Honeydew Ridge, would it?"

"Yeah... I was, well... Sort of banished there," Rancis frowned as their eyes met, he lovingly let his fingers trace every aspect of her shoulder and collar bone, all familiar features he was worried he would've potentially forgotten, though his heart fluttered with the fact that he could still map every single little detail with his eyes closed, "Radex put a forcefield around the whole ridge and... I've been there ever since everything went wrong."

"Ace was able to get through it," Taffyta eased knowingly, Rancis smiled and bobbed a nod, though just as he was going to continue on, Taffyta nervously reached her hand out and touched his broad chest, "Please, just... Tell me something."

"Anything," Rancis huffed, he knew he'd give her the whole world, and then some, at this point.

"... Please tell me reintegration isn't the key to getting Sugar Rush back," Taffyta staggered on her words, tears so easily welled in her eyes, and just as Rancis was about to rush to her worries and assure her everything was going to be okay, she grimaced a small cry and covered the side of her face with her free hand, "I... I can't lose you again, Rancis, I can't keep doing this."

"You're not going to lose me, ever again," Rancis rushed to get out, and in a firm, loving swoop, he managed to grapple Taffyta into his embrace, once more. She so willingly sunk into his body and wrapped her arms tight about his bare chest, "I'm not positive what exactly happened, but... I don't have any ties to Radex, anymore. He, in all honesty, seemed like a totally different person, the day everything went sour."

"...Different person?" Taffyta wondered into the base of Rancis's neck.

"The whole time him and I were connected as one coding, through two bodies, I was tapped into his thought stream and everything in between," Rancis's tired voice continued on, "But... This whole year I've been in isolation, I haven't had a single pixel of contact from him. He wasn't the Radex he used to be. He was much different, much more... Seasoned, I guess you could say."

"Seasoned?" Taffyta inquired as she furrowed her brow and wiped her tears away, "You mean like..."

"He seemed timeless," Rancis croaked as he rested his chin to the top of Taffyta's head and dared to lull his eyes closed in sleepiness, "Like... He had been in the Arcade since the beginning of time. He knew everything, everyone..."

Taffyta scrunched her face so tight in confusion she finally just ended up closing her eyes, as well. She inhaled a deep, nasally breath, shook her head and sagged further into Rancis's comfortable arms.

"You're saying... This whole time, he's been someone else?" Taffyta wondered tiredly, Rancis shrugged and felt his brain begin to hurt with all the details.

"It's difficult to say. When we were connected, I never got full sentences of information, like looking into a broken mirror," Rancis inhaled a deep yawn and continued on through a hard sigh, "I almost have wondered if he wasn't alone... Either that, or the dude has split personalities."

"I smell a castle meeting," Taffyta grumbled with a small giggle, though Rancis bobbed a nod and squeezed his arms tight about Taffyta's shoulders.

"Probably the biggest most important castle meeting any one of us could muster," Rancis said with a bit of a knowing, nostalgic smile, the two settled once and for all as he breathed one last remark, "But for now... Let's just put it all on pause."

* * *

 _ **This is a repeat of the last chapter's 'Author Note'**_

 **A/N : OKAY GUYS, this is really weird to say but... R.O.'s FOURTH sketch dump will be coming up, and this time... the 4th sketch dump WON'T be the last! Crazy town! I'm very quickly coming up on 200 chapters, and I will very quickly soar RIGHT past it. I have about 40-60 more chapters left in me... As well as the first 50 chapters of the 4th story. I'm pretty sure I'm not human anymore lol**

 **I know that's not anything anyone signed up for, but... I have to get it all out of my body and onto Fanfiction or else I will hate myself. So I hope you guys are ready for at least 2 more sketch dumps, for R.O., cause this beast isn't going anywhere.**

 **That said, have your requests ready, cause once 200 hits then I will begin writing everything down! I've decided that THIS particular sketch dump can be of ANY scene in ANY chapter of ANY BOOK.**

 **You read that right.**

 **I'm giving you guys 10 chapters to collect your ideas. You have the three stories to pick from - Wrecking Limits, Defying Code AND Rectifying Origin.**

 **Y'all have 566 chapters to f*ck me up with.**

 **This is my way of saying one massive THANK YOU. So have fun! Don't hold back! Lay 'em on me! The good User knows how the hell this is all going to fit on DeviantART, but I'll make it work!**


	196. Chapter 196

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 : thank you! Yeah Rancis spills the beans shortly here :)**

 **chuckiboo : yes! It felt good to write for them again, as well. Your guys' answers won't all be answered quite yet, but you do get a good look into the nonsense soon here :) thank you!**

* * *

 **Songs Listened To :**

 **Never Gunna Leave This Bed by Maroon5**

 **Dibs by Kelsea Ballerini**

* * *

 **A/N :**

 _ ***WARNING***_

 **The beginning of this chapter contains a sex scene -**

 _ **(-)** Everything IN PLAIN ITALICS, LIKE THIS, is a  sex scene! **(-)**_

 **(It'll also be marked INSIDE the symbols above!)**

Everything written normally, like so, is SAFE!

 **Instructions for my sensitive readers :)**

 **As for the rest of you, enjoy!**

* * *

 ***Chapter 196***

Through the strain of flexed eyebrows, the tired revisit to the planet, Rancis finally scrunched his face tight in confusion and inhaled a deep, reviving breath. As sunlight hit his closed eyelids, he just barely stirred and allowed the feeling of his limbs to fully register just what was going on. He froze the second he could feel the gentle touch of Taffyta's hands so warmly running through the back of his messy bedhead, and in the gentle dig of routinely burying his face into his pillow, he inhaled a short breath, held it and assessed just what was going on. Rushing memories of everything that had happened came flooding back to him, and without opening his eyes, he realized he was in the able and loving cradle of Taffyta's embrace.

In a sag of whole relief and remembrance, Rancis exhaled a long breath through his nose and let every single one of his muscles just forget where they were going, he sunk deeper into her body and felt a cheeky, sleepy smile sprawl his face with the obvious; his head was safely nestled in Taffyta's breasts, just over her thin, dark red spaghetti strap. His tired arms did everything they could to wrap about her little rib cage, his masculine figure was only half situated into her chest as she half-sat up against their headboard, though he was certain they must've tangled to this position in the throw around of sleep. After a few long, lulling moments of her hot, slow breath that coat the top of his forehead, her fingers that invitingly scratched at the back of his head, she finally planted a few kisses on his forehead as a small way of telling him that it was indeed time to think about waking up.

"It's almost noon," Taffyta's voice so tenderly croaked, and as Rancis finally pried his eyes open, he peered his lazy, idle gaze to Taffyta's chest and arm, which was directly in his line of sight.

"Damn," Rancis's deep voice reverberated against her chest, and with such, she continued to pet and rub the back of his head, though she would sometimes trail to the skin on the back of his neck and shoulders, "What time did I get in, this morning?"

"I think it was around two," Taffyta sighed as Rancis nuzzled into her breasts, he grumbled a noise and eagerly hugged his arms tighter about her body, and with such, she blurt a giggle and hugged Rancis's head tight. She continued on through sleepy giggling, "W-We then talked and stuff for about a half an hour before we fell asleep on each other."

"We were in mid conversation, weren't we," Rancis chuckled as he finally wormed his face to her bare skin, the tops of her warm breasts that weren't covered by her shirt. He finally nuzzled a little bit more firmly, shut his eyes tight and situated himself to a sagging stop, all of the sudden, as if to playfully express that he was now comfortable and wasn't going to be moving anytime soon.

"I remember the last thing you said," Taffyta grunted as Rancis's larger body slumped onto hers, though she giggled and shook her head to puff his stray, golden hairs out of the vicinity of her mouth, "You were saying something about coding."

"My coding?" Rancis choked quietly as he opened his eyes and suddenly felt his face get hot, the solid realization that both of their coding was still original.

"No, Ace's? Something about the forcefield, you were explaining how weird it felt," Taffyta firmly rubbed her eye and scrunched her face, "His exterior swaps feel like you're about to shoot to the moon, huh."

"O-Oh, yeah that was a weird experience," Rancis huffed tiredly as he finally tilted his head up and was successful in nuzzling his face into the nook of Taffyta's neck, "Poor thing told me all about his dilemma with Libby."

"... Dang, you still have a whole crew of people left to meet, huh," Taffyta giggled as she continued to rub her eye, though her face easily blushed a hot pink the second Rancis's gentle kisses began to push into the side of her throat.

"Hmm, it can wait, can't it?" Rancis mumbled above a whisper as Taffyta finally sagged her arms about Rancis's neck and welcomed any and all forms of love he had to volley her way.

"It's already noon, Rancis," Taffyta pressed, though she knew she was fooling absolutely no one, it was clear their little bubble of overflowing love was strictly reserved for them to become one, once more.

"What's another hour?" Rancis's deep voice teased with a chuckle as he kissed the skin just underneath her ear, and as she felt chills run up and down her spine, she fluttered her eyes shut and wondered just where time went, just where any amount of reality had gone.

Taffyta heaved a long sigh of defeat and couldn't wipe the smile off of her face to save her life, the way Rancis's loving, patient arms held tight about her body, his soft, sweet nothing's in her ear, the immediate rekindle of love they knew could never be extinguished, she wondered just when the world would finally keep up with her. As if centuries could so simply go by, separated souls, not a single second of time would be lost. The way his smiling teeth showed through to nibble on her ear lobe, the scrunch of her shoulders in a bashful display of giggles that reverberated against their glisteningly bright, dome of a day time blue sky, the world simply didn't know the meaning of anything but their shining love, in this mid day heat they had created.

"Okay, it's maybe been a hot minute, but I know how mornings like these go," Taffyta grunted as she playfully tried to peel Rancis from her body, though she heaved a choke as she failed, ultimately making Rancis's heavier upper body slump down to hers, once more; both beings were now lost in sleepy laughter.

"Why don't you give me a play by play, then?" Rancis eased teasingly into her neck, though he firmly planted a few playful smooches to her jawline and cheek.

"No," Taffyta barked as she shoved up on his shoulders, though this time with less zest to get him off of her, and more of a coy game of the ebb and flow of it all.

"You just gunna leave me guessing, then?" Rancis whined as he finally fully wrapped his masculine arms about her body, and as he was successful in intertwining their legs, he inhaled a shaky, nervous breath and long blinked with the weirdness of the fact that all of this was actually happening.

"Yeah!" Taffyta chimed in a girly tone that was quickly followed by soaks of soft laughter into their cozy bedroom.

"As usual," They both grumbled at the same time, though upon their precisely timed words, they both jolted looks of excited teasing into each other's eyes.

"You haven't changed a bit," Rancis sighed as he relaxed deeper into Taffyta's embrace, and as she hugged her arms about his neck in a fit of snarky laughter, she finally heaved a long sigh and shook her head.

"Neither have you," Taffyta eased warmly, and as the two sat in the lull of gentle silence, only one burning inquire hung on the forefront of their minds.

Who would be brave enough to set it free, and get the words out into the atmosphere, remained to be seen. Taffyta gently prod at Rancis's messy, golden hair, the stark difference of sunlight and shadows that were cast across the room, from the noon sun, had Taffyta's pupils tighten with the influx of warmth. She relaxed in the shadows of their canopy, the creams and maroons of stark color were so delicately splashed with the Dead Zed sun, something Rancis was eternally grateful to now be apart of. As Taffyta's body remained still underneath his, he felt his veins wriggle with anxiousness, he knew this was nothing new to him, the act of love making, of keeping that strong bond with his wife, the very woman that carried his child, he wrinkled his nose and tried so desperately to calm his racing heart; the sheer fact that they were now at the starting point of a do-over had him feeling almost grateful for the second chance at it.

"Did you want to wait until the elephant in the room gets so big it explodes? Or should I just come out with it, already?" Rancis's soft voice wondered, just above a whisper, though he bashfully buried his face into Taffyta's neck and squeezed her tight to his body as she breathed a shy giggle.

"I was going to let it marinate for a little while longer," Taffyta stated nonchalantly, though her giggling continued as he grunted a noise of defiance, "I just like torturing you, I guess."

 ** _(-)_** _"So it seems," Rancis sighed, though he lulled his eyes closed, inhaled a readied breath and just barely tucked his face deeper into his neck, as if to state just exactly how shy he had become, the words rolled from the depths of his heart with as much tenderness as he could muster, "...Will you have me, again?"_

 _Taffyta bit her lip, smiled a bashful smile and sleepily lulled her head to his, and as she buried her nose into his hair and inhaled his lovely, familiar scent, her heart fluttered with the thought of it all. She knew this whole ordeal was bound to finally pluck her from the crowd of code swappers and give her a second chance at this crazy act, though the fact that she was so suddenly sat in it, without hardly any preparation, had her head spinning, her heart racing. She closed her eyes, exhaled the last breath in her chest cavity and was somehow hoping that would convey her smoldering answer. She squeezed her arms about Rancis's head, kissed his forehead a few times and was totally floored with just how well he could read her, even after all this time apart._

 _Rancis smiled a sneaky smile in her ear and knew a silent Taffyta was simply a defeated Taffyta, and with such, he knew to go through the motions of this delicate act. He huffed a shaky breath into her neck and was well aware of the fact that doing this kind of thing, right after waking up, was strictly no issue for him, though he was_ _diligent in making sure she was well enough on board, as well. With the way her legs seemed to hook about his, a needy fashion of wanting him as close as he possibly could be, he pushed a few gaping kisses into her neck and was eternally grateful for the figurative green light._

 _Before too much time could pass, he knew taking charge, though not in his original coding, was something he needed to do here, something he had to just jump right into and make right, once and for all. As much as he wanted to sit and just soak in every single little thing she did, every breath she took, the need to stop and take note of just where the shadows cast on her beautiful, tan body, he felt the urgency in their stirring, writhing souls just begging for everything to come together, once and for all. Before he could back step into an oblivion, he finally situated himself between her beautiful, soft legs; with the adjustment of clothing, the gape of her mouth and the gentle toss of her skull to the pillows underneath, he so gently drove into her body, once and for all._

 _The simple sound of her voice, the quivering call of his name from the back of her tired throat, he glued his blue eyes to her every single expression and fixated on everything she was about._ _The lulling, slow motion of a drive he thrusted into her body, the roll of a recoil between the two of them, he bit his lip and felt his insides dance with pure glee, the very feel of her familiar body on his, once and for all, had his head simply swimming. He emit a shaky chuckle as she finally beamed a delirious smile, her hands draped down his broad bare chest, the sculpt of his muscles on his core, she finally succumbed to every last dominant piece of coding he put forth and sagged into his control. As much as he wanted to just go hog wild and ravage the situation for every last gasp of breath she was worth, he took it slow and relished in the build up, the infamous do-over that literally almost no one ever got to take advantage of; he knew to make it really count._

 _With a roll of an inhale, unhinged, steady power that Rancis so tenderly delivered, their bodies' movements breathlessly complimented one another. He was quick to dip his itching hands into the small of her back as her body revolved to a tight arch of pleasure, and as the sound of pure delight groaned from her very core, he sank his gaping kisses between her breasts, firm to her sternum. With a yank of a pull to the back of her hips, and a tighter angle on the whole situation, he held her near suspended in her arch and was floored she was now entrusting him with everything and anything she was to become, in this riled moment._ _With hands and arms tucked up near her head, she grappled her pillow in a trembling, sweaty grip, and as their worlds finally came caving in on them, the collision of coding that once was so tightly intertwined, they knew the outcome was to be nothing short of incredible._ _ **(-)**_

* * *

Under the same, burning sun that protested against the cooler weather that had set in, the castle's kitchen glistened with still, warm love. With all of Dead Zed's racers diligently at work, on the tracks, the tight group of misfits and faux-codes alike eagerly hung at the kitchen's massive, sprawling island. Vanellope was hard at work cooking lunch, complete with dessert for later in the evening; homemade donuts. Oliver, Tessa, Koko and Zed sat tight together and fidgeted in their seats, they loudly chat with each other and traded stories about Rancis. With eyes that couldn't stay off of the clock, they wondered just when Rancis and Taffyta would come out of their deep den of rekindled love.

Scattered about the rest of the island was Nox, Ace, Finn and Tammy. Ace and Nox sat quietly with each other whilst they ran through a few physical therapy routines, for Nox's hands, and as Finn and Tammy took turns helping Vanellope with anything she requested, finally Nox furrowed his eyebrows in rising inquiry and looked about the tranquil, sunlit kitchen and dining area. He noticed that Emery was missing, and although he was aware the group had come in late and reuniting with everyone had still a few stragglers left hanging in the balance, he knew it was nearing one in the afternoon, and concern got the better of him.

"Where's Emery and Libby?" Nox wondered gently to Ace, though he sharply grimaced as Ace's squeeze, on Nox's wrist, was at the point of pain; Ace eased off and unscrunched his face from deep concentration.

"I-I'm not sure, Uncle Oliver told me that Emery and Libby had a sleepover last night," Ace muttered bashfully, his heart jolted at the sheer thought of Libby coming down from their tower, at any given moment. As Ace reignited his silver coding, on his palms, he soaked it into Nox's berry honeycombs once more, to simply work out a few knots of unsettled coding in his wrists, "I messaged Libby telling her that we all were home, and that there was a surprise waiting as well, but... She hasn't responded."

"Don't be too worried, bud, Emery messaged me at five this morning..." Oliver rolled his eyes and gave Tessa an annoyed smirk, "It was a drunk text. Methinks the girls made themselves some drinks and had a long night of gossip and closet swapping."

"Sounds about right," Koko giggled as she shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ears; everyone was dressed in either comfortable hoodies or t-shirts, the lull of a comfortable day in, after a long trip, was very apparent.

"Okay, so... They're still sleeping it off, then," Tessa assured to the group as everyone's voices riled into a stab of laughter, though Ace heaved a shaky sigh, shook his head and nervously peered his gaze down to Nox's hands.

Nox furrowed his brow gently and eyed his best friend, and as Ace's nervous, agitated coding coursed through this, in a platonic exterior swap, he got blips and zaps of information on Ace's swelling emotions. He huffed a small chuckle, shook his head and was glad Ace sagged his shoulders and peered his pleading gaze into Nox's glowing, pixel-cubed stare. Nox's eyes narrowed in a wider, brotherly smile and gently gestured his free hand.

"Stop worrying, dude, what are you so anxious about?" Nox asked quietly, a conversation that sunk in the background of everyone else's loud chattering.

"I don't know, I just... Hope she's excited to see me, I know I am," Ace rushed through a breath he tried to fake as being refreshing, though he continued to work at the knots of coding on Nox's wrist, the progress made was something he was proud of, "... We have that date, tonight."

"That's right," Nox heaved tenderly, and as much as he wanted to beat around the bush and stagger into the burning question he was certain everyone had, Nox was aware that he had best friend rights. He cocked an eyebrow and lowered his teasing antics for Ace's sensitive, quivering soul, "You, uh... You gunna give her the card?"

Ace choked a silent chuckle, kept his eyes down and smiled a boyish smirk that very easily soaked to a bashful, close-mouthed smile. He inhaled a deep breath, let it out through his nose, sagged his shoulders and finally nodded.

"Yeah, I am," Ace stated quietly, though confidently, to Nox, and with this, Nox raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise.

"Oh, wow, I could've sworn you'd still be anxious and unsure," Nox encouraged, though he smiled and felt genuinely excited for his best friend, "Well, I would wish you luck, but I know you won't need it."

"I needed that kick in the pants," Ace grumbled as he shook his head, narrowed his gaze and focused hard on the coding on Nox's left wrist, "I just hope tonight goes smoothly."

"So, how are you going to go about it?" Nox wondered plainly, though he knew this would likely get into a typical dude-bro conversation, sooner or later; one of cheesy smiles and delirious stabs of hidden, boyish immaturity.

"I don't know, I should probably have my shirt off, for good measure, or something," Ace choked quietly, both boys knowingly laughed, "You saw her, last week."

"Well, yeah... You have every dude on the lot jealous," Nox and Ace now loudly laughed, "Though everyone is too scared to work out with Zed, or Tessa. I wouldn't survive the event."

"I never do, might as well join us in dying at five in the morning," Ace rushed as he shook his head and shrugged, "Figured Libby loved me when I was chubby... It's the least I can do for her... Not to mention, I'm pretty stoked with the results. It's a win win, here."

"Shirtless will get her," Nox nodded, "I'm pretty sure that'd work on any of the ladies, in the castle, anyways."

"Now that everyone is trying to out-muscle each other," Ace blurt, him and Nox now held their conversation and laughter at a standard, and not so secretive, though just as he was about to become comfortable and forget about his worries, his skin prickled at the sheer sound of the castle's back door creaking to a jolt to swing open.

Ace raised his eyebrows in solid surprise and immediately dart his attention to the back door, and as if he simply knew just who was to be bursting through that door, he quickly stood before he could even see just who was welcoming themselves into the main part of the castle. In a burst of stumbling in through the back door, Libby grappled the door handle, came to a quick stop and urgently tucked her long, white hair behind her left ear. Upon the sight of each other, they broke free with wide, elated smiles, and as the two urgently began to rush to each other, on cue, Ace finally scooped Libby up into a hug and twirled her giggling, excitable figure around once or twice. Everyone, in the kitchen, loudly cooed kind, knowing notions towards the two, though as they settled, Ace lifted her tight into his body and didn't dare to let her go.

"Kep'leah," Ace huffed, which directly meant 'my love'. He sighed through a chuckle of mild relief, and as Libby's warm arms kept tight about Ace's neck, he relished in her scent, her figure, her laughter, every single little thing about her; it was in this moment he felt wholly confident of his brooding decisions, the light from the sun simply shone down on the two and showed him the correct path to take.

"I can't believe you're home early!" Libby urged in rising excitement as the two just barely pulled apart, and although they wanted to fall into touchy, romantic antics they had become newly accustomed to, Ace knew there was a time and place; tonight and in their precious tower.

"Yeah, we uh... We found what we were looking for, so we just turned right around and figured coming home was best," Ace eased kindly as his grippy hands did everything they could to ease off of her hips, how desperately he just wanted to sweep her away, right here and now.

"What did you find?" Libby inquired excitedly, though just before she was about to peel herself from Ace and greet the rest of the family in the kitchen, she dragged her gentle hands down Ace's chest in a simple swipe of information that immediately coursed to Ace's brain.

"GUESS," Tessa urged eagerly as she and Koko got out of their seats and prepared to properly greet Libby with hugs.

Ace cocked an eyebrow and watched as Libby peeled from him, though with this information now coat his brain, he was surprised that her gentle show of neon lights was still very much a tangible thing, and with such a subtle show, he huffed a silent, incredulous chuckle, put his hands on his hips and watched the group of girls convene. He inhaled a readied breath, furrowed his brow and was now racking his brain as to just where he put his little token of a playing card, so he could have it at the ready.

"Rancis," Tessa and Koko urged at the same time, though Libby gaped and looked about the kitchen.

"Where is he!" Libby inquired excitedly, "How did you find him?"

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it," Vanellope rushed as she dusted her hands free of crumbs and shook her head, "I've gotten all the information I could, out of Tessa and Zed, but... We all won't have the full story until Rancis is awake."

"Does Taffyta know?" Libby cupped her hands to her chest and gasped.

"Yeah, they're both in their bedroom, and they won't come out," Nox grumbled in dire annoyance, as if waiting for all of Rancis's golden information was becoming torture for his patient soul.

"Aww, well leave 'em be!" Libby urged as she waggled her hand towards the Sky Room; her, Ace, Tessa and Koko made their way back to the island as Libby practically swooned, "How romantic...! They're catching up, certainly. That could take some time."

"Catching up, alright," Vanellope choked with a loud giggle as she shook her head, "If she walks out of that bedroom with her original coding, right now, I'm going to have to have you guys help me shove them BACK into that bedroom."

"And don't let them out until they have the same code," Libby eased wistfully as her, Koko and Tessa giggled.

Ace huffed a shaky breath and sat back down with Nox, and though it was a few feet from Libby, there was no one in between them. He gingerly took Nox's hand back in his large one and finally dragged his eyes to the glowing, pixel-cubed stare that burned a hole in his forehead. Ace flinched at Nox's knowing glare, and once both boys blurt soft chuckles, Nox shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"You remember where that card is, dude?" Nox stated quietly as the group beyond them continued to loudly chatter, Ace cocked an eyebrow and nodded.

"Yeah, I remember," Ace grumbled as he honed his gaze to Nox's hand, "It's the first thing I'm grabbing, once I'm back at the tower."

"Glad you got the nerves out of the way, huh?" Nox choked a laugh, which cued Libby and the others in a glance of curiosity.

"Ehh, I wouldn't say that so soon," Ace shrugged, though he lightened his demeanor as Libby finally broke from Tessa's, Zed's and Koko's conversation and briefly soaked in with Nox and Ace.

"We really missed you guys," Libby's voice eased, and as it simply coat Ace's brain, he felt as if it reverberated off of the walls of his skull and was now in full force tease mode, "The castle was so quiet without everyone... I didn't realize how the castle changed, while we were on the scouts."

"Weird that the castle was 'quiet'," Nox and Ace softly laughed and gave Libby a respectful air, which was very different from the teasing, boyish conversation they had just come out of, "It typically is anything but."

"I'll be on the next scout," Libby stated through a regretful sigh, though her glorious, alluring eyes finally locked with Ace's in rising hopes, and as she gave him a coy, humbled smile, he inhaled a shaky breath and honed his whole attention to her as she continued, "Promise."

"You were missed, as well," Ace rushed to get out, though he tried not to seem way too eager to express just how desperately he missed her, above everyone else, "We found Rancis on one of Sugar Rush's snowy ridges, Honeydew Ridge... It was beautiful, you would've loved it."

"Aw, man," Libby frowned as she volleyed her gaze to Nox, he nodded in agreeing to Ace's words, "Well... Maybe next time, we'll pass it, or something?"

"Could be, who knows," Ace shrugged softly as he glanced to Nox, and back to Libby, "I hear we're having a massive castle meeting, tonight, so I guess we'll find out."

"Aww, that won't interfere with our date tonight, will it?" Libby asked in coy, teasing sadness, though Nox largely cocked an eyebrow and shot his eyes to Ace; Ace raised his eyebrows gently and was floored she was still on about it, something that never left her mind, he was certain that was a good sign.

"No, not at all, I'll make sure of it," Ace assured cooly as he shook his head a little. He volleyed her a smolder of a smile and shrugged, "We'll go to the meeting, and then... We can just escape to the tower afterwards. Deal?"

"Deal," Libby chirped, and as Libby held up her pinky, for a pinky promise, Ace tenderly obliged with his much larger pinky, and before Libby turned to rejoin Tessa's, Zed's and Koko's conversation, she lulled Ace an equally teasing smolder.

"Dude," Nox choked silently as Ace's shoulders finally sagged in a tremble, he dart his floored, anxious and excited eye contact to his glowy-eyed best friend, "You're in for it."

* * *

 _ **This is a repeat of the last chapter's 'Author Note'**_

 **A/N : OKAY GUYS, this is really weird to say but... R.O.'s FOURTH sketch dump will be coming up, and this time... the 4th sketch dump WON'T be the last! Crazy town! I'm very quickly coming up on 200 chapters, and I will very quickly soar RIGHT past it. I have about 40-60 more chapters left in me... As well as the first 50 chapters of the 4th story. I'm pretty sure I'm not human anymore lol**

 **I know that's not anything anyone signed up for, but... I have to get it all out of my body and onto Fanfiction or else I will hate myself. So I hope you guys are ready for at least 2 more sketch dumps, for R.O., cause this beast isn't going anywhere.**

 **That said, have your requests ready, cause once 200 hits then I will begin writing everything down! I've decided that THIS particular sketch dump can be of ANY scene in ANY chapter of ANY BOOK.**

 **You read that right.**

 **I'm giving you guys 10 chapters to collect your ideas. You have the three stories to pick from - Wrecking Limits, Defying Code AND Rectifying Origin.**

 **Y'all have 566 chapters to f*ck me up with.**

 **This is my way of saying one massive THANK YOU. So have fun! Don't hold back! Lay 'em on me! The good User knows how the hell this is all going to fit on DeviantART, but I'll make it work!**


	197. Chapter 197

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Make sure you have all your requests in a review on chapter 200, OR in a PM :) Thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** YESSSS It's ALL coming to a head, especially the Ace and Libby drama - I'm SO excited to hear what you guys think! :D And, it's okay! My sketch dump request situation will be continuously open, I won't be finished with all the requests likely for a week or two, or even longer if I get a ton of requests, so you have that span of time to request anything you may have forgotten.

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Thank you! :)

 **TheDoctorDusty :** OMG your review actually brought tears to my eyes! You have no idea how much I appreciate that, seriously that means the world to me. I try to be so careful with my swap scenes, to give them life in a tasteful manner that everyone can enjoy. Thank you SO MUCH.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Younger Now by Miley Cyrus**

 **Far Away by Tristam and Braken**

* * *

 ***Chapter 197***

"Aunt Vanellope, you're uh... You're splashing that everywhere," Tammy winced as Vanellope vigorously stirred the cake-like batter, for the desserts to come. Tammy heaved a hard giggle as everyone drew their attention to Vanellope, though just as Vanellope slumped her shoulders in agitation, the oven quietly chimed, "Here, I'll get this..."

"Mom, what's up," Tessa asked in a drone of mild concern, though Vanellope heaved a sarcastic giggle and shook her head.

"No, nothing, I just... I have a billion questions, for Rancis," Vanellope huffed in a whisper as she shook her head and silently begged for everyone to just let her deal with it, she smiled down to the batter she was stirring and went at it, again, though much gentler, "I'm just about to go banging down their door."

"I don't think that you need to do that," Ace mumbled softly, and unbeknownst to Vanellope, who had her back turned, Taffyta and Rancis slowly moseyed out of the grips of their bedroom, and the Sky Room.

"Give me one good reason why not," Vanellope muttered down to the mixing bowl, everyone stiffened with growing, silent glee as Rancis slowly came around the kitchen island, he tenderly approached Vanellope with a gentlemanly smile.

"If you'd chill with the mixing, then I'd tell you myself," Rancis chuckled softly, and upon his words, Vanellope dropped everything she was doing, slapped her hands over her mouth and peered her surprised gaze straight into Rancis's.

Rancis's wide smile, his light demeanor, everything about him was simply shining, everything Vanellope wished of him, and as the two locked eyes in rising, billowing excitement, the small audience they had loudly cooed happy notions towards the two, an eager show of the final dregs of reunions that were to come about. In the few steps to fill the gap, Rancis held his arm out to her and welcomed her into a tight embrace, and as Vanellope slapped her arms about Rancis's neck, she squeezed him as tight as she could and now wondered how she went all this time without his fun loving, palpable presence.

"It really is you," Vanellope croaked as she buried her face into Rancis's shoulder, his brotherly squeeze only got tighter as he finally swayed her a little. He lovingly rubbed her upper back and smiled a wide smile into her shoulder as she continued on, "I-I mean, I knew no one was lying to me, but..."

"It's real," Rancis stated with a happy chuckle as the two gently parted, he took her hands in his and squeezed them as they peered their adoring, loving gazes into each other's, "I'm so glad to be back... I can't tell you how much I missed you guys. How much I missed, well... Having people around."

"I can't imagine being alone for an entire year straight," Oliver grumbled knowingly as he approached, and with such, Rancis beamed a wide smile and peered to his much taller, bigger nephew.

"Oliver, man have you somehow gotten taller?" Rancis ogled, and before Oliver could properly answer, the two quickly squeezed into a tight hug.

"Emery swears I have, but I'm not sure," Oliver laughed, as did everyone else, and as Rancis and Oliver engaged in a few brotherly pats to the shoulders and pulled away, Rancis heaved an exhilarated sigh, sagged his shoulders and looked about the group.

"I certainly missed this," Rancis sighed as everyone honed their attention to Rancis and Vanellope, Taffyta stood close to Tessa's and Koko's presence, on the other side of the island, "Tessa, this castle is beautiful..."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in plucked surprise as all, adoring eyes gently volleyed to her position at the island. She huffed a small chuckle of disbelief and wasn't prepared to suddenly be the focus of attention.

"Oh, well... Thank you," Tessa breathed shyly, Zed gave her a proud smile and rubbed her upper back in a loving fashion.

"Taffyta told me this was all your handiwork," Rancis waggled his finger to his niece and glanced to his wife, "You definitely have your mother's and your aunt's incredible taste."

"Yeah, Taffyta and I immediately felt at home, the second we got here," Vanellope blurt as her and Taffyta were easily tossed into a small laughing fit, "It was like a mini-upgrade of Sugar Rush's castle."

"Except, instead of candy... TREES," Taffyta ogled, everyone laughed and kindly agreed as they tightened around the island.

"I've never seen so many jungle trees in my life," Vanellope huffed with a widening smile as she looked down to her mixing bowl, and although she was floored Rancis was here and staying put next to her, she wondered if she could potentially worm some information out of him, in this raw moment.

As the large group began to chatter about the previous scout, the tales of finding Rancis and everything in between, Vanellope and Rancis tenderly caught eyes in a whirl of gentle understanding, and just as Vanellope was about to just simply ask him silly 'how are you' questions, she knew it was all void; she knew he was now doing great, she was aware everything in his world was well on it's way to being set right, though she had to wonder if Rancis was aware that everything in her world was simply still on the road to recovery.

"Rancis, how... What..." Vanellope staggered on her words, and just as she shook her head, squinted and desperately tried to grasp for words, to form a coherent sentence, Rancis lovingly took both of her hands, once more, and came close to her.

"Vanellope, I promise I will answer all of your questions," Rancis eased tenderly as the two locked eyes, and with such, Vanellope's gaze became glassy. Rancis sagged his shoulders and felt his heart swell for all the love he had in his heart for this sisterly figure he knew he'd never lose. He jostled her hand a little and shook his head, "Taffyta and I agreed that I should save all of this information for tonight."

"What's tonight?" Vanellope asked in a silent croak, Rancis cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm calling a castle meeting, tonight," Rancis urged gently, his diligent stance as Knight of the castle, he knew he had the right to pull rank in this hierarchy, and with such, Vanellope finally nodded in compliance, "Mandatory... Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE is to be there."

"Racers, flyers and faux-codes alike?" Vanellope teasingly sneered, and although she smiled, she sniffled and wiped away a few tears that escaped her eyes.

"Yes, everyone," Rancis eased tenderly, though he grimaced and continued through the grit of his teeth, "Even though it includes Turbo's racing coach and a guy I'll have to fend off with a stick."

"Throttle, and..." Vanellope furrowed her brow in confusion, though she finally felt realization gloss over her as to just who Rancis was referring to. She blurt a small chuckle, rolled her eyes and looked down to their conjoined hands, "Tej..."

"I know nothing happened between the two," Rancis grumbled as he bobbed a nod, though he gave Vanellope a daring look, "I just want to make sure it stays that way."

"Tej is harmless, I wouldn't go jumping at his throat so soon," Vanellope mumbled as she rolled her eyes, though she gave Rancis and understanding smile, "As for Throttle, well... He's been living here, since before Taffyta, Oliver, Koko, Emery and I arrived."

"Where is he, anyways? He doesn't have a game day," Rancis chuckled as he glossed his eyes about the gorgeous sprawl of the room, though Vanellope heaved a shaky sigh and kept her eyes diligent to Rancis's aura.

"He has a little home, in the backyard. His own escape... He's very much hermit," Vanellope giggled, "Him and I had a bit of a fight, when we first got here, but... I mean, lookit Nox. These dudes are harmless, they just want a safe place to be themselves, and Tessa and Zed have given them that."

"Yeah, love, you really need to take a good, hard look at your daughter, and her fiancé, by the way," Rancis's voice turned teasingly stern, and as Vanellope quickly drew her confused, furrowed gaze over her shoulder, she peered her whole attention to Tessa and Zed. They stood, shining like the sun, soaked in all of their traits and flaws, they bantered with Koko, Oliver and Taffyta, carefree beings that had so many struggles, yet the smiles on their faces were true. Vanellope sagged her shoulders and peered to her beloved first born, though Rancis leaned closer to Vanellope and continued on, as softly as he could, "They are ready... You should be very proud of yourself."

Vanellope drew her eyes back to Rancis's in a lull of quiet surprise, and as her gaze turned glassy, once more, she inhaled a shaky breath and gave Rancis a grateful smile. He narrowed his gaze, squeezed Vanellope's hands in tender love and gave her absolutely every last drop of support he quite possibly could.

"The whole flight home, she couldn't stop wondering just what you'd think of 'her find'," Rancis blurt a chuckle and gestured to himself, and with such, Vanellope beamed a bashful smile and looked down to their feet. Rancis squinted and gently held his fingers underneath Vanellope's chin, to get her to look at him, once more, "You've raised all of your children wonderfully, but you should watch your back, because you have successfully raised a queen in the works, and that girl is headed for your crown, quick."

"She can have it," Vanellope fell into Rancis's soft, contagious laughter, and as the two settled, she shook her head and glossed her idle gaze to Rancis's chest, "... She can have it. She's earned it."

"Don't give up so quickly," Rancis said softly, "We still got a game to save."

"It just seems so daunting, sometimes," Vanellope sighed, she felt her shoulders scrunch in the anticipation of it all, though Rancis squeezed her hands, once more.

"Well... You guys found me, I was on a pile of rocks in the middle of nowhere," Rancis blurt a laugh, he was thrilled this at least caused Vanellope to smile, "If you guys can do that, then trekking to the castle will be cake."

"...You know where the castle is," Vanellope stated, as if to wonder if her statement was either true or false, and as Rancis bobbed a nod, Vanellope felt her pupils tighten, "Can we get to it?"

"Yeah, you can... It'll take a hot minute," Rancis grumbled as he looked off and heaved a dry sigh, "That's a scout that could take upwards of two weeks... And that's if we're constantly on the move."

"Where is it? Wh-where's... Radex?" Vanellope urged, her heart began to race, and with such, Rancis chuckled and gingerly held Vanellope's upper arms.

"I will tell you guys everything in tonight's meeting... Trust me, you'll get your answers," Rancis stated warmly, though Vanellope sagged her shoulders and peered to him pleadingly, "I'll turn into a broken record if I tell you a snippet of information, and then everyone plays telephone with each other. I'd much rather tell the group, as a whole."

"This sucks," Vanellope near-pouted, though she gave Rancis a snide smile and shook her head, "Sneaky Rancis, still, I see."

"C'mon, just because I have Taffyta's coding, doesn't mean I'm just now out to make everyone's lives complicated," Rancis blurt, though with such, Vanellope cocked an eyebrow and beamed a cheeky smile to her sister. Rancis huffed a shaky breath and realized his words, though just as Vanellope crossed her arms and bit her bottom lip in rising excitement, on just how she was going to tease her sister, Rancis knew he already lost the battle, "... Go easy on her, Vin."

"Hooo, I won't," Vanellope chimed as her and Rancis shared a laugh, "Oh, Tammy, thank you... Sorry, I didn't mean for you to be left with this," Vanellope urged tenderly as she moved over to her niece, who was successful in taking a pan of Vanellope's homemade donuts out of the oven.

"It's okay, I think they're ready to cool and be glazed," Tammy eased excitedly as she rubbed her hands together, in excitement, "I want one, now..."

"Yeah, so do I," Vanellope muttered as she gently took one into her hand, and although she jostled it about, to cool it off, she finally got a grip on it, bit her lip, and eagerly peered across the kitchen island to where Taffyta was standing.

Vanellope smiled a sneaky smile and let her glorious purple coding ignite the donut into what could easily be labelled as a code-grenade. In a quick jab of a throw, Vanellope chucked the plain, un-glazed donut straight for her sister, and as it lobbed into Taffyta's arm, the purple, glitch-ful coding suddenly zapped Taffyta's mainframe and caused her arm to wig out in a small, dazzling show of sparked, orange coding, the pretty mixture of Rancis's original yellow coding and her original pink coding. Taffyta uttered a noise of defiance, flagged her arm, and as everyone peered to Taffyta in rising excitement, Taffyta gaped and gave Vanellope a surprised glare.

"HEY!" Taffyta squealed through a hard laugh as everyone now gasped and pointed.

"THAT'S payback!" Vanellope shouted as she pointed to her sister, and although the group about them went wild with laughter and teasing antics, Taffyta urgently gestured her hands.

"What the HELL did I ever do to you!" Taffyta yelled through her laughter as Vanellope clutched her stomach and tried to get her words out.

"Come on, you remember the morning after Ralph and I swapped for the first time?" Vanellope rushed as she gestured her hand, though Rancis crossed his arms, cocked an eyebrow and intently listened to this story with a wide smile, a point in time where he wasn't around for their antics, "You didn't want to just kindly ask me if my code was different... So you threw a donut at me!"

"I...!" Taffyta held up her hands to protest, though she sagged her arms back down to her sides and shook her head, "Yeah, that was totally a thing. Fine, we're even now, you happy?"

"Yes, very," Vanellope giggled as she elbowed Rancis's arm, "You dog."

"Yeah, after a year of isolation, you really think we'd abstain on the first night reunited?" Rancis shook his head and gave Vanellope a cheeky smile as everyone now overloaded Taffyta with congratulatory and teasing notions, Rancis wrinkled his nose and narrowed his gaze with great snark, "Not a chance."

* * *

As the evening went on, and the promise of the castle meeting hung on the horizon, game day was finally over. With anticipation, Rancis finally met the last of the Dead Zed racers; Duke, Jax and Tej, who were at the dregs of finally meeting Rancis for the first time, and although they took it like champs, it was clear they were wary around Rancis, because he looked just like Radex. As time went on, they began to grow more comfortable, though Rancis could easily tell, in the dark side-eye Tej would occasionally glance his way, that somehow, he was going to likely have it out with Tej. This only made him more protective of Taffyta, of his family, of everything he worked so hard to achieve and keep glued together. He knew he wasn't about to have one rogue Dead Zed racer get in the way of it.

Through the bustle of everyone setting up the Sky Room for their massive castle meeting, Rancis only could catch little glimpses of Throttle, here and there. It was clear Throttle was avoiding him, likely out of nervousness, and with such, Rancis almost began to feel bad about it. He knew both Throttle and Nox likely haven't had an easy go, when it came to being accepted to newcomers and people all around the Arcade, though he knew in due time, he'd have to approach Throttle and figure this mess out with him, and no one else. Rancis was aware Throttle likely wasn't a monster, he didn't purposefully create Arcade's largest virus, and he was aware Throttle's walls were probably up as high as they could go. For now, Rancis tried his hardest to keep his trembling thoughts to the meeting at hand, everything he needed to say to the group, the load of information, both good and bad, that he was about to deliver to the lot of them.

"We're almost ready to all sit down and get started, we're just waiting on Ralph to come home," Vanellope urged gently as she bumped into Rancis, on her way out of the Sky Room. Both of them jostled with the gentle bump and grappled each other's arms to steady themselves, though Rancis peered to her curiously.

"He's coming all the way from Game Central, right?" Rancis asked gently, "Fix-It Felix is still in that station?"

"Right across from Sugar Rush," Vanellope volleyed in a monotone of annoyed dread, "Poor dude has to see that outlet everyday."

"Is he bringing Felix and Calhoun?" Rancis asked eagerly as a small smile broadened his face, though Vanellope shrugged.

"Some days they tag along, other times they don't," She eased with a smile, "It's hit or miss... Either way, you'll see them sooner or later."

Vanellope gently smiled into Rancis's nervous eyes, and as she gently jostled him, to kindly remind him that he was going to be on in a handful of minutes, he quickly bobbed a nod and gave Vanellope an assuring look. Just as everyone began to quickly tidy the kitchen, stragglers that began to head to the Sky Room, a familiar voice suddenly blurt an incredulous laugh. Rancis raised his eyebrows in surprise and peered towards the front door, and as Ralph, Felix and Calhoun were greet by Lickity's excitable, playful antics, Rancis held his breath and froze with the oncoming onslaught of excitement that was well on it's way.

"What is happening? Why is everyone rushing around?" Ralph barked a hard laugh as Lickity urgently nuzzled her snout into Ralph's large hands, her typical puppy-dog antics that she only really could get away with, with Ralph, though as Ralph beamed a curious smile, looked about to everyone who was now bustling about, he froze and locked his shocked gaze to the very person he last expected to see standing in Tessa's and Zed's castle.

"I'm calling a castle meeting," Rancis called with a cheeky grin as he put his hands on his hips, "Only person missing is Sugar Rush's King. You ready?"

Ralph, Calhoun and Felix collectively sagged their shoulders in surprise, their unhinged stares of whole shock only grew more and more drooped with disbelief. Vanellope and Rancis stood with eager smiles as they prepared the group of three to finally find use of their feet, and just as Ralph finally was the first to move, Rancis gently loosened his hands from his hips and braced for the largest hug he knew he'd ever receive. Just as Ralph approached, he gently knelt, so to be leveled with Rancis, and immediately scooped Rancis up into his massive arms. Rancis choked a laugh and was lovingly yanked into Ralph's overbearing embrace. Without any form of hesitation, Ralph squeezed Rancis tight and held on for a good while.

"What alternate universe did I just step into?" Ralph huffed shakily over Rancis's shoulder as he beamed Vanellope a wide, curious smile, and as Taffyta noticed the commotion, she quickly joined the group and put her hands on her hips.

"You're telling me," Rancis choked as Ralph finally unhanded Rancis, though he kept a firm, large hand to the top of Rancis's shoulder, "I-I know you probably have a ton of questions..."

"Try a MILLION?" Ralph barked as Calhoun and Felix eagerly swarmed the two, and as Rancis lovingly gave each of the two his attention, tight hugs and loving notions, Rancis finally sighed and put his hands on his hips as Ralph returned his large hand to Rancis's shoulder.

"I was just about to answer them all, we have a castle meeting planned... We were just waiting for you guys to come home," Rancis sighed as Ralph jostled his shoulder a little.

"Would you lookit this," Ralph encouraged deeply, though he eyed Taffyta and Vanellope as they slowly surrounded the two.

With the image of the completed group before him, Ralph choked a breath and finally broadened the group to just the four of them, he placed his right hand to Vanellope's upper back and his left to Taffyta's. As the four huddled tight with each other, they shot each other knowing looks, just where they were sat, the completed group of Sugar Rush's leads, the very image of correction they were so desperately striving for, was now before them in a single group huddle. Ralph choked a laugh of disbelief, which caused the three in his grip to eagerly join in on his contagious outburst, and once Ralph let out a sigh of relief, he shook his head and met each of the three with adoring eye contact.

"We're one step closer," Ralph eased knowingly as the three gently nodded, "We've gotten this far..."

"Nothing can stop us, now," Taffyta urged gently as the three beings, in her tight vicinity, easily agreed.

"Nothing," Ralph repeated with a nod, though as everyone dragged their knowing gazes to Rancis, his eyes dewy and renewed with all of the love his family had to give, Ralph gave him his blessing, a tilt of his head and firm eye contact that spoke volumes, "Alright, Rancis... Floor's yours."

* * *

 **A/N : **

Alright guys, I need you to hear me real quick. 

Not only am I half way through writing Ace and Libby's very first, much anticipated code swap scene, I also surpassed 200 chapters. I'm currently on the brink of writing chapter 203 and... I am beside myself.

Writing ' ***Chapter 201*** ' was THE WEIRDEST THING

Where the plot stands, I most likely have a GOOD 40-75 chapters left, and I guess I say that loosely, but I know I have at the VERY least 35. It's pretty crazy knowing this story is going to span over 1mil words, and over 200 chapters - it'll make up for the cut Defying Code went through, but I wanted that story to leave on a cliffhanger, cause Wrecking Limits didn't, and neither will Rectifying Origin.

SO - all that to say, I hope you guys aren't sick of me yet, I have a few reviewers and friends that have just fallen away and it really makes me ridiculously sad, cause I loved chatting with you guys, even through the PMs, but to those of you who have stuck with it, even in silence and lurking, just know you're BEYOND appreciated, and I don't know if I'd be able to come this far w/o your encouragement.

I also need you guys to understand, real quick, that Ace and Libby's code swap scene delicately and intricately spans from chapter 200-203 - just a fair warning to my sensitive readers, Ace and Libby's sex scene goes into a TON of depth, a ton of (tasteful) detail, and has a ton of carefully planned character building. It may potentially seem like their little shindig is just going on for centuries, but there's different angles to it and lots of different things they do, in the span, so hopefully it keeps you guys freshly entertained. I don't like to drag scenes out for way too long, especially sex scenes, but this swap of theirs is EXTREMELY important, and is INCREDIBLY dire to the story, so just bear with me and understand that...

I've been dreaming of this scene since before I wrote chapter 1 of this story. So, as long as you guys have been waiting and squirming in your seats, trust me... I FEEL YOUR PAIN! xD But, just know, their code swap scene is written and I'm half way finished, and it's 3 chapters away you GUYS! We're almost there! And boy does it get yummy!


	198. Chapter 198

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** AHHHH YES yes a million yes! The white fire flower is included and I'm SO glad to hear that it hasn't been forgotten! Said flower is pivotal! It's all explained why. I'm literally bursting at the seams cause I have it all written and it's literally right around the corner. I'm SO excited to reveal everything to you guys! :D Thank you so much for all your continued support, it means the world to me and then some.

 **Snake557 :** Aww thank you, friend! I appreciate that! Yeah, my view count doesn't waver, I just miss my friends, is all. I love you guys to bits!

 **Xaehttium :** No issue at all! I just miss you guys! Thank you so much :D Yeah, well, don't count Ace and Libby's ride smooth sailing, just yet xD

 **StillAintBovvered :** Thank you! Wow that really means a ton to me, I've really done my best to make it all believable. Hope all is well!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Aww, all fabulous ideas! Yeah totally message me your ideas, any of you guys, cause I'm going to begin writing them down starting with this chapter! Thank you so much for all your love and support my friend!

 **Silversuferann :** WOW Thank you SO MUCH! That's a huge compliment, thank you! D: I don't deserve that. Yes, you'll learn more about the little underlying secrecies between Libby and Sugar Rush, all in due time! Thank you!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Believer by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

 ***Chapter 198***

"Everyone here?" Zed inquired gently as he scanned his diligent eye contact about the massive sprawl of people, the audience that quietly talked amongst themselves and sat in clean, orderly attention.

Zed quickly looked down to his digital pad and stood poised next to Rancis, the only men standing. Zed ran his finger through the residents that were coded to this part of the grid, every single last soul to show up to this meeting. He confidently counted Ralph, Vanellope, Taffyta, their children, their swap-mates, every Dead Zed racer, estranged TurboTime residents, every hammer wielding, gun shooting, Hero's Duty code, the four large beast that hung at the back of the group, sat diligently on their hind quarters; Zed cocked an eyebrow and counted a staggering twenty six individuals underneath the sprawl of stars the dome of the Sky Room had to offer. The only single being not present, at this point in time, was simply Chepi. Zed huffed a noise, shook his head and shot Rancis a nervous smile.

"Y'got twenty five pairs of eyes, on yah," Zed huffed in disbelief, though Rancis shook his head and long-blinked Zed a look as if to wonder if that was even true, though Zed powered down his pad and gestured out to the group that sat in mumbling wait, "Ready or not..."

"Thanks, everyone, I'm... Sure the last thing you guys want to be doing is huddling together and listening to my sorry stories," Rancis blurt with a chuckle, though Vanellope, from across the group, grappled the ends of her hair and jostled it about in a fit of whole impatience; everyone loudly laughed at her antics, though Rancis cocked an eyebrow and gestured his hand to her, "Uh... Sans-Vanellope."

"Sans-everyone," Taffyta chuckled, she pat Vanellope's shoulder and gave Rancis a nod of approval, "Spill."

"Everyone is caught up to speed with the whole Radex drama... We're aware he's wormed his way into Sugar Rush via a sneaky view of source coding he implanted in the lining of Zed's brain coding... We all on the same page, there?"

Everyone murmured soft notions of agreeing, with gentle nods; Rancis held his hands together, looked up and inhaled a readied breath.

"On the fateful day that Tessa and Zed left the Arcade, and then sought to return, you guys did something to the Sugar Rush cabinet... What exactly happened, there?" Rancis asked Zed and Tessa, and in a drag, all eyes honed to the two heads of Dead Zed.

"I simply reset the game, from the outside," Zed eased, his voice cut across the group so everyone could hear, "I wiped it clean, the only thing I kept were the save-files of every racer... Memories and things no one could get back, if wiped completely."

"In that, unfortunately, something went terribly wrong," Rancis continued, the large sprawl of the couch that hugged the epicenter of the Sky Room, in which Rancis held very well. His strong chest broadened as he continued on, "Radex's source coding, that was lined to Zed's brain coding, wriggled it's way into the code room, upon Tessa's and Zed's source-code swap... And with Zed's hard reset..."

Rancis felt Tessa's and Zed's eyes sag to Rancis's being, as if to wonder just when their attempts to simply save the game would stop coming up as a shining beacon of burden. He knew this was tough to get through, for everyone, though he was aware he just needed to press on.

"Radex was reset back into an actual being," Rancis stabbed, though Vanellope shook her head and spoke up, something Rancis knew would happen.

"Did you see him?" Vanellope prod, Rancis nodded.

"Yeah, I saw him... You and Taffyta did, too," Rancis eased darkly, though Vanellope furrowed her brow in confusion, "That accidental swipe that sent you rocketing to Stonecrest? That wasn't an 'accident on Rancis's end'. I watched Radex teleport you and Taffyta away, you three were in the Hull."

"He tricked us," Taffyta mumbled, as if her and Vanellope had been through this before, "The second we came back from being downgraded, much to our surprise, 'Rancis' comes flying around the corner, begging us to get into the Hull with him, cause he had dreadful news about Tessa and Zed... Remember?"

"Yeah, he... He told us that their code boxes were missing, and... Once we got to the Hull, he told us that Tessa and Zed were dead," Vanellope staggered sorrowfully as everyone glanced their nervous attention to Tessa and Zed, "Which... Clearly wasn't true."

"I heard the commotion, from downstairs," Rancis barked as he pointed down, "I got to your's and Ralph's bedroom, and the entrance of the Hull, just as I watched yours and Taffyta's coding just be zipped to another point on the map... Within seconds, you were gone, and the only being sat in the center of everything the game is made of, was Radex."

"Rancis, go back to what you were saying to me this morning," Taffyta narrowed her gaze, "You said that thankfully, you weren't tied to Radex, any longer..."

"I'm not," Rancis urged, his eyes sagged to the ground in rising, conflicted feelings, the very person he nearly could swear was at the heart of this mess, he was scared to even say his name.

"So, Radex is... Just this weird bout of coding that came into existence? That's not even possible," Ralph retort in growing annoyance, though everyone flinched as Ace's gentle, though dominant voice stabbed the air.

"Yes it is," Ace eased confidently as everyone peered to him in whole confusion, though just as Ralph was going to press the topic further, Ace gingerly let his larger hand find Libby's little hand, which was rested in her own lap, "Libby's coding is proof that rare, random manifestation can occur."

Libby raised her eyebrows and gently gripped Ace's hand in a lull of the loving notion, though with how quickly this shut everyone up, Libby dragged her eyes from Ace's confident demeanor to the large group of individuals who kept their gazes sharp to the two, the oddest couple in the game.

"Libby's coding reads self-programmed code, yet she has no parental sources," Ace eased, "It is possible for the game to have a hiccup... It's possible for the game to produce these kinds of oddities. Libby is living proof. Whose to say the coding goes rogue, it's just up to said individuals upbringing, really."

"...I stand corrected," Ralph grumbled gently, he knew not to argue with a User, even if it was his much younger, inexperienced grandson.

"Thank you," Libby whispered to Ace, only audible to him. Ace cocked an eyebrow and gave her a shot of a loving smile, he kept her hand tight in his and squeezed.

"So, if this is just a random manifestation that somehow has masked himself to look like you, connect itself to you, reintegrate from you, ESCAPE from you, and then come back into it's own, original coding..." Vanellope trailed, though she finally gestured her hand to Rancis in whole confusion, "Who exactly IS this guy, then?"

Rancis shook his head and let his mind soak back to the memories of that fateful day as he uttered a stagger of words that made his heart sore, "... You're not going to like my answer."

 _Through the staggering amount of angry yelling that echoed down Sugar Rush's halls, Rancis stumbled to climb the spiral staircase that lead to Ralph's and Vanellope's bedroom, as well as Sugar Rush's Hull, a smaller code room that was practically the end all to the game, if placed in the wrong hands. Rancis grappled the hand railing and did everything he could to run up the stairs, he could hear Taffyta and Vanellope loudly arguing with someone, but just who, he didn't know. He fumbled to get used to his upgraded self, once more, having just been renewed back to normal, as opposed to his chibi, tiny counterpart. Once he hit the landing, he immediately rounded the corner in a whirl, burst through Ralph and Vanellope's bedroom door and urgently peered to the gaping entrance of The Hull._

 _In a flicker of coded information that suddenly zipped away, he could see Taffyta's original pink coding, as well as Vanellope's original blue coding, easily whisk away in a shot of confusion. Just on the other side of the glowing dust cloud that finally dissipated was someone Rancis was praying he'd never have to see again. As if looking in a mirror,_ _Rancis froze and locked his eyes with Radex's still, agitated demeanor. He stood in the center of the Hull, he held the main orb of the entirety of the game, he literally had the power to delete Rancis in one keystroke. Rancis held his breath, froze and wondered just what to do in this moment._

 _"Hey, man," Radex eased cheerfully as he clumsily jolted the glowing orb about, it shone hot red._

 _"What's going on here," Rancis asked calmly, he knew any sudden movements, any sort of startled urgency, would have Radex reacting in the only way he knew how; radically and irrationally._

 _"Oh, just some rearranging, I think the game needs a little bit of a switch up, huh?" Radex chimed as he dared to carry the orb out of the safety of the Hull, the gape of a secretive room just beyond a slab of gorgeously crafted wood, carved with circuit boards, a beautiful center piece in the King and Queen's bedroom. The orb angrily flickered in concern as the wall, which concealed the Hull, glitched to normality and hid the Hull, once more, "Well, I started with sending poor Taffyta and Vanellope to Stonecrest."_

 _"Why are you doing this?" Rancis urged in a stagger of still defeat, he furrowed his brow and now realized that he was also sword-less, helpless and now petrified in his findings. Radex jostled the orb about and gave Rancis a sorrowful look of mean delight._

 _"Cause it's fun? I just need to stretch, a bit, man, I've been locked in Zed's coding for so long," Radex shook his head and stood before Rancis, simply as if they were buddies, though Radex narrowed his gaze and peered to Rancis curiously, "You don't seem excited to see me... Why is that?"_

 _"I-I... I am, I just," Rancis choked to try and keep his fibs straight, he huffed a shaky breath and knew he was caught in his lies, the ultimate attempt to have his brain so desperately keep up with him, "I'm just confused as to why you sent Taffyta and Vanellope away?"_

 _"We don't need them," Radex shrugged, as if it were simply a notion Rancis should forget, "I'm in charge now. Look, why don't you go to the entrance and tell Ralph that he's not welcomed anymore."_

 _"Wh-Why isn't he welcomed?" Rancis staggered, though the more Rancis asked questions, the more Radex began to catch on to just what side Rancis was standing on._

 _"... Because? Where's your head, aren't you happy we have this game, again?" Radex asked, as if he could maybe be confusing Rancis with someone else, and in this strange realization, from both ends, Radex inhaled a surprised breath, took a small step back and tucked the orb to his chest, "You're... Wow, you're really just Rancis, aren't you."_

 _"I-I... Mean..." Rancis stuttered, he wondered just what he could say to keep Radex from banishing him, the only thing Rancis wanted out of this situation was to make Radex believe that he was actually on his side, that Rancis was genuinely in full support of this take over, so he had the in on how to take Radex down from inside._

 _"You think you're slick, huh," Radex barked with a laugh as he brought up a few options on the orb, "Well, well, where can we put you, then?"_

 _"Put me?" Rancis urged nervously, he began to feel panic set in._

 _"Well, yeah... I'm moving the castle, you're clearly not coming with," Radex shook his head and gave Rancis a dumbfounded smile, "Hmm, let's see... Has visited Honeydew Ridge at least five times in the past year, aww, how sweet... A snowy, family getaway. You'll be happy there, huh?"_

 _"Look, can't we just... Discuss all this before we do anything rash?" Rancis's voice shook, the sheer thought of Radex holding Sugar Rush's precious entirety had his entire body prickled in fearful goosebumps._

 _"There's nothing to discuss. Tessa and Zed didn't make it to re-entry, from wherever they went to," Radex shrugged, as if it were simply something that wasn't important, "I'm going to make sure you're comfy-cozy on Honeydew Ridge, get that... Freak of a wrecker out of here, and uh... We're going to have a castle party in The End!"_

 _"... 'We're'?" Rancis asked in a trembling tone as he lulled his curious gaze to the orb in Radex's hands, and in a boiling few thoughts that came to his mind, he knew all he had to do was simply knock the orb out of Radex's hands and gain control of Sugar Rush, to set everything back to normality. He bide his time and knew he had only one shot._

 _"Yeah, I think I'll also include Orion," Radex shrugged as he kept the orb tight to him, though he thumbed through a few options on a pop-up screen, "The view, from The End, certainly is gorgeous... You ever been there?"_

 _"It's at the end of creation, and then some," Rancis eased nervously as he shifted on his feet and wondered just when he should pounce._

 _He waited for Radex to take both of his hands off of the orb, though just as he did, Rancis inhaled a sharp breath and jolted for the precious orb in Radex's gravity._ _In a simple swipe, he was nearly successful in grabbing the trembling orb, though just as Radex stepped to the side in footwork that was nearly beyond Rancis's agility, Rancis jolted, caught himself on the wall that Radex was in front of, and peered his terrified eyes to Radex. Before he could feel his coding give up, he knew he had to give it his best fight, no matter what, and just as he went to dive for Radex in a full grapple, Radex immediately swiped his finger to the screen before him. In the hot moment of realization, Rancis felt his original yellow coding angrily swarm his legs, and in a split second, he flinched and was now dead center in the middle of Honeydew Ridge's fields, the stark difference of atmosphere had him gasping for air._

 _"NO!" Rancis hollered out to the trees as his voice reverberated, and just as he clenched his fists and could swear that he would gain wrecking abilities, he flinched and looked up to the sky in horror._

 _As the clouds, the sky, everything about the atmosphere shot by, lightning speed, Rancis fell to the ground, covered his head and felt the reverberated bass of the sudden move consume his core, though the second everything settled, Rancis loudly panted and stumbled to get to his feet. He was thrilled to see their cabin, delicately poised and still in one piece, though the scenery all about his snowy ridge was now nothing but a vast amount of grassland, for miles and miles beyond miles and miles and then some. Rancis heaved a loud, sharp noise and grappled his hair in true horror, and as tears stung his eyes, he fell to his knees and felt all the loss crawl over him like molten lava that would just eventually harden and leave him there to rot._

 _As Rancis's teary, terrified gaze caught with something directly overhead, in the sky, he grimaced and noticed tiers and tiers of angry red honeycombs begin to sprawl over the entirety of the ridge, and as Rancis's heart nearly stopped, he raised his eyebrows in whole surprise, the information that hit his retinas, he now knew he'd literally have all of this information to himself, no one to tell it to, for an indefinite amount of time. He shook his head as tears streamed his cheeks, he choked a cry and watched the angry sprawl of red honeycombs do everything and anything they could to soak the entire dome in an im_ _penetrable forcefield; no one to get through, on either side. Rancis held his hands to the ground and hung his head in a cry of despair, the failure that crawled over him, he knew he was due for a long trail of loneliness ahead of him._

Everyone gently sagged with Rancis's heart breaking story, though with the sheer fact that said certain type of coding was in place, the dome above the ridge, everyone nervously dragged their unhinged gazes straight for Nox. Nox furrowed his brow in rising confusion, though as Rancis dared to lock eyes with the TurboTime racer, he heaved a nervous noise, gestured his hand lazily and looked down to his feet, as if the information he was about to spill wasn't technically something he wanted to say.

"I'm not one hundred percent on this, but..." Rancis heaved a shaky sigh and gently stabbed his eyes to Nox's, "I believe Radex is Turbo."

Everyone froze in the dreaded silence that crawled over the group, and although Nox looked down to his feet, hunched over his legs with his elbows rested on the tops of his thighs, he furrowed his brow in contemplation and soaked in Rancis's words.

"You're saying that asshole that we killed, all those years ago, is STILL wreaking havoc on Sugar Rush?" Ralph blurt in solid irritation, though Nox snapped his eyes open and stabbed his daring gaze straight for the King.

"Hey, watch it, that's still my oldest brother you're talking about," Nox barked, though with such challenge, Ralph's stern gaze worsened.

"I'll say whatever I want about the freak that destroyed my home, I can only imagine how Taffyta, Vanellope and Rancis feel," Ralph's booming voice easily crawled over Nox's demeanor, though much to everyone's surprise, Nox suddenly stood and pointed an angry finger in Ralph's direction.

"Ralph," Vanellope prod in stern agitation, the fact that he was doing so well in being so accepting only to be on the verge of sloping down the drain.

"Tell me how YOU really feel, Wreck-It," Nox's deep voice suddenly stabbed, and although he was much smaller than Ralph, he still puffed his chest, pointed to himself and flexed in a show of rivaled dominance, "We really going to sit here, amidst a group of misfits, and label just who is a freak and who isn't?"

"I was talking about Turbo," Ralph growled in irritation, though Ace gingerly stood and gently held his hand to Nox's upper arm.

"C'mon, man, just talk it out, no need to be aggressive," Ace eased softly, though Nox clenched his fists and yanked his arm, and whole aura, from Ace's soothing gravity.

"You're talking about Turbo, that's my code and blood!" Nox shouted to Ralph as he began to bravely approach the largest bad guy in this whole Arcade, and although Ralph saw the challenge, and was fit to extinguish Nox in one swipe, he remained still and intently listened to just what Nox had to say in a slope on oncoming regret, "I may have a loyalty to the kin of Sugar Rush, the hierarchy is now apart of me, but you must be stupid to think that I will forget just where the root of my coding comes from."

"Nox," Throttle eased, from the back of the group, and although Nox glanced in his direction, he still kept his unwavering, angry gaze to Ralph's.

"Turbo's dead, anyways... If he were here, he'd be fighting alongside us, anyhow," Nox choked as his glower deepened, though Ralph choked a laugh.

"HELPING? That's delusional," Ralph urged in rising agitation, though before anyone could even begin thinking about quelling Nox's rising temper, Nox suddenly clenched his fists and was prepared to do something everyone was certain wouldn't even come back around.

Ace raised his eyebrows in solid surprise, and before he could jolt to a stand, to stop his best friend from doing something stupid, Nox rocketed his fists to the tiles below, and in a successful crackle of destruction, he perfectly wrecked the slabs underneath and beside him. With a loud grunt, the Sky Room trembled underneath all of the drama, and as a puff of dust lifted from Nox's aura, everyone on the couches had clenched and tightened away from the wreckage, the damage that easily could've messily shot their way. Nox's clean, clenched fists were riddled in his and Koko's impressible, berry-honeycomb coding, though as he returned his hateful gaze to Ralph, he was surprised to be greet with Ralph's humbled, awed expression.

"What color were the honeycombs, Rancis?" Nox shouted in a tremble of reverberating dominance he soaked the room with, and although Rancis nervously stuttered the word 'red', Nox sarcastically tilted his head, stabbed his now glowing red eyes to Ralph's near-still soul and raised his eyebrows high, "WHAT COLOR?"

"Red," Rancis choked louder as he nervously peered to the escalating situation, though mostly everyone was surprised Nox had successfully followed through with properly wrecking, for the first time in his life, since having the recessive wrecking gene.

"RED!" Nox shouted as he dared to take a step closer to Ralph, the color of his eyes now glowing a deep crimson alongside his words, though with this, Ace urgently scrambled to get out of his seat, once more. Nox dominantly sauntered closer to Ralph, "Are we all not aware that Turbo had a swap mate?"

"Hey, hey," Ace urged softly as he was successful in grappling Nox's upper arm, this time, and although Nox resisted, Ace was able to hold Nox still.

"Hmm, what's that one little thing that happens, huh, oh..." Nox waggled his fingers about, showing his and Koko's impressive colored coding, "Oh YEAH! Your code color changes! So what color was the forcefield, over Honeydew Ridge, again?"

"Red," Rancis urged nervously as he eyed Ralph.

"RED!" Nox yelled again as he bent down into Ralph's face, the thick arteries in his jugular bulged, and although Ralph wanted to get up and stand his ground, he knew he likely could've chosen kinder words in describing one of Nox's family members. Nox inhaled a raspy breath, stood and clumsily bumped into Ace, who eagerly held still to keep the fight from getting physical, "We're not dealing with Turbo, here, people. This is someone else, someone who has been in this Arcade for an equal amount of time us TurboTime residents have... Hell, it could be Lash! Why are we excluding him from this bullshit, anyways?"

Nox's voice rung solid in the Sky Room, and as everyone nervously dragged their gazes to Rancis, he heaved a shaky sigh, shrugged and bobbed a small nod.

"I-It's all just guesswork, from here," Rancis eased, though Ace gave his best friend a gentle glower and grappled his upper arm, once more; this time, was successful in dragging Nox back to his seat.

"Red is a common coding color, unfortunately," Vanellope's voice gently soaked the prickled, agitated air. She warmly rubbed Ralph's arm, as if to express to just simply let the anger slide away, although everyone was aware Ralph was very easily sitting in remorse, "It could be anyone, from that era..."

"Turbo was the first person to give us trouble," Rancis said as he took the floor, once more, though he diligently watched as Ace sat Nox back down and quietly spoke words to his seething best friend, "Maybe he had accomplices... It is true that none of us have ever heard a peep out of Lash... Where exactly did he go?"

"He stuck close with Turbo, after the unplug," Throttle finally chimed in, everyone cranked their heads to get a good look at him, "Whose to say they didn't acquire any friends, whilst they were aimlessly wandering the Arcade, the decade or so before... Well... Sweet Streets was plugged in."

"I forgot about Sweet Streets," Vanellope huffed as she covered her face and grew agitated, though everyone mumbled inquires of just what was going on. Vanellope tucked her hair behind her ears and gingerly stood, so to join Rancis, though before she could step out, Felix finally jumped a few steps, fixed Nox's wrecking mess and came back to his seat. This got a few mumbles of chuckles out of the group, and a smile out of Vanellope, as she carried on, "Sweet Streets was Sugar Rush's demo... We were told that Turbo had a swap mate from Sweet Streets, which got unplugged and... Sugar Rush replaced it. He likely went crazy, and that's why he originally took over Sugar Rush. It was the closet thing he had to the game his swap mate was originally from."

"Cause let's face it, Turbo wouldn't associate himself with a cute candy game, no offense," Throttle shook his head and gave Vanellope an apologetic smile, to which she shrugged and bobbed an agreeing nod, "Turbo was rough around the edges, lost within the dirty aspects of racing... Those adorable, beautiful racers, mingling with the TurboTime boys? The only reason it could've really ever seemed fitting was if they all became friends, which... We've discovered Turbo definitely went the extra mile."

"They didn't know they were in a demo, did they," Tessa eased nervously as she shook her head and volleyed her gaze back to Throttle, "They were beginning a life together, a new start... And then, one day, they come back to the outlet and Sweet Streets is just gone... And all Turbo had left was his swap-mate's coding."

"Who knows if anyone made it out of Sweet Streets alive," Throttle shrugged, "It's clear Turbo and Lash did, but... Did they have accomplices?"

"Think back to his rule," Taffyta waggled his finger, "When Turbo was King Candy... He had that silly little gumdrop ball that followed him around."

"Sour Bill," Vanellope rolled her eyes, though she finally furrowed her eyebrows in gentle confusion and shook her head, "He was... Awfully quiet and sort of just went with the flow."

"After the game reset... Where did he lay off to?" Taffyta egged, though Vanellope crossed her arms.

"He announced me as Princess of Sugar Rush, and then..." Vanellope fingered her lip in confusion.

"He then bounced outta there," Ralph shrugged, "I don't remember seeing him, after that..."

"Are we really banking Sugar Rush's downfall on a tiny gumdrop candy dude?" Tessa blurt, everyone eagerly laughed.

"You never know, at this point, anything is possible, I mean look at all of us," Rancis choked a laugh, he gestured about the group, "We have a woman whose coding just manifested out of seemingly nothing, Tessa gave birth to a User, we have Turbo's racing coach and little brother on our side, and... I might as well be still hulled away on that lonely ridge."

"He's got a point, mom," Ace mumbled with a cheeky smile, Tessa volleyed him an annoyed smirk.

"So, what have we concluded? We're not certain just who is in charge of this mess, but we ARE certain about the whereabouts of the castle," Zed stated, his voice was strong and confident, though Rancis bobbed a nod and eyed Vanellope a little.

"We don't know exactly who Radex is, but at least now we have a general idea..." Rancis stated through hot sigh, "We don't know if he's alone, has accomplices, is dead or alive..."

"Where does one go, when you have nothing? No one?" Zed wondered darkly, he squinted his eyes and peered about his full family, though they nervously caught glances with each other, as if to inquire if anyone potentially had the answer to Zed's question. Zed softly carried on, his eyes tightly hooked into Rancis's, as if he could potentially find the answers deep in his torn coding, "How does one go about making such a glorious, massive castle disappear? With such ease?"

"A place void of happiness," Rancis's voice finally croaked, he lulled his eyes closed and slumped his shoulders, as if he was in a slope of stupor at just how slow these revelations had come to him, "A place... Void of anything, really."

"You know such place," Tessa dared, she crossed her arms and only briefly glanced to Ace, who clenched his fists in growing anticipation, as if he were prepared for the long haul to wherever they needed to go.

"Really only video games with an open world format have said place," Rancis continued, he ran his hand through the short, golden hairs atop his head; hairs that so desperately tried to hold onto any form of a curl, "At any point of the map, however far you could walk, until the game runs out of land to provide."

"An end-all," Ace's deep voice finally crackled the air, he furrowed his eyebrows in growing realization.

"Race tracks only go in never-ending circles," Rancis's idle gaze hit the ground beneath everyone as the silence became deafening, "Only gamers brave enough go beyond the finish line... To The End."

"How long of a trip are we talkin'?" Orph suddenly wondered, he gave Rancis a kind smile, as if to state he was going to be there for that haul, no matter what.

"I'm not sure, but I do know that it's in the exact direction you guys were previously going in," Rancis stated to Tessa.

"We just... KEEP going in that direction," Tessa stated, almost in question, though Rancis bobbed a nod.

"You keep going, until... You run out of the stretch," Rancis looked down to his hands and sighed, "The castle is there... Only reason I know for a fact is because Radex checked up on me, once, in isolation, and gave the direct location away."

"Where are the other racers? Certainly they're being kept somewhere, SOMEONE'S gotta keep the game running?" Taffyta worried, Vanellope shrugged.

"Certainly he's either hulled them somewhere, and they're only allowed out for game day, or..." Rancis trailed off and nervously looked to Vanellope, "Radex did the same thing to all of us. Scattered everyone and has replaced us with bots."

"He can do that?" Ace egged.

"He has the whole entire game in the palm of his hands," Rancis urged darkly, "That's one step below being a User."

Ace held his breath and felt his skin prickle with Rancis's words, and amidst this whole mess, he wondered just how he could potentially play a role in this drama, just where his powers came to play. Alongside these thoughts, he sagged back into his seat and felt Libby's close, warm presence, and with the roll of realization that crawled over him, he suddenly thought about their impending code swap, and just what that would add to this group. He was aware he was terrified to hand over that limitless power, though the more he thought about Rancis's stern words, at Honeydew Ridge, the more the realized that two Users are most definitely better than one. He felt his face heat up, and with all of this drama, the very idea of their escape of a date night was now right around the corner; Ace held his breath and tried desperately to hide the fact that he wanted to beam the widest, most anxious smile.

"I think we should chill, revisit this topic once we're all... A bit more level headed," Taffyta staggered, the sight of Nox's molten red eyes, that haven't simmered, had everyone nervous, "Let's call this meeting quits..."

"Thank you, everyone," Rancis eased, though just as everyone sagged from their positions, Nox was first to tear himself from his seat and immediately leave the Sky Room in a dash of skillful glitch-lines, tiers of berry honeycombs and circuit grids.

"Damn, that was... Some show," Jax mumbled nervously as everyone slowly stood and began to quietly chat amongst themselves.

"I would be mad, but... The kid wrecked for the first time," Ralph blurt a chuckle and gestured out to the spot that as previously wrecked, though Felix had fixed it, "I guess all of that physical therapy has been paying off, Ace."

"Well, he was likely riding on an adrenaline rush," Ace grimaced as everyone slowly began to stand and linger, mingling groups of gentle, idle chatter, "I'll have to get him on a workout and see what he's really made of, and if this wasn't just an isolated incident."

"You really pissed him off," Koko stabbed with a chuckle that wasn't intended to seem inviting, she glared her dad down and shook her head, "Can you please refrain from calling my boyfriend's long lost family 'freaks', dad? If anything, we're all one to talk, us wreckers."

"I-I'm sorry, I guess... I was just mad," Ralph shook his head and frowned, though Throttle crossed his arms and dared to chime in.

"Ralph, what would you do right now if I sat here and called Felix a freak, huh?" Throttle barked, he rode on the dregs of the shared anger he felt with Nox, the protectiveness of his team, even though everything had gone awry. Throttle gestured to Felix's innocent figure and was thankful Calhoun stayed out of this little demonstration, "Felix is your little brother, right?"

"Right," Ralph grunted, he anxiously peered his attention to Felix and diligently listened to Throttle's words.

"So, if I sat here and called Felix an asshole, he was just a freak that ruined everything," Throttle loudly continued on, something that definitely wasn't in his nature, though he knew he'd still go to the end of Arcade for his family. He glowered into Ralph's nervous eyes, "You can't sit here and tell me you wouldn't be pissed."

Ralph frowned as the lot of the group dissipated, the only beings that stuck around were Rancis, Vanellope, Taffyta, Ralph, Felix, Calhoun, Tessa, Zed, Koko, Ace and Libby. Ralph felt their nervous, inquiring, burning gazes on him and felt his skin crawl with regret, and in this instance, he retracted his words and realized that this wasn't just about one game's hurt, any longer.

"You have to understand that TurboTime took a greater loss than Sugar Rush will ever know," Throttle stabbed as he stood and nearly cut the group in half, as they eagerly honed their attention to him, "Sugar Rush is going through a TON right now, but... You know what Sugar Rush has that TurboTime and Sweet Streets doesn't?"

Ralph heaved a hard sigh and finally peered his defeated gaze to Throttle's creepy, white eyes, his black pixel pupils, and as the chill went down Ralph's spine, Throttle narrowed his creepy gaze and clenched his fists.

"Sugar Rush still has a game station attached to it," Throttle spat meanly through the clenched grit of his teeth, and in a gentle hang of the silent end, he finally turned heel and quietly began to leave the group.

Ralph frowned, looked down to his hands and was at least happy to feel Vanellope's gentle hand come to his shoulder in an understanding sweep of care. He finally dragged is eyes to Koko's and gave her an apologetic look, he was aware she likely was having a very difficult time with just exactly where to place herself, in this mess.

"I'm sorry, Koko, I'll... I'll apologize to Nox," Ralph stated sorrowfully as Koko had her arms tightly crossed, "I-I shouldn't have said all that, I just... Went to it as a default without thinking... Seems to be hard to shake thirty years of an opinion, but... I'm trying to get there."

"Thank you," Koko sighed in harbored agitation, though Vanellope raised her eyebrows and lazily glossed it past Zed, Tessa and Ace.

"...Welp. Whose hungry?" Vanellope joked, though everyone nervously grumbled noises of defiance.

"I am, actually," Ace casually grunted as him and Libby peered to each other, on cue, and amidst all the drama, they still had that shining beacon of hope, their promised date night.

"I was going to make you that one Teltokuan dish you like," Libby eased as she sagged her hands into her casual, black skinny jeans. She bobbed a nod and was thrilled the group they were in continued to quietly chat amongst themselves, "Only catch is, you have to help me prep it."

"I was going to help anyways," Ace staggered through a chuckle, and as the two looked up, to see if they could potentially slip away, they eyed each other in rising, cheeky mischief and finally began to sag out of the vicinity of the others.

"Got their firewall up?" Tessa muttered quietly to Zed, he cocked an eyebrow and bobbed a nod.

"Better believe it," Zed grumbled with a knowing smile.


	199. Chapter 199

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** OH WOW, I'm ike actually shocked someone remembered that piece of mine! I WAS going to reference it, at the end of the chapter, but I felt like no one would really care/understand, but I'm like legitimately thrilled that someone remembered :D That means a lot to me! Thank you! And yes, Nox does eventually calm down, makes for some interesting tension between him, Throttle and Ralph, that's for sure. And then throw Rancis and Tej into that mess, as well as Ace an Libby's issues, the whole castle is coming off of a high and into a vat of pins and needles LOL. Good times, for sure! xD

 **Silversuferann :** Haha yeah I hope that the end really throws you guys, I'm actually surprised no one has really sniffed out what's going on. But I guess I just have my face pressed to it, so it's always right in my face anyways lol. As for the swap scene, no, nothing way too detrimental happens in said scenes. A ton of character and trust building, between the two, and in the 'platonic' moments, before they do anything, Ace lets Libby try out his User powers on for size, but other than that, I don't think it's anything way too detrimental any of my sensitive readers would miss out on. If you feel as if you may have missed something important, I can summarize and clarify a few things for you, later on :) No biggie!

 **Snake557 :** Haha it's Gloyd - you will end up seeing those two again! They obviously don't have a major role, but they ARE in this story xD Thank you!

 **NightHex54 :** Hey! I really appreciate all your kind words and compliments, thank you so much! :D Yeah, well considering how long the last chapter was, and how long this chapter is, combining the two would've been a total of about a 13k word chapter xD

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Yes, you told me :) Thank you so much for everything! I'm glad you got that huge, super update. I'm sure that was fun! xD and YES! That is always my goal with Libby, when I draw her. She has a tragic past, as you guys know - and there are a ton more layers to her, than even you guys know, as it stands, so whenever I draw her in serious pictures, I always try to give her that look, as if she's seen some shit lol. Thanks for pointing that out, I'm glad you guys have caught on to that! And yes, I got your PM lol.

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Stay by Zedd and Alessia Cara**

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 ***Chapter 199***

"Phew... Well if that wasn't incredibly stressful," Libby barked quietly as her and Ace quickly came into her room, the top floor of Ace's tower.

Ace inhaled a deep, readied breath and gingerly closed her large front door, and as he watched her walk towards her kitchen and dining area, he inhaled said deep breath and bashfully ogled her figure. Slapped in black skinny jeans and a nice, cream top, he was aware she'd likely change into something more comfortable as the night went on. Libby shook her head, tucked her long, white hair behind her ears and touched her delicate fingers to the touch-sensitive light switch in her glorious little kitchenette. Crowned with flawless white cabinets, the gorgeous marble counters, Ace knew she likely got special treatment, from Tessa and Zed, when the construction of her little abode was taken into consideration.

"...Then I don't know what is," Libby finished her statement through a long sigh, though she looked around for Chepi, she remembered that Emery had offered to take care of Chepi for Libby's and Ace's little date night, something Libby felt grateful to even receive such an offer.

"Dang, I didn't think Nox had it in him, so suddenly," Ace huffed nervously as he slowly welcomed himself into Libby's cozy, classy kitchen, and before he could get comfortable, Libby snapped her fingers and moved towards her fridge. Ace raised his eyebrows and watched her work, though he eased closer to her and wondered just what she could be grabbing, "Are you uh... Thinking about making-"

"Those wraps you like?" Libby inquired, though she froze what she was doing and nervously peered up to Ace with a look of second guessing, "The ones that... I bake and then sprinkle the cheese over? And the spicy red sauce?"

"Yeah, those," Ace slumped his shoulders and beamed an excited smile, "Yum... Please let me help you."

"Thank you," Libby grunted, Ace laughed and quickly picked up the ingredients Libby was struggling to pull from the fridge, and once everything was splayed on the counter, Ace began to tidy everything, pull out proper baking sheets and knives.

He raised an eyebrow and watched as Libby peeled away, only for a moment, to take off her canvas shoes and set them aside. She put her hands on her hips, looked about her room and sought out other lights to turn on, though she flicked her hair over her shoulder and shot Ace a happy, loving smile.

"So, I know your trip was cut short, but... I'd love to hear all about it," Libby's voice was warm and welcoming, the lilt of happiness and coy girliness, in her adorable, sing-song accent, had Ace's heart swelling with the uprise of promise, for the night to come.

"It's definitely a trip you shouldn't have missed out on," Ace blurt, though he raised his eyebrows in surprise and nervously peered to her in an apologetic way, "I-I mean... I get why you stayed back, I-I didn't mean that like... Well, what I meant was-"

"I get it, puba, you're okay," Libby giggled as she came back into the kitchen, she tucked her hair int a low ponytail, so to keep it out of the food they were bound to prepare together, "So, you just bumped into Honeydew Ridge, or...?"

"We actually were flying over this never-ending plain of grassland," Ace gestured his hand outward, and as the two finally washed their hands and began to pick and choose ingredients to both chop, mix and ready, they easily went to work, with Libby's careful instructions. Ace continued on, in between the nonsense, "We would've just landed, but... The sun was rising, and there was no shelter for as far as the eye could see."

"... The ridge wasn't anywhere near there?" Libby wondered tenderly, she eyed Ace's much larger hands as he occasionally accidentally bumped her little hands, and with such, she found herself craving his touch more and more.

She furrowed her brow and wondered just where this date night would go, she wondered if she should stop the two and preface just where exactly they wanted this evening to result in, and although she bit her tongue and knew she needed to just let everything play out, she inhaled a readied breath and so desperately tried to quell her excited, confused and racing thoughts.

"It was, it was just WAY off," Ace beamed with a shrug, "It was like... Nearly behind us, on the horizon. If mom hadn't have looked, we'd all be terribly sun burnt, right now."

"That'd suck," Libby choked a laugh, she nudged Ace's elbow in a playful show of their friendship, "I'd have to give you a milk bath."

Ace cocked an eyebrow and bashfully glanced to her in a roll of a shy chuckle, though Libby inhaled a shaky breath, shook her head and inwardly cursed herself for bringing up weird topics that could so easily dabble into their own, strained brand of intimacy. She dusted her hands free of crumbs, gestured down to the pan they had successfully rolled the delicious wraps into and began to reach for the knobs on her oven.

"A-Anyways," Libby giggled bashfully as she bit her tongue and configured the oven to the perfect temperate, and then let it set for preheating. She stood, put her hands on her hips and set the dish aside, and just as she was about to reach for all the ingredients, to clean up the mess, Ace kindly began to help her out, "So... Tell me what bumping into Rancis was like, did everyone freak out?"

"Yeah, well... Penny went like running up the cliff, without us," Ace choked a laugh, as did Libby. They both gathered the few things to put back in the fridge, and as she swung the door open, they diligently began to stock things away, "Once we caught up to her, she was already half way across the field, on her way to the cabin."

"This cabin was a place they typically stayed?" Libby questioned, they finished what they were doing and began o clean up her kitchen counters, which were now lightly littered with straggling bits of ingredients and crumbs.

"Yeah, I guess Vanellope would take mom, Uncle Oliver and Aunt Penny there," Ace bobbed a nod and frowned, "...Must suck to be trapped in a vacation spot you used to spend time with your family, there."

"Penny told me it's really beautiful, she was thrilled it kept it's beauty, even with the drag half way across the game," Libby stated as they finally settled, she crossed her arms and peered up to Ace, as if to wonder if said notion was true.

"It was gorgeous, Libby, you would've absolutely loved it," Ace stated through a sigh, and although he knew not to bring up the hard facts of just why she didn't participate, he somehow wondered if he could play with fire, at least a little. Ace looked down, crossed his arms, and gently dragged his eyes to Libby's concerned, hopeful, dewy eyes, "... I really missed you. I-I know that seems silly, cause it was only a few days, but... You were definitely missed."

"I missed you too, Ace," Libby smiled lovingly, she gave him a gentle side-eye and narrowed her gaze, "Something tells me you still had a lot of fun, though."

"I did, I had a lot of fun, we had a guys night I know you'd have no interest in," Ace gave Libby a wide, kind smile, to which she cued to, though she looked down to their bare feet and hovered in a small bout of decision making.

"Well, I'm still glad we both got what we needed," Libby eased tenderly, though her curious eyes dragged to his in soft wondering. She was terrified to be daring, though she stuck to Emery's words, about bravery, and figured nothing was going to get fully accomplished if she didn't just at least attempt to jump out on a limb, "I hope you're feeling better... A-About... Y'know."

"I am, I... I definitely had my ass handed to me," Ace said through a blurt of a soft laugh, though Libby wrinkled her nose in a wide, curious smile and shook her head.

"Wait, what?" Libby choked a laugh as Ace bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"It was great to get to know Uncle Rancis, he... Gives some great advice," Ace stated tenderly, and as he could see Libby's attempts to clear the air, he figured he'd at least help out, where he could, "I got to get a lot of clarity, a lot off my chest... Typical guys night. It was good."

"Well, good, I'm really glad," Libby stated patently with a nod, though they both flinched out of their thought bubble as her oven kindly chimed a noise, stating that it was done preheating.

Libby tucked the loose hairs behind her ears, opened the oven and carefully set the baking rack in the center of the hot rails. Once she finally closed the oven, for good, she set a timer, dusted her hands free, sagged her shoulders and gave Ace a loving smile.

"I'm still reeling from the meeting," Ace finally eased wit a growing frown, and with such, Libby's demeanor gently sank as her eyes glossed her clean floors, "I mean... I was set thinking I'd just have to take care of one dude, but knowing that Radex may have accomplices?"

"We don't have all the answers, right now," Libby frowned as she finally gave Ace her understanding eye contact, "We may not up until the last minute... Our best bet is just to plan the next scout."

"Dive right in?" Ace prod nervously as the two finally caught eyes.

"Well, wouldn't you think?" Libby shrugged, her intelligent eyes remained glued to his in rising fervor, "What other course of action would there be to take, besides finding the castle?"

"Well, Vanellope has been talking a lot about finding the other Sugar Rush racers... Supposedly, there's quite a handful of them," Ace smiled as he bobbed a nod, "More than Dead Zed's roster, for sure."

"Who knows... That would probably prolong things, but..." Libby finally heaved a soft sigh, smiled and slumped her shoulders, "Guess it's all just something we've gotta feel out. We won't know until we just dive in."

"... Seems to be the theme of the year," Ace huffed in mild annoyance, though his face turned beet red at his accidental insinuation, and with such, he rubbed the back of his head, bashfully glanced to Libby and was thrilled she simply breathed an understanding chuckle.

"Well... I'm going to get into something comfortable," Libby trekked carefully, she was aware this wasn't a formal, fancy date, though she also wanted to be polite and not just jump right into comfortable clothing if Ace was simply going to feel isolated, "Is that alright?"

"Oh, yeah babe, go ahead, I'm already way ahead of you, anyways," Ace chuckled as he gestured down to his comfortable, faded blue cotton pants, which could easily pass for something a bit beyond the fact that they were casual lounge pants; he wore a white t-shirt, as well, though he bashfully gestured to Libby and gave her an understanding smile, "I-I'll... Be here."

"Okay," Libby eased as she finally began to slip away, though as she went, she tried her very hardest not to look back at Ace, strictly for the fact that she could feel his curious eyes following her the whole way.

Ace finally let the trembling sigh escape his throat, and as he looked down to his bare feet, he leaned his lower back to the counter. In the movement, he sagged his larger hands to his sides, and as his left hand delicately felt his pocket, he idly glossed his eyes across Libby's room, stuck two fingers in his pocket and so gently revealed the single top of the little, tattered playing card he had since him and Libby were small children. Gone through the ringer, by being with Libby for the last half of their adolescent months, he smiled at it's charm and felt his heart begin to pound with the clarity that had finally come to him. As he could hear Libby's footsteps returning to him, he smoothly shoved the card back into his pocket and sent a small, daring smile out to the room, the fun game of wondering just when he should reveal this little surprise to Libby had his pulse racing with the anticipation.

As their food cooked, they comfortably lounged on Libby's couches. With traded stories of the events they had gone through, during the small amount of time they were separated, was what filled the air, and although the looming topic of Rancis, and that whole entire ordeal, still hung in the air, they somehow had a subconscious agreement to keep the air, between them, as light as they possibly could. With absolutely no complaints whatsoever, from either being, they easily fell back into a rhythm of gentle touches, prolonged eye contact, everything that made their little bud of a relationship bloom further and further, though when it'd finally open and pronounce itself as a full fledged flower, neither really had any idea.

"Thank you, Libby," Ace groaned as he held his stomach, he barely glanced to their cleared, messy plates on her coffee table.

"You're welcome," Libby giggled as she attempted to sit up, their full stomachs made for a calm, happy night together.

With this bout of curious wonderings, Libby sagged herself into the couch and wondered if they were to just sit and chit chat for the rest of the night. Although she was absolutely positive the two would find a good dose of things to talk about, no matter what, she rested her head in her hand, with her elbow sharply wedged into the back of the couch cushion she was leaned into. She diligently kept her eyes glued to Ace, as he commented about Teltokuan food, the spicy aspects of which he wasn't used to, and as he carried on, Libby found herself overanalyzing every single little detail about his face, his lips, his jugular, the way his broad shoulders would shrug and sink back into a masculine state of strength, just resting. She felt her heart race, the desire to be simply wrapped up in his strong hands and arms, she was absolutely certain she wouldn't make it out of this night alive, if he were to leave without some form of romance handed over.

"This dish always reminds me of that one time we poured that whole bottle of sriracha sauce in Orph's tomato soup," Ace blurt with a loud chuckle as he finally sat up and grappled his and her dirty dish; Libby pointed to him lazily and eagerly joined in on his riled laughter.

"He nearly turned purple!" Libby and Ace were in stitches, so much so that Ace had to set their plates back down, so to avoid dropping them. Libby tucked her hair behind her ears and sought to help him out, despite their continued laughter, "He doesn't let me make him food, anymore."

"He hardly looks at me, if we're in the kitchen together," Ace blurt, the two continued on with their laughter as they both strolled to Libby's kitchen, so to clear their dishes, "Ah, well... I think, after that, we both know what each other is capable of, when it comes to pranks."

"That's why I don't ever prank you," Libby stabbed with a coy smile, "You know too much!"

"Road goes both ways, babes," Ace teasingly stated as he set his dish in the sink, though he gently took the dirty dish from Libby's hands and politely began to clean them.

"Thanks, for that," Libby eased warmly as she rubbed Ace's lower back in a swipe of a small thanks, and as he chimed a kind reply, she moved to grab the baking pan, so they could begin cleaning that as well. Before she could go to scrape the small dregs in the trash, she noticed one last big bite that Ace could probably take advantage of. She grabbed the serving fork, stuck a good chunk of food on to it and moved it closer to Ace, "Here, you can have the last bite."

"Oh, thank you," Ace eased in delight as he opened his mouth, and just as Libby so gently spooned the food into his mouth, he bit down, pulled away and accidentally missed a sloppy bit that easily dribbled off of the fork that Libby held out; said little bit messily slopped to the front of Ace's chest, right on his white shirt, and with such, Libby gasped and gave him a sudden frown.

"Baby, I'm sorry!" Libby urged as she froze and immediately thought of just what she could do to clean his shirt off, though she knew with the red sauce and rich textures of the small bit slopped to his shirt, a stain like that could only be saved by bleach and a washing machine.

"It's fine," Ace chuckled as he looked down, finished chewing and shut the kitchen sink off.

Libby set the fork in the sink, looked about for her paper towels, and just as she was about to rip one off and get it damp, so to help Ace clean up the small mess, she froze in her tracks and noticed Ace wipe his wet hands on the stomach of his shirt, grapple the ends, and take it off in one effortless swipe. Libby cocked an eyebrow and slowly dragged her gaze to his figure, and it was in this sudden bout of fate did she immediately feel her heart begin to burst with a weird feeling of frustration. She huffed a shaky breath of a chuckle, stopped her motion of reaching for the paper towel and bashfully brought her hands to her center in a twiddling mess of cute, girly bashfulness.

"That... Works?" Libby meeped, she desperately tried to remain calm, though Ace shook his head, messily folded his stained shirt and set it aside, on her kitchen counters near the bar stools.

"I have a million white shirts, it's no biggie," Ace stated nonchalantly, and it was in this simple act did he realize he was now continuously stringing Libby along, and although he knew that any other day, this would be unfair, he felt his heart jump at the sheer fact that he was about to end all of their questions, he knew presenting her with his playing card was somewhere in this little moment, though he still felt it out and was uncertain.

"Oh, I... I really like that necklace, Ace, where did you get it?" Libby suddenly took a step closer to him, and as her fingers delicately draped to the thin, long black rope about Ace's neck and chest, she picked up the small, sharp tooth that was attached to the end, "It was hidden under your shirt."

"Oh, yeah, I've had it since sometime last week," Ace chuckled, leaned against the counter in relaxation and looked down at the small tooth that was now in Libby's little fingers, "This is Royal's last baby tooth... Somehow, all his adult teeth came in, and he just had a straggler baby tooth that finally fell out. So, I cleaned it and thought it'd made a cool necklace. You like it?"

"Yeah, it's... Very Teltokuan," Libby stated kindly, she cocked an eyebrow and gave him a kind smile, though within doing so, she realized just how close she was now standing to him, and as her eyes glossed his sexy, powerful, broad chest, she choked an inhale, let go of his necklace and took a few bashful steps away, "S-So, um... I-I can make you a cup of tea, if you'd like. It'll settle our stomachs."

"You know what I like," Ace's kind, gentlemanly voice was absolutely sapped in hidden confidence, he inhaled a deep breath and was now fully prepared for this showdown, whenever and however it'd present itself, and although he was still wading through the motions with mild uncertainty, he still felt that twinge of hope continue to sky rocket with just how Libby's eyes would coyly eye him in curiosity, as if she was now well aware he had something up his sleeve; little did she know that it was, indeed, an actual ace.

"Chamomile with a whole cinnamon stick, spoonful of honey," Libby chimed in repetition, as if this was nothing new, and though she eyed Ace with a kind smile, just to make sure, he bobbed a nod and gently crossed his arms.

In the gloss of Libby's warm, loved house lights, Ace let his retinas retain everything about his mate. Her beautiful, white hair cascaded down her back and kissed the backs of her knees, she wore a comfortable maroon spaghetti strap and faded brown sweats, and although he was aware the night wasn't necessarily young, any longer, he knew they could find a new way to give it life. He breathed a silent, shaky breath to himself and wondered if maybe breaking the ice, with a topic close to their dilemma, would help ease him into things.

"Libby, I have a question for you," Ace started, and although he was definitely having fun watching her get that anxious furrow of her brows, the twinkle of anticipation in her eyes, he finally sagged his elbows to the counter and further relaxed his spine in a lean, "Separating me from this issue... If you were a User, what is the first thing you'd do?"

"... If I was a User?" Libby choked with a small chuckle, she shook her head and began to pour cold water into her kettle, so to begin boiling it, "You mean like... If I was born a User? Like you?"

"Yeah," Ace shrugged his masculine shoulders, Libby absent mindedly let her eyes dance about his muscles for a moment before she brought her attention across the room in contemplation.

"I would probably... Rearrange the backyard," Libby blurt with a shy giggle, though Ace beamed a curious smile and tilted his head in surprise, "I don't know, I don't like that the tower is so close to the pool."

"... That's REALLY what you'd do if you were a User?" Ace stated through a stagger of laughter, contagious enough to make Libby's face turn beet red, the smile that she adorned across her blushing cheeks was likely the cutest thing he had ever seen.

"I don't know, that's a hard question!" Libby stuttered, she shyly tucked her hair behind her ear and stabbed her now near-terrified eye contact to her still kettle as it heat up, "Wh-Why don't you just tell me what YOU would want to do, you're the one that actually has User-abilities, you weirdo."

"Rearranging things, without a code room, is possible. I can't imagine it'd be the first thing, on my list, but I've lived with these powers my whole life" Ace shrugged a little.

"I guess that's just where my mind goes," Libby shook her head and heaved a wistful, lightly distressed sigh, "I'm sure more ideas could come to my mind, if I thought about it hard enough."

"Well, when would you want to go on said rearranging spree?" Ace asked lightly, though Libby furrowed her brow and finally dragged her eye contact to Ace's, "Amongst other things?"

"Shoot, if I could, I'd do that right now," Libby choked in tomboyish delight, though she immediately felt her pupils tighten with the raw fact of just how forward that may have sounded. She heaved a shaky breath, turned her apologetic frown to Ace and nervously held up her hands, "I-I meant like... No, we don't have to... Wh-what I meant was like if I was born a User, I'd go down there right now and... Aye, jip'kleptia comlotha-"

"It's okay, Libby," Ace blurt a laugh, shut his eyes tight and shook his head at the string of self-insults she just stabbed at herself, in Teltokuan. She gingerly hit her forehead a few times and bashfully peered her now nervous gaze to the kettle that was still heating up, and in this long, ogling glance he had of his precious mate, he heaved a small laugh and soaked in her raw, innocent beauty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't... Wh-whenever would be great," Libby shook her head, took herself out of the equation and so desperately tried not to make Ace uncomfortable, though Ace heaved a small, deep chuckle and finally lifted his hand to reach for the glistening token in his pocket.

"Whenever?" Ace asked as softly as he could, and as he finally revealed the little, delicate card, he leaned his elbow back to the counter and held it poised between his pointer and middle finger, out for her to see.

Libby shrugged, opened her mouth and gently turned to look to Ace, though just as she was about to say words, her eyes so delicately landed on the adorable playing card she had been wondering it's whereabouts. Now that it was directly in her line of sight, a thing physically being presented to her by the very man she was so desperate for, she held her breath, held her eyes to it in whole, stunned shock and long blinked in disbelief. Just as she was to drag her incredulous eye contact to Ace, she slowly cocked an eyebrow, soaked her eyes up Ace's chest and finally sagged her surprised eyes to his, though she kept her head tilted down to the card. In a gentle motion, she so gingerly took the card between her much smaller fingers and was totally beside herself with the fact that Ace willingly moved it into her little hand and released it, once and for all.

Libby scoffed a small noise, took the card, looked down at it in whole disbelief and took a step or two away from Ace. Her little thumb gingerly ran across the familiar playing card, a small tear in the corner she tried to even out, though in the idle gaze she kept down at the little 'A', the hearts the card was properly adorned with, she finally bit her bottom lip in whole contemplation, gently shoved the playing card into the top of her bra, so it peeked out, and firmly placed her hands on her hips. With a contemplative, continuous nod, she furrowed her brow and peered into Ace's eyes in a weird whirl of assessment. In this raw moment, she was well aware Ace had just set himself up for grabs, the very ideal she was desperate for this night to become, and in this instance, she inhaled a trembling breath and replayed Emery's words. She knew she had to just jump, just be brave and show Ace just exactly what she wanted - him.

The cheeky look of innocent cuteness on Ace's masculine face, the way his sexy, broad, bare chest rose in a tremble of an anticipatory inhale, she felt every last inch of her insides suddenly itch, and in a firm few steps, she closed the gap and was well aware she was about to show Ace a whole new side to her, one that wasn't so delicate, nervous and shy, one that secretly concealed the makings of a queen lioness. In the whirl of her approach, Ace cocked an eyebrow and so easily welcomed her, and as she slid her hands to Ace's jaw and pushed into his warm gravity, she eagerly swept Ace into the spark of a passionate kiss, one of which Ace fell into rhythm with. With the sudden feel of her warm lips to his, the way she kept his jaws held in her able hands, he gently softened his presence for her and was floored to finally have this door fly open, so suddenly as well. He gingerly held the backs of her upper arms and elbows in his larger hands and knew to keep things light, strictly at her speed.

As if the cogs and gears in his brain finally began to turn and wake up a dormant part of his wants and desires, he inhaled her scent on his face and allowed her the few moments of dominance, he knew he was eventually due to knock her right off her feet with just how much he wanted to lay on her, so he remained gently sagged into the counter and felt it all out. As they continued to kiss in the gaping whirl of hot inhales, the slow push and pull of smiles and gentle hums of inquiry, Ace knew he was now allowed to a few more things than typical. In the slowness of eventual gained dominance, he lovingly scooped his arms about the middle of Libby's back and gripped her tighter to his strong, bare chest, and although he was maybe worried this would be moving too quickly for her, her hands firmly dribbled down the sculpture of his chest, the split second gap of their kiss had his name whispered from her quivering, wet lips, he cocked an eyebrow and was now certain of his motives.

As Ace gently stiffened his spine, stood up straight and gained more height over Libby, her arms further sagged down his body, her eager fingertips gladly felt the dips and curves of his abs, and as Ace tilted his head and leaned a little more passionately into their kiss, he tightened his grip about her body. Libby's body language read total invite, everything about this was something he only simply dreamed about, and just as he was about to wonder when properly leading Libby to her bed was appropriate, he fought himself and quickly realized that there was quite a bit to explore in this tender moment he was suddenly plopped into. As the delicious thought of her curvy body finally soaked into his brain, she raised his eyebrows in nervous surprise, the motion of his hands gingerly sliding down her back encouraged a coy giggle from her ribcage, and with this, Ace smiled in her kisses and inhaled a deep breath of growing confidence.

As their noses dug into each other's cheeks, buried deep in a passionate kiss, the two gaped in a small break of audible, trembling inhales on their wet mouths, the coat of their hot, familiar breath plagued both of their arms with goosebumps. As Libby fluttered her eyes and was beyond floored to feel Ace lean in for more of their escalating passion, she hummed a gentle moan into their kiss and draped a succumbing air about him. With the loose grapple of her arms about his neck, she nearly gave him the physical green light, and with such, she raised her eyebrows in staggering surprise as she could feel Ace's larger hand slide even farther down her back. Just as Libby was about to attempt to brace herself for this brand new adventure of theirs, she felt her heart jolt to a staggering halt as his hand gently cupped her rear in a squeeze, and although she initially felt stable about it all, she gasped a sharp inhale as said grapple also included the tug of her hips directly into his.

Libby furrowed her brow in rising surprise, though with this sudden nudge into reality, the very feel of his large, overwhelming distention that shoved firm against her hip, she choked an inhale, broke the kiss and suddenly felt as if she was now way in over head. The total reverse of how she could ever imagine this going, she felt her stomach knot in a tight vat of anxiety, the sheer weight of everything sat right before her, she gently gripped her hands to Ace's shoulder and was glad the sudden switch in her body language got Ace's jolt of attention. In a reel of confusion, Ace exhaled a shaky, nervous breath, pulled his head away and tried his very hardest to pry his eyes from the back of his skull. As he panted and immediately unhanded Libby, she eagerly pushed away from Ace, turned around and held her hand to her forehead.

"I-I... I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Libby staggered in a rush of trembling words she nearly couldn't get out, and although she was now faced away from Ace, she could practically feel the concern eke from his pores.

"Wh-... I-I'm... I didn't mean to startle you," Ace rushed as he panted, though instead of holding that confident air about himself, he now hunched a little and felt a wave of shyness very quickly swallow him whole. He held his hand over his groin, and although he was clothed, he somehow felt that if she turned around and simply saw the result of their heated passion, she'd be further agitated. He shook his head, gestured down to himself and blurt a shaky chuckle, "I-I... Can't really help this, I mean... W-We were... Going to... It's sort of par for the course, here."

"I know, I just... I'm really sorry, I just was... Reminded," Libby whimpered as she furrowed her brow and now massively cursed herself for this mess, the sheer fact that she thought she was so far away from her tragic past, she wondered just when the triggers would stop sparking her in random instances where things should play out smoothly, "Y-You... You tugged on me and it just... I-I really don't know what happened, I'm really sorry."

"I-it's okay," Ace eased nervously, he caught his breath and shook his head as his face turned beyond the shade of beet red. He gestured to her bed, and then to her, and although the result of their passion was finally dying down, he was still glad she was turned around, "I thought that we were... G-Going to..."

"It's all I wanted, it's all I've wanted these past few weeks," Libby begged as she gestured to her bed as well, and finally faced Ace; he still nervously held his large hand over his groin and gave her an apologetic frown, "I'm really not trying to ruin anything, I just... I really don't know what speed to go, I'm just so confused."

"W-We can try again?" Ace wondered as tenderly as he could, he finally felt comfortable standing up straight and removing his hands from his center, "It's whatever you want to do, Libby, you know I'm here to make you comfortable."

"I'm really not trying to toy with you, I'm... Just..." Libby shook her head, and as tears gathered in her eyes, she massively cursed herself for this huge bout of confusion she was now drowning in, "I didn't think... I-I was certain this kind of thing wouldn't freak me out or trigger anything, after so long."

"It's not really anything either of us can control," Ace prod shakily as he remained still, he wasn't certain what to do, in this instance, "I didn't mean to scare you, I just... Really love you, Libby, I-I was... I was prepared to..." Ace heaved a shaky, sorrowful chuckle and shook his head, though Libby shot him a nervous glower.

"I didn't mean to bum you out, Ace, I just got uncomfortable," Libby blurt in an upset stagger of tears, she shook her head, inhaled a trembling breath and held her forehead, "If you just give me a minute, I just need to breathe, I-I'll... I'll be alright in a moment."

"Do you need me to leave?" Ace wondered dryly, as if the attitude he was getting from Libby was now something that was making him feel as if his presence wasn't wanted.

"... Do you feel like that's the best option, here, Ace?" Libby snapped in a mean way as her glassy eyes glared into his, though Ace furrowed his brow in rising confusion and shrugged.

"I-I mean, clearly this act is really sensitive for you," Ace said, though his tone held a bite of a retort due to the tone she was using with him, "I understand all the turmoil you went through, but I'm really REALLY trying to make you comfortable, trust me, I am... I just don't want to have to live out this moment whilst being on the lookout for cue cards."

"I'm SO sorry this is so inconvenient for you, dude," Libby barked as the passionate heat between them was now spiraling into a fiery tornado of misunderstood anger, "I really wish I could be here to cater to you and make it so you're not crying and confused about sex, Ace."

"Look, I'm... I'm really sorry for hurting your feelings," Ace stated with a great amount of humility, though he also gave her a dejected look of confusion, "I'll leave you be. I don't want you to be uncomfortable at all... There's NO way I want to be 'that guy'."

"Ace, if you just give me a moment," Libby urged in solid anger as Ace gingerly took a few steps out of the kitchen, he grabbed his folded shirt while he was at it.

"Libby, I in no way shape or form want to trigger your bad memories, like this," Ace shook his head and sorrowfully peered to her, from her front door, "I don't want our first love making to be littered with tears and confusion... I-I just... I need to go."

"Fine, LEAVE!" Libby yelled in riled emotion, and as Ace shook his head in disbelief, he finally opened Libby's front door and firmly shut it behind him.

Libby sagged her shoulders and peered to her starkly empty home, and before she could convince herself to go running after Ace and fix this huge mess of thrown, blind and angry words that held no depth, she covered her face and heaved a gentle sob of confused frustration into her hands. She sagged into herself and glared tears into her hands, and though she was aware the heat of every single little thing, that happened just now, would die down, she somehow prayed their little, confused ember of romance could somehow be saved.

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 **A/N : I'm aware you all hate me :D**

 **I drew fanart for this scene titled 'Ace Of Hearts' - it's in my deviantART gallery, Username Vyntresser**

 **I also just posted some cool Libby/Turbo** **fanart yesterday, Libby being a badass with her new golden User coding!**

 **SqueeeEEEEEEE**

* * *

 **ALSO** **\- Prepare your sketch dump ideas!**


	200. Chapter 200

**Reviews :**

 **Silversuferann :** Yes! She is very very lucky, they both are! Though they both aren't lucky enough to dodge fighting, every now and then xD Though, the make up is verrrry nice! ;D Thank you so very very much!

 **WildVirus :** AHHHH I MISSED YOUUUU. Brace yourself for the spicy! xD YES Chapter 200 - it's seriously blowing my mind, I can't believe it's already here. it's insane!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww that's okay, I understand! Thanks for the review nonetheless! And, you're pretty close about the whole Turbo and everyone's coding being reversed, but... What if Turbo wasn't in SR at the time? ;) You're quick to catch onto that - you're right, his coding has remained as such... We'll seeeeee! And yes, they are due for some pent up drama, but it will all be ... RECTIFIED hahah *shot*

 **chuckiboo :** YES! Got some very yummy action coming up, I'm so pumped for you guys to read it, I'm serious. Thank you so much for all your support! :D Lots of drama for this chapter, so hold on tight xD

 **NightHex54 :** Hahaha yeah I'm not one to stray way too far from cliches, every now and then xD Though, it was very fun to write! LOL! Thank you so much!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Must Be Love and Steady Love - both by Christina Grimmie**

* * *

 ***Chapter 200***

Ace inhaled a sudden breath, jolted his eyes open and peered across his empty bedroom. He glowered to the morning sun that shone, he knew this morning was supposed to look extremely different. The desire to just wake up tangled with Libby's bare body, both of them enraptured in nothing but each other and their brand new set of coding, Ace sat up in a grueling slope of still fiery annoyance. Just as he was rubbing his eyes free of sleep, he grimaced at the headache he had and kept his naked body still on the edge of his bed, where he had sat up. He set his covers aside, lazily grappled for his communicator and noticed that it had buzzed a few notifications.

 _11:01am Friday, 10/28/2016_

 _Noxtastic : Dude did you like... Forget to let Libby finish last night or something? I don't think I've ever seen her so irritated._

 _Noxtastic : Swapping rule number one : ALWAYS LET HER FINISH FIRST YOU UNCULTURED DINGUS_

Ace heaved a hard groan and glared down at his communicator as he began to vigorously type away.

 _User : We didn't have sex, dude, I know what I'm doing._

 _Noxtastic : Wait, you DIDN'T swap?_

 _User : Is she currently in my bed? Answer your own freaking question. If we did anything of that nature, I wouldn't be replying to you right now._

 _Noxtastic : Damn..._

 _Noxtastic : Uhhh. Well, she's down here, not speaking to anyone. We're all concerned. I think I'd avoid the main building, if I were you._

 _User : No danger there._

 _Noxtastic : Well, Vanellope wants to tell you that she made her cinnamon rolls and there's one ready for you.  
_

Ace heaved a long, hot sigh through his nose and glared across his bedroom. He knew his grandmother's cinnamon rolls were simply to die for, and with such thoughts, he knew he had to at least sneak one out of the main building. He shut his communicator off, stood and quickly began to get dressed. He slapped his favorite 'ace' tank on, a pair of tattered jeans, slid his communicator in his pocket and head for his front door. Once he was down the spiral of the tower's stairs, he head across the field of fire flowers, all of them seemingly had little beady eyes that taunted him as he passed, and with this flurry of riled emotion, he muttered a stagger of words to himself.

"Get in, get the cinnamon roll, get out. Get in, get the cinnamon roll, get out," Ace choked as he grappled the handle of the back door.

As Ace pressed into the building, he was wholly annoyed at the person he just so happened to notice first; Libby sat with Koko, Penny and Emery at the long dining room table, and as their eyes glossed to him, he was certain she must've told them just what happened. The way their agitated, sorrowful and near-dejected looks of concern had his heart dipping into an even deeper vat of solid annoyance. He heaved a shaky sigh, tried to quell his nerves and assessed just who else was present. Vanellope, Taffyta, Tammy and Finn stood at the kitchen island as Nox, Tessa, Zed, Oliver and Rancis sat scattered with each other about the dining room table, as well, the sprawl was big enough to seat every single last person under the Kalivar castle's roof. Ace gently began to approach his grandmother, who he was grateful cued to him.

"Hey bub, I saved you one," Vanellope eased kindly, though as Ace neared, she cocked an eyebrow and nervously eyed Libby, across the stretch. She leaned in a little and kept her words almost silent, "Are you and Libby okay?"

"Juuust peachy," Ace fibbed through an obvious smile, blatantly stating to everyone at the island that him and Libby were, indeed, not 'peachy'.

"Ouch," Taffyta scoffed, she looked down to her own cinnamon roll and prod it with her fork, though Ace gratefully took the plate of the cinnamon roll and was now looking as if he was going to take the whole plate to go, "That bad?"

"Good times," Ace snapped with a sarcastic grin, though he gently tipped the plate towards his grandmother and gave her a kind smile, "Thanks for this... Sugar and carbs are a rarity, from you to me."

"Yeah, well, I figured you needed the uplift," Vanellope cocked an eyebrow and glanced to Libby's direction, Ace bobbed a nod and have her a grateful smile.

"Means a lot," Ace stated with genuine love, though as he finally peeled from the island, and head for the back door, he felt his blood run cold as Rancis lifted his hand, gestured Ace over and made room for him.

"Where you going? Not so fast," Rancis chimed with a kind smile, though Ace could very plainly see, in his great uncle's eyes, that he was well aware the turmoil between the two feuding lovers, "Sit, you really gunna drag that plate across the backyard and up two flights of stairs?"

Ace slowed his footwork, nervously peered to the entirety of the group at the table and felt his stomach dip to now anticipated nervousness. With much contemplation, he finally forced his bones out of the process of moving towards the back door, and as much as it pained him, he carefully stepped closer to the table and sat down next to his uncle Rancis, directly across from Libby; exactly where he didn't want to be.

"Yeah, bud, hate to uh... Ruin your fun, but I'd appreciate if you didn't take our nice plates outside of the main building," Tessa grimaced, and though Ace gave her a polite nod and began to dig in to the delicious cinnamon roll, Tessa knew she was probably only rubbing dirt in the wound.

"Girl after my own heart," Vanellope choked at the kitchen island, and as the group finally read uplift in laughter, Tessa bashfully rolled her eyes and leaned into Oliver's comfortable side embrace; they had finished their breakfast and was simply digesting.

"How'd you sleep, bud?" Oliver lightly inquired, though Tessa just barely elbowed his rib cage as a subtle way of begging him not to add fuel to the fire.

Ace chewed a bit before answering, though in the bought time of thought, he furrowed his eyebrows and now wondered if he could potentially have some fun with this. He knew fighting fire with fire was likely not wise, especially when it came to just how many women outnumbered him, though he felt the petty side of his personality come out to play, which wasn't often at all. He somehow relished in it and knew it was cheap, though he figured he was so far gone, why not. He swallowed and adorned a smug look of mild annoyance.

"Y'know, I do wish it would've lasted longer," Ace bluntly insinuated, and with his sharp words, every single person at the table slowly raised their eyebrows in a roll of unhinged surprise, the fact that Ace was openly being daring and blatant about his and Libby's night, even if it was covered with cleverly sprinkled words.

"You uh... Couldn't sleep?" Oliver staggered nervously, though he winced a noise as Tessa elbowed him a little harder this time.

"Oh, no, I slept alright," Ace snapped as he stabbed his fork into his cinnamon roll, though he shook his head and scoffed a sarcastic chuckle, "I just wish it wasn't so suddenly cut short."

Rancis grimaced a nervous facial expression, caught eyes with Zed in billowing apprehension and sagged his chin into his hand; he now was second-guessing his idea to have Ace sit with them.

"Maybe it would've lasted longer if you just kept trying," Libby suddenly glossed in Ace's direction, the amount of dripping, sarcastic, tender loving air volleyed his way was so stark, it was almost believable. She shrugged a little and gave him a coy, mean smile.

Everyone in the castle froze in dead silence and urgently dart their eyes to Ace in rising tension. Oliver furrowed his brow in solid confusion and opened his mouth to speak, though Tessa coughed a noise and pretended to accidentally elbow Oliver even harder than what she had been. Oliver choked a noise of pain, peered to Tessa in solid confusion and felt his facial expression slope to concern as Tessa just barely shook her head at him, basically telling him to shut up.

"I'm not going to beat a dead horse, isn't it better to just cut your loss?" Ace stabbed with an equal amount of dripping, cheerful sarcasm.

"Pretty sure it's better to stick it out and see what could happen," Libby squinted her eyes at him and was now outwardly being mean, the effort to continue the dripping sarcasm was too much to think about, "Pretty lame of you to just give up, don't you think?"

"I'm not going to busy myself with something that doesn't require or desire my attention, any longer," Ace retort as he furrowed his brow and clenched his fists, though with this, Zed grit his teeth in rising agitation and sunk into his chair.

"That seems typical, it's clear I'm just damaged goods, now," Libby glowered, everything just blatantly out in the open, she sent a mean glare into Ace's eyes and finished it with a shot of venom, "Guess I'm just not good enough for you to wait around for, any longer."

Through a sharp inhale, and a sudden screech of the chair legs to the tile underneath, Ace immediately stood, held his opened palms to the table in front of him, the table lightly rattled with shaken silverware. He sent a hurt, angry glower down into Libby's eyes, and as they locked gazes, he could sense the instant regret that radiated off of her aura. He was well aware he likely was giving off the same front, though with the sting of her words, he grimaced his sorrowful gaze deep into hers and felt it slope into a maddening glare, sharp into her now scared blue eyes.

"You're the one that was dealt the ace, babe," Ace stabbed with a tremble, and just before he could even begin to let out more words that could potentially be hurtful, he shook his head and quickly turned to leave.

Libby inhaled a shaky breath, sat up, lifted her hand and desperately tried to utter words of sorrow, apology, a stab in return, just what, she wasn't sure, though the second the back door loudly slammed, Libby sagged back into her chair and felt her face immediately turn bright red at the sheer sound of the deafening silence about her. She sunk deep into herself and peered down at her hands for a moment before she looked about just barely, in an embarrassed manner.

"Look what you did," Tessa muttered to Oliver in whole dismay, though he gestured his arm out in whole confusion and shook his head.

"Was that a rollercoaster of confusion for anyone else but me?" Oliver barked in solid annoyance, though everyone shook their head and loudly mumbled negative notions towards him. He heaved an annoyed groan and shook his head, "Sue me, I just woke up, okay."

Libby suddenly stood, held her hands to the side of her face and quietly began to mutter sharp words of Teltokuan to really no one but herself, though the second Balba heard and understood the nonsense, she gently trot over and perked her ears in solid confusion.

"Alright, babe, explain," Tessa stated sternly as she cocked an eyebrow and gave Libby a motherly look, half of her wanted to rocket after Ace for the rudeness in his tone, though she halted in her tracks and eyed Libby in curiosity; she was aware it took two to tango, and any issue the two had were because the both of them messed up, somewhere.

"I'm such an IDIOT, I just... I can't get this right," Libby urged in solid dismay as she shook her head and urgently began to put her hair into a ponytail, it was only something she really did when she went flying, and with this, Balba heaved a hot sigh through her snout and fluffed her wings a little.

"That's the story of my life," Rancis joked as he rested his forehead to the table, he was successful in getting a hard choke of laughter out of Oliver and Zed.

"So clearly last night did not go as planned," Nox mumbled nervously as him and Koko shot each other wary looks of certainty.

"Does it look like I have wrecking, glitching or User abilities right now, Nox?" Libby volleyed her anger straight for Ace's best friend, and with such, Nox sunk into himself with a meep of the answer 'no'.

"Calm down, everything will be okay," Zed instructed as he came out of his, Oliver's and Rancis's laughing fit, "You just... Likely need to go talk to him."

"We already tried that," Libby choked as tears stung her eyes, she shook her head and quickly searched for Balba's whereabouts, "I just... I need to go."

"Go where?" Tessa suddenly worried, Libby's words sounding far for fetched than she was trying to express.

"I-I'm just going to go on a small flight, I need fresh air," Libby assured in a trembling rush as she gave Tessa a look of sorrow, Libby's whole entire demeanor looked drained and exhausted, as if she had been up all night tossing this issue back and forth.

"Be safe," Tessa urged after Libby, and before anyone could get anything else out, Libby and Balba were out the door in a flash. Tessa sagged her shoulders, slumped back into her seat and was met with equally as confused eye contact. She shook her head, rolled her eyes and let a small chuckle escape her figure, "... This is beyond me."

"I don't remember first-time jitters being this big of a hype," Vanellope furrowed her eyebrows and volleyed a confused gaze to Taffyta, who also shrugged and shook her head in confusion.

"Ace is a User, guys... And Libby was taken advantage of, once upon a time," Rancis grumbled as he finally lifted his head and cocked an eyebrow, "None of us will understand just what they're going through."

"He moves too fast, she freaks... She gets too grabby for coding, he wigs out," Zed gestured his hands out, as if to demonstrate a scale, "They're trying to find middle ground... In a fragile relationship like theirs, finding an even plain they both can rest on might be extremely difficult."

"This sounds like an all-week event," Penny mumbled as she prod at her half-eaten cinnamon roll, "So, let's just uh... Maybe leave them be, for the time being."

"No danger there, he's been a dick to me all morning," Nox blurt, everyone eased understanding chuckles towards him, though Oliver firmly pat his back.

"Give yourself unfathomable power and a girlfriend that went through that kind of a tragedy, dude," Oliver grumbled with an annoyed smile, "Pretty sure you'd unintentionally be a dick to everyone, at least once in your life, too."

* * *

As the sound of whipping wind came about Libby's ears, she shut her eyes tight, bowed her body tight to Balba's spine and just let Balba steer to her heart's content. With a lofty drift to nowhere, Balba flattened her ears and began to grow frustrated at her sister. She tried her hardest to remain neutral, though she knew this was going to eventually come to an all-out sister brawl, if she wasn't careful. Libby let tears sting her eyes, and as they dripped to Balba's shoulder blades, where her face was tucked, she began to bury into Balba's velvety fur and feathers.

"Where we goin', Libs," Balba asked in a tone of almost blatant annoyance, though Libby softly sat up, peered to the cloudy day and noticed that they were coming up on Echo Park.

"We can land, I'm... I'm sorry, Balba," Libby whimpered, though she jolted as Balba suddenly took a nose dive for the park below, and as Libby bugged her eyes and gripped Balba's fur in the sudden draw of gravity, she began to feel that spark of frustration very quickly come back to her.

The second Balba's strong figure plowed to the planet in a hard, agitated gallop, Libby did everything she could to successfully get of off Balba's spine. Libby brushed her faded blue skinny jeans free of dirt, straightened her white tank top and volleyed her beyond agitated gaze to her flyer, who galloped to a final trot, tucked her gorgeous wings tight to her body and began to pace about in solid agitation. Libby wildly gestured her hands out in floored, angry confusion and raised her voice, so it carried to Balba, who was about two dozen feet away.

"WHAT, you're mad at me too?!" Libby shouted as she put her hands on her hips, though Balba flattened her ears and angrily began to press closer to Libby. Much to Libby's whole surprise, Balba bared her sharp, wolf-like fangs and snarled a noise of defiance.

"What was all THAT about?" Balba's voice grew deep and was laced alongside her snarling, Libby raised her eyebrows in whole surprise and took a wary step backwards, "You're 'damaged goods'? 'Not good enough to wait around for, anymore'?!"

"Balba, come ON," Libby rolled her eyes and urgently began to step away; she was grateful this cloudy, rainy day had deterred anyone from coming to Echo Park this morning. Libby jolted in rising fear as Balba barked a loud snarl and skid her paws to get in front of Libby, to keep her from carrying on. Libby clenched her fists and, it was in this raw moment, did she quickly realize that having Ace's glitch coding, right about now, would be likely the only thing that would save her from Balba, "Alright, Balba, ALRIGHT! I get it, that was a low blow, I'm just... I'm just mad!"

"At Ace?" Balba shook her head and gave Libby an incredulous look.

"AT MYSELF!" Libby shouted in Balba's face, though as Libby pushed past her much taller, bigger sister, she was thrilled Balba let her go, this time.

Balba sagged her wings, watched Libby walk away and perked her ears as the dregs of anger finally released from her fur. As Libby pressed closer to the foliage, the shade of the gorgeous, swooping jungle trees, Balba finally exhaled a long, hot sigh through her snout, hung her head and began to gently stroll over to where Libby had escaped to. As she neared Libby, she was sat on a park bench, it was wet with rain though it was clear by Libby's bare, muddy feet, that she didn't have a single care about her appearance, right now. Balba sat on her hind legs and stayed close to Libby.

"You're mad at yourself?" Balba asked tenderly, Libby nodded and allowed tears to just continuously stream her face; her defeated, nervous gaze peered out to the foggy playground and field of Echo Park, far beyond them, "Well, why?"

"I just... Not only am I giving Ace all these weird, mixed signals, but I feel as though I can't even control it," Libby whimpered, "I'm aware of it, but I just can't seem to stay the course."

"What happened last night that was so bad? What could have caused all of this?" Balba lowered her head, kept her tone soft and urgently peered to Libby, as if to state she had gotten that bout of frustration out and was apologetic that her sisterly help didn't come sooner; Libby scoffed an annoyed noise, flung her hand out and shook her head.

"We were making out... He like tugged me into his body and I felt his... His..." Libby staggered to get the words out, she largely gestured her hand outward in a clumsy mess of a display, she finally pointed down and rolled her eyes, though once Balba barked a laugh, Libby desperately tried to hide her more than embarrassed smile.

"...He tried to throw you a bone," Balba huffed as she looked down, though Libby shook her head again and shut her eyes tight, "Freaked you out?"

"He was so patient with me, I wigged out and said I needed a minute, but... My attitude got the better of me," Libby said quickly through the rush of an exhausted sigh, "I pushed him away..."

"You were nervous," Balba gently shrugged, though she eyed Libby with an annoyed smile and flattened her ears.

"I was embarrassed," Libby whimpered as more tears gathered in her eyes, and as she reached into her pocket, she pulled out Ace's delicate little token of love, the adorable pre-consummation gift they had promised each other, and as her tear slapped the little heart in the center of the card, she grimaced and held onto it for dear life, "I feel so terrible... I have this possession of his, something in which I doubt he'd want me to give back."

"The... Ace of hearts," Balba stated in wonder as she leaned closer, she gave Libby a curious smile, "I thought that was just something you two made up, I didn't realize it actually involved the actual playing card!"

"Yeah, he... He gave it to me last night," Libby staggered through her crying, "He was ready... Last week, he told me he need space and time, and so I gave it to him. He came back from his trip prepared and ready to move forward and... I BLEW it."

"You didn't ruin anything, Libby, you... You just need to go talk to him," Balba sighed, she lifted her head and idly peered off into the gloss of jungle trees and vines, directly behind Libby and the bench she was on, "You just need a do-over."

"He probably hates my guts, after all I just said to him," Libby muttered as she fiddled the tender little card in her hands and aimlessly looked out to the scenery.

"Well, he had a token to give to you... Maybe YOU need to find something to give to him," Balba shrugged, though she flattened her ears and honed her intelligent eyes to something she could see twinkling through the foliage, and although she was distracted, she carried on, "You want to give him 'your flower', so... Why don't you make it an ACTUAL flower? That'd be good."

"I thought about giving him one of our fire flowers, from the field, but..." Libby shook her head and rolled her eyes, "That just seemed too easy. Too predictable. He probably feels the same way, he hasn't brought up that idea, at all."

"... Are there fire flowers that grow over here, as well?" Balba wrinkled her snout and was now certain she could see a small bout of glowing foliage through the trees, though she was surprised when Libby waved her hand and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, Ace and I brought some fire flower seeds over to the park, when we were kids," Libby grumbled as she rubbed her forehead, "We planted two of them back there, that's probably what you're seeing."

Balba stared off for a moment before she suddenly stood and began to trot in the direction of the glowing flowers, and though Libby wanted to essentially stay put, she rolled her eyes, lulled her head back and finally stood. As she began to follow Balba's determined lead through the small thicket, Libby gestured her arm in annoyance and called to Balba, who moved quick.

"It's just two fire flowers, Balba, I'm telling you," Libby urged, though as she grew thicker into the foliage, she felt a weird sense of oddity come over her, the raw fact that the glow being emitted, from the fire flowers, wasn't it's typical, burning red.

As the two grew into the shade of the trees, tucked safely nestled into the roots of a massive jungle tree sat a single fire flower. Libby slowed her staggering walk in whole confusion and felt her heart stop at the sheer sight of just what her retinas were taking in. In place of the two seeds the two had planted, as children, had somehow grew to a single, white fire flower. Crowned with huge, beautiful white petals and an enchanted air about it, Libby covered her mouth in whole surprise and felt hers and Balba's confused gazes quickly drag to each others.

"...You planted two?" Balba heaved a gentle chuckle, though Libby beamed a curious smile and took a step into the small alcove it was delicately nestled in, though upon doing so, she lost her footing and fell knees first into the damp, muddy soil. Balba shot her wing out and caught Libby before she could fully fall, though both girls giggled as Balba continued, "Careful now..."

"We planted like two or three," Libby gasped in wonder as she decided to remain on her knees, just before the fire flower. She peered to it in awe and shook her head, "They were just normal fire flower seeds, but... I guess we planted them too close to each other."

Balba flattened her ears, eyed the gorgeous flower and gently blurt a soft, incredulous chuckle.

"...Libby," Balba uttered through a stagger of a smile and a scoff to her paws, Libby looked over her shoulder in rising confusion, though unbeknownst to her, she made the mistake of trying to get some of her white hair out of her face, ultimately splaying some mud on her face, "... There's your token."

"The flower? I... I can't," Libby shook her head and peered to it, in all of it's symbolic beauty, she felt a weird wave of knowing come over her, and as she could hear Balba's deep inhale, she shut her eyes tight and felt her heart begin to race with certainty, "I-I don't want to pick this flower, Balba, I don't want it to die."

"...What a metaphor," Balba blurt quietly with a giggle, and though Libby intently listened to Balba's words, her eyes remained glued to the beautiful, large flower before her, "You don't want to pick it because you're scared something bad will happen..."

Libby sagged her shoulders, sunk into her knelt position and looked down to her muddy hands, in her lap. She shook her head, let her eyes well with tears and breathed a long, shaky sigh of near-relief. She knew this was extremely difficult for both her and Ace, though as her eyes dragged back to the miraculous little flower they had planted all those months ago, what seemed to be years, she felt a small smile sprawl her face with Balba's words that run through her head.

"But, if you don't pick it... You'll never find out what GOOD could come of it," Balba's voice was tender and patient.

Libby felt her heart begin to pound with knowing, she knew exactly what she needed to do, and the second she felt all the clarity come back to her, she inhaled a readied breath and cleared any negative, worried thoughts from her mind. She bobbed a nod, leaned forward and felt her veins begin to wiggle with purpose, and as she came to her own decision, she dug her hands into the soil around the flower and began to make attempts to temporarily uproot it. With a few moments of tender pulling and care of the flower's beautiful petals, she was successful in getting the flower free of the ground. Once she had it in her able hands, she breathed a shaky chuckle, nodded and peered into Balba's surprised demeanor.

"Can you please fly me to the tower?" Libby wondered shakily with a nervous smile, and without a single hesitation, Balba eagerly nodded.

As Ace slowly stumbled about his studio, he tidied a few things strictly for the fact that he had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. He muttered nervous, annoyed antics to himself and was quick to feel bad about the whole ordeal. He eyed his communicator, which was silent on his nightstand, and although he contemplated messaging Libby and wondering if the two should just end it all, talk and get this mess over with, in the form of 'agree to disagree', he knew likely talking to her right now wouldn't be wise. Just as he was to peel his eyes from his communicator, he jolted with surprise as a gentle knock was suddenly present on his large front door. Ace froze, peered to the door in solid shock and was very quick to come to the conclusion that it was potentially Libby.

Ace held his breath and felt that weird twinge of hope come rushing to him, the need to just simply scoop her into his arms and set this whole issue straight, he reached for his door handle and silently begged for it to be Libby. With that one gentle yank, the swing of his door wide open, he inhaled a deep breath, held it and was floored that he was definitely correct in his wonderings, though with one look at her, he furrowed his eyebrows in whole confusion; the sheer fact that she was nearly covered in mud. Ace huffed a small, confused chuckle and let his eyes wander to what she was holding, though the second his eyes came to it, he froze and felt a whole entire wave of knowing come crashing into his soul, all at once. He raised his eyebrows in cold surprise and slowly dragged his gaze back to hers, a roll of suspended wait he was now uncertain just what to do with.

Libby peered her apologetic, humble and nervous eye contact straight into his, a glassy show of a plea, her chest cavity did everything it could to inhale a shaky breath. With the rise and fall of her shoulders in a sigh to try and quell her worries, as if she was relieved he even opened his door to her, she kept the flower tight to her chest and held it with great care. Though she knew she was sticking her neck out here, she hoped her aura emit that of the neutral, calm ground she wanted to so desperately find with him. As both beings froze, Ace's eyes only barely danced around the gorgeous sight of the glowing, white flower in front of him, and before he could utter words, Libby tilted her head up in inquiry and kept her tone as delicate as she could.

"May I come in?"

* * *

 **A/N :** **WOW. 200 chapters. I'm floored.**

This story is NEARLY longer than Wrecking Limits and Defying Code combined. Literal WHAT. I just want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for sticking with me these past 4 1/2 INCREDIBLE years, and nearly 12 long years on Fanfiction. I'm so blessed by all my readers, friends and followers alike. You guys really make me so very happy, and I couldn't possibly have gotten any luckier with the rally of people that have stuck with me and cheered me on, through the years. I'm so floored you all love and cherish my babies as much as I do, and to accept them into the WIR fandom with such excitement and gust, it nearly brings tears to my eyes. My heart is so full, you guys... Thank you SO. MUCH.

... ANNNNND with this thank you-

Lay those sketch dump requests on me! :D

(it's easier for me to keep track of requests via reviews, but if you feel as though you must PM me, then don't hesitate! Whatever' is easiest for you, reviews make it easier for me not to lose anyone's ideas, just fair warning. IDK what it is bout PMs, once I click it, it becomes unhighlighted and I very often forget to reply, which sucks. So yeah, keep that in mind, but otherwise, go wild!

 **Reminder - You can request literally ANY SCENE from ANY OF MY STORIES. You have 566 chapters to choose from, and this sketch dump request will remain open for the next 5-10 chapters, just so anyone and everyone can request whatever they want! I am even willing to REDRAW scenes from old sketch dumps as a THANK YOU to everyone! Soooo... Have at it! :D**


	201. Chapter 201

**WE DID IT GUYS!**

 **Ohhh it feels weird having a story that's over 200 chapters. IT FEELS ALIEN IDK WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF.**

 **This story is (nearly) longer than Wrecking Limits and Defying Code combined. So by the time my 4th story comes along, it might as well just be like... my 5th or 6th story. For User's sakes.**

 **To say that I love you all would be the biggest understatement of the century.**

 **MUCH LOVE.**

* * *

 **Reviews :**

 **Silversuferann :** WOW, I wouldn't use that to describe myself, but dang. I really appreciate all the love and support, I honestly have you guys to thank, and as much as I would continue this story, if it weren't online, it'd still be sad to do so without all my friends and the support and encouragement I've received. Thank you SO MUCH.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yes, it's pretty tricky, between the two of them and concerning the whole entire fam. All they want to do is help push Ace and Libby along, but don't worry - the two finally get it all sorted out :) I wrote down all your requests, as well! Thank you SO MUCH for your support! :D

 **ArchitectDreams :** Oh hey, long time no see! How have you been? Also - I can definitely draw all of them together, they were for the massive castle meeting that just took place.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! And yes, I drew the flower before, in my piece on deviantART titled 'White Fire' - that picture takes place in this chapter. And, thank you so much for that suggestion! I don't think anyone has ever just requested me to draw whatever I like - then again, I do that with all my paintings online.

 **chuckiboo :** YAY Thank you! :D YES the white fire flower finally comes into play! I wrote down your requests, I also fully painted a comic of your one request, from Wrecking Limits - it's on deviantART! Just thought you'd like to know :)

 **NightHex54 :** I've written down your requests! Also, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your kind words. Wow. I mean WOW. I like welled up reading that. I can't even begin to state just how grateful I am for all the support. Thank you so much ;_;

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Aww, I understand not wanting to read the heavy scenes. I actually used to not enjoy them either. And then I got in too deep in the WIR universe and that notion flew out the window haha. But, it's tasteful. I don't use dirty words, if that makes any difference. I pride myself in that fact, not once have I ever called any genitalia or anything by it's actual name, once, in my entire story xD LOL! But I understand. If you don't want to read it, I won't hold it against you - it is certainly yummy tho! :) ALSO, thank you so much for your requests, even if they weren't specific - it's not very often I get reviewers who want to see the layout of the castles and etc. - I was going to throw a few into this sketch dump, but now that I'm certain someone is interested, I'll definitely make sure I have a good assortment of the architecture and views of different rooms and etc.! Especially Ace's tower, I don't think I have any form of artwork for those rooms. So, thank you! I appreciate it! :D

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Make It Up To You by Julia Michaels**

* * *

 ***Chapter 201***

 **...**

 _Hold on, lemme just..._

 _ ***Chapter 201***_

 _ **... IT'S WEIRD!**_

 _Might as well be what it really is_

 ***Chapter 567***

 ** _BETTER YET_**

 ***Chapter 4 Billion-Eleventy***

 ** _ok I'm done sorry_**

With unsure, nervous footsteps, Ace now was quickly wondering just what he had done. He had let Libby back into his gravity, even when just a half an hour prior, they were stabbing angry remarks to each other, he furrowed his grimace a little harder into his face and peered to the back of her head in solid question. As she finally settled in the gap between his dining area and his kitchen, the same floor plan as her's and Nox's room, he so carefully orbited about her and came to her front, as if he was trying not to wake a sleeping beast. He heaved a shaky sigh, put his hands on his hips and was still with her, once and for all, though they kept an awkward, half a dozen feet from each other.

"Please, just... Let me talk," Libby pleaded in a croak as she lowered the flower a little, though she was clear to keep it tight in her possession, as if to symbolize it definitely had Ace's name on it, though she wasn't quite ready to let go of it until she spoke her peace.

Her eyes finally dragged to Ace's in apologetic sorrow, she remained frozen as his curious, glassy hazel eyes peered to hers, his whole demeanor read support, as if he was truly sorry for everything that had gone down, as well; with this gentle, now patient aura he radiated, she also felt him keeping his distance on purpose, as if to make clear that he was hurt in this mess, as well. She finally let out a trembling breath, looked down to the glowing, white fire flower and wondered just where all of her words would simply come from. She persisted, nonetheless, and was thrilled Ace had patiently and silently given her the floor to get everything off of her chest.

"I know you're still scared... Believe me, I am too," Libby's tender voice started, her eyes remained idly glossed in the gorgeous glow of the flower tucked to her chest. She shook her head and grimaced, "I feel, even without all of our strife and confusion, we'd both still be nervous wrecks... I think it's in our nature."

Ace finally allowed a small smile to cross his face, even if he tried to stifle it. He bobbed a gentle nod, just barely, and glanced down to his feet.

"I said some confusing things last night, and some even meaner things this morning," Libby's voice trembled as she finally began to gloss her eyes to the floor, and Ace's feet, in a molasses drag to finally brave his handsome eye contact, "I in no way intended to confuse you, or hurt your feelings... I-I just can't seem to get my emotions under control, this whole thing is like night and day, for me... As I'm sure it is, for you, as well... Right?"

Ace inhaled a small breath, kept his large hands to his hips, shifted onto his other leg and just barely nodded in agreeing to her statement, and as their eyes finally met, he shrugged a little and acted as if he wanted to now say something, though he quickly reminded himself that he let Libby have the chance to talk first; he bobbed another nod, in loo of saying something. Libby smiled and was grateful he kept quiet for her.

"I think about our relationship and... I often wonder just what it'd be like if we weren't together, if this issue was just so much bigger than us, and... Moving beyond it was impossible," Libby frowned and sagged her shoulders, though with the mere sight of Ace's little smile sloping to that of a nervous look of sorrow, she felt her heart race at the sheer fact that she somehow needed to press her words faster, "Ace, I... I can't imagine doing life without you. No matter what has happened to me, no matter if your coding is just way too much power for my mainframe, I... Not only can I not imagine you by my side, I won't."

Ace held solid and kept his nervous eyes glued to hers, and with her positive, gentle words, a little smile of relief finally came back to him. He breathed a small sigh, looked back down to his feet, and finally let his arms sag by his side. Libby breathed a small giggle and gently began to fluff the gorgeous petals of the white fire flower she so diligently held onto.

"I think back to that one mental image I still have of you, the day I returned... You were stood in our field of fire flowers, one in hand... You were waiting for me," Libby croaked as tears of joys stung her eyes. She breathed a louder giggle and held the precious flower closer to her, "You did anything and everything to prove to me that you would wait for me, like I begged of you, when we were so young. We were still at such an impressionable age, we had no clue what this kind of romantic love felt like, yet you still felt the need to uphold this huge promise, for me... You promised me you'd wait, and you did."

Ace bashfully twiddled his fingers and peered down to them, though as he inhaled a small sniffle, Libby was aware the emotional aspect of this whole ordeal was getting the better of them, and before she could crumple to tears and beg him to just take her away, she held her ground. She finally eyed Ace and gave him a loving smile of sheer gratitude.

"... And you still are," Libby's warm voice eased, she narrowed her gaze and breathed a small chuckle, "You must really love me to keep with it for this stretch of time, over the course of our childhood, and even through my bouts of triggered emotions."

"I love you," Ace stated with a shrug as he shook his head and gave her a look as if to simply say that alongside these emotions of his, there simply was no other way to act, no other way to be.

"I love you," Libby assured through a sigh of relief and a nod as she peered down to the flower, and as she gave it one last silent goodbye, she gripped it for good measure and inhaled a long, steady deep breath. Just as she was to move the flower away from her and present it to Ace, once and for all, she smiled a loving look of vulnerability to his eyes, "I trust you."

Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise he knew he shouldn't feel, and as she gently held out the flower, away from her, presented for him, he held his breath and stabbed his curious eyes straight to hers. The gentle smudge of mud on her jaw, the messiness of dirt and twigs near the bottom of her hair, the stains on her pretty white tank and blue skinny jeans, she stood in whole vulnerability and, in this raw moment, Ace realized that she was fully handing over every single last inch of her soul, in this one little act. He almost felt as if he wasn't worthy of this instance, and although he was certain that he likely wasn't, he still met her half way and so tenderly let his larger fingers find the cup of the petals, underneath the glowing bloom. As Libby gingerly pushed the flower into his possession and dropped her arm, once and for all, Ace dragged his curious eyes to the beautiful white bloom; his heart soared.

Libby breathed a shaky sigh as if to somehow convey that she was still nervous about all of this, though the fact that she had just handed herself over was now something she couldn't take back, even if she wanted. Ace cocked an eyebrow, stabbed his floored, glorious hazel gaze into hers and dared to let a curious curl of a smile come across his cheeks. From the look of her demeanor, it was clear that she was well aware there was now no turning back, though from this stand point, Ace was certain this was his time to really show her some tender loving care, to correct their false start, from the night prior. With a full smile that he finally crowned upon his face, he scoffed a gentle chuckle, held the flower close to his chest in care and turned around to head to his sink.

Libby flinched and diligently watched him; this new view to each other now made the air between them thin, as if they were now simply magnets that were so attracted to each other, the force of letting go would somehow make the world explode. She sagged her dirty hands into her pockets, cocked an eyebrow, leaned over a little and carefully watched just what he was doing with her special flower, and with much surprise, she was delighted to see him carefully putting it in a vase of fresh water. Once settled on the counter, glowing in all of it's beauty, he tended to a few of the petals and finally dragged his curious eye contact to hers, once and for all.

"Where did you find a white fire flower?" Ace's voice was delicate and careful, he knew this was now their go-ahead to begin a likely day long fest of figuring each other out, though he remained as patient as he quite possibly could be.

"You remember the fire flower seeds we brought to Echo Park, that one time? We took two out of Ma's shed?" Libby lazily pointed and gave him a friendly smile.

"...THAT grew instead?" Ace pointed to the white flower with a wide, incredulous smile, and as the two finally fell into much needed laughter, he shook his head and peered back to the flower in riled curiosity, " We DID plant them really close to each other... Maybe that's the outcome, then?"

"I have no idea, maybe a mixture of the placement, the soil, the lack of sunlight and it still grew," Libby listed with a shrug and an exhausted chuckle, she sagged her dirty hands to her even dirtier jeans and smiled, "Balba and I just stumbled upon it... I knew it would, well... Suffice."

Ace let his eyes peer to the mesmerizing flower, it was absolutely beautiful. With bigger, blooming petals and a longer stem than the typical fire flowers they were used to, he wondered if it was just an odd hybrid of sorts, two seeds that just simply came together as one; he felt his heart thud at the metaphor, and as he slowly dragged his curious gaze back to Libby, he chuffed a small laugh, shook his head and wondered just when this roller coaster would stop being terrifying and begin to be fun. He finally could feel the angry tension, in the air, subside, though the riled sexual tension was only just beginning to lay on them without the added anxiety. Ace looked down to his feet and gently began to approach his love.

"Ace, I'm... I'm really sorry for how I treated you, I didn't mean to get so snappy and push you away," Libby began to rush as he slowly approached, she suddenly felt as if now she couldn't get the words out fast enough, "You just... R-Really freaked me out."

"That aspect, about me, hasn't changed," Ace blurt with a chuckle as he cocked his eyebrow and gave her a coy look of concern, and though she was aware of this fact, she still felt her face turn beet red as his laughter grew. He finally came within a few feet of her and slowed to a halt, "Are you talking about when I tugged on you, or my-"

"A-ALL of it, I don't... Know, all of it," Libby rushed in a stagger of embarrassment as she heaved a shaky giggle and tucked her dirty hair behind her ears, "The... Act of it all just brings back some terrible memories, but... I'm relieved I get to create new, good memories now, with you."

"You've known, all along, this was where the road would lead us," Ace gave her a warm smile and a cute, gentlemanly chuckle to boot. He sagged his shoulders in a tremble of an exhale and nodded a little, "You know this experience is going to be the total opposite of what you went through."

"I do know that," Libby nodded, she felt her heart begin to thud with much-anticipated first time jitters, "I know it's night and day, just... You have to understand, some things are just hard to get out of your memories."

"So, let's... Let's compromise," Ace's deep voice glossed over her, and it was in this warm instance did Libby finally feel her soul come to a comfortable settle within this raw situation. The way his loving eyes peered down into hers, his beyond patient aura was now cleansed and free of all forms of their tense anxiety, for the first time, in this whole ordeal, Libby finally felt wholly secure in this impending act, "I'll take things slow... If it's too quick for you, just kindly tell me. Move away if you have to, do whatever you need, but... Just don't throw in the towel and call it quits."

"Okay," Libby nodded as her knees began to shake, she inhaled a trembled breath and now felt wholly certain this was all becoming real, and with such realization, she wondered just how the hell they were going to get to where they wanted to be, from this standpoint.

"I'll give you as much time as you need... As long as you come back around and allow progression," Ace instructed as delicately as he could, he eyed her as if to wonder if his words were something she could agree to, and as she thought about it a moment, she finally bobbed a nod and felt as if the pulse, on her jugular, was about to come clawing out of her skin.

"I can do that," Libby breathed gently with another nod, and as she finally felt secure in a game plan, Ace gingerly took her hand and wrinkled his nose in a bashful, knowing sprawl of a smile.

"C'mon," Ace's voice eased with the depth, and as his notion of an insinuation hit Libby head on, she long-blinked in realization and felt her heart rise to the bottom of her throat, "Let's get you cleaned up."

Libby felt a wave of dumbfounded silence hit her, and in the words of his that flit through her mind in a clumsy attempt to simply catch a shadow, she huffed a small, silent noise and kindly allowed Ace to slowly lead her away. She knew she should just let him lead in this entire ordeal, allow him the chance to feel out her emotions and just how she'd react to certain things, and alongside her rushing thoughts, she fell into step with him, the safety of his aura was beyond palpable, everything she wanted to soak into. She finally let a bashful, nervous smile sprawl her red cheeks, and as they vanished from his main room, she knew the two were leaving behind a more innocent, vulnerable shell of themselves. With a clack of his shut bathroom door, Libby's eyes looked about his pristine tiles through a curl of a curious smirk.

Even though it was an exact replica of her large bathroom, upstairs, his was different in the way the tiles were placed, the accent colors of the walls and everything in between. It had a masculine charm, though catered to Tessa's clean ideas, her handiwork was apparent everything. Libby smiled with the familiarity and though Ace brushed past her, and head for the shower, she assessed their new alcove of love, the stage to this trembling showdown. As she shoved her fingers into the stiff pockets of her dirty skinny jeans, she tried so hard not to look beyond petrified, even though she wasn't. The glossy, dark grey tiles of his large walk in shower, the identical bench that sat sturdy against the thick glass of a hub, his shower had a fogged window that let in all the amount of natural sunlight she craved; the whole place was soaked in loving warmth, and although this wasn't technically the first place she thought they'd consummate their relationship, she thought on it harder and realized just what Ace was doing here.

Libby locked her idle gaze with the back of Ace's head as he tenderly fumbled with the small display, the touch screen controls that operated his shower, and once he got the water to spray into his large, enclosed glass shower, she felt goosebumps plague her. She long blinked and smiled in a loving fashion as memories came back to her, the evening she told him of a certain Teltokuan tradition amongst couples, the cleanse of forgiveness. The bathing of the other's mate in the dregs of a fight, the metaphorical cleaning of each other's short comings, she looked down to all of the dirt and mud along her clothes, her skin and in her hair, and as the thought very quickly came full circle, she scoffed a silent noise of delightful disbelief and finally peered her eyes to Ace, who jostled his wet hand about and diligently returned to her.

"...You okay?" Ace jolted as he held out his hand and showed a great deal of apprehension, he gestured to her, and then to the shower, "Wh-What do I need to do, is this okay?"

"No, I'm fine, it's all fine," Libby blurt a shaky giggle as she gestured her hand, though she desperately tried to catch her shaky breath and keep her heart from bursting out her throat, "I'm just... Surprised at you."

"What'd I do?" Ace worried as he remained frozen, though Libby giggled a bit harder and shook her head.

"You remembered," Libby cooed as her twinkling, anticipatory gaze glued to his in trembling, anxious excitement, "The... Act of showing forgiveness after a fight. The Teltokuan tradition."

"Oh," Ace sighed as he clutched his chest and sagged his shoulders with a bashful smirk, "The second you told me that little tid bit, I logged it away for a rainy day," Ace grumbled with a small chuckle as he grew closer to her, she laughed, covered the side of her face and looked away, "I knew it'd come in handy, eventually. Your culture fascinates me, I would never think about something like this, but..."

"Here we are," Libby blurt with a giggle as she, again, sagged her hands into her dirty pockets, though it was in this instance did she realize the next step to this ordeal.

"Did you wrestle the flower out of the ground, or something?" Ace asked in a blurt of charm, he was eternal grateful that Libby's smile and laughter grew to that of a more casual air.

"No, I... I slipped," Libby grumbled through stifled laughter as she looked down to herself. She pulled the ends of her shirt out, so to display the lot of it easier, and as they ogled the amount of mud she was covered in, she shook her head and then looked to her arms and hands, she didn't dare try and tangle with her hair, "Balba caught me, but... Yeah, I just sort of accidentally splashed it on myself, and after that, I stopped caring. Getting the flower out of the soil wasn't hard, I was just so far gone long before that."

"I see," Ace lulled his eyes closed in a long blink of understanding and dared to ease into her bubble of comfort, and although he was aware this little venture of theirs would eventually turn sexual, he wondered if he could keep it as light and as carefree as he could, while they cleaned each other. He gently gripped the ends of his shirt, took it off slowly and hoped he wasn't rushing her. He carefully assessed her demeanor as he set his shirt to his bathroom counter, "Do you ever take scalding hot showers?"

"Yeah, I do. It's the only way to do it," Libby blurt, both of them smiled in agreeing, "We didn't have water heaters, or anything like that, in my village... So, I soak it up while I can."

"I don't blame you," Ace smiled, and although he wanted to just continue taking his clothes off and make this process a little easier for her, he wondered if maybe taking turns, and continuing to take the lead, here, would continue to fly. As slowly and tenderly as he could, he let his fingers find the ends of her shirt, and as he held there for a moment, a deep stare into her eyes to make sure it was okay, he slowly lifted her shirt, with her silent approval, and pulled the muddy mess off of her body. He desperately tried to hide the tremble in his throat as it crackled a little, "I-I don't... Start it out scalding hot, though. It just somehow ends up that way."

"I like to have it so hot, a-and then right before I get out, I turn it ice cold," Libby blurt with a bashful smile as her eyes slowly glossed his handsome, bare chest. She furrowed her brow and was floored with just how he was approaching this, and with his ultimate kindness, she knew she likely could step it up a little and show that continued bravery. Her shaking hands reached for the button on his jeans, and as she gently tugged on the nonsense, she felt her heart pound straight out of her chest at the sheer fact that he remained still and allowed her to do what she pleased, here. She shrugged and so desperately tried to remain cool, "I-It feels nice, I don't know why..."

"Sounds suicidal," Ace grunted, and as she helped in unzipping his jeans, he did the rest to jostle them off of his body, which revealed his dark grey boxer briefs, ones of which were snug to him. Libby held her breath, dart her eyes away in rising shyness and was certain her face was bright red, though she was glad Ace warmly continued on through a stutter of laughter, "C-Can we please not do that, this time?"

"N-No, I just do it to wake up," Libby beamed, she was floored he was so good at carrying on conversation and keeping everything so easy and casual; she knew, if it weren't for his loving nature, his good people skills, she'd likely be on the ground in a trembling, nervous mess. She gave him a beyond grateful smile and shakily tucked her hair behind her ears, "It's not really something you do to unwind."

"It probably could replace a cup of coffee," Ace's charming, gap-toothed smile soaked all of her worries away, and just as she was going to maybe think about stepping closer to him and showing him that she potentially needed some more loving care, in the form of a potential hug, he carefully moved his larger fingers down to the button of her jeans, looked down to his chore and furrowed his brow; his larger fingers fumbled to get it right, and as the two stared down at the nonsense for longer than necessary, Ace grumbled an annoyed notion towards his large fingers and bit his tongue in concentration, "Okay, these hands are only good for ONE thing, I promise you that."

"It's okay," Libby giggled as she quickly intervened and unbuttoned it for him, and as he shot her a grateful smirk of mild annoyance, he continued on with what he was doing. She felt shivers travel up her spine as his warm fingers felt her upper thighs, and as she helped him continue, from his stand point, she opened her mouth to continue on with what they were talking about, though in the act of fumbling to get her feet out of her tight jeans, she stumbled and slumped into Ace's chest. Without even so much as budging, he chuckled and caught her with ease as she slumped her face to his chest and tried to correct herself, "O-Oh, sorry."

"Is'okey," Ace cheesed with a closed-mouth smile, and while he had her to him, he gingerly wrapped his arms about her body and gave her a loving squeeze. She breathed a sigh and a giggle of relief and gratefully sagged into his warm, inviting body. Once the two finally began to pull back apart, he pushed a few gentle kisses into the top of her head. As Libby relished in the care, her gentle fingers felt his bare chest in a show of rising neediness, Ace warmly pressed on, above a whisper, "... You okay with this?"

"Yeah, it's good. I'm fine," Libby assured in a hum of softness, she gave him a flash of her innocent, beautiful blue eyes, and with such, Ace nodded, inhaled a shaky breath and knew to continue on.

Ace nodded once, and as their little conversation finally fell to the way side, he felt confidence rush his veins, and although he was grateful for the crutch of their light chit-chat, he was glad the air was becoming thick, where conversation finally wasn't needed. He knew he should likely go first in this mess, bare all and just take one for the team, so it wasn't so much like she was in a spotlight. With trembling hands, he moved his fingers to the rim of his boxer briefs, and just as he sunk the thickness of his fingertips to his skin, underneath the band, he was surprised to feel Libby's little hands come alongside his to help. He cocked an eyebrow and huffed a silent, bashful chuckle as he finally was able to slide the fabric off his hips. Libby stopped helping once it required her bending over, and though she knew she was now allowed to look and take Ace in for everything that he was, she couldn't help but tuck her fingers to her mouth and look away in the climb of a silent, beyond bashful choke of a breath.

"It's cold in here, okay," Ace playfully complained, and as Libby's smile immediately widened to that of a glow of a genuine burst of laughter, she covered her face and shook her head, as if to express that she wasn't simply laughing at his manhood. Ace rolled his eyes, amidst smiling, and bashfully looked off as he stepped out of all of his clothes, for good, "Last night, it was pretty much about to eat you alive. Look, I'm trying to control myself!"

"I appreciate it, I do," Libby staggered through shy laughter as she brushed her hair out of her face and avoided looking back down.

She closed her eyes, shook her head and freed herself of her nerves, though as she could feel Ace's slow, gentle hands come around the back side of her, she reopened her eyes, leaned her upper body into his and allowed him to fumble with her white bra strap. With a simple slide of an unhook, she held her breath and simply watched as Ace patiently dug his fingers into the straps on her shoulders, and as he slid the straps off her arms and tossed her bra to the ground, he so lovingly leaned down and placed a patient, grateful few kisses to her lower collar bone. Within these raw moments of finally making steps to complete this nonsense, she exhaled a shaky breath atop his head and was quick to delicately wrap her arms about his neck. The second she could feel his hands make their way to her underwear, she shut her eyes tight and buried her face into the top of his soft, dark blue hair.

Through the smile of his kisses to her soft skin, he peeked his eyes open and got a good glimpse of her beautiful bare body, and as the two finally shed every last strand of clothing, once and for all, Ace finally stiffened his spine, peered into her eyes for clarity and waited for her go ahead. As he lovingly slipped his hand into hers, tilted his head towards the gape of the beckoning shower, the heat that radiated and welcomed them inside, she bobbed a small nod of affirmation and squeezed his hand in the tremble of their rising anticipation. As Ace slowly began to lead her to where they needed to be, he inhaled a steady breath and prayed favor would be on his side, that somehow he could successfully win this rare fire flower over in one fell swoop.

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 **A/N :** **I drew the scene of Libby handing over the white fire flower, in the beginning, on my deviantART! It's titled 'White Fire' - Username Vyntresser**


	202. Chapter 202

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **ArchitectDreams :** I see lol. Thank you friend! :)

 **NightHex54 :** Well, it was very much appreciated, I'm very grateful for everyone following along! Thank you so much! Yes, I love that painting too, the way they're greeted, in the castle, is pretty funny as well xD

 **chuckiboo :** It's funny you say that, actually - I have an original story in the works, as I type! It's to be mostly romance/sci-fi/horror, with a dash of humor and slice of life. I have a title for it and a base premise, as well as characters designed and named - I also have a few things of fan art I've socked away for when it's unveiled, but I'm pretty excited. It's not anything I'd be posting online, it's something I would work to get published and out into the world. I'm pretty stoked, and I hope everyone else is hype as well! I'll begin working on it, after I apply to college. **This is no way puts R.O., or it's 4th installment, on hold/the back burner.** I'll be juggling my original story and R.O., which... After I apply to college will be cake. But for nowww. It's just in my head xD I really appreciate that, though... For the longest time, I didn't think I could amount to actual writing, but I've decided I should just bite the bullet and at least TRY. So, hearing you say that, right in the midsts of my wariness and confusion, definitely is a confidence booster, and I really needed that. THANK YOU. :)

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you! :D I'm really grateful for all of that said, I'm glad you're enjoying this scene so much!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** AH YAY thank you! I'm glad. I was worried I was maybe keeping the pace too slow, especially with the 200 freaking chapters I've strung you guys along on for such a long period of time. This chapter is massive, and I worry it has the same effect, but it picks up and becomes yummy, even if you can't make it all the way through, I'm certain it'll still be enjoyable :D and YES I'll be sure to make a good amount of layout scenes for the sketch dump! Any rooms, in particular, you'd really like to see?

 **Nikki Firesong :** AWW. Yes I loved that scene - I can add it to my sketch dump list for sure! I've become very nostalgic for WL, I have another comic page finished that I'll be uploading shortly here! :) Thank you sooo much!

 **Wild Virus :** AWW THANK YOU! Yes, I really try to tie that in, having Ace show respect for her culture, even though she ran from it and left her tribe on such a sour note. YAY I'm really glad you're enjoying it :D I've added all of your requests to the list, btw!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Make It Up To You by Julia Michaels**

 **Get Low by Zedd & Liam Payne**

* * *

 **A/N : Alright guys, brace yourselves!**

 **For my sensitive readers :**

This WHOLE chapter, as well as chapter 203, is clearly why my story is rated M in the first place, BUT there are very fragile 'non-sexual' moments littered throughout this chapter. Libby gets to fully test out Ace's User powers, via exterior swap, and that is lighthearted and not sexual. Not so much 203. But THIS chapter has a whole lot of exposition and tenderness in the beginning that really only includes the two being nude/not rushing into anything. Just so you're not missing the 8k worded chapter gap, the entirety of this chapter ISN'T a sex scene, it's just the last half of this chapter.

I would put the little 'safe' markers, but I just feel as though it'd kill the mood, and they're both naked for the entire chapter and etc., so... Just understand that it doesn't start out incredibly saucy xD It's rather playful and more as if they're putting their feelers out there, just how sensitive this impending act is.

 **BUT, either way, ENJOY! ;)**

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 ***Chapter 202***

With a delicate hand up into Ace's large, walk-in shower, two walls were fogged glass while the other two, alongside the flooring, were tiled in textured, dark grey tile. Libby's eyes dragged to the curious outlets that sprayed delicate streams of water to the ground; one stream came from the ceiling whilst one came from the wall, about waist level. Libby eyed it curiously and was floored with the fact that Ace's shower was much different than hers, and although she wanted to turn around and ask Ace all of these random questions, she was aware that'd mean facing him dead on, full-on nude. She bashfully stuffed a smile, glanced out the foggy glass of the window and was eager to get into the water. Not only because it was something to distract from the impending obvious, but also because Ace's bathroom was chilly and the misty spray from the water was warm and inviting.

"Here," Ace mumbled warmly as the two were on the brink of entering the spray, though Ace gingerly stopped her and turned her around. As gently as he could, he began to pull the hair-tie out of Libby's dirty hair, and though it took a minute, so not to hurt her, he finally pulled the muddy tie from her glorious white hair. He breathed a soft chuckle and held her still as he began to pull twigs from deep in her thick mane, "Dang, Libby, seriously... Were you at one point rolling through bushes or something?"

"No, I wasn't! I don't know what happened!" Libby blurt a laugh and gestured her bare arms in riled agitation, Ace settled into a comfortable laugh as well, "I just slipped, maybe I... Bumped into a branch I wasn't aware of, or something."

"No matter," Ace huffed with a small smile, and as he finally pulled the last of the twigs and leaves from Libby's hair, he kept Libby turned around.

Just as Libby was about to open her mouth, she flinched in solid surprise as the flicker of something silver quickly caught her attention. The two sprayers, pressured hot water that shot out into the shower, suddenly moved in unison, and as Libby looked up and about in a jolt of curiosity, she noticed that these shower heads weren't ordinary. They looked like simple, silver glowing circles on an LCD screen, though the bizarre thing about it all was that both sprayers successfully sprayed water. Libby hooked her dazzled eyes to the sprayers in shock, and as the one on the wall slowly lined to Libby's middle, and the one on the ceiling centered with her just below, Ace blurt a gentlemanly chuckle and began to splay Libby's hair out. As the water finally reached Libby's dirty hair, he tenderly began to comb through the chaos with as much care as he could.

"M-mind explaining the... Sentient shower heads?" Libby staggered in a giggle as her eyes couldn't tear from the oddity, though Ace blurt a louder laugh and gently lifted his foot a little. In this show, Libby looked down and noticed the soles of his feet were coat in his glowing silver coding, a display to show that he had control of the spray of water.

"They're not alive, I'm just controlling them," Ace eased warmly, though Libby beamed a wider, curious smile and watched as the shower's spray glossed the wall to her left, as well as the ceiling, in a glide of perfection, just right in time with Ace's will. Libby flinched in a sharp bout of laughter as Ace suddenly upped the pressure of the sprayer on the wall and coat Libby in a hard spray of water. She flagged her hand in a choke, and as the two fell into loud laughter with each other, he set the sprayers to normal, once more and beamed a cheeky smile into her eyes as she finally dared to turn around and face Ace, "Sorry, couldn't resist."

"So, how does one go about installing a shower like this in my bathroom?" Libby inquired, though she felt her face turn red as Ace so diligently kept close to her and made sure to keep cleaning up the mess; Libby bashfully peered to Ace's bare chest as his large, tenderly fingers lifted her right arm and began to drag the mud caked to her elbow.

"Well..." Ace dragged, he beamed the widest, most bashful smile and diligently kept his eyes hooked to Libby's right arm. He cleaned her skin free of dirt and mud, and although he would eventually get to lathering her in soap, he concentrated on ridding her of the grime first. Before he could be brave and make it obvious his eyes were going to slope in a wander about her bare body, she cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head to him in rising curiosity. Ace huffed a shaky breath and finally gave her his humble eye contact, "The only way I'm controlling these sprayers is, because, well... I'm a glitch. A-and a... User."

"Right," Libby stated in a short breath with a bob of a nod, and although she wondered if she could push it and be cheeky in this instance, Ace lifted her left arm, began to clean the mud free of it and beat her to it.

"So... We could install it for you tonight, if you'd like," Ace braved, though as Libby's begrudged facial expression sloped to that of gentle surprise, she eyed him for a moment before bashfully looking away in a smile she so desperately tried not to let fly out of control. Ace blurt a gentlemanly chuckle, shook his head and felt the air about them become more solidified, more confident of just what was coming, "It's easy to use... Sort of makes showering a bit more convenient. You don't have to move around to get the spray in the right spot, as you would with a stationary sprayer... With this kind of a shower, the water comes right to you, under your command."

"Sounds like you should put a patent on it, bub," Libby's voice held lilt of charm, and as Ace smoothly directed the ceiling spray to wash over Libby's bare chest and arms, she relished in it's warmth and felt as if this even helped with their new level of bonding, the fact that Ace had control over where everything went and when.

"Yeah, I'm currently trying," Ace's deep voice crawled over her skin with the innuendo, and as her delighted, surprised blue eyes locked with his, wet lashes that stuck together in a dewy show of her raw, astounding innocence, Libby froze and was thrilled to feel his oh so gentle touch finally come to the dip of her waist.

She breathed a giggle through a small gape, and as if his words rung true through her skull, she knew he was so successfully winning her over, save for simply trying. With this crawl of happiness Libby radiated, Ace knew he could likely become a bit more handsy with his cleaning routine, on her soft and slippery skin, and as the two shifted on their feet in a tug of clinging magnets, the sway of growing closer, Ace's fingers crawled down her hips and showed a strict act of just freeing her skin of dirt. Libby was well aware he was testing out his new reaches, the feel of his curious eyes all over her bare body, she somehow felt invigorated by it all, and although she still felt that twinge of shyness hang tight to her fragile skin, she was now beyond aware her bare body and soul was for Ace's privilege only. Confidence only continued to soak her in impending pleasure, though she hid her eagerness well.

"You wanna try it out for yourself?" Ace inquired with a light air about himself, though Libby was jolted out of her curious wonderings.

She froze, cocked an eyebrow and felt Ace's presence take a readied step or two away from her. Ace tenderly held his hands out, opened his palms in a slow crawl of exposure, and as his scalding, silver coding swarmed his large, wrecking palms with eagerness, Libby bashfully eyed him and felt almost like a fish out of water. She knew she was used to exterior swaps with Ace, though she also knew the stark difference here. A simple, loving exterior swap to calm down the soul, to ease the mind, was something she could lull into, close her eyes and feel that mental presence of the other person, though when it pertained to handing over a power of his, Libby knew the voltage was similar to being electrocuted.

"It's okay to be nervous," Ace's deep, understanding voice was as careful and as calm as he could possibly muster, and as he reached his hands out to her, opened and at the ready, he jostled his wrists a little and looked up to the spraying shower head display, on the ceiling. He cut said sprayer off and dragged his eyes back to Libby, "Just feel it out. Focus your attention on what you want."

"I'll try," Libby meeped gently, and as she finally dared to reach her much smaller fingertips for his, she allowed her skin to come into contact with his.

Ace warmly wrapped his fingers around her tiny palms, and as he flared her yellow honeycombs, he also gave her a good dose of his powerful coding, all in one go. He flinched in surprise as her fragile shoulders scrunched tight in bewilderment, the light bounce of her bare, wet body, the gloss of wonder in her eyes, Ace froze and gave her a cheeky, unsure smile as she began to pant in uncertainty. Ace blurt a chuckle as her little hands grappled his coded ones, and as their coding finally agreed and soaked into an electric, golden exterior swap, she sagged her trembling shoulders and eased into his curious laughter. He raised his eyebrows, as if to brace her once more, and in a volley of the rest of the required coding, for said task, he willingly handed it over to her being.

Libby stabbed her gaze of unhinged, near-delighted terror to his, and as his laughter remained soft, it only grew with the cute display of genuine stun she was frozen in. As he delicately began to take a few steps away, they finally unhanded each other and successfully kept their exterior swap alive. Libby panted and felt the energy of a thousand suns suddenly shooting through her veins. She was aware Ace had previously handed over the glitching bug, once in a blue moon, to get them in and out of sticky situations, though she long blinked in near-horror and was certain it was absolutely nothing like this. She wiggled her fingers and almost wondered if the power, right in the tiny action she had just did, was enough to rattle the trees outside. She froze and almost had no idea just what to do with all of this power suddenly given to her, and it was in this raw, tender moment did she finally, wholly and undoubtedly understand just how sacred and real Ace's dilemma was.

Ace cocked an eyebrow and gave her a coy look of humility, as if he could somehow read the look of now whole understanding on her face, and as if to cheekily say 'I told you so', he tried desperately not to rub it in. He stepped across the space and out of the sprayer, that was on the wall next to him, so he could reach for his body wash. As he reached for the nozzle, so to continue on with fully cleaning Libby's skin to whole perfection, he volleyed her a kind look over his shoulder and gestured up to the ceiling.

"Go'head, try it," Ace encouraged lovingly, though Libby expelled an incredulous, silent laugh and nervously peered up to the ceiling, amidst the glow of her now golden honeycombed palms.

In sheer determination to prove to Ace that she had this in the bag, she took a deep breath and reigned in the crazy amount of coding she was given. She knew, in this little bout of power she was allowed, that this likely wasn't even a tenth of the incredible shake of power Ace harbored underneath those gentlemanly hands of his, those sweet, half-moon, hazel eyes he eased her soul with, the raw fact that it was all just effortlessly containing a formidable beast with the influence and power to so much as end the entire Arcade. Libby grimaced at the thought, and though she didn't want to admit that said eternally ironic idea turned her on, she bit her tongue and looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to hide a giddy, bashful grimace.

She held her breath and nearly felt her core push in a tight flex of concentration, and just as she was about to open her eyes and see if she was at least half way successful, she largely flinched as water poured from her small circle, on the ceiling, right above her. A decent spray that hit the tiles, and with a wide smile of pure glee, she shot her giddy, cute and innocent attention straight for her boyfriend. Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise, peered up at the now golden circle on the ceiling that splayed water to Libby's coded arms, and as his eyes glossed her once more, he gave her an impressed look of great cheek, an excited, gap-toothed grin to boot.

"I did it!" Libby squealed in a small laugh as she began to look more comfortable in her bare skin, she peered up at her handiwork and so gently began to jostle it about the ceiling in a shakily glide of uncertainty, like trying to find a cursor on a screen.

"Good, babe," Ace nodded as he continued to step towards the far wall, where he kept his small collection of body washes and hair conditioners; he had his back turned, "Now, try and see if you can change the pressure of the water."

"Okay," Libby chuffed as she bit her lip once more and peered up at the steady stream she allowed to come from the ceiling, though as if driving a fine-tuned race car, ready for the charge, she gave her little chore a bit too much of Ace's incredible power, even with the small shred of it he had blessed her with, temporarily.

She barked a noise of defiance, threw her hands out in whole concern, and in the jolt of her toss, the circle on the ceiling gaped to the size of a decent sized bucket and rocketed straight for Ace. In a sudden jet-like spray of an incredible amount of water, Libby slapped her hands to her mouth in a gape of surprise as everything suddenly came to a dead quiet. Ace was completely drenched, his blue hair was now darker and matted to his scalp. He squinted his eyes open as water quickly dripped from every crevice of his face, chest and body, and as Libby suddenly began to cackle in apologetic laughter, Ace shook his head slightly, wiped his eyes and choked water out of his mouth.

"Well, now that I'M clean," Ace stuttered through hard laughter as he continued on his venture for the body soap, he poured a decent amount into his right hand and made his way back over to Libby.

"I'm so sorry," Libby giggled as she held her cheeks in her hands in a shy display of cheeky, apologetic sass, though as Ace's power dwindled from her being, he so gently brought both sprayers back to a normal setting and aimed it for her legs, so to finally get the dregs of the mud off of her, once and for all.

"No, that's fine," Ace stated with a lilt of sarcastic playfulness, and with his tone, Libby continued to loudly and shyly laugh, "I'll get you back later."

"I won't allow it," Libby's laughter grew exhausted from how much the two had coat the room in said happiness, and as he rubbed his larger hands together and lathered the soap into a bubbly mess, Libby felt goosebumps plague her warm, wet skin as his glossy fingers confidently found the sides of her waist.

"Yes, ma'am," Ace's deep voice softly crackled in her ear, and as if the gentle, light-hearted air about this notion was beginning to steep into something a little bit warmer, Libby took note of the temperature change, in the water, as well.

Libby cocked an eyebrow and so gently rested her fragile, little hands to Ace's broad bare chest, and as his hands crawled up her back in a slow, firm climb of his chore, she lulled her eyes closed in a flutter and relished in every single last inch of his large, soapy palms on her glossy skin. She peaked a small smile on her wet lips, and as they hung about a foot from each other, she could feel that gentle stir of uncertainty come up to a gradual bubble of a boil. She knew it was all going to come billowing over, sometime soon, though somehow she was very acutely aware of the fact that the two were bound to hang in that high for a lot longer than likely necessary.

Although Ace was doing a fabulous job of controlling himself, he heaved a trembling breath through his nose and notice that Libby was aware of said exhale, the way his chest sagged into itself with the rising task at hand. He lulled his eyes closed, prayed to stay the course and reached his slippery fingers to the backs of her shoulders. As he gently squeezed her upper shoulders with a touch of a massage, he cleaned her neck and the back of her skull, while he was at it. He blurt a small chuckle as he felt Libby's head go completely limp in his large, strong and protective grasp, and as he gently scratched suds into her scalp, she smiled such a smile to state that she was wholly at peace, her eyes shut tight, he peered down at her blushed face and felt his heart just pound with the fact that she was more or less handing over every last inch of her trust to him. He knew there was literally only one person she'd allow this depth of intimacy to, and as he stood in that flow of a realization that soaked his brain, he felt like the luckiest guy alive.

With a firm, yet slow and gentle smooch to the bridge of her nose, she wrinkled her face in delightful surprise and breathed a giggle on her wet lips, and as they hung close to each other, she peered her beautiful eyes up to his, once and for all. As water dripped from their noses and chins, their lashes glued together in the splay of water that glossed over them in the occasional rinse off, Libby found herself sinking deeper into his warmth. It was in these silent little moments of filling the gap did Ace feel their playful, innocent air about them become thick with seductiveness, and though he was near-terrified to have a repeat of last night happen once more, he lulled his eyes closed in contemplation.

As he freed one hand from her body and ruffled his wet hair a little, his eyes glossed past her little, tattooed shoulder and drew to the large wooden bench that was a part of his shower. He cocked an eyebrow, eyed it in further contemplation and knew that said bench was his landing spot, for whenever she thought about giving him the go ahead. Without even having to ask her, Ace was fully aware she'd appreciate being in full control of this impending act, he could tell in her shifting body language that she was also hanging on the edge of a dilemma. One of wanting to be daring and coy, to let that extroverted, playful wild child side of her burst forth, and the need to be reserved and shy because of her tough past. Ace wondered just which side she would more heavily cater to, and before he could even continue to stay strict to his regimen of remaining flaccid, he felt his heart begin to thud with the impending obvious that was plainly telling him that enough was enough.

"P-please talk to me," Ace nearly begged in a deep whimper, almost a secret in her ear, and with the sag of her shoulders, and the sigh of a giggle in her throat, he raised his eyebrows in blushed surprise as her shaky arms sunk around Ace's thick middle.

"What's-a-matter?" Libby's sing-song accent so lovingly coat the base of his shoulder, and as she carefully snug her little body into his, Ace swallowed a hard gulp at the feeling of the obvious that he tucked firm and tight between the two of them, snug into Libby's left hip bone.

Ace inhaled a trembling breath and was just anticipating Libby to reel away in uncertain surprise, like the night prior, though he counted the seconds that floated by that included their stillness. As Ace furrowed his brow in rising, delighted surprise, he was floored to feel Libby's little arms come tighter and higher around his middle, she squeezed him a bit more flush to her bare body and snuggled her face into his collar bone and the side of his throat, their wet skin was slippery and warm. Ace heaved a small chuckle of silent disbelief and tenderly held the back of Libby's head in his much larger hand, and as he began to firmly kiss the side of Libby's head as a way of a silent thank you, to her, for being brave in the venture, he smiled in continued, trembling anticipation.

"I just want to take care of you," Ace's boyish, innocent voice reverberated the concealed depth of his masculine charm, and as his firm kisses moved to her ear, he hovered over her and continued on in softness, "I want you to feel safe."

"Well, you're doing a fantastic job of it," Libby mumbled quietly into his shoulder as chills ran down her spine, the feel of his hot breath on her ear, the draw of the snugness their hug delivered, and although Libby was well aware the were both about to skydive into this situation blind, she smiled with great warmth and rested her jaw to his strong chest, "Thank you for cleaning me."

"You're welcome," Ace assured softly as he adjusted his arms a little and hugged her about her middle, though as Libby's arms sagged down his waist as well, he inhaled a readied breath and knew now was the time to test the waters.

"Can you promise me something?" Libby huffed in a tremble as the two just barley pulled their heads away from each other, Ace peered down to the bridge of her nose and was thrilled her arms did everything and anything to keep their middles and lower bodies snug to each other.

"I can promise you anything," Ace's hot breath coat her blushed cheeks, and as his strong arms held her tight in the small of her bare back, she moved in his rhythm as he just barely shifted on his feet; she fluttered her eyes in the pang of excitement that practically shot up her core, the feeling of the obvious that throbbed and was held firmly planted upwards, deep into the slippery skin of her hip bone and lower stomach.

"Promise me you won't show any hesitation, here," Libby nearly rushed in a huff nervous words that trembled out of her throat, just above a sigh. She sunk her hands to Ace's sides and held on tight as Ace's arms warmly tugged her deeper into his body. He cocked an eyebrow and peered down at her in rising, poised surprise as her hot breath continued on his mouth, "I want to let go of my past, starting now. Please, don't hold anything back..."

"I promise," Ace assured with a sneaky smile, and although he hung on her words and waited for her to likely reel back and maybe reconsider just exactly what she had proposed to him, she remained tight to his readied body in hot agitation, no remorse or regret with the amount of slack she had suddenly given the beast she was pinned to, and as the two just barely stirred in a rise of nervous, trembling inhales on each others wet lips, Libby furrowed her eyebrows in a pleading show of climbing desperation.

"I'm ready," Libby's voice quivered in a whisper on his wet mouth, and in her one command, she knew all the time in the world wouldn't nearly be enough to prepare herself for everything that was about to take place.

Ace inhaled a quick, noticeable breath, took Libby's word and immediately ran with it. As his loving, dominant hands gently gripped Libby's hips, he pulled away just barely, turned the two around, so Ace was now standing where Libby was, and in a gentle tug, he held on tight to Libby's hips, began to step backwards and delicately pulled her with him. In the climb, he hovered his forehead over Libby and was floored to feel her movements and footsteps so eagerly keeping in tow with the switch up, and the second Ace could feel himself nearing the bench he had bookmarked ideas for, earlier, he felt a lump gather in his throat. As Libby's little, yet strong right hand slid down Ace's center, Ace choked a faltered breath of surprise as she firmly grappled the base of his distention, and once Ace's knees bent with the push of the bench they had rapidly approached, Libby gently shoved down on his upper chest with her free hand.

Ace felt as if the oxygen in the room was now at a minimal, the way he inhaled the fogged, wet air in a trembling gasp, his heart practically began to burst with purpose, and as if he couldn't get any more lightheaded, he sagged into himself in a quivering, audible exhale as Libby made it a quick point to straddle his lap in rising dominance. Ace's now trembling hands gripped Libby's hips, for continued guidance, as her needy grip continued to hold onto the obvious. His delirious eyes gently peered down to the nonsense, in the whirl of it, and just as he watched her shaking hands do everything she could to bring the two to correction, once and for all, Ace panted a shaky noise, lulled his head back in a gentle thud of his skull to the glass wall, behind him, and urgently peered up to her in whole, floored surprise. He finally let a smile curl the corner of his mouth in a rile of stunned, delirious delight, and as Libby's wet hair glossed her bare body, draped to his shoulders and chest, she lovingly steadied herself against his right shoulder and arched her body in readiness.

In a nervous noise of surprise, Libby's hands urgently met the base of Ace's neck, on his shoulders, and as her progress made it so she didn't need to guide the two to correction, any longer, she bashfully peered down to him. It was clear, in these split seconds, that she was so massively battling which jungle girl to allow show through; that of a fierce hunter or shy eyes in a shadow, she bit her lip and felt her insides do all sorts of back flips with the brand new sensations. With the cold dilemma in her eyes, Ace knew to meet her in the middle. With a knowing, cute smile, Ace's trembling hands slid to her waist in a draw of hot excitement, the writhe of her bare, wet body, he huffed a silent, trembling growl of a groan, one that emanated from the very depths of his throat, and as his eyes fluttered close with the downward drag of her body, he sagged underneath the push of her little hands to his upper chest.

In the slide of everything, Ace grit his teeth with the squeeze of it all, and as he nervously tensed his legs, the curl of his toes to the cold tiles underneath him, he felt every single last circuit in his body go absolutely wild with the sound that came crawling out of Libby's figure, a nervous, genuine moan of whole entire delight. Ace lazily peered his delirious eyes open and peered up at her, and as his larger hands slipped down the curve of her waist to her wider hips, he could swear the lights about them simply illuminated behind her beautiful body, the gentle gape of surprise she volleyed down to him, the glistening sparkle of her wet skin and hair alongside the starkness of her bold tattoo, he wondered just exactly what realm he was even in.

Ace's chest heaved a bit in exhilarated panting, his thick, broad collar bones peeked through his wet skin, and as her little fingers felt every aspect of his upper body, he wondered just when that sagging, delightfully exhausted feeling would lift off of him. She sat taut to him and remained in the whirl of amazement with him, though he knew he was sitting in all of their new feelings for too long with the way a wide grin crawled across her wet lips, her eyes wrinkled in the genuine smile. Ace blurt a tremble of a chuckle, shook his head and volleyed her an apologetic look, and as his equally as trembling hands did everything they could to grip her slippery skin, he was successful in pulling her tighter to his lap, ultimately deepening their connection. She huffed a silent noise of surprise and clawed Ace's shoulders, just barely, as a result.

"I-If I would've known this experience would be this incredible..." Ace panted, he tried so desperately to get words out, he long blinked his wet, dark blue lashes in a draw of enchanted confusion, and just as his wet lips gaped to continue speaking, Libby shook her head and gave him a sassy look of rising dominance.

"I already spilled my regrets and made my apologies," Libby volleyed with the glistening look of rising maturity to her skin, her words slick with insinuation, though coy and kind enough to make Ace's shoulders sag with the rising anticipation.

"You win," Ace whispered, though he grimaced a small noise as Libby adjusted her knees, amidst her wide straddle over Ace's lap, though as she jostled their tight connection, Ace grappled her hips and nervously looked down to it.

As if sat in a dream, he glossed his eyes up Libby's gorgeous bare body, and once he sank his hazel orbs straight into her quivering line of sight, he tensed his back and legs in a draw of desperation and squeezed Libby's skin. As if he so badly wanted to have the control here, he knew to leave it solely up to Libby, though he showed his playful impatience in a droop of his heaving chest, he sunk his wet back to the glass of the shower and let his skull thud against the wall, once more, though with such a show of continued defeat, Libby finally gripped Ace's shoulders for support and knew it was now the time to get just what she wanted. As she arched her back in a reel of readiness, she felt her face get hot with the look of surprise that radiated from Ace's whole being. As their connection barely drew out in a pull of tight separation, Libby grit her teeth and sat up a little straighter.

Ace coughed a silent noise of stunned surprise as she solidly sat back into his lap, and as if Ace could hardly believe it, she continued on in the recoil of easing into it all. His trembling hands did everything to keep her steady and straight, though he also knew he was desperate to let them wander about her wet, glossy skin. In an overflow of encouraging touch, he allowed his larger fingers and palms to feel every single inch of her back, the muscles that worked hard to move her up and down with ease, and with each and every single return, she dared to allow their throw around to become a bit more vigorous. Ace bit his lip in contemplation and could practically hear that louder voice, in the back of her throat, so desperately want to come out in a whole show of just how much he could please her, and in the heat of everything under her control, he dared to show her a bit of flaunted attitude.

In the action of it all, Ace so slowly allowed their coding to mix in a patient rise of a golden exterior swap. Just as Libby continued on in her own speed and motion, Ace bit his lip and inhaled a shaky breath as she sat up. Upon arching her back to come back down, Ace dug his fingers tight to her hip bones and brought her back down a little bit quicker and harder than prior, and as if he had just struck gold, he felt his pupils tighten with the stunned gasp that Libby loudly sucked in. He peeled his eyes open in a jolt, cocked an eyebrow and peered up to her just in time to see her gaping, wet mouth loudly emit a surprised moan to the ceiling, her head lulled back in a toss of grimaced surprise, and with this fervor suddenly set upon them, Ace only allowed himself to sit in a vat of comfort for so long, as he peered up to her for a few seconds. With flared, golden honeycombs and circuits that swirled their skin with the rise of emotion, Ace's sweet, hazel eyes glossed with the enchantment they had set upon themselves, he felt as if he was finally able to give her every single last ounce of love he had for her. Just as her chest cavity collapsed with the release of her voice to the room, she sagged in a show of sinking dominance, something of which Ace immediately cued to.

With this switch up, Ace finally straightened his spine, gripped Libby's hips and rear and was fully aware he had a duty here, to fulfill. As his stronger upper body now was gently pushed to her center and chest, he dug his face into her neck and lifted her body off of him, just barely, though with the same force as prior, he tugged her back down to him and gaped a hot exhale into her throat. The sound of her trembling moans to the ceiling, the feeling of her wet arms that now urgently clamped about his neck, Ace gently scoot his rear to the edge of the bench they were on and wanted nothing more than to hear her yells, just how stunned he made her, so much energy she had pent up inside her just itching to get out, no matter how. As her wet breasts glossed his chest, he grimaced in the tight squeeze her little body had on his, and as he went against the loving force, he pulled Libby tight into his lap and cocked an eyebrow as that sweet sound emit from her lungs, once more.

Libby heaved a breath she so desperately tried to catch as her shaking hands did everything to hold the back of Ace's head. The feeling of his body sinking deeper and deeper into their connection, his caring, gentlemanly hands firm all over her glossy skin, she nearly felt dizzy with the build up of everything, and just as she was about to let herself go crazy and hand every single last thing over to him, she furrowed her eyebrows in rising concern and tucked her face to the side of Ace's wet hair. As their speed and routine continued at a nice pace, she nearly felt as if he was now here to dig every last worry out of her, the draw of his trembling, slippery hands down her lower back, the action of cupping her rear for added mobility to their actions, Libby grappled his hair and was certain pleasure was the hugest understatement of this act.

With the stir of Ace's strong, masculine wet body right within her grip, and then some, she loudly let her lungs proclaim just how incredible she felt in the form of desperately attempting to catch her breath. She urgently called his name in a draw of sloping, delirious knowing that very shyly ended with a gape of a wet smile, she knew Ace was gladly eating up every single last breath that fell from her quivering mouth. The show of Ace's muscles flexing in the act of it all, the sexy veins on his arms and jugular that bulged with the energy his body so easily supplied him, Libby knew her stomach harbored a lot more than just butterflies, because of it. She narrowed her dizzy gaze that glossed the glass wall behind Ace, his confident demeanor was so quickly winning her over, she wondered just what he had up his sleeve - she knew it certainly wasn't an ace, any longer.

Ace peaked his gap-toothed smile into her sternum and methodically planted firm kisses as she came up and down. He jostled his legs on the balls of his feet in growing anticipation, the curl of his toes, the feel of her wet thighs that did anything and everything to keep gripped to him, he finally closed his eyes and sagged his head firm into her shoulder as he urgently continued to rock her world. With the bounce of her wet body on his, the feel of her shaking, clawing fingers that absent mindedly would switch from gripping his ears to his hair and every grapple of skin on the back of his neck that she could get her strong hands on, Ace quickly realized she was well on her way to exploding with purpose. With this notion that floated through his head, he knew she already was extremely pent up, as it was, due to their confusing escapades these past few weeks. Just like clockwork, their swirling, golden exterior swap kept the two tight in the loop of the other person's emotions, Libby coughed a gasp of an inhale and felt her meek voice shake from her writhing figure.

"Ace, I'm..." Libby staggered, though with the way her voice held a lilt of concern, she wasn't simply telling him so he could up his antics and make the ride a bit wilder, her glossed eyes trailed down to his in whole, delirious apprehension, she continued on in high pitched nervousness as she desperately stifled a moan, "Gunna-...!"

"Just go for it," Ace's deep voice glossed up her throat, he gave her his twinkling, anticipatory eye contact and panted on her jaw. He finally huffed a small chuckle of a breath and asserted the utmost care to her, a gloss of protection he knew he owed her for everything she's done for him. He pushed closer to her ear and gingerly tugged her down to him, yet again, and as she trembled a shaky, silent moan over his shoulder, he continued on in a deep, seductive whisper, "I'll take care of the rest..."

Just as Libby had the thought to potentially argue him, she heaved a loud sigh of defeat and sagged deep into his tight, protective embrace, and as her arms draped his neck and shoulders, he blurt a small, understanding chuckle into her skin and pushed a few firm kisses to her hot, wet skin. Libby shut her eyes tight and allowed the steady, quick motion to continue on and pick up, and as she could feel her coding swirl about in an unsettled manner, she knew it was coming time to give it all up, to hand it over to Ace, for him to care for it and cherish it, to trust that he would do so, without fail, like he had always so diligently promised. She let a bashful, excited smile sprawl her blushed face as the two continued to move, though with the feeling of the sweet nothings Ace continued to whisper into her ear and onto her wet skin, she felt as if her heart was about to explode.

As Ace's loving arms and hands continued to slowly slide up and down Libby's back with rising care, he knew to set aside any daring or teasing notions, for the time being, and now cater to this incredible woman he was aware he was just about to fully receive. As Libby adjusted her sitting position on him and sunk deeper into his chest, Ace's positioning sagged back to his previous spot of his back pushed to the glass. He knew she likely needed some room to move how she needed, though with this, she hovered tight over him and bashfully buried her face into the top of Ace's head. She whimpered a nervous noise, as if to silently beg him to make it so this connection would go smoothly. Libby knew, as a User, that Ace had the ability to make literally anything possible, though she also knew this was their first rodeo, and the both of them were flying blind. Libby ran with his confident demeanor and knew, no matter what, he'd do anything and everything to make it so she came out of the other side of this safe and sound.

As his confident, sweet words of encouragement only riled her further, the bounce of her body on his becoming more and more desperate, Ace dug his hands into her waist and quickly helped her move. He long blinked in delirious shock and tried so hard to keep his attention at the forefront of Libby's escalating notions, for he knew he'd need to graciously receive her without any complications to their coding, without the equal swap; he knew she deserved the spotlight, and the time to give over his User coding was simply right around the bend. He tilted his head up as she threw her head back and urgently called his name. He bit his lip in a widening smile, sagged his throat and adam's apple to the center of her sternum and sank his chin gently into the hollow of her throat, between both of her collar bones. Their bodies quickly came together, the gloss of the water helped with the slick lubrication, and as Libby's little hands suddenly clawed at Ace's shoulder, Ace inhaled a readied breath and knew now was the time to take action.

As the glass walls nearly rattled with the urgent calls of his mate, he grimaced a few, louder encouraging words and sunk his hand in between the both of them. With skill he wasn't sure would even come to him, he allowed only his large thumb to flare with their golden, exterior, honeycomb coding, and as he gingerly pushed said flare into her groin, above their bulging connection, he flinched in whole surprise as Libby jumped, gripped the tops of Ace's shoulders in a reel of whole shock and sagged deeper into his body. He choked a small chuckle of surprise, and as he wrinkled the pressure of his coded thumb deeper into the mess, she grit her teeth and loudly complained about just how wonderful it all felt. Just before Ace was certain he was going to pass out from the amount of everything glossed over him, all at once, he inhaled a readied breath and braced himself for the impact of new, fresh coding added to his. With the spill of her cries to the ceiling and the urgency in both of their movements, her body finally did anything and everything it could to flare her sacred, interior coding, just for him.

Ace scrunched his face tight in anticipation, though just as it hit him, head on, he coughed a noise of shock, stiffened his spine and gaped as the new sensations suddenly coat his soul. He urgently and loudly panted into Libby's throat as she squirmed and let her sweet, boastful yells tell the whole entire world just how much she loved the boy she was currently in cahoots with, and with the rush of everything that Ace knew about Libby, a million more files of knowledge was suddenly added to his mainframe. With this incredible bout of information thrown his way, he knew to counter the poor side effects that came with their kind of swap, and with greater ease than he thought, his incredible coding so gratefully welcomed hers, as if his coding was just a universal, neutral ground of easy give and receive.

Ace tried to unboggle his gaze on her honeycomb riddled skin, and as her electric yellow coding finally meshed with his silver circuits, he trembled under the cool effects it had on the undersides of his skin, as if being sat in water so scalding that it felt cold at first, he flinched with the reeling waves that continued to melt right over him. With the tension that hung in a frozen high, he gripped his arms tight about Libby's body and held her so close. As her trembling body began to lose the stiff agitation she was riled in, for the past hot minute, Ace tenderly cradled her into his chest and support her. The two loudly panted into each other's shoulders, though as Ace was sat in the overflow of his mate's coding, he suddenly felt a great deal of further neediness, on her end of the code pool. He firmly rubbed her back and allowed the two to sit for a second of clarity.

Libby's trembling hands sagged in between their chests, and as she burrowed into him for figurative safety, she felt wholly and delightfully drained. Having suddenly shared her coding with Ace, and not receiving any of his User coding, just yet, she felt as if she was just so easily glossed in whole exhaustion. Her trembling arms tried their hardest to hug Ace's chest in a needy fashion of desperation, and although Ace was now sitting on cloud nine, coat in Libby's coding once and for all, the two knew they would need to complete the rest of the deed soon, in order to officially solidify said consummation. With the few moments of tender, surprised words volleyed to one another, Ace lovingly rubbed her back, straightened Libby's white hair out and tucked it firmly behind her ear. As he pushed a few solid smooches into the side of her tired, blushed, glowing face, he wrinkled her a smile and tensed his body to prepare to stand with her tight in his grip; he knew completing the rest of this deed would now be better suited in the ocean of warm, soft blankets his large bed provided.

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 **A/N :** **I drew both SAFE and NSFW versions of fanart, for this chapter - The safe version is titled 'Finally' on my deviantART. Nothing is showing, except a little side-boob. The uncensored one, which shows literally almost everything, is a little ways down, on my NSFW Tumblr account, Vyngasmic ;)**

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 *****HURRICANE IRMA INFO*****

As many of you know, I live right on the Georgia/Florida border, practically in Florida's capital, Tallahassee. Since hurricane Irma is headed here, shortly, I'm not certain I'll be able to upload chapters/work on the sketch dump for a hot minute. I'm far enough inland that I'm certain the worst we'll get is heavy rain and power outages. I'll still be able to write on my phone, and maybe upload if possible, cause we have solar chargers, but this may be the first time that parts of the sketch dump will be traditionally done, in a sketchbook LOL! If the power goes, and stays out, and I can't draw on my computer, then I'll have to take to my sketchbook for the sketchdump. I hope you all will be alright with that. I have about 1/4th of the sketch dump done, as it stands, digitally.

I'm positive I'll be safe. If it gets so bad that we need to evacuate, which I doubt, we definitely will not be those that just sit and wait it out. I'll be quick to throw my computer and other valuables in the car and haul ass lol.

So yeah - just so everyone is aware what's going on. We'll be fine! Good vibes/prayers sent our way, as well as for the entire state of beautiful Florida, would be much appreciated!


	203. Chapter 203

**Reviews :**

 **ArchDev :** Oh, you mean Rancis? Yeah I think everyone assumed I forgot about him xD

 **WildVirus :** YAY Thank you! And yes, it was a nasty hurricane, that's for sure.

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** OH YAY! I'm really proud of you, you made it all the way through! :D THANK YOU! And I'm really glad you liked the development, I appreciate your support on that!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! :D I hope you're safe, friend. I got your message, but I'm not positive mine went through!

 **WildRebel93 :** Wow, thank you so much! There's something about big dudes that I love making all tender and gentle. The irony is what gets me. I think that's why I was so incredibly drawn to this series; Ace is no exception of this! I really appreciate that! And yes, Irma was terrible. We're okay, our power is up and running so I'm counting my blessings. Hope you guys are all doing alright, on the West! :( That's originally where I'm from.

 **Xaehttium :** YAY THANK YOU! Yes you have! I'm really thankful for all your kind words and support, I'm glad it all paid off, that's all I wanted!

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 **A/N : (this is copied from my latest DeviantART journal)**

Hey guys! As many of my readers know, due to the author's note at the end of my last chapter, my area was directly hit by hurricane Irma. We are about 30 miles North of Tallahassee, so we were only really hit with about a category 1/heavy tropical storm. We lost power for about 12 hours, but I am floored that it is all up and running now, and the storm has made it's way North. We are safe! Our streets and parking lot got trashed with branches and such, and the winds took a few shingles off of our roof, but other than that, we're a-okay. Thank God - We were prepared to not have power for at least a week. Better safe than sorry...

SO, what this means, is I can finally finish my next chapter (the second part of Ace's and Libby's swap scene) and I've got a sketch dump to finish! My work has been closed since last Thursday, and will reopen Wednesday, so I have an extended weekend... Even if it was because of this monster storm. For my first hurricane experience, I'd say I did alright.

I have a friend in Tampa, a friend in Orlando and a good family friend in Melbourne, FL, and those areas definitely got Cat3-4 hurricanes... If you could just keep my friends in your thoughts and prayers, as well as everyone suffering through natural disasters all over our planet, that'd be awesome. We got lucky with just simply high winds and some debris tossed around... Others are currently wondering the state of their home, upon their return, and I'm 100% positive that is a devastating feeling My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone hit with this incredible storm.

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Marvin Gaye by Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor**

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 ***Chapter 203***

In a slow, teasing saunter, Ace successfully kept Libby tight in his grip. With their connection still solid, and Libby's lithe, long legs wrapped tight about Ace's upper hips, his eyes peered down to her in a smirk of delighted knowing. She winced in a giggle as he gently sagged her back into his bathroom door, swung it open in a push and stumbled out to his main room. Libby heaved a shaky sigh of a noise, wrapped her arms about Ace's neck and nestled her face into the side of his jaw. As he lovingly pushed a few firm kisses into the side of her sweaty face, he gingerly adjusted his grip about her rear and the backs of her thighs. Once they were in the fresh, crisp and cool air outside of the bathroom, he slowly moved towards his bed, both of them eager to finish this mess, once and for all. As their surroundings became broader, as well as their senses, the sound of hard rain could be heard splattering the windows all about.

"Ohh, yay, it's raining," Libby cooed with a lilt of a giggle, though Ace furrowed his brow and looked off in the strides he took to get to his billowy, comfy bed.

"Damn, that NEVER happens in Dead Zed," Ace eased in boyish sarcasm, he was nearly beside himself with just how sassy he could feel his humor becoming, something he very quickly obtained from Libby's coding. He briefly relished in the thought, though he coughed a hard laugh as Libby's firm hand suddenly swat at his shoulder in retaliation to his snide sarcasm, of which she blessed him with. He sagged his chest in defense and knew trying to get away from Libby, in the position they were currently in, was impossible. He loudly laughed in a stumbling mess as he endured a few more solid swats, to his wet skin, Libby's tight-lipped look of whole, playful annoyance was beyond convincing, "I-I'm sorry, forgive me!"

"No shower of forgiveness will save you now!" Libby barked as the two loudly laughed with each other, though as Ace finally brought his footing to correction, he gingerly hoisted Libby tighter into his grip, which caused her to jostle and deepen their connection; upon doing so, she inhaled a sharp gasp and exhaled a shaky, silent moan of surprise.

"Ohhh, I'm sorry, was my retaliation a little bit too much for you?" Ace mumbled in teasing dullness as he finally came upon his messy bed, white sheets and blankets strewn about in poofy comfort one could so easily get lost in.

"No," Libby stabbed with a giggle of defeat, though as Ace lovingly sagged her back up against his large pillows, into the headboard, his knees dug into the bed as he kept tight to her, to keep their connection, "...Ohhh, who am I kidding."

"Not me," Ace blurt with a small laugh, which cued Libby as well, and as the two stirred, Libby's small chest cavity trembled an exhale of exhilarated anticipation.

As Ace situated himself and kept their positioning at a tight, readied depth, her nervous hands gripped his upper arms and the muscles that bulged. She felt extremely vulnerable in the fact that she had swapped her coding with his, though hadn't received any of his in return, just yet. The way her coding swirled about in nervous confusion, as if it was wondering just where half of it went and just when it'd be replenished, she sagged into Ace's comfortable bedding and gave him her nervous, twinkling eyes once more. She was thrilled Ace kept so tight to her emotions in a boastful show of flawless intuition, because once her raw expression sloped from their teasing air to a droop of shaky anticipation, he gingerly slumped his shoulders, tilted his head and leaned a little closer, a show of continued protection he vowed he'd forever keep over her.

"Ace, y-you... I-I... Can you-"

"You want to know what it feels like?" Ace softly rushed to complete her thought for her, and with such, she eagerly nodded. Ace huffed a trembling breath and shook his head, "It's indescribable. I can't even begin to tell you how close that bond is... And, guess what?"

"What," Libby breathed as she finally let a bashful smile sprawl her face.

"No more of those tiring Teltokuan lesson," Ace stated in fluent Teltokuan of the very first time, with the accent nailed, and with such, Libby's face turned beet red in girly, exhilarated surprise.

"You're fluent," Libby coughed in rising excitement as she gripped his skin, and as his bashful smile of raw humility shone down on her, she was certain there wasn't anything else he could do to make it so he was any more attractive than he already was; until now. With such knowledge, she wondered if they could just simply carry on in her native language, for the rest of their shenanigans.

"Am I ready for my tattoo yet?" Ace blurt with a chuckle, he narrowed his gaze and was wholly surprised with just how easy the language came to him, as if he had simply known it his whole life, though with his question, he felt his stomach knot at the floored look of surprise Libby volleyed him.

"Uh, well..." Libby coyly looked away and almost looked too shy to answer, and though Ace was previously settling into their positioning, he froze and bashfully peered to her.

"Not something that happens?" Ace frowned, his deep voice, in her native language, coat her whole entire soul with comfort and that kiss of familiarity she knew was just about to drive her wild. Her red cheeks crowned a wide smile upon her face, and as she so lovingly cupped his jaws, she scrunched her bare shoulders and giggled.

"Men earn their tattoos upon hearing the news that their wife is with child," Libby's voice glossed over his in tender loving care, and with such, Ace's eyebrows raised in tight surprise as his face was suddenly flood with a hard blush, as well, "Men get one tattoo per child."

"O-Oh, wow," Ace choked, the two immediately burst into uncertain laughter, "We uh... W-We should probably master this act first, then, huh."

"Yeah, can your tattoos wait for a hot minute?" Libby giggled, which caused Ace's laughter to increase, as well as a hard blush; he nodded in whole agreeing.

"As long as I earn one eventually," Ace stated with an eternal amount of warmth as he sagged his presence deeper into Libby's, and as his loving kisses trailed to her little shoulder, Libby cocked an eyebrow and looked off in delirious surprise, with the sheer starkness of his insinuation. Ace smiled and could feel her surprised demeanor practically melting deeper into his grip, "Maybe... two?"

"Can the world handle more than two Users, Ace?" Libby staggered through a shaky giggle as he adjusted his knees, which caused their connection to gently tug a bit.

"I don't know, let's start with you and go from there, what-do-yah say?" Ace asked in tender wondering as his eyes finally met hers, and as if she couldn't wipe the smile from her face if she tried, she inhaled a readied breath and confidently nodded, a way of politely giving Ace the go-ahead, once again.

"Just do me a favor and don't leave me in the dark," Libby rushed as Ace's larger body hovered over hers, he inhaled a deep, readied breath and braced himself for their continued act.

"Aw, you don't want it to be a surprise?" Ace joked as gently as he could, he nestled his face into the nook of her neck and so lovingly trailed firm, eager kisses to her damp skin.

"I mean, unless you want my first real test as a User to include a sudden rearranging of your face," Libby choked with a hard laugh, and though Ace joined in on said laughter, he gently and slowly shoved his hips deep into hers, causing her giggling to sharply cut short in an interrupted gasp of surprise.

"I trust you won't do anything rash," Ace's handsome eyes glossed her trembling orbs, the soft exhale of a silent moan on her wet mouth, she sagged into his dominant presence and allowed her little hands to feel the muscles on his large arms.

"I won't let you down," Libby eased above a whisper, and with the gentle curl of her lips into a dewy, nervous smile, Ace lulled his eyes closed and softly shoved his wet forehead into hers.

With a gentle arch of his hips, Ace drove deep into their connection and felt a shockwave of knowing slam straight into his coding. The raw fact that Libby was now solidly pushed against a surface, the lack of give on her end, the ease he had of movement, as opposed to their spot in the shower, he choked a nervous gasp as he suddenly was blessed with the upward arch of Libby's trembling, wet body. He almost apologetically peered to her, for exactly what, he was uncertain, though the way her eyes bashfully fluttered closed, the shaky exhale of his name on her lips, the way her cute shoulders did everything they could to prop herself up, though failed and continued to just sag into Ace's bedding, he gave her a knowing smirk and was well aware he had this little game of tug of war in the bag.

As Ace's movements continued on, solid and strong, Libby could feel herself just continuing to succumb to his coding's requests, the show of whole dominance and persistence, Libby was well aware her little body had already exhausted it's defense, and she was now at the mercy of this formidable beast she had promised her life to. With each thrust, Ace snug himself deeper and tighter into her whole embrace of arms and legs, and with the spread of their connection, the grappling anxiousness that radiated from her soul, the vigorous curl of her toes as her legs did anything and everything to slowly come around Ace's lower hips, she urgently gasped his name, aloud to his ceiling and bed's canopy. As Libby's arms came tight about Ace's neck and shoulders, her fingers began to claw his skin; she grimaced in very rapidly rising pleasure, she was almost certain each dig into her soul was just more and more of her energy being driven out of her.

Ace nervously bit his lip and wondered, from here, if picking up speed was alright. He gently dug a little deeper and wondered just where her limit was, though the second her excited, gasping cries quickly turned to a sharp yelp, he reeled back a little and felt his face turn bright red. He peered down to her apologetically, and although she gave him a kind look of nervous bashfulness, her little hands pushed to his strong shoulders, to very lovingly remind him that he was likely way too blessed for his own good. He huffed a shaky, apologetic chuckle and nodded, and in the cute, uneducated mess the two were writhing in, they softly bumped skulls. Both beings blurt out into soft, shy laughter, though Ace knew stopping and becoming riddled with bashfulness was something his coding was beginning to warn him against. Through collected sighs, and gentle smiles of forgiveness volleyed back and forth, Ace readjusted his knees and let his chest expel a trembling breath of readiness.

With the adjustment of just the depth Ace was allowed, he gently continued on, the firm digs into his mate, the way her excitable voice so sweetly called his name, he was absolutely certain his eyes were just glossed with enchantment, the magic the two had finally set upon themselves. With such cries, Ace bit his lip and snuggled himself further into her warmth, the way her legs held a tight, unmoving grip around his hips and rear, her arms and hands held tight in an embrace around his neck and head, he closed his eyes and imagined just what Heaven would feel and look like. As he peeked his eyes open amidst the trembling, hot gapes of sighs and the trade of whispered breaths to each other, he was eternally certain whatever version of Heaven he could envision pure perfection, it was this moment in time he was currently in, this exact point on the grid. Ace grimaced, he gave her a look of sheer gratitude, and as her lips, yet again, begged his name, he lovingly met her mouth with his.

With the whirl of all senses heightened, the sound of his bed croaking underneath their shenanigans, the feel of their hot breath mixing, sharp exhales through their noses as their gaping kiss broke and met in continuous give and take, Libby's little hands did anything and everything to grapple the hair on the back of Ace's skull. She finally threw her head back with a gape as his arches dared to go only a tiny bit deeper, though with her go ahead, she bit her lip and was well aware she was asking for trouble, at this point. Ace smiled down at her gorgeous body and eagerly let his wet mouth trail hot, gaping kisses along her throat, and as he dared to move a little harder, with each thrust, he could feel his incredible coding flare unlike anything he had ever felt before. He furrowed his eyebrows tight into his closed eyes and felt that now, at this point and time, slowing down and really thinking through this amazing act even more was definitely something that would end him, right here and now. He pushed on through the tight squeeze, the way Libby's now hoarse voice yelled for his anything and everything, he was totally sure his heart was now on the path to exploding.

Ace relished in the feel of her wet body simply squirming underneath his, the plea of her cute voice just begging for him to never let up, the raw fact that the two had abstained for so long without any form of release, he knew they were bound to go out with a bang, no matter what. With such thoughts, Ace could feel his mind wander, and although he was aware his body was giving him all kinds of polite warning signs, he wondered just what would happen if he upped the ante this late into the game. In gentle, fumbling movement, an acknowledgement that he was now beyond the point of no return, he leaned away a tiny bit, grappled Libby's left thigh and so gently lifted it so that her knee was now bent to her chest. With the tighter positioning, Libby arched her back in writhing surprise, grappled the skin on Ace's shoulder and gave him a coy look of delirious surprise, as if to simply say that he was absolutely crazy. With Ace's gentle bob of a nod, surely agreeing with his mate, the two blurt into shaky laughter, as if to simply be aware of the fact that anything beyond their normal positioning was code-bomb suicide, due to just how pent up they were; both beings were well aware this act wasn't something that was going to last much longer.

With continued persistence and a deeper, more frenzied movement on Ace's end, Libby could swear that she could hear Ace's thudding, racing heart beat. With the now tighter squeeze set upon the two, Ace pushed on and dug vigorously into her body, and with the way the sheets now were beginning to pull from the corners of his mattress, Libby was now positive that if his coding didn't replenish hers within the next minute or so, she'd likely pass out from sheer exhaustion. With all of the amazing feelings that crawled over her, she knew playfully resisting, attempting to crawl on top, any form of exertion was something she simply couldn't afford, and as Ace's powerful body continued to near-ravage hers, she laid at his mercy and was wholly thrilled he was well on his way to giving everything up to her. She heaved a shaky, tired moan from the back of her throat and lulled her head back in total defeat, and as she gently lulled her head back and forth, she grimaced a cute, near-bewildered smile and shakily continued to encourage him through gentle quips of begging, coy remarks.

Ace urgently peered down to her gorgeous bare body, the way she so willingly trusted him with literally everything she was, the rushing feeling of her coding pounding in his veins, he felt a strange sensation of dizziness set upon him. Ace grappled his large hand into the nook of the back of her knee and kept their position tight, the way their bodies urgently writhed in recoils of sweaty skin and heaving chests, he felt every ounce of his coding now angrily warn him that the transfer was upon them, and with this rising, boiling feeling, he urgently stabbed his bashfully scared eye contact to Libby's. He knew no amount of the dregs of fear and uncertainty could stop him now, though he knew he had to at least somehow wordlessly express to Libby that the time was now, a loud, shaky tremble of a nervous moan to insinuate that he was about to entrust her with literally everything he was, everything the Arcade was made up of. As her adorable, dewy eyes peered up to him in a delirious show of understanding, the beautiful little smile that graced her face, she nodded and let her encouraging hands lovingly cup his jaws in her shaking hands.

As their movements grew quicker, clumsier and a whole slew more urgent, Ace grit his teeth and felt all the same exact symptoms, he was so graciously warned about, hit his skin head on. He choked a noise of uncertainty as everything inside him flared, the way his original silver coding peeked out from underneath Libby's yellow honeycombs, his skin was fiercely riddled with the blinding light of his incredible circuitry. He gently let Libby's tucked leg sag back to normality, and as he hovered over Libby's body, which was comfortably sagged into his billowy blankets, he support his arm to his headrest and let his body just continue to do what it needed to do, from here on out. With the feeling of their coding finally wanting to mix, for good, he rushed to take a few nervous, panting inhales, and as soon as he could feel as if his spine was now simply a live wire soaked in cold water, he finally sagged his hand to the top and back of Libby's little head, a kind way of bracing her for impact. As their connection dug down to the very base of it all, the squirm of the climax of this mess, Ace grit his teeth and finally let go of his worries. As his hot, incredible silver coding flared all over his limbs, back and skin, he choked a loud noise of surprise and shut his eyes tight with the sudden pop of his unprotected, raw coding.

Libby sat in a gentle moment of just allowing everything to hit her head on, though the second her needy, expelled coding was very rapidly rushed with his, she jolted her eyes open in hot surprise and ached her back with the sudden, searing coat of molten heat. She bugged her eyes, grit her teeth and huffed a shaky noise of surprised uncertainty, and as everything Ace was made of coat her entire existence, she heavily panted, glossed her delirious gaze into the nook of Ace's neck and felt as if she honestly had no clue just what love felt like until this very moment. As if the energy of a million suns had suddenly coat her whole existence with the promise of camaraderie, that kiss of romance and the certainty of power, she finally felt her whole body begin to melt into this new body she felt she had gained. As every single last one of her honeycombs practically flailed with the onslaught of indestructible coding, she shook underneath Ace's now exhausted, strong body. The two sat in hot, surprised silence as everything about them seemed to just brighten, every sense of theirs was beyond heightened, as if every single issue the Arcade had to throw at them was now something they could tackle in a second flat.

With hot, relieved breaths of certainty now expelled firmly into each other's faces, Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered down to her beyond thrilled figure, though he began to feel his insides clench in rapidly billowing uncertainty. Libby sat rigid in cold shock, her eyes peered to his in near-terror, though as Ace lovingly held his hand to the top and back of her head, he felt an insane amount of relief crawl over his skin with the sheer fact that she simply needed a minute. Both beings still continued to heave gasps for air, their bodies still remained tightly snug to one another, and before Ace could open his mouth to speak, rush to aid her worries, she finally heaved a shaky giggle and began to relax her trembling shoulders. She gave him a nervous, plucked look of near glowing surprise, she shook her head and felt every single last inch of her skin come alive with an ungodly amount of power. With just how much intensity Ace had handed over to her, she felt her limbs tingle with mild numbness; nonetheless, she huffed a final breath of clarity to her mate.

"Wow," Libby whispered through her trembling wet lips, and with her release of normality still clung tight to her being, Ace relaxed a little and allowed his gap-toothed grin to smile down into her adoring eyes. The two shared gentle laughs, the reeling intensity of continuously feeling blown away, Libby swallowed hard and continued to attempt to catch her breath through her words, "You weren't kidding."

"How do you feel?" Ace prod nervously as Libby's chest continued to heave, she gave him a nervous look of dewy, innocent intuition and looked as if she didn't dare move a muscle.

"... I-I feel as if even blinking is going to somehow end badly," Libby blurt with a giggle, and in this raw instance, Ace suddenly began to feel extraordinarily fascinated.

"Should you... Stand? Take it real slow?" Ace prod as beads of sweat crowned their forehead in a job well done, though Libby bugged her eyes and shook her head.

"No, no, I-I'll... I feel as though I'll fall through the floor or something," Libby rushed through a hard giggle of rising nervousness, though Ace shivered in the aftermath of their love making and continued to remain deep inside her trembling body.

"I wish I could tell you how to quell that feeling, but... I-I was born with all these powers," Ace mumbled sorrowfully as he lovingly brushed some hair out of Libby's face, though as the two met eyes, they soaked into a fit of quiet, knowing laughter, their noses brushed as their voices softened amidst their tight bubble of never-ending romance, "We did it..."

"I can't believe it," Libby staggered in a whisper as Ace caught her in a few smooches, their solid connection, their fully swapped codes, everything about this moment enraptured the two in a cloud of magic.

"Welcome to the User club," Ace blurt as their laughter grew, "It's just you and me, so, uh... We call the shots."

"I-I'm... Genuinely terrified to leave this room, Ace," Libby staggered in now rising apprehension, though Ace looked as if he was going to begin sitting up and removing himself from his mate; he jolted to a stop as Libby grappled him, "N-No, I don't think we should even leave the bed."

"... Well, I'm not going to complain, on any of those requests," Ace muttered with a knowing smirk, though he coughed a small laugh as Libby gently swat his shoulder. He heaved a shaky sigh and slowly arched his body, to begin removing himself, "C'mon... Let's at least get you acclimated. Better to get used to your new powers sooner than later."

"O-Okay we just... REALLY need to take it slow," Libby near-begged, though she grimaced in a soft moan as Ace so softly removed himself from her, once and for all, and sat back on his legs.

"Babe, that's about the fourth time you've requested that of me, in our relationship," Ace blurt a chuckle, though he got off of his bed, cleaned himself up and turned back to begin aiding Libby. She sat up, hugged the blankets to her bare body and peered to him with dewy innocence; the ruffle of her messy, wet hair had his heart near climbing into his throat. He choked a small chuckle and just marveled at the sight of her beauty, he held his hand out and patiently cued to her, "Have I ever failed you?"

Libby softly reached her hand to his and sagged her small fingers into his massive palm, and once the two were gripped, she nervously smiled into his eyes as he just barely flared their fully conjoined, swapped coding. He tilted his head for emphasis and kept his forgiving gaze glued to hers, and although he could feel his knees shaking at the sheer power of the aftermath of their drama, he held strong and solid for her, for he knew she needed his support in this weird and foreign time.

"Never," Libby eased kindly.

* * *

"Remember that one time you gave me a black eye?" Taffyta barked to Rancis, though as everyone drew their incredulous gaze to him, he sunk into himself and felt his face heat up, "Wrecking Limits, what chapter, uhh..."

"It was an ACCIDENT," Rancis loudly plead as everyone was thrown into a fit of laughter, "Like hell I'd actually purposefully give you a black eye, Taff, what the hell!"

"Back for one day and already she's labelling you the castle bad guy," Zed muttered with great cheek as he long glanced to Tessa and back to Rancis.

"I'm sure a few baddies here have a bone to pick with me, anyhow," Rancis sighed through a hot breath and shook his head, "May I remind you, I beat you at racing, for once, I threw my hand up in excitement and you were standing too close!"

"There are witnesses, Taff," Vanellope playfully muttered; Nox, Penny, Orph, Koko and Oliver all loudly laughed as the group remained tightly relaxed at the kitchen island.

"Still sucked," Taffyta slumped her chin into her hand and gave Rancis a playful smirk, he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Who was there to help you feel better? OH uh, yeah... Me," Rancis pointed to himself and gave her a snide smile.

"Be nice to him, Taff, he's only just returned," Vanellope laughed, as did everyone else, though the second Taffyta straightened her spine and looked as if she was going to playfully retaliate, every single last bit of light and power, in the entire castle, began to drum with excitement, and as the lights suddenly grew to a near-blinding intensity, a sudden crackling surge of electricity caused every bulb to explode in the burn out, leaving the entire castle with no power whatsoever. Everything that once had power loudly hummed to a downward drone of losing every pixel of it.

"... UH," Nox loudly muttered after a handful of seconds of scared, frozen silence; everyone nervously averted their direction to Tessa and Zed, who urgently began to prod at their communicators.

"What the hell was that!" Oliver exclaimed nervously as everyone anxiously looked around, though they largely flinched as Zed opened his live-wired palm and held it to the kitchen island.

"I can't tab into the code room," Zed urged in strict apprehension, though as his silver coding only did it's best to sprawl the counter top, he couldn't at all convince the castle, or code room, to give energy back to their home.

"Does... The castle lose power often?" Rancis worried as Vanellope now stiffened her spine and looked as if she was maybe needed to help, though the second Tessa let out a hot gasp of knowing surprise, she shoved her face into her palm and grimaced through a hard bout of laughter.

"Well, I'm glad YOU find this funny!" Taffyta barked, which caused Koko and Oliver to loudly laugh.

"Guys... Where are Ace and Libby?" Tessa muttered, as if she definitely knew the answer, though she wanted to hear it from others.

The whole room fell dead silent, though after a hot minute of contemplation, everyone urged loud, cooing notions of riled surprise, got up from their seats and began to barrel towards the back door. As they trailed through the now dim setting, the dreary rainfall only barely letting natural light in, Nox quickly swung open the back door. Upon everyone setting their sights upon the tower, it was quickly noted that every single light in and on Ace's tower was blazing brighter than the sun. Upon this sight, everyone loudly burst out into knowing laughter, though as Tessa, Zed and Vanellope strolled up to the back of the gawking group, everyone peered their knowing smiles to the King and Queen of Dead Zed.

"User-boy called check-mate on my code room and decided now was the best time to hand his coding over," Zed barked, everyone was lost in excited laughter, "Eat it up now, son. Cause once you come down from your hideaway, I will have a bone to pick with you."

"YEAH finally!" Koko cheered in girly excitement as her and Penny began to chatter about Ace's and Libby's long-time-coming situation.

"Dude's pretty much set to rocket into outer space with all that energy," Nox waggled his hand towards his home, all brightly lit u and glowing.

"Maybe it'll die down, it'll all go back to normal," Tessa shrugged as she crossed her arms and now finally felt relieved that the two settled their differences, "The code room is having to duplicate a User... That's a lot of energy."

"So how long are WE going to be in the dark?" Nox urged in riled annoyance.

"... We don't have to be, y'know," Koko gently pointed across the trickling rain, the quiet backyard, "The tower's common room has power. Why don't we just go hang out in there?"

"Can't hurt," Oliver shrugged as everyone began to file out of the back door.


	204. Chapter 204

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey :) Cory and I are just fine! Yeah we got directly hit, but we're doing fine. Also - I actually spent MORE time on Tessa, on that piece, than I did Lickity... The amount of shading on her skin and detail of her hair nearly killed me. You might just to think it has more detail because I didn't include the sight of the patches and badges on her pants. Otherwise - trust me :/ a lot of heart and detail goes into my pieces... Also, don't worry about the thing. It wasn't you, no one else was interested anyways. You can post your sketch dump requests in a review, it's easier for me to keep track that way. Thank you!

 **Burgie :** YUM! Thank you :)

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** YES I am SO super proud of you! That's awesome! :D I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I'm also glad you caught the 4th wall break. I think I've strictly dedicated my 4th wall breaks to Taffyta. She just seems like one of the only people that can get away with it haha.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Haha don't worry! It stays light for a little bit. Only heaviness is just between Ralph/Nox, as well as Rancis/Tej - otherwise, it keeps light for a bit. I'm glad you noticed the 4th wall break :D I love slipping those in.

 **Snake557 :** Yes you did haha. Dang, the power went out that many times? That's crazy. Well I'm glad it's all good now!

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you! Yes, we're doing just fine. and YES, it does beat the heat, I'm serious. I'd rather deal with hurricanes than AZ's heat. It's brutal lol.

 **NightHex54 :** Thanks friend! And don't worry, the teasing is all in good fun/out of love!

 **Xaehttium :** Thank you! We're doing okay! And yes, the gang DEFINITELY makes sure to make a huge scene. it'll be great xD

 **JaySketchin :** Hey friend! Thanks so much, don't worry about it, I understand! And, worry not!... No one is out to get Ace LOL. Any teasing or 'threats' you see, from here on out, towards Ace, are OUT OF LOVE and IN GOOD FUN. I PROMISE \- The teasing that Zed (and EVERYONE) does, is very light hearted and warm/congratulatory. Do...Not...Worry! xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Burn Out by Plug In Stereo**

* * *

 ***Chapter 204***

"Libby," Ace grunted in gentle exasperation, he dully peered out his broad window and only felt the fleeting pinch of annoyance for a second before a smile and a chuckle finally expelled from his figure, all the lights in their love nest angrily flickered.

He rolled his eyes and peered over his shoulder from his kitchen sink, his beautiful mate poised across the way, dressed in nothing but one of Ace's large t-shirts, draped to her pink knees. With a gentle thrust of her hand, she made the few hanging lights, above Ace's dining room table, dance with the flicker of electricity. The lights in the room began to strobe, which, at this point, began to make Ace nauseous. He turned his sink off, set the few dirty dishes down and dried his hands, though the second he began to turn to wrangle his new User-friend into a loving hug, Libby accidentally made the garbage disposal, in the sink, clank about in wild aggression.

"Libby!" Ace blurt with a hard laugh as Libby finally dropped the act. Both beings were wrought with laughter, though Libby covered her mouth and let her new, sneaky User powers slip away.

"I'm sorry, this is really cool," Libby urged with innocent excitement, "So, I have electricity mastered... Tell me what else I can do."

"Mastered?" Ace huffed in a teasing air as he began to cross his room and head for her pretty figure, the nighttime air coat their existence with the feelings of cuddling up for warmth in the chilly night, long chats that included hot tea and cookies, Ace was well aware their burning, molten midday adventures would so easily melt into the romantic embers of the rest of this mini-moon of theirs. Ace ruffled his beyond messy hair and finally came upon Libby, who gave him a snide look of disbelief, "Libby, flickering every single light in the room is chaos."

"I meant to do that," Libby laughed, Ace finally was able to get his itching arms about her slender body, and as his eager hands gripped the thick shirt of his, that she was draped in, he began to place teasing kisses to her cheek and jaw. She giggled and only playfully resisted as she continued on, "Certainly there's a whole world of powers you can teach me... So...?"

"In all honesty, a lot of the drama, on my end, is the result of an adrenaline rush," Ace stated through a sorrowful sigh as he eased up on the kisses and tilted his head down to her. As Libby's gentle hands sagged to his broad bare chest, Ace slumped his shoulders and could feel despair gently hit his heart. He was well aware Libby was eager to learn, to stretch her wings and test out everything Ace was made of, and with her innocent, dewy eyes that fell to his chest in defeat, he inhaled a staggering breath and knew he had to begin dusting out the cobwebs of his coding, "Okay, alright... Let's... Sit and think for a moment. What have I accomplished in adrenaline rushes?"

"Bubbling," Libby's warm voice cued, she peered her revived eyes to his and let a small smile play across her face, "Of course, Ma taught you how to accomplish bubbling without an adrenaline rush."

"I can teach you that," Ace nodded, he gave Libby a gentle smile, "Although... You DID tell me that the first thing you wanted to do, upon User-status, was to rearrange the backyard."

"Oh YEAH!" Libby huffed excitedly as she stood on her tip toes, though Ace shook his head and gave her a curious smile.

"You'd want to start that big, babe?" Ace prod softly, though Libby sagged back to her heels and gave him a stumped look of sheepishness.

"...Likely not," Libby peeped, though she flinched as Ace warmly released her and began to head back to his kitchen.

"Here, let's start small. C'mere," Ace's soft voice cued to her as he gestured, she eagerly kept in tow. As their bare feet slapped to the tiles of his kitchenette, close in time, Ace opened his cupboards, pulled down a single glass and began to fill it with tap water. He held it up, gave Libby a kind smile and showcased her very first test subject, "We'll start with this glass of water."

"How come a glass of water?" Libby wondered as she crossed her arms and diligently watched as Ace set the clear glass on his counter, to his right.

"I needed something that was big enough to carry substance but small enough for you to practice on," Ace stated, he smiled into her eyes and began to put everything into perspective for Libby, "So... You want to move the tower away from the pool. You want it closer to Lickity's enclosure?"

"...IN the enclosure!" Libby's eyes lit up, she gasped and tucked her hand to her chest, "You think the flyers would go for that?"

"I uh... I'm not even sure," Ace fingered his lip and looked off in contemplation, "I guess Royal and Balba don't swap in the enclosure, so it's not like we'd be intruding..."

"I wonder where they go," Libby furrowed her brow as the two began to get off track, Ace squinted and vigorously shook his head in annoyance.

"I have no clue, I was brave and asked Royal once and he told me it was a secret," Ace gawked as Libby blurt a hard laugh, "What the hell does that mean!"

"It means they probably do it on the roof," Libby snorted, threw her head back, held her stomach and howled with laughter, contagious enough to cue Ace's laughter to a louder notch.

"ANYWAYS," Ace staggered as the two tried to calm their laughing, Ace wiped his eye and continued on through chuckling as he gestured to the water, "O-Okay, so... Pretend this glass of water is the tower."

"See-through," Libby stifled hard laughter, which cued the two into yet another fit.

"Stay with me, babes," Ace grunted as he adjusted his red sweats, Libby bobbed a nod and tried very hard to get rid of the giggles, "Okay... So pretend the glass is the tower, and the water is everything inside of the tower... Everything loose. This means furniture, clothes, bedding, glassware, everything in between."

"People?" Libby asked seriously, though Ace looked down in serious thought and bugged his eyes.

"Uh, well..." Ace shook his head and stammered a few words, in a flabbergasted way, "L-Let's just say it excludes people for now. So... What you need to remember as a User is... There are no rules. You can, quite literally, do anything."

"...Anything?" Libby huffed, they both caught eyes in the whirl of nervousness, though Ace bobbed a nod and gave her a defeated, sure smile.

"Sky's the limit," Ace eased, Libby cocked an eyebrow and peered to the glass.

"Sooo... What if I wanted the tower to be green?" Libby shrugged and gave Ace a girly smile, though Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered down to the glass; as their golden coding just barely swirled about the glass, Ace effortlessly turned the glass a pretty green. Libby raised her eyebrows in whole surprise and finally shot Ace an excited smile, "You weren't kidding...!"

"Since you and I are in the swap-mate business, I can trust you to keep a secret," Ace gestured to her, Libby shook her head and gave him an annoyed, knowing smile, "For the past half a year, I've been very gradually changing the shade of the castle's wallpaper."

"WHY!" Libby cried with a hard laugh that Ace immediately buckled under, both wheezed with laughter.

"It's REALLY funny to see mom get confused about it!" Ace blurt, Libby shook her head and swat at his arms a few times, he only successfully dodged one swipe.

"Poor Tessa," Libby urged, though Ace shrugged.

"It's harmless!" Ace beamed his hands, gap-toothed smile, "And fun! You should try it."

"I have dimming the lights down, changing colors to items? Geez, Ace, I don't even know how to BE a User, yet," Libby huffed as she straightened the white shirt, of Ace's she was drowning in.

"Alright, don't worry about color so much, right now," Ace wheezed the legs of laughter and wiped his eyes, once more. He caught his breath and gestured down to the still, now green glass of water, "So, what you're going to do first, before you move anything, is flatten the image."

"Flatten..." Libby prod, she furrowed her brow and gave Ace a confused frown.

"As a User, you have to get used to the idea that, not only are you inside a computer... You're in control of it," Ace gestured, and as he let his palm come alive with their golden honeycombs, he hovered over the glass until it was so riddled with coding, it flattened to a holographic 2D image. Libby raised her eyebrows in plucked surprise and watched as Ace so easily jostled the image about, in the air, all over, as if it was simply just a sheet of paper you could carry about, "See? Everything is now flattened, and the water is suspended and can't spill..."

"...I see, so you're saying I'd have to flatten the entire tower, like so, before moving it," Libby crossed her arms and peered her curious eyes to just what was Ace was doing. As he ran his hand over the glass, it came back to the counter and reanimated back to it's tangible state; the water sloshed about, "That's so everything inside the tower remains where it is, and nothing falls over or breaks."

"Exactly," Ace nodded, though much to Libby's nervousness, he gestured to the glass and gave her a kind smile, "Why don't you go ahead and try it."

"I-I'll try..." Libby mumbled as she unfolded her arms from the strict, criss-crossed positioning against her chest.

She began to feel a weird mix of nervousness and brooding uncertainty crawl into her veins, something of which she had never felt before, and it was with this did her heart begin to thud with a realization. Although it wasn't technically one of Ace's good traits, the feeling of his presence underneath her skin, even through the broodiness, made a wide smile come to her face. She relished in the irony and felt every single aspect of this new, strong feeling, and although she was feeling uncertain, the way Ace's twinkling, handsome eyes held to her in adoration, the patience that eked from his being, she knew she had a wonderful teacher, and an even more wonderful swap-mate. With her rushing thoughts, she bashfully smiled and allowed her hands to glow with their brand new golden circuits.

As Libby's honeycombs gently swarmed the glass with certainty, she furrowed her brow and now wondered just what to do from here. Initially, she knew she maybe just needed to up the power and take control of the little glass in front of her, though as she upped the power, under her skin, she suddenly jolted with the immense amount of surging intensity that crawled over her skin and made her heart shiver in rising fear. She gasped, tucked her fists to her chest and dropped the act altogether. She gave Ace a near-terrified, plucked look of surprised sorrow and shook her head in whole apprehension.

"Th-that much power really scares me," Libby whimpered, Ace furrowed his brow and took a tender step closer to her.

"You're scared?" Ace worried softly, his gentlemanly hand only reached for her and waited for her to accept physical touch.

"Sorry, it was different with the lights, cause it's just electricity... I-I'm gaining control of this silly little inanimate object," Libby rushed, she furrowed her brow and peered to Ace, "A lot of power just came rushing to me and I could feel it just want to get away from me."

"That's natural, just roll with it," Ace shrugged as he took a caring step closer to her and peered to the glass of water, "I know when I was testing my strength, growing up, that feeling always scared me too... But I always just pushed through and delightfully surprised myself."

Libby nodded and nervously peered to the still patiently waiting glass of water, though she flinched as Ace's chest shook a soft chuckle, his large hand so tenderly tucked to her little wrist. He gestured to the glass in encouragement and cued to her in kindness.

"Go on, you got this," Ace stated down to her, gently.

Libby bobbed another nod and inhaled a readied breath. Once again, she let her coding swirl about her hands, finally reaching the glass. With the same routine, she sat in the swirling nonsense of simply letting her coding get to know the little glass of water absurdly well, she hung in the figurative high just before the breakthrough, though as she could feel that little jolt of power plague her once more, she staggered an inhale and felt like crumpling. Just as she could wonder if her knees were going to buckle, she flinched as Ace warmly rested his hand to the small of Libby's back to steady her. He huffed a few encouraging notions to her, and as his words soaked over her, she inhaled a shaky breath and knew she had to be strong through the sheer terror of having limitless power.

Libby's chest heaved a few times, in rising determination, and as she finally furrowed her eyebrows and sucked in a final breath, she allowed her power to crawl all over the green glass, just enough to take control of it's inanimate coding. Once she was broken through the glass's strict, coded exterior, she suddenly felt a pop of release in her coding, she sagged her shoulders and sighed in relief as she finally willed her thoughts to life. As if finally unlocking a door and popping the hinge, she put her thoughts to work and was absolutely floored the second the image of the glass flattened, just exactly like what Ace had done. Libby barked an excited noise of glee, gestured her hands out and urgently jostled about the little see-through hologram of the glass.

"I did it!" Libby cued, to which Ace beamed and pat her lower back in pride.

"You did! Good job," Ace nodded, he gave her a loving smile as Libby's eyes drew to him in dewy elatedness, though Ace took one step back and gestured out to his room, "Alright, now... Move the 'tower' to it's new location and reverse the merge."

"Crap," Libby huffed in agitation, Ace blurt a chuckle as Libby gently dragged the hologram across the gap and to Ace's table.

She gingerly let the hologram set to the wood, and as her little hands cued coding to swarm her chore, she came out of the other end of this nonsense with a much easier time than previously. With that same pop of relief, she successfully made the glass jolt back to reality, the water sloshed about. Libby clapped her hands together with glee and jumped once, in excitement.

"YES, I did it," Libby cheered once more, she peered to Ace with an excited smile, though it sagged once realization hit her brain, "... Ace, this tower is like four billion times the size of this little glass of water..."

"That it is," Ace huffed as he looked down and shook his head, "It's a task, for sure... But I know you're more than capable."

"You really think so?" Libby eased nervously, Ace closed their gap and so gently tucked her into a loose hug, one of which they still were able to peer into each other's eyes.

"I know so," Ace concluded with a nod, "You did really well."

"Thank you... So, controlling objects, as well as changing their physical appearance," Libby furrowed her brow and felt her heart begin to pound with nervousness. As her eyes lazily glossed Ace's chest, she felt a weird flit of thoughts come to her, thoughts she wasn't sure she should share. She cocked an eyebrow and gave Ace a look of pure nervousness, nearly fear, strictly for the fact that she was only just now realizing just how powerful Ace was, this entire time, "Ace, can... Can you control... People?"

Ace froze and kept his eyes tight to her collar bone, where his eyes were simply rest idle, though as the question hit him head on, he sagged his shoulders and heaved a hot sigh through his nose. As he lulled his eyes closed, he regretfully nodded, to which he could feel Libby's entire body go still with uncertainty.

"...You haven't..." Libby staggered on her question, though Ace bugged his eyes open and urgently shook his head.

"I-I've never tried it on anyone," Ace rushed, he pleadingly peered down to Libby, "I-I found out on accident... I was cleaning uncle Duke's tracks, a long time ago, and instead of clearing away just a loose branch, there was a flock of birds trying to clear the chaos. As I swung the branches away, with my coding, some birds crossed between the invisible code stream I had on the branches and... I controlled them for a few seconds. They were unharmed, and I stopped what I was doing once I realized just what was going on, but..."

Libby huffed a nervous breath and peered to Ace's chest. The fact that she was now sat with that same amount of power, that incredible stream of unlimited possibilities, she shook her head and knew, that for the rest of her life, she would only continue to understand just the depth of Ace's worry, to share his coding even at all. She peered up to him in a rise of awe, of gratefulness, the fact that he had entrusted her with literally everything this Arcade was made of, she felt her heart swell. Libby smiled and rubbed his chest with care, though she still felt that tremble of fear hit her stomach.

"That's a scary amount of power, Ace," Libby's gentle voice nearly shook, Ace bobbed a nod and looked off.

"I try not to think about it too hard..." Ace huffed, he hugged Libby closer and nuzzled his forehead into hers, "Only thing I can't control is free will... Anything animate, though, it's up for grabs. Literally."

"L-let's just stick with the tower, for now," Libby stuttered nervously as she closed her eyes and eased her now needy demeanor into his, "User knows we have that dreaded rainy day with our names on it."

* * *

 **A/N :**

Quick update! Expect (barely) slower chapter uploads because I am having to work on the sketch dump WHILE working on my R.O. teaser trailer animation, and writing, and commissions, AND down time, AND my job... So just bear with me. Uploads may be a day or two late, on occasion. I'm still here! Just crankin' out this stuff for you guys, and I'm having to delegate my time in equal portions!


	205. Chapter 205

**Reviews :**

 **chris . low2456 :** Thank you! I know, I've been waiting for it, as well haha. I didn't have it written until I uploaded chapter 195 or so haha.

 **Snake557 :** Yeah, I hear yah xD Thank you!

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Haha - what's worse is Tessa eventually finds out xD

 **Burgie :** Aww thank you! I'm glad! She gets a good dose of teaching, from Ace. And, yes, it is a lot, but it's motivating at least!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Aww thank you so much! I really appreciate that! And yes, it definitely was heavy foreshadowing. ;)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

Eyes Wide ft. Whole Doubts by Handsome Ghost

Starving ft. Zedd by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey

* * *

 ***Chapter 205***

As if so kindly begin sprinkled out of heaven's clouds, Ace felt his limbs and entirety come back to the planet. In mild reluctance, and brief forgetfulness of just exactly where he was, he grimaced in sleepiness as the morning sunlight glinted across his room, through the broad of his kitchen window. Ace inhaled a deep breath and immediately felt the thought process hit his brain, 'get up, close the curtains, go back to sleep', the second his skin even so slightly stirred, he froze at the feel of the sheer amount of warmth he only just realized he was tangled in. As Ace came out of his strict promise of keeping his eyes shut, so he wouldn't risk fully waking up, he jolted his eyes open in sleepy alarm and inhaled the stark, alluring scent of Libby's hair. With their bare bodies tangled in the heap of his fluffy comforters and sheets, the feel of her steady, gentle breath on his broad chest, Ace rearranged his thoughts and finally came back to the planet, the remembrance of just everything that happened the day prior rushed his brand new coding, and with a smug, sleepy smile, he closed his eyes once more and sagged into his and Libby's raw, heated love nest of ultimate comfort and safety.

In searing warmth, Ace snuggled her bare body as much as he could, the feel of his legs tangled with her smooth limbs, the ultimate slump of her body pressed tight to his, he let his large hand ever so tenderly stroke the back of her head. As his other hand lovingly mapped her back and the dip of her waist, he hugged her close and relished in this very moment, one of which he was so desperate for the morning prior. As the silly thoughts of hindsight trot about his mind like stagnant daymares, he shooed every single sour thought away and buried his nose into the top of Libby's head. With a few firm kisses to her forehead and the gentleness of their hot breath that mingled, he assessed her innocent, sleeping figure and admired every single last inch of her being. He slumped his head into the pillow they shared and so quietly observed her at her most raw and innocent state, he was certain that no matter how many times they would be caught up in the romantic, heated whirl of code swapping, she'd never lose that pure, innocent glow.

Before Ace could let too much time pass, he could swear he could hear his communicator throwing a vibrating hissy fit on his nightstand. He was well aware he went practically the whole entirety of yesterday speaking to and being with no one but Libby; he was absolutely certain his parents, and best friend, likely were curious as to just what had gone down. Ace wrinkled his nose and ever so delicately wriggled out of Libby's presence, so not to wake her. With much success, Ace slowly got out of bed, stretched and felt his skin prickle with goosebumps as the cool, morning air sat still in his room. Through tired eyes, he peered to his kitchen, once more, and inwardly cursed himself for leaving the window open all night. As his bare body strolled across the gap to close the window and likely start a pot of coffee for the two, he gladly relished in the feeling of his sharp, attentive new coding.

With the quiet, gentle switch up in movement and temperature, Libby inhaled a sharp, short breath and jolted her sleepy eyes open in a pop of delightful surprise. She froze in confusion, the feel of the sheets next to her still fresh with Ace's warm scent and body heat. With the realization that his movement likely had woken her up, she felt a hard shiver and a surge of near-muscle freezing code refresh, she huffed a few silent, shaky pants of uncertainty as her incredibly powerful coding rushed to kindly greet her, as if somehow mornings, nights, breathing, being and everything in between was something newly discovered, with every second meticulously counted. As she finally came down from the weird high she wondered if she'd ever get used to, her ears pricked at the sound of Ace turning on his kitchen faucet; he kept it at a tight, gentle trickle, she smiled at the thought of him still believing she was asleep. As she rolled over and finally attempted to sit up, she groaned a sleepy noise and allowed her sight to broaden across the gap.

She flinched in near, reeling surprise and knew she should likely get used to the strange sight of seeing Ace's bare body just comfortably flaunted in the privacy behind closed doors. She felt her face get hot, and as the surprise and rush of everything came to her, she choked a strange combination of a giggle, hiccup and choke. Her excitable, new, golden honeycomb coding glitched about her arms and bare chest, and as Ace heard her cute noises, he quickly peered over his shoulder and noticed her cover her mouth through bashful hands and scrunched shoulders. Just as she exhaled a harder, more shy giggle, which cued Ace into knowing, sleepy laughter, she flinched as his communicator suddenly began to buzz in stagnant messages that lay waiting. Libby furrowed her gaze in curiosity and gingerly pointed to it.

"You uh... Seem to be pretty popular this morning," Libby's tired voice crackled with new use, she rubbed her eye and slumped into Ace's comfortable bedding, "Your communicator woke me up before the sunrise, this morning... Who the heck was messaging you?"

"I'm sorry, I think it's just reminding me of old messages waiting to be read," Ace sighed as he put the brewing process on hold. He bashfully rubbed the back of his head and eagerly began to make his way back to their love nest, "I know mom messaged me yesterday, I just didn't read it, because... Y'know."

"I don't even know where my communicator is. I think it's still up in my room," Libby giggled, she shook her head, "I'm sure Tess has tried to get ahold of me, too."

"I think she's onto us," Ace droned, he scratched his bare chest and slowly sauntered across the gap, his steady footwork thud closer to his bed.

"When is she ever not?" Libby croaked as she rubbed her sleepy eyes, though her bashful smile only broadened as she could feel Ace's weight dip into their billowy, romantic downs.

Libby peeked open one eye and, with a subtle draw of her free hand and arm, she covered her exposed chest and gave Ace a look of nervous coy; the newness of their raw, budding relationship was still somehow foreign, and figuring out just what was normal was something she was sure was going to take a bit of time. Ace breathed an annoyed chuckle and slumped closer to Libby's upright figure, he plopped half into her lap and between her small, bare knees, which were smooth to the touch. He shook his head in annoyance as his digital pad, on the nightstand, vibrated once more.

"It's either Nox or mom," Ace mumbled, "Neither one will shut up."

"Well, it's midday and my bedroom lights are probably still on," Libby giggled as she tucked her hands tighter up her chest, to cover herself, "I'm sure they've put two and two together... Wh-what do we say when we go down for lunch?"

"Nothing," Ace hissed in a soft whisper, he shook his head and hooked his handsome, hazel eyes into her with a large amount of dallying, romantic sass, "It'll be our little secret."

"You're easy to read, though," Libby breathed a chuckle, Ace furrowed his eyebrows, "It's easy to pry things out of you, eventually."

"Is last night a testament to that?" Ace grumbled, his new confidence in their blooming romance was something he was eager to finally test, though just as he was about to continue, a subtle, chaotic flutter of wings could be heard. An adorable, peach-chested jungle bird eagerly found a perch atop Ace's head, and in the whirl of confusion, Libby let out a hard laugh and scrunched her shoulders. Ace largely looked up in hard confusion, "What the heck...?"

"Looks like we've been christened," Libby giggled as she eagerly peered up to the adorable little bird, it happily chirped a few times and looked about the bedroom.

"The kitkatcha love bird," Ace cooed in remembrance, he breathed a startled chuckle and desperately tried not to move, all while trying to get at least a little glimpse of the bird atop his head. It ruffled it's feathers a bit and looked as if it wanted to get comfortable, though Ace gingerly lifted his hand and wondered about picking it up, "I-I nearly forgot all about these little guys..."

"Me too," Libby smiled as Ace's large, tender fingers moved to the crown of his head, and in an encouraging jostle of his wrist, the little bird curiously pecked at his finger for a moment before braving the perch. As Ace lowered the little bird, both him and Libby so eagerly admired it's gorgeous feathers, peachy reds and flits of lime green, it happily chirped a few times and sat still in the presence of the two it was here for, "Aww, he's so cute...! I always wished to see the day I'd get to admire my very own love bird. I can't believe this."

"Pretty humbling," Ace bobbed a nod and only barely readjusted his slumped positioning against Libby's welcoming, comfortable body. He bashfully glanced to her and gave her a kind, knowing smile, "I'm proud of us."

"You're proud of us?" Libby inquired daintily as Ace lovingly moved the little bird closer to her, so she could potentially see about holding it.

"I mean, yeah... Think about it," Ace shrugged as he successfully handed the bird to Libby's inquiring, little hands. As she so delicately hovered her hand over the back of the bird's soft feathers, she dragged her surprised, loving gaze to Ace's, tight in front of her, "We started out as playmates... We were separated for awhile, and when you came back, you were traumatized... Little did I know, it was something that would, well..."

"Hinder 'us'," Libby stated knowingly with a small nod, as if to assure Ace that him saying these things didn't hurt her feelings, "It was a big toss up, huh..."

"Even through the trails and turmoil," Ace huffed with a small chuckle as he braved the little bird, in Libby's hand, and so gently stroked it's feathers with the back of his pointer finger. It chirped in delight and remained confidently comfortable between the two, "We didn't give up on each other... That's why I'm proud."

Libby's eyes lit up in sleepy delight, she peered deep into his gaze and sagged her shoulders as the tenderness of his voice coat her soul. She bashfully peered down to the little bird as a shy smile sprawled her blushing cheeks. Ace tilted his head down, gingerly tucked his pointer finger under her chin and moved her face so to gain eye contact.

"I'm proud to share my coding with you," Ace stated with a great amount of warmth and certainty, he bobbed a nod and kept tight eye contact with his bashful mate, "Don't ever forget that."

"Me too," Libby meeped in quiet certainty as she bobbed a nod, as well, and as her demeanor sagged into his warmth, he huffed a small chuckle, leaned in and early caught her in a gentle smooch.

Libby raised her eyebrows and so gently tucked her free hand to Ace's jaw, and as they inhaled each other's scent, pushed and pulled apart for a few lingering kisses, Ace finally breathed a deep breath of clarity, smiled down to the bird still in Libby's hand and slumped his shoulders.

"We should probably head downstairs," Ace grumbled as the two so tenderly continued to love on the little bird in Libby's palm, "We've been in my room for a solid twenty four hours straight, now."

"Y-You think... Anyone knows about us?" Libby pressed curiously as Ace grunted and began to leave the bed, once more, though he was careful not to startle their cute, little bird.

"I'm not sure, lemme look," Ace grumbled as he stood, grappled his communicator and curiously peered down to it. After a few moments of scrolling and curious prodding, and Libby's curious gaze in his peripheral, he huffed a nervous chuckle and shook his head, "Uhhh... Well, mom asked twice if I was going to be down for dinner and Nox asked if I could 'not obliterate the tower for the sake of a code swap'."

"... So, Nox knows," Libby blurt a hard chuckle.

"User knows how," Ace grumbled, and as Libby began to pry herself from Ace's comfortable bed, her bare body managed to worm off of the bed with the little bird still carefully cradled to her bare chest. Ace cocked an eyebrow and eagerly watched her slender, bare body cross his room and gain on his open kitchen window. He quietly wolf-whistled towards her, which got a loud, shy laugh out of her skinny figure, "Damn, girl. Where you goin'?"

"I'm giving this bird the option to leave," Libby barked as her tone grew playful and sarcastic, though she could feel a rush of excited goosebumps come to her as she could hear Ace's eager footsteps approach her from behind, "I wish I had the luxury!"

"You're not going anywhere," Ace grumbled playfully, and just as Libby let the little bird perch on the opened window sill, he lovingly scooped his arms about Libby's front and allowed his bare front to firmly sink into her back. She laughed and so willingly sagged into his desirable, comfortable embrace, and as the back of her head gently lulled against the front of his strong shoulder, he wasted no time in letting his kisses find the gape of her throat. He mumbled loving words to her through the gap of his kisses, "We should just stay up here... One more day?"

"One more day," Libby repeated in an exasperated huff, she shook her head and felt lightheaded with the fact that he was beginning to take her down, once more, "One more day will turn into two more days, will turn into one more week..."

"I have a fridge full of food," Ace hummed quietly as he tasted her neck in rising eagerness, he bashfully smiled as he trailed his hot kisses to her shoulder and allowed the product of his excitement to sit snug against Libby's rear, "We have everything we need."

"If that isn't an understatement," Libby croaked as she desperately peered up to the ceiling and felt a slew of conflicting thoughts hit her brain. She finally let her hand slide to Ace's cheek, and as she warmly smooched the cheek closest to her, she giggled in his ear and relished in the feel of his hands on her front, "How about we go downstairs now, and... We can retreat to my room tonight."

Ace grumbled in playful dismay as he finally bared his teeth and gingerly bit down on her little shoulder; Libby blurt a sharp giggle with such and scrunched in mild defense.

"I promise!" Libby blurt as the two laughed, though Ace finally released her in slow dread and bobbed a nod.

"Pinky promise," Ace grumbled as Libby faced him and held out his pinky.

"Not like having my coding isn't a massive pinky promise in of itself, there, dude," Libby grunted as the two firmly locked pinkies.

"That's collateral, this is a true promise," Ace jostled her hand about, and as she tried to free her little hand from his, he jostled their arms a little bit more vigorously and made it hard for her; she hollered a hard laugh in his direction and finally yanked her arm away, "I just want to hang out with you! Am I just a one and done to you?"

"Oh, yes, sorry you missed the memo," Libby chuffed sarcastically as she moved across his room to find her clothes and prepare to head downstairs, "This was a one-night-stand."

"Great," Ace mumbled, he shot the back of Libby's head a teasing smile and followed along, so to finally get ready for the day.

"Whose to say we can't hang out together, with everyone else?" Libby's coy words trailed from his room as she sought out Ace's materializer; she had last seen it in his closet.

"I like being up here, with you," Ace pouted, he lazily threw on a pair of sweatpants and looked about for a shirt; when he could find one, he gave up and scratched his bare chest, "It's been a long time coming."

"Well, all the more reason to look forward to tonight, then, babe," Libby called from his closet, and as she finally came out wearing a cute, orange, tribal crop top and comfortable harem pants to go with it, she gestured towards the door and gave him a loving smile, "Don't you think?"

"Anything to spend more time with you," Ace puppy-dogged after her and he was well aware that she knew it; he shamelessly ogled his mate and counted his blessings, he could hardly believe such a wonderful, incredible being was all his.

As the two finally began to lazily come down from their burning love nest, they trailed the large, wooden stairs that spiraled about their tower. As they kept quiet and assessed their surroundings, they found the backyard to be quiet of movement or beings. On this bright Saturday late morning, the air was crisp and cool, inviting and breezy. The two fell into step and gently intertwined their hands, and as their lazy saunter came to the final steps of the stairs, they finally came to a drum of a collected stop. Libby inhaled a nervous, bashful breath and took a step to the side, closer to the foliage near the stair well.

"Ace, I... What if they know?" Libby suddenly worried, though Ace furrowed his brow and eagerly peered to her.

"... Know we swapped?" Ace wondered as the switch up in her demeanor became stark, he honed his attentive gaze to her and frowned, "Well... I think Nox knows whats up, but even if they do know, I think it'll be okay. I think it'll anyone's ever wanted, as of late, to be honest."

"I-I don't think I'm ready, just yet," Libby urged bashfully, she grappled Ace's arm and tugged him deeper into the foliage, though Ace choked a small laugh and clumsily joined her. She knelt down and peered over the tops of the bushes, "You, uh... You think they saw us coming down?"

"I highly doubt it," Ace mumbled, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave Libby a near-annoyed look of growing delight, "So, uh... Does this mean we can go back upstairs, then?"

"What are you guy's doin' over here?" Royal suddenly barked in a sly, charming tone. The low laying shrubs, vines and bushes that Ace and Libby were hiding in suddenly burst in a haphazard way as Royal and Balba largely slumped into their secretive bubble, "Y'guys swapping back here?"

Ace gaped with an annoyed smile and side-eyed Royal in whole incredulousness, though before Ace could properly retort, Balba barked a laugh. As the energy amidst their quiet hiding spot began to rise, Libby sharply shushed everyone, though she aimed it at Royal. Libby hissed in solid annoyance as she gestured her free hand in such a way to express just how irritated she was.

"Yeah, Roy, we're swapping... In these bushes," Ace stated in a dull, sarcastic and quiet tone, for Libby's sake, though they barely eyed each other and glowed with their new secret, one of which they were desperately trying to continue being nonchalant and unassuming about.

"Y'trying to cross to the main building of the castle without being seen together?" Royal urged in growing annoyance as he lifted his head, peered across the thicket of bushes, in their massive backyard, and noticed that not a single soul reside in their company, "Pretty much everyone knows what's up, anyways, dude."

"Power went out and everything," Balba snickered, though Ace and Libby's eyes bulged in frozen terror as they dragged their dreaded gazes to Balba; she tucked her wings over her snout and snickered as Royal beamed a wide fang-filled smile and fully stood up, "You can go on in pretending nothing happened buuuut..."

"Great," Ace huffed, he hunched over his squatting position and leaned his elbows on his knees, "Why didn't the tower lose power, then?"

"You REALLY have to ask that?" Libby muttered dully, she shook her head a little, at Ace, and was bashfully floored to see his face turn beet red.

"You were the center of our universe, dude... You were IN the tower, giving over coding, of COURSE it's going to keep the tower running," Royal snorted, he lulled his head back and barked a louder laugh, "Hell, you could've probably shot to the moon, with all that User-umpage!"

"Dammit, let's just get this over with," Ace grunted as he clumsily stood and began to push out of the group of three, who chased after him with nothing but their excited, knowing laughter.

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 **A/N :**

 **I drew TWO pieces of fan art for this chapter. The first one is titled 'Lovebirds' and the second one is titled 'Overloaded' - they're on my deviantART, Username Vyntresser :)**

 **ALSO \- I revealed the name of my FOURTH story! I uploaded it's cover to my deviantART. I ALSO revealed the name of my original novel, of which I will try to get published. Both book covers are on my deviantART, so go check it out! :D **


	206. Chapter 206

**Forgive the delay... I have some pretty exciting news at the very end of this chapter, please be sure not to miss it!**

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 **Reviews**

 **Snake557 :** Haha :) Thanks!

 **NightHex54 :** I'd be sooo embarrassed hahaha

 **chuckiboo :** Both Ace and Libby were clueless! xD Thanks friend, I appreciate it!

 **Silversuferann :** Yes, thank you! :D And that's okay! I feel that on another level haha

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Oh great! YAY! Thanks for all of these, I'll add them to the list, if they haven't already been requested! Thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Yes, it's definitely a weight off of my shoulders as well. I was beginning to feel like so pent up and anxious, writing them being so nervous and cautious around each other. Writing them to be confident and loving and secure is a wonderful feeling! :D

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **No Such Thing As A Broken Heart by Old Dominion**

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 ***Chapter 206***

"Oh User, oh User, oh User," Libby muttered in hushed nervousness as she grappled the ends of her hair, as her and Ace slowly approached the sun kissed back door, Ace grappled for the door handle, cocked an eyebrow, and peered back at her with a curious smile.

"That'd be me... And you," Ace reminded cheekily, though Libby sagged her shoulders and looked up to the overhang of the patio's shade, as if to curse herself for somehow forgetting.

"Okay, okay... Let's just... Nonchalantly walk in, maybe everyone is elsewhere, anyways, we'll just... Catch them throughout the day, it'll be easy," Libby shrugged, Ace bobbed a nod, as if he knew Libby's words were absolutely reaching; he was well aware the kitchen island was definitely the whole group's epicenter.

"I'm sure you're right," Ace honestly insisted with a small nod as he turned the door handle and didn't give the two any more time to worry themselves into piles of goo.

Upon slowly swinging the back door open, Ace near-furrowed his brow and grimaced in rising apprehension as he could practically hear him and Libby hold their breath. As he gently peaked his head through the gap of the door and got a good inspection inside, he suddenly felt his pupils tighten at the sheer sight of just what his brain could gather. The amount of a sudden draw of silence, the staring, curious eyes of the ultimate load of people in and around the kitchen, the way literally everyone froze upon realization that Ace and Libby had finally sauntered down from their twenty four hour love-fest, Ace knew, upon the near-dozen pairs of eyes that were now entirely glued to the back door, and to his figure, that he was figuratively done for.

Ace flinched as suddenly everyone was all smiles, and upon the sudden spark of uplift, the addition to the big group that lazily hung out in the kitchen, the sheer amount of sudden, loud calls and cheers of joy, Ace opened the door a little further, to reveal Libby, the both were now purely riddled in shy smiles. In the most excited, obnoxious manner possible, everyone loudly clapped and whooped in such a manner as if to express they had been waiting for this union for what felt like centuries, the only thing they could simply do, in this moment, was make the loudest commotion about it. As Ace tenderly shut the door behind Libby and allowed the two to approach their supportive, loud and excited family members, he kept Libby tight to his side, as if he suddenly had to reintroduce her to his clan. The two caught eyes in a rush of bashful excitement, and as they finally neared the island, Ace dragged his eyes about the group and was thrilled to catch eyes with his father's elated, relieved demeanor.

"Alright, now we can all BREATHE," Nox barked loudly, above the commotion, to which everyone laughed; the beings that reside tight at the island were Tessa, Zed, Oliver, Rancis, Taffyta and Nox, whilst Vanellope, Emery, Penny, Koko, Tammy and Finn loitered about the kitchen and living room. They all wasted no time in rushing over with the flood of excitement.

"I was hoping to avoid an audience," Ace mumbled shyly as he rubbed his arm and caught eyes with his father once more, Zed kindly approached him from his left.

"Congratulations, son," Zed stated firmly with a swoop of pride and love, he grappled Ace's shoulder and so lovingly squeezed, and just as Ace's dewy eyes lit up and glued to his father's, he held his tongue as Zed's demeanor very slowly grew cheeky. Zed waggled his fingers up towards the beautiful hanging lights, above the island, and cocked an eyebrow, "Wanna know the reason you have a greeting party? Take a look up, dude."

"You've still yet to replace the bulbs in my bathroom, Zed," Taffyta muttered through stifled laughter as everyone's eager attention was now to the two User's at the end of the kitchen island.

Ace and Libby bashfully looked up in a draw of collected, coy nervousness, and as their eyes were met with the blackened ends of shattered bulbs, amidst the beautiful, silver hanging lights over the kitchen island, Ace tightened his lip in embarrassment as Libby barked a laugh and wholly covered her face in riddled shyness; everyone soaked the room in loud, excited laughter.

"Let's just say we all were right there with yah, during your important, eh... Moment," Tammy held finger quotes and beamed a cheeky smile to Penny and Finn as everyone crumpled into continued laughter.

"Black out," Nox flattened his hands and gave his best friend an encouraging smile.

"The code room was yours," Zed snipped in playful agitation as Ace sagged his shoulder and gave his father an apologetic, sheepish smile.

"I-I didn't know that'd happen, dad, you know I'd never-"

"I'm just pulling your leg," Zed assured deeply as he continued to keep his grip atop Ace's broad shoulder, he lovingly squeezed and jostled his son a little and was thrilled to get a wider smile out of him, "We're proud of you... We're all glad you guys settled your differences."

"Alright, alright, no more teasing," Tessa cooed quietly as she noticed Libby's quiet, shy aura just eking the need to find her feet in this raw and new situation. Tessa so gently reached her hand out, took Libby's arm and gingerly tugged her closer to her motherly embrace, "C'mere, you look overwhelmed."

"I'm okay," Libby huffed with a bashful smile, though she near-pleadingly peered to Tessa and soaked into her motherly hug. She sagged into Tessa's tight embrace and shut her eyes in the lull of final acceptance, and as Tessa's hands gently tidied out Libby's long hair, on her shoulders and back, she rubbed the back of Libby's head as Libby quietly continued on, "Sorry for the commotion."

"No more sorries, we're just glad you're here," Tessa huffed a small laugh and tightened her embrace on her surrogate daughter, and as the two held in a squeeze, Tessa gently pushed a kiss to the side of Libby's head and kept her quiet words tight to her ear, "Welcome to the family, love."

"Thank you," Libby sighed in relief as she eased deeper into Tessa's embrace, though after a few moments, she pulled away and held eyes with her. Tessa bobbed a nod of encouragement, squeezed Libby's little hands and jostled them about in a growing fit of excitement.

"Alright, let's see it, show us what you're made of," Tessa's tender encouragement grew to a notch of bubbling delight, the only voice of softness amidst the group of puppy-dog-eyed individuals that held their whole entire elated gazes to Ace and Libby.

"M-My coding?" Libby pressed curiously as she gently held up her hands and allowed hers and Ace's honeycomb coding to swirl in a fit of golden love, an alluring glow of impressive stature; everyone eagerly cooed notions of excitement at the proof before them.

"You guys didn't check the code room after well... Our nonsense? Since clearly everyone was in the know," Ace blurt with a hard laugh as he, too, admired Libby's new coding.

"Well, no... Once we got power back to the code room, we just ran a system wide check on the game and made sure everything was stable," Zed's wise words rolled over Ace in collected warmth, he gently volleyed his gaze to Tessa's.

"Yeah, we wanted to see if the transfer was solid, but... We didn't want to be intrusive," Tessa leaned on her elbows and warmly reached for Libby's hand, once more; everyone about the island and kitchen began to sag back to a level of murmuring comfort, and although everyone was now lightly honed to just what was going on with Ace and Libby, they split into their own similar conversations of lightheartedness. Tessa gently squeezed Libby's hand and was glad to receive her confident, glowing eye contact once more, "We didn't want to run checks on your coding without your consent."

"We figured if something were to have gone terribly wrong, Ace would be down here banging down castle walls to set it straight and get everyone on his level," Zed shrugged as Ace bugged his eyes and urgently bobbed a nod.

"I appreciate that," Libby's voice eased to Tessa in the softest surprise, she heaved a shaky breath and nodded in confident approval, "You could've run a check on me, without me knowing, I wouldn't have been offended. You can run one right now, if you'd like?"

"Yeah, we probably should," Tessa pat Libby's hand and picked up Zed's digital pad, the main one that was cued to the game's code room, "The power blew, and we all knew the game was now doing it's best to, well... Duplicate all of Ace's incredible coding."

"I should warn you now," Zed mumbled to Ace as he gently sat back down at his position, across from Tessa; Ace and Libby stood confidently between the two, at the end of the island, though Ace furrowed his brow and peered his diligent, nervous eyes straight into Zed's, "Your mother is about to get as nosey as she quite possibly can."

"I'm not going to be nosey," Tessa muttered in bashful annoyance as she held Libby's hand tight, and in a gentle flare, she allowed her's and Zed's silver coding to swarm Libby's little hand. She flinched as Libby's now impressive User coding eagerly swirled with the familiar bout of parent-coding, in which she now shared with Tessa and Zed, through Ace, "This is a delicate situation. We want to make sure the code room doesn't experience any more blow-outs. It's not technically the best thing for a computer, I'll have you know."

"Yes, ma'am," Zed nodded as he looked down, though he cocked an eyebrow and dragged his knowing, cheeky gaze to Ace, who very quickly began to look as if he was about to become riddled with giddy embarrassment.

"Dang," Tessa choked as she thumbed through the options on Zed's digital pad, hers and Libby's hands were lightly riddled with their conjoined exterior swap. Tessa huffed a small laugh and shook her head as her eyes scanned the mass of details Libby's coded information now contained, "This... This has to be the cleanest transfer I've ever seen. Geez, Ace, did you have like a whole lab with beakers set up and stuff?"

"...YEAH mom, that's exactly where my mind was," Ace blurt, the few that were still listening bursted out hard laughter, "I was so concentrated on just the right ratio of coding that was apart of the give and take, I made sure we were both in our hazmat suits and everything."

"Birthday suits, more like," Taffyta muttered into her hot cup of coffee; Rancis and Zed stifled hard laughter.

"It's just so... Precise," Tessa squinted into the digital pad and inspected the perfect hand-over, though she blurt a small laugh at all the continued joking that went on, "I'm impressed. Whatever you were thinking about, it made for a very solid exchange."

"I'm pretty sure my brain was numb, honestly," Ace mumbled as he side-eyed his dad in whole annoyance, the sheer fact that he was right about said nosey-ness; Zed blurt a laugh and covered his face in the rush of solid knowing.

"Are swaps typically messy, in that aspect?" Libby prod bashfully as she remained tight in Tessa's comforting presence.

"Well, I wouldn't say messy... Nox and Koko are a very good example of this," Tessa's voice broadened to the two, she figured they were lost in their own conversations, though she was delightfully surprised to see that they were honed to just what was going on. Tessa gently waggled her hand in Nox's direction and kept her eyes tight to Libby's, "With their swap, somehow the wrecking coding, that Koko has, didn't fully transfer to Nox, causing him to have the trait, but... Lacked the full effect of the ability to wreck."

"That's right," Libby stated sorrowfully, though she furrowed her brow and drew her curious gaze to Nox in whole delight, the fact that Nox had successfully wrecked the ground at their massive castle meeting, a few nights prior, "Well... That seems to be something you can eventually reverse, I guess."

"A la User," Tessa bobbed a nod and squeezed Libby's hand, though everyone gently dragged their gaze to Nox.

Ace gently raised his eyebrows and peered to his best friend. Ace was well aware he likely had given Nox the brunt of his frustration, the past few days, due to the whirlwind of confusion he had with Libby. In this bashful cue of both boys, Nox gave Ace a nervous little look of uncertainty, as if to understand that all of Ace's physical therapy had paid off, the sting of his huge accomplishment being lightly brushed under the rug, as well as his feelings unknowingly disregarded, Nox looked down to his hands and opened his palms. As the group fell into a gentle quiet, Zed finally cleared his throat knowingly, took a step back and let Nox's stool become compromised and riddled in Zed's powerful silver coding. With Nox sat directly to Zed's left, and with Zed's whole step back, Zed flicked his hand and gently scoot Nox's stool to the right, to fill the gap and to bring him right next to Ace. Nox bugged his eyes, jolted about as his stool successfully scoot across the tiles, and once he settled, Nox cocked an eyebrow and bashfully peered to Ace; Zed chuckled, as did everyone else, and in the cue of hoping both boys would make light amends, everyone so softly busied themselves in a lull of conversation.

Ace heaved a shaky breath, bashfully peered to Libby and was surprised to see her just barely cue to the two, after showing both boys that she was prepared to give them their privacy as well; Libby chit chat with Tessa furthermore about the exchange of her's and Ace's coding. Ace finally brought his eyes back to Nox and frowned, he sagged his shoulders, rubbed the back of his head and let his idle gaze meet with the kitchen island counter. He cocked an eyebrow and felt his heart sink in mild guilt. He knew Nox was understanding, and everything that had taken place was all part of a problem greater than the both of them, though Ace knew he needed to somehow set things straight with his best friend, with his brother.

"I uh... I owe you an apology," Ace finally eased as warmly as he could, and once Nox's golden eyes finally peered to Ace's in diligent listening, Ace felt his heart itch to get the words out, "I was just... So wrapped up in my own problem, I felt the need to give you the brunt of my frustration and shut you out. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, I get it," Nox shrugged, he smirked in great cheek and looked down, "Sex will do that to you, I guess."

"I mean, it shouldn't," Ace shook his head and looked off before he gave Nox his diligent eye contact, once more, "I was so wrapped in my own situation that... I forgot to congratulate you for successfully wrecking, the other day."

Nox looked up in gentle surprise and long blinked in appreciation, he held his gaze tight to Ace's and felt as if all he ever wanted was to make all of the wreckers, in the family, proud. Nox felt disappointed that his one, shining moment to show off his new, achieved skill was in the midst of being genuinely angry.

"Looks like all that healing paid off," Ace smiled, he gestured to Nox's fists and bobbed a nod, "Did it hurt your hands at all?"

"No, it didn't," Nox smiled, he opened his palms and felt his heart begin to thud with excitement, "It was incredible... I know I was pissed, but it was still awesome."

"It was, I'm glad you had that experience," Ace said warmly, he gently nudged Nox's arm, "Have you tried wrecking since?"

"No, I... I've been too scared," Nox staggered as he closed his fists and sagged his shoulders, he furrowed his brow and peered his curiously nervous gaze up to his best friend.

"Well... Why don't we go get you un-scared?" Ace said in a blurt of a chuckle that caused Nox's face to finally crown a smile, "Libby's gotta find her feet, in the wrecking world as well, now, so... You're in good company. Why don't we go out front for a proper wrecking lesson, then?"

"Y-You sure? I wrecked on an adrenaline rush, at that castle meeting," Nox frowned as he began to look flustered, "I-I don't want a repeat of that one wrecking lesson gone wrong... I nearly shredded my hands to bits."

"I'm certain this time will be different," Ace encouraged with a nod, him and Nox finally caught solid gazes in a whirl of rising anticipation, "Besides... You'll be safe with two Users on your side, don't you think?"

Nox gently dragged his knowing, though delighted eyes to Libby, Ace's woman of choice, the only one in this entire Arcade to successfully care for Ace's coding now, mixed with her soul. He knew Ace's words were true, anything gone wrong could be reversed with the help of his two best friends, two beings that harbored the power of the universe, though never boasted it. Nox smiled, finally bobbed a nod and gave Ace a confident smile.

"When do we start?"

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I have an important announcement to make...! :)**

(for those of you that follow me on deviantART, Instagram, or are friends with me on Facebook, you're already aware of this news!)

This might be incredibly long, but I'll try to keep it simple and to the point. I've never really told anyone this before. I've never complained about my issues and just figured stuffing a handful of it, and simply 'forgetting' about it would benefit me. Since I was about 13-15 years old, I have very greatly struggled with my identity. I adore my name, I believe it is beautiful and was given to me with the utmost of good intentions... But I have never felt like myself with it. After years of wondering why introducing myself made me cringe, signing my name or writing it anywhere made my heart sink in such a way that I really couldn't even put my finger on, and how I battled back and forth between being called my full name, and my nickname, for as long as I can remember - and just not feeling 100% right with either one.

I never mentioned any of this because I truly believed it was taboo, I didn't think it was something I could ever change, I wasn't sure if I'd be shunned, none of these thoughts really ever permanently hit me until two days ago. What you would think to be just a simple, light-hearted chat with a few coworkers suddenly flipped my whole world upside down and wholly validated everything I had been subconsciously feeling for over a whole entire decade, and I'm truly excited to announce...

 **I will be legally changing my first name!**

To what? If you know me well enough, you've probably already guessed it or saw it coming from a million miles away...

I created this character with myself in mind. This character is the only one I ever gave myself full allowance to write strictly about me, my traits, flaws, feelings, emotions, and everything in between. Over the almost 5 years I've really truly bonded with this character, with myself, and have fleshed out every single corner of myself in this character, I truly feel as if this bond is something much greater than just inserting myself into my craft. I've forever loved the name, and I truly feel as if it fits me better than anything I can even think of.

So, guys, from here on out - I'd really appreciate being called by my new name, **Tessa**! I've made my rounds with my sisters, my mother and father, and, I have to tell you... The OUTPOUR of support, love and encouragement I've received is something I can't even properly describe. It truly has brought me to my knees, and has really solidified the fact that I definitely have the most kickass family on the entire planet. How everyone so quickly rallied around me, validated my feelings, allowed me to express and willingly and openly feel everything I'm feeling, I just am the luckiest girl on the face of this earth.

There is going to be a TON of grace in this, and I understand a name change is probably difficult for the family who have known me for my whole life, or for long time friends who will try to find adjustment. If you call me Tina, I won't be upset, it will not offend me. A lot of you have nick names for me, revolving around my name, and it's likely going to be hard to shake, and I totally understand! Just understand... I don't identify with that name any longer and I'm well on my way to retiring Tina/Kristina! It's been a good, long run, and the name has gotten me this far. I will forever cherish and love it, and deep down, that will always be a part of me, but moving forward, I feel an itch to grow even more so in myself, in this world, in Christ - I have been surrounded by positivity, and for the past 24+ hours of this revelation, I have felt as light as a feather, a new person, a million bucks. I've never experience such release, but I am so beyond floored to begin this new journey with myself, and with my loved ones... And I really hope and pray I have everyone's support!

(I also am aware that the majority of you, online, call me Vyn, and that is okay! I am excited to stretch into my new name, so for now I would *appreciate* being called Tessa, but I will not deny being called Vyn still :)

THANK YOU to everyone I've talked to and discussed this with prior to this post. You've helped me tremendously, and I am forever grateful for the wonderful people in my life who are always standing by my side, no matter what.

This change has been VERY interesting, for me. I am BEYOND mentally exhausted, it's been a crazy few days waiting for the legal documents, telling family and friends, coworkers and bosses, and changing my name all over the span of my accounts and my life. It's a lot for me to take in, and in a weird way, I'm having to relearn my own SELF, and get to know this new person I am stepping into. It's a pretty bizarre experience, but I just feel like a million bucks.

Alongside feeling like a million bucks, I am so so SO drained, so tired. I don't have much mental power for much, and quite honestly, this chapter was difficult to write. My updates might be slow, and I'm sorry this is all coming up in the middle of the sketch dump, the animation I'm making, and other things. It's just icing on the cake, but I think I just need to take it easy for the next week or so, really get acquainted with my new mindset, my new self, and 'grieve' the old self I have shed. I'm VERY excited! and very tired! Please bear with me guys, virtual hugs and good vibes would be GREATLY appreciated! xD

Thanks, FF family! You're the BEST!


	207. Chapter 207

**Reviews :**

 **Alearvizu :** Thank you so much! :D I'm glad you're enjoying it.

 **Silversuferann :** Hey, thanks so much! My name isn't legally changed, just yet. I have a few hoops to jump through, but hopefully by 2018, I'll be legally Tessa. I've changed my name everywhere I could, and all my coworkers have started to call me Tessa, as well as my family and such, so it's a good start! Also, you can still call me Vyn! I don't mind that one bit. No one online really ever called me Tina, anyways. I just wrote all that as a formality, just to tell everyone what was going on. You can call me Vyn or Tessa, either is great! :) And YES, now both Ace and Libby realize there's a ton they need to learn, and they must rely on each other. I appreciate your support! Thank you!

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Yes! It's pretty exciting! Though Nox doesn't get his lessons from Ace - rather, he gets it from the big bad wrecker himself... After they sort their differences, that is xD Nox gets his moment to shine! And boy does he! Thank you so much!

 **NightHex54 :** Haha too true xD Thanks so much!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks friend! I appreciate the support :D

 **chris . low2456 :** Yes, it's been an awesome experience to say the least! Thank you so much!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Hey, thank you so much for everything! It means the world to me.

 **The MOPARShow :** WOW, I like GREATLY applaud anyone that binge reads this beast, I'm serious. thats a feat in of itself. so CONGRATS, cause that's huge xD and a HUGE THANK YOU! I appreciate the love! Reviews like yours really makes my whole entire day! :D

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Focus by Ariana Grande**

* * *

 ***Chapter 207***

"I don't think your grandfather will like being excluded from your little wrecking party, bud," Tessa snipped with a small smile as she began to follow Ace, Nox and Libby out into the sunshine.

"I'm not excluding him, I'm just going to give Nox some pointers, and, well..." Ace turned around and began to walk backwards on the grass once his feet came off of the glorious stoop to the front of their castle. He bashfully rubbed the back of his head and gestured to Libby, "Libby hasn't tested her wrecking powers, yet, so..."

"I'm just saying," Tessa huffed as she trot down the stoop as well, though much to Ace's surprise, Oliver, Emery, Koko, Zed and Vanellope began to file after her, "You can't expect to have a little wrecking get-together and have us other wreckers just sit this one out."

"Is it like addicting or something?" Libby pressed curiously as everyone began to lazily file away from the castle, and though they were still safe on castle grounds, they began to look around for a proper, wide open spot.

"A little, once you start destroying stuff, it's sometimes hard to come out of it," Emery blurt with a hard giggle, to which Oliver and Zed eagerly cued to in agreeing.

Even though the weather was cooling down, Dead Zed's humid air and brightly boastful sun shone down upon the castle in full force, creating an equal amount of a nice, cool breeze blanketed by the warmth of the sun. Dressed in casual attire, it was clear this little shindig was long overdue. In seeming routine, the dudes very quickly began to cluster together, this boastful show of just how strong each one could be, it was obvious this was likely going to very rapidly turn into a show of muscles and dominance. Over the lull of her shoulder, Tessa rolled her eyes and honed in on the small group of women that stood still and clumped with each other, and it was in this instance did Tessa quickly realize that Libby was probably nervous. Although Emery, Koko and Vanellope were doing a great job at keeping Libby's spirits high, Tessa returned her annoyed gaze over her shoulder and narrowed her gaze, to find Ace among the group of loudly chatting men, across the dozen or so foot stretch.

"Hey, User-boy," Tessa called loudly in solid annoyance, and with the way Ace's dewy face and eyes peeked from the group of overflowing testosterone, he knew his mother meant business. Tessa furrowed her brow, gestured her finger and narrowed her gaze directly into his soul.

"What's wrong?" Ace worried as he hustled over to the group of women, though Tessa took his arm and gestured to Libby.

"You just gave this woman an incredible amount of new coding and you're going to dude it out over there and leave her uncertain about what the hell is going on?" Tessa barked, and though it was clear the air was still playful, Tessa's words still held depth.

"I'm sorry, I-I'm being pulled in all directions," Ace mumbled, to which Vanellope and Emery annoyingly gestured their arms to the ground of loud boys across the way.

"Let Zed and Oliver give Nox some pointers," Vanellope cued, she gently wrapped her arm over Libby's shoulder and smiled, "You have a tighter commitment, here, dude."

"I didn't forget about you," Ace worried further, to which Libby shook her head and smiled.

"I knew you'd come back for me eventually," Libby stated happily, to which everyone kindly laughed. Ace gently pushed closer to her and softened his demeanor, a stark difference from the mess he was just caught up in. He lovingly welcomed Libby into a hug and squeezed her tight, "No harm done."

"I'm sorry, I just like wrecking," Ace mumbled as he squished his chin to the top of his head, he eyed his mother in solid, playful annoyance with a wide smirk, "It's in my blood, thank you very much."

"I wasn't denying that, just making sure you know where you should be," Tessa waggled her hands and stepped closer to their group, "WE could teach Libby everything we know, no problem... But something tells me you'd be upset if you weren't the one."

"Nox knows what to do," Koko rolled her eyes with a wide smile and rubbed her forehead, "Little grey man hit big rock with flying fist. Easy."

"Leave that caveman nonsense to your father," Vanellope mumbled, to which her, Koko and Tessa loudly laughed.

"You really ditching the group, dude?!" Nox called across the stretch of sun kissed green grass, Ace squeezed Libby tighter into a hug and jostled the two to get a good look at the group of men he had abandoned.

"Sorry man, I gotta teach my lady first," Ace called, to which Libby bashfully laughed and pushed her face into the broad of Ace's chest.

"I don't know what I'm doing either!" Nox screeched, everyone was very loudly in stitches.

"You have two master wreckers with you, yah ninny!" Koko suddenly hollered as she urgently gestured to Oliver and Zed, and with such, they both grappled Nox into brotherly side hugs and pats, though the nervous look on Nox's face only grew.

"Poor kid," Tessa stated through the clench of her grit teeth.

"Just be thankful Ralph ISN'T here, to be honest," Vanellope huffed as their larger group began to squeeze tighter to themselves, "Better that the newbies get their nerves out now... Ralph won't have an opportunity to hand anyone their ass."

"User help me," Libby muttered as she unraveled from Ace's loving grip, though Emery rolled her eyes and nudged Vanellope.

"It's NOT that scary, stop freaking her out," Emery barked playfully, everyone volleyed loving notions to Libby to ease her worries.

"It's fun, you get to wreck stuff and get pent up frustration out," Ace cooed kindly as he lovingly took Libby's little hand and looked out to the stretch to see just where they could start their lesson.

"Pretty sure you already accomplished that, dude," Vanellope muttered as the two began to stroll ahead of everyone; Koko, Emery and Tessa all stifled laughter.

"He probably got it out for the whole lot of us," Tessa shook her head and crossed her arms as the four slowly followed Ace and Libby.

"I have ears," Ace called, his tone of annoyance was palpable, though his smile easily reminded everyone that this was all lighthearted.

"CONGRATS," Tessa volleyed with a hard laugh, which cued everyone else as well.

"Is this my life now? Just continuously being picked on?" Ace argued as him and Libby stopped, though Tessa's small group had stopped long before, making it clear that they were giving Ace and Libby space to do what they needed to do.

"It's an unspoken rule that you are to be verbally harassed for two days tops after swapping codes with your person of choice," Vanellope mumbled loudly as she put her hands on her hips and carried on in nonchalance, as if this was standard he should get used to, "We all had to deal with it. Welcome to the club."

"I think it's funny," Libby stifled a laugh and covered her mouth, Ace furrowed his brow and peered down to her with a curious smile.

"Cause you're not the one receiving any teasing!" Ace and Libby's laugh's grew.

"... I mean to say this is a guys-only unspoken rule," Vanellope corrected, though she grimaced and peered to Tessa in great cheek; Tessa bobbed a nod and shrugged.

"Zed STILL gets harassed by dad," Tessa mumbled, to which everyone peered their dewy, teasing gazes back to Ace, "Just get used to it, dude."

"Awesome," Ace mumbled sarcastically, though he finally heaved a reviving breath and focused his whole attention down to Libby.

Just as beautiful as he had seen her, in the privacy of his bedroom, he knew no matter where she was, what she was wearing, all of the above, she always had the power to near knock him off his feet. He choked an inhale and desperately tried not to get absolutely lost in her dewy, curious eyes, that lilt of adorable innocence she could never ever be able to lose, he huffed a shaky breath and tried to keep his bearings. Libby finally blurt a small giggle and lovingly held Ace's arm.

"You okay?" Libby prod, though Ace shook his head and then quickly nodded and swallowed a gulp.

"I'm fine, I'm sorry," Ace laughed, Libby smiled and gave him a curious side-eye.

"You sure?" Libby prod again, though Ace gently jostled their hands in a loving fashion and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Ace sighed, he looked down to Libby's little hands and cupped them in his much larger ones, "Alright... Something to really keep in mind is, even though your hands aren't designed to wreck, and are a small, normal size, doesn't mean you can't do some serious damage."

"I had that thought in the back of my mind," Libby prod nervously, Ace bobbed a nod and looked over to the group of women that stood and patiently watched.

"Emery and Vanellope don't seem to have any issue," Ace reminded, to which Libby sagged her shoulders in relief, "Neither does my dad. I know Nox will make an incredible wrecker, as well."

"Are you trying to say that it's not the size that matters?" Libby muttered as she cocked an eyebrow and gave Ace a knowing smirk.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Ace huffed, both were clouded in their own little quiet fit of teasing laughter. Ace shook his head and cleared the air, "Why don't you just focus on making a dent in the ground, first. Wreck the ground underneath you, like what Nox did at the castle meeting, and we'll go from there."

"I'll try," Libby worried, though as Ace took a few urgent steps away, Libby nervously peered over her shoulder and felt the blood leave her face, the raw fact that she had an audience.

Libby finally turned back around, held her hands out, palms opened and faced up, she narrowed her gaze and allowed her glowing honeycombs to come to the forefront of her skin. In a gorgeous show of hers and Ace's permanent love, she heaved a shaky sigh and knew she had to just dive in, head first, and figure all of these new powers out. In the rush of feeling the urge to glitch, just as she was about to clench her fists and follow through with this important task, the ground suddenly reverberated in a loud pang of rolling bass. Libby flinched, wobbled and desperately tried to catch her footing, though as she peered to her left in an urgent manner, she heaved a few shaky breaths and was stunned to see Nox standing in his own cloud of dust, the ground he had just successfully wrecked underneath him. After a moment of surprise, from all angles, Zed and Oliver loudly began to applaud and congratulate him. Nox peered down to his fists in mild, excited surprise, though as he lifted his head and peered to Libby, the two caught eyes in a sudden string of competitiveness.

Libby squinted and could suddenly feel a rush of something foreign wholly hit her, head on. A sting of sharp competitiveness absolutely soaked her soul, a feeling of needing to win, no matter what, something she had never felt before, coming from Ace's share of coding. With all of the realization setting in, she titled her head down, furrowed her brow and sent an unforgiving gaze of cheeky dominance in Nox's direction, that plow of speed she knew she couldn't have gotten from anyone other than Tessa and her own line of Sugar Rush racing, the very core of her surrogate mother's coding, the Queen of racing in which Tessa hailed from. Libby inhaled a deep breath, relished in all of these new feelings and felt a wide, mean grin sprawl her cheeks. Nox titled his head in a cocky manner, clenched his fists and gestured to Libby, as if it was now clear that they were apart of an unspoken wreck-off, and with such, Libby knew she could easily have this in the bag, due to hers and Ace's User coding; she knew to try and keep it fair, though with just how inexperienced she was with this, she wondered if her and Nox were on even ground, no matter what.

"You're not going to let him treat you like that, Libs, are you?" Emery gawked, everyone loudly laughed, though Libby inhaled a confident breath, puffed her chest and clenched her fists.

"Not after the kind of night I just had," Libby snapped in whole confidence, and with such, everyone raised their eyebrows and dragged their curious gaze to Ace, whose face was a stunned beet red.

"Even SHE'S not above teasing you," Tessa blurt with a hard laugh, to which everyone eagerly joined.

In an act of rising dominance, Libby took a firm stance, delicately stretched her lithe arms out and allowed the ground to sprawl with one single, prominent, glowing honeycomb, one of which encompassed Libby's point on the grid. As the light simply danced about and stretched upwards in a golden display of power, Libby inhaled a sharp breath, clenched her fists, lifted them high above her head in proper wrecking form, and so diligently brought them rocketing to the ground. With the sudden bang of crackling land underneath her, the whole game shook with her power. As the group of bystanders urgently began to step backwards in rising nervousness, Libby dragged her fists from the rubble, flicked her hair out of her eyes and glowered her mean, playful smile in Nox's direction. It was clear, from his frozen disposition, that he was now aware he was challenging a formidable foe, one of which he was well aware he could never beat.

From Libby's small burst of proper, solid wrecking power, she clenched her fingers in strong draw of continued, pulsing energy. The golden honeycomb that previously hovered about her figure, on the ground, revealed itself once more in a glorious display of golden light. As she stood from her knelt positioning, she looked down to the ground and very quickly honed in on just what she was doing, a boastful display of a mere inch of her incredible power. As the ground continued to grumble with agitation, she began to slowly rise a platform out of the ground, in the honeycomb shape she was confidently stood on. As the grass platform turned to damp dirt, and then to solid, grey stone, she finally stopped her boastful show of power, and when all was said and done, she was confidently stood on a five-foot tall honeycomb shaped earth-pillar. She huffed a few large breaths, her chest heaved with the sheer amount of power she had suddenly flaunted, and as her hair whipped in the wind, she peered down to Nox and practically begged him to try her. He shook his head, held his hands up in defeat and blurt a loud laugh, to which Zed and Oliver cued to.

"Nooo, no way, I know when I'm beat," Nox barked loudly, everyone finally joined in on the laughter, though Tessa crossed her arms and shook her head in awe.

"Dude," Tessa mumbled, to Ace, with a huff of an incredulous laugh. He was stunned in frozen surprise as she continued on in whole, smiling cheekiness, "What have you gotten yourself into..."

"I-I think teaching Nox will be a walk in the park," Ace staggered nervously, "Libby, on the other hand, might very easily be leaps and bounds ahead of ME."

"First wreck, and she's already manipulated the grid to her exact liking," Vanellope shook her head as everyone volleyed their gazes to the pillar in which Libby still stood on; her and Nox were now loudly arguing and playfully bantering, back and forth, "Bud, you may want to let Ralph and Nox sort their differences and build each other up... You have a duty to this little fire flower, here."

"I forgot about the issue with dad and Nox," Koko grumbled in whole agitation, though Vanellope shrugged.

"Maybe it's for the better," Vanellope gave Ace her whole attention and rested a hand to his shoulder, "Let Ralph take Nox under his wing, they'll figure each other out."

"Mom's right," Tessa bobbed a nod and kept close, though she eased her gaze to Libby, who was now looking for a way to get off of the pillar she had gotten herself on, "It's clear she's got a load of pre-installed skills she now needs to hone... And maybe even reign in, before they get way too out of hand..."

"You've uploaded yourself a User-girl," Koko cocked an eyebrow and gave her nephew a look of great cheek as she crossed her arms, "Weren't prepared for all the data to come with, huh?"

"Not in a million years," Ace gulped.


	208. Chapter 208

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Haha! Thank you :D

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you so much for everything!

 **NightHex54 :** Thank you! Yes, a small amount of tension between Nox and Ralph, but it all finally is released :)

 **chuckiboo :** Haha - no big scene is made about it, you'll see. But it still is a topic of teasing, for a bit :P Thank you! Yes, Ace definitely has his work cut out for him, that is for sure...

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Crime ft. Skott by Grey**

* * *

 ***Chapter 208***

 _"I miss quarter alerts," He stated in a drone of sorrow that she could definitely feel, just strictly from his tone. His inquisitive, golden eyes scanned the pearly tiles undertow, and although he was still grieving, even years after the fact, he still somehow managed to muster a weak smile that dragged to her lithe, glorious figure. He huffed a small breath, shook his head and wrinkled her a wider smile, a true gem was the woman he fancied, "Maybe one day."_

 _"What do you mean by that?" She pressed as she tucked her shoulder length white hair behind her ears, she peered out her castle's windows, far down on the terrace and front entrance; her two sisters, fellow racers, had gathered and were prepared for yet another race day._

 _"I don't know, I let my mind wander," He scoffed, he shook his head and began to make lazy strides over to her. Although their relationship had not yet been officially established, he knew somehow they were moving forward. He felt his heart jump, the promised date night that was held on the horizon, long after quarter alerts were said and done, he wondered if tonight would be the night they would seal the deal._

 _"You seem to have a lot on the mind of yours, lately," She giggled, that childlike, innocent, toothy expression crowned upon her mature, womanly figure had his heart melting all over again. He couldn't help but allow his stubborn smile to just keep growing. She flash him a cute grimace and narrowed her gaze, "You're freaking me out, what do you mean?"_

 _"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to freak you out, just..." He looked down and began to let his mind race on the topic, "When a game gets unplugged... Where does it go?"_

 _"I-I don't know," She sagged her shoulders, she knew this topic was really sensitive for him. She looked off, idly straightened her cute, mint green racing jacket, all adorn with her name, racing number, and a proper crown logo, suited just for the Queen. She shrugged and looked up to her glorious, arched ceilings, kissed with glass chandeliers along the spine of it, "I-I... I fear they may take it away to repurpose it. Maybe fix it?"_

 _"That's what I was thinking," He urged, the billowing excitement in his voice held a vast amount of depth, "Y-You think maybe they'll bring it back? Maybe Litwak will just try and fix it, a-and... It'll get plugged back in?"_

 _"I assume that would be the proper way to do it," She nodded, she knew this topic was likely hopeless, though she did whatever she could to make him feel as though he was at least a little closer to the home he lost. She heaved a hot sigh through her nose and dared to reach a hand out to him, and as she gripped his upper arm, she could feel his heart practically sink, the figurative voice of mild defeat, in her touch, had him nodding in understanding, the sheer fact that his dreams were just that; dreams. After a few nods, he finally shook his head and gave her his eye contact, as golden as the sun, though she thought it strange that something so beautiful had the capacity to lack energy in dire times, "It's okay... You're home, here. You know I'm happy to share it with you. We can always race after hours, you know that."_

 _"My brothers love that," He huffed, he shook his head and looked down, "I'm not so sure I do..."_

 _"Well, why not?" She wondered tenderly, they eased into each other's bubbles just a little more._

 _"It's just... Still painful," He frowned, though he felt his heart jump with hope as her little smile, her cute, adoring eyes, everything about her, read uplift._

 _"Well, we'll just have to find other things to do, then," Her voice was low and dainty, sure and seductive, and although it held a playful bite and was certain with intention, she gently peeled away from him and gave him a cheeky smile, "I'll be home later, you know the drill."_

 _"Win one for me," He called quietly in continued drowning defeat, the small beacon of hope he somehow had left, and once she gave him a thumbs up behind her and left the room, he sagged his hands into his pockets and relished in the stillness of their glorious, sweet castle._

"You think he's actually TRYING to shoot himself in the foot, there? Why doesn't he just win one for himself?" Nox barked in solid annoyance, and it was in this raw switch up did Libby suddenly realize she had come back to reality.

With her head rested lazily to Ace's shoulder, she furrowed her eyebrows and very quickly came back to the planet, and after realizing she had dozed off, she wondered just how it was possible that Nox had somehow lined up with her small, bizarre dream. She popped her tired eyes open in delirious, secretive rushing surprise and held her breath. She reeled in her mind, the stark reality her dream had just presented her, and although she was totally thrown, she sat up a little, furrowed her brow in harder contemplation and dragged her eyes to Nox's figure in hard surprise. With her, Ace, Nox and Zed comfortably slouched on the couches and chairs about the living room, the boys watched another one of their competitive games on the tv.

"You okay?" Ace's tender voice eased as he lovingly slid his arm about Libby's shoulder, she rubbed her eye and kept her strict gaze to Nox. In the brief moment Nox glanced in Libby's direction, she caught her stern line of sight, flinched and gave her his whole attention.

"I-I'm fine, I just... Had a REALLY weird dream about Nox," Libby choked in tiredness, the evening was beginning to come to a close, though game day was still going on.

"What?" Ace asked in mild defense, though Nox raised his eyebrows and began to playfully elbow Ace's upper arm.

"Better watch out, man," Nox choked in a laugh, though before he could finish his sentence, he blurt an annoyed noise as Zed quickly grappled Nox's head into the nook of his arm and held him in a headlock.

"You too, dude, stay away from my son's swap mate," Zed urged darkly, though both boys laughed with the playfulness as Nox wormed his way out of Zed's grip.

"What was it about?" Ace prod nervously, and although he was aware Nox wouldn't dare do anything to upset the balance of the castle, he still began to feel raw, new feelings of protectiveness over his brand new swap mate.

"I-I don't know... It was weird," Libby finally smiled, and as she came farther and farther away from her dream, she realized how silly it all was, "I was getting ready for quarter alerts and... Nox was telling me how he missed them and I... THINK was shooting out ideas on just how to get TurboTime back into the Arcade."

"Ugh, that was Turbo's plight, for forever," Nox rolled his eyes and looked up, "It's not possible. Once the cabinet is gone, it's gone. He ALWAYS was like 'oh what if Litwak just HAS it?' It's gone, dude. Dream-me must be taking on the form of Turbo, or something."

"Weird," Ace huffed in a relaxed way, though as he sagged back into the couch, Libby put up a finger.

"We were flirting, though," Libby prod curiously, though as Ace's, Nox's and Zed's eyes nervously snapped to Libby in solid surprise, she huffed a bashful giggle and gave Nox an apologetic smile, "Sorry, dude, I don't like you like that."

"Dammit," Nox huffed sarcastically, this fortunately got a smile and a laugh out of Ace.

"We were in a really pretty castle," Libby shrugged, "It looked like something I could definitely see in Sugar Rush."

"Well, if you remember all the little details, you should run it by Tessa or Vanellope," Zed shrugged.

"...Oddly specific dream, there, babe," Ace's voice became low and concerned, though Libby gave him a floored look and shrugged.

"What was even weirder, is as I came out of the dream, Nox was continuing the conversation that we were having, just now," Libby pointed, though Zed shrugged again and ruffled his bright blue hair, it was out of it's usual style and was messy on his scalp.

"Well, while you were sleeping, us three were carrying out conversation... As much as you may want to believe the conversation was just being played out, in coincidence, your conscious may have been hearing our conversation and warping your dream," Zed tenderly explained, to which Ace gave her a defeated look and bobbed a nod, "While you weren't technically awake or participating, you could still hear us, thus... Your dream adhered to it."

"Maybe, huh," Libby furrowed her brow and sunk into Ace's side, and as she gave this physical form of 'letting it go', everyone continued to poke and prod notions towards what was going on, on the television, "I had a normal American accent, and everything... It was weird."

"You don't ever talk in an American accent," Ace stated in a low, warm tone as he gently eased her tighter to his loving side embrace.

"It was otherworldly," Libby nodded in a day and let herself sink into their weirdness of her dream.

Libby let her idle gaze gloss the tv's screen in a white noise hit of dead information to her retinas. She shook her head, just barely, and felt her skin crawl. How real it all felt, how genuinely stark all the emotions were felt, unlike any of her other dreams. She felt a shiver rush through her body, her brand new coding near-telling her that it was up to something, she heaved a shaky breath and tried her hardest to get used to this heightened amount of power Ace had given her. She knew there were still mysteries, in her brand new coding, to be solved, though she never thought, in a million years, that it'd throw extremely realistic, nostalgic dreams at her.

With the drone of the familiar, masculine voices Libby had grown to know and love, the tight knit bond of men she knew would protect her at the drop of a hat, she sagged deeper into Ace's side and dared to doze in and out of consciousness, once more, knowing she was safe in their bubbled realm of comforting love. As the conversations behind them, at the kitchen island, droned on and only added to the lovely feelings of comfort in the room, game day finally came to a quiet conclusion. As five of Dead Zed's six racers lazily filed into the main building, after the rumbling of their bikes announced their presence a few minutes prior, the group inside the main building perked with the new beings added to the family bunch. Shortly after everyone had settled, once more, Ralph was the last one to make his presence known at the Kalivar castle, having to trek all the way from Game Central Station.

Ralph quietly greet everyone in the living room, and as the warm mumblings of conversation spurred into brighter excitement, at the kitchen island, Ralph gravitated towards his wife, who was also stationed at the island. As he came alongside his bride, he warmly gave her a small kiss of a greeting, sagged his shoulders in relief that the gaming day was over, and assessed the group he was in. Vanellope, Rancis, Taffyta, Tessa and Penny hung tight to their conversation, though the longer Ralph hung tight to Vanellope's side, the more he realized she was hanging on the edge of words she needed to speak to him. He could tell by the stillness in her demeanor, as well as the figurative buzzing in her silence, that something was on her mind. He furrowed his brow, jostled his larger hand and arm around her lower back and tilted his head in kind confusion.

"Everything okay?" Ralph eased in great warmth, only for her ears, and with the way she heaved a sigh and gave him a snarky smile, he knew something was up.

"... I guess I sort of... Have a proposition for you," Vanellope's voice read delighted defeat as she gently fingered the large clasp on Ralph's tattered, faded brown overalls. The gentle strands of his worn, orange plaid shirt was beginning to show it's age, even with as many resets as Ralph had endured during game play.

"What's up?" Ralph prod, he honed his nervous eyes to hers and felt his heart begin to race with uncertainty.

"Well... Don't go rushing away to the shower, just yet," Vanellope sighed as she gently looked over her shoulder, she eyed the back of Nox's head, who was sat between Zed and Ace, on the couch. They loudly laughed as the tv droned on, "You may still have some wrecking to do."

"What do you mean?" Ralph wondered as he gently followed Vanellope's line of sight, and as he realized just who she was looking at, his eyes began to look nervous in agitated down trot, "... Nox?"

"There was a small wreck-off today," Vanellope smiled, her eyes twinkled under the calm of the house lights, "... I know that boy would benefit greatly from your teachings. Any wrecker would."

"... I thought Ace was going to take Nox under his wing? They are best buds, after all," Ralph uttered in quiet defense, he began to feel stubbornness crawl over him, the urge to argue his Queen; he knew to tread lightly, however.

"Well... Your grandson has added a new wrecker to the code stream," Vanellope stated in an uplift of delighted knowing, and with such, Ralph raised his eyebrows with her insinuation and gestured his hand to Libby in surprise. The second Vanellope's smile broadened, and she bobbed a nod, Ralph huffed a small breath of surprise and beamed a wide smile. Vanellope kindly continued on, "Ace has his hands full, currently... She has an incredible amount of power Ace's teachings can hone and reign in."

Ralph heaved a long, hot and tired sigh through his nose. His large chest and shoulders visibly sagged in acceptance, and although he still looked mildly annoyed, Vanellope knew he was easily considering mending his broken relationship with the youngest TurboTwin, his future son-in-law. He lulled his eyes closed, raised his eyebrows in collected agitation and finally allowed a nod or two to jostle from his figure.

"Nox needs you, he's still so wary in his new skills," Vanellope's warmth was palpable, she gently rested her hand to Ralph's lower arm and tilted her head for continued, sweet emphasis, "Please, do this for the next generation of us... These babes are our future, User forbid we... Are, one day, long gone... Our kids have passed on our powers, wouldn't you want to make sure it's learned and honed right?"

Ralph frowned and felt Vanellope's words hit him head on, and as he longingly peered into her eyes, he felt his heart sink in growing realization. Even though half of the wreckers and glitchers, on the lot, were not of his blood, they still harbored his incredible coding, even if in collected shreds of the result of proper code swaps. He realized just how broad his brood was, his very own tier of generations, and generations to come. He nodded, once more, though this time it was in further confidence.

"Tessa and Zed have done very well to teach Ace, and you know Oliver and Emery will be diligent in teaching whatever children they may have, one day," Vanellope pressed, their conversation was tender and quiet, "But... Koko grew up without you... Sure, I taught her everything you taught me, but... These kids need you. They need us... Ace could teach Nox frontwards and backwards and he'd turn out to be a wonderful, well-rounded gamer, but Ace has higher responsibilities, right now."

"Libby's a User, now," Ralph stated knowingly as a small smile peaked at the corners of his mouth, the uplift of awe and excitement still hung on the group, a feeling they knew wouldn't fade any time soon; his smile only broadened as Vanellope's did, she nodded in excitement.

"They blew the power to the building, and everything," Vanellope giggled, which caused a quiet laugh to shake from Ralph's chest.

"Remind you of anything?" Ralph blurt gently, though Vanellope sharply shushed him and nervously eyed Taffyta, who was oblivious to their conversation.

"Shut up, I don't want Taffyta remembering," Vanellope rushed through the grit of her teeth, though Ralph held his stomach and continued to laugh.

"The whole station was nearly without power," Ralph choked, though Vanellope swat at him and muttered indecipherable obscenities to him.

"Go, go talk to him, GO," Vanellope snapped quietly with a blurt of a laugh, and as Ralph began to avoid her swats and step away, he finally peeled from his bride and eyed the back of Nox's head.

Ralph sagged his shoulders and allowed Vanellope's words to hit him, head on, once and for all. Sat comfortably clumped together, on the couch, four beings remained in their tight bubble of love, four beings that rested in the calm of gentleness, though were also clearly four beings that harbored the entirety of Ralph's wrecking abilities, power far beyond their imaginations. Ralph nearly kicked himself for letting all of this incredible information nearly go free with the wind, and it was in Vanellope's motherly words did he understand just where he needed to be, in his own self-created mess of wreckers; right at the center.

"Hey, Nox?" Ralph prod quietly, and with such, the group on the couch perked up in nervous readiness; the sheer fact that Ralph was willingly talking to Nox had everyone surprised.

"Yes, sir," Nox blurt in a rush of nervous respect, he sagged his arm over the back of the couch and peered up to Ralph in apprehension, though Ralph volleyed him a warm, lightly defeated smile, shrugged a little and gestured to the back door of the castle.

"May I have a word with you?" Ralph eased, he tried his very hardest not to come off as intimidating and scary, something he knew his booming voice largely aided in, and although he could practically see all the blood leave Nox's face, he already began to feel better with this step forward.

As Ralph began to lightly head to the back door, hoping Nox would follow him, Nox nervously dragged his eyes to Zed's, who cheekily side-eyed him in a rile of frozen agitation. Zed finally gave Nox a shrug, a brotherly pat to the back and uttered a quip of a lightly sarcastic 'good luck'. Nox finally stood and began to follow the biggest, baddest wrecker into the void of whole unknown.


	209. Chapter 209

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 : CONGRATS** for being my 1,500th reviewer! Thanks for everything, friend! :)

 **NightHex54 :** Wellllll, it won't seem so much from left field, eventually xD

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Star Canopy by Alan Silvestri**

* * *

 ***Chapter 209***

As Dead Zed's evening so gently eased a cool breeze through the Kalivar lot's backyard, Ralph and Nox cautiously stepped outside. As the back door only cracked and barely reached to a closed latch, both men slowly moseyed to a nervous stop just beyond the reaches of the patio's overhang. As Ace and Libby's beautiful fire flowers glistened amongst the night sky, and attracted a few fire flies, Nox anxiously scanned his eyes to the beautiful scenery in hopes of taking his mind off of his now rushing, buzzing anxiety. His ears prickled with the sound of Ralph's large rib cage intaking a deep breath, as if to prepare himself. Nox bit his lip and clenched his fists, as if to somehow steady his nervousness.

"Vanellope told me you guys had a bit of a wrecking lesson today," Ralph's voice was kind and neutral, something Nox desperately held onto; he was aware, that although he was defending his late oldest brother, he knew he got in the face of the biggest, baddest wrecker in the entirety of Arcade. Not something many people did without likely losing a life.

"I-I wouldn't... Call it a lesson," Nox staggered with a bashful smile, he shrugged and trailed his eyes up to the formidable beast before him, "Since, uh... Libby is a wrecker now, and I, well... Can somehow wreck now, we just were sort of messing around."

"You don't have a teacher?" Ralph prod, he gave Nox a knowing smirk and eyed him down, as if to likely state that no one could teach wrecking better than the original wrecker himself, though he knew the two had a bit of mending to do.

"Well, Ace WAS going to teach me, but..." Nox trailed off with a defeated frown and shook his head, his glowing eyes only dimly lit the bridge of his cute nose, "I'm sure he's just got his hands full, trying to reel in another User, y'know?"

Ralph frowned and gently dragged his understanding gaze to Nox's unsure stare across the backyard. Through the thicket of trees, Lickity's glistening, cat-like reflective gaze could be seen dipping in and out of sight, as if to show curiosity with just what was going on, though she was likely aware that her presence wasn't necessary. Before long, Marble's and Balba's equally as creepy, glistening orbs could be spotted from time to time. Ralph only barely glossed his eyes across the backyard before he heaved a long, hard sigh and bobbed a nod. He gently gestured out to a patch of the field that lacked the glow of the fire flowers, it was a bit darker in that area, though he was aware they were more than safe on their walled lot, especially with four formidable flyers keeping their protective, silent presence of gazes tight to their human brood.

"Welp... I'm not going to let your new skill go without polishing," Ralph grunted as he adjusted his overalls and began to confidently step out onto the grass, he waved his hand and kindly gestured for Nox to follow, "We've got some work to do, son."

Nox raised his eyebrows in near-faint worthy shock and tried his hardest to get his feet to properly work. As Ralph was a few large strides ahead, Nox finally trot to keep up with his future father-in-law, a man in which Nox was aware he needed to rebuild the burned down bridges with. Someone so important to his own swap mate, Nox inhaled a nervous breath and knew this was likely Ralph trying to begin a proper healing process, once and for all.

"Y-You're... Going to teach me?" Nox uttered, almost in a nervous, dejecting tone that Ralph easily caught onto.

"You scared?" Ralph huffed a laugh, to which Nox finally smiled.

"No, I'm not scared," Nox boasted as he blew a quiet raspberry and waggled his hand, "I-I just... Am certain I won't be nearly as great as you."

"I'm not worried about either one of us upstaging each other," Ralph joked, he shook his head and gave Nox a furrowed look of delightful disbelief, and as they rounded to the darker end of the field, closer to Throttle's abode, Ralph put his hands on his hips and cocked an eyebrow, "We just have to get you started somewhere."

Nox bobbed a nod, nervously stood in a posture that lacked confidence and glossed his eyes to Ralph's broad chest and shoulders. Ralph furrowed his brow a little harder, and once the two were still with each other, Ralph allowed Nox's presence to become the center of his very first wrecking lesson. Right off the bat, Ralph was well aware that Nox was lacking a great deal of confidence, when it came to wrecking. He stood, near pigeon-toed and twiddled his fingers. His handsome, glow gaze dart to the ground, as if he likely didn't even have the right to look Ralph in the eye. Ralph inhaled a shaky breath, held it and felt as if he needed to switch gears. He knew, alongside code swaps, that wreckers came in all shapes and sizes, though he nearly reeled with just how stark and prominent said fact was with the gangly, shifty looking individual he now vowed to keep tight under his wing.

"... You're not going to learn how to properly wreck, right away," Ralph stated with a great amount of warmth as he knelt, to get to Nox's level, and with such, Nox's confused gaze finally glossed to his in innocent concern.

"Probably for the better," Nox mumbled with a frown, "I'm positive I'd just make a joke of the wrecking gene, anyhow."

"That's not at all what I was getting at," Ralph's fatherly voice was stern, yet full of love. He finally reached out his large hand and cupped the top of Nox's shoulder for added emphasis, "The key to great wrecking is confidence, that high of certainty in your swings, you falter once and you won't deliver a proper amount of force needed... I'm beginning to think this is why you near-destroyed your hands, the first time around."

Nox nodded and looked down to his opened palms, he heaved a shaky sigh and allowed Ralph's words to gloss over him. Ralph peered down to Nox's little hands, and although he wasn't born a wrecker, Ralph was aware Nox had the capability, and then some; he just needed to be loved on. Ralph smiled and knew his youngest daughter had picked well, and likely not Ralph's and Vanellope's first choice for a future son-in-law, he felt his heart grow sore with just how fate played out so properly, how ironic every little weave of this great web they all were tangled in. Ralph knew there was no better fit for an added family member than one of the most misunderstood gamers to date. Ralph huffed a small chuckle and jostled Nox's shoulder a little.

"Stop looking so down-trot, what's bothering you?" Ralph mumbled with a small laugh, he was successful in getting a smile from Nox's figure, once more.

"I-I'm sorry, I just... Feel as if I don't really deserve this proper one-on-one attention," Nox sighed, "I was totally okay with either Zed or Oliver teaching me."

"Great, powerful wreckers themselves," Ralph bobbed a nod, "You'd learn a great deal..."

Nox nodded in agreeing before shrugging a little, though he raised his eyebrows in growing concern and honed his lightly glowing gaze to Ralph's, as Ralph leaned in for emphasis.

"... But they're not me," Ralph stated in a loud whisper, both men finally blurt into knowing laughter, though Nox finished their fit with a shaky sigh as he looked back down to his hands.

"I... Owe you an apology," Nox huffed, he finally braved Ralph's eye contact and frowned, "I shouldn't have yelled at you, at the castle meeting. I'm sorry."

"You're not the one needing to apologize," Ralph mumbled, his eyes glossed Nox's chest in growing contemplation, "I said some ridiculous crap about your oldest brother and you rushed to his aid... Even though he's not with us, any longer, you still fiercely defend him."

Nox nodded, furrowed his brow and tightened his gaze to his hands, and as tears welled in his eyes, Ralph's heart sank in further guilt. He lovingly squeezed Nox's shoulder and shook his head.

"THAT'S the mark of a good man, you never turn your back on your family... Even if they may have done something wrong, you are never one to let your loyalty waver," Ralph firmly assured, and as a few tears slipped down Nox's cheeks in dire silence, he looked off and nodded through a soft sniffle as Ralph continued, "I overlooked that, I let the past cloud my judgment, and I said what I said... Which was wrong. I'm sorry, Nox."

"It's alright," Nox eased unconditionally with another nod, he quickly wiped away his tears, from his jaws, and collected himself. He finally huffed a small, nasally laugh and looked down to his opened hands, once more, "That wrecking gene has me able to get mad way faster than I usually do..."

"One of the downsides of being a wrecker," Ralph shook his head as both men laughed, "You'll learn to quell it... It's easier for some, harder for others. Just ask Tess. She was born a wrecker and still hardly is able to reel in that temper of hers."

"We think it's funny," Nox blurt with a harder laugh, Ralph beamed and shook his head.

"Imagine her as an adolescent," Ralph grumbled, "She was the toughest to raise... But she's also the toughest to break down. She uses that to her advantage. Every single one of us wreckers has their own advantages and disadvantages, when it comes to the passed on wrecking code."

"What's mine?" Nox prod, his innocent eyes glossed to Ralph's in growing wonder.

"You tell me," Ralph shrugged, though as he broadened his perspective on the backyard, he now noticed that nearly everyone had stepped outside to likely watch the show, and although they were a little bit farther away, under the patio's overhang, the lot of them stood in silence and attempted to eavesdrop. Ralph chuckled as him and Nox drew their attention to the crowd they had garnered, though Ralph furrowed his brow and now wondered if he could use this little lesson to his greater advantage. Ralph eyed the few wreckers across the way and smiled, "Why don't we included some of your code-siblings, in this mess, and see what we can learn..."

"Code-siblings?" Nox innocently wondered as Ralph glanced to him and back across the lot.

"You know them well," Ralph chuckled, he broadened his booming voice to the group across the way, "Alright, I need the help of our code-swap wreckers."

Nox raised his eyebrows and peered to the crowd, and with great curiosity, he watched as a few individuals slowly and bashfully peeled from the conglomerate of beings. At the head confidently followed by Emery, was Zed. The two quickly filed across the field, though before they could reach half way to Ralph and Nox, Zed slowly turned to look over his shoulder, as if he was apologetic for nearly forgetting someone. In the quietness of the group, Ace could be seen lovingly nudging Libby in the right direction, and as Libby bashfully peeled out of the crowd and closer to her own future father-in-law, the three confidently continued to cross the grass with Zed gentlemanly leading the two women in his linked arms.

"Alright, you three, time for a proper pow-wow," Ralph's voice carried, and once the three reached Ralph and Nox, they relaxed their linked arms and huddled in a loose, attentive circle, which properly closed with Ralph and Nox. Ralph smiled to Libby and warmly reached his large hand to her little one, and once he was successful in so tenderly holding her small fingers, he tilted his head and peered to her in full, adoring support, "A little birdie told me that you're now a full-fledge wrecker, yeah?"

Libby bashfully nodded and wrinkled her little fingers around Ralph's large pointer finger, and in the squeeze, she scrunched her shoulders and eased a giggle as Zed gently nudged his elbow to hers, as if to tell her to cut the shyness and flaunt it. Libby finally inhaled a confident breath and nodded a little harder as she tucked her hair behind her left ear.

"... It's about time," Ralph blurt, to which everyone finally burst into a quiet fit of laughter. Libby beamed and covered her blushing face, and although the moon and setting sun were very dim in the sky, and light was scarce, the five held tight to each other and read off of body language and voice cues.

"That's about the seventh time I've heard that today," Libby giggled, she shook her head and sighed, "Happy to be on board, finally."

"We're really glad to have you," Ralph smiled as he squeezed her hand a little harder, "I was just in the process of giving Nox a proper, first wrecking lesson, but... I decided that a verbal lesson should likely come first. For all of you."

Everyone attentively kept their gazes to Sugar Rush's King, the ultimate head of their clan, no matter the crowned status or not. Ralph gently let go of Libby's hand and returned his loving grip to Nox's shoulder.

"We're all aware that Nox's wrecking gene was likely... Not given in full, and that is no one's fault... But, it's got me thinking that maybe it just was a lack of full confidence," Ralph pondered, he particularly eyed Zed and Emery for the sheer fact that they have had their wrecking coding for over a year now, "Do either of you two ever feel this way, with your wrecking ability?"

Zed and Emery gently peered to one another in contemplation, and before anyone could say anything above the gentle sounds of night life, and crickets, abundantly about the five, Zed politely gestured to Emery, stating she should go first.

"Well... I've never really lacked confidence, with my wrecking, but I will tell you, that when Oliver was first teaching me how to wreck, it was in the midsts of nearly losing Sugar Rush in it's entirety," Emery's voice was solid and somber, she heaved a soft sigh and shrugged, "Although I was confident in my skill, a lot of my frustration and power, behind my wrecking, came from sorrow..."

"That's dark, I didn't know this," Zed stated in gentle sadness as he gave Emery a look of recoiling apprehension, Emery shrugged and bobbed a nod.

"Once we were freed from Sugar Rush and safe in Dead Zed, all those months ago... I practically had to relearn how to properly wreck," Emery explained as everyone held their attentive gazes to her, "All my previous training had come straight from depression and raw frustration, the fact that I was trapped in a game that wasn't my own. I wasn't safe to game over. I was just so mad that anyone could do such a horrid thing, to innocent lives."

"Did Oliver recognize this in you?" Ralph wondered, Emery nodded.

"Right from the start, he always told me to separate the two, but... I feel as though I needed to learn how to improperly hone my skill," Emery explained, she gave Nox her attention and smiled, "You may be feeling a lack of confidence, and the frustration of uncertainty and sorrow may be something you want to use as fuel, but... I need you to understand that it's a set back, and you'll find that digging to the source of your problems, before you learn how to channel proper wrecking form, will do you a great amount of good."

"Wise words, Em," Ralph eased seriously with a nod, he gave Emery a grateful look of kindness, to which Emery bashfully shrugged and meeped a tender 'thank you' in Ralph's direction, "What about you, Zed?"

"Well... It was very different for me, because, well... Tessa and I swapped with the whole concern of saving Ace's life, in mind," Zed tenderly explained, "Sure, gaining that new wrecking and glitching ability was way cool, but it sort of got put on the back burner, because, well..."

"You were about to become a father," Ralph concluded with a knowing nod, Zed crossed his arms and urgently nodded as he bugged his eyes.

"Tessa and I hardly had time to really focus on my new abilities," Zed mumbled, "I don't even think I properly learned how to wreck until Ace was around three months old."

"Were you feeling uncertain, too?" Nox prod softly, as if to hope he wasn't alone in this, and much to his relief, Zed nervously nodded and looked down.

"Of course... Tessa and I would have a fight, or maybe Ace kept us up through the early hours of the morning... Something would frustrate me, something that wouldn't warrant a great deal of anger, but I could just feel my blood boil," Zed frowned, "It was so difficult because we never really had time to quell or prevent that build up. I just was given powers, and then we had a child, a User, to raise."

"So, that downfall was due to pent up anger that didn't have a proper outlet," Ralph prod, Zed nodded.

"Things got a little easier when Libby came along," Zed smiled and lovingly tapped Libby's lower arm; she smiled and bashfully looked down, "Ace suddenly had a playmate and Tessa and I had a bit more alone time. All those months of her grieving the loss of her kingdom, she hardly had time for herself, even... But once Ace was preoccupied, during the day, things eased a bit, and she was able to finally teach me."

"How long did you go before this?" Ralph asked gently.

"Ace was about six Arcade years old when he met Libby, so it was about half a year," Zed shook his head, Nox bugged his eyes, though Zed huffed a laugh and peered cheeky smile to Libby, "Thank you for grabbing Ace's whole attention."

"I do what I can," Libby retort, everyone laughed.

"See? Everyone has a set back, no single one of you guys have walked into the new skillset with ease," Ralph stated with warmth, and although Libby was new to this little clan, he gestured to Libby and wrinkled a smile, "Libby, how do you feel about all of this? I know it's been a day, but... Your stance is probably extremely different."

"It's... Very overwhelming, to say the least," Libby nodded with a nervous smile, "I have a great deal more power, added to my code, so... Really finding a balance in my strength is what will be the hardest thing for me. And that's probably not going to be easy, considering all of my new wrecking skills are now saddled with limitless User power."

"You'll find balance," Ralph assured with a nod, he hooked his prominent, caring brown eyes into Libby's and so gently touched the backs of his knuckles to her little hand in a teasing nudge, "You have a whole entire support system... You all do."

"Ace won't let you drown in it, either," Zed reassured, as well, to which everyone included little quips of solid agreeing.

"Sitting here, I was prepared to give Nox a proper, first-time wrecking lesson and I noticed his posture... It lacked confidence," Ralph chuckled as he jostled Nox's loose shoulder about, he blurt a laugh and wobbled, though Ralph gestured to himself, "It probably didn't help that you and I had beef, but... I could just tell you were feeling extremely uncertain."

"I-I still sort of am," Nox admitted as he bashfully peered to Ralph, though Ralph furrowed his brow and gently gestured to the three he had invited over.

"... Looks like you're in wonderful company, son," Ralph grumbled, though everyone huffed small notions of assuring quips and gave Nox the utmost amount of support, "Even I lack that proper amount of confidence. But the thing that keeps me going is, I know I'm not alone."

"You're probably so used to handling stress on your own, because, well..." Zed rubbed the back of his head and peered to Nox in tenderness, "You lived for about two decades, all by your lonesome. You didn't have anyone to rely on."

"Then, all of the sudden, you're thrown almost two dozen individuals to love on you," Emery giggled, everyone was all smiles, though Nox looked down in rising understanding, "You had a girl fancy you right off the bat, and now you're sunk into a vat of a whole entire code stream of new abilities? I know it's a lot to handle, all at once."

"It's... Much," Nox huffed with a nasally laugh, though the group noticed his dimly glowing eyes well with tears, once more.

"Look at the people who surround you, now," Ralph urged as he squeezed Nox's shoulder, "We all may not be related, but we all have common ground. We are all family."

"You may have lost your home, and the people you loved, but..." Emery smiled to Zed as him and Libby began to tuck closer to each other, "All that energy has been reborn. You'll never be without it."

"Thanks, guys," Nox uttered as he nervously wiped tears from his jaws, once more, though Ralph uttered a small laugh of understanding and began to lightly scoop Libby tighter into the circle, which cued Zed and Emery to do so, as well.

"The key to honing your skills, properly, is the backbone of this whole entire operation," Ralph stated knowingly as the circle grew tighter, though he had enough room to gently open his palm out in the center of the group of five. With as much tenderness as he could muster, he allowed his hand to come alive with his and Vanellope's purple glow of code, "We all may not have the same coding, but you four share codes from the roots of the same family tree. We all look out for each other, we all tear down each other's walls and build each other back up. We stick together no matter what... You hear me?"

Everyone collectively agreed in unison, to which Ralph nodded and looked each being in the eye.

"Everybody in?" Ralph stated in confidence, and as he upped the brightness on his glowing, purple code, he was thrilled to see Zed outstretch his hand and allow his and Tessa's rare, silver coding to eagerly come to the surface of his palm, as well.

With the flare of the trend, Emery beamed an excited smile, outreached her hand as well and let the glow of hers and Oliver's gorgeous green coding soak the area with added color. Everyone eagerly dragged their gaze to Libby, with all smiles, and as she bashfully outstretched her small hand, to join in on the fun, hers and Ace's golden tiers of circuits, and honeycombs, flood the place with the mess of glowing color, as well. With the last, fragile, shivering shred of coding still left to join in on the camaraderie, everyone slowly peered their curious gazes to Nox. In the gentle rush of it, Ralph jostled Nox's shoulder once more and was successful in getting a laugh out of him, including everyone else. He finally outreached his hand and allowed his and Koko's swirling, berry crimson blips of circuits and honeycombs to complete the circle of inclusion.

"This is what I signed up for," Ralph encouraged with a loud laugh, to which everyone cued to, and as the beautiful sets of different colors glistened in all of it's individual and conclusive glory, Ralph looked about his vastly unique brood of added wreckers and glitchers alike, "We begin proper wrecking and glitching training tomorrow... What do you guys say?"

Everyone eagerly agreed in rising excitement as they shot looks of glee to one another, and as Ralph kept Nox tight to his side, he gently peered to the last TurboTwin and wrinkled him a fatherly look of cheeky delight.

"Better brace yourselves, kids," Ralph chuckled as he shook his head, "I may be an easy going teacher, but Vanellope is a lot quicker and sharper."

"We'll all be trailing behind you like ducklings, then," Emery blurt, everyone loudly laughed in agreeing.

* * *

"Hurry, we're missing out," Tessa rushed in childish glee as she outstretched her palm and let her silver coding shine through. Ace blurt a laugh and eagerly did the same, and as Vanellope giggled and joined in, they all flinched as Taffyta aggressively flung her arm about and gave the three an obnoxious look of whole irritation.

"OH WAIT," Taffyta shouted in whole dismay, which had Rancis and Penny in stitches, "I guess you'll have to pretend my skin is all cool and glowy because I'm not cool enough to be a glitch, I guess!"

"Oh, shut up, you're still valid," Vanellope blurt as she grappled Taffyta's arm and flared hers and Rancis's orange coding, and as Rancis and Penny gently joined, Vanellope kindly did the same for the two.

"I think I heard something about wrecking and glitching lessons," Ace wondered as he volleyed his gaze across the field; Lickity, Marble, Balba and Royal had all come out from their enclosure to see just what the fuss was about.

"Now, Taffyta, you can STILL come to these lessons," Vanellope stated in a teasing voice, as if to pretend to be talking to a child.

"You KIDDING? I'm not a glitch, I get to sleep in," Taffyta barked, though as she went to high-five Rancis, they both slapped their live-wired hands to one another, which resulted in a loud buzz of added bass and a burst of orange pixels to shoot in all directions; everyone loudly laughed and flinched in whole surprise.

"Mom, do you think we can go to EZ Living sometime this week?" Ace prod as Vanellope and Taffyta continued to loudly bicker, and as Ace and Tessa allowed their coding to dwindle away, Tessa crossed her arms and peered to Ace in contemplation as he continued, "It's just... Getting colder, in Dead Zed, and I really want to go to the beach."

"You'll have to take that up with your father," Tessa sighed as she looked off, "You know how wary he is of even leaving the game... It's not technically safe for us."

"Well, what if we go in disguise? Surely changing the color of our hair and such will help," Ace shrugged, "What's a day at the beach?"

"Bud... You remember what happened last time you went to EZ Living," Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gave Ace a motherly look of concern.

"We were at a crowded bar... This time, we can just sink away to our usual spot, no one even bothers us," Ace pleaded gently, he heaved a hard sigh and peered across the field, to his father, "Surely it'll be okay."

Tessa heaved a hot sigh through her nose and peered her gaze to Ace's line of sight, as well. She knew it was risky leaving the game, being completely at the mercy of the Arcade's wrath, the twisted views everyone had on the whole entire Dead Zed swap clan, Tessa finally peered into Ace's eyes and found a vast amount of added maturity. Having gained Libby's soul, in it's entirety, he looked well versed on far more knowledge than he had garnered over his lifetime. Tessa narrowed her gaze and peered to him as a whole, a readied being with a palpable amount of tenderness, a love for anyone and everyone, Tessa knew not to tie him down. She gave Ace a small, nervous smile and bobbed a nod.

"You're lucky I'm the cool parent," Tessa muttered sarcastically, which caused a wide smile to broaden across Ace's face, "Your father is a tough cookie. I don't see the harm in a quiet day, at EZ Living... But you need your father's approval."

"Why can't we just exclude him," Ace uttered teasingly through the grit of his teeth, though he huffed a startled laugh as Tessa suddenly nudged his center.

"Because, he's my swap mate, he's your father, and I said so," Tessa snipped with a giggle as she gave Ace a motherly look of rising sternness, though she shook her head as the two eased a bit, "He just wants to protect us all. Get his 'go-ahead' and we'll set up a beach day, okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Ace mumbled half-heartedly; he knew his father was the toughest gamer to crack.


	210. Chapter 210

**Reviews :**

 **Xaehttium :** That's a good question actually! I'd assume they just sort of immediately feel like themselves/like they belong. Interesting concept :) Thank you!

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you so much! Interesting you mention that, actually - You get a decent look into more of these 'secret' code swap families, soon here!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you friend! You can request a drawing, for any chapter after 200, in the '250' sketch dump, whenever that comes up.

 **NightHex54 :** I'm SO glad, that really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy haha. Thank you so much!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Something Wild by Lindsey Stirling ft. Andrew McMahon**

 **Confident by Demi Lovato**

* * *

 ***Chapter 210***

As Sunday's beautiful, cool atmosphere kissed the crisp, Dead Zed air, the lot of powerful wreckers, glitchers and gamers alike moseyed to a sleepy gather in the Kalivar castle's backyard. In a tight huddle that contained Ralph, Vanellope, Tessa, Zed, Oliver, Emery, Koko, Nox, Ace, Libby, Penny, Rancis, Taffyta, Orph and Throttle, as well as all of the flyers, Tessa thumbed through the digital pad and pondered a proper place to settle, on the map, where their massive wrecking and glitching adventure would take place. She also diligently searched for a proper place for Penny and Rancis to practice their swordsmanship. In the sleep grumblings of her family members about her, she quietly chimed her voice to a decibel above everyone and gestured to the pad.

"Alright, I found a good spot... Everyone hold still," Tessa instructed as she made sure she had the eye contact of everyone about her, "This isn't going to be an easy transfer unless everyone stands perfectly still.

Just as Nox raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to volley Tessa a sarcastic comment, she pointed to him with a snarky smile.

"That last bit was for you, dude," Tessa barked, everyone fell into a lazy stupor of sleepy laughter as Nox shut his mouth and slumped his shoulders.

In a rush of information, Tessa gently tabbed a few options, on the pad, and was successful in teleporting everyone miles and miles away from the castle. Plopped in a large sprawl of plain, that seemingly went on for miles and miles, it was scattered with a good amount of rock formations, an edgy area that eventually crawled to a cliff side. On the other side of the mess was a small thicket of jungle, full of smaller trees and vines, perfect for Penny and Rancis's training. In a slump of relax, everyone began to mingle. Tessa allowed the group to explore their area and continue to wake up a bit before jumping right into training. In small groups of loose, meandering conversation, everyone held their own light topics, while others stood with their arms crossed and politely expressed to the world that they needed to wake up, some more, before conversing; this was mostly just Taffyta, Throttle, Orph and Oliver.

"Regretting you came, now?" Penny staggered with a small chuckle, she adjusted the swords on her hips and gave Orph a coy look of teasing delight.

"No, I'm just here to watch and hang out with you," Orph's voice croaked in whole sleepiness. He stood in his dark grey hoodie, with the hood up. He had his arms sleepily crossed over his chest, and although he was alert and stood close to Penny in their bubble of comfort, his eyes still sagged closed, "I'll wake up eventually."

"You can just tag along with us, then," Penny smiled as she looked across the gorgeous plain of rippling grass, it was at this time did Nox, Ace, Libby and Tessa begin to look as if they were ready to begin their training, "I'm surprised my mom and Throttle came, as well."

"Y'know, I said I wouldn't come," Taffyta's voice croaked harder than Orph's as she, too, stood huddled into herself with her hood up, "I really don't know why I went back on my words."

"We can just suffer together," Orph grumbled as he lulled his head back and slumped his shoulders, though he noticed Throttle approaching prior; he quietly called out to him as he came closer, "Right, Tee?"

"Sure," Throttle mumbled quietly as he stood in only his black t-shirt, the cold, rippling wind that brisked over everyone had him shivering, "Why didn't anyone tell me I'd need a hoodie... Why."

"Here," Zed stated quietly in eavesdropping, and as he approached, he took off his own blue hoodie and handed it to Throttle. Throttle unraveled himself and gave Zed a look of floored gratefulness.

"Thank User," Throttle huffed in a grumble as he took Zed's hoodie in full appreciation.

"I'm just a gamer, dude, Ace nor Libby had anything to do with it," Zed teased as he firmly pat Throttle's back and began to slowly peel away from the small, sleepy group, and closer to the group of wreckers he was about to become enveloped in.

"Ooo it's still warm," Throttle hissed as he quickly sunk Zed's hoodie over his body and tucked his hands into the front pocket.

"No homo," Orph's voice crackled as he held his head lulled back in suspended sleepiness, his eyes closed; Taffyta and Penny loudly laughed, which startled Orph and Throttle out of their dregs of sleepiness.

"We should probably go pick a spot," Penny stated lightly after hers and Taffyta's giggle fest, though little did Orph know, she was speaking to Rancis, who had approached.

"The boyfriend's comin'?" Rancis teased openly with a wide smile as he gently nudged the blunt of his sword into Orph's center; Orph choked a startled noise, bugged his eyes and hunched over himself in defense.

"I-I-I... Y-Yes, I'm... Here to watch," Orph staggered as his heart jolted in surprise, he straightened out his hoodie and began to look to Penny and Taffyta, as if to express that if he wasn't awake prior, he certainly was now.

"You're going to watch?" Rancis wondered as he cocked an eyebrow and sheathed one of his sharp, gorgeous jade green swords.

Orph furrowed his brow in rising bashfulness and peered to Penny, though he dart his attention to Taffyta and then Throttle. He shrugged nervously and returned his lowered gaze to Penny's father.

"I really don't have a choice, sir," Orph stated with a lilt of a sarcastic chuckle, though Rancis shrugged and looked to Penny.

"Just thought this little one here was gunna teach you some stuff," Rancis shrugged, though Penny gave him an incredulous look of whole bashfulness, as if to wonder just where this was going, "I mean... Whynot?"

"...WHY is more like it?" Penny gawked quietly, she desperately tried her hardest to play dumb, in hopes of her father coming out with his own little ideas.

"What, you're not planning on swapping with him one day?" Rancis prod, almost teasingly, as if to be snide, though the twinkle of kindness in his eyes proved to be of just wholesome teasing; the second Orph's face nearly turned purple, Taffyta huffed a hot sigh and linked her arm with Orph.

"Babe STOP," Taffyta snapped with a hard laugh, though Orph nervously chuckled.

"Dad," Penny stabbed through the grit of her teeth, though Rancis shrugged, put his hands up and began to step backwards, towards the thicket of trees they were near.

"Alright, sorry," Rancis stated in pure coy, he gave Taffyta a knowing smile and finally turned heel, though Penny nearly seethed and slowly followed after him.

"You excited to eventually be apart of this mental instability?" Taffyta mumbled as she remained with her arm linked in Orph's, and as Throttle joined them, the three trailed behind Penny, who diligently trailed behind Rancis.

"I am," Orph admitted with a small smile as he looked down to Taffyta and wrinkled his nose, she gently elbowed him as the two shared a laugh.

"Oh, kid," Taffyta huffed as she shook her head, her white hair peeked through the bottom of her pink hood, which was still snug over her head, "You're in over your head."

"When am I ever not," Orph retort with a smile as he volleyed his loving gaze to the back of Penny's head, though Throttle cued a gentle coo of awe.

"That's the spirit," Throttle chuckled as he remained with his arms crossed tight, he practically swam in Zed's blue hoodie, all labelled with Zed's name, game and numbers.

"I just try to stay positive," Orph sighed, though a frown finally made it's way across his face, "I just... Will ride this wave as long as I can."

"You'll get his approval," Taffyta mumbled, she was glad their quiet conversation was out of Penny's and Rancis's earshot, and as they moseyed to carry on, they noticed that Marble and Lickity were slowly trailing to follow them, whilst Royal and Balba kept to the wrecking crew, "Methinks you already have it... He just won't admit it."

"That's okay," Orph sighed, he looked down to his feet that scuffed the long grass they wade through, "You're probably the only one here that even remotely likes me."

"I love you," Taffyta stated in a lilt of gentle kindness she rarely ever put forth as publicly genuine, and in this reel of humble, tenderness Vanellope's right hand woman was so warmly conveying, Orph raised his eyebrows in hard surprised, squinted past the gleam of sunshine and peered down to Taffyta's sleepy, cheerful eyes.

"Wow, that escalated into territory I was not prepared for," Orph huffed a hard laugh, and although Throttle was likely too exhausted to chime in, he largely eavesdropped and made his listening presence known by laughing alongside Orph. They all continued to mosey, Orph and Taffyta linked arm in arm, though Orph shook his head and gave Taffyta a bewildered smile, "I don't think Penny's even said that to me, yet."

"Beat her to it," Taffyta wrinkled her nose, shook her head and looked back down, to watch where her feet went amongst the tall grass and stones.

"I love you, too," Orph admitted gently as the two caught eyes in a whirl of loving understanding; Orph was well aware having a good relationship with Penny's parents was his ticket so success, and the fact that the two got along so well, anyways, had Orph hopeful for his currently rocky situation with Rancis.

"I love you guys more," Throttle's sarcastic, crackling voice chimed into the cool air, the three fell into a gentle fit of laughter together as Orph lugged his arm about Throttle's gangly shoulders and tugged him close in a side embrace as they continued to walk.

As the group continued onward, they finally reached a small inlet of shorter trees, as well as a few fallen beasts, from long ago. Rancis and Penny began to do work of clearing the excess area of low lying shrubs and vines, and as everyone came to a settled separation of showmen and audience members, Rancis cleared his throat and looked about the area. Far off, in the distance, the group of wreckers and glitchers carried out some warm ups, their strict reign of wrecking powers could be felt from all the way across the span of field. Rancis sheathed both his jade green swords and scanned his eyes across the little clearing his group was in. Sat comfortably on a fallen tree was Taffyta, Orph and Throttle, and although Marble and Lickity hung tight to the group as well, Lickity held a strict stance behind the fallen tree, as far away from Orph as she could quite possibly achieve; something no one was surprised by.

Rancis cocked an eyebrow and eyed his mate and friends, and although everyone looked comfortable and ready to watch the training, he could tell Orph was perked and drowned in a vat of rising anxiousness. The sheer fact that he had motioned Penny to teach him some moves, Rancis was certain this could maybe be a chance to get to know Orph a little more, and likely continue to keep his dominant grip to Orph's bubbling worries, Orph's desire for his own approval. Rancis smirked and wondered just how far he could push said limit, how far Orph would go for the ultimate honor to be Penny's proper suitor. Rancis was aware that he, himself, was no King or Prince of any stature, though he still would go to the ends of the Earth to treat his first born daughter like a princess. As he slowly unsheathed his long, intimidating swords, he volleyed his eyes to Penny and cocked an eyebrow.

"It's been awhile, huh," Rancis stated lovingly, though in challenge, and as Penny eagerly unsheathed her rare swords, Rancis's old belongings, and in the year span of being without a buddy to train with, she inhaled a readied breath and nodded.

"I don't even care if I lose," Penny's voice staggered in sheer excitement as a wide smile was volleyed her father's way, and in this already won battle of finally getting to practice with the man she had missed the most, she swung her swords, in the lull of preparation, once or twice, and took a stance, "This is all I'd ever want."

"Oh, come on, you're Taffyta Muttonfudge's own flesh and blood," Rancis blurt as he, too, took a stance and eyed his wife, across the gap; she gave him an incredulously annoyed smile and threw her arms up, "You'll change your mind, I can promise that."

"You learn anything different?" Penny snipped with girly glee as she suddenly took a stab, and in the rile of two masters going toe to toe, Rancis successfully dodged her as their swords clanked in a loud frenzy of force.

"... I-I guess I should be asking you that," Rancis huffed in surprise as his footwork was nearly unmatched, though Penny managed to keep up with far more grace and certainty than Rancis remembered. He cocked an eyebrow as the two took turns taking their marks, taking their stabs and slicing each other's swords out of formation, in full offensive combat, "Looks like you could teach me a thing or two."

"I've had my fair share of fights," Penny boasted, she eked of whole confidence in this venture, and although she was aware the two would stop and eventually come alongside each other, for help, she relished in a good throw around, first off. She knew her and her father would catch themselves doing this, in the past, and although it was simply just practice, she felt invigorated by the fact that it always pushed her to be better. She skillfully swiped Rancis's sword to the side, in a loud slicing noise, and took another jab, to which he successfully dodged, once more, "None of my opponents were humans... And every single one of them had weapons of their own."

"Sugar Rush wilderness is no joke," Rancis grunted as he began to feel the onset of exhaustion set in, the whole fact that he had been without a sparring partner for so long, whether human or not, "Looks like you've done well for yourself."

In the quick act of a small duck, agile footwork, and her short stature used to her advantaged, she popped up, sliced her sword down Rancis's left one, and was successful in flinging it from his grip. It went flying in chaos, across the stretch, and as Penny drew both her swords up, she took a final swing and was able to also get the sword out of his right hand. Rancis held his hands up, in an act of giving up, though he gave Penny an incredulous look of whole surprise.

"DAMN Penny!" Taffyta called as her, Orph and Throttle loudly clapped.

"... You're good," Rancis grumbled as he gave her an annoyed side-eye, though it was obviously laced in whole pride for his first born, how naturally she had followed in his footsteps, "Too good."

"No such thing," Penny sneered as she sheathed her swords, crossed her arms and gave her father a look of playful challenge, "I'm not even sweating, old man."

"Hooo," Rancis breathed in solid, cheeky annoyance as he moseyed over to the swords Penny had swiped from him, and as he bent over to retrieve them, he playfully gripped his back and grunted, as if to be of old age; everyone erupted in laughter, though he cut the joke, grabbed his swords and came back to Penny with a smile. As Taffyta and Orph continued to volley compliments in Penny's direction, Rancis cocked an eyebrow and now felt as if he was likely being targeted. He was aware Orph was in the process of vying for Rancis's approval, though in this weird mix, Orph was also very quick to show Penny a ton more favor, over Rancis. He knew this was rightfully so, though Rancis couldn't help but notice the dig in Orph's excited glare, as if it was a thrill to see Rancis lose. Rancis inhaled a deep breath and gestured his hand out to Orph, his voice was low to Penny, "Why don't we bring lover boy out, you can teach him some of your fancy moves?"

"... Dad, you really think that's wise?" Penny urged quietly in growing worry as she glanced to her boyfriend, across the way, though Orph, Taffyta, Throttle, Marble and even Lickity looked on in whole curiosity, "Dad, I've taken on Lickity and won... I'm well aware I can teach Orph a thing or two, but... Wouldn't it mean more coming from you?... Bonding?"

"If you insist," Rancis shrugged, and with this bout of a go ahead, he wondered just how he could've struck gold, like such. He knew to remain neutral, kind and humble towards Penny's suitor, though he felt a strange itch crawl up his skin, something about the fact that Orph had already laid his precious daughter down, had nearly taken claim; Rancis furrowed his brow and knew somehow this wasn't going to go smoothly, though he couldn't help but allow that boastful show, of just who is boss, come through. Rancis raised his hand a little and put on a cheery smile, "Hey, bud, why don't you come join us?"

Penny felt her pupils tighten in raw nervousness, and as she dragged her gaze to her suspecting boyfriend, she noticed Taffyta raise her eyebrows in soft surprise and peer her also nervous attention to Dead Zed's third racer. Orph huffed a shaky breath, glanced to Taffyta for answers and apprehensively stood. In the nervous crawl to get closer to Rancis and Penny, Orph sagged his likely sweaty hands into his pants pockets. Once he was closed in, he stood close to Penny and eyed her in accepting curiosity.

"I-I've never dealt with swords, before," Orph staggered with a smile, he tried his hardest to remain at least positive, even though inside he felt agitated.

"What kind of weapons have you used?" Rancis wondered lightly, though Orph swallowed and wondered if any of thee questions would be loaded; he figured answering honestly would just be best.

"I mainly have used bull whips, in the past," Orph shrugged, Penny so gently rubbed his upper back and eyed her father, as if to beg him to play nice.

"That's all?" Rancis asked softly, though Orph swallowed hard and glanced to Penny.

"I... Well... Have had some experience with guns," Orph admitted nervously, he knew this was also new information to Penny, his dark past he very much liked to keep secret, and with such, Penny raised her eyebrows and peered to Orph in whole surprise.

"Guns," Rancis choked as he looked down to his sword, "Quick way out, huh?"

"Yes, sir," Orph knew to continue to keep his eyes down, he wondered just when it would ever be appropriate to tug dominance over his mate's father, and with this uncertain agitation, he exhaled a shaky breath and tried not to get upset.

"No matter... Penny knows a great deal," Rancis gestured kindly, "Likely more than me. Chica's been really honing her skill."

"She's amazing at what she does," Orph encouraged with a nod, he tried not to seem uneducated, "I-I'd love to try, my issue will be footwork."

"Well, good, that gives us a starting point," Rancis encouraged, and although he was aware this test of luck was all in good fun, he narrowed his gaze and gingerly motioned to Penny, "Would you mind letting him borrow your swords?"

"Sure," Penny choked, as if she knew better, she gently unsheathed her swords and properly handed them to Orph, though before he could take them, he took off his hoodie and tossed it aside.

"Alright, Penny, number one rule?" Rancis chimed as Orph shrugged his shoulders in a jostle and got used to the weight of Penny's beautiful swords; he handled them with ultimate care.

"Eyes up," Penny quipped, as if she had been tested on this prior, though Orph largely flinched as Rancis jut his sword a few inches before Orph's chest once he noticed Orph's eyes were on his feet.

"Eyes up," Rancis repeated sneakily, though Orph nodded and nervously gripped the swords a little tighter, and although Penny wanted to stay put and just run through the motions of properly teaching Orph footwork and the like, she eyed her dad in rising apprehension and took a step back, so to get out of the way of their angry swords.

"Okay," Orph nodded as he puffed his chest in a draw of an inhale, brought his swords up and nodded, "Th-these are a lot heavier than I assumed."

"Much like a whip, the sword is an extension of yourself," Rancis instructed as he jostled the tip of his sword to Orph's feet, "None of this nervous pigeon-toed stance, stand strong, son."

Orph nodded, huffed a shaky breath and readjusted his feet so that he was better grounded, though whilst his eyes were down, once more, Rancis quickly, and firmly, bumped his sword into Orph's left sword, causing him to jolt in surprise and nearly lose grip with it. He barked a shaky noise of surprise, stumbled and grappled the sword's grip in success, though he dragged his nervous eyes to Rancis and frowned.

"Eyes up, no matter what," Rancis instructed, though Penny rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Dad, you used that torture on me cause I was a child, Orph gets it," Penny defended, and though Rancis eased a little, he narrowed his gaze and peered deep into Orph's eyes.

A typical bad-boy vibe eked from him, his messy silver hair all strewn out of it's typical mohawk, he was well sculpted and in shape. It was very clear, from the few scars he had near his chest, that he had likely been in a few scuffles, himself, and just as Rancis was going to drop this ferocious need to protect his daughter, let his walls come down and just finally take it easy on this poor boy, he tightened his gaze to Orph and remembered just how long he had been away, just how much time had nearly gotten away from him. Rancis furrowed his eyebrows and felt the protection for his daughter just sky rocket, how he nearly missed being able to properly play a fatherly role in Penny's life, when it came to boyfriends. He knew Orph was out of his element, and this was unfair, though he felt a wave of stupid decisions continue to plow over him in a rush of an immature show of arms.

"It's fine," Rancis choked in cheeky playfulness towards Penny, though he gently nudged Orph's sword, once more, and cocked an eyebrow at his near-terrified eyes, "Not so easy trying to pull that heavy beast back to correction, huh?"

"No," Orph staggered, and it was with this practice did he realize just how easy he had it, with his typical whips.

"Try again to resist," Rancis instructed gently, and as he came at Orph's left sword, once more, Orph did a much better job at not letting his arm be flung wildly to the side, via Rancis' force. Rancis cocked an eyebrow, bobbed a nod and smiled, "Good! Now... Pretend you've got me cornered, I'm going to do anything and everything to get away from said corner. Can you resist that force whilst out of your own center of gravity?"

"What do you mean?" Orph staggered, though he flinched as Rancis took a step to Orph's right and caught Orph's sword from the side. Although Orph choked a noise and faltered, he still successfully held the sword taut and bounced back. In the whirl of it, Orph fixated his center to mock Rancis's, and as Rancis circled him, like a vulture coming in for the kill, Orph began to nervously back step towards a much larger tree.

"Keep square with your enemy at all costs," Rancis instructed as he set another swing into Orph's swords, to which he was now getting better at opposing and holding his own. Their swords loudly clacked in the crisp morning air, though just as Rancis noticed Orph's backwards motions headed towards a tree, he cocked an eyebrow and gestured over Orph's shoulder, "You sure you want to be letting me near-corner you here?"

"O-oh," Orph staggered as he made the mistake of looking over his shoulder.

Just before he could switch up his footwork and move away from the tree, he was so largely startled out of his thoughts as Rancis drove his sword into Orph's right sword, sending it flying to the ground. Orph staggered a gasp of surprise, peered down to the sword he lost and, in a split second, he contemplated diving to pick it up. Before he could even think about bending down to retrieve it, he choked a noise of surprise as Rancis kept the point of his blade tight to Orph's chest, and although it was clear that Rancis had won, Orph continued to urgently back step.

"I could very easily deliver a final blow, here, though you still have another sword to defend yourself with," Rancis instructed, though it was clear, from this final stand point, that Rancis was likely letting his unnaturally boastful, protective nature get the better of him.

"Dad," Penny urged in loud agitation, though just before Rancis could soften and think about easing up out of this uncharacteristic side of himself that he was trying to get under control, Orph shot Rancis a mean glare and very quickly took a strong swipe at Rancis's left sword.

In the reel of preparing to stop, Rancis had loosened his grip to his swords, which ultimately led to Orph sending said left sword thrashing to the ground. Rancis halted his foot movements, peered down to his precious sword, on the ground, and cocked an eyebrow in rising anger. Orph panted through his nose and successfully held his one and only sword tight in his grip, though just before he could likely dip around the other side of Rancis and get away from being cornered, Rancis grit his teeth, took a full arm swing at Orph and viciously swiped Orph's final sword out of his grip. With the loud pang to the ground, Rancis finally dug the point of his sword a few inches before Orph's chest and gave him a hard glower, making it clear this was no longer a simple teaching lesson, and more a show of just which man could win in this dominating contest.

Rancis set a mean glare into Orph's skin, though before he could even open his mouth and spat an annoyed notion to Orph's defensive, hands-up figure, both men suddenly jumped in a roll of electrified fear. In a hard skid, Rancis was wholly surprised to see Lickity barge into the clearing, fangs bared, the roll of her soul-crushing snarl nearly rattled the trees, and as she opened her mouth and barked a noise of defiance towards Rancis, he heaved a nervous noise of compliance, dropped his last sword and took a few bumbling steps away from Orph. Rancis froze in whole terror and was absolutely certain he wouldn't ever be on the receiving end of Lickity's anger, not in a million years. Lickity flattened her ears in whole, animalistic anger, her cat-like eyes remained tight slits as she kept her unforgiving glare to Rancis's skin, and very much to everyone's surprise, she gently took a protective stance in Orph's favor.

Rancis heaved a shaky breath and quietly uttered Lickity a few apologizes, though she continued to quietly grumble a few snarls in his direction. Just as he was about to nervously bend down and reach for his sword, Lickity's ears popped up and she jolted in a skid of frenzied anger. She suddenly choked a loud bark of defiance, bared her fangs harder and caused Rancis to urgently stumble a few steps father away from the two. Lickity chuffed a hard breath through her bat nose, jolted her head and continued to show her teeth. The second everything finally went calm, Lickity gently perked her ears in curiosity, turned to peer over her shoulder and caught eyes with Orph in a show of entire confusion. She gave him a look of stubbornness, as if to simply say that he should eat this up, because it likely won't happen again, though in the secrecy of their eye contact, Orph sagged his shoulders and gave her a look of ultimate gratefulness.

In this, Lickity drooped her wings a little, softened her demeanor even further and dared to let her gaze grow just the smallest amount of loving, towards Orph, though before she could get too wrapped in the tenderness of it all, she flattened her ears tight, stiffened her posture and quickly began to march across the clearing in a fit of stubbornness. Before Orph could get words out, she sprawled her wings and jumped to the sky in a swipe of whole agitation, leaving behind a group of beyond confused and startled individuals. Orph sagged his hand to his chest, in gentle surprise, and heavily continued to pant from the whirl of everything that had just taken place.

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **I appreciate you guys bearing with me... I have SO. MUCH. going on, currently. Between finding a new job, commissions, the sketch dump, applying to school, keeping up with this beast, and now Lickity(my car) decided it was time for a new radiator...! I'M POOPED! I appreciate your patience, guys! I haven't fallen off the planet, OR lost interest in this story. I actually have, just today, shelled out the climax to this beast, and I am ON FIRE excited to finally give you guys a proper show down. It won't be for another hot minute, obviously, but the fact that I was able to begin shelling it out, is huge. It's been a long time coming, just sitting with a vague idea, so it's cool seeing it all come together.**

 **Thanks again, guys! Stay tuned!**


	211. Chapter 211

**A/N :**

 **LICKITY UPDATE -** **I deleted the last 'chapter', which just consisted of an author's note about my car... GREAT news. Lickity is all fixed. *DIES***

If you want to read up about how Lickity was fixed and my rant on that whole subject matter, it's on my deviantART journal (the right side of the page) titled Lickity Fixed. The story picks up after the next chapter or two :D Libby gets a good test of her User strength... And Sonic makes a massive appearance! So stay tuned, guys!

* * *

 ***Chapter 211***

In a lofty, rather sleepy and irritated glide, Lickity slowly crossed the massive field, laced with gorgeous pops of stone and boulders. As she approached the group of wreckers, having the time of their lives, she flattened her ears, hovered in a glide over the ground and came to a quick, galloping stop on the grass. Ralph had Nox, Ace, Libby and Emery in the pits, a proper throw around they were just getting into. Oliver and Zed hovered about them while Tessa hung back and oversaw everything. Lickity begrudgingly stumbled up to her rider and chuffed an irritated, tired snort through her snout.

"... No wait, don't tell me," Tessa mumbled with a cheeky smile as she side-eyed her best friend, "Orph's breathing had you nearly wanting to rip his face off? He uh... Maybe blinked or smiled or something? He EXISTED too close to you-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lickity snapped, though it was clear her frustration was not being taken out on Tessa, nor was any of it personal.

"Course you do, you want to talk about everything," Tessa blurt a small laugh as her and Lickity hung tight in their little bubble of secrecy. Tessa crossed her arms, relaxed her shoulders and volleyed her gaze across the stretch, to the valiant team of hard workers. She cocked an eyebrow and held her sisterly stance, with Lickity, tight on the topic at hand, "Seriously, though, what's going on? You've been gone for all of fifteen minutes. I thought at least Marble and Throttle would keep you sane?"

"I stuck up for Orph," Lickity mumbled in near-shame as she sagged her ears, shoulders and whole demeanor.

Tessa's sharp gaze immediately dart to Lickity's in whole surprise, and as she fixated on her dragon, she held in suspended disbelief. Lickity's eye contact slowly dragged to Tessa's and sunk into hers in pure honesty, signaling to Tessa that Lickity was being absolutely genuine here, sarcasm wholly aside.

"...I'm sorry, I think I stroked out," Tessa bat her eyes, shook her head, rubbed her temple and finally fixated her bulged eyes to Lickity's in whole bewilderment, "You did WHAT now?"

"I stuck up for Orph," Lickity repeated quietly, as if she was desperate to remain honest with Tessa, though so much as relaying this information was nearly becoming too much of a chore.

"Against WHO?" Tessa ogled as she dug her surprised gaze deeper into Lickity's, though she squinted her eyes and peered across the field, where Lickity had hailed from.

"Rancis," Lickity admitted softly, and in this tender lull of vulnerability coming from Lickity, in the sheer multitude of rapid-fire warmth, Tessa knew laying off the jokes, starting now, was wise, if she were to keep Lickity's trust in her unraveling secrets.

Tessa narrowed her gaze in the gentleness of the morning sun that glinted across Lickity's chaotic fur and feathers, the boyish look of gentle sorrow that hung on Lickity's face, the roll of confusion glossed over Tessa as she volleyed her gaze across the field, once more. Rancis and Penny could only barely be seen from such a distance, and even then, Tessa couldn't nearly make out just what they were doing. Even though Tessa knew the group of wreckers likely needed her input, Tessa dropped everything she was doing and took a few steps closer to Lickity. In the gentleness of her hand, she sunk her skin to Lickity's snout and tilted her head to try and look into Lickity's sagged, downward gaze.

"Talk to me," Tessa eased tenderly, Lickity's large chest cavity finally sucked in a breath.

"I shouldn't have interfered," Lickity mumbled, and much to Tessa's surprise, Lickity's eyes welled with tears.

"Did Uncle Rancis say something to Orph that you didn't like, or something?" Tessa worried, though Lickity shook her head and flattened her ears a little tighter to her large skull.

"I mean, not technically," Lickity's warm voice was soft, their conversation was only meant for the two, "Their sword lesson got out of control. Orph knows squat about swords."

"Wait... Why was Orph in on the sword lessons?" Tessa urged in a roll of now protective confusion, she kept her gentle hand to Lickity's bat-like snout.

"Exactly," Lickity garbled, she finally opened her mouth a bit more and spoke a bit louder, "Look I-I... I hate the guy, but... For some reason, I couldn't just sit and watch him be mocked, like that."

Tessa wrinkled her fingers on Lickity's snout and allowed a sneaky, knowing smile to come across her cheeks. She side-eyed Lickity and narrowed her eyes in the warmest amount of cheek she could muster.

"Love, I hate to break it to you, but... It's clear you don't hate Orph, any longer," Tessa's motherly voice soaked over Lickity's existence, as if to finally allow Lickity to these forbidden feelings. With such, Lickity's gorgeous green eyes opened in full and peered straight into Tessa's gaze. In doing so, the tears that had gathered in Lickity's eyes slipped down her soft, velvety cheeks. Tessa huffed a quiet noise of grief-stricken delight and wiped a tear that collected at Lickity's furry jaw, "Lickityyy..."

"I'm the only one allowed to bully him," Lickity complained as quietly as she could, she bashfully glanced to the group of wreckers, a good ways away, "...Please don't tell anyone."

"Your secrets are always safe with me, Lickity," Tessa blurt a small giggle, cupped Lickity's large jaws and bent down so that both her and Lickity were caught at tight eye level, "Methinks you should consider warming up to Orph... He's not such a pain in the ass, once you get to know him."

"He'll always be a pain in the ass," Lickity muttered quietly, though Tessa jostled Lickity's head a little, in her larger hands.

"Try," Tessa huffed before she pushed a firm smooch into the broad of Lickity's snout. She finally began to step away from her best friend, and with such, she warmly volleyed Lickity a smile, "Love you."

"Love you too," Lickity mumbled, and although it sounded half-hearted, Tessa was aware it was strictly the delivery of Lickity words that failed, and not the sentiment.

Lickity heaved a shaky sigh, sagged her wings and felt the cold morning breeze whisk though the base of her feathers and fur. She inhaled the breeze in a deep breath, tried to refresh her thoughts and allowed her eyes to sag closed. After a moment of listening to Tessa's voice speak lessons to the beginners of the group, she gently perked her ears and turned to peer over her shoulder. Once her eyesight caught with the patch of trees in which she had escaped, she thought back to the look on Orph's face before she turned to leave. The look of pure disbelief, as if he was nearly about to reach out and beg for Lickity's forgiveness, kindness, and loving friendship. Lickity narrowed her gaze in contemplation and wondered just what their repaired relationship would look like. She allowed her heart to remain hard, for the time being, though she could feel his silver eyes nearly leering a hole through her once unbreakable stronghold.

"The key to your powers is to not channel it through anger," Ralph instructed loudly as he allowed his purple coding to begin to make the ground itch, the grid wigged out a bit in a flicker of a dominant display. Nox was currently the one being taught, he clenched his fists at his sides and peered to Ralph through the sweat that dripped down his forehead and dusty grey hair, and before he could begin wondering if he was too beat, Nox felt the ground underneath him shake with Ralph's powerful coding, "Find your center, clear your head, accuracy is much stronger, than brute force, in the long run."

"I'm no good at multitasking," Nox blurt with a hard chuckle as suddenly Ralph instructed a hard jut of dirt and stone to raise out of the ground, a small spire that suddenly stabbed in Nox's direction, and before Nox could even think, he thrusted his fists out to his side, caught the spire in a clip of perfect aim, and sent it flying in a crumbling mess of shards to the ground.

Before Nox could even begin to congratulate himself at finally making a perfect swipe at one of Ralph's stone dummies, he lulled his gaze into an idle stare, to the ground, and felt the vibrations of the Earth. In an attempt to envision just where Ralph's next move was coming from, he pinpointed it on the hard surface of the ground, shut his eyes tight, whirled around with strict, clenched fists and caught a second spire at the middle, just as it was coming out of the ground. Nox grunted a loud noise as the crackling bits of rock splayed across the ground in the perfect chaos, and as he heavily panted, he opened his boggled eyes and was greet with he rest of the wrecking group, who looked on in whole surprise.

"You're no good at multitasking, eh?" Ralph laughed as Nox sagged his shoulders and allowed a wide smile to sprawl his face, he slowly turned around and peered to Ralph as he approached, "You don't give yourself enough credit. Take a break, you deserve it."

"Thank you," Nox sighed with relief and a smile that proved he felt like a million bucks. He gently swiped his forehead and began to mosey back over to where Emery, Ace and Libby diligently stood, and as they lovingly congratulated him, pat his back for support, he huffed them a small, humble few words of gratitude.

"Alright Ems, you ready?" Ralph instructed, and with an excited nod, Emery took the stage.

Ace fiddled his fingers, furrowed his brow and felt his mind behind to wander. He heaved a hot sigh through his nose and gently fell out of the conversation that Libby and Nox were continuing to carry on. Ace dragged his eyes to his father; Zed, Vanellope and Oliver stood and chat about the lessons at hand, though as he noticed his mother trailing away from Lickity, across the way, he was reminded of the burning question Ace had left Tessa with, the night prior; a proper beach day he was hoping was in store for everyone. Ace cocked an eyebrow and wondered if he could potentially slip this question in, now, while the morning was still young and the day held a fair amount of promise. His heart jumped the second he saw his father gently peel from Oliver and make his way over to where Ace, Nox and Libby were standing.

"We'll run through wrecking lessons first, and then Vanellope and Tessa will give everyone a proper code and glitching lesson," Zed instructed quietly with a smile, as he approached the small group; Nox and Libby politely agreed, though Ace looked off and furrowed his brow in contemplation. Zed huffed a small breath, faltered to peel back to Oliver and Vanellope and eyed his son in rising curiosity, "Everything okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just have a question," Ace mumbled as Nox and Libby continued to chat, at this point, Tessa stood and quietly, by herself, and watched Ralph and Emery; she was stationed between Zed's small group, and Vanellope and Oliver.

"Sure, bud," Zed eased, both men looked each other square in the eye, their voices held low for privacy, something Zed immediately cued to.

"It, uh... Really has nothing to do with wrecking or these lessons or anything," Ace muttered as he began to feel his confidence sink, he inwardly began to scold himself. a classic case of an idea sounding great in your head, though the second he was letting it all out, he realized just what his father's answer was going to be.

"What's up?" Zed instructed gently, it was clear Ace's attempts at beating around the bush was getting to him.

"Well... It's getting cold, in Dead Zed, but I really would love to have another beach day," Ace eased, almost sadly, he looked down to his fingers and frowned, "I know how much you don't like us leaving the game, but... The beaches here are now too cold to go to."

"You want to go to EZ Living?" Zed wondered, almost in dull annoyance, though once Ace nodded, Zed heaved a hard sigh through his nose and looked off in contemplation, "You know how I feel about leaving the game... Especially after what nearly happened to you and Libby, at the bar, that one time."

"We can just go to our usual spot, stay away from the locals, wear disguises," Ace volleyed ideas around, and much to his surprise, Zed nodded and looked up.

"You'd have to change your hair color, all of us with an abnormal hair color would have to go to brown or black," Zed mumbled, though he beamed a curious smile and shook his head, "Or blonde. Weird."

"Please dad?" Ace wondered innocently, a cute dynamic the two would never be able to fall out of, though Zed inhaled a deep breath and grimaced, just what Ace didn't want.

"I don't know, son... Have you talked to your mother about this?" Zed wondered nervously, though Ace slumped his shoulders and cocked an eyebrow.

"She told me to ask you," Ace mumbled, though Zed huffed a quiet laugh and closed his eyes.

"I should've guessed," Zed chuckled, though just as he looked over his shoulder, to find his fiancee, he flinched in whole surprise at the sheer fact that Tessa's eye contact was so firmly dug into Zed's, as if she had been listening, and although she was just far enough away, Zed scrunched his shoulders and wondered if she could potentially hear them.

"Dad, you forget mom's hearing is on par with Lickity's?" Ace teased so quietly, though much to the boy's surprise, Tessa raised her eyebrows and sent both boys a snotty smile, as well as a nod of agreeing.

"How could I," Zed huffed shakily as he gave Tessa a coy look of apologetic sass, "Love youuuu...!"

Tessa cocked an eyebrow and remained frozen in a whole amount of still sass, she finally beamed an annoyed smile and looked away, just as Zed began waving his fingers and making funny faces.

"Look, before MOM now decides that her answer is no," Ace begged quietly, Zed dropped the act and gave Ace his full attention.

"She told you yes?" Zed wondered, and although they knew their conversation wasn't safe from Tessa's ears, they continued on, anyhow.

"I mean, not technically... She told me you're a bit more sensitive, when it comes to this topic, and to run it by you first," Ace rushed, though he gently gripped his dad's arm and knew he wasn't above begging, "Dad, pleaaase, I want to go to the beach so badly. I'm sure you do too."

"Alright, alright," Zed huffed in whole annoyance, he allowed his son to hang on him, like old times; Ace beamed an excited smile and stood up straighter, "No one is to go with colored hair, though... And we all have to arrive separately."

"Easy," Ace shrugged, though Zed heaved a nervous sigh and looked off, "We can celebrate after a long day of these lessons, yeah? I mean, it IS Sunday after all."

"Alright, point taken," Zed muttered, as if he was now lightly regretting giving the whole team this much leeway, though he assumed Ace's words were right; after a long day of work, the beach did sound nice. Zed crossed his arms and allowed the feeling to prepare him for a day of vulnerability, "Sunday funday..."


	212. Chapter 212

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Everything is fine! And yes, a lot unfolds - the start of it is the end of this chapter, actually xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Gypsy Heart by Colbie Caillat**

 **Legend by ATLAS**

* * *

 ***Chapter 212***

After a very successful morning of wrecking, glitching and every bit of training in between, the group had finally made it to EZ Living's gorgeous, never-ending summer shores. Scattered along their typical spot long down the main beach, near the gorgeous, staggering, grassy cliffs, the Kalivar and Schweetz family relaxed in mass. Although it was a proper family day at the beach, the group intentionally kept decent space from each other, so not to conglomerate and draw attention. Laid on their large, comfortable green beach blanket, Tessa, Libby and Ace lounged with each other underneath EZ Living's brilliant noon time sun. As the sounds of the ocean so lovingly lulled the three into a comfortable silence, amongst each other, they relished in the fact that said outing was going smoothly, so far. In an attempt to keep tabs on her family members, Tessa lifted her head a little and vigorously squinted past the blinding sunlight.

"Hard to find everyone, without all those pops of colorful hair," Tessa mumbled, ultimately breaking the silence the three had going, for at least twenty minutes now.

Lounged in their bikinis and soaked in tanning oil, Libby and Tessa properly laid out to soak up every single ounce the sun had to offer. Both girls were propped up against their large beach bag, so to lounge in a lightly upright position. They laid close to one another, and although Ace joined in on the lounging, he wasn't purposefully tanning, like the two girls. Libby finally inhaled a deep breath and dared to open her eyes to the sunshine, as well.

"What color did Zeddy change his hair to, again?" Libby wondered with a quiet giggle, she volleyed her eyes to Ace and soaked in the odd sight of seeing him with a chestnut hair color, identical to Tessa's.

"Blonde," Ace blurt a laugh and slowly sat up. He pat his bare chest and grimaced at the feeling of sand that had somehow gathered on his center, "I wonder why he didn't choose the typical black hairstyle he usually would do... What was his old persona?"

"Zane," Tessa said through a sigh of hidden despair, though she inwardly scolded herself for being too obvious as both Ace and Libby peered to her in sorrowful curiosity.

"Bummed?" Libby wondered with another small giggle as she sat propped on her elbows and shielded her eyes from the sunshine, so to help Tessa and Ace seek out their family, scattered down the beach.

"Triggered," Tessa blurt with a sarcastic giggle, to which Ace beamed her a curious smile and shook his head. Tessa sighed and sagged into her own self, her eyes glossed the glorious blue ocean, out before them, "I-I... I'm sorry, but I'm glad he didn't choose the black hairstyle, so to blend in with everyone."

"It's interesting seeing him with light hair, like such," Libby bobbed a nod, though Ace kept his tight gaze to his mother.

"You don't like when dad's his Zane persona?" Ace prod curiously, though Tessa shrugged and shook her head in contemplation.

"We don't have to get into it, I won't bore you with the details," Tessa stated softly, she straightened out the strap on her coral colored bikini and relaxed back into her lounged position, "I believe that one dreaded miscarriage, I had, was likely tied to the fact that Zed and I swapped while he was his Zane persona..."

Libby raised her eyebrows in sorrow and volleyed her gaze to Ace, who was on the other side of her. Libby frowned and peered to Tessa, though she closed her eyes and waggled her larger hand around.

"Seeing him with black hair, now, just... Brings back bad memories, is all," Tessa huffed in a dull tone, though it was clear this was an extremely sensitive topic to her, "I'm glad he picked blonde... Something new, y'know?"

"Aunt Emery looks good with black hair, huh?" Ace staggered to very quickly steer away from the topic that plagued Tessa, he smiled and peered down the beach. He could see his Uncle Oliver, as well as Emery, wading in the splashing waves, alongside Penny and Orph, "I think if Uncle Oliver and Aunt Emery had a daughter, she'd look just like Emery does right now..."

"So, Emery 2.0, but with black hair," Tessa blurt a laugh and peered to Ace, who was on her left, "She'd look like my mother."

"Don't you think?" Ace prod as he gave his mother a knowing smirk of innocent delight as Tessa sagged back into her comfortable position and shrugged.

Libby attentively studied Tessa's demeanor and knew she was still hanging on to the dreaded topic at hand. She breathed a small sigh, looked to the side and bit her lip. Libby was well aware Marble had raised her, as a young girl, though it was Tessa that really became her true, human surrogate mother. She wrinkled Tessa a small smile, and though she was aware not to push the miscarriage topic any further, she wondered if she could somehow take some of the pain away with a sentiment she had been wanting to inquire about, for some time now.

"You may have lost that code, but..." Libby opened her eyes and was thrilled Tessa's gentle eye contact glued to hers. Libby wrinkled her nose and gave Tessa an innocent look of understanding, "I'm technically a part of your guys' code stream now."

Tessa hung in the high of Libby's adorable words and knew exactly what she was insinuating. Tessa breathed a small, grateful chuckle and reached for Libby's hand. As she squeezed Libby's littler hand, in hers, she shook her head and peered her grateful, warm eye contact directly into Libby's soul.

"I know no one could take the place of that lost baby, but I will gladly act as child number three," Libby heaved a giggle, to which Ace beamed the two a curious smile and watched the situation unfold.

"You're child number two, Libs, you always have been," Tessa giggled as she squeezed Libby's hand and shook her head, "I've always considered you a daughter, babe. You and Ace went ahead and made it weird, though."

"I never considered Libby my sister!" Ace blurt with a hard laugh as Libby beamed a wide smile and wrinkled her nose in disgust, "I would never pursue Libby, romantically, if I viewed her as a sister, for User's sake!"

"I'm grateful for that, at least," Tessa scoffed in sarcasm as she gave Ace a dumfounded look, "Even if you did, and you two never got together or shared coding, I'd STILL consider Libby my daughter."

"I'm not important here, I see," Ace bobbed a nod and accepted their little camaraderie.

"Nice try," Tessa sneered in pure playfulness, though the two burst out into a small shove fight full of irritated grunts and chuckles.

"I'm surprised Libby hasn't ever called you mom," Ace blurt as Tessa got in the last shove and won the shove fight. Ace brushed his arm free of sand, that had lightly kicked up, and peered his curious attention to Libby, who was becoming bashful.

"You've called me Ma, on occasion," Tessa shrugged and gave Libby a welcoming smile.

"What, am I now to call you and Zeddy 'mom and dad'?" Libby prod with a curious grin.

"Um, also... I'M technically child number two," Ace mumbled as he urgently gestured to himself, "Libby is two weeks older than me."

"HAH," Libby beamed Ace a victorious smile as Tessa gingerly nudged Libby's arm.

"Alright, so Libby is now my first born child then, I guess," Tessa shook her head and finally heaved a loud sigh full of confusion, "I have a first born child I didn't give birth to, I'm literally sandwiched between two Arcade-Gods, and I'm the future Queen of a game that is currently in pieces and will only be reclaimed by a substantial amount of hacking. MY LIFE, ladies and gentleman."

"Radex utilized SysKey on Sugar Rush, against you," Ace stated through a small laugh, Tessa largely rolled her eyes and sagged into herself in whole annoyance.

"Might as well just brick the damn thing, while he's at it!" Tessa stated loudly as she flagged her hand upwards, though Tessa furrowed her brow and shot Ace a look of solid annoyance, "...Are you insinuating that Sugar Rush's operating system is Windows?"

"Is that even possible?" Libby ogled the two.

"No," Tessa mumbled, "My life is a mess of multiplying User-children, abundant viruses and Radex as the ring-leading head scammer."

"Tight," Ace blurt in dullness, both Tessa and Libby howled with laughter. Ace wobbled as Tessa nudged his shoulder, once more; he staggered to get words out, through laughter, "So, mom... If you and dad have another baby, one day, am I just the forgotten middle child then? Since Libby is now titled the incredible, do-no-wrong first born?"

"Yeah," Tessa huffed nonchalantly with a shrug, though both girls riled into hard laughter, once more, as Ace grumbled a noise of a few indecipherable obscenities and began to stand. He grunted a noise of confusion as Tessa reached up, grappled his arm, and yanked him back down to the beach blanket, "I'm KIDDING, Ace, you know you'll ALWAYS be mommy's sweet, adorable, innocent little baby boy!"

"Alright, I'm good without the first born title," Ace loudly grumbled through that itch of laughter he could hardly hide, he managed to stand and get away from Tessa's swipes, "Enjoy it while you can, Libs!"

"Am I an only child now?" Libby prod with a widening smile as Ace began to walk away, though Tessa and Libby knew it was all in good fun; Ace began to make a lazy bee-line for his father, just a little ways away. Libby heaved a giggle as both girls dropped the act, though she gave Tessa a warm smile and felt her spirits finally begin to settle in her proper place as one of the family, "Thanks, mom."

"I gotcha, babe," Tessa snipped with a knowing smirk as both girls went back to lazily tanning.

* * *

Ace ruffled his hand through his chestnut hair, and as the glints of sunshine glistened against the new color of his hair, revealing his bangs before his eyes, he cocked an eyebrow and felt a wave of weird confidence come over him. He was well aware he'd never genuinely want to give up his blue hair, though he somehow felt invigorated with the newness of his hair color, the opposite of a bold look, for him; the feeling of a change had him puffing his muscular, bare chest just a little more. As he crossed the stretch between his mother and father, on the hot, white sand, he could see the occasional few girls stop their soft conversations to ogle him, as he passed. He smirked down to his feet and huffed a bashful chuckle; he was beyond aware he had nice looking body, though he was glad he was only sold on one woman and one woman only. He pushed on confidently, nonetheless, and as he reached his father's small group of rowdiness, he beamed him a cheeky smile and reeled at the sight of his father with blonde hair.

"What's that grin for?" Zed's booming voice called to his son with a wide smile, he looked to the side and easily caught the volleyball Nox had tossed his way. Zed sagged the volleyball in the nook of his arm, against his ribcage, and sauntered over to his son, "What, you enjoying having all the ladies check you out? Don't let Libby in on it."

"Stop it," Ace's smile grew wider as Nox and Jax sauntered over, Tax had requested his hair be changed to a darker brown. Ace high fived Nox as he neared, he was surprised Nox didn't do anything to change his very obviously TurboTime appearance; he grimaced and sent a confused smile to his best friend, "You doing okay? I'm surprised you haven't done anything to be in disguise..."

"Zed doesn't think it'd matter," Nox shrugged as Zed pulled down on his hair, which was in a much normal style, like Nox's, and examined his curiously blonde hair. Nox continued on with a confident smile, something Ace was very glad he was getting comfortable with, "I haven't run into trouble, lately."

"You look so much like Ralph, nephew," Jax blurt as he put his hands on his bare hips and kept his curious eyes to Ace, all four boys were only dressed in brightly colored board shorts.

"You do," Zed agreed with an encouraging smile as Ace bashfully ruffled his hair, once more.

"That's what mom said," Ace chuckled, he shrugged, "It's probably just because of the curls."

"And, uh... The fact that you have his smile and build and are male?" Zed's smile sprawled as all four boys loudly laughed, Zed nudged Ace's chest and tilted his head up, "What does Libby think?"

"I won't divulge in that," Ace eased slyly as his eyes cast across the sprawling ocean, to his right; everyone loudly cooed noises of obnoxious knowing as Ace's face turned red, amidst his grin. He shook his head and only glanced back to Tessa and Libby, far across the stretch of sand, with groups of strangers and beach goers littered in between, "They were picking on me, so I figured I'd group hop."

"They tease because they love," Jax assured with a small nod, though Nox bulged his eyes and vigorously nodded alongside him.

"We need a fourth person, anyhow," Zed pat his son's chest and eagerly gripped and jostled Ace's shoulder, "Wanna join?"

"I do," Ace nodded with a smile as everyone eagerly began to collect in their tight-knit group.

Just as the four slowly began to walk a little farther away from the water, to find an empty net of a volleyball court, they all flinched in solid surprise as a few nervous calls were heard in a scuffle of whipped up sand and wind that came rocketing towards them. Before the chaos could get too out of hand, everything settled in a huff, a few yards across from them, and as the sand fell, revealed coming down to the ground was none other than Tails as he successfully caught a white frisbee thrown his way. He flagged it up in the air, uttered an excited whoop of victory and settled in bashfulness once he saw that he had nearly trampled the four men trying to make their way past.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tails eased softly as he bashfully tucked the frisbee tighter to his orange and white fur, on his chest. His two tails flicked about wildly, in agitation, as he had just come of out near-shooting across the sand in a tornado of his own super powers.

"No issue," Zed flagged his hand down and was sincere and polite, though he felt his pupils tighten at the sheer fact that Sonic and Tails knew just who he was, and pin pointing him from the group was likely going to be easy.

"Sorry! I didn't realize I'd throw it so hard," Sonic uttered as he very quickly ran up, though in the act of it, sand lightly spewed out from behind him. He firmly sunk his white-gloved hand to Tail's little shoulder and shook him about, playfully, "Good catch."

"You're good," Zed called with yet another polite smile, though as he eagerly tried to push away from the two that would so easily discover him, Nox, Ace and Jax tightly tried to follow suit; Zed grit his teeth in ultimate failure as he could see Sonic's facial expression wrinkle to pure curiosity.

"Wait a second," Sonic muttered as he took a few steps to get in front of Zed, he breathed a small, kind laugh and put his hands on his hips as Zed sagged his shoulders in defeat, "Gettin' rid of the signature, blue look, there, Mr. Zedian?"

"No," Zed sighed as he gave Sonic a cheeky, annoyed smirk, "Just trying to enjoy a day on the beach without being harassed."

"You've been harassed lately?" Sonic staggered in growing sorrow as Tails eased closer to Sonic and set his delighted, star-struck gaze to Zed and Jax, two popular racers in the Arcade.

"Yeah... I thought it was all the rage, the new thing, pick on the Dead Zed crew," Zed shrugged and gestured to Jax, though Nox and Ace knew it to be wise to hang back and not draw much attention to themselves, especially in this delicate situation, even though Sonic was nowhere near an enemy.

"I guess I've heard something about a swap-cult being formulated in your game," Sonic blurt, he shook his head as him and Tails shot each other knowing looks of mild annoyance, "Don't worry, friend... Our game is often the victim of this rumor, as well."

"I-It is? Your game has swapmates?" Zed prod curiously, and it was with this information did Ace and Nox relax a little and show their faces in bewilderment.

"Oh yeah," Sonic furrowed his brow and gestured to Tails, "Lots of gamers, in our game, have swap mates... Even self programmed gamers were born, an all-time high of babies were born, last year, setting a record. I really don't see what the fuss is."

"I've never heard of this," Jax staggered in curiosity, though he gestured to Zed and wrinkled his nose, "Didn't Tessa used to have a self-programmed girl friend, at Academy, once upon a time?"

"Otto," Zed nodded as he gave Sonic a smile, "She's from your game. She goes to Game Central Academy."

"Only the best do," Sonic playfully sneered, the lot laughed in agreeing. Sonic snapped his fingers and gave Zed a kind, though competitive smile, "How about this... Since it seems we both are rather nervous to be out and about, in the Arcade, why don't you come on over to our game, next Sunday? We can show you around, you could meet some gamers that have swapped their coding."

"Knuckles," Tails mumbled with a smile as he playfully rolled his eyes, Sonic bobbed a nod in agreeing and laughed.

"It's not so strange... EZ Living seems like it harbors a lot of people that think it's wrong," Sonic mumbled as he looked about, though he leaned in closer and finished his statement, in a loud whisper, "It's no wonder EZ Living's Arcade cabinet isn't out on the game floor."

"It's good to know we're not of a rare breed," Zed mumbled as he volleyed his gaze to Ace, for reassurance; Ace bobbed a nod and smiled as his father reached out and gripped his shoulder, "This is my son, Ace. It's hard to have a bad guy reputation AND have a loving family."

"Can't go anywhere, can you?" Sonic agreed, he gently held his hand out to Ace and smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Ace."

"Likewise," Ace smiled as the two shook hands, and then with Tails. He smiled and eyed his father, "We've been so cooped up, in Dead Zed... We all just assumed this whole swapping business was taboo."

"Well, to some folk, it is," Sonic put his hands on his hips and nodded, "You know, I've heard that's exactly why Turbo went, well... Turbo."

"You're right," Nox chimed in quietly, though he continued to hang loosely at the edge of the group; with his input, however, Sonic furrowed his brow in confusion and peered his bewildered gaze to Nox in riled surprise.

"I-I'll be," Sonic uttered nervously, "You, uh... You one of the TurboTwins?"

"This is Nox, he was homeless in EZ Living for twenty years, after TurboTime was unplugged," Ace quickly defended as he put his larger hand to Nox's shoulder. Ace smiled and peered to Nox in reassurance, "He now lives with us, in Dead Zed."

"Nitro," Sonic side-eyed Nox with a cheeky smile and held his hand out, and with this, Nox's eyes lit up with further confidence. He gently shook Sonic's hand and bashfully glanced to Ace.

"That's me," Nox staggered, though Sonic smiled in bewilderment.

"Never thought I'd see the day... Where I'd be sat before two of Arcade's fastest racers," Sonic blurt with a laugh, though Zed furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"Says SONIC," Zed choked, though Sonic shook his head and looked away.

"Ahh, I don't put myself in the running of fastest," Sonic became so playfully arrogant, a simple show of puffed chests and dominance over the racing world. He gave Zed and Nox a look of competitive cheek and beamed, "Cause I'm unbeatable. Isn't that right, Mr. Dead Zed."

"Ohhh," Zed breathed as he gently looked down to his feet, huffed a sigh and shook his head; Ace and Jax raised their eyebrows and quietly laughed as Zed finally gave Sonic his intimidating eye contact, "That's cute, Sonic. That's cute."

"What do yah say we put this notion to the test," Sonic waggled his hand, "You and Nox come to my game, Sunday. Bring your fastest bikes. We'll see just who holds this record."

Zed and Nox furrowed their brows in dumbfounded surprise and held tight to each other's eye contact before Zed volleyed his competitive gaze back to Sonic. Just as Zed was about to boast about just how fast he was, how incredibly precise and quick his bike was, as well as his vast knowledge on racing, he huffed faltered breath and felt worry suddenly soak over him. He could see Ace's facial expression of rising worry, in his peripheral; Zed was well aware Sonic was one to be trusted, though due to recent events, Zed suddenly felt that cloak of competitiveness quickly be replaced by the sheer desire to put the safety of his family first. Zed sighed and gave Ace a small frown.

"I'd love to, Sonic, I just... I really need to consult my family and game-mates, first," Zed instructed gently, and although he was prepared for Sonic to tease him and become up in arms about it, he was delighted to see Sonic soften and bob a small nod.

"Understandable," Sonic shrugged, though he gave Zed a cheeky smile and pointed, "How about you give me yours and Nox's answer, at EZ Living's entrance, at sundown. Deal?"

"Deal," Zed nodded with a smile as Sonic and Tails began to slowly step away.

"See yah then," Sonic pointed as him and Tails began to head back to their previous location, and with such, Zed dominantly began to lead Ace, Jax and Nox further up the beach, in the opposite direction.

"When's the last time you've been in another game, excluding the obvious?" Ace stated in great confidence as both him and Zed sauntered up the sand, side by side. Ace looked off and beamed a cheeky smile the second his father let out an obviously conflicted laugh.

"Son, the last time I set foot into someone else's game was to make out with your mother in Tappers," Zed stabbed, he cocked an eyebrow as him and Ace caught gazes, "Our original plan was to make one of her previous suitors jealous."

"Sooo... Last year?" Ace took a shot in the dark, Zed bobbed a nod.

"Long before you were a thought, dude," Zed chuffed, he readjusted the volleyball under the nook of his arm and shook his head in confusion, "I can't imagine we'd be unsafe in Sonic's game. What do you think my answer should be?"

"You're... You're asking my opinion?" Ace staggered nervously, he cocked an eyebrow and peered his humbled, confused gaze to his father in rising concern, "Why should I decide this?"

"I'm not asking you to make the final decision, I'm asking your advice," Zed furrowed his brow as him and Ace carried on their quiet conversation, their deep voices were hushed and only audible to the small group they travelled in, "You're not a little kid, anymore, bud. You're a man. One of the most powerful men in this entire Arcade. Not asking for your advice would be really stupid, on my part."

Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise and felt a sheer amount of gratitude sweep through him, the whole fact that his father was soaking so much responsibility and encouragement over him. Ace inhaled a deep, thorough breath and felt confidence continue to rush him, the honor it was to have his father's whole support and love. He switched gears quickly and began to put his opinions to the test, just where he could stretch his wings, here.

"Take me and Libby and you'll be golden," Ace shrugged, "I, personally, don't see the harm... The whole game is okay with swap mates?"

"Seemingly?" Zed prod with a shrug.

"How do you know there won't be visitors, from other games, for this big race?" Ace volleyed, Zed honed his strict eye contact straight into his son's as he confidently continued, "Is Sonic going to advertise this big race? Come one, come all?"

"Guess we can gloss the details over Sonic later," Zed included, Ace nodded.

"You'd be outside our game, dad... Although Libby and I would be there for damage control, User forbid something goes wrong," Ace finally set a stern, dominant gaze into his father's, "You'd still have to watch your back. Sonic doesn't speak for every single citizen, in his game. There's crime in Dead Zed, is there not?"

"Yes," Zed eased as he succumbed to Ace's sudden confident string of intelligence.

"Do you speak for those criminals, glossing over them with the loose fact that they are definitely in their right mind and would do no harm to visitors?" Ace sternly addressed, Zed heaved a shaky sigh.

"No, sir," Zed stated as his eyes glossed forward in concern.

"Keep that notion in your mind, dad," Ace's deep voice was loving, yet firm, "You know I'd do anything and everything to make sure you, and whoever else, remains safe whilst you guys have fun... I'll disguise myself in the crowd, no issue. You just have to play your part and don't let yourself go blind to the reality of any stranger's true nature."

Zed dragged his gaze to his son and felt a wave of relief come over him, the whole fact that he had a true and valiant teammate in this mess of life, a solid right hand man, someone who so diligently had Zed's, as well as his whole family's best intent at heart and the power to make sure that stayed a reality. Zed finally beamed a proud smile, grappled Ace's shoulder and gave him a good loving squeeze.

"It sucks, but it's best to not assume the best intention in others, here," Ace added, he gave Zed a sly smile, "I've come to discover this to be true... That night at EZ Living's bar, those weeks ago, was a real slap to the face. I immediately felt as if I couldn't trust anyone but you guys."

"I'm glad we have you, son," Zed assured as he squeezed Ace's shoulder again, "You're sharper than you think. You're gaining wisdom is pivotal to this group. You obviously have been spending a lot of time with your mother, lately."

"She just disowned me and made Libby her first born, so," Ace shrugged, both men burst out into laughter, "Guess I'm on my own, now."

"I think you'll be okay," Zed mumbled as they both touched on Tessa's joking nature.


	213. Chapter 213

**Reviews :**

 **KaoruYuki :** Thank you! Yes, I definitely missed the bunch. I WILL be bringing Otto back, so that'll be fun!

 **Snake557 :** Aw thank you! :D

 **chuckiboo :** OMG YAY I'm so glad you feel that way xD I always worry the pointless, funny, banter-isa side of me, as a writer, will annoy the crap out of you guys, but I'm glad at least some of you like it lol. Thank you so much! And yes, I do bring Otto into the mix. She's not a main character, but she does come back to the Kalivar lot to hang, after the whole Sonic race.

 **Silversuferann :** Hahaha thank you! :D Yes, Sonic will be running, Zed will be on a bike - Zed mentions his strategy for hopefully staying one step ahead of Sonic. It all gets explained!

 **WildVirus :** LOL! Lowkey would do the same ;D omg Otto's like WTF where did you guys GO! She gets reintroduced into the story, you get to hear her gripe and complain about it xD Thank you friend!

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 ***Chapter 213***

"You sure Sonic will know where to find us?" Tessa wondered softly, she eyed Zed in contemplation.

The majority of her family had gone back to the Kalivar castle, for the evening. Left to wait with Zed, whilst in search for Sonic and Tails, was Tessa, Ace, Libby and Oliver, though Penny, Orph, Koko and Nox had wandered off, for a short amount of time, due to a loud array of catchy music being blasted from nearby. Ace, Libby and Oliver loudly chattered with each other while Tessa and Zed hung in a silent high of contemplation, a void seemingly surrounded just the two, this tricky dilemma of wanting to reach out and enjoy Arcade life, or simply hull away and be afraid of potential danger. Under the shade of the gorgeous, towering palm trees, and the feeling of EZ Living's velvety white sand under their bare feet, Zed's handsome blue eyes finally glinted in the sunset's rays as he volleyed Tessa his stare.

"Well, he knows what I currently look like," Zed mumbled as he rang his fingers through his normal blonde hair, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and bobbed him a flirtatious nod. He heaved a small laugh and shook his head, "What's that about?"

"It's a look," Tessa teased as she cocked an eyebrow and gave him a sly smile.

"... A GOOD look?" Zed staggered with a louder laugh, his face turned red, and with such, Tessa turned her mild, coy, flirtatious attitude into full blown teasing.

"You look like a SNACK," Tessa blurt with a laugh she could hardly contain, Zed furrowed his brows in hard surprise and jostled his hands about in whole confusion.

"Dammit, I was going for the, uh... 'Full course meal' look," Zed stabbed, Tessa held her stomach and doubled over in laughter, to which Ace, Libby and Oliver cued to in curious, smiling glances.

"Maybe I should do something different with my hair, too?" Tessa stated through her giggles, Zed smiled and drew closer.

"Why don't you just shave all of it off?" Zed wondered in a playfully serious tone, Tessa gaped and gave him a look of whole offense as he stifled laughter and gestured to the buzzed side of her head, "You're half way there, don't give me that look."

"Can you imagine me with short hair?" Tessa choked, "It's bad enough I used to wear those dreaded low pigtails."

"Aww, I thought you looked cute," Zed cooed as he lulled his arm over Tessa's shoulder; she largely rolled her eyes and looked off in an expression of extreme distaste towards herself, "Now THAT was a look."

"A GOOD look?" Tessa mocked in a deep voice and stuck her tongue through the grit of her teeth, to further make fun of Zed. He squeezed his arm about her neck, playfully, and jostled her a bit, which forced a choke of an annoyed laugh out of her.

"You uh... You lovebirds gunna be good over there?" Oliver choked over his shoulder as him, Ace and Libby eagerly peered to the two, across the few feet gap they had from Tessa and Zed.

"We're fine," Tessa chimed with a cheeky smile as she tried to shove out of Zed's arms, though he kept his muscular arms glued about her. She coughed a laugh, stumbled in the poor attempt to get away and finally succumbed to his embrace, though not without giving his ribs a good few gentle jabs, to which he flinched at with a good few chokes of laughter.

"I don't think mom and dad ever left the honeymoon phase," Ace mumbled quietly to Oliver and Libby, they were all smiles.

"It's so sweet," Libby cooed as she looked on, she bit her lip and nearly couldn't take her eyes off of the two.

"I'm glad mom's day wasn't ruined, earlier, what with... The topic at hand," Ace's voice was hushed, which cued Oliver and Libby to sink just a little closer, so to keep the conversation secret.

"What happened?" Oliver worried gently, Ace softly looked past Oliver, to his mother and father, and frowned.

"Mom mentioned her miscarriage, earlier," Ace's voice was sullen, and with such, Oliver raised his eyebrows in tired knowing, bobbed a nod and looked down.

"I don't think she'll ever be able to fully move past it, I've heard that's a pretty life-altering thing," Oliver started in a sad tone, though as he looked over his shoulder, to the two, he let a small smile wrinkle his face, "But... I know they'll eventually have another. I mean, lookit them. Their relationship has never really changed. This is how they were right from the start."

"Really?" Ace prod, he realized his uncle Oliver had been there through the entirety of his mother's and father's relationship, right from the beginning.

"Oh yeah, maybe a bit more heightened," Oliver shrugged, though he gave Ace a knowing smile, "There was a lot of tension... They're opposed codes, so they held off swapping for an eternity."

"Sounds familiar," Libby snipped with a knowing smile, though she scrunched her shoulders and blurt a hard laugh as Ace finally gaped and stared her down.

"Excuse me," Ace huffed, he knew Libby was just simply teasing.

"Every swap mate has their reasons as to why they hold off, or not," Oliver shrugged with a wide smile, Libby finally leaned into Ace's side for an apology hug; she beamed him a playful smile and shook her head.

"Please don't be upset, puba, I'm just kidding," Libby urged as she did everything she could to shake Ace's center, he only wobbled, though she was successful in getting a smile and an embrace out of him.

"I think Ems and I hold the world record for fastest first date to first swap time," Oliver choked as he rubbed the back of his head and straightened out his red t-shirt, both Ace and Libby curiously ogled him.

"How long?" Libby inquired, Ace immediately blurt a laugh the second his uncle's face turned red.

"Same day, my friends," Oliver staggered, both Libby and Ace were loudly in stitches.

"You worked fast," Ace stated in surprised, though Oliver sighed, shook his head and smiled.

"Hey, we didn't have a care in the world, we are both self-programmed gamers," Oliver shrugged, "We literally had nothing to lose."

"Lucky," Ace mumbled as he lovingly tugged Libby a little deeper into his side embrace, to which she happily obliged.

As Ace, Libby and Oliver hung in quiet conversation, and Tessa and Zed had a small amount of alone time with each other, only about fifteen minutes had passed before Orph, Penny, Koko and Nox came strolling back. Down the crowded thoroughfare, right by EZ Living's massive outlet entrance, there was a decent sized amphitheater just off of the board walk, a ways away. Loud music, crowds and a gorgeous light show is what soaked the afternoon atmosphere, the vibe the four had just desperately peeled from; the look of sheer excitement hung on their faces. Libby perked up as she noticed Penny and Koko quickly rushing her, and as everyone finally reconvened and now held the sole purpose of waiting for Sonic and Tails, Penny and Koko began to overload Libby with their little mini adventure into EZ Living's exciting nightlife.

"There's this weird battle of the bands going on, right now," Penny urged as Orph gave her a curious, wrinkled smile and began to pick a few pieces of confetti out of her curly blonde hair. Penny glance him a grateful smile and continued on, to the group; Tessa and Zed had rejoined everyone, due to the commotion, "The band on stage now is awesome, I downloaded their album to my communicator."

"I think it's just a single," Koko staggered sadly as she pulled out her communicator and thumbed through the touch screen, Penny frowned and sagged her shoulders.

"What? I thought it was the whole thing!" Penny urged in dire sadness.

"Penny's just sad because her hot, lead-singer boyfriend didn't invite her back stage," Orph gave Oliver a dull, annoyed glower and forced a smile.

"He was hot, what was his name again?" Koko urged in girliness as Penny bugged her eyes and nodded.

"Hi, nice to meet you, my name is uh, Chopped Liver," Nox urged with a wide smile as he reached out to Ace for a handshake; everyone loudly laughed, "My whole name is uhh a Mr. Cold Chopped Liver Leftovers, but uh... You can just call me Second Best."

"The lead singer's name is Gunner," Penny and Koko continued to eagerly chat, an innocent rile of excitement the boys knew was simply just fun and games.

"Hey, Second Best, my name's Didn't Swap Soon Enough," Ace blurt, everyone eagerly peered to him with wide eyes and curious smiles as Nox and Ace playfully shook hands. Libby heaved a hard, long sigh, tilted her head up and finally let said sigh dribble to that of a wholly annoyed groan, "I also go by Result Of Makeup Sex."

"HEY!" Tessa shouted with a hard laugh as she swat Ace's chest with the back of her hand, he flinched as everyone howled with laughter.

"Damn straight," Zed choked, though he largely recoiled in a stagger of cheeky laughter in hopes of avoiding one of Tessa's precise smacks, "Wh-what should my name be?"

"King Freak-House," Tessa stabbed as she crossed her arms and eyed Ace in solid, playful annoyance; everyone so desperately tried to catch their breath.

"What kind of music is this so-called amazing band?" Libby wondered in great cheek as she tried to glom herself into the group of chatty girls.

"Really upbeat... Kind of like rock and techno," Penny shrugged as her and Koko easily welcomed her into the conversation whilst everyone about them continued to loudly joke and banter, "The band's name is called Archived Chaos. If you ask me, they could use a new drummer."

"I couldn't concentrate past him, he looked so terrified," Koko pointed to Penny in agreeing, both girls laughed, "But you're right, Gunner was hot. Too bad he doesn't play an instrument."

"Singing counts," Penny defended playfully as she crossed her arms, "I think I've got myself a first celebrity crush."

"Celebrity," Koko huffed, "I mean... If he wins this battle of the bands, then yeah, but there's got to be at least a hundred bands vying for the win."

"When do you find out who won?" Libby prod with a curious smile, though Koko and Penny finally shrugged and sagged out of their high of living normal, non-game day Arcade life.

"Guess we can catch it on t.v., back home," Koko stated as she gave Libby a knowing smile, "Who knows when our next outing will be."

"Well, it looks like it might be next Sunday, actually," Libby pointed as she gently cast her glance to Tessa and Zed, in kind curiosity; Penny and Koko perked up at her words, "I guess... Sonic has challenged Zed and Nox to a race."

"That's what Nox was trying to tell us, Pens, but we were so enraptured in the band that was performing," Koko eased dully, Penny peered to her sheepishly.

"Whoops," She mumbled, though just as she was about to further inquire about said nonsense, the groups' attention largely shifted to aid in the three extra presences that had approached.

"Man, you have the whole family out for the day," Sonic chimed with a knowing smile as him, Tails and Knuckles strolled up in a gentle, meandering way; they succumbed to the shade of the massive palm trees, over head, "How many have you addd to your clan, there, Zed? No wonder you're the talk of the Arcade."

"Yeah, we have a good load under our roof, right now," Zed stated with a smile as him and Tessa dropped their lazy, playful antics and stiffened for the new presences, "Not all of us are of the same coding, obviously. I just have five younger brothers, and, well... Guess there's just a lot of everyone to go around."

"... Your five racers are your brothers?" Sonic ogled as him and Knuckles caught eyes, "Shows how much I know."

"No, that shows how little I hang about the Arcade," Zed mumbled in mild embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head, he peered to Tessa in a knowing, shy way as she gave him a forgiving pat on the back. He gestured to Tessa, with pride, and gave the three a smile; at this point, the entirety of both groups had their unwavering attention to Zed and Sonic, "This is my fiancee, Tessa."

"I'm sure we've bumped into each other at least once or twice," Tessa eased to Sonic kindly as the two shook hands, "Either that, or you've must've run into my parents."

"Your father is Wreck-It Ralph," Sonic stated as he gently side-eyed Tessa and waggled his finger, "Right, and... Your mother is Vanellope, from Sugar Rush?"

"Correct," Tessa bobbed a nod and politely cupped her hands before her, though she felt her heart begin to ache at just the route this conversation was going.

"Wow, so... You two are the future King and Queen of Sugar Rush, then, yeah?" Sonic stated in pure wonder as he gestured to Tessa and Zed, and as a brief moment of contemplation went by, Zed eagerly nodded and knew to cover Sugar Rush's issues, for the time being, "That is, if Ralph and Vanellope are willing to step down. I actually haven't heard much coming in and out of Sugar Rush, how's your game doing?"

"Oh, it's alright, we uh... We had the forcefield over the entrance for a while, we were... Upping our virus protection, and such," Tessa tried not to stumble on her fibbing, though she began to feel nervous with the frown that was suddenly adorned upon Knuckle's face.

"You guys having virus issues?" Knuckles deep voice quietly worried to Tessa and Zed; the two nervously caught eyes in a string of contemplation, though Zed inhaled a deep breath and took over.

"Unfortunately yes, but things should be going back to normal, shortly," Zed forced a smile and bobbed Tessa a nod, to which she hesitantly played along, "We're just trying to maintain a level of continued safe-mode, for now."

"Makes sense," Sonic nodded and volleyed Tails a smile, as well as a gentle snap of his fingers, "Remember when we did that, a few years back?"

"Winter of '09," Tail's gentle voice eased as he flattened his ears, fiddled his fingers and glanced between Sonic and Knuckles.

"It was stressful, but... You'll see it through," Sonic encouraged to Zed, the group relaxed, even though their situation wasn't nearly as calm or as collected as Sonic, Knuckles and Tails were lead to believe, "So, about this race next Sunday... You game?"

"I think we're solid," Zed stated positively as everyone eagerly kept glued to the conversation at hand, "It'll probably just be me and you, however."

"Aw, you're excluding Nox?" Sonic frowned, though Knuckles and Tails eagerly dragged their eyes to the one and only TurboTwin in the batch; he sagged into himself and gave the three an apologetic smile.

"We think it'd be best if Nox stayed out of it, he already gets enough harassment as it is, for strictly being from TurboTime," Zed sighed, he gave Nox a knowing nod, "We came to the conclusion that drawing more unwanted attention, to our bunch, probably isn't wise."

"Well, I definitely understand on that front," Sonic stated warmly, though he fingered his lip and looked up in contemplation, "Well, then, how about I change this up a little, then... How about we throw in Mrs. Vanellope Von Schweetz?"

"Oh, User," Tessa huffed as she put her hands on her hips, "I know mom would never turn down a race, but... I know she took a nasty spill, at EZ Living's motocross tournament, one year, and she's never been the same, when it came to racing outside her own game."

"I remember that, it was all the Arcade could talk about," Knuckles ogled as he nudged Sonic, who wobbled a little, "Did they ever catch the culprit?"

"...No," Tessa muttered nearly through the grit of her teeth, she knew full well Radex was responsible for said spill on the tracks.

"He's still loose out here?" Tails worried as his two tails flicked in agitation, he looked over his shoulder and sagged closer to Sonic, who, in turn, rolled his eyes at his two-tailed friend.

"I'm sure everything is okay," Sonic laughed as Knuckles crossed his arms and beamed Tails a knowing smile, "We're fast enough to get out of anything."

"I don't know, Sonic... Vanellope's one of the fastest racers this Arcade has," Knuckles mumbled, to which Tessa's smile brightened with the compliment to her mother, "Even she can't seem to dodge trouble."

"Welp... Nonetheless, the offer stands," Sonic gestured to Tessa with a kind smile.

"I'll talk to her," Tessa encouraged, "Either that, or my Aunt Taffyta will likely be all for a race."

"Taffyta Muttonfudge," Sonic's smile broadened, the competitive air about the group began to grow and grow.

"Fluggerbutter, she's married," Tessa kindly corrected, though Sonic bugged his eyes and peered to Knuckles.

"NOW I see why Arcade is all confused, this whole swapping tree stems to Sugar Rush, and then some," Sonic laughed, "It's always more drama when the heads of a game are deeply involved with the heads of other games."

"Celebrity status," Knuckle rolled his eyes and nodded, to which Zed and Tessa bashfully peered to one another; them being the culprits of this whole mess.

"Is... This race going to be announced Arcade-wide?" Zed gently asked, though the worry in his eyes was definitely clear; Sonic sagged his competitive demeanor, for the moment, and gave Zed a look of seriousness.

"It definitely doesn't have to be," Sonic's voice wavered, "We can just keep it to our game, and that's it. Just our citizens. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds fine, we just... I apologize," Zed rubbed the back of his head and breathed a shaky chuckle as Tessa kept tighter to Zed's side.

"You're nervous, I get it, your game is under tight scrutiny right now," Sonic shrugged, Knuckles and Tails softly nodded in agreeing, "We'll still have a kickass race. You'll be safe in our game."

"Thank you," Zed smiled as him and Sonic shook hands, one last time, and as the three began to peel from the group, Zed pointed a little, "Catch you guys Sunday."

"Bring your fastest bike, Mr. Dead Last," Sonic finally stabbed in lighthearted competitiveness, "You're gunna need it."

"I'm unbeatable, I'm not too worried," Zed volleyed with a wider smile, and though the two playfully went back and forth, they finally stated their proper goodbye's and both groups split for good.

"You realize that guy can practically break the sound barrier, right," Orph stated in a dull tone as he eyed Zed in rising cheek, though Tessa gingerly linked her arm with Zed's and gave him a confident smile.

"You'll wipe the tracks with him, babe," Tessa encouraged lovingly, to which Zed bobbed a nod and gave her a grateful smile.

"Can always count on you," Zed eased kindly, though Orph rolled his eyes and beamed a wide, annoyed smile.

"Alright, I'll come to help out," Orph staggered as he waved his hand about and pushed closer to Zed, "You're gunna need it. I'm sure you're pretty rusty."

"I'm not rusty," Zed grumbled, Orph crossed his arm.

"When's the last time you had a quarter alert?" Orph cocked an eyebrow as Zed sagged into himself and heaved a shaky sigh.

"I-I... Can't remember," Zed meeped, the whole group flared in excited laughter.

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 **A/N :** **For those of you that follow my deviantART closely, I hid a very massive amount of 'Out Of The Blue' foreshadowing, in this chapter :D**


	214. Chapter 214

**Reviews :**

 **emonekocindi1 :** Hahaha. Thank you! I need to make a proper family tree of this family, it's true. Maybe I'll include it in the sketch dump :)

 **WildVirus :** LOL I'm SO glad someone else enjoys my humor haha. I really try to put myself into those conversations, just what I'd say in those instances. I'm glad you got a kick out of it! xD Also - don't get TOO excited about Gunner! He's a right ass! LOL

 **Snake557 :** LOL! Good promotion for Sonic's game, huh.

* * *

 **A/N : Hey guys, sorry for being MIA! If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I was working on a sculpture of Tessa! It was a time-sensitive project, because it's clay, so I just buckled down and completed it. That's why I haven't uploaded. But I finished her, and I'll be painting the finished product sometime this weekend! Check out my Instagram if you're interested in it! My username is Vyntastic :)**

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 ***Chapter 214***

In the cool of the night, Dead Zed's humidity did anything and everything to try and keep it's grip tight to the atmosphere, though winter's mysterious, creeping chill made it's presence largely known. The castle sat quiet in the midsts of every resident preparing to head to sleep. With a step up onto the Kalivar lot's patio, Orph rounded past Tammy's and Penny's porch, having just come from Throttle's abode. He sought out the side entrance to the main building, near the garage full of their powerful racing bikes. Orph shivered, tucked his hoodie tighter over his head and held a jar closer to his chest; chock full of Throttle's spare hot chocolate powder, something he had promised to share with Orph. He smiled a smug, excited smile to himself and looked forward to immediately making himself a hot cup of said hot chocolate and retreating to his bedroom for the night.

With purpose, Orph stepped into the massive overhang, the three-way fork in the nook of the side of the building, avenues that lead to the main building, the garage, and a sneak way to the front patio and front door. Before Orph could let his mind soak into the calmness of his upcoming evening, he heard sharp, angry whispering in the shadows of the avenue to the front patio. In a startled way, Orph sunk into himself and sagged closer to the wall. He held his breath and was relieved he wasn't seen, though he narrowed his eyes and honed his attention to whoever it was arguing with each other. He furrowed his brows in tight contemplation and urgently picked up on the individuals voices. He widened his eyes and quickly realized it was Penny and Rancis hurriedly arguing with each other, and by the sounds of this argument, Penny was becoming emotional. Orph stiffened his spine, clutched the jar to his chest and felt his heart drop in remembrance of just what happened earlier in the day. He eavesdropped as easily as he could.

"It was so uncalled for, dad, I just can't even believe you'd do something like that," Penny complained, her voice trembled. It was clear she had likely been crying by the way her nose sounded stuffed up, "I could just tell he was so dejected, for the whole day."

"He can handle himself, can't he?" Rancis urged sharply, "I hardly think this warrants so much attention, Penny."

"I just don't understand what that was all about, is it just a power trip for you?" Penny's voice continued to waver, so much so, that Orph was absolutely certain he's never seen her so upset, in such a raw way. Orph clutched his chest in agony and felt his heart begin to race with protectiveness as her little voice carried on, "He's doing anything and everything to keep in your good graces, dad... Orph isn't just a silly toss-away boyfriend, believe it or not."

"I'm sorry, Penny, I just..." Rancis huffed, it was clear he was tired of arguing with her, "He just seems fishy, like he's got something up his sleeve. He seems to really like you, but... He makes me uneasy."

"Well why don't you try and get to know him, he's probably one of the most trustworthy guys on this entire lot," Penny defended, and in a small grimace of a hiccup and a cute noise of an inhale, her voice squeaked into a genuine, loving plea, "I love him, dad... I'm sorry if that's difficult to hear, but... I love him."

Orph raised his eyebrows and sagged further into the wall he was hiding against, and as he felt his knees go weak, he couldn't help but let a small smile sprawl his face. He let his gaze idle across the side of the building, the way the moonlight glinted shadows of the jungle trees onto the stucco, he heaved a shaky breath and felt every single vein in his body wiggle with the newfound lay of words across his heart. He gently set his skull to the wall and peered to his left, to the two shadows on the other portion of the building. Penny buried her face into the sleeves of her hoodie, and as she wept, Orph was at least relieved to see Rancis's loving hand come to Penny's shoulder in gentle comfort. Although the two were in a stir of not guaranteed silence, Orph inhaled a confident breath through his nose and felt the need to swoop in and rush to Penny's aid, as his proper, solidified position in her heart.

"It's not difficult to hear, it's obvious you two really dig each other," Rancis stated softly, his voice was laced with guilt, though before he could get too lost in that vulnerable feeling, he stiffened and gestured his hand out a little, "I'm just protective of you... He seems shifty."

"If I had a dollar for overtime I heard THAT," Orph stated quietly as he came out of the shadows, and although he didn't want to startle the two, he was unsuccessful; they both flinched in solid surprise and recoiled with the added presence to their once-thought private conversation.

"... How long have you been standing there?" Rancis urged in now solid annoyance, and although Orph wanted to become absolutely up in arms and defend himself, he sagged his eyes to Penny's delightfully sorrowful demeanor, the blush on her cheeks, the look of potentially being caught in her little confession.

"Long enough," Orph eased to her, with a smile, and as he approached the two, he gave Penny a look of gratefulness, something she finally volleyed in return, amidst all her tears. As Orph gingerly took her hand in his, he inhaled a confident breath and peered hard into Rancis's eyes, "Sir, with all due respect, the only reason I'm stepping in is because Penny is currently in tears... Up until this moment, I don't think I've ever seen her cry."

Rancis frowned through a furrowed, mildly disgruntled look and peered to his daughter. In this, he raised his eyebrows in growing delight and caught on to just what Orph was insinuating; he had not once made her cry, even if their relationship was newer. Rancis sagged his shoulders and looked down to his fingers in a swoop of understanding, and as he bobbed a nod, alongside the feeling, he breathed a raspy breath and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Rancis uttered, "I never meant to bring this amount of turmoil, I just..."

"You're protective of your only daughter, sir, I completely understand your stance, here," Orph nodded, he squeezed Penny's hand and remained tight to her defense, "The reason there is so much confusion here is because... Well... We just haven't had time to get to know each other. As much as I want to just tell you that I believe I am a good match, for your daughter, only time and example can really tell that. It also doesn't help that I, apparently, give off this 'shifty' vibe I don't know how to rid myself of."

"You look as though you're constantly watching your back," Rancis grumbled, "Another thing that tips me off is the fact that Lickity nearly doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Lickity defended Orph against YOU, this morning, dad," Penny snapped meanly, though Orph staggered a small laugh and gently gave her a loving, pleading look, a simple inquiry to ease up a little.

"It's okay," Orph stated warmly to her, she softened her stance and tucked closer to Orph in growing shyness, "Take it easy."

"... That DID seem odd," Rancis side-eyed Orph.

"I'm just as confused as you," Orph blurt a chuckle, "If I was in a pit of lava, dying, outside my game, Lickity would roast marshmallows over the flame... At least, that's how I always thought she'd treat me. I certainly hope she's having a change of heart."

"Look, Orph, I'm... Sorry that I put you up to that ridiculous task, this morning," Rancis stated through a sigh as he looked off, though he finally gave Orph his honest eye contact and frowned, "I just... Want to forever hold onto the notion that no one is good enough for my baby girl."

"You're right," Orph huffed with a small laugh as he squeezed Penny's hand, though he gave Rancis a look of earnest pleading, "I just hope I came come the closest to that."

Rancis raised his eyebrows a little and, for once, gave Orph the floor. He heaved a hot sigh through his nose and assessed the two. Huddled tight to each other, Orph never let her hand go. Penny nearly had her side and body nestled into Orph's warmth, and although Penny had been crying and was upset, she looked absolutely at peace in Orph's care. She wiped her eyes, heaved a refreshed sigh and gripped Orph's hand, the look of rising comfort continued to gloss over her, as if she felt safest in Orph's grip. Rancis dared to let a small smile sprawl his face, though he fixated his eyes to Orph's and finally bobbed a small nod of inquiry.

"It's clear you've had a rough past," Rancis urged quietly, "... To be honest with you, I see a lot of myself in you... Which, I think, is why I'm so worried."

"That should flatter you," Penny meeped as she inhaled a sharp sniffle and wiped her jaw, "Isn't that what a father always wants, from his daughter? To find men that are similar to their fathers?"

"Yes, but in this aspect, it worries me," Rancis blurt a chuckle as he gestured to himself, this finally got a wide smile out of Orph, "Do you even see me? I don't want you finding someone like me, I screw EVERYTHING up."

"Dad, no you DON'T," Penny pleaded as she flagged her hand outward, though Orph breathed a loud chuckle and squeezed her hand for comfort.

"I've done a lot of crap, in my past... If it will make you feel better, I can just lay it all out on the table," Orph gestured, he heaved a shaky sigh and nervously glanced to Penny, "I-I've only really ever told Penny all the trouble I've gotten into."

"I'm all ears," Rancis huffed as he crossed his arms and braced himself.

Orph sighed, looked off and tried his very best to collect all of his thoughts, everything that he had so desperately tried to forget was now something he had to recall and revisit for his benefit, even though it was painful. He closed his eyes, shook his head and felt sorrow sweep over him, everything that he was about to lay on the man he hoped to one day call his father in law. He sagged his shoulders and braced his heart for the overflow.

"When Zed left us, due to being brainwashed, I... I kept all that anger and frustration pent up. I took up a sick hobby of breeding, raising and... A-abusing dragons for racing," Orph staggered, he nervously glanced to Penny, though he made sure to keep his strict attention to Rancis, "Lickity was my prized winner, day in and day out... But I did not treat her well."

"Taken her this long to even shed a small amount of loyalty to you," Rancis shrugged, "You're clearly doing something right, now."

"That wound still needs a lot of time to heal... But, we have come a long way," Orph nodded and recalled just exactly where the two were last year, and it was a lot rockier of a situation. He hesitantly continued on, "After Lickity ran away, I gave up the races and left the rest of my brothers. I moved to Ekreth and remained undercover, until..."

Rancis cocked an eyebrow as Orph largely hesitated. He honed his dominant, fatherly stare deep into Orph's trembling orbs, and before Orph could chicken out, he heaved a shaky sigh and gestured out to Rancis, as if to beg for him to have mercy on him.

"I-I was drunk at a bar, one night, and... Someone across the way was trash-talking Zed," Orph's voice shook as Rancis's dominant stare only deepened, "I... I messed him up so badly I killed him... I-I didn't realize he was outside of his home game."

Rancis raised his eyebrows in hard surprise, huffed a delirious chuckle, sagged his hands into his pockets and looked off in a roll of disbelief. He shook his head, took a step or two to the side and tried to collect himself. After a moment of Penny and Orph washed in frozen fear, stood in whole terror with each other, Rancis furrowed his brow and peered to the two in contemplation. He finally smiled down to his feet and sighed, long and hard.

"Well..." Rancis started, he finally peered to Orph and wrinkled him a smile, "Looks as if you're in good company, son."

Orph gently glanced to Penny, as she did for him, and once they directed their eye contact back to Rancis, he finally came back to the two.

"Both Penny and I have blood on our hands," Rancis stated knowingly with a nod, as did Orph, "It... Really would be unfair of me to judge you for your rocky past when both me and Penny have similar stories, that line up."

"Both Orph and I killed someone to protect Zed," Penny mumbled as she shot Orph a sneaky smile, he gave her a look of grateful relief and nodded.

"I guess that's... Probably why you look as if you're typically always on edge, when we're off of this lot," Rancis sighed as he looked down, "You're probably wanted, aren't you."

"I can't go into Ekreth without a disguise," Orph sighed as he shook his head, "It's so difficult representing this game whilst being hated in one of Dead Zed's largest cities."

"I'm... Really sorry I wasn't willing to give you a chance," Rancis stated in a mumble as he looked off, "I guess I just..."

"Imagined someone different for your daughter?" Orph wondered softly, to which Rancis's vulnerable eye contact sagged into Orph's; with this, both men finally smiled as Orph blurt a laugh, "I don't blame you... Here, you have Zed, a role model, snagged Sugar Rush's future Queen, raised one hell of a kid, and then... Here's Zed's dumpy little brother who has a tally on his kill sheet and looks as if he's up to no good."

"That's not fair of me," Rancis sighed as he looked down, "I'm sorry I've been such an ass. I'm glad you've vowed to take such good care of my daughter. I just would love to get to know you more. It's hard just now stepping back into the picture... I feel as though I've nearly missed too much."

"You haven't, dad, we started dating nearly two weeks before we found you," Penny eased gently, though Rancis bobbed a nod and bulged his eyes.

"A lot can happen in two weeks, clearly," Rancis dug as he narrowed his gaze and stabbed it into Orph's, and although it simply had a playful bite, he was well aware Rancis was still irritated at the fact that the two had nearly swapped codes.

"Forgive me, sir," Orph stated sweetly, though he finally lifted Penny's hand and pressed a gentlemanly kiss to the back of it. He peered into Penny's eyes and gave her a knowing wrinkle of a smile, "By the way... I love you, too."

Penny raised her eyebrows in solid surprise and felt her face heat up. She huffed a small laugh and soaked in Orph's sweet words, and before she could be completely riddled in bashfulness, Rancis blurt a small laugh at the sheer fact that Orph had heard Penny's confession, earlier. Orph's smile couldn't get any wider, he gave Penny a loving smirk as he jostled her hand a little, and before the two could get too lost in their moment, Orph confidently peered to Rancis and lovingly wrapped his arm over the top and backs of Penny's shoulders.

"I love your daughter, sir... And I promise you, I will make sure no harm comes to her," Orph assured, his voice shook in nervousness, though he solidly held his own and heaved a trembling breath alongside a bashful smile, "Please let me prove myself to you. I won't let you down."

"Well... If Lickity can give you a shred of a blessing," Rancis stated in a hard sigh as he kept his hands sagged into his pockets. He gently shrugged and gave Orph and Penny an understanding smile, "I can afford to give you mine."

"Thank you," Orph stated gratefully as he peeled from Penny only to reach for Rancis's handshake; both men firmly shook hands, though Rancis kept Orph tight in his grip.

"On one condition," Rancis stated firmly, though Orph huffed a breath and urgently nodded.

"A-Anything," Orph sighed softly, though a teasing smile sprawled Rancis's face.

"You let me give you a proper sword fighting lesson," Rancis concluded as they both relaxed into soft laughter, "This time, Lickity can't interrupt."

"Name a time and place," Orph assured as the three finally relaxed with each other, though he shot Rancis an equally as challenging smirk, "Only if I can teach you a thing or two about the bull-whip."

"User," Rancis choked as Penny blurt a laugh and covered her face, "I'll end up accidentally taking off my own head, I'm sure of it."


	215. Chapter 215

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54 :** Aww, thank you! They're one of my faves too :D and, no worries! I understand that busy life lol.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey friend, good to hear from you again! :) And, thank you so much for the compliments! You're right, because of this confession and Orph's character being welcomed into more circles, he softens a lot, and broken relationships eventually become mended. It'll be a fun situation to expand on, over time! I'm glad you noticed that! Also, I'm glad you caught the OOTB ref.! Gunner isn't technically IN this story, only briefly mentioned. Sort of a nod to the next story, to prep you guys for what's to come!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! haha yes, it's finally cold enough over here, huh!

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you so much! You'll have to read to find out :D It's coming up!

 **chuckiboo :** Whoops - I hope this chapter doesn't upset you, then! haha. And, thank you so much, the sculpture was a lot of fun to work on! :D

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Help Me Out by Maroon 5 & Julia Michaels**

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 ***Chapter 215***

In a whirlwind of excitement, Royal, Balba and Lickity urgently romped about the backyard in a mess of grumbling calls and grunts of playfulness. Royal barked a hard noise, dove after the few birds they were chasing, and largely flinched the second they all began to soar up the side of Ace's tower. With taut ears, wings and posture, Royal did everything he could to dive into the walls of the tower and scale it with his agile, chameleon body. Balba barked a hard laugh and skid to a sharp halt, causing dirt and grass to pick up. She urgently watched as his large body successfully scaled the tower in record time, and once he reached the top, he flopped in solid annoyance that said birds were quick to get away. He curled his tail about the top of the tower and hunkered down, which was ultimately the ceiling of Libby's fourth story abode.

"You were born with wings for a REASON, son," Lickity urged in whole annoyance as her and Balba panted, both girls laughed as they sidestepped Ace and Libby's fire flowers, to avoid crushing any of them. Lickity flapped her wings a little, a way of trying to loosen up and relax from their frenzied chaos of trying to chase noisy birds out of their enclosure, "They can fly, SO CAN YOU!"

"It doesn't matter, they're gone, anyways," Balba rolled her eyes and tucked her green, feathery wings tight to her lithe, agile body. She gave Lickity a smug smile and muttered her conclusion, "You know he just scaled the tower to show off."

"Or piss off Ace and Libby," Lickity muttered through her fangs as the two quickly peered their attention to Libby's front door, the tower was successful in shielding them of the morning sunshine, "You know they're both hunkered down in her room, right now."

"Annny minute now," Balba narrowed her eyes as both her and Lickity kept their eyes glued to Libby's front door, and before Royal could bellow out another annoyed howl of entitlement to their enclosure, Libby's front door violently swung open.

"Cue angry User-boy," Lickity's voice chimed in sloping dullness as Balba let out a huff of a surprised laugh.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" Ace bellowed as he stomped out onto Libby's front deck and balcony area, he was shirtless, though he wore a comfortable pair of baggy black sweats. He flagged his arm wildly, up to Royal on the roof, and gave him a look of solid disbelief, "REALLY! It's ass-crack of dawn and you're hanging out on our ROOF, Roy?! How many times is this going to happen!"

"Th-There were... Birds," Royal sagged as he kept his cheesy, boyish, fang-filled smile. His large body relaxed on top of the dome of the tower, and as his tail curled tighter around the curve of the building, he hugged his wings to the entirety of the dome and arched the blades of his shoulders, in a show of 'prepared-to-pounce' dominance, "I claim this here User-tower."

"Can you go torment Throttle or someone ELSE for once?" Ace urged loudly, though he softened his shoulders in dwindling energy as Libby stumbled out onto the deck; in a half awake stupor, she lazily grappled for Ace's arm and began to tug him back into their warm love nest.

"Why don't you put Nox on the top floor, he doesn't wake up for shit!" Royal urged as Libby tenderly waved him off and began to successfully drag Ace back indoors.

"Good morning, Royal," Libby stated sleepily in a pressed, annoyed fashion as she wrinkled her fingers to him; Royal softened and cocked an eyebrow muscle.

"Morning, Libs... My apologies," Royal stated in quiet, gentlemanliness as he finally began to stand and look for a proper climb down the tower.

"I'm surprised he didn't wreck the railing, or anything," Lickity mumbled as her and Balba remained frozen to watch the show, though once Libby closed her abode's home, behind her and Ace, and Royal began to slink down the side of the building, both Lickity and Balba began to sag into the shade of the backyard's overhang, near the back door of the castle, "Poor kid's got a lot on his plate, recently."

"You mean sharing his coding with Libby?" Balba pressed tenderly as both girls walked close to each other, in search for the warmth of the castle's heart; the kitchen.

"Yeah, that and I guess... The race with Sonic and Zed, coming up," Lickity bobbed a nod, her ears remained lazily taut to her head; once Royal's paws met the ground, he could be heard greeting Marble as she approached.

"I doubt we should be going to said event, huh," Balba let her lazy gaze meet with the intricate details of the back door as Lickity's clawed paw reached for the larger handle; she turned it and pushed the large, round door open with the wrist of her wing, ultimately letting the two inside.

"Likely not, we'd stick out like sore thumbs," Lickity mumbled quietly as she let Balba through the door first.

Loosely crowded at the kitchen island, amidst this lazy Monday morning, was Vanellope, Rancis, Tessa, Zed and Penny. Tessa and Penny sat tight with each other at the tall, white bar stools. Still trying to wake up, Tessa rested with her face half planted into her larger hand, her messy, auburn strands spilled to the counter underneath her. She wore one of Zed's larger hoodies and her own brand of Sugar Rush sweats; although she had her eyes closed, she still listened in on all the conversing happening. Penny diligently and lovingly began to braid the ends of Tessa's hair into tiny, half-inch wide braids, just something to busy her mind and her hands. As Rancis, Vanellope and Zed went on and on about the race to come, as well as protocols, which also included the group of flyers that quietly sagged into the chatty group, Penny finally raised her eyebrows and inhaled a readied breath. With eyes and hands buried in Tessa's mass of messy hair, she let her fingernails hit the counter in contemplation, all whilst picking for new strands to begin braiding.

"So..." Penny started quietly to Tessa, her voice was muted and went unnoticed by the three that loudly chatted away; she was well aware she had Tessa's attention, even though Tessa's eyes were closed, "Orph told me he loved me, last night."

As if night and day, Tessa's exhausted eyes popped open and immediately bulged in a lock on her younger cousin. As Tessa's unmoving figure remained in a solid, surprised stare on Penny's shy eyes, her pupils drastically tightened from the wide dilation they were at, Tessa sat frozen and let her eyes widely adjust to the rush of sunlight. Penny finally scrunched her shoulders and stifled her giggling. Tessa cleared her throat, sat up straight, lofted her mass of hair over her shoulder and quickly adjusted her sitting position so that she was fully faced Penny. She firmly planted her elbow to the counter, sagged her chin into her hand and peered to Penny with a wide, closed-mouth grin of sheer, girly anticipation.

"Go on," Tessa dragged as Penny's face began to turn beet red.

"He did it in front of my dad, too," Penny choked as she gently glanced to the three bickering figureheads; all three were lost in their heated debate about the race.

"Some balls," Tessa volleyed, Penny urgently nodded and rolled her eyes.

"I thought I was going to pass out," Penny eased a sigh through her teeth and sagged into herself as she wistfully looked off.

"... SO?" Tessa gestured her hand in anticipation as she urgently peered to Penny, "Youuu give him the same satisfaction or did you leave him hanging?"

"Eh, well..." Penny wrinkled her nose and looked away, though before she could finish, Tessa threw up her arms and grumbled a throaty groan.

"Pennyyy, how many times do we have to go through these motions," Tessa rushed, Penny flagged her hands.

"No, let me explain," Penny laughed, to which Tessa slumped her shoulders and side-eyed Penny, "Dad and I were arguing near the front patio, and... I told dad that I loved Orph."

"...Was Orph eavesdropping?" Tessa gasped as the rare occasion of girly delight came flooding back to her demeanor, Penny looked up before rolling her eyes.

"Yes," Penny muttered, Tessa clapped and pointed.

"That's how it's done," Tessa urged as Penny waved her off, "So? You uh... You two get the green light?"

"That's a great question," Penny wrinkled her nose and shrugged, her little figure absolutely swam in Orph's comfortable, tattered t-shirt, "Dad definitely came to terms with the fact that Orph's my boyfriend... Guess the next step would be either, uh... Asking for my code or asking for my hand."

"Whichever comes first, at this point... Look how well it's going for the rest of us," Tessa mumbled as she gestured to her gorgeous engagement ring.

"I figured I was in good company," Penny eased shyly with that same girly smile everyone had always known and loved, the twinkle in her eye was in full force, and before Tessa could get lost in the fact that she had finally gained her baby cousin back, Vanellope's sharp voice bursted their little bubble of love.

"Babe, tell him," Vanellope snapped to her first born as she pointed to Zed; Tessa furrowed her brows in confusion and peered to her mother, uncle and fiancé; Lickity and Balba hung in the balance and eagerly watched the show.

"No, you can't swim in your underwear," Tessa blurt in solid confusion as she shook her head and gave Zed a playful, scolding look, to which Zed's face washed flat in whole bewilderment. Rancis blurt a loud laugh.

"That happened ONCE," Zed urged in riled annoyance; it was clear the three were having a much heated conversation beyond what they led on.

"Were you drunk?" Rancis staggered out laughter.

"That's not important," Zed muttered as he crossed his arms and tried not to smile.

"Zed thinks we shouldn't ask Sonic to temporarily code us to his game, for the race," Vanellope flagged her hand a little, "I mean... Better safe than sorry?"

"I didn't even think about that," Tessa eased softly as she peeled from the delicate innocence of her's and Penny's conversation.

"It's just so forward, I mean... Think about it," Zed shrugged, "If I had players, from another game, asking to be actually coded for my home game, and they weren't someone I genuinely trusted or spent a lot of time with... I'd be wary. I'm here to race him, not freak him out."

"I see both sides," Tessa stated patently, to which Vanellope looked off in a daze.

"Why did I know you were going to say that," She muttered playfully, to which Tessa gave her a gentle, teasing side-eye.

"...'Why did I think my own first born would at least attempt to be level headed in a debate, for User's sakes, I THOUGHT I raised a brash neanderthal'," Tessa blurt in a mocking tone, to which everyone finally laughed and eased up a bit, "Like said, I see both sides... On one hand, Sonic codes us for the game as a buffer, a proper 'just in case'."

"I'm sure he'd be fine with it," Rancis shrugged, it was obvious his stance was leaning more to Vanellope's favor.

"I'm sure he would... But," Tessa put up her pointer fingers in emphasis, beamed a cheeky smile to her mother and uncle, and finally glanced to Zed, who patiently peered to her for her conclusion, "Zed's call is extremely valid, here. You have to understand, mom... It's not like going around being coded for every game, under the sun, is healthy or even helpful."

"How do you figure?" Vanellope pressed, and it was in this did everyone stand back to watch the debate between two master coders; the second Tessa cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter was the second Zed set a smug smile down to the kitchen island and took a seat.

"Okay, how many games are you programmed for?" Tessa inquired gently, Vanellope looked up and counted; Rancis followed suit.

"Sugar Rush, Dead Zed, Fix-It Felix Jr., and Hero's Duty," Vanellope listed as she looked off and desperately tried to think of any others she could be programmed for.

"The only reason I ask your 'fly under the radar' number is because when Zed and I were coding Nox to Dead Zed, we ran into some issues," Tessa quietly explained, Zed bobbed a nod and tried not to be too boastful in this rising win, of his, "Nox was programmed for five games, granted they were all old."

"Five?" Rancis asked in amazement, he scoffed a noise and shook his head.

"Him, and the TurboTime boys, all had a decent amount of friends, all across the board... I guess Turbo was the only one who had a low number, go figure," Tessa shook her head in disbelief and gave her mother and uncle a look of cheek, "I had to reset all of Nox's 'safe' points, his coding was stacked with respawn rates and times from all these old games, which was pointless for him to have."

"So, how does that correlate with this situation?" Vanellope prod.

"Because Nox had near the number we all do, mom, the first time we programmed him for Dead Zed didn't even work," Tessa shook her head, "The code room flat out rejected him because there wasn't enough room in his coding."

"So either we drop a few games, before the race, and... Boldly ask Sonic to code us to HIS code room orrr," Rancis droned off and gave Vanellope an apologetic smile, "We just go full force and hope for the ultimate amount of safety."

"I think we're thinking too much into this," Penny finally chimed in as she shook her head, "Why are we all thinking something bad is going to happen?"

"That's a good-ass question," Tessa blurt as she crossed her arms; Zed remained silent and smug.

"We're all just on pins and needles, and rightfully so," Rancis stepped closer to the island and leaned on the edge of it, "But, I think Penny's right... The more we worry about something going wrong, the more we're just opening ourselves up for it, personally."

"We go, I win, we leave," Zed shrugged as he shot Vanellope a cocky smile, "Ain't no thing."

"You go to Sonic and say, 'Take this L', and then we go home safely," Tessa playfully held her pointer and thumb, in the shape of the letter L, on the palm of her other hand, as if handing a platter of the blatant 'lose' over, "Not to mention, we will have User-boy and his player two."

"He prefers User-man, from what I've heard," Taffyta piped in as she budged into the group and joined everyone at the island; she lazed near the group, though she looked as if she was potentially going to be headed towards the side entrance, in a minute.

"Keep calling him User-boy, he's emancipated himself as my first-born," Tessa blurt playfully, to which her, Zed and Penny shared a laugh.

"Honestly, I think we just... Need to lay low, not make a big deal out of this issue," Zed sighed as Lickity gently rested her large head in his lap, "Whoever wants to come can join, I know Orph has offered to come and help."

"Tammy has, I think we're going to go early so we can see if we can find Otto," Tessa eased softly, to which Zed and Penny bobbed eager nods, "Ace and Libby are planning on joining... I think Ace was going to just double as a random 'nobody' in the stands and go by himself, just to oversee everything."

"That's smart," Vanellope nodded gently as she eyed Taffyta, though in the whirl of conversing, Taffyta's nose was buried in her communicator; she typed away, to who, no one could positively say.

"Libby is going to tag along with us, to look for Otto," Tessa continued on as she looked to Penny, "I really don't know who else will be joining."

"I hate to be a stick in the mud, but I probably won't go... Unless you guys can whip up a disguise for me," Vanellope shrugged; everyone knew her reasoning and didn't argue it.

"I think we can handle that," Tessa's smile broadened, though before anyone could inquire if Rancis and Taffyta were to be joining, Taffyta gently removed herself from the island and softly slunk towards the side entrance, like bookmarked; without a single word, she quietly slipped out the doors and vanished with her nose buried into her communicator, "... Is she good?"

"It's been nonstop, the past two days," Rancis stated in a defeated tone as he shook his head and caught eyes with Vanellope, "I have no clue who she's talking to, but clearly it's someone on this lot... Right? It can't be anyone else."

"I know who it is," Zed mumbled as he slumped his shoulders and slid his nervous eye contact to Rancis, "You're not going to like it."

"Ohhh User," Vanellope only whispered through a sigh as she crossed her arms and lazily looked off; Tessa gently gave Rancis a knowing look of nervous dread.

"It's likely Tej," Zed admitted quietly, knowing full well the two had the very beginnings of a fling, once upon a time.

"I mean, I assumed, but I didn't want to immediately single him out," Rancis shook his head and gently peered to Penny, "Has she told you anything, Pens?"

"Not a thing," Penny stated honestly as she held her hands up.

"I know she's not cheating on you, Uncle Rancis," Tessa stated in firm belief of her words, to which Vanellope and Zed urgently nodded in agreeing.

"No, she wouldn't do that to you," Vanellope reassured, though Rancis's scared, dreaded eye contact sagged between all the individuals he was with.

"... Well then WHAT? What could they possibly be talking about to this extent where she can hardly put her phone away?" Rancis frowned as he flagged his arm towards the side door in which Taffyta had vanished.

"It... Might suck, but you may need to just go right to the source," Zed shrugged, "I have a feeling it's not so much Taffyta being interested in Tej as it may be Tej being rather... Sore... That you returned, and still thinking he can win Taffyta over."

"Homeboy thought he had a chance at some Sugar Rush tail," Vanellope muttered, to which Tessa and Penny wildly laughed at.

"Well, no offense to you Kalivar boys, but no one does it like OG Sugar Rush," Rancis teased, though Zed crossed his arms and smiled to Rancis down the bridge of his nose.

"It's okay, the smile on your niece's face likely challenges that notion, but alright," Zed spat, to which Vanellope gaped and dragged her shocked expression straight into Zed's now sunken, cheeky and playfully defensive posture and demeanor.

"Damn," Rancis choked as he cocked an eyebrow and gave Penny a look of surprise.

"Okay, we're trying to make Uncle Rancis feel better, not rub dirt in the wound," Tessa choked as her face turned beet red; Vanellope and Zed loudly and playfully began to bicker, which included Zed profusely apologizing in a show of teasing banter and witty love they all knew how to give and take best.

"You're lucky you're not just the silly boyfriend, any longer, sir," Vanellope stated firmly through the grit of her teeth as she lazily swat at Zed's shoulder; he beamed a bashful smile.

"I count my blessings every day, your highness," Zed stated in gentle honesty, with a smile, to which Vanellope crossed her arms and sent a confident nod in Tessa's direction.

"Good man," Vanellope snipped, Tessa smiled and rolled her eyes as she swiftly brought the attention back to her uncle.

"Is it even worth approaching her or Tej about any of this?" Rancis squinted in confusion, everyone lightly shrugged and nodded.

"I put myself in your shoes," Zed sighed as he straightened his posture and finally dropped his cheeky, playfully egotistical front, "I'd go after the dude. I hate to tell you to do that to my littlest brother, but dude... If he's meddling in your marriage?"

"Blue's got it," Vanellope lazily pointed to Zed and gave Rancis her understanding, firm eye contact, "Tej is out here trying to play in the big leagues with nothing but a wiffle ball."

"I'm so tired of confronting people and being confronted by people," Rancis grumbled as he eyed Penny playfully; she looked down and smiled bashfully, knowing full well her father was only just teasing about said nod towards Orph.

"If only," Vanellope sighed as she gently volleyed her gaze to Tessa.

"There doesn't have to be anything confronting about it," Tessa shrugged, "Just kindly ask what's up. Maybe even just ask Taffyta, first."

"I'd be pissed, I'd go straight to the source," Zed mumbled, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and watched him sag.

"If Uncle Rancis can keep the dirty laundry in the marriage, that'd likely be best," Tessa volleyed, to which Zed finally bobbed a nod of understanding.

"You also don't want him continuing to message your wife," Vanellope shrugged, though Rancis groaned a loud noise, grappled his hair and scrunched his face in rising agony.

"Why me," Rancis whined in a high pitch tone, everyone laughed and cooed him notions of understanding, "My life, ladies and gentleman."


	216. Chapter 216

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54 :** Ehhh... Not as smoothly as one would probably hope, but it all gets ironed out eventually xD

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Color Sky by Ben Prunty**

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 ***Chapter 216***

A few days had passed, cold rain had plagued Dead Zed for the entirety of it. The jungle wildlife typically rejoiced underneath any ounce of added moisture to it's humid air, though with winter set in, everything settled into a still near-hibernation. The flyers typically lounged indoors, for the majority of their sleeping cycles, and no one was caught without a hoodie. Rancis sat in still wait, hunkered down at the kitchen island all alone in his thoughts. The majority of the group lounged about the couch and recliners, in the down-slope of the living room's warmth, they all laughed and huddled tight about the commotion on the television. Rancis thumbed the warm ceramic of his mug in a plague of nervous thought. He knew he hadn't really had much time to sort things out with Taffyta, lately. Every single passing glance, he saw her on her communicator, typing away. He wrinkled his nose and felt his stomach knot with nausea that was beginning to cripple his existence.

Rancis breathed a long, slow sigh through the grit of his teeth and let his dark blue eyes sag to the full cup of tea in his mug, likely luke-warm by now. He wrinkled his nose in irritation, towards himself, the fact that he couldn't even stomach the idea of tea. In the mild, silent scolding he had given himself, a shadow, to his right, caught his eye. Without making it obvious he was looking, he dragged his gaze to the corner of his eye and noticed Tej slowly mosey from the Sky Room on to the long corridor of bedrooms, a two story hallway. He, too, had his face buried in his communicator. Rancis narrowed his gaze and now felt a near-boiling, protective rage begin to come over him. He held his breath and so desperately attempted not to rocket across the kitchen and throw his hands around Tej's neck; he so desperately tried to remain cool, a wash of the notion 'innocent until proven guilty' he played on loud repeat, in his mind.

He shook his head and cued the screen of his communicator; his eyes scanned the time and the fact that he had no new messages, and with such, he slid it back into his pocket. He was certain that was likely the fifth time he had anxiously checked his communicator in the past ten minutes. As he let his thumb idly ring about the lip of his mug, and the sounds of his friend's and family's laughter soaked the air, he eyed the entrance to the Sky Room and wondered just exactly what Tej was doing down a corridor he had not a lot of business being down. He was aware Tej was likely chatting with Taffyta, in the Sky Room, an innocent situation Rancis was certain he was playing up, though the more he begged himself to calm down, the more riled he became. Rancis narrowed his gaze tighter and replayed Zed's words in his head.

 _"I'd go after the dude. I hate to tell you to do that to my littlest brother, but dude... If he's meddling in your marriage?"_

With a sharp, silent inhale, Rancis jolted to a stand and immediately marched across the kitchen. He clenched his fists to his sides, honed in on his direction of flight and felt his heart begin to race. In a glower of ultimate determination, Rancis left the room unnoticed and quickly hooked a sharp turn up the spiral staircase, tucked tight in the mouth of the downstairs corridor. Silently, Rancis flew up the stairs and made it to the second landing, the quieter, darker hull of a corridor that housed Duke's, Orph's, Jax's and Tej's bedroom. His eyes tried to quickly adjusted to the darkness, though just as they did, he could see Tej's bedroom door, at the far end of the corridor, softly shut with a clack. Rancis inhaled a deep breath, stopped himself for a second and rethought his moves. He was well aware he was strictly assuming, from this standpoint, and doing so was likely not wise, though the sweeping evidence continued to pour over him, and thus he took a step into the dark corridor.

With firm footsteps, he brushed past Duke's room, then Orph's, Jax's and right to Tej's. He was well aware all four boys were now solidly tucked into their rooms for the night reset, another reason Rancis's heart continued to race. He was aware he was to keep his and Tej's conversation as quiet as could be, and from this standpoint, Rancis was uncertain that would be possible, with just how upset he was. Just as he rounded the gently, sloping bend, he reached Tej's door, and before he could even try and stop himself, he reached out and, as gently as he possibly could muster in his seething frustration, he tapped a few knocks to Tej's large double doors. Rancis squinted and noticed the light, underneath his bedroom door, was still on, and as the shadow of his feet and legs approached, Rancis inhaled a shaky breath and said a quick prayer for one thing and one thing only; Tej's safety.

"Rancis..." Tej stated in quiet, uncertain concern as he opened his door a little. Tej gently peered down the stretch of the corridor and nervously gave Rancis his wavering eye contact, "Everything okay? What's up?"

"Sorry to bother you, I just have a quick question for you," Rancis eased as tenderly as he could, he so desperately tried to keep his voice down. He squinted into Tej's eyes a little and gave him a curious, daring smirk, "What were you uh... Doing in our neck of the castle, just now?"

"Oh, the uh... Sky Room?" Tej staggered as he rubbed the back of his neck, it was clear he was becoming riddled with anxiousness, "I was just speaking with Taffyta, is all."

"Ah yeah?" Rancis bobbed a sarcastic nod and bit his lip, he looked off in contemplation and brought his glowering gaze back to Tej's in rising dominance, "What about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I uh... I do mind you asking, actually," Tej finally stabbed once he finally realized just what this was about, and in a roll of defense, Tej side-eyed Rancis, "It's not any of your concern."

Rancis smiled in rising anger he so desperately tried to stuff, though in the seething vat of lava he was now drowning in, the only thing he could do was keep that tight-lipped, smug smirk to his face, nod and look to his feet. He sagged his hands into his pockets and grappled the fabric in a death grip. He inhaled a shaky breath and let it out with a roll of a delighted chuckle, as if to so desperately calm himself.

"Y'see," Rancis started as he finally unraveled his fist from the fabric of his pocket and gestured his hand out, "It IS my concern. I'm really not as stupid as I may lead on."

"I don't know what you mean," Tej uttered darkly, in a low, irritated tone.

"You know full-damn well what I mean," Rancis snapped as he dared to take a step closer to Tej, and in this rise of anger, he pointed his finger almost into Tej's chest, "I know you and Taffyta have been secretly conversing, for the past few days... User knows how much longer beyond that, that I'm unaware of."

"Congratulations, you've cracked the code," Tej stabbed meanly, and it was in this spur of emotion did Rancis realize that neither one of them were holding back, any longer.

"I'll crack more than that, kid," Rancis's deep voice grew in strength and now echoed down the corridor, he was aware this likely would cue the attention of Tej's older brothers, down said corridor, though he almost reveled in that fact, "I'm going to need you to take a solid step or two, or twelve, away from my wife."

"Kinda hard to do, when I already near-swooped in, because of your absence," Tej volleyed meanly, without missing a single beat.

"If it's too difficult to accomplish all by your little self, then I will gladly step in to help you out, pal," Rancis barked as he dared to take a step or two closer to Tej, as Rancis held a little bit of height over Tej, he could see Tej figuratively shrink as their foreheads nearly touched in a rising show of just who was alpha, here.

"Come and get it, Radex," Tej mocked with a mean smile into Rancis's face.

"Say it again," Rancis growled through the grit of his teeth as he finally nudged his forehead into Tej's, though before any more threatening physical contact could be made, a rush of footsteps could be heard approaching.

"Whoa whoa, guys, c'mon, c'mon," Orph stabbed as he very quickly nudged his arms and hands between Rancis's and Tej's chest and successfully scoot them apart, albeit with a bit of difficult on Rancis's end.

"What's going on here?" Duke pressed, his deep voice boomed with agitation as Jax quickly joined in on the nonsense; him, Duke and Orph nervously hovered about and between Tej and Rancis, so to keep from a fight breaking loose.

"Who woulda thunk that this cozy Kalivar family would also include a home-wrecker," Rancis stabbed with a mean smile as all eyes quickly stabbed to Tej in rising, wide-eyed surprise.

"Nothing happened," Tej growled in frustration as he took a step closer to Rancis, though Jax quickly held him back by the arm and shoulder.

"And it never will, so wake up, dream-time's over" Rancis demanded.

"You're pursuing Taffyta?" Duke questioned Tej in the utmost disappointment, though much to everyone's massive surprise, Tej didn't put up a defensive front; instead, he looked Rancis right in the eye and nodded.

"I know what she needs," Tej firmly admitted, to which Rancis scoffed a hard noise and bobbed a sarcastic nod.

"Oh, PLEASE enlighten me," Rancis's voice held volume above everyone's; with this amount of noise, footsteps could be heard loudly rushing up the spiral staircase, at the mouth of the upstairs corridor.

"Tej, they're MARRIED," Orph whined in whole confusion as he gestured to Rancis, he near-glared down his youngest brother, "There's no room for anything or anyone else, no matter what."

"C'mon dude," Duke muttered in whole disappointment.

"What's-a-matter with you?" Jax stabbed.

"It's not like I didn't help out or anything, when Taffyta was so miserable over the fact that she may never love again," Tej urgently gestured to Rancis, he gave him a hard glower, "Just when I was getting somewhere... Just when she was potentially able to move on... You had to come back into the picture."

"It's not like these wedding rings mean anything, y'know... The vows, the whole ceremony, the two years we've been together and uh, oh I don't know," Rancis shrugged as he sarcastically smiled and caught eyes with Orph. He crossed his arms and gave Tej a wide, mean, sarcastic smile, "The fact that I have a CHILD with Taffyta?"

"They share codes," Duke included with a sarcastic shrug.

"They have history," Orph added.

"Alright, I need Duke, Orph and Jax to clear out," Zed suddenly stabbed, the corridor walls near-shook as everyone urgently turned to Zed's figure, as he approached. Zed was quickly followed by Tessa; everyone easily sagged in a knowing slink of submission to the heads of the game. As Duke, Orph and Jax began to nervously step away, without question, Zed ushered them a gentle notion of gratitude and locked his whole attention to Tej and Rancis, "What's going on here?"

"I just witnessed Tej leaving the Sky Room, and I probably shouldn't have, but... I assumed he was with Taffyta," Rancis's voice still held a solid amount of dominance, though Zed's whole demeanor clearly out-ranked everyone, but Tessa.

"What were you doing in the Sky Room? You never hang out in the Sky Room, and no one was back there but Taffyta," Zed confidently soaked his whole entire fatherly sternness over his youngest brother.

"I was talking to Taffyta," Tej admitted, and for the first time, he finally sagged out of the rush of confidence he was trying to remain in.

"Talking?" Zed side-eyed Tej and crossed his strong arms; Tessa hung to the side and mediated, "Just what in the hell were you needing to speak to Taffyta about that couldn't require a quick text message?"

"I-I was just..." Tej gestured his hand to the corridor and fumbled on his words; Zed cocked an eyebrow and sent his intimidating blue gaze straight into Tej's soul.

"Or maybe you just so happened to see Rancis sitting quietly, by himself, at the kitchen island and decided now was a good time to screw with this situation even more so, huh?" Zed smiled a cocky smile and huffed an annoyed chuckle, "You're well aware all eyes are on you, buddy, you're clearly slinking away to the Sky Room, to talk with Taffyta, so to get a rise out of her HUSBAND."

"I've done nothing of the sort," Tej stuttered weakly.

"Defend yourself," Zed urged sternly, "Shoulders down, chest out."

"I-I was just... Making sure she was happy," Tej muttered darkly as he straightened his posture, though his nervous, grimace of a facial expression sloped to the ground in rising defeat.

"Happy in general or happy in her marriage?" Zed wondered firmly, to which Tej heaved a shaky sigh and merely glanced to Rancis's irritated, rocked demeanor.

"In her marriage," Tej stated quietly with a squint to boot.

"Look at me," Zed finally stabbed in a growl of quiet death, which caused Tej to suddenly flinch in a roll of surprise. He gestured his fingers to grab Tej's eye contact, and once he had it, he dared to take a step closer to his little brother, "I do not care if you're King of the Arcade... You have absolutely no right stepping inside someone's marriage. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir," Tej mumbled through the grit of his teeth as he kept his tight eye contact to his oldest brother, a formidable foe, the head of the house, the backbone of this entire game; he held reign tight over Tej and narrowed his deadly stern gaze deeper into Tej's scared eyes.

"I don't care if you think Taffyta's unhappy, or even if she tells you she's unhappy," Zed wrinkled his nose, grit his teeth and kept his sharp, electric stare absolutely hooked into Tej's trembling orbs, "You have absolutely no business in that notion. If they're unhappy, they solve it together. This isn't some silly boyfriend girlfriend situation, Tej, I don't know if you've realized that they're uh... Married. With a child... You see Penny every single day, what the hell is a'matter with you?"

"Yes, sir," Tej repeated in the continued down slope of defeat.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Zed stabbed as he gently gestured to Rancis, he kept his tight, hovering dominance firm over Tej's trembling aura.

"I apologize," Tej eased, though it was clear the words were difficult; he refused eye contact with Rancis.

"I don't care that your oldest brother is standing here to hear this," Rancis started as he inhaled a deep breath, his broad, strong chest rose with confidence as he narrowed his gaze and sent a threatening glower straight into Tej's soul, "Mess with my marriage one more time, and words won't be what's thrown your way."

Zed cocked an eyebrow and felt his heart tug in a weird direction; the urge to defend his youngest brother was strong, though he held his breath and let Rancis deliver the threat, due to the severity of the situation. Zed gently gave Tej his brotherly eye contact, as if to promise he would always have his back, though in this instance, he was massively in the wrong, and the tug to remain neutral was strong. In the painful rise of tense silence, Rancis gave Tej one last glower before he gently slunk away and finally head down the staircase and out of sight. Tessa exhaled a long, nervous sigh and rubbed her forehead in agitation, though before she could feel too relaxed, Zed continued his fatherly tirade on Tej's defeated demeanor.

"Tej, we're already drowning in enough trouble as it is, you really gunna throw a monkey wrench in this whole ordeal and turn people against each other?" Zed begged in dire, stern annoyance; Tessa raised her eyebrows and now knew she likely wasn't needed any longer. She gently reached her hand out, cued to Zed that she was leaving, by touching the middle of his back. In a softened slope of love, he gently gave her a notion of gratitude and waited until she was out of ear shot to turn back to his conversation with Tej, "Okay, this stays between you and I. Just tell me what you've done, if anything, I swear to User I won't tell a soul. Just please, for the love of God, don't tell me you two..."

"No, we haven't swapped, or... Anything of that nature," Tej shook his head and looked off, "We kissed, a few weeks before Rancis was found. She was leading on that she was potentially interested."

"She thought her husband was DEAD, Tej," Zed argued with great urgency as he flagged his hands down, "You can't just keep carrying on this little romantic fling, her husband is back, in one piece, and free of Radex... It's literally everything Taffyta wanted, and she got it back. The fact that you can't just step back and be happy for her shows how immature and selfish this whole thing really is."

Tej was speechless as he peered up to his oldest brother, he scoffed a noise of disbelief, though Zed cut him off.

"What are you doing, going into the Sky Room and getting Taffyta alone, how does your mind even compute that that's a good idea, what the hell are you two even talking about?" Zed rushed in whole, irritated confusion, "There should be no conversation, she is a married woman. Are you just trying to get her back?"

"More or less," Tej mumbled sorrowfully, and it was in this instance did Zed finally realize that Tej could very easily be heartbroken, here; not simply just after Taffyta for lustful, physical reasons.

"Tej, I hate to say this to you, but you probably never had her to begin with," Zed softened as he gently rested his hand to Tej's shoulder in rising understanding, "Solely for the fact that her heart belongs to Rancis... Always has, always will. In that rush of loneliness, she probably had a moment of weakness. You've seen her lately, she's like a new woman."

"I just wanted to be the one to supply her with that happiness," Tej's voice wavered, "I nearly had the pleasure to, but then... HE came back."

"You knew the risk, going in, Tej," The warmth in Zed's voice finally began to return, "You can still be her friend, but this sneaking around you're doing has really brought a bit of turmoil to their relationship. I don't care who you are. You don't mess with someone's marriage... You understand just how screwed you'd be had that been Vanellope you were pursuing, and RALPH found out?"

"I-I... Didn't even think about that," Tej staggered as he looked off.

"Rancis is Sugar Rush's KNIGHT, he's Ralph's right hand man!" Zed urged as the sternness in his voice rapidly came back, "How could you be so blind to not realize that if you screwed with Taffyta's and Rancis's marriage, the whole entire LOT would be after YOU. You better count your blessings that I'm the only one standing here, right now, dude. Ralph is RIGHT down stairs..."

"P-Please... I'll leave her alone," Tej stuttered nervously as he waved his hand down the corridor, "I just... Finally found love, man, I just..."

"It makes you do stupid things, I get it, I've been there," Zed muttered, "I swapped source codes with the King's first born daughter and screwed up the entirety of everything forever and always, dude. Trust me... If there's anyone that gets screwing things up for the potential of burying a bone, it's me..."

Tej finally scoffed a laugh he couldn't contain and looked down to his feet, he shook his head and heaved a hard sigh.

"This situation is a little less detrimental, but we're all already on loose ground here, Tej," Zed urged as he gently jostled Tej's shoulder, "Best to cut it off with Taffyta... There's no more single girls on the lot, Tej. I know that it was ideal having single women around, and it was an easy way of settling into a relationship, but you're out of options... Unless you want to look at Throttle in a different light."

"DUDE," Tej wrinkled his nose and gave Zed a bewildered look of irritation.

"Just sayin'," Zed held up his hands and scoffed a small laugh, "I don't think Throttle may be as straight as he leads on. If you want a castle-lot option, Throttle's the final frontier... Otherwise..."

"Lay off, I get it," Ten muttered as he sagged his hands into his pockets and looked off.


	217. Chapter 217

**Reviews :**

 **twistee the dark :** Hate to break it to you, but those two do not end up together! D: Zed was just being facetious.

 **Burgie :** I ALMOST wrote a fight scene, but I felt that'd be a bit... much. Rancis is far more collected than that, though I made it clear he was on the edge of throwing hands haha. I appreciate the support! The big race is shortly coming up!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Hey, friend! Good to hear from you again :) I appreciate the support, I understand how life can get in the way. It's no biggie! I still get the same solid amount of views, so I assume the lack of reviews just mean people are busy, and it's okay. Cause I am too xD I don't expect reviews, but I certainly do love hearing from you guys! I appreciate the compliments and such, Tej definitely screwed up. It all settles and him and Rancis finally have a much calmer 'debate' and conclusion, if you will. Things stay heated for a hot minute, but it eventually simmers. Also, Tessa and Zed do not attempt to code any babies any time soon, they've made clear that everyone is holding off on baby making, proposing, and weddings until after Sugar Rush is saved. As much as they'd probably like to, as well, Tessa's coding was also fried, so she probably wouldn't be in much luck anyhow. Ace expands on this, a bit, later down the road!

 **Wild Virus :** LMAO! Your reviews ALWAYS make me laugh, without fail. I just cackled so loud. Yes, Tej needed his ass handed to him haha. But, he does not end up with Throttle - Tej is straight! Throttle... Not so much :P

 **SkyBlueFan33 :** Very preceptive! You're onto something ;) And, unfortunately Tej does not end up with Throttle - Zed just said that to be facetious and dig at Tej a little lol.

 **Snake557 :** Indeed! My life lacks this type of drama, so I compensate for it in my writing haha.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** lol! Yes, Orph's like oh my User, Tej, I'm trying to make a good impression here! haha

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you so much! Yes, Tej is a bit immature, it's expanded on a little. A few of these boys took Zed's disappearance really hard and it sort of messed with them, for sure.

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Need You Now by Lady Antebellum**

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 **A/N :**

Hey guys! Sorry if my uploads are sporadic. I just started my new job, which is only 2 minutes away from my house and is pretty freaking amazing. I'm making much more and have a lot more hours. So, it's great! I'll have a fatty paycheck and can start saving and etc. Only issue is I now have a LOT less time at home. I'm sure I'll be able to keep up, but just understand it may take a minute lol. I've been massively spoiled by my original schedule of a 4 day weekend, and now I work 6 days a week because I kept my position at Starbucks, for 1 day a week. So I'm in town for 5 days and then shoot to Tally for 1 day, leaving me with just 1 day off now, as opposed to 4. It'll be alright, I just have to hustle to save money and such. So, if my uploads are sporadic, that's why.

 **INFO ABOUT THROTTLE'S NEWLY MENTIONED SEXUAL ORIENTATION**

 *****WARNING*****

 *****('Out Of The Blue' Spoiler)*****

I LOVE that you guys got a kick out of that and immediately supported the idea. It hasn't been confirmed in the story, just yet, but yes, Throttle is gay. And noooo, he does not get with Tej, sorry to break some of your guys' hearts... Tej has a lot of growing and mulling to do, BUT, Throttle DOES end up with one of my new boys in Out Of The Blue :D A certain little birdy... (Wren)

I hope you all look forward to that, Throttle eventually comes out with it and is pretty shy/nervous about it all, but I'm just glad that was received well by you guys. I figured I'd drop a small hint before I threw the bomb on y'all. If this story had a WAY different turn, and Libby wasn't in the picture whatsoever, in my ENTIRE honesty, I would've paired Ace with Nox. But, it didn't unfold like that, I often just let the nature of couples play out and I try not to force anything upon myself or have anything way too concrete until I start actively writing for it and building on it. It turned out Ace had a female playdate at a young age, Libby, and I built their special relationship from there. It wasn't until Nox and Ace got all buddy-buddy did I chuckle at the thought of them being romantically and intimately involved, and in a different AU, I likely would've paired those two boys together. *SHRUG* I'm straight, but I am a huge supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.

Throttle and Wren will be my very first gay couple to write for, and I'm pretty excited to expand on that aspect, cause I know a lot of you guys have been inquiring on JUST how a code swap/transfer would work for two guys or two girls. You will find out, in Out Of The Blue! :D Thanks for the support, guys! I hope you're excited, cause I sure am!

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 ***Chapter 217***

With a soft huff and a final stillness that had eventually come to her, Taffyta sat at her vanity, inside hers and Rancis's large bathroom. She gently brushed her straight white hair and avoided eye contact with herself, in her vanity's large mirror. Just as she was about to finally think about washing up for the night and preparing for bed, she heard their bedroom door suddenly creak open and nearly slam shut; she bulged her eyes and froze in nervous confusion as agitated shuffling could be heard from inside the bedroom. It wasn't until Rancis began muttering obscenities to himself did Taffyta quickly jolt to a stand and rush out of their glossy, gorgeous white-tiled bathroom.

"Babe?" Taffyta urged quietly as she stepped out; Rancis quickly ripped off his hoodie and aggressively threw it to the foot of their unmade bed. Taffyta froze and felt her heart sink in ongoing dread, and although she likely knew just what this was about, she still wrinkled her expression and felt wary as she continued on, "What's wrong...?"

"I nearly lost my shit on Tej, just now," Rancis barked as he turned to face Taffyta, his skin was flushed as anger and sorrow continuously hit him in rapid fire misses of confusion. Rancis grappled his hair, looked off and began to pace in agitation, "Taffyta, I don't care, I won't be mad, I just... I need to know just what the hell is going on between you two, I'm about to go crazy over here."

Taffyta sagged her arms to her side and almost dared to give Rancis a knowing smile, though she relaxed and knew she could so easily overflow him with assurance. She remained still as Rancis paced, it was clear he needed to continue on, before she stepped in and put out the fire.

"He's constantly sneaking around, you two clearly are buried in text conversation," Rancis rushed as he gestured his hands, his voice crackled with the onset of tears, though he held it back well, "The way he longingly looks at you across a room, the death glares I receive... I nearly beat his face in, just now."

"What happened?" Taffyta worried as she remained put, Rancis flared up, just as she suspected.

"I saw him leaving the Sky Room, just now!" Rancis yelled, he finally directed it all towards Taffyta and dared to step closer to her, "You're the only one back here, what the hell were you two doing back here?! I almost DON'T want to know!"

"Rancis," Taffyta scoffed a small laugh and shook her head, though she flinched as Rancis became angrier.

"It's not FUNNY!" Rancis's deep voice stabbed in whole, flustered anger, "Why don't you put yourself in my shoes, here, I'm sitting here, trying not to hover and be controlling of this situation... I FINALLY get you back and I discover you have history with another man, whilst I was gone?"

Taffyta's gentle, supportive demeanor very quickly began to slope into something not so sweet and compassionate. She sent a slow crawl of a glower deep into Rancis's skin, an unforgiving touch to her cold eyes that made Rancis's skin crawl. He hadn't received this look too often, though he knew that when he did, he was absolutely in for a verbal beat down. He largely swallowed, froze his footwork and felt his blood run cold as Taffyta inhaled a slow, readied breath.

"'Put yourself in my shoes'?" Taffyta repeated Rancis's words in a gentle sting of rising death, though Rancis huffed a shaky breath and flagged his hand.

"I-I... I didn't mean like-"

"Oh, okay, so you're just y'know, saying shit without thinking, is that it?" Taffyta firmly stabbed as she crossed her arms.

"Taff, I'm sorry, I just-"

"No, you're right, maybe we should just swap shoes, here, let's see what we discover," Taffyta's snide, loud demeanor very quickly soaked the room in dominance as Rancis figuratively began to shrink, "So, while you were stuck in a bubble, knowing full well your family was somewhere outside of said bubble, alive and well... You want to know where my mind was?"

"Babe," Rancis's deep, soft voice so desperately tried to quell her anger before it flared, though he knew he was going to be unsuccessful.

"I believed I was a WIDOW!" Taffyta yelled as she finally began to fill the gap, she flung her arm out and stabbed her unforgiving glare into Rancis's skin, "ALL I ever wanted was to have you back, free of this mess... I spent countless, sleepless nights crying, just begging for release from this mess, just begging for you back! You want ME to put myself in YOUR shoes?!"

Rancis heaved a shaky stutter of a few words and wondered if he could possibly regain his upper hand, in the conversation, though Taffyta's voice reigned.

"Sure, you had hardships and were totally alone, but at least you had the hope of seeing us again, one day! At least you had the hope that we were ALIVE!" Taffyta shouted as tears began to well in her eyes, though she so desperately held it back, "I had to sit and drown in the idea of either remaining in this ocean of sorrow for the rest of my life, or eventually pick up and move on! It's what you'd want, right?!"

Rancis frowned and peered deep into her honest eyes, and although it would be impossible to picture the love of his life with another man, he succumbed to her rational and bobbed a small nod.

"I'd want the same thing for you, Rancis," Taffyta's voice wavered as tears finally spilled down her cheeks, "If... If I had a permanent game-over, I wouldn't ever want you to just... Remain without love, for the rest of your life. Of course I'd want you to move on, once you were ready."

"That's what you were doing," Rancis said softly, his voice shook with the acceptance.

"...I was coming to it, Rancis," Taffyta whimpered as she wiped her eyes, "I wasn't in love with Tej, or anything, but... Rancis, I thought I'd never love again, I thought I'd forever be without a companion."

Rancis heaved a hard sigh and looked down to his feet. He bobbed a small nod and knew she was absolutely right, and although this situation was now sticky, he felt relieved that she was at least looking out for herself in an instance where Rancis couldn't.

"We became friends after a month or so of living here... He's really quiet, so it, I guess, took awhile to take, but... He showed me care, he understood just the pain and everything I was going through. He was there for me," Taffyta stated honestly, and although she knew this was probably hard for Rancis to hear, she dared to continue on, "I gave him ample warning about just what would happen, if you would return. I made clear that you were my husband, and if found, that's where my priority was..."

Rancis dragged his teary eyes to Taffyta and felt the tug between them yank them closer, he could feel his heart race at the speed of light, the pure look of longing sorrow in Taffyta's eyes was enough to bring him to his knees. He finally blinked a few tears down his cheeks and wiped his jaw as she desperately continued on.

"We kissed once, and after that, I just sort of tried to distance myself and take things impossibly slow... Probably way too slow for anyone," Taffyta waggled her hand, though Rancis's sorrowful eyes peered to her in dreaded surprise, "I kept warning him that if you came back, I'd swiftly pick up our marriage, and I'd have to really work on building that back up. He said he understood, but... The second you came back was the second he clung onto me like a vice."

"He didn't think I'd ever come back," Rancis nodded, "I'm sure he assumed that I was dead and that you'd eventually just fall so hard for him, that even if I did return, you'd be all his and there'd be nothing I could do about it."

"That's exactly it," Taffyta's voice shook as more tears welled in her eyes, "Rancis, you can look at our text conversations, these past two weeks have been nothing but me trying to just get him to understand and accept the deal we had."

"I-I believe you," Rancis stated in gently honesty as Taffyta powered on her communicator, tabbed to hers and Tej's conversation and tried to hand her communicator over to Rancis. He gently declined and shook his head, "You two were just back here arguing?"

"Yeah, we were out in the Sky Room... It's not like we were in here, with the door closed," Taffyta begged gently, "I... I haven't kept you in the loop because I didn't want to worry you, but... I guess, in keeping you safely out of it, I've done the total opposite."

"Taff, I can't lose you, I can't lose you again and again," Rancis begged gently as he reached out and softly took her hands, and with this they both grew riddled with tears as the head of this sensitive topic finally was upon them, "I won't lose you... Not to distance, not to another racer, I just... Won't."

"I'm really sorry I worried you, but you have nothing to worry about," Taffyta eased as tears gently fell down her rosy cheeks, "Tej won't leave me alone strictly because I've put up a wall... Like I warned him."

"I probably scared the pants off of him, just now, anyways," Rancis mumbled as they both sniffled, "Five of them had to break it up. I almost swung, Taff, you know I'm not violent... I almost let him have it."

"You saw him leaving the Sky Room?" Taffyta wondered gently, Rancis nodded and looked down.

"I followed him up to his bedroom and confronted him about it... He admitted that he somehow knew what you needed, over me," Rancis wrinkled his nose and stabbed his eyes in an idle, agitated glare across the room, "Pretty sure Zed is still up there giving him a talking to."

"I-I'm really sorry this all got dragged out and exposed in such a magnified way," Taffyta begged gently, her tone was defeated and apologetic, "I... I did genuinely like him, and I did contemplate just where him and I would be, if you were actually gone..."

"I'm sure you would've been happy with him," Rancis nearly couldn't get the words out, he heaved a shaky breath and shook his head, though just as he was going to take himself out of the equation and give Taffyta the benefit of the doubt, Taffyta blurt a small chuckle and shook her head.

"I would, I'm sure, but... I'd take one more night with you over a lifetime with Tej, in a heartbeat," Taffyta stated sweetly as she peered deep into Rancis's eyes.

"Promise?" Rancis's voice whispered in a crackle of wading sorrow, Taffyta huffed a shaky chuckle and nodded as tears continued to slide down her cheeks.

"Promise," Taffyta sighed as she hooked her pleading eyes deep into his, she squeezed his hands, "I wished every night, for your return... Even the night after Tej and I kissed, every conversation we had, it was a nice release from all the sorrow, but... In the back of my mind, I was always wishing it was you."

"Tej certainly got the short end of this stick," Rancis stated through a hard sigh as he began to pull Taffyta into a hug, he wrinkled her a curious, sheepish smile, "I think the dude is actually in love with you..."

"I'm so tired of this mess," Taffyta mumbled as she willingly sagged into Rancis's chest and fastened her arms about his middle, "I'm so sorry, for everything... I know I caused a lot of confusion."

"Well... You may need to put this whole thing, with Tej, to rest. Just sit him down and explain what's up," Rancis mumbled as he tucked his chin to the top of Taffyta's head, his gentle hands pet the back of her slick, white hair, "Unless that's what you were just doing."

"I was trying to, he kept arguing me," Taffyta muttered into Rancis's chest as she inhaled a hard sniffle, "He's become very belligerent, in this mess... Not the typical sweet person I liked, previously."

"You can tell a lot about someone the second they're not given what they want," Rancis eased into the top of Taffyta's head, he inhaled her sweet scent and kept her tight to his body.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that," Taffyta eased into the side of his neck, the two snuggled tighter into each other's embrace.

"Between the drama with Orph and this whole mess with Tej, I'm absolutely exhausted," Rancis huffed a chuckle over Taffyta's shoulder and squeezed her tighter.

"Well, at least you and Orph are on good terms, now, right?" Taffyta wondered in a plea, she was absolutely thrilled to feel Rancis confidently nod.

"He stuck up for me, just now," Rancis stated warmly, though softly, as if he didn't want to admit it, "... He's not so bad."

"He's great, you should ease up," Taffyta snipped as she gently began to poke at Rancis's ribs, causing him to flinch with the tickling sensation, "He really likes Penny. I know you would love grandchildren."

"Oh User... Grandpa Rancis," Rancis wrinkled his nose in whole dismay as the two gingerly pulled away, though they stayed close, "I don't think I'm ready for that..."

"Okay so you'd rather another kid first, then?" Taffyta wondered delicately, though with this, Rancis furrowed his brow and gave Taffyta a look of whole, surprised concern.

"A-Another?" Rancis choked in surprise, he shook his head and peered down to her in riled confusion, "You... You want another baby?"

"Not right now, we're not even allowed," Taffyta choked with a laugh as she shook her head, "Tess put that whole 'no babies, no weddings, no nothing' rule on everyone."

"...Who says we have to follow it?" Rancis wondered with great cheek as he slyly side-eyed Taffyta, she gaped and gave him a look of whole surprise.

"So you DO want another baby?" Taffyta's smile broaden, the glow in her face was becoming apparent as Rancis heaved a shaky chuckle and grew riddled with an absolute amount of shyness.

"Th-That really wasn't on my mind, right now, I've been flood with drama from all angles," Rancis staggered as he rubbed the back of his neck, "We really going to break Tej's heart even more so?"

"... I didn't even think about that," Taffyta looked down and furrowed her brow, though Rancis's warm voice eased a groan of delight as he scooped her into his strong-arms, once more.

"Why don't we bookmark it," Rancis stated softly into her ear and the side of her head, she easily soaked into his warmth as they shifted on their feet, "I'm sure Penny would love to have a little sibling, anyhow."

"It's all she ever wanted," Taffyta mumbled as Rancis warmly pushed a few kisses into the side of her throat, she melted deeper into his protective grasp and fluttered her eyes shut, "Don't say anything or tease her with the idea, cause you'll never hear the end of it."

"Taff, with the way things are going, I never hear the end of pretty much anything I've ever caused, anyhow," Rancis muttered as he squeezed his arms tighter around the small of Taffyta's back, "Even things I can't help."

"Like being stuck in a bubble for a year, in whole solitary confinement?" Taffyta teased as she tilted her head back and gave Rancis a look of coy delight.

"If I'm existing, then there's drama," Rancis mumbled as the two shared a laugh, "That much is clear."


	218. Chapter 218

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** Thank you SO much! :D I really like writing for tense situations, though I could write about funny/lazy conversation 'till kingdom come.

 **Burgie :** Oh YAY! I'm glad you're in support :D I'm excited to expand on it for sure! Thank you so much!

 **Snake557 :** It's okay, I understood! I considered it, but I'm trying not to force anything. I had always tried to pair Throttle with SOMEONE, one of the girls, but it just never felt right. I finally had a LIGHTBULB moment, when I finally included my OOTB characters, and thus... It all fell together haha.

 **SilverSuferann :** Hey, thanks so much! And, no worries. I knew there would be some people sad/upset about the new, gay addition to my story. My heart really goes out to that community, and I have a lot of friends that are LGBTQ+ - I've always wanted to incorporate it, and I honestly have always liked it, but I never wanted to incorporate it just for kicks. I wanted it to have meaning, and Throttle's story has meaning, so I hope that helps. Of my many lesbian/gay/bi friends, they have been amongst the MOST supportive of me, what I do, and who I am as a person. That always has stuck out to me, and because of that, I always have stuck by said community. I have almost a dozen STRAIGHT couples, and I always looked for the right opportunity to make it fair, and inclusive of EVERYONE. And yes, you will ALWAYS be warned of ANY mature content. That has never changed, friend.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **All I Believe In by Amadaou & Mariam & The Magic Numbers**

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 ***Chapter 218***

"Kanna'te," Tammy staggered, the structure of the word she stumbled on and ultimately failed. She breathed a soft giggle as her eyes honed to Ace's sleepy, hazel orbs.

"Remember the break before 'te'," Ace warmly eased; him, Libby, Emery and Tammy sat at the kitchen island on a late Saturday morning. Ace rubbed the back of his head and was thrilled this lazy, impromptu Teltokuan lesson, to his Aunt Tammy, was what could help him finally wake up. As he continued on, all three quietly cued to Tessa, who slowly and quietly budged into the sunny kitchen, "If you rush it all together to make it one, you lose the meaning of the greeting."

"What does it mean, then, all rushed together?" Tammy inquired as she rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie and slouched to the kitchen island; Libby blurt a giggle and tucked her long hair behind her ears.

"You're literally dropping the 'o' in hello and are simply saying 'hell'," Libby smiled to Tammy in sheepishness as Tammy slumped her shoulders and gestured out to Ace.

"This isn't fair, you downloaded all of Libby's knowledge on the language," Tammy mumbled, though Libby eyed her in coy sassiness.

"Nah, not so fast," Libby blurt with a proper American accent, Ace furrowed his brow and shot her a wide, curious smile, as did Tammy, "I taught Ace a great deal before we um... Swapped."

"It was like three months worth," Ace staggered, he felt his face heat up with the fact that his mother was present, whilst Libby was presenting the topic of the two swapping, though just as he glanced to his mother and prayed that she wasn't eyeing the two in playful irritation, he slowed his demeanor and hooked his whole entire attention to his mother, who idly loitered near the stove and tea cabinet.

"Alright, touché," Tammy waggled her hand and gave it to Libby, both girls laughed and carried on with each other, though Ace held his solid attention to his Tessa.

Tessa was loosely dressed in a loved, faded black t-shirt and equally as faded brown sweats, all plastered with tattered Dead Zed logos; her favorite pair. She inhaled a quietly few sniffles and began to look as if she was rummaging through the tea cabinet, in search for something to drink, though as a few minutes went on, it was clear she was just aimlessly organizing it. Her fingers fumbled about the little jars of loose leaf teas, all sorts of varieties, and as Ace held his eyes to the gentle attention to detail her larger hands delivered, he quickly realized that his mother's habits here were not lining up. Ace wrinkled his nose and knew his mother was not caught drinking hot tea unless it was close to bed time. The more she fumbled about and began to so idly tidy weird nooks and crannies of the kitchen, Ace finally titled his head up and called upon his mother.

"Mom, you okay?" Ace wondered tenderly, to which she raised her eyebrows in unsuspecting, she barely glanced over her shoulder and shot Ace a scarily believable smile.

"Oh yeah, baby, I'm fine," Tessa's voice rasped, and it was with this did Ace slowly stand and excuse himself from Tammy's, Emery's and Libby's girly chatter.

As Ace rounded the island with great care, so not to come up on his mother with too much riled urgency, he swung his arms barely and acted nonchalant as he neared. As he pretended to head to the fridge, just beyond Tessa, he slowed his footwork and stopped near her. He squinted a little, playfully titled his head and gave her an inquisitive, playful smirk of curiosity. Tessa barely glanced at him through teary eyes and stuffed it, she furrowed her brows and forced a confused smile to her cheeks, though as they held eye contact for a second, Tessa felt her wall immediately crumple. Ace gingerly gripped Tessa's lower arm and stood close to her, for the privacy of the beginnings of their conversation.

"Mom, what's wrong," Ace urged tenderly, he knew not to make his words into the form of a question, and more of a plea to actually get Tessa to open up.

"It's... Fine, love, just a handful of things weighing heavy on me," Tessa stated through a shaky sigh as she bobbed a nod, though with her words, large tears billowed in her gorgeous hazel eyes; Ace felt his expression of sorrow only deepen, and before Tessa could continue on, he gently slipped his larger hand into hers and began to lead her out of the kitchen.

"We'll be back, guys," Ace stated warmly to the group of girls, and although they stated kind notions of easiness, they still had their worrisome looks chasing after Ace and Tessa as they escaped out the side door of the kitchen, that ultimately lead to the garage and backyard, near the flyer's enclosure.

"Ace, it's... Fine," Tessa huffed through a nasally laugh as the two stepped outside into the cooler breeze, Dead Zed's sunshine glinted through the jungle trees, and although it was a little cold out, the sunshine was enough to give that perfect kiss of warmth. Tessa squinted as the two stepped beyond the door of the garage and made their way to the roundabout that lead to Penny's opened bedroom porch, as well as the downstairs porches that were all connected. Tessa brushed some hair out of her eyes, as the breeze picked up, and once Ace finally slowed to a stop and peered to her in mild urgency, she blinked tears away and desperately tried to compose herself, "It's nothing you should be concerned about, bub."

"Mom, you're sitting here blinking back tears," Ace worried as the two hung close in the gentle breeze that whisked through, and as they came about the building, they noticed Penny quietly sitting on one of her outdoor patio couches, buried in a book, though upon seeing and hearing Ace, she gently cued her attention to them, across the way.

"It's... Fine," Tessa staggered, as tears billowed in her eyes, once more, though Ace gently grappled her upper arms and made her look up into his eyes.

"Are you and dad fighting?" Ace worried, Tessa smiled, shook her head and looked down to Ace's broad chest.

"No, no, your father and I are fine," Tessa's voice meeped, though as she spoke, tears successfully escaped down her cheeks, "It's a mixture of a few things."

"O-Okay, well... Go down the line, what's bothering you the most?" Ace pressed tenderly, he wondered if he likely was being too pushy with this, though with the way Tessa's needy demeanor latched onto his, he remained hovered over her for comfort.

"I... Guess what's bothering me the most is your uncle Tej," Tessa staggered as she looked to her right and let her glassy eyes soak over the enchanted glow of the field that lead to the flyer's enclosure. She furrowed her brow and tried her hardest not to full on burst out crying, "H-He, uh... He's moving out."

"...What?" Ace hissed in disbelief as he let go of his mother's arms and hooked his attention tight to hers, Tessa nervously peered to him as he continued on, "Why? To... To where? What's going on?"

"Your great uncle Rancis and your uncle Tej got into a bit of a scuffle last night, over Taffyta," Tessa explained tenderly, and it was with the gentle show of eking sorrow did Penny finally cue to the commotion, put her book down and slowly press closer to Ace and Tessa, across the stretch. Though tears streamed her cheeks, she bravely continued on, "Tej told Zed, last night, that he'd like to move out immediately... I guess to get away from Rancis, and... To get over Taffyta."

"So, is he going to say goodbye to us? He's just... Leaving? Where is he going?" Ace worried in a rush of emotion that came to him, he narrowed his gaze in sorrow and grew wholly confused, "W-we all live on the lot, this is our home... Why would he just pick up and leave?"

"It's big enough to easily avoid my mom and dad, isn't it?" Penny eased as she strolled up and warmly rubbed Tessa's upper arm, for comfort; she had caught the gist of the conversation.

"Zed has already helped him find a loft in Ekreth, Zed transferred all his stuff there this morning, and after game day... Tej is going straight to his new home," Tessa staggered through a whimper as more tears splayed her cheeks, "H-He... He said he'd visit, he felt bad leaving you, Ace... His only nephew."

"I-I mean I know I have a ton of aunts and uncles, but..." Ace straightened his posture and looked off in rising sorrow, "He's my only Uncle Tej. I can't believe he just... Left."

"On top of this nonsense, I'm secretly worried about the race tomorrow, and, something else that has really been eating at me is..." Tessa hesitated to continue on with the last bit, though she grimaced through her tears and looked away as she struggled to push on, "Zed and I looked at my reproductive coding and... There's not much progress on the healing."

"Aw, mom," Ace eased in a slope of knowing sorrow, to which Penny shot Ace a look of stunned sadness; Tessa wiped her cheeks and shook her head to press on.

"It's not like we're trying to have another baby, any time soon, it's just..." Tessa continued to wipe her tears, though the second she did, new ones formed, "It's so discouraging watching it hardly get any better."

"Well... Is there anything I can do to help it? Surely Libby and I can work together to bring it to normality, mom," Ace pleaded, though as Tessa went to shake her head and politely argue her son, Ace urgently gripped her hand and jostled it, "No, mom, please let me help you... PLEASE. You mentioned this topic at the beach, last week, and though you acted as if it didn't bother you, I KNEW it did."

"C'mon, Tess, we all want you to get better," Penny stated as sweetly as she could, her and Ace kept tight to Tessa's crumpling demeanor.

"Mom, it's clear this is extremely important to you... You and dad want more children, right?" Ace pressed warmly with a kind smile as he tilted his head and gained Tessa's sad, glassy eye contact, "I know once Sugar Rush is won, the whole lot is going to go hog-wild."

"I know you want more than just two, as well," Penny eased with a sneaky smile as she nudged Tessa, and with such, Ace furrowed his brow and gave Tessa a look of whole surprise.

"News to me," Ace's cheeks harbored a wide, excited smile, to which Tessa couldn't help but let a small smirk loose, as well, "How many do you and dad want?"

"Three," Tessa innocently meeped, Ace and Penny locked eyes in riled excitement.

"Mom, that's great!" Ace stated in a hiss of pure, boyish delight, though Tessa's smile sloped away.

"It would be," She grimaced as continuous tears billowed in her eyes, though Ace gently jostled her arm with love.

"It'll happen, mom, don't worry," Ace's gentle voice encouraged, to which Penny urgently nodded.

"Why don't you and Libby look into it tonight, when you guys get home?" Penny inquired lightly as Tessa wiped her tears, she innocently peered her teary eyes to her younger cousin and bobbed a shy nod, as did Ace, though his was a bit more confident and supportive, "Surely something can be done about it when two Users put their heads together... Could give Libby a bit of User-training, right?"

"It's a great idea," Ace encouraged lovingly as he gave his mother a gentle smile and peered deep into her scared eyes, "Mom, please... You have to let us help you. Isn't that what you guys have been preaching to me, all this time, about my powers?"

"Giving me a taste of my own medicine," Tessa mumbled with a weak smile as she tucked her hair behind her ears and inhaled a deep breath, though before she could compose herself and push past the sorrow, Ace gingerly grappled her into a tight hug; she so gratefully obliged.

"Mom, you can't keep this all bottled like this, you already have enough stress as it is," Ace urged as he held the back of Tessa's head in his larger hand; she easily grappled her arms about Ace's center and grimaced a small cry into his broad, strong chest as his gentle, deep voice continued, "I'm pretty much the cause of this whole burned coding, thing, anyways... At least let me help."

"It wasn't your fault, you were literally a small bundle of coding... You couldn't have helped it even if your life depended on it," Penny chuckled as Tessa eased a small giggle of agreeing to her cousin, she squeezed Ace a little tighter and sighed.

"It's not your fault," Tessa repeated through a hot, raspy sigh as she closed her eyes and held on tight to her first born, as Ace did for her.

"Who knows, you may need Ace's touch to reverse the damaged coding, anyhow," Penny shrugged as Ace peered his curious eyes to his much littler aunt Penny, she tucked her blonde, curly hair behind her ears and gave him a curious smile, "Since your coding was what practically took the life out of Tessa, maybe your healing hand is what will do the trick."

"Interestingly enough, you may want to call on Libby for said healing process," Ace stated in a curious tone as Tessa gently released herself from Ace's strong embrace, "I cut myself cooking, the other night, and... Although I went to go fix it myself, I had Libby test her User powers. She healed my cut far faster than I ever could. Typically I'm left with a small wound for a half an hour, or so. She had it good as new in twenty seconds flat."

"Good to know," Penny snapped her finger and bobbed a nod as her and Tessa blurt a small laugh.

"Really?" Tessa wrinkled her nose, Ace bobbed a nod and looked off with a nervous expression of delight.

"It's odd, but... There are a handful of my powers, she received, that are a million times more heightened than anything I can perform," Ace stated gently as he tilted his head down to his mother, "She's new to all of her powers, but damn if she's not amazing at it."

"If you guys wouldn't mind..." Tessa staggered on her words, asking for help was not something she ever really enjoyed doing, though Ace gently nudged her arm and gave her an understanding smile.

"We're there, mom, you don't have to think twice about it," Ace lovingly assured, to which Penny bobbed a nod and kept her tight, confirming smile to Tessa's skin.

"Everything will be fine... You guys going to scope out Sonic's race tracks today?" Penny inquired lightly, Tessa nodded and rid herself of more tears, "The race IS tomorrow."

"Yeah, Zed, Tammy, Emery and I were going to head over to Sonic's game in an hour or so, just to check in and get everything squared away," Tessa sighed as she wiped her jaw and finally relaxed, "We were also going to go search for Otto and hang out with her. Do you guys, and Libby, want to come with?"

"Do I?" Penny gawked as she began to hurriedly shuffle to her bedroom, "Lemme change, I'll be right out, don't leave without me."

"Libby and I should probably go anyhow, just to make sure everything's safe, no?" Ace inquired, Tessa nodded, though in the gentle breeze of silence mother and son had, Tessa eyed Ace in an overflow of loving nostalgia and nudged his larger arm.

"Thank you," Tessa eased above a whisper, to which Ace gave her a curious smile.

"For what?" Ace wondered tenderly, Tessa shrugged and looked off with a breath of the fresh, cold air that made her long, chestnut hair ripple in the wind.

"For understanding my situation," Tessa said warmly, to which Ace furrowed his brow and gently nodded.

"Well, I'm technically involved," Ace blurt softly, to which Tessa smiled and looked down to their dirty bare feet, "If you're ever going to feel better, and if I'm ever going to get little siblings... We've all got to work together."

"User knows how it'll even get reversed," Tessa sighed in gentle worry, though Ace wrinkled his nose and shot his mother a playful smile.

"... You're right, User DOES know," Ace teased, which made their smiles grow wider, and as he lovingly gave his mother his supportive eye contact, he finally noticed relief coat her aura, "Libby and I will take care of it tonight, mom. Don't you worry."

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **I apologize for the filler - this is just light foreshadowing to 'minor' future Tej drama, as well as the importance of Ace and Libby helping Tessa. I'm currently drowning in work, from all angles, so pulling my brain together to prep for this huge Sonic race has been difficult. I'm VERY excited to write for it, cause holy shit is it gunna get wild, but working 6 days a week, on top of commissions and applying to school... WOW I'm beat.**

 **So please bear with me. Virtual hugs are always needed/nice as well ;_;**


	219. Chapter 219

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Thank you SO much ;_; I really need a vacation haha. And, yes! I love writing for those two. I hope my first born is a boy... :D

 **Snake557 :** Thanks so much, friend. You're the greatest

 **NightHex54 :** YAY I'm glad you're so excited :D Throttle is definitely a ton more painfully shy about it, than Wren. Wren's sort of the reason it gets drawn out of Throttle, once and for all. Although Wren is extremely quiet and shy, he has that secretively devious and snarky undertone. That's what he gets for being related to Taffyta :P And yes, I think Tej leaving will be good. He's not out of the story for good, he makes another appearance a little later on! Thank you for everything!

 **emonekocindi1 :** Thank you so much. I'm just very overdue a vacation lol! And yes, Tej nearly had his rear handed to him, that is for sure!

 **WildVirus :** Thank you so much friend, for everything! I appreciate all your love and support :D Yeah, I understand where you're coming from... Honestly, I used to have the same exact 'disagreeing but neutral' outlook. I was raised in a sheltered, conservative Christian home. I am still Christian, I follow close with my faith... BUT, it is not my job here to judge or determine right from wrong for anyone's life but my own. I love relentlessly, unconditionally, and without question - following His example. There are worse things in this world than love, and with that, I say love and let love.

So, all to say, Throttle's and Wren's relationship actually won't be very prominent, and I am actually not positive if they'll even get a swap scene or not. I'm leaning towards 'no', but stranger things have happened. Either way, no matter what, everyone will be warned of 'spicy' chapters, and their relationship will not be in the foreground. I'm going to desperately try to keep to only one blossoming relationship, for the next story. Juggling ALL of these relationships, in RO, like I've been doing, has been very exhausting for me. Fun! But exhausting. I'm excited to dive into Out Of The Blue and REALLY focus hard on one pairing... And maybe sprinkle Wren/Throttle in there, alongside some older pairings you guys are already familiar with and are already developed. Excuse me for openly getting religious, there. I try to keep it away from my internet life cause it typically only brings in hate lol. But I figured since you stated something, I'd politely bounce my idea back to you. Thank you again, friend! I appreciate it!

 **chuckiboo :** Aww omg! Thank you SO MUCH ;_; you don't know how much that means to me. And, yes! The reunion with Otto will be awesome!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Oh, you mean the sketch dump? Yeah! As long as it doesn't go past chapter 200! And, thank you :) I'm semi glad there's mixed feelings going around, through my reviewers, because even *I* was having a bit of a hard time like picking an 100% solid side, y'know? xD You'll definitely find out what happens between Tej and Taffyta, Tej's move was for the better, but you'll definitely see how everyone handles the sudden switch up. Thank you so much for the compliments, that means a lot! I'm glad you guys are feeling all of the emotion that goes into this story, as well!

 **ArchDev :** You all wish! xD

* * *

 ***Chapter 219***

With the tinkering of the overhead lights, the Arcade's outlet train hunkered to a bumbling stop at Game Central Station. Sat loosely about the train, so to avoid looking too anxious about being openly in public, were Zed, Tessa, Ace, Libby, Tammy, Emery and Penny. As soon as the handful of people inside the fluorescent lit train cabin began to stand, the group of tight knit family slowly followed suit. With such, Zed held his breath and quickly realized something; getting Tessa and Zed through Game Central Station's nasty forcefield likely wouldn't go unnoticed by strangers. He felt his pupils tighten with the realization, and although he was certain somehow Tessa and Ace could slyly get through, without any onlookers noticing, he sharply held his breath and knew they shouldn't even risk it.

"Forgot about the forcefield, guys," Zed stated quietly to his group, they nervously stumbled off of the train, onto the dock and began to quietly mosey about the handful of loitering groups of gamers.

"What do we do?" Ace staggered in remembrance, he glanced to his father in pure, concealed agitation and nearly bumped into someone, due to trying to keep his neck cranked and his eyes honed tight to Zed's.

"Watch where you're going, first off," Zed chuckled, as did everyone else. They began to apprehensively follow behind Zed, though Tessa was too far ahead of the group to be bothered with their quiet little conversation. Although she was full steam ahead, Zed furrowed his eyebrows and wondered if she was likely a lot more cued into their concealed ideas than she led on, "You're going to have to get your mother through that forcefield quickly and unnoticed."

"Dad," Ace grumbled, as if to state he was aware of said task, but wasn't even certain how to go about it; at least three dozen strangers loitered in loud masses about the hidden secrecy of the mouth of the forcefield, something that was only invisible until touched by Tessa or Zed.

"We don't have time to sit around and gawk about this, you're going to have to just act fast, son," Zed tenderly instructed as he hung on Ace's left flank, he coolly looked about and gathered the whereabouts of the rest of his family; they kept tight in tow of Ace and Zed as his fatherly voice coat Ace's left shoulder in gentleness, "The soles of your mother's feet aren't visible to others. You can channel her coding through there. Go ahead and brace yourself."

"You know I don't operate well under pressure," Ace worried quietly as he honed his eyes to the back of Tessa's head, and as secretly as he could, he flared his incredible golden coding and sent a sly, sprawling flurry of it straight to the soles of Tessa's feet, all along Game Central Station's golden tiles; a good camouflage.

"Son, you managed to successfully give a self-programmed gamer your User coding without even a pixel of flaw, all riding under the pressure of first-time jitters, unfailing romance and perfect timing," Zed's deep voice near-grumbled on Ace's shivering bubble, he was thrilled to get a huff of a defeated chuckle out of his son as he sprawled a sneaky smile and continued, "Methinks you can subtly get your mother through the forcefield without anyone noticing."

Ace furrowed his brow, stuffed a wide smile and knew he couldn't argue; he knew to at least give himself some credit, and with such, he felt his heart do a dance as his mother approached the forcefield without even the slightest bit of hesitation. As he could feel his and Tessa's exterior coding mesh, he willed his power into existence and was wholly successful with letting his mother's figure ease through the nasty forcefield without even so much as a blip on the radar. Just as the group began to cross the invisible forcefield, Ace raised his eyebrows in near terror and urgently peered to his father, knowing full-well he would need to be covered going through the forcefield, though as everyone kept walking, and successfully made it to the other side of the boundaries of the forcefield, Ace honed his eyes to his mate in rising surprise and let a curious smile sprawl his face. Libby cocked an eyebrow, gave him a sly smile and subtly gave Zed a low high five.

"Forget that you're not the only User in town, there, puba?" Libby stated in a playfully cocky tone as she pat the center of Ace's chest and weaved around him; he staggered a breath of the beginning of a sentence, huffed it out, shook his head and allowed all the feelings to hit him at once.

"I clearly can't even keep up with myself," Ace blurt a small chuckle as he melted into the moseying footsteps of his much smaller aunt Penny.

"I have little legs, join the party," Penny snapped in a playful tone as everyone slowly began to carry on down Game Central Station and on to Sonic's game.

"That was great, Ace," Zed stated over his shoulder as he gently slowed down for Ace and Penny, they carried on in a loose group of gentle chit chat, as if they were simply a free roaming, non-worrying group of gamers just enjoying their time in their pristine, golden station; like old times. Zed lovingly pat Ace's shoulder and fell into step with him and Penny, "You'll get the hang of it all. I know you don't like being put on the spot, but you did well."

"Thanks, dad," Ace stated warmly, though he rolled his eyes and volleyed his loving gaze off to Libby, who dutifully linked arms with Tessa and puppy-dogged after her, "Libby certainly is a fast learner... Somehow, I feel as if she's leaps and bounds ahead of me."

"Well, maybe she is, in some aspects," Zed shrugged as he looked off, "There are a lot of things you have to teach her, but... In return, I'm positive there are a lot of things she has to teach you. Don't let a competitive air about you ruin the teamwork you guys should be building on."

"Yes, sir," Ace mumbled with a nod, and as much as he wanted to puff his chest and make clear to Libby that he had all the answers, he let his shoulders sag with a knowing bout of relief that came over him; the thoughts that he wasn't alone in new findings, he now had a partner in crime to really get to know.

"The only reason she was successful in that is because she was listening in on what I was saying," Zed nudged Ace and noticed his spirits becoming slightly crushed, "She received my instruction just when you did. She obviously responds better to spontaneous acts. That's something you should probably try and learn from her... You never know, as a User, when you'll have to so suddenly think fast."

"She's pretty outgoing, in that aspect, where as you're very timid and like to see a situation for everything it is, before making decisions," Penny shrugged and let her eyes prowl the cascading, arching ceilings of Game Central Station; they seemingly went on forever, "You guys balance each other, in that way, y'know? Nothing to be ashamed of."

"You'll be just fine, don't be so down on yourself, bud," Zed lovingly encouraged as he gave his son one final, loving nudge before stepping ahead to catch up with Tessa.

Ace heaved a hot sigh, sagged his shoulders and continued to easily fall into gentle, moseying step with his little aunt Penny. She giggled, gingerly pat his larger lower arm and gave him a knowing smirk.

"You'll always be one-upped by your lady, there, dude," Penny teased, Ace smiled, looked off and begrudgingly agreed, "Just get used to it. Behind every great man is a great woman rolling her eyes."

"Don't I know it," Ace huffed through the gap of his teeth.

"Who has blue hair, two thumbs and is scared shitless right now?" Zed staggered through a fake, cheery smile as he gestured to himself and gave Tessa and Libby a look of floored, sarcastic delight, "This guy!"

"Why are you scared?" Libby blurt with a giggle as Tessa warily glanced about, as well.

"I didn't put on any disguise..." Zed muttered as he, too, glanced about. The station seemed unassuming, though he still made sure he had a headcount on every single one of his ducklings, "Blonde sure does look good, right now."

"I can dig it, too," Tessa muttered with a giggle, to which Libby waggled her eyebrows and nudged Zed's arm; the three laughed as they continued to stroll, and as the length of the station seemed to go on and on, they grew more and more comfortable. As they laughed and joked, they slowly strolled past Sugar Rush's entrance and eyed it in a molten gaze of dreaded understanding, "Wonder what's in that game..."

"Probably a fallen hierarchy," Zed shrugged, they pushed past Sugar Rush in nervous sarcasm as Libby rubbed her face in agitation and heaved a loud sigh. Zed bluntly continued on with the joke, "Maybe a few lost racers, a crazy dude on my future throne. The usual."

"Sounds wild," Tessa muttered darkly as they all finally eased out of Sugar Rush's gravity, "Someone should do something..."

Libby and Zed cocked an eyebrow and sent Tessa look of whole, playful concern as she shrugged and glanced back to her precious home game, one of which she knew she'd do absolutely anything for; though, for now, she knew they were here for one reason and one reason only.

"When's the next trip, anyhow?" Libby pressed quietly as the group began to slowly come back together in a tight-knit fashion. The farther they grew from Sugar Rush, the more anxious they all became.

"Not sure... I was hoping to get with the four big-wigs to see what we could come up with," Tessa eased nonchalantly with a shrug, she kept her eyes forward and honed straight for Sonic's game, which was coming up, "We were all giving Uncle Rancis a bit of time to breath and come down from the rush of being rescued and reunited with everyone. I figured after this race is said and done with, we can dive right back into finding the castle..."

"Well, it's just a good thing Rancis at least has a direction that it's in," Zed stated quietly as they quickly brought this conversation to a gentle halt, due to keeping everything they were scheming about tight within their group and within their group only.

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **I had to just stop writing this chapter half way through, I can't keep this facade right now.**

 **Life has really hit me in the face and I'm just really struggling. I'm dealing with something EXTREMELY personal, and I just have had my legs taken out from under me. It has to deal with my health, and I am a-okay, but I'm really terribly sad to say that I think I foretold my own future, here, writing for the loss of Tessa's coding. I've been struggling with this mess for a hot minute, but I am only just now sort of coming to terms with it.**

 **All to say, I will return on Monday November 27th. I'll be back then,** **I promise. I love you all.**

* * *

 **THINGS TO EXPECT IN CHAPTER 220**

 **\- Otto reunites with the clan, here**

 **\- They get to explore Sonic's game**

 **\- They get to the arena where the race will be held, they get shifty vibe from some of the workers**

 **\- Ace** **learns more about his powers, via Libby's intuition, and together they learn a new 'User-move'**


	220. Chapter 220

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Hey friend, thank you so much for your continued support. I've always valued our friendship, and I appreciate you being so unconditional and kind towards me. No worries on any 'late' responses, or anything. I totally get it! Thank you!

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you so much! It is, indeed, stress. I have horrible acne on my neck, due to it, as well, that's only finally subsiding. I appreciate your support, I will be okay! I'm happy to be back, like promised.

 **Burgie :** Thank you so much. I definitely have a rally of family to love on me, and that helped.

 **NightHex54 :** Throwren! That's awesome hahaha. Yeah, it's pretty indescribable... I wasn't extremely far along, but it still was like being hit with a ton of bricks. I appreciate your support, it means a lot to me.

 **Jay Sketchin :** Thank you so much, friend ;_; I can't tell you what that means to me.

 **Snake557 :** Thank you, Huck. You're the best!

 **WildVirus :** No worries, you guys will definitely be warned! And yes, Libby and Ace definitely have a bit of sharpening and 'dulling' to do together, when it comes to their learned User moves xD Thank you so much, for everything!

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **As promised, I'm back! I surprised my whole family and visited for Thanksgiving. I didn't say anything really anywhere on the internet cause I didn't want the surprise accidentally getting back to my family, but that's the majority of why I was on my small hiatus. I'm back home now and am feeling a lot better. I really needed that vacation, and now I'm glad to be back. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that reached out to me, and made me feel loved. And for those of you curious, Cory and I DO indeed have baby names picked out... And they may or may not be main character names you see in my story ;)**

 **Thank you for understanding, you guys. I feel relieved to be back, I certainly missed you guys, I missed drawing and writing as well.**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Jumbo Pop Hustle by Michael Giacchino**

* * *

 ***Chapter 220***

With gleams of the afternoon sunshine boasting it's golden rays down Game Central Station's massive hall, the small group of arcade misfits tried to saunter, as nonchalantly as they could, closer to Sonic's game. With Tessa, Zed and Libby leading the charge, alongside Ace, Penny, Tammy and Emery followed close behind, they all eased their way into Sonic's large, darker game outlet. To make sure everyone was safely inside the security of Sonic's outlet hub, Tessa stopped half way down the golden arch of the outlet and did a silent head count, without making it too obvious. Her eyes scanned each being, so precious to her, though just as her eyes left the very last being in the group, being Tammy, she felt her retinas sprawl to the gape of Game Central Station's central sitting area. Approaching the outlet, alongside two other beings, was none other than Otto, the grey-furred cat anthro Tessa, and her group, had sorrowfully left behind. Tessa felt a wide smile sprawl her face, she had hoped the clan would eventually bump into Otto, though having it happen so soon into their little excursion was like striking gold.

"Otto!" Tessa called in pure happiness, and although the group was too on edge to get comfortable in Game Central Station, Tessa felt that wall come down, an ease of comfort she had been previously used to.

With taut, larger cat ears, Otto flinched and looked up in a reel of surprise, though just as her big green eyes honed in on the group of individuals, who began to eagerly turn towards Tessa's commotion, she lit up with a wide smile and stopped in her tracks, causing the two individuals she was with to follow suit.

"I'll be damned," Otto blurt with a small laugh as Tammy, Emery, Penny and Zed all crowned wide, excited smiles, halted in their previous progress and turned to greet their long lost friend. Otto huffed a shaky breath of pure elatedness, shook her head and quickly marched over to the group with open arms, "Where the hell have you guys been?!"

"It's so good to see you again," Tessa eased a hard giggle as Otto firmly scooped Tessa up into her furry arms, a tight embrace which included the tight coil of her long tail about their friendly hug. Otto jostled her about a little, flattened her ears and scrunched her eyes shut as their hug remained solid.

"Did you guys fall off the face of Arcade or something? What gives?" Otto urged in a hard hiss of disbelief as Tammy quickly rushed over, the two hugged in a giddy fashion, "Academy hasn't been the same, everyone thought you guys had the ultimate game over!"

"Not us, so much as... The game we're trying to obtain back," Zed muttered as Otto and Tammy unlatched from each other, and as Otto's eyes welled with tears, Zed cooed a noise of understanding as the two quickly hugged, "We certainly did miss you, though..."

"I'll never be able to not call you Zane, man," Otto laughed quickly though her tears as she wiped them away over Zed's shoulder, Zed beamed a wide smile and shook his head in understanding, "Even with the blue hair, you'll still always be Zane to me."

"No harm done," Zed eased gently as they pulled away, and with such, Penny quickly scoot in to give Otto a hug, as did Emery, "We certainly got lucky... We could've sworn we'd have to scour the whole game for you."

"We didn't even plan to arrive here just as Academy let out," Tessa smiled as Otto and her two friends kindly parted ways, so Otto could have time reuniting with her long lost friends.

"Perfect timing," Otto nodded, though as her eyes scanned the group of faces, she finally panned to the two unfamiliar beings hanging in the wings. Otto softened her stance, gently glanced to Tessa and gestured her paw to Ace and Libby, who politely stood in quiet wait, "Who might you be?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tessa rubbed her forehead with a nervous smile as Ace and Libby slowly approached; once near, Tessa gingerly held her hand to Ace's lower arm and peered up to Otto's surprised facial expression, "This is my son, Ace."

"Y-You have a son?" Otto uttered in sheer surprise as she dragged her eyes to Zed, he beamed a proud smile and crossed his arms over his strong chest. Otto covered her mouth, scoffed a noise of disbelief and peered her large, inquisitive eyes straight into Ace's as he held out his hand for a handshake.

"I've heard nothing but good things about you," Ace's gentlemanly voice so softly eased, and as Otto reached her hand-like paw for Ace's, the two shook hands in a moment of surreal tenderness.

"What a trip," Otto shakily huffed as she flattened her ears and tried to squint away the sensation to cry, "It's nice to meet you... Your parents are incredible people."

"Couldn't agree more," Ace stated humbly with a nod and a gentle, cheeky smile in Tessa's direction, though as the two released hands, Ace gingerly cupped his larger hand about Libby's lower back and gave her his loving attention, "This is my girlfriend, Libby."

"Nice to meet you," Libby's gentle voice eased in her Teltokuan accent, something she was very quickly reminded was different and rare, out here in normal Arcade life; Otto immediately caught on.

"Wow, your accent is beautiful," Otto gently admired as they shook hands, "What game are you from?"

"I was born in Dead Zed," Libby sweetly smiled, "I come from one of Dead Zed's many indigenous tribes."

"Wild," Otto admired with a nod as Zed gently gestured to the winding wires that lead to Sonic's game.

"You uh... You know why we're here?" Zed wondered tenderly, almost nervously; Otto flattened her large ears and gave Zed a curious smile.

"No, not at all, you coming to speak to Sonic?" Otto inquired lightly, and with such, Zed felt a wave of relief come over him. The sheer fact that Sonic had not been broadcasting this up and coming race.

"Oh, well... Sonic and I are racing each other tomorrow," Zed chuckled, though Otto furrowed her eyebrows in surprise.

"... What?" Otto hissed, "Sonic wouldn't just... NOT mention something that exciting."

"Looks like Sonic has our back more than we gave him credit for," Tammy nodded, everyone followed suit.

"What's going on?" Otto pressed as her eyes hooked to Tessa's, "How come you guys are just now coming around? Where did you guys vanish to?"

Tessa bit her lip and immediately dart her eyes to Zed's in a nervous fashion. She knew openly talking about her's and Sugar Rush's problems, even in the sanctity of Sonic's outlet, was likely a bad idea. Zed shook his head, as if to politely read her thoughts and agree that said information was only safe at the Kalivar lot. Tessa sighed a heavy sigh and gave Otto a look of gentle, smiling dismay.

"It's... A lot we can't really say out in the open, like such," Tessa's voice was low, and although this walling information was potentially hard to just accept and move on, Otto politely nodded and held her attentive gaze to Tessa's as she continued on, "If you want to come back to our home later tonight, we'd be happy to fill you in on everything."

"... 'Everything'?" Otto huffed a small laugh, which got a few chuckles out of everyone, "Not a simple explanation, huh..."

"Not even a little," Tessa's voice droned in teasing, playful dismay as everyone began to inch closer to the winding wires, Tessa shrugged and tried to keep a positive uplift, "But, everything's okay... This is going to be a fun event."

"Is there a reason Sonic likely isn't telling anyone about this race?" Otto pressed curiously as everyone fell in tow with each other.

"Yeah, one of which we can definitely fill you in on," Tessa reassured, "Surely he'll TELL people... I'm sure it'll be just a random, spontaneous-styled event."

"It HAS only been in the works for a week," Ace shrugged, to which Penny and Emery tenderly agreed.

"Plenty of time for a big advertisement, don't you think?" Tammy urged, she sprawled her arms wide to insinuate something grand as everyone pressed into the winding wires of the outlet; they had just missed the train, "This weekend, two of the fastest racers go head to head to see JUST whose the fastest!"

"It is odd that I haven't heard anything, seriously," Otto rubbed her chin in confusion as they were submerged in a dimmer setting, they strolled down the outlet's wires and straight to the arcade cabinet, "That IS a big deal... Dead Zed, the unbeatable, against Sonic, who is seemingly one to break the sound barrier?"

"Maybe it's not for show, maybe this is serious to Sonic?" Tessa chuckled, she tucked her hair behind her ears and let her eyes drone down the length of the dark wire. Everyone loudly laughed as the wire's train came whizzing by, in an electrical show of bumbling speed, as Tessa held out a hitch hikers thumb. In fleeting seconds, the train had come and gone, and everyone begrudgingly pressed on as Tessa's laughter coat her voice, "Maybe he doesn't want an audience when he comes in second."

"You seem confident, there," Otto teased as she smiled, showing her fangs; Zed rubbed his face in agitation as Tessa gestured to him.

"I am confident," Tessa mumbled in teasing dismay, "The dude's an incredible racer."

"Methinks mom has crossed the finish line AFTER dad, before," Ace muttered, everyone laughed as Tessa whirled around and pointed a firm finger in Ace's direction.

"THAT is for my knowledge only," Tessa choked a laugh as the teasing lovingly came to a conclusion, they happened upon the mouth of Sonic's beautiful game.

Sat atop a rocky cliff's edge, crowned with the most gorgeous pops of green and blue foliage, the game's land sprawled for as far as the eye could see. On the horizon, a main race track could be seen, as well as a few of Sonic's infamous courses all scattered throughout the beautiful, rolling hills and cliff drops of incredible sprawls of jungle. With low hanging clouds as crisp and as white as fresh cotton, Tessa inhaled a deep breath of the game's cool, comforting air. In the movement down the main, well-kept bridged path into town, everyone ogled the scenery, the foliage and the wildlife. A game a bit more cutesy than Dead Zed, it still held a majestic, gorgeous charm. As they finally leveled down the cliff and came to a gentle, rolling valley of a city, their eyes fixated on the bustling city life they had come upon. The main race track and arena hung on the horizon, towards the other end of town, and although the large city seemed daunting to cross, the amount of glistening glad buildings and gorgeous pops of colorful signage and advertisement had Tessa put at ease, the similarities to her favorite long lost city, Starkrem, kept her mind in the clouds.

With bare feet that trekked all through the city's cold, concrete sidewalks, the pop of the incredible blue sky over head, the amount of fun, cozy-looking winter clothes mostly everyone adorned, the group fell into a bumbling, chatty hustle of smiles and laughs. All crammed on a bright red city bus, they lounge and swapped stories, a continued show of just how easy it was to pick right back up with an old friend, like no time had left them whatsoever. After a fifteen minute bus ride all through the bustling, busy metropolis, known as Perriton City. Upon creaking up to the busy bus stop, the bus sagged upon the hissing release of the brakes, it's rickety doors flung open in a sling of a messy array. The second people started pouring on, passengers began to also exit, thus leaving Tessa's crew to messily fight for their way off of the large city bus. Once her crew had successfully gathered a few feet away from the shade of the large bus station's stop, Tessa covered her eyes, from the sun, and turned to look at the towering architecture behind her.

"This surely puts Sugar Rush's racing arena to shame..." Tessa muttered as the group slowly began to file towards the large gathering area outside the double doors, all crowned with the cold, delicate tiles of intricate concrete and glass windows that stretched to the heavens. Tessa felt her neck grow heavy with just how much ogling she was doing, "This arena is probably the size of Sugar Rush's castle lot."

"Sounds about right," Penny muttered as they grew closer to the revolving doors, and upon reaching it, the group nervously peered to it in rising confusion.

"You see these things on tv all the time, but the second you have to use one," Ace staggered with a small laugh, though he flinched as a few annoyed locals pushed paste apprehensive group and successfully shoved into the spinning motion of the doors, which picked up speed as individuals passed through.

"C'mon, it's not so hard," Zed gloated as he confidently approached the doors, though upon doing so, he unfortunately hesitated and nearly tripped over his own feet. The group howled with laughter as Zed confusedly made one round, in the revolving door, only to come right back to the outside entrance, where he started. He rubbed the back of his head in rising confusion and looked up at the building, "Then again, I-I haven't had a quarter alert in years, what do I know."

"Guys," Penny laughed as she pushed through the door, and with such, everyone quickly followed; once they all were successfully in the building, they only briefly teased one another before getting lost in the grand, amazing architecture of the arena's lobby, "For User's sake... You can really tell where the taxpayer's dollar goes."

"How is the game keeping this building running, like such?" Libby tenderly pressed as Otto finally budged into the group, from the revolving door, "I-I'm no... Coding genius, but still."

"Even I really have no clue," Tessa wrinkled her nose and finally recalled the prestigious, well kept gorgeousness of the city, as well as this untouched looking arena, "I never realized Sonic's game was so... So..."

"High-class?" Penny whispered as she looked off in confusion, the group loosely moseyed in the never-ending span of silver tiles, as if they were lost on a flat plane of obtainable riches.

"You sure you want to lug your dusty bike through these halls?" Tammy muttered to Zed through the grit of her teeth, though Zed rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure Sonic has seen worse," Zed argued gently, though before the group could carry on, Zed was approached by two officials; both hedgehogs, one male being a dark brown and the other being a lighter grey.

"Mr. Zedian, we've been expecting you," The dark brown hedgehog inquired politely, he gestured to himself, "I'm Pico, I've been instructed to collect you upon your arrival."

"Nice to meet you, thank you for having me," Zed stated politely as the two shook hands, "Exactly how many people know I'm here for the big race, tomorrow?"

"Not a lot, Sonic has instructed us to keep it quiet due to some privacy protection on your's and your family's end," Pico stated as he tucked his hands behind his back and gave the group a look of assurance, alongside a polite nod, "Rest assured, you're safe in our game, and in this arena."

"Thank you," Tessa included tenderly as Pico, and his assistant, nodded with glee.

"Right this way, we'll show you to your wing, where you can prepare for the race," Pico instructed as he gestured his hand off across the lot, and although Tessa, Zed, Tammy and Otto began to press on, the rest of the group nervously looked on and hesitated to follow.

"You guys coming?" Tessa gently called, to which Penny, Emery, Ace and Libby shrugged and looked about a little; Ace saw the uncertain hesitation and spoke up.

"We'll hang out here and wait for you guys to come back," Ace forced a smile and nodded, "We ALL don't need to go back there."

"If you're sure," Tessa worried, she furrowed her brow and could tell Ace likely was worried about something, though she knew not to make a huge deal of it, "We'll be back soon."

"Have fun," Ace waggled his hand, though as soon as his family, and the two workers, were out of earshot, he heaved a hard sigh and gave Libby, Penny and Emery looks of rising worry, "Alright... I can't be the only one feeling it."

"The feeling of not belonging?" Penny stammered.

"The feeling of all eyes on you?" Emery included in a whisper, they all tried their hardest not to obviously look about.

"It's almost painful," Ace stated under his breath, though Libby cocked an eyebrow and looked off.

"I've successfully located every single camera in this lobby," Libby muttered in rising, cheeky annoyance, to which Ace, Emery and Penny ogled her in curiosity.

"Wait, what? How?" Ace pressed, he felt his face get hot in an upcoming flush of impending embarrassment, he could certainly tell Libby's statement was due to discovering a new User-power, yet another thing she had over Ace.

"I-I don't know, I just... You see these tiles?" Libby gestured down to the glistening, glossy silver tiles; everyone looked about, though they tried not to be too obvious, "See the grout lines? They're like avenues, pathways for energy. All these lines and angles lead somewhere..."

"Go on," Ace mumbled in encouragement, though he still felt that sloping feeling of mild defeat as Libby gently gestured her hands across the large sprawl of the bustling lobby, the enormously high walls, and arched, glass ceiling, span to at least three stories, all crowned with intricate carvings and designs.

"I just utilized the grout... Once you have an avenue to snake your energy about it, you can pretty much map the whole building," Libby shrugged as she gently tapped her foot to the tile, and although it was hardly noticeable, the first fleeting glance of a golden snake of electricity shot from the soles of her feet and wormed it's way deep into the tight grout lines. Libby inhaled a readied breath, threw her idle gaze across the place and cocked an eyebrow, "There are exactly twenty three cameras in this lobby, seven of which have us in its sight, right now."

"So, there are cameras," Penny gently argued, though it was no coincidence that the team began to draw closer to each other in nervousness, "It's strictly for security."

"I'd like to believe so," Libby urged tenderly as Ace honed his eyes to her and felt that rising wave of dominance come over him, and although he wanted to be the one to teach Libby things, he knew he had to loosen the reigns a little and allow her into this User realm they shared. He sighed a relieving breath and allowed his wall to come down. Libby gave him a gentle look of concern and cocked an eyebrow, "Each camera is equipped with an incredible zoom, microphones, and night vision."

"Bit much for such a high ceiling," Ace muttered as he looked up, though Libby looked off in gentle concern.

"They're not in the ceiling," Libby mumbled, though it was with this information did everyone sink closer to each other, the sheer fact that these cameras were so cleverly out of plain sight.

"Guess this arena is just highly protected," Emery shrugged, she hoped giving the benefit of the doubt would ease everyone.

"I counted seventeen cameras on the streets, alone, on our walk to the bus stop," Libby stated quieter, which had everyone now silent.

"... You don't think it's a spying mechanism, do you?" Emery now whispered, to which Ace shook his head and felt the group's tension become unbearable.

"Guys, we're not being spied on, everything is fine," Ace chuckled, which had everyone's shoulders relaxing, even if just a little. Ace gingerly honed his eyes to Libby's intelligent stare and gave her a curious smile, "Alright, lovely, you've got some teaching to do."

"Teaching?" Libby pressed coyly, Ace rolled his eyes.

"How were you able to span the entirety of this whole arena, like such, with that much ease?" Ace wondered as quietly as he could, he was glad they weren't near any walls that could potentially harbor cameras or microphones.

"You are definitely coming into your own, with those new powers of yours, aren't you?" Penny stated kindly, Libby shrugged and bashfully smiled.

"I'm just glad we're out of Dead Zed, and inside someone else's game, for once," Libby pressed in a sly tone as her eyes slowly looked up and about, "It's interesting to see just how other games operate..."


	221. Chapter 221

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Haha yeah I figured people wouldn't be surprised, there.

 **Nikki Firesong :  
** Awww oh my goodness, I am seriously beside myself, that was SO sweet! Thank you so much for reaching out to me, like such. I'd be happy to do this piece for you! I DO take commission artwork, and if you want, you can go ahead and email me at Vyntastic at g-mail; I can send you a list of my prices and we can go from there, for sure! I totally hear you, on the whole bullying thing. It wears on a lot of us, and only makes us stronger! And, I'm glad you didn't listen to the nay-sayers. Love is LOVE. As long as you're not hurting anyone, you live your life, girl. Do what makes you happy. Thank you for the words of encouragement, that really means a lot to me, and I'm glad you reached out!

 **ArchDev :** Thank you! I'm the Queen of foreshadowing, so if you likely spot something that COULD be foreshadowing, you're probably right LOL. I appreciate the support, thank you!

 **Burgie :** Thank you so much! Libby is and will definitely be coming into her own, in magnificent ways!

 **WildVirus :** Thank you, yes! It was much needed. Ace just needs a little love, he'll be okay xD

 **NightHex54 :** Thank you so much! Yes, it was good to be surrounded by my loved ones. It definitely helped. LOL Throwren could definitely work! I think Wrettle rolls off the tongue easier, but it's whatever at this point xD and yes, Ace definitely becomes the student, in this aspect. They rough it out, for sure haha.

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Thank you so much :) I appreciate all your compliments! And yes, that one piece you're referring to, with Sonic, is coming up shortly! Hopefully I can have the piece done before I actually upload the chapter, which will be shortly here xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Wolves by Selena Gomez & Marshmello**

* * *

 ***Chapter 221***

As the night came to a cool slow, fireflies dot the Kalivar lot in a low hang of dreary, lofty flutters. The atmosphere was absolutely inviting, everything about this weather just begged everyone to cozy up in fuzzy clothes against the roaring crackles of a fireside. Ace tucked his larger fists into the front pocket of his loose hoodie, and as he scolded himself for not at least putting on socks, he let his bare feet climb his beloved tower to Libby's fourth floor perch. He had allowed a few hours of space, between the two, so Libby could have some quiet time and get a nap in. Ace knew the two had planned a night in, together, and although he was aware that was definitely code for an impending night of shutting themselves in and getting lost in the swapping realm, he knew it also likely entailed a yummy, home-cooked Teltokuan meal.

Just as Ace hit the final landing and rounded the covered walk way, all sprawled with reaching jungle vines and a glorious, glistening nighttime view of his mother's and father's Kalivar castle, he suddenly flinched as the door riddled with golden honeycombs and quietly creaked open, in a strangely inviting way. Ace froze in his footwork, urgently peered to the door and was nearly worried to look in, and although Libby's abode eked of a warm, welcoming glow, he somehow felt apprehensive to carry on. The second he finally inched close enough to the door to peer in, he sagged his shoulders in a draw of relief as he noticed Libby standing half a dozen feet from her opened door, a look of gleeful expectancy on her face.

"These new powers are seriously the coolest... I'm learning something new everyday!" Libby exclaimed in quiet excitement, and although Ace was genuinely happy for her, he felt that nagging irritation come creeping over his heart.

"I'm proud of you, love," Ace's warm voice glossed over Libby, and as he came into her warmly lit home, he felt his heart sink with the look she shot him out of the corner of his eye.

"... What's bothering you? What happened?" Libby prod nervously, somehow not even realizing that she could potentially be the cause, no matter if it was her fault or not.

"No, nothing's bothering me," Ace fibbed with a believable smile as Libby gentle closed her front door, this time she excluded her new powers from said task; she knew not doing so would likely be rubbing dirt in a wound that Ace had, one of which she was just now realizing was an issue.

Libby inhaled a slow breath, felt a gentle touch of realization hit her skin, and allowed her eyes to travel down the back of Ace's head, to his strong shoulders and back. With a tender clack, she shut her front door and allowed the cute noises of Chepi's excited whines soak the air; her furry orange and pink pelt eagerly bounced to Ace and greet their newcomer. With a vigorous wag of Chepi's tail, Ace knelt down and kindly greet her, and just as Libby stepped over, she kept her eyes glued to the back of Ace's head. She tried to recall anything she may have done or said to upset him, and in this gentle sift through the memory files of coded searching, she came up short, all except one thing. She gently dragged her eyes to her palms, opened them and realized that she maybe had been stretching her powers a bit too flauntingly. She finally gave the back of Ace's head a look of sorrowful apology and steadied her thoughts.

"... I-I didn't mean to open the door, like that, in a showy way," Libby's humble voice stated with the greatest of ease, and with said wall being torn down, Ace stood and gave her an earnest look of understanding as she continued on, "I just... Was doing so because I wanted to show you that I am coming along with your teaching."

Ace peered his handsome hazel eyes deep into hers, and although he wanted to soak in her apology and potentially seek reassurance from her, he was well aware she likely needed some praise, and all this flashy show of her new powers was likely her showing just how much she sought her lover's approval, his nod of pride, the very man that had blessed her with these incredible, new skills. He smiled, shook his head and narrowed his intelligent eyes, of which glossed her soft, birch flooring.

"You didn't do anything wrong, you... You actually are doing really well," Ace stated warmly, he knew he had held onto about a weeks worth of mild resentment towards her, the fact that she just so easily took to all these incredible powers and then also so easily surpassed him in a lot of them, he wondered just where this little power complex had stemmed from. He shook his head and glued his eyes straight to Libby's piercing, wavering blue eyes, "I apologize for not... Showing just exactly how excited I am for you, I guess... I guess I didn't realize just how much I enjoyed feeling needed, by everyone, until someone greater was present."

"... Greater?" Libby frowned, she shook her head and gestured to herself, "Y-You think I'm greater than you?"

"Well, no I... I guess I'm just wording all of this wrong," Ace staggered, he could tell Libby was likely on the edge of becoming vocally upset, "You, uh... You just seem to be taking to my powers even easier than I am, and it's... I guess..."

"I'm not doing any of this to one up you, Ace," Libby stated firmly, though her voice was coated in love. She shook her head and tightened her gaze to Ace's as Chepi circled about the two in continued excitement, starkly showing just how quickly their little conversation had slipped into a debate, "You gave me these powers. I'm just utilizing them."

"I'm not blaming you," Ace groaned gently, he turned, heaved a hard sigh and looked up to Libby's gloriously domed ceiling, the top of the tower. He gestured his arms down and sagged his shoulders in defeat, "I just... I wish even these powers came as easily to me as they did to you..."

Libby crossed her arms and felt her flustered heart settle, she peered to Ace in gentle, sorrowful curiosity and allowed him to continue on, even though she wondered just when and where she should interject.

"Just... Imagine if I took to Teltokuan easier than you had ever, a skill you were raised with," Ace turned around and peered to her pleadingly, "Imagine if I had discovered words and phrases and sayings and even Teltokuan traditions you hadn't even heard of, or even knew where possible."

Libby's frowned sloped even further as Ace neared, she allowed him into her vicinity and softened her stance for his plight, something that seemed dear to him.

"Wouldn't you feel left behind? Upset that none of it had come to you? Someone who was born and raised with said skillset?" Ace pleaded, and much to Libby's surprise, Ace's eyes welled with tears; she shook her head in sorrow and reached her hand for him.

"I-I'm in no way trying to beat you out, or make it seem like I'm better than you," Libby rushed to plead, she gently gripped his upper arm and urgently peered up into his eyes, "If anything I'm... I think I'm just pushing these new skills of mine because... I knew swapping with you would be something detrimental and exciting, not only for us, but for everyone around us. I just... Want to make you proud of me. The woman you gave your coding to."

Ace gawked a little, looked down and felt his heart swell with a rush of continued conflicting feelings of sorrow, joy, adoration and shock. He dragged his eyes back to hers, scoffed a small laugh and narrowed his curious gaze, both lovers peered teary eyes into each other's souls.

"How could I not be proud of you?" Ace chuckled as his eyes billowed with tears, "I-I admit, I'm a little jealous, but not a second has gone by that I'm not proud of you."

"To be honest with you, these powers have wreaked havoc on my system," Libby blurt a giggle as she wiped a few tears from her cheeks, "I've never had worse insomnia in my life."

"It was a lot, huh," Ace huffed as the two closed in on each other, though as they did, Ae gently scooped her into a hug and squeezed her as tight as he could, "I'm sorry I haven't been much of a team player... I let my j jealousy get the better of me. I just often feel as though learning my powers was such a struggle for me because I had no one to guide me. I sort of taught myself how to be, how to do. Even my mom and dad had to try and wrap their heads about my powers, something they unfortunately couldn't match."

"I figured something like that was bothering you," Libby rested the side of her head to Ace's chest and sighed a sigh of relief, "Every time I showed you a new lesson learned, I wondered why you'd look away shortly after giving me a half-hearted 'congrats'."

"Please forgive me," Ace staggered in a breath of continued embarrassment and guilt, "I-I just... I'm trying to deal with the fact that I'm being beat by my own game."

"...OUR game," Libby corrected as she leaned away a little and peered into Ace's eyes, "You realize we're playing on the same team, now, right? You knew that, going into this... You knew we'd have the same powers, the same coding."

"I don't regret a second of it," Ace pleaded gently, he narrowed his gaze and frowned, "I just... Didn't realize just how fantastically you'd take to our powers... Like... What does Sugar Rush need me for?"

"... Thaddeus Kalivar," Libby's quiet voice demanded in shock, she urgently shook her head and peered hard into Ace's eyes, "Are you really standing here, right now, wondering if I've... I've... REPLACED you?"

"No, I-I... I don't feel replaced, I just..." Ace gestured his hand and very quickly tried to take back his words, though Libby stepped away, looked off and shrugged her shoulders.

"So, what, you just hoped you'd give me your coding and still be this high and mighty User, who now had a lowly User-student?" Libby pressed in rising upset, something Ace hoped he had quelled.

"That's not at all what I'm saying," Ace's voice grew in sternness, alongside hers.

"You REALLY believe Sugar Rush, NONE of us, need you?" Libby begged in a lilt of high-pitched sorrow, she urgently looked about and gestured her arms, "There's TWO of us, now! Why would you think you're suddenly not needed, here?! Ace, I may be catching onto these new powers quickly, but it doesn't mean I'm just here to surpass you and leave you in the dust!"

"Just seeing everyone get so excited when you learn a new move, or do something with your powers," Ace frowned and looked down in guilt, "I wasn't really ever given that... Yeah, my uncles and parents were always impressed, though... Doing something extravagant and huge, when it came to my powers, was sort of something everyone got really nervous about. I wasn't really ever congratulated. I didn't have a higher-ranked User like teacher, sitting over me, spotting me and my powers. Anything TOO encouraged was always met with a flare of my powers. Am I making sense?"

"You're saying that Ma and Zeddy never fully encouraged you because they were scared, as a young boy, that you'd go hog-wild with your powers?" Libby's voice finally softened as Ace's plight became more and more real.

"Not much, Libs," Ace gently stabbed as his eyes welled with tears, once more, "They were always impressed, I was never neglected... But to see you so open with your rush of powers, how much everyone just ogles and gets excited over it. I never had that. Not to this extent..."

"... Ace, you maybe need to TALK to mom and dad about this, then," Libby urged gently, though Ace shook his head and looked off.

"There's no point, now, I'm a grown man," Ace shrugged and breathed a deep chuckle as a tear finally escaped his eye, "What are they going to say, now? 'Ace, you're wonderful, we always thought so, can't take back time'."

"They could COMFORT you?" Libby squinted and gestured her hands in desperation, "They're your PARENTS. And it's lightly affecting our relationship. I don't want to learn a new move and then not feel like I can't go to you for it, Ace, you're the only one I have!"

"Libby," Ace pleaded tenderly as Libby became emotional.

"YOU are the reason for these powers, you really think no one is proud of you, or impressed?" Libby begged as big tears welled in her eyes, she grimaced and desperately tried not to openly start crying, "I toss and turn at night, trying to get my brain to finally shut up, and even though this rush of energy is annoying when I'm trying to sleep, I'm reminded just WHO gave me these powers. And I wouldn't take that back or change it for the world!"

Ace remained silent and peered to her in gentle sorrow, he bobbed a nod and finally allowed her the floor, even though she looked as though she needed comfort.

"Ace, you understand this... We BOTH have the power to reverse our swap," Libby stated darkly as tears streamed her cheeks, and although the feeling was absolutely impending, she huffed a nasally chuckle and gave Ace her stern, loving eyes, "Even with that power right in my own coding, at this second... I would never, EVER dream of reversing our love. We're a team, Ace. Don't let the past get in between this."

"Forgive me," Ace's voice nasally wavered, "I just feel left behind."

"Well you're NOT," Libby demanded as she pointed down to the ground, "If you left, or weren't around, or up and wandered away because you THOUGHT you weren't needed? Ace... We'd all be devastated..."

Ace nodded a little, sagged his larger thumbs into his lazy cargo pants and looked off, he tried his hardest to hold back more tears as he bit his bottom lip.

"I think you should talk to your parents about this, Ace," Libby urged gently as she gestured to her door, "We need to get to the bottom of this little issue before it becomes a BIGGER issue. I want to learn with you, I want to teach you things about being a User... Just like I want YOU to teach ME things about what it is to be a Teltokuan."

Ace cocked an eyebrow and dragged his surprised gaze to her, and although he knew her language front and back, he sat with her kind words and dared to let a small smile sprawl his face.

"Cause, believe it or not, Ace, YOU are a Teltokuan, now," Libby huffed as his contagious smile spread to her face, "I KNOW you have bouts of knowledge that even I don't know. This road goes both ways, Ace."

"You're right," Ace nodded as he finally relaxed in the bout of relief Libby brought upon, "I'm really sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize," Libby begged gently as they stepped closer to each other, "Just please... We need to get insight from your mom and dad."

"It's probably for the better we go do this now, anyways," Ace finally sighed, wiped his eyes and looked down to Libby's curious eyes, "I-I... I caught mom, this morning, upset about her miscarriage... She said her reproductive coding isn't hardly healing."

Libby raised her eyebrows and latched onto that last keyword, and although she was waiting for Ace to finish his thought, she felt her heart race at the idea of just what Ace was about to present to her.

"... I told her that you seem to be coming into your healing powers really well, as a User," Ace bobbed a nod, and with this, Libby urgently nodded.

"I'll do anything to help," Libby rushed in an adamant, gentle way, and with such, Ace smiled and gently took her hand.

"That's what I told mom, I knew you'd be willing to stretch your wings, in that aspect," Ace eased gently, Libby continued to nod.

"No time to waste."


	222. Chapter 222

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54 :** Thank you so much! I appreciate it!

 **Nikki Firesong :** Aww of course! Thank you! :D And yes, Ace is just pretty sensitive. I've written him similar to Oliver's character. Soft and gentle, yet sensitive and moody - gets him into trouble more often than not!

 **chuckiboo :** That is SO sweet, seriously thank you so much. I love hearing that! Ace is one of my favorites to write for, in that aspect. Quietly building his character through series of hidden agitations he likes to conceal until the last minute haha.

 **Snake557 :** Aww friend :( Well you know I'm ALWAYS here for you, you know that! I totally understand how you feel. I've got my fair share of being treated like such, so I can definitely relate!

 **Burgie :** Thank you! I love their dynamic, for sure :)

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** That's really sweet of you to say, thank you! I'm glad that all comes across!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Hey, no issue! Thank you SO much! :D I'm really glad the majority of you took to Throttle's 'news' so well. That's pretty reassuring! I'm also LOVING that you guys are excited for Otto's return. She's a pretty fun character to write for, very blunt and tomboyish!

 **Silversuferann :** Sorry for the confusion, it is not a flashback! This chapter happens in the same night as the last chapter. It is still Saturday, in this world (the day before the big race with Sonic)

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **Forgive my absence... I can't explain why I was gone. I had it all typed out, but Cory knocked some sense into me and it's probably for the better I not share it. Just know I'm alright, still grieving, but I am okay...**

 **Ace, Libby, Tessa and Zed have a deeper talk, about the issues in the last chapter. It's not in THIS chapter, but just know 222 is just the first half of the issue. I didn't want you guys to think that I forgot about the special talk the four had lined up. Fixing Tessa's reproductive coding sort of just came first, as I was writing lol.**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Over Water**

 **The Fog, both by Adam Young**

* * *

 ***Chapter 222***

"I didn't realize how late it's gotten," Otto strained through a wide yawn, she bared her fangs and allowed her sharply textured tongue to hang out of her mouth for a second. She finally exhaled a hard breath, flattened her ears and peered to Tessa and Vanellope, who patiently began to follow Otto to the castle's main entrance, just off of the living room, "I'm pretty sure my brain is going to need one of the biggest resets of it's life, tonight, after all that info."

"I warned yah," Tessa mumbled gently, she looked down to her bare feet and scuffed the glossy tile underneath; the back door opened with a creak that echoed through the place, everyone lazily peered to see who had just come in; Libby and Ace pushed into the warm building, and although Tessa was aware that they typically come and go, nonchalantly, the determined look in their eyes had her heart surging in remembrance of just what they were due to try and accomplish, tonight. Tessa stuffed the show of said remembrance and crossed her arms, to remain subtle, "Surely didn't think it'd be THAT big of a deal, didja?"

"Not even a little," Otto giggled as she rubbed the back of her head, her and Vanellope peered their gentle gazes to Tessa in an overflow of understanding. Amidst the quiet, Ace and Libby's tender voices could be heard mingling amidst Zed, Nox, Koko and Tammy at the kitchen island, and with Tessa's eyes that dragged back to her family, it was clear a very real amount of sorrow was buried deep. Otto softened her stance, reached her paw-like hand to Tessa's lower arm and retracted her claws, "Tess, it's going to be alright..."

Tessa inhaled a readied breath, gently dragged her patient gaze back to Otto and finally bobbed a nod of understanding, as if she was agreeing in a way that lead to believe she likely didn't want to.

"Yeah," She half-heartedly breathed, though she forced a smile and tried to assure Otto that the twinkle in her hazel eyes was genuine; Otto squeezed her arm out of love and nodded once.

"I'll take Otto to Dead Zed's entrance," Vanellope stated in a motherly tone, she eyed Tessa as if to express that said motherly overflow was due for Tessa next. Tessa heeded her figurative warning, nodded once more, gave Otto a loving goodbye hug and held on tight.

"I'll meet you all in my game's outlet tomorrow, yeah?" Otto's voice grew more crisp and lighthearted, as if to push past the mess she had been overflowed with, the whole entirety of Sugar Rush's drama. Tessa nodded and gave Otto a kind smile, though she huffed a small laugh as Otto finally jostled Tessa's shoulder, "C'mon, get excited! Tomorrow will be fun!"

"It will be," Tessa's smile finally became genuine, "I can't wait."

"Me neither," Otto beamed a gentle smile and twitched her whispers in a small grimace of a show of her fangs, and as her and Vanellope softly slipped out the front door, hoods up and sleeves down, Tessa allowed the cold air to whisk in a suction of excitement before their massive front door finally held the Kalivar castle closed tight in warmth.

Tessa exhaled a long, hot sigh as her hair finally settled from the brisk, cold breeze that was so briefly present. Her skin raised with goosebumps, and as she allowed the settling cold to fall down her arms and fingers, she dragged her eyes to the gorgeous, dark wood of their towering front doors. She knew tomorrow should be fun, though she had a pit in her stomach. She knew giving Otto every last drop of information, about their ordeal, was definitely necessary and overdue, though having to relive the pain had Tessa's heart beginning to give way at the breaks. She wrinkled her nose, knew she had to toughen up, bobbed a nod of assurance to herself and gently turned heel to approach the kitchen island.

"You know you could've given Otto the cliffnotes," Nox explained tenderly as Tessa rolled up, though as she did, she didn't get comfortable at the large kitchen island, like she typically would.

"I felt it fair," Tessa weakly countered as she tucked her messy auburn hair behind her ears, and she shrugged and aimlessly looked off, "Talking about it helps it not feel so large, as strange as that sounds."

"It's not strange," Tammy's voice was low and sweet, she dragged her gaze to the kitchen island's counter and swiftly side-eyed Nox in rising playfulness; he countered with an annoyed, smiling grimace as Tammy's biting voice finally showed, "Be nice. She's still grieving."

"I am being nice!" Nox complained in a whine as he peered to Tessa in gentle urgency, she blurt a laugh and shook her head at him, as if to kindly dismiss it.

"It's fine," Tessa assured gingerly, though just as she was about to seek the potential to maybe succumbing to a hot bath and a good night's sleep, she could feel Ace's and Libby's nervous eyes on her, which also accompanied Zed's.

As the handful of minutes went by, the group warmly chattered in a low drum of winding down, and just before Tessa could somehow wonder if the tiring event of fixing her reproductive code was potentially put on hold, she noticed Ace fixate his gentle eyes to her, as if to assure her that he most definitely hadn't forgotten about the task at hand. She knew she should be grateful, though at the same time, the only thing she wanted right now was for her head to hit a pillow and forget the world. Just as Tammy, Nox and Koko said their lingering goodnights and drifted away from the heart of the Kalivar castle, the only souls left were Tessa, Zed, Ace and Libby. Just as the final clack, to Tammy's bedroom, was heard, Tessa let out a long sigh and finally gave Ace and Libby her defeated, gentle eye contact.

"Alright, kids," Tessa mumbled as Ace and Libby's eyes lit up with glee to the fact that Tessa was willingly succumbing to this ordeal, "Let's... Hope for a miracle."

"I think between the four of us, anything is possible," Libby cooed lovingly as her and Tessa linked arms to mosey towards the Sky Room, in which Zed and Ace diligently followed.

Upon coursing through the Sky Room, Tessa's and Zed's bedroom and down the long corridor that lead to the code room, the four were so warmly immersed in the code room's white, glowing glory. A small hub, though still a sizable amount of power. With such a gentle, heavenly glow the code room gave off, the four were finally sealed in it's eternal amount of care, and upon those doors sliding closed, the white void concealed any sign of the world about them, as if simply stepping into another dimension. With such power in the room, the gravity was only slightly more forgiving. Little strands of their hair would delicately float, as if in the lull of a brisk wind tunnel. Coder acknowledged their presences, and upon doing so, the code room lit up with a bit more of a vibrant white light; Zed approached, hummed a few tender commands to the core of his very own game and diligently began to pull up Tessa's stats.

"Y-You really think this is going to work?" Tessa worried as her, Libby and Ace stood loosely about each other, whilst Zed stood a half a dozen feet away, he tabbed through Tessa's intricate coding and delved deeper into the roots of the issue at hand.

"Libby's healing powers are incredible, mom," Ace assured softly, their voices were hushed amidst the cloud they simply floated in, "Certainly at least something can be done."

"I'll do my best," Libby nodded as she remained with her arm links with Tessa's, their eyes met in a flurry of gentle, loving glances of reassurance.

"Your coding is definitely healing on it's own, but..." Zed gently allowed a hologram of Tessa's fragile, intricate coding hang above his strong, able hands. He gave the three a look of prolonged nervousness and shrugged, "Tessa's right... It's definitely healing pretty slowly. It's been almost two months, and there's only been point five percent of healing."

"It'll take years to get that back to one hundred," Ace grumbled as he shook his head, though as he approached his father, he held his hands out ad silently asked for permission to hold his mother's shiny, fragile coding; once handed over, he carefully began to approach Libby with the mess of it, "User knows female reproductive coding needs to be standing at a solid, healthy ninety percent in order to conceive new coding."

"Let's see what can be done, then," Libby stated hopefully with a nod as Ace neared, though with this, Tessa grew stiff and agitated; everyone froze and peered to her in collected apprehension.

"Easy," Ace's deep, warm voice volleyed to her as he froze in the process of letting Libby into his bubble; everyone peered their frozen eyes and demeanors to Tessa as she backstepped once or twice.

"Babe," Zed calmed as he hurried to her side, though with this, Coder lovingly hung on Zed's tail and followed suit. In this action, Zed instructed for a proper place for Tessa to sit; a comfortable, white, plushy bean-bag like chair appeared from the cloud of white, that was the code room, and as Tessa looked back to it in nervous curiosity, Zed motioned to her and remained quiet, "C'mon, go ahead and sit down. Everything is going to be okay."

"J-Just... Please be careful passing it back and forth like that," Tessa rushed in a motherly tone to Ace and Libby, both of which were frozen solid amidst Tessa's wavering, glowing coding, "Y-You... Just don't-"

"Tessa, look who you're in this room with, real quick," Zed instructed tenderly, he breathed a soft chuckle to her face and lovingly tucked her hair and bangs out of the way of her eyes. She honed her scared, hazel orbs to his and sank into the chair Zed gently lowered her into, "You're with the head of the game, and two... Users..."

Ace huffed a small chuckle as him and Libby caught eyes in a whirl of humble knowing, though they peered their forgiving, accommodating gazes for Tessa, the one they were so hoping to properly heal, in this act.

"Two USERS, Tess," Zed eased into her face in the softest, quietest hiss of a whisper, alongside a smile of disbelief. He shook his head and kept tight in her bubble of quivering neediness. He lovingly cupped her cheek and narrowed his gaze, "It's all because of us, Tess... You're in very good hands. We created this... Those two are an extension of us. You'd trust yourself with your own coding, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," Tessa huffed shakily with a nod, sweat began to dot her forehead in rising nervousness, though as her and Zed looked over to Ace and Libby, the room just glowed.

"'Course you do," Zed whispered as he wrinkled Ace and Libby a smile, and before anything could be said, the two gently began to move closer to Tessa and Zed.

"Just say the word mom, and we will get to work," Ace eased as the two honed in; Zed knelt next to the chair Tessa was now nervously sunk in, and as Ace warmly handed Tessa's coding over to Libby, he cocked an eyebrow and assessed just how Libby would handle this.

"W-Wait, let me get familiar with this," Libby instructed warmly, though upon holding the hovering hologram in her palms, she inhaled a deep breath and allowed her healing, golden mana from heaven to flood Tessa's damaged coding; upon doing so, Tessa exhaled a sharp hiccup, with the upped voltage, and stiffened her spine, ultimately causing everyone to flinch. Libby cooled it and peered down to Tessa in an apologetic manner, "S-Sorry, mom."

"I-It's okay, sheesh, that was a rush," Tessa hissed in a discombobulated manner as she held her forehead and grimaced, she shook her head in confusion and began to feel her hands shake, "I... I'm beginning to have extreme deja vu."

"Deja vu?" Zed questioned nervously as his eyes dragged up to Ace, though upon doing so, he raised his eyebrows in understanding, "The day you went into labor..."

"Nailed it," Tessa huffed through the grit of her teeth as Libby slowly upped the voltage on her coding, she diligently mapped out all the damaged areas of said fragile reproductive coding and honed her whole attention to the hologram in her palms. Tessa's able hands began to squeeze the fabric of the chair, "I blacked out, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did, we don't need a repeat," Zed stated in solid worry as he dart his eyes back and forth between Tessa and Libby, though as he peered to Libby, he let a small, appreciative smile grace his face as she practically glowed, the way she proudly wore Ace's coding, the beauty her white hair radiated from the simple glow of the code room. Zed knew this was going to be difficult, though as Tessa's sharp inhale brought him back to the planet, he gently allowed her to hold his hand for support as he continued on, "Tessa, whatever you do, just keep breathing... Y-you look like you're having a bit of a hard time, here."

"It's just a lot of User coding to sit with," Tessa huffed in a shaky, nervous tone as Ace peered down to her in raw curiosity, "Carrying Ace, for those two weeks, was a cake walk... The second Ace wanted out was the second my body realized just how unable it was."

"But you did it, nonetheless," Libby encouraged, and little did Tessa know, her gentle coding had begun working it's magic. She smiled at her handiwork and began to notice her fragile coding wormed it's way into correction, fresh new binary that Tessa's body so desperately needed.

"Came with a price," Tessa choked as she began to hold Zed's hand in an unforgiving grip, she shook her head and finally let her head lull back in continued agitation, "This... This r-really hurts."

"It hurts?" Zed worried as he glanced up to Ace and Libby, though Libby furrowed her brows and gave Tessa an apologetic look of concern.

"You're at forty percent," Libby encouraged, "I-I'm... I'm flying blind, but I'm working as fast as I can."

"FORTY?" Zed near-bellowed in stunned surprise, to which Ace and Libby beamed smiles of encouragement, "From the point five it was previously at?"

"Told you Libby's a fantastic healer," Ace crossed his arms and nodded, though the higher the percentage got, the more Tessa began to squirm and become more agitated.

"You're doing great, Tess, just hold out," Zed encouraged softly to her, though she began to sweat profusely from the forehead, the grit to her clenched jaw now made the veins in her temples bulge, and before anyone knew it, the burns on the sides of Tessa's face began to angrily glow the gold of Libby's and Ace's coding.

"It hurts so bad," Tessa exhaled through a series of panting, she scrunched her face and curled in the chair as deep as she could, though before she could complain anymore, Ace gingerly instructed Coder to pull up more of Tessa's stats.

"Stress levels through the roof, dad," Ace urged nervously as Libby took a step back and tried not to crowd the situation, though she bit her lip and continued to urgently push through the damaged coding, her golden honeycombs rewrote the wreckage as if it simply didn't even happen, to begin with.

"Will slowing down help?" Zed wondered in a stagger, though Tessa barked a noise of compliance and fought tears, hard.

"NO, don't slow down," Tessa's wavering voice staggered in the fit of the rising pain she was in, and it was at this point did Zed had to remove his hand from hers, in fear of broken bones. Tears streamed Tessa's cheeks as she grunted quietly through the grit of her teeth, "Keep going... Please don't slow down. Get it over with."

"I-I'm trying, Ma, I'm... I'm being met with resistance," Libby rushed in a gentle tone, though she hoped the urgency got across to Zed and Ace; Zed remained by Tessa's side while Ace nervously dug through more of Tessa's core coding.

"Resistance?" Zed urged in confusion as he peered up to the two, almost in desperation, though he flinched as Tessa suddenly choked a cry of a whole amount of raw pain.

"Guys," Tessa near-wailed as she squirmed in her seat, though it was in this instance did Libby begin to panic.

"I-I honestly can hardly push on, I don't know what happened, it's like I hit a wall," Libby pressed as she grimaced and peered deep into Tessa's agitated coding, "I-I feel as if I don't have proper permissions, in this realm, for some reason."

"I give you permission, I give you permission!" Tessa shouted in a wail of tears of pure desperation, she grappled the fabric on the chair and tossed her head back, "Make it stop, please, anything! Do anything!"

"I've shut down body functions not necessary for this act," Ace rushed as he quickly and meticulously tabbed into a few of Tessa's coding options, "Th-that should help?"

"I've stopped climbing," Libby staggered as she began to reel, though she flinched in a roll of shock and grit her teeth in pain, Tessa's coding angrily began to flash red, "I-I'm being dealt the pain Tessa's feeling."

"She's retaliating," Zed demanded as he finally stood and rushed to Ace's and Libby's side.

"Dad, I'm literally doing everything, she's resisting me," Libby begged as she suddenly slapped a free hand to the side of her head and uttered a hard noise of compliance, "M-My skin feels like it's burning...!"

"I'm trying to override her resistance," Zed firmly stated as he budged into Ace's bubble and began to draw about different options Ace likely hadn't tried, though with the urgent wails of Tessa's pain, everyone began to panic.

"Ace, you have to finish the job," Libby demanded as angry honeycombs began to sprawl on her neck, and although it was all relative coding, said honeycombs began to swarm in an angry show of silver dominance, Tessa's coding so diligently fought back. Libby uttered a nervous cry and clumsily handed Ace Tessa's fragile coding, in which he fumbled to gain a hand on, "I-I can't push on, Ace, see if you can."

"ME?" Ace worried in a stab of disbelief as Libby slapped her hands to the side of her temples, she shook her head and opened her mouth to argue him, though the pain overrode anything, "I-If YOU can't do it, I certainly can't!"

"I-I got you this far," Libby forced through the grit of her teeth, "Ace, you have to!"

"If you won't do, it I'll do it for you!" Tessa shouted in a whole amount of teary pain as she was finally able to open her eyes and peer her desperate eyes up to her son, "Dammit, listen to her!"

"W-We may have a share of their coding, but Ace..." Libby tried to inhale and steady herself through the pain, "You're literally Tessa's flesh and blood... Just... At least TRY!"

"I-I... Can't," Ace blurt in dire confusion as he nervously peered down to his mother's coding, though Zed firmly grappled his shoulder and shook it.

"For the love of God, son, your mother cannot wait any longer," Zed sternly demanded, and although Ace was uneasy, he knew a recall of his childhood, the stern voice of his father, could simply override any selfish desire Ace had.

"Please!" Tessa begged as tears streamed her glowing burns, she agitatedly stiffened her spine and squirmed in her seat in a continuous show of whole discomfort, though as Ace finally sagged his shoulders and let everyone's voice ring true in his brain, he opened his coding up and knew he had to at least try.

With a gorgeous, glowing display of ultimate love, his golden honeycombs and circuits did anything and everything to soak Tessa's coding like a wildfire, as if to simply put Tessa's worries at ease and reverse all the damage he had unintentionally made. With a pop of currents in the room, the glow of the white code room upped tenfold. Ace huffed a staggering breath, widened his eyes and was shocked to see the percentage, hovering at the bottom of the hologram, suddenly shoot to the nineties, and before anyone knew it, it read a solid one hundred. All at once, the code room dimmed back to normal, and all that was left of the mess was the heavy panting of Ace, Libby and especially Tessa. Ace sagged his shoulders and peered to his mom over the top of the hologram hovering above his larger hands. Tessa sat sagged in the chair with her hands pushed firmly into her temples, and although the glowing of her burns had settled, tears and sweat still streamed her face.

"Mom, I-I..." Ace shook his head in disbelief, and just as he was about to let a wide smile grace his face, Libby choked a small, surprised laugh and gestured her hand out.

"Ace, you did it!" Libby encouraged, "Faster than anything I could've done!"

"I-I... I don't even know how," Ace staggered in rising nervousness as his hands shook, an excited smile came to his face, though Zed lovingly squeezed his shoulder and jostled it.

"Sorry for heckling you..." Zed's voice shook, it was clear it was not easy to see his own fiancee in so much pain, "I-I panicked..."

"We all did," Libby held her cheeks and shook her head.

"I... I guess I was the one to heal her coding, all along," Ace panted, though Tessa finally opened her exhausted eyes and sagged into the chair for good.

"You finished what you started," Tessa blurt a tired chuckle, through her panting, and shook her head, though Ace kneeled next to her and gave her a loving smile.

"Mom, I-I'm... I'm so sorry," Ace started, though Tessa cupped his cheek and shook her head.

"Why? You have nothing to be sorry for," Tessa panted, and although her burns stopped glowing, they still were now an agitated red, "It's not like you could've prevented it."

"I could've," Zed mumbled as he crossed his arms, though Libby blurt a giggle at his insinuation.

"I didn't realize I had that kind of healing power in me," Ace's voice was exasperated, though Tessa narrowed her gaze, shook her head and blurt a small giggle.

"...Well where do you think Libby got it from?" Tessa whispered, Ace peered his longing, dewy, humble eyes to her in readied collectiveness, "Surely you had it all along... Just buried deep down."

"Mine seems to be more heightened and at the ready," Libby shrugged as she tucked her white hair behind her ears.

"Exemplary, son," Tessa huffed quietly as she tried to free her forehead of sweat, her hand trembled, though the look of whole awe and surprise hung true in her eyes, "That was incredible work..."

"Thanks, mom... I-I can heal those burns for you, if you'd like," Ace started as he eased his hand up to her temples, though Tessa gently stopped his hand by holding it.

"No, I... I'd like to keep them," Tessa huffed as her breathing finally collected, though Ace peered to her in confusion, "It's a badge of honor... It's not every day a woman births a User and lives to tell the tale."

"They suit you," Zed assured lovingly as the clan gently nodded in agreeing, "You've earned your stripes."


	223. Chapter 223

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Haha yeah, not fun, I imagine! Thanks friend :)

 **Pumpkin Cupcake :** Yes! It all deals with his confidence. The reason he is so slow to do stuff is because he doesn't really have a lot of confidence in himself. Libby makes sure that doesn't go unnoticed ;)

 **Burgie :** Aww that's sweet of you!

 **LadyHeatheroftheBrooks :** Hey! WELCOME! and thank you SO MUCH for leaving your review here, and for catching up with my entire story. Seriously, KUDOS. I know this beats is not easy to get through. I really appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart. I hope to ONE DAY have it all printed and stuff, with my artwork, in volumes. I think that'd be awesome. I just need to work around not getting sued by Disney haha. Thanks again, that means a lot!

 **Silversuferann :** Hey, thanks so much! And yes, Ace needs a massive confidence boost :)

 **NightHex54 :** Thank you! :D

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Aladar and Neera (score) - James Newton Howard**

* * *

 ***Chapter 223***

"It's really weird to see this high of a number, here," Tessa eased as softly as she could, huddled tight about her, and her kitchen island, was Zed, Ace and Libby. They knew the morning was creeping up on them, and sleep was necessary for the big race ahead of them, yet they still lounged, amidst steaming cups of tea; Tessa's attention, however, was buried in the small tiers of stats she held close to her, "Feels weird, too."

"I don't think I've witnessed a cleaner reset," Zed added with a nod, everyone smiled lovingly in Tessa's direction, she peered to Ace and Libby with grateful eyes as she finally hovered her finger over the 'one hundred percent' number, which gleamed and glowed with pride.

"Thank you, again," Tessa's voice seemed meek, it was clear this was likely difficult for her; she knew utilizing her son's powers for her own selfish reasons wasn't something she ever wanted to catch herself doing, though she knew this situation was vastly different in the aspect that it benefited everyone, in one way or another.

"Just make sure that firewall is up and running," Libby mumbled with a giggle, everyone was all smiles.

"I haven't felt this refreshed in a long time," Tessa sighed as she finally powered down the digital pad, bobbed a nod and set it down to the counter. She got cozy in Zed's hoodie, tucked the mug of hot tea to her mouth and exhaled a hot breath into the rim of the mug as she quietly continued on, "Too bad our deal of saving marriages, babies and everything else for whenever Sugar Rush is saved..."

"As much as I'd love a little sibling, right now..." Ace dragged on, he looked off and tried not to be selfish in this aspect, though Libby tossed her hand up and gave Zed and Tessa a bewildered, eager smile.

"Oh, to hell with it," Libby scoffed, though with such, Tessa and Zed perked up and gave her curious smiles, "If you guys want another baby, now's your chance. I say go for it! What's stopping you?"

"Bad-influence-Libby," Ace teased with a smirk, Libby rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"So, I like babies, big whoops," Libby shrugged, though with such, Tessa wrinkled her nose and wondered if potentially teasing Ace and Libby, in this aspect, was safe; she took a shot, anyhow.

"Well, then why don't you guys have one of your own?" Tessa fired back, Zed crossed his arms in a fit of wild success and gave his son a wide, proud, expecting smile.

"Do the job for us, that'll alleviate everything!" Zed choked a laugh, though the two were floored at just how red Ace and Libby's faces could get, just how flustered their words suddenly became.

"O-Oh, I wasn't... M-Meaning, like," Libby grit her teeth and gestured to Ace, he choked to cut her off.

"W-We're literally two weeks deep in this whole swapping business you... Y-You already want grandchildren?" Ace huffed in a stagger of confusion, and although he looked mildly embarrassed, it was clear he was hiding a smile.

"Well sure!" Tessa bantered on, fully teasing, though she wondered how long she could hold it, and how long the two would just so simply believe them.

"Dad," Ace choked with a full fledged smile he was unsuccessful at hiding, Libby giggled and covered her beet red face, "Y-You can't expect us to-"

"We're kidding," Zed barked as he grappled Ace's shoulder and shook it, "Jokes, ha-ha, funny... Y'know."

"I-I would, uh... Love... Kids, someday," Ace staggered, he knew this was one of the first times presenting this topic to Libby, though he also wondered if he should tug on the reigns and save any mushy details for later.

"Kids are fun and games until you're literally a few months deep with no sleep whatsoever," Zed huffed, he eyed Ace as if to lay blame, though both men just laughed.

"I couldn't have been that difficult of a kid..." Ace mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head, though everyone dragged their excited eyes to Libby, as if they knew just what topic was coming up.

"It wasn't YOU we had to watch out for, Ace," Tessa blurt as Libby covered her face.

"Oh, don't start with this," Libby urged, everyone laughed.

"Ace, you would've followed Libby right off a bridge," Zed chuckled, everyone was all smiles as Ace's face turned red with mild embarrassment.

"I have that effect on people," Libby stated coyly, though in an over exaggerated voice as she teasingly flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Now that were both Users," Ace started with a nod and a smile, though it very quickly began to dribble to the previous topic at hand. He heaved a small sigh and gave his mom and dad a weak look of mild humility, "She continues to take the world by storm."

Tessa and Zed fell silent in confusion, though with such, Libby sagged her shoulders and gave Ace a pleading look, as if to beg that they were equal in this, though before she could open her mouth and remind him that the two were not in a competition, Tessa furrowed her brows harder, tilted her head and narrowed her motherly gaze tight to Ace's being.

"Son, why don't you elaborate on that?" Tessa pressed in a bit of a snarky tone, though Zed also crossed his arms and gave Ace his look of confusion.

"I-I just... Meant..." Ace staggered, and although his words could've definitely come across as innocent and normal, everyone peered to him as if they simply knew there was deeper meaning, here; Libby especially. Ace swallowed hard and rubbed the back of his head, "I-I didn't mean any harm by saying that, what I meant is that... Libby's definitely coming into her own, and I'm glad that she's able to help out and continue to wow everyone."

Everyone fell silent, once more, though it was in this could everyone sense Tessa's brewing demeanor. She inhaled a readied breath, shook her head and eyed her son, as if she had a sneaking suspicion that an issue, just like this one, was to arise sooner or later.

"Son, do you not just see exactly what you did for me, in the code room?" Tessa's voice coat over Ace's quivering soul, "Sure, Libby started you off, but... You reversed the damage of my coding. I couldn't even accomplish that, your father couldn't even, not even your grandmother... The very coding master of coding masters, Vanellope Von Schweetz."

"I-I guess I just mean... Like..." Ace dragged on, it was clear he was reaching.

"Ace feels as though his powers, as a child, was just too raw and unpredictable," Libby gently interjected as she rested her hand to Ace's lower arm, and although she was on Tessa's and Zed's side of the fence, when it came to this topic, she still knew she needed to stand by Ace, no matter what, "Now that his powers are something everyone's used to... It's easy to congratulate me for learning new stuff because... Well... I have Ace to spot me and to keep me in check."

Tessa and Zed sorrowfully peered to Ace and Libby, and although they held fast, Ace looked down in mild dejection and bobbed a nervous nod, his eyes honed to the side of Libby's head.

"You think we weren't proud of you, as a child, Ace?" Zed's voice was nearly stern, as if to show offense for Ace even thinking that, though Tessa gingerly reached her arm for Zed's lower arm to warmly remind him to tread lightly, for Ace's sake.

"Well... Sometimes, yeah," Ace admitted boldly, though his tone still wavered, and although he tried his hardest to find his footing, he was thrilled to feel Libby's tight, warm presence, "Looking back, I know that you guys were just terrified whenever I'd... Open doors with just my coding, or... Turn on lights, move things across the room."

"Y-You could do all that?" Libby prod as she eyed Ace, as if this was all news to her, having never seen mostly any of it, first hand.

"I-It's probably our faults that you haven't, Libs," Tessa mumbled in embarrassment, "We told Ace to... Keep his powers on the downlow whenever you came over to play."

"That doesn't mean we weren't proud of you, son," Zed urged as he gestured to Ace, though he began to laugh, "Half the time your confidence showed and you began to try new things was when Libby was right around the corner... It was hard to really keep it together."

"And like stated... She brought that out, in you," Tessa gave the two a knowing smile and shrugged, "We thought it was sweet, and we were always floored that your new little girlfriend brought out a confident side of you."

"Guess it didn't really help that we had to hide said powers from said little girlfriend," Zed muttered as he eyed Ace playfully, finally a small smile peaked from Ace's cheeks.

"That in no way shape or form didn't mean we weren't proud of you," Tessa protested as she gave Ace a motherly look of rising sternness, "And you KNOW you can come talk to us, if you need, Ace. Sure, Libby is catching on really quick, but... Look exactly who she has to confide in, bud."

"You," Zed gently jostled Ace's shoulder, which finally shook a laugh out of him, "We're proud of you, but... You should be proud of yourself. You shared your coding and are teaching her new, wonderful things. There's really no flaw, here."

"Thank you," Ace stated humbly as he looked down to Libby, who peered up at him with adoring eyes, "I guess I just... Let my insecurities run away with me, sometimes."

"Don't we all," Tessa sighed with a smile as she rolled her eyes and looked up to her arched ceilings, the small hanging light fixtures that spread warmth about the group.

"There were so many times where you'd rearrange the kitchen or living room, with just your powers," Zed gestured to the rooms about him, everyone laughed, "Tess and I had to scramble to get everything back into order before Libby noticed!"

"I vaguely remember things like that happening," Libby giggled.

"Can tell you one thing, once that Sugar Rush castle is mine, I'm rearranging the crap out of it," Tessa mumbled as she sagged her face into the palm of her hand and slumped to the counter, though everyone dragged their curious attention to her.

"Like how?" Zed inquired, though his eyes trailed the gorgeous beams and arches of the Kalivar castle, something of which she dreamed up in tasteful favor, something of which he knew he'd never be willing or able to argue.

"Well, for one, we can get rid of the notion that the racers live separate from mom, Aunt Taffyta and Aunt Candlehead, that never seemed fair to me," Tessa mumbled, she kept her eyes down, as if all these ideas were simply a mosaic of reaches, something she hadn't even properly formed to words, yet, "I'd make the lot big enough for everyone to live on... And I mean EVERYONE."

"All of Sugar Rush racers?" Ace inquired gently, Tessa nodded.

"The flyers?" Libby prod, Tessa continued to nod as she gestured her hand.

"Oliver and Emery, Nox and Koko, mom and dad, us four and..." Tessa huffed a small chuckle and looked off, "Any and all babies any of us decide to throw into the bunch."

"You're talking a... A castle like three times the size of Kalivar's lot, babe," Zed stated in a surprised, nervous tone, to which Tessa shrugged and gave him a confident smile.

"Yes'sir," She stated coyly, to which he cocked an eyebrow and looked up.

"Is this going to be like a twelve acre lot or something?" Zed huffed in nervousness, "Getting across THIS lot is hard enough, as it is... And it's only four acres!"

"Only," Libby choked quietly as she eyed Zed.

"It's going to be incredible," Tessa nodded in continued confidence and beamed everyone her infamous gap-toothed smile, "And it'll have more than enough room for everyone. I'm going to rip that code room right out from underneath Radex. He won't know what hit him."

"That's the spirit," Ace's voice was low and sweet as everyone proudly peered to Tessa, to which she eased another nod.

"On THAT note... I'm exhausted," Tessa blurt with a small laugh, to which everyone joined, and as she got down from her island stool and moved to put her dishes away, everyone slowly joined her, "I'm sure you and Libby are pretty drained, as well."

"I'm feeling it, but... I'll live," Ace shrugged as he peered to Libby, she eased a nod and gave him and Tessa a confident smile, though as Ace's movements eased with his mother to the sink, he gingerly took her dishes from her and set them in the sink, as if to insinuate not to worry about them, "Here... You go to bed, mom. You've done enough for me... For a lifetime."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in prickled, bittersweet delight and let Zed's larger hoodie sleeves at least attempt to engulf her larger, wrecking hands.

"Son," Tessa cooed softly, to which Ace waved her off and began cleaning the dishes.

"Go, go," Ace instructed, to which he eyed his father and gave him a knowing smile, as if to politely ask to come round Tessa up before she tries to fight Ace for the chores.

"Y-You actually need about nine hours of sleep, after such a drastic reset, like such," Libby pressed, and though she knew that this information likely was exaggerated, she still held onto it and got everyone else's nod of approval as Tessa's dewy eyes peered up into Libby's. Libby giggled and lovingly draped her arms about Tessa's neck, to pull her into a hug, "And seeing as we all have to be up early for the big race..."

"How could I forget?" Tessa mumbled to herself as she wrapped her arms about Libby's center and so gladly accepted Libby's tender love.

"Speaking of which, we're meeting you guys there, right?" Zed uttered with a smile as he straightened out his shirt and anticipated the hug of his bride to be, Tessa slowly trudged closer to him and was excited for a good night's sleep.

"Well, Libby is going with the girls," Ace gently stopped what he was doing and gestured to Libby as he spoke, "I'M heading over there before the girls, just to be an anonymous bystander in the crowd. I think Im going to just... Sit in the nosebleeds and keep an eagle eye on everyone. Libby will be down in the pits with Otto and Penny."

"You going to be okay with that?" Zed inquired nervously, as if Ace likely knew something Zed didn't, though that simply wasn't the case.

"Yeah, I'll feel better if I'm not distracted by conversation. I'll change my hair color and go in disguise," Ace shrugged, Libby peered up to him with dewy eyes and smiled.

"Oooh, you doing that brown hair color you had at the beach last week?" Libby prod with an eager smile, and just as Ace's face turned red and he honed his excited, dewy and bashful eyes down to his mate, Tessa and Zed coyly began to slip away, for their sake.

"Goodnight, love birds," Tessa chimed, to which the two bashfully cued to, and once Tessa and Zed had finally slipped away, to their love nest of their own, Libby huffed a readied sigh, tucked her hair back and began to help Ace with the dishes.

"So... We gotta boost your confidence, dude," Libby's sweet, womanly voice was low and soft, Ace peered to her above the spray of the sink's hot water.

As the marble backsplash coat Libby's whole front with a tint of ultimate warmth, due to the yellow cabinet and house lights, Ace took in her presence. Methodical hands began to work, gentle but strong and able, the water reached her bold tattoo on her lower arm. With the wetness of her skin, the tattoo darkened and grew more vibrant. He held his breath and knew exactly what said tattoo meant for her, though he was also certain that Libby simply asked for his help, with said tattoo, so to secretly claim that he was the one to mark her. Literally and figuratively. Ace wrinkled his nose and tried not to let his mind wander.

"Wh-What do you mean? How?" Ace egged, as if to simply put that he was the way he was and adding any boost of confidence likely would seem forced, though just as he was about to remain solid in his thoughts, Libby shrugged, her dainty, girly shoulders scrunched in such a way that made his heart leap.

"Oh, I'm sure I could get it out of you," Libby's voice was low and teasing, though she giggled and elbowed Ace's arm, as if to state that she was already getting to him.

"I'd like to see you try, munchkin," Ace blurt, he tried so desperately to keep his guard up, though he smiled through and through.

Before he could continue on about how he was certain this wave of nervousness and self-doubt was just something he was likely programmed with, Libby shut off the water, gave him a coy look of certainty, dried her hands and began to back-step towards the back door, the path to their fourth story getaway.

"I see you've extended me a chance to prove you wrong," Libby's voice trailed, in Teltokuan this time; Ace cocked an eyebrow and nearly froze, though just as she gestured for him to follow, he urgently fumbled with the dry dish rag as she continued on, "C'mon, slow poke."

* * *

 **A/N:**

This year is just proving to so suddenly be so shitty for me. I got fired from my in-town job and now have to fall back on Starbucks. I love Starbucks and actually prefer to be there, but we've just been hit so hard, we hardly could pay rent, and now my account is in the red due to the shitty paycheck I got, from being so suddenly fired... Simply because I had two jobs. That's what I get for trying to pay rent, then I guess... The people at my in-town job were so incredibly mean to me. I called my Starbucks manager in tears, he even picked up his phone while he was on vacation just to comfort me. He's seriously the sweetest. He's been giving me as much hours as he can, but we don't get paid until next week and I literally have a bill due in 3 days.

My holiday commissions are open... PLEASE consider commissioning me. I don't even have gas money for the rest of the week and I am so stressed out about it :( Please check my **deviantART, username Vyntresser OR email me, Vyntastic at g-mail.**

I hate to so shamelessly plug myself here, but my bank account is LITERALLY in the negatives and I am desperately trying to crawl out of this nasty pitfall 2017 has suddenly drowned me in... Please help :( IDK what to do.

This is why I am so slow to update. I've literally been scrambling to get everything sorted. I've been to counseling for my depression and anxiety, and for my 'loss of coding', the end of this year has just SUCKED and my art and writing has so greatly suffered... I hope to start 2018 off better. Please help, in any way, even just spreading the word. Thank you :(


	224. Chapter 224

**Reviews :**

 **ArchDev :** Wait... What spoilers? xD And, thank you! I appreciate it.

 **Snake557 :** Yes, it is pretty annoying :( It's all cause a mean coworker ratted me out.. Oh well. I'm happier now. And, of course! I love hugs! :)

 **NightHex54 :** No worries at all, even the thought really makes me feel cared for. For the first time in years, I had to make that dreaded call back home and ask for help. I'm glad my parents are supportive, cause holy crap I'd be in a hole right now xD Thank you for everything, you're the best!

 **Silversuferann :** Hey, thank you SO MUCH! Yes, it's been a long road. I'm not extremely open or public about my walk with Him, but I've been diligent in that realm. I've been blessed the past few days, so it's all ironed out now. It's been a tough road, but it's all worth it. I appreciate your compliments and such, as well! Libby definitely knows just how to get Ace out of his shell :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Make It Up To You by Julia Michaels**

* * *

 ***Chapter 224***

"Alright, what can we do to remedy this..." Libby wondered with a lilt of rising excitement. She traipsed into her fourth story getaway with Ace moseying, in tow, in tired apprehension. He heaved a long sigh, shut Libby's large, round door and quietly greet Chepi as she came rushing up. Libby fingered her lip and trailed into her kitchen with a coy look up to the ceiling, "Now that I think back, you've never really shown a great deal of full-fledged confidence... Do you have things that typically hold you back?"

"I-I mean..." Ace's brooding nature was in full force; he knew Libby's cute, wild-child personality was one of the only things to draw him out of it, though he was feeling particularly stubborn tonight, "I've just been raised with the whole 'be humble' attitude."

"You can be humble and confident, Ace, confidence doesn't have to always come across as arrogant," Libby cued, Ace finally strolled into the kitchen; his eyes trailed Libby's beautiful figure as she took off her fluffy red hoodie. She wore a pretty white pair of harem pants, alongside a cute, white, tribal crop-top. She heaved a small breath and began to undo her long hair out of the low ponytail it was in, "You stumble on your words, you don't like to admit that you're one of the strongest beings in this whole Arcade, you avoid eye contact sometimes, and... Not to mention-"

"Should I get down on my knees or are you going to just keep cutting me there?" Ace blurt with a furrowed expression, and although the small stab, Libby's face lit up with success.

"A-ha, THERE it is!" Libby pointed with an annoyed giggle, "I'm not your enemy here, so... Clearly criticism makes your confidence show, a little."

"I mean... Wouldn't anyone stick up for themselves?" Ace mumbled, Libby looked off with a furrowed expression.

"Well, you sometimes don't, babe," Libby eased, Ace slumped his shoulders while Libby's facial expression grew to mild desperation, "Come on, puba, you've GOT it! The bod, the powers, the smile... You know you have that confidence, deep down."

"I guess... The only thing I'm not used to having is uh... The 'bod'," Ace finally peaked a small smile and a bashful shrug as his fingers grappled the end of his dark grey shirt, "I have confidence, I just... Don't like flaunting, or anything."

"You have self worth, you don't show that you have confidence," Libby corrected gently, to which Ace thought on it and calmly nodded, Libby tucked her hair behind her ears and gave him a sly smile, "What can we do to draw that out of you? I don't want you living your life thinking poorly of yourself, or thinking you're not good enough, not strong enough... It really hurts my heart."

"I'm sorry," Ace sighed with a frown as he near-desperately peered to Libby, "I'm not trying to cause any harm, really, I guess... I guess I just don't give myself enough credit."

"Ain't that the truth," Libby grunted under her breath as she cocked an eyebrow and looked Ace over; he gave her a bewildered smile and crossed his arms.

"What's that?" Ace wondered with a sly smile, he knew exactly what Libby was insinuating, though he had to wonder if this little game of 'get the crab out of his shell' would now suddenly work in his favor and be fun to join in on.

"That was me stroking your ego," Libby blurt with an annoyed laugh as she turned heel and began to tidy up her kitchen, though with the 'hard to get' demeanor she slipped into the air, she was delightfully surprised to see Ace immediately cue to it. He began to move closer to her, and with such, she knew she had Ace just where she wanted him, "But, if you want to remain humble about it all, you don't need to boast about uh... Well, just how endowed you are. Overall."

"Endowed?" Ace choked with a wider smile as he eased closer, though as much as his footwork stepped in a lazy, moseying waltz closer to his mate, he was almost unaware of the fact that she was easily playing opposite footwork with him, and was successful in playing 'keep-away', "You really don't have to do this."

"I'm not doing anything," Libby shrugged as she gave him a near-playfully annoyed smolder over her shoulder as she moved to the kitchen island, to tidy said counter top; she could feel Ace's presence so desperately want to egg closer to her, as if she was a magnet, and every single step she took away from him, made him take two steps closer, "I mean, if you don't think you're really all that great, then there's nothing I can say to change your mind..."

"H-Hey, I'm... I-I think I'm pretty great," Ace staggered, he furrowed his brow and wondered just where all this was coming from, and before he could retract and likely apologize for coming across as if he was full of himself, Libby flashed him a curious smile and cocked an eyebrow.

"What was that?" Libby prod, Ace huffed a faltering exhale and tried to collect the weird words he so desperately wanted to let eke from his pores with a roll of easy confidence; he stumbled, but tried nonetheless.

"I-I said, I'm pretty great," Ace repeated with a touch more strength, and a handsome smile to boot, though he sagged and shook his head in concern, "I mean... Do you think so?"

"Do YOU?" Libby raised her eyebrows and peered to Ace down the bridge of her nose, she kept her mouth playfully agape in a girly smile of curiosity.

"I-I'd say," Ace huffed, though Libby largely side-eyed him with the same, wide smile. He cleared his throat and bobbed a stronger nod, "I am. I know I am."

"Ah-yeah? How so?" Libby's womanly voice was as smooth as honey, as coy as could be, she slyly smiled down to her kitchen island and began to use a wet dish rag to clean it off; in the same way she was playing keep-away, their little game continued on.

"W-well... I..." Ace stumbled on his words, though he inhaled a shaky breath and tried to keep it together as Libby's glorious eyes pierced his in knowing, as if to ask him to knock off being shy. Ace rubbed the back of his head and watched as Libby's lithe body began to worm around the other side of the island, away from him. He gave up on chasing her and focused on his words, "I have User powers. I uh... I'm Wreck-It Ralph's grandson. I lost fifty pounds..."

"Damn, fifty?" Libby stopped her little game and gave Ace a look of sincere surprise, Ace beamed a bashful smile and looked down as Libby scoffed a noise of disbelief, "You put your mind to something... That's pretty incredible. I didn't realize it was that much."

"Thank you," Ace nodded and accepted the compliment, however foreign it seemed; he raised his eyebrows and quite enjoyed this new side of what was to come, he knew being confident was not his strong suit, though he was thrilled Libby was trying to help him out.

"You probably gained too, what... With all that muscle," Libby's voice was coy, she eyed him in such a way to show she was impressed, and with such, she giggled and bent over the kitchen island a little. She was well aware Ace's eyes wandered, "What kind of skills do you have?"

"Skills? I uh... Well..." Ace stammered, though he straightened once that stern, motherly look was shot to him once more. He cleared his throat and bowed to her request, the small lesson he was currently trying to ace, "Little does anyone know, I can actually rearrange the grid."

"You can?" Libby genuinely ogled, she knew Ace had an ungodly amount of powers, though having him come forward and admit to his task was something new; Ace's smiling face was well-alive with the honey glow.

"I can, I just don't do it often... Or, at all, really," Ace's voice grew with confidence with the natural flow of the conversation, and with such, Libby stopped what she was doing and leaned against the counter in a girly, coy kind of way; she tried not to accentuate the curve of her breasts too much.

"What else can you do?" Libby's eyes lit up with delight as she peered to Ace; she knew she was hook, line and sinker the second he crossed his arms in confidence and showed his muscles.

"I can stop time," Ace boasted, all things to be true, though with such words coming out of his mouth, he wondered just why he hadn't allowed himself at least a tiny bit of boasting in his life, to the right crowd; Libby furrowed her brow in solid confusion and shook her head.

"You mean, you can alter Dead Zed's game time?" Libby ogled, Ace nodded.

"I halted the movement of the moon, the in-game day and night cycle," Ace nodded and looked off in thought, "It was weird, but... I mean everything froze. The wind stopped, noises ceased, it was really cool... Hard on my coding, but damn."

"That's incredible," Libby hissed with a girly show of ogling, awestruck delight, she was thrilled Ace was absolutely eating this up.

"I just... Don't really like to do that stuff often, though," Ace shrugged, he sagged his arms, though his chest and posture remained puffed and confident.

"Well, why not?" Libby prod, Ace gave her a kind smile and shook his head through narrowed eyes.

"There are more important things to think about," Ace's voice was gentle, though Libby's eyes never wavered from his, "Like wooing the prettiest jungle girl in Arcade."

"Stop," Libby choked as she finally stood, grabbed her dish rag and continued cleaning; she was thrilled to see Ace continue his pursuit in filling their large gap.

"I'm serious!" Ace laughed, Libby rolled her eyes and was successful in keeping their gap, she desperately tried to play hard to get, just to see if his confidence would properly carry him out.

"I'm sure you are!" Libby teased as she waggled her hand, "My tribe had far prettier girls."

"With long, white hair? Brilliantly glowing eyes?" Ace's voice coat the room in a masculine confidence, yet that tender love Libby desired, she heaved a shaky giggle and slowed her roll, even though she was desperate to attempt to play keep away.

"I-I mean... Surely," Libby staggered as she thought back to the women of her tribe, she continued on under her breath, "I will say though, I probably have fertility over every single one of them tenfold."

"I'm sorry?" Ace furrowed his eyebrows in hard surprise, bent over and gave her a bewildered smile, she blurt a laugh and shook her head.

"I-It's nothing," Libby laughed, though Ace now upped his persistence to close their gap and rushed to get her into his arms. She squealed and quickly began to run away from him, they very quickly began to play a darting game of keep away around Libby's island. Libby's little hands gripped the edge of the counter, as did his, as they eagerly peered to each other across the marble, "It's NOTHING! I said it's nothing."

"Nu-uh, that was something," Ace muttered with a coy smile, she breathed a hard laugh, though she quickly jolted as Ace darted from his positioning; they both found themselves on opposites sides of the island, from each other, once more, "What was that about fertility? That's a weird thing to compare yourself to other women, to."

"I-I got nosey with my coding, tonight, in the code room," Libby's face turned beet red as the smile on her face was that of sheer delight, Ace furrowed his brow and now grew worried as his smile became unsure.

"... So, should I up our firewall output or something? You're making me nervous," Ace blurt as the two laughed, though in a jolt, Ace desperately tried to throw himself about the bend of the island, to get to her; she was too quick. The two laughed in a panting mess as Ace rubbed his forehead in agitation, "I-I know my dad wants grandchildren but I don't think I'm prepared for that kind of thing, c'mon!"

"I'm not either!" Libby squealed with a hard laugh as she panted and shook her head, "I'm pretty sure we'd be fine I just... Think we should stop going back for seconds."

"Or thirds," Ace blurt, Libby heaved an excited laugh and waved Ace off.

"Stop!" Libby urged with a giggle, though Ace cocked an eyebrow and finally felt every single last circuit inside of him wiggle with that fresh bout of confidence he knew only Libby could really pry out of him.

"Not until you tell me exactly what you found, in the code room, tonight," Ace stabbed with a wide smile, though as Libby had her eyes closed in laughter, he suddenly dart about the island, caught her off guard and successfully scooped her tight into his strong embrace.

Libby heaved a loud, squealing laugh, squirmed in Ace's loving grip and playfully tried to get away from him. As his large hands and arms came about her front and center in loving eagerness, she finally succumbed to his efforts and sagged her back and shoulders into the front of Ace's strong chest. She breathed an exhausted few giggles and rested the back of her head to Ace's shoulder, and once his gentle kisses began to trial her small, bare shoulder, the dark tattoo on her skin, she finally bowed to his requests and allowed him to keep her tight to him.

"It's not a big deal, I just thought it was funny," Libby heaved through a small amount of panting as the two swayed in the messy of trying to steady themselves form their playful, scurrying banter.

"What was it?" Ace's deep, confident voice was hushed in her ear, enough to make the baby hairs, on the back of her neck, stand on end; she shivered and allowed a sigh to escape her gaping smile.

"You know how we got Ma's percentage number to one hundred? Miraculously?" Libby prod, though Ace furrowed his brow in frozen realization and knew exactly where this was going. He huffed a small chuckle, shrugged and lightly shook his head.

"What, was yours one hundred and one, or something?" Ace wondered tenderly on her skin, his smile continued to trail kisses atop her freckled and tattooed shoulder.

"... Add ninety nine to that," Libby stabbed; Ace froze, mid-kiss.

"... TWO HUNDRED?" Ace barked as he pushed away from her, turned her around and grappled her shoulders; she howled with laughter, her face was bright red. Ace huffed a nervous chuckle and jostled her about a little, "Two hundred, woman! We could breed an entire User army, or something, with a number like that! What the hell!"

"I-I was so excited to tell you, your expression was totally worth it," Libby wheezed with laughter as Ace jostled her around; the both of them loudly laughed before Ace unhanded her and shoved his face into his larger palms, "In all honesty, I think we've gotten lucky these past two weeks. I'm pretty positive our firewall probably is not as strong as it needs to be."

"So, wh-whenever we DO decide to have kids, am I to expect like... Septuplets or something?!" Ace bellowed with a hard laugh, Libby nearly crumpled to the ground in laughter, to which Ace tried to reach out and steady her. He wiped his eyes free of tears and eventually waved her off, "For User's sakes! Why two hundred! What is that for!"

Libby was inconsolable, she crumpled to her knees and loudly cried with laughter. Ace staggered through laughter and urgently gestured to her.

"HONESTLY! I want to know!" Ace blurt, Libby nearly fell onto her side laughing.

"Why don't you check yours!" Libby wailed with unending laughter as she wiped her eyes from the never-ending amount of tears, "Surely I'm not the only one!"

"I really don't think the world is ready for 'us', quite frankly," Ace grumbled with laughter as he finally reached his hand out and helped her up, though in doing so, he felt a wave of solid confidence keep to his skin; he peered to his mate, who tried to collect herself, and felt grateful for her unending support. He smiled into her beautiful face and tried to slow things down a little. He tenderly tucked her hair behind her ears and allowed her laughter to turn into soft exhales of giggles, the dregs of their excitement. He shook his head and kept his eyes tight to her loving eye contact, "You're the greatest, you know that?"

"You're one to talk," Libby stated through a long sigh, and a few giggles to boot, "Confidence looks good on you, dude."

"I'm trying," Ace huffed gently with a nod of assurance, to which Libby joined. She gingerly pressed her hands to Ace's chest and eased closer to his warmth, "I'm most comfortable showing it to you, unfortunately."

"Well, maybe you should work on it," Libby shrugged, "You're pretty great, Ace. Everyone on this lot would agree. It's okay to be proud of who you are... Cause you're irreplaceable, y'know?"

"Thank you," Ace accepted lovingly, he gave her a grateful smile and tried his very hardest not to shoo the compliments away, however hard it was, "I think trying to hide my powers from you, my whole childhood, was what attributed to my shyness."

"Well, you're pretty shy by nature," Libby shrugged, she gave Ace a knowing look, "I know you don't get that from Ma OR Zeddy... But now, after meeting Oliver, I know you get it from him."

"I wonder how he deals with it... He seems to have come to grips with confidence," Ace gently continued to tuck more of Libby's white hair behind her ear.

"Maybe you should talk to him, sometime," Libby suggested, though as her gentle hands rubbed Ace's strong, broad chest, she gave him a smile, concluded with a sigh and long blinked in sleepiness, "For now... We have tomorrow to focus on. I'm sad you won't be joining me, Otto and Penny in the pits."

"You girls will have fun," Ace assured softly with a nod, to which Libby joined, "It's best if I keep my eye on the whole arena, makes sure everything runs smoothly. Meanwhile, you'll be down in the pits, where you can get the inside scoop. Keep everything in check. I trust you'll be okay."

"I won't let you down," Libby's voice was tender and certain; Ace stroked her cheeks with both his thumbs as he cupped her delicate face in his strong hands.

"You'll have to bring my bike with you girls," Ace suddenly worried, "Dad thinks we should bring it as a backup, just in case his bike pukes out on unfamiliar tracks. Will you be okay with that?"

"Yeah, should be fine," Libby nodded, "I'll take good care of it."

"Always have," Ace nodded with a loving smile, "You'd look good on my bike."

"... Let's bookmark that idea," Libby stated coyly.


	225. Chapter 225

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Haha yep, I was hoping people would understand that foreshadowing. Thank you! :D

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Yes, like I said above, I'm so glad you guys are getting that reference xD Cause that definitely aids to the reason they end up having twins haha. Thank you so much! Yes, the plot thickens in this chapter, if just a little :)

 **Snake557 :** You most definitely will, especially after chapter 226 ;)

 **NightHex54 :** Aww, I'm glad! Thank you! :D

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Spiller by Cecile Corbel (The Secret World of Arrietty Soundtrack)**

 **Hyperion by Celldweller**

* * *

 ***Chapter 225***

In the bustling agitation of the early morning, Tessa and Zed clamored to lug their thick coats over their bodies. The castle was dim in the cold, Sunday morning rainy weather, and although the race wasn't for another two hours, Tessa and Zed knew they needed to get over to Sonic's game to prepare, to make sure Zed's bike was in working order, and to just hunker down and get ready. As the two hustled to try and get at least some form of breakfast in their stomachs, they quietly listened to the conversations of Rancis, Taffyta and Vanellope, who were lazily sat at the kitchen's island, dressed in comfortable clothes; although they weren't coming to the race, they still made sure to be awake to see their fellow kin off. Even though Tessa and Zed had shortly just woken up, Zed was a bit more talkative than Tessa. Tessa rubbed her eye sleepily and poured herself a glass of juice, though before she could just continue to hunker away with her thoughts, she suddenly remembered just what she had dreamt the night prior.

In a pop of realization, she bugged her eyes a little and gently dragged her eyes to her uncle Rancis, sat in a comfortable dark brown hoodie, with the typical gold drawstring, his curly blonde hair was a wreck; he, too, had just woken up. Tessa huffed a small giggle at the sight, and before she could potentially think about coming out of her shell before she was mentally awake and prepared, she was thrilled to see Ace step in from the back door. He was dressed and ready to just remain anonymous for the day, his hair was already tinted to match Tessa's hair color. She knew Ace was going to go with the two, to the tracks, though she also knew he'd do so, in such a way, where Ace didn't look like he was tagging along with Tessa and Zed. The second there was a lull in Zed's excited conversing, Tessa felt her mother's sleepy, happy eyes trail to her in inquisitive delight.

"How'd you sleep, Tess?" Vanellope asked gently, to which Tessa was again reminded of the dream she had, prior.

"Oh, um... I slept fine, but..." Tessa trailed off, brought her glass to the island, state Ace a small 'goodmorning' and sagged her shoulders in collective thought. She continued on cautiously, as if she somehow wondered if the story she was about to tell was even worth it, "Well... I'm not sure of it's relevance, but, I keep having this really crisp reoccurring dream, involving Uncle Rancis."

"Goodie," Rancis teased, to which everyone lit up with quiet laughter; thunder clapped the morning sky as rain pelted nearby windows, "What's it about?"

"It's so crisp, and so vivid, it doesn't even ever seem like a dream, it seems like a memory, for some really weird reason," Tessa squinted her eyes in confusion, and although she wasn't directing any of this information at Ace, he honed in to his mother like a hawk, as if he was taking notes of every single dark corner of her soul, "The reason I know it's not a memory, because, well... It's a situation I know Uncle Rancis and I have never been in."

"Are you psychic?" Taffyta gently teased, she seemed to nearly be in a grumpy mood, simply from not being awake enough yet; Rancis rubbed her back, a subtle way to try and warn her not to randomly bite anyone's head off.

"It's me and Uncle Rancis in a glorious throne-like room, overlooking a Sugar Rush city far greater than Starkrem," Tessa's voice emulated a hiss of a dreamy desire, she shook her head, narrowed her gaze and drew her eyes to her uncle, "You congratulate me, telling me how beautiful of a city it is, how we had a hand in Sugar Rush's near-demise but, everything's been forgiven... More or less."

"That's really... Intuitive of you, Tess," Vanellope wrinkled her nose and side-eyed her daughter, "Not to be a downer, but do you think it's just wishful thinking?"

"Likely, but... For some reason, I always wake up with Orion's name buzzing through my head," Tessa looked to Zed, him and Ace shared in the same exact pondering facial expression.

"That crusty ol' lizard," Vanellope sighed, though Taffyta pointed a finger in his defense.

"That crusty ol' lizard saved your niece's life," Taffyta grumbled, to which Vanellope sagged her shoulders in defeat and nodded a little.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Vanelloep huffed, she gave Tessa a knowing smirk.

"Weird... I wish I could help you try and decode it, and... I don't want to sit here and just tell you your dreams are strictly wishful thinking, but," Rancis sighed and looked off, "Who knows how all of this is going to go down. Seems odd that it's reoccurring, now."

"How long have you been having this dream?" Vanellope softly prod, though Zed furrowed his brow and gave Tessa a knowing smile.

"The day after we became humans," Zed stated knowingly, to which Tessa gave him a bewildered smile and a curious nod.

"...How did you know?" Tessa prod, Zed huffed a chuckle and turned to Ace in a knowing way; he pat his shoulder.

"That was the day we found out you were pregnant with this dude," Zed laughed, Ace gave his mom a curious grin and crossed his arms, "Remember, I came back to the hotel with donuts and Starbucks? You briefly stated Orion's name right after waking up, and then complained that you were nauseous."

"User, what is it like to be pregnant as a human?" Vanellope eagerly wondered, the look in her eye was almost in question as to why she hadn't asked Tessa this before.

"Well, there's no loading bar, and... I'm not totally positive, cause I was only pregnant as a human for one day," Tessa bashfully rubbed the back of her head and looked down, "I guess, Zed's right... It was the day after, well... Y-Y'know."

"Everything seems to center around my conception," Ace blurt tiredly, though with a genuine smile; everyone burst into gentle laughter.

"But, that's a long while to have the same reoccurring dream," Rancis prod curiously, he narrowed his gaze to his niece and shook his head, "Is it the same every time?"

"Uncle Rancis, I can recite the whole thing to you," Tessa stated, as if having the same reoccurring dream, so many times now, was becoming exhausting.

"I would say you should, but... W-We're going to be late," Zed grimaced apologetically, and with that, Tessa's and Ace's demeanors quickly stiffened into action.

"Got your bike?" Ace wondered gently as him and Zed went over a small checklist.

"I'll recite it for you, when we get home," Tessa rushed as she set her glass in the sink, tucked her hood over her head and zipped her jacket all the way to her neck; she made her rounds in hugging each person at the island, goodbye, "It's nothing long, or profound, just... Odd that it's the same exact thing every time."

"We'll wait with baited breath," Rancis stated sweetly as he gave Tessa a hug goodbye, "Win that race, Mr. Kalivar."

"I most certainly will," Zed stated confidently, and with the island coat in a cloud of knowing murmurs and chuckles, the three swiftly left the Kalivar castle's warm atmosphere.

* * *

Although it was simply a part of the plan, Ace nearly felt bad for abandoning his parents just before exiting Dead Zed's outlet. With his hair a shade or so darker than Tessa's, as well as the hue of his eyes changed from his usual, vivid, hazel color, he almost wondered just how this day would go, flying under the radar and allowing himself to be reclusive and anonymous. As Ace moseyed through Game Central Station, he knew his much slower, lackadaisy pace meant that his parents had reached Sonic's game first. With his larger hands buried deep into his cargo pants pockets, a black zip up jacket ladened with a few obscure game logos, he was thrilled that he was almost completely invisible, in this ordeal; the second that thought hit him, he silently cursed himself for not previously getting Nox to teach him some of his invisibility skills. He shrugged off the thought and figured it'd be fun to try it out later.

Like clockwork, Ace wormed his way into Sonic's game, made the brisk walk to Perriton City and boarded the first bus he possibly could. Although it was a twenty minute ride to the arena, he felt accomplished once he made it, just in time to potentially grab a refreshment before finding his seat. As he made his way into the arena, bought his ticket and shoved the papers of receipts into his pocket, he fumbled for his wallet and felt a weird sense of duty remain tight to his skin. Although he felt alien carrying around things like a wallet and a watch, a fake identification and money only spendable in Sonic's game, he somehow felt invigorated in the sheer fact that he was out, all by himself, a stranger to society. He relished in how he could so easily fly under the radar. Without his blue hair or his large arms and hands showing, it was very clear that he certainly wasn't the son or grandson of any specific, famous gamers. Although he was proud of just what individuals made him, he felt at ease being so unidentifiable.

Although Ace felt his stomach growl, he resisted getting anything to eat. He knew chowing down on arena food would only result in issues later, he had to wonder if it would also distract him from just what he was here to do. He settled on a carbonated drink, took to the arena's seats and finally found the section of the nosebleeds he'd be. Sonic's game was alive with bustling, bumbling, adorable and even cool individuals. Hybrids of animals, all sorts of different creatures excitably gathered for his big event, and although Ace was equally as excited, as he climbed the massive amount of stairs to get up to his seats, he heaved a shaky sigh and let his eyes scan the tiers and tiers of the massive arena's bleachers, just how many individuals dropped what they were doing and made it out for this event. Ace scoot to his seat and nonchalantly sat, though the second he had a moment to scan just how huge of a scale this endeavor was, he tried his hardest not to feel extremely overwhelmed.

He thought back to Libby's gentle words, the loving advice she had given him for the event, she was well aware the whole 'scanning' glitch-like process, she had demonstrated the day prior, was something he was unfamiliar with, though he steadied himself and wondered if he should go ahead and deploy said task now, just to get a reading on the crowd's energy. With his bare feet planted to the cold metal bleachers underneath him, he allowed his secretive gold coding to find dunks of grout, divets where the naked eye couldn't possibly see. He inhaled a shaky breath and allowed his powerful User coding to sprawl the entirety of his section of the bleachers, and before he knew it, he had mapped nearly the whole entire sitting area, which seemingly went on for leagues; Ace tried not to make it obvious that he was lightly panting from the exhilarating rush of said power extended.

Although Ace was loosely surrounded by those seemingly unfortunate enough to have to be stuck with nosebleed seats, he found comfort in the fact that these individuals likely weren't on the ball and simply weren't as into this race as many of the other crowd goers. As much as Ace tried to divide his attention, he also allowed his ears to eavesdrop on a conversation two individuals were having a few seats down and ahead of him. He hunched over his knees, relaxed and tuned in, all whilst his coding mapped the arena and searched for anything that could potentially hinder his father's big race.

"What does the guy even look like? It's been years since I think he's even been to an event like this, right?" One wondered, a black cat anthro with a tan belly and larger blue shoes. He flattened his ears and peered his curious cat-like gaze to his friend, who was a light grey colored hedgehog anthro, similar to Sonic.

"I know he has blue hair and... I guess is unbeatable," The hedgehog replied, "The guy has never lost a race... And to a human counterpart, not one single lost race? I mean that must mean something."

"Sonic will win," The black cat stated without any form of hesitation in his voice, though his hedgehog friend waggled his hand.

"I don't know, dude..." He trailed off and relaxed in his seat, "I typically would say the same, but Sonic has been beat, before."

"If this Zed guy is so incredible, how come he's never seen at any other racing events? He has no sponsors, it's not like he's out here gloating," The black cat blurt.

Ace eased a gentle smile, looked down to his feet and let his mind soak over his father's day-to-day life. A home body simply stationed to protect and upkeep the castle, one of Ace's best friends, he was always a warm, loving figure to lean on. Ace furrowed his brow and was surprised the vastly distorted view the world had on his father, though he knew Zed's recluse like spirit likely didn't do him any favors. As much as Ace wanted to stand up and defend his father at all costs, he remained still and had to remind himself that he was strictly a stranger to anyone and everyone.

"I think he's becoming a bit more active in the Arcade, lately," The hedgehog eased, "I've heard the guy has a son."

"Oh yeah, I recall hearing that somewhere," his friend stated in a hiss of excitement, "Didn't he have a thing with Sugar Rush's fallen princess, or something?"

"Yeah, his son is Vanellope Von Schweetz's grandson," the grey hedgehog bobbed a nod and adorned a look of bewilderment, "I-I think they banished the princess, though... User knows why."

Ace tried to force back a small laugh; User really did know why.

* * *

"This place seems bigger with all these people here," Libby ogled in a hiss of wonder; they pushed into the arena's lobby with purpose and ogled the sheer height of the incredible stretch of the ceiling, the floor to roof windows made the whole interior just glisten.

Libby, Penny and Otto hung near a much different part of the arena, an underground passage way that lead out to the main garage where Zed would be preparing his bike for the race. All three girls had on a special lanyard and badge, and before they knew it, they were let into places they would only dream to go. All three girls stuck tight to each other as they began to be escorted by two security guards.

"You have Ace's bike, right?" Otto eased quietly, their voices could so easily reverberate down the long, echoey concrete passage way.

"Yep," Libby chirped softly as she reached into her pocket, pulled out a decent sized hexagon shaped tab and shot Otto and Penny a sly smile, "Odd that it fits in my pocket..."

"How the hell?" Penny ogled with a wide, curious smile as she gingerly reached out for the white tab. At about an inch thick and four inches across, it was clear that by pressing the gold button in the center, that was likely to unravel the entirety of the bike, coding and all, "You sure that's the whole bike and not just like a brake pad or something?"

"Yes, all of Dead Zed's bikes are designed to have this carry-around form," Libby giggled as she gently turned the tab over, to show Penny and Otto all angles, "You just push the center button and uh... Take a good half a dozen steps away from it."

"I'm assuming you set it on the ground, first?" Otto pressed with a fang-filled smile as the five individuals reached the other side of the corridor; it was clear said corridor lead underneath the main race-tracks start line and grid.

"Yes, you set it down, press and then get outta there," Libby blurt with a small laugh as the security guards opened another set of doors for the three girls.

Once outside, they pushed down a tree riddled path that lead to the main garage. A tall building nestled in the thicket of the jungle, though the main, opened door's path lead straight to the race track about a fourth of a mile around the bend. In the distance, Sonic's gorgeous game scenery could be seen, a towering mountain kissed with jungle and palm trees. The vivid blue sky was crowned with the whitest, puffiest clouds. It was the perfect day for racing, the crisp, cool jungle air held a small breeze and kept the game's energy well enough alive. As the five individuals rounded the gape of the massive warehouse like garage, they scanned the interior and noticed Zed, Tessa and Orph, who had later joined them, eagerly preparing Zed, and his bike, for his big moment.

"Hey guys!" Libby chimed in riled excitement, and as the three turned with curious smiles, Tessa held up something she seemed to be pretty proud about.

"LOOKIT," Tessa squealed, she held a very tall, heavy looking race flag, "I get to be the flag girl. I'm excited!"

"You get to wave them off and ring them in, then?" Otto expressed with eager eyes as all three girls surrounded Tessa, the large checkered flag draped down Tessa's back as it hung still.

"Yep!" Tessa beamed, Zed and Orph chuckled in a knowing way and playfully shook their heads at her.

"I think you'd probably be happier racing, Tess," Orph staggered in a near-curious manner, as if to wonder if her heart was now temporarily elsewhere.

"Well, I typically am the one racing," Tessa shrugged, she wore a comfortable tank and had thrown her hair up into a high ponytail, Vanellope style, "It's kinda nice to just take a break and wave the flag."

"Still an important duty," Otto stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she flattened her ears.

"Looks heavy," Penny muttered nervously, Tessa bobbed a nod but then shrugged.

"It'll be okay," Tessa smiled, though all four girls finally gave Zed and Orph their full attention, "Everything seems to be set for the race... Zed was just curious about having Ace's bike prepped and ready as a back up."

"Yes, I have it," Libby stated in sharp attentiveness, though she stepped to one of the many work tables, scattered with tools, and the like. She rushed to take her hoodie off and set it sloppily on a nearby stool. Her, Otto and Penny all came about an open space near Zed's bike, and prepared to unravel Ace's bike, "Now's the fun part..."

"My favorite," Orph chuckled, as if this kind of thing honestly could never get old to him.

Everyone eagerly watched as Libby set the small tile down, firmly pushed the button and backed away as quickly as she could. In a collective, beautiful display of unraveling golden coding, Ace's bike's circuitry sprawled from the small tile in whirls of mechanical cooperation all coming together in a harmonic chaos of tried and true parts. Once everything settled, Ace's large, powerful bike sat flawless in the fluorescent overhead lights of the warehouse, and it was in this moment did Libby notice a few of the arena's workers mosey by to ogle the scene. Libby crossed her arms and gave Zed and Orph a proud smile.

"Cool system you guys have set up, here," Libby teased, to which Zed and Orph nodded in gratitude.

"I'll say!" Otto barked in surprise as Penny and Tessa giggled at said surprised outburst.

"Alright, Mr. Kalivar, you're on," Stated a worker, a red badger-like anthro with an official arena coat and a hologram of a checklist. Zed gently revved his bike, which was quietly on and grumbling, and with such, the warehouse lightly shook with the noise.

"You got this, dude," Orph encouraged as he tucked Zed's helmet under his arm.

"We need to turn Ace's bike on and make sure everything is in working order before we head out there," Libby pressed as he rushed Ace's flawless bike.

"We'll meet up with you out there, but make sure to hurry!" Tessa called as her and Orph kept on Zed's slow, moseying pace so they could keep up.

"Two seconds!" Libby called as she gently approached Ace's beautiful white bike, kissed with that futuristic gloss, angles that gave it a mean edge, the bike was untouched.

As Otto and Penny hung a few feet away and patiently waited for Libby to do her thing, she hovered her hand over the touchscreen dial, on the broad of the bike's interface, and as the technology of the hologram glistened with Ace's golden coding, it easily welcomed Libby's presence, due to the two sharing each other's circuits. Libby gently powered on the bike, via the hub's main start-engine, and with a solid flinch, the bike roared to life. Libby huffed a shaky chuckle as she could hear Otto and Penny mumbling notions of impress. As Libby went through the motions of making sure the bike had enough gas, no check engine lights, everything in working order, she quickly shut off the bike and took a few steps back, so to hope that leaving it sitting there, like such, would be okay.

"OKAY. All's good, let's go!" Libby urged in excitement as all three girls began to book it for the garage's gaping open doors.

"They're announcing both racers," Penny urged as the three girls looked over their shoulders, the warehouse had two large flat screens that were to eventually display the race around the mountain, as well as commercials and stats. Once the three were out into the sunshine, they jolted as Libby suddenly halted to a stop and began running back to the warehouse, "Libby, what's up!"

"I forgot my coat!" Libby called as she glitch-hopped a few times, in order to reach her coat quicker.

In a breath of rising adrenaline, her canvas flats scuffed the dirty concrete as she came upon the stool she had left her coat, though upon reaching said stool, she noticed her coat had slid off of the stool and onto the ground. Libby grunted an annoyed noise, at said notion, and urgently bent down to retrieve said coat. However, whilst she was fully bent over, she held her breath and heard a sudden amount of sharp muttering, just a few work tables beyond her. She furrowed her eyebrows, peered underneath the rows of tables, which had open undercarriage storage, and through the mess, she noticed said two workers bodies scramble to a halt, amidst said sharp muttering.

"You have it planted, right?" One stabbed quietly, it was clear the two were nearly about to get into a scuffle about this ordeal.

"Yes, yes, the third checkpoint, I'm not an idiot," the other urgently protested, albeit in sharp, quiet hisses of whispers.

Libby choked to hold her breath, urgently got to her knees and remained hidden as she hugged her coat tight to her chest; her heart beat practically stopped as all these words suddenly hit her head on. In horror, she peered to these two workers legs and was absolutely praying that all of these words were simply misunderstood.

"What if Sonic goes over it first?" the second worker wondered shakily as they began to rustle few a stack of papers.

"He won't, Zed's going to make those checkpoints first... He's unbeatable, this much is clear," the other huffed as if he was previously out of breath, "The name of his game now will make sense to thousands. It's time to end this nasty trend he started, right at the root of it."

"Doesn't the dude have a family?" The other worried, though he loudly grunted as the other worker now was obviously manhandling him.

"If you tell me you've grown a heart over the past week, I swear to User, I'll end you right here and now," He quietly staggered, the other lesser worker gasped in surprise and clearly struggled with his breathing.

"N-No, the bomb is planted, trust me," He wheezed in a rush, "All it takes is Zed's bike to go over it..."

"Good."

Libby felt her hands shake, she shook her head and now wondered just how to even get the hell out of this situation. She slid to her rear, shoved her back to the storage underneath the table she took refuge behind and faced the gape of concrete between her and Ace's bike. As if hit by lightning, Ace's glorious bike glistened in the light of the garage, a beacon of the small shred of hope she suddenly had to grasp to. In her peripheral, she could see the several camera angles pan on the flatscreen, and as if thunder had clapped the sky, the signal gun rang loud and true in her ears as the race very quickly begun. Libby held her breath, felt every single last inch of her new User powers soak her soul and now knew just exactly what had to be done. She furrowed her brow and knew she had to make it to that dreaded checkpoint before anyone. Ace's bike sat in hot wait, and before she could sit and soak in the untrue feelings of uselessness, she shoved her coat to the ground and took an urgent, flying lunge for Ace's beckoning bike.


	226. Chapter 226

**Reviews :**

 **chris . low2456 :** teehee :P

 **Burgie :** Hooo you'll see, for sure :)

 **Snake557 :** It does... You'll find out just who these jerks are, causing issue. Thanks, friend!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Hyperion by Celldweller**

 **They're All Gone by James Newton Howard**

* * *

 ***Chapter 226***

In a numbing jolt of fresh, searing User coding, a hit of adrenaline she could hardly even begin to wrap her head around, let alone describe, Libby urgently mounted Ace's bike, shoved her palm to the dial and revved the bike's incredible engine. Just as she kicked the brake up and grappled the handles, she flung her line of sight over her shoulder and, with a sharp gasp, she noticed at least six workers flinging themselves in her direction, as if they were now certain Libby had found out their terrible plans, and wanted to make sure she stayed quiet about it. Without ever operating Ace's bike, let alone boarding it, she hardly had time to say one last prayer before she shoved on the gas and hunkered tight to Ace's magnificent bike.

Libby gasped an urgent noise of protest as the bike nearly flew out of the garage, and as she whizzed straight past Otto and Penny, she hooked a tight right, caused dirt to spew everywhere, and managed to jump out onto the race tracks after a few moments of swerving around the dirt path. Once her tires hit the tighter, more compact dirt, Ace's bike jolted in traction and caused a greater leap forward. With such, Libby found herself peering down the whole entire stretch of the start line, and down the half a mile gape, she noticed Zed and Sonic well on their way, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. At lightning speed, both beings rounded the first turn and were immediately out of sight; the crowd went absolutely nuts.

Libby choked Zed's name in a scream of pure horror, and as if flying through a time warp, she shoved down on the handles, which cued the gas, and with the burst of energy, Libby held her breath and sent a hard glower down the straight-away. As if all the trees, the crowd, everything in between became just blips of a blur, Libby grit her teeth, flared hers and Ace's coding and allowed Ace's bike to become absolutely riddled with the endless amount of power she harbored. The bike growled with all of the energy in the world, and as she tore after Zed and Sonic, she knew she'd have to absolutely stop at nothing until she reached them, however hard that may be.

Tessa waved the flag in whole excitement and wished Zed a quiet whisper of good luck once she noticed him tear around the first bend, though with the sound of Zed's bike gradually disappearing, she furrowed her brows and could hear another, familiar choke of an engine approach from behind. The crowd went nuts, though in the switch of confusion, Tessa whirled around and noticed none-other than Libby, on Ace's bike, come tearing down the straight. Tessa sagged her shoulders in whole fear, and just before she could even think about moving out of the way, Libby tore past Tessa, just barely missing her. Tessa scrunched her shoulders, covered her face and felt her hair whip around with the chaos. As the speckles of golden dust whisked about her flickering flag and hair, Tessa panted and watched as Ace's bike tore after the two at a speed Tessa was unsure was even possible. It was in this instance did Tessa realize something was wrong, and although she wanted to so desperately tear off towards the crowd and find Ace, she knew, in no time flat, he'd find her first.

Libby sat tightly saddled to Ace's bike as it effortlessly soared along the racetrack, though with that one hit of adrenaline now easily sliding to the next, Libby had a moment to think about just how in the hell she was doing this. She heavily panted and kept her coding tight to the bike's engine, it was simply the only thing keeping her from slowing down. She could feel her hair, in the tight, low braid down her back, viciously whip in the wind behind her, and although she now wished for a helmet, she knew there was absolutely no time for such luxury. In tight winds up the mountain, she did her very best to cut corners where she could, to miss large boulders in her path and to avoid spinning out simply from how fast she was going.

In an unexpected dip in the track, Libby's bike was suddenly sent soaring at least twelve feet above the track. Libby uttered a hard gasp, braced herself for impact and was delightfully surprised once she came back to the planet. She coughed a noise, steadied the bike's steering and did everything she could to keep her once near-sound barrier breaking speed. In a large swoop around of the track, which eventually spiraled to an enormous straight away of asphalt, Libby's heart sank as she suddenly passed the first checkpoint. She sat up a little straighter and could see that she was very quickly gaining on Sonic and Zed, and although she was successful in catching up, she felt her heart sink with the sheer thought of not making it in time. She shoved down on the gas, harder, and pumped every single last ounce of her User power straight into the heart of the bike; she knew it was putting strain on the engine, though she also knew Zed's life was the only thing here that couldn't be rebuilt.

The bike's engine coughed with an incredible amount of power as the tires gripped the asphalt with greater ease. She knew she had to take advantage of the time Ace's bike had on the asphalt to catch up, because once it hit the dirt again, she knew the traction of it all would slow her down somewhat. She burst forward, the grid all about the tires of her bike sprawled in golden honeycombs of glitch lines, as if Sonic's game was absolutely uncertain of just what to do with all of this godly power. Just as she had begun to gain on Sonic and Zed, she noticed them peel to the right and hit the dirt path, down the cliffside of jungle trees, once more, and although she braced for the impact of the dirt, she, as well as Ace's bike, harshly jolted from the switch up.

She loudly grunted, shoved harder on the gas, steadied the bike and stood arched over the body of the bike, a little. She urgently glared down their trail, and as she could feel Zed's and Sonic's fresh dust cloud lick her skin, she knew she was slowly on the verge of becoming successful, in this urgent rescue mission. Libby felt her heart suddenly sink the second she could hear angry police sirens, and as she sat up a little more and looked over her shoulder in a second of curious clarity, she could see small hovercraft drones gaining behind her, sirens and warning signals blared out to the jungle about them. Libby huffed a shaky breath and knew she had to just keep moving and looking forward, no matter who told her to stop and get off the tracks. She knew she was absolutely ruining this entire race, though she pushed on for the sake of her future father in law.

Libby gasped and uttered a hard, urgent scream the second pelts and clips of bullets began to shoot in Libby's direction, the dirt before and about her began to spurt upwards in the chaos. In a sudden stab of searing pain, Libby uttered a hard holler, scrunched tight to herself and felt the entirety of her back left arm go practically molten hot in agony. Through grit teeth, she prayed she wasn't hit elsewhere and let her eyes dart about for an escape. Libby veered a hard turn off the tracks and began to obliterate the jungles low foliage with her bike. She grappled the handles, hunkered tight to the bike and nervously uttered a few noises of terror as she dodged low hanging branches and vines.

In an absolute whip of confusion, Sonic and Zed suddenly whisked past her, though the second she realized this, she came crashing onto the race track, once more. With no time to think or get her bearings, she set the bike's direction for the two and floored it. Her chest heaved with the chaos as she finally came upon Zed and Sonic, she was nearly close enough to be in earshot, if it weren't for the loud growl of their engines. The second Libby had to collect herself, if even just for said second, she shakily grappled her right back to her left elbow and only merely glanced down to her skin. Her whole left arm, and now right hand, was soaked in blood, and although she was hit, she was glad the adrenaline rush overrode any form of doubling, crippling pain she potentially could be in right now. With a sudden spark of confusion, her coding hummed a kind few notions to her, much to her stark, discombobulated surprise.

"Left bicep coding is damaged, three foreign objects have been found deep in your skin tissue," stated a voice, not anything Libby could put a gender or even a name to, "User, you're losing a decent amount of blood, fast."

Libby huffed a noise of confusion, and just as she were to shake off the weird anomaly, the grid and environment about her suddenly soaked with digital details, golden tiers of information, which also included stats about her health, her heart rate, and a very convenient heat seeking cross-hair that glued both onto Sonic and Zed, up ahead of Libby. She blinked, and with said blink, the information remained in her skull, her brain coding did everything and anything to help her out in this time of dire urgency. Libby cocked an eyebrow, scanned her eyes about and watched as the stats and everything included, followed her line of sight. She shook her head and dared to utter a small chuckle.

"That's new," Libby choked, though she shook her head and knew not to let her mind get too far away from the important task at hand; she knew she had her User abilities to thank.

Nonetheless, Libby gunned the bike for everything it had, the grid urgently sprawled with honeycombs, leaving squares and circuit lines of confusion in her wake. Libby felt relieved that she had successfully deterred the police drones that were after her, though she could still hear the sirens in the distance. Much to Libby's dismay, the three crossed the second checkpoint. Libby glowered in Zed's and Sonic's direction and knew she at least had to get within twenty feet of them. Anything to just be in their gravity, to somehow deter the race track and to get them to stop. Libby floored the bike, though with such, the dial began to urgently flash red warning lights, as if this much power was just too much strain on the bike. Not only that, the bike was now nearly out of gasoline. Libby continued to ignore every single red flag and upped every last ounce of her User power Ace had so lovingly blessed her with; she knew, if there was any time to make him proud, it was absolutely now.

Libby pushed closer and closer, though the second the three rounded a swooping, massive turn together, her stomach dropped in whole fear. They rapidly came upon a towering loop, specifically known to Sonic's games. Libby uttered a few obscenities of protest, though the three continued to rocket forward. It was in this instance did Libby wonder if the two had somehow noticed her presence simply dragging behind them, though the second they soared straight into the nauseating loop of defied gravity, the three came rocketing out the other end of it faster than prior. The second they cut another turn, Libby felt her pupils tighten in rising adrenaline as the third check point marker came on the horizon, and just as was so confidently predicted, Zed was easily fifteen feet ahead of Sonic, proudly in first.

With dire urgency, and tears that now streamed her cheeks, she screamed Zed's a few times. The three rapidly came upon the third check point, and although she was giving the bike every single last thing she got, Ace's bike suddenly sputtered in a back fire, the dial angrily proclaimed that the bike was out of every single last drop of gas. Libby grit her teeth, glared down the third checkpoint flag they all came upon and knew she had to do absolutely anything to get Zed out of harms way. In a last-ditch effort, Libby, stood on the body of the bike, grappled the handles, soaked the entire mainframe of the bike with her coding and manipulated it's everything to her will. With a loud cry of a grunt, she jumped off the front of the bike and threw her arms out, which caused Ace's bike to go rocketing straight for Zed's bike.

Libby was airborne for a second, though the second she felt her gravity come in contact with the grid, her angry coding engulfed a massive, protective honeycomb of the grid. With great success, Ace's bike largely clipped the back of Zed's bike, and just as Zed went tumbling to the ground in a tuck-and-roll, Libby's feet largely skid to the dirt. She stood, hands and arms outstretched, and just as Zed's and Ace's crashing bikes went skidding over the third checkpoint's marker, the whole place was just soaked in the hot, silent white light of the birth of the explosion. Libby knew she had successfully kept the three in a dome of ultimate protection, though the sound of the blast still reverberated over the three in a deafening, bone shattering roll of bass.

Libby panted in the grimace of the sudden ringing in her ears, and as the flames of the explosion engulfed their dome, the three remained protected in the heart of the chaos, the pit of hell they nearly didn't escape. It was in this brief moment of clarity did Libby finally assume that Sonic must have had his hand in this drama. Gasping for breath, she peered her attention to Zed. His trembling hands took off his helmet as he got to his hands and knees. He began to cough up mucus and blood as his ears also had blood lightly trailing down his strong neck. She knew Zed would be alright, he was alive and breathing. She soaked in every single last ounce of her User coding, every last circuit in her body screamed for the ultimate release of justice, and as her hateful gaze dragged to Sonic, who also was struggling to get to his feet, she sent him a death glare through the whip of her now freed, white hair.

The dome above, about and below them swirled with angry, golden honeycombs as the flames about them seared the jungle in half. Libby immediately sent her coding for Sonic's feet, and once she had him in a death grip, she exhaled a shaky breath and did the very thing she promised she'd never do to anyone, ever. She so easily hacked his mainframe, took ahold of his coding and forced him to a stand. She slowly approached him, lithe footsteps of death, and as she forced him down to his knees, and kept his head up so to look into the eyes of his ultimate demise, she hovered over him and heavily panted as blood trailed down her earlobes, as well. She shook her head and took note of the ultimate fear and confusion in Sonic's eyes, and although she was well aware, deep down, he likely had nothing to do with this mess, she still held him in an unforgiving death grip.

"Whose idea was this, then?" Libby asked, almost sweetly. She shook her head and gave Sonic a glower, "Who did you think you were fooling?"

"I-I don't... Understand..." Sonic choked as he struggled to even keep his breathing normal.

"Whose idea was it to plant a bomb on the third checkpoint?!" Libby hollered into Sonic's face as she whiteknuckled her hand out into the air, though Sonic gasped a sharp noise and could swear his insides were simply being throttled.

"I-I don't... Know," Sonic wheezed as he tried to shake his head, "I don't have a-any... Information!"

"Like hell you don't," Libby spat as she stepped closer, she could hear Zed come to a discombobulated stand from behind her, "If all you assholes think we are is just a power-hungry cult, then so be it! You got your wish! Our power is beyond anything you could even imagine!"

"Please... S-Spare me," Sonic urged desperately as tears formed in his eyes, though Libby tossed her hand to the side, ultimately sending Sonic sliding across the dirt in a skid of flailing limbs.

"I hope you're happy," Libby loudly growled as she clenched her fists and soaked in every single last ounce of glitching, wrecking and User power she had been graced with.

Before she could even turn to Zed and ask if he was okay, she grit her teeth and plowed her fists into the crackles of honeycombs underneath her feet, as as the coding bowed before her, the grid lines shot out in all directions. Her incredible User coding shot all the way back to the arena, and as she closed her eyes and sought out the five other precious beings she came here with, she grappled them in her coded grip, inhaled a sharp breath and rearranged their positions on the grid to her liking. In the blink of an eye, her, Zed, Ace, Tessa, Orph, Penny and Otto were suddenly planted right at the mouth of Sonic's game's exit. The world was suddenly calm, the trees whistled with the breeze and the birds chirped their happy songs, though everyone was frozen in the loose circle they suddenly stood in.

"ZED!" Tessa cried as she urgently lunged for him and grappled her arms about his chest; he wobbled, huffed a shaky noise and tried to keep his footing. Tessa shakily cried into his chest and gripped him as tight as she could, "I thought you died, I thought you DIED!"

"I-I can't hear anything," Zed stated in a shaky tremble of rising urgency as he peered his sorrowful, humbled and terrified eyes to Libby and Ace, who quickly surrounded the two; he heavily panted and almost looked as if he was nearly about to pass out.

"The news hasn't left the arena, just yet," Libby snapped as she panted through her nose, though her, Otto, Orph, Ace and Penny peered off to the horizon and noticed the arena, in the distance. Five miles East sat the plume of black smoke, from the fiasco of the bomb on the third checkpoint, "We have to get back to Dead Zed..."

"And never leave," Ace grunted in terrified urgency, and before any other concerns or questions could be tossed to the wind, the group frantically began to scramble out of Sonic's game for good.

In no time flat, the group had urgently moved through Sonic's wires, did everything they could to remain unnoticed in Game Central Station, and finally came upon the train station. Although it was a lazy Sunday, typically the train station was bombarded with people. As the group rushed to the platform, the train pulled up; Ace took a head count and furrowed his brow in the confusion of the fact that there weren't many people around. He wondered if, all this time, the race had been a broadcasted, announced event. He knew likely the majority of game-goers, in this station, was down at the arena, right this second. Once the train hummed to a stop, the double doors flew open, and much to everyone's delight, the cab was empty. Ace quietly motioned everyone on and made sure he was the last one on, though once he turned around to make sure no one else joined them, he flinched and came face to face with a few individuals who moseyed their way towards the gaping entrance of the train's cab.

"Cab's full," Ace snapped as he clenched his fists, stood in the gape of the doorway and looked as intimidating as he quite possibly could, without even trying. The two or three individuals, behind the one that practically bumped into Ace, got the hint and nervously began to look for another train cab to hop into.

"There's only like six a'yah," He barked in annoyance as he gestured into the cab, to which Tessa and Libby urgently peered over their shoulders and prayed to God that Ace would somehow make it so they continued to have said cab to themselves.

"Cab's... Full..." Ace growled through the grit of his teeth as he nearly got in this individuals face; he huffed a nervous noise and stumbled backwards as Ace finally glowered after him, clenched his fists tighter, sunk into the cab and was thrilled the doors finally closed. With such, the train hummed to life, and away they went.

The air in the train was stagnant for a moment before the clacking ventilation system kicked in, ultimately circulating recycled air about the small thirty seat cabin they had all to themselves; they remained standing, however. Everyone was dead silent. The only noise abundant was the clacking of the tracks, the whip of the underground-like walls that zipped by, and the tinkering of the loose, overhead hand aids that idly bumped against the metal railing. Ace panted quietly and inspected everyone. He furrowed his brow and noticed Libby's whole left arm was drenched in blood, her face had a few cuts and burns, though he was well aware she was a fabulous healer, and any nervous urge to rush her and help her out was quickly override with the fact that she was a well-established User, now; his main concern was his father, who suddenly uttered a nervous grunt and flopped to the nearest seat he could in doubled over pain.

"Easy, easy," Tessa staggered through her tears as she quickly helped him sit properly. Zed grappled the sides of his head and grunted aloud in a sheer amount of pain, and as Otto, Orph and Penny stood back in whole nervousness, Ace rushed his father and knelt in front of him as Tessa's wavering breath carried on through her tears, "Wh-what the hell happened, son."

"I have no clue," Ace's voice wavered as well, his large hand tenderly came about the back of Zed's head. He knew he had to at least attempt to be confident about his new healing skills, and as his golden coding began to lovingly flood Zed's mainframe in a metaphorical sigh of relief, Ace cocked an eyebrow and dragged his eyes to Libby, who stood still a few feet to his right, "Kaji?"

Libby raised her eyebrows and continued to attempt to come down from the extreme high she was just on, though she grimaced and began to feel the pain of the three bullet wounds on the back of her upper left arm. She grit her teeth and immediately began to go to work on her own coding, to heal everything. Tessa huffed a small breath of inquiry as her and Ace urgently peered to her, and although Zed was now fully healed, he continued to keep his limp head and shoulder deep into Ace's comforting touch, slouched in the feel of comfort, the fact that he was still alive was something beyond him right now.

"We should've never come," Libby staggered, she shook her head and finally allowed the weight of everything hit her head on. Large tears formed in her eyes, and as she grappled her hand to the back of her arm, she fiddled with something for a moment before gently, and successfully, retrieving the three bullets she was hit with. She opened her lightly bloodied palm, though all the blood began to slowly fade as her healing powers did it's routine work, "We should've listened to our intuition... Because, it was right..."

"This couldn't have been Sonic, he wouldn't... H-He just... Wouldn't," Tessa staggered nervously, though Zed suddenly inhaled a sharp breath through his nose, lifted his head and grappled the back of Ace's hand, which had now lazily moved to the side of Zed's head.

"I can't believe I was stupid enough to let this happen," Zed choked as he outwardly cried, something he was never caught doing. Tessa covered her mouth and furrowed her brow in rising sorrow that was to come, though Ace raised his eyebrows in tender, plucked surprised and peered hard into his father's trembling orbs, "I-I saw my life flash before my eyes... Th-that kind of thing has never happened to me before."

"You're here," Ace breathed tenderly, he knew he likely could've chosen better words to fill in that gap, though his eyes welled with tears as well, "Y-You're here..."

Zed huffed a hard, shaky breath as he very willingly allowed his tears to soak his cheeks. His trembling hand did everything it could to cup the side of Ace's face in a messy display of disbelief, as if he now had a second chance at life. He grit his teeth, grimaced and exhaled a hard, silent breath of bittersweet despair as his and Ace's foreheads touched. Ace closed his eyes and felt his whole entire mainframe nearly wash cold with the hard thought of potentially losing his father, and in this tender act of sheer vulnerability, Ace soaked in every ounce of his father's love, for however long Zed so openly allowed. As everyone was now lost in streams of tears, Zed finally peeled his face from Ace's and gently dragged his glassy blue orbs up to Libby, who stood in a fragile pose of reserved nervousness with both of her hands tucked over her front.

Zed shook his head and so gratefully peered up to her in a frozen bout of tender revelation. He shook his head, narrowed his teary eyes and continued to keep Ace's face cupped in his hand. He had his right arm linked with Tessa's grappled side hug of a grip, though he so gently began to stand and worm his way to Libby, who stood nearly half a dozen feet away in a shelled away display of confusion. Confusion over everything that had just taken place, just how much power had coursed through her, how she went against her own will and controlled someone's entire mainframe, she looked totally guilty and shellshocked, as if coming down from it was an absolute chore.

"Libby," Zed huffed gently as he approached, she flinched and almost didn't dare look him in the eye, nearly as if she knew she did something wrong, though she finally braved his fatherly eye contact and sagged her shoulders as his warmth soaked into her bubble. He shook his head in disbelief, once more, and continued on tenderly, "I owe you my life."

"We all do," Tessa added gently, everyone easily nodded in agreement.

"You saved me," Zed stated with a small, nasally chuckle of a cry, and although he knew he shouldn't be surprised, he still soaked in all of Libby's rare, tender incredibleness.

Although Libby was the only one successful in keeping her tears contained, they finally billowed in a mess down her cheeks as her chest began to heave in rising emotion to come. She shook her head, staggered on a few words and felt her cute, little voice rasp a few croaks of notions up to Zed.

"Why wouldn't I?" Libby narrowed her gaze and gave Zed a look of sheer, incredulous disbelief. She huffed a shaky breath as more tears spilled down her cheeks, "You're my father... The only one I've got..."

Zed's facial expression gently sloped to that of tender, concealed surprise, though his eyes gave it away. He sagged his shoulders a little, gave Libby a narrowed look of knowing love and nodded once, as if to very quickly agree with her notions, and with said nod, the two quickly sank into each other's embrace, a tight draw of urgency. Zed firmly held the back of Libby's head and pushed his face into the top of her little shoulder as she clamored to grapple her arms about his center and upper chest. As tears soaked the top of her little, bare shoulder, Zed firmly held her tight, his gentle hand pet the back of her head, and as much as she was very starkly not apart of his or Tessa's original coding, he inhaled a solid breath and was now hard-pressed with the notion that this rare, little, precious white fire flower was certainly his own. He squeezed his surrogate as tightly as he could, and although he was aware him and Tessa would eventually try for more children, his heart practically grew sore with the fact that Libby very easily earned her place right in the lineup, long ago.

"I love you, dad," Libby's little voice croaked in desperation as she gripped him as tightly as she could. She hiccuped a few cries into his shoulder and sagged deeper into his loving embrace.

"I love you, too, Libby," Zed huffed over her shoulder as he inhaled a deep breath, tugged her tighter to his chest and wrapped his strong arms tight about the backs of her upper shoulders.

"I-I can't imagine my life without you," Libby continued on in a staggering amount of outward cries to the hollow, echoey train cabin.

"You won't have to," Zed demanded as he gently pulled away, though he kept his hands firm to the tops of her shoulders and tilted his head down, to gain proper eye contact, "It's clear you'll stop at nothing to see that notion through... I can't believe you caught up to us..."

"Ace's bike ran out of gas, that's... That's why I resorted to throwing it at you," Libby's nasally voice finally choked a small laugh, and although it was maddeningly foreign, everyone else uttered shaky, sniffling chuckles.

"... You make one fantastic racer, there, love," Zed stated in whole honesty, a humbled tone of disbelief as he shook his head, "I'm extremely proud of you."

"Thank you," Libby nodded; Tessa gently smirked and nudged Ace's arm in a knowing way as the two continued to wipe the tears from their eyes.

"I-I'm sorry about your bikes," Libby pleaded nervously as she also darted her attention to Ace, "Both of you..."

"Don't be," Ace stated as he furrowed his brows and shrugged, "I'd rather the whole entire game of Dead Zed go up in flames than to lose my family... Bikes are replaceable."

"Wise words," Zed nodded as he lovingly wiped a few tears from Libby's cheeks, "C'mon... This is our stop. We've got a lot to discuss, back home."

* * *

 **A/N :** Just want to say really quick... This story just hit 1mil words. And no, not the saga...

Rectifying Origin, and Rectifying Origin ALONE. *DIES*

I still got a solid 30-50 chapters left in me, too. Good User.

Hope you guys are alright with being on this (ridiculously never-ending) ride! xD

Thank you, for _**EVERYTHING**_ , you guys. You make me so happy, so confident and so motivated to pump this beast out! You guys are the best!


	227. Chapter 227

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** That's exactly the vibe I was going for! If we've learned anything thus far, big races are bad! xD Thanks, friend.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! You will learn more about your points, about the original core-four, in the next chapter or so. :)

 **Snake557 :** At this point, it would just have to be put into a whole entire television series. This whole story wouldn't fit into even 8 movies xD

 **Silversuferann :** Hey, thank you SO much! I really appreciate that :D 1mil words feels weird to look at, for sure, but I'm honored!

 **NightHex54 :** Hey! That means a TON to me, thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it haha. It was a lot of fun to write! And, I'm so glad that you all get so much enjoyment from this story. It really makes my heart happy. Thank you.

 **Burgie :** Wow, that's incredible. Thank you so much! :D

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Eye of the Storm by Tut Tut Child**

* * *

 ***Chapter 227***

"Garage, castle meeting, play telephone with that one," Zed demanded in an ironic show of tender sternness, he pointed to Ralph, Vanellope and Rancis, all three sat poised in collected, confused, frozen terror as Zed and crew came urgently filing in after him.

"What happened?" Vanellope wondered loudly as she stood, the stool made a loud croak against the tile as she very quickly assessed the group; everyone was untouched, though Libby and Zed's clothes were painted all the colors of a war zone reddened display, burns, blood, tears and the like.

"Nothing good," Tessa muttered as she quickly followed her future husband across the kitchen and to the side door, just beyond the living room, in which lead to the garage and the dark end of the backyard, where the flyer's enclosure was. Tessa was diligently followed by Ace, Libby, Penny, Orph and Otto as she continued; Zed shoved the door open and disappeared out of it, the cool noon time air whisked their hair about, "Seems to be a record, eh? Not even two hours into this bullshit."

"So should we just never leave this castle ever again?" Rancis asked in a dry, spacey kind of way. He shook his head and gave Ralph an annoyed glower, at the situation at hand, "We can build a Sugar Rush castle replica, somewhere on these hills and just... I don't know. Make believe. Color the grass and trees pink? It could work?"

"You can pretend to be Radex if things end up going stale, I think we could make it believable," Ralph quickly agreed in an annoyed mutter as him and Rancis quietly shot teasing notions back and forth, they got to their feet, pulled out their communicators and got to work with the mass, castle-wide SOS of a castle meeting.

"Zed," Tessa urged tenderly as Zed pushed into the garage with purpose; he ignored her as his tall, stoic figure cued Coder, tabbed through a few holographic projectings and kept a tight-lipped air about himself, "Zed, let's... Just take a second to-"

"Breathe? To collect our thoughts?" Zed stabbed, Tessa flinched as the group, behind Tessa, gathered into the massive garage, beige concrete gorgeously splayed with the racer's impressive bikes, alongside two or three project cars, one of which being Tessa's. Zed scoffed a noise, cued a few options on Coder's silver display and was welcomed by the rush of the cold breeze as the garage doors hummed to a smooth, quick open, "We don't have time to even really be having this discussion. As much as I want to just... Download all my thoughts into your guys', and get on the same page with everyone... I can't. There's no time. We need to talk."

On a good day, Tessa would've clenched her fists and argued him, though she relaxed her spine and was grateful he was even alive to argue back and forth with her in the first place. Ace lovingly rested his larger hand on Tessa's upper back, a tender, quiet way of reassuring her that Zed was on fight or flight mode and his biting words weren't to be taken to heart. Tessa bobbed a nod, heaved a shaky sigh and held her hands at her center in twiddling nervousness. Everyone remained quiet as the rest of the gang filed into the garage, one by one, until eventually, the whole entire lot of the Kalivar castle crew loosely gathered in a half-circle about their leader. Terrified, nervous eyes remained honed to Zed in a draw of a billion questions, though before any of his brothers could ask just what was going on, Zed gingerly plucked a small, tangible tab out of one of Coder's holographic tiers of coding.

"Libby, why don't you go ahead and tell everyone, in detail, just what's going on here?" Zed stated gently to her, and although his tone was delicate, everyone could tell he was definitely on the edge of a freakout, "I don't even know exactly what happened... Except the fact that I was almost killed."

Everyone, that was absent in said fiasco, dragged their terrified expressions to Libby in a slow draw of disbelief, and although Libby was on the downslope of her adrenaline rush, she somehow felt as if she had a decent amount of leverage here, when it came to dominance in the conversation. She cocked an eyebrow and remained with her hands and arms loosely behind her back, an unintimidated stance. She hung towards the front of the group, at Tessa's right hand. She knew all eyes were on her, she knew she was the only one here that had the whole story, and although being in the spotlight wasn't her schtick, she furrowed her brows and gave Zed a gentle look of concern; she inhaled a deep breath and allowed herself to unravel.

"Just after as Zed, Tessa and Orph left the warehouse, where Zed was prepping his bike, Otto, Penny and I made sure Ace's bike was in working order before following their lead," Libby explained clearly, her accent gorgeously speckled the story like a warmly colored painting, though her words were sharp and nervous. She cocked an eyebrow and looked about a little, "I turned back to grab my coat, and upon bending down to retrieve it from the floor, I guess... The two workers discussing the bomb on the third checkpoint didn't see me."

Everyone froze and shot their nervous eyes to Zed, all the blood and burn stains on his sturdy, professional racing gear suddenly made sense. Zed darkly glossed his eyes to Ralph and Vanellope, both equally looked horrified.

"... I jumped on Ace's bike and hauled ass," Libby stabbed as she glowered her idle gaze to the floor, as if these instances surely were pushing the dark, inklings of ooze out of her pores. She narrowed her gaze and wondered just why she felt as if her heart was secretly a slow turning, tumultuous pit of a darkening void.

"That's not an exaggeration," Zed's smile was vacant, his eyes gently hooked to Libby's in an underlying, tender show of pride, "She caught up to Sonic and I and... Saved our lives."

"The race went unfinished?" Finn uttered nervously as he looked between Zed and Tessa, "Did Sonic have anything to say? An 'I'm sorry'? Anything?"

"I don't think Sonic was in on it," Libby spoke up, everyone peered to her in curiosity, having been certain her confidence, in speaking in front of a crowd, as limited.

"I still haven't wrapped my head around it," Zed shook his head and gently set down the bookmarked, tangible tile down onto the ground, and as he took a step back, a copy of his gorgeous bike began to hum and whir in a mechanical way, and as his majestic, mean looking bike came into existence once more, the group gently took a few steps back. Zed gently gestured out to his bike and narrowed his gaze, "This bomb, that nearly took our lives, obliterated a good portion of the race track. In the midst of Libby's life-saving bubbling techniques, I couldn't see the other side of the fire. It was like standing in the pits of hell..."

"How could Sonic NOT know what was going on, at that rate?" Vanellope spoke up as she stepped to the front of the group and dared to even budge into Zed's bubble, beyond the group. She looked about the group, and then to Zed, "It's hard to know exactly who to pinpoint this drama on what little we have to go off of."

"What did those two workers look like, Libby? In the warehouse?" Jax gently asked, everyone nodded and peered their curious attention to Libby, who stood solid next to Tessa.

"Grunt workers," Libby shrugged, "Nothing note-worthy."

"You don't think it was an inside job?" Finn squinted and gave Zed a nervous side-eye.

"I think if it were an inside job, Sonic wouldn't have gone the whole entire trouble of putting together a two-man race," Tammy spoke up, to which a few of the residents began to quietly volley ideas back and forth, "He would've taken you out in EZ Living, that one weekend. You were vulnerable then, too, right?"

"The only difference is there wasn't a massive audience, and it was set up to make it look like it was a freak accident," Tessa muttered, she looked off and frowned, "Sonic would've blamed it on a technical issue with Zed's bike, they would've controlled press on the incident, Sonic would've regenerated because he was in his own game, and... We all would've come back to Dead Zed without the final boss..."

Everyone frowned and sorrowfully dragged their eyes to Zed, who stood near his bike in a solid stance of riling dominance, he was frozen in just how grand this all was, just how easily he could've lost his life for good. Everyone began to quietly mumble nervous notions about not leaving to one another, and in this back and forth, Zed bobbed a nod and crossed his arms.

"No one is to leave this game," Zed instructed, everyone quietly obeyed his orders with a nod. He heaved a shaky sigh and shook his head, "It is clear we are not wanted, in the Arcade. We're safe here... Excluding very sneaky Sugar Rush scouts and those of us that go to and from Game Central Station, for game day, no one... I repeat... NO ONE is to leave Dead Zed. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nervously nodded, though without anyone noticing, Tessa kept her head still and glared Zed down in a confused fit of the need to rebel. She furrowed her brow in confusion, towards herself, and was quickly reminded of something that was coming up, on the agenda. She looked down to the concrete and began to ponder her thoughts. She was well aware Sonic was not to blame for this incident, and although jumping back into Sonic's game was suicide, she gently looked about the group and wondered just who she could persuade to come with her, on this mini-mission of hers, just who would be willing to secretly rebel with her, if just for a night. Before the meeting could begin to loosen up, Otto gently raised a clawed finger, gestured in the air lazily and flattened her ears.

"Libby, I have to say, you were extremely quick on that bike," Otto stated dryly, and although Libby sagged her shoulders and was about to accept the compliment, Otto narrowed her gaze in suspicion and side-eyed Libby in a draw of rising tension, once more "... Too quick."

"... Too quick?" Libby repeated in a nervous tick of near-startled words, Otto remained still and kept her sharp, cat eyes to Libby's figure.

"I have the luxury, here, of being a complete outside perspective, and I've got to say... My intuition has never failed me, before," Otto stated gingerly, although it was clear the bite in her tone was becoming apparent, as if she was on the verge of cracking a code. She kept Libby's gaze in a tight, hypnotic draw, a challenging glower, something Libby was certain she'd never receive from Otto, "Everyone here has incredible talents, gaming specials and powers. Now, I'm no User, and I don't know what any of that entails, but... Libby, had you have kept racing Sonic and Zed, all the way to the finish line, you would've won... By a LAND SLIDE."

Libby froze and felt everyone drag their now curious eyes to her, as if to soak in Otto's words; having been right up in Ace's and Libby's cute little quirks of discovering their User abilities, Otto had an unfair advantage of seeing everyone from afar. Libby inhaled a trembled breath, shook her head and began to look almost scared of being singled out, like such.

"Libby... Sonic and Zed had a ten second head start, and there were nine checkpoints on that racetrack," Otto kept her ears flat and so gently stepped out, from her side of the half circle, to nearly come to where Zed was standing, just before Libby. Her tail flicked in a long drag of decoding Libby's powers, right at the heart of it all, and although Libby didn't back down from Otto's curious wonderings, she still looked as if she was slowly becoming an animal backed into a corner, "You would've come in first and had time to choreograph your own victory dance while you waited for them to catch up."

"What of it," Libby snapped darkly, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and peered to Libby in rising curiosity, as well.

"Seems curious to me that a Teltokuan jungle girl, raised on fishing and hunting, harbors such a raw, incredible racing skill, far greater than the fastest racers in this entire arcade," Otto crossed her arms and gave Libby a curious, fang-filled smile, and although Otto was incredibly sharp, it was rare that she boasted the years of schooling she had under her belt, "Now, I understand that, aside from having Tessa's, Zed's and Vanellope's racing coding coursing through yours, you're also a User. Capable of so much."

"Get to the point," Libby stated in a frustrated manner, as if she couldn't wait to have the attention off of her; everyone watched in frozen, curious silence.

"There has only been one racer, in this whole Arcade, that could carry that sheer amount of speed, on a racetrack," Otto unfolded her arms and gently began to mosey in a wandering kind of way, Libby kept her glower tight to Otto as she continued on in a gentle tone, arms folded behind her back now, "You beat his checkpoint to checkpoint record by thirteen whole... Entire... Seconds."

"Turbo," Throttle's deep voice suddenly stated, from the far side of the group, to which everyone raised their eyebrows and dragged their now scared gazes to Libby.

"Turbotastic," Otto chimed in a nasally voice as she sprawled her claws, her tail flicked in a manner of her joking expression as her eyes grew big.

"That hardly correlates with what happened," Libby stabbed quickly and confidently in rising agitation.

"How do we know YOU'RE telling the truth, then?" Otto tested, to which Zed furrowed his brow and eyed Otto in defense for his surrogate daughter.

"Hey, hey," Zed's deep voice grew in strength, though Otto perked her ears and ignored Zed's coos.

"You were the only one in that warehouse before you bolted like lightning down the tracks," Otto eased as she stupidly dared to grow closer to Libby; Libby clenched her fists and inhaled a shaky breath of rising dominance.

"I'm not a liar," Libby demanded through the grit of her teeth, "Everything I said was the truth."

"It may be... But I can tell something is off about you," Otto dared as she flattened her ears, and although she was meaning no disrespect, due to the tenderness of her voice, she shook her head and eyed Libby in rising confusion, "I just can't put my claw on it..."

"You're barking up the wrong tree," Libby growled as Otto gently came to a stop.

"Said tree has a whole entire forest behind her, dude," Ace gently reminded, he cocked an eyebrow and gave Otto a look as if to politely ask her to back off.

"What are you even insinuating, here?" Oliver tested as everyone peered to Otto in collected protectiveness, for Ace's jungle princess.

"I had an adrenaline rush," Libby's voice held solid as she gestured her hand out, "It was literally my father's life on the line. So, I flew like a bat out of hell. I'm sure if Turbo had a dad that was on a one way lane to his ultimate demise, he'd beat anyone and everyone's checkpoint to checkpoint records, as well."

"It's possible," Otto laid off, though she smiled and looked down to her claws, "I see something in you that no one here sees, and it's blatantly obvious that you have more skeletons in your closet than you likely even know of."

"Please, tell me more about myself," Libby snapped in rising snottiness, Ace raised his eyebrows and peered to the back of Libby's head in surprise as her gentle accent began to fall away in the riled act of becoming mean and protective of herself, "It's clear you know so much more about me than I even know about myself."

"I never said that," Otto assured gently, "I just know my intuition has never failed me. You've always had that far off look in your eye... Like you have more information than even you can't begin to understand."

"Why don't you step closer, maybe we can understand together?" Libby stabbed darkly as she clenched her fists, and in the rile of her voice and words, her golden coding flared on her fists as she dared to take a few aggressive steps towards Otto; Tessa jumped out and held Libby back.

"Hoookay, that's enough, chill out," Tessa barked with a nervous laugh as she gave Otto a confused look of dejectedness, though she grappled Libby's upper arm and tenderly shook her, in a disappointed manner, "Libs, you don't need to get aggressive..."

"Pretty bold of you to go toe-to-toe with a User, let alone the Queen of Sugar Rush," Libby stabbed in a rushed manner of thoughts that were not collected properly, though with Libby's confusing roll of words, everyone froze and urgently peered to her in hard confusion.

"... Excuse me?" Tessa urged flatly, as if to be numb to having the crown dangled about in front of her.

Libby's chest heaved as her eyes softened in whole confusion, at herself. She gently tore her eyes to Tessa's, in said confusion that continued to rise, and before anyone could have her clarify her words, Libby shook her head, back stepped a few times and finally began to push out the back of the group and out the doorway to the garage. In a huff, she vanished, the whole garage was silent.

"How many of you girls are going to vie for my crown, seriously?" Vanellope stabbed in whole frustration, everyone nervously laughed as they looked to Tessa in confusion.

"I honestly thought it was just me," Tessa mumbled with a small, incredulous laugh as she shrugged, though everyone curiously dragged their attention to Otto as Tessa gestured her hand to their anthro friend, "So... I'm not about you playing mind games with my surrogate daughter, but... You're good."

"Scarily good," Tammy stabbed in confusion as Otto sagged her shoulders and began to look sheepish.

"I didn't mean to cause issue..." Otto shook her head, though Zed heaved a hard sigh and rubbed the back of his head in exhaustion.

"Bud, you uh... You get any shred of her coding claiming to be the Queen of Sugar Rush?" Zed stated dryly and unenthusiastically, as if this whole ordeal now seemed as if it were unreal.

"Not even a little," Ace stated in confusion as he looked down, "She's never mentioned anything like this, I have no recollection or information on her wanting the crown, talking about the crown or needing it, in any aspect. I know Libby and I would eventually be in line for the throne, but..." Ace sorrowfully peered to Ralph and Vanellope, his grandparents, "There's no way in hell either her or I would want to take that away from you two... Let alone my own mother. There's no way."

"You made her mad, could've been an empty, not-thought-through statement," Oliver muttered as the group loosened.

"Did she really beat Turbo's record?" Throttle's voice meeped gently, he still looked as if he was confused about that whole bit, though Otto honestly bobbed a nod and looked to Tammy for approval.

"Yeah, we had a whole semester that revolved around Turbo and his racing tactics," Otto eased, Tammy nodded and looked down, "That girl flew faster than... Faster than Tessa, Zed and Vanellope combined into one super-being. I'm not exaggerating."

"She was nearly flying," Tessa finally and quietly admitted, to which everyone gently dragged their gazes to Throttle; he shrugged and heaved an exasperated sigh.

"I-I don't know what to tell you. Adrenaline coupled with User powers? Ace could tell you, it makes you do incredible things," Throttle gently defended, to which Ace nodded to.

"I know she's had a dark past," Ace's voice was quiet and concerned as he idly looked off, "One that I wasn't a part of, that much is clear."


	228. Chapter 228

**Reviews :**

 **LadyKiller345 :** Aw thank you SO MUCH for that! It's reviews like this that totally make this whole mess worth while, and I value every single last one of you, even the ones that don't review, just have discovered this story, and even the ones who have been here since day one. each and every single one of you means the world to me! thank you SO MUCH! Enjoy the rest of the story! :D

 **WildVirus :** SO CLOSE YET SO FAR LOLOLOL. Yeah you won't find out for a HOT minute, so uhhh... Hold onto that feeling, I guess! xD I'm glad you're enjoying it otherwise tho! Thanks friend! :D

 **Silversuferann :** Thank you! Yes, I'm really trying to hone Otto's character a little more. Sort of extremely book smart but not so good with social cues, or 'street' smarts. Kind of fun to play off of, makes for some tension here and there haha. Also, **CONGRATS** On being my **1,600th** reviewer! Thank you!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! You will find out what all this means :)

 **Burgie :** I love hearing everyone's theories, so far no one has guessed it (except 1 of my close friends lol)

 **ArchDev :** That's awesome tho, thank you! xD I love hearing everyone's theories, it's fascinating to see just where everyone's minds go!

* * *

 ***Chapter 227***

"You uh... You going to see Libby before you head to sleep?" Tessa wondered, the whole afternoon and evening had passed without the sight of their white haired beauty.

"I would love to, she's not replying to my messages," Ace stated through a tired sigh as he adjusted his dark blue hoodie; after a long few hours of upping security measures on the entire game and castle, Ace, Tessa and Zed were the last ones to be awake. The three of them hovered by the castle's back door, and although the grounds were quiet for the night, Ace heaved a hot sigh and peered out the stained glass, of the back door, to his tower, across the field of glowing fire flowers. He rubbed the back of his head as his mother and father diligently peered to him through tired eyes, "I'm... I'm sure I should just leave her be. After everything that's happened today, I'm sure she just needs her space."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, she's still on castle grounds," Zed stated through a gentle sigh, and although he wasn't nosing through the grid's pinpoints of everyone, on his larger handheld, he was well aware of where everyone was stationed, by location; Libby's confidently read 'Kalivar Castle', "I'm sure she's asleep, just mulling everything over... As much trauma as I've been through today, I only had like ten seconds of it. She had an entire third of a race chock-full of it, not to mention the amount of energy she expelled."

"I just hope she's okay," Ace worried, and although he knew to respect Libby's space, he urgently peered to his mother and father, as if to hope to gain some reassurance from them, "That whole... 'Queen of Sugar Rush' statement, she made, has me a bit worried."

"Us too," Zed said, though his tone was nonchalant, as if maybe him and Tessa had come down from the worry as the day went on. He nodded and peered to his bride to be, she looked back at him with nervous, sleepy eyes, "I'm sure... She just spoke out of frustration. She technically is in line for the throne, to be Queen, directly after your mother... Maybe that's where that comment stemmed from."

"It skips Aunt Koko and Aunt Emery?" Ace wondered in gentle confusion, and although Zed shrugged, he gave Ace a confident nod.

"Well, I guess... When I'm King, that'd make you the next Prince," Zed gestured to his son, who stood proudly before the two, "Your woman of choice would then be Queen. Is that how that works?"

"I'd assume," Ace sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

"Guess it's not that huge of a deal... Oliver, Ems, Nox and Koko don't seem too grabby for the crown, and uh..." Tessa looked off with a nearly annoyed smile, "The second that crown is mine, you bet your ass I'm not letting it go for a hot minute."

"It's okay, mom," Ace shook his head and gave her a reassuring look of gratitude, "I'm honored... But I think I probably fall in the category of 'neutral' about it, as well."

"I'm sure if our next child is a girl..." Zed cocked an eyebrow and looked off before he dragged his smug gaze to his mate, "If she'd be anything like you... She'd want that crown. Lover boy, here, already is above King and Queen, with his User powers, anyways."

"It's odd, hearing that," Ace's huff of words ended with a bashful curl of a smile down to his feet, Zed lovingly nudged his shoulder, "I don't consider myself above you guys... If you were to hand me the crown, you know Libby and I would take good care of it."

"No doubt in our minds," Zed's deep, warm voice assured with a soft nod, though as Tessa expelled a raspy, hard yawn, Zed slipped his hand into hers and began leading her towards the entrance of the Sky Room, dimly lit and beckoning for a good nights sleep, "Sleep well, bud, and uh... Don't worry so much, about Libby. Just let her have her space. She'll probably be more open to discussion in the morning."

"Alright," Ace nodded, though the look of nervous dejection chased after his mother and father, "Love you guys."

"We love you, Ace," Both Tessa and Zed assured in tired, murmuring coos of kindness as the three separated for good.

Just as Tessa and Zed crossed the dark, star-riddled Sky Room, they kept their gentle conversation hushed, though as they came upon their bedroom door, which was cracked open, they both slowly dragged their words to a halt and honed in to the soft, tender voice that spoke inside their bedroom. Upon hearing the sweet lilt of that familiar Teltokuan accent, they both gently glanced to one another and peeked into their own bedroom. Libby sat tightly curled with Marble across their gorgeous bedroom. Sat in the carpeted sitting area, with two massive lounge chairs, Marble was warmly curled, limbs, tail, wings and all, with Libby nestled lovingly into her belly and side. Libby diligently ran her fingers through Marble's glorious, long white mane, and although Marble wasn't outwardly talking, it was clear the two were having a soft conversation; Libby's delicate little voice carried on in a worrisome tone, all in mumbled Teltokuan.

Tessa gently opened the door further and allowed her and Zed into their warmly lit bedroom, and once the door finally croaked a final noise, upon reaching it's widest girth, Libby raised her eyebrows in sleepy surprise and dragged her gaze across their massive bedroom, which was also kissed with stars from the glass dome above. Tessa huffed a small chuckle, set her coat down on the end of hers and Zed's large bed, and was delighted once she heard Zed shut their bedroom door. It was apparent that they were trying to show Libby and Marble that they needn't hurry out; likely so to get a proper, clarifying conversation out of Libby. Marble's ears stood gently taut atop her head as she lifted her snout to sniff the air. She long blinked her glorious, silver eyes and readjusted the upper muscles and feathers of her incredible wings, tucked tight about hers and Libby's lounging bodies.

"Hey, babe," Tessa's voice was gentle welcoming, she knew Libby was likely absolutely riddled with worry, from earlier, so Tessa made sure to keep her body language and tone as open and soft as possible, "We missed you at dinner."

"I'm sorry," Libby stated in a crackle of knowing sheepishness, she heaved a long sigh and looked back down to Marble's mane, which had now lifted out of her lap due to Marble lifting her head; the remainder of it hung draped down Marble's fluffy neck and fur, "I don't have an appetite."

"I hear that," Zed stated in a mumble, though he shot Libby a gentle smile and began to work his way towards the bathroom, "I'll be showering, be just a minute."

"Okay," Tessa called as Zed disappeared into the bathroom, the door clacked behind him; Tessa bit her lip in contemplation and figured this was probably for the better, she knew her and Libby needed to have a little chat, anyhow. Tessa tried not to nervously drag her feet as she approached both Libby and Marble, "You doing okay? Today sucked, huh..."

"You have no idea," Libby's voice was tired, though she bugged her eyes, peered to Tessa in whole sorrow and raised her hands, "I-I... I didn't mean that like... That certainly came out wrong-"

"I understand what you meant, Libs, it's okay," Tessa held up her hand and breathed an understanding chuckle in Libby's direction, she fully relaxed in one of the white, fluffy lounge chairs to her fullest extent the second she saw Libby's shoulders sag in the cloak of relief that came over her, "I want to apologize on Otto's behalf... She most definitely means well."

"Cats," Libby muttered, to which Marble twitched her ears and huffed a hot, short noise through her snout, almost as if to mock a scoff; Libby combed through Marble's mane once more, "I could understand if she had known me for a long time, but... Sort of hurt. I just met her. Who does she think she is, assuming all this stuff about me?"

"Well, how much of it is assumed?" Tessa wondered delicately, and although her words could be seen as a challenge, she was grateful her neutral tone was met with Libby's now inviting body language.

"You mean like... How much of what Otto said is actually true?" Libby wondered through narrowed eyes as she shook her head and looked off, "I don't really know... None of it. How could she so easily just... Compare me to Turbo? Someone who nearly ruined Vanellope's life? Is feared by the entire Arcade? How could she do that?"

"Otto is extremely book smart," Tessa raised her eyebrows and looked down to her larger hands, in her lap, she breathed a giggle and beamed, "Sometimes Otto doesn't know how to not step on toes, when it comes to social cues."

"Guess I'm opposite," Libby muttered in whole annoyance as she finally gave up with combing Marble's mane, and although Marble was very much in on the conversation, she kept her telepathic thoughts quiet, "How could she actually think I wasn't telling the truth... That really hurt. You believe me, don't you, mom?"

Tessa's eyes hooked with Libby's nervous, innocent orbs, and before Tessa could even leap to Libby's aid and urge that she believed her, she heaved a hot sigh through her nose and smiled the warmest smile she could. She shook her head and narrowed her gaze.

"Of course I believe you," Tessa didn't hesitate, "There's no reason for you to lie, in this situation. You saved Zed's life... I mean, we're in debt to you... For kind of a long time."

"I'm just doing what's right," Libby nodded and gave Tessa a determined look, "I know any one of you guys would do the same for me."

"In a heartbeat," Tessa stated through a long sigh as she, again, looked down to her larger hands in her lap. She furrowed her brow and knew this next part would likely be difficult, though she tested it out anyways, "Baby, I'd like to ask you just what you meant about that whole... 'Queen of Sugar Rush' comment."

Just as Tessa thought this was all going well, Libby finally exhaled a shaky breath and looked down to Marble's huge, agile paws and claws, which were comfortably folded in such a way. Libby furrowed her brow into her expression, shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ears in rising contemplation on if she should even spill just how she felt, in this instance.

"I honestly have no clue where it came from, but..." Libby's confused expression grew into a grimace of concern as she looked up to Tessa, "I can't say I didn't mean it. I have no clue what drove me to say it, but... I can't help but feel as though I am right about it. Even though I am very VERY clearly not the Queen of Sugar Rush."

"Did you mean that one day you might be?" Tessa prod, she tried not to show offense, she knew she needed to somehow get all this information out into the open, and getting upset over a trivial title wasn't going to do her, or Libby, any good, "I mean... If you marry Ace, you two are in line for the throne. Is that where you mind went?"

"No," Libby looked lost and sad, she shook her head and gave Tessa a near-pleading look, as if to beg to hear her out, "I don't know what compelled me to say such a thing, but, it was like there was this feeling in my heart telling me that... I had that high and awesome of a title, and how dare anyone treat me like how Otto did."

"... You do realize that being a User puts you in a higher title than even my own mother and father, right?" Tessa side-eyed Libby with a coy, playful smile; this finally made Libby's cute, pink lips curl in shyness.

"I-I still consider myself a User in training, it's... Nothing special," Libby mumbled with said bashful smile that sloped to dejectedness, though Tessa gave her a look of disbelief.

"... You still think you're simply 'in training' after the stunt you pulled today, Libby?" Tessa ogled, Libby's innocent, now glassy eyes dragged to Tessa's in a slope of humility, to which Tessa blurt an incredulous laugh, "I can't tell if you're trying to be modest, or not, but... It's almost painful, babe. You have a knack for the powers... And with Ace's training, you've definitely got the umph."

"I appreciate that," Libby stated through a gentle sigh as she continued to keep her eyes down to her lap, and idly to Marble's mane. Marble's larger snout gently wrinkled in a few involuntary sniffs right at Libby's cheek, she scrunched her shoulder with a small giggle and finally flashed Tessa a small smile, "I'd be willing to bet money that Sonic would've been stopped a lot sooner had the flyers all been there."

"Doubtful," Marble mumbled, telepathically, to Libby; both girls smiled as Tessa shook her head and looked up to the gorgeous glass dome above the three.

"I don't know, Libby, I don't even think Turbo himself could've caught up to you, even if he tried," Tessa stated in gentle conclusion, she knew prodding at this issue further wouldn't bode well, for the rest of the night, anyways.

Libby furrowed her brow, gingerly stroked the side of Marble's neck and gave her gorgeous fur a contemplative grimace. She shook her head and near-pleadingly peered to Tessa, as if to continue to show that she was lost and confused, and although Tessa was quick to allow the conversation to fizzle out, Libby kept the flame alive.

"Mom... I-I know Mimi said she's found me at the side of Kajikana river, but... Surely I have to have parental source codes... Don't I?" Libby worried, and although she knew just what he answer was, she wondered if it could potentially be true; Tessa shook her head and gave Libby a sorrowful look.

"Libby, your coding is among the most curious we've ever seen, and trust me... Zed and I have seen some shit," Tessa blurt, both girls laughed, though Tessa straightened her hair and heaved a hot sigh through her nose, "Your coding practically is a double negative... It's bizarre how little it makes sense."

"I am a self programmed gamer, though," Libby stated in wavering nervousness, the lilt at the end of her sentence now put her in a huge bubble of a question.

"Your coding reads as a User made gamer, but... All of it's properties, everything your coding is made of, is very clearly self-programmed," Tessa looked off, as if to scan her thoughts, "Yet, you grew up from a baby form, peaked at full maturity after one year, and have gone through the motions every single faux-code goes through. Including myself... It honestly makes no sense."

"You DID tell me that Ace was two weeks older than me," Libby fingered her lip, "Did... Did dad do anything, to the cabinet, while you guys were humans?"

"Well, yeah, he..." Tessa felt her pupils tighten at the realization that had come over her, she held her breath and peered Libby down, and although she wanted to get riled and continue this conversation on in a heightened frenzy of understanding, she sagged a little and heaved a shaky sigh, "Zed gave the cabinet a hard reset... I came back to the Arcade, that day, and was simply a day pregnant with Ace."

"Two weeks gestation period," Libby stated knowingly, "... Dad did something to the cabinet... What if I just happened to just appear out of thin air?"

"Is that even possible?" Tessa squinted, "My brain went there, but... I don't even think that's possible."

"It's the only explanation, however weak it is," Libby sighed and looked off, "I keep wondering just who I am, it's clear I don't really... Come from anyone or anything, here, in Dead Zed. All the people of my tribe had gorgeous, flawless dark skin and near-midnight blue hair... And there I was, sticking out like a sore thumb."

"What a treat," Tessa eased a small laugh, to which Libby smiled, rolled her eyes and looked off.

"Some of my tribe's members thought I was simply a bad omen... But, Mimi kept me anyhow," Libby smiled to Marble, to which she flattened her ears and lovingly nudged her snout underneath Libby's jaw.

"Welp... After this mess, why don't you, Ace, Zed and I do some digging in your coding, within the next few days," Tessa stated, though as she got out of her chair and stood, she nervously peered down to Libby, "I-If you don't mind, I mean we don't have to if that feels too invasive."

"No, not at all, I-I'd actually like that," Libby nodded as she, too, slowly stood and straightened out her clothes. Marble heaved a hot breath and gracefully got to all four of her feet, though she bowed in a cat-like stretch, sprawled her wings and uttered a raspy, guttural of a yawn that echoed about the glass dome, "I've been really curious what all of this could mean, anyhow."

"Well, good, I'm glad," Tessa nodded as the three slowly moseyed to Tessa's bedroom door, "Babe, while you're on your way up to your room, I... I don't want to tell you what to do, but you should probably stop in and say goodnight to Ace. He's very worried about you. You know how he is."

"I know, he's been messaging me all day, I felt bad ignoring him, but..." Libby staggered and rubbed the back of her head as the three reached Tessa's bedroom door, "I guess I'm just terrible at putting my feelings into words, sometimes."

"Well, you're in good company," Tessa's loving voice rang true, and as the two gently sagged into a warm embrace, they held it for a couple moments of longing. Tessa rubbed Libby's upper back and gently kissed the side of her head, "I love you, babe. You make us proud everyday."

"Thanks, mom... I love you too," Libby meeped softly as she sagged deeper into Tessa's strong, motherly embrace, and as the two finally unravelled from the pocket of love they had enveloped each other in, both Libby and Marble silently stepped out of Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, to cross the glorious Sky Room for the night.

Tessa smiled and watched the two vanish underneath the star's glow, and as she gingerly clacked their bedroom door shut, she breathed a long sigh, messily thumbed for the light switch on the wall and began to take her clothes off. As Zed heard their company leave, he opened the bathroom door and was thrilled the two could now have the privacy they were used to. Through a hard, grumbling sigh, Zed stepped out of the bathroom, entirely naked, though he ruffled his now wet, dark blue hair with a bath towel. He shot Tessa an annoyed smirk and shook his head.

"So uh... Nearly died today," Zed struck up conversation whilst Tessa eased closer to her work desk, she tidied a few things and grabbed her communicator. Although she snuck a glance to Zed's bare body, across the way, she powered on her communicator and knew she had a duty she had to very quickly carry out. Zed bent over a little, firmly ruffled his hair even harder and came out of it with his electric blue hair now shooting in all directions, "Sort of weird how easily you take things for granted, before something like that... I don't think I've ever had a near-death experience, before today. I always wished for one, but now I'm... I'm solid without it!"

"Yeah you're telling me," Tessa muttered as she set her communicator on the bed, eased the rest of her clothes off and thumbed at her communicator, so to set the thermostat's temperature for their bedroom, "I literally had to sit in the pits, watching all of this unfold on a monitor that was the size of my head... How do you think I felt."

"... I'm sorry," Zed frowned as he hugged the damp towel to his chest, he looked about their dim bedroom and counted every single one of his blessings, and although Tessa's thumbs tabbed away at her communicator, she was hoping Zed didn't prod.

 _Sunday, October 30th 2016 11:18pm_

 _QueenB : Hey bub, you awake?_

"Who'yah texting?" Zed asked, much to Tessa's dismay. She heaved a nonchalant sigh and gestured down to her communicator as she prepared to crawl into bed, for the night.

"Just Ace," Tessa stated, in which she wasn't lying, "Just making sure he's okay, after the whole mess with Libby... Before she left, I told her to go see him, so I'm just making sure that actually happens."

"Poor dude," Zed bobbed a nod, hung the towel back in the bathroom, turned the light off and moseyed towards their beckoning bed, prepared for a good nights sleep.

 _User : Yeah mom, what's up?_

 _QueenB : I found Libby in our bedroom, I told her to stop by your place before she goes to sleep. I'm hoping she follows through._

 _User : Yeah, she messaged me and said she'd be right down, she needs to feed Chepi._

"Oh good, Libby kept her word," Tessa smiled as she sagged, though she eyed her communicator and hoped this prolonged conversation, with Ace, wouldn't tip Zed off to her little scheming plan.

"Good, she's a good one," Zed's deep voice mumbled as the two slipped under the covers, got situated and finally sagged into each others sides, though it very quickly turned to Zed resting his head on Tessa's sternum, just above her breasts.

"I'll say," Tessa agreed with a sigh, she was glad to see Zed snuggle deeper into her body and close his eyes; she hugged her arms about his strong body, and although she soaked in his warmth, she kept her attention tight to her conversation with Ace.

 _QueenB : Listen, I'm about to add a few more people to this shindig, but I wanted to catch you first and see how you felt about my little idea... I really need your help with something._

 _User : Sure, mom... You have me worried, what's up._

 _QueenB : It's nothing bad, just... I need a handful of you to come with me, tomorrow._

 _User : ... Right after dad instructed us not to leave Dead Zed?_

Tessa heaved a hot, silent sigh through her nose and gazed across her glorious, moon-kissed bedroom. She rolled her eyes and very quickly wondered why Ace had to be a stick in the mud, sometimes.

 _QueenB : Yes, son. I could've sworn you would've discovered by now that uh, I'm the fun parent?_

 _User : You both are fun... YOU just have a knack for sneaking out. And since you're involving me, I'm lead to believe this means going back to Game Central Station. Why else would you need me?_

 _QueenB : Um, ouch? Can you lighten up for a second and hear me out?_

 _User : Sorry, just... Worried about Libby._

 _QueenB : She's fine, stop worrying. Just please let me have your full attention before Libby gets to your place, cause God knows you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your neck._

 _User : I almost just spit out my drink laughing lol_

Tessa beamed a smile and was wrapped in hers and Ace's conversation, though she flinched as Zed suddenly heaved a hard sneeze into the blanket and stiffened, though he relaxed afterwards and resumed his snuggly burrowing position. Tessa smiled and warmly pet the back of his head as he remained tightly glued to her, though she heaved a shaky sigh and knew this would be no easy task.

 _QueenB : I think your father has forgotten all about it, but... While we were at the tracks, earlier today, our whole clan was invited to Perriton City's Halloween bash. Halloween is tomorrow..._

 _User : Can't we take Uncle Orph trick-or-treating around the suburbs of Ekreth?_

Tessa blurt a laugh and blew her cover, Zed opened his eyes and gave her a bewildered look of cheek.

"You good?" Zed grumbled, Tessa wiped her eye and waved him off.

"I-I'm fine, Ace just said something funny," Tessa cooed.

 _QueenB : Okay, stop making ME laugh now cause your father is_ _getting suspicious. Ace, we need to get to that party. I HAVE to find out who did this, to us._

 _User : So, we're just going to waltz in, willy-nilly, like nothing happened? I can't imagine that going over well._

 _QueenB : We'll be in disguise... It's a Halloween event. No one is going to look like themselves. They're holding the event in Game Central Station, so if we need to get out quick, it'll be easy._

Tessa bit her lip and now felt her heart sink at the fact that Ace's replies had dropped off. After a few minutes, she heaved a long, silent sigh and felt bad for pestering him, though she did anyways.

 _QueenB : I know Libby probably just showed up but please at least conclude this with me, son._

 _User : I'm sorry, yeah she just showed up. I'm here, she understands._

 _QueenB : Did you tell her?_

 _User : Yeah... We're in, mom. She's pretty excited about it, actually._

 _QueenB : I knew she would be._

 _User : Who else were you going to invite?_

Tessa bit her lip and looked off, and it was at this time did Zed's breathing even out to a deep, restful slumber of evenness. She pondered just who she should bring, and although nearly half of the crew came to mind, she knew she needed to narrow it down. She began to thumb away.

 _QueenB : I'm leaving my_ _parents, aunt and uncle out of this... I'm thinking of also bringing Penny, Nox and Koko. Sound good?_

 _User : ... I'd nix Aunt Koko, mom. As much as she'd be all in, she and Tammy run their mouths and don't hold back. Word would get back to your parents in a day's time._

 _QueenB : You really think so?_

 _User : Yes... I told her a secret once and the whole castle knew about it the next two days._

 _QueenB : About how you got those banana peppers stuck up your nose?_

 _User : SEE?!_

Tessa covered her mouth and desperately tried not to blurt out laughter, in fear of waking Zed up. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to steady her breathing.

 _QueenB : Alright, alright... You, me, Libby, Nox and Penny. We need to sneak out tomorrow night, nose about Game Central, and see just what we can find._

 _User : Does this mean we've got to talk to people? You think that'd give us away?_

 _QueenB : It will be fine, son... No one really knows what we sound like. Just as long as we're in disguise. I'll come up with that tomorrow. I'll message Penny and Nox, you and Libby keep quiet about it, I'll keep you guys informed come tomorrow evening, okay?_

 _User : Okay, we will._

 _QueenB : Oh oh, Ace, please, for User's sake, if you're going to do *anything* tonight, please put the tower on safe mode. You nearly obliterated the tower's levels, the other night. Sorry for the bluntness._

 _User : Aye captain._

Tessa wrinkled a small smile and finally powered off her communicator, and before she could let out a long breath and begin planning for the long-winded, secretive event for tomorrow, she sagged into hers and Zed's bedding and finally felt sleep overcome her consciousness. She so willingly allowed sleep to take over, she knew the whole lot was likely due for an insane amount of recovery sleep because of just what had taken place, earlier in the day.

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **Hey guys! I posted the sketchdump AND the massive file, presenting the Kalivar castle I made in Minecraft. ALL of it is on my deviantART (Vyntresser) though, please forgive me... I've missed quite a handful of requests, due to losing my job, the whole BS that went down at the end of the year. I really tried to push through, but man was it difficult. I'm so sorry if I missed your request... You can beat me up about it later :( I'm sorry.**


	229. Chapter 229

**A/N:**

 **I understand a great amount of time has passed since me uploading; I'll try to keep it short.**

 **Cory and I are still together, though I moved out. We have a lot of work to do, in our relationship, and in order to make things right, we needed that little bit of space. I moved to Atlanta, where we are now ducking into a semi-long distance relationship, and if I get accepted to school, he will move to wherever I'll be attending so we can properly date and revamp the situation/relationship. We are just fine, though we are problem solving in the best way we can, for ourselves, and we are now on a path to where we can focus on the things we need to work on, outside of the relationship, so we can better ourselves and prepare for marriage, one day. I love the dude with all my heart! He has been super SUPER SUPER sweet to me, through this whole process, and I can tell already that things are looking up, for good.**

 **I'm currently in Peachtree City, just outside of Atlanta, so to any of my Atlantians, HERE I AM! Cory and I are looking into hopefully attending DragonCon, though I have previously-made plans, during that month, so who knows...**

 **The reason I've been absent is because even though Cory and I are okay, we definitely took a hit, mentally, and I am only just NOW bouncing back. I just applied to Ringling, and will hear back in April - I'll be applying to SCAD shortly here. I am very nervous/excited, and although this whole entire month has been a MASSIVE tornado I've somehow gotten caught in, I have NOT forgotten about my precious story.**

 **This chapter is important, and I wanted to be in the right mind frame to write it. I hope you guys enjoy :D**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **The Passing - 7 Minutes Dead**

* * *

 ***Chapter 229***

 _Monday, October 31st 2016 6:02pm_

 _QueenB : Don't pack anything, wear something light... I'll have a change of clothes for all of us waiting at the entrance of Dead Zed._

 _User : Royal and I are ready... Libby is thinking of staying here. She swears not to tell anyone, but, after yesterday she's... Well... Not feeling too well. Y'know._

 _QueenB : I trust her. Have her maybe stay in her room/the tower until we get back, just in case someone asks her where we all are._

 _QueenB : My task, getting out of here without being obvious. Meet Penny, Lickity and I on her patio, near the flyer's enclosure. Bring Nox and Royal, us three will be waiting for you guys there._

 _User : Yes ma'am_

Tessa inhaled a slow, silent shaky breath and gently broadened her perspective from beyond her communicator. She noticed the kitchen and living room was tidily littered with the majority of her family, her mother and father lovingly and teasingly bickered with Taffyta and Rancis in the kitchen, Zed and Finn had a small debate on game protocols, whilst everyone else fiddled with the rest of the dishes, post-dinner. Tessa bit her lip, gently drew her eyes to Zed and knew she'd have to sneak off, in a convincing way. Just as she figured she was home free and good to slink away to Penny's room, she was jolted out of her thoughts the second Throttle's sweet voice grabbed her attention.

"Hey, Tess, you don't look so good... Is everything okay?" Throttle wondered as he slowed his walk to the kitchen sink, he held three plates messily stacked with just scraps of leftover food and silverware.

"O-Oh, I'm fine," Tessa cheesed, she hugged her hands behind her back and staggered on a few words; she knew she was a terrible liar, and was even worse at not wearing her heart on her sleeve, though she pushed on in a faked exasperated tone, "Penny uh... Wants me to help her rearrange her closet and get rid of clothes she won't wear. Y'know me... Not a girly girl."

"Ah, not totally your thing," Throttle bought the lie, bobbed a nod and moved closer to the sink, much to her delight.

"I mean, she's practically my sister, gotta be selfless somewhere," Tessa fibbed some more, though with Throttles final conclusive bob of a nod, Tessa had finally come to the threshold of the hallway. She ducked down it, out of sight, and let out a shaky breath of relief, "That was close..."

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," Penny hissed at the very end of the corridor, where her room was cozily stationed; Tessa turned her swift walking into a silent hustle. Both girls sunk into Penny's room and quietly closed the door as Penny carried on above a whisper, "Lickity's ready... We have to hurry, we can't have anyone see us leave."

"Are Ace and company here, as well?" Tessa pushed through Penny's room, took her coat off and messily laid it on Penny's bed, she knew she'd come back for it, though for now, they both could care less about the cleanliness of Penny's room.

"Coming," Penny breathed as they urgently came out of Penny's sliding glass doors, closed it in silence and peered to the darkening sky and backyard, beyond Throttle's abode.

"They just entered the enclosure," Lickity's gentle voice cooed as she perked her ears and listened for Royal, Ace and Nox. Even though she could hear their feet against the grass, far off, Penny and Tessa couldn't, "We should be set to go, now."

"Easier than I thought that'd be," Tessa stated quietly with an incredulous smile, though as Royal came silently slipping out of the side of their enclosure, through the tall, thick trees, Lickity hunkered down, insinuating that Penny and Tessa should immediately board.

"Ready?" Ace whispered to his mother as he sat aboard Royal, Nox tightly sat behind him.

"Ready," Tessa nodded as her and Penny so quickly saddled themselves to Lickity's spine, she gestured to the sky and braced herself, "Let's go."

With a firm jump, a hard, silent down flap and a good few pumps into the cold, Dead Zed evening sky, both Lickity and Royal board away from castle grounds as fast as they possibly could. As soon as they were airborne for at least thirty seconds, Tessa sagged her shoulders in relief and looked back, just to make sure they were far enough away from the Kalivar Castle. The gorgeous castle sat, glowing in the evening mist, and although she was aware everyone was likely freezing, she knew the entrance to Dead Zed wasn't way too far off; Lickity and Royal flew as quickly as their passengers would allow.

"You really think they're not going to notice that any of us are missing?" Nox prod loudly as he relaxed behind Ace, Tessa and Penny diverted their attention to him, just across the way.

"We all gave decent enough excuses, right? What were your two boys' excuses?" Tessa waggled her hand to Ace's and Nox's direction.

"I said I was going to sleep, full stomach," Nox grumbled as he pat his lower chest and shook his head, "H-How I wish that were true..."

"You can sleep when you get back," Penny grunted with a small giggle, everyone smiled.

"No, what if we find out something exciting?" Nox whined, "Then I won't be ABLE to sleep!"

"Who knows what we'll find out," Tessa rolled her eyes and peered across the darkening horizon, the entrance could be seen finally coming up; likely about thirty miles off, "I'm just hoping to at least get SOME form of clarity, from yesterday. Surely someone knows something."

"So how are you expecting we'll be safe to waltz about this party and go unnoticed?" Nox inquired as everyone drew their attention to Tessa.

"I just whipped something up quick, last night... I'll have to tab into the code room, at the control panel just before Dead Zed's entrance," Tessa explained as she kept her eyes tight to the horizon, "I figured we could just dress as Shy Guys. Red cloak, white mask... Easy enough."

"I would've never thought about that," Ace bobbed a nod and gave his mom a look of impress, "Can they see our faces through the eye holes, though?"

"Gotcha covered... I put together a digital sort of skull mask we can wear underneath the shy guy mask," Tessa shrugged, "It looks like crap, but... I did it quick. That way, if you lose your mask, you're not just walking around exposed."

"Sounds good to me," Penny shrugged and sent an eager smile to the horizon as they soared over the towering jungle canopy, "So... Should we have a proper meeting spot? A distress call?"

"Ka-KAW!" Nox obnoxiously squaked, everyone blurt into hard laughter.

"THAT, that will be our distress call," Ace hunched over and loudly laughed.

"I don't know..." Tessa furrowed her brow and heaved a hard, long sigh, "To be honest, I haven't really thought it through, too well... Why don't we, I don't know... Go around the party, and meet back at the train station after a half an hour. If none of us have discovered anything, we'll go about, again, for another half an hour."

"Maybe just keep doing that until the party is over?" Penny inquired, Tessa shrugged and nodded as she peered to Ace and Nox for approval.

"Sounds good to me," Nox's voice was gentle and nonchalant.

"Mom, one question..." Ace cocked an eyebrow and peered to Tessa in cheeky delight, "What do we tell dad, when we get back?"

"I don't know," Tessa snipped, everyone laughed as she forced back a small smile, "Better to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission."

"Keep tellin' yourself that," Nox cheerily teased, Tessa shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"He really shouldn't be surprised, anymore... Sneaking out is my specialty," Tessa grinned and gave Ace and Nox a wild child look, to which they began to look flabbergasted.

"Clearly!" Ace bellowed with a hard laugh, as did everyone else.

"It's all with good intent," Tessa called as Lickity and Royal soared past the evening, Dead Zed mist and deeper into the foliage, due to growing closer to the entrance.

As Lickity and Royal gingerly glided in a lofty, slower speed through the thickening foliage they now succumbed to, everyone quieted their conversation, hunkered tight to their backs and allowed the two beasts to do what they needed to do, through the now tougher flying zone. Once they reached Dead Zed's gaping, glowing entrance, everyone tried not to make too much of a scene in dismounting, as there were some civilians hanging around and passing through. In the neediness to get on their costumes and head to Game Central Station immediately, they were slowed by the small amount of a crowd they hard garnered. Ace bit his lip and nervously watched as Tessa tried her very hardest to not only kindly attend to the few individuals that recognized her, as citizens, and politely tell them that her crew was in a hurry. Once and for all, the group broke away and they said their quiet goodbyes to Lickity and Royal.

"Didn't expect people to be up here," Ace hissed to Tessa in whole, nervous annoyance, though Tessa allowed her palm to glow with her silver circuits as she touched one of the walls of the entrance; a small screen lit up on the circuit board wall, a hack only the shared core of the game was allowed to, "You think they even know what's up? Or what happened yesterday?"

"Ace, it was a group of Ekreth's subdivisional hobby-corner knitting club," Tessa grumbled to him as she thumbed through a few options, Penny and Nox gently stifled laughter as Ace bashfully glanced to them over his shoulder, "They're harmless. Stop worrying... We need to just let go of worry and see what we can discover. Now hold still."

Ace cocked an eyebrow as a small light gently flickered on his face for a second before changing the coding, a little; his face adorned a cool, hand-painted like skull mask, with black for the eye holes. Penny and Nox peered to him in thrilled surprise and eagerly awaited their turn, though before they could ask to be next, Tessa cued to them and watched the game's code room work it's magic. Before anyone could process everything, they were suddenly dressed and ready to go. Tessa lifted her mask, peered to everyone in cheery surprise and slumped her shoulders.

"Alright... Now we can relax. No one will recognize us, with these on," Tessa explained as everyone began to calmly walk down the wire of Dead Zed's entrance, closer to their hub station, End Of Line, "Once we're at the party, we should scatter... The more ears about the party, the better. Just be inconspicuous."

"Hard for me, but uh... I'll try," Ace grumbled as he gestured to his large fists, even though they were covered by his droopy red cloak, it was still obvious.

"We're fighting the same battle, son, I think you'll be okay," Tessa breathed a small giggle as she nudged her fist into the center of Ace's broad, strong chest.

"I think I'm the only one with a legitimate problem," Nox mumbled as the four hooked a now not-so-moseying turn out of Dead Zed's outlet and into End Of Line Station; everyone nervously peered to Nox in rising curiosity, "My eyes' glow can be seen through my mask, huh..."

"Yeah, they can," Penny worried in a nervous tone as she peered to Tessa and Ace, "Shouldn't be too much of a problem, will it?"

"No, you should be okay, Nox... It's noticeable, but not overwhelmingly so," Tessa reassured as they gently ducked in and out of the lingering crowds, in the station, and although they tried not to seem technically up to something, they still knew getting in and getting out, as fast as they could, would be for the better.

"Still haven't discussed a proper distress call," Nox mumbled as they pushed into the train station and patiently waited for the next arriving train, amidst a few other gamers dressed in Halloween costumes and headed to Game Central Station, for Sonic's Halloween bash.

"We can just use the one previously mentioned," Tessa stated through a hard, tired sigh, to which Penny and Ace loudly blurt into laughter; Nox pumped his fists in excitement.

"YES! I can't wait," Nox hissed, Tessa rolled her eyes with a wide smile and shook her head; she knew, no matter what, someone was bound to make light of a hard situation.

As the group quietly sat with each other on the train, it became apparent that not conversing to each other, in such disguise, probably wasn't for the better. Although it was clear the clan was definitely together, they tried not to make it seem too much like they had something up their sleeve. They lightly discussed trivial things, laughed and made certain everyone around them truly believed they were simply headed to Game Central Station for a good time. The second the train pulled into the station, everyone stood and nervously hung tight to each other, for they knew, the second they were out of the station was the second that this became an 'every man for himself' kind of situation.

Tessa lead the charge, she could feel Ace hanging to her right and Penny to her left, and although she knew Nox was still following suit, she wondered if he was prepared to duck off and be on his own, as opposed to the two that stayed tight to Tessa's gravity. Just as she was about to cue to Ace, with his mask gently lifted for better conversing, Penny quickly sunk to Tessa's side and began to whisper into her ear, a nervous habit she was discovering Penny had when put in stressful situations.

"Are we really to do Nox's stupid distress call if we need help?" Penny complained in Tessa's ear, to which she laughed and gave Penny a defeated smile and a shrug.

"I mean, why not," Tessa mumbled as Ace overheard and also laughed, though it was clear that Tessa's intuition was correct, and Nox had easily split from everyone and vanished into the massive, confusing crowds that littered Game Central Station. Tessa hung tight with Penny and Ace, as they slowed to a stop, though they lifted their masks for one last pow-wow, "Remember, meet at the statin after a half an hour, keep your wits about you and uh... Keep an ear out for the distress call."

"Oy," Ace muttered as he sagged the mask over his face, backstepped a few times and stated a quiet goodbye to the two; Penny did the same thing, and it was in this raw instance did Tessa inhale a shaky breath and look around, wondering just where to start.

She sagged her hands into her jean pockets, underneath the cloak, and now allowed her surrounding to just soak into her main frame. The voices all over, the loud, excitable music that played, the smell of the food that was supplied, Game Central Station was alive with festivities. She quite enjoyed when Game Central Station hosted game's holiday events, it was pretty difficult to reserve the whole station for a holiday, especially one as involved as Halloween. Hundreds of gamers loudly chat, laughed and had a great time amongst each other, both in costume and not. Towards the end of the hall, there was a stage which boasted a lively DJ and a soon-to-be best costume competition.

As much as Tessa tried to remind herself that she was here on a mission, and time was precious, she almost got lost in the festivities, the joy of it all, the thought of not having a single worry in the world, she wondered if she could potentially just mentally escape for a little bit. She kept her ears open, for the sake of the mission, though she also sauntered to and from and quite enjoyed the looks and compliments she got for her costume, no matter how thrown together it was. She heaved a small laugh as she accidentally got swept into a small group of dancers, and as a stranger twirled her in the mess of it, she came out the other end of it all smiles, a gentle mosey of pure delight as she came towards none other than her beloved Sugar Rush outlet. She heaved a hard sigh, looked up at it and almost didn't feel that sharp sting of sorrow and regret; for a moment, she wondered, if her and the game had come to a silent agreement to let bygones be bygones, if just for the night.

Tessa's footwork came to a crawl as she passed by Sugar Rush's outlet, and although the wide smile was adorned across her face, her mask hid it well. She furrowed her eyebrows and noticed another one of her shy-guy confidants lingering near the alley way, between Sugar Rush and DDR. She furrowed her eyebrows in rising curiosity and knew either Ace, Nox or Penny likely had come to collect themselves, in said alley way; they must've. Said shy guy peered out to the crowd as they stood slouched to the dark, alley wall, and as Tessa got closer, she noted the glow of yellow coming from said shy-guy's eye holes. She smiled and pushed closer to Nox, though she wondered why he had acted so squirrelly; he was quick to leave the group and now was quick to take, what looked to be, a breather.

"Nox, don't tell me you've given up," Tessa breathed a chuckle as she lifted her mask and got within Nox's radius, though the second his glowing eyes dragged to Tessa's, through the shy-guy mask, Tessa could feel every single last one of her circuits just become plagued with a cold, paralysis of realization; this wasn't Nox.

Tessa froze in her intention to get closer to this person, though as he finally stood from his slouched positioning against the wall, it was now extremely clear that this wasn't Nox. Stood at about Ace's and Zed's height, with a bulkier build, he stood mirroring Tessa's demeanor and body language, with his hands deep in his jean pockets, tucked outside of his shy-guy cloak. He stood frozen, silent, as did Tessa, as if somehow both beings were now terrified to be in one another's presence, and even the slightest move would send the other running. Tessa's face painted mask flickered away as her coding suddenly began to swarm in a flurry of confusion, under her skin, and as this being so slowly reached for his mask, as well, Tessa could hardly believe just what was happening, here.

Underneath his lifted mask was very clearly another TurboTime boy, whether it be Lash or Turbo, Tessa wasn't sure. He was handsome, his demeanor was strangely gentle, warm and inviting, yet the caution in his eyes was beyond apparent. Tessa wondered why she felt as if her bare feet were simply glued to Game Central Station's golden tiles, though the second this stranger began to lean in, she got closer detail of him; how much he resembled Nox, how gently he kept his approach, Tessa could hardly believe she was even in the presence of another one of TurboTime's racers, however long gone or mythical they seem. Tessa could swear her blood had now run cold the second this stranger so gently pushed into Tessa's gravity and hung his deep, gentle, whispering words to Tessa's right ear.

"Don't be scared, please listen to what I have to tell you, it's of the utmost importance," His voice glossed like honey, a deep reverberation on her skin that certainly made goosebumps sprawl her neck; Tessa was shellshocked, and the only thing she could possibly do was just gaze, far off, into this stranger's red-cloaked shoulder. He inhaled a shaky breath and so tenderly cupped the other side of Tessa's head, and face, with his right hand, to keep the both of them tight in this secretive conversation, "Sugar Rush's castle is True North of the entrance."

Tessa wondered if her lungs were even working, the fact that her breath was held and somehow she wondered if it was against her will. She long blinked, wondering if this was just a dream, she finally found the strength to shake her head in stiff confusion, though said TurboTime racer warmly carried on.

"I know you may have a hard time believing my words, but they are true," He said softly, he shifted on his feet and made clear he was about to step away, "No matter who tries to tell you otherwise, the castle is in The End... True North. I'll help you guys out, when the moment is right... He will be there, unguarded."

Tessa choked a soft noise as said gentle person finally stiffened, stepped about her and hooked a tight turn into Sugar Rush's outlet, in which they were next to. Tessa finally sagged her shoulders and began to heavily breath in solid confusion. She shook her head and urgently looked over her shoulder, though said mysterious stranger was now long gone. She clutched her chest, over her heart, and remained frozen, as if she had just struck gold, found treasure she wasn't even looking for.

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 **A/N : I drew fanart, for this last scene, it's on my deviantART titled 'Two Truths One Lie' username Vyntresser ;)**


	230. Chapter 230

**Reviews :**

 **Ladykiller345 :** Hey there! Thank you SO MUCH for playing catch up! That's a huge feat., so seriously congrats xD I appreciate your support, that means a lot to me! And yes, Ralph is still 9ft tall - he is the tallest of the humans, the flyers are much much larger, if they stand on their hind feet! Ralph's is the tallest, and from there it'd be Oliver, Ace, then Zed. Ace is a HAIR taller than Zed cause he has Ralph's true genes. Calhoun is the tallest woman, with Tammy and Libby coming in second and third tallest. Penny is the shortest woman, with Nox the shortest guy (comparable with Tej) - and, I haven't decided if I will write an official 'final' scene with Tej or not, I'm still debating if it's something I genuinely have the energy for.

 **NightHex54 :** Thank you so much! Cory and I are just fine, the distance was needed, and we are working on coming back together, in the future, for good. A lot has to be solved, so we are setting out to do that, and we will come out stronger than prior :D I appreciate the support! Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** LOL! Thank you! Yes, too many questions I myself am having a hard time wrapping my brain around. It'll be fun to have it all come to a head, that's for sure!

 **Snake557 :** Thank you!

 **Burgie :** Thank you! Yeah it's been a bit of a rollercoaster, here, huh. From here, it really doesn't stop, unfortunately xD

 **NikkiFiresong :** Thank you for everything! I really appreciate it! I got your email btw, I'll be responding within the next few days with a first update and such :) You're the best!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Alfheim by Gareth Coker**

* * *

 ***Chapter 230***

In the rush of silent shuffling back to the train station, Tessa swiftly dodged the crowds and crowds of party goers, with her kin tight in tow. She rolled her eyes, shook her head and was wholly embarrassed she had to execute Nox's ridiculous warning call, though she was just thrilled the three abided by it, and getting back to the train station in one piece was now her only worry. With her mask snug tight to her face, she dart her eyes about as they slunk into the brightly lit train station. Just as the lightning quick train came to a clunking stop, the four board without a single question; much to their dismay, a few other individuals got onto the cab with them. Tessa knew words needed to at least be exchanged, somehow, so she urgently rushed to the back of the cab and hoped only her three comrades followed.

"Mom, what's going on, you're freaking me out," Ace rushed in a quiet tone as him, Nox and Penny all sat tight about the spot Tessa chose to sit. She took her mask off, hunched over her lap a little and held her head in her larger hands as Ace tenderly rested his hand to his mother's upper back, "We weren't even separated for longer than fifteen minutes...!"

"You clearly found out something about the race?" Nox whispered as the large train doors slid closed with a gentle hum, he tried to nonchalantly look back over his shoulder to see if anyone win the cab was eavesdropping; fortunately for them, the four were in their own little world.

"No doubt," Penny huffed as she, too, took off her mask and gently held it in her lap.

"I can't say too much in public, it's not safe," Tessa panted, her hands shook a little, from the shock of it all, "I-I didn't find out anything about the race, but..."

Ace, Nox and Penny raised their eyebrows in baited confusion as Tessa took a long pause, dragged her eyes to Nox's and quietly carried on.

"One of your older brother's gave me information on where the castle is," Tessa stated as quietly as she could, though the group she was with went dead quiet in solid surprise.

Nox gently held his hand to his chest, as if to silently question if Tessa was talking about him, or not. Tessa nodded as Nox's eyebrows remained raised in whole question, though Nox heaved a shaky breath, shook his head and gave her a floored look of disbelief.

"When we get back to the castle... I need to tell everyone," Tessa huffed.

"Mom, they'll know we left," Ace tried to interject with gentle worry, though Tessa gently gestured to him.

"I will take the blame, there's no way I'm going to throw you guys under the bus... This was all my idea, anyhow," Tessa stated firmly, such a tone Ace knew not to argue with, "You guys go into the kitchen first, act like you don't know anything... I'll come in a few minutes afterwards and confess I left..."

"I don't want anyone to be mad at you," Penny worried, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and peered to Nox.

"No one is going to be, after the story I have to tell," Tessa muttered, and although Nox wanted to jump on Tessa immediately and wring the answers right out of her, everyone was aware this sensitive of a topic was best reserved for the privacy of the Kalivar castle.

The train ride back to End Of Line station was palpable with the incredible, silent tension. All three bodies had so many buzzing questions, though with the tight-lipped attitude Tessa kept about herself, the strict air of silence she forced everyone in, they knew not to argue with their Queen. She knew this information was extremely sensitive, and so much as mentioning either Turbo or Lash's name too loudly, in public, was unwise, especially due to the massive controversy surrounding her entire clan. She lulled her eyes closed and tried to shut out the nervous, wandering gazes of her cousin, son and his best friend; she was certain their confused puppy-dog eyes were going to be the end of her.

Before too long, the train finally slid into End Of Line station and they filed out with urgency. The rushed Dead Zed, hustled down the wires in silence, and knew that they were only safe to share information once they were tucked away in the safety of the Kalivar lot. Tessa's strict body language and demeanor kept tight to herself, warning the three with them that if they so much as open their mouths to try and pry information from her, it'd end with a sharp few words of demanded silence. They obediently followed Tessa into the mouth of Dead Zed's gorgeous, vine-riddled entrance, and although Royal and Lickity were not there waiting for the clan, they knew teleporting back to the castle was no issue. Tessa brushed a few vines out of the way of the inner outlet's wall, shoved her larger hand to the worn metal and was able to conjure up the game's glowing innards, an extension of the code room only her and Zed had access to. After a minute of silent fiddling, the four were suddenly zapped to the safety of Penny's outside patio, where they had left off.

"... Square one," Nox huffed a silent laugh as everyone finally eased, though he peered to Tessa in rising, nervous urgency and cupped his hands, "Please, Tess... Please give me some form of information."

"This has to seem organic, or else Zed will know you guys came with me, and I don't want that," Tessa lovingly slid her hand to Nox's shoulder and bobbed a nod, "You can help me figure out just who it was, once I come out with it... You three file into the kitchen, nonchalantly, and not all at once... I'll go last."

"Okay," Ace and Penny nodded, though Nox hesitated and let out a shaky breath; Tessa gave his shoulder one last loving squeeze, she knew waiting any longer for the anticipated wait of just which TurboTime brother she ran into, was practically aggravating.

The first to leave were Ace and Nox, and although Penny and Tessa hung back in silence, Tessa could tell Penny was absolutely bursting at the seams, near-begging Tessa, with just her eyes, to give her a nugget of information. Before Tessa could finally cave, Penny heaved a small, shaky sigh and left her bedroom, leaving Tessa just alone with her thoughts for a hot minute. Tessa crossed her arms and let her eyes idly soak across Penny's warm, dimly lit bedroom. She was well aware the entirety of this information was something everyone needed to hear, and confessing that she snuck out, even after yesterdays insane events, was going to be no easy chore. She lulled her eyes closed in exhaustion, gave herself a small nod of encouragement and finally slunk out of Penny's bedroom as well.

Tessa's bare feet came down the high-ceilinged corridor, and as she finally hooked the bend and came into the glowing, bustling and excitable energy in the kitchen, dining room and living room, she heaved a shaky breath and was grateful her mother, father, aunt, uncle and fiancé were all at the kitchen island, loudly joking and having a great time; she was thankful they were all in a good mood. She skulked up to the island, and although she wanted to act nonchalant and unsuspecting, she knew coming right out with her secret was for the better. She gently rested her hands to the island, on either side of her, and gave Zed a knowing look, from across the way; his smile immediately dropped to that of whole, nervous concern, and as everyone caught on, the island fell silent.

"Guys... I have some uh... Pretty urgent information," Tessa started seriously, and though there were instances where Tessa would start off a simple joke with such an air about herself, this time the seriousness in her eyes was unmistakably serious.

"What's wrong?" Vanellope sharply uttered as everyone stiffened and gave their honed, terrified attention to Tessa, who stood at the head of the island; although everyone in the living room couldn't hear their conversation, she could see Ace, Nox and Penny urgently peering over.

"I have a confession," Tessa started seriously as she looked down, and as she dragged her eyes to her mother's and father's, she frowned and finally gave Zed her apologetic eye contact, "I left the castle, just now."

"Tessa," Zed stabbed quietly as he furrowed his brow and gave her a stern look of disappointment, though he unglued himself from the island and made his way over to her, the need to scold her was quick overridden with the fact that Tessa looked as if she maybe needed some comfort, "Even after yesterday's event? What was so important that you had to leave? Are you okay?"

"I'm just glad you're getting all this sneaking out nonsense out of your system now, and weren't doing it when you lived under OUR roof," Ralph boomed with a contagious laugh, to which Taffyta and Rancis loudly laughed and agreed.

"Babe, I'm sorry," Tessa huffed as Zed lovingly held his hand to her shoulder and peered sternly into her eyes, "I left because... Sonic had that Halloween bash, in Game Central Station. I went to see if I could find any information out about the events of yesterday, to see maybe who planted the bomb on that checkpoint..."

"You could've been hurt, Tess," Zed urged nervously, he gently tucked some of her hair behind her ear and looked as if he was finally letting go of that stern air about him, "Did you go alone? At least have me go with you, or something, I don't want you going and being all adventurous alone, like that..."

"I went alone, I was just fine," Tessa huffed shakily as her eyes just barely glanced to Nox, Penny and Ace, who slowly began to join at the kitchen island with that twinkle of gratefulness in their eyes.

"Did you find anything out?" Tammy urged as finally everyone from the living room began to be cued to just what was going on, they quickly surrounded the island, an impromptu castle meeting Tessa was now the very head of.

"... I know where Sugar Rush's castle is," Tessa stated confidently, to which everyone nervously dragged their eyes to Ralph and Vanellope for their reaction.

The look of nervous disbelief hung in Vanellope's piercing, hazel eyes. With her arms nonchalantly crossed over her mint green hoodie, she narrowed her gaze, shook her head and just barely glanced in Ralph's direction, and although she wanted his opinion, she kept her suspicious eyes honed to her first born.

"Tess, how do you have this information?" Vanellope uttered, everyone fell silent as they dragged their eyes to Tessa.

"Well..." Tessa huffed shakily as she finally gave her solid eye contact to Nox, the moment he had been so patiently waiting for, "I... I ran into one of Nox's older brothers."

Everyone fell quieter than silent, something Tessa was certain wasn't possible; the television, in the living room, quietly droned a commercial as everyone in the kitchen froze like cold stone. Nox heaved a shaky breath and bobbed a small nod, as if to just beg for her to give her more information, it was in this instance did Throttle's nervous attention finally become palpable as well.

"Either Turbo or Whiplash?" Ralph staggered, his voice nearly cracked in the rise of terror that was suddenly glossed over the group.

"I don't know which one... I know Nox or Throttle would know, though," Tessa huffed as her voice shook, as did her cold hands.

"W-Well, did you get a good look at him?" Nox wondered quietly, he knew all he wanted to do was just explode with worry and excitement, though he contained himself as best as he could; Ace gently gripped his shoulder, as if to express that he was there for Nox.

"He was skulking in the alley to the left of Sugar Rush's outlet... He was very tall, about Ace's and Zed's height, he had a muscular build, and uh..." Tessa shook her head and looked down to the island, "His hair had a bit of a curl to it, at the ends, he looked a lot like you, Nox..."

Nox raised his eyebrows in hot surprise as his chest heaved, he glued his eyes to Tessa in near-terror and shook his head, as if he could hardly believe the information coming from her mouth.

"Turbo," Nox affirmed, to which everyone raised their eyebrows in terror and shot their attention straight to Tessa.

"I-I need to sit down," Tessa whimpered as she firmly held her forehead and hunched over the island a little, though Zed and Taffyta urgently scrambled to grab a bar stool for Tessa to sit on.

"H-He... He's alive," Ralph huffed shakily, everyone began to sink into themselves in pure terror, they jot their attention to and from, murmurs of worry began to soak the place.

"What did he tell you?" Rancis stabbed urgently as he shook his head and nearly couldn't believe it.

"H-He told me the castle was True North of Sugar Rush entrance," Tessa's voice wavered as she sat hunched at the island, Zed began to fan her as her face nearly turned sheet white, "I-I... I can't believe I was in Turbo's whole presence... H-He was RIGHT THERE, not even a foot from me!"

"Was he mean?" Tammy urgently wondered.

"Did he scare you?" Duke wondered, everyone began to volley questions to Tessa in a flurry of now riled excitement.

"N-No, he was very sweet to me, he... He strangely sounded as if he wanted to help me," Tessa whimpered, she tried to collect herself and dragged her eyes to Zed's, "I-I'm so sorry I snuck out, I was just trying to help."

"Stop sneaking out," Zed firmly urged as he grabbed the tops of her shoulders, though he breathed a small laugh as his nose gently hovered above hers, "You're the Queen of finding nuggets of information, but we care about your wellbeing above anything..."

"Good on yah, but stop it," Taffyta playfully barked as everyone finally shared a laugh.

"True North," Rancis muttered as he looked off, "I'm wondering if he's baiting you..."

"He said that the castle was in The End, True North... Turbo said a certain 'he' will be waiting, and that Turbo would come find us to help out," Tessa shrugged.

"Radex," Rancis stated, though more in question, Ralph shrugged.

"Sounds to me like he's baiting you..." Ralph crossed his arms and nervously peered to Vanellope, "What would happen if you actually went True North, got to The End, and both Turbo and Radex were there to just up and delete you?"

"What if it's a trap?" Rancis worried, Tessa opened her mouth to speak, though began to get cut off by everyone's bustling ideas.

"I think you should stick to the plan," Finn stated confident, a few people nodded in agreeing.

"But what if Turbo actually WANTS to help?" Ace begged, for Nox's sake, though his voice was overridden by the many others about him.

"We won't know unless we find out, and head True North," Tessa stated, though she lacked confidence amongst the group of noisy individuals.

"This is too convoluted," Vanellope grumbled as she rubbed her eyes in whole agitation, she heaved a hard sigh and pushed her hands to the island, "We stay the course and find out we're wrong, or... Head True North and are royally screwed?"

"This is what they want," Rancis dominated the voices as everyone came to a quiet, "He WANTS us to change the course, head North, fall into their little trap, and get rid of us for good... We need to stay the course, we need to be smart about this. What if the castle isn't what's waiting for us, in The End, if we head North?"

"But what if he actually IS telling the truth, and the castle IS True North?" Tessa finally began to argue, "We would've been wasting time, heading Southwest, beyond Honeydew Ridge."

"We just need to get to the End, by heading Southwest," Rancis urged, it was apparent that this was important, "I KNOW something is out that way..."

"What if it's not the castle?" Taffyta volleyed for the sake of argument.

"Well then, AFTER that, we can head True North and see what's up," Rancis seemed hesitant, though he shrugged and looked off, "I think this whole True North thing is a trap... He came into Game Central Station, got your attention, and just slipped you the end-all to this sick game? He made it too easy... It's clear he has a trick up his sleeve."

Tessa frowned and felt totally drained to even argue, so she sat back and allowed Rancis to just take the reigns, with their next Sugar Rush scout. She gently dragged her eyes to Nox's and felt her insides clench the second his true, golden eyes hooked with hers. With a stoic, knowing demeanor, Nox slowly and just barely shook his head at her, as if to insinuate that her gut was right, and that Nox truly believed Turbo's intentions were good. Tessa heaved a shaky breath and knew this battle of the best was going to be the end of her. Deciphering just who had her clan's best interest at heart was now becoming par for the course.

* * *

 **A/N :**

Quick update as to why I vanished for nearly the majority of January. I'll keep it short.

-I moved to Atlanta, Cory and I are now considered a long distance couple, but I am no stranger to that. We are doing GREAT, just need to work out a few things within our relationship, and the distance was necessary. We're solid, so don't worry about us :)

-Lickity's transmission finally crapped out. FUN. My dad literally saved my ass and helped me pay for it, so Lickity should be up and running shortly here. In the mean time, I'm borrowing my cousin's Camry, which is a year older than Lickity, is white and has grey interior... I've named her Marble! I was going to name it Royal, cause the Camry is white, but it's an original Camry with the grey interior, and is OLDER, so I assumed naming her Marble was appropriate. It's nice having something extremely familiar, while Lickity is down and out. So, for now, I'm getting some bonding time with Marble, and it's been fun!

-I had the stomach flu and am just NOW coming out of it.

-My aunt and uncle are in Italy for 3 months and I am currently house/dog sitting for them. It's fun! Some peace and quiet, here in the woods, and my adorable little Snickers (dog I'm watching) is keeping me wonderful company. She's a cute little cockapoo. Fluffy little teddy bear, she is.

I start my 'new' job (still at Starbucks, new location obviously) on Monday, so I'm really trying to get back on my writing/working schedule. It's all slowly coming into place.

I appreciate your guys' patience, I think about my baby of a behemoth CONSTANTLY, and am always dreaming up new ideas that I can't wait to share with you. Getting settled was just difficult, and I appreciate all your support. So thank you!


	231. Chapter 231

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54 :** Yes! I'm glad everyone is excited about it. Turbo makes his official appearance a little later on, but it definitely is going to be awesome. I'm excited for you guys to get to it! :D Thank you!

 **Spectatorintheshadow :** Aww, WOW! I'm so thrilled you remember that piece, and it's text to go with it! That means a lot to me :) There is definitely a certain someone that does not accept him, and for the most part, everyone is pretty wary of him, but it all eventually evens out. I'm excited for you guys to read it, as well! I can't wait either :D

 **Burgie :** I'm glad it wasn't obvious :D I like to keep everyone guessing haha. Thank you!

* * *

 ***Chapter 231***

Underneath the cool, Dead Zed stars, Tessa sat in a subtle rocking motion on the single tree swing in the backyard. Her larger bare feet only grazed the soft, green grass undertow, and although the night was becoming chilly, Ace's fire flower field prominently glowed with the heat of a hundred suns. Tessa's eyes got lost in the beauty of it all, the embers each petal lifted into the cold, night air. Her hands gripped the rope of the swing she delicately sat on, aimless eyes that made apparent that her thoughts were in a different world. The backyard was silent, all four flyers were out together on a nightly hunt, and for once, she relished in the stillness. Typically she'd be bummed that a few members of her family were off doing other things, vacant from their exciting presence, but for once, she was relieved to feel the backyard sit in poised stillness.

Just as those thoughts crossed her mind, a few, gentle voices could be heard to Tessa's back left. She raised her eyebrows in prickled surprise and tried to drag her comfortable stare over to see just who was outside. Coming out of Tammy's patio doors was Tammy, Nox, Throttle and Koko. They all quietly chit chat with each other, though it seemed concerned and hushed; the way they kept volleying gazes of inquiry over in Tessa's direction had her turning back to the fire flower field in full suspecting that at least one of said smarties would brave the Queen lioness and strike up conversation, the hot topic of Turbo's return had everyone on edge. With a small smile to her lap, she could finally hear a single pair of footsteps brave her presence in a gentle way. She narrowed her gaze and tried to determine just who this was, without looking at them. Upon the breaks in stride, uncertainty yet cheekiness in the way his breathing was noticeable, Tessa looked off and was thrilled Nox was the one to break off and join her.

"Tess?" Nox wondered gently, Tessa volleyed her eyes over her shoulder and gave him a gentle smile.

"Hey... Look, I'm sorry for sort of withholding information from you, earlier," Tessa cued, Nox bobbed a nod and worked his way so he was standing directly to Tessa's left, out of her peripheral, "I just... Wanted to get it out, all at once. I'm STILL having a hard time collecting myself, quite frankly."

"I don't blame you," Nox shrugged and looked off, the gentle, golden glow of his eyes was prominent and comforting, he dragged his pixel-cubed gaze straight for Tessa's, his alluring stare never ceased to amaze her, "I just wish it were me, y'know..."

"Trust me, I didn't ask for that kind of a reception," Tessa blurt a small laugh, as did Nox, "I would've gladly wanted it to be you, as well..."

"... I'm just glad he was so nice to you," Nox narrowed his gaze and drew it to the grass, though he pierced Tessa's hazel orbs, once more, "Sort of reassuring. Immediately thwarts all the nay-sayers."

"I agree... I'm pretty intuitive, when it comes to tone and body language," Tessa stated through a hard sigh as she sat up a little straighter and got comfortable, "Tone is all I had, when I was blind."

"I remember Zed telling us about that," Nox inquired, Tessa nodded and smiled.

"After that, I just become hyper sensitive to the way people carried themselves," Tessa's voice lilted in curiosity, she shook her head and gave Nox an encouraging smirk, "Turbo was, by far, one of the kindest strangers I've ever interacted with, so closely, like that. He was so sweet. It was so convincing."

"Convincing?" Nox wondered, he gave Tessa a confused look, "You, uh... Don't think it was real?"

"Well, no, that's what was confusing... It's different for me, Nox, I was raised on scary stories on just how terrible and creepy of a gamer Turbo was," Tessa pleadingly looked to Nox, as if to beg that he not decipher her words wrong, "Suddenly standing in his presence, the character of your childhood nightmares... Nox, I was practically paralyzed. I couldn't move my feet. I couldn't even breathe."

"Turbo may have done some stupid shit, but... I know, no matter what, he has a heart of gold," Nox tucked his hands into his jean pockets and sighed, "A good part of me believes that... He wasn't the one to overthrow Sugar Rush."

"Well, it's difficult, cause for the longest time, I secretly thought Radex WAS Turbo... In disguise. I just never voiced my opinion cause it sounded too outlandish," Tessa huffed a laugh and looked off, Nox bobbed a nod and sighed, once more, "I mean... Should I listen to Uncle Rancis? What if Turbo really is leading us astray?"

Nox frowned and peered to Tessa with a look of wanting to combat her words, though he faltered and sagged his shoulders in the decline of his gentle burst of potential energy.

"None of us know how he is, anymore, Nox... It's been... Almost thirty years since you've actively hung out with him," Tessa kept her words gentle, she was thankful Nox at least was quiet and saw both sides, here.

"I see what you're saying, and... You're right," Nox's deep voice coat over Tessa's in rising dominance, he gave her a cheeky smile, "... You trust me, right Tessa?"

"Of course I trust you," Tessa eased confidently, though Nox cocked an eyebrow, kept his tight gaze to Tessa's and didn't once waver as his voice glossed over her like honey.

"Then trust me when I tell you... The castle is True North," Nox reiterated with a knowing smile, and although he himself didn't garner this information, he was hoping his words, which repeated Turbo's, held a drastic amount more depth; by the way Tessa fell silent and frozen, he was thrilled to see that he had gained her whole acceptance.

"...What do I tell Uncle Rancis?" Tessa's voice was hushed, almost as if she was too shy to openly show that she fully believed Nox and Turbo's words, "He, uh... Offered to lead the next scout... I sort of dropped the ball, there."

"Well, you're future Queen, the whole responsibility of it all doesn't sit solely on your shoulders, just yet," Nox shrugged and smiled as he looked off to Ace's gloriously glowing fire flower field, yards away from the safety of their large jungle tree and swing, "Why don't you just take a load off, for this trip? Let Rancis have his power streak, here, head Southwest and discover there's nothing, then... Stand up and take the NEXT scout to where you feel you need to go."

Tessa's eyes idly glossed down Nox's chest in contemplation before she inhaled a shaky breath and met with his intriguing gaze once more.

"True North?" Tessa nearly whispered, Nox smiled and looked down.

"Yes, your majesty," Nox's voice croaked, he gave Tessa his kind eye contact once more, "You've taken the reigns before, from your mother, no less. I'm sure taking them back, from your uncle, will be a small task for you."

"Thanks Nox," Tessa eased kindly as she relaxed and let out a shaky breath, "I guess... We can see just what we find, on this next scout. Apparently, Uncle Rancis wants to leave first thing the day after tomorrow."

"It's been a few weeks since our last scout," Nox shrugged and took in a deep breath, he shifted on his feet to insinuate he was going to shortly make a departure from their conversation, "I'd say it's about time. I'll be joining, as will Koko. Guess we'll have a proper head count, by tomorrow..."

"Yeah," Tessa huffed, and although she wondered if there was likely so much more to be said, so much more reassurance Nox could give, the two stated their gentle goodnight's to one another and Nox quietly parted from her.

Tessa bit her bottom lip and watched Nox cross the field, head up the flight of stairs, of Ace's tower, and vanish into his second floor abode, underneath Ace's and Libby's. She grappled the rope of the swing, causing it to make the typical gripping noise. She sagged in her seat and let her mind race; she knew she could trust Nox, though she was surprised at just how confident he was about all of this, just how true Turbo's words were, even though Nox wasn't even present for it. She shook her head gently and lulled her eyes closed, she wondered just how this next scout was going to go down. She was certain it was either going to officially end this entire problem, or likely make it string on for longer, resulting in her taking a stand for her kingdom, for the umpteenth time.

* * *

"Why don't we use the code room for this kind of crap?" Orph grunted, him and Zed diligently began to carry one of the sky room's couches across the way, so that the massive, lush rug underneath could be properly cleaned.

"Stop complaining, it's a good workout," Zed huffed as the two finally set down the couch, Orph wiped his brow and panted as Zed confidently began to march to the next couch, which had to be moved, "As head of the game, it's easy to fall into the code room trap."

"What, an easy life where the computer does the work for you? Sounds hellish," Orph spat sarcastically, Zed gave him a brotherly nudge to his shoulder, which got a laugh out of both boys.

"Nothing good ever came easy," Zed's confident, soothing and dominant voice glossed the sky room with care, and although Orph was nearly about to spout off another insult or sarcastic remark, he reeled it in, bobbed a small nod and diligently began to take Zed's lead, with moving the next couch.

Both boys moved carried the couch out onto the tile, to haphazardly join with the first couch, though as they set down their chore, Zed cocked an eyebrow and peered to Orph in rising curiosity.

"'Stop being such a dad', 'you're being a party pooper', 'I could have more exciting conversation with a tree stump'," Zed listed off in a nasally, sarcastic voice, as if to mock Orph and one of his many playful insults. Orph barked a soft laugh, looked off and sagged his shoulders, "You uh... Leaving all your 'insult your oldest brother' days behind?"

"You still are 'such a dad'," Orph chuckled, the two began to make their way to the last large couch, across the stretch, though Orph's footsteps became moseying and uncertain, "I guess... I've just learned a lot. Y'know, from... Penny. As well as your's and Tessa's good example."

"...Yeah?" Zed inquired, he tried not too seem to pushy in his curiosity, though he was wholly fixated on anything Orph was about to say.

"Yeah, I just... Feel as though she's made me more grounded," Orph stated, his serious side was rarely shown, and although Zed was absolutely eating this up, he could tell Orph was becoming shy to said notion. He flagged his hand, shook his head and adorned that typical, dorky smile, "B-but that's sissy stuff, I'm sure I'm just... Up my own ass about it."

"Orph, it's... Not sissy," Zed slowly stopped in his tracks, he was grateful Orph did as well, his body language read ultimate neediness to carry on this conversation, even though his previous tone stated otherwise, "Finding a woman, binding yourself to her in either swap and or marriage, potentially having a family... It's not sissy, Orph. It's adult."

"Adult?" Orph questioned tenderly, as if he had never viewed it that way, Zed huffed a small laugh, crossed his arms and looked up to the star-riddled sky room dome.

"Yeah, Orph... Welcome," Zed's laugh broadened, as did Orph's annoyed smile.

"Yeah, yeah... I-I guess... I just don't know how to go about any of this," Orph's tone grew more and more serious, and it was in this raw moment did Zed realize that this wasn't fleeting, this genuine vulnerability Orph was allowing was wholesome and readied.

"Well, man, I'm not married, but you know my situation," Zed shrugged and gave Orph a brotherly smile, he shook his head and gestured to himself, "You know if you ever need anything, or have any questions, I can help you. Experienced oldest brother right at your fingertips."

"I... Try not to be intimidated by it," Orph swallowed hard, rubbed the back of his head and looked off; he appeared to show signs of wanting to shut himself off from this conversation, so Zed remained silent to help Orph understand that there was no pressure, here, "Y-You and... Finn seem to have everything so perfectly squared away."

"Well... Sure, Finn and I are both bound to our women, by swap, and me being engaged to the mother of my child, but... It's really not as difficult as you're making it seem, Orph," Zed eased as gently as he could, "You thinking of maybe taking that next step with Penny?"

"I-I would love to, I just... Don't know which step to take," Orph articulated his words carefully and gave Zed a knowing look, as if to hope Zed got the insinuation.

"... Oh, wow," Zed scoffed with a small smile as he laid his hand to his chest in surprise, "Are you... Going to propose to Penny?"

"Well, man," Orph couldn't hide a smile, he looked off and shook his head, though not in the way of giving Zed an answer. He ruffled his silver hair, heaved a shaky sigh and nearly frowned, "I love the girl to death... I-I know it's only really been a month, but... I really want to make things permanent, with her. We've briefly discussed it, here and there. We came to the conclusion that we weren't to swap codes until I got both Taffyta's and Rancis's approval."

"In that case, you might as well ask for her hand," Zed smiled and shrugged, "Kill two birds with one stone."

"I would love to, I just... Know your rule on 'no marriage, no babies, no nothing' until Sugar Rush is won," Orph's defeated gaze soaked into Zed's, and just before Zed could bob a nod and diligently agree, he furrowed his bright blue brows and peered deep into his younger brother's soul.

"... Orph, you know that if this is something you really feel the need to do, and soon, I'm not stopping you from having a wedding and getting married," Zed blurt a small chuckle and gave Orph a loving smile, the look of invigorating relief crowned Orph's face in a brightened display of disbelief, "You get Penny's parent's approval, you propose to her, and... We all can work something out."

"... Really?" Orph wondered gently.

"Yeah, that 'no nothing' rule really only applies to me and Tessa," Zed looked down and scuffed the ground with his bare foot, "It's tricky, for us. We'd be crowned King and Queen, and our children would be the next heirs. It's messy... So we made that rule for ourselves, it sort of blanketed onto everyone else due to keeping things stable, while out on scouts."

"Well, I wouldn't want to cause upset," Orph stated through a sigh, though Zed shook his head.

"There would be no upset... We can plan the scouts around your wedding, Orph," Zed smiled, he kept his voice low just in case Penny were to stroll into the sky room, unannounced, "You're my brother, Orph... You know I'd do anything for you. Trust me, Tessa will probably be all for this plan, anyhow."

"Wow, well... I-I really was considering at least talking with Penny about this, I didn't think it would ever be a possibility, sometime soon," Orph felt his hands began to shake, "I have Taffyta's permission, for literally everything... I'll just have to get Rancis's approval..."

"Good luck, bro," Zed joked as he firmly pat Orph's shoulder, to which he jolted and rolled his eyes in the throw around, "I'm teasing... You should be fine. Just be prepared for anything, y'know? The dude is really protective of Penny."

"Don't I know it," Orph stifled.


	232. Chapter 232

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Aww, thank you so much! Yes, little Orph is growing up :')

 **NightHex54 :** Haha you got it mostly right! xD Thank you so much!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Delicate by Taylor Swift**

* * *

 ***Chapter 232***

"I-I would like to ask for... Y-your daughter's... Well, PENNY'S hand, in uh..." Orph staggered in hissed quiet, he urgently paced the three way fork of the garage, front patio and side door to the main building. He grappled his loose silver hair and spun on his heel, "No that sounds too cheesy."

Orph heaved a long, hard sigh and eyed the garage's side door; he was very well aware Rancis was inside, near all his and his brother's bikes, sharpening his sword. The slicing noise was apparent, he bit his lip and shivered at the very sound of Rancis's sharpening stone running across the clean, sharp blade of his jade swords. Orph covered his face and inhaled a trembling breath all while he shook his head, as if to rid himself of nervous, scared thoughts.

"I would like your permission to marry your daughter," Orph muttered in rehearsal, he huffed a hard breath and whirled on his heel, once more, though in doing so, he jolted clear out of his skin and noticed Lickity's frozen solid posture stood in the gape of the sneaking pathway to the front patio. He inhaled a sharp breath, stiffened his spine and held his hands up in defense, "I-I'm just... Talking to myself, please disregard anything that was just said, I-I'm pretty sure I'm possibly not sober anyways and-"

"Shut up," Lickity spat as she flattened her ears, eyed Orph and began to skulk past him, to the wide open grassy space in the beginning of her enclosure.

Orph sagged his shoulders and furrowed his brow, he rolled his eyes once Lickty's long body finally passed, though just as his eyes met with the closed garage door, he suddenly jolted as the end of Lickity's tail suddenly nudged into the small of Orph's back, ultimately shoving him closer to his fate. Orph grunted a noise, flinched and urgently peered over his shoulder, and in the small, sunny glimpse he had of Lickity's face, he noticed a small smirk shot in his direction just before she fully turned and walked away. Orph raised his eyebrows in gentle surprise and kept his eyes glued to Lickity's large body that sauntered away, her wings and tail sails were relaxed and at ease, and with this little bump of reassurance, from Lickity no less, he inhaled a confident breath, puffed his chest and grappled the door handle.

Upon swinging the door open, he felt that rush of confidence suddenly slip from his skin in a fleeting kiss of longing, he grimaced and wished it would've stayed, and although he peered in and was floored to see that Taffyta was tight in Rancis's gravity, he still could see Rancis's long, muscular arm sweep in the sharpening motion of his threatening swords. Orph swallowed hard and closed the garage door with a clack, hoping to get Taffyta and Rancis's attention, and although he was successful in getting Taffyta's sharp, blue eyes to dart up in inquiry, he was now even more worried with the fact that Rancis kept his head down, as if he simply knew who had made themselves present.

"Hey, bud," Taffyta chimed lovingly, her tone held a dollop of sass, and although she relaxed and crossed her arms, she furrowed her brow and eyed Orph's obviously nervous demeanor, "What's up? After hours, you're not itching for yet another spin around the game, are you?"

"Take a break, dude, the track will be there tomorrow," Rancis's deep voice finally soaked the garage, alongside Taffyta's giggle, "Take it from the top dogs."

"Yes, sir," Orph huffed with a nervous smile as he looked down the length of the gorgeous garage, all lined with sky lights and sleek, beige stucco. He eyed his silver bike, all clad with his number and Dead Zed logos, though he shoved his fist into his other opened palm, in a lazy, agitated notion, and bit his bottom lip, "I, uh... I actually came in here because I need to talk to you two."

Taffyta raised her eyebrows and froze, and although she held her breath and let her mind run with just what Orph could possibly want, she immediately knew, no matter what this topic was about, it centered around Penny. Orph cocked an eyebrow and eyed Taffyta with a nervous smile, and it was in this little facial gesture did Taffyta cover her mouth, with both her hands, and harbor the widest, most excited grin, unbeknownst to Rancis.

"Hope you don't mind I keep sharpening my sword, while you talk, then," Rancis seemed unphased, clearly certain that Orph likely would never have the guts to conjure this delicate topic. Rancis was stationed at the garage's large work table, a wooden piece of furniture that was obviously loved with scrapes and stains. It was about five feet in width, and although Orph daringly took a seat at the stool across from Rancis and Taffyta, he kept his leaning presence far enough away so not to disrupt Rancis's swooping arm motions of sharping. Rancis dragged his sharpening stone down the length of his gorgeous jade sword and kept his eyes down, "I count the strokes, I stop for nothing... I'm listening, just understand I probably won't make slow, long responses."

"It's no issue," Orph staggered, he furrowed his eyebrows and watched as Rancis's masculine, strong arm made certain, confident strokes down the sword, a craft he was an absolute master at; Orph bit his lip and wondered if he should likely suggest coming back another time, though he wondered if this pop of a question would shake Rancis from his craft.

"What's on your mind?" Rancis inquired in a quip of quickness, making it clear he was continuing to keep count in his head as he pushed on to slowly sharpen his sword.

"I have an inquiry," Orph's voice audibly shook, he fidgeted on the stool he was at, and as he grappled his own hands in his lap, he beamed a nervously wide smile to Taffyta, who continued to harbor that gaping, excited smile behind her hands.

"Hmm?" Rancis prod, almost in a tone of rising annoyance, he furrowed his golden brows and honed his whole focus to his sharpening.

"I would like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage," Orph stated in a roll of confidence he was most definitely forcing.

Mid-swipe, Rancis's dark blue eyes urgently shot from his craft straight into Orph's, and as Rancis froze his whole entire posture three-fourths down the length of his sword, he almost gave Orph a look of uncertain surprise. Orph exhaled a shaky breath and kept his silver eyes honed tight to Rancis's, as if taking his eyes away from this incredible predator would be the last move he ever took. He could see Taffyta, in his peripheral, doing anything and everything she could to contain herself; they were both aware this was more of a question directed to Rancis due to Taffyta's blessing being obviously given long ago.

"Well I'll be damned, I guess I'll stop for something!" Rancis blurt a chuckle, set his sharpening stone down and inhaled a deep breath, Taffyta blurt an excited laugh and tidied the area, she helped Rancis set his sharp sword and tools aside, and as Rancis got comfortable, he leaned his arms on the table before him and shook his head in bugged surprise, "I always told myself I would brace myself and be wholly prepared for this very topic but... A lifetime wouldn't be long enough to prepare for it."

"I-I didn't want to catch you at a bad time, but... I saw that you two were in here, alone, and I felt it was the perfect opportunity," Orph staggered in a rush of uncertainty, he nervously rubbed the back of his head and finally gave Taffyta his full eye contact. She blurt a louder laugh and finally began to fan at her teary eyes, which caused Orph to ease into comfortable laughter as well, "Aww, I-I didn't mean to make you cry..."

"I'm not surprised, she's been talking about this moment since I arrived," Rancis grumbled as he gently dragged his teasingly loving eye contact to his wife, he gingerly wrapped his arm about her lower back and pulled her closer, though he heaved a hard sigh and looked down to the work bench with a contemplative gaze. He finally inhaled a deep breath, through his nose, and sunk his intimidating, fatherly gaze deep into Orph's, "Why don't you tell me why you think you'd make a good husband for Penny?"

Orph raised his eyebrows a little and felt all the blood leave his face; he knew he would have to prepare for any questions, obvious ones at that, though the second he went to go recall all of his mental cheatsheets and rehearsed notes, everything was blank. He heaved a shaky sigh, looked down in nervousness and knew he had to puff his chest and remain solid, else his golden opportunity slip from his finger tips. He shook his head and was just about to begin boasting about all of his wonderful qualities, how he'd treat her like a queen, everything a father would likely roll his eyes at and know was simply just words pieced together out of strictly wanting to be won over, Orph felt his heart settle as he quickly soared past words that were only surfacey and blatantly obvious.

"I know Penny has been through a ton of pain and turmoil," Orph started as he let his eyes drag from the wood into Rancis's inquiring eyes, "I know... She never used to take this long to open up to people, and the pain she's been through has sort of caused her to put walls up, a hardened shell she... Very proudly wears..."

Rancis and Taffyta's blue eyes kept tightly honed to Orph's, their attention was on every single word that fell from his mouth, and although Orph was certain he has never had such solid, sharp attention in his life, he was honored; he knew that these two people were nearly just as important as the King and Queen of Sugar Rush, and that if he did marry into this family, he was coming into royalty as well; an honor he was absolutely certain he wasn't worthy of.

"I feel as though I will make a good husband, for Penny, because... I can wholly empathize with her. We both have gone through a similar amount of pain and hardship, and it's been extremely easy for us to lean on each other for support," Orph explained delicately, he sagged his shoulders though kept his posture straight and confident, "I could sit here and blab on about how I will keep to my vows, I will treat her with care and won't harm a single hair on her head, but... Those are all obvious points I hope you two now clearly see in me."

"We do," Rancis assured softly, and it was in this did Orph's heart soar; he was absolutely certain he was going to be faced with the business end of Rancis's swords, another volley of death glares and sharp words; he didn't take Rancis's praise for license, however, "It's only been a little over a month that you two have been dating. Can you justify your desire to so quickly put a ring on her finger?"

"Well, sir... If I'm going to be blunt, here, we've been holding off swapping our codes until we've gotten approval, from you," Orph stated seriously, he hoped that Rancis wouldn't be offended by his words. He shook his head and peered deep into Rancis's eyes, "I wanted to make it obvious, here, that I'm not just interested in Penny for swapping. I-I mean... I really don't know what a code-swap entails, just yet, but I've been told that it is unadulterated beauty, in all forms. Your coding meshed with someone else's, knowing them for everything they are."

"It's a huge commitment," Rancis's deep, dominant voice glossed over Orph.

"I wanted it to be clear that I'm not going to sit you down and ask if I can swap codes with your daughter... I wanted to do this right, and ask the RIGHT question first," Orph stated, his voice only gently shook, though it was clear he was grappling for his confidence successfully.

"Well, you're definitely right about that," Rancis barked a small laugh and looked down to the table, "You play your cards right, in a relationship, and there's really only one question you HAVE to ask... And that's for the woman's hand in marriage. Son, once you're married to Penny, you don't need mine and Taffyta's permission to swap with her. She'd be your wife."

"Exactly," Orph chuckled, to which Taffyta beamed a small smile and looked to Rancis's expression in curiosity, "I really didn't feel right sitting you two down and asking if I could swap with your daughter... It didn't seem proper. I want to do this right... Of the crap in my life, I've done wrong, Penny is far too precious to me to mess this kind of a thing up. I want to hold fast to her, protect her, and continue to be that one and only shoulder she can fully lean in to. Sir, I would like to marry your daughter."

"Well, you've earned it," Rancis smiled as his demeanor softened, he bobbed a nod and exhaled a small sigh, "You have our permission."

"I can't hold it in any longer!" Taffyta suddenly blurt as she peeled away from Rancis's side, rounded the table and urgently grappled Orph into a hug, from the stool he remained sat at. Orph blurt a hard laugh and gently wrapped his arm about Taffyta's back as Rancis beamed an annoyed smile and rolled his eyes, "I can't believe you're going to be my son-in-law!"

"All the girls around here are quickly going to be marked with the Kalivar name," Rancis stated in a sigh of teasing sorrow, to which Orph gave him an apologetic smile.

"She can hyphen her name," Orph suggested, making it clear that Penny was welcome to do whatever she wanted with her last name.

"Don't let my feelings sway your guys' decision," Rancis stated in a grumble with a small smile as he shook his head, "Taffyta and I eventually want more kids... Maybe our next one will be a boy."

"I know Penny would be thrilled," Orph smiled up to Taffyta, who now loosely had her arm about the side of Orph's neck, the two remained in a gentle side-hug.

"Don't hold your breath, we're waiting to get Sugar Rush back," Taffyta huffed, though Rancis pointed in curiosity.

"Which leads me to my next question," Rancis prod, "When were you planning on asking her?"

"Well... Zed told me that Penny and I could have a wedding whenever we'd want... That whole 'no marriage, no babies, no nothing' rule only really applies to Tessa and Zed," Orph explained, to which Taffyta cocked an eyebrow and gave Rancis a look of floored surprise.

"Oh REALLY now?" Taffyta cooed obnoxiously, though Rancis waved her off and shook his head.

"It applies to us too, Taff, we're a part of the royal clan," Rancis rushed in teasing annoyance to which Taffyta mumbled incoherent nonsense back at him, "I have one condition, here..."

"Anything," Orph stated, though he felt his stomach dip as Rancis's eyes dragged to his in scheming delight.

"You, my friend, may be taking Fluggerbutter from Penny's name, but my request is that you get her ring, MY way..." Rancis stated darkly, in a teasing manner, "The Fluggerbutter way."

"... Taffy trees," Taffyta huffed nervously as she bugged her eyes, to which Orph dart his now terrified attention up to her; Rancis bobbed a nod and beamed.

"If we find taffy trees on our scout, tomorrow, then you'll have yourself an engagement ring," Rancis stated in a matter-of-fact way, though Orph cocked an eyebrow and dragged his nervous stare to Rancis's.

"O-Oh, the bark of the tree?" Orph staggered, to which Taffyta bit her lip in rising agitation, she looked down to her very own wedding ring and gently held it out for Orph to see.

"Yyyep... The taffy's roots," Rancis nodded, "The taffy's are very protective of it."

"Th-they wouldn't like... Hurt me or anything, right?" Orph's voice shook, though he jolted in terror as both Taffyta and Rancis suddenly burst out in apprehensive laughter towards the situation; Orph bulged his eyes and froze, he now quickly wondered just what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **Sorry this chapter is so short, and sorry that it's taking me so long to post... I just applied to school, and I've noticed that I hermit when I do this, because I become so** **nervous and anxious. Please bear with me, I am definitely trying to settle into a proper routine.**

 **Next chapter is the next Sugar Rush scout, and it picks up because...**

 ***SPOILER ALERT***

* * *

 _You guys finally get to find out where all of Sugar Rush's racers have been :D_


	233. Chapter 233

**Reviews :**

 **Silversuferann :** Oh no worries at all! Thank you so much! :D

 **Snake557 :** You will definitely get to see Candlehead :)

 **NightHex54 :** Yes, battle taffy trees indeed, it's definitely a close call! I can't wait to write it so you guys can eat it up :D

 **Burgie :** Thank you! Yes, you will soon find out :D

 **chuckiboo :** Hahaha yeeeees Orph can't get off the hook so easily, then. xD He's gotta put in a bit more work for a chance at Rancis's daughter's hand! Thank you, friend. I applied to SCAD(GA and Ringling(FL) - very very nervous. Hoping for some good news D:

 **emonekocindi1 :** LOL WOW thank you so much xD I'm glad you enjoy it so much! And thank you for that encouragement. I know you guys will be okay in waiting and being patient, I just am hard on myself cause I want to get all my ideas out haha.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **One of the Family by Henry Jackman (first half of the chapter)**

* * *

 ***Chapter 233***

Amidst a low light of the pale, purple, evening Sugar Rush sky, Tessa's eyes hung on the horizon in a slope of defeated exhaustion. The setting sun's final rays of sunshine glinted on the three flyers that soared far ahead of her and Lickity. With Marble leading the charge, Zed and Vanellope being said riders, Royal and Balba followed suit, harboring Taffyta, Rancis, Orph and Penny. Tessa knew Lickity wasn't keeping up with the clan strictly for the fact that she could most definitely catch Tessa's vibe, that of uncertainty, annoyance, Lickity knew Tessa was bound to eventually open up, and in doing so, she'd likely want the privacy of the back of the flight squad, where the wind would carry their secret conversing away.

Tessa heaved a gentle sigh and looked down to the beautiful, soft and worn feathers that lined Lickity's spine from forehead to tail tip. Ruffles of a winter coat that began to show signs of sprouting, her larger hand ran through the ticket of it all. She felt the idea of tears want to sting her eyes, though she sagged her shoulders and quickly realized there were no more tears to even be shed. All around her, her home enveloped her in love and care, her eyes dragged from Licktiy's soft fur and scales to the sight of their infamous Honeydew Ridge far on the horizon, just to the Western skies. Her hair flickered in the wind, and in no time, her and Lickity were now far enough away from the rest of the flight crew; Lickity cleared her throat and perked her ears in tenderness.

"Tess," Lickity stated in gentle warmth, her voice was only audible to Tessa's; everyone ahead of the scout was well aware Tessa was in full-sulk mode, even Rancis was aware, "Y'gotta open up to me eventually... What's going on?"

"I just... Feel so uncertain about how to do this," Tessa huffed quietly, "I wish Ace, Nox and Libby had come along, for this scout... Cause then I'd at least have some support."

"This is excluding me, Zed, Orph and Penny, right?" Lickity gently argued in a sarcastic tone, as if to state that she clearly had support, here, "What are you so worried about, anyhow?"

"I KNOW the castle is North, Lickity," Tessa stated in a grumble as she looked far over her shoulder and set her eyes to the Northern skies, the three, large, confidently glowing North stars hung in their exact spot; the exact direction to True North. They nearly glared her and her flight crew down with the obvious fact that they were going in the wrong direction, "What I'd give to turn this pack around..."

"You know you CAN," Lickity bobbed her head and allowed her wings a few flaps, so to gain a bit of altitude over the rest of the flyers, who were far enough ahead anyways.

"I could," Tessa frowned, she sagged her shoulders, "But who is going to believe a fallen princess that sides with Turbo? The most feared bad guy in all of Arcade history... Never thought those words would ever leave my mouth."

"I would," Lickity assured gently, though Tessa was glad Lickity didn't have the opportunity to see her roll her eyes and largely look off, "You knowww... I DO have my own pair of working wings, independent of this flight group. I mean, I could just turn around and head North and you can blame me and just say we got lost."

"That'd DEFINITELY go over well," Tessa blurt a quiet laugh and shook her head, "I just... Wonder if letting Uncle Rancis do his thing, for now, would just be beneficial."

"Well, what if at the end of this scout, we come up dry? We've found nothing? Rancis was wrong?" Lickity prod, Tessa sighed and tried not to look over her shoulder again, to those three glorious North stars on the dimming horizon, "If I know you at all, you'll yank the reigns back, eventually..."

"It's kind of nice taking a back seat, to be honest," Tessa struggled to get the words out, though she furrowed her brow and wondered just why she was feeling so weak about this, so suddenly. She heaved a shaky sigh and shook her head in confusion, "Even if Turbo was right, and he was actually trying to help us... No one is going to believe him, or me, in a million years."

"Well... YOU believed him," Lickity stated gently as her wings held in a lofty glide, "I mean, you're the future Queen. That, alone has merit. Your word, your decision making... Who you believe, whose word you trust."

"This all actually comes down to trusting Nox's word," Tessa's eyes got lost in a daze on the flight group ahead of her.

"You trust Nox, then, right?" Lickity eased, Tessa bobbed a gentle nod.

"He's like my brother," Tessa admitted delicately, to which Lickity huffed a small laugh of warm understanding.

"Well, if Nox trusts Turbo's word, then I believe you have a chain of trust starting, here," Lickity assured, to which Tessa dragged her contemplative gaze to the back of Lickity's large head and ears, "Rising up, in adversity, is likely one of the hardest things you'll have to do, as Queen, but... They'll all stand corrected, and you'll have us headed North in no time."

Tessa furrowed her brow and now changed her sagged, sorrowful stare, to the horizon, to that of a honed, sharpened glare. She inhaled a deep breath, peered out to her land and softly allowed a small bob of a nod, as if to firmly agree with Lickity's words.

"Buuuut, for now, I guess we can just coast? Allow those North stars to get farther and farther?" Lickity teasingly prod as she, too, looked over her shoulder in contemplation, "Let Rancis play King?"

"I'll allow him his fun," Tessa stated darkly, she heaved a shaky breath and shook her head, "He'll eventually be the new Queen's knight..."

"There's my girl," Lickity laughed as she allowed her wings to down-flap in and encouraged boost of speed, "So when do we turn around, then?"

"Not just yet," Tessa sighed as she looked straight up to the bevelled, Sugar Rush sky, she allowed the cool wind to whisk about the hood of her fur lined coat, and as the freshness of the evening soaked into her being, she finally smiled, "Uncle Rancis seems certain there's something out this way... Whether it's the castle or the freaking cross-striped tree, at least then his little bout of fun would come to an end. Who am I to rip it away from him so quickly?"

"I mean, if I know you at all, I know you're itching to take charge of this nonsense right now," Lickity blurt a laugh and continued to speedup, so to catch up with the rest of the flight crew.

"Believe me," Tessa huffed in annoyance as she hunkered tighter to Lickity's spine, noticing the pick-up in speed, "I just have to play my cards right."

"You already played your Ace, what other cards do you have up your sleeve?" Lickity teased, to which Tessa beamed a wider smile and shook her head.

"A wild card," Tessa rasped confidently with a smiling glare to the horizon before her, "Turbotastic."

As the evening sky finally welcomed it's full moon and solid amount of darkness, the flying group finally settled on landing. With nothing but open plains for as far as the eye could see, during the day anyways, they hundred tight to each other, in the darkness, and allowed the four flyers to form a larger, protective circle about their seven passengers. Upon finally conversing with everyone, for the first time in hours, Tessa glued herself to Zed and knew at least his opinions and thoughts, on the subject matter of Turbo, was neutral and safe. As much as Tessa wanted to reach out and be her talkative self to everyone about her, she held onto the final dregs of sulking and figured a good night's sleep was in order. She knew, come morning time, she'd feel a bit more on fire for wanting to grapple the reigns right out of her uncle's hands.

* * *

Nestled warmly in Throttle's abode, Ace, Libby, Nox and Throttle lazily sprawled about Throttle's comfortable kitchen sitting area; rain splattered his patio and kitchen windows. Although it was just about time to part ways and head to sleep, for the night, the group decided on a second round of glasses of wine. Through a gentle amount of laughter and the clinking of Throttle's delicate glasses, everyone eased their way into a second glass. Although the team was due to head out for Sugar Rush's scout, Libby sat tight in Ace's gravity, still having been shaken from the events inside Sonic's game. It was clear, the sullen, far off and nervous look in her eyes, that bouncing back from such an experience was going to take some time.

"I really think you outta get some sturdier glasses, there, Tee," Nox chuckled as he raised his glassed, winced and took note of the extremely thin goblet; his red wine sloshed about a bit.

"Well, either that, or you should maybe have a gentler touch, there, little brother," Throttle laughed as he began to clear a few plates from his loved kitchen table, the pretty lights that hung in a cluster, over said table, made the place glow with much warmth, "I'm surprised at you, Nox, I was certain you were itching to get out again and adventure that next scout with everyone."

"Well... I really thought I would too, but," Nox shrugged and looked off, though he finally dragged his eyes to Ace's and looked confused, "For some reason, I just feel as if these in-between scouts are making me antsy. Going into Sugar Rush countless times, like this, all to find nothing, is just... So frustrating."

"That castle could be anywhere," Libby mumbled as she looked down to her glass and heaved a gentle sigh.

"Well... Let's just hope they headed True North," Throttle stated in a dull tone, though said tone lead to prove that he was very much aware the scout didn't head in such direction.

"I'm sure mom will put her foot down, soon enough," Ace gave Nox a worried frown, "You... You told my mom how you felt about Turbo's advice, right?"

"I know Turbo's telling the truth," Nox pleaded as he peered to Throttle, as if to beg for his oldest brother to take his side, "Turbo was never one to deceive or manipulate a situation... Not outside of this crazy code-swap craziness he's fallen under."

"You're right Nox, but... You have to remember," Throttle worried as he came back to the table, though only to grab a few more dishes, "Turbo is alive... That means he must still have his previous swap-mate's coding... Thus, still going crazy."

"Thirty years," Ace bugged his eyes and shook his head, he peered to Libby in gentle honesty and frowned, "I mean... I can feel my coding begin to itch after a few days. I'm pretty positive I'd claw my own coding out if I had to go an eternity without that coded refill."

"Swapping makes you nuts," Throttle teased, he flashed Ace a small smile and shook his head, "In a good way, but... In Turbo's case, it seems to be a rollercoaster."

"I don't think he'd just... Say shit to steer us wrong, would he?" Nox began to look as if he was slipping from his confidence, "If he was as calm and gentle as Tessa explained, I'd be quick to believe he was telling the truth."

"It's really up to Tessa and Vanellope if they want to listen to that truth, or not," Throttle stated at his kitchen sink, his back was turned; Nox wretched his neck and perked up.

"So you DO think it's true!" Nox urged, Ace and Libby eased with gentle laughter as Throttle's shoulders visibly sagged.

"Nox, you know as well as I do that Turbo was as honest as they came," Throttle was quick to rebuttal, "But going THAT long without a swap... It does things to you. It's honestly a grey area. No pun intended."

"Grey area," Nox muttered as he messily swat some of his dark, dusty grey hair from his eyes, straightened his sitting posture and looked off in a disgruntled way, "If anyone knows Turbo best, it's me, okay? I say he's telling the truth."

"Look, Nox, I'm not saying I don't believe Turbo," Throttle lazily argued from the sink.

"Throttle's saying to keep every avenue of possibility open," Ace encouraged gently, to which Libby nodded, "Turbo may be honest and all, but this whole three decades of no-swap very easily could be messing with him. We will never know... Until we find him."

"Never thought we'd be having this conversation," Throttle sighed long and hard, he came back to the table for one last plate.

"It is weird... Thinking one day, we'll be in Turbo's presence. Infamous Turbo," Ace gawked, him and Libby caught eyes in a string of nervous, though riled enchantment.

"The guy is pretty strict and straight forward," Throttle huffed as he took said plate and went back to the sink, "Though, once he's off the tracks and out of his shell, he's probably one of the funniest guys you'll know. He probably would rival Orph."

"User knows we need more of that around here," Libby teased, everyone laughed.

"Tee, you know how the whole swapping ordeal goes, right? I thought you didn't have your original coding?" Nox prod, and although it was a sensitive topic, the company everyone was in was cordial and calm enough.

"I-I had a girlfriend, yes, I'm sure you remember," Throttle chuckled as he washed the last of the dishes, "We didn't ever swap codes, though... Back then, it was extremely taboo. So, uh... We had to complicate things a little. It sucked."

"Code-blocking," Ace grimaced, to which Libby raised her eyebrows and took a swig of her drink.

"Ouch," Nox huffed, though he lazily looked over his shoulder and smiled, "S'okay, Tee, certainly you're going to eventually throw yourself out on the market, once more... Maybe after this whole Sugar Rush ordeal is said and done with."

"I'm sure I'll eventually find a nice guy to settle down with," Throttle eased with tenderness in his warm voice, though it was in the sudden pang of stark silence behind him did he freeze, rewind his thoughts and bug his eyes in a draw of embarrassed, dreaded shock. He inhaled a sharp breath, turned around and brought a slop of soapy water with him, "Wh-What I meant by that was uh... I-I just...!"

"Guy?" Libby giggled politely, though Ace furrowed his brow in delightful surprise as Nox wretched his neck, yet again, and shot Throttle a beaming, shocked grin, flashed his oldest brother's way.

"Uh oh," Nox began to tease, his smile broadened, though it was clear, by the amount of blood rushing to Throttle's face, that this was something he was greatly struggling with. Ace blurt a small laugh of understanding as Nox stood and began to cheekily saunter to his oldest brother, "That sure is a nice closet you're coming out of, there, Tee. Do you need help out?"

"I-I... Well..." Throttle nearly was choking on his words as the sink kept running, though Nox chuckled, leaned over and turned it off.

"Finally, User... I was wondering when this would be a topic of discussion," Nox smiled as he lovingly pat Throttle's upper arm; he swallowed hard and peered down into Nox's eyes with a sheer amount of nervous uncertainty, "So, you want a boyfriend. Easy. You know how many girls, on this lot, would jump at the chance to give you the hookup?"

"I'm positive Tammy even knows a few people," Ace blurt, Libby smiled and watched this ordeal unfold.

"I know Ems does," Libby included, Throttle sagged his shoulders and exhaled a shaky breath.

"I-I didn't mean for it to uh... Come out so carelessly," Throttle staggered, and for the first time in his life, he couldn't help but look completely out of sorts. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, though this only played soap suds into his black hair, "I... I had this whole plan to sit you guys down and... I-I can't believe I just-"

"Throttle, it's fine, it's honestly not even an issue, why are you so worried?" Nox chuckled, he gestured out to Ace and Libby, "You're in good company. It doesn't change anything."

"... Thank you," Throttle huffed, he finally gave Nox a weak smile, though it was clear a weight had been lifted.

"But before we do anything about finding you a boyfriend, you've got to do something with your hair, dude," Nox muttered, though Throttle looked off, rolled his eyes, shook his head and did everything he could not to smile; he flinched the second Nox reached for his untamed, thin black hair, "It's like... All slopped to one side. C'mon."

"Alright, I'll... Let one of the girls figure it out, get off me!" Throttle blurt a laugh as Nox's grabby hands turned into a lunge of a hug into his oldest brother. Throttle tried to reach his arms to hug Nox, in return, though Nox had a tight bear-hug grip about his upper chest, which included his upper arms. Throttle heaved a hard sigh and looked over to Ace and Libby, who were in stitches.

"... Just so you know, I've known you were gay for a long time, now," Nox muttered into Throttle's lower chest; their height difference was stark.

"Would've been nice if you told me, I've only just now discovered it for myself within the last year!" Throttle suddenly bellowed with a wide smile, everyone howled with laughter.

"It's not my closet to step out of," Nox huffed a laugh and gave Throttle one last squeeze before releasing him.

"Touché," Throttle grumbled as he relaxed and looked down to the sink; in one simple touch of fate, and with Nox now removed, he felt a weight lifted from his entire being... Literally and figuratively.


	234. Chapter 234

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Aww good! I'm glad :D YAY

 **NightHex54 :** YAY Thank you! I'm so glad it was portrayed that way, I was hoping it wasn't too obnoxious or forward.

 **chuckiboo :** Oh wow really? Well I'm glad you enjoyed it :D Throttle is well on his way haha. Thank you!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Adrenaline by Zedd and Grey (end of the chapter)**

* * *

 **A/N : ** Chapter 233 marked my ***600th*** chapter of this BEAST of a saga! Happy 600th, Wrecking Limits!

 ***Chapter 234***

Through blistering, Sugar Rush sunshine, the gang continued on. With Tessa feeling only slightly better about the whole situation, she allowed Lickity to stay huddled in the center of the flight group, with Marble at the lead, Royal to her right and Balba to her left. The wind whipped her hair about, her sullen eyes stared forward, and although they had entered new territory of lush, orange candy trees, she still felt as if every single mile taken away from the Northern skies was just shortening her fuse that much more. She heaved a hot sigh through her nose and gently let her molten glare drag to the back of Rancis's head. She knew she hardly had a leg to stand on, trusting the Arcade's ultimate-feared bad guy, standing next to someone like Turbo was something no one was caught doing. Tessa felt her heart pang with sorrow as she was flashed with the vision of Nox's sorrowful gaze, how much trust and enthusiasm he had towards his older brother; she deepened her glower to the back of Rancis's head and knew she had to somehow convince the whole flight crew to turn heel and head North... When to put said plan into motion was a whole different ball of thoughts, entirely.

"Hey, look! Taffy trees!" Penny cried in excitement as she flung her arm forward, she sat comfortably stationed behind Orph.

In a hot draw of stunned knowing, Orph felt his pupils tighten, though with this, his eyes desperately began to scan the horizon, which was soaked in all sorts of tree tops. He furrowed his brow and felt his heart race, though he was uncertain just what these trees looked like, he knew full well Rancis was going to make sure he was well acquainted with them. Orph adjusted his sitting position a little, cleared his throat uncomfortably and was suddenly met with Rancis's snarky side eye, from Marble's spine. Penny giggled and wrapped her arms about Orph's center, she gently buried her nose into the back of his shoulder and sighed.

"My mom's wedding ring is made from the bark of the taffy branches... It's a high honor, in my family," Penny delicately explained to Orph, "The taffy's don't like you messing with their bark... The trick is to cut the bark off and haul ass outta there."

"... Why?" Orph staggered nervously, and although Penny was out of the loop of his scheming plans, as well as Rancis's, she nonchalantly carried on.

"The taffys come after you... The bruises and bites you obtain is a badge of honor, and that's how my dad proposed," Penny stated gently as the gorgeous, fluffy marshmallow blooms of the taffy trees began to soak their surroundings, the shadows of the four flyers dot the canopies, "They're all fun and games until you try and take their bark... That's when their smiles turn upside down."

"H-Have you seen this first hand?" Orph tried to swallow.

"No, but my dad has told his taffy story," Penny huffed a nervous laugh and shook her head, "His whole chest, back and shoulders was just covered in huge bruises and welts... But, that's how he proposed. Shirtless... To show my mom his efforts."

"Damn," Orph huffed nervously as his eyes hesitated to scan the gorgeous, deceiving canopy below. He cocked an eyebrow and could catch glimpses of the forbidden, magnificent gold and magenta colored bark below.

"Not to worry," Penny sighed as she closed her eyes and relaxed, "I don't think you'll have to go through something like that... I-I mean unless you were itching to get me taffy bark for a wedding ring. I completely understand if you wouldn't be up for that, though... It sounds like hell."

"It does," Orph agreed nervously, though he desperately tried not to cue to his now shaky, wavering plan.

"I... Didn't mean to freak you out or anything," Penny huffed softly, she suddenly felt very aware of her surroundings, and although sh was certain the rest fo her family couldn't hear her's and Orph's gentle conversation, she still felt her heart surge with nervousness, "I-I know we only briefly talked about, well... Marriage, but... I just thought you'd like some of my useless knowledge."

"No, it's okay, you're not freaking me out," Orph stated warmly, he inhaled a deep breath and knew, whatever it took, he'd get that special taffy bark, just for her, "It's good to have options... And I appreciate a good 'ol Sugar Rush run down, anyhow. This land is full of surprises."

"Speaking of surprises," Vanellope suddenly stuttered as she sat up a little straighter, behind Rancis; Penny furrowed her brow and now felt certain that their conversing likely weren't as quiet as she had hoped; Vanellope urgently pointed down to something closely in their vicinity and gently grappled Marble's gorgeous white mane, "I-Is that... What I think it is?"

"Is that our old village?" Rancis gawked in absolute disbelief, though with this, each flyer held in a tight, agitated, lofty glide and was wholly uncertain what to do in this instance.

Tessa perked up, glued her eyes to where her mother was pointing and held her breath. Low and behold, the rooftops of houses could be seen peaking through the taffy trees. Tessa raised her eyebrows high in surprise and peered over to Zed, who was aboard Royal alongside Taffyta. He cocked an eyebrow and held with her eye contact in riled disbelief, though as soon as said village began to grow closer, Taffyta's strict posture stiffened even more as she quickly came to a solid realization. It was in this moment did Rancis and Vanellope come to the same realization, they whirled their attention to Taffyta in whole, unadulterated surprise.

"The racer's village?!" Vanellope's voice clipped the air in that roll of shocked excitement, and although Rancis was aboard Marble, he knew he had no control over her whatsoever, due to her finicky nature in only really responding to Zed's commands.

Because of the excitement, however, Marble knew to steer towards the village with the cute, colorful rooftops that peeked through the glowing, sunny marshmallow canopies. The whole rest of the flight group followed suit, and although they were suddenly making a bit of progress, Tessa felt her shoulders sag in continued defeat at the sheer fact that Rancis's intuition didn't fail him. As much as she wanted to grapple the reigns from Rancis's hands and force everyone to believe she knew exactly what was best, she was well ware sitting back and letting this all unfold was likely what needed to be done. Before long, the team gently soaked underneath the taffy tree's canopy, and although everyone had already had a great idea of what the gorgeous taffy trees looked like, Orph tried his very hardest not to let his nervous eyes ogle the gorgeous, forbidden bark of said trees; branches and trunks that whizzed by, he grimaced and wondered where all of these deceiving taffies were.

"It can't be!" Vanellope's voice panted through the colorful, bright forest, though as the flight group came to the gape of an opening, near the side of one of the larger city hall-like buildings, she sat up a little straighter and narrowed her gaze in continued confusion, "I wonder who all lives here..."

"I guess we'll find out," Rancis rushed as Marble came to a gentle land, as did Balba, Lickity and Royal, though the second their paws hit the ground, Rancis, Vanellope and Taffyta leaped to the ground and began to urgently hustle through the lush Sugar Rush grass that lined this section of taffy forest.

Vanellope urgently pushed through the thicket of the forest, and as she finally came to the gape of the clearing, where every building seemingly nestled it's way about the forest's center of thinly dotted canopies, she got a solid look around and was absolutely floored at what her eyes were receiving. Lazily dawdling about the vast, wide open village was none other than the rest of her racing crew, every single racer she thought was simply lost in a void. Quietly, they all worked, tended to their homes, gardened, and hung close to one another. As if she could hardly even contain herself, she felt tears sting her eyes the second she saw her long lost sister, Candlehead.

"CANDLEHEAD!" Vanellope hollered in sheer excitement, though just as she went running, she slowed her roll to a staggered, nervous jog the second the whole entire crew wretched their necks in cold, surprised terror. Vanellope froze the second each and every single racer looked to Vanellope in whole shock with their fingers to their mouths in a 'shushing' manner. Vanellope choked a noise and shook her head in solid confusion, though the second each of her racers silently began to shuffle over to her, Rancis and Taffyta, Vanellope sagged her shoulders and knew something here was very wrong.

Before Vanellope could even get more uncertain words out, Candlehead's figure so swiftly lunged straight into Vanellope's embrace. Vanellope urgently grappled her arms about her sister and held her as tightly as she could. She shook her head in silent confusion as each of her more than a dozen racers began to swiftly circle Taffyta, Vanellope and Rancis, each giving hugs and silent forms of nervous, agitated excitement. As soon as Candlehead let go of Vanellope, she grappled the Queen's lower arms and peered deep into her eyes, a void of sorrow, of terror, of so many questions and answers all in one. Just as Vanellope opened her mouth and began a quiet sentence of a few words, Candlehead swiftly shook her head and silently shushed Vanellope once more. Vanellope furrowed her brow in solid confusion and felt terror sink into her skin as Candlehead gently pointed up to the taffy tree's canopies.

"What's going on?" Vanellope stated, nearly in no tone at all, though Candlehead scrunched her tired eyes, grimaced and shook her head more adamantly; the second Vanellope noticed not only Gloyd, Minty and Adorabeezle doing the same thing, she held her breath and gently looked up to the canopy that Candlehead was pointing to.

Before Vanellope could become agitated and continue to whisper more things to the gang that eerily surrounded the two, as if they wanted to just explode with words and cries, they all remained silent in their only physical displays of affection, as if to make absolutely certain that they were making it obvious they were grateful their Queen was here to hopefully save them. As the rest of the flight crew hung back in nervous agitation, Vanellope was quickly approached by Gloyd, who had shuffled away for a moment and returned with what looked to be a small white board. He quickly began to write something down, Vanellope's nervous eyes eagerly watched him scratch away, though the second he revealed his message to her, she held her breath.

 _We're trapped here, the taffies are spying taffies. No one talks or else our words are used against us -_ Gloyd's words read, and before Vanellope could open her mouth and give a verbal reply, Gloyd firmly shook his head and shoved the little white board into Vanellope's center.

Vanellope heaved a shaky breath and finally peered deep into Gloyd's eyes; sheer terror, mental abuse, confusion and sorrow read on each of her racer's faces, and before she could absolutely become up in arms about this whole fiasco, she quickly began to scribble a message out for Gloyd to reply back to.

 _Do you guys have a game day still?_ Vanellope wrote.

 _Yes, but only such. After game day, we are all teleported back here. The village is surrounded by taffy trees for miles. Leaving isn't an option... We've tried_ Gloyd wrote.

Vanellope frowned and peered about to all of her racers, all huddled tight to the royal group, as if their prayers have been answered. Before Vanellope could write an entire novel about how they will be saved shortly, Candlehead gently took the whiteboard from Gloyd and began writing.

 _We have to stay here to keep Sugar Rush plugged in. Please get to the castle and end this... We just want to go home_ Candlehead wrote.

Vanellope gently looked to Taffyta, though the second Tessa strolled up, every racer began to urgently glom onto her with hugs of love and appreciation, the sheer fact that they were not only in the presence of their Queen, but also in the presence of their future Queen; more authority to take solid direction for the sake of this mess. Before Vanellope could get her hands back on the whiteboard, Tessa gently wrote one question.

 _Where is the castle?_

Candlehead began to confidently write her answer, and just as she revealed it's words, Tessa felt as if all of her stewing had come to a head.

 _True North_ Candlehead confirmed.

Tessa inhaled a slow, deep breath, furrowed her eyebrows and felt that protective rage come back to her skin, as if she was simply a phoenix set ablaze, she furrowed her brow deeper into her glare and very slowly dragged it straight into Rancis's soul; he peered to her in solid, dumbfounded surprise, though he flinched once Tessa gently waggled the whiteboard about in a cocky way. She kept her stone-cold glare to his eyes and didn't waver, and with this, Rancis sagged his shoulders and felt Tessa's dominant, terrifying glare practically burn a hole through his forehead. Tessa finally crowned a sassy, closed-mouth grin and began to write something else on the white board.

 _Who told you this?_ Tessa wrote before she handed the white board back to Candlehead.

 _A tall, strange man in a Shy Guy costume_ Candlehead wrote, though everyone flinched the second Tessa inhaled a long, sharp breath though her nose; the only sound present.

She scribbled a reply on the white board and gave it back to Candlehead firmly, which read _Sit tight, this will get fixed shortly_

Tessa turned heel and shot Rancis an annoyed glare, and with such, she firmly pushed past him and began to march towards the flight group she left a dozen feet behind the conglomerate of racers. Much to her surprise, Vanellope and Taffyta urgently began to follow her while Rancis began to write out a few apologetic, last minute goodbye's and words of affirmation to the rest of the racers. Just as Tessa reached the group, all the flyer's flattened their ears and lowered their heads, for they knew just who was in charge, here. Tessa dominantly pushed past everyone and began walking deeper into the forest, away from the racer's village, and although she was certain a fight was about to break out, she was at least thrilled to hear the shuffling of her entire crew following tight to her presence, which included all four of the flyers.

"Tess," Vanellope finally braved, her tone held a sorrowful though annoyed twinge; Tessa deepened her glower and only barely looked over her shoulder.

"What," Tessa spat, she knew the warning's that Gloyd and Candlehead had given about the spying taffies, though she disregarded it all for now.

"Tess, come on, what's going on? Why are you acting like this?" Vanellope urged a little louder as they crawled out of ear shot of the racer's village, and hopefully away from any spying taffies.

Tessa pushed on with more fervor, her eyes dart up and about the gorgeous, fluffy canopy over head, and although she knew the flyers were able to sneak through a small thinning of the canopy, a ways back, she knew it was much too thick where they were, currently. She peered ahead with that firm glare and knew she had to somehow seek a thinning of the forest, lest they have to resort to climbing the taffy's bark; something she knew was a task that was borderline suicidal. Just as she was about to continue on, without answering her mother's question, Vanellope firmly grappled her arm and jolted her clear out of her thoughts.

"Tessa Quorrin Von Schweetz," Vanellope firmly snapped in a hiss of whole, motherly dismay, though Tessa whirled around and gave her mother a bug-eyed look of whole entire rage.

"Why don't you spell out my entire blood and code binary for the taffies to hear, as well, mom," Tessa muttered through the grit of her teeth in whole shock, though the entire group froze and dart surprised looks to each other.

"... How many middle names do you have?" Orph stuttered in total surprise, though he beamed a curious smile of riled delight, even with the tense situation unfolding; he flinched once Penny gently swat at him.

"What's with this suddenly uppy attitude you have going?" Vanellope nearly began to get in Tessa's face, though she made it convincing that she was only doing so to keep quiet under the taffies, of which were suspiciously hiding, "The whole entire trip here, you've done nothing but sulk."

"It won't be discussed here," Tessa firmly demanded, she could feel whole, protective rage come over here, one of protecting not only her family, but her whole entire home game.

"So, we're going to head home with you on a war-path of anger, all of the sudden?" Rancis stabbed as Tessa took a step back and assessed the group; everyone, excluding Vanellope and Taffyta, had their eyes absolutely honed to Tessa, a look of readiness, as if they were due to jump at Tessa's requests.

"You could cut the tension with a butter knife, love," Vanellope grumbled in annoyed dismay as well.

"Tessa, if you just-"

"IT WON'T BE DISCUSSED HERE!" Tessa firmly bellowed, ultimately interrupting her uncle, and with such, silver snakes immediately shot down her arms, legs and bare feet; they soaked the ground and shot like shock waves about the grass and up the trunks of the taffy trees.

With a core-rumbling reverberation of bass, the leaves rustled with the ultimate gloss of power Tessa properly displayed over the entire group, and with such, the game settled in a pin-prick silence that was near-maddening. Tessa glared her mother and uncle down, and with a firm, slow turn, Tessa began to head in the direction she was previously strict on. Vanellope heaved a shaky, nervous sigh and just as she caught eyes with Rancis and Taffyta, the three nervously peered to the rest of the group about them. Zed, Penny and Orph slowly looked to one another, and in a silent form of agreement, the three kept their eyes down and confidently began to follow Tessa's lead, without a single question, word or hesitation.

In this, Lickity, Marble, Balba and Royal all flattened their ears, lowered their heads and firmly began to follow in Zed's, Orph's and Penny's lead, who ultimately kept tight to Tessa's heels. Vanellope sagged her shoulders and watched as the rest of the flight crew began to follow Sugar Rush's future Queen. Although this stabbed at her skin, made her itch with much-needed power, Vanellope frowned and knew her power here would slip one day. She knew she had been prepping Tessa for this role, all along, though now that it was right in front of her, Vanellope was uncertain just what to do with the situation. She inhaled a sharp breath, shook her head in whole frustration and finally picked up behind the rest of the crew; the only two people tight on her path being Rancis and Taffyta.


	235. Chapter 235

**Reviews :**

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Aww, that's okay! I understand how that is. I'm currently struggling with life getting in the way, but everything shakes out. No worries, my friend. It's good to hear from you again, I missed you! Haha I'm surprised you're shook to see Turbo so 'soon' lol. He actually becomes a main character, for the last stretch of the story. He gets solid character development, and you guys get a huge dose of insight on just what's going on. I won't spoil anything else :) Thank you for all your kind words, and for your encouragement. I'm really glad you're liking everything so far! Thank you! :D

 **Burgie :** Aww that's sweet. I'm excited to write for all of this! Although, with this next trip into Sugar Rush, this is their last. So I'm sort of sad about it... Though, this trip is like 3 times the length of any of their other trips into Sugar Rush, so I guess that gives me room and time to play with haha.

 **Nighthex54 :** LOL! Yeah Tessa's pissed! Zed manages to cool her temper for the time being, however :) Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** I'm sad because, with this next and final trip, this is the last stretch of the story... Granted there's still a TON that needs to happen, I'm guessing it IS possible I may push to 300 chapters, but still. A part of me is pretty sad that it's beginning to hit it's final stretch!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Running With The Boys by Lights**

* * *

 ***Chapter 235***

With the gentle chatters and laughter that filled the air and carried in wisps of sealed memories, Tessa could hear her family's voices being lofted on the wind, from behind her. She furrowed her brow and glowered into Sugar Rush's setting sun sky, she hugged her knees to her chest and, although it was not like her to sulk for so long, in such a committed way, she held on. Just as tears stung her eyes, she deepened her glare and felt her heart just sink. The very image of Turbo's curious, scared and hopeful eyes, how much he looked like Nox, with his sweet disposition and gentle energy, Tessa lulled her eyes closed and allowed the tears to soak her cheeks. She knew somehow she had to trust her gut, everything it was telling her... To trust the most feared bad guy in the entire history of Arcade.

"The group is not the same without your sarcasm, my love," Zed's deep, gentle voice glossed over Tessa's figure as he trudged up the grassy hill Tessa was set to die on.

"They'll do without," Tessa darkly muttered as she shook her head, and although she was well aware Zed was here to lovingly set her straight and potentially get her to lighten up, she couldn't help but let her curious eyes sag to him as he huffed a grunt, sat on his rump next to her and lazily sat in her brooding silence. Tessa allowed the weird silence for a moment before she finally peaked out from her shell, "You, uh... You okay?"

"I'm great," Zed chuckled as he looked up and squinted, taking note of the constellations they sat underneath. He gently pointed and smiled, "There's Orion..."

"Orion," Tessa mumbled gently as Sugar Rush memories quickly came flooding back to her. She sagged her shoulders and allowed her wall to begin to crumple, but only for Zed. She heaved a long sigh and let her eyes gloss down from the constellations, to the splashes of color the sun left behind, on the horizon, "I miss him..."

"I do too," Zed's gentle voice held a lilt of optimism, "I want to know what he thinks of this ordeal. Certainly we'll get an earful..."

"'You kids have no idea what you're doing'," Tessa mocked in a deep, grumbly voice as she stiffened her neck and bobbed her head for effect.

"'Certainly this wasn't worth the sex you had'," Zed also mocked, and with this, Zed beamed a knowing smile and was absolutely successful in getting a genuine grin and laugh out of Tessa's shelled figure.

"I think it was," Tessa finally sighed through a giggle as she looked off, she shook her head and narrowed her gaze to the gorgeous scene out before her, "Even through this whole mess... Zed, I wouldn't change a single thing."

"Well, without this mess, we wouldn't have Ace... Nor Libby," Zed slowly listed, Tessa nodded.

"Your brothers, Royal... Nox, Koko, Throttle," Tessa listed, as well, though Zed smiled and looked up and to the left, so to find those Northern stars they were now due to follow.

"It'll be great to finally set this all straight," Zed smiled, and although this was the phrase of the century, Tessa dragged her eyes to his and was curious of his demeanor.

"... You seem so sure," Tessa prod delicately, that nagging feeling to keep being moody and upset tugged on the back of her mind, though she disregarded it for now.

"I am," Zed furrowed his brow and lovingly peered into Tessa's eyes, "We have you... Why wouldn't we be sure?"

Tessa gently raised her eyebrows and kept her gaze tight to Zed's in loving, humbled surprise. She finally heaved a long sigh through her nose and guiltily looked off. She knew she had been grumpy and mean for this entire trip, strictly for the fact that things weren't necessarily going her way, the right way. She frowned and finally looked down to her knees, which she hugged a little tighter.

"Thanks, for that..." Tessa muttered, she shook her head and shrugged, "It sucks cause we have to go home, first... We can't just head North, to The End, right now... We'd be here for weeks."

"Well, so, we'll go home, grab the troops for the haul, and, well... Head North," Zed smiled in encouragement, though he shrugged and looked up, "Simple plan, certainly we will be okay... That was your plan all along, right?"

"Yeah," Tessa gentle spat in rising annoyance, though Zed secretly grimaced and knew he had to choose his words wisely, here.

"Babe... It's OKAY to let someone else have ideas, here," Zed stated gently, he knew he was asking for trouble, with this statement, though with the way Tessa's defeated gaze dragged to his, he was certain he had her attention, "Your uncle means well... The main goal is to find the castle... Sooo, he thought it was out this way. But it isn't... Easy fix, you know?"

"No one believed me, or Turbo, when I said the castle was True North," Tessa stabbed, she shook her head as tears soaked her eyes, "Not once in my LIFE did I EVER think I'd be siding with Turbo, of all people... TURBO!"

"It is weird," Zed bulged his eyes and looked off, though he gave Tessa gentle smile and shook his head, "You want to know something?"

"What," Tessa mumbled in continued defeat.

"I believed you," Zed stated calmly; Tessa knew this to be true, with how Zed didn't argue her logic once, she knew he always had her back, though hearing it through reassurance brought a small smile to her cheeks.

"... I know you did," Tessa's voice was finally delicate and normal, she let her gaze trace Zed's hands, which were lazily hugged about his knees to his chest. She huffed a silent chuckle, shook her head and soaked her gentle gaze into her love's eyes, "You always do."

"I always do," Zed cheekily repeated, though he heaved a hard grunt, got to his feet and held his hands out, to help her up, "Now, C'mon. Let's get some shut eye."

"I don't know if I can," Tessa mumbled as she clumsily grappled for Zed's hands and was pulled to her feet, as well, "I know I shouldn't be, but... I'm still pissed."

"You can't be pissed," Zed stated lazily as he shrugged and kept a tight gravity to Tessa.

"... And why not?" Tessa inquired in rising, cheeky curiosity.

"Because I love you," Zed shrugged, once more. He looked about like it was common sense, "You can't be mad AND be loved by Arcade's only blue-haired bad guy. C'mon. It's just impossible."

"I wish I could argue you," Tessa's dull tone was strictly playful and sarcastic, though just before she could turn to head down the hill with Zed, he grappled her arm and tugged her into a big hug. She eased a gentle, annoyed laugh and tried to resist, though she scrunched her shoulders in rising girliness as Zed wrapped his lovingly, masculine arms about her body, "Rephrase... Don't MAKE me argue you."

"Oh, try me," Zed chuckled as he was successful in getting a few smooches to Tessa's neck and jawline.

"Dude," Tessa complained with a widening smile, she playfully resisted, at this point.

"Hmm, your logic is flawed," Zed teased, to which Tessa finally blurt a loud, genuine laugh and squirmed in Zed's strong embrace, "I mean, you make a good point, but... My name is Zedian, so you're wrong, there."

"Babe," Tessa wheezed with laughter as Zed was finally successful in getting her to wrap her arms tight about his center; he bobbed a nod and peered down into her eyes.

"That also works," Zed shrugged, though just as their stirring came to a gentle stop, Zed lovingly slid his hands to Tessa's cheeks, just under her jaw line. He heaved a refreshed sigh and peered deep into her hazel eyes, orbs that mirrored the stars above her. He shook his head and narrowed his sweet, lovestruck gaze, "You're my Queen, Tess... I'll follow you to the edge of the Earth."

Tessa's cheeks crowned a close-mouth grin, and as her eyes welled with tears, she was thankful Zed dipped into her gravity and eased a firm, warm kiss to her lips. As they lulled their eyes closed and melted into a few stirs of kisses, inhales and exhales of warm breath on each other's cheeks, Tessa felt her heart become glossed with warmth, once more. And although the gang and the game was in dire straights, she felt as if Sugar Rush's stars smiled down on it's future rulers. As Zed and Tessa gently parted, Zed's masculine fingers and thumbs caught the tears that collected on Tessa's jaws. He lovingly smiled into her eyes and shook his head.

"You're doing just fine... Stop being so hard on yourself," Zed's deep, soothing voice seemingly enveloped the two in care, "You have to learn to let others call the shots, every now and then... We may be Sugar Rush's future, but it is our duty to keep the right people on our team. Right hand men and women, of which will have influence on decision making."

"I'm sorry," Tessa meeped through her tears, though Zed gently shook his head.

"No need, I understand your frustration... Just keep an open mind," Zed instructed, "Everyone here has one main goal. To get Sugar Rush back. No one is trying to take that crown away from you. You're really the only one in line for it... Rancis can't take that from you. As wonderful of a right hand man he is to Vanellope, no one in this Arcade can take that crown from you."

Tessa bobbed a nod as the two gently tucked into each other for a grappling, loving hug. Tessa sighed, rested the side of her head to Zed's upper chest and closed her eyes in final relaxation, though as Zed's words floated through her head, she reopened her eyes and finally allowed herself to see the sight down the hill she had perched herself on; her whole family was lazily camped around a roaring fire. Tessa let a bashful, curious smile sprawl her face as her thoughts ran away from her.

"... No one but my successors to come," Tessa prod teasingly, to which Zed had to think on for a moment. He heaved a long, loud sigh and looked up.

"Tessa, we're not having another baby, right now," Zed groaned with a small laugh of annoyance, though Tessa rolled her eyes and grinned.

"I'm at one hundred percent, now, your majesty," Tessa teased as the two parted and began to clumsily stroll down the hill, back to the group of family they had left behind, "Better watch that firewall, kid."

"You wouldn't," Zed stabbed in nervous, playful irritation, thinking Tessa was going to gleefully argue him.

"... No, I wouldn't, I'm not that terrible of a person," Tessa muttered, to which Zed blurt a loud laugh and looked off, "Don't think the thought hasn't crossed my mind, though."

* * *

Through the dim glow of embers the once roaring campfire left behind, Rancis's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and although the sweet Sugar Rush sky was just beginning to turn the most gentle shade of periwinkle, alongside the impending dawn, it was still almost too dark to see much of anything. Though the circumstances, Rancis silently tucked his hoodie over his body, eased out of his and Taffyta's little love nest of a makeshift bed and tiptoed his way over to where Orph was sleeping. As silent as could be, he knelt next to Orph's alone, sleeping body and gingerly rested his hand upon his broad shoulder. Grateful that Orph wasn't incredibly startled upon waking up, Orph's face could just barely be seen desperately trying to scan just who was now in his half awake personal bubble.

"We gotta work fast," Rancis just barely whispered, hardly audible, and although Rancis was well aware Orph was likely on the verge of becoming extremely confused, he was elated that Orph sat up with a silent grunt and didn't ask questions.

Both boys silently stood, and in the gentle hustle to leave the vicinity of the slumbering Sugar Rush scout, Orph urgently rubbed his eyes and hung close to Rancis's confident stride, much like a nervous youngling following a parental figure. Orph glued his dewy, sleepy gaze in Rancis's direction and noticed a few things. Rancis diligently brought along Orph's hoodie and two bullwhips, he was also strapped with his trusty jade-stone swords. His steps were silent though sturdy and firm in continued confidence, though Orph nervously stumbled to keep up.

"Where're we going?" Orph wondered sleepily, though he furrowed his brow and knew this was a stupid question, for he knew the answer, even without previously discussing any of this with Rancis.

"Sh," Rancis tenderly snipped, Orph finally locked his eyes to the horizon and inhaled a steady, refreshed breath of Sugar Rush's cool morning air.

After about five minutes of walking, Rancis finally made his demeanor a bit more welcoming and volleyed his tender gaze to Orph's.

"We should be out of earshot of the group, now," Rancis chimed gently, and although they hadn't been walking for long, the environment about them finally began to become a little bit lighter with the impending sunrise.

"Taffy trees?" Orph nervously asked, and although he knew a little bit about these haunted taffies, he swallowed hard and noticed the edge of the forest, amidst the sprawling grassy plains, quickly coming within their vicinity.

"It's now or never," Rancis stated gently with a smile as he bobbed a nod, though he retracted his words and shrugged in annoyance, "Well... Not never, but... If you want that ring, it'd probably be best to at least have it sooner than later. You then have time to choose when and where you reveal it to Penny."

Just as Orph was about to smile and feel a lot more at peace with Rancis's blessing, he felt his stomach tighten as a large figure was seen lurking about three dozen feet behind them. He urgently peered over his shoulder and felt his heart dip in a vat of uncollected fear, though before he could freak out, he recognized said stalking, slow walking figure was, indeed, Lickity. Orph heaved a long, hot sigh, rolled his eyes and looked forward.

"I'm SO glad Lickity decided to join us," Orph just barely whispered, he was aware whispering was useless, as Lickity's hearing was practically super-sonic.

"I didn't ask her to, if that makes you feel better," Rancis smiled as he glanced over his shoulder, he was grateful she decided to join, even if she was keeping her distance from both boys, "Nothing gets past that old bat."

"Sort of irritating that she knows my plan, now," Orph staggered, though he knew Lickity likely had an inkling of Orph's proposal, what with bumping into him messily rehearsing his talk with Rancis the other morning. Orph let his eyes glaze the tops of the taffy trees, marshmallow buds and blooms that were beginning to become sun kissed alongside the first beams of the morning sun, from the East; Orph carried on in the faintest whisper, "If you can hear me, Lickity, make it known."

In no time at all, Lickity exhaled a gentle grunt of annoyed acknowledgment, to which Rancis blurt a soft laugh and rubbed his forehead. Orph shook his head and sagged his shoulders.

"Dammit," Orph huffed, to which Rancis teasingly nudged Orph's arm.

"Hey, she followed us for added protection on our small journey to the trees," Rancis assured.

"...Neither of you two can protect me while I get the bark? To avoid the taffies? Anything?" Orph staggered in rising nervousness, "How does all this work, anyways?"

"Nope, this is a one man job," Rancis and Orph finally caught eyes in the brighter sunlight, Rancis gave Orph a weak, apologetic smile, "I'll explain more once we reach the trees..."


	236. Chapter 236

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww, that's okay, no worries. I understand entirely! I hope you're doing okay, you were missed :) And, than you! I appreciate all the support. I'm sad to reach the 'end' of this behemoth, but I'm also excited to reveal the climax to you guys, including all of SR's mysteries, it'll be great :D Thank you!

 **DeusExMachina :** Aww WOW! I love when my OG crew reaches out to me, I wish more of my 'lurkers' did that. It really is reassuring to me. I often worry that I've lost all my original friends and crowd, so hearing from readers that have been here since the beginning really puts a smile on my face. Thanks for the encouragement, I hope I get accepted as well! I have a few readers/friends I'd like to meet, in/around Atlanta, so if I ever plan a meet up, I'll be sure to make it known to those individuals! It'd be so cool to actually physically talk with people that read my story haha. I only have like 1 person in my every day life that reads my story and keeps up with me... And that's my boyfriend LOL. So it'd be nice to branch out and get to really answer questions and hear what you guys had to say in real time. HOW FUN!

 **Snake557 :** Haha hopefully it will be both! And yes, I am VERY excited for the 4th book, but having this one end will be a very very sad day for me D:

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Raptors/Meeting The Heard**

 **Silver Comforts Jim**

 **both scores by James Newton Howard**

* * *

 **A/N : ** Hey guys, really quick... I just wanted to touch base about the fan art I did for the (not written) scene between chapter 235 and this chapter. Almost 100% of the time, my spoiler dialog and artwork makes it into the story, only if I really see it to be fit for when the time actually comes to write the scene. For almost every scene I've pre-written, it's made it into the story, but here, I didn't account for A. Orph's proposal, or B. Tessa's moodiness. So, that scene will actually not be making it. If it DID make it into the story, it'd be directly after Tessa had that small blowout, in the taffy forest, with everyone following her. Instead, I skipped from there, directly to later that night where she was sort of brooding on that hilltop, in the last chapter.

If you're curious of the piece, it's titled 'Secrets Saved With Me' and features Rancis, Penny, Vanellope and Lickity being wary about the spying taffies - nothing of any importance, just dialog to show that these taffies are, indeed, spying taffies. Thanks for understanding guys!

* * *

 ***Chapter 236***

"Alright... So what exactly is my plan of action, here?" Orph staggered nervously, he put his hands on his hips and peered to the towering taffy trees, the threshold of the forest.

Rancis heaved a gentle chuckle as Lickity finally caught up with the two and softly sat on her hind legs. As Rancis lovingly began to pat and rub Lickity's snout, he nervously peered to the taffy trees, in which they stood about three dozen feet from. Rancis knew these weren't any ordinary taffies, but, indeed, spying taffies. He rubbed the back of his head, with his free hand, and gave Orph a once-over. A strong, capable man he was, the twinkle of innocence in his eyes proved to Rancis that this whole entire ordeal will have Orph walking away from this a changed man, hands down. He grimaced with just how brightly his eyes shone with hope and excitement, he knew the taffies were going to be extremely quick to extinguish any form of confidence Orph even so much as dreamed he had.

"Well... This isn't going to be easy, I'm telling you right now... These taffies are different than the ones I battled, strictly because they are spying taffies," Rancis shook his head as the morning breeze rustled the gorgeous marshmallow blooms, high up in the canopies. Although they were there, the taffies were nowhere to be seen, hidden tightly clung to the purple stripes of the taffy bark, "I know you won't be doing any talking, in there, but uh... Once you start running, refrain from yelling or making any noise. You may THINK standing tall and pounding your chest and pretending to be large would ward off a predator, but... This isn't any ordinary predator, and I hope you're not taking any of this lightly."

"I guess... I'm just trying to wrap my head around it," Orph grimaced, though he gently glanced down to the weapons Rancis was holding and finally gave Rancis his curious eye contact, "You brought weapons with... Am I to fight these taffies off?"

"No, son, I... I brought these weapons just in case I had to intervene," Rancis sighed as he nervously gave Orph a knowing look, "You're outside your game... If you die, that's it... Game over."

Orph held his breath and very quickly knew not to take this fragile life, he had, for granted. He cocked an eyebrow and now looked to the taffy trees, as if to begin to wonder if this was even a sane and safe idea. He inhaled a shaky breath, finally, and kept his terrified gaze to the glowing, gorgeous forest.

"So, uh... They just bite? Or, nip at your heels?" Orph staggered as he rubbed the back of his head, "How many will there be?"

"Scores, Orph... I'm not saying this to terrify you, I'm saying this to be honest and to warn you," Rancis's voice was deep and serious as both men quickly caught gazes, "They won't simply be nipping at your skin, Orph... Imagine you're thrusted into a swarm of bees. Except those bees are huge and withhold the same force as being properly socked in the face."

Lickity huffed a noise, and although it would seem fit that said noise were to be that of a chuckle, Orph furrowed his brow and peered to her in rising curiosity as she sagged her demeanor and nervously peered to the two boys in rising apprehension for Orph's safety, something she was now very slowly being okay with showing. Orph felt his heart jump, though he tried his hardest to keep focused on the task at hand.

"The ONLY thing you have on your side is speed... Sure, they're fast, but you are faster and smarter," Rancis instructed, "You must go for a thin, low hanging branch to cut off. Make sure you get enough material because you won't be able to come back... Nor will you want to. Trust me."

"Why do I have to go for something low hanging and small?" Orph's voice shook as he questioned Rancis with great nervousness, though Rancis blurt a chuckle and looked down to his gorgeously crafted wedding ring.

"The second you start sawing away at one of their trunks is the second they'll dive at you, full force, full speed," Rancis's voice grumbled darkly, "You want to swipe a branch and RUN. Your life depends on it. You won't have time to even blink, let alone stand there with your pants down, hacking away at a branch, whilst being pelted by the brunt force of angry taffies."

"Get in, get a small branch, get out," Orph huffed nervously as he inhaled a deep breath, puffed his chest and took a step forward, though before he head out, Rancis grunted a noise and gently stopped him.

"Wai-wait, you're going to need this," Rancis huffed as he handed Orph a small dagger, though he held the handle firm to Orph's open palm as he continued, "You're to use this for getting the branch and nothing else... If you cut off the head of a taffy, this whole mission is void. You are not to harm the taffies... Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Orph staggered as he nodded and held the dagger's handle firmly, though Rancis gently tugged at Orph's clean, loose shirt and shook his head.

"You won't be needing your shirt, either," Rancis instructed, though Orph furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to rebutle, though Rancis cut him off, "The taffies will tear it to shreds. You want to show back up at the campsite with all your clothes in tact, or else Penny will get suspicious."

"Damn," Orph huffed to himself as he quickly swiped his shirt off and gently handed it to Rancis, and with his final turn, he faced the forest and puffed his bare chest in forced confidence, "Alright... Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Rancis and Lickity both nervously mumbled, though as Orph stepped away, he furrowed his brow, with a knowing smile, and allowed Lickity's gentle encouragement to echo on, as if to be in complete disbelief that she was at least being neutral towards him.

Orph's nervous footsteps began to trudge through Sugar Rush's dry, yellow grass. As he came upon the threshold of the massive, towering trees, he held his breath and couldn't focus on anything but the bark of the trees. Gorgeously swirled yellow and magenta happily glistened against the rising sun, like a kind smile of death. He urgently began to look about for any signs of taffies, though the deeper he got into the shade, the more he felt like he had eyes all around him. As silently as he could, he began to look about for a low laying branch, anything he could so quickly swipe and run, and just as he thought he was maybe straying too far from the opening he had come into, he gently looked over his shoulder and felt his blood run cold at the sight behind him.

Like silent, stalking ghosts, at least three dozen taffies hung at his eye level in frozen, excited, baited wait. With wide smiles of cheerful glee, they figuratively stared at him as if they were just absolutely overjoyed he was here. Orph caught his breath in a roll of pure terror, backstepped and nearly fell to his behind. He grunted and caught himself, though in this mess, he stumbled over thick roots of the taffy trees trunk. With this, the taffies bobbed like purple snakes, their grins only getting wider, and as they could just sense Orph's radiating fear, a few of them began to giggle in low, slow drums of haunting curiosity. Orph inhaled a trembling, terrified breath, shook his head and slowly began to push on, as if to somehow pray that the taffies would just simply observe him, and would only then attack the second he disrupted their peace.

In tandem, droops of taffies began to intelligently in front of him, all smiles, silent sways of their thin bodies that seemingly vanished up to the canopies, Orph was certain he had the attention of at least sixty taffies, at this point. He swallowed hard and peered back through the crowd of taffies, he was thrilled to see his exit, though was massively disappointed with just how far he had strayed from it. He nervously hooked a right and wondered if he could somehow circle back to the opening of the forest, where he had pressed into, and just as he thought all hope was lost, he came across a low bushel of marshmallow buds; with said buds were an abundance of taffy bark in thinner branches. Orph held his breath and so slowly pressed towards them as the taffies diligently followed like slithering snakes. He knew all it took was one lunge, one swipe, and it all could so easily be over. He grit his teeth, scrunched his face in readiness, grappled the handle of his dagger and, with a sharp inhale, he urgently dove for the small bushel of mallows and branches.

With a loud crackle, Orph tucked and rolled in a firm dive of accuracy, and in the snapping of all the twigs he had suddenly plowed into, he hit the dirt, scrambled to his feet and could swear the entire forest began to loudly cackle in unison, horrifying yells and deep screams of the taffies immediately sky-rocketed anger. Just as he began to haphazardly stumble to correct his sprinting stance, he covered his face and felt the shockwave of pelts hit him all at once, a biting force he knew Rancis tried to prepare him for, though now that he was in the throw around, he was absolutely positive that no amount of words or training could ever prepare him for something like this. Orph choked a noise of whole pain and felt the taffies viciously stab at the backs of his knees and the tendons on the backs of his heels. In near-face planting speed, Orph hit the ground and skid.

With the taffies whole, uneducated anger, they pelted the ground like lighting, roars of the thunderous stampede that was set to ultimately kill Orph, he cried out in agony and did everything he could to get to his feet. Once adrenaline finally sought to keep him alive and in one piece, Orph shoved himself to his feet and began to sprint towards the glowing light of freedom beyond the forest. With just how angry the taffies were, how lighting quick their jabs and pelting bites were, Orph stumbled and wobbled the whole way there, though with one lightning quick jab to the jaw, Orph was nearly swung back to the ground and haphazardly wedged between two tightly woven taffy trunks that grew in a strange formation. With the small bit of shelter from the taffies, Orph urgently gasped for air, his bare chest so desperately heaved in a choking fit of pure terror as the taffies began to do anything and everything to pelt their way at the opening of the gap Orph and somehow wedged himself into. Orph uttered a hard noise of terror and tucked his precious branch of taffy bark tight to his person, and before he could get too comfortable and allow the pure power of adrenaline subside, he ducked back into the fray and covered his face in continued terror.

Although it seemed like an entire eternity of scrambling about the blur and chaos of magenta and golden swirled bark, strings of lightning quick taffies that came at him from every single angle known to man, Orph finally stumbled out of the last of the shadows and dove for freedom. In a solid tuck and roll, he came out into the open plains of Sugar Rush's grassy safety, and although he came to correction, he found himself on his back, face to face with the few dozen taffies that were definitely a lot longer than they could be accounted for. In maddening, pelting chaos, they loudly stabbed into the ground all about, around and on Orph in one final show of pure detest, pure disgust for Orph as a creature, and as Orph scoot backwards as clumsily and urgently as he could, he finally received one last blow to the chest before he was just out of reach of the taffies.

Orph continued to so urgently scoot back, eyes wide and full of terror, and although the taffies still had their whole attention to Orph, he was now way too far away to harm. Just as Orph's brain finally let him realize that he was safe, he loudly panted through rasping moans and groans of whole exhaustion and terror. He knew Rancis and Lickity were now quickly making their way over to him, though the whole world was a blur. Although he still clutched the dagger and his precious taffy bark, he rolled over, so to be on his hands and knees, and hung his head in whole shock. He loudly panted to the ground, and just as he thought things couldn't get worse, he scrunched his eyes tight and felt his whole entire stomach rid itself of every last ounce it was worth. He near-violently threw up down to the ground he hovered over, and just as his elbows buckled and he near face planted into his own vomit, he felt a gentle grab to his upper arm, even past the pain of all the welts.

Orph continued to cough and wheeze, and although he was absolute certain Rancis was the one helping him away from the mess he involuntarily made, Orph's dizzy eyes were met with Lickity's figure, hovered tightly near him in an overflow of care. Orph closed his eyes as tears streamed his cheeks, and as Lickity gently helped Orph scoot away from his vomit, she hovered her head and snout to his center and allowed him to use her as a support for standing. He grunted in whole pain, slumped to Lickity's face and head and desperately tried to get to his feet. Lickity uttered a small meep of worry and stayed still for however long Orph needed. Once he was finally, albeit awkwardly, on his feet, he continued to heavily gasp for air, though his tearful eyes urgently glued to Lickity's in a whole show of appreciation. She flattened her ears and held tight to his gaze, though almost as if to beg not to mention this show of affection to anyone, excluding Rancis.

"Exemplary," Rancis stated in total, humble shock. He carefully approached Orph, who stood on trembling legs.

Orph's eyes were soaked with tears, his whole entire demeanor was utterly and completely trashed and robbed of any ounce of confidence he once had, five minutes ago, and although he looked totally beat, that raw, burning twinkle in his eye never faded. Rancis huffed a hard chuckle, shook his head and was floored to see Orph's trembling hands gently begin to hand Rancis not only the dagger, but the perfect branch of taffy bark. Rancis diligently took both items from Orph, though just as Orph was certain Rancis was going to give him his shirt back, tell him to suck it up and move out, Rancis gently set both items to the ground and knew this was a raw bonding moment for the two, a moment they likely would never get back, with such exposed, tender emotion. As tenderly as Rancis could, he pulled Orph's head to his shoulder in a show of wanting to give a dose of much needed fatherly love, though he was floored to feel Orph wholly sag into Rancis's open invitation for an embrace.

Orph shut his eyes tight, slumped his head and cheek tight into Rancis's strong shoulder and grimaced a small, silent cry of torn apart despair. He knew this was definitely not something that would ever happen, outside of this raw and extreme situation, though Orph soaked it up anyways. He knew the only ounce of comfort he'd ever get, until he proposed, would be from none other than Rancis. He inhaled a trembling breath and knew that this was by far better than sucking it up for the rest of the trip home, and although they both started out on the wrong foot, Orph allowed his vulnerability to seep into the shoulder of Rancis's shirt, for he knew that Rancis was due to be his new father, anyhow.

"That bad, huh," Rancis breathed a gentle chuckle, and although he wanted to lug Orph into a huge, fatherly hug, he largely refrained, due to the massive welts and bruises that now properly lined Orph's entirety, including his jaw. Rancis relied on just gently resting his hands to Orph's upper back and shoulder, a drape of a hug that was non intrusive to his wounds, "I'm really proud of you, son..."

"Thank you," Orph's voice crackled in a rasp of being wholly worn out, he had his trembling arms and hands dangled between the two. He scrunched his face, inhaled a nasally sniffle and remained tight in Rancis's fatherly care, "H-How are we going to hide this all... From everyone?"

"You won't be able to hide anything from Tessa, I can tell you that," Rancis's deep voice was kept quiet, due to their close proximity, though Rancis ever so gently rubbed a section of Orph's bare shoulder that was free of any wound. Rancis smiled and finally rested his scruffly chin atop Orph's head, which remained tucked tight into his shoulder and collar bone, "I'll inform Tessa... You'll just have to keep your hoodie on for the rest of the trek home. We'll fly higher, so you won't die of heatstroke."

"Sounds good," Orph staggered in a whisper of a grumble as he closed his eyes tight and inhaled a trembling breath, his wiggly veins finally began to calm down from the excitement, and after a few moments, both boys pulled away. Rancis still kept himself tight in Orph's vicinity, and as gently as he could, he rested his hand to the top of Orph's shoulder and gave him a loving smile.

"I'll be proud to call you my son," Rancis assured with a nod, to which Orph's tired face finally produced a genuine smile and a bob of an exhausted nod.

"I definitely feel the love," Orph grumbled as he bulged his eyes and shook his head, though in doing so, he grimaced and winced with the pain that was beginning to set in as the effects of the adrenaline rush began to wear off.

"C'mon, the gang will be up shortly, go ahead and put this back on," Rancis instructed as he handed Orph his shirt back, though with this, Rancis took off his hoodie and also gave it to Orph, "Put this on, as well... You can wear it for the rest of the trip."

"Thank you," Orph hummed, and although both things were a struggle to get on and needed Rancis's aid, the gang finally began to pick up and move out.

Tight to Orph's right was Rancis, a proud father who was excited to now add yet another member to their family; he walked strong with pride, he kept his eye on Orph and made sure he was able to walk without any troubles. Although this whole ordeal involved only Rancis and Orph, Orph sagged his curious gaze down to his left and was floored to see Lickity keeping tight to him, as well. She kept her eyes forward, though she always stayed one step ahead of him. In this realization, Orph noticed that Lickity kept her right wing hovered about the back of Orph, as he walked, just in case he were to collapse. With this amount of care shown, Orph felt as if he had succeeded in two things today; the very material to help him obtain a bride, and the crawling, silent acceptance of Lickity's friendship. He felt his heart soar, and no matter the incredible amount of pain he was in for, he was certain he'd be okay with just who chose to keep an eye on his wellbeing. Two souls he was certain wanted nothing to do with him.


	237. Chapter 237

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** That is the PERFECT analogy for Rancis hahaha. It's totally true! And yes, Orph will have a 'shirtless' proposal - it's the only way! Haha thank you for the support :)

 **Xaehttium :** Hey, long time no see :) Thank you, friend!

 **Burgie :** Only way but up, from here, my friend! In terms of Orph's and Lickity's relationship :) Thank you so much!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aww, well thank you. I'm really glad you say tat, I was worried everyone was going to be upset that it wasn't in the story. But it wasn't a pivotal scene, just something to express that those taffies were, indeed, spying taffies. I'm glad everyone is taking note of Orph's and Lickity's blooming relationship. The scene isn't any time too soon, but you are right, it IS coming up :)

 **JaySketchin :** Wow, I honestly cried reading your review. I need you to understand JUST how much that means to me. What helps is I pick my music very carefully. What I listen to really counts, when it comes to the emotion in scenes. I don't ever write a chapter without music, and if I do, a lot of the time the chapter comes out flat. I am really grateful you appreciate the heart and emotion and effort behind these scenes, because it does take quite a bit of mental energy for me. And the fact that you go back and reread? It's all I want, is to grip people. And hearing that at least one person is gripped with emotion is more than enough for me. So seriously, thank you so much for reaching out and for saying this, Jay, MY LOVE. Thank you so much. Your review seriously made my entire week and actually is what was the bout of motivation I needed to complete this chapter (I was going to put it off cause I'm exhausted, so thank you)

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 **Song Listened To :** **The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Lebo M.** (not as cheesy as you think lol this song is incredibly gorgeous)

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 ***Chapter 237***

With Sugar Rush's morning sun now crawling higher into the sky, the group meticulously began to clean up all their sleeping bags, and everything else, around their temporary campsite. Rancis hung around with Taffyta and allowed her gentle, mumbling, sleepy chitchat to soak into his being. He tried to act as nonchalant as he could, though every now and then, he'd try and steal long ogles of just where Orph had laid off to. Alongside Zed, Lickity and the other flyers walked a bit aways to a small collection of fresh water ponds, not too far off. As Zed refilled everyone's water containers, and each flyer got rehydrated, Rancis took a headcount; he furrowed his brow in rising agitation as he finally came to Tessa. She had a determined look of solid confusion laid directly on Orph, across the way, and although Orph was doing a fantastic job of not looking like he was in a lot of pain, Rancis knew his niece well, he knew she could see right through any facade.

"Hey, Tess?" Rancis chimed in a jolt as he noticed Tessa suddenly making a determined b-line for Orph. She flinched in the disturbance and drew her dominant gaze straight into her uncle's as she froze in her tracks. Rancis felt a chill go down his spine, though he knew he had to get to Tessa before she got to Orph and began prying all sorts of information out of him, "Can uh... Can I please talk to you, privately, real quick?"

"About what?" Tessa gently snapped, though Rancis inhaled a deep breath and was hoping at least the fact that he was her elder was enough to hold at least a little bit of reign over Tessa, in this moment.

"Please, Tessa, just... I need to tell you something, it's urgent," Rancis stated quietly, he was thankful Vanellope began chatting with Taffyta, Orph and Penny were bantering and Zed was off with the flyers.

"Fine," Tessa muttered, though Rancis gently took her hand and began to lead her away from the group, far enough out of ear shot. After a minute or so of walking, Tessa gently slipped her hand out of Rancis's, crossed her arms and came to a sharp halt, "Alright, uncle, what's this about? Why are you taking me so far from camp?"

"I don't want anyone else to hear what I'm about to tell you," Rancis started as he faced his niece and allowed his walls to come down, though the second he did so, Tessa's defenses grew stronger and more aggressive.

"What, you're sorry this scout was nearly all-for-not?" Tessa mumbled in exhausted agitation, and although Rancis bit his lip and so desperately wanted to fight fire with fire, he exhaled a hot, annoyed sigh through his nose and gently shook his head.

"... Orph is going to propose to Penny," Rancis stated quietly, and with his words, Tessa's whole demeanor gently slid from a walled up piranha plant to that of a dewey-eyed youngling. Rancis huffed a chuckle as Tessa gently covered her mouth in rising surprise, "I... I took Orph earlier this morning to the taffy trees, and, well..."

"THAT'S why he's acting weird," Tessa hissed in an annoyed whisper as she looked over her shoulder and assessed the group, though she flinched as Rancis lovingly held her shoulders and made her look at him, once more.

"Tess... Look... I'm sorry for being headstrong about not wanting to adhere to Turbo's advice," Rancis grumbled, he looked off and shook his head as Tessa's gentle eye contact soaked up into her uncle's, "You know how everyone feels about that guy, but... If you truly think he's on to something, and feel lead to follow his advice, then... I'm with you."

Tessa's eyebrows raised in gentle surprise as Rancis's sorrowful eye contact soaked into hers, and as the two hung in their comfortable silence, Tessa's gaze sagged to Rancis's broad chest as he kept his loving hands tight to the tops of her shoulders.

"I owe you an apology as well," Tessa eased with all the softness in the world, "I may be future Queen, but... I've got to learn to keep an open mind to everyone on my team. It was sour of me to just be mean to you for this entire trip."

"I'd probably want to do the same thing, if I were in your shoes, love," Rancis's fatherly voice glossed over Tessa in a show of understanding care, and before he could get more out, Tessa firmly soaked into his warm, tight embrace. She grappled her arms about his middle and buried her face into his shoulder, and although he welcomed her tight into his embrace, he smiled in surprise, lulled his eyes closed and firmly held the back of her head as he continued on, in her ear, "I love you, Tess... You may not be my Queen currently, but I definitely look forward to that day."

"Really?" Tessa meeped in gently surprise as she squeezed her hug tighter about Rancis's middle, he huffed a chuckle and gingerly swayed her once or twice.

"Really," Rancis's deep voice grumbled as he pulled his head away and gave her a wide, closed-mouth grin, and before she could rebuttal, he pushed a firm smooch to her forehead once or twice, "You'll make a fine Queen, hun. And you know what?"

"What?" Tessa wrinkled her nose, he showered her in fatherly care she knew all too well.

"Penny will eventually end up having the same last name as you," Rancis stated kindly, to which Tessa's eyes lit up, "You guys are practically already sisters, anyways... Now it'll be legit. Two Mrs. Kalivar."

"... I could cry right now," Tessa huffed as the two softly pulled apart, Rancis blurt a chuckle and shook his head.

"I brought you over here to tell you that Orph is literally covered in taffy bites... He has the taffy bark," Rancis smile grew alongside Tessa's, though he gently shushed her as she began to bounce of her feet and show visible excitement, "Shh, no one knows but me, you and Lickity."

"... Lickity?" Tessa largely furrowed her brow and dropped her girly, excited act, Rancis rolled his eyes.

"Her's and Orph's little love-hate relationship seems to be slowly blooming into something more considered... Friendly tolerance," Rancis grumbled as the two slowly began to walk back to the group they left behind.

"Odd," Tessa cocked an eyebrow and dragged her eyes across the way, to her favorite, curious flyer.

Although Penny was totally left out of the loop of Orph's plan, word very quickly got around the group, with great success in keeping this a massive secret from the bride to be. As Marble, Balba, Royal and Lickity kept to a higher altitude, for Orph's sake, Sugar Rush's bright, warm and inviting sun made it's path across the minty sky, and in no time, it was long behind them. With Royal at the head of the flight squad, his sleepy gaze remained forward to the cool colors of the horizon. With Penny and Orph aboard his spine, he diligently kept his place at the front of the pack strictly so the rest of the group could hang back and quietly converse about the excitement to come.

In the cool whip of Sugar Rush's evening air, Tessa finally succumbed to her hoodie, saddled it tight over her head and snuggled her body a little deeper into the back of Lickity's head and neck, for warmth. She felt Zed do the same thing to her own back, his strong and warm arms came around Tessa's center in a sleepy, snuggly way. With a slow draw of her eyes, she gave Orph, Penny and Royal her lazy attention. She knew the flight scout was potentially just an hour or two away from Sugar Rush's entrance though she was absolutely certain Orph was in a very real amount of pain. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and noticed him doing something with his hands, though as she got a closer look, due to Lickity weaving in and out of a lazy flight pattern, Tessa felt a wide smile grace her face with realization.

With Penny fast asleep against Orph's back, she laid slumped with her arms grappled tight around his center. Orph sat stiffly hunched, though his eyes were diligently honed to what he was doing. With the dagger Rancis had supplied him with, he very carefully carved to his hearts content, the glistening taffy bark sparkled as he skillfully jostled it around and sought to etch the perfect ring out of it. With his tongue tightly stuck out of his lips, a little, he had his whole brow furrowed in deep concentration as he turned it around, over and over. The little ring popped in glistening sparks of Sugar Rush's moonlight, and although Penny was fast asleep, he tried to keep his movements as tame and collected as he could, so to keep his little secret just that.

With a smile that nearly couldn't get any wider, Tessa huffed a small giggle as she noticed Orph ever so carefully slipping the little ring over Penny's left ring finger, so to size it properly. Tessa knew, as did Orph, that Penny was a very heavy sleeper. She happily snoozed with the whole side of her face smushed into the back of Orph's upper left shoulder, her mouth hung agape. Tessa finally breathed a little louder laugh, covered her mouth and scrunched her shoulders as Orph dart his eyes to her in curiosity. Once he realized that Tessa knew exactly what he was doing, and was surprised he could get away with it, he beamed her a cheeky smile, waggled the ring about a little and rolled his eyes as he gestured to Penny, as if to blatantly say that literally anything could be happening right in this second and Penny wouldn't wake up.

Tessa shook her head and gave Orph a loving smile of understanding, and as he quickly went back to work, work in which he was almost finished with, Tessa heaved a long, soft sigh, slumped into Zed's presence and volleyed her gaze to wherever her aunt and uncle were. She was thrilled to see that Rancis and Taffyta were cued into just what Orph was accomplishing, and before she could think on it any longer, Rancis winked at her and gently gestured his hand forward, to the horizon. Tessa urgently looked out to Sugar Rush's gorgeous, nighttime horizon and was absolutely thrilled to see the moon casting it's brilliant glow down onto the entrance, a beacon of hope. With only about an hour more of flying, Tessa sagged her shoulders in whole relief and was beyond excited to get home. She knew that Orph's proposal would have to be within the next twenty four hours, strictly because of his wounds. Tessa felt her heart jump with the excitement of it all, the blooming, sprawling branches of her family tree only getting larger, and with this realization, she felt her heart sink into a vat of peace, even if it were simply for the time being.


	238. Chapter 238

**Reviews :**

 **WildVirus :** AW LOL! Yeah Orph's a sneaky one xD Don't worry about it! 2018's been a very bizarre beginning of the year for me too haha

 **Snake557 :** YAY I'm glad!

 **JaySketchin :** AW I'm soooooo glad. I'm so grateful for my long-time readers and reviewers. It warms my heart whenever they speak out, its encouraging knowing that people have stuck around for such a long time. It's been 5 years! Crazy! Thank you so much :D

 **Burgie :** Aww my gosh that TOTALLY warms my heart! Thank you SO much :)

 **NightHex54 :** Don't worry about it, I know the app gets a bit buggy from time to time :) I also appreciate your support and compliments, that means a lot to me! I'm glad you're thrilled that Rancis and Tessa made up! I almost made it into another blow out, but I figured they've matured a bit through that. Also because there will be other blow-outs to come, so it's a toss up haha.

 **SamanthaR1987 :** Aww haha. Yeah I love that she was just sleeping through that xD Thank you!

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 **A/N :**

 **You know the drill... Had a lot of shit going on.**

 **I FINALLY got Lickity (my '99 Camry) back after TWO MONTHS of not having her... TWO MONTHS. I wanted to die. Lickity's transmission burned up, which is really really annoying because it was in good condition prior to all the overheating she was doing... We gave her a new transmission, but to cut on labor, get this... We did it OURSELVES. I had the help of my cousin and his mechanic, though he's physically disabled, so it literally was a job for nearly just me and my cousin. **

**Lickity sat for 2 months cause our schedules kept clashing and we couldn't get over to the lot to fix Lickity. Let me tell you how hard it was to drive past Lickity every single day, with her tires and front axle, brakes, rotors, everything all gutted and dangling, her transmission hanging out on the ground, she's up on the jacks collecting dirt and dust and leaves and all sorts of other BS... Not to mention, all my physical artwork was just left to get crushed in her trunk. (I hadn't unpacked her trunk, after my move)**

 **This was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through, with only really one or two things topping it. Seeing Lickity like that, day in and day out, looking as if she's in near-ruin, and I had the 'honor' of passing by her every day, on my way to work, like... I see you Lickity, over there all gutted and tilted up on jacks, looking absolutely pathetic and helpless. USER IT WAS AWFUL. (My cousin very graciously let me use her car, which was very nice... I'm just feeling a little spoiled when I say I REALLY missed my car.)**

 **BUT, I got her back last night, and I literally drove all around town like an asshole, blasting my music, adjusting to her new transmission. We had a bit of a minor, rough start, because she was just SITTING for 2 months, but boy does she fly... I'm so grateful for all the help I received and the support to keep this old bat going, but damn... 2 months is my absolute limit. I nearly died.**

 **To celebrate, I'll be giving Lickity the ULTIMATE CAR WASH this week, I also got her some really nice new car mats and I will be steam-cleaning her upholstery. Literally pampering the shit out of this stupid car. Old bat deserves it. Ten-year-old me picked her out, after all.**

 **The main reason I was MIA was because I was busy worrying about her, any day that I had off, I was harassing my cousin to go over to work on her. After a long few hours of oil and grease covered hands, and just tearing your 18 year old friend-of-a-car apart, piece by piece, was absolutely exhausting and low-key terrifying. I was worried we'd miss something and then she wouldn't start... I'm so grateful for the experience, though, cause now I can safely say... I know how to change out a transmission! And that is NOOOOO easy task, holy shit.**

 **Thank you for bearing with me. Lickity and I are back up and running. I'm praying that's the last of any huge fixes. Lickity is now due for an emissions test, a few new bearings, annnnnnd a new paint job! Pretty stoked about all that.**

* * *

 ***Chapter 238***

"Is Sugar Rush time different, or something?" Penny inquired in a gentle, grumbling tone. The heap of travelers sleepily moseyed up to the castle's front doors, and although it was nighttime, everyone looked up and about the Dead Zed sky and were convinced Sugar Rush's moon was a lot higher in the sky once they left, as opposed to Dead Zed's now rising moon, "I could've sworn that it was nearing sunrise, once we left Sugar Rush..."

"I wouldn't be surprised if, whoever the crap is at True North, is messing with Sugar Rush's internal game time," Tessa stated in an equally as tired, grumbling tone; she gently unlocked the castle's large front doors and grappled the handle to turn it, "Likely because we were there. Certainly they want us discombobulated..."

"That'll be something we should probably keep a sharper eye on," Lickity stated as she, too, looked unusually exhausted, "I'm feeling a weird bout of time difference, too... I was wondering why the sky got dark so quickly."

"Seems to be an act of just simply confusing us," Rancis added as everyone slowly began to pile into the castle, and with their presence, everyone, who was in the kitchen and living room, immediately perked up and got to their feet with excitement; Rancis's tired voice continued on, however, "Maybe they think that if we're thrown off, we'll be too exhausted to properly head True North."

"Welcome home, guys," Ralph stated with a loving smile as he, Tammy, Felix, Finn and Duke quickly approached with eager, excited eyes. Ralph quickly scooped Vanellope into a proper welcome-home hug and squeezed her tight in a soft sway, "Missed you... Did you have any luck?"

"Did we," Vanellope huffed as her eyes trailed to Taffyta's, though before they could begin to spill everything, Zed's brothers tightly huddled about each other in a large show of a greeting.

"Missed you, Zed," Finn stated in a tone that lead to believe there may have been a mishap or two, whilst Zed was away, "The castle's still standing, but... We all definitely had a civil war with the house alarm, last night."

"I took two naps today," Jax stated with a wide, exhausted smile as he, too, strolled up, though before Orph could somehow manage to sneak away, Duke largely wrangled his unnoticeably fragile body into a tight hug, with no shortage of firm pats to the upper back and shoulders.

"We missed you too, dude," Duke's deep voice glossed over the group as everyone smiled and enjoyed watching the brothers love on each other, though Rancis and Taffyta grit their teeth in a secretive show of horrified anticipation as Orph shut his eyes tight in a clench and felt every single last one of his wounds cry in agony as Duke unknowingly pounded his palms into them, "These trips where both of you are gone is hard. Although Zed never gets quarter alerts, keeping up with your track record is pretty hard, man."

"I'm sure you guys managed," Orph squeezed out with a stifling choke, though Finn and Jax dragged their confused gazes to him as Orph pretended he simply had a cough, he cleared his throat into his fist and shook his head, "I-I'm... I'm not really feeling too well."

"Get Zed to reset you and c'mon, we had Finn turn the pool's heating system on, so we're going for a swim!" Jax stated excitedly as the four flyers slowly moseyed their way through the large living space and to the opened back door. Jax gestured towards the back door, and although it was cool out, splashes of water could be heard coming from the backyard's massive pool, "Ace and everyone are out there right now."

"We had no clue you guys would get in after the sun went down," Ralph eased as he looked as if he was about to head to the Sky Room, potentially to head to his and Vanellope's room to change into his swimming trunks.

"Yeah, we didn't really either," Taffyta mumbled as she weighed the option of swimming or not, as did everyone else, excluding Orph.

"That didn't look painful at all," Tessa mumbled quietly to Orph once the group quickly began to come alive with the idea of a nice, warm, nighttime swim.

"I-I don't cry easy, but I'm almost there," Orph staggered on his words as he gave Tessa a broken smile of sheer pain and misery, he heaved a shaky sigh and stiffly tried to adjust his hoodie on his chest and shoulders, "I might just get down on one knee, right now, I don't care where it takes place, I don't think I can sleep or operate like this for one more day."

"I don't blame you," Tessa laughed quietly, and as their stuff, from the trip, was haphazardly strewn about the sides of the front foyer, everyone moseyed towards the backyard, the frenzy of excitement and relaxation quickly got the better of everyone, and before Tessa and Orph knew it, everyone was quickly rushing away in search for their swim suits. Tessa rolled her eyes and knew, sooner or later, she'd likely be roped into the idea as well, though she hung back with Orph and wondered if keeping at his aid was necessary, "You do whatever you're comfortable with. If you weren't covered in bites right now, I'd probably smother you in a hug as well."

"I'm glad," Orph heaved a sigh of relief, and as they gently stepped out into the cool, nighttime air, they noticed the backyard was lively with the rest of their family members, the patio, porch and backyard lights had the place aglow with a gentle haze of that welcoming pop of the night life, and although the jungle was very loudly awake with it's array of nocturnal creatures, everything seemed right in the world. As Orph and Tessa slowly moseyed to the comfortable outdoor couches, near the splay of a concrete path that lead to the pool, Orph continued on, "I'm just grateful that I got Taffyta's and Rancis's approval, for this whole ordeal... Rancis even hugged me."

"What?" Tessa ogled in surprise with a gentle laugh as the two sat down, though with a burst of surprising energy, Ralph, Taffyta, Vanellope, Penny and Tammy all burst out the backdoor and rushed to the swimming pool, which was already alive with Ace's, Nox's, Libby's, Koko's and Emery's energies.

"C'mon, Tess, you and Orph comin'?" Vanellope inquired with a wide smile as Ralph suddenly took a running start and hollered a loud, booming warning that a canon ball was in order; the crew scrambled in a loud, staggering mess of wails and laughter as Ralph's whole, tucked body rocketed into the deep end of the pool.

"I'm just glad that whole back wall took the brunt of dad's canon ball," Tessa laughed as they watched a huge wave of water slosh out of the opposite end of the pool; everyone loudly began to give Ralph a hard time, teasingly.

"I'll sit this one out," Orph stated to Vanellope quietly, and as Vanellope's eyes lit up in remembrance of just what Orph had gone through, in Sugar Rush, for Penny's engagement ring, her and Taffyta didn't push the issue; Penny, on the other hand, sagged her shoulders in annoyance.

"Aw, c'mon babe, you're really not going to swim?" Penny stated in whole sorrow, she shook her head at him and looked as if she was mildly let down, "C'mon, it'll be fun. The water's warm, it's heated."

"It's bathtub-warm!" Ralph encouraged from the pool, though as the rest of the crew's attention came to the added family members, Ace quickly got out of the pool and began to head over to where Orph and Tessa were now comfortably lounged.

"I'll maybe get in, in a minute, I'm just going to relax here for a little bit, with Tessa," Orph stated lightly, hoping it'd tide Penny over, and although it nearly didn't, she hesitantly agreed and was kindly joined by Vanellope and Taffyta, who knew exactly just why Orph didn't want to be seen in a swim suit, in this moment. The minute they were gone, Orph shot a pleading look to Tessa and shook his head, "That was close."

"Just stand your ground," Tessa shrugged, though her smile broadened the moment she saw her son quickly making his way over, drenched from head to toe, "You'll be out of this pickle in no time... I know it's difficult but, honestly, you're home free. You can now propose to her whenever."

"Hey guys," Ace stated warmly with a wide smile as he strolled up, and although he was drenched, he sat down next to Tessa on their weather-proof couches. He looked as if he wanted to reach for a hug, though he resorted to gently patting his fingertips to his mother's shoulder, "Missed you... How was the trip?"

"Missed you too, babe," Tessa huffed a chuckle and reached her arm about his wet back, anyhow; she knew no matter the circumstance, she still wanted a hug from Ace, having gone a few days without seeing him. Without hesitation, he leaned in and gave his mother a good squeeze, "The trip was good... Interesting..."

"Painful," Orph choked, though Ace furrowed his brow and wiped his eyes and nose free of pool water that dripped from his scruffy, bearded chin and face.

"Painful?" Ace breathed, he gave his mother a confused look, "Dare I ask?"

"I'll only tell you if you don't tell anyone else," Orph started as he winced and did his very best to sit up and lean closer to Ace, so to keep his little secret just that.

"I won't tell," Ace assured softly as he did a quick glance about their area, so to make sure no one else was nearby.

"I'm covered in taffy bites," Orph's deep, gentle voice stated in a knowing way, and although Ace had his brow tightly furrowed in confusion, he finally let that release of realization coat his whole demeanor in an uplift of rocked, elated surprise. Orph huffed a chuckle as Ace's cute, gap-toothed smile only broadened, Orph gently gave Ace a peak at his craftsmanship, the glistening little ring with Penny's name all over it, "I gotta give it to her soon, or else I will probably game over... Thus making this whole venture moot."

"Just do it now," Ace shrugged, his whole existence was now perked in whole excitement, though his shoulders and back gently trembled in shivers, due to being wet in the cold Dead Zed air.

"I can't do it now... It's not romantic at all," Orph complained softly as he sunk the ring back into his pocket and nervously looked over his shoulder; the crowd in the pool was loud and excitable.

"It's the sentiment that matters, Orph, Zed literally proposed to me in our hotel room," Tessa heaved a small chuckle and shook her head, "I had a stomach full of In-N-Out and was unknowingly two hours pregnant with that man's child."

"Why. WHY," Ace suddenly blurt as Orph and Tessa loudly laughed; Ace rubbed his temples and grimaced in whole annoyance, "WHY is my conception somehow always mentioned while I'm in earshot. Why."

"You're loved, dude, don't get so offended," Orph and Tessa continued to laugh as a small, bashful smile finally sprawled Ace's face, "Your mom and dad are crazy about each other. You're the whole product of their love. There's nothing wrong with that.. You should be proud."

Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gently glossed her surprise gaze to Orph's figure, and although he was covered and looked as if even just existing was painful, the wisdom and maturity in his eyes continued to grow with each passing day. Tessa slumped her shoulders a little and kept her curious gaze to Orph's, in a rising bout of pride; she knew this man was now due to be her family, though with her thoughts continuing to run, she quickly realized that Orph would very quickly become Sugar Rush's only Knight's son-in-law. She looked off in contemplation, ideas of just what the future could hold for Orph's position in her Sugar Rush castle, her hierarchy of defense and royalty. She smiled and softly dragged her gaze to Ace, and just before she continue to drown in her daydreams, Ace's eyes hooked with hers in gentle, sheepish apology.

"Sorry, mom. S'just kinda weird," Ace grimaced with a cute smile, though Tessa rolled her eyes and gently pat his wet shoulder.

"Son, one day you will have babies of your own, and you will torture them with the SAME topic, trust me," Tessa groaned as she rolled her eyes, to which Orph bobbed a nod and loudly laughed, though even that looked to be a struggle.

"... Never thought of it that way," Ace pondered the thought, and with such, his eyes gently dragged to the splashing, lively pool area, straight to his swap-mate, who was having a wonderful time hanging out with Penny, Emery, Koko and Tammy.

"Alright, well... I literally am about to slump to the ground and never get back up," Orph staggered as he grimaced and did everything he could to stand, and make it look normal, "Might as well do it in my own bed... If Penny wonders where I went, just send her to my room. I may simply just propose there, if she becomes upset."

"Aw, Orph," Tessa started as she tilted her head and almost was about to advise him maybe to reconsider leaving.

"I know it's unconventional, but... I guess, in Kalivar nature, propose in a bedroom," Orph staggered quietly, though he heaved an apologetic laugh, shook his head and tried not to limp out of their little bubble, "Goodnight, guys."

"Night," both Ace and Tessa nervously mumbled, though just as Ace shot his mom a concerned, knowing look of uncertainty, Jax, Nox and Duke loudly sloshed out of the pool, in preparation to do jumps into the deepend; unfortunately, Orph's presence sparked their interest.

"C'mon, Orph, jump in! The water is great, it's incredible!" Jax urged with much riled boyish excitement, Nox eagerly nodded as Duke joined them, each one of them were dripping wet, and with this, Ace quickly stood to see if he could somehow get Orph out of the situation and remedy their puppy-dog excitement.

"I'm sorry, guys, I really don't feel well, I'm headed to sleep," Orph's voice was low and quiet, so to show his seriousness, though the boys weren't buying it. Ace grit his teeth and, although he didn't want to blow Orph's cover, he began to budge into their bubble to come to his uncle's aid.

"Hey, you finally decide to join, babe?" Penny inquired as her, Tammy, Emery, Koko and Libby all casually strolled by, from the patio's outside bar, they had briefly visited said area for a few sips of their delicious drinks.

"I-I would love to, but," Orph staggered nervously as he slid his gaze to Penny, all the girls were clad in their bikinis, soaked bodies, a strange sight for such a chilly Dead Zed night. Orph felt as if the world was spinning, how badly he wanted to plop to one knee right here, right now, and just express how much he wanted all of this to be solidified, though he bit his lip and wondered if he could hold out for a more romantic opportunity. Orph suddenly coughed a sharp noise of pain as Duke, once again, pat his hand to Orph's upper back, in a loving, brotherly way, "O-ow, please... I-I..."

"You alright, dude? What's your issue?" Duke removed his hand, and it was in this did the whole group suddenly become pricked with curiosity with just why Orph was acting so strange.

"You look like you're in pain," Jax prod as Ace bit his lip and looked back to his mom, who promptly began to stand and make her way over to the group.

"Or have to take a huge shit," Nox added, everyone blurt into teasing laughter, and although Orph choked a small laugh at Nox's joke, he shook his head and softly averted his gaze to Penny, the light of his world, a glowing, cute little bundle of sass and unadulterated, girly power, he was absolutely certain that no matter when or where he proposed he knew the question would still stand, it's force never wavering.

"Guys, let's cut him some slack, just leave him be," Ace's casual voice pleaded in a tone of kind teasing, though just as he suspected, every single one of those girls, to his right, had a tight, glowering, narrowed glare of suspicion in their eyes, Ace knew each one of those girls were sharper than sharp.

"I'm just going to head to sleep, maybe we can all swim again tomorrow," Orph sighed, and just as he was about to attempt to slip out of everyone's gravity, Nox, Duke and Jax groaned in unison, oh how badly they wanted to hang out with Orph.

"C'mon, man, it's... I-I mean, this is fun, but you add some sort of element to the fun," Duke pleaded, Nox eagerly nodded, as if these boys simply wanted their other brother to make this fun event a notch more exciting. In one last attempt, Duke finally grappled Orph's upper arm, with good intention, and jostled him, "The water will clear your head, your bed's not gunna do that for yah."

In a jolt of surprise, Orph choked a noise of pain and nearly felt his knees buckle. He grimaced, shut his eyes tight and nearly went limp in Duke's strong grip, and with this strange display of pain Orph was emitting, everyone finally halted their teasing and peered to Orph in whole, concerned curiosity. Orph panted through his nose a little, finally corrected his posture and knew somehow the cat had to be out of the bag. Orph heaved a shaky sigh and gently waved the boys off, as they began to ask him all sorts of annoyed, curious questions as to why he was acting so strange, though before Orph could even begin to properly answer them, he gently dragged his gaze to Penny and held tight eye contact.

With her brows furrowed in near-insulted confusion, she had her arms tightly crossed with her army of girls loosely around her. Each girl stared Orph down in a whole slew of concern, though as they simultaneously looked to Tessa, to see if their Queen would step up and put an end to this dispute, they grew more and more confused with just how reserved Tessa was being with this situation. Her and Ace hung back in curious wait, wondering just what Orph was going to do in this moment, and before Tessa could maybe think about finally jumping in and breaking up the show, Ralph, Taffyta, Rancis, Throttle, Finn and Felix all began to saunter over in bouts of moseying easiness, their boisterous conversations came to a curious halt as they approached the quiet, confused circle that nearly had Orph surrounded.

"I'm not swimming, for the last time, I'm not going swimming," Orph finally demanded, each breath he took was just one more clench of pain to his muscles, and although he so badly wanted to run away, he felt his heart race with the sheer fact that this was likely the time and place he was to get down on one knee. He knew it to be unconventional, though the more he thought about it, and the more he could feel all eyes on him, he felt a small smile grace his cheeks with a rise of giddy excitement.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Penny urged in confusion as everyone eagerly watched the two, mostly everyone was in the dark and confused, though the people that were in the know hung back whilst concealing excited smiles of anticipation. Penny kept her voice hushed, so to only speak to Orph, she began to mildly grow embarrassed, "And what's with this 'I'm in pain' act you have going on?"

"I-It's... Not an act," Orph staggered, and though it was pretty cold out, he exhaled a long, hot breath, drew his eyes to the ground and gingerly grappled for the chest of his hoodie.

As he struggled to get the hoodie off of his body, alongside his undershirt, with trembling hands and arms and a quiet few grunts of sheer pain, he was successful in getting his hoodie and shirt off of his body, very quickly revealing his chest and torso. With the amount of time that had past, since he was bitten, each bite had gained a decent amount of black and blue, with it's bruises, some were even lightly dotted with dried blood. Orph heaved a trembling sigh, shoved his hoodie to the ground and was almost floored to hear the crowd about him begin to urgently mumble words of whole concern and confusion. Orph panted in pain, and although he knew this pain was absolute torture, he dragged his gaze to Penny's, and with their solid eye contact, he eased a rightfully cocky smile and was floored to see the twinkle in her eye practically shine brighter than the moon above.

Just as Orph hunched his back to attempt to get down to one knee, he was floored to see Penny quickly cover her mouth in whole surprise and freeze dead in her tracks as realization hit her head on. Once Orph was finally to his knee, albeit slowly and painfully, his little smirk only broadened to a huge grin the second the small crowd about the two began to go nuts with quips of disbelief and excitement, and as quickly as he could, Orph's shaking hand shoved into his pant pocket and pulled out the taffy ring, something he so diligently fought for and rightfully earned. In a sweep of victory, he peered up to Penny, from bended knee, and presented her said precious ring. As the billowing tears in her eyes said more than a million words, Orph heaved a shaky chuckle and had to suddenly catch himself from welling up, as well.

"Penny," Orph started as the crowd's riled, excited annotations and quips quickly came to a halt, to curiously listen. Everyone held their breath and urgently watched as Orph held the little ring up in a rise of glee, and as his and Penny's eyes met in a string of frozen enchantment, he smiled and patiently continued on, "Will you marry me?"

With Orph's question, everyone excitedly held their breath and urgently dragged their now floored gazes to Penny, to anticipate her answer, and although everyone was certain that the answer was clear, they still patiently waited. All the girls that were previously surrounding Penny now hung back and stood with their gapes of total, floored shock, and before too much time could pass between this fragile question and answer, Penny inhaled a shaky breath and urgently nodded. She huffed a small laugh, wiped her tears and continued to nod in a rising show of girly glee.

"Yes," Penny finally revealed with a small, bashful laugh as tears streamed her cheeks, and with the uproar of cheers and bellows of excitement from her family around her, she shook her head in dumbfounded surprise and was actually shocked any of this was taking place, in this instance.

"Oh, thank User," Orph huffed loudly as he winced in pain and so gently took Penny's left hand, which was eagerly extended for him.

Everyone laughed, at Orph's comment, as he gently slid the ring onto Penny's finger, and with such, she brought it up to her face so she could get a good look at it. She beamed a loving, excited smile as tears continued to well in her eyes, though before she could think about diving on him to give him a huge hug and kiss, she jolted and stopped herself as he struggled to even stand. Her excitement very quickly turned into a slew of apologetic concern as she assessed Orph's body, the proper taffy-proposal, she knew this was likely one of the hardest things he's ever had to do, due to hearing her father's horror story.

"Orph, I can't believe you did this," Penny complained in a gentle tone of whole gratefulness, Orph's loving smile said it all.

"I wasn't aware of the taffy tradition," Orph chuckled as his eyes finally broadened to the crowd about the two, he landed his gaze to Rancis and smirked, "When I asked for your hand, your father suggested that I at least give the effort."

"I didn't think we'd run into taffy trees, on this past scout," Rancis blurt with a hard laugh as he shook his head.

"You were attacked or something? What the heck is going on?" Duke whined with a hard laugh as everyone, not involved, looked wholly floored but confused.

"It's a tradition started by my dad... My mom's engagement ring was from the bark of the taffy trees, in Sugar Rush," Penny explained, though the wide smile on her cheeks and flustered, giddy attitude of hers nearly got the better of her concentration, "The taffies don't like you messing with their bark. The trick is to get the bark without killing any taffies, also while not getting killed yourself."

"For User's sake, dude, you were outside your own game, you could've actually died for good," Nox rushed to explain as Orph's concerned eyes gently dragged from Nox's bewildered, glowing stare straight to Penny's dewy gaze of whole gratitude.

"It was all worth it," Orph huffed quietly to her, and with such, Penny's little smile nearly couldn't broaden wider across her face.

"Kiss her already!" Zed suddenly barked from the back of the group, and as everyone loudly laughed at his loving outburst, Orph and Penny slowly leaned in for a proper kiss to seal the deal.

Although Penny only just barely stood on tip toes and did everything she could not to touch Orph's fragile figure, she was floored to feel Orph's lightly shaking hands cup her cheeks, and as the two met in a whirl of a gaping kiss, the crowd about them clapped and cheered with the rile of excitement. Penny smiled on Orph's mouth and could nearly feel her heart soar away from her. She ever so gently rested her little hands to Orph's scarred, bruised chest, and with the new chapter of their lives presented for her in such a raw way, she was well aware this adjustment wasn't as much out of left field as she currently thought. With the cool, Dead Zed atmosphere that smiled down on the Kalivar's family lot, a new night was born, one of celebration and renew, and although it was in the midsts of a trying time, the group fell into a comfortable state of temporary relaxation, a much well deserved break from the chaos.


	239. Chapter 239

**Reviews :**

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Haha too true! Poor Orph literally has been through the ringer xD but he came out on top! yay! and THANK YOU! I'm very excited :D

 **chuckiboo :** Haha yes, it all definitely gets discussed. I'm so glad you are enjoying Orph and Penny as a couple! :D They're very fun to write for!

 **JaySketchin :** AW YAY! I'm soooo glad you enjoyed it so much! Orph is bae.

 **MightyNinja2000 :** I feel really terrible to say this, but, *knock on wood* I don't get writers block. I only really slow down on writing if I'm going through a rough time in my life, but I always have inspiration to write. My issue sometimes is gathering the mental strength. I also have some form of attention disorder, so if I'm worrying hardcore about something, it's hard for me to focus on one thing for too long. So I may still end up writing, but only for like 5 minutes at a time, which then would take me like 2 days to finish a chapter as opposed to the typical 45 minutes.

 **Burgie :** Thank you! :D

 **Nikki Firesong :** Thank you SO MUCH my friend. That means the world to me! I'm glad you enjoyed it all, and YES I am very thankful I have my old bat back. I definitely missed her!

 **NightHex54 :** OH that'd be great! I'd love to do that for you! Email or even PM me whenever you want, I can link you to my commission prices. Thank you so much!

 **Snake557 :** Yes indeed xD YAY! Thanks!

 **SamanthaR1987 :** AW. It'll totally happen! Don't worry! :D Yes, poor Orph gets a reset finally xD

* * *

 **A/N :** Alright guys, the reason I've been slow on uploading chapters THIS time is because...

 **I got accepted to Ringling College of Art and Design!**

I'm SO incredibly excited, and I can't wait to move to the BEACH I COULD CRY I'M SO EXCITED. I'll be starting in Fall, and I haven't been in school for an entire decade, so I really have NO way of telling if my story will be updated on my regular upload schedule (likely not because I am going to be absolutely anal about my GPA) But I have until the end of August to really bust this beast out. Hopefully by then you guys will have at least the first few chapters of the 4th story.

I will be graduating in 2022 and *hopefully* after that, be applying to Disney and moving back to the West coast! This is the first time a dream of mine has come true, a goal has been reached, I just can't believe it's real... My dream came true, guys, an actual DREAM of mine came TRUE... WHAT! and I am SO excited to knock their SOCKS OFF. So any of my Sarasota/Tampa friends and readers, brace yourselves! Cause I'm comin' for yah!

* * *

 ***Chapter 239***

In the glow of morning sunshine, the castle's kitchen was a gentle form of chaos, a touch softer than what it typically was. The cool, crispness of Dead Zed's morning air could be felt through the frost on the windows, and although it was cold and foggy, the sun still somehow glint it's way sharply through the massive bay windows of the living room, the sky lights of the main hub of a room. Perched comfortably at the kitchen island was Orph and Penny, and though all of Dead Zed's racers, excluding Finn and Zed, were bustling about and grabbing something to eat before game day, orph sat in all of his gear, huddled close to Penny. Absolutely smitten with each other, it was clear the two were no longer hiding their bursting, bubbling love for each other. As Tessa sleepily moseyed into the kitchen and stated a quiet good morning to her mother and aunt, she took a double take at Orph and Penny; both seemed absolutely swept in conversation, and though it was the kind, calm and happy air about them that made them seemingly glow, it was clear they both had a lot on their minds.

Tessa eyed them gently and straightened the loved, dark blue hoodie on her shoulders, which included tucking her mass amount of hair slung over her back. She yawned, scratched the side of her head and opened the fridge. As Ralph boomed a friendly goodbye to his little clan, and everyone returned the notion, he left through the castle's front doors, knowing full well his trek to Game Central Station wasn't simply a short one. It wasn't long before all the other racers began to pile out the door, though just as Orph was about to stretch to be pulled away, the sudden look of concern in Penny's eyes held to his as she grappled his arm and very softly asked him a few questions, as if needing reassurance. Orph huffed a few notions to her, to calm her, though as the two quietly continued to grow into some form of loving bickering, Finn heaved a soft chuckle and approached the two; oddly enough, he was in his racing pants and a loose black tank, though he had his very own racing jacket slung tight over his shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt," Finn stated quietly to Orph and Penny, and as the two were jostled out of their quiet conversation, Orph furrowed his brow and looked Finn over in solid confusion, "... Do you need someone to take your spot on the roster today, man?"

"O-Oh no, well," Orph staggered gently, though he eyed Penny in rising curiosity, "We just... Have a lot we need to discuss with Tessa and Zed, and I guess trying to get it all done before race days seems to be-"

"Gimme your racing jacket," Finn eased softly as he set his own racing coat, clad with his name and numbers, on the kitchen island. Orph raised his eyebrows and froze, and though Finn was finally coming around to maybe being a bit more patient and kind to Orph, he still nearly couldn't believe it, "C'mon, Orph, I gotta go prep your bike if I'm taking your place for the day, I need your jacket. I can't pose as myself."

Orph began to open his mouth to protest, he knew he had a job, and Penny's feelings were important, though as he glanced to his bride-to-be, she smiled down to the hands in her lap and shook her head in kind disbelief, that Finn would be so nice to offer his typical days off to fill in for Orph. Orph heaved a small sigh and began to take off his thick racing jacket, which was now properly stamped with his whole entire name, 'Soreph'. As he hesitantly handed it to Finn, Finn wrestled to strap it to his own body, and once he was all zipped up, he grabbed Orph's helmet, gave him a smug smile and bobbed a small nod towards the two.

"Enjoy your day off," Finn mumbled with a small smile as Orph and Penny remained frozen in gentle shock, and as Orph's look of floored gratefulness chased after Finn, he waggled his finger towards his big brother and wrinkled an annoyed smile.

"Y'Better not flub-up my score just for the hell of it," Orph called, to which Finn beamed a wide smile and shook his head.

"Even trade, you get a day off and I get to have some fun, dude," Finn teasingly called as he began to lead Duke and Jax out the front doors of the castle, and though Orph sagged in his seat and rolled his eyes, he felt a curious, grateful smile drag to Penny's, one of pure relief.

"That was so incredibly nice of him," Penny huffed quietly as the house finally simmered in noise decibels.

"Too nice," Zed spat with a cheeky smile as he ruffled his cerulean blue hair and fixed himself a cup of coffee.

"What was that all about?" Vanellope prod curiously as Rancis sleepily strolled in from the Sky Room, he eventually joined Penny, Orph, Vanellope, Taffyta, Tessa and Zed around their large, comfortable marble-clad kitchen island.

"He's slowly coming around," Zed mumbled as he gave Orph a small smile, "Orph and Finn haven't always gotten along, at times, but... Somehow you seem to be warming everyone's hearts, lately."

"Y'got Rancis hook-line and sinker," Taffyta teased, to which Rancis rolled his sleepy eyes and desperately tried to fix his bed head.

"Lickity's not turning a blind eye to you any longer," Tessa added, Zed crossed his arms and smiled.

"And now Mr. Finnigan Atlas," Zed teasingly sneered towards Orph, to which caused his smile to broaden, "Welcome to the family, finally."

"Been here for years, dude," Orph grumbled with a smile, and although the subject of Finn sneakily buying Orph a whole entire day to discuss what he needed to discuss with Tessa and Zed was now hung at the forefront, everyone tip-toed around the very notion, uncertain just what it all pertained.

"Well now that you have a whole day with us, why don't we all discuss Sugar Rush's next scout?" Zed inquired, to which all of the heads at the island bobbed in agreeing; Orph sagged a little and wondered if he was out of place.

"O-Oh, well, isn't that a topic for all of you guys? I mean, I play no part in decision making," Orph staggered, he furrowed his brow and peered to Penny in question, as if maybe to wonder if he could potentially be wrong in his findings; she shrugged.

"You're the brother of Sugar Rush's future King, Orph," Vanellope stated delicately, and although the topic of handing over her's and Ralph's crown was delicate, she still tried to warm up to the idea.

"You're marrying Sugar Rush's Knight's daughter," Zed added with a gentle smile towards his dewey eyed younger brother, "You'll be at my right hand, Orph. I mean... You solidified that when you proposed to Penny, last night."

"Do something REALLY noble and maybe Tessa'll Knight you," Rancis's sleepy voice croaked as he teasingly waggled his eyebrows.

"User, I don't know about that," Orph huffed as he straightened his collar, though Penny smiled a proud smile to him, solid and true.

"Before we discuss any sort of Sugar Rush scout, we should discuss your wedding plans!" Tessa stated eagerly as he peered to her younger cousin with much zest, she scrunched her shoulders in delight and beamed, "Surely you guys have been hashing out the details, together?"

In a draw of gentle silence, Penny and Orph softly peered into each others eyes, a string of gentle knowing, as if they had come to a tough decision together and were solidly on the same page. Tessa's shoulders sagged in confusion once they dragged their near-apologetic smiles to Tessa, and though they still had a confident air about themselves, Tessa furrowed her brow in rising curiosity.

"Y-You... You guys haven't called off the wedding, have you?" Tessa suddenly worried, to which everyone quickly peered to Orph for solid clarification.

"No, no, we... We still are going to get married," Orph chuckled, he gingerly took Penny's hands in his and gave her a loving smile of assurance, though she smiled at him and gave him a loving nod, as if to encourage him to complete this important statement, "Guys, we, uh... We want to give respect where it's due. To Sugar Rush..."

"What's going on?" Vanellope softly prod as she stood up, from her hunched on her elbows position at the island, everyone fixated their gazes to Orph and Penny as they seemingly glowed with their own bubble of a conclusion they had come to together.

"We want to wait until after Sugar Rush is saved to get married," Orph completed as he held Penny's little hands in his strong ones, and though that was opposite of what anyone thought Penny and Orph would suggest, Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in sorrowful curiosity and shot her concerned gaze to Zed as Orph continued, "Sugar Rush is soon to become a part of my code stream, and... I want to make my new home game proud. I want to solidify everything after Sugar Rush is safe in our grasp, once more."

"Orph, it could be months, YEARS," Tessa staggered in worry, to which Orph and Penny gave her confident smiles of soft understanding.

"And Penny and I will be on every single one of those scouts, Tess," Orph confirmed as they both peered to her, unwavering confidence, "I've played my part of upholding this promise to Penny, to proposing and making it known to everyone I respect that I wish to marry this woman and become apart of this new family... Which includes all of you guys."

Everyone fell silent and hung in Orph's now dominant tier of holding the conversation, he dragged his gentle gaze and smile to Penny, and once they met in a string of near-glowing eye contact, Orph's smile only broadened as he shook his head and inhaled a deep breath.

"As much as I want to marry Penny right here and now, and make that union permanent... I care too much of just where her roots are, and who else is involved here," Orph frowned, "It doesn't seem fair to everyone else to just run off and have a grand wedding, whilst everyone else is on a waiting list for Sugar Rush's return..."

"Orph, I told you that mess excludes you and Penny," Zed reassured sorrowfully, though Orph shook his head.

"But, it doesn't," Orph softly correct as he caught eyes with his big brother, "Penny is the Queen's niece... And, like stated, I'm the younger brother of Sugar Rush's future King. This DOES include Penny and I... And we will honor that."

With that gentle glow of a prickle that was sent through the group, one of understanding and poised maturity, Vanellope smiled down to her hands and was forever floored she had so many beings around her willing to do whatever it takes to make sure everything was in order. Tessa heaved a soft sigh through her nose and eyed Orph in rising, gleeful delight.

"That's big of you, Orph," Tessa's gentle voice coat the group, everyone lazily nodded in agreeing and mumbled soft notions of such, as well, "Are you guys sure about this decision of yours?"

"Come hell, high water," Orph started with a confident smile, "None of us will rest until Sugar Rush is ours again."

"... Thank you," Vanellope stated softly, tears welled in her eyes, tears of being on the brink of defeat. She shook her head and looked down with a soft sniffle, "Your guy's confidence about the situation is what keeps me from throwing in the towel."

"We'll get Sugar Rush back," Orph smiled as he squeezed Penny's hands, "We can relax after... No one, in the royal ring here, is exempt from helping. Not even us."

"Thank you, Orph," Zed stated softly, their humble air was palpable, he bobbed a nod and inhaled a deep breath, "Well... Since we're now shifting from wedding planning to scout planning, should we all get to it?"

"We're all here," Orph quipped, to which everyone huffed small chuckles of understanding and bobbed gentle movements of readjusting, so to better take in the important conversation at hand.

"We all know the direction we're heading," Tessa stated in a grumble as she gently side-eyed her uncle, though everyone softly laughed in the rise of teasing that was to come up, in this conversation. Rancis heaved a long, hot sigh and gave his niece a teasing smirk of whole annoyance, "I'm kidding, Uncle Rancis... I appreciate your fervor in heading Southwest, like that. Without you, we wouldn't have found the racers, we wouldn't have known to absolutely go True North, and..."

"I wouldn't be engaged," Penny chimed, everyone loudly eased into laughter, once more, and as Penny subtly ogled her gorgeous ring, Orph held onto an unwavering, proud smile.

"Since we will be heading True North, and not stopping until we find the castle, or The End, I am safely assuming we will be in Sugar Rush for two weeks at the very least," Tessa stated in a full grimace, though she relaxed the second she realized everyone kept their unhinged eye contact tight to her, as if to insinuate they knew this trip was going to be a doozy. Tessa cleared her throat and shook her head, gently, "I'd say a month, almost... I hope everyone is okay with that."

"I am," Rancis shrugged, he shot Taffyta an annoyed smile, "User knows we haven't been there as much as we'd like to, anyhow."

"Good point," Zed chuckled, everyone nodded.

"Okay, so... Next step is to decide who all is going," Tessa counted on her pointer finger, "It's clear everyone here is going."

"I know for a fact that Ace, Libby, Nox and Koko are joining," Zed stated, Vanellope nodded and began to tidily put her hair into a ponytail.

"Excluding the flyers, I think that's it," Vanellope said as everyone peered to her, she fumbled with her hair, "'Cause, I talked to Oliver, Throttle and Emery and they sounded like they were just going to hold down the fort whilst everyone was gone... It's going to be a long trip, for all parties involved."

"Finn is definitely going to get a solid workout on your racer score," Zed heaved a soft laugh in Orph's direction, Orph sagged his shoulders and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I'll get him back, somehow," Orph muttered, though Rancis shot his new son-in-law-to-be a cheeky smile.

"What if he makes your score better?" Rancis teased, to which Orph shot Rancis a daring glower of whole annoyance, everyone burst out into laughter.

"No matter what, it'll be better than yours, ol'timer," Orph playfully dared, to which Rancis raised both his eyebrows and looked down to the counter in a boggled mess of whole, disheveled confusion.

"I'm too tired to care that I was sort of just handed my ass," Rancis grunted, everyone loudly continued to laugh as Orph lovingly nudged Rancis's arm, playful gesture of proving these were simply just jokes.

"He's probably right," Taffyta teased, as well, though Rancis sagged into himself.

"Okay, don't kick me while I'm down," Rancis rushed through his teeth as everyone simmered into knowing chuckles.

"Alright, so we have... Me, Zed, mom, Taffyta, Rancis, Orph, Penny, Ace, Libby, Nox annnnnd..." Tessa listed on her fingers as she came to her last pinky, she cocked an eyebrow and grinned, "Koko."

"Damn, large crowd," Zed huffed, everyone bobbed a nod.

"We have the four flyers and will need at least two of your special Tron flyers, Zed," Vanellope stated knowingly, "We'll need a few materializers... User knows we can't haul that many packed bags with us for THAT long."

"It'll take the code room at least a week to duplicate one more Tron flyer," Zed rubbed his forehead, though he shrugged and nodded, "I can supply everyone with a materializer, no issue..."

"So it's settled," Tessa put her hands on the island's marble, "Eleven beings, four flyers, two Tron flyers... Riding on one hope."

"Let's plan to leave next Sunday, that way everyone can properly say their goodbyes to the crew that will be staying behind," Zed assured with a nod, everyone verbally agreed.

"Phew, that was easier than I thought it'd be," Orph smiled a cheeky smile and glanced about the group.

"Annnnd break," Penny stated in a gentle meep of a voice, as she outstretched her hand; everyone chuckled and followed her lead.


	240. Chapter 240

**Reviews :**

 **Guest :** Aww hey! Well welcome aboard! I appreciate it so much, I'm very excited :D Dang, Ontario? I can't even imagine. Hopefully you'll get to scoot to the beach sometime shortly then :D Thanks again!

 **Snake557 :** Thanks friend! Hopefully I'll get to bump into you, I know Tampa is a good 30 minutes North, but I'd still love to meet up some day :D

 **NightHex54 :** Yyyyep! It's going to be a bumpy ride from here on out, unfortunately haha. Thank you so much! I am VERY excited :D

 **Burgie :** Thank you! I'm hoping you guys certainly think so!

 **TheDoctorDusty :** Oh hi! haha Thanks for the clarification :) And, yes! Tej's side of this issue is actually coming up shortly, before the scout. And, it is pronounced like how you would say 'edge' but with a T. Sorry for the confusion, all this time, too! haha. Thanks again!

 **Silversuferann :** Hey, thanks so much! Good to hear from you again :D Hope you're well!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Capsize by Frenship**

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 **A/N :** **Sorry for the short chapter - I have a TON going on right now, and I also am trying to fill in the gaps before the huge Sugar Rush scout, which is certain to have an overwhelming amount of drama. Stay tuned guys! :D**

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 ***Chapter 240***

"Please don't set off the fire alarm again," Rancis's grumbling voice came from inside his and Taffyta's bedroom, she breathed a hard giggle and swiped her wet hand along their large bathroom mirror, her hot shower had fogged everything.

"Oh come on, that only happened once," Taffyta retort, she shook her head and looked down to her communicator. It lit up with Libby's messages, once more, her and Libby were going back and forth about a beauty tip Taffyta was eager to try.

"Twice," Rancis rebutted, Taffyta huffed a hard noise and rolled her eyes, and although she had just showered, the door hung open and she was dressed in comfortable clothes for the evening, her short, white hair was wet and drying.

"Libby will probably be stopping by the patio door, Rancis, she's just going to be dropping something off, so don't be startled," Taffyta warned as she put her communicator down on the bathroom's marble counters, she smiled into the mirrors and drew attention to her face.

"Aye, captain," Rancis mumbled as he sat up, the chair he sat at croaked loudly.

Taffyta hummed a small tune to herself, all was well in the world. She pulled at a few troubled spots, just by her jaw, and although she knew Zed or Tessa could likely touch up her skin coding in the code room, she wondered if trying one of Libby's jungle secrets would help just as easily. Her communicator buzzed, causing it to shift on the slick marble, and as Taffyta shot her eyes down to it, swiped it and opened her mouth to tell Rancis to let Libby inside, she froze dead in her tracks and read just exactly who had messaged her, whom of which wasn't Libby.

 _Wednesday, November 16th 2016 8:31pm_

 _Tedged : I heard about the month-long Sugar Rush scout. Feel free to say no, but I'd love to at least clear the air with you before you leave, give one-last goodbye hug. Message me back when you can. -Tej_

Taffyta held her breath, stared down at the lock screen of her phone and felt her heart begin to race with uncertainty. She flinched in surprise the second a small, cute knock was heard on the glass of her patio, and as she heard Rancis's shuffling feet cross their room to open the sliding glass door, to let Libby in, Taffyta huffed a shaky breath and glowered across the bathroom in whole dismay; she knew Tej was just trying to be nice, to try and help the dust settle even more, though she had suddenly never felt so unsettled in her life.

"Hey, you," Rancis chimed sweetly to Libby as he let her in, she was barefoot and wore one of Ace's large hoodies, alongside a colorful pair of tribal-pattern leggings.

"Hey! I brought Taffyta's face mask," Libby eased gently as Taffyta finally mustered the confidence to come out of the bathroom, both girls smiled at each other with wide grins, though Taffyta wondered if she could potentially rip her heart off of her sleeve and attempt to come across as normal, in this weird situation.

"Thanks, Libby, you're the best," Taffyta stated gratefully as both girls began to reconvene in her bathroom.

"Of course! This stuff is incredible," Libby's accented voice was irresistible, both girls moseyed into the foggy, damp bathroom as Libby showed Taffyta the small hand-sized container she had brought with her, "A little goes a very long way, so don't dive into it too much. Just a pea size amount on the problem area will do you good. Just make sure you rinse it off after ten minutes..."

"Sheesh," Taffyta huffed in a hard grimace, she had opened the tub and yanked it away from her face the second it's pungent smell soaked her vicinity, "What's this stuff made of? Smells like it could kill me."

"It's made from the soil of the river I was found near," Libby giggled with a wider smile, "I sneak away to get some, every now and then. Mixed with some water and a few other... Secret ingredients."

"You spit in it, didn't you," Taffyta muttered, Libby's eyes grew wide as she heaved a shocked laugh.

"How could you assume so poorly of me?" Libby teased, to which both girls playfully laughed in the notions of their banter, though Libby began to back step towards the door in which she entered from, "Let me know how that works... If not, I can maybe have Ace see about your issue."

"Thanks Libby, this is great," Taffyta smiled as she jostled the tub about after securing the lid, and once Taffyta and Rancis politely said their goodnights and let Libby out to the backyard, in which their patio lead to, Taffyta felt her heart race faster in uncertainty; she tried to come off nonchalant.

"That'll be good, just... Wash it off before you go to bed," Rancis eyed the tub, "I could smell that stuff from all the way out here."

"You're telling me, I had my nose all up in it," Taffyta grumbled, "With THAT potent of a smell, it better work. Libby swears by it."

"She hardly has a blemish on her face, certainly she has good reason to swear by it," Rancis grumbled as he plopped into their unmade, cozy bed, and although all Taffyta wanted to do was exactly the same, she bit her lip and was now desperate to hopefully get Zed's advice on this mess.

"Seriously," Taffyta mumbled with a small giggle, she continued to do her best in playing cool, though as she head for their bedroom door, she wondered just what kin of an excuse she'd use for leaving the bedroom.

"Where're you goin'?" Rancis asked tenderly as he heaved a long, sleepy sigh and reached for his book, which was left open-faced on the bed, awaiting for him to return to it.

"I'm just gunna see what's going on out there, maybe someone's making dessert or something," Taffyta shrugged with a sneaky smile, Rancis raised a finger.

"If there are brownies, please bring me back one," Rancis called as Taffyta opened their bedroom door, agreed to his request and quietly left.

Taffyta held her breath, shoved her communicator into her sweat pants gaping pocket and crossed her arms. She felt her mind race with a billion questions, she wondered if this was even a smart idea, if she should go alone, and if not, who should she take, and when? She shook her head and grimaced, and just as she was about to cross the Sky Room and seek Zed out, she was surprised to see him round the corner, from the kitchen. She was floored to see he was with Ace, another trustworthy individual. Taffyta cued to them in her silent display of needy body language and prolonged eye contact, and as both men let their quiet chatter come to a small stop, Taffyta gently approached them and scrunched her shoulders.

"I'm having a personal issue I need to tell someone about or else I'm going to explode," Taffyta rushed, as quietly as she could, and although both boys were previously talking about something lighthearted, the alertness and concern in their eyes very rapidly grew.

"What's going on?" Zed's deep voice quietly muttered, as Taffyta groped for her communicator, opened Tej's message and handed it over, both Ace and Zed peered down to the glowing collection of words. Once they finished the message, Ace heaved a hot, long sigh through his nose as Zed sagged his shoulders and gently shook his head, "Persistence is his strong suit. For being the first racer on the roster, and the easiest to beat, he certainly never knows when to quit."

"I want to at least go talk to him and end all of the drama, but... I just don't know what to do," Taffyta worried, the gloss of concern in her eyes was beyond readable, and as Ace and Zed peered to her in contemplation, Taffyta sagged her shoulders in rising defeat at this whole mess.

"Well," Zed sighed, gently glanced to his son and felt a weird switch up. He knew Taffyta was practically someone he looked up to, someone he considered an aunt as well, though he felt a sweep of fatherly care come over the small group before him. He gently volleyed his uncertain gaze to Taffyta's and could practically feel the confusion in her gaze. He shook his head a little, narrowed his gaze and kept their conversation private, "Taff, you... You don't still have feelings for Tej, do you?"

"I don't," Taffyta assured confidently, though she looked off and frowned, "I don't have feelings for him, but... I do feel as if I at least owe him the closure. We never got it. Rancis came back and I sort of just dropped him."

"You told him you would, though," Ace pressed tenderly as he sagged his hands into the pocket of his black hoodie.

"I... Probably could've let him down gentler than I did," Taffyta admitted as she tucked her wet hair behind her ears, she shrugged and looked as if the spirit had been taken straight out of her typically uppity demeanor, "I cut all contact from him. I'm not so sure that was fair of me."

"I think if you were dealing with any of my other brothers, that would've gone smoothly. They would've gotten the hint, dealt with the issue privately, on their own, and moved on," Zed cocked an eyebrow and gently eyed Ace, they gave each other the same knowing bob of a nod and grimace, "You're dealing with the most sensitive Kalivar on this lot."

"More sensitive than me," Ace grumbled as he cocked an eyebrow and gave Taffyta a look of certainty.

"That's saying something," Zed's voice grumbled as he gently pat Ace's shoulder, "Even though being sensitive isn't a bad thing, it has often gotten Tej into trouble, like this."

"Great," Taffyta huffed as she looked up to the Sky Room's star-riddled dome, she shook her head and looked as if to be pleading to a god above, "What the hell am I supposed to do, now...?"

Zed gently shrugged, looked off, bit his lower lip in contemplation and sagged his hands into his pant's pockets.

"Go see him," Zed stated plainly, Taffyta shot her confused look to Zed and let her mouth hang open from the words she was about to speak, though was interrupted by Zed's confusing words.

"...Go see him," Taffyta repeated cautiously, Zed shrugged again and peered to Ace.

"Sure, go see him," Zed prod, though he gently elbowed Ace's lower arm and gave Taffyta a knowing look, "Have Royal take you and Ace... Go there, settle things, and come back. Done."

"Why wouldn't we drive there?" Ace pressed, both him and Taffyta kept their confused gazes to Zed.

"Look... You're not going to sit in the room with Taffyta and Tej and monitor, make sure Tej doesn't get handsy or anything, are you?" Zed questioned Ace, to which he bashfully shook his head and gave Taffyta a confused look, "Those flyers are animals, at their ultimate core. Those beasts can smell pheromones from a million miles away. Take Royal, that way Taffyta and Tej can have their privacy and you and Royal can rest assured this isn't just a booty call."

"Like I'd succumb, do none of you guys trust me?" Taffyta spat in irritation, though Zed tenderly grabbed Taffyta's hand and gave her his whole-hearted, loving attention.

"Taking Royal, for that reason, is for your benefit against Tej," Zed firmly assured, "It's not because WE don't trust YOU... It's because WE don't trust HIM."

"Uncle Tej wouldn't...?" Ace pressed, though his question fizzled out before he could finish, and once Zed shot him a look of ultimate rebuttal, Ace dropped it and looked down in surprise, "Damn, Uncle Tej..."

"I'm quickly discovering the dude is desperate for love," Zed shook his head and shrugged, "He'd go as far as wrecking a marriage for it, this much is clear. He went toe to toe with one of the greatest warriors this Arcade knows. That takes balls... He puffs his chest and thinks he's a million feet tall, and although some can see through his facade, it's clear he's willing to test that on just about anyone, if it means getting his way."

"He's still a good guy, though," Ace continued to prod, Zed gave him a gentle smile.

"Son, he's a fantastic man... We all have our issues, and this is Tej's," Zed grumbled, "He's got a soft spot for beautiful women that just so happen to be taken."

"Well, when should we go?" Ace wondered, though Zed shrugged and peered to Taffyta, "His loft is on the outskirts of Ekreth..."

"Whenever you decide, really. Just whatever you do, keep your wits about you, don't let him get under your skin, Taff," Zed instructed softly, to which she bashfully nodded and heaved a shaky sigh, "Just set him straight, cut it clean, and come home."


	241. Chapter 241

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thanks friend!

 **Burgie :** This much is true xD Poor dude.

 **Nikki Firesong :** Yeah, Tej is a bit dysfunctional in his rational, he's a pretty needy, conditional dude. Has great qualities! But is easily let down and has a hard time dropping a problem. Also, I'm REALLY glad you liked your commission :D That really makes me happy!

 **NightHex54 :** She definitely has the news and ability to shut up the entire Kalivar lot, that is for sure, so no danger there xD

 **Jay Sketchin :** LMAO! Your reviews always make me grin haha. Yes, Tej is a bit of a butthead... But Taffyta definitely lays the permanent smack down, so not to worry :D

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Bad Language by Topi**

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 ***Chapter 241***

Aboard Royal's much larger, though still quick flight, Taffyta latched onto Ace as the cold night air whipped their hair and clothes about. Taffyta bit her lip in contemplation and wondered just exactly how this meeting with Tej was going to go. She was certain there'd be tough confrontation, of some sort, though she hoped they'd come to an understanding, eventually see eye to eye. She heaved a hot sigh into the back of Ace's shoulder, lulled her exhausted eyes shut and felt her heart race in a dull, steady thud of anxiety. She appreciated Ace's and Royal's silence, though at the same time, she wondered if she could potentially spill all of her worries out to the two boys, as if somehow talking about all of it would make it easier.

Although the flight to Ekreth was not that long, Taffyta was certain time was frozen. She gently braved the cool, rushing wind and peered over the top of Ace's shoulder, though much to her surprise, they gently lofted past a towering skyscraper on the edge of the city. She flinched as all the night lights soaked into her retinas, the noise of the city life below soaked into their gravity, and as Royal's large, gorgeous wings took a soft flap or two, to gain in speed, Taffyta felt her stomach knot as Royal's gentle banks made clear both boys knew exactly where to find Tej's loft, amidst this huge city. Taffyta's eyes scanned each light-soaked sky scraper with whole anxiety, she bit her lip and made bets with herself on just exactly which building Tej could possibly be in.

Before too much time could pass, Royal's body language hovered in a strong few down-strokes of slowing, and as he reached his sturdy hind legs for the railing of Tej's loft's balcony, he tucked his wings tight to his body and hunched into the overhang of the porch. As Ace quickly dismounted and grappled Taffyta's hands to help her down, Royal finally situated himself on the small porch, as best as his body would allow. Taffyta inhaled a small gasp, looked over her shoulder and was absolutely blown away at the fact that Tej's lonely loft was easily twenty floors above the city's bustling nightlife. The wind whipped their hair about, with such a high altitude, and though she wanted just to stay and ogle the gorgeous sky line, her heart continued to jolt with the sound of Tej's sliding glass balcony doors coming unhinged, his familiar voice soaked the cold, outside air.

"Hey guys," Tej called, and although he, too, looked nervous, he still had a welcoming smile on his face. He gestured for the three to follow, though Ace and Royal stood uncomfortably still; even though Taffyta was due to be welcomed inside, she, too, remained still. Tej's facial expression dropped to confusion as Ace rubbed the back of his head, "You uh... You guys want to talk on the porch?"

"You guys go on ahead," Ace instructed gently, though it was very clear to the group that his stern tone held a bit of a bite, a protectiveness over his great aunt, "Royal and I will be out here, so to give you two privacy."

"O-oh, well... Th-that's nice of you, thanks," Tej worried, though he quickly reached out and turned his tall, towering outdoor heater on, so Ace and Royal wouldn't get cold, "It's okay if you guys need to come inside, though, y'know... If it gets too cold."

"We'll make our presence known if need be," Royal's deep, grumbling voice reverberated against the tight proximity of his balcony's walls, and with such a gentle threat delivered by the kindest flyer on the Kalivar lot, the whole group fell silent in a prickled stance of certain fear, even Ace. Royal flattened his ears, eyed Tej in a way that only read menacing delight, and before Royal could bravely begin to think about baring his fangs, Tej nervously welcomed Taffyta inside.

"You uh..." Tej started as he gently slide the balcony glass closed and straight his shirt. He chased the back of Taffyta's head with a look of pure worry, "Y'didn't tell me you'd be bringing two body guards with you."

"My choices were either Ace and Royal, or Zed and Lickity," Taffyta's sweet voice snapped as she rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie, she knew not to make herself way too comfortable. She turned on her heel and gave Tej a sarcastic smile, "Which pair would you have preferred?"

"Ace and Royal," Tej grit his teeth and looked off, and although neither pair was to be trifled with, he was very well aware the fire from both Zed and Lickity would be far fiercer than anything Royal and Ace could deliver.

"You have a nice place, here," Taffyta stated warmly, she knew not to approach with aggression, even though she likely wanted to. She gently tucked her hair behind her ears and got a good look around. Although his place was small and clearly built for one, maybe two, it still was adorable in it's charming, futuristic design. Taffyta knew Zed likely bought Tej this loft, outright, and outfit it with every little bit of coded home Tej was certainly spoiled by, being a Kalivar racer. Taffyta softly leaned against the kitchen island and felt a little more at ease, once Tej lightened up and made his way into his kitchen, "I can see Zed certainly didn't hold back in making sure his baby brother still had touches of the Kalivar castle."

"This is actually Tessa's work," Tej stated with a humble smile as they both looked about, the gorgeous sprawl of the cream walls, the little touches of modern and futuristic moldings, arch-design, lighting and furniture alike all held some brand of Sugar Rush-meets-Dead Zed charm, "Zed got the room, Tessa designed it. I'm really grateful... Especially for how sudden the move was."

"That's love, for yah," Taffyta dryly huffed, and although she desperately wanted to fall into rhythm with Tej, their usual best friend banter, she tried to keep him at arm's length, "So, uh... What exactly did you want to touch on? Your message made me feel like you'd never see me again, after this Sugar Rush scout."

"Well, Zed told me the whole lot of you will be gone for almost a month," Tej's vibrant, turquoise eyes hooked to hers in nervous delight, Taffyta tried not to ogle just how brilliantly colored his hair, eyes and demeanor were, "That's one beast of a trek... I know all open-world games have an 'end', but... Damn. If we ever went searching for Dead Zed's end, I'm certain we'd likely be at it for a year, or longer."

"Dead Zed is almost fifteen years newer, that's hardly fair," Taffyta rolled her eyes and looked off with a gentle smile, though she shook her head and heaved a shaky sigh, "I-I'm not certain just how long I'll be on the trip, anyhow."

"...Wait, what?" Tej stammered in confusion, he shook his head, "Why?"

"It's not important," Taffyta stated wryly as she stood up straight and successfully kept Tej at arm's length, "I just wanted to come over here and give you that closure you wanted."

"... Isn't it what you want as well?" Tej staggered, and although his tone was gentle, it was clear he was on the verge of becoming defensive.

"Well, I mean..." Taffyta gestured her hand and tried to continue to play cool, though Tej cut her off.

"I guess it was just easier for you to pick up and move on," Tej stated darkly, though the second Taffyta's sharp, intimidating gaze rose from the dead, Tej gently slowed his steps to a halt and froze.

"... Pick up and move on?" Taffyta snapped, "You forget I'm MARRIED, right? That wasn't me simply moving on and finding another dude and just dropping you like you meant nothing. I was picking up where I left off with the husband I thought was DEAD."

"I understand, I just... Figured it'd be harder for you to lean away from me," Tej cocked an eyebrow and gave Taffyta a look of ultimate hurt, "I mean, you just jumped away from me so quickly... Did... What we have mean nothing to you?"

"There was nothing to 'have', Tej, we... Sure, we clicked, and..." Taffyta wildly gestured her hands and began to look flustered, she knew she was losing her footing with her confidence, though she furrowed her eyebrows and inwardly cursed herself for allowing hot tears to well in her eyes, "Tej, in another life, I'm certain everything would fall into place, but... This life is complicated and messy. This one includes my husband and Penny and-"

"If you were confident Rancis was gone for good, why was it so hard for you to just... FALL? Just allow yourself to fall for me?" Tej urgently gestured to himself, "I have the world to offer you, Taffyta, I mean honestly, just one more week and I am certain-"

"What, that I'd be so extraordinarily head over heels for you?" Taffyta side-eyed Tej and gave him a snotty smile, "I don't think you're understanding that I, no matter where Rancis resided in this Arcade, was MARRIED to him."

"You took off your ring," Tej stabbed as he pointed to the ground, "That night we kissed, you confided in me... Are you forgetting that fateful night?"

"Tej, it's..." Taffyta staggered as the tears only billowed more.

"You told me that we could begin a new chapter together, you TOLD me that you felt as if you could finally move on," Tej began to show signs of wanting to raise his voice, strictly for his own frustration. He began to saunter around the counter, towards Taffyta, and although she was certain he wasn't going to do anything stupid, she still tensed up a little as he pointed his finger down to his glossy tiles under foot, "You said, yourself, that even if Rancis came back, you'd think about sitting him down and explaining this dilemma to him."

"I was at a very weak point in my life, Tej, that's not fair," Taffyta demanded as tears finally streamed her cheeks, she furrowed her eyebrows and felt her inner dragon begin to awaken, "I've known Rancis since we were kids, half the height we are now! In much simpler times, we were the best of friends... I married my best friend, Tej, and sure, you and I had a spark, but... Tej I'm sorry, but..."

"But what!" Tej stabbed.

"You were a rebound!" Taffyta barked, Tej's eyes bulged in pure insult as Taffyta huffed a hard sigh and looked off, "You were a rebound... I'm sorry I said all that shit, I was confused, and sad, and alone, but... THERE'S the truth. You wanted your closure, there it is!"

"... None of that is true," Tej side-eyed Taffyta, "You're just saying that to push me away!"

"I never said you had to believe me, Tej," Taffyta stated loudly through a cynical laugh as she gestured her arms out before she wiped her tears.

"You're married, I get it, it's easy to go back to, it's familiar," Tej barked in rising anger, "The second you had a genuine, romantic spark with someone other than your simple, childhood best friend, you, OF COURSE, take the easy route back home, once it's presented to you! No one ever wants to take the road less traveled. Of COURSE I get the short end of the stick."

"It was wrong of me to plant all those seeds of hope in your heart, Tej, and I apologize... I was dealing with the supposed death of my husband, I... I was lonely," Taffyta explained, though Tej barked a sarcastic laugh and looked off.

"So, your loneliness just so happened to make you prey on the first softy you happen upon," Tej snapped, though Taffyta gave him a look of whole insult.

"... Are you calling me easy?!" Taffyta suddenly yelled in pure, billowing anger, to which Tej was now uncertain how to navigate; he was well aware Rancis had the upper hand here, in so many more ways than he could imagine; one being knowing exactly how to navigate Taffyta's fiery personality.

"I-I wasn't calling you easy, Taff-"

"If I was easy, I'd be preying after ALL of those User-forsaken Kalivar boys! ALL of them, but Zed, was single when I landed in Dead-Zed-Land!" Taffyta hollered, her voice reverberated off of Tej's clean, slick walls, though just as her voice pierced the glass of the balcony, both Royal and Ace immediately stood and made their way into the building, letting in the cool breeze with them, "I chose the ONE that met me where I was at, in my time of sorrow... Y'know, the perfect mixture of lust, grief and mourning will result in stupid decisions."

"So I'm just a stupid decision, then?!" Tej stabbed in whole irritation as Ace and Royal pushed into the conversation, to now properly mediate.

"You said I was easy," Taffyta stabbed with a shrug as she sarcastically looked off and held a high air about herself.

"Look, I get you're married, you want to salvage it for everything it's worth, but you can't lie to yourself... I know you think you and I had something great, awesome potential," Tej volleyed, Ace and Royal nervously peered to each other in whole confusion as just how to defuse this situation if it got too out of hand.

"I could have potential with ANYONE!" Taffyta hollered as she gestured her arms out, "HELL, I could have potential with THROTTLE! And he's GAY!"

"You know what I mean," Tej stabbed, though Taffyta urgently flagged her hand.

"I could click with just about anyone that compliments my personality, it's not difficult to have chemistry with someone," Taffyta begged in whole annoyance, "The difference with Rancis and I is I'm in LOVE with that man! I have so much history with Rancis, w-we have a million inside jokes, we share common interests, we're from the same game-"

"But WE could have those!" Tej urged, and although Ace volleyed him an annoyed look to blatantly state that pining over Taffyta was an absolute lost cause, he frowned and noticed the tears in his uncle's eyes.

"NO! We CAN'T!" Taffyta stated loudly as, she too, was fighting to keep tears back, "I'm married to Rancis, fully committed in the hierarchy of Sugar Rush, I'm in love with him, I-I... I have children with him!"

In the roll of realization, Tej, Ace and Royal urgently snapped their undivided attention straight into Taffyta's eyes and replayed Taffyta's ringing words, over and over, and as the room fell painfully silent, aside from the heaves of panting abundant through Taffyta's nose, Ace raised his eyebrows in prickled, curious, giddy surprise and froze as their eyes met.

"... 'ChildREN'?" Ace prod tenderly, though as Tej dropped his shoulders in the cold realization draped over the room, Taffyta inhaled a shaky breath, shook her head and urgently began to march towards the back door.

"If you message me asking for MORE closure than what I've just provided, I will personally take over Dead Zed's code room and delete a Mrs. Taffyta FLUGGERBUTTER from your memory," Taffyta's hoarse voice loudly glossed in Tej's direction as she firmly pointed to him, "Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tej uttered shakily as he looked down and immediately threw in the towel, due to Taffyta's very huge subliminal message.

"C'mon, boys," Taffyta stabbed to Royal and Ace, and in a flash, the two were quickly fastened to Royal's spine; his large wings sprawled to beyond the length of Tej's porch, and in a single leap off the railing, the three glided into Ekreth's skyline.


	242. Chapter 242

**Reviews :**

 **TheDoctorDusty :** ;D

 **Snake557 :** Yes indeed!

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so much! It was certainly no easy task, I really missed that old bat. I just recently went on an 8 hour road trip with her, so she's doing JUST fine! :D I got your PM! Sorry for not replying, I've been so extremely busy!

 **JaySketchin :** I know I already chat with you about this earlier on Skype but ohhhhh my User I was like CRYING laughing when I read this. I got some very strange looks from my coworkers.

 **Burgie :** He definitely needed it! xD

 **NightHex54 :** I'm SO glad, actually! I keep popping out the surprises, and theres actually a ton more to come!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Think About Us by Jake Miller**

* * *

 ***Chapter 242***

In the gentle down-flap of Royal's massive white wings, crowned with the gold flecks and splashes of color, his padded feet came to a gentle trot of a stop just inside the Kalivar castle's gates. Ace pricked his attention to his aunt Taffyta, who was at the head of Royal's flight crew, and before he could open his mouth and gingerly inquire if she was alright, Taffyta huffed an agitated noise, swung her leg over and dismounted Royal's spine. Ace flinched, unhanded his great aunt and froze as she slid off of Royal's smooth scales and came to the grass underfoot. Ace raised his eyebrows in tender surprise and quickly slid off of Royal's spine, so to hopefully keep up with her, though just as he assumed he'd have to go chasing after her, he jolted in surprise as she whirled around and wildly gestured her hands to him.

"I can't believe him!" Taffyta urged loudly, Ace's ears nearly rung at the stark difference from the soothing wind to the sharp stab of Taffyta's irritated voice, Ace opened his mouth to reply, though he was cut off, "WHY today! Why did the universe think today and TONIGHT was a good time for him to message me! And RIGHT after I found out that... I mean it was like, ten minutes after I-I found out that... Th-that-!"

Ace brought his shaky breath to a quick halt and urgently peered to Taffyta in rising anticipation; although Taffyta had previously hinted to it, he was absolutely certain it was just all false until the exact words fell from her mouth. He held his breath and was certain Taffyta was just going to come out with it, though in this raw moment, Ace could see uncertainty in her eyes, and with this, Ace felt his stomach twist in confusion. Although the miscommunication and uncertainty, he gently side-eyed Taffyta and gave her a warm, excited smile.

"...Ten minutes after you found out that maybe Ace Von Thaddeus Kalivar is to maybe quite possibly potentially receive maybe another second cousin in maybe two weeks maybe?" Ace annoyingly prolonged in a string of drawn out insinuation, his and Taffyta's smiles only broadened, "I-I mean, it MAY BE just a shot in the dark. Maybe."

"I was literally in the midsts of rehearsing what I was going to tell Rancis," Taffyta's voice gently hissed as she shook her head and looked off, "It was like Tej KNEW something important was going on, so he thought messaging me like this, during this crucial time, was a good idea, and now I'm just sitting here like... I-I have no clue what to think and-"

"Hey, hey, its okay," Ace's soft voice eased as big tears welled in Taffyta's eyes, he opened his arms a little and offered her his warm embrace, and much to his delight, she took the offer. He squeezed his strong arms about her shoulders and allowed her to bury her face into the top of his chest, his quiet voice continued on, "It's done... You put Uncle Tej in his place and, well... Now we can all move on. This is a good starting point, wouldn't you say?"

"It is," Taffyta quietly agreed as she inhaled a shaky breath, and after a few moments, the two pulled away. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked off in anxiousness, "I just don't know what this means for the Sugar Rush scout, now... Whether it's now, or in two weeks, I... I genuinely can't go."

"I guess... Trying to take care of a baby in the snowy wilderness might not be the best plan," Ace stated through a sigh as he looked down, he shook his head and tried his very hardest not to pry way too much, "Did, uh... Did uncle Rancis accidentally turn the firewall off?"

"No! That's what's confusing about all of this!" Taffyta urged in rising energy, energy that was finally coming back to her, "Our firewall is just as powered on as the rest of every swap mate on this lot! What gives?!"

"I guess I can take a peak at what's going on, in the code room," Ace stated through a choke of a chuckle, though the two settled in the whirl of delight as the realization began to set in a little harder, "Congratulations...! I-I am VERY excited, but I feel like I really don't deserve to be the first one to know this exciting news."

"Of course you're deserving, you're my family," Taffyta waved him off and shook her head, though she looked off and grit her teeth, "I was definitely planning on telling Rancis first, but... Clearly no one is getting what they want, tonight."

"I mean, the night is still young, and I still have a jungle princess to go home to," Ace's voice grew to a depth of playful cockiness as he waggled his eyebrows, though he jolted and choked a laugh as Taffyta firmly swat his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, now that we know the freaking firewall is FAULTY," Taffyta barked in solid annoyance as her, Ace and Royal began to saunter up to the castle's massive front door, "After I'm through telling everyone the news, I've got a bone to pick with your father."

* * *

With a furrowed, beyond confused expression, Rancis's soft footsteps eased into the kitchen. Tessa, Zed, Penny, Orph, Nox, Libby, Ralph and Vanellope all lounged scattered about the living room and the kitchen. Although Tessa, Zed and Libby were the only ones at the kitchen island, the group looked to be easily mingling back and forth between the massive open space. Rancis scanned the area and couldn't find his own short-white-haired smarty. He scratched the back of his head, pulled out his communicator and saw that there were no notifications. Before he could look up and inquire about Taffyta's whereabouts, Libby's loving voice coat the room.

"Rancis, we were just about to start making some brownies!" Libby eased with a smile, and although now everyone was well aware just where Ace, Royal and Taffyta had laid off to, it was their duty now to try and keep it under wraps, as best as they could, "Why don't you go back and hang out in your room, I can bring them to you! I have to bring Taffyta a few other things, for the skin product I let her have, as well."

"Well, I came out here looking for Taffyta, anyhow," Rancis grumbled in sorrowful curiosity, "She said she was going to come out here and see what everyone was up to, but it's easily been forty-five minutes now. Has anyone seen her?"

"Nope, Aunt Taffyta? Haven't seen her," Tessa blurt in a choke of trying not to force the lies, though Zed gave her a sullen, annoyed side-eye and cocked an eyebrow; Tessa bugged her eyes and shook her head as she continued on in an aggressive hiss of a loud whisper, "I'm the Queen of sneaking out, not fibbing... I can't lie for shit. Sue me!"

"I think I saw her heading-"

"It's okay guys, you can cut the fibs," Taffyta's voice softly cut Zed off and coat the room as everyone urgently drew their attention to her; Taffyta, Ace and Royal slowly sauntered into the building, and Royal's large, gorgeous curl of a tail gingerly shut the massive door behind them.

"What's going on?" Rancis urged gently, he didn't seem too concerned, though it was clear he was well on his way to becoming mildly irritated.

"I, uh..." Taffyta rubbed the back of her head, she was dressed in her black jeans and official racing jacket, a look that Sugar Rush's long-lost racers desperately held onto. She heaved a hard sigh and caught eyes with Tessa, and with a silent form of communication between the two women, Tessa gently bobbed a small nod, almost as if to insinuate that it was okay if she stole the floor. Taffyta inhaled a deep breath through her nose and held a confident air about herself, "I'm calling a castle meeting."

"...OH can I join, please," Nox urged to Zed as he grappled Zed's lower arm; Zed blurt into laughter and finally dragged his inquisitive gaze to Tessa, who is typically the one to be calling the castle meetings, after her mother.

"Is everything okay?" Vanellope worried as she gave Taffyta a frozen look of confusion; she knew the last time Taffyta called the shots, over a game, it meant being locked out of Sugar Rush's code room.

"Yeah, everything is fine," Taffyta huffed softly as everyone quickly came around the island, and as Taffyta softly situated herself at the head of it, she gently eyed Rancis and noticed one thing about him; not only did he look disheveled and confused, he was also standing. Taffyta huffed a giggle, came around to him and pulled out one of the island's stools. She pat the seat of it, grappled Rancis's arm and lead him to his seat, "For this meeting, I'm going to need you to just haaave a seat..."

"...Why only me?" Rancis blurt with a soft laugh as everyone froze and peered to the two in rising anticipation, though Ace covered his mouth and slyly tried his very best to sink closer to Libby's gravity; he knew he was just like his mother in the aspect of keeping surprising secrets or telling lies, in the fact that he was near-terrible at it.

"Well, uh..." Taffyta situated herself at the head of the island, put one palm out to the edge of it and the other on her hip. She heaved a shaky breath and peered deep into Rancis's dark blue inquisitive gaze, he sat patiently waiting in pure confusion, the dewy look of gentleness in his gaze assured Taffyta that he was certainly not ready for what was about to come his way. Taffyta could see everyone in her peripheral frozen in pure confusion, and although Ace was the only one with any knowledge of what was to come, even he looked as if he was on the edge of his seat.

"WELL?" Rancis huffed through a loud chuckle, in which everyone joined in; Taffyta flinched and gently shook her head, and as she looked down to the island to gather her thoughts, a wide smile began to sprawl her face.

Taffyta was well aware she originally planned on telling Rancis this news, just him alone, though somehow, she knew this included everyone, due to just where that put her for the Sugar Rush scout. Her heart surged with all sorts of emotions. She knew she'd be so extremely bummed to not go on this scout and help out, though at the same time, she felt her heart absolutely flutter at the thought of finally having another baby with the love of her life. Her smile broadened, and as she finally dragged her eyes to Rancis's expectant gaze, she giggled a little and shook her head.

"I-I uh... I need to tell everyone here that I unfortunately have to miss out on this big Sugar Rush scout," Taffyta started delicately, and as everyone finally unglued from their confusion, and easily slid into slumped shoulders and darting looks of sorrowful concern, they held onto the element of the pure turn around, strictly for the fact that the smile on Taffyta's face couldn't get any wider, "I'm, um... I'm fairly certain Sugar Rush's vast, wintery End of a nonsense is uh... No place for a newborn baby."

As if a pin drop could be heard on stereo surround sound, everyone held their breath and froze in their gazes on Taffyta. She cocked an eyebrow, tightened her lips into a curiously smug smile and side-eyed Rancis in rising glee. Rancis sat, absolutely frozen, the look of the mental rollercoaster he was just put on, Taffyta was now glad she had him sit down. Taffyta huffed a small giggle, ultimately breaking the silence, though the first person to legitimately break it, as well as the sound barrier, was Vanellope.

"WHAT!?" She shrieked in whole entire girly excitement, she shoved her hands to the island as everyone gaped in sheer shock and gave Taffyta their bug-eyed looks of rising glee.

"Surprise," Taffyta barked, her voice shook, though the smile on her face was that of genuinely excitement. She gestured her arms out as the group began to grow loud with excitement, "While you guys are out saving the game, I'll, uh... Be adding to it!"

"It's been my DREAM to have someone like Penny in my life, but now I get TWO?!" Tessa hollered over the nonsense, everyone eagerly peered to Penny in riled excitement and loudly began to laugh at the sheer fact that her and Rancis were the only two in the group that were stuck in their frozen vat of surprise.

"I-I wanted to tell you, just the two of us, but... I-I'm sorry," Taffyta gestured her arms out and shook her head unapologetically, "I have no excuse, honestly... I'm pregnant."

"Rancis, breathe! BREATHE!" Zed urged loudly as everyone joined in riled, excited laughter, they peered their curious attention to Rancis, and before he could potentially stayed lock in his sitting position forever, he finally rose from his seat and kept his look of longing disbelief to Taffyta's.

"Y-You're pregnant?" Rancis' voice rasped with a crackle, and much to everyone's surprise, tears of happiness welled in his eyes, as did Taffyta's. She eagerly nodded, and as the two quickly came together in a tight embrace, the group loudly awed and cooed at the cuteness of what was unfolding.

"You're catching up to Vanellope and I," Ralph bellowed with a laugh as Taffyta and Rancis squeezed into a tight, swaying hug.

"I can't believe it," Rancis huffed with a small laugh as he squeezed Taffyta as tight as he could, though he largely furrowed his eyebrows, pulled out of his and Taffyta's hug and shot his bewildered look of urgency straight across the island to Zed's eyes, "... Okay... WHO tampered with our firewall?!"

"DO NOT LOOK AT ME," Penny urged loudly, though she slapped her hands over her mouth and largely peered to Orph, everyone loudly laughed at her outburst.

"The one person in this Arcade that wants a sibling more than anyone, ever," Taffyta volleyed, though Zed immediately began to work his magic. He pulled out his master pad and began to eagerly tab away, and as Penny eagerly peered to her mother and father, Taffyta carried on, "You got your wish, Pens."

"I didn't think it'd be THIS soon," Penny's hands shook, her wide smile clearly showed every single inch of her excitement.

"No one tampered with your firewall," Zed mumbled in curiosity as Tessa peered over his shoulder, though he held the pad up, to show the rest of the group, "Untouched, and... As on as ever."

"... Are you saying that our firewalls aren't the most effective form of code-control?" Vanellope loudly urged in a roll of nervousness, though she jolted as she lifted her shirt and looked for a loading bar; she was elated to see her stomach was bare, though in this, Libby and Tessa slyly lifted their shirts and nervously looked as well.

"Sucks," Zed blurt quietly, Tessa shot him a sneaky, annoyed smile.

"Lucky for me, I don't have this problem!" Orph sneered with a wide, teasing smile, though in this roll of realization, Penny shot him a bewildered smile of confusion.

"Son, if I'm given another child AND a grandchild in the same month, I will actually kill you," Rancis pointed to Orph, his voice was stern, but it was clear he was teasing, due to everyone's laughter.

"Welp... Looks like I have some homework," Zed huffed, though he powered off his pad and gave Taffyta and Rancis an elated smile, "Congratulations, you guys! It'll be nice to have a baby around here, again."

"YAY," Vanellope meeped as she leaned over and gently grappled for Taffyta's hand, the two sisters beamed excited smiles to each other.

"Wh-what... Where does this leave me?" Rancis huffed, and although this was exciting news, the group finally drummed to a nervous quiet, a quiet of now sullen anticipation; Taffyta inhaled a shaky breath and shook her head, at Rancis.

"Rancis... I have to stay back," Taffyta eased, everyone was on the edge of their seats, "You have to go with the scout... I can't have a baby out in Sugar Rush's wilderness, and I most certainly can't BRING our baby into Sugar Rush's wilderness, to a place where gaming over is the end-all..."

"Damn," Ralph huffed as he gently looked to Vanellope, "... Do you guys go and save Sugar Rush, or... Wait a year until our niece or nephew can join the cause, and is mature and old enough to understand?"

"A whole year?" Taffyta huffed in disbelief as she urgently shot her eyes to Vanellope, Tessa and Rancis, "It's out of the question..."

"I'm NOT leaving you and the baby," Rancis demanded, everyone stayed quiet.

"Rancis, you HAVE to be with the scout, what if you bump into Radex?" Taffyta softly volleyed, Rancis shook his head and looked off.

"But..." Rancis peered into Taffyta's eyes, as if to wonder just how to swallow all of this information, "I can't just LEAVE you here, while you give birth? Taking turns feeding? I can't just abandon you like that, what kind of a dad am I?"

"... An amazing one," Penny gently chimed, to which everyone's nervous postures melted into warm smiles and loving coos towards Rancis.

"I'll take care of her," Ralph stated firmly as he stood up and gently cupped his large hand to Rancis's shoulder, and though Taffyta's eyes lit up in appreciative adoration, Rancis peered up to Ralph in pure confusion.

"I-I can't just... Pawn off my responsibilities on you, Ralph, while I'm long-lost inside Sugar Rush," Rancis shook his head and tried to continue on, though Ralph chuckled and squeezed his shoulder.

"You're not pawning off responsibilities on anyone, Rancis... You're needed inside Sugar Rush," Ralph stated gently, he shrugged, "Sure, you could wait until after the baby is born, but... What if you guys go to Sugar Rush NOW and find the castle in two days? You'd come home in time to see your baby."

"... As opposed to waiting until after the baby is born to leave, and then, well..." Tessa gestured her hand, everyone began to softly volley their ideas around.

"There are so many people that will be here, 'round the clock, to help Taffyta out," Vanellope eased, though she shrugged and looked off, "I guess you COULD essentially stay, Rancis, if you want, but if you don't... Taffyta's in many very capable hands."

"I can't stay," Rancis huffed in a knowing way as he looked deep into Vanellope's gaze, "If we bump into Radex, there's no one else who can finish him off, but me... We've experienced this first hand, all those years ago... It HAS to be me."

"Well, hopefully it won't have to come to that," Tessa urged as she finally wrangled the castle meeting into her grip, she put her hands on her hips and shrugged, "So, we trap him in a coded bubble and throw away the key... Uncle Rancis can then come home and see his baby. Everyone wins."

"Does this mean the Sugar Rush trip is coming up sooner than Sunday-Funday?" Nox chimed in rising curiousness, though as the group fell silent and looked about, Rancis heaved a hot sigh and peered deep into Taffyta's eyes.

"... How far along are you?" Rancis asked delicately, and just as he was going to ask if he could see their precious loading bar, she lifted her shirt and peered down to it. He choked a small breath, looked down to Taffyta's confidently glowing orange loading bar; it read at a solid four percent.

"I found out earlier this evening," Taffyta's eyes welled with tears, though she breathed a small giggle as Rancis warmly scooped her into a hug and rested his strong, masculine hand to her warm loading bar, just under her belly button.

"Alright, team..." Rancis grumbled gently as he kept Taffyta tight in his arms, he gave her a loving smile before he shot the group about him a look of daring cheek, "Think we have it in us to find the castle before my baby is born?"

"If we haul ass," Ace shrugged, him and Libby shot wide, riled smiles to each other as the whole group perked up, "I really don't see why not."

"If we just head True North as fast as we possibly can," Tessa shrugged and glanced to Zed for assurance, "I'm certain we can hit the two or three week mark."

"I promise I didn't do this on purpose," Taffyta laughed, everyone joined in on her soft laughter.

"It lights a fire under our asses," Vanellope shrugged, the entire group seemed to be on board with their pact, "I say we dive in head first, take back what's rightfully ours, raise this new baby inside his or her roots... Purely Sugar Rush."

"I gotta pack," Libby huffed as she placed her hands on her temples and now peered to Ace in a slope of rising concern.

"Alright gang, when do we leave?" Tessa wondered loudly as everyone fell silent and awaited for the proper word.

"I'm making an executive decision, here," Ralph took charge, his booming voice made it effortless, "Everyone leaves tomorrow night, I will take care of Taffyta during and post pregnancy, and if I'm away at game day, Finn can have that responsibility... I'm also positive Tammy, Oliver and Emery are going to be all over this."

"Like soy sauce on a wonton," Vanellope muttered.

"To tomorrow night!" Tessa put her hand hovered over the center of the island, and with much exhilarated anticipation, everyone eagerly flew their hands out on top of Tessa's.

"BREAK!" Nox blurt as everyone firmly threw their arms up, and like clockwork, everyone eagerly began to scramble away, though as soon as they did, all the girls quickly came circled back to Penny, Taffyta, Rancis and Ralph with big hugs and cooing excitement about her new baby.

"When do you find out the gender?" Penny eagerly wondered as she slipped into her mother's arms and gave her a good squeeze, though she very quickly took a peek at Taffyta's bare stomach and ogled the realness that was her future little sibling.

"Probably in the next few days," Taffyta sighed with a wide, glowing smile that her and Rancis so easily melted into.

"Thought of any names, yet?" Tessa wondered eagerly as Ralph leaned against the island and happily watched the group mingle.

"We have a few at the ready," Rancis stated though a sigh as him and Taffyta locked eyes, "I'm sure we'll discuss them before we part... Cause Taffyta will be naming him or her if our scout doesn't make it back in time."

"FABIO," Penny teasingly prod with a hard laugh, which cued Taffyta into a spiral of laughter with her first born.

"What if it's a girl?" Rancis furrowed his brow and went along with the joke.

"Fabia, duh," Tessa mumbled, as if it was a no-brainer; everyone loudly laughed as their little group of tender loving care was to very quickly turn into a powerhouse on a warpath, come the next night.

"Can't wait," Rancis stated through a sigh of contentment, and although the stipulations were stacked against him, he relished in the rush of the delightful irony of this bittersweet night.


	243. Chapter 243

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** LMAO! I'll definitely be bringing that joke back around for Penny ;)

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you! I'm honestly really glad you feel that way. I try not to make anything here too easy. In a computer, you can accomplish anything - I don't want there to be too many 'outs'.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Yep! Definitely lights a fire underneath everyone xD We're going to be diving right in, shortly here!

 **NightHex54 :** No tampering, strictly just a 99.9% kind of thing :P

* * *

 ***Chapter 243***

In a bustling, rush of a mess, Taffyta flinched in whole surprise as Nox, Koko, Ace and Libby urgently scrambled out of the opened corridor of Dead Zed's code room. She huffed a small apology, kept a smile on her face and allowed her very nervous comrades to push past her in a chaotic flurry of nervous chatter; their Sugar Rush scout was set to depart in just a few hours, and although they were going to wait until after game day to head out, so everyone could say their proper goodbyes, the race against the clock was still very adamantly apparent. Taffyta breathed a small giggle and watched the four dewy eyed gamers rush out of Tessa's and Zed's bedroom, and as she turned to peer the opened corridor, she could see Tessa standing with Rancis and Zed.

"Since Taffyta isn't coming anymore, we only need one of these Tron flyers," Zed's deep voice coat the glowing, sphere of a hub that was his precious code room. It glowed in a dim warmth of white, the whole place was at ease, now that Ace, Libby, Nox and Koko had taken their nervous energies elsewhere, "Which... If we're leaving in two hours, it's all the code room has time for downloading, anyways."

"You gunna pack now, Uncle Rancis?" Tessa tenderly inquired as she diligently began to put a few coded objects into her own materializer, something that the nervous clan of four were just previously doing.

"Yeah, I am," Rancis bobbed a nod, though just as he was about to continue, Taffyta's gentle presence ease into theirs

"He's prolonging it in hopes of finding out the gender of Fluggerbutter number two," Taffyta teased, Rancis rolled his eyes and crowned a wide, bashful smile.

"I know you won't know until tomorrow, or the next day, but..." Rancis huffed a sigh and smiled into Taffyta's eyes, "You never know. I could get lucky."

"You getting lucky is why we're in this predicament," Taffyta blurt, everyone loudly laughed except Rancis.

"Alright, I think I'm all set... I'll come back and double check on everything once we're closer to leaving," Tessa stated gently, though she eyed Zed and subtly shot the exit a knowing glance, "Why don't you and I brief Finn on everything, get him up to speed on code room birthing protocols and the like... 'Cause Finn will have to then refresh dad's memory, as well."

"Been awhile since Ralph has had to deal with this," Zed bobbed a nod, both him and Tessa began to head towards the code room's exit, though Zed smiled back to Taffyta and Rancis as Rancis continued to pack, "You guys are welcome to stay in here, just leave the doors open once you're done, User knows the lot of us will be in and out."

"Okay, thanks," Rancis shot him a smile as if to politely thank Zed for giving him and Taffyta a moment alone.

"No prob," Zed returned as him and Tessa nonchalantly left the warm, glowing code room, and as everything fell into a gentle hum of quiet, Rancis breathed a silent sigh and glossed his eyes to Taffyta.

"Will be weird having baby number two in Dead Zed, huh," Rancis eased as Taffyta crossed her arms and shrugged.

"I'm just thankful there's a code room," Taffyta huffed with a cheeky smile, "Poor Vanellope had Koko in Stonecrests' un-powered high rise."

"Poor thing," Rancis grimaced as he continued to gently compile a few things into this materializer, things like clothes and toiletries, all strands of code.

"It's okay, I'm sure I'll be fine," Taffyta shrugged, she looked up to her new baby's birth place and felt her heart jump with excitement, "Dead Zed's code room is far newer, so this may be a much easier experience."

"Too bad you can't gauge it from Tessa's experience," Rancis smiled, "Unfortunately, I'm not cool enough to give you a User baby."

"I'm grateful, I don't want to go through what Tessa did," Taffyta blurt, though she looked off, "Might be worth it for those cool tattoos she ended up with, though."

"...What gender are you hoping for?" Rancis inquired delicately, the look of boyish excitement held on his face, and although Taffyta was already really sad he was leaving, this definitely added the cherry on top.

"I think it'd be cool to switch things up," Taffyta shrugged as she felt her smile grow wider than prior, "I think raising a boy would be interesting... Although, I'm already used to raising a girl, so I guess that'd be the 'easy' way out."

"We still sticking to the names we decided, all those years ago?" Rancis wondered gently, though Taffyta looked off and narrowed her gaze.

"If I recall correctly, YOU named Penny," Taffyta chimed, though with Taffyta's remembrance of their little deal, Rancis heaved a hard sigh and allowed defeat to hit him with a small, smug smile, "Would seem only fair if... mayyybe..."

"I trust you'll find something suitable," Rancis concluded as he gave her an honest, loving smile; Taffyta raised her eyebrows and took note of his seriousness, though before he could continue, Taffyta interjected.

"Oh, wow, I just took a shot in the dark," Taffyta blurt with a laugh, though she flinched as Rancis tabbed his materializer away and focused his whole attention on her, "I-I... I won't let you down, I-"

"I know you won't let me down, you never have," Rancis smiled, though as he hung in her gravity, he lovingly cupped her cheeks in his hands and peered into her delightfully confused gaze, "Taff, I need you to do me a favor, here..."

"Rancis," Taffyta prod, as if to state that she was very well aware he was about to get serious with her, and like a pill too big to swallow, she didn't want to accept the reality of the nature of this Sugar Rush scout. She gingerly shook her head as tears began to gather in her eyes, and with such, tears billowed in Rancis's as well.

"Taffyta, I need you to hear me," Rancis huffed shakily as he tenderly stroked her cheeks, "I know we've been through this for, what seems to be, a million times, but... In the off chance that... I don't come back-"

"Please, I-I don't want to talk about that, I don't even want to THINK about it," Taffyta begged as the tears rolled down her cheeks, though Rancis shook his head and wiped them away.

"Taffyta, I don't want you to live in that state of limbo that you nearly did, waiting all those months for the answer of if I'm alive or not," Rancis rushed as Taffyta grit her teeth and tried not to outwardly cry, "Taffyta, I WANT you to be able to move on and live your life... I WANT you to love again, if I permanently game over."

"I can't do that, Rancis," Taffyta begged, she knew this conversation was to surface eventually, though the fact that it had to be so soon, and while her emotions were already all over the place, she hiccuped a cry and grimaced, "I-I can't just... Leave what we have behind."

"Taff, you will HAVE to if I game over... It's not the outcome I'd want, either, but..." Rancis blinked tears down his eyes and heaved a shaky breath as he nervously continued, "I know Tej likely has inferiority issues, and doesn't take no for an answer, but... I know he really cares about you."

"Rancis," Taffyta squeaked as she tried her hardest not to outwardly cry in Rancis's face, he lovingly gripped her cheeks a little tighter.

"I want you to love again... I want you to pursue that, on the off chance I do not make it home," Rancis's lip quivered, they both hung in the potentially inevitable outcome of this fiasco, and although it was nearly too much to bear, Taffyta patiently allowed him to continue on, "I-I want our baby to grow up with good male figures, and although Tej could afford a stern talking to, he is Zed's blood... I know you would be in good hands..."

"I-I can't believe you're saying all of this," Taffyta huffed as more tears spilled down her cheeks, "I thought you hated Tej..."

"I do," Rancis blurt a small laugh as he narrowed his gaze and smiled, "I do, because he tried to take you from me... But, if I don't return, I want you to be in the hands of a man that will willingly and obviously fight for you, and for your love. I don't want you to be alone, I don't WANT you to feel like you're suddenly bound to be single forever."

"That's... That's really sweet of you," Taffyta murmured as she shook her head and looked down to Rancis's chest, "I won't lose hope that you'll return..."

"I won't either, I'm not saying I won't," Rancis shrugged as he wiped the tears from Taffyta's cheeks, and then from his, "I'm just... Telling you now, so that, User forbid something goes wrong, you can rest assured that if you feel like you're ready to move on, it's what I would've wanted."

"I would want the same thing for you, as well, if I were in your shoes," Taffyta nodded in understanding and frowned, "I... I really can't imagine life without you. I've already gone through it twice."

"You have two of my children," Rancis eased lovingly as he caught eyes with her, she finally smiled and nodded, though he reached his hand out to the open code room and gingerly cued to Coder, "Please bring me Taffyta's code box, Coder."

"Sure thing," He hummed in his methodical way, and as Taffyta's coded orb gently floated their way, glowing in it's golden-white pride, the both of them grinned ear to ear at the fact that a cute, much smaller orb hovered tight to Taffyta's, much like the moon orbits the Earth.

"It's so cute," Taffyta meeped softly as she covered her mouth and tried not to cry harder. She breathed a small giggle as Rancis tenderly opened his hand to it, though in doing so, he froze and peered to it in hard surprise. Taffyta furrowed her brow and shot Rancis a concerned look, "What's wrong?"

"... Look," Rancis whispered with a widening smile, though as he brought the orb about, to Taffyta's line of sight, they both were greet with their baby's smaller orb, and although they were prepared to strictly see a loading bar and nothing more, confidently plastered above the loading bar was a proper gender symbol.

"...It's a boy!" Taffyta barked in raw excitement as she beamed a wide smile, as did Rancis, "I-I wasn't expecting to know until the end of the week!"

"It's a boy," Rancis breathed in disbelief as the two laughed in whole excitement, and as they grappled each other into a tight hug, Taffyta sighed into his shoulder and shook her head as Rancis carried on, "I-I'm SO glad I was able to know the gender before I go..."

"Me too, that's all I wanted," Taffyta squeaked as she shut her eyes tight and shook her head, "I guess since this code room is newer... Seems things happen faster than they should."

"Maybe you'll have the baby sooner," Rancis teased, though Taffyta rolled her eyes and pulled out of his embrace.

"That's not how that works, babe," Taffyta retort, Rancis shrugged and peered at Taffyta's larger orb, as well as their son's much smaller orb that hovered tight to Taffyta's.

"I'm really excited to get this trip over with, now," Rancis huffed, he bobbed a nod, "Gotta come home and meet my first boy."

"Penny is going to be so excited," Taffyta smiled wide, though as the two nodded in agreeing and settled in tender silence, Taffyta eyed her son's orb and narrowed her gaze as she brought it back to Rancis's, "Thank you, Rancis..."

"... For what?" Rancis prod gently.

"For... Giving me the freedom to do what I feel I need to do, in... In the event you don't make it back," Taffyta began to get choked up again, she frowned and looked down to your hands, "No one will ever measure up to you, I hope you go into Sugar Rush with that knowledge..."

"I know," Rancis stated cheekily as he bobbed a nod, though Taffyta beamed an annoyed smile and swat at his shoulder, "It's not fair of me to tell you to just... Stay single forever, even though I'm long gone. You've got to live your life... I know our children will obviously have their say."

"You mean Penny. Penny will have her say," Taffyta teased, the two softly laughed.

"I say all this, but you know I'm going to do absolutely everything in my power to make it back," Rancis peered into her eyes with longing care.

"'Till death do we part," Taffyta repeated gently and honestly, she gave him loving smile and reminded him their vows, important words traded to one another on their wedding day; Rancis beamed a warm smile and scooped her into his strong arms.

"'Till death do we part," He repeated lovingly, as well.


	244. Chapter 244

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong : Yes, it's a running drama huh xD It all gets straightened out, though! Not to worry. And yes! I'm excited to add another baby to this group, it'll be fun :)**

 **Burgie : Aww thank you! :D**

 **Kaoru-Yuki : Thank you! Yes, it's going to be much. I'll keep it as tender and light hearted for as long as I can, but** **even this chapter touches on the darkness to come.**

 **Silversuferann : Thank you! YAY! I'm glad you're stoked. I can't wait to reveal all the surprises and turns to come! :)**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **It Starts** and **This Is Forever by Nigel Good (first half)**

 **Stellar by Nigel Good (middle half)**

 **Color Sky by Ben Prunty (last half)**

* * *

 ***Chapter 244***

As the group of brave footsteps trekked through Sugar RUsh's dark wires, the arcade was quiet, due to it being very late at night. Vanellope nervously peered down at her feet as she walked, she knew this scout was it, the one and done, she knew there was no turning back until the castle was found, and although it was a scary thought, she inhaled a deep breath and knew to lift her head and carry on. In the act of lifting her head, Sugar Rush's sweet breeze suddenly licked at her face and hair, sending the loose, black strands to sway in the wind, though in this lift, her pupils tightened in a show of confusion as sunlight soaked into them. She raised her arm in confusion, and as the scout behind her drummed to a slow stop, they were surprised to see Sugar Rush's sunrise tight to the Eastern horizon. In a roll of confusion, Vanellope peered back to Tessa, all dressed in a comfortable jacket and jeans, due to the cold; she cocked an eyebrow and flashed her mother a nearly annoyed smile.

"Sugar Rush's internal clock is all messed up, remember?" Tessa drummed, everyone came upon the forcefield, and as Ace shuffled to the front of the group, so to help everyone through, Libby's eager smile was quick to follow right in his lead of helping everyone else through Sugar Rush's nasty forcefield.

"Seems to be about seven hours off, I'd say," Rancis grumbled as he gently grappled Ace's hand and stepped through the buzzing of the forcefield, he inhaled Sugar Rush's sweet air and smiled out to the scenery, "So, really, it's eleven at night, our time, but... Seems to be about six or seven in the morning, here."

"Jet lag and we only took a step," Penny grumbled as Ace let her through second, and although Tessa and the flyers were now one of the last beings to enter Sugar Rush, she frowned and gently looked over her shoulder; Vanellope stood, she nervously peered down Sugar Rush's dark wires, as if to hesitate.

"Mom," Tessa urged warily, though she sagged her shoulder with a knowing smile the second that Vanellope dropped her nervous front and walled up with forced confidence, "You uh... You okay?"

"I'm okay, I just..." Vanellope shook her head and pushed into Tessa's, Ace's and Libby's presence, she tucked her hair behind her ears and fixed her old, tattered mint green hoodie with the pink drawstrings. She sagged her hands into the tops of Tessa's shoulders, smiled into her daughter's eyes and shook her head, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared sprinkle-less."

"You and everyone here, mom," Tessa blurt as her, Ace and Libby eased into laughter together, though Tessa shook her head, "We have a solid group, with four flyers who I know will do their best to protect us. We just have to take care of each other... And hope that..."

"...That, at the end of this, we're standing on this very hilltop, everything back to how it used to be," Vanellope sighed as both her and Tessa locked eyes in a knowing way, "I know that's all everyone here wants. I just hope it's realized."

"We just have to trust each other, and, well..." Tessa glanced to Ace and Libby and chuckled, "Quite frankly, haul ass."

"C'mon, no time to waste," Ace gestured as he lovingly held onto his mother's hand, and as Libby took Vanellope's hand, they ushered both important beings into their home land, one of which was lost upon them.

"Alright, tired ol' game, of mine," Vanellope stated cheekily out to the world, the group on the hill before her quieted their chatter and peered to Sugar Rush's Queen, "You may be totally turned on your side, but we're not going down without a fight."

"We give this trip our all," Tessa included as Ace and Libby let all four flyers into the game, and once the last of their tail fins and feathers sagged past the force field, the group stood poised at the top of the hill, "Guys, there's no turning back from here... We get to The End, and come back winners. Deal?"

"Deal," Everyone chimed excitedly, though in the rush of whoops and calls of excitement, the air was suddenly pierced with a hard, head-thrown back howl from Marble's strong, powerful figure.

Tessa flinched and nearly clapped her hands over her ears, though she heaved a small chuckle the second that Lickity, Royal and Balba loudly and eagerly joined in, and in a jolt of excitement, so did everyone else, with their own war cries and expression of enthusiasm that laid over Sugar Rush's gorgeous, pink, snowy valley below. Tessa huffed a loud laugh and peered out to her beautiful home, laid with the battle cries of her family, here to rightfully take back what was theirs, and in the soak of adrenaline, Tessa loudly called the final cry and grappled the side handles of Lickity's saddle. With a surge of fervor, everyone so quickly board their flyer and braced for the great adventure, and in the final leaps of Lickity's, Marble's, Royal's and Balba's four paws, as well as Zed's Tron flyer, the group took to the skies in a searing state of confidence, confidence that nearly shook the ground and game to it's pixelly, candy-coated heart of darkness. With Tessa, aboard Lickity, at the head of the charge, she glared down the horizon's fading North stars, as if to boldly state that her tribe of warriors were relentless in their quest, and losing wasn't an option.

* * *

"Alright, we gotta set some rules, or something, here," Taffyta chimed, the two boys that diligently stood near her nervously looked up from their work inside Tessa's and Zed's precious code room, "Whooo... Is going to lift the grocery shopping ban Tessa put me on?"

"You can't just ORDER two hundred cookies from the code room," Finn defended as Ralph sagged his shoulders and looked off with an annoyed smile, "You know that any food you order comes straight from the bakery's and grocery store's inventory, in the city. It's not just the code room pooping out there never-ending cookies!"

"You also wiped Tessa and Zed clean for their grocery budget," Ralph grumbled, Taffyta threw her hands up.

"Well, THIS smarty is currently carrying a much smaller smarty that is demanding any and all kinds of cravings," Taffyta argued with a laugh as Finn and Ralph tried their hardest to stifle as well.

"Reminds me of Vanellope on our honeymoon," Ralph choked as he shook his head and smiled into the holographic slate he was prodding around in, "I-I believe... Honey covered pickles were to be had."

"EW Is she NUTS?" Taffyta wrinkled her nose in whole disgust and stuck out her tongue for effect.

"Nuts were likely included," Ralph lazily raised his eyebrows and thought back to the fond memories.

"That's what she said," Taffyta said on reflex, Finn urgently gestured his arms.

"LOOK, I'll set aside a special budget for you, something you'll be limited to daily," Finn ushered in, hopeful in quelling Taffyta's pleas, "I-I'll get in contact with a few of Ekreth's stores and tell them what's up. If you don't go over the limit, I'm sure you can... Order donuts or whatever, to your hearts content."

"You're in good hands, Taff, you just have to be able to mold to the limits, y'know... Without wrecking them," Ralph eyed Taffyta in a knowing way, she sagged her shoulders and gave him an annoyed, though grateful smile.

"Thank you..." Taffyta sighed, she lifted her shirt and peered down to her loading bar with a smile, and although the percentage had gone up by about seven percent, she bit her lip in curiosity and furrowed her brow; Ralph eyed her and gently broke the lull of silence the three had fallen into.

"... Thought of any names, Taff?" Ralph inquired lovingly, to which she shrugged and gently peered to Ralph.

"Well... I considered making him a Jr., but, I think Rancis would appreciate it more if baby number two had his own name," Taffyta sighed with a smile, "There were a few boys names Rancis had come up with, a long time ago, but I don't know if they still stand. He said I could name this baby, anyhow, because Rancis was the one to name Penny."

"I'm sure as these weeks go on, something will come to you," Finn added sweetly, Taffyta nodded as Ralph gestured to her.

"I'm positive Emery and Tammy could help you with some names, as well," Ralph assured, Taffyta sighed and looked up to Dead Zed's cozy, white-walled code room.

"I know they would," Taffyta dreamed as she felt herself becoming sleepy, "I'll think on it... I've been tossing around a few ideas, but... Somehow nothing feels like it's hit me in the face like... THAT'S IT."

"It will," Ralph assured, Finn nodded as he began to tab out of some stuff, he sighed and glanced to Ralph as his booming voice continued on, "And, it'll be cool that it'll be a surprise to the rest of the gang. When they come home, you can say 'meet... so and so...!' Y'know?"

"User," Taffyta huffed as she brushed her short hair out of her eyes, "What a situation this is... I just hope they make it back soon. I'm already feeling the pain of waiting. The uncertain amount of time they'll be gone."

"They'll be back before we know it," Finn sighed, "But, for now, I gotta brush up on code-room birthing... As well as some light baby proofing, maybe."

"Include me in on that," Ralph gestured, Taffyta crossed her arms and smiled.

"Y'know, maybe we should make sure EVERYONE on this lot is up to speed, just in case, y'know..." Taffyta shrugged and began to look shy, "I go into labor and neither of you are here. What if it's just Oliver? Or just Throttle?"

"She's got a point," Finn mumbled as he eyed Ralph with uncertainty, though Ralph nodded in agreeing.

"We should have a meeting, tomorrow, then," Ralph stated confidently as Taffyta and Finn mumbled gentle words of assurance, "This will be a good distraction, while we're waiting. I'm glad we're able to all dive in and help you out, with the baby."

"It'll be good for all of us," Taffyta rubbed her forehead and, although her words her confident, she grimaced and began to look nervous, "At least you guys won't be losing sleep."

Ralph furrowed his brow in concern and gently volleyed his confused gaze to Finn, who looked equally bewildered.

"... Taff, you know I signed up for more than just helping you HAVE the baby, right?" Ralph worried, though Finn nodded as well, as if to state this was his burden to carry, too. Ralph chuckled and moved his way over to Taffyta, who looked as if she was about to become emotional, "We'll help you with the midnight feedings, and diaper changes, and all that fun stuff... You know this, right? I mean I AM a seasoned pro."

"I-I guess I do now," Taffyta muttered gently as big tears welled in her eyes, to which Ralph scoffed a small noise and took Taffyta into his huge, teddybear-like embrace.

"Taff, you're like my little sister, I'm not just going to make you feel like you're totally alone, here," Ralph eased onto the top of her head as she sunk into his chest for comfort, "We promised Rancis we'd take care of you and the baby. That promise will stand, even long after Rancis has come back home..."

"I helped Zed with Ace, while Tessa was blind for the two weeks after Ace was born," Finn chimed as he eased into their little bubble, "I may not have my own children, like you or Ralph, but I at least have experience in that department."

"Don't worry about a thing," Ralph assured gently as he nodded and gave Finn a smile, "These kids are Sugar Rush's next generation... We must take care of them, they'll be runnin' the joint, eventually."

* * *

"Koko, you're going to LOVE Game Central Academy," Penny gushed; at the end of a very long, whole day of flying, the scout had made themselves comfortable amidst a small, roaring campfire, surrounded by the dark, lovely, chocolate bark of the golden, flakey caramel coated leaf trees. Big, towering masses of thick canopy hung high above the group, safely snuggled inside the circle of four flyers, who vowed to keep the group safe through the night. Penny tucked her hair behind her ears and eagerly peered to Koko, across the campfire, who was warmly snuggled into Nox's side, "I mean, it's just beautiful... Really no school compares."

"She's telling the truth, I took some courses at End Of Line Academy," Tessa chimed in, she shook her head and heaved a long sigh, "That's where I met Throttle, but... Nothing beats being in the home of the piranha plant."

"I can't wait," Koko squeaked gently as Vanellope and Rancis softly caught eyes in a whirl of knowing.

"Sending you kids there was the easiest thing we ever did," Rancis choked with a laugh, everyone softly joined in, "All of you kids, Tessa, Tammy, Oliver and Penny... You couldn't wait to get to Academy."

"Mom almost made me wait a month," Tessa grumbled, everyone gawked and laughed as Vanellope waggled her hand.

"You were disobedient!" Vanellope volleyed, Tessa giggled and sagged deeper into Zed's embrace.

The conversation gently carried on, and as time continued on, Tessa found her exhausted eyes to lull closed in moments of overwhelming sleepiness. Moments would go by where she'd allow herself to sink into sleep, though there came a point where it was even too exhausting to keep her eyes open. She knew she was safely nestled in Zed's arms, the both of them leaned into Lickity's warm belly as they lay surrounded by the four flyers, and as the mumbling conversing of her loved ones carried on, she knew she was safe to doze off and potentially just fall asleep, for the night. With a smile to her face, and the feeling of being just one step closer to Sugar Rush's castle just right in her grasp, she tried to allow said smile to keep. In a doze straight into deep sleep, she allowed herself to fully fade.

"Hey, pst... Tessa," Came a familiar voice.

Thinking no time had passed, whatsoever, Tessa's eyes jolted open. The quick, fleeting thought of maybe everyone was finally headed to sleep and it was time to lay down for good, so rapidly sank to a dark void of gentle confusion. As Tessa's eyes popped open, she expected to see her family's kind faces all peering back at her, the campfire still roaring and setting everyone's kind eyes ablaze, though in the jolt of confusion, the only illumination was the near-full moon above them, casting shadows through the caramel leaf canopy; everyone was fast asleep, simply like it had been hours since the campfire was extinguished. Tessa huffed a startled breath and remained frozen, she quickly realized that she was snuggled next to Zed, fully laying down. She assumed, at this point, everyone had gone to sleep and Zed had kindly situated her for the night. She tried to quell her racing heart, she quickly figured she was just startled out of the dregs of a very real-feeling dream, though just as the silence assured her that said dream was simply just that, she jolted in skin-prickling fear as said voice was present, once more.

"Tess, over here," The voice whispered sharply.

Tessa jolted her eyes open once more and felt a weird sensation of paralysis. As if it were almost too difficult to do, she gently sat up and peered in the direction of the voice, which was far off into the woods, just beyond Lickity, who was her aid and wall of protection. Tessa ducked behind Lickity's popped wing, all haphazardly drooped, though she still could see glimpses of the forest beyond her bat dragon. Tessa held her breath and felt a very real sense of deja vu come back to her, she narrowed her gaze and felt the cold sensation of blind confusion gloss over her, once again, and before she could hopefully avoid letting her imagination run wild with her, she felt her heart sink in whole uncertainty as movement beyond the tree trunks caught her eye; it was none other than her aunt Taffyta.

"Tess, you won't believe it," Taffyta hissed in rising surprise, her cadence of speaking was different, which tipped Tessa off, "I found the castle...! It's literally just beyond those trees."

Tessa held her breath and now had to revaluate just where she was and just who she was with. She shook her head in a rising climb of surprise and long blinked in whole confusion. For the sake of running with the weird conversation, Tessa replied, though knew staying put was best.

"... Aunt Taffyta, how did you find us, all the way out here?" Tessa prod, she narrowed her gaze and now wondered if she was lucid dreaming, as if this was just way too conscious to be an 'out of control' dream, "I-I... I thought you were staying back to have the baby?"

"Don't worry about that," Taffyta sharply whispered, and even though she was a great distance away, the quietness of the night held just enough silence to carry their hushed conversation, "Just... Follow me, I found the castle!"

Tessa felt her muscles want to jolt into action, to wake everyone up and rush to her aunt's aid, though the more she came to reality, the more she felt cemented next to Zed's and Lickity's body. In the weird way Taffyta began to urgently pace back and forth, like a demon just waiting for their prey to come out of it's circle of safety, Tessa knew right away this was either a hallucination, a bad dream, or a situation of true, real danger. Tessa bit her lip in rising fear and watched as this figure, cloaked in her aunt's external appearance, skulked back and forth in a nervous, twitching way. She continued to beg Tessa to get up and join her, though Tessa finally laid back down to hopefully await the sun's glistening rays, she hunkered deep into Zed's embrace and listened to the sound of agitated shuffling, for the rest of the night.

"Tess, wakey wakeyyyy," Nox suddenly blurt in sing-song, "Eggs'n'bakey!"

In a jolt, Tessa sat up in whole fear, her eyes scanned the place, and much to her relief, the sun was out and gleaming into the beautiful woods they rested in. Everyone looked as if they had been up for a long while now, and camp was being packed up. Tessa panted and tugged her blanket to her chest in a rush of fear, and as she urgently shot her attention over her shoulder, to the place of concern, she felt chills run up and down her back as the area, where 'Taffyta' had been, showed a very heavy and messy array of paced footprints. Tessa held her breath and felt her heart sink; it was in this realization did she know for certain that last night was neither a dream nor a hallucination.

"Babe, you were out like a light," Zed chuckled as he knelt next to Tessa and lovingly brushed her hair free from her forehead, though he grimaced in surprise and inspected her, "You're... You're burning up."

"Are you getting sick?" Vanellope worried as she, too, knelt next to Zed and her daughter, though Tessa panted and freed herself of her blanket.

"I'm fine, I just... Was wrought with nightmares, last night," Tessa's voice shook, though she glowered across the eery patch of forest and knew that she likely shouldn't scare everyone, "I couldn't sleep..."

"You can sleep on our next stretch of flight, hopefully," Zed assured, "I think everyone else is well rested, so you can just relax... Does that sound good?"

"Yeah," Tessa huffed as she was brought to a stand, Zed diligently began to clean up the last of Tessa's blankets.

"Alright, gang, heading out in ten minutes," Vanellope instructed happily as everyone seemed to go about their routines, as gleefully and carefree as possible.

Tessa narrowed her gaze and dragged it back to her line of interest. Taffyta was no where to be seen, and although Tessa knew it wasn't her aunt, at all, she felt a lump gather in her throat. She knew somehow, someone was following them, someone that likely intended harm, though the very real idea that said stalker was intentionally trying to pick Tessa from the group, and get her alone, cued her to believing that sticking closer to her travel group was best. She diligently noted her findings and swore she wouldn't let whomever this being was, to get her away from her wolf pack. As she continued to muse, she wondered just why the four flyers weren't cued to Tessa's whisperings, last night. As the group prepared to leave, she kept glancing back at the disarray of chocolate earth, where said being had been stalking; the only evidence she had to prove that last night wasn't simply all in her head.


	245. Chapter 245

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie : YES I'm very excited :D Thank you!**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Never Gunna Let You Down by Colbie Caillat**

 **Skydiving by Lights**

* * *

 ***Chapter 245***

"Alright, all... Rule number one," Finn instructed gently, the next day, the afternoon sun glistened into the Sky Room; the whole group was assigned to a proper, though not fully attended castle meeting, and with Finn trying to keep a handle on the rowdy group, Jax's hand flew up with glee.

"RUN!" he blurt, everyone was suddenly rocked into laughter.

"NO! Don't panic! Rule number one! DON'T PANIC!" Finn urged, his strict and straight posture only stiffened as he adjusted his reading glasses, he heaved a shaky, annoyed sigh and peered down to his holographic list of notes, though he cocked an eyebrow and noticed Ralph, just in front of him and to his left, softly shake his head and give Finn an assuring look, as if to tell Finn to just roll with the punches. Finn heaved a sigh and glossed his eyes to the excitable group, "Don't panic... Taffyta has exactly five minutes to get to the code room before the downloading process begins."

"Wow, only five minutes?" Duke stated curiously, everyone dragged their eyes to Taffyta in gentle wonder, excluding Oliver and Tammy, who had a fair share of being in a situation where someone close to them had given birth.

"Okay, five minutes before the process BEGINS," Taffyta barked, everyone loudly laughed, once more, "I was in labor, with Penny, for hours... It felt like centuries."

"Yeah, the downloading can take as long as a whole day," Finn grit his teeth, though he shook his head and smiled, "Though, anywhere between two to six hours is standard. Tessa was the exception..."

"How long was she in labor?" Emery inquired nervously as everyone dropped their loud and excitable notions.

"I know it was pushing the thirteen hour mark, poor thing," Finn huffed as he shook his head and looked off, "Alas... It was all worth it. Ace is pretty cool."

"Eh, he's alright," Taffyta teased as she shrugged and looked off, though everyone grinned and laughed at her playfulness.

"So, as it stands now, and... As terrifying as it is to say, everyone in this room now has access to the code room," Finn pointed a finger, "This is NOT to be abused, and is STRICTLY to be used for Taffyta's need, whoever is with her when she goes into labor. Ralph and I are the designated people who will aid her in labor, but User forbid neither one of us is home, it's really up to every single last one of you to make sure this all runs smoothly."

"I have over half a dozen stand-in husbands, right now," Taffyta beamed as she crossed her arms and relaxed on the massive, swooping couch everyone was lounged on; big smiles and happy attitudes were received.

"Two wives," Emery choked with a giggle as her and Tammy playfully elbowed each other.

"I know Calhoun and Felix will try and be around as much as they can," Ralph included with a nod as he caught eyes with his oldest niece.

"Oliver and Emery, I know you have some experience in this, due to helping Vanellope when Koko was being downloaded to the game," Finn stated gently to Oliver, he perked up and nodded with inquiry as Finn continued, "I know Ralph and I can touch on this, as well, but do you mind sharing some of your experiences? I know it looked a little different, because Vanellope lacked a code room."

"She's Wonder Woman," Taffyta grit her teeth, everyone chuckled, "I don't know how she managed that, without a code room."

"...Exactly HOW did she manage that, without a code room?" Duke's eyes bugged in curiosity, everyone peered to Oliver, Emery and Taffyta for clarity, the only beings that were there when Koko was born, abandoned in Stone Crest's city.

"It was brutal, I know it's painful as it stands, but we've discovered that the farther a woman is from a code room, the longer and more painful the process," Oliver frowned and shrugged, he caught eyes with his father, "I had to use my glitching abilities to satiate the pain, and although it was a long half a day process, it felt like years, I mean honestly. It was difficult for everyone, obviously, but... Poor mom. The biggest thing is to make sure she's comfortable, really. We had to keep moving mom because somehow each surface was somehow harder than the last, and it was hard on her spine."

"Even the bed wasn't good enough, she kept begging for more support on her back," Taffyta gestured to herself, "Which, I can understand, cause when I had Penny, it's just a ton of excruciating pressure on your lower spine... But, I was cozy inside Sugar Rush's code room."

"Vanellope had Tessa and Oliver inside Sugar Rush's code room, so when it came time to having Koko, it was a stark difference from what she was used to," Emery chimed in gently, she frowned and shrugged, "But, Oliver's right, the hugest struggle was making sure she was comfortable. Without the code room, it was nearly not even enough."

"So... I'll install a cloud into the code room," Finn stated sharply, though his teasing air finally showed through with a smile everyone reciprocated, "I'll make sure there's an abundant amount of cushion, don't you worry."

"Oh, I'm not worried at all," Taffyta sighed with a smile, "I feel like a Queen, quite frankly."

"What else helps, in this situation?" Jax prod curiously, even Throttle kept tightly honed to any and all information lobbed their way.

"As for code-room births, it helps to make sure lights are low and the temperature is cool DURING downloading," Ralph instructed, "Once the baby is fully loaded, it's wise to make sure you warm the code room back up. Babies don't like the cold."

"NO ONE likes the cold," Duke grumbled, everyone laughed a little.

"Low lights, cold temps at first, turned warm once the baby arrives, check," Finn bobbed a nod and made sure everyone was on the same page, "When Ace was born, Zed and I kept him in the code room for a few hours before bringing him out into the game. Seemed like bringing such a brand new baby out into the cool 'germ-infested' air, too quickly, likely wasn't wise."

"So, from the very beginning to the very end, this could be anywhere between a six to twelve hour process," Ralph instructed, everyone nodded in understanding, "Just be aware of that."

"From what I've experienced, as well, is really any more than two helpers is the limit," Tammy raised her finger, "Too many people in the code room is not only stressful for mom, but it's also stressful for baby, once downloaded."

"I didn't realize so much went into this," Jax rubbed the side of his head, everyone chuckled.

"It's mostly just a lot of common sense, though it's good to just run over everything," Ralph stated with a smile as everyone seemed to shuffle about, a universal sign that the meeting was due to be over, shortly.

"What's our countdown, now?" Throttle wondered tenderly as he opened his communicator.

"Baby should be here in about eleven days," Taffyta sighed as she lifted her lower shirt and peered to her loading bar, confidently glowing a bright and brilliant orange, "That is, if he doesn't decide to arrive early. Penny arrived right on time, though I know Tessa came prematurely... I don't remember with Oliver."

"He was right on time," Ralph assured, he glossed his eyes to Throttle, "Really just depends on conditions, Taffyta's stress, diet, routines... So many factors, it's hard to pin point."

"But certainly it'll be fine... Just ballpark a week and a half," Taffyta shrugged, to which everyone nodded in gentle agreeing.

"Thanks for your time, guys," Finn eased as everyone began to stand, stretch and mosey about in gentle chatter, "Tammy and I will be making dinner, shortly here, if anyone is interested in sticking around."

"I'm starved," Jax stated in exasperated delight, to which him, Duke, Tammy and Emery began to hustle to the kitchen, so to prepare.

"You think up any names, aunt Taff?" Oliver pressed lovingly as Finn softly began to converse with Ralph, the two looked like they were about to temporarily mosey towards the code room.

"User, I don't know," Taffyta huffed in agitation, as if this was something that was beginning to ruin her. She straightened her shirt and heaved a tired sigh as Throttle gently joined their conversation, "I have a few names I've been tossing around, but with the middle name I'm solid on, the first name just doesn't flow with Fluggerbutter."

"What are the names?" Oliver asked innocently, Throttle nodded with smiling inquiry, though Taffyta contemplated her next move.

"I really don't want to say, in fear of me just picking a name strictly because other people like it," Taffyta muttered through the grit of her teeth in apprehension, though Oliver and Throttle bobbed their heads in understanding.

"That's a good point," Oliver huffed as he glanced to Throttle, though he took a double take on Throttle's gangly figure; tucked into the black hair, on the back of his head, looked to be a few white feathers, "You, uh... Fight a chicken, or something, Tee?"

"What?" Throttle urged in surprise, though once Oliver plucked the pretty, soft white feather from Throttle's hair, he sagged his shoulders and softened with a knowing smile, "Ohh, that... I'm assuming because it's getting cooler, these gorgeous white birds have decided to make my patio their home... But, I didn't know that, and when I stepped out this morning, I accidentally startled them."

"And they attacked you?" Taffyta blurt a hard laugh, as did Oliver.

"I just scared them, they have a cute little nest in the nooks of my patio's rafters," Throttle sighed as he straighten his hair and gave Taffyta a warm smile, "I did some research, on them. Such handsome little winter wrens."

"Wrens?" Taffyta repeated tenderly, Throttle gently nodded, though he directed his attention strictly to Oliver.

"You're really tall, maybe you can help me," Throttle chuckled, Oliver bobbed a nod and glanced to his aunt.

"That I am," Oliver blurt, Throttle smiled.

"I want to put something up, like a barrier, so I don't startle them again," Throttle patiently continued on, though Taffyta gently looked off with a curiously growing smile, "I've read that these specific wrens are really sensitive to their space, especially when nesting, but like... I gotta get to my patio, y'know?"

"Yeah, I can help you with that," Oliver stated enthusiastically, though as both boys began to walk away, Oliver and Throttle tossed their attention to Taffyta in apologetic happiness, "We'll be back, aunt Taff."

"Oh, no, no problem, you uh..." Taffyta waved after them and felt her heart flutter in rising excitement, "Go uh... Tend to those wrens."

Oliver and Throttle waved as they parted, and as the small group in the kitchen could be heard laughing away, preparing dinner, Taffyta gingerly crossed her arms and let a wide smile grace the starry skied dome above her. She huffed a small chuckle, shook her head and narrowed her gaze in inquiry.

"Wren," Taffyta tenderly repeated, and like the sweetest taste of honey, the gloss of warmth that coat her soul, she smiled and finally felt complete.

* * *

As the long, grueling flight day continued on, Tessa was finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. She glowered her exhausted gaze to the horizon and felt like a sagged bag of bones. She assumed, at least, tonight she'd get a better night's sleep. She gently peered over her shoulder, to Sugar Rush's western sky, and took note of the sunset. She knew this trip would eventually work its way into a partially nocturnal-styled trip, with lots of flying at night and sleeping during the day, and because of that, she was at least hoping that would help her avoid nightmares; somehow Sugar Rush wasn't so incredibly creepy during the day, only strictly reserved for dark, misty forests.

"What would you do if you bumped into Radex?" Ace tenderly asked his father, who carefully hovered on his trusty Tron flyer. Ace sat aboard Royal's strong spine with Libby tight to his back and center.

"Yknow... I've asked myself that question a million times, son," Zed uttered a small chuckle, readjusted his sitting position and set his flyer for auto-pilot. With such, he sat up straight, sagged his strong hands to the tops of his thighs and threw his gaze to Sugar Rush's gentle, dark mint blue sky, "I mean, I'd want to hit him with a jolt of coded lightning the second I could, but... We have to be careful. If it IS Radex we're dealing with, here, we have to take your great uncle Rancis into consideration."

"So... We have to trap him?" Libby inquired nervously, she gently looked to Ace for guidance; being absolutely certain this was a fight to the death, she now wondered just how this would even be accomplished, "I mean... If Radex is the one behind all of this, surely trapping him would be impossible."

"Yes and no," Zed's warm voice stated over the hum of his gorgeous flyer, with the neon blue lights and slick black frame, "Immobilizing him shouldn't be too hard... We just have to utilize self control."

"You're talking to two Users with their phasers set from stun to kill," Ace's voice grumbled to a decibel of playful irritation; Libby loving squeezed Ace's center, as if to remind him to ease up.

"You two are our secret weapon," Zed huffed as he crossed his arms and allowed his flyer to continue to carry him, "When a battle front has a secret weapon, it's typically not the first on the lines..."

"... You're saying Libby and I should hang back, in the case of battle?" Ace worried, he caught eyes with Zed in a while of concern; Zed shrugged a little and kept his fatherly gaze tight to Ace's.

"Ace, in the incident where you and Libby are the last ones standing, we're gunna need a miracle," Zed blurt a soft, knowing laugh and shook his head, though Ace looked up in disgruntled agitation.

"Noooo pressure or anything," Ace uttered through the grit of his teeth; Libby lovingly nuzzled her nose into the back of his shoulder.

"I... Guess that didn't come out right," Zed huffed sheepishly, he furrowed his brow and stumbled on a few words, hoping to rectify the situation and get out his genuine thoughts.

"Don't be upset, kep'leah," Libby's tender voice soothed, Ace sagged his shoulders and lowered his gaze to the back of Royal's head, "You've taught me well... And everyone here has each other's backs. We all play a role here, and each is equally important. All Zeddy is saying is... Well... We ARE Users. I'm sure if we put our heads together, in the rush of chaos, we can make certain everyone makes it out of this mess alive."

"I don't think we're giving our group enough credit," Zed stayed confidently, him and Libby bobbed nods to each other, "I'm certain we've probably hyped this mess, anyhow. I imagine waltzing up the castle, outnumbering Radex, or whoever is in charge, and that'll be that."

"Y'know, disregarding that he has control of the whole entire game and can rearrange this mess with the push of a button," Ace stayed in further rising annoyance, though it was with Ace's relentless irritation did Libby finally cue to this as a deeper rooted issue.

"We just have to stay positive," Zed stayed firmly, taking note that he was quickly losing Ace's fervor to keep this flight pattern afloat, and so soon into the trip, "Y'gunna keep this sour attitude for the entire trek, son?"

"Just playing devil's advocate," Ace huffed as he glanced to his dad, a strange mixture of whole defeat cloud his eyes, and with such, Zed grew confused; he wondered if having a chat, in private, was in order.

"Don't advocate for the opposing team, Ace Thaddeus," Zed's voice was gentle yet stern, and with such fatherly sternness, Ace's air of dominance slipped, "I didn't mean to put pressure on you and Libby. You two just weild more power than-"

"-We can begin to understand, I get it," Ace grunted, though with this, Libby furrowed her brow and begun to become protective of Zed's feelings, here.

"Ace, no one means any harm, why are you so irritable?" Libby pressed in a worried, almost annoyed tone.

"I just... Am becoming tired, I guess, I'm sorry," Ace huffed, though Zed heaved a long sigh and looked off; he knew very well Ace was taking this whole burden on himself, and although Zed was certain he maybe could've picked his own words better, he still came to the conclusion that a one-on-one discussion, with Ace, was to be had, shortly.


	246. Chapter 246

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** Yes, Ace definitely is falling into old habits - you'll find out why, it's actually environmental!

 **JaySketchin :** YAY BAB WREN :D YAYAYAY. There's a reason Tessa goes this 'long' without telling anyone, you'll find out.

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you! Yes, I thought that'd be special. Taffyta and Throttle bond over it, as well, so it all comes full circle in the next story ;)

 **Burgie :** Zed certainly knows what to do to light a fire under Ace's ass haha. And, thank you! I'm glad you all think so :D

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Cross My Mind Pt.2 (ft. Kiiara) by ARIZONA**

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 **A/N :**

 **Hey all, obligatory 'reason it's taking so long to upload' Author's Note. BTW am I dating myself with this whole 'A/N' thing? I've been on Fanfiction for over 13 years now, and that's just how we did it, back in '05... Not totally certain how things have changed. But that's just what I stick with cause it's all I know.**

 **This is rather personal, but I am in the process of going through some therapy. I'm in desperate need of it. I see my therapist every time I have a day off, so you can imagine that I'm already mentally exhausted by the time a work day is over, my days off consist of getting my LIFE off of my chest... So after 8+ hours of TALKING and VENTING and figuring everything out, I sit down at my computer to write, and... Well... My brain might as well be as fried as a motherboard dunked in water.**

 **Also, I am MOVING in a little less than a month, I will be returning to Tallahassee. I'm extremely stoked, I've actually missed it. I also just finished watching the entire series 'The Office' and every time they mentioned Tallahassee, I got like a little homesick. So I'm excited to go back. ALSO, in less than 3 weeks, I will be attending Phoenix Comicon, no surprise there. I will be cosplaying with Cory and Michaela, once more, as Ralph, Vanellope and Taffyta. I think, this year, Michaela and I discussed swapping our cosplays, and *I* would cosplay Taffyta, and she would cosplay Vanellope. EITHER WAY, we will be our typical Wreck-It Ralph crew, so if you see us, PLEASE don't hesitate to say hi! I'm already prepared for the barrage of 'I saw you at con but was too shy to approach' messages AFTER con. YOU GUYS.**

 **Just an update - expect chapters to slow down the closer we get to June, and hopefully pick RIGHT back up, to my usual pace, closer to the beginning/middle of June. Thanks for bearing with me. I'm HOPING I have this beast finished by the time the 2nd movie comes out. Here's hoping! Love you guys!**

* * *

 ***Chapter 246***

"How far do you think the forest spans for?" Tessa pressed gently, her, Zed and Vanellope were stationed on a sunny, glistening hilltop, crowned with the prettiest, golden sugar grass.

"Leagues," Vanellope huffed a sigh, the two peered out to the valley below, though on the other side of said valley was an absolute beast of a forest; not just any forest. Vanellope rubbed her forehead and looked up to Sugar Rush's gentle morning sun, and although Sugar Rush was now starting a new day, the crew was finally on a proper schedule of night flying and day sleeping. She gingerly turned her attention to her daughter, she took note of the bags under Tessa's eyes, "Sugar grass forests typically span for dozens of miles deep and wide... If we were to detour and try to find a way around the forest, I'm positive we'd add another few days to our trip."

"So what's the plan?" Zed wondered gently as he crossed his arms and noticed Vanellope begin to put on her mint hoodie, her black hair lazily fell out of it's ponytail as she yanked the fabric of the hoodie snug over her head and body.

"Well," Vanellope sighed as she tidied her long, black hair. She shook her head and breathed a chuckle, "There's only one way through the forest, and that's to walk. I haven't seen a sugar grass forest in awhile, but now that I think about it, flying over it isn't wise."

"Well, for one, the grass is practically in the clouds," Tessa noted as the three spanned their gaze up, the gorgeous, golden grass looked as if someone's front lawn had just so simply gotten so far out of control, as if the grass didn't have a limit. It swayed in Sugar Rush's breeze, a fluttering, sway of an ocean of gold that kissed the mint sky, truly a sight to see.

"Not only that, but the grass releases this nasty, sticky pollen," Vanellope grumbled, "I'm sure the air, above the top of the grass... However high up that is... Is just a mess to fly through."

"In a situation where we heavily rely on our flyers," Zed grit his teeth with a small chuckle and gave Vanellope a sheepish smile, "Looks like we're walking."

"It's the only way through the forest, unfortunately," Vanellope bobbed a nod, "Though, lucky for us, sugar grass roots are really thick, like bamboo... So, although it'll be tight, it'll be easy to manage. Nothing like the mess of grass towards the canopies."

"As beautiful as it is," Zed huffed as he cocked an eyebrow and bobbed a nod, though just as he was about to finish his statement, he suddenly heard Libby's voice raise in a sudden spike of riled anger. Zed furrowed his eyebrows as him, Tessa and Vanellope urgently peered down the hilltop they were on, and straight to the camping grounds where everyone reside.

Although the rest of the group seemed to be getting on just fine, Ace could be seen storming away from the camp grounds; Libby firmly in the other direction. Zed sagged his shoulders and sent his glowering, irritated gaze to chase after his son, and before he could jump up and storm down the hill, to potentially find out what had crawled up Ace's butt, Tessa firmly put a hand to Zed's shoulder and caused him to recoil in a flinch.

"IF I know a Mr. Dead Zedian Thaddeus Kalivar like I think I do," Tessa's motherly voice cooed in a ping of cute annoyance, Zed shot his bewildered gaze to her and froze in confusion, "I know all he wants to do is jump in and FIX the situation..."

"Well yeah?" Zed gestured out to where his son was now vanishing between a few of the loose, green-striped candy cane trees they reside in.

"Don't play Fix-it Felix in a situation where nothing needs to be FIXED," Tessa stated gently, to which Vanellope crossed her arms and assessed her first born in delightful pride, "Ace doesn't respond well to tough love. I can sense that you were about to go on a tirade down this hill and try and beat some sense into him, no?"

"No," Zed whined in insulted annoyance; Tessa cocked an eyebrow high and gave him a stern look of womanly irritation, which caused Zed to slump his shoulders and look off, "Yes."

"Be gentle," Tessa's voice soothed as Zed finally relaxed and softened his demeanor, "You know this, about Ace. You will get through to him with love and reassurance."

"I made that same mistake, Zed," Vanellope's voice encouraged gingerly as she crossed her arms and gave her future son-in-law a kind, sheepish smile, "Even though he's my family, too, everyone is different, and everyone responds differently to certain approaches. Just takes some navigating."

"You have a massive soft spot for him, I know you do... He's your little bestie," Tessa gently giggled and nudged Zed, "I know you want to play the big-bad-stern-father, but... Try a gentle approach. You'll be surprised."

"... Okay," Zed eased, he looked down the hill with a different mindset and felt his angry, wiggly wrecking veins finally ease to that of collected knowing. He nodded a little and began to slip away from Tessa and Vanellope, "I'll be back."

"Take your time," Tessa encouraged, not for their sake, but for Ace's.

Vanellope raised her eyebrows in a gentle pluck of delightful, motherly surprise. Tessa watched Zed walk down the hill, and although she looked absolutely exhausted, her gaze was sharp, attentive and smart. Vanellope smiled and, in a single swoop, she so slowly wrapped her arm about the tops of Tessa's shoulders and pulled her into a tight, loving hug; Tessa easily reciprocated.

"What's this for?" Tessa wondered tenderly into her mother's lower shoulder, and like she was still a yearling, dewy eyed and ready to brave Academy, she nuzzled her face into her mother's familiar warmth and inhaled her comforting scent through the flutter of her closed, tired eyes.

"I'm proud of you," Vanellope chuckled as she held the back of Tessa's head and gave her a good squeeze, "You've spent this entire time making sure everyone else is feeling alright and accounted for, but... I can tell it's taking a toll on you."

"Gotta keep the group together," Tessa huffed with a small sigh as she sagged deeper into her mother's embrace, and although she was trying to remain strong, somehow her mother's familiar touch was just the easiest thing to fall apart in; something Vanellope was very aware of.

"... As Queen, you can't do that unless you also take care of yourself, love," Vanellope stated quietly to the top of Tessa's head, "You haven't been getting much sleep, have you..."

"I haven't," Tessa quietly admitted, to which she furrowed her eyebrows and began to worry if she should potentially open up, to her mother, about just the reason why she wasn't getting any sleep.

"... Mind telling me why?" Vanellope prod as softly as she could, she looked to the far off sugar grass forest, swaying brilliantly in the morning sun, the canopies reaching nearly past the clouds, "These nightmares, of yours, aren't simply just nightmares... Are they."

* * *

With tender footsteps, Zed followed to just where Ace had laid off to, and although it wasn't too far from the camping grounds, he still managed to get far enough away without being able to see anyone through the trees. Zed crossed his arms and assessed Ace as he paced in a clearing that was found. Angrily muttering to himself, his right hand was alive with his and Libby's glowing, golden coding, pressed tight to his temple, likely a self-soothing habit. Zed breathed a silent chuckle and assessed his own flesh and blood, such a fiery, noble individual; Zed knew he had to properly thank Tessa for all the wonderful, passionate wrecking traits, and everything that came with it, that Ace boasted. The good, bad and ugly; nonetheless, Zed inwardly reveled at the sight of his only son, such a confused, spirited, bless individual, one who held nearly too much power to know what to do with.

In Ace's shuffling, he felt Zed's presence and stabbed his dagger-like glare across the clearing, though only long enough to be a mean, disregarding glance of a glower; Zed knew Ace had all of his defenses up, no matter what, and though Zed felt his blood begin to boil at the dirty look shot across the way, he inhaled a deep, calm breath and replayed Tessa's soothing, loving words. He furrowed his brow and felt a reeling bout of realization come his way. He was absolutely certain Tessa would be down here, up in arms, angry as all get-out, and that Zed would be the one to be calming Ace and Tessa down. Zed gently looked over his shoulder, towards the hilltop where he left Vanellope and Tessa, he felt his heart swell for just how far Tessa had come, when it came to her anger. In a drag of a smile, he brought his attention back to the product of his and Tessa's love; Ace continued to pace in whole agitation.

"Son," Zed started delicately, though he flinched as Ace stabbed his angry eye contact to his father.

"WHAT," Ace barked, his deep, booming voice easily matched Zed's, though it took everything inside of him not to loudly retaliate back to his mature son; what used to be a cute, crackly little boyish voice of argument was now a deep, powerful roar of a lion, truly a force to be reckoned with.

Zed halted his words and inwardly bit his tongue, he was well aware a shout match would be something he'd win eventually, against Ace, and although that was the typical route between these two boys, Zed rested his soul, the epitome of calm, and wondered just how this'd play out. Ace paced in whole agitation, like a predator that had just lost a kill in the fumbling chase of the hunt.

"Son," Zed started again, more delicately than the last, and much to his surprise, Ace's angry glowering was now stringing to longing, slow glances of calming curiosity, "What color is the sky?"

"... I'm sorry?" Ace huffed in irritation that was still very much there, and even though the question seemed silly and Ace deemed it stupid, he still fell for the reflex and looked up, "WHY?"

"What's your answer?" Zed prod with a smile, Ace rolled his eyes and looked off with a boyish shrug.

"BLUE," Ace blurt, Zed laughed a little.

"What kind of a blue?" Zed pressed, Ace furrowed his brow and looked up, once more.

"I-I don't know, mint blue... Greenish," Ace stated, and even from this tiny exercise, his voice finally began to show signs of softening.

"Curious to me that Radex kept it that way," Zed smiled as he looked down to his feet, though Ace calmed his pacing and finally gave his dad his whole attention. Zed huffed a small chuckle and looked off, "Ace, if you were in charge, what color would you make the sky?"

"... Um," Ace heaved a long sigh and looked up in continued boyish cuteness, his anger was now showing bigger signs of subsiding, and although he still looked irritated, his angry pacing had finally ceased, "I-I wouldn't change it, either. I like it this way."

"Weird thing to give your enemy a human, feeling-like element, huh?" Zed smiled as he side-eyed his son, "Do you think Radex is a bad guy?"

"I mean, yeah," Ace pressed, he furrowed his eyebrows and now had to wonder just what his dad was saying, "Clearly."

"Well, what does that say about me?" Zed continued to prod, Ace largely rolled his eyes.

"Dad, you're not a BAD guy," Ace grumbled, Zed chuckled and finally braved Ace's angry circle of previous pacing.

"Not everyone would say that about me," Zed's deep voice glossed over Ace's figure, he crossed his arms and gestured to his son, "Radex loves this game so much, he kept it for himself... Sure, he rearranged it in such a way that we hate, and he stole it out from underneath your mother and grandmother, but... Let's just say, for a second, that Radex wasn't simply a BAD guy... But a misunderstood guy."

Ace's curious eyes held tight to his father's in a sense of nervous wondering, Zed gestured up to the sky and smiled.

"Radex hasn't changed a single thing about Sugar Rush's environment... The sun, the clouds, the pink grass," Zed gestured to their surroundings, Ace finally looked about in curiosity, "It's all pretty beautiful, generously dainty and amazing all in one... You don't think a genuinely nasty person would want to keep something this beautiful and rare... Just that? You'd imagine Sugar Rush turned into a hell hole?"

"...I-I never thought about it that way," Ace's voice shook in rising awareness, he peered to his dad in a slump of sorrow.

"What if Radex is trying to keep us away because HE loves this game, just as much as we do?" Zed narrowed his gaze and gave Ace a look of concern, "What if he's trying to protect it? From US?"

"But it's OURS," Ace urged sorrowfully, Zed nodded and looked down.

"It is ours, son," Zed stated with a bob a nod, though he gently dragged his eyes to Ace's gaze, "It's in our blood... It's RIGHTFULLY ours. It's rightfully YOURS, Ace."

"It's... Vanellope's, mom's," Ace shrugged, he looked off nonchalantly and finally let his innocent gap-toothed smile show, his jaw and chin was beginning to show the start of a proper beard.

"Ace, I'm about to entrust you with a secret that only Penny, Vanellope and Ralph know," Zed's voice almost shook, and just as Ace brought his gentle attention back to his father, he furrowed his eyebrows and followed Zed's downward gaze, to his hands held close to his chest. Ace softened his whole demeanor at the sight of just what Zed was delicately holding in his masculine hands; a gorgeous ring, crafted from none other than Sugar Rush's infamous triple striped candy bark, "I know Tessa and I did this whole entire thing a little backwards... And I think it ironic that I'm here, standing before you, asking for YOUR permission to marry your mother."

Ace huffed a small noise and urgently peered down at the beautiful ring in Zed's fingertips, he scoffed with a smile and peered to his father in a rising sense of elatedness, and although their voices were hushed to their own bubble, all Ace wanted to do was now jump up and down with glee. The joy was felt, their demeanors were frozen still, though nearly shook with the reverberations of whole delight.

"Dad," Ace breathed a chuckle and could swear his grin couldn't broaden more, and although Zed equally smiled, he dragged his curious gaze back down to the ring in his hand and shook his head.

"Son, the second Sugar Rush is won is the second I will fall to my knees and humbly ask your mother for the sheer honor to be Sugar Rush's King," Zed stated gently, he was glad they were out of the group's earshot, "But in that, I need you to understand something else that comes with that."

"What?" Ace asked in a whisper of whole, enchanted delight as both men caught eyes; Zed's eyes wrinkled with his widening smile as he gave Ace a knowing look.

"You'll be Sugar Rush's Prince," Zed concluded, and although Ace already had nearly the highest honor of being a User, somehow this title made him sag his shoulders in the smack of humble realization. Ace huffed a shaky breath and looked down in rising understanding, "Ace, I know you're scared... I know you feel as though you have a heavier burden than the rest of us, and in some ways you do..."

Ace frowned and looked off for a moment, though before he could become too discouraged, he gave his father his understanding eye contact, once more, and held his tight attention to Zed's glassy blue orbs.

"But... You are NOT alone, in this fight, Ace," Zed's voice began to waver, and in this, Ace knew it was serious. He was very well aware Zed hardly never cried, and with that simple shake in Zed's deep voice, Ace froze and knew this was more serious than previously displayed, "We each play a role, here... We've all promised to keep each other safe... And with that, we all are holding ourselves to a standard, the challenge of not letting each other down."

"I-I'm sorry, dad," Ace worried gently as he, too, began to feel choked up. Ace shook his head and held his pleading eye contact tight to Zed's, "It's... Just a lot of responsibility, I'm just having a hard time coping."

"Your responsibility may look bigger than the next person's, but we each have our own kryptonite," Zed finally eased a smile amidst his teary eyes, "You're Sugar Rush's kin. It's time to take your position, son..."

"Yes, sir," Ace complied gently with a nod, he heaved a shaky breath and peered back down to the ring with that same thump of excitement that seemingly banged on the inside of their quieted bubble, "I won't let you down, dad."

"I know you won't," Zed's smile was contagious, both boys kept their tight gaze to the beautifully glossy triple striped ring, clearly the size of Tessa's ring finger, "I won't let you down either."

"You never have," Ace's deep voice crackled in gentle understanding as both boys caught eyes, Zed gave him a grateful smile and bobbed a nod, though he largely swallowed and continued to fiddle with the gorgeous ring in his hands.

"I'd like your permission to marry your mother," Zed pressed, and though Zed clearly had a higher hierarchy stature above Ace, he held his own demeanor lower than Ace's in this fragile moment, he knew Ace's opinion mattered just as much. Ace breathed a small chuckle as Zed looked into Ace's eyes, once more, "I know I proposed to her the night her and I left the Arcade, but... I want this to be official. Blessed by everyone I care about. I promise to take great care of her."

"You've already proved that to me, dad, I've spent my entire life thinking you guys were married, anyways," Ace chuckled as he gingerly nudged Zed's arm, which got a small laugh out of his figure. Ace's smile only broadened as he heaved a small sigh and held tight eye contact with his father, "You have my permission, dad. Strangely enough... I really appreciate you asking me. I didn't think my voice would matter, in this."

"... You're our son," Zed blurt, though Ace shrugged and gestured his hands, "Why would you think your voice didn't matter, here? It likely matters the most!"

"I don't know!" Ace laughed, as did Zed, though he ruffled his dark blue hair and gave Zed a curious smile, "... Did you come over here to tell me this, or was there another reason?"

"I honestly came down here to give you a verbal ass whooping," Zed choked into a fit of laughter, though Ace gaped and gave him a look of whole annoyance.

"WHY!" Ace urged as Zed nearly doubled over in laughter.

"I'm kidding! I just wanted to see why you were so irritated, but... Your mother gave me some good advice, and, well..." Zed gently handed Ace the beautiful ring and smiled, "Seemed like the right time to bring this up, to you."

"This is just like Ma and Paw's rings," Ace pressed as he inspected the beautiful ring, Zed bobbed a nod and sagged his hands into his pant's pockets.

"Penny was very kind to let me take some of the material from her triple-striped sword, and reforge it," Zed explained, Ace nodded in an impressed manner and held it up in Sugar Rush's morning sunshine.

"Mom is going to FLIP," Ace whispered, Zed beamed and looked down.

"I have something else I want to ask you, Ace," Zed eased down to the ground as he bashfully rocked on the balls of his feet, though Ace furrowed his brow and lowered the ring to peer directly to his father's shy demeanor.

"... Yes?" Ace urged gently, Zed gave him a bashful smile, the blue in his eyes near-glistened with Sugar Rush's sunrise.

"Will you be my best man?" Zed wondered in a lull of quiet, the depth in his voice nearly shook Ace to the core.

"...ME?" Ace pressed in a raspy, loud whisper, Zed beamed and looked down as he bobbed a few nods.

"You!" Zed encouraged, to which Ace huffed a shaky breath, looked off and shook his head in whole surprise.

"I-I... Dad, that's huge, ME? You SURE?" Ace prod as he wildly furrowed his eyebrows and gestured to his dad, though Zed finally laid his firm, fatherly hand to Ace's broad shoulder and near shook him.

"Okay... WHEN are you going to understand that you are extremely important to me?" Zed prod loudly with a laugh that Ace fell into, as well.

"Wow, dad, I... I'd be honored," Ace's voice leveled to a gentle lilt of sweet softness, his volleyed smile and eye contact laid straight into Zed's soul like honey, "You pick me, over your brothers?"

"You're my flesh and blood, Ace... You're one of my best friends," Zed pressed, and although they both tried their very hardest to remain stoic for this entire conversation, Zed felt the breaking point finally chipping away at his strength. He huffed a shaky chuckle and was unsuccessful at keeping the welled tears in his eyes. A few tears slipped down his cheeks as he urgently peered into Ace's eyes, "You've taught me more about myself than anyone has been able to."

Ace frowned and felt a lump gather in his throat, as well, and as Zed freely allowed the tears to fall down his cheeks, only for Ace's eyes, Ace felt his vision quickly become blurry, as well.

"I love you, dad," Ace's deep voice shook, though Zed huffed a nasally laugh as they both grappled each other into a proper hug, full of squeezes and firm pats to the upper back.

"Oh, I love you, bud," Zed grumbled as he squeezed Ace tight into his embrace, and as he peered across the glowing clearing, he wrinkled his nose and knew he needed to profusely thank Tessa for the amazing advice before he took the trek down that hilltop. After a moment, both boys pulled away, eager to wipe their tears and clear their throats, "Just, please... Don't tell anyone. I would even say avoid telling Libby. I know she's trustworthy, but I'd just rather this secret stay with just a few people."

"I won't tell a soul, dad," Ace nasally assured as he wiped his face with his shirt, "I'm pretty stoked, but... Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks," Zed sighed as he slumped his shoulders, he gently nudged Ace's chest before he safely put the ring back into it's protective pouch, and back into his own pocket, "C'mon... On the way over here, I overheard something about s'mores."

"Nox hasn't shut up about it," Ace grumbled as Zed hooked his arm tight about Ace's shoulders, both boys began to mosey back in the direction of the group.

"Nox doesn't shut up about anything," Zed blurt, both boy's laughter echoed into the glistening, cheerful forest about them, the heart of the team, their happiness reverberated through the game's core.


	247. Chapter 247

**Reviews :**

 **Winter Raven :** Aww, well thank you. I am certainly trying to take care of myself. I just hate waiting to upload though, it's killing me.

 **Snake557 :** Yes, Zed is a shy boi sometimes lol! Thanks friend :)

 **SamanthaR1987 :** That's so sweet! Thank you!

 **JaySketchin :** YAYAYAYAYYAYY LOTS OF STUFF AND THINGS TO HAPPEN

 **Burgie :** YES it can't come fast enough, I am very excited :) Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** Oh wow, that really means a lot to me to hear you say that! Thank you! I try to keep it different as best as I can.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey all, been extremely busy, clearly. Next Tuesday, I'll be traveling to Arizona for Phoenix comicon. I'm VERY excited, but I will have no time to write or draw. I'm thinking of just giving you guys a date for when the next chapter will be uploaded, just so I'm not leaving you guys in limbo. It's safe to say that I will, without a doubt, be back in action by June 1st. By then, I'll have moved back to Tallahassee, with Cory, and I'll be settled and rested. I MIGHT be able to squeeze in one more chapter, before I fly out to AZ next Tuesday the 22nd, but we will see. I'll try my hardest, but for right now, my days off consist of intense, expedited counseling, ****which has been INCREDIBLE for my self esteem and confidence, but I am just absolutely exhausted. So, it's safe to say that things will slide back to normal come June, with maybe some spotty uploads in between.**

 **Thank you SO MUCH for your patience, guys! I appreciate it a lot!**

 **Chapter 250 is coming up... you know what that means! SKETCHDUMP TIME! Be compiling a list for me, ANY scene between chapter 200 and 250! DON'T leave your requests just yet. I'll let you guys know when, just be thinking about what you guys want drawn :) **

* * *

***Chapter 247***

As strange of a sight to be roasting marshmallows over a fire that glistened well into Sugar Rush's sunrise, the group remained a calm, chattering bunch about the roaring fire Rancis was successful in igniting. Ace twirled the long stick he had, the gooey marshmallow, stabbed to the far end of his stick, was beginning to show signs of shortly catching fire, and as he dragged his yumminess out of the fire, he accidentally nudged Libby's marshmallow; he was surprised she had willingly taken a seat next to him, prior to everyone getting comfortable, he was certain that after their little shout match, she'd want nothing to do with him. He cocked an eyebrow and was even further floored to hear a small giggle arise from her figure.

"Sorry," Libby mumbled as her and Ace pulled their sticks from the fire, and as they pulled their marshmallows apart, they gooed in a long, single string of now fused marshmallow mess. Libby covered her mouth with one of her hands as Ace finally blurt an annoyed laugh, as well, though she was thrilled once he scrambled for a few graham crackers he had set aside for himself, "User... I didn't think it'd get that far out of hand."

"It's okay, here," Ace's smile returned, though in the fleeting glance he shot to Libby, he softened his demeanor and took note of her beautiful face. Her childlike wonder, the glistening flecks of the glowing fire in her dewy eyes, Ace felt his heart thump in an odd way. He furrowed his brow in confusion, this woman in which he was clearly committed to, for a hot minute now, he wondered why he suddenly had butterflies in his stomach. Ace swallowed hard and tried his hardest to goo together two s'mores, sandwiched between chocolate and graham crackers, "Voila."

"Thank you," Libby sighed as she set her stick down and gratefully took the yummy snack from Ace's hands.

"You're welcome," Ace eased, and as the group's gentle chatter was beginning to grow lazy and sleepy, Lickity, Marble, Balba and Royal began to take their proper positions of group-barriers; they huddled about the exterior of the group, like a protective wall of apex predators, "Libby, I... I want to apologize. I'm sorry for, well... Falling into these grumpy moods, doubting myself."

"It's okay," Libby stated through a huff of a sigh as she shrugged and flashed Ace a gentle smile, "To be honest, I fall into it, myself... I guess I just have an easier time keeping it to myself and bouncing back."

"I wish you'd lean on me," Ace frowned, he peered to her as if this was surprising information, though he crowned a wide smile, as well as a chuckle, as Libby physically leaned into Ace, on cue. Ace easily draped his arm about her shoulder and kindly watched her chew their delicious dessert, "That's much better."

"I care about you, Ace... I just want you to feel confident, here," Libby eased tenderly as she nibbled on her snack, her and Ace quietly took some time to soak each other's warm presence, the way the morning sunshine kissed their tired cheeks, the way a few individuals, in the group, had finished their yummy dessert and were beginning to show signs of snuggling into their respective areas of camping blankets and pillows, "Sure, we're winning this game back for Tessa and Vanellope and Ralph, but... We're also here to win it for Zed. For you, for me... For everyone."

"You're right," Ace's voice gently whispered as he heaved a long sigh and let his gaze get lost in the fire, his smile broadened once Libby gently tilted her head back and averted her gaze straight for his.

"You know that mom is going to dream up the best castle design Sugar Rush has ever seen," Libby prod with a delicate, toothy smile, nearly fit for Sugar Rush anyhow, "She's shown me a few blue prints she's mocked up, in Dead Zed's code room... You understand that you and I would get our very own tower, right?"

"... Really?" Ace raised his eyebrows in delightful surprise, though Libby nodded and heaved a wistful sigh.

"Ohhh I don't want to spoil it all for you," Libby dragged, though Ace shook his head and gently held her lower arm once she sat up and began to lean away, to both clean up her mess and prepare herself for bed.

"No, please, tell me," Ace begged, he shot his attention to wherever his mother and father resided, though he was disappointed to see the two already snuggled in each others arms and ready for their routine snooze, "C'mon, mom's going to sleep, I can't ask her now... I wanna know more."

"Alright, let's lay down first and I'll tell you," Libby stated in a playfully annoyed tone as the two stood and made their way over to their respective sleeping spot, a single sleeping bag, large enough for two bodies, lined with the warmest, softest of furs and padded for comfort, the two easily wormed their way into it, together, and were delight to hear and see the group about them show signs of following suit.

"Okay, please tell me everything," Ace whispered in boyish delight, he laid a little further down than Libby, and as much as he enjoyed being the one to encompass Libby's little body when they slept, he was well aware she liked to spoil him from time to time and allow him to be the little spoon in this situation.

"Well, I can tell you one thing," Libby's voice was tender and soft, she draped her arms about Ace's neck and gently allowed her fingers to run through his wild, dark, muted blue hair, "There will be enough room, on that lot, for everyone... And I mean... EVERYONE."

"Everyone," Ace prod as he furrowed his brow, he recalled the Kalivar castle, and how spacious it was, though he opened his mouth to inquire, "You mean like..."

"Think of the Kalivar lot," Libby pressed with a widening, sleepy grin, "Nowww... Include every single last one of Sugar Rush's racers."

"... For User's sakes, is mom planning on building an entire TOWN or something?" Ace chuckled, his itching hands wrapped about Libby's little waist, eager hands slid to her hips and rear, and although they were within the privacy of their own blankets, Ace was very well aware that no further funny business was allowed.

"There will be an entire forest of an enclosure for the flyers, enough room for everyone, towers for those of us higher on the totem pole," Libby listed, she shook her head and finally got settled tightly snuggled into Ace's body, she wrapped one leg about his upper thighs and hips and finally sagged into their nightly routine, "The racer's garage, the pool, the mess hall-"

"Mess hall?" Ace prod, he began to see the pitfall in his inquiries, and now was very easily becoming too hyped to fall asleep, "You mean like..."

"I'm actually not positive, it was a massive building across the backyard, in the blue prints... Seemed like a big recreational center where everyone could hang out," Libby shrugged, "Surely will be equipped with a proper kitchen and eating and lounging areas. We didn't get into the meat of that building because I don't think she was fully finished with it."

"Does Vanellope know about these plans?" Ace wondered, though he frowned once Libby heaved a hard yawn and fluttered her eyes shut.

"I believe so," Libby whispered as she sagged deeper into their embrace, "I think Vanellope is letting mom sort of have free reign... I'm not positive when Vanellope is going to be handing the kingdom over to Tessa, but certainly she's letting Tessa recreate the castle to how she sees fit, so that, when the time comes that Tessa is crowned, she'll be able to fully utilize her new powers... Starting with a fresh new castle, I guess."

"That'll be so cool," Ace sighed, though he frowned, "What about my uncles, though?"

"What about them?" Libby stated tenderly.

"Well... They'll have the massive Kalivar castle, but only really Uncle Finn, Duke, Jax and Tej will live there... Right?" Ace worried, though Libby smiled and scratched the back of Ace's head in a tender show of inquiry.

"That's their home, I mean... They can reimagine the Kalivar lot, or build a new abode," Libby's tired voice croaked, "You have to remember, those boys were practically enjoying living in tree-bungalows, before we were ever a thing. You remember all those stories Uncle Finn told."

"I guess you're right," Ace bobbed a nod and allowed his eyes to glance down to Libby's chest, and in a sleepy draw, he lulled his eyes closed and warmly nuzzled his head and face into the tops of her breasts, "Certainly visiting won't be too difficult, anyhow."

"Exactly," Libby concluded as the murmurs of Nox's, Koko's and Rancis's conversing so warmly soaked the area in comfort.

"Guess it all rides on the hopes of winning the game," Ace stated through one last, sleepy sigh as he tightened his eyes closed for good.

As the sun crept it's way across the sky, with it's chilly air only briefly warming up, ever so slightly, the time came for the newly-nocturnal crew to finally greet the evening to come, and although no flying would be involved, they knew they still had a bit of a stretch ahead of them. With renewed energy, Tessa cleaned up her's and Zed's area a little more, as everyone followed suit, and as the crew finally began to mosey across the stretch of grass to the golden sugar grass forest, it suddenly looked very daunting. The fairytale-like glistening, glowing golden grass that swayed in the morning sun now looked like a bed of seaweed amidst a murky, dimly lit backdrop of uneasy waves. As nervousness seemingly made her throat closed, Tessa swallowed hard and largely pinched the second Lickity stepped to her side, she loudly hacked a cough and snorted a noise as she shook her head in agitation.

"Whoa, you okay?" Tessa worried, though Lickity flattened her ears and gave Tessa a confused look.

"I feel as though... M-m-myyy... MY... a-ab...BILity to talk I-is, uh," Lickity largely stammered, though on top of it, her nose sounded clogged. She heaved a hard sneeze, her whole body jolted alongside, "Escaping...m-me..."

"Weird," Tessa huffed as the gang began to gather about Lickity and Tessa, they hovered just before the threshold of the forest of grass stalks, the canopy could hardly be seen due to height and darkness that had overtaken Sugar Rush.

"You're losing your ability to talk?" Zed pressed nervously as everyone fell quiet, everyone was dressed and ready for the trek, and although the group wouldn't be covering nearly as much ground as they would flying, it was clear they didn't have a choice but to walk.

"What could that mean?" Tessa worried as she stabbed her apprehensive gaze to her mother and Uncle Rancis.

"I-I don't know," Vanellope threw her gaze to Royal and Balba, "You guys losing your ability to talk?"

"No, I seem to still have it," Royal quickly stated in his normal cadence, Balba perked her ears in confidence.

"Y-Yeah ayyyee... st-still... H-h... HHAAA..." Balba huffed a hard snort, shook her head and flattened her ears, her demeanor easily sagged, as did her wings. Royal's ears sank to his skull as he peered to Balba in a whole show of nervous surprise.

"Alright, anyone else having any issues with their abilities?" Vanellope wondered, though as she looked about the group, they all looked almost too nervous to test out their game powers.

Zed opened his palm and went to cue his and Tessa's silver coding, though he raised his eyebrows in hard surprise as his coding flickered in an uneasy show of faded, lifeless power. Zed huffed an annoyed noise, waggled his hand about and tried even harder to cue his coding. Only with a few grunting attempts was he able to glitch, but not without a huge amount of effort. Tessa heaved a long, hard sigh and sunk her face into her open palms.

"Alright, what's the common denominator, here?" Rancis's deep voice eased, everyone nervously eyed each other as Rancis gestured to Lickity, "Lickity was given the ability to talk via swap... So was Balba."

"And Zed can only glitch because that's Tessa's born ability," Nox prod as he opened his palms; he, himself, tried to glitch, though the same thing that happened to Zed, plagued Nox's berry-crimson honeycombs. His nervous, glowing golden eyes stabbed to Tessa's, the whole group began to grow tense.

"What does this mean?" Penny worried for everyone, and even though her and Orph didn't have this kind of issue yet, they still looked on in rising apprehension.

"You think swapping will fix it?" Koko's girly voice suggested in nervousness, though her face turned red at her own insinuation.

"Swapping? Out in the open? In Sugar Rush?" Tessa blurt, she was hurled into hard, though agitated laughter.

"Seems Ace and I aren't running into this issue," Libby tenderly pressed as she glitched and showed her golden coding with as much ease as normal.

"Seems as though being a User has overridden the fact that... We're beginning to reach out of bounds," Zed's deep voice mumbled, he eyed Tessa in solid nervousness and shook his head a little, "The closer we get to The End, the weaker we all get... We lose our swap-given abilities."

"You don't think that's just the game's design, do you?" Tessa stabbed as she eyed her mother, "Sounds fishy, to me..."

"I don't know," Vanellope sighed as she crossed her arms, "I've never been to Sugar Rush's end... I've never pushed that boundary. I don't know what happens."

"You guys really think swapping would help?" Tessa's voice crackled, Zed heaved a shaky chuckle and bashfully looked off.

"It's worth a shot," Libby encouraged for the handful of swap mates that seemed to be out of sorts, "We can easily set ground rules, find a safe spot to get it all over with, then carry on and see how long your guys' powers last."

"What about Lickity?" Ace worried as he gestured to his mother's best friend, though everyone nervously fell silent and dragged their gazes to their favorite old bat; she flattened her ears and sadly looked around.

"I-I don't know..." Tessa nervously dragged as she crossed her arms, "User knows where Orion is... Or if he's even in that head space to swap. Last Lickity told me, Orion was downgraded and almost lost his ability to properly reason."

"Men," Penny huffed, everyone finally blurt genuine laughter.

"Guess... We stick to our own swap mate and keep our eyes peeled for Orion, so Lickity can get her proper ability to talk, back," Libby stated sadly with a small shrug, she gave Lickity an apologetic frown, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and only merely glanced at the darkened sugar grass forest.

"There's only one issue, with that plan..." Tessa mumbled as she heaved a long, hard sigh.

"What's that?" Zed eased curiously as everyone honed their eyes to their future Queen.

"We're all without a firewall," Tessa's voice stated in confidence as she gently dragged her knowing gaze to Zed, "Either we all hold off swapping and are weaker as a team, or..."

"...We all swap and have a two week countdown," Zed's gentle voice completed, everyone fell silent in hot knowing, "We risk it all by winning over Sugar Rush in singles, or risk it all by battling to the best of our abilities, loading bars and all..."

"Why don't we get going," Vanellope nervously smiled as she could see the gears turning in Tessa's head, she gestured to the darkened forest and shook her head, "Surely we can all come to some form of a conclusion... How about a looooong walk and talk of weighing pros and cons."


	248. Chapter 248

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Thank you! And yes... You will be seeing Orion again.

 **JaySketchin :** OH YAY! I'm glad! :D Yes, you're exactly right! Her and Balba lose their ability to talk, completely, shortly here :(

 **Burgie :** YAY I'm glad you think so!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you so much! Yes, it's all a balance. I'll get there eventually lol. I appreciate the patience, nonetheless, and I'm glad you're excited for what's to come :)

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Drifter Transit by Ben Prunty**

 **Propeller Seeds by Imogen Heap**

* * *

 ***Chapter 248***

In a narrow, single file line, the entire gang walked in a serene, gentle murmur of conversing. With rigid shoulders and a tensed core, Tessa took the lead, directly behind Marble's long, fanned platypus-like tail. Perfectly aligned with everyone's strengths in mind, Tessa put the best eyesight at the front of the line and the best hearing at the back. Lickity capped the end with Royal whilst Marble and Balba remained tight to the front. Although the group made sure to make their way through the sugar grass forest as quietly as they could, their bubbling conversations, about potential babies to come, kept slipping in and out of the stalks of solid, golden bark they slowly trailed through.

Tessa furrowed her brow and allowed the darkness to soak into her retinas. It was nearly pitch black, with only the faintest, dimmest glow of moonlight that somehow was able to flicker in and out of the tall, never-ending sways of golden grass overhead. Tessa could feel her pupils enlarged nearly as wide as they could go, and although she could just barely make out the pops of white on Marble's spine, she began to feel an uneasy sense come over her, one of pure remembrance, one of her imagination beginning to taunt her, as if to promise Tessa it was about to run away from her. Tessa inhaled a shaky breath and tried her very hardest to focus her ears to the gentle conversation going on directly behind her; Zed and Vanellope happily chat about any future babies to come Tessa's and Zed's way.

With strict diligence, Tessa hung on to her fiancé's and mother's words like a vice grip. Zed's deep, whispering tone warmly suggested hopes and dreams for having another baby, what gender they would receive, and although they both nervously wondered about the potential two-week gestation period of a deadline, they both seemed to be in good spirits. Tessa heaved a shaky breath and knew she'd have to have a proper conversation, with Zed, about the whole ordeal, though somehow she just couldn't stick her mind to a single topic at hand. Tessa felt her throat close with anxiety, and although she desperately tried her hardest not to let the past come rushing up on her, she grit her teeth and nearly wanted to allow it.

All those weeks of being blind, right after Ace was born, had left Tessa uneasy to enter pitch-black rooms or environments. She knew, all too well, that she used her coding, on the bottoms of her feet, to see and get from place to place, and although she was simply following the gentle swaying motion of Marble's white tail, just barely seen, she knew she was about to fall victim to hallucinations; she narrowed her gaze and tried so desperately to think of something different, the conversation Zed and Vanellope were having about babies, anything, but she knew she was eventually to be doomed. She inhaled a deep, shaky breath and nearly prepared for it. She knew just what was to be haunting her, this time. She was well aware of the few nightmares she had been having, the past week of this trip, where she would somehow see her Aunt Taffyta begging her to be diverted, claims that the castle was close. Tessa bit her lip and kept her eyes honed to Marble's swaying tail, she knew if Marble saw or heard anything, the gang would be up in arms and at the ready.

After a few minutes of diligently training her mind not to up and run away from her, she sagged her shoulders and finally felt as if she could properly relax. She wondered if she had maybe gotten the hang of this nonsense, once and for all, though just as she inhaled a breath of confidence and looked up, she felt as if all of the oxygen in her lungs, in her blood, in her vicinity was suddenly sucked out of her existence like a vacuum. Not a dozen feet off, her dilated eyes caught with another pair, leering back at her. Brightly glowing golden orbs with that ever-so-familair pixel-cubed stare of pupils, a haunting sight of something she had grown to love in Nox. She held her breath and urgently looked in the other direction, and as she could feel her heart in surround sound, in her ears, she felt her hands begin to tremble uncontrollably at the very sight she had merely glanced at.

Tessa kept her ears absolutely trained to each and every single flyer that held tight to the group, a formidable barrier of protection they provided due to their heightened senses, and although Tessa was absolutely certain about what she had just seen, she was surprised to find that neither Marble, Balba, Lickity or Royal seemed to notice this phenomena. Tessa bit her lip in confusion and urgently threw her gaze over her shoulder, in search of Nox. With his familiar eyes at a much dimmer yellow glow, it was clear he was hanging tight to Koko, everyone kept in formation. His eyes were gentle and sweet, like usual, the glow he emit wasn't nearly as bright as what Tessa had just seen. In a nervous slide of trembling apprehension, Tessa finally dragged her eyes forward and stabbed them down into the flat of Marble's white, long tail, one that continued to sway, a methodical promise Tessa relied on for sanity, in this situation.

After a grueling fifteen minutes of Tessa counting the delicate sways of Marble's beautiful tail, she felt as if she had gained the confidence to bring her eyes back to the spot she had been looking, as the group continued to mosey and quietly chit-chat. With a silent, trembling inhale, Tessa dragged her terrified eyes to the left, where she had been avoiding looking this entire time. To her relief, it was nothing but a void of darkness. Only slivers of the silhouettes of the trees could be seen, just barely. In a slow sweep of the area to her left, she began to feel at ease, though at the same time, she began to feel a rising climb of agitation; who or what she had just seen, she wasn't totally positive, though the fact that said being was now gone from her existence, she wondered if the other side of this coin would be somehow easier to comprehend. Knowing just where danger was definitely was easier to swallow over not having a single clue where an enemy lurked.

Although her thoughts continued to run rampant, a messy, unorganized bout of chaos, she darted her eyes to her right without a second thought, and with a sudden, cold surge of knee-jerk reflex, she inhaled a sharp, silent gasp, flinched in unanticipated surprise and nearly stumbled to the ground at the sight just a few dozen feet to her right. With the same intense, leering, unhinged gaze of terror, said glowing orbs, from previously, were now a lot farther away, deeper into the grove, a haunting presence of looming wait. Tessa clutched her chest, stumbled to the left and halted her breathing. Although, this time, she braved this individuals eye contact, she held tight to it, as if looking away would make it vanish again. The longer she peered into this figure's luring pixel-pupil stare, the fuzzier her vision got. Her mind raced, there were only two people left, to her knowledge, that had this same gaze; Turbo or Lash. Just before the darkness could totally over taken her vision, she huffed a noise, shook her head and kept her gaze stabbed into Marble's tail; she knew, this time, to not look up until the sun finally rose again.

After hours of grueling, agonizing counting of the sway of Marble's tail, Tessa began to feel relief crawl over her veins as the group's surroundings began to grow a little lighter. She knew to keep her eyes trained to Marble's tail, and as if she was somehow hypnotized by it, Tessa felt now as if she couldn't look away, it was simply a defense mechanism at this point. She began to feel as if she was going mad, as if her thoughts were what was torturing her, the sheer fact that she was able to tangibly see something, or someone, though none of the flyers were cued to it; it lead Tessa to believe that this simply was all in her head, and it left her maddeningly wondering how she could begin to escape herself. She shook her head, heaved a hot sigh through her nose and wondered if pregnancy, during this unstable time, was a wise idea; leave Zed without his swap-abilities, or take on the process of child-bearing in this trying time. It all seemed too big to comprehend.

"There was a path here all along?" Marble's voice suddenly glossed over Tessa's dark thoughts like a veil of light, causing her to flinch and finally jolt her hazel gaze from the flat of Marble's tail.

Tessa choked noise of confusion and tucked her hair behind her ears, deep into the hood of her hoodie, in which she had nervously tucked tight over her head hours prior. As her gaze flew up, Marble's diligent paws stepped out onto a paved path that wound through the forest, one that carried on to their destination out of said forest. As Tessa's eyes finally gained distance, for the first time in almost eight hours, the wide opened path lazily wound in a more-or-less straight shot through the golden grass forest, the air was kissed with a dewy, purple haze of a morning fog, one that illuminated with the rising sun that promised to be on it's way shortly. Tessa's eyes finally scanned their surroundings, the first time she had properly moved her eyes or head; she grimaced with the stiffness of it all, but was absolutely floored to find that her imagination had finally given up running away from her.

"Well, this would've been nice a few hours ago," Nox mumbled as the group unwound themselves from their single-filed formation, they stretched their arms and took a moment to stop and gather in their large group flyers and all.

"I'm sure this takes us all the way out," Royal eased, "Either way, we'll be stopping in a few hours to sleep, right?"

"Yes, I'm beat," Koko bobbed a nod and peered down the long stretch of path ahead, "Maybe a bit more walking and we can hopefully either reach the other side of the forest, or find a place to crash."

"I-I don't think it's wise to sleep in this forest," Tessa suddenly blurt, though without any context, everyone furrowed their brows in a rise of confusion and glossed their gazes to Tessa.

"Why? We've been totally fine this entire time," Rancis wondered delicately, though they glanced to Vanellope to get her opinion on the matter, as well.

"Not a creature or danger in sight," Vanellope soothed, though she gave Tessa a knowing look and side-eyed her daughter, "... Did you just so happen to see something?"

"Well, no, I just... Feel uneasy," Tessa stammered, to which she could feel Vanellope's prodding, luring gaze dig deeper into Tessa's skin.

"... There something you're not telling us?" Vanellope prod, though Tessa huffed a hard sigh and looked off.

"No, there isn't, I just feel uneasy is all, let's just keep moving," Tessa gently demanded, and with such, she took the lead of the group, now having a wide open path and light to lead the way; Marble flattened her ears and slowly followed suit, and although the group did as well, they still took a few seconds to volley gazes of pure confusion to each other before stepping out, once more.

In a leading stretch of many yards gained, Tessa had managed to trail far enough ahead of everyone that she was nearly out of earshot. She grit her teeth and almost angrily mulled over everything to herself, nervous, paranoid eyes scanned her now brightening surroundings, hoping somehow that she could see said familiar glowing eyes once more, simply so she could lunge at whoever this enemy was and take them down, even if it meant colliding with one of Nox's older brothers. She glowered into the never-ending spill of golden sugar grass, how beautifully the canopy swayed, she was surrounded by the gorgeousness of it all, though somehow her anger overrode everything. She shook her head in whole agitation and, through huff of a release, she threw her gaze up to said canopies overhead.

As if looking into a void of glowing, golden dreams, Sugar Rush proudly boasted some of the many aspects of it's raw beauty, and as tears stung her eyes, she glowered up to the minty morning sky and huffed a shaky breath of pure, unadulterated defeat. Although she suddenly felt this weird sting of defeat, like an enemy looming over her, she somehow felt invigorated, as if she had silently and secretly just hit rock bottom, and there was absolutely no other way but up, just where her gaze remained. With a final breath of further release, of finally letting go of the situation, everything she had ever dreamed or hoped, she somehow felt comforted. Her feet carried her forward, the cold morning breeze whisked her hair about, and it was in this rush of her home's enveloping hug did she feel her shoulders finally sag in understanding.

As she reopened her gaze and peered down the straight, paved path through the glowing forest, she heaved a shaky breath as the light at the end of the tunnel finally twinkled into her perspective. As many tears gathered at her jaw, she finally felt confidence return to her footsteps, as if somehow letting go of what she couldn't control, looking up and not ahead, giving in to the grip she's had the world in, she was immediately blessed with an answer, a prayer heard; to find her way out of this figurative maze. As if Sugar Rush was promising her, with this simple glint of sunshine, that she would make it to the end, if only she persevered. With a long, solid exhale of gathering thoughts, she bobbed a small nod, a silent thank you to her home game, and it was in this did she gently turn heel and scan her castle-search party for the one individual who knew TurboTime racers best.

"Hey, Nox?" Tessa's voice carried to the group far away, and although she continued to backstep and carry the group to deliverance, she was delighted to see Nox's sweet, glowing gaze look up from his and Ace's bumbling conversation. Tessa gingerly gestured her hand over to herself, to cue Nox to joining her and her alone, for the time being.

"What's up, Tess?" Nox's voice staggered as he jogged to catch up to Tessa's walking position, far ahead of the group. He lightly panted and straightened out his shirt once he was caught up.

"Hey... I just... I know this may sound weird, but I really just need to confide in you, for a second," Tessa's voice was finally calm and confident, and although her eyes were glassy, she gave Nox a renewed smile, "Y'mind lending an ear?"

"Not at all, what's going on?" Nox prod tenderly, and as he laid his sweet, golden eyes into Tessa's, she felt her heart swell in whole confusion; nearly the same gaze that she saw in the pitch black, not hours prior, was now reborn in this delicate, sensitive gaze that was her future brother-in-law.

"I... Well..." Tessa nervously gripped her own hands as her and Nox fell into step together, their shoulders nearly brushed, Tessa felt safe in Nox's gentle, loving presence. She heaved a hot sigh through her nose and gently volleyed her gaze to Nox's inquisitive stare, "When Ace was born, I went blind, as you know... I had suffered really terrible hallucinations."

"Yeah, I-I... I think Ace told me about that, once," Nox's deep voice gingerly coat Tessa's soul in warmth, a camaraderie that was pure and sealed.

"I just... I need to tell you that, one of the first hallucinations I had, when Ace was just a baby, was, well... Of Turbo," Tessa stated in a wavering tone as she grimaced and gave Nox a nervous look, "I-I mean... Either Turbo or Lash. I really can't recall. I know I was just recently in Turbo's presence, but... I-I hardly had three seconds to take it all in."

"Well, as you know, Turbo is a lot taller than me, he's about Ace's and Zed's height," Nox smiled, "He's bigger built, much similar to Lash. Lash is only a little bit taller than me, but... Somehow Throttle and I got a more ganglier figure, as opposed to Turbo and Lash. They're solid... Again, much like Ace and Zed."

"But Lash is shorter?" Tessa inquired curiously, Nox nodded.

"Yeah, Lash is only a tiny bit taller than me," Nox shrugged, he looked off in a sheepish way, as if to state he knew he was on the shorter spectrum of the boys, though he looked as though he had come to terms with it.

"Odd," Tessa fingered her lip and now had to reassess a few things, "Well... Now that I recall, when I was hallucinating, I had never met any of you boys... But, my hallucination was that of a shorter TurboTime racer."

"Surely not short and gangly?" Nox worried with a small smile as he gestured to himself, "I'd never torture yah like that. I was just an EZ Living bum."

"No, it... It's just odd," Tessa narrowed her gaze and gave Nox a floored look of disbelief, "How can you have visions or dreams or hallucinations of people you haven't met?"

Nox remained silent and knew this question was purely rhetorical. Nox's gentle gaze eased into Tessa's with inquiry, as if to silently plea her to carry on with her wonderings, as if he was just simply floored she chose him, out of everyone, to confide in and lean on for comfort. Tessa long-blinked in continued wondering, opened her mouth to speak but fell short for a moment as she shook her head, as if to be dumbfounded. Nox breathed a small chuckle, which cued a smile to broaden across Tessa's face.

"Nox, I... I saw someone, in the forest, a few hours ago," Tessa admitted softly, and although she was certain Nox would spring into action and loudly urge to cue everyone to danger in the moment, and not hours later, he remained calm and kept his demeanor like still water, his eager yet gentle gaze continued to hold fast to hers, like a warm hug for her eyes.

"... Did this person look like me?" Nox pressed quietly, the lilt of loving curiosity in his tone, he hoped to convey safe patience whilst Tessa was vulnerable.

"Yeah, just... Meaner," Tessa worried, "I only saw his eyes, but... You know what people say about eyes."

"Windows to the soul," Nox smiled as he looked off and narrowed his pure, yet creepy gaze. He finally beamed as a chuckle shook from his ribcage, "It's difficult to narrow down, Tess... Sometimes, at first glance, you could be looking through just a dirty window. One that needs to be cleaned, resurfaced, loved on... Sometimes we put blinds or curtains on windows, or even board them up completely."

Tessa raised her eyebrows and allowed Nox's wisdom to soak over her, it was in this instance did she remember that Nox had been in this Arcade even longer than her own mother, the very home game they tread in. Nox finally broke their eye contact, beamed a sneaky smirk and almost now nervously looked about the forest they eased through, the wide paved path that guaranteed that much of an open space of safety.

"Sometimes the people who we think are our enemies harbor an equal amount of hurt as we do... They just choose to project different avenues of said hurt," Nox's voice grumbled as he continued to warily look around, though he finally brought his gaze back to Tessa's, "Whether you were simply hallucinating or potentially saw one of my brothers... Don't allow yourself to be as scared as you've been told to be. Hurt people hurt people. I'm absolutely certain Turbo just... Needs love."

"Love," Tessa eased in an unsure stammer as she cocked an eyebrow, and although she wanted to go off about how he nearly ruined his mother's life and has turned this game upside down, she halted her angry musings and thought on her father, one of the biggest bad guys in this entire Arcade. Tessa slumped her shoulders and heaved a hot sigh through her nose, though she repeated said word with a bit more tenderness, "... Love."

"Love," Nox assured confidently with a gentle smile, his eyes hooked tight to Tessa's, that warm hug of contact once more, "Y'ever think any one of us Turbo-dudes could give or receive love?"

"I-I mean, I don't know, you guys were the stuff of nightmares when Olly, Penny and I were growing up," Tessa boldly retort with a smirk and a shrug, as if to be self-aware that she was allowing Nox's wisdom to coat her frustrated, shortsighted thoughts.

"We are pretty scary looking," Nox nodded in admittance, he gave Tessa a wide, loving smile and narrowed his creepy gaze, "Then again, so is Ralph."

"Dad?" Tessa choked a laugh and gently nudged Nox's arm, "He's just a teddy bear."

"From your standpoint," Nox chimed as he wobbled and joined Tessa in laughter, he swayed and looked ahead of him in confidence, "From your standpoint, Turbo looks like a horrible person, someone who couldn't possibly have a heart... But from where I'm standing, he's... Misunderstood. Lost. Probably distraught."

Tessa frowned and gave Nox her serious eye contact, she sagged her shoulders and now felt her heart strings pull in a direction of guilt, one of understanding just what it meant to be misunderstood or misfitted. She sighed and looked down to her dirty bare feet; she knew she'd likely have to suck it up and put on the boots she so hesitantly packed, due to the cold.

"His voice was so soft and careful, his jokes were so hilarious, he was... The last person to begin eating whenever we'd go out, no matter what," Nox listed as his nostalgic gaze got lost in the cleanly paved asphalt beneath them, "He was secretive about his romances, but... I assure you, he was a lover. Not a fighter."

"Then what is this all about?" Tessa suddenly hissed in a rise of agitation, "What's with the leering, the hallucinations, this, this... TORTURE?"

"Tessa, I really don't know what to tell you," Nox urged softly as he gingerly gripped Tessa's upper arm and brought the two to a lulling halt, Tessa huffed a hard breath and looked off in continued defeat, "I can tell you one thing, though."

Tessa inhaled a deep breath through her nose, a long drag of Sugar Rush's cold air. She long blinked her sorrowful, confused hazel gaze straight into Nox's and awaited his word, though she softened her stance as Nox's loving eyes coat her whole entire soul with long-before realized, mulling thoughts.

"I love you," Nox stated warmly, he peaked a toothy smile and gently shook his head, "I know I'm not the only Turbo-boy with the capacity to love, and to be loved... Please... Please give Turbo a chance. User knows where he is or what his motives are, but... I know cold hearts can be warmed."

Tessa finally breathed a long sigh of delightful defeat through her nose as she looked down to hers and Nox's feet. She finally bobbed a nod and admitted to Nox's words of wisdom. She side-eyed Nox and gave him a cheeky, widening grin of teasing delight. She knew this boy was incredibly special to not only Ace, but her little sister Koko as well. Tessa blurt a small, muted chuckle and shook her head.

"I love you too, dude," Tessa concluded softly, she knew all of Nox's words had merit beyond belief, though she so hoped that all of it could eventually be realized.

"See? I gave love, and now, I'm receiving it," Nox stated in a cheesy tone of dumbed-down silliness, Tessa largely rolled her eyes as Nox took a step or two closer to Tessa, "C'mon... How about a hug for your favorite future brother?"

"No," Tessa teased as she gently shoved on Nox's shoulder and began to step away, though Nox playfully dove for her and grappled her shoulders.

"Hug me!" Nox blurt as Tessa suddenly howled with laughter, though Nox was successful in wrapping his arms tight about Tessa's shoulder and pulling her into a tight, swaying obnoxious hug.

"You win," Tessa blurt in laughter as she finally wrapped her arms about Nox's center and eased into his squeezing, loving embrace.

She sighed and rested her chin atop Nox's shoulder, his dusty grey hair tickled her nose. She lulled her eyes closed and gripped Nox tighter, and in a rush of gratefulness for this rare and wonderful soul, she soaked in his readily available give and take of love, so easily supplied and gratefully received. She knew this was a good lesson to learn, even this late into the game. She knew no amount of battling or strong arming could fulfill even her largest desires, of winning the game and becoming Queen. Tessa soaked in Nox's resonating wisdom as the group slowly caught up to the two, and in a gathered bubble of love, Tessa was well aware that it simply was the only thing going to see everyone through.


	249. Chapter 249

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** Aww wow, that really brought a smile to my face - and kept it there for like kind of a hot minute xD Thank you so much. I'm pretty lucky to have him, as well! I always try to keep my characters on their toes, when it comes to life lessons. I don't want anyone to be perfect.

 **Burgie :** You'd be on to something, that's for sure :) Thank you so much!

 **NightHex54 :** Yes! I'm glad that stuck out! And don't worry about it, I know FF can be a butt sometimes. Glad you got to catch up, tho! :)

 **copet :** Hey! Thank you SO much for that, and thanks for being there with and for me since nearly the beginning! Also, another HUGE thank you for being my **1,700th ** reviewer! **CONGRATS!**

 **MightyNinja2000 :** Oh awesome! xD Yeah it's not every day I run across another person named Tessa. Come to think of it, I don't think I EVER have. Even before my name change haha.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** LOL I'm glad the lot of you noticed that whole 5th story bit... IT'S TRUE! I'm trying to reign myself in, for sure. More details will come, likely after the 4th story has aired. I'm trying not to get way too ahead of myself, but I already have the main character and title down, so that's fun :D I very much enjoyed con, thank you so much! As always, it's a ton of fun, but EXTREMELY exhausting. I still have yet to catch up on my sleep xD But it's all good, here! I also appreciate you championing me about the therapy. It's helped! I've come back to reality with a new fire, and I'm excited for this new beginning of mine. I also appreciate you loving on my characters, and their different developments as they come. Zed is shaping up to be a good father, I'd say! Every goofy, fun-loving parent has their strict side; Zed just shows his a bit harder than Tessa does. I have a feeling that will be mine and Cory's dynamic, whenever him and I are to have children. Anyways, thanks for everything!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **House Wren by Owl City** (it is 100% coincidence that this song coincides with the beginning of this chapter omg)

 **Lucid Dream by Owl City**

* * *

 ***Chapter 249***

In the glints of Dead Zed's foggy, winter, morning sun, Taffyta squinted in sleepy hesitation. She rested her gentle fingertips to the cold glass of her balcony doors and peered out. Although she had a perfect view of Ace's tower, as well as the castle's pool, she also could see a corner of a glimpse of Throttle's abode, all properly crowned with buds of greenery that flourished in the cooler weather.

Taffyta grimaced as a small twinge of morning sickness could be felt crawling about her stomach. She narrowed her gaze in rising discomfort, though she knew either going into the kitchen or laying back down would likely just trigger the nausea further. She resorted to opening the glass door, finally letting a rush of the cold air hit her warm cheeks. She gratefully inhaled, the burst of the cool breeze quelled her nauseated thoughts, if only for a few moments.

With bare feet she began to slowly regret not covering, she crossed the cold tiles of the Kalivar's pristine, solid silent backyard patio. Taffyta smiled up to the morning sun and was grateful the lot was quiet and sleepy, for the time being. She was aware likely only one being was awake right now, excluding Ralph and any other gamer with quarter alerts. She lazily moseyed her way to Throttle's abode, his patio being the first bend closest to her, alongside her path.

As she approached, she tilted her head and peered into the gentle overhang of greenery that Throttle gratefully welcomed. Like she guessed, Throttle was on his patio, sitting patiently and calmly, though his creepy, attentive, pixel-cubed eyes were absolutely fixated to the small birds nest over his head, to his right. He had successfully fashioned a small divide between the door and the bird nest, so not to startle the little family of wrens from here on out. The baby chicks inside could be heard chirping away, eagerly waiting for their mother to return with breakfast.

"Didn't scare 'em off, huh?" Taffyta tenderly pressed as she crossed her arms, she sport Rancis's cozy, chocolate brown hoodie, clad with his own logos, racing number and Sugar Rush embellishments.

"I certainly almost did," Throttle's undivided attention finally broke as he readjusted his gaze to hone in on Taffyta, who slowly welcomed herself into Throttle's patio. He huffed a silent chuckle, straightened his grey t-shirt and crossed his arms loosely, he shook his head in mild dismay and peered back up to the cute, tidy nest, "Putting up that divide was actually pretty difficult."

"Really?" Taffyta inquired gently as she sat down with Throttle at his outdoor patio table, it was round and only light littered with old coffee and tea rings.

"Yeah, I had to put it up once mom was away," Throttle rubbed the back of his head in mild agitation and huffed a chuckle, "She was NOT happy with me getting close... I mean, understandably so, but still. I'm just trying to help."

"Seems like it all worked out in the end," Taffyta smiled as she relaxed in Throttle's patio chair, it was sloped in a cozy fashion, it croaked with the show of its use.

"How are you doing?" Throttle tenderly inquired, he crossed his arms and fixated his pixel-stare straight into Taffyta's soul; typically a scary, intimidating gaze, his was gentle and loving, much similar to Nox. Taffyta had to wonder if she was just simply getting used to the bizarre sight of a pupil that wasn't rounded, like normal, "You're due in about a week, right?"

"Yep, closing in on six days," Taffyta trailed off, she looked way in a bashful manner and knew she had come over here for one single reason. She bit her lip and let her eyes trail the diminishing glow of Ace's fire flowers, after burning brightly all night, they dim in the gleaming sunshine the day brought, "I wasn't nervous a few days ago, but... Now I'm beginning to feel it."

"Aw, how come?" Throttle tilted his head in sympathy and narrowed his tender gaze, his demeanor was as still as could be, like simply being in the presence of a deer.

"I don't know, I... I somehow think I'm just anxious for Rancis to get home," Taffyta prod, she tucked her white hair behind her ears and finally tried to relax in Throttle's patio chair, her nausea only just began to subside, "I... I would hate for this baby to, well... Be raised without a father."

"...You're worried Rancis won't make it back?" Throttle asked after a few moments of silence between the two, he wondered just what he was allowed to.

"I mean, yeah... A major part of me has always just been prepared for him never to return," Taffyta sighed, she finally gave Throttle her worried gaze and a shrug to boot, "After the first time Rancis, well... 'Died', I've always just sort of continued to brace myself for it. User knows if he's still somehow connected to Radex, or not."

"Certainly they'll find out," Throttle nodded, his eyes trailed his loved patio table, the dark wood was worn and weathered, "I'm positive Tessa and her Users will do everything in their power to keep things from going wrong. I know they won't let you down... At least without their best fight."

"I know they'll do everything to can to see that everyone makes it out alive," Taffyta frowned, it only broadened from here, "I worry for my son... I just want him to know his father."

"Well," Throttle stated through a hard sigh, "I... I know you don't want to think about it, but... On the off chance they don't make it, I know there are plenty of men on this lot, right this second, that would gladly step up to the plate and step in as a good male role model."

"I know, I... I've been trying to glue my mind to that fact," Taffyta finally peaked a bashful smile as she remembered just why she came over here, "I know Ralph will likely take that position... He's been doting on me left and right. If I recall, he let slip, the other day, that him and Vanellope potentially want to try for a fourth."

"...Seriously?" Throttle's smile lit up the place, his eyes brightened with renewed energy.

"Yeah, he said that they would want to wait a year or two, let Tessa get settled in as Queen," Taffyta waggled her hand and only teasingly rolled her eyes, "Somehow a fourth may be on the horizon... Hence Ralph wanting to play 'dad' as soon as he can."

"Sounds like it's more Ralph's idea than anything," Throttle breathed a gentle chuckle and let his eyes narrow in a wider, happier smile.

"I know Vanellope wouldn't complain," Taffyta stated through a sigh and a smile that broadened with Throttle's. She gently tapped the table, near Throttle's arm, and gave him a cute, knowing smile, "I, uh... I actually came over here to thank you."

"Thank me?" Throttle pressed as his smile dropped and sagged into a look of boyish curiosity, a dewy, innocent look of wonder.

"Yeah, of course," Taffyta said cheerfully as she crossed her arms and shrugged; she gently glanced up to the bird's nest, just across the patio's overhang, "I wanted to thank you because you, well... Inspired the baby's name."

"...ME?" Throttle wondered in a gentle choke as he finally let a huge smile burst forth, one he had been trying his hardest to conceal, "You're naming the baby something because of me?"

"Yes, because of you! I wanted to come over and thank you for the idea, and let you know that you had inspired it," Taffyta giggled as she looked off and smiled, "I had been battling with names all week, but... I've finally come to my decision, and it was all thanks to you."

"Well, what are you naming him?" Throttle wondered in whole bewilderment, his eyes hooked tight to Taffyta's happy blue orbs that lobbed his way in cheeky knowing.

"...Wren," Taffyta stated in a gentle little of cuteness; Throttle's eyes hung tight to hers as he froze for a moment, though he finally sagged his shoulders and looked down to his lap with a wide, knowing grin. After a moment of gentle laughter between the two, he looked deep into Taffyta's eyes and gave her the warmest smile.

"It's perfect," Throttle softly agreed, Taffyta loudly giggled and nodded as the two continued to share laughter, "That's very sweet of you, and I'm glad I could be apart of the process."

"You're the first person I've told," Taffyta pressed in tenderness, the vulnerability in her eyes soaked into Throttle's now humble presence, "I figured it was only fair."

"Well..." Throttle trailed off, and after he glanced over his shoulder to the little nest of wrens he was keeping safe on his patio, he dragged his knowing gaze back to Taffyta and gave her a loving smile, "I can't wait to meet Wren. I'm honored I had a hand in naming your baby."

"I have you to thank," Taffyta smiled with a concluding nod, to which Throttle sighed and twiddled his fingers in his lap.

"It's my pleasure," Throttle warmly eased.

* * *

In a stiff, solid glide above a heavy fog, Tessa and Lickity lead the flight crew. After a long night of flying, long after leaving the sugar grass forest, Sugar Rush's sunrise began to peak through the thick cloud cover to everyone's right. Tessa squinted and peered to the sunrise, she knew the crew would have to eventually slip underneath the cloud cover and somehow find a safe spot to sleep. In a smooth glance over her shoulder, she counted everyone in the flight pattern and was relieved to come to a full headcount. She knew all the flyers here were quick and sharp, though she was also certain that Sugar Rush's heavy fog was quick to swallow even the keenest of ears and eyes.

Tessa's warm hands gingerly slid to the side of Lickity's neck, and in a gesture of a squeeze and a pat, she communicated to Lickity without words. Now that Lickity and Balba were officially without their ability to talk, Tessa was absolutely certain this bothered them, especially Lickity. Although Lickity could still understand Tessa's words, she somehow hoped conveying communication through touch or eye contact would ease the pain of her loss of said special ability. As if the two were cued on the same brainwave, Lickity's stiff wings gingerly folded in, causing her to sink in altitude, and with such, the three flyers behind her easily followed suit. Tessa inhaled a refreshed breath and felt sleep begin to want to overtake her, she hunkered tighter to Lickity's spine and was patiently awaiting for the group to pop out from underneath the thick fog they were previously flying over.

As condensation began to gather in little beads on Tessa's hair and the fur of her thick winter coat, she wrinkled her nose and attempted to wipe some of it away. In a gentle pop of Lickity's wings, as well as the three flyers behind her, they came out of the thick, hazy fog and into a gentle sprinkling of rain. Tessa beamed a curious smile and squinted through the hazy darkness, though she was absolutely thrilled to find that the group had come about one of Sugar Rush's race tracks. She sat up a little and quickly looked over her shoulder, so to hopefully gain eye contact with her mother, who was aboard Marble alongside Zed. Tessa's smiled broadened as Vanellope's met hers, her mother urgently pointed, and with such, the group began to quickly liven. Without any hesitation, Tessa diligently steered Lickity down to the wide, paved asphalt that wound about in displays of perfect streets to drift on, pop of yellow street lines cleanly spanned the tracks.

"This is incredible," Ace's boyish voice echoed, his now covered feet stepped to the damp concrete undertow, and although they were easing from the haze, it was clear they were on a large, flat plane of winding tracks and streets. Cleverly wound about the tracks were massive slabs of concrete, each with a gorgeous display of etchings, candy and flower shapes of all kinds. As the group began to only lightly disperse about the massive slab of concrete, they admired the craftsmanship of this track's entirety, "I'm sure many-a race has been won on this track, huh, Ma?"

"Betch'yer sprinkles," Vanellope snipped with a nostalgic smile as she heaved a nearly-fogged breath and crossed her arms, she sagged and volleyed Rancis a lazy, teasing smile, "HUH, Mr. Fluggertbutter?"

"Quit," Rancis muttered in a teasing show of degradedness.

"Not your track, huh, dad," Penny huffed with a small giggle as the group began to disperse a little bit farther apart, in quite steps of delicate curiosity, mindsets only on the brink of wondering where to rest for the morning.

"I don't think Uncle Gloyd much appreciated this track, either, if I recall," Tessa smiled as she lofted her hood off of her head and shook her hair out of her furry coat, though in the jostle, she furrowed her brow and double-took on something in the distance.

Through the quickly moving fog, lightly glistened with the morning sun that so eagerly fought with it, was a cloaked figure. Tessa halted and held her breath, though she began to feel whole irritation soak her skin. She sagged her shoulders and let her defenses down, for she knew this was only simply a hallucination. She glared down the faded, cloaked figure, only just barely kissed with those familiar, golden glowing eyes. She shook her head and silently muttered a few annoyed obscenities to herself, she wondered just when her mind would stop playing pranks on her. Tessa rolled her eyes and immediately knew to disregard this, though as she lazily turned heel and peered back to her group, she raised her eyebrows in a numbing, prickled surprise to find one thing; everyone was frozen solid, eyes glued to the same cloaked figure Tessa only thought was her imagination haunting her mind.

Tessa urgently raised her eyebrows and froze in the turn back to the group, and as if she had to so suddenly keep shifting in and out of different gears, she halted that sigh of relief that she decided to let out of her lungs too soon. Every single person's eyes was glued to this figure across the way, poised in frozen fear, all four flyers stood perched in whole alert, ears and eyes honed tight to the cloaked enemy beyond the stretch of fog. Tessa huffed a shaky breath and felt every single nerve-ending in her being begin to wiggle in the premature adrenaline rush that so desperately tried to take over, though as she slowly turned back to look at the mysteriously cloaked gamer in their midsts, said shiver of fear very quick began to turn into heated, reverberating rage; this was her moment, finally all of the lies her brain had been taunting her with were now realized as true. Tessa grit her teeth, clenched her fists and huffed an angry exhale of a cue to her loyal group.

"Showtime."


	250. Chapter 250

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** Hey, thanks so much! :D Actually, that picture that your referring to, is no longer canon. The little girl in Vanellope's lap is actually Koko, and the supposed 'fourth child' I was referring to was supposed to be Koko's twin, but the story didn't pan out that way... And Ace and Libby are the ones that end up with twins :D The main character of the 5th story has already been shown like, in his adolescent stage, but I've yet to reveal his name and exactly who he is and why and etc. - I appreciate you hanging with me for such a long time, it's things like this that really encourage me to keep going! So thank you!

 **Burgie :** Hoooo is it ever xD Glad you're stoked!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Aw thank you! :D I'm pretty nervous actually haha

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **The time has come! In either a review for THIS CHAPTER or a PM, go ahead and send in your sketch-requests for my 50th chapter sketchdump event! :D **

* * *

**Song Listened To :**

 **Heart Of Courage by Two Steps From Hell**

* * *

 ***Chapter 250***

Even though the fog gently continued to drift along the damp concrete of Sugar Rush's cold racing arena, one of the game's largest tracks, the air was prickled with frozen tension. Though said cloaked figure was a decent distance away, Tessa was certain that conversing was still plausible. The wind so softly howled in a silent whir of eeriness, something that most definitely added to the situation. Tessa clenched her fists and was thrilled that every single gamer, that stood hot on her heels, were frozen solid, like soldiers waiting for their go-ahead, she felt her heart soar with the sheer fact that, although she considered everyone here equal, she was relieved that in a time of urgency, they knew exactly who called the shots.

"Syntax?" Tessa's dominant, boom of a voice carried across the stretch; she licked her dry, crackled lips and narrowed her gaze through the gentle mist of foggy rain that seemingly hung in the air like dew, it bristled her eyelashes in said-collective dewiness. Before said stranger could answer, Tessa heaved a shaky breath only meant for her game-mates, "Y'guys are seeing this too, right?"

"Crystal clear, boss," Orph spat as he firmly grappled the rungs of his whips, strapped to his waist; everyone was at the ready.

"Syntax!" Tessa's voice asked in further aggression, the cloaked figure's eyes gently averted to the ground underneath their feet, the distinct, golden glow cued Tessa into believing this was either Lash or Turbo.

Tessa clenched her fists and dared to take an unaggressive step out and to the side, in a moseying fashion. She side-eyed this figure, their cloak swayed in the wind, it was everything her nightmares were previously made of, and she was absolutely certain her mother and uncle were riddled with nostalgia; the scary bedtime stories of the intruder, seemingly a far off haunting, now fully realized before them, Tessa shook her head and now almost wished this was simply a taunting hallucination. Tessa inhaled a deep breath and wondered just why her thoughts were so calmed and ready, though she knew, in the back of her mind, she had been waiting for this fight.

"Finally decided to stop weaving in and out of those trees, huh?" Tessa called, her cold voice reverberated against the frozen concrete, and yet, the cloak figure remained in solid listening, "The infamous, dark, cloaked hallucination, now fully realized... I just wish you'd at least show your pathetic face before we run it into the ground."

Zed grit his teeth and was aware Tessa had a knack for talking a big talk, and although he was absolutely certain Tessa alone could hand this figure his entire ass, Zed still felt a creeping nervousness come over him. Although this person was very scarily out numbered, Zed felt his stomach sink with an unwavering feeling of dread, as if it was now becoming clear that Tessa's side of the coin was the one that was vastly outnumbered.

"Tessa," Zed's deep voice gently warned, though he wasn't surprised to see Tessa nearly disregard his plea.

"So, what's it going to be?" Tessa barked with a snide smile and a great amount of cockiness, she gestured her arms out, "You got us all, right here, in the palm of your hand... Except, you're horribly outnumbered. Why don't we all just... Quietly sort this out..."

Tessa cocked an eyebrow and eyed this figure, and although she felt confidence flooding her views just seconds ago, she huffed a shaky breath and now felt that cold spill of dread come over her, as well. She swallowed hard and clenched her fists, very rapidly reminded that half of her team, behind her, was without their swap-mate's natural abilities.

"... And no one gets hurt," Tessa concluded calmly, she desperately tried to reel in her arrogance, though as if on a cue she had somehow planned, she felt her pupils tighten at the crawl of a confusing sight before her.

As if the atmosphere before this person was being warped, a strange bolt of energy came shooting her way, and before she had time to react, she choked a startled breath, reeled her head back with the recoil of her suddenly arched spine and fell to her knees. In a vacuum-sealed vat of paralysis, Tessa crumpled to the ground in a helpless show of pure defeat, and within seconds of Tessa's knees buckling, only one ear-piercing bark of aggression could be heard. Although the group froze at the confusing, dire sight, Lickity was first to dive into the air, the first to strike, the absolute first to react with her pure animalistic instinct, and just as everyone so rapidly joined the bandwagon and bared their weapon in a charge of battle, it all came to a screeching halt the second Lickity's whole body was so viciously thrashed to the ground, straight from her twenty-foot leap into the air.

With a reverberating thud, Lickity came neck, chest and jaw first back to the ground, and with such, a loud crunching noise could be heard, one of broken bones, and although the group had their weapons bared, their game face on, they all immediately came to a cold halt as said cloaked figure could be seen with simply one hand outstretched. Lickity roared a cry in pure agony and sagged to the ground, Tessa laid paralyzed on the wet concrete, and as if all of this information couldn't be realized quick enough, Zed grit his teeth, wrinkled his nose in whole rage and felt that rush of jolting instinct seemingly overcome him, as well. Although he knew it'd simply be his demise, he still opened his palms, took a rushing step forward and attempted to give this cloaked enemy all he got, every last ounce of his glitching power... Only to completely fall short.

"Dad," Ace barked through the grit of his teeth as his large hand firmly grappled for Zed's, which mysteriously shone in a shake of blue and silver coding, one of which didn't really know which to let surface.

In the split seconds that Zed and Ace locked eyes, and had taken their gaze off of their enemy, Libby inhaled a shaky breath and drew her line of sight to this cloaked figure. As if in slow motion, said menacing, outstretched hand sent a shock wave of warped, time-shifting energy straight for Zed and Ace, who were only unaware for a matter of split seconds. In the rush of pinging, cued adrenaline, Libby inhaled a sharp gasp, jolted on the balls of her feet and took a near-leaping dive in front of Ace and Zed, with her back to their enemy. In hopes of ultimately shielding Ace and Zed, Libby scrunched her face in anticipation and forced her beautiful, golden honeycombs to sprawl the entirety of her back; she shut her eyes tight and firmly braced herself for impact, though she prayed somehow her diligent User coding was able to deflect this paralyzing attack, something she was certain she could use against this foe.

Although Libby didn't exactly know what to expect, she inhaled a sharp, audible gasp of a cry as this foe's attack hit her like a bolt of lightning. As if these two opposing forces somehow were in equal strength, the golden coding on her back flared with the brightest intensity, harsh, hot sparks of fire and electricity went shooting in all directions, and as Libby's eyes popped open with a fierce, golden glow of just how intense the impact was, she practically looked through Ace and Zed, a far off look of cold remembrance, and although everyone jolted and took a good dozen or so steps back, Libby felt the world around her tunnel in, and in a matter of seconds, she felt a strange rush of ancient memories come flooding her mind. Memories she had absolutely no clue about, no way to kickstart them and replay them for old times sake. Although sparks continued to fly, she remained paralyzed in the grip of this odd gamer's grip, simply as if he was using stone cold memories as his only weapon. Libby allowed this person to drown her entirely, simply as if she was the only one who could handle it.

 _"See you after game day?" Turbo flashed an irresistible smile, as Libby turned to put her short, white hair into a cute, little pony tail, she rolled her eyes with a bashful smile and turned heel._

 _"You mean after MY game day?" Libby pressed in a bratty way, "Libby Swirlz doesn't have competition anymore... What's Sweet Streets to do?"_

 _"Come on, don't rub dirt in the wound," Turbo huffed, he approached Libby and was floored by the coy dance of resistance she did to get out of his gravity, though his persistent, loving dominance finally overrode their sugar-coated display of a simple honeymoon phase, "It's difficult not being in charge of your own game, anymore... I really do miss TurboTime."_

 _"Sorry," Libby stated in gentleness, she knew she sometimes took her bratty sass a little too far, she wrinkled her nose and gingerly shrugged, her cute, cerulean blue racing jacket, all crowned with hints and pops of royal golds and oranges, bunched at her upper arms, "If it helps, we all can race after game day... I hear Mallow wants a crack at your record."_

 _"She'd likely come close," Turbo stated through grit teeth, he nervously chuckled as Libby gave him a gentle swat, though she felt her cheeks get hot the second Turbo's loving grip tightened, his hot breath hovered over her neck, near her ear, "Not as close as you did, though..."_

 _"Stop," Libby shyly giggled, she draped her arms about his broad shoulders and neck, she absolutely melted into his grip and whispered onto his shoulder, "Do, uh... Your brothers know?"  
_

 _"They wormed it out of me," Turbo grumbled, though he so warmly planted a few kisses to Libby's collar bone before releasing her, "What can I say... You're worth bragging about."_

 _"Don't forget our date tonight," Libby chimed with a wide smile as Turbo began to saunter towards the entrance of the Great Hall, Sweet Streets' glorious castle glistened in the morning sunlight. Libby volleyed a smile over her shoulder as Lash quietly invited himself into the kitchen, where Turbo was leaving, "Y'still gotta get that special ice cream for Lash."_

 _"Stupid that they only have ONE location in all of Sweet Streets," Lash grumbled, his bed head was off the charts, he wore a tattered red sleep shirt and pants, though as Turbo called a few more sweet things in Libby's direction, Lash gently eyed Libby and cocked an eyebrow, "I'm surprised at you, Libby Von Swirlz."_

 _"... Wait, why?" Libby pressed as she furrowed her brow and began to gather her things for race day, the last thing to be snatched was her bright blue racing helmet, properly plastered with a crown._

 _"I'm just surprised you don't see that... Look... In Turbo's eye," Lash almost meanly insinuated, though with this, Libby began to feel protective._

 _"What are you saying, exactly?" Libby gave Lash a stern look; of Turbo's younger brothers, Lash was the quietest, the moodiest; although his demeanor was gentle and almost sweet, he still only spoke when it was to nearly speak ill of others._

 _"Just... Please be careful, Libby," Lash finally sighed and let down his guard, he looked Libby in the eye with great earnest and shook his head, "I'd... I'd hate for you to get hurt."_

 _"HURT?" Libby prod in cheeky annoyance, she shook her head and nearly smiled at Lash, "You're making it seem like I swapped with a monster, Lash. This is your older brother we're talking about."_

 _"... Exactly," Lash grumbled as he looked off, though he gave Libby a look of gentle inquisition, "Turbo has always had a need for first place... To call the shots... You're the Queen of Sweet Streets. Where exactly does that put him, now that you two share codes?"_

 _"... It's not like we're married or anything," Libby sagged her shoulders and began to let her guard down as well, she took note of Lash's gentleness, "H-He wouldn't... Really try and take the reigns on everything, would he?"_

 _"He has your coding," Lash shrugged, he gave Libby a sorrowful, defeated look and shook his head, "I'd watch your step, Libby... Turbo is a great man, but... I know he's only in it to win it."_

 _Libby furrowed her brow and peered deep into Lash's eyes, and although she knew to keep Lash at arm's length, she frowned and felt her heart sink in confusion. She knew Turbo and Lash had a younger brother, Nox, who had disappeared to EZ Living, and an older one who had vanished to User-knows-where, and although she was well aware the trek to find Nox would be worth it, she bit her lip and began to second guess her next step. She knew trusting Lash would go against everything she had come to know and love about Turbo, though she nervously gathered her things and pondered on the ominous long-haul of her's and Turbo's now eternally conjoined relationship._

As if she softly had melted back to reality, Libby urgently panted as the chaos came to a dead stop, her eyes refocused to just what was in front of her; new beings that she now only felt as if she knew for such a tiny amount of time, the dump of three decades that came crashing down onto her, she felt her limbs shake in the rile of unadulterated confusion, and just as she locked her gaze with Ace, her new swap mate, she felt a rush of horrid dread just drown her whole soul. She shook her head and felt her eyes well with cold tears, and before she could urgently reassure everyone that she was a-okay, she took that dreaded slow turn to the person behind her, one so long forgotten, one nearly reprogrammed out of her memory, until now.

"...Turbo?" Libby huffed in a shaky breath of question, one absolutely soaked with excitement, but also a venomous amount of dread and hatred.


	251. Chapter 251

**Reviews :**

 **Nikki Firesong :** You're absolutely right... Radex wouldn't simply just be out in the open like that. Good call ;) And no, Sweet Streets is Sugar Rush's demo. TurboTime never had a demo game, cause it's much older. Thank you! I'll add them to the list of sketches once you send it my way!

 **Snake557 :** Aww, shy Zed haha. A rare sight indeed! But I will add it :D And yes, you're actually semi-right... My ORIGINAL theory was to make Libby Radex's daughter... But that was in the early stages of plotting RO, before it had ever been written. It morphed into her being Turbo's swap mate. So you weren't way too far off from the original plan haha. So there's something!

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** I'll add your requests to the list! Thank you! :D And yes, Libby is technically higher ranking than Vanellope - she has been all along and didn't even know it! :P

 **NightHex54 :** I'm glad I can continue to keep an element of surprise with my story xD

 **Xaehttium :** Very few of you! I had to bite my tongue a lot, but hearing everyone else's theories were really fun and interesting :D No worries, friend! I understand how busy life can get.

 **Jay Sketchin :** LMAO I WUMBO HE SHE THEY WUMBO- WAITTTTTTTTT. I always laugh reading your reviews haha. and YES I will add that scene! It's one of my favorite scenes too, any tender moments between them are too good to pass up. There actually will be another gooey tender moment between Orph and Lickity in the next chapter :D YAY BONDING

 **chuckiboo :** I'm glad it still came as somewhat of a surprise to you! :D I'll add your requests to my list! Thank you!

 **emonekocind** y : haha I feel that xD I've added your request to the list! Thanks :D

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 **A/N :**

 **QUICK update - we just bought a condo in North Tallahassee and are closing at the middle/end of this month! So forgive slower updates around then, as we will be MOVING, (our roof here is leaking and the sewage line keeps exploding into the house sooo... WE'RE OUT) - and days off will likely consist of packing/moving/unpacking and etc. We're VERY excited. We plan to be in the condo for the next either 1-3 years while we save to move down to Sarasota, where I will be attending at Ringling College of Art and Design. I knew school was expensive, but holy shit.**

 **So, while we're saving money, I'll be able to settle down a little bit and bust out the rest of this story, and the two stories to follow this one ... Yes, you saw correct. Wedding bells may even be heard within the next year or so... I ALSO made my very first dangerous 'clock ticking' purchase at Phoenix comicon... It was a onesie for a baby. I'M NOT PREGNANT BUT WE ARE PLANNING FOR FUTURE ENDEAVORS OKAY. We have baby names picked. And yes, they are names of certain characters from the story! But I'm getting ahead of myself...**

 **ENOUGH about that, you can continue to request sketches in this chapter or a PM if you'd like! The list is getting long, and too many more added and I MAY have to cap it! So request quick while you can! :D Thanks guys!**

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Heart Of Courage by Two Steps From Hell**

* * *

 ***Chapter 251***

Like falling down a slippery slope into a black void, one of cold alertness, prickled fear, plagued by goosebumps of whole uncertainty, Ace felt his heart pound clear out of his chest the second Libby's gentle footsteps began to head in the direction of their foe, one of softness, of surprise, as if she was simply in the presence of a long lost friend. Before Ace could properly grapple for her hand, his fingertips just barely missed her lower, tattooed arm, and she was gone. Ace huffed a shaky noise of inquiry as Libby pushed on, though with such, said potential foe ripped off his hood in a clumsy mess of surprise and began to hustle in pursuit of clarity, closer to the heart of their now lightly battered group of warriors.

"Turbo?" Libby pressed a little louder, her voice shook in remembrance, though with the small curl of a smile on her lips, she furrowed her brow as continued, haunting memories continued to rush on back to her.

"Libby?" Turbo's deep, raspy voice could hardly even get the name out, his glowing eyes brightened amidst the fog, and as it only lightly cleared and sprinkled in some of the morning's sunrise, he narrowed his gaze and got a good look at her, as they came within a dozen feet of each other.

Turbo shook his head, his dark grey skin was dirty and glistened with the dew of the fog, as did his dusty, dark charcoal hair, curled and messy from a long journey to and from who knows where. Turbo's footsteps came to a lazy, confused mosey of a stop as the two assessed each other in whole, entire confusion. Libby slowed to halt and clenched her fists at her sides, a subtle stance of aggression, and as her mind continued to plague her with memories, good that ended in bad, she shook her head and nearly began to glare Turbo down as tears welled in both of their eyes.

"I-I can't believe it's you... It's actually you..." Turbo's voice largely shook as tears streamed his cheeks, "H-How... You survived the unplug?"

Libby panted through her nose in riled turmoil, whether to dive into Turbo's arms or end him right here, right now, she had no idea what to do. She shook her head in now continued outward confusion and clenched her teeth; she knew she had an extraordinarily tough decision to make here. The only thing flashing through her mind was the last image of Lash she ever had, his golden, apologetic eyes peering back into Sweet Streets, begging for Libby's forgiveness, begging to have mercy on Turbo's soul, for Turbo simply taking her precious code, robbing her of every last ounce of her being, purely so he could take it along with him on another bound of game-jumping. Libby replayed Lash's words, over and over, though the more she silently continued on, the more she saw red.

"Kaji," Ace's deep voice urged in a stern, shaky display of protective concern, and it was in this quip of Ace urgently reminding her of her new roots did Libby stand firm in her stance.

Before Libby could open her mouth and lay into Turbo for ever betraying her, she felt a strange bout of overwhelming urgency fall upon her, and in the swift, jolting few steps Turbo made to close their gap, she somehow felt every single last wall of hers come down, as if she was silently begging for Turbo to put this whole entire mess to rest, in whatever form that may look like. Decades of love lost, all immediately found in the simple swoop of Turbo's masculine hands as he lovingly cupped Libby's jaws, and in the sharp, hot inhales, Turbo sunk his kiss to Libby's, as if he couldn't bear a single millisecond without knowing just what she tasted like, once more. In a startled flinch, Libby raised her eyebrows high in surprise and grappled the chest of Turbo's shirt, her mind immediately turned to goo, whole confusion soaked her soul, completely unaware she had successfully brought Ace to his knees.

To feel Turbo's warm kiss on hers, once more, his strong hands perfectly cupped her jaws like so long ago, his hot breath and the smell of his dark, stone-grey skin was everything she ever remembered it to be, and although she wanted to do everything and anything she could to simply relish in the good memories she had of Turbo, she quickly furrowed her eyebrows and was starkly reminded the last, horrible one. The nail in the coffin. Libby knew she had a job to do here, something she knew was going to be harsh, unfair and sudden, though it was something she also knew would likely save the entire Arcade from further turmoil. As her gentle, loving hands flattened to Turbo's broad, masculine chest, she so tenderly allowed her's and Ace's golden honeycombs to soak past his red shirt, onto his grey skin, and in a matter of seconds, she was able to hack into his fragile, shivering honeycombed coding, one that so angrily held on to every single last ounce of Libby's old, original coding, from when they had swapped all those years ago; her gentle yet powerful User coding forced Turbo to begin kneeling, their loving kiss broke one last final time.

"Your time is up, Turbo... You've taken my coding and have nearly wrought this Arcade with fear, taking down innocent games in the process, seeking fame and gold," Libby's voice sternly eased over the top of Turbo's head, he grunted in confusion as he had lost all control of his body and was now under her possession, her User coding angrily swarmed his torso and arms, and as if to soak molten poison into his bloodstream, she began to strip Turbo of their ancient swapped code, once and for all. She inhaled a shaky breath and narrowed her glowing, golden gaze deep into his, which flickered with confusion, "You turned your back on my kingdom, you took me for a fool... I trusted you with my coding..."

"Libby, y-you're... M-misiformed-"

"I trusted you with my coding!" Libby's voice boomed as tears welled in her eyes, Turbo grit his teeth and uttered a hard cry in agony as she viciously stripped him of coding he had been wallowing in for the past thirty years, she shook her head and continued on through the clench of her teeth, she nearly growled in whole hatred, "I trusted you with my kingdom... I trusted you with my HEART."

"Libby," Turbo rasped as the slow, agonizing peeling of coding began to finally make it's way to Turbo's throat, like dull nails that dragged through his blood vessels, he sagged to his knees and lower legs and peered up at her through a gape of trying so desperately to catch his breath, so desperately trying not to pass out from the physical and emotional pain of it all.

"You no longer have to worry about Vanellope or Tessa coming for you, because I'm going to deal with you... Right here, right now," Libby snarled as the burning of her coding urgently swarmed Turbo's throat and to his face, he staggered in urgent, sharp gasps of breaths and gazed up at Libby in pure, unadulterated terror, "Long live the Queen..."

In a sudden yank of Libby's hand, which was angrily extended and at her side, Turbo jolted forward and caught himself on his hands. Libby took a few steps back and freed Turbo from the vice grip she had him in, though she heavily panted and glared down at the back of his head. He hacked and choked for air, he grappled his throat and finally let out an urgent grunt of agony as Libby's chest rose and fell in the height of adrenaline. Turbo's trembling hands wrinkled against the wet concrete as he let out a startled cry of whole sorrow, he shook his head and peered up to Libby from where he sat hunched.

"I-I can't believe you just..." Turbo staggered, his voice shook as tears spilled down his cheeks, "Y-You robbed me of your coding...! THAT WAS THE LAST THING I HAD OF YOU!"

Libby flinched and felt her mind race a million miles an hour, she shook her head and glared Turbo down in whole agitation, though Turbo choked a loud cough and clawed at the ground in crazed desperation.

"You just took away the last bit of you I EVER had to cling to!" Turbo shouted through his tears, he urgently peered up at her and huffed a few loud, deep cries, "I-I can't believe you'd do something like that to me! You don't even have the whole story!"

Libby frowned and felt the whiplash of regret hit her head on, she shook her head and continued to angrily stare Turbo down, as if she was clearly unwavered from her decision, though she felt her stomach sink with just what she had committed here.

"Do you not know the meaning of consent?!" Turbo hollered as tears streamed his cheeks, and with such, Libby sagged her shoulders and felt his words like a dagger through her heart.

"Don't you DARE talk to ME about consent," Libby suddenly growled as her cheeks were now becoming soaked with tears, as well. In the rile of confusion she whirled around and caught eyes with every single audience member behind the two, and although Ace was still on his knees in whole defeat, she disregarded it all, the fit of ballistic confusion she sat in was far too great. Libby urgently began to march over to Penny in a stab of near-crazed urgency, "Why don't we just talk about how you fed me all those lies? Told me I was beautiful, acted like my best friend just to get me into bed?"

"Lies? I-I wouldn't lie to you!" Turbo barked as he sloppily got to his feet and nearly fell over. He huffed a shaky breath and forgot entirely just what it felt like to have his own, original coding back. He shivered at the feel of it and wondered just how the hell Libby was able to accomplish something so astronomical, "You were my best friend, none of that was acting! Wh-where are you getting all of this?!"

"Oh, so I'm just supposed to actually believe you DIDN'T know Sweet Streets was due to be unplugged?" Libby stabbed as the crazed look in her eye remained, she rushed Penny in a near-stampede style of clenched-fisted aggression, and with such, Penny tensed up in whole uncertainty. Just as Libby dug her hand into Penny's weapon strap, she unsheathed Penny's jawbreaker dagger and whirled around, she lazily and cheekily began to wave it around as she continued on, "You had sex with me just so you could take my coding elsewhere and use it to your advantage... All while getting Sweet Streets out of the Arcade. You KNEW Sweet Streets was just a demo game, didn't you!"

"I didn't know this, Libby! All I remember is coming back from visiting Nox, in EZ Living, and Sweet Streets was gone!" Turbo yelled, the veins in his jugular bulged, "I was DEVASTATED! YOU try coming up to your swap-mate's outlet to see that it's GONE!"

"OH and what, Sugar Rush as a replacement just wasn't good enough, or something? You CLEARLY had been waiting for it's arrival, all along!" Libby stabbed as she firmly grappled the end of her long, gorgeous hair, and as if everyone now suddenly saw where this was going, they all urgently began to coo loud notions of plea, begging Libby not to do what they dreadfully assumed, though in the clean slice, Libby successfully chopped her gorgeous white hair off right at the tops of her shoulders. Everyone jolted in cold dread as her long, beautiful white hair slopped to the ground and began to waver away, carelessly in the wind, "You, uh, wanted cute, short-haired little Libby Von Swirlz? But maybe a Ms. Vanellope Von Schweetz wasn't your cup of tea... So you had to force her hand by deleting citizen's memories and getting into the code room through the back door like a COWARD."

"L-Libby," Turbo's voice lilted in near-surprised offense, he shook his head and sagged his shoulders in whole terror as she grit her teeth and angrily continued to slice at her now choppy, short white hair.

"All the horror stories Vanellope has told us? Of your stupid King Candy-coverup, banishing her to the badlands? Keeping the fame and fortune all for yourself? Something that wasn't even yours to begin with? You just CAN'T get enough, CAN YOU!" Libby hollered through firmly clenched teeth, her voice rasped, and although her trembling hands desperately tried to find any other long strand of hair to sloppily slice at, she accidentally fumbled and dropped the dagger. She stood, heavily panting, her white hair now a chaotic sprout of choppiness on her scalp, she shook her head and clenched her fists, which were now cued with golden honeycombs, "You took my coding and RAN with it! And even taking over Sugar Rush couldn't satiate it! That beacon should've had it's WAY WITH YOU!"

"-I wasn't King Candy!" Turbo finally blurted in a shout after a large display of battling his own thoughts, his loud, deep voice coat the entirety of the race track they graced, and with Turbo's ringing words, everyone raised their eyebrows and peered to him in whole surprise as he raspily panted. His terrified eyes sorrowfully dragged past Libby to each and every soul within his range, and with such, he could feel his wiggling adrenaline rush begin to want to subside.

"Y-You WHAT?" Vanellope suddenly stabbed as she took a few steps out from the group, though just as another being had stepped into the ring, Libby took this as her opportunity to quickly abandon ship; she grappled her short hair and urgently began to storm away, though with such, Koko, Penny and Rancis urgently began to follow her, due to Zed's stern, protective orders.

"I wasn't King Candy," Turbo stated, a bit softer, and as his terrified though gentle and sorrowful gaze pierced Vanellope's, she sagged her shoulders and stepped a few steps closer to the man she was absolutely certain was her mortal enemy, something she had believed her whole entire life, up until now.

"W-Well then who was?" Vanellope's voice shook in terror, though Turbo closed his golden eyes and tilted his head down. He furrowed his brow and, with the gentle shake of his head, he stabbed his creepy, golden gaze deep into Vanellope's, once more.

"...Your mission just got a whole lot harder if you thought, all along, that the bad guy was me," Turbo grumbled.

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 **I drew fanart for this chapter, titled 'User Help Your Soul' - on my deviantART, username Vyntresser**


	252. Chapter 252

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo :** WOW thank you! :D That means a lot to me. You will find out more in this chapter! And, oh! You mean my original novel, Revel? I HAVE been picking away at that, but, what I meant in my last author's note was... Well... a 5th story in this saga... :D

 **NightHex54 :** You're sharp! You'll find out more in this chapter ;)

 **Jay Sketchin :** NO THIS IS PATRICK! YAY Thank you! It shall be an adventure, that's for sure!

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 **Burgie :** You weren't? Phew! Thank you

 **Octopus :** GESUNDHEIT!

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 **Keeper :** Your review literally brought me to tears ;_; I can't even begin to tell you just how much that means to me, and it's always fascinating to hear more original followers coming out of the woodwork to review. I really appreciate everything you said, I mean seriously, it means the world to me. Thank you SO MUCH for your support, and your kind words! It's really motivating and really makes me excited to continue on!

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **Heads up! This chapter is VERY exposition heavy, so forgive me! The next handfuls of chapters are pretty exposition heavy, actually, so uh... Hope you guys are up for seconds! and thirds! xD**

 **I MAY be moving sooner than expected, so please forgive me if chapters/the sketch dump takes a little longer than usual, I should be back to normal once we get settled in our new place! I see July being a smooth-sailing month for the story and my art, and from then on out :) Thanks for your patience guys!**

 **ALSO : TRIGGER WARNING**

 **This chapter bluntly and briefly references rape, for my sensitive readers.**

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Capsize by Frenship & Emily Warren**

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 ***Chapter 252***

In a group effort, and alongside the aid of Ace's healing User abilities, the clan was successful in helping Lickity to a safe spot, amidst the race track they were now wound up in. Lickity limped on what used to be a broken right wrist, though with Ace's quick work, he was able to heal the bones and only leave her with a mild sprain. Lickity's ears lay flat in solid anger and frustration, her gorgeous, terrifying green eyes were soaked in nearly-fully dilated pupils, a sure-fire sign that she was beyond angry, for many reasons. Tessa hung tight to Lickity's right, near her neck, and wobbled alongside her. Although Tessa wasn't physically injured, her mainframe took a hit, due to Turbo's incredibly strange powers, the grip was beyond anything she had ever felt before.

Tessa gently volleyed her gaze over her shoulder and noticed the group so hesitantly walking around and behind Turbo, and although Nox hung close, he looked almost too shy or nervous to approach his big brother. As if too much time had passed between them and things were likely overwhelmingly awkward, especially due to all the fighting and confusion now suddenly thrusted upon Nox's entire new family clan. He hovered tight to Koko, who lovingly had her arm and hand intertwined with his. Libby and Zed hung way behind the group, she looked absolutely frazzled, her beautiful hair was now in weird patches of really short and much longer strands that sprouted from her scalp; Tessa heaved a shaky sigh and dragged her eyes forward, once more, for she knew she'd want to sit Libby down to not only clean up Libby's new short hair-do, but to also indulge on a little much needed mother-daughter therapy.

"You can put your swords away," Turbo grumbled as he kept his eyes forward, and even though Turbo had literally no clue that Rancis had his swords drawn and at the ready, Rancis raised his eyebrows in sheepish, angry surprise and grappled the handles of his swords harder.

"You can shut up," Rancis muttered darkly, and although his words were rude, no one called him out on it; they knew, out of everyone excluding, Libby and Vanellope, Rancis was basically an over-used pawn in this massive scheme.

"I'm not your enemy," Turbo huffed in rising annoyance as he looked off, the group began to near a large outdoor sitting area, massively covered by a very tall gazebo like structure, crowned with a gorgeous display of foliage.

"That's cute," Rancis spat in return as he shook his head and remained suspended in disbelief, though everyone flinched as Turbo suddenly whirled around and pointed a firm finger to Rancis' face.

"Just because I'm not your enemy now doesn't mean that has to remain," Turbo urged darkly as his hypnotizing, glowing eyes nearly pierced through Rancis's soul, though in a sudden clap of a booming voice that nearly shocked the pants off of everyone, Ace's easy footwork was successful in slipping in front of his great uncle Rancis.

"Just because you're feared by everyone in Arcade doesn't mean that a User has to follow suit," Ace barked with a snarky, mean smile as he pointed his much larger finger into Turbo's face, he easily flinched and began to back step, so to continue onward to their sheltered destination, Ace showed his gap-toothed smile in a mean, snide way and narrowed his gaze, "You want Users on your side, buddy. You're already down a strike, what with that kiss. Eyes forward."

With a great deal of hesitation, Turbo turned heel and clenched his fists in riled anger, he shook his head and glared down the gazebo they pushed closer to. He knew, deep down, all he had to do was explain his side of the story, something he was at least glad they were going to allow him to. He heaved a shaky breath and tried to release the anger billowing inside of him, though just as he felt all of his emotions stretch out into his new coding, a fresh version of his original self, he began to feel hopeful, as if a cloud had been lifted. Turbo sagged his shoulders and was relieved to feel anger and frustration leave him a lot easier than it ever had, and it was in this instance was he beginning to feel relieved that Libby had reversed his coding; he narrowed his gaze and knew he was likely too stubborn to admit it, just yet, anyways.

With a gentle nudge, Royal's deep, purring mumble of a noise soaked into Lickity's presence as their snouts bumped, he flattened his ears and gingerly loved on his mother; Lickity's spirit had sunk to a wallowing low of temporary defeat. Royal narrowed his gaze and slowly dragged it to Turbo, who was across the way. He wrinkled his snout in distaste and allowed his gloriously scary, golden dragon eyes penetrate Turbo's skin with a thousand years of rising hatred. Lickity whimpered a small noise and sat on her rump, and as Tessa gently rubbed Lickity's neck, she looked over to the group that accumulated near some tattered lunch-style tables, outdoor seating for the arena they were in. It looked as if everyone wanted to explode at one another, with Penny, Orph, Nox, Koko and Zed all nervously wondering if their floodgates could hold it all. Tessa heaved a shaky breath and knew she needed to help mediate, she knew full well that everyone in this now raw group had a piece of their mind to give to Turbo.

"You okay?" Tessa asked Lickity gently, she heaved a raspy purr of a positive noise and nodded as Balba trot up, and with an overflow of love that her, Marble and Royal kept Lickity in, Tessa knew it was safe to peel away from her favorite companion.

Tessa inhaled a deep breath and let her eyes asses the situation as she neared. Every nerve-ending in her body felt weird, as if she had been electrocuted in cold water, she felt her hands shake in a jostle of the previous toss up. As it began to rain, it soaked the area with the soft, methodical tappings atop of the metal overhang everyone was safely and comfortably far below. Turbo stood an uncomfortable distance from Vanellope and Rancis, Ace hovered tight to Nox and Koko, and it was in this group assessment did Tessa quickly notice that Ace was keeping his distance from Libby. Tessa felt her heart twist and turn, how quickly and simply one individual could turn others against each other; she knew the group needed a good, long chat, though she prayed somehow it wouldn't end in violence.

"Alright, everyone," Tessa stated through an already exhausted sigh as she strolled up, and as she did, she neared Turbo and pointed a finger at him in gentle laziness, "Before we get into this shindig, I have a question for you."

"Sure," Turbo's raspy, deep voice quipped in a fit of sharp, unwavering wittiness, though Tessa narrowed her gaze and knew he had met his match.

"You're the shy guy I bumped into, in Game Central Station, right?" Tessa prod in cheeky, mean annoyance as she kept her finger pointed at him.

"Yes, that was me," Turbo affirmed with a nod as he sagged his hands to his hips and relaxed, though Tessa's point remained in rising dominance.

"So, if you are out here trying to help us, why did you just hurt me and my dragon?" Tessa's voice grew to motherly protection, to which Turbo sagged and began to look apologetic.

"I-I'm sorry, I couldn't tell through the fog," Turbo huffed shakily, though he inhaled a sharp, nervous breath as Tessa's silver coding suddenly sprawled her hand and, in a collection of strength she had left, she gripped the soles of Turbo's feet tight to the ground.

"Cause two can play at that game," Tessa growled in an exhausted show of holding onto a second wind, the bags under her eyes had never been more apparent until now. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and titled her head in mean cheekiness, "Kapeesh?"

"Fine," Turbo grunted as Tessa finally released him; in a fit of shaky panting, he jostled his feet and ankles about and gave Tessa a look of nervous wonderings, as if he had simply underestimated her.

"It seems to me, now that we're simply and safely in the presence of Arcade's most feared bad guy, that we all need to have a little pow-wow!" Tessa barked sarcastically as she crowned a fake smile and clapped her hands together once in a show of making clear who was boss, she bobbed a sarcastic few nods and eyed everyone down, as if to warn everyone to behave, "So, let's maybe have mom, uncle Rancis and Libby, front and center."

No one moved; it was in this show of pure hesitation did Turbo finally heave a long, raspy sigh and look off. His golden eyes stabbed the horizon, the rising run peeked through the fog, cloud and rain.

"NOW," Tessa's voice reverberated off of the metal fixtures all about.

Vanellope was the first to brave Tessa's instructions, and with such, Rancis and Libby followed suit, but only very slowly and apprehensively. Vanellope unravelled her mint hoodies sleeves and crossed her arms, Rancis finally sheathed his swords and placed his hands on his hips. Libby strolled up with her now short hair, she had thrown on her large, fluffy winter coat and crossed her arms, so to further hull away from this massive ordeal. Tessa gently looked to Turbo and cocked an eyebrow, and it was in this show of further dominance did Turbo lower his eyes and step into the ring. Tessa finally followed suit and was thankful the four had willingly stationed themselves within six feet of each other. She hovered near the edge of the group and gestured out to the circle of four, before her.

"Alright, Turbo, why don't you uh-"

"Start with my name? Favorite color?" Turbo interrupted Tessa with a cocky smile, "Things I do in my free time?"

"Tell us what the hell is going on, how 'bout?" Tessa barked in full agitation, though she nearly couldn't help but force back a smile with just how similar Turbo's and Nox's senses of humor was.

"... Turbo, cerulean and welding," Turbo muttered in defeat as he looked off, though with such, Tessa couldn't hold in a silent blurt of a chuckle any longer.

"If you weren't King Candy, then who was?" Vanellope finally pressed, the nervous look of irritation hung on her demeanor.

"Do you know Radex?" Rancis also pressed, to which Libby heaved a long, hot sigh and looked off in discomfort.

"Are we close to the castle?" Vanellope huffed as her and Rancis suddenly fell into a rapid-fire match of a questionarre, though Turbo lightly bulged his eyes and heaved a gentle laugh of mild annoyance, and as he went to quickly answer their questions, they carried on.

"Are you and Lash still in contact?" Rancis rushed as he kept his dominant stance of hands on hips.

"How long were you and Libby a thing and how come we never knew about it?" Vanellope complained as she glanced to Libby, though Turbo looked up and nodded with a furrowed look of inquisition.

"Uh, well, okay... Let's see... Lash, yes, yes, no, and uhh... About half a year," Turbo blurt with great cheek, though Vanellope and Rancis looked boggled; Libby rolled her eyes and looked up, as if she was used to this behavior of his.

"Wait, yes and no to what!" Rancis prod in rising urgency, though this only made a cute smile draw across Turbo's face, he chuckled and looked down.

"Y'guys are so wound," Turbo laughed, though he largely flinched once Vanellope took a step out of their safety net and closer to Turbo, in a threatening way; Tessa jolted to keep her mother from full-on strangling Turbo.

"Of course we're wound, you've ruined all of our lives!" Vanellope shouted in whole agitation, she clenched her fists and tried her very hardest to feel Ralph's wrecking power come to her, though it dwindled, much to her dismay, "This is no laughing matter!"

"Don't do this," Libby muttered to Turbo as she shot him a dirty look.

"You ripped your coding from me, doll, we're not technically playing on the same team any longer," Turbo stated towards Libby with great cheek, he was successful in getting a full-on glare from her.

"Just start from the beginning," Rancis darkly urged as he tilted his head up and glowered at Turbo, "You said you weren't King Candy... If you weren't, then who was?"

"Lash was," Turbo answered honestly as he gently dragged his creepy golden gaze to Vanellope, "It's hard to really sit here and tell you guys all this because... I'm absolutely certain none of you will even believe me."

"But, it WAS you, on the day of that dreaded race," Vanellope begged as she took a step out, yet again, though this time it wasn't aggressive, so Tessa allowed it. She clenched her fists and yanked them to her ribs in desperation, "You flipped my cart, you looked me in the eye and said you were Turbo... All while glitching out."

"That wasn't me," Turbo muttered darkly as he peered harder into Vanellope's eyes, she gazed up to him in gentle urgency.

"It had to've been you," Vanellope whispered loudly as she shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows, "It was so real... Your code was bugging out and everything. How could that have not been you?"

"What color was this person's coding?" Turbo side-eyed Vanellope in question and narrowed his gaze, and while Vanellope looked off to ponder for a moment, she sagged her shoulders in gentle realization and shook her head a little.

"Red," Vanellope stated in wonder as her and Rancis caught eyes.

"What color is Nox's coding?" Turbo blurt as he gestured to his little brother, finally a nervous inquiry of acknowledgment he braved, though with such, Nox beamed a nervous smile and looked off.

"Was," Nox huffed, though Turbo cocked an eyebrow and bobbed his little brother an impressed nod.

"Red," Koko's warm voice volleyed as she gave Turbo a cheeky, cute, close-mouthed grin and a nod.

"Red," Turbo repeated in tenderness, though he brought his eyes back to Vanellope and cocked an eyebrow, "I had swapped codes with Libby LONG before King Candy's rule over Sugar Rush... What color was that, Libby?"

Libby glared him down in whole exhaustion, her chaotic hair only added to it. She inhaled a long, hot, annoyed inhale and narrowed her gaze as she finally replied.

"Yellow," She muttered darkly.

"Lash has his original coding," Turbo's gentle voice soaked over Vanellope's shivering soul, she looked off as if she had been hit with news she didn't even know how to handle, "Lash is behind all of this..."

"... And you?" Rancis stabbed quietly.

"I... Just..." Turbo gestured his hands and shrugged a bit, though he heaved a long sigh and looked off, "... I've been too weak to do much."

"So... You weren't in charge of any of this chaos?" Rancis softened, him and Vanellope caught eyes in curious wondering.

"Well, I wouldn't... Say that..." Turbo admitted nervously as he began to figuratively shrink.

"You said you know Radex?" Rancis continued to press, everyone was eager for answers, though as silence fell, everyone froze and peered to Turbo in whole, real fear.

"...I AM Radex," Turbo finally huffed.

Like a veil of cold darkness that cloaked the group, everyone was now solidified in prickled terror. In the gentle decline of wariness Turbo had brought everyone to, the sudden jump of heightened agitation he had stabbed to their hearts was beyond neck-break speeds. His nervous, glowing eyes assessed Vanellope's look of terror, Rancis's glower of revenge, Libby's apathetic look of 'you had it coming'; he felt his hands begin to shake, how desperately he wanted to put an end to this nonsense and shine light on the truth, now that he was finally back to his old self.

"You..." Vanellope trialed off as she heaved a small, sarcastic chuckle and pointed her finger, "YOU... Are Radex...?"

"Guilty," Turbo muttered as he almost was too scared to look Rancis in the eye, though in a jolt of uncertainty, Rancis clenched his fist and tilted his head as he dared to step towards Turbo.

"YOU cloaked yourself as me?" Rancis pressed, Turbo kept his eyes down and knew he was now done for.

"Yes," Turbo admitted shakily.

"WHY?" Rancis barked as he now was steps within Turbo's bubble.

"My body was too weak," Turbo rushed to admit, hoping that getting it all out now would make this somehow easier to deal with, though he furrowed his brow and now was quickly wondering if the opposite would be much better.

"So you decided to plague mine and my coding?" Rancis began to raise his voice, and although Tessa was there to mediate, she bit her lip and knew to stay out of this fight; she knew her Uncle Rancis deserved answers.

"It was the first code box Lash shoved me into," Turbo shrugged, though he jolted with a choke of a noise as Rancis suddenly shoved on his strong chest and instigated a full-on fight, from here; everyone jolted and began to coo noises of urgency to Rancis, as if to politely tell him to ease up, to which Zed pushed into the group to now properly mediate.

"I went through reintegration because of you, man!" Rancis now hollered, he shoved on Turbo's chest once more and got into his face, both men now only inches from each other's foreheads, though Turbo kept a non-aggressive stand in this show down, "I DIED! I died protecting my baby niece! I nearly left my wife to care for my daughter all by herself!"

"I-I was there," Turbo tried his very hardest not to be too sarcastic, though he heaved a shaky sigh and was just thrilled to be in the presence of other people, for once.

"And like a COCKROACH you keep coming back!" Rancis shouted loudly into Turbo's face, "We both died in Hero's Duty! I only came back because my wife is a freaking genius! What's your sorry excuse?!"

"... I brainwashed Zed," Turbo muttered sorrowfully, and it was in this did the group fall silent, once more.

Rancis inhaled a deep, hard breath and finally averted his attention from yelling in Turbo's face to staring his aggressive, confused eye contact deep into Zed's. Zed raised his eyebrows in whole surprise and knew, somehow, he'd be dragged into this chaotic mess, though he volleyed his gaze to Turbo's and cocked an eyebrow.

"You put your source coding in my mainframe," Zed huffed shakily as everyone held all eyes on Rancis, Turbo and Zed. Zed shook his head and gestured gently to Tessa, "You brainwashed me to go after Sugar Rush... You wanted control of the game and was going to stop at nothing to get there, weren't you."

"It wasn't to seek control of Sugar Rush," Turbo pleaded gently as he shook his head and glanced to Libby, "I... I was so desperate for familiarity. I thought that... Because Sugar Rush was Sweet Street's successor, hopefully someone in the game had similar coding to Libby."

"THAT'S why you went after me at the New Year's ball, as Radex," Vanellope pointed as she rejoined the group, which had only trailed a little bit aways from it's original spot, "You wanted to be my boyfriend so badly, and I had no clue why... I mean, I love you Rancis, but you're not my type. No offense."

"None taken," Rancis shrugged and averted his soft gaze from Vanellope to a hard glower into Turbo's eyes.

"And that's why you set me to pursue Tessa," Zed shook his head and glanced to his love, who continued to hover nearby, "You thought that if you couldn't get Vanellope, you'd at least go after someone similar."

"It's a good thing you remained such a gentleman through all this bullshit," Libby suddenly blurt, everyone whirled around and eagerly peered to her, "If you wanted your way with a woman, I'm sure you would've done it, by now."

Turbo furrowed his eyebrows and gave Libby a concerned glower, as if he was trying his hardest to read between the lines.

"... There, uh, something you want to say?" Turbo pressed in a confused, hurt tone.

"As much as we all hate you right now..." Libby looked off and shrugged, as if it was hard to pay Turbo any real compliments right now, "You went thirty years desperate for my coding... So desperate that you nearly tore Sugar Rush to shreds. But not once did you have your way with anyone."

"... I may be a monster but, come on... I'm not a MONSTER," Turbo gestured outwards and bulged his eyes, "You talking like... STEALING someone's coding via swap?"

"You can say rape," Libby stabbed as she shook her head and gave him a dull look, though Turbo furrowed his brow and held his tight eye contact to Libby in peeling, gentle, nervous inquisition.

"The thought never crossed my mind," Turbo's voice softened as he gently volleyed his gaze to Vanellope, Rancis and Zed in curious wonderings, "I mean... I always told myself I'd stop at nothing, but... Clearly I did stop at something."

"Congrats, you're not as much of a douche as you could've been," Rancis barked in a raspy mutter of whole annoyance; Turbo rolled his eyes and looked off.

"If you're Radex, then... How come you wanted to help me, in Game Central Station?" Tessa wondered as she stepped closer and gestured to her group, "Clearly, Libby, here, is your kryptonite, so I know you're not going to harm us... What made you change your mind?"

"It obviously wasn't Libby who made you change your mind, you didn't even know she was alive," Zed wondered.

"I just... Lash and I got into a fight," Turbo pressed, he opened his palms and looked down, "I had been his puppet this entire time, I just did what he said, I was worried I'd begin to go mad, without Libby's coding constantly present, but, I just grew weaker and weaker... Lash protected me. He saw just how much my coding had withered to nearly nothing."

"So, how come he's behind all of this, then?" Rancis prod as everyone hung on Turbo's words.

"He supported me... Once Sweet Streets got unplugged, he told me that Libby would be present in the roster, and if we could only get into the code room, we could find a way to put my coding, which included Libby's, into Sugar Rush's code room," Turbo explained, he inhaled a deep breath and averted his sorrowful gaze to Libby's, "That everything would return to normal... But, when we got inside, Libby, nor any of Sweet Street's racers, were to be found. It was an entirely new crew."

"So, you guys just... Snuck into the code room?" Vanellope worried with a frown.

"Lash was so angry at that fact, and I really have no idea why, because it's not like it was his coding on the line," Turbo furrowed his brow, "I think he was just worried he'd be associated with a loony that went crazy, due to a taboo code swap... The day Sugar Rush was plugged in was the day Lash broke into the code room. I remember when he disguised himself as King Candy and practically waltzed right into the code room, he immediately had his way with the citizen's memories, and... Getting Vanellope out of the picture."

"The rest is history," Zed mumbled as he looked down.

Turbo frowned and glossed his eyes across this eclectic group of individuals, all strong and able in their own way, though the look of hurt, confusion and dread hung over every single last soul before him. He knew this was a hard time for everyone, though he shook his head and inhaled a deep, strong breath.

"I put Lash in my shadow, through the years TurboTime was plugged in... And the second he saw my vulnerability, he did everything and anything to keep me in his shadow, for once," Turbo's deep voice mumbled, he furrowed his eyebrows and gazed down to his feet in sorrow, "Everything anyone knows about code swaps driving you mad is a myth. The only thing that happens to you, if you don't swap your coding with your swap mate, is weakness... Pure weakness... Weakness I can't even describe. Weakness that only FEELS maddening."

"You couldn't survive in your own body," Zed eased gently as he glanced to Rancis.

"No... That's why I put my source coding into yours, Zed," Turbo admitted sorrowfully as he shook his head, "I tried to cover my bases."

"... Sounds to me like that's how Libby was revived," Penny cued, after a long bout of nervous silence in the sidelines; everyone eagerly peered to her, "Think about it... Turbo's swapped coding was IN Dead Zed. Don't you think it's a coincidence that Ace and Libby are nearly the same age?"

"... You were raised as a faux-code?" Turbo pressed to Libby in now raw, boyish curiosity.

"Yeah," Libby snipped as she crossed her arms and gave Turbo a reserved, snotty look, "Ace was my best friend, growing up."

"Ace?" Turbo ushered in nervousness, though Zed cleared his throat and gently gestured over to Lickity, Royal, Marble and Balba, where Ace had slipped off to, out of earshot.

"My son," Zed pressed as he gave Turbo a look of protectiveness.

"You reset Dead Zed when we left Arcade... We then properly swapped in The Flip Side, of Dead Zed," Tessa gestured her hand in curiosity, "I wonder if doing that, to reset your coding back to the game... Released Turbo's coding back into Dead Zed, in the form of, well... LIBBY."

"That's not my name, anymore," Libby prod in agitation, though Tessa sagged her shoulders and gave Libby an apologetic frown.

"Kaji, sorry," Tessa corrected softly, though Turbo wildly furrowed his eyebrows and shot his now whole attention to Libby.

"Kaji?" Turbo uttered in a gentle chuckle, though no one else thought it to be amusing; he sagged his shoulders and nervously glanced about.

"And... Because we swapped source-codes in Sugar Rush..." Zed trailed in defeated, cheeky annoyance, he peered to Tessa with a half-hearted smile, "We re-released Turbo back into the code room."

"It was because of that did Lash and I come out from hiding," Turbo chuckled and shrugged, "So, uh, thanks for that."

"Yeah, THANKS FOR THAT," Vanellope barked to Zed, though Zed flinched and gave her a bewildered look.

"So, where's Lash now?" Rancis pressed as he grappled the handles of his sheathed swords.

"At the castle, probably... I left a few days ago," Turbo shrugged as he looked off, likely in the direction of the castle, "Lash and I got into a huge fight. He discovered that I had been leaving Sugar Rush, and had set up way-points, to make getting to and from the entrance and The End easier for me... He basically kicked me out without fully kicking me out."

"He let you loose in the game?" Tessa wondered.

"I've been walking for days," Turbo huffed in exhaustion as he shook his head and finally blurt an exasperated chuckle, "I doubt he even cares."

"So, what's up Lash's ass anyways? Why is he so power hungry? Simply because he wants to keep you in his shadow?" Rancis continued to press with questions, Turbo shrugged and bobbed a nod.

"It's been difficult sitting here, following his persuasive ideas, wondering just who the crazy one is," Turbo muttered as he looked off, though he crossed his arms and cleared his throat, "... He's been using mine and Libby's code swap against me. It's hard watching someone, with their own original coding, go mad before your very eyes... I realized that... I created this behavior in Lash. If I could go back and redo it all..."

"I think we all have that feeling," Rancis muttered as he inhaled a deep breath and tried to quell his frustrations.

"You're not off the hook," Vanellope mumbled darkly as she shook her head at him and held tight, dominant eye contact, "You've created a LOT of hurt, amidst this group... Amidst my kingdom... And you will answer for it."

Turbo frowned and froze as he peered deep into Vanellope's near-hateful gaze, her quiet, angry, exhausted voice continued on.

"...ALL of it," she concluded deeply.

"...Yes, ma'am," Turbo finally succumbed as he looked down and bobbed a nod; he knew there was nothing to do here but belly up. He inhaled a shaky breath and finally dragged his sorrowful gaze to Libby, and although he had a billion questions for her, he wondered if he should likely leave her be for awhile.

"You will lead us to my castle," Vanellope demanded gently, instructions that weren't overtly pushy, but still held a very firm sway of dominance; Turbo rushed to nod.

"I know the way," Turbo pressed nervously.

"We run on a nocturnal clock... So, technically, we're going to settle here to sleep, now," Vanellope continued on, she gave Turbo the ultimate amount of stern, motherly eye contact she could muster, making it clear she meant business, "You're welcome to keep with our group, but... Just know... All eyes are on you, buddy. One slip up..."

"And I'm toast, I get it," Turbo's shelled demeanor was obvious, he nervously held eye contact with Vanellope and let it all soak in, and although Vanellope, Tessa and their group held a tight amount of authority over his quivering soul, he had to smile at the sheer fact that he was at least accepted into their clan, however engrained into the bottom of the totem pole he was.

After a few moments of letting the heat of the group now dissipate, everyone very slowly and anxiously began to disperse. Turbo twiddled his fingers in nervousness and watched as everyone fell away, found spots to set up their own sleeping arrangements, continued on in their own, curious conversations and tend to each other's needs. Turbo noticed Tessa and Libby quickly slip away with each other, whilst Zed hovered tight to the group of flyers, as well as Ace. Before Turbo could sag his shoulders and understand that he was clearly the outcast, and finding his own little sleeping situation was his next task, he suddenly flinched as a familiar voice coat his dusty heart with forgotten love.

"I, uh... I have someone I want you to meet," Nox pressed softly as Turbo looked to his left and raised his eyebrows in prickled surprise.

Stood tight to Nox's side was Koko, someone who never had the luxury of fun, scary Turbo-themed bedtime stories with Ralph, Vanellope, Tessa and Oliver, though she peered into Turbo's eyes with a very real amount of anxiety. She hid it well, though Turbo knew all the signs. He huffed a small laugh and gave Nox a floored look of renewed love, he felt his heart swell with the fact that he was finally in the presence of his other little brother, one that wasn't so power-hungry. He felt relieved at just how fresh and happy Nox's demeanor looked, as if he had done well for himself in Turbo's absence.

"This is my girlfriend and swap mate, Koko, Ralph and Vanellope's third-born," Nox gestured to Koko and gave her a nervous smile, he looked at her as if to silently revisit old conversations the two had likely had about Turbo, "Koko, this is my big brother, Turbo..."

"Pleasure," Turbo's gentlemanly voice coated their beings, and with such, Koko raised her eyebrows as he softly reached his hand out for a handshake.

"Likewise," Koko's voice almost shook, though she smiled and gave Turbo a cheeky side-eye, "You're... Far from what I expected you to be like."

"What, creepy, mean and deranged?" Turbo's warm, handsome, masculine demeanor finally began to soak into their presences, and with such, Nox couldn't wipe the silly smile from his face.

"Well... Yeah," Koko blurt a laugh and shrugged; as the group melted into each other, Turbo felt whole relief wash over him, he knew to stick tight to Nox and Koko, for the night, a sense of camaraderie he wasn't sure he'd be approached with.

"Only sometimes," Turbo teased, which caused Koko to ease up, even more.

"I missed you," Nox finally eased with a nod, and before Turbo could reply and agree, he held his golden eyes tight to Nox's and noticed his littlest brother's orbs were welling with tears. Turbo huffed an apologetic, sorrowful chuckle and gently reached out to pat Nox's upper arm, in a brotherly way, though it quickly turned into a grapple as he encouraged Nox into a tight hug; both men held tight to each other as Nox grit his teeth and latched onto his big brother. He messily continued on in Turbo's chest, their height difference was beyond endearing, "Don't leave ever again."

"You left ME, dude," Turbo joked as he became choked up, as well, though he tightly squeezed his little brother and rested his jaw to the top of Nox's dusty grey hair and head, "You ran away to EZ Living."

"But you knew where I was," Nox argued through his tears as Koko kindly let the two long-lost brothers have their moment, "Not once did I ever vanish, or keep you in the dark about my whereabouts..."

"... Yeah, Throttle adopted that nasty habit, too," Turbo mumbled over Nox's shoulder as he wiped his eye and pulled away from Nox, though he kept his hands tight to the tops of Nox's shoulders and hovered his forehead over Nox's, "... I'm sorry it's taken thirty years to realize that my head has been lodged up my ass."

"Better late than never," Nox's nasally voice mumbled, though both boys blurt into laughter, contagious laughter Nox could've sworn he'd never hear ever again.

"I love you, kid," Turbo mumbled to his little brother, to which Nox nodded and heaved a hard sigh of relief.

"I love you too," Nox muttered as their golden gazes finally peered to each other in revitalized, brotherly love, though Nox furrowed his brow and nudged Turbo's chest, "You have a lot to answer for, dude."

"Don't pull a Throttle on me," Turbo grumbled as he released Nox and finally volleyed his gaze to Koko, she simply waggled her finger.

"I don't know, Throttle's a pretty tender, quiet soul, there," Koko giggled, though Turbo's teasing smile dropped to hopeful glee.

"You guys found Throttle?" Turbo pressed with excitement.

"Yeah, lonely loser was hulled up in End Of Line Academy," Nox blurt with a laugh as he rolled his eyes and wiped his cheeks and jaw free of tears, "Poor guy was fired because there was speculation that him and Tessa were staying after class to... Well... Boost Tessa's grade."

"Yikes," Turbo grit his teeth and volleyed his gaze across the misty atmosphere, the group of individuals a few dozen feet off, "That's not true, right? Just rumor?"

"Just rumor," Nox stated in honesty as he waved his hand, "Throttle is back at Dead Zed with everyone else."

"Old bag can't be bothered to leave, I'm not surprised," Turbo laughed as Koko crossed her arms and eagerly nodded to agree.

"You said you've been walking for days... I'll bet you're thirsty?" Koko lovingly pressed, she was well aware everyone else in the group wasn't about to give Turbo the time of day, though she was very well aware that despite his past, Turbo was likely to be her future brother-in-law; she knew, somehow, amends needed to be made, no matter what, and she was glad to be the first to reach out.

"I'm very thirsty," Turbo stated as he sagged his shoulders, and as Koko got out her materializer, she successfully brought out her canteen and offered it to Turbo; he gratefully accepted it and finally felt as if he could relax, "Thank you, so much..."

"You can stick with us," Koko assured softly as she cocked an eyebrow and assessed the group, "I know everyone's on edge, but... Out of everyone here, I've learned the most about you, second hand, from Nox... And I'm not worried."

"That means a lot to me," Turbo affirmed with a nod as the three began to find a comfortable spot to set up, underneath the massive, tall overhang everyone sprawled underneath, "I'm sure everyone has a lot to say about this situation, as it stands... I still want to properly clear the air, with Libby."

"Some sleep will do everyone good," Nox concluded softly.


	253. Chapter 253

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Oh good! I'm glad :D

 **Jay Sketchin :** LMAO is this Sweet Streets? NO THIS IS TURBO! LOL and, Vanellope already knew that Tessa and Zed messed up, from the beginning - certainly she relived it, but she definitely gives Turbo a piece of her mind, coming up.

 **Snake557 :** Yeah, the WHOLE crew back home is in for a massive surprise xD

 **chuckiboo :** Yes, I have! I'm VERY excited for the their installment. I think the whole light fury thing is a bit cliché, sort of reminds me of a fan fiction idea that I'm CERTAIN has already been done, but I'm still going to go see the movie. That whole franchise has given me a good load of inspiration for my flyers. Lickity is modeled after a certain breed of dragon in the HTTYD universe, so it is close to my heart :) I'm glad these chapters have given everyone perspective! Not all said questions have been answered, just yet, though ;)

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 **A/N :** **Hey guys! I got internet earlier than I expected, so I was able to upload this chapter. Cory and I are COZY in our little condo-abode, here in Tallahassee! I'll be posting pictures of our finished home, to my deviantART,** **once we're done unpacking and everything. Thanks for your patience, guys! I finally have a place to settle in and relax, all whilst saving money and hustling. I will be eventually going to school, but we have a few things we need to take care of first and foremost, so while it's still on our radar, we'll be staying put for a year or two. I'm not complaining... If you want to see just WHY I'm not complaining, check out my latest pic posted to IG. That's our view from our balcony :D I LOVE TREES.**

 **I will begin work on the sketchdump starting next week, after we've settled and figured out our place in the universe LOL. It's been hectic organizing, moving furniture and working in between all of it, so continue to please bear with me. You guys are the best!**

 **For the load of PMs I'm getting about my opinion of the WIR2 trailers... YES I am excited. I'm beginning to feel more at ease the more time goes on, but I'm just going to put this out there right now, a preemptive guess, from one rookie writer to the top dogs... I can still spot a plot-hole from a million miles away.**

 **My money is on Yesss being the villain. And whoever is pairing her with Ralph can come see me for a talkin' to.**

* * *

 ***Chapter 253***

"Lookit his stupid, smug face," Rancis muttered under his breath, though with such a stark comment, Vanellope and Zed cocked their eyebrows and volleyed their gazes over to where Turbo, Nox and Koko were stationed, a few dozen feet away; they both blurt out in laughter.

"He has our back to us, Ranc," Zed choked as him and Vanellope continued to rise into louder laughter, and although Rancis was mad, he couldn't hide a sneaky smile and a chuckle.

"Doesn't make any difference," Rancis stabbed with a widening smile.

In the split for preparing to head to sleep, alongside the rising sun, the group had divided into three segments. Vanellope, Rancis, Zed, Penny, Orph and Ace hung tight to a single campfire that Rancis had prepared. To the left of the main group, an equal distance away, sat Tessa and Libby, alongside all of the flyers. On the opposite side, Turbo, Nox and Koko quietly hung tight to each other, and their own campfire; a silent agreement that they would kindly keep tabs on Turbo, as if babysitting was now in order until trust could be gained by the rest of the group. It loudly continued to rain atop the metal housing the collective group was safely underneath, and although everyone wanted to get out their sleeping bags and blankets, so to begin thinking about heading to bed, the air was tense, as if daring to go to sleep, while Turbo remained awake, would be the last thing they simply ever did.

"C'mon, friend, talk to me," Vanellope's voice was gentle in desperation, though her hazel eyes caught with Rancis's.

"I have no clue how to feel, what to say," Rancis heaved a hard sigh and looked as if he wanted to stand up and pace, the way he fidgeted with his knees bent and tucked to his chest. He unravelled a little and gestured his arms out, "Wh-what do you say to the man that's been worming in and out of your coding for the past five years? I've literally nearly gone mad, wondering if I've ever fully rid myself of him, or not. Countless times I've felt like I've been side-eyed by the lot of you, wondering if I really was Radex all along. You know how tormenting that is?"

"No one thought you were Radex, dad," Penny cooed softly as she shook her head.

"It's that stupid lake's fault," Vanellope muttered as she let her eyes gloss the fire in a daze, though Rancis furrowed his brow and sharpened his stare to Vanellope's in question.

"... Vanilla Lake?" Rancis eased, he finally began to soften as years of memories came flooding back to him.

"You drowned in it, it took you... Remember?" Vanellope eased sorrowfully, "Not before Felix's hammer gave you a good clunk to the head... I always wondered if the mixture of those two things literally was what caused this mess."

"What, me dying?" Rancis furrowed his brow harder and honed tight to Vanellope, though she shrugged.

"Well, and when you were a hologram, remember that?" Vanellope's voice was gentle, simply as if she was now revisiting old times, though Rancis looked stumped.

"Hologram? No, I don't remember that at all," Rancis huffed in annoyance, "I-I remember finally coming out of a haze in the Fungeon... I vaguely remember you beating me up."

"Damn, Aunt Vanellope," Penny choked with a laugh as Orph raised his eyebrows in surprise, though Zed wasn't shy to do so as well as he buried his face into his knees, in which he hugged in sleepiness.

"I was pissed, okay?" Vanellope pointed to Rancis and blurt a small laugh, and although Rancis smiled, he still held tight confusion to Vanellope.

"It was like a weight had been lifted..." Rancis narrowed his gaze to the fire, as well, and shook his head, "I remember trying to prove to everyone that I wasn't a monster, and although I rode the wave and kept my eyes down... Half of me wondered what the hell was even going on. I knew somehow my code had been messed with, but for some reason I just sort of figured it was a hiccup in the system and it'd eventually shake itself out."

"But, you told us that you had a mental connection to Radex," Vanellope urged in confusion, everyone honed their eyes tight to Rancis.

"... Would explain why Turbo even knew Radex was his code name," Zed mumbled, Penny and Orph cooed notions of agreeing and bobbed a nod.

"I would hear dark thoughts, blips of conversations, as if memories were simply coming to me," Rancis narrowed his gaze and now dragged it to the back of Turbo's head, far across the way, "I'm too exhausted to even think about this any further, but... I feel like I need to rush him and get answers out of him right now."

"We need to sleep on this garbage," Vanellope blurt as she sagged her cheeks into her hands, messily. She lulled her eyes closed and near-tugged at her bottom eye lids, a show of crazed exhaustion, "We can bug him once we're more alert... If we're alive by that time."

"He won't harm us," Ace suddenly stabbed, from the back of the group, in which everyone fell silent and dragged their nervous gazes to their emotionally wounded prince. Ace cocked an eyebrow and gave his grandmother a near-challenging look, as if to state that he was dead serious, and likely insinuating that he was bound to pull an all-nighter simply to keep true to his words, "You guys can safely go to sleep. No danger will come to you."

"Son, you have to sleep," Zed's deep voice grew an octave deeper, due to his full-blown exhaustion, though Ace shook his head and challenged his dad, once more.

"Have Turbo kiss mom and then you tell me if you'd sleep, too," Ace's voice near-growled in vengeful meanness, and although Zed knew this was his chance to bite back and give Ace some fatherly love, Zed felt the entirety of his energy just heave a long, hard sigh, and with such, he bookmarked said fatherly-talking, round two.

"Whatever you need to do," Zed caved in a dull tone, as if to simply state that Ace was likely overreacting.

"... I honestly thought that whole show was ridiculously sad," Orph braved, he glanced to his nephew, as if to silently beg that Ace hear him out, "Imagine going thirty years, just coming to grips with the fact that your swap mate is dead... But then she's just right in front of you, after all those years... I mean, I think no matter what, I'd do the same exact thing Turbo did, if it were Penny."

Everyone fell into gentle silence, in which Orph was glad that Ace didn't have a retort. Orph dared to stab his dominant eye contact to his nephews quivering eyes, the fire in his glassy orbs danced about his welling tears, and before Orph could push the conversation and likely say too much, Penny gently quipped a kind, loving thank you in Orph's direction. Zed raised his eyebrows in gentle surprise and gave Orph a small smile and a nod, as if to silently agree with Orph's notions, and before anything else could be said about the extremely touchy subject, Rancis breathed an audible sigh.

"It's hard to make sense of something that hasn't made sense for years," Rancis grumbled, everyone eagerly agreed, "We've gone half a decade in the dark... And now, it's all in front of us... How do you even begin to swallow it?"

"We STILL don't have all the answers," Zed mumbled, though Rancis shot Zed a curious frown and remained quiet, so Zed could continue, "How do we know if Lash is going to be hostile towards us, or not? With the sheer amount of numbers against him, and with Turbo on our side, you think he'd listen?"

"All of TurboTime's characters would be reunited in Arcade, once more, if that were the case," Vanellope pressed softly with a shrug, though Rancis bugged his eyes as if that was one of the worst ideas he's ever heard.

"And, if he DOESN'T listen... How do we handle him?" Zed worried as his blue eyes glossed with further exhaustion, "He's in charge of absolutely everything. The only edge we have are two Users on our side, as well as Turbo, and even then... The code room is an extreme power house of ability. For one person to have the entirety of the code room in their palm, with thirty years of experience... That's a terrifying boss fight."

"It likely won't even be ours to fight," Rancis grumbled, to which everyone furrowed their brow in a stark pierce of confliction, "It may just be Turbo and Lash... It's their squabble... It ALL boils down to their beef. It's theirs to squash, we're literally just here for the show."

"He'll need our help," Ace finally braved, and although his tone was still mean and dejected, the flicker of hope in his glassy eyes began to revitalize, no mater how slowly, and with such, Zed sagged his shoulders and felt mild relief creep over him.

"Ace is right," Zed encouraged gently as he volleyed his eyes to Turbo, Nox and Koko, though in doing so, he dragged his gaze across the grey horizon and finally met to where Tessa and Libby sat, deep in their mother-daughter moment, "We're all here for a reason... Turbo was kicked out... Though what Lash doesn't realize is, in kicking Turbo out, he just brought the fight to him."

* * *

Tessa sat on her rump and grunted with the residual pain from earlier, she winced and was thrilled to see all four of her flyers gently encircle her and Libby. In a manner of laziness, coated with gentle alertness, all four flyers rested their heads, though kept their tight attention to Turbo's small group across the way. Tessa heaved a raspy sigh and fumble for Penny's dagger, in which she swiped before the group found this rest stop. She finally landed her eyes tight to Libby, in time to see her fidget with her now short, choppy white hair, all sprouted in chaotic long and short strands about her face and head. Tessa furrowed her brow and let her body sag a little, in pure exhaustion, and although she was glad Libby agreed to a proper, cleaned up haircut, the far off look in Libby's eye confidently screamed an urgent need of guidance. Before Tessa could open her mouth and rush to give said guidance, Libby's sharp wit beat her to it.

"I'm in the presence of my boyfriend AND ex-boyfriend," Libby blurt as her near-crazed eyes pierced Tessa's, she shook her head in confusion and stammered on the rest of her words, "Mom h-how many boyfriends have you had?"

"Well," Tessa huffed a long sigh and let a small, dazed smile cross her face, "Zed is my first and only. I had a guy in Academy that was interested in me for awhile. His name was Selka. Penny done killed him."

"How do I begin to deal with this?" Libby staggered as big tears began to well in her eyes, her lip quivered as her crazed look of exhaustion began to slope to sheer childlike desperation, "Just an hour ago, I was a happy little Teltokuan with a love-of-my-life swap mate..."

"You still ARE," Tessa urged softly, and although she wanted to begin cutting the chaos of Libby's hair, and cleaning it up, she remained still, so to at least give Libby some form of peace, "Sure, you... Now are flood with all of these memories, but... You have to remember, that was another life."

"But, that's my origin," Libby's voice huffed in a shaky whisper as she shook her head, tears streamed her rosy cheeks, "Turbo was my boyfriend, my swap mate, th-the reason my coding color was what it was... I-I just... Handed it over to Ace... I-I mean, isn't that REALLY weird?"

"It's not the same coding... I'm beginning to think that, because Turbo put his coding into Zed's fragile brain systematics, YOU were plopped to the grid, due to Dead Zed's reset, and mine and Zed's proper code swap in The Flip Side. If that were the case, you were brought back as Libby, sure, but... It was a FRESH new bundle of coding. A clean slate..."

"I-I just... I can't believe he kissed me, in front of Ace, and then I just..." Libby grit her teeth and now outwardly began to cry in a gentle complain of near-uncomprehendable coos, "Robbed Turbo of our coding, after all this time he thought I was just dead, and-"

"Relax, relax," Tessa eased gently as she held her free hand to Libby's upper arm, "It's not like you two made out... Ace surely is confused and hurt, but, if we know Ace like we think we do, we know he comes around. You know he will reach a point of understanding. So, you and Turbo have history... Plenty of people remain friends with their exes."

"I just feel so terrible, Ace hasn't even looked at me, since, I know for sure he's mad at me," Libby cried softly as she wiped her face, and although her lip continued to quiver and tears streamed her cheeks, Tessa began to gently shave away at the chaotic sprouts of hair on her head, so to give her an even, proper cut.

"He's not mad at you, love... I know he's likely confused," Tessa sighed as she shook her head, she carefully cleaned up Libby's cut, and because of the close cuts Libby had made, Tessa grit her teeth and gave Libby an apologetic look, "Look, I... I know you were upset, but did your long hair have to take the brunt of it? What caused that?"

"I just... I looked at everything that I am, and knew it isn't who I was," Libby whimpered as she furrowed her brow and lost her gaze into her lap, "I was sporty, I had short hair, I liked the finer things, I... I'm certain some would call me a bitch."

"That's who you WERE," Tessa urged softly as she shook her head, though Libby also shook her head, as if to mildly disagree, "The Libby I know, and practically raised, is a cute little long-haired Teltokuan, with the most adorable accent, a childlike adoration for the world around her. A jungle princess that fell into our family tree..."

Libby's face crumped to a grimace of grief-stricken appreciation, a sorrowful show, as if to state she didn't deserve these kind words. Libby inhaled a trembling breath and kept her glassy eyes locked to Tessa's, her adoptive mother, someone of whom she greatly admired. Libby grit her teeth and patiently allowed Tessa's stern, motherly love soak over her fragile, trembling heart.

"You are not who you were... You're someone so much greater," Tessa softly demanded, she continued to gently clean up Libby's hair, and in no time, she had constructed the frame for a perfectly fitting pixie cut, "You're... You're technically higher in the hierarchy than my own mother... But, now, you have so much more clout. You're a User. And for User's sakes, you should be proud."

"I am," Libby whispered in shame as she looked down, tears dot her thick winter pants; Tessa gripped Libby's chin and gently forced her to look back up.

"Most importantly, you're my daughter," Tessa quietly demanded in that same tone of stern, motherly love. Libby's face crumpled, again, to tears of beloved despair, "No daughter of mine is going to hang their head in defeat and be ashamed of who they are... Your past has shaped you, and you are here now simply because of it. Because of the choices you made with Turbo... And because of the choices Turbo made to Dead Zed. You are one lucky duckling, babe."

"I don't know what to think, now," Libby whispered in a nasal rasp as she kept her nervous eyes glued to Tessa's, "What if Ace rejects me, now? Reverses our coding? I-I... I love Turbo, but... Kajiksana is not attracted to Turbo. I guess Libby was, but... This jungle princess isn't."

"To be frank with you, I don't think Turbo is attracted to Kajiksana, either," Tessa blurt a small giggle as she continued to shave away at Libby's head, making it clean and edgy, something new for Libby's confidence, "He was in love with Libby, from Sweet Streets, and... From the sounds of it, Libby Von Swirlz was a real, class A hurricane."

"I was a bit of a brat," Libby finally peaked a smile through her shiny, tear-soaked cheeks, the gentle light in her eyes returned, and with such show of warmth, Tessa's heart jumped.

"I definitely think you and Turbo should have a sit-down and explain where you guys land. I know Ace isn't stupid enough to reverse yours and his coding... He loves you," Tessa confirmed with a nod as she finished off Libby's hair, she gently ran her fingers along the back of Libby's head to see if she missed any strands; a proper, short-shaved pixie cut, that was longer on top, similar to Zed's hair style, is what was crowned atop Libby's head, and with such, Tessa sagged her shoulders and came out of Libby's bubble with a smile of pride, "You look awesome... Now, please keep the hair-style and don't let your emotions dictate what your hair looks like, okay?"

"Hey, I never had a chance to do something wild to my hair after a break-up, okay?" Libby snapped with a snotty smile, little hints of her old self so gently soaked into her skin, only just enough to be playful, though Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gave her an authoritative smile, as if to tell Libby to watch her step. Due to this, Libby figuratively shrank, "Th-this was me, well... Rebelling."

"Okay, well, let said rebellious streak be done with, okay? You already have tattoos, let's just relax, from here," Tessa teased, both girls fell into laughter, though Tessa sighed after a minute and glanced back to the two groups, across the way, "You gunna talk to Ace?"

"I'll... Try..." Libby nervously staggered, she eyed Tessa and nearly looked as if she was going to ask to have Tessa talk to Ace for her, though she stifled it, "I really don't know who to approach first."

"Welp, I'll have a nice long talk with Turbo, once we wake... Maybe just inch into Ace's bubble and see what he's willing to talk about, right now. Use your new haircut as an ice breaker," Tessa shrugged, she gave Libby a small, curious smile as Libby's hands weaved all through her short, fluffy, gorgeous white hair.

"Wow... My head feels so light," Libby giggled, she gave Tessa a grateful smile, "Thank you, for... Well... Everything."

"I'm always in your corner," Tessa affirmed with a loving smile.


	254. Chapter 254

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Music to my ears. Thank you so so so much.

 **Awesome Stories May Occur :** Thank you so much! YOu're never overwhelming or annoying me, so don't even worry. I'll add these to the pile! Thanks again!

 **silversuferann :** Thank you! :D I'm glad you felt as if it was a twist, I love trying to surprise people haha. Ace and Libby eventually have their own conversation and hash everything out, Ace does a very REAL amount of sulking however xD

 **Snake557 :** No worries haha. I'm glad you think so! Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** Haha sorry about that, it all gets ironed out, though like I stated above, Ace does a very solid amount of pouting LOL! Everyone comes around, though Turbo does get tossed around a bit. Rightfully so! Thanks so much, friend :D

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **All I Believe In by The Magic Numbers & Amadou & Mariam (first half)**

 **NO EXCUSES by Meghan Trainor (second half)**

* * *

 ***Chapter 254***

As his mind finally came back from unconscious dreaming, a realm of light, restless sleep, Turbo's eyes peeled open in gaining exhaustion. Upon letting his vision becoming unblurred, he furrowed his dark brows and was surprised to see that his two pack members, Nox and Koko, were replaced by legitimate, formidable beasts of pack members; Lickity, Royal, Balba and Marble. Although they were all relaxed and laying down, they encircled Turbo, with eyes wide open. Turbo sat up in a jolt of rising apprehension, and upon the sudden movement, all four flyer's dared their heads up and tensed their muscles into action. Turbo froze and began to feel his limbs shake, his chest heaved as his heart immediately began to race.

All four flyers slowly got to the paw pads of their clawed, able feet, heads low, lips tight, ears and eyes forward, and it was with these animalistic cues did Turbo read between all the lines. He swallowed hard and did his very best to bring himself to a clumsy stand, purposefully clumsy in hopes of showing said four incredible beasts that he was unassuming and out of sorts. He long blinked and began to nervously pant in rising fear, though he steadied his stance and glanced about to all four flyers. Balba and Marble stood taller than Royal and Lickity, both wolves being the least of Turbo's concerns, though Royal's and Lickity's stern, terrifying dragon gazes were unwavering. Turbo swallowed hard and made his first mistake; reaching out his hand.

"I-I'm not going to hurt any of you guys," Turbo stated in a coo of a higher pitch, he was unaware that these creatures could properly communicate, excluding Lickity and Balba, who had been temporarily handicapped of their ability.

"'Course you're not, you're surrounded," Royal suddenly barked with a widening, fang-filled smile; Lickity, Balba and Marble all huffed breaths of choppiness, to resemble laughter.

"Y-You guys can talk?" Turbo staggered in rising surprise as he directed his attention to Royal, though beyond him and Marble he could see the group of travelers he was praying he could tag along with; they were packing up and preparing for a trip into the sunset, hopefully in the direction of the castle, upon Turbo's knowledge.

"I'm the only one who can right now, but once mom gets her abilities back, I'm sure she'd be happy to give you a piece of her mind," Royal growled, though Turbo raised his eyebrows in rising sorrow and sludged his gaze to Lickity.

She sat in a sulking stance of formidable dominance, her eyes were sharply narrowed in meanness, she snarled a deep, throaty guttural of reverberating, core-shaking bass. As quiet as it was, it was very clear she had the roaring ability that of ten lions. Turbo huffed a shaky sigh and continued to stare into Lickity's angry, resentful eyes, as much as she had been through, Turbo had only added to her trouble. Her wrinkled bat snout was scrunched even more so as she showed her teeth in a snarling show of fang-filled, growling anger, her ears her perked high on her head to show Turbo just who was boss. Her stance was wide and almost crouched, as if to show she was ready to pounce on him at any given moment. Nonetheless, Turbo bravely reached his soft hand for Lickity's snout, so to make amends.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," Turbo's voice was gentle and deep, though it shook in rising fear. Although Turbo kept nearing Lickity, as slowly and softly as he could, Lickity's snarling only grew and grew, "I was just trying to protect myself, it... Was nothing personal."

Although Lickity had given all the warnings of an angered animal, she opened her mouth a little and allowed her growling to gain voice. A loud, throaty grumble echoed through the group as Turbo's soft hand persisted, though with a sudden sharpness, Lickity barked a roar of discontent and so quickly snapped her fang-filled jaws right for Turbo's hand. He gasped and yanked away, as he took a few steps back, though with Lickity's little outburst, a sudden high-pitched whistle was heard, sharp, short, sweet and to the point, and with such whistle, Lickity flattened her ears, ceased all snarling and sagged in a draw of startled confusion. In a swoop of memories that had come back to her, terrible memories of Orph's sharp whistling, one of which could disarm her in an instant, she felt rage course through her scaly skin, once more, though the second Orph's presence soaked into hers, and his gentle hand laid to her snout in comfort, Lickity remained still and took in every ounce of confusion that glossed over her.

"Hey, hey, play nice," Orph stated sternly to Lickity, though it was clear it was out of love. Lickity's eyes widened as she looked up to him; in the past, said whistle would be met with a whip, a loud retort, an angry cry that Lickity wasn't good enough, fast enough, though as Lickity's scared eyes soaked up into Orph's, she was met with his warm, changed demeanor, one of which has greatly softened over time, and it was with such care did Lickity confusedly succumb to his tender request, his warm hand to her snout, he lovingly stroked her face up to the top of her furry head, "She's a quick one, isn't she? She's my lucky bat... Won me many races, in the day."

"No shit," Turbo huffed in agitation as Lickity sagged her wings and finally sat on her rump as Orph continued to pet the top of her head, "Nearly took my hand off."

"Nah, she wouldn't hurt a fly... She's just going through a lot, right now," Orph stated warmly as she looked down to Lickity, though he wrinkled his nose and gave her a teasing smile, "No biting... We want to keep Turbo, okay?"

"Thanks, man," Turbo stated in a distant sort of way, he straightened out his shirt and urgently looked about for wherever Koko and Nox laid off to, though Orph's warm smile finally dragged to Turbo's presence and reeled him in; he outreached his hand for Turbo and knew somehow the ice had to be broken between the group.

"I don't think we've properly met, I'm Orph," Orph stated warmly, and it was with such did Turbo soften and slowly give up on trying to seek solace with Nox and Koko, his glowing yellow eyes finally regained normality as he nervously reached for Orph's hand, "I'm one of Zed's younger brothers."

"Soreph Tyler Kalivar," Turbo stated knowingly with a nod and a smile, though Orph cocked an eyebrow and, as both boys completed their handshake, Orph's hand came right back to the top of Lickity's head.

"... Yeah, how..." Orph scratched the back of his head and looked off, to find Penny. He nervously chuckled and gave Turbo a curious smile, "You been talkin' to Penny?"

"I... Don't know who that is," Turbo stated cheekily as he shrugged and gave Orph an apologetic smile, "I know all your guys' names... I, uh... Was so dug into Dead Zed's coding. The whole... B-Brainwashing thing... That I hate mentioning."

"It's cool," Orph stated gently, and although he wasn't off the hook for his wrong doings, Orph knew to tread lightly. He gently pat the top of Lickity's head and looked down to her, "This one is Tessa's dragon... She used to be one of mine, but she's the one that got away."

"This used to be your dragon?" Turbo wondered, and it was at this point did Balba, Marble and Royal slowly begin to mosey away.

"Yeah, she was my number one racer," Orph felt his heart race; he knew this was likely his only opportunity to be this close and loving to Lickity without her wanting to chew his head off, though his heart jumped with the sheer fact that she seemed to be seeking comfort from Orph, in this instance, as if losing the ability to talk has taken the harsh edge off of their unending differences. Orph chuckled and gave Lickity a small smile as his tender fingers so warmly combed through the fluffy feathers atop her tan scales of her head, "Her name was Lucky... She was my Lucky ninety-nine."

"Lucky," Turbo repeated with a warm smile as he peered down to Lickity in softness.

"Love that name, don't you girl," Orph chuckled with a wide smile, and over the course of Turbo's and Orph's soft conversation, Lickity's demeanor had sagged from a fierce apex predator to that of a shy soul, half hiding behind Orph's upper leg. Her snarl had faded, her eyes grew big with curiosity and her ears lazily sat to the sides of her head. With the prickle of her attention, she raised her eyebrow muscles and tenderly peered her big, secretly forgiving green eyes up to Orph in a near-gentle plea of neediness. Orph's smile only widened, he shook his head and wrinkled his nose down to Lickity, "Lickity suits you better, huh."

Lickity meeped a small noise with her throat, mouth closed. She long blinked her big, curious eyes and heaved a hard sigh through her nose as she nervously eyed Turbo, as if to state to Orph that she was comfortable in his promising presence, though Turbo's presence was a whole different story.

"Lickity," Turbo's curious smile widened as him and Lickity locked eyes, as if to quietly wonder if they were to be potential friends or foes, "That sounds so familiar."

"Well, I guess Vanellope named her..." Orph dragged in wondering as he tried his best to recall the story of how Lickity got her name, though Turbo snapped his fingers and gave Orph an enlightened smile.

"Her old cart!" Turbo huffed a laugh, Orph bobbed an eager nod and beamed, "The Likkity Split."

"Yeah," Orph urged, he peered back down to Lickity with warmth, "I think Tessa just decided to hold onto it. We're only recently friends. Old girl used to hate my guts."

Lickity snorted a noise, and it was almost as if Orph could just hear Lickity now, protesting and saying something along the lines of still hating him; she rolled her eyes and looked off, though somehow she felt her heart swell for Orph's tender touch, the gentle scratches he gave behind her right ear. She sagged her shoulders and was nearly mad at herself for leaning into his friendly touch.

"She's protective, not a bad trait to have in a dragon of a companion," Turbo stated in a grunt as he crossed his arms and tilted his head as Lickity's eyes came back to him, though she flinched as Orph knelt down to the level of her head.

"Listen to me," Orph urged quietly to her, she perked her ears a little and peered her big, curious green eyes directly into Orph's, "Be nice to him... I know you're upset about losing your ability to talk, but we've got to stick together... We all want to keep our limbs, okay?"

"Limbs and fingers," Turbo pleaded though the grit of his teeth with a chuckle, Lickity heaved a soft sigh through her nose and sniffled at Orph's chest a little, her eyes kept glued to his, as if to beg him not to leave her with Turbo.

"Be good," Orph urged Lickity firmly as he cupped her chin, and in a massive act of bravery, Orph leaned in and placed a firm smooch to Lickity's snout. She sagged her ears in further, melted confusion and was nearly disappointed the second Orph finally stood to his proper height and began to step away, though he pointed to Turbo with a welcoming smile, "Hey, we'll be leaving shortly... I-I guess you'll be flying with Tessa, on Lickity. Tessa wants to have a private chat with you for a bit, before we stop for a bathroom break."

"I-I... Sh-she... Tessa wants me to fly with her on Lickity?" Turbo staggered in fear, he tried to hide it, though he was failing; Orph began to back step away from the two as Lickity looked on in urgency.

"Yep... I came over here to put out any fires, but... You two should make nice before you're thousands of feet in the air," Orph warned with a sly smile as he finally turned heel and stepped away.

Turbo swallowed hard as him and Lickity dragged their eyes to each other. Lickity's sagged demeanor very slowly began to creep back to hard and agitated, though she seemed as if she had calmed a bit. She grumbled a bit of a groan, as if to state she wanted to continue her fit of growling and snarling at him, though with the amount of love Orph had just shown her, she stifled it and was certain she should likely make good on Orph's word and try and let this forbidden stranger into her comfort zone.

"I'm... I'm very sorry I hurt you, Lickity," Turbo stated, his voice shook a little as he sagged his hands into his pockets, for protection, "I was just protecting myself. Had I known you were Tessa's dragon, I would've never done that to you. I'm glad that you were able to rest up, your, uh... Ankle looks like it's doing better."

Lickity perked an ear and gently dragged her attention to her left paw, her ankle was swollen and scuffed up, though Ace had done his absolute best to heal the bone. The muscle around it was sore and sprained, though with a little bit of limping, Lickity could still walk about. She huffed a noise of discontent, though the look of tenderness she finally gave Turbo instilled confidence in him, confidence to try again. He swallowed hard and, as bravely as he could, he unstuck his right hand from his warm pocket and dared to try again. He outreached his hand and took a small step closer to Lickity. He kept his eyes honed tight to Lickity's, and as she softened and gently glanced to Turbo's stretched hand, she remained still and knew she had to have some slice of pettiness to hold onto, the last little bit of space she made Turbo fill himself.

Upon his warm, foreign skin meeting her snout, she flinched a little and allowed him to soak his fingers into the three thick wrinkles of her bat snout, he warmly swayed his hand back and forth and felt the velvety, short suede-like fur on her snout with a sense of pride. He huffed a small chuckle and gently bent to one knee, so to have an easier experience, and as he came down, Lickity played to the illusion and pushed into Turbo's hand a little further, as if to show secret gratitude for the added show of physical appreciation. Turbo so gently mumbled a few words to Lickity, kind coos of apology, and with such, Lickity entrusted him and let her eyes close. She sagged her shoulders and wings and gratefully enjoyed the rub down, his scratching fingers made their way to Lickity's fuzzy chin, and with such, she slowly stretched out her neck and eagerly leaned into his touch, so much so, her skull clumsily bumped his. He blurt a laugh and wobbled, though he raised his eyebrows in surprise as Tessa's voice coat over the two.

"I'll be damned," Tessa laughed as she put her hands on her hips, she shook her head and stopped before the two, and although Turbo was clearly looking like a deer in headlights, Lickity continued to fawn for more pets, "I'm surprise she warmed up to you so quickly. Looks like I won't have to try and convince her to let you aboard."

"Thankfully," Turbo stuttered, and although Lickity gently began to paw at Turbo's ankle, so to keep him knelt, he stood and tried to ease out of her needy gravity. She grumbled a noise, almost as if to complain about him stopping, she nudged his side with her snout and was successful in getting a laugh out of him, "Looks like all she really wants right now is a rub down."

"It's her weakness, a good 'ol ear or belly rub will do her in for the night," Tessa smiled, Turbo's glowing eyes locked on hers, she felt it so bizarre that she'd be so comfortable in the presence of a legend, someone so feared throughout the entire arcade, someone she could've sworn was simply at the root of this whole mess, and although she could feel her insides just clench at the thought of being in the presence of a living nightmare, she could see the tender loving care in his eyes. She narrowed her gaze and gave him an inquisitive smile, "You can take us to our castle... Right?"

"Yeah, in terms of flying, you're looking at maybe a day or two travels... Walking took about a week, from this standpoint," Turbo grunted in dismay, Tessa raised her eyebrows and looked up to the darkening sky, she shivered and zipped up her winter coat as Turbo continued on, "... Like I told you, it's True North... Nearly sat in the vat of a white void of The End."

"You mean...?" Tessa gestured her hand and gave him a nervous look of confusion.

"It's on the edge of the final cliffs, just... A gaping mess of white nothingness and clouds and fog," Turbo put his hands on his hips as everyone began to mosey closer to the three, all prepared to take off for their nighttime travels.

"... Please tell me the castle is still in one piece," Tessa wondered in a hushed tone, as if to silently beg that him nor Lash had moved anything out of order, though with the way Turbo's warm eyes wrinkled into a smile had Tessa immediately reassured.

"She's dusty, but... In one piece," Turbo bobbed a nod and nervously glanced to Vanellope, who stood with her arms crossed; she glanced to Rancis, and as Turbo noticed the two catch eyes, he knew he'd likely be due for several brutal conversations to come, though he sighed and glued his eyes down into Tessa's, "How come you wanted to fly with just me?"

"You've ruffled a lot of feathers," Tessa chuckled, she shook her head and gave Turbo a warm smile, "Last you tried to tussle with me, I was just a measly code box... And I couldn't fight back."

"So... This solo flight with me is your chance, then?" Turbo cocked an eyebrow and gave her a cheeky smile, his demeanor shone through, he only slowly began to show comfort around these strangers, and as much as Turbo reminded Tessa of Nox, she gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded.

"Bet your ass," Tessa snipped, though Turbo's smile sunk as Lickity huffed a hard noise of a laugh, sat up straighter and allowed steam to rise from her nostrils; amidst this, everyone in the group quietly snickered to themselves and each other, and in a huff of feathers and a jolt of sharp wings, the group quickly took off without Tessa, Lickity or Turbo. Tessa smiled and watched her family get a head start on their travels, she finally board Lickity and held her hand out to Turbo, "Promise we won't throw you overboard, but I can't promise there won't be backflips. She's a wild one."

"S-So I'm told," Turbo staggered as he slipped his hand into Tessa's and warily board her dragon.

* * *

In the quiet of the evening, Oliver, Duke, Jax and Finn lazily sprawled on the living room's couches, Ralph lay slumped and relaxed against their worn ottoman, and although Throttle was typically a hermit, he actually managed to wedge himself into the group of men enjoying a game on t.v. He sat with his arms behind his head, seemingly making it clear that his introverted side was safe amongst the quieter of the Kalivar men. Taffyta hung in the kitchen, just days away from Wren being born, she peered down at his loading bar and was delighted to see it was almost complete. She munched on a leftover brownie from the batch she had made the night prior, and just as she was about to close the container of brownies and head to bed, she harshly stubbed her pinkie toe on the way to the pantry; she scrunched her face and inhaled a sharp gasp followed by a loud holler of pain.

In zero seconds flat, recliners snapped to upright positions, couch pillows flew, limbs and grunts were so chaotically abundant as every single gamer, lounged in the living room, flung to attention and clumsily dart to where Taffyta was. Taffyta urgently looked up, from being hunched from the pain of her toe, and was met with hands and arms that hovered just about her, as if they wanted to grab her and haul her to the code room, though they weren't so sure how to go about it.

"The baby's coming!" Finn urged in whole terror, each man in the kitchen began to pace in uneducated confusion and panic.

"Okay, Ralph, ready the code room!" Duke struggled to get words out; Ralph grappled his hair and took a running leap to the Sky Room's entrance.

"Y-You guys," Taffyta blurt into wheezed laughter, though she grimaced from the pain and grappled her ankle.

"Okay, Jax, ready?!" Finn near-squealed in rising panic as he panted and looked for his younger brother, though he jolted the second the image of Jax grappling for a strainer came to his vision, "... WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"I-I don't know we may need it you never know!" Jax's voice rung into higher pitches of continued, masculine panic.

"IT'S A STRAINER!" Oliver bellowed with a jolt of a confused laugh.

"GUYS," Taffyta suddenly choked a laugh and lifted her shirt, which showed her calmly still-loading bar, "I stubbed my toe... I'm not going into labor."

Duke, Throttle, Jax, Oliver and Finn froze and peered to Taffyta in a slump of adrenaline that now hit them in a slump of near-molasses like goo. Everyone lazily sagged and gave Taffyta a look of already exhausted terror, though Taffyta gingerly rested her hand to Throttle's shoulder, who stood closest to her.

"You guys are so cute!" Taffyta squealed as Duke and Jax groaned in mild annoyance and began to trudge away, "I'm sorry, I just stubbed my toe, oh, what, I'm not allowed to stub my toe?!"

"Daaaaaad," Oliver called in a lazy, loud drone of impending disappointment, though Ralph was long gone.

"What did you think you were going to use THAT for?!" Throttle burst with a widening smile as Jax sheepishly set down the strainer to the kitchen island.

"He was going to use it to catch Wren in," Duke laughed as he pat Jax's shoulder, though Jax gaped and gave him and Taffyta a look of defensiveness.

"I just grabbed it, I wasn't thinking!" Jax loudly complained as Duke continued to tease his little brother.

"What the heck his going on in here?" Tammy croaked in irritation as she rubbed her eye, it was clear the commotion woke her up.

"Sorry, Tams, uh... The boys thought I was going into labor," Taffyta stifled a hard amount of giggling and largely failed, "I stubbed my toe."

"GUYS," Tammy barked in now full-blown irritation, "Toe stubbing pain and labor pains are two very different things."

"SHE SOUNDED LIKE SHE WAS IN A LOT OF PAIN!" Jax whined as he largely gestured his hands to Taffyta; everyone was thrusted into exhausted laughter as he jostled about the strainer, once more, "WE PANICKED OKAY."

"What's the strainer for?" Tammy's irritation was now becoming real, though everyone laughed louder.

"My question exactly," Oliver grumbled with a widening smile.

"CATCH!" Throttle imitated, everyone roared with laughter, though they urgently flinched once Ralph suddenly flung himself into the kitchen, from the Sky Room's corridor.

"IT'S READY," Ralph largely panted as he peered to the group, he landed his eyes to Taffyta and wheezed, "Is Wren coming?!"

"In three days," Taffyta urged in now prickled annoyance, though she smiled, "You guys are so funny... I'm glad to be surrounded by a group that cares, but seriously, I'M FINE."

"C-Can we at least check?" Ralph heavily panted, though Throttle warmly rested his hand to Ralph's much larger lower arm.

"She's not due, yet," Throttle eased, Ralph sagged his shoulders and looked off as he continued to pant.

"Dammit," Ralph grunted.

"Y'think the group will be back in three days?" Finn pressed as Tammy peeled away from the group and trudged back to her bedroom, "Seems like three days is a lot of time to accomplish a decent amount."

"Who even knows where they are," Taffyta shrugged, "I just... Dread the obvious."

"What's that?" Throttle pressed as Duke, Oliver and Jax moseyed back to the living room, though Finn and Throttle remained with Taffyta in the kitchen.

"I just would hate for Rancis to meet Wren once he's all grown," Taffyta sagged her shoulders, though she perked up, to imitate Wren, and largely deepened her voice, "Hi, dad, I'm a fully grown man and never had someone to show me the ropes."

"Aw, c'mon," Throttle frowned, he gestured to all the men in the group, "I'm positive all of us would gladly step up and help you out... We all can be proper male figures for Wren, it's no issue."

"Yeah, Taff, we're all in this together," Finn gestured, "So, they don't return for awhile... We'll tell Wren ALL about Rancis, it'll be great. Something to look forward to."

"I suppose you're right," Taffyta sighed, though Ralph lovingly rested his hand to her shoulder and gave her a warm smile.

"Don't worry too much," Ralph grumbled, "Sugar Rush may be large, but... It's been a week. I'm positive they've at least made a good amount of headway. They'll be home in no time."

"You think they found Turbo like Tessa thought they would?" Throttle wondered in gentle, boyish inquisition.

"Doubt it," Taffyta grunted as she shook her head, "I wouldn't downplay Sugar Rush's size, there, King Ralph... Sugar Rush is massive. Finding Turbo in all that mess is like finding a pixie stick in a pile of lollipops."

"Guess we'll find out eventually..." Ralph rubbed the back of his head and lulled his eyes closed, "I hate all this uncertainty. I just want them all home."

"You and me both," Taffyta grunted as she looked off, and although she was grateful to have so many wonderful men promise Rancis to take Taffyta under their wings, she knew there was nothing like Rancis's love and care, "Just gotta keep holding on... Much longer, though, and I might explode."

"Well, clearly, Jax will be ready for when that happens, strainer and all," Finn called over his shoulder, though Jax grunted a noise of irritation.

"You're not going to let me forget that, are you," Jax volleyed in defeat.

"Nope," Finn chirped as he crossed his arms with a smug smile.


	255. Chapter 255

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Hahaha I knew you guys would get a kick out of that :D

 **Burgie :** Oh I'm glad! It bounces back and forth a few times, the drama with Tessa's group is so tense, it's nice to go back and have something light-hearted happen back at home. I figured you guys would like the small break lol.

* * *

 ***Chapter 255***

"Where to begin?" Tessa wondered with a light laugh, the cold air whipped her hair a bit, and as she successfully caught it and began to braid it so it wouldn't be in Turbo's face, she sighed and decided to turn her positioning, so to face Turbo instead. In uneducated surprise, he scoot back, on Lickity's spine, and got comfortable as well. He huffed an agreeing chuckle as Tessa's laughter persisted, "And don't start in the eighties."

"I was coded in eighty-two," Turbo started teasingly, and although Tessa wanted to simply ring his throat for the sheer amount of turmoil him and Lash had brought on everyone, she couldn't help but flash him a wide smile and soak in all of his love and humor. Turbo shook his head and gently looked off, the glowing of his eyes stained their small surroundings of surfaces, only aboard Lickity in Sugar Rush's massive sky, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding..."

"It's so frustrating, because... For the almost three years I've been alive, I've had millions of bubbling questions, so many different things I would've killed to say to you," Tessa's voice softened as she sat cross-legged, she shook her head and was thrilled Turbo wasn't afraid of eye contact; his creepy, golden gaze was as haunting as ever, though it had that kiss of familiarity, as if Nox had been bracing them all along, "... Now that I'm right in front of you, with hours of empty time, I can say whatever I want..."

"Nothing comes to mind," Turbo concluded, as if he, too, felt the same exact way. He nodded and flinched as Lickity's massive wings so gently flapped to keep her speed, she had caught up with the rest of the flyers and was prominently at the head of the flight pack, "I strangely felt the same way... When I bumped into you in Game Central Station, I nearly couldn't get out the small amount of information I did. I froze, too, y'know."

"Not physically," Tessa retort in rising frustration as she gestured to him, "You had me physically in a hold... Are those glitching powers? What's with that?"

"Well, yeah, they were a mix of mine and Libby's coding," Turbo stated nonchalantly, with a shrug, "She was the original glitch... It'll be interesting to hear Vanellope's take on all of that."

"And what were your powers?" Tessa prod, she felt confused with the wave of frustrated anger that so quickly kept segueing into childlike curiosity, "I know Nox has invisibility."

"Yes, Nox has invisibility," Turbo chuckled and volleyed his gaze across the darkening gap of sky, the rest of the flight crew kept their distance from Tessa, Lickity and Turbo, likely to give them privacy, though Turbo was still able to pinpoint Nox's location, strictly from the glow of his eyes, "We each had our own in-game power... They only worked in TurboTime, but... Lash found a way around that rule. My power was a time-warp ability. I could reverse or manipulate time to my advantage, on the tracks..."

"Like, if you spun out, you could go back and make it so that never happened?" Tessa wondered gently, Turbo nodded and looked down to the thick, loved saddle strapped to Lickity's powerful body.

"Exactly," Turbo sighed, he furrowed his brow and shook his head a little, "Combined with glitching powers, from Libby's original Sweet Streets coding, I was granted this hybrid time-warp vice grip ability."

"So, you literally could freeze people in time, or manipulate the air of time around a person," Tessa's voice droned, Turbo nodded once more, almost in shame.

"An awesome ability I used for power, for vengeance," Turbo stabbed his apologetic gaze into Tessa's, "I never meant to hurt you, or Lickity... Or anyone... I was just so wrought with sorrow and desperation."

"I can't say I understand, but... I appreciate the apology, nonetheless," Tessa's voice was soft and serious, Turbo inhaled a deep breath of Sugar Rush's cold air and looked up to the moon, lofted to his left, "Certainly, adding you into Sugar Rush's coding was mine and Zed's fault."

"Yeah... Swapping your's and Zed's source coding, that one day, put me back into the system," Turbo explained gently, his dusty, charcoal hair had different characteristics to it, than Nox; it waved a bit, similar to Ace's hair. It blew in the wind, making the waves curl even tighter, "And... In doing so, also put Lash back into the system. We had a code-pact... If one of us died, the other could revive him."

"So, Lash was dead?" Tessa wondered in confusion, though Turbo shook his head and then shrugged, "What do you mean by a code-pact? You two were essentially one?"

"Imagine two beings keeping their coding safe inside one another, in such a way that is platonic and doesn't require a code swap... Lash and I would so often go in and out of being Radex, being Turbo, being Lash... The only way I could even keep my footing, through all the twisted confusion, was Libby's coding. Her coding helped remind me that I was Turbo, I was my own person," Turbo quickly explained as he gestured to himself, "... I'm starting to believe Lash wanted nothing more than to BE me."

"Well, from the sounds of it, he was well on his way," Tessa shook her head in confusion, "Wasn't he King Candy? Did I hear that correctly?"

"Yes, and then once he was discovered, by Vanellope, he threw my name under the bus... And posed as me," Turbo shook his head and softly shrugged, "At the time, being fluid about our identities is what kept us out of 'trouble', it kept us from being caught... I was way too weak to do anything, for the first decade or so without Libby's powers, that... Lash just took that as an opportunity to cart my coding around."

"You had to survive off of each other?" Tessa pressed, Turbo urgently nodded.

"Off of each other and others," Turbo sighed and looked off in growing shame, "... I never meant to drag Rancis into any of this. My coding was so weak, without a proper code swap with Libby, that... Lash just shoved me into the nearest code box he could."

"It... Just so happened to be my uncle's, huh," Tessa frowned and looked down to her hands, Turbo bobbed a sorrowful nod and sighed.

"My coding was weak enough at first, to where no one really noticed the change in Rancis's personality, but... It felt so nice to be inside an able, working body. One that wasn't weakened by a prolonged period of time without a code swap. I began to crave that feeling, and... Because of it, I just inhabited Rancis's coding and eventually never left," Turbo went on to explain, his voice grew more and more ashamed, "All was fine until that pesky lack of a code swap finally caught up to me, and, well... I knew I needed a fix. I sought out the girls Rancis hung out with most."

"My mom and aunt Taffyta?" Tessa asked, she shook her head and narrowed her eyes, "You went after the both of them, in Rancis's skin, right?"

"Right... I greatly pursued Taffyta, cause I knew Taffyta had a little bit of a crush on Rancis, when they were downgraded... Once Sugar Rush got an upgrade, my need for someone else's coding just sky rocketed," Turbo sighed shakily and began to nervously fidget with his hands, which Tessa was certain were trembling now, having to explain himself, "Taffyta finally rejected me because I think I just became too desperate, too aggressive... I quickly went after Vanellope, she had more patience for me, as Rancis. User knows why."

"Where was my dad in this mess?" Tessa wondered in defensiveness, though Turbo bugged his eyes and now regretfully looked off.

"I, uh... I got him out of the picture a week before Sugar Rush got upgraded," Turbo shamefully admitted, Tessa huffed a chuckle and adjusted her sitting position, as if to communicate that things were now getting good.

"You got rid of my dad because you KNEW you didn't stand a single chance wooing my mom if my dad was in the picture?" Tessa blurt a gentle laugh, and with such, Turbo heaved a shaky sigh and finally let a bashful smile sprawl his face.

"Guilty... I wrote Ralph and Vanellope fake notes, to each other, insisting they end their friendship due to fear of being unplugged," Turbo's far off gaze looked eternally surprised, with himself, "I'm actually shocked to say that did the trick, and for nearly two years, I had Vanellope all to myself."

"Did you guys... Date?" Tessa gawked, she froze and hung onto every single last word that Turbo said, she felt like a fish out of water, simply a fly on the wall, she was absolutely floored with the information being volleyed her way.

"Not technically, I think Vanellope eventually pitied me and would allow me to take her to dinner... I tried everything to woo her, literally everything," Turbo frowned and looked to his lap for a moment of silence, though he slipped his gentlemanly gaze to Tessa's and shook his head, "I had instances where I wondered if I could just... Grab her and finally have my way, but... I knew nothing was worth that. I knew I had created rifts, I had made a poor name for myself... I knew not to go so far as robbing someone of their coding."

"Well... I-I'm grateful for that, at least," Tessa frowned, she kept her eyes glued to Turbo's nervous orbs and sighed, "She honestly just wasn't into you like that?"

"No, and then... To my dismay, Ralph made his way to our game, after it had gotten moved, and he showed up before one of our races," Turbo grit his teeth and shook his head, "I was so incredibly mad... All my hard work was just down the drain... The way she ran to him and hugged him, I craved that attention, I wanted nothing more than to finally have that love with someone, once more."

"... Here we were, thinking you were power hungry, wanting fame and fortune and to always be first," Tessa's voice was gentle as a small, knowing smile sprawled her face, she eyed Turbo in a knowing way and cued to the bashful air he began to radiate, "All you wanted was love... You were grieving the loss of Libby, your swap mate... All of this mess, because your swap-mate's game got unplugged and she went down with the ship."

"I had lost everything I had ever known, my game, my oldest and youngest brother, my swap mate and the friends I had made in Sweet Streets... Everything near and dear to my heart," Turbo long blinked and did everything he could from welling up, the cold wind that brushed into their beings aided with keeping his eyes dry, though he still looked down to hide any further evidence, "... I just allowed Lash to call the shots. He really stuck his neck out for me, he kept my coding safe, he took the reigns and promised me we'd flourish in Sugar Rush... Once Ralph and Vanellope reset Sugar Rush, Lash couldn't remain in his King Candy cover, any longer, and I, well..."

"I was just going to ask, who were you disguised as?" Tessa wondered gently, though Turbo grew incredibly nervous and embarrassed.

"Th-That's a story for another time," Turbo rushed, he shook his head and hurried to carry on, "Point is... Since our coding was engrained in Sugar Rush's code room, the cy-bug, that Lash had unfortunately turned into, died alongside the diet cola beacon that Ralph had set off... We both were immediately plopped in Sugar Rush's code room, just a wreck of coding... Lash and I could hardly stand on our own."

"That's where you guys made that code-pact?" Tessa asked, she finally put her hood up due to the cold wind that licked the back of her head and made her shiver.

"Exactly... Like two cups half empty, we just combined the rest of our energies into one, and... Lash shoved said energy into the nearest code box we could find," Turbo shook his head and sighed, "AKA, Rancis Fluggerbutter... Lash's conscious seemed to have taken a back seat in the merge, because, he seemingly doesn't remember much from this time period."

"Poor Uncle Rancis," Tessa sighed as she sagged in her position and looked off with a growing frown, she shook her head and furrowed her brow in confusion, "So... How were you able to escape Rancis's coding, then? How are you strong enough for it, here and now?"

"Arcade was holding a massive New Year's ball... I made SURE to ask Vanellope to the dance before Ralph ever could, and I was successful," Turbo bobbed a nod and looked off, "Somehow, though, Ralph was brave enough to show up and he practically swept Vanellope off her feet. The two ran off together, back to Sugar Rush, and... I guess Ralph had found Vanilla Lake, the most unforgiving void of liquid coding this arcade has to offer. I was stupid to follow them there, cause... That threw a monkey wrench in my plans."

"The lake took you, didn't it?" Tessa recalled in question, Turbo bobbed a nod.

"Felix showed up, with his hammer," Turbo shook his head and grimaced a smile, "Somehow, between the mixture of the clunk of his hammer and the swallowing void of the lake, that was enough to temporarily time-out Rancis's coding, whilst splitting from my pathetic coding. I then became a hologram of Rancis, annnd... Had a bit of fun with that, if I'm being honest."

"Honeydew Ridge," Tessa huffed a chuckle and pointed, "You haunted that ridge, didn't you."

"Hooo boy did I," Turbo blurt a laugh, the two rose into a gentle fit of smiles and laughs with each other before Turbo settled and wiped his eyes, he continued on, beaming, "I was miserable, but I'll tell yah, giving all those scares really did bring me a lot of joy, unfortunately... More joy than I had felt in a long while."

"The game has certainly given it's fair share of mental code-shredding... I heard, somewhere along the lines, Sugar Rush was in Disneyland, somehow?" Tessa wrinkled a curious smile and shook her head.

"Yes, and due to it being unsuccessful in Disneyland, somehow the title screen would just read something along the lines of 'only being playable in Litwak's Arcade', it was promptly moved back to Litwak's, and properly reset... Vanellope reset the code room, and..." Turbo gently looked off and breathed a now gently fogged sigh, signifying the group were to eventually run into snow, though his eyes began to scan his surroundings in gentle curiosity, he now lazily continued on, as if distracted, "Seemingly, Rancis was reset back to normal. Heard he had a hell of a time trying to prove his worth to Vanellope and the gang, though."

"Yeah, Uncle Rancis has been through a ton," Tessa muttered in mild annoyance, though she cocked an eyebrow and tried to scan Turbo's line of sight, though she flinched once she realized that the rest of their flyers had made their way closer, and Zed was attempting to get Tessa's attention.

"Tess, we're coming upon a really massive body of water," Zed called gently, Turbo heaved a hot sigh through his nose and sagged as he looked to the dimming horizon, though before he could warn the gang of the length of said body of water, Zed continued on, "We're going to stop here for a bathroom break before we carry on."

"Okay," Tessa called as she quickly turned around, grappled Lickity's reigns and prepared for landing, alongside everyone else, though with such decent, Tessa looked on in rising confusion.

The four flyers, as well as Nox on the Tron flyer, circled about a little, in search for a proper place to land. Massive, towering trees hung above the low layer of fog and clouds, almost as if they were the only things sprouting from said fog and clouds, though in frustration, Tessa guided Lickity to dip below the fog. She heaved a startled gasp as Lickity's body nearly plowed face first into nothing but water underneath. Lickity largely flapped her wings, popped back above the fog and shook her head in wild confusion. She garbled an annoyed noise and flinched as Marble, Royal and Balba sharply whizzed past her. In a rough attempt of at least trying to find some place to land, each flyer ducked into the wide, large sprawling branches of said massive trees they hung near.

"I guess I should've warned you guys," Turbo huffed with a small laugh as Lickity's strong legs landed on the branch, it was wide enough to house all of them comfortably, an easy walking space that was sturdy enough to properly carry weight, "The ocean you guys have come up upon is... Well... Very large."

"How did you cross it, then?" Rancis blurt in rising annoyance as Marble firmly landed near Lickity, she had successfully carried Ace, Rancis and Vanellope. Nox struggled to try and land his Tron flyer, though he finally cued it to ravel into the baton it typically was housed in, he brushed his chest off and gave the group a look of cheeky pride, though he easily sagged once Rancis and Ace gently laughed to each other, in a mean and teasing way, towards Turbo, "Y'swim your way over? Win gold medals for that too, huh?"

"Seemingly," Ace muttered darkly, both men hung in Marble's vicinity.

Tessa largely rolled her eyes and sagged off of Lickity; she peered across the foggy stretch of sky, over three dozen of these massive trees sprout of the swamp-like conditions they were in, and although it was humid and wet, the air was bone-chillingly cold. Her breath fogged as she narrowed her gaze and was successful in finding the rest of their flight group, they waved their hands and called over to Tessa's group, to clearly insinuate that they were safe and were shortly going to make their way over, once proper bathroom breaks were relieved.

"Got anything else to warn us about?" Rancis snapped with a chuckle, and although this sense of humor could easily just come across as plain, good 'ol fashion teasing fun, in Rancis's case, it was purely mean and spiteful; Turbo did everything he could not to roll his eyes, not to succumb to Rancis's prodding stabs, though he grumbled a lousy reply.

"Oh, plenty," Turbo looked off and crossed his arms, though he flinched once Rancis's presence seemed to nearly bleed into his, as if Rancis had all this pent up verbal anger he wanted to just unload, and now that the group had a full night to sleep on this whole entire ordeal, Rancis, Vanellope and Ace looked as if they were now primed and ready for battle; where as Turbo was more than happy to at least attempt to bury the hatchet, "Depends on what warrants warning, really."

"Well, considering you're the source of this whole entire mess, I'd say any and all information you have to give, about the rest of this journey, is what would warrant warning," Vanellope muttered, though Tessa lifted her head in now rising defense, for Turbo, and flagged her hand.

"Hey, hey, c'mon, no pointing fingers, Turbo and I had a pretty solid conversation just now, and he filled me in on a lot," Tessa rushed to defend, Turbo shot her a soft look of gratefulness as she continued on, her voice was raised due to being a dozen or so feet away, tending to Lickity's saddle, "Turbo isn't all to blame, here, can we just relax on any more stabby remarks, guys?"

"Put your swords down, uncle," Ace mumbled to Rancis, almost as if he was joking, though his tone also lead to potentially be siding with his mother; Rancis rolled his eyes and blurt a chuckle.

"Anything I say won't be news to him, anyhow, right?" Rancis gestured lazily to Turbo, who began to try his hardest to ignore Rancis, from here on out. He carefully walked towards the massive tree's trunk, in hopes of joining Nox's presence, though Rancis's need for revenge overrode Tessa's wise advice, "You've been in my head for so long, you should see any of my intentions coming from a million miles away!"

"It's not like that anymore," Turbo muttered darkly, he furrowed his brow and only glanced to Rancis over his shoulder, "I split from your yellow code box after Sugar Rush returned from Disneyland."

"Too bad you didn't stick around long enough to get that dose of a code swap," Rancis now allowed any and all unfiltered thoughts to just pour out of his mouth, the shaking anger and adrenaline that now began to soak him with continued need for vengeance washed over any amount of common sense he'd so diligently earned, all out the window, "Not long after that, Taffyta gave me her coding."

"Shucks, missed out," Turbo stabbed sarcastically, and although he continued to pursue Nox's presence, he could feel Rancis on his heels, and with such, he knew a rising fight was quickly approaching; how quickly he'd rush to stop that from happening, he wasn't quite sure.

"So, Tess, you said no stabby remarks," Rancis called over his shoulder, though with this, Turbo finally turned around and faced Rancis, both men lazily sauntered in each other's vicinity, as if now they were uncertain of just what this rise of tossed words would come to, though Turbo finally stood his ground and gave Rancis a hard, annoyed glower.

"Uncle," Ace now warned, the teasing, playful air was now slipping to something that Ace didn't sign up for, this was something Tessa cued to as she began to unglue herself from fidgeting with Lickity's saddle.

"Uncle Rancis, you can have a heated debate without being an asshole," Tessa blurt, and although she knew not to disrespect the relatives higher on the totem pole, she gave her uncle a disappointed look and gestured to him, as if to ask him to get it together, "Please, no more stabs."

"No stabs... What abouuuut," Rancis dragged with a sly smile, though in a sudden whirl of educated swordsmanship, he skillfully reached up and behind himself, unsheathed his sword and flung it out towards Turbo's neck; he only stoped merely inches from Turbo's throat, reenacting that dreadful, fateful night in Hero's Duty. Rancis deep, teasing and mean tone carried on in a harsh whisper, "Slices...!"

Turbo felt his life flash before his eyes, once more, he largely jolted his head and self away from Rancis's sword, which had no intention of hurting him, though he suddenly inhaled a sharp breath and felt any patience he had for Rancis just leave every single ounce of his body. Although Turbo was now void of Libby's coding, he knew he still had his own powers to rely on. With a sharp gesture of his hands, he successfully was able to reverse the harsh action Rancis had thrown himself into, and with one more simple swipe of his dark grey hands, he was successful in thrusting Rancis's sword to the ground in an educated blur of time-warp. With two steps, and yet another firm hand gesture, he forced Rancis's spine to arch in an uncomfortable, straightened posture, and it was in this vice grip did Turbo finally get in Rancis's face and hover tight over his trembling blue orbs.

"You and I both know you took the cheapest shot you could, that night, how much of a man does that make you feel? My open hand was extended to you and you chose to fight dirty," Turbo deeply growled into Rancis's face, his once glowing golden eyes now sunk to an angry orange-red, and although Rancis was frozen still in Turbo's time-warp grip, he still glowered hard up into Turbo's face.

"It saved Sugar Rush's future Queen, I'd say it was a high honor to sever your head from your body... I was just doing my duty," Rancis barked, and in a rush of agitation, Tessa, Ace, Vanellope and Nox hurried over to the group in hopes of pulling both men apart before the fight got physical.

"Aw, was it a Hero's Duty?" Turbo mocked in a lackadaisical, cutesy voice, though before Turbo could carry on, Rancis inhaled a sharp snort of a breath through his nose and viciously spit in Turbo's face.

Turbo largely flinched, scrunched his face in agitation, took a step or two back and disgustedly wiped his face. With such release, Rancis was dropped from Turbo's time-warp grip, and just as the group about both men loudly began to urge the two to knock it off, and begin to hold the both of them back, Turbo re-opened his eyes. A molten gaze of glowing hot red soaked the place as Turbo firmly took a lunging step towards Rancis and was certain to knock the mean grin off of Rancis's face with a full sock to the jaw. Rancis nearly fell over backwards, though just as Tessa, Vanellope and Nox began to grapple for the two and successfully get in between the chaos, Turbo's rushing footsteps were very quickly halted by a soak of angry, golden honeycombs.

Turbo staggered a hard breath as said familiar soak of golden honeycombs crawled his neck and shoulders, an angry bite of full-powered aggression, and just as Turbo was about to feel his knees buckle, he choked as Ace's larger hand did everything to grapple the absolute pixels out of the chest and collar of Turbo's hoodie. Turbo's now terrified gaze peered up to Ace in rising confusion, and as every single last ounce of Turbo's time-warp power seemingly slipped from his body, he now began to feel real fear, the sheer idea that there was simply another gamer out there that had a one up on him, he allowed his hands and arms to go limp as Ace's mean, dejected scowl soaked into Turbo's now dimming gaze, a greying show of gentle fear that trembled underneath Ace's awesome power.

"You may see a whole entire fleet of Queen lionesses about you, but I'd bet you had no clue as to just who is above every single last one of them, who they ultimately answer to," Ace's voice now boomed, a very stark difference from his bout of silence he had thrusted himself into, and although Ace's powerful coding swarmed Turbo's chest and neck, Turbo still had control over his hands. His trembling palms desperately tried to claw at Ace's one powerful, wrecking fist, which held Turbo's collar in a vice grip, so firm that Ace was now successful in lifting Turbo off of the ground a little, "I highly doubt you want me to show my true power right here, right now, on YOUR sorry ass."

"T-True power?" Turbo staggered in confusion, though before Ace could carry on, Nox's gentle hands eased to Ace's upper arm; his voice tried his best to coo to both boys before him, though Ace rushed to carry on, loudly into Turbo's face.

"I don't care what words are lofted your way, the second you lay a hand on my family, you have to answer to ME!" Ace bellowed, Turbo largely grimaced as Ace tightened his grip about Turbo's collar, which was now getting tighter about his throat, "Do you really want to be on my bad side?"

"Alright, alright, hey," Nox's voice grew a bit louder as he allowed his and Koko's glitching powers to now rapidly rush the coding on Ace's arm, and with such, Ace finally sagged upon Nox's tenderness. Once Ace hesitantly released Turbo from his physical and coded grip, Nox put both of his strong hands to Ace's chest and shot Turbo a look of caution, as if to beg him not to let his anger be tested out on Ace, this time, "Let's calm down, c'mon, I know tensions are high, but let's just try to keep the fighting to verbal, guys."

"What do you mean by 'true power'?" Turbo urgently questioned as Tessa quickly made herself present, both her and Nox were successful in getting a decent amount of space between Ace and Turbo.

Although Turbo's question was lofted to the group, everyone fell silent and slowly dragged their nervous, though nearly cheeky gazes to Turbo.

"Libby reversed your coding, Turbo," Nox stated softly, he gestured a little and shrugged, "How do you even think she did that, to begin with?"

"I-I really... Didn't think to ask, so much has happened in the last twenty four hours," Turbo rushed, though him and Ace nervously locked eyes.

"She's a User," Nox's voice loudly wavered, though he heaved a nervous laugh and shook his head, "Only a User can do such a thing..."

"Sh-She's... I'm sorry, she's a WHAT?" Turbo's voice was now audibly worried, though Ace huffed a small, mean chuckle and shook his head at Turbo.

"Welcome to the gang, I'm the resident User, nice to meet you," Ace blurt sarcastically as he puffed his broad, muscular chest and gestured to himself.

"Ace was conceived outside of Litwak's," Tessa mumbled to Turbo as she continued to gently hold him back, he dart his eyes to her in riled terror as she cheekily carried on, "Zed and I were... Humans..."

"Libby's my swap-mate," Ace chuffed in a show of pure protectiveness, he shook his head and gave Turbo a mean look, "If you want her back, you'll have to go toe-to-toe with me."

"Please don't, you will lose," Tessa sarcastically muttered to Turbo, who looked even too shell-shocked to emote, though Tessa inhaled a deep breath and broadened her voice to the group she was surrounded by, "Alright, I'm pulling a Queen Bee, here. We are NOT leaving this tree until the air is cleared. If the castle is on the other side of this ocean, we're not arriving to it with members of this group thrown overboard."

"I'd be first to walk the plank on my own accord," Rancis stabbed, he rubbed his jaw in discomfort as Vanellope hung tight to him in defense.

"Lickity, Marble, please go get everyone else and bring them over to this tree," Tessa firmly instructed, to which Lickity and Marble sprawled their wings to get ready to take off. Tessa gestured to the shambled group behind her and shook her head, "Royal, Marble, Lickity and Balba are to perch in another tree so no one can leave."

"I have this, though?" Nox wondered lazily as he pulled the Tron flyer from his pocket, though Tessa firmly swiped it and gestured to Lickity and Marble, who swiftly launched from the branch and took flight to fetch Penny, Orph, Koko, Zed and Libby.

"I don't care how long this takes. We're clearing the air before we take off," Tessa barked in riling agitation, "There's no way I'm going to allow any impending downfall to start with the inner workings of my handpicked group of warriors."

"I wasn't handpicked," Turbo grumbled as both him and Ace continued to stand firm, riled in masculinity, though the look of doughy surprise still hung on Turbo's demeanor.

"No, you weren't, but I'll be the first to 'handpick' you out of the group, if I see fit," Tessa pointed her finger at Turbo and shook her head, "Your first twenty four hours with us has, fortunately for you, been promising... So don't screw it up now."


	256. Chapter 256

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Aww, I understand entirely! There are instances where I don't particularly agree with the things my characters do either xD But yes! Things do eventually get cleared up, so not to worry :)

 **Burgie :** Aw wow, that means a lot to me! And, I'm glad! It's a LOT of exposition I need to get out in the open, which is actually pretty difficult because... EVERYTHING leads up to these sensitive chapters. Literally the entire saga. So it's been sort of a mental go-around for me, but I'm glad you guys are at least enjoying it! :D Thank you!

 **NightHex54 :** Oh no worries! Yeah I think I've seen you review on like the very first chapter, and although I SEE it, when I go to reply to everyone, I only click on the reviews that have been put in the latest chapter. Sorry for the miscommunication! Thanks for the reviews, hope you're well :)

 **chuckiboo :** Too true! And yes, more or less. Turbo's not innocent in this mess, and although he now has his head down and is willing to comply with everyone, they still keep a sharp eye on him.

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Waiting Ft. Otis Parker by West Coast Massive**

 **King by Lauren Aquilina**

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 ***Chapter 256***

In uniform, a messy array of dangling legs and nervously peering eyes down through the branches, Tessa's large flight group made themselves comfortable amidst the massive tree's abode, the canopy overhead was too big to even see end to end. The soft, cold wind rustled through everyone's hair, as well as the cold blue leaves of the huge swamp-like tree everyone resided in. The glistening sunset coat the bark in a hot, ironical summer orange, and although it was painful to look into, Sugar Rush's setting sun exuded no amount of warmth this close to The End. Tessa nervously looked up and about everyone, and once she was cued to everyone's murmuring that drummed to a slow, she inhaled a slow breath through her nose and gently averted her gaze to Turbo, who hung tight to the trunk of the tree, his head low, though his glowing, curious, lively eyes held tight like a vice to Tessa.

"Now that I have everyone's attention... I have one question and one question only," Tessa stared loudly, up to the patiently sat bodies about her. She eyed Turbo and waggled her hand a little, "Raise your hand if you have something IMPORTANT and USEFUL you'd like to say to Turbo... Can either be a statement or a question."

In a slow draw, only a few hands went up; of the firsts to go up quicker were Rancis, Vanellope, Orph and Penny. Although Tessa was absolutely positive everyone had at least something to say, she was glad the group had properly filtered their rushing, angry thoughts and considered Tessa's words carefully. Just as she was about to carry on, she saw Libby's, Zed's and Ace's hands very slowly and apprehensively crawl into the air, just barely, near their heads; they sat on opposite ends of the are from each other.

"Everyone will get a chance to talk... Only one person is to talk at a time," Tessa instructed, she already began to feel exhausted just thinking about mediating such a hot-tempered group. She rubbed her forehead and breathed a long sigh as Turbo held his eyes tight to her, continuous respect for just who had the reigns here, "Let's all try to remain calm, here. I understand a lot wants to be said, yelled, screamed, I get it... But we're not carrying on until the air is cleared. The sooner we get everything out in the open, the sooner we can get to the castle. So keep that in mind before you let emotions run away from you."

Tessa put her hands on her hips and gently gestured for Turbo to make his way over to the center of everyone's attention, and although he apprehensively slid across the gap, he held himself in such a way that nearly showed relief, as if maybe somehow he was at least thrilled to have someone be his neutral voice.

"During our flight here, Turbo filled me in on a lot of grey areas and bridged a lot of gaps," Tessa gently explained as she laid her hand to Turbo's upper arm, "Before we go into any questions, Turbo, maybe you should briefly tell everyone what you told me."

"W-Well, I... I guess the majority of what I told Tessa was that... Although you guys have been dealing with strictly Lash and I, for this entire time, we took turns sort of, well... Being each other," Turbo stammered on his words, and it was clear to Tessa that he was trying to overcome stage fright. His hands trembled a little, something Tessa tried not to cue to, though he bravely continued on, "A-And... Well... Rancis."

Rancis scoffed an audible noise of unadulterated irritability. Tessa cocked an eyebrow and shot him a wildly stern look of motherly authority, and much to her surprise, he sagged his shoulders and allowed her temporary dominance easily cake over him.

"Lash and I had a code pact... A... Strictly platonic way of reserving your coding inside one another, without any need of a code swap or source code placement. If one of us died, we could bring the other back simply via code room," Turbo tried to hopefully look everyone in the eye, though he was met with disgruntled looks of pure confused annoyance, he persisted nonetheless, "This... Is exactly how I was able to manifest in Zed's coding. Except, with that strategy, I was a bit more... Aggressive and mindful about it."

Zed raised his hand in a shot of now burning questions, Tessa gently cued to him and kindly thanked him for not barking questions out of turn.

"As much as I would love for you to start your thought-out explaining right there, with how you screwed up my brain coding, I think I speak for everyone when I say..." Zed cocked an eyebrow and glanced about before he dug his stare into Turbo's, "Start from the beginning, please."

"We're going to be here all day," Vanellope huffed quietly as she sagged her face into her hands, everyone scoffed small chuckles of exasperated knowing.

"I can make it short and sweet, I can get to a point real quick, you want the nitty-gritty nasty run down of this chaos?" Turbo snapped as the digs of everyone's snickering finally dug too deep into his soul; this snapped everyone into attention, though Tessa nervously gestured.

"I-It's okay, it's okay," Tessa eased softly, though she flinched as Turbo clenched his fists and gestured outwards.

"I singlehandedly was the cause of two games being removed from Litwak's because I was a selfish bastard and didn't like that Roadblasters was in the limelight... I game jumped, I screwed with Roadblaster's courses and hundreds of programs lost their homes because of my single, selfish act," Turbo rushed, his glowing yellow eyes heightened with intensity as he continued, and although Tessa began to look nervous, she bit her lip and wondered just when she'd need to stop Turbo before he got too riled, "Because Litwak's lost two arcade cabinets, Litwak had to fill the gaps quickly... Sweet Streets was plugged in the next day, and my little motley crew of hated racers trotted over to Sweet Streets... No one inside Sweet Streets knew what went down, of COURSE we befriended them."

"Befriended, betrayed, same difference," Libby juggled her hands lazily and shot Turbo a dirty look, though just as Zed lovingly put a hand to Libby's shoulder, to politely get her to stop talking, Turbo pointed a finger in her direction as his yellow gaze began to soak the place in a buzzing, becoming-angry orange.

"I would never have betrayed Sweet Streets, I swear to User, if you use that against me ONE MORE TIME," Turbo began to yell, though his chest rose and fell quickly as Tessa grappled his lower arm and quietly begged him to relax. After a hot minute of quelling his rushing thoughts and avoiding Libby's dirty looks, he shook his head and glossed his angry eyes over the frozen group, "A few weeks after Sweet Streets had given us refuge, the game got an update... We were upgraded, and from there, we were really enjoying life, we were safe inside Sweet Streets. Though, for some reason, Nox decided to seek refuge in EZ Living and Throttle vanished to End Of Line... It really bothered and confused Lash and I, but... We knew the loss of our home affected each one of us differently. Lash and I just vowed to stick together."

"You were upgraded to look like what you look like right now? What all of us look like?" Zed gently questioned after, again, politely raising his hand and getting permission from Tessa to ask a question.

"Taller, older, more mature, we all looked so beautiful," Turbo shook his head and nervously landed his eyes to Libby, once more; in this, she furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation and felt that burning writhe of confusion gloss over her, though she held tight to Turbo's eye contact anyhow as he continued, "It was like a dream come true... The ONE time I leave the game, to visit Nox... Sweet Streets gets unplugged."

"You know why, right?" Libby suddenly barked, though just as she was about to carry on, Zed and now Vanellope urgently cooed at her to calm her, they quickly noticed her clench her fists in rising anger.

"No, Libs, I DON'T know why... That's why we're all in this mess," Turbo stabbed, and although Libby looked as if she had a ton to get off of her chest, she remained tight under Vanellope's and Zed's patient and loving surveillance. Turbo heaved a hot sigh and looked down, "The next day, Sugar Rush was plugged in... Sweet Streets' successor, and before the game could even begin to process that it was an established thing, Lash wormed his way past Vanellope, past everyone, took control of the code room and programmed him and I for Sugar Rush. In this, we were downgraded back to our short, stubby, ugly selves. We had to fit in..."

"Fit in, Lash went so far as making himself a new persona," Vanellope huffed a chuckle, Rancis bobbed a nod and peered to Vanellope in rising amusement as she continued on, "King Candy? And YOU weren't just bobbing around as mini-Turbo... Who were you in this whole mess?"

"Th-that's... Not important right now, what I'm trying to say is, Lash promised me that Sugar Rush would have an upgraded version of all of the racers we came to know and love in Sweet Streets... But, once we got in and were settled, it became clear that Sugar Rush's programmers very quickly replaced all of those demo characters... With you guys," Turbo gestured to Vanellope and Rancis, who patiently hung in dreaded wait as he continued on, "I had swapped with Libby, in Sweet Streets... I was promised redemption, rectification, I was promised Libby would be there, but she wasn't... And I became weaker and weaker. I just let Lash run the entire show. He was King for over a decade."

"Until I met Ralph," Vanellope eased, and although Tessa made clear that no one was to speak out of turn, she eased on the rules due to calm interjections being made; she still kept a diligent eye on everyone, however.

"I hardly had energy to even keep up with Lash, he chased Ralph all around Sugar Rush, did everything he could to get Ralph to believe that you were just a silly problem child with no hope for anything," Turbo gestured to Vanellope, her sweet hazel eyes locked to his in a single shred of a moment of understanding, "I was so slow and exhausted... Everything I once was, became just a shred of a memory. That swap, with Libby, did nothing but drain my coding. Going that long without a reboot, I mean, imagine what that does even to just a computer. Even the finest, sharpest pieces of technology have to be updated. I was going down with the ship."

"... Lash used that to his advantage," Rancis finally chimed in, and although he was still sore from earlier, he tried his very hardest to at least understand Turbo's words, "He just cart you around, from the sounds of it. Did he have some sort of inferiority complex?"

"As much of an asshole I was in TurboTime, I thought that it was all fun and games... I constantly came in first, and Nox and Lash just adopted this sad, sorrowful nickname of 'TurboTwins'... As if they weren't good enough to even have names on the roster. It's how everyone came to know them," Turbo nervously explained as he eyed his littlest brother, "I think Lash took it the hardest. He was always in my shadow. He HATED to lose."

"Who doesn't," Nox stated with a shrug, to which he shot Turbo a small, meek smile, "Failure eats at people in different ways. Where I didn't take it personally, I guess... Lash did."

"He was so desperate for first," Turbo shook his head and glossed his far off gaze across the gap of sky, beyond everyone, "He saw how fervently I went after Roadblasters... He took my terrible example and ran with it."

"What I want to know is... How and why did you end up merging with Rancis's coding?" Vanellope asked as she laid a hand to Rancis's shoulder, he cocked an eyebrow and gave Turbo a look as if to silently ask the same burning question.

"I wasn't around for that last race, but... Lash, as King Candy, was eaten by a cy-bug and eventually was destroyed by the beacon of diet cola mountain," Turbo gestured his hands in explanation, "Although the beacon killed the cy-bug, Lash regenerated inside Sugar Rush's code room. It was in this instance did he teleport ME to the code room, as well, and although he tried to quickly take the reigns back, over Sugar Rush, we were both way too weak. In a last ditch effort to EVENTUALLY have an upper hand, over the whole entire situation, Lash merged our weak and shriveled coding and shoved it into the nearest code box we could find..."

"Mine," Rancis stabbed in rising irritation, "Just SIMPLY CHANCE that it HAD to be mine."

"I don't know what to tell you," Turbo muttered in dry coy as he shook his head with an irritated smile, "I'm just telling you what happened."

"THAT'S why you slowly went crazy... THAT'S why you became a hologram after Vanilla Lake ate you," Vanellope gestured to Rancis and gave him a wider, surprised smile, "THAT'S why you began to go back to normal after we reset the game, upon our return from Disneyland."

"...Where did you run off to, after that?" Rancis curiously prod, and as the conversation pressed further, everyone's demeanors rolled from wanting to fight, to strictly and calmly wanting answers.

"After that reset, Lash and I were reset right at Sugar Rush's entrance... We knew that if we were to have any chance at even surviving further, we needed to leave and temporarily seek refuge elsewhere," Turbo stated, and although the mood was sinking to neutrality, everyone now nervously dragged their eyes to Zed and felt that prickling rise of agitation.

"Another 'just recently plugged in' vulnerable racing game," Zed muttered with a cheeky smile as he looked down to his hands in dismay.

"Yeah," Turbo quipped in a draw of embarrassment as he looked off, he rubbed the back of his head and inhaled a shaky breath, "Lash and I, as one being, became fast friends with Zed, though... His five younger brothers didn't like the plans we had, to subtly overthrow Sugar Rush, and... They sort of disowned Zed. I genuinely felt bad about it."

"Y'didn't show it," Orph dared in a grumbling bark of protectiveness, though Zed looked over his shoulder and shot his younger brother a gentle look of appreciation, though also a look of wariness, as if to kindly ask Orph to take it easy.

"I was so focused on getting back to Sugar Rush, to hopefully finding someone who would 'take me in', I didn't show much, if any, regard for anyone's feelings," Turbo tenderly admitted as he looked off. He shook his head and long blinked, as if now finally being able to speak his peace was becoming overwhelming, "Zed finally fought back, and it was with this did I... Nearly do something so unimaginable."

The group fell silent as they looked on, the tree rustled about them in the stillness, and before Turbo could continue, everyone nervously dragged their eyes to Tessa in hot knowing. She froze and looked about in a darty, agitated way, and just as she began to feel the walls closing in, the insinuation soaked over her, the very idea that she nearly lost her life before it even started, on that fateful day in Hero's Duty.

"I nearly killed Tessa... I was astounded I was able to cloak myself long enough to get into Sugar Rush's code room, snag Tessa's box and... By some stroke of luck, get everyone near and dear to Sugar Rush's success OUTSIDE of the game," Turbo huffed a chuckle and shook his head in disbelief, "I could hardly believe my luck. But just as I thought I could make a deal with the one smarty we had previous control over..."

Turbo dragged his knowing, cheeky gaze to Rancis, both men locked in a gaze of knowing, as if Rancis now couldn't muster the energy to be angry with Turbo any longer. Rancis heaved a long sigh through his nose, sagged his shoulders and glanced to Vanellope, who gave him an equal look of confusion.

"I fought dirty, I get it," Rancis mumbled in gentle defeat, to which Vanellope beamed an apologetic smile and rubbed Rancis's shoulder, as if to pity and thank him, all in one go.

"It saved my life, I really don't care how you fought, to be honest," Tessa blurt as she eyed Turbo, as if to insinuate she was well aware Turbo was upset that Rancis didn't fight fair, because in her eyes, it was why she was alive and well, to this day.

"It's just as well... If it weren't for all of that, none of this would've unfolded the way it did," Turbo rushed, though he stopped to look off in rising disbelief, extended awe that this situation unfolded like it did, "Such important people wouldn't have been born, and... I wouldn't be standing here, with every single answer you guys want, every single trace back to your guys' freedom."

"Whose to say you're actually going to remain on our side?" Rancis gently stabbed, to which Zed, Vanellope and Libby urgently looked on; Ace cocked an eyebrow and finally gave Turbo a head-on look straight in the eyes.

Turbo felt the walls come crumbling in. He knew he had done absolutely nothing to gain everyone's trust, and it would have to be earned, though he sagged his shoulders and wondered just when a single fleeting feeling of love, from these wavering souls, would be felt. Just as he promised himself he wouldn't get emotional, tears welled in his eyes. He shook his head, took a few steps away and followed the large branch they were on. As he came to the end of the sturdy part, of said branch, he heaved a shaky, fogged breath and looked on to the horizon, a foggy abyss where the castle mysteriously lay, beyond the ocean. He shut his eyes closed, in agony, and let his now trembling voice coat everyone's existence.

"My whole life I've been fighting for first... I did everything I could to get competition out of my way, I was certain I was the absolute best," Turbo wavered, he panted with the rise of emotion and made sure he was heard in this pick-up of sentiment, "I was Sugar Rush's first King. I was a part of Sugar Rush's predecessor... I was there, for absolutely everything. More than Vanellope, more than Rancis, more than Lash..."

Turbo finally turned around and faced every single look of longing curiosity, everyone was frozen as tears began to stream Turbo's cheeks.

"I was and am forever embedded in Sugar Rush's hierarchy, due to a loving decision Libby and I had made together," Turbo eased, and although he was scared to gloss his eyes to Libby's, he braved it; he was delightfully surprised to see her angry, vengeful expression had now softened to a doughy look of regret, large tears welled in her eyes as he staggered to carry on; his voice crackled with emotion, "And ALTHOUGH everything is different now... I still have a duty to uphold."

In the silence, Rancis shut his eyes tight and nearly grimaced as he braced himself for a beyond-inevitable joke he was very aware Vanellope was going to strike at.

"A big one," Vanellope blurt in a child-like tone of quiet tenderness, though the group finally relaxed with a small burst of laughter; Turbo tried his hardest to hide a smile, though he largely failed.

"You're right, it is a big one," Turbo chuckled as he wiped his tears and looked down to his feet, though he finally dragged his nervous eyes to Tessa and shook his head, "That fateful source-code swap unleashed Lash and I into the game, and as you all can so clearly see, he's rearranged the entirety of it to confuse the lot of you, he's thrown up forcefields, got every single last shred of Dead Zed's and Sugar Rush's royalty out of the game."

"Surely he's done moving everything around, now? Or are we just sitting in one massive rubric's cube?" Tessa prod nervously as Turbo approached the group slowly.

"He hasn't touched the layout of the game for months, but... I've been exiled, simply because he found out I was coming in and out of Sugar Rush... Who knows what he'll be up to, next," Turbo staggered.

"He doesn't trust you anymore," Nox stated knowingly with a nod as he held his eyes tight to his older brother's, Turbo bobbed a nod, as well, and looked off.

"... Now that I'm thinking about it, it's probably a good thing my coding was reversed," Turbo muttered as he looked down to his hands, he sighed and pushed a meek smile to his wet face, "He can no longer track me, which means... We can sneak up on the castle without him knowing we're coming."

"Well, hopefully this at least cleared the air somewhat," Tessa stated through a sigh of relief as she peered to her family members, though they didn't look entirely convinced, "Surely more questions will likely come your way, as time goes on, but... Does everyone at least feel a little better knowing the backstory?"

"I guess so," Vanellope stated nervously as she shrugged, as if she was unsure, "It's just difficult going your whole life feeling so incredibly betrayed by you guys... You banish me, then once I have my kingdom back, you torture me and threaten to kill my daughter. THEN you sabotage everything that was lined up for my daughter by getting underneath Zed's skin, you practically manipulated your way back into our lives."

"And now we're in this mess," Rancis blurt in agitation, though Turbo's shaky sigh was cut short by a grunt of despair.

"I screwed everything up and got the ball rolling on everything bad in this world, I GET IT," Turbo barked, though with this outburst, everyone fell silent, as if it was clear Turbo maybe had taken one too many beatings, here. He grappled his hair and let his crazed, sorrowful gaze gloss the branch they securely paced on, "Please... Just please... Let me at least begin to pay you guys back by helping return to you what is rightfully yours... Please..."

Everyone peered to Turbo in a lull of in between, as if to debate this moment of truce, this hot second of decision making that needed to resolve quickly. With subtle, gentle glances volleyed about the group, to one another, a silent jury of intellect, it was clear that the gang really had no choice but to accept Turbo's help, if they were to get anywhere. In reluctance, Vanellope was the first to stand and maze her way from the branch she was on, to the massive one that Tessa and Turbo shared. Vanellope stopped before Turbo and made her presence soak into his, their personal bubbles meshed as one, as they stood a few feet apart. Turbo anxiously peered into Vanellope's eyes, and although they were silent, Turbo was very starkly aware of the sheer amount of hurt and pain she was volleying his way, strictly through the power of her hazel eye contact.

"You've helped create a massive amount of turmoil, for every single being in this tree," Vanellope's motherly voice was stern and solid, she shook her head and crossed her arms, "We'd be stupid to accept help from you."

With her sharp words, Turbo sagged his shoulders and felt that oh so familiar feeling of exile begin to laugh in his face, to hold his hand and remind him that he was scum, though with he way Vanellope cocked her eyebrow and gently glanced to her daughter with a cocky smile, she gave Turbo knowing look and shook her head in disbelief.

"Though, we'd be in a much larger world of hurt if we denied said help," Vanellope huffed hesitantly, and with her uplift of words, Turbo felt as if chains were broken, and it was in this rile of finally beginning to shoot upwards, from rock bottom, did he feel his heart begin to pound with a new feeling of hope, of feeling wanted and needed. He heaved a shaky breath and rushed to bashfully come to Vanellope's aid.

"I-I won't let you guys down, I-I want my knowledge and know-how to benefit you guys," Turbo eased nervously as he glanced about the tree, to every single pair of hesitant eyes behind Vanellope, "Anything you guys need to know, I have the answer."

"You better make sure it's the right information, then," Vanellope darkly continued as she leaned a little closer, just enough to be mildly uncomfortable, "You have two Users you'll have to answer to, otherwise."

Turbo froze and dared to let his gaze slide from Libby, to Ace; both incredible beings had a look of sheer contempt, a full glower of dismay, and although they very easily had a say in this chaos, it was clear that both beings, who diligently sat away from each other, were in agreeing to have Turbo join their clan, however hesitant they may be about it.

"I just have one more burning question for you," Vanellope began to press as she shifted on her feet and came out of the uncomfortable zone of Turbo's bubble.

"Anything," Turbo breathed nervously as everyone finally began to stand and make their way closer to the tightness of the group.

"... If Lash was King Candy, then who were you?" Vanellope peeked a smile, cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head up in question, though her eyes remained honed to Turbo's.

"You've dodged THAT question TWICE now," Tessa waggled her finger, though everyone finally began to smile in a rise of curiosity; Turbo's skin did everything it could to push a hot, embarrassed blush to his cheeks.

"I-I'm... Really surprised you haven't really guessed it, by now," Turbo staggered with a widening smile, everyone held their tight, confused attention to him as he bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"... I TOTALLY know who you were," Rancis gawked quietly as he shook his head and put his hands on his hips, though Vanellope bobbed an eager nod and gave Turbo a sly look.

"Me too, I just want you to say the line," Vanellope pressed with a giggle, and although Turbo felt his skin prickle with the thought of being discovered, he finally heaved a hot sigh, sagged his shoulders and looked off.

"... All hail the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush," Turbo started in a dull, lazy tone; he slowly gestured to Vanellope and continued on, "Princess Vanellope."

"And then Taffyta cried ALL her mascara off because you threatened to execute us," Rancis blurt with a hard laugh as he grappled Vanellope's arm; everyone else laughed in confusion, though Vanellope and Rancis truly understood the joke.

"No wonder you hated everyone," Vanellope wiped tears of laughter from her eyes as she tried to calm down her giggling, "Lash carted you around as Sour Bill for fifteen years. I'd be pissed too!"

"I-It helped that he dumbed down my memory, alongside everyone else's," Turbo shrugged and looked off, though he shuddered, "I-I'll never forget the time Ralph put me in his mouth, though."

"...Wait WHAT?" Vanellope barked in a rile of whole entire confusion, though Rancis gave Turbo a wildly concerned look of disgust, and just as he was about to push the topic, he threw his hands up and began to step away.

"NOPE, nope, I don't want to know," Rancis barked as everyone was now thrusted into a fit of confused laughter, "Get the flyers, we're done here, c'mon, we got a castle to find, I don't want ANY more information."

"You have the wrong idea!" Turbo begged with a small, nervous laugh as everyone now began to tease him for such a comment; Tessa put her fingers in her mouth and sharply whistled for the four flyers to come rescue them.

"Alright, who wants to fly with Turbo and get all the dirty secrets out of him?" Tessa teased in sing song, to which Turbo largely sagged, loudly groaned and covered his face in whole dismay.

"I was a SOUR CANDY!" Turbo blurt in a cry of riled dismay, though he tried to hide his laughter as the group about him continued to poke and prod him for information, "Ralph was just trying to get information out of me and that was his form of torturing me until I talked!"

"A likely story," Vanellope cued as she waggled her eyebrows, though Turbo looked off and shook his head with a wildly annoyed smile.

"I give up," Turbo huffed.

"Can't give up on us yet," Tessa smiled as she rolled her eyes, and as Lickity, Balba, Royal and Marble all finally approached, she looked back to her group and wrinkled her nose, "Still got a ways to go."

"Alright, whose flying with who?" Zed uttered as he approached, the whole group began to mosey towards the four flyers that anxiously awaited; Zed put his hands on his hips and heaved a nervous sigh, and although it was very starkly clear that at least a good portion of the air had been cleared, Libby, Ace and Turbo so painfully avoided each other's eye contact. Zed darted his eyes to Tessa, who continued her long-forgotten chore of fidgeting with Lickity's saddle, "Tess, I have a, uh... Very bold proposition."

"Zed, for the last time, we can't swap out in the wilderness," Tessa mumbled in exhaustion, she rubbed her sweaty forehead and lulled her eyes closed, "Believe me, I'd love to refresh your coding and give you my glitching powers back, but I just don't see how it would be plausible to-"

"I'm... Talking about having Libby fly with Turbo," Zed interrupted as he lovingly gripped Tessa's upper arms and gave her a coy, nearly annoyed smile. He huffed a chuckle and shrugged, "I think those two need to talk, and... I don't think they will unless they have total privacy. Afforded privacy. I don't really think Ace would allow anything more."

"He's not going to be happy," Tessa muttered as she eyed her son, he looked absolutely disgruntled, lost, dejected. His dark grey-blue hair was in chaotic curly spouts atop his head, due to the week of no showers and proper hair-care routines. He tugged his hoodie over his body and kept his eyes down, and it was in this did Tessa understand that Ace was a continuous, fragile being in constant need of reassurance and dutiful guidance, with more power than he even realized he wielded. Tessa long-blinked in contemplation and glanced her eyes to Nox; she knew her and Zed could pour any amount of parental love over him and pray he felt better, though Tessa knew there was no love like that of a brother. She smiled and quietly gestured to Nox, who hung near Turbo with the Tron-flyer baton, "Why don't you pair Ace with Nox... Nox knows Turbo better than anyone, really. Surely Nox can reassure Ace about all of this."

"That's an easy pair, but getting Libby onto a flyer with Turbo?" Zed grit his teeth and shook his head.

"Why don't you pair Libby with me... I'll privately give her the run down and Turbo will join us," Tessa shrugged, "I can mediate if any conversation, aboard Lickity, were to escalate."

"You sure about this?" Zed prod, his brilliant blue eyes hooked into Tessa's with great worry, though Tessa shrugged once more and shook her head with an exhausted, crazed smile.

"No, I'm not sure about anything happening right now," Tessa blurt a giggle as Zed bashfully rubbed the back of his head and subtly eyed over his future bride, "But, we have to try. And we have to stick together... Hard conversations and all."

"Yes, ma'am," Zed concluded softly with a nod, though Turbo and Nox made their way over with a bubbling amount of information.

"The castle is on the other side of the ocean, but before we come to the cliffs of The End, we have a little bit of ground to cover," Turbo gently explained, Nox hung tight to him, as if simply just being in Turbo's presence was enough to satiate the hundreds of questions he, too, had buzzing about in his head. Turbo inhaled softly to continue, "The End is extremely cold, but there's a decent amount of volcanic activity, the closer you get. I believe we'll also pass a rather large, sprawling hot springs. From the looks of your group, and everyone, uh... I'm positive a small break to wash up and relax for a second is probably in order."

"Hot springs?" Tessa huffed as she sagged her shoulders and let a dorky, relieved smile sprawl her face, "I could go for a good soak. I love how responsible we're all being, here..."

"We can't get anything done being at our worst," Turbo muttered, though he cocked an eyebrow and gave Zed a knowing look, "Lash has put a power-up duller over a one hundred mile radius of The End... I'm absolutely certain a, uh... Swap in powers are probably long overdue."

"... What are you saying?" Zed prod as he furrowed his brow and felt his face get hot.

"I know that the lot of you are suffering from loss of power-ups, the ones your swap mate has given you," Turbo gestured to Nox and rolled his eyes, "Lover boy, here, told me all about it. If you're going to rush Lash, and the castle, y'better be armed with your strongest power ups. Your only chance of swapping and refreshing all those power-ups, is, well... The hot springs."

"That's not going to be awkward at all," Tessa blurt in rising agitation over the fact that she had just snuffed out the idea, with Zed, previously; Turbo beamed and looked off.

"This whole entire fiasco is awkward," Turbo laughed, which caused everyone to ease up a bit, though Tessa bashfully looked off and avoided eye contact with Zed, "The choice is yours. Whatever your battle-squad's powers look like, I'm certain you'll make the right decision."


	257. Chapter 257

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** Same! I'm sure it's really nice.

 **chuckiboo :** Haha well I'm not going to say he does or doesn't. You guys will just have to find out :0) Thank you, friend!

 **Burgie :** Thank you, that means a lot to me! I try to make everything tie together :D and yes, the awkwardness has only just begun.

 **NightHex54 :** I think my favorite talk, to write for, will be the one between Ace and Turbo. Dramatic and awkward LOL! Thank you :D

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **Peter Pan by Kelsea Ballerini (this is country music forgive me but it's beautiful and fitting for this chapter sue me)**

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 ***Chapter 257***

"Mom," Libby grunted in a quiet hush of whole dismay as she began to board, though in doing so, she gently grappled Libby's arm and began to help her onto Lickity's spine. Libby huffed a noise of further annoyance as Tessa shook her head, scoffed a small laugh and got settled on Lickity's saddle; all the other flyers were properly strapped with the rest of the group, ready for take off, "Mom, y-you can't do this to me."

"Either y'guys clear the air now or later," Tessa's motherly sternness wasn't due for subsiding for Libby's sweet eyes, she knew to treat Libby with the same motherly love she gave Ace, no matter what, and although she could very easily tell that Libby was agitated over the fact that Turbo was due to fly with them, Tessa was also absolutely certain the two would ease up once the ice was broken, no matter what. Tessa shrugged and looked down to the ground, as Turbo approached Lickity's side, "C'mon, slowpoke, what's with this, Mr. First Place."

"... I haven't raced in literally thirty years," Turbo retort with a small laugh; the group aboard Royal laughed as they eavesdropped their conversation, though in a quick huff, Balba, Royal and Marble quickly took to the skies, from their temporary tree house. Turbo helped himself onto Lickity, behind Libby, and nervously got comfortable behind both women; he could practically see Libby's spine go rigid in whole dismay, he continued on nonetheless, "Cut me some slack."

"Help us win the game back and we'll have a REAL show down," Tessa laughed as she gently braced herself and cued to Lickity, "Hold on tight."

In a gentle running gallop, Lickity leaped out of the tree, sprawled her gorgeous tan wings and took to Sugar Rush's cold skies. Soaked with misty fog, the group knew The End was near, though just how near was up for debate. With the promise of snow on the horizon, over the black ocean they braved, the group flew close to the ocean's void, so to hopefully dodge frigid air higher in the atmosphere. Tessa also knew that if Libby were to have had enough of Turbo's presence and make him walk the plank, or simply throw him overboard, he'd at least only fall a short distance. Tessa huffed a chuckle to herself and pridefully pat her own back for thinking ahead, a pure teasing antic she kept secret.

"Alright, Turbotastic, there's a few things you should know about this new and improved Libby-girl you and I have sandwiched here, on Lickity, over the ocean, practically eons away from our home in Dead Zed," Tessa rattled off, though with such, Libby scrunched her shoulders and gave the back of Tessa's head a hard, disturbed glower; Tessa rolled her eyes and could surely feel the hole burning through her skull, though she carried on anyways, making clear to Libby that she was in charge here and wasn't to back down, "Y'kids better break the ice now before we start running into some real ice, on the horizon."

"There's nothing to tell," Libby blurt in whole, agitated, dry dismay as she rolled her eyes and looked off; in the distance, she could see Royal and company, lagging and chatting away, the smile on Ace's face as Nox was able to pry him out of his shell, she felt her heart just ache.

"I-I'm sure there is," Turbo staggered with a warm smile as he leaned over a little and hoped to at least be seen in her peripheral; once he was successful, Libby quickly ripped her eyes away from his line of sight and stabbed her cold gaze beyond Tessa's and Lickity's heads, once more. Turbo sighed, sagged his shoulders and looked down to his hands, which now were properly dressed in gloves, from the cold. His fogged breath was quickly whipped behind him and carried away as Lickity's swiftness persisted, "Seems to me I have an entirely new Libby to get to know."

"That's not my actual name," Libby stabbed, as if she was trying desperately to stick with an identity, whichever one she decided to defend in that second, she shook her head and felt her heart begin to sink more and more, "Besides. I'm not comfortable talking about my previous relations with my current boyfriend's mother present."

"I figured you'd probably say that," Tessa muttered, though just before Libby could look off in triumphant relief, Tessa slowly slid the secretive Tron flyer from her sleeve, got to her feet and took a running dive off of the flat of Lickity's head and snout.

Libby gasped in a rile of pure dismay and surprise, though the second the Tron flyer's whirring noise was present, and she came within the horizon's line, unscathed and comfortably sailing in front of Lickity about two dozen or so feet, Libby froze and now gave the back of Tessa's head an even harder glower. She clenched her fists, tilted her head down and glared Tessa down, though before she could angrily call out to her mother, Turbo's warm voice nervously shook a gesture to her.

"Y-You can scoot up now, if you want, I'm... I can see how uncomfortable you are, to be near me," Turbo's gentleness coat her whole body, and though she did just such, angrily scoot forward and crossed her arms, she somehow felt her heart sink farther in guilt. She sagged her shoulders and bravely glanced over her shoulder.

"I-It's not that I'm uncomfortable being near you," Libby prod, she shook her head and looked off, "I'm just... Mad at you."

"I see," Turbo bobbed a nod and gently adjusted the way he sat on Lickity, he sat cross-legged, slouched a little and rested his elbows on his knees. He cocked an eyebrow and gently gazed to the back of Libby's head, he cleared his throat in inquiry, "Mind... Helping me understand?"

"Understand," Libby hissed in sarcastic cheek as she long blinked and watched the gentle flickering of Tessa's Tron flyer glisten on the black water underneath, she inhaled a staggering breath and nearly laughed, "Help you understand that Lash warned me about you? He told me to watch my back, he was the one that told me swapping with you would likely be a mistake... He was the one that told me we'd likely be unplugged soon, and that you knew..."

"I didn't know," Turbo stated dully, as if defending his words would be rendered moot if he stated it loudly and in frustration; he knew he was going to get nowhere, with Libby, by being loud and overpowering. He softened hoped she'd eventually turn to face him, on this flight, "Lash knew all along. LASH wanted your game to go under because... As you can see by the status of Sugar Rush... The guy doesn't dig not being in charge. He wanted your game to go out so that Sweet Street's successor could be plugged in, to rush the code room and act as if he had been programmed as King all along."

"And you just ALLOWED it?" Libby blurt as she only dared to shoot Turbo a glare over her shoulder, though Turbo inwardly smiled and knew he was getting closer and closer to what he wanted; for her to just simply face him.

"I didn't allow it, I was promised you'd be there... He told me your unplug was a good thing, cause you'd come back as Sugar Rush's Queen, and we could reconvene," Turbo's voice remained soft, he prayed Libby would mimic it, eventually, "I literally left Sweet Streets for one night, to check on Nox, and... I come back and you're just gone. Upon arriving to Sugar Rush, you were nowhere to be found. You're telling me, in my shoes, you wouldn't just give up hope, give up trying? I didn't want to continue living, Libby... But I carried on, because the only thing I had left of you was the coding inside me."

Libby, for this instance, didn't have a retort. She furrowed her brow and looked down to her lap, though in a slow drag, she gently peered over her shoulder and finally gave Turbo a solid amount of eye contact. Libby held her breath and allowed Turbo's hypnotizing golden gaze to ease into hers, once and for all, and it was in this instance did she know she needed to let bygones be bygones, let the misunderstanding finally die. She held frozen in his gaze, as if a wild animal that was cornered and didn't know whether to attack or allow the predator claim it's prize. She nearly flinched as Turbo finally looked down to Lickity's saddle and breathed a refreshed breath.

"I genuinely think, now that you've reversed my coding, and your coding is entirely different... We should start over," Turbo started, and in the few moments of silence the two had in a lock of soft eye contact, Turbo huffed a small chuckle, held his hand out and sat up a little straighter, "My name's Turbo."

Libby raised her eyebrows in a slow draw of surprise as she retched her neck to peer at him, over her shoulder. The look of honest warmth that radiated from him, as if all he ever wanted to do, from here on out, was just to bury the hatchet, to set the record straight and to finally be in the good graces of all of Sugar Rush's Queens, both past, present and future. She finally heaved a long, fogged breath through her nose, looked off for a moment of contemplation, and much to Turbo's delight, she grunted silently and changed her sitting position to finally face Turbo. She mirrored his sitting style, her legs criss-crossed in a gentle slouch, though with a smile she successfully hid, she gently slipped her gloved hand into Turbo's and slowly shook, for a proper handshake.

"Kajiksana," She eased warmly, though the hint of wariness still hung on her demeanor; Turbo gave her an inquisitive look of mild disbelief, though Libby chuckled and looked down to their hands, which now were still and solid in grip. She smiled into Turbo's eyes, finally, and gently carried on, "Kajiksana Talik'se Aoelna."

"That's..." Turbo staggered, the look of confused humility on his face lead to suggest he desperately wanted to blurt some sort of 'bless you'-type joke, though he cut short and held off as the look of vulnerability grew in Libby's eyes, "That's a beautiful name... I'm from TurboTime, a game, uh... Long unplugged. It was my fault. Long story. Where are you from?"

"I'm from the Teltokuan tribes of Dead Zed," Libby casually nodded as they finally released hands and relaxed in each other's presence, "I guess... Because of the weird reset, and the mixture of your coding in Zed's mainframe, I was 'born' near their tribe, and, well... Was taken in by the Chief."

"You're a game princess and Queen all-around," Turbo blurt a small chuckle as Libby joined in and bashfully looked down.

"Mimi took me in, and helped raise me," Libby nodded, she looked off to find Marble across the span of dark sky, "She took care of me during the day when the men were out hunting and fishing... I never really genuinely fit in."

"Whose Mimi?" Turbo prod softly.

"My mother," Libby scrunched her shoulders and gestured out to the sky, "Everyone else calls her Marble."

"...That... WOLF," Turbo choked on his words, though he shook his head and joined in on Libby's cute laughter, the very idea of being raised by wolves now a simple, genuine notion, "You mean to tell me, that flying wolf-beast raised you?"

"She's my mom, more or less, alongside Balba, my sister," Libby gestured to Balba, across the sky, who kept tight to Marble's flight lead.

"Dang," Turbo hissed as he grappled the hair on the crown of his head, "Well, then... How come you were calling Tessa 'mom' just then?"

"Well, I, uh... I had spent a great deal of my childhood running away from home for playdates with Ace," Libby sighed as she looked down to her hands and felt her heart ping with sadness, at the thought of Ace and his hurting heart, as of now, "Although Marble and Balba were my family back home, when I was with Ace, his family was mine. Tessa and Zed took me in, as their own, and really gave me that paternal love I needed. I didn't have any humans, in my tribe, that took me under their wing, as such... Probably because I looked different, I'm sure they all secretly thought I was a bad omen. I stuck out like a sore thumb."

"You're telling me," Turbo scoffed, though they both fell into knowing laughter with each other as Turbo carried on, "You spent a great deal of time with Tessa and Zed, huh. You eventually decided to stay?"

"I ran away from my tribe, once and for all," Libby began to clam up, something Turbo cued to, "Something bad happened and I decided to leave for good. I hadn't been allowed to leave my tribe, for months prior, so... When I finally came back to Zed's castle, Ace and I were fully grown."

"Must've been weird," Turbo smiled, and as much as it stung to talk about Libby's now current lover, he pushed through it as humbly as he could, "What happened that made you leave your tribe for good? Aren't you like... ex-communicated when you do things like that?"

"Yeah, I'd say..." Libby frowned and nervously looked off, "I-I know I already told you what happened, but I really don't want to get into it."

"Hey, no judgement from me," Turbo grumbled as he bobbed an agreeing nod, "You don't even have to EVER expand on it, if you don't want, don't worry about it. We all have dark pasts we don't like talking about... But if you ever do want to spill the beans... You know, first hand, that I'm a safe spot."

Libby raised her eyebrows in tenderness and soaked her blue eyes into Turbo's, someone she had known so incredibly well, better than anyone else on the entire planet, she felt her heart begin to swell in a way she couldn't even begin to understand. His warm smile, so clearly worn from years of frowning, so broken and shattered, and yet, through the circumstances, the light in his soul was just happy to be here, in this moment of time. Libby heaved a long, cleared sigh and smiled down to her hands, in her lap.

"I know you are," Libby pressed tenderly, "Thanks, T... Sorry for, well... Being cold towards you. I was just... Hit with a lifetime of information I didn't know how to even begin to deal with."

"Understandable," Turbo nodded, "Not that I was hit as hard as you, but I do definitely relate, so you're in good company."

"I know I am," Libby stated in clarity, her eyes looked refreshed.

"So, uh... Wh-why don't you, uh," Turbo staggered his words, and although it was painful, he knew he had to at least be neutral, be accepting that Libby was an entirely different person now, with a different personality, different likes, dislikes and character. He swallowed and pushed through, knowing full well he wanted to re-learn one of his long-lost best friends, "Why don't you tell me a little bit about Ace, then?"

"... I know you don't want me to do that, T," Libby blurt, after a moment of silence, they both broke out in nervous laughter, "You really want me to sit here and tell you what my current swap-mate is like? You being my ex? I know you're not asking me that question."

"I AM asking you that question," Turbo stuttered through their laughter, he shook his head and gave her a warm, though nervous, smile, "It's difficult for me, but... It will help me finally grieve you. I've been mulling around, in your coding, for so long... Now that I have my own coding back, and can think straight, I want new memories of you. I want to start fresh, with you. I want to hear what you have to say, I want my refreshed coding to get to know you as a friend... Something I feel we never really allowed ourselves to do, quite frankly."

"We did sort of jump right into things, didn't we," Libby muttered as she ran her fingers through her short hair, she looked off and heaved a long sigh, "Ace is, well... My best friend. We grew up together, I always had a bit of a crush on him, when we were younger. He was crushing harder, though, it was fun to watch, really."

"That's nice, like childhood sweethearts," Turbo nodded, he felt taken aback with just how easy this information was glossing over him, and how genuinely happy he began to feel, for Libby.

"Yeah, it's... It's been an adventure, he's done so much to help me through my struggles," Libby nodded and let her eyes look off to the horizon, behind Turbo, "E-Especially, due to what happened to me."

"I wasn't going to ask, but... I'm glad he was able to be there for you," Turbo said shakily as he chuckled and cleared his throat, "A-All around."

"This is getting awkward, now," Libby grit her teeth as the two tried to quell their nervous laughter.

"No, no, I'm not trying to make it awkward," Turbo's voice wavered with smiling nervousness, "I'm... Happy for you. It'll take me a hot minute to really bounce back, and take myself out of this equation, but... I am very happy for you. I'm glad you found love."

"Thanks," Libby huffed as she nodded and gave Turbo a gentle smile, "This is good news, for you, though... Now you can start over with someone else, in the future. You have your coding back. There's something here for everyone."

"User, I'm... Wow, I'm not even thinking about that," Turbo bugged his eyes, shook his head and looked off, "I can't imagine jumping back into the fray, with another woman, anytime soon... Or ever. It's too much of a roller coaster."

"Well, certainly... Just something to hold onto, for the future," Libby shrugged and smiled, "Once Sugar Rush is saved, you'll be able to roam freely... Right?"

"...Are you kidding?" Turbo furrowed his brow and shook his head, "I won't be able to take one step outside of this game without being publicly executed. Like hell any girl is going to give me a shred of attention. She'd have to literally be living under a rock, this entire time, and not have a single clue as to who I am, in order for any of that to work. OR, have to not have been even born yet. You think any girl is going to go after me, in their right mind, knowing full well who I am?"

"I don't know, I wouldn't rule out the power of love," Libby rushed in an exasperated way as she shrugged and shook her head, the grimace of girly plea on her face, "Vanellope fell in love with Ralph, Tessa fell for Zed... There are plenty of baddies that have found their match. Sure, your match isn't me, any longer, but... Please consider my words. Don't let everything you have to offer stop with Libby Von Swirlz. Please."

Turbo peered hard into Libby's eyes and felt nearly as if she was getting under his skin; she knew exactly what kind of a lover he was, in all the ways he presented himself, intimately and publicly. He knew he couldn't argue her, their relationship previously was a budding, healthy bloom of excitement and love, a balance they knew well. Turbo was well aware countering her was to be void, he knew she could read him like a book, she knew every little detail about how he handled romancing, and although he so desperately wanted to tilt his head up and claim the lone wolf lifestyle, he was well aware she was correct.

"Okay," Turbo whispered in defeat with a small nod to boot, and although he was certain he'd be forever keeping his eyes down and hulling away, after this whole ordeal, he knew having Libby now permanently in his life would call for her to continuously prod at him for personal growth.

"From the sounds of it, you're fine with waiting for love, but..." Libby looked off and frowned, she dragged her eyes across the dark sky and could only barely see the rest of her flight crew, "I now have to figure out how to get mine back..."

"I-I guess... Kissing you, in front of Ace, didn't really do you two any favors, huh," Turbo grit his teeth and gave her an apologetic frown, "I'm sorry I did that."

"I'm not," Libby furrowed her brow and shrugged, she shook her head and gave him a gentle look of understanding, "In your eyes, I had came back from the dead. I don't think anyone blames you for treating your once-was swap-mate with that kind of a reaction, in reuniting."

"Yeahhh but Ace is twice my size," Turbo whined in terror, though Libby cocked an eyebrow and shot Turbo a teasing, mean smile.

"Got that right," Libby blurt; Turbo gaped as she now howled with playful laughter.

"Alright, toots, TWO can play at that game," Turbo growled, though he couldn't help but let his playful smile burst forth as she tried her hardest to reel in her laughter.

"He's protective, and yeah, probably mad at you," Libby wiped tears of laughter from her eyes as she settled into sighing giggles, "I really don't know when I'm going to muster the courage to talk to him, but... I wish you luck, dude. You're going to need it."

"Why, he gunna beat me up?" Turbo rushed in agitated defense, "Delete me in a User-filled rage?"

"No, no, I mean..." Libby shrugged and gave Turbo a weak smile, "Good luck getting ANYTHING out of him. He's a clam when upset."

"... The total opposite of beating me up," Turbo huffed in defeated annoyance, he sagged his shoulders and lulled his eyes closed, "GREAT."


	258. Chapter 258

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54 :** Thank you! I didn't quite realize just how many chapters all of this drama would take... I can see that 300 chapter marker sneaking up on me, quite frankly.

 **Snake557 :** LMFAO I cackled so loudly, in public, when I read this review hahaha. You pretty much summed up their interaction.

 **Burgie :** Yes xD Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** Too true, he takes after Oliver the most! Turbo has a way of getting him to open up, though, the whole clam thing is definitely something he lives up to haha. Speaking of Oliver, he gets a solid chunk of chapter, coming up. Should be fun ;D

 **twistee the dark :** Aw wow! That means a lot to me :D Thank you!

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 **Song Listened To :**

 **California Trees**

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 ***Chapter 258***

"LAND," Nox stated in an exasperated grunt as he dove off of Royal, nearly tucked and rolled, caught his footing and finally fell to his knees; everyone burst out laughing at his antics and slowly began to unwind behind him. He heaved a raspy laugh and shook his head, "I was so terrified we'd never find the other side of that ocean!"

"How long were we flying for?" Koko wondered as she stretched her arms up, she stood on her tip toes and grunted a small noise, alongside her stretching.

"Almost ten hours," Vanellope groaned as she rubbed her eyes, though she quickly tucked her hood over her head and frowned, "I am absolutely freezing... I didn't think this tired ol' game of mine had it in her."

"Boy does she," Turbo muttered as him and Libby dismounted Lickity, although the two were now on good terms, Libby's wandering eyes could see Ace assessing their demeanors, towards each other. Libby nervously tried to keep a decent amount of distance from Turbo, though she now found it hard, considering she had just endured a very pleasant flight with her old lover, and now new-found budding friendship. Turbo heaved a long, fogged breath and looked towards the horizon, the direction of the castle, "Temperatures nearly drop below freezing, in The End."

"We're... Close, right?" Rancis wondered dryly, as if to seem curiously open to warming up to Turbo, though still holding fast to his pride. He only merely glanced at Turbo and shrugged, "You said it was on the other side of this ocean, right?"

"It is, just a bit more of traveling to go," Turbo nodded and gestured off, he sagged his hands into his coat's front pockets and cocked an eyebrow, "We're going to run into those hot springs, I told you all about... Maybe a perfect place to, uh... Power up."

"... Power up?" Penny asked innocently, though with this, Tessa heaved a hard cough and quickly began to march over to Lickity, so to begin unpacking for the evening, as if she didn't want to even begin thinking about this topic, nor be dragged into it; everyone noticed her outburst she so desperately tried to be inconspicuous about.

"Well, let's see... Y'got Zed, Tessa, Nox and Koko that are in need of their partner's power ups," Turbo shrugged and looked off with a cheeky smile, "Y'guys can uh... Remedy that, in the springs. It sprawls for miles and miles. No danger in bumping into one another, y'know?"

"Ohhh, that's what this is about," Orph beamed a cheeky smile and eyed his older brother, "Y'guys ready to brave that lack of a firewall, there?"

"We'd for certain program a baby," Zed stated through the grit of his teeth as Tessa was far enough away, though everyone eagerly peered to Nox and Koko, as well.

"O-Our number is a little smaller, but it certainly would still be a risk," Koko giggled, Nox scuffed the ground with his sturdy winter shoes and bashfully shrugged with a smile.

"I-I doubt Turbo is ready to be an uncle, just yet," Nox mumbled sheepishly, though with his words, he peered to his older brother out of the corner of his eye.

"I literally just gained a whole entire pack of friends and foes, all whilst reforming the last bit of my family," Turbo blurt with a wide smile, he seemed to come more out of his shell since his and Libby's conversations; him and Nox easily fell into old banter routines, as if no time had passed, "I think throwing in a niece or nephew would just sort of, well... Add to the chaos."

"Ooo, who do you think the baby would look more like?" Penny wondered excitedly, the exciting news of her up and coming baby brother still hung tight to the forefront of her memory, "Nox's complexion with Koko's eyes? Or, vice-versa?"

"I never even considered that," Nox rubbed his chin and eyed Koko with a widening smile, "Would be interesting to find out, actually."

"So now you want a baby?" Koko pressed in mild, smiling annoyance, though with her exasperated tone, it lead to suggest that maybe her and Nox had previously argued about this topic in the past; Orph cocked an eyebrow, and like everyone else's eager eyes, he threw his attention tight to Nox.

"I-I... Wait, what!" Nox whined, Turbo blurt a laugh and eagerly nudged Nox's little shoulder, causing him to largely wobble, "I-I never said I didn't! I just didn't think it'd be a hot topic while we were a billion miles away from the safety of Dead Zed!"

"Welp... If it happens, we'll have a sudden two week count down to get Sugar Rush back to normal," Koko shook her head and looked up to the sky with a wistful smile, though she grimaced and felt her mother's presence nearby, "I know second hand having a baby outside of a code room, is uh... Well..."

"Like standing on Hell's doorstep," Vanellope blurt in a wild fashion of bug-eyed look of terror, though everyone gently rustled into comfortable laughter as the flyers began to settle about the group.

"So, what's the plan, then?" Nox asked bashfully, though he nervously dragged his eyes to Turbo's and shrugged, "We're close to the castle, but... Should we really take our chances in these hot springs you claim are nearby?"

"What if we get sick?" Koko pressed, though she furrowed her eyebrows and now wondered just why Tessa nor Zed were eagerly joining this conversation, one of which also pertained to them; she looked about and over her shoulder, only to see her older sister largely ignoring the group, she began to unhitch Lickity from her saddle. Zed, on the other hand, looked into the center of the group with a bashful, far off look in his eyes, clearly contemplating the bigger picture. Koko inhaled a long breath and put her hands on her hips, "Certainly sinking into hot water, and coming out into frigid air isn't wise..."

"It's either now or never," Turbo shrugged, "Beyond the springs lays the castle... If we want to take Lash down properly, with all your guys' powers at their best... This is your one-stop to swap town."

"Wait a second," Rancis confidently chimed as he flagged his hand and stepped closer to the group, "Lash is at the castle, likely skulking around the Code Room and Hull... Certainly he's mapped us, and knows we're coming."

"He only had me pin pointed, by my coding," Turbo shrugged and tried to keep the air between him and Rancis as light as he could, he hoped somehow the two could reach an understanding eventually, "Since... Libby reversed it, I've dropped off his radar. We have the advantage, here."

"... Hmph," Rancis breathed as he looked off in though and furrowed his brow, and although he desperately scrounged for a retort, he remained silent in defeat.

"This is going to be awkward, going to the hot springs to swap... With another couple?" Nox rubbed the back of his head and awkwardly glanced to Zed, "This is not the kind of scenario that calls for 'double dating'..."

"The springs are large enough," Turbo staggered through laughter as everyone else joined in, "One flyer can take you and Koko to one far end, and Zed and Tessa can go to the opposite end. Miles apart... You won't even know the other pair exists."

"You seem to know a lot about these springs?" Zed wondered gently, he finally came out of his bubble of thoughts.

"It was often my point of escape," Turbo shrugged and breathed a long, fogged breath; which such gentle explanation, everyone about the group began to set up camp as the morning's sunrise was now nearly fully over the horizon's line, "It's close enough to the castle, but far enough away to at least sort of feel like I can get away from the madness... That castle is wonderful, and all, but... Overlooking a white void of nothingness, the bitter cold, the lack of... Friends and family... Really gets to you."

"...I miss it," Vanellope finally meeped in gentle sorrow as the cold wind began to pick up; with such, the group began to work faster to put up tents and get fires going.

"It's close," Turbo gently reassured, and with this small amount of love volleyed between the two, as well as Vanellope's anxious, needy, prolonged eye contact, Turbo was hoping the cold could bring everyone together, once and for all, "For now, I think you four should head out and come back quick... Well... As quick as the act will permit, I guess."

"Don't wait up," Nox teased to the group, though Koko largely rolled her eyes and bashfully nudged Nox's chest as they began to mosey closer to Royal, who looked prepped and ready to scout for a good spot, near the springs.

"Hopefully this one doesn't drown," Koko teased, the two were alive with honeyglow, a warmth that set the whole entire place at ease, and as they mounted Royal and said their temporary goodbyes, they took to the skies and were seen lofting away, amidst Royal's gorgeous cream colored wings.

"I'm assuming Ace and Libby aren't in need of a code refill?" Penny staggered softly to Turbo and Orph as she looked over her shoulder.

The three nonchalantly peered to Vanellope, Rancis, Libby and Ace. Although the four set up camp, it was nearly painful just how much Ace was avoiding Libby. Turbo furrowed his brow and took this opportunity to really hone in on Ace's demeanor. He immediately took to Libby's words, the very epitome of a clam was what Ace was just consumed with. A disgruntled yet neutral look on his face, his body language was closed off, his eyes were glassy and red, as if he had likely been lacking sleep alongside a strong mixture of crying. Turbo now began to feel mildly irritated; he knew, full well, Ace was likely a moody one, and as much as he wanted to rush Ace and potentially shake him, beg him to take Libby into his arms and remind him just what a gem he had, he knew this kind of a creature dealt with gentle, nurturing and reassuring love, not tough. He bit his lip in contemplation, on just how he would approach said clam, though he sighed and remembered to revisit Penny's question.

"Doubt it... They're Users," Turbo shrugged, "Whilst we were talking and conversing, she was showing me her coding and was glitching and all that nonsense... I'm assuming the dampening only really applies to anyone that, uh, well... Isn't god-status."

"Crazy," Orph shook his head in gentle disbelief, though he furrowed his brow and looked to his left and cued to Zed's attention, "You guys gunna head out?"

"Likely," Zed bobbed a nod and gave Orph a forced smile, though he nervously peered back to Tessa and Lickity; he sagged his shoulders as he could see Tessa sorrowfully whispering to Lickity, and although Lickity now couldn't talk back, she still kept her eyes honed to Tessa's, as if that was her way of communicating.

Zed sighed through his nose and peered to Tessa, long and hard. He knew, full well, one more swap outside of a firewall would for certain program a baby, and although this was all Tessa wanted, he knew she'd be wary to do such a thing out in the middle of Sugar Rush's wild blue. Zed let his eyes gloss his future bride, he let a bashful smile wrinkle across his face, he was well aware that, no matter what came of this visit to said hot springs, something good would come out of it.

"Tess," Zed called gently, audible to Turbo, Orph and Penny, though the second he began to peel from the three, they each shot knowing smiles to each other and knew to leave the two alone to sort things out. Tessa only barely glanced in Zed's direction and nearly got away with pretending she didn't hear him. Upon reaching Lickity, Zed's loving hands rubbed Lickity's snout as Tessa stood close to Lickity's left side. He tilted his head in understanding and smiled, "What's goin' on, you trying to avoid me?"

"No, I just..." Tessa looked off to the cold, dim horizon and shook her head. She long blinked in rising agitation and ruffled her long hair, as if to busy herself with something, anything, "I don't think this is wise."

"Let's just... Head to the hot springs, from there we can-"

"Zed, I don't want to feel forced," Tessa snapped, though Zed put his hands up and raised his eyebrows in tenderness.

"... I was going to say, from there, we can just find some place to sit and talk," Zed shrugged, "We haven't had an ounce of alone time... Why don't we just at least discuss the topic at hand, and come to some form of agreement... On either side of this coin."

"Just... Talk?" Tessa wondered, she softened and sagged her shoulders, in which Lickity perked her ears and eyed Tessa in a knowing, teasing way.

"It's... Kind of a big deal," Zed shrugged with a bashful giggle, "Either we decide to just stick with whatever powers we have, or... Plan to have a baby."

Tessa was still, her eyes were glued to Zed's, it was starkly clear that the dilemma in her brain was a violent tornado. She looked terrified and elated, all in one emotion, something Zed was uncertain how to accomplish. Although Tessa looked absolutely wrought with conflicting thoughts, he could so easily see that twinkle in her eye, one of pure, unadulterated excitement for the bubbling, renewed situation at hand. He huffed a small, cute laugh and shook his head at her, which cued her to stifle a curl of a bashful smile, one of which she impressively hid. Zed took a few steps to her, took her hands in his and peered deep into her eyes.

"C'mon... Let's go find a spot to sit and talk this through, privately. I can see you have a lot you want to say," Zed bobbed a curious nod and was thrilled to get a nod out of her, as well, "Let's go somewhere private... And let's hurry, because... Even if we reach the decision to swap, I'm becoming very sleepy, so, uhh... Dunno how much use I'll be, here, shortly."

"Take your clothes off in THIS weather and it'll surely wake yah'up," Tessa teased with her usual banter, although still shy and neutral, she smiled that typical, tom-boyish smile, a cute gap-toothed grin of teasing, and with such, Zed's heart jumped.

"The argument can go either way," Zed and Tessa blurt into laughter as they both board Lickity, and with one quick swoop, Lickity was off, in the opposite direction of where Royal had taken off.

"... That was easy," Turbo muttered with a curious peak of a smile, to which Orph and Penny bobbed nods of teasing and rolled their eyes with knowing grins.

"Those two never really came out of the honeymoon phase," Orph's warm smile soaked to Turbo's, and it was with such warmth was Turbo grateful they had been hanging around Nox and Throttle for so long, certainly their creepy pixel-cubed gazes grew familiar after awhile.

"I think it's cute," Penny chirped, and in a slow turn, the three began to head across the gap to where the last bit of their crew were, tending to the campsite.

"It's been awhile since I've been around such warmth and love and welcoming," Turbo sighed, his breath fogged the air, his eyes looked far off, one of remembrance, "It's nice... I certainly missed it."

"Welcome, dude, it really never ends and, more often than not, will get you into trouble," Orph rattled off, to which Penny blurt a laugh and agreed.

"There are three last tough cookies to crack, before I really feel welcomed," Turbo grumbled, he specifically eyed Rancis, Vanellope and Ace, though with his nervous wonderings, somehow Penny's and Orph's easy and loving attitudes made Turbo wonder just why he was so worked up about it.

"Well, my dad can hold a grudge like there's no tomorrow, my aunt Vanellope will forgive you... But won't forget," Penny pointed gently up to Turbo and gave him a look of stern knowing, though she softened and volleyed her gaze to Ace in a drawl of cheeky teasing, "Annnnd, as for my wonderful little second cousin-of-a-User, Ace... Well..."

"Clam?" Turbo prod in dull agitation, Penny and Orph bobbed eager nods.

"You're gunna need the pliers of the gods," Orph grumbled with a knowing smile, though he shrugged, "I've seen him open up under Tessa's, Zed's and Libby's touch... My advice is to just approach with caution, be gentle, and uh... Keep your voice low."

"Any other things I should watch out for?" Turbo cocked an eyebrow and now wondered if he was simply dealing with a rubrics cube.

"Yeah... The dude harbors the ability to delete you," Orph stabbed, he cheekily eyed Turbo and nudged his lower arm, "Tread lightly."


	259. Chapter 259

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54:** Hahaha you're definitely not wrong, with your intuition ;) Thank you!

 **Burgie:** You know the drill! ;D

 **Snake557:** Well, remember, they're not on airplanes going 500+MPH. They're on dragons ranging at speeds from 40-60MPH, just simply lofting and carrying people. So, it's not THAT huge of an ocean, they're traveling slow. It's probably the same as driving from, say, Miami to Tallahassee. That's about an 8 hour drive :P

 **chuckiboo:** You'd be surprised, Turbo has a bit of difficulty, but discovers a strategy that gets Ace out of his shell quicker than he thought :D And, yes! You'd actually be correct!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **All The Ways by Meghan Trainor**

* * *

 ***Chapter 259***

"Don't leave us here for long," Tessa whispered to Lickity in a rush as Zed began to mosey away, although her near-silent whispering didn't fall on deaf ears; Zed hurried to turn back around and march up to his two girls. Lickity barked a laugh of a noise, straightened her spine and sat on her rump once Zed finally approached, he flailed his arm a little, Tessa continued on with staggering laughter, "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE WITH HIM."

"Oh no! You'll be stuck here, with me, where you can practice using free will and the word 'no' if you want!" Zed barked with a sarcastic laugh, he lovingly ruffled the top of Lickity's head and gave her a kind look, "Come get us in an our or so... Whatever the outcome, we'll be finished by then."

"Ten minutes," Tessa continued the act of pretending to be scared, though she slumped her shoulders and sent a dull, annoyed look after Lickity once she turned heel and took to the skies. She finally dragged her continuously annoyed though playful glower in Zed's direction, "NO."

"Alright," Zed shrugged with a hard chuckle as he faced the steamy hot springs before them.

Nestled in a sparkling valley of shimmering white snow, the near-purple sunrise, kissed with that orange, golden flare, soaked the atmosphere with the ironic feeling of frozen solitude lovingly kissed with curious warmth. Sugar Rush's End realm was coated with dark, jagged blue rocks, an unfriendly, intimidating landscape, though somehow the shimmery, fluffy white snow added that touch of delight. The crystal clear waters of the hot spring sloshed about with the bubbling volcanic activity nearby, and although the waters were safe to swim in, both warm and inviting, Zed eyed it with a twinge of anxiousness. Nonetheless, he heaved a breath that failed to fog and began to yank his thick winter coat off; a two dozen foot radius of this place felt like a warm, summer day on the beach.

"Whether you and I do any form of tango-ing or not, I'm getting in," Zed chimed in delight, he waggled his eyebrows, "I'd like to think I had a good last day on this planet before we jump headlong into Sugar Rush's corrupted code room, guarded by Whiplash... And likely Orion."

"You're preemptively celebrating our success?" Tessa muttered dully, Zed began to pry his thick winter boots off, his bare feet squished in the warm black sand; steam rose from the springs, a sprawling, shallow lake deep enough to comfortably wade in. He looked to his promising sunrise swim, then back to his bride-to-be as she continued, "Or are you just living it up before we fail?"

"Both?" Zed shrugged, he finally ripped off his dark grey t-shirt, one of which was thick and warm enough to layer with his winter coat, though with doing this, Tessa felt her face get hot. She furrowed her eyebrows in whole annoyance at the sheer fact that beads of sweat began to form at the crown of her head, "Look, why don't you just... Join me in the water at least? If this is the last time we can relax before shit goes down... I'd take this opportunity to treat yourself."

Tessa cocked an eyebrow and glossed her eyes across the glistening, welcoming, blue, steamy pool of wonder, and as Zed began to unzip his pants, she avoided his eye contact and stubbornly began to take her thick, heavy winter coat off as well. Before she could even get her coat off, however, she kicked her shoes off faster than she likely could even handle. She wobbled, successfully slumped her coat to the sand next to her and remained sitting. She crossed her arms and, although she felt relieved after taking her thick coat off, she still felt hot. In her peripheral, she could see Zed strip down to nothing but his black boxer briefs, he ruffled his electric blue hair, stretched a bit and made the view, in her peripheral, definitely one worth ogling over. She wrinkled her nose in bashful annoyance and wholly looked away once he began to slowly stroll over to her. Once he was two feet from her, she finally braved his eye contact and raised an eyebrow in dominant inquiry.

"... Your Majesty," Zed concluded gently as he reached his hand down to her.

Tessa softened and peered to Zed's outreached hand. She sagged her shoulders, looked out to the welcoming springs and so desperately wanted to dive straight into this sticky situation with her best friend. She figured an innocent swim wouldn't hurt, she knew she was able to at least keep her walls up long enough to where Zed would eventually get exhausted trying, though she also knew she was an absolute sucker for his smiling laugh, his stupid jokes, she rolled her eyes just barely and allowed her larger hand to slip into Zed's.

"What's on your mind, then?" Zed asked politely as he brought Tessa to a stand.

Although he so desperately wanted to help her get out of her clothes, he stood still and let her squirm her way out of her warmer long-sleeved shirt, revealing a tighter, more secure black sports bra. Zed successfully kept his eyes from wandering, though he was thrilled to see her finally join in on his antics and strip down to just her underwear. So not to rush her, he slowly began to lead her to the water, and although she seemed extraordinarily annoyed, he somehow couldn't wipe the stupid grin from his face. Tessa noticed this, shot him a dull, inquisitive, furrowed expression and sank into the shore of the water first.

"More than an hour can afford us, Zed," Tessa muttered, Zed gently released her hand and silently waded into the water with her; he knew to take things slow, no matter what the outcome of this little trip would be.

"What's bothering you more right now? The fact that we have Turbo on our team, now, orrr... Maybe that Lash holds our precious code room?" Zed poked gently, he knew Tessa wasn't going to come right out with her worries, so he hoped to at least softly stir emotion, somehow, "Our current dilemma?"

"All of the above, Zed," Tessa's annoyed muttering now grew to solid agitation, she flung her arm out, spraying water in said direction, "You really think I'm only worried about ONE thing, right now?"

"Well, Turbo's proven that he's at least to be somewhat trusted, thus far... We're literally not even a day's travel from the castle, with a crew of over a dozen, as a surprise attack," Zed began to list, though before he could get to the hot topic the two were now wading in, Tessa cut him off to dodge it.

"I'm also worried about Ace and Libby... I-I mean, Ace seems incredibly upset over this whole thing," Tessa rushed as the two were now waste deep in the steamy water, a relaxing slosh of the crystal blue sauna perfectly lined with the beach's velvety black sand, the two paced in the shallows before subtly inching towards slightly deeper parts, though Tessa had a chokehold on the conversation, "You know how he clams up, I just don't want him to accidentally unleash his User powers on Turbo and like... Accidentally delete him, or something... What would NOX think if-"

"Hun, I know you're worried about swapping with me," Zed stated with a knowing smile as he looked her directly in the eye; this disarmed her immediately, though she furrowed her brow in defense, shook her head and opened her mouth to protest, though Zed lovingly continued on, "I know you didn't want to say anything, back there, so to create tension... I know our out-of-firewall swap number is over the moon. I'm well aware that this... Impending swap-to-be WILL code a baby. Without a doubt."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in tenderness and softened, once more. Her larger hands soaked into the hot water they were now comfortable in, though she bashfully looked down to her submerged feet with a nervous frown. She began to inhale a slow breath, so to potentially end this topic and stop Zed in his tracks, though he sneakily dodged her every bullet. With as much mustered gentleness he could summon, Zed lovingly slid his warm hand to the dip of Tessa's bare waist and grew closer to her, a vulnerable position Tessa didn't allow for anyone but him. He softened his whole demeanor and peered into her eyes, he slowly raised his other hand out of the water and tucked her mass of auburn hair behind her right ear with care.

"It didn't take us but less than a week to come this far out," Zed reassured in a near-whisper as he could see Tessa's walls crumple before him, "We're so close to the end of this mess... User forbid we fail and have to turn around and go back home, to Dead Zed, we'll get there in enough time to properly have the baby, if that's the route we choose to take."

"... And what if we win?" Tessa bashfully whispered, her nervous eyes finally glossed to Zed's in such a way that sent shivers up his spine. A lock of genuine innocence she radiated, a tom-boyish wrinkle of ironic, delicate wildness, he huffed a staggering exhale, as if to be breathless, and in the gap, Tessa's voice continued on in endearing concern, "Wh-what if... We Actually... Make it?"

"... Then we'll have our first Sugar Rush baby... Resulting from our first Sugar Rush swap," Zed blurt a chuckle, shook his head and slowly scooped Tessa to his chest, and in a single movement, the two waded into deeper waters, they crouched a little, resulting in the water sloshing over their shoulders; with this, Tessa's needy arms crawled about Zed's neck, he welcomed her body against his.

"I feel bad being the gate keeper of powers, here," Tessa and Zed's laughter filled the steamy air, his strong hands easily helped her wrap her legs about his hips, a lock hold as Zed continued to wade through the warm water in a slow, aimless stroll. Tessa sighed a long sigh and concluded her statement, "Seems like I'd probably be a lot more open to this if I had lost a very valuable ability."

"Being an unbeatable racer could benefit you here, you never know," Zed bobbed his head and shrugged his sexy, masculine shoulders; Tessa giggled and looked off in dismissal, though Zed sweetly kissed her wet cheek a few times, "Y'know I don't want to do this strictly to get my glitching and wrecking powers back. I DO have feelings for you, y'know."

"What are you saying?" Tessa played along, Zed heaved a small chuckle into her jaw and squeezed his arms about her lower back with care.

"I'm saying I like you more than a friend," Zed mumbled, a near incoherent murmur of words into her wet skin; she scrunched her shoulders and blurt a laugh out to the lake.

"You like-like me?" Tessa prod in a teasingly girly way, she gasped and gave him a playfully shocked expression, "After all this time?"

"I know, shocker," Zed muttered as he pulled back and peered down into her eyes, he shrugged and bobbed a small nod, "I can tell you all the ways I think this might be a good idea, how it would be for the better."

"Tell me," Tessa prod softly as Zed continued to carry the two through the relaxing, warm water.

"Well... I've been working on my dad jokes," Zed cocked an eyebrow and looked at Tessa down his nose with a cute, bashful smile; Tessa gave Zed a prickled, softly delighted look, as if she wasn't expecting him to take this route in the conversation, "I've really had a rough start, what with Ace coming so soon, I really didn't have all my material planned out. But NOW, if we follow through with this swap, I will have had time to prepare."

"A whole year of torturing your poor son with your weird dad jokes," Tessa gave him a sloping, teasing dull look, though she couldn't keep said look for long before switching back to her twinkling, adoring expression of delight for her future King.

"Maybe our second child will be more appreciative," Zed gave Tessa a scrunched look of certainty, alongside a stiff nod.

"If they're half of me, then I doubt that," Tessa droned as she lulled her head to the side and shook her head.

"...It can wait, if your answer is still no," Zed heaved gently, he shook his head and allowed his playful demeanor to easily slide to seriousness, "I know this is a lot to take in, a lot to consider, and I don't want to come across as selfish... If I'm being honest with you, if I could chose between having those powers, or having another baby with you, well..."

Tessa locked eyes with Zed and held her breath, her heart jumped in her chest, and although she knew Zed's answer, she couldn't help but smile and anticipate those words to fall from his mouth. She bit her lip and tried to hide a wide, bashful smile.

"I'd pick the loading bar," Zed's soft voice concluded as he hovered over her blushing cheeks, she lulled her eyes closed, tilted her head down and gently grinned.

"Y-you... Really think this is wise, Zed?" Tessa pressed softly as her now wet eyelashes stuck together, giving her a dewy look, she peered up to Zed with bashful inquiry and scrunched her shoulders in a shrug, "Either you rush into battle with no powers, or... Lash faces a pregnant woman."

"Honestly, we might get more shit done that way," Zed and Tessa blurt into laughter, "No one goes toe-to-toe with a pregnant woman and lives to tell the tale."

"Are we in way over our heads, here?" Tessa huffed a small giggle and heaved a now exasperated sigh, she shook her head and tilted it giving Zed a near-pleading smile, "I'm not technically the easiest pregnant woman to deal with, if you recall."

"Whatever your choice, you're my Queen either way," Zed's deep, gentle voice concluded as he kissed the nook between her cheek and nose, "I will always be here for you, to take care of you and make you comfortable, even out here in a void... Loading bar or not."

"See, this is how you get your way," Tessa's smile said it all, simply that she wasn't complaining; both blurt into laughter as they gently bumped foreheads.

"I'm not trying to get my way, I just was showing you my side of the coin," Zed's deep voice playfully grumbled into her neck as he smooched her wet skin, he squeezed his arms tighter about her middle and relished in every single last sensation she had to give. He softened and sunk deeper into the hot water, they further relaxed into each other's bodies, "... Is your answer still no?"

Tessa gently pried her eyes open and glossed her gaze over Zed's strong shoulder, across the steamy pool they comfortably waded in, and although her brain was erring on the side of caution, her heart thumped out of her chest in an uncontrollable manner. She knew what her real answer had been, all along, she thought back to the countless times she wanted a baby whilst they were cozy in Dead Zed, though her coding wouldn't allow it... She slumped the side of her head against Zed's shoulder, she chuckled at the irony of it all, the fact that now that they were so far from a firewall, so deep into Sugar Rush, so entirely out of their minds, now seemed to be the universe's timing for the two to have a baby. She lulled her eyes closed and finally submit to Zed's patient, loving and warm grip.

"No," Tessa eased bashfully, and with such, Zed's moseying slowly began to stroll somewhere with purpose; she continued on as he gently began to make a bee-line for a more private nook of rocks that sloped out of the steamy water, "We really gunna do this? We're really going to have another baby?"

"If your answer is no longer 'no'," Zed teasingly chirped with a small shrug, Tessa bashfully pushed her smile into the wet skin on Zed's collar, "I'd say we make good parents, no? Ace is a pretty awesome guy."

"He's the best, gunna be a hard act to follow, dude," Tessa rushed to agree with a small giggle, she began to feel lightheaded with girly, bashful desire as she rested in Zed's grip, "Wanna know something funny?"

"Hmm?" Zed pressed warmly, his slow stroll continued at the same speed.

"You realize this is the first baby we've actually planned," Tessa heaved a small laugh, to which Zed quickly fell into as well; the two sighed through chuckles of reminiscing.

"Ace was a nice surprise," Zed's smile couldn't broaden more, "I was terrified, but I wouldn't have had it any other way... But you are right. Even if it is only really an hour of loose, perplexed planning, it's a nice change. Let's do this every time."

"... You want MORE kids?" Tessa blurt as she yanked her head away and peered into Zed's eyes in a bewildered, bashful manner.

"Wow! Who woulda thunk I want to make a whole pack of awesome gamers with the woman I love!" Zed barked in teasing delight, to which Tessa shook her head and tried her best not to be overcome with all these fluttering emotions.

"Wonder if Ace has a preference... Little brother or little sister," Tessa prod curiously as their figures were finally glossed with shadows, the overhang of the rock formations above them gave a nice amount of privacy in the water.

"I think he'd be happy with either, to be honest," Zed shrugged, he gave Tessa a dorky smile, "I think I'd like to have a girl... Something different, would be fun to spoil Sugar Rush's princess."

"...Until said princess brings home a suitor to be King," Tessa's dull, intimidated tone glossed over Zed, and with such, his stroll gently drummed to a stop; Tessa loudly laughed at the wash of white his face was now glossed in, though she also began to sag her shoulders in impending anxiousness as she mumbled to continue, "Yikes, now I know how my mom feels."

"...I don't like this idea anymore," Zed joked.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the sporadic gaps between uploads. My 27th birthday was this past Saturday, and I took a proper 3 day weekend off of work to do, you guessed it... NOTHING. And it felt fucking amazing and was much needed.**

 **I will be beginning the SKETCHDUMP this coming week/weekend, so hopefully I'll be done with the whole thing sometime in August.**

* * *

 _ **STUFF TO EXPECT**_

 _ ***********SPOILERS**************_

 _ ***********SPOILERS**************_

 _ ***********SPOILERS**_ _ ****************_

 _ **********I WARNED YOU**_ _ *************_

 _ *********I WARNED YOUx2**_ _ ************_

 **Prepare yourself for baby MADNESS. The Arcade gets a good dose of loading bars, in the next handful of chapters... And, likely from couples you weren't expecting them from :D Five babies total. You heard me.**

 **Orion makes an appearance shortly! Mega yay.**

 **Taffyta lets Tej meet Wren. TENSION ENSUES.**

 **Giant gumball machines are a thing**

 **Game overs happen**

 **Lickity finds a mate- oops, wait. wrong story.**

 **bye**


	260. Chapter 260

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54 :** YES! very exciting! I think the last baby that was properly planned, and written for, was Tessa haha.

 **Cheeto :** Aw that's so nice of you! Tessa would definitely triumph through it, though likely not without wrecking someone's face haha

 **magikmike :** Thank you so much!~

 **Guest :** NO DON'T PANICK IT'S OKAY SHHH. lol!It is weird, huh! Turbo's out here without a single clue that Berri is WELL on her way xD It'll be fun to expand on, for sure!

 **Snake557 :** Yeah, commercial airlines go about that speed, silly :P and yes! lots of babs!

 **chuckiboo :** I love keeping y'all on your toes! And yes, Ace gets his worrying from Tessa, his brooding nature from Oliver, and his dorkiness from Zed LOL!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Through The Dark by One Direction**

* * *

 ***Chapter 260***

Although Libby was absolutely certain the flight apart from Ace would've given the two enough time to mull and come to proper conclusions, she paced in agitation over the sheer fact that he was still giving her the cold shoulder. Only simple answers and requests were lobbed her way, and although he was at least warm and civil in each request, she still felt that bite of hurt in his voice, the look of dejectedness in his eyes; she knew there was likely only one remedy, and that would be a solid talk with Turbo. She rolled her eyes and dragged her gaze from the small group left behind, cast out to the direction of Sugar Rush's castle, as well as the far off hot springs that lay in between. She crossed her arms, shook her head and blinked back tears. The cold air licked her cheeks and made the hot tears that spilled down her skin nearly sting, though before she had time to soak in said wallowing pain, she could hear footsteps approaching behind her.

"Damn, y'weren't kidding," Turbo choked a small laugh, his large, heavy boots scuffed the jagged, dark blue earth beneath them; his messy, dark grey hair ruffled in the wind, his tattered black winter coat comfortably held his hands in the front pockets, and although the scruff on his jaw and chin made obvious of his travels, he still looked as if he had enough of his dignity. He cleared his throat and tenderly stood next to Libby as he continued, "What's up, Swirlz. Y'said two words to the dude and then ran for the hills."

"I don't want to outwardly fight with him while everyone is around," Libby wipe her cheeks and tried to hold back further impending tears, though Turbo frowned and cued to said effort.

"Wouldn't be fighting... You two can split off and have a talk, if you need, y'know," Turbo gently prod with a shrug, though Libby shook her head.

"Convincing him to step aside with me would be like pulling teeth," Libby grumbled as she looked off, her glassy eyes got lost in Sugar Rush's white cotton candy clouds, ominous heaps of fog that drifted off quickly.

"Not like he can run off and avoid you, or anything," Turbo blurt a chuckle, though his smile and uplifting demeanor quickly sagged once Libby was unsuccessful in keeping tears back.

"I don't know what to do," Libby's fragile voice tenderly shook, her breath fogged the air before the two, her weak eyes glossed to Turbo's dimly glowing orbs in a rise of mulling concern, "He won't even look at me..."

In this, Turbo hovered tight to Libby's gravity, and in one subtle upwards glance, his face remained tilted down to Libby's gaze, though his eyes stabbed across the dark plateau the group remained on. On the edge of the map, seemingly, Ace could be seen, staring the two down like a hawk. He looked to be previously in conversation with his grandmother and great uncle, though the two carried on without Ace, his attention glued to Turbo's and Libby's presences across the way.

"He certainly is now," Turbo's deep, raspy voice glossed, though he jolted with a small laugh as he was successful in lovingly grabbing Libby's cheek and keeping her from whirling around and seeing the product of Turbo's truthful words, "Ah-ah c'mon, take my word for it, girly."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Libby huffed, her gorgeous, choppy short hair fluttered in the frozen wind, and although the two hung tight in each other's vicinities, with Ace's very aware and closeful watch, Turbo knew he was at least allowed to this, as strange and convoluted as it seemed. Tears gathered in Libby's eyes as she continued on, her voice rasped in sorrow, "H-How do you delete memories that aren't even yours...?"

Turbo near-flinched at her insinuation, and although he had been through a lifetime of hurt, somehow this subtle blow seemed to be the worse. Turbo furrowed his eyebrows and tried his very hardest not to be taken aback, though he desperately remained still in Libby's crumpling demeanor.

"... I'm sure you could take it up with Tessa," Turbo mumbled in defeat as he looked off, his gaze drew to the fog of the hot springs, The End's radiant glow could be seen hanging on the horizon, it glowed in all of it's white, beaming nothingness, "If... That's what you really want."

"It's just too heavy to have," Libby outwardly began to cry, as quiet as it may be, "So much has already been thrusted upon me... All these memories, now, are just way too much."

"I get it..." Turbo's voice was soft as his eyes fixed to the jagged hills far off, nearly wisped away by the fog, "I've been out here chasing after perfection, trying to find a way to delete said very memories... To no avail."

Libby sagged her shoulders and felt a chill brush through her as Turbo's loving, gentle hand laid to her cheek, and in a neutral, loving show of a swoop, Turbo placed a warm, innocent kiss to Libby's forehead.

"The choice is yours," Turbo's hushed voice glossed her cold forehead as he slowly began to peel away, "Delete old memories and make new ones... Or continue living in the vat of comfortable confusion. I understand the turmoil."

"Wait," Libby huffed quietly in a stab of worry, Turbo halted his footwork and peered his curious, glowing eyes to hers, as if to somehow reignite the happiness he had tried to supply her with. Libby's lip quiver as her eyes glossed his chest; she shook her head and tightened her jaw in certainty, "I-I don't want to forget... I don't want those memories to go away..."

Turbo raised his eyebrows and finally let a small smile crawl across his face. He looked down to the ground in gratefulness and bobbed a small nod, and as much as it was difficult to see his previous lover with another man, every second without her coding gave him further clarity on the situation, a proper amount of closure on the raw, open wound he had been saddled with for so long. Turbo exhaled a long, fogged breath through his nose and allowed his smiling eyes to ease into Libby's, once more.

"I don't either, Libby," Turbo's voice glossed with a rasp of certainty, he gave her a knowing nod and held tight to her eyes, "I will always love you. No matter where our paths take us... We're a part of each other's pasts. That's not anything we should get rid of, or be ashamed of."

"It's hard being adult about it," Libby's nasally voice pushed forth a small giggle as she smiled and tried to continuously wipe away her tears.

"Not the easiest thing," Turbo mumbled in agreeing, though he looked back over his shoulder, to where Orph, Penny, Rancis and Vanellope were.

All of them had begun to settle in and are themselves comfortable around the campfire; they had properly set up underneath a large rock formation, an airy cavern that was shallow enough to let in light, though deep enough to shield everyone from the cold wind. Turbo squinted and made out the situation; with all flyers gathered around the group and looking for proper spots to lay for the night, everyone quietly talked and bickered about the campfire, they had begun to wait for Royal and Lickity to bring Tessa, Zed, Nox and Koko back safely to their campsite. Turbo wasn't surprised to see Ace isolating himself on the other side of the fire. He furrowed his grey brows and now began to feel mildly irritated.

"Why don't you stay here," Turbo pressed gently as he noticed Balba come to a stand and begin to mosey her way over to where Turbo and Libby were, "Maybe chat with Balba, take a small flight about the area... I'll talk to Ace. I think it's what's needed right now. Man to man."

"Good luck," Libby's curt attitude glossed Turbo in prickled, disheartened defeat, though Turbo cocked an eyebrow and let his teasing, curious eye contact chase after likely the most misunderstood being in the whole group.

"I won't need it," Turbo's warm voice concluded.

"Marble," Orph grunted; he nearly flopped to the ground the second Marble's larger body began to stand, rendering his 'getting comfortable' endeavor moot. Orph barked a noise and flailed his arms as his hood slumped over his head, "MARBLE!"

"Sure, sure, shout at the huge wolf creature some more," Rancis and Vanellope loudly laughed as Penny urgently stood and rushed to Orph's aid, though in the process, she also playfully scolded him for the same thing her father was, "Alright, Marble, now give him what for."

"I literally am your future son in law!" Orph cried in agony as Marble only playfully began to nibble on Orph's left ear; he squealed a noise of pretend-terror, though everyone loudly howled with laughter, "I DON'T DESERVE THIS!"

"Dinner!" Royal blurt as he jumped up as well, he shoved his bat-snout firmly into Orph's center, causing him to jerk upright with a bug-eyed expression and a grunt of dismay to boot.

"I'm just tryin to get comfortable!" Orph hollered, though with the commotion, Lickity lazily sauntered over and plopped her body and stomach firmly into Orph's lap; he was easily engulfed by Marble, Lickity and Royal, a sprawl of scales, wings, feathers and fur, all with Orph's legs awkwardly peaking through, "I give up, whatever. I hope I suffocate at your guys' paws."

"Don't give them that freedom," Vanellope called; Turbo lazily strolled up, grinning at the nonsense, and although the group was still nervous about him, they forced a comfortable demeanor and shot him welcoming looks. Vanellope gestured to Turbo and shook her head, "Get Balba in on the dog pile, where is she?"

"Libby's brushing her fur, she wanted to do it out in the open so fur doesn't get on our camping gear," Turbo fibbed, though the group rolled with it. Just as Turbo's eyes caught with Ace's line of sight, he was thrilled to see his nervous, sorrowful gaze absolutely hooked to where Libby and Balba were stationed. He knew, full well, Ace was wanting to open up to someone and get to the bottom of his feelings. Turbo was well aware he'd likely have to be the one to break the ice, and as he sat a few feet from Ace, he could immediately see more walls go up. Turbo got comfortable, let his eyes gloss the fire and allowed Orph's loud shenanigans soak the atmosphere for a few minutes before he spoke to Ace, "They always like this?"

Ace shrugged, and although his dewy eyes shot to where his uncle was, he didn't give Turbo a proper answer.

"Somehow I heard that all the flyers used to not like him," Turbo pressed, he was heavily warned of Ace's impressive clam-like abilities, though he was well aware his prying techniques were stronger, "Seems they're getting their revenge over time."

"Just Lickity," Ace's deep voice tenderly glossed, his sad, though curious hazel eyes only briefly glanced in Turbo's general direction.

"So, help me out... I know Lickity is the tan one, and she's Tessa's," Turbo lazily pointed as he got comfortable; the rest of the group remained bickering on the other side of the fire, the crackling nearly made it so they were out of earshot, "The chameleon one is..."

"Royal, he's my dragon, Lickity's son," Ace's answers were short and dry, though Turbo could practically feel Ace's whole demeanor in desperate need of some form of brotherly love; Turbo warmly smiled and gave Ace undivided attention, something Ace was very blatantly radiating that he needed, whether he believed he wanted it or not, "Marble is Balba's mother... Libby's surrogate, I guess."

"Interesting," Turbo nodded and inhaled a deep breath, "So, all of them are of Dead Zed origin?"

"Well..." Ace furrowed his brow and looked to the fire for a moment, though he finally stabbed his curious eyes to Turbo's, something Turbo was nearly surprised at, "Royal is actually Orion's son."

"Wait... What?" Turbo nearly choked in surprise, though to his whole delight, a bashful smile curled on the end of Ace's lips. Turbo blurt a chuckle which so easily encouraged a bigger smile from Ace's thawing demeanor, "You mean to tell me that huge, crusty chameleon has a son he doesn't know about?!"

"Yep," Ace chirped, and although his warm smile and demeanor were reserved, he finally sat up a little and showed a bit more of an opened body language, "I've never met Orion, I just know that he's the reason Royal has chameleon features."

"Wait'll Orion finds out," Turbo huffed in a long, exasperated sigh, and although he was thrilled to finally get Ace to open up, even if it was the slightest, he knew getting to the core of all of this would still be a chore. Turbo finally laid his eyes tight to Ace's avoided stare and gingerly held his hand out, for a handshake, "I don't think we even properly introduced ourselves to each other."

"Nope," Ace agreed, though the second both boys shook hands, the look of mean delight, in Ace's eyes, was very quickly apparent, "It was difficult to do so whilst my woman was wrapped up in your arms."

Turbo huffed a staggered breath and felt his confidence immediately sag. He finally realized the weight of everyone's warnings, the cold, hermit crab Ace was; Turbo wasn't prepared for said crab to have such agile, sharp and readied use of his claws. Turbo immediately wondered how to switch up his game without losing momentum.

"That's how I greet everyone," Turbo volleyed, and with the confused smirk of mild annoyance that suddenly flashed across Ace's face, Turbo immediately knew to keep sprinkling humor where he could, seeing as it was received well, "Yeah, yeah... Anyone I meet, I have to make out with their partner, first."

"Y'did a good job of it, man," Ace blurt with an annoyed chuckle, and although he wanted so badly to keep that mean vice grip of justice his mother so generously blessed him with, he sagged with the easy-forgiveness Tessa had also given him.

"Been practicing," Turbo laughed as he looked out to the fire, though he heaved a long sigh and knew to let the joke now simmer to a gentle bout of seriousness. He softened, turned to look at Ace and allowed enough silence to cue Ace's eyes, as well. Turbo gently shook his head and kept his eyes tight to Ace's, a show of genuine sincerity, "I want to apologize for throwing a monkey wrench into your's and Libby's relationship. Had I known she was taken, I wouldn't have kissed her like that."

Ace and Turbo held tight eye contact, Turbo's apologetic eyes were met with Ace's diligent, wary, scanning and intimidating gaze, one of which sent chills up Turbo's spine, a sure-fire reminder that he was in the presence of a Demi-god. Turbo inhaled a shaky breath and didn't dare take his eyes away from Ace's now-becoming dominant gaze.

"I was just so overwhelmed... I thought she was dead," Turbo gently explained as he gestured his hands and tried to continue to relax in Ace's presence, "Seeing her again, like that... It just stirred a lot in me, I didn't even think about the possibility of the onlooking eyes of a current lover. I just acted..."

"... I understand," Ace finally breathed, he glossed his eyes to the fire for a moment before he returned his eye contact with a little bit more confidence and enthusiasm, "I've been doing a lot of thinking, and... Even though it sucked to watch, I... Can't blame you. I'd do the same exact thing, in your shoes. I can't imagine being in that position."

"She's really torn up about it," Turbo volleyed, and although he was now feeling protective of Libby, he wondered just where his footing was, in this new territory. He urgently tried to read Ace's demeanor, and like the clam he was, it was near impossible. Turbo exhaled a shaky breath and decided to just slowly feel it out, "I-I... I hope this isn't too forward, or too out of my own place, here, but... As her past lover, I want nothing more than to see her in good hands, from here on out. She really is beating herself up, about all of this, Ace..."

"I know, I... I feel terrible, I just..." Ace shook his head and looked to the fire, he sagged his shoulders with a long, raspy sigh and furrowed his brow in agony, "It was so hard watching all of that happen, and then she just... chopped all of her hair off."

"That was weird for you?" Turbo genuinely pressed, though Ace's sorrowful eyes grew bigger as he held tight eye contact with Turbo.

"I've never known anything different," Ace's sweet, sad voice rasped, "Even as children, her hair was so incredibly long... To see her get so confused about her identity that it lead her to chopping off all of her beautiful hair... It was hard to witness someone you love, more than anyone, go through that kind of inner turmoil."

"She needs you," Turbo pressed, he tried not to sound too urgent; Ace nodded and lulled his eyes closed in rising agony.

"I know she does, I just... Get so inside myself," Ace huffed in a raspy breath as he squeezed his eyes in a scrunch and shook his head. He rubbed the back of his head and finally pried his glassy eyes to the fire, once more, "It's like... Everything you thought you knew about someone now suddenly has a million different curves and surfaces. It's just a lot to take in... I can only imagine how she's feeling, but... How do you help someone alongside yourself?"

"You do it together," Turbo prod softly, he took this opportunity to sit a little closer to Ace as his hazel eyes began to well with tears, tears Turbo was absolutely certain Ace was trying to hold back, "It's not my business, but... I mean, even through her past problems... She still trusted you enough to swap codes with her?"

Ace gently hugged his knees to his chest and long-blinked a few tears down his cheeks, and although his glassy eyes held tight to the fire, he exhaled a nasally chuckle, wiped his eyes and smiled with a gentle, assuring nod.

"That's huge," Turbo shook his head, "When Libby and I swapped, we had not a single worry in the world... Although I had to earn it through trust, you had to earn her trust through the midsts of grieving a tragedy... I don't believe being, well... Taken advantage of, in that way, is easy to bounce back from."

"It's been a journey," Ace bobbed a nod, bugged his eyes; both boys shared a knowing laugh, though Ace sighed of relief and wiped his cheek a little, "I told her, from day one, I'd wait for her. I'd wait for her word... I'd wait until the end of time. I gave her my word."

"She needed you then," Turbo eased as he shook his head and narrowed his gaze, "She needs you now... More than ever. She's been saddled with memories she didn't ask for, memories she didn't know existed. You're her rock, her tangible place of rest... Don't let her down."

Ace frowned and dragged his gentle eyes to Turbo, and although he wanted to lightly get in Turbo's face and boast that he knew Libby better than Turbo, he knew full-well that both boys knew an extremely different two versions of Libby. He sighed, looked down and admitted to himself that Turbo may have known Libby Von Swirlz better than him, though he now knows Kajiksana better than Turbo. With this separation, Ace inhaled a refreshed breath and bobbed a nod in Turbo's direction.

"I won't," Ace's warm voice promised.

"C'mon," Turbo quipped with a smile as he lovingly and firmly pat Ace's broad shoulder; Ace cocked an eyebrow and perked up in confusion as Turbo began to stand, "Let's go conclude this now... Before her and Balba take off and this is prolonged for another day or two."

"N-Now?" Ace staggered in a now terrified bashful way, though as Turbo helped Ace to a stand, both men looked off to Libby's whereabouts; thankfully, her and Balba remained, a nervous, chattering kind of way as Libby's diligent hands brushed through Balba's mane of fur.

"Now," Turbo concluded with a small smile and a hearty chuckle, he pat Ace's upper back and began to lead the both of them straight for Libby and Balba, "The whole group can feel the tension, and now that Tessa, Zed, Nox and Koko could come back to camp with the potential for loading bars, we need to be solid as a team and all be on the same page."

"You're coming with?" Ace pressed with a gentle smile as they fell into step, Ace shot Turbo a look of teasing concern and shook his head, "Won't this be awkward for you?"

"What's awkward about it? That we both have made love to two different versions of the same woman?" Turbo blurt, though Ace furrowed his brow and gaped him a smile of teasing offense. Turbo largely shrugged and waggled his hands, "We're adults, right? It's weird, but... We can be men about it."

"You're taking this well," Ace laughed, his gap-tooth smile was now something of a rarity, though it was massively contagious; Turbo beamed and looked up to the sky.

"Well... The more I spend time with your version of Libby, the more I understand that she is no longer my type," Turbo's voice grew quiet as they closed in on the half way mark to Libby.

"Oh, so what IS your type then? How does past-Libby differ from current-Libby?" Ace crossed his arms and gave Turbo a wide, questioning smile.

"MY version of Libby was loud, outgoing, girly, bratty," Turbo obnoxiously listed, he blurt a laugh and shrugged as he looked up and continued to reminisce, "She played the guitar, we got drunk on the weekends... She was wild."

"... That sounds NOTHING like Libby now," Ace felt as if his face was frozen in a smile, for the first time in days.

"This Libby is tender and warm, innocent... Has that childlike wildness, the twinkle in her eye just radiates all the good, cute qualities of naivety," Turbo listed, he smiled to Ace and gave him a concluding nod, "You don't have to worry about me, dude... I like 'em bad and bratty. Looks like you lucked out."

"She has her outburst moments, but..." Ace looked down before both men caught eyes, once more, "Thanks for the reassurance."

"Not that I'd tussle with your situation, anyways," Turbo pressed as the two finally neared Libby and Balba, "I sort of don't want to be deleted."

"We don't know how to delete people," Ace pressed as Libby's bashful, wide eyes glossed to Ace's as they all came within feet of each other. Libby stopped what she was doing and kept her eyes tight to Ace's as he playfully concluded, "...Yet."

"Yet," Turbo choked as he rolled his eyes and peered to Libby in a teasing manner, "Will I be your first test subject?"

"Just remember, the cake is a lie," Libby mumbled with a reserved giggle, though she sagged her shoulders in relief the second Ace gave her a warm, near-apologetic smile.

"Alright... I'm the first person to agree this is awkward, we're in this weird... Future, past, present... Love triangle THING," Turbo blurt with a small laugh as he gently grappled Libby's right shoulder and Ace's left shoulder, "Whatever our differences, they just... Need to be set aside until we can figure this mess out."

"I just want to talk," Libby pleaded, her glassy eyes dragged to Ace in desperation, though she was thrilled to see him nod in gentle agreeing and look down, as if to feel guilt, "I'm tired of this cold shoulder nonsense, I want to reconvene with you and explain my side of this mess."

"It's not like she had this knowledge, all this time," Turbo's deep voice volleyed to Ace in gentle sternness, "She had no clue we used to be together, it wasn't like she kept anything from you."

"I wish I knew... I could've saved the group so much time, so much suffering," Libby's voice croaked, though Turbo gently gripped her shoulder a little harder and jostled her slightly.

"None of that... We're all looking forward, the here and now is what matters," Turbo rolled his eyes, lulled his head back and groaned an exhausted sigh, "I know we all want this mess to be over with already."

"We can't do that via cold-shoulder treatments," Libby now stabbed in Ace's direction, though he furrowed his brow and gave her a dejected, offended look.

"I'm here to set things right, Libby, I'm sorry for walling up," Ace defended softly, he shook his head and glanced to Turbo, "I just... Needed time to think."

"Sulk," Turbo teased, Ace heaved a raspy sigh and nodded, and although he gave the both of them an apologetic look, he still flashed a twinkle of a smile.

"I'm sorry... I'm trying to be better about it," Ace's humble tone finally set the group at ease, "Let's just... Finally be on the same page."

"GOOD," Turbo blurt as he gently pushed the two closer together, "Now, you two kiss and makeup, I'm going to BED."

"That easy, huh," Libby shot Turbo a look of playful irritation, though she flashed him a grateful smile and pat his upper arm, "Thanks for everything."

"I'm just here to stop the pot from stirring," Turbo shrugged as he gave the two a final, relieved smile and began to gently walk back to the campsite.

Ace and Libby fell into gentle silence as they watched Turbo turn heel and leave them at peace. Libby smiled with gratitude, she knew that even though her and Turbo had a history, she was ready to step forward with Ace, even with said awkward and painful knowledge. She gently dragged her stare up to Ace's, her heart jumped with remembering, that no matter what the two had been through, in what form of a lifespan, they always had each other from here on out. Libby sagged her shoulders and wobbled once Balba lovingly nuzzle her snout into the side of her arm and body.

"I have a confession," Ace eased shakily, Libby dart her eyes to his in prickled nervousness, though once a staggering breath fell from Ace's smiling lips, she grew delightfully confused as he bashfully continued, "Your new haircut is incredibly sexy."

Libby raised her eyebrows in hot surprise as her face turned beet red. She huffed a staggering laugh of off-putting surprise and shook her head. She ran her fingers through her new short, edgy looking cut and bashfully looked off. Before she could thank Ace, he lovingly held his larger pointer finger under her chin and made it so she was facing him, once again.

"I really will miss your long hair, but... This is really nice," Ace nodded and gave her a warm smile, the same heart melting abilities he always had.

"That means a lot," Libby huffed shakily with a nervous smile, "I-I... Didn't plan for this, clearly, but... I'm glad it turned out."

"You should keep it," Ace's voice gently prod with an enthusiastic smile and nod, to which Libby breathed a sigh of relief and looked down to her feet.

"Guess I can bounce back and forth between really long and really short... Thank User for code rooms," Libby grumbled as the two fell into gentle laughter. Libby furrowed her eyebrows and looked off to the campsite, she knew that Royal and Lickity would likely be leaving in a bit to go retrieve both Tessa and Zed, Nox and Koko. She wondered if the two had enough time to potentially sneak off, as well. Libby bit her lip and lovingly soaked her hand into the top of Balba's mane, on her forehead, she bravely continued, "You, uh... Want to take a flight about the plateau? Maybe find a more private spot to finally talk?"

"I'd love that," Ace eased, and although the twinge of pain still hung on his demeanor, he could tell Libby was thrilled his walls had finally come down.

Balba perked up, flickered her wings a little and prepared for the two to climb aboard. As ace helped Libby aboard first, he heaved a shaky breath, looked back to his group and stabbed his attention to Turbo. He slowly continued to walk back to the group, his head held high, a lost soul now finally seeking refuge within a family unit. Ace shot the back of Turbo's head a gentle smile and felt his icy feelings begin to thaw. With renewed energy, he board Balba, behind Libby, and held on tight as the two were quickly whisked away into Sugar Rush's wild blue.

* * *

 **A/N :** **Hey guys! Real quick, I drew fan art for this chapter, titled 'Random Access Memory'**

 **I also drew fan art for the last chapter titled 'All The Ways'**

 **Both can be found on my deviantART username Vyntresser!**


	261. Chapter 261

**Reviews :**

 **Burgie :** Aww LOL! Well Libby definitely was a girly-girl, she just was a girly-girl who knew how to party xD

 **Snake557 :** That's SO sweet of you, thank you! I've considered it... Dunno how I'd get around the copyright tho haha.

 **NightHex54 :** It's definitely coming, don't wish for it too soon! Cause once it's here, it's just chaos from then on out haha.

 **chuckiboo :** Yes very true! Thanks for recognizing that :D

 **emonekocindi1 :** I'M SO GLAD SOMEONE CAUGHT THE PARALLEL I'M TOO EXCITED FOR WORDS

* * *

 ***Chapter 261***

In the midst of the calmness of Dead Zed's late Fall morning, the ceiling fan did it's work of altering the positions of the blinds, ultimately sprinkling little rays of morning sunlight into Oliver and Emery's bedroom. Oliver wrinkled his nose in rising dismay, scrunched his eyes tighter and gently rolled over. His and Emery's bedroom was a calm, dark abode of relaxation, with warm grey walls and dark sheets, housed in a lovely cherry wood bed frame, the two often would steal away to their jungle nest and soak in the pure relaxation of their sanctuary. Oliver smiled as he rolled over, his emerald-haired beauty laid with her arms delicately strewn above her head, on her comfortable pillow. She wore a loose black spaghetti strap and matching underwear, her glorious, long emerald colored hair was in a now very messy bun atop her head. She peacefully snoozed, and with the knowledge that they maybe had a few more hours of sleeping time, Oliver grinned sleepily and scoot closer to her.

Upon leaning into her body, he nuzzled his face into the top of her head and inhaled her sweet scent. The night prior was a busy one, to say the least, and he knew the two needed a recharge. He heaved a relaxed sigh into her hair and slipped his hand underneath the covers, so to properly spoon her body, though upon lightly lifting the covers, he winced in growing irritation that light kept twinkling into his eyes. In the act of throwing his agitated glare towards the flickering blinds, another glistening light caught his eyes. He froze, dart his eyes to Emery's sleeping figure and froze in entire shock. In the process of lifting the blankets, so to snuggle his mate, his eyes immediately caught with a certain little something proudly glowing on Emery's lower stomach, and with the hot realization that now soaked over him, he held his breath and stared his foggy, sleepy gaze tight to it in whole confusion.

So not to freak Emery out or startle her awake, he just barely sat up, with the aid of his larger arm. He furrowed his brow, gaped a little and narrowed his gaze in whole, bewildered curiosity, and upon the sight of the adorable little lime green loading bar, on Emery's abdomen, Oliver gasped a silent choke of riled emotion. He dart his attention to Emery and, in the act of getting ready to wake her, so to share the exciting and surprising news with her, he jolted and halted his actions. He bit his lip in a slump of dread and urgently peered back to the loading bar; the sheer realization that he had discovered of Emery's pregnancy before she could, he frowned and wondered if he had now accidentally robbed her of this precious moment. As Emery continued to snooze, Oliver leaned closer to her loading bar, lovingly admiring it, though he furrowed his brow in apologetic dismay and began to slip out of bed. He quickly put on a comfortable pair of sweats, ditched the idea of putting on a shirt and quickly rushed to his bedroom door. He lovingly peered back to Emery in excitement, though he couldn't help but now be confused at exactly how to go about this.

In a silent rush, Oliver slipped out of their bedroom, down the corridor's golden, glowing hallway, soaked with rays of morning light, and urgently came into the kitchen. Oliver grappled his messy black hair, looked up to the kitchen and living room's massively high, vaulted ceilings, and in the sanctity of his early morning hours of loneliness, he urgently began to mumble to himself, as if to have a whole entire argument with himself. His heart pounded, he knew he couldn't wrap his mind around the sheer and whole fact that he was now due to be a father, something the two had always wanted, though quickly came to the decision of holding off until Sugar Rush was one. Oliver furrowed his eyebrows in teasing dismay and shot the Sky Room a near playfully disgruntled look, the sheer fact that the firewall promises only a ninety nine percent aid in preventing pregnancy. He heaved a shaky, excited laugh, and before he could get too excited, the rapid fire thoughts continued to stab at him, and the fleeting thought of potentially robbing Emery of her special surprise now made his stomach do backflips.

Oliver continued to urgently pace back and forth, he absolutely soaked the whole, bare room with excited tension, and in the rush he switched back and forth between mumbling words of whole entire delight to cursing at himself for accidentally finding out of his new parental duties before Emery was even conscious. He groaned a hard noise, urgently rubbed his eyes and growled a few exhausted more curses towards himself. He shook his head and muttered over the fact that he now had to pretend to be surprised over this new and exciting information, once Emery would present it to him, though before he could suck it up and trudge back to his and Emery's love nest, a chair in the living room loudly croaked.

"Got something you'd like to share, there, Ol?" Ralph's confused, inquiring voice eased; Oliver jumped in hard surprise, alongside a startled gasp.

"Dad!" Oliver barked as he clutched his chest, though he shook his head and did everything he could to compose himself, "No, no I-I'm... I'm totally fine! I just... Had a weird dream?"

"You seem pretty pissed at yourself," Ralph laughed a little, his sleepy eyes glued tight to his only son, he gestured his large wrecking hand to Oliver and set down the newspaper he was previously buried in, "I'm surprised you didn't even see me sitting here... Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm totally fine," Oliver rushed as he urgently looked back to the hallway in the kitchen, a tall, sunlit arch that lead back to the bedrooms, "I just... Needed to shake it off, but I didn't want to wake Ems."

Ralph narrowed his fatherly gaze and remained still. The newspaper he was holding gently folded over, with gravity, and as Ralph jostled it to get it to stiffen, once more, he side-eyed his son with a loving, suspicious smile and gestured to Oliver, once more.

"You're acting real squirrelly, there," Ralph grumbled with a small smile, though Oliver's chest began to heave with the continued information that hit his brain; the more he woke up, the more he realized that he was now due to be a father, and the more he wanted to shout the news from the mountain tops.

"I-I... I really don't know what to do or say, right now," Oliver blurt a small laugh, Ralph set down his newspaper on one of the living room's end tables and slowly rose to a stand; he wore a comfortable pair of dark red sweats alongside a large, comfortable black lounge shirt, it had a tear in the chest pocket, "It's... Really not my place, I just... For User's sake, so much has happened already today and I've been awake for literally three minutes!"

"What is going on?" Ralph inquired as he crossed the living room and took the few steps up into the kitchen, both men's feet slapped on the golden marble tiles underneath, "Is... Is everything okay? Is Emery alright?"

Oliver's chest rose and fell in rising glee as his heart rate quickly began to speed up. He stabbed his honey brown eyes into his father's and now felt an ironic twist of camaraderie with him. He knew this day, this feeling, would eventually present itself, though with just how much of a surprise appearance it made, Oliver nearly felt dizzy. Oliver huffed a shaky chuckle and began to feel his hands tremble with the news that only now was wholly hitting him, and with a bit more energy from Oliver's panting and chuckling, Ralph cocked an eyebrow and now felt a sense of entire bewilderment soak his being.

"I-I'm... I'm gunna be a dad," Oliver's voice meeped in bashful, croaking delight. Ralph froze and raised is eyebrows high in surprise, though Oliver urgently pat his chest, blurt a further-more excited chuckle and peered to his father in whole pride, "I'm gunna be a father!"

"...Emery is...?" Ralph staggered in a rise of prickled, endearing delight as Oliver's beaming, gap-toothed smile could not be contained, no matter what.

"Yeah," Oliver huffed in exasperated excitement, he shook his head and urgently shoved his larger hand into his forehead; as quickly as the joy swept through him came a whole entire wall of terror, "Holy shit, I'm going to be a father...! I-I... I don't think I'm..."

"Ready?" Ralph quietly blurt with a small laugh of understanding, though Oliver took a few clumsy steps backwards with his left hand groping behind him for a stool to quickly sit down.

"Dad, I feel terrible right now," Oliver heaved in rising sorrow, though he shook his head and beamed a curiously confused grin as he continued to grapple the hair on the side of his head, "I-I mean... Wow, I feel great, but... Dad, I feel awful... Emery's still asleep, I was just rolling over to go back to sleep, and... Upon lifting the blankets to get comfortable..."

"Y'saw it?" Ralph nonchalantly questioned with a loving smile, Oliver pleadingly peered up to Ralph and shook his head.

"She's still asleep, I found out first, what the hell kind of partner does that make me?" Oliver rushed in rising panic, Ralph could practically see his pupil's tightening, "She's going to come to me with her exciting news and, what, do I pretend to be surprised? What do I do!"

"First, BREATHE," Ralph blurt a chuckle as he lovingly grappled Oliver's shoulder and jostled him a little, "You're beating yourself up over something that is actually not that huge of a deal... Want me to let you in on a little secret?"

"Yeah," Oliver mumbled as he sagged into his father's warm touch.

"I found out Vanellope was pregnant with you before she knew, too," Ralph warmly smiled into Oliver's eyes, he could instantly see the relief in his son's demeanor, "Same scenario... I rolled over to continue snoozing, and there it was."

"What did you do?" Oliver near-begged, Ralph squeezed his shoulder and blurt a laugh.

"I didn't panic, first off," Ralph's voice was quiet and playful, yet still stern. He smiled into Oliver's eyes and shook his head, "That baby is yours as much as it is hers, y'know... This kind of thing is unavoidable, and it's okay. If I know Ems like I think I do, I'd say she'd be elated no matter what... I actually made too much of a commotion, about your loading bar, that my excitement woke your mother. We celebrated together, in that moment..."

"S-So, should I go back and wake her up?" Oliver rushed as he jolted to stand, though Ralph urgently grappled his shoulder and blurt a laugh.

"I'd say that'd be best, enjoy the moment together, maybe then go back to sleep and relax," Ralph huffed, he gave Oliver a loving nudge and felt a sense of pride sweep over him, "I'm really excited for you, son... This is fantastic news."

"... A-Aw, dad, don't cry," Oliver pleaded with an apologetic smile as Ralph's eyes grew glassy.

"Y'just... Have to understand," Ralph croaked as Oliver slowly stood, this time, and kept tight to his father's gravity, "I never got to hear the exciting news that Tessa was pregnant, so... To hear that another one of my children is going to have a baby, whilst the baby is still in loading bar form, it's... Pretty exciting."

"It is," Oliver bobbed a nod and was now nearly numb to the new lifestyle he'd have to prepare for, he had a nervous, far off look in his eyes, "And terrifying..."

"You'll be just fine... It is scary, but, c'mon," Ralph gestured to himself and gave Oliver a proud look of renewing excitement, "I'm an experienced father, I can help out. You know I'm always here for you, no matter what."

"What about Aunt Taffyta?" Oliver pressed, "I know we'll all be busy with Wren."

"Well, now we'll be busy with Wren Fluggerbutter and another incoming Schweetz," Ralph shrugged as he gave Oliver a loving smile, though before Oliver could bashfully protest, he urgently began to nudge Oliver back to the corridor of bedrooms, "Ah-ah, go on, git... Don't argue with me, we're all here to take care of each other, now go. Go be with Emery."

"Thanks, dad," Oliver smiled as he stumbled to correct his footing and head back to his and Emery's bedroom, though Ralph knowingly called after him.

"You're welcome... DAD," Ralph blurt an excited chuckle, though Oliver bugged his eyes in an ironic look of delighted terror and sarcastically saluted Ralph before vanishing into the sunlit corridor.

With exhausted eyes that soaked into the large door frame of his and Emery's bedroom, Oliver felt his heart begin to thud harder and harder. His tightened pupils slowly dilated as he slipped back into his and Emery's dark, cozy abode, and although little peeks of sunlight flickered through the bedroom, and cast upon Emery's beautiful body, the one thing that largely stood out to Oliver was the adorable, proudly glowing lime green loading bar on Emery's bare lower stomach. Oliver silently latched and locked the door behind him, he inhaled a shaky breath and peered to his love. A woman he had been best friends with, someone he swore was so far out of his league, Emery had over two years of Academy, of life, over him; he shook his head in bashful, gentle awe and took in the sight, something truly to behold. He felt honored to know of his now impending parenthood, and although he still felt guilty about it, he recounted his own father's experience, took a deep breath and approached their comfortable bed.

So not to wake her just yet, Oliver gently hoisted himself into his side of the bed, clumsily took off his pants, once more, and began to cuddle into Emery's body, like he had previously set out to do. As much as he wanted to shake Emery awake, he patiently watched as she shifted, alongside his weight, and snuggled deep into his chest. With open arms, Oliver squeezed her tight to him, and in the moments of silence he had with his contemplative thoughts, he allowed the weight of the situation to melt into his brain. He shut his eyes and delicately began to unwrap every exciting question his brain now very quickly supplied him with. Would the baby be a boy or a girl? What names would they decide on? He couldn't help but smile into the top of Emery's head, the sheer fact that the rest of his family would be coming home to not one but two babies; he huffed a breath of elatedness as his heart nearly leaped clear out of his throat.

"Ems?" Oliver's deep voice rasped, and in volleyed, sleepy warmth, her throat hummed a lilt of inquiry. Oliver huffed another shaky sort of breath and couldn't wipe the smile from his face. He was well aware Emery could practically hear him smiling, and with such, she furrowed her brows and gingerly hugged her arms about Oliver's thick center, as best as she could.

"Everything okay?" Emery barely mumbled, almost incoherent. She rubbed her eyes, furrowed her eyebrows and looked as if she was fixing to roll over and continue snoozing, though Oliver's larger hands halted her movement. She opened her eyes a little further and now was successful in peering into Oliver's eyes, ones of which she discovered looked far more awake that she expected, "What's up, Ol? Have you been awake?"

"Not for very long, uh..." Oliver staggered his words, though as Emery heaved a long sigh through her nose and sagged deeper into the bed, "H-How are, you, uh... Feeling?"

"I'm fine, I guess," Emery muttered, and before she could squirm out of Oliver's arms and successfully roll over, to continue snoozing, she furrowed her brows, glossed her eyes across the bedroom and grimaced, "I... I guess my stomach is a little upset. What did we eat last night, again?"

"Dad attempted to make that one pasta dish only mom really knows how to make," Oliver muttered in mild annoyance as he bobbed his head, though he flinched once Emery suddenly ripped the covers off of their bodies, stumbled off of their bed and began to hurriedly rush across the bedroom, to their large, open-aired bathroom. Oliver blurt a chuckle and called after her, "Catchin' up to yah, huh? Trust me, I showed the toilet what for, earlier."

"I love your dad and all, but wow," Emery grumbled in whole dismay, though Oliver eagerly sat up, peered his excited attention to the arch of the bathroom door and patiently listened for cues, from Emery.

Her bare feet slapped the bathroom tiles as she rushed the toilet, though Oliver raised his eyebrows in perked surprise, held his breath and froze as her movements suddenly came to a halt. He bit his tongue, through a smile, and heard her rustle her shirt a little, and before he could call to her, his ears began to prickle with the sound of her now rushing footsteps back to the bedroom. Oliver jolted to try and get off the bed before she arrived, though she burst into the doorway, her nightshirt raised under her breasts, she had a look of raw, near-blistered shock and delight plastered on her face, and as if she could hardly believe it, both newly discovered parents blurt out in excited wails of laughter.

"You knew about this, didn't you!" Emery blurt with a hard laugh as Oliver excitedly jumped off the bed, he pursued her in a rush and was thrilled she kept her shirt lifted. He stopped within a few feet of her, however, once she began to playfully swat at his chest, "Why didn't you tell me!"

"I-I've only known for like five minutes now!" Oliver wheezed with a wide, blushing smile, his heart pound in his chest in whole excitement.

"Holy User, I'm pregnant," Emery blurt as she dropped her shirt and now held the side of her head. She looked off in a bulge-eyed expression of a rollercoaster of emotion that hit her. She shook her head and blurt a laugh of disbelief, "We're going to have a baby!"

"I don't know when I'll be able to fully wrap my head around it," Oliver wheezed with the widest smile as he shook his head and peered deep into Emery's excited eyes, though he blurt a laugh as she wailed a joyous noise and dove tight into his strong arms. Oliver lifted her up with care, twirled her once and nuzzled his face into the nook of her neck. He heaved a shaky sigh on her skin and held her body warmly to his, "That damn firewall is up to no good, I'm telling you. Aunt Taffyta being the first victim."

"I can't wait to tell Tessa, oh my User, and your mother? And your dad!" Emery blurt as she pulled her head away and grappled Oliver's arms, she lightly shook him, "Let's go tell your dad now! He's always awake at this hour!"

Oliver grunted a small laugh as she tore from his arms and rushed their closet, so to look decent going out into the castle. Oliver held his hand up, so to assure her that Ralph already knows, though he lowered his hand, smiled to the tiles of their bedroom and knew to give Emery this little bout of fun. He was well aware his father would play along and act surprise; he knew Ralph would likely be hit with a new wave of emotion once a proper, cute loading bar was presented to him, anyhow.


	262. Chapter 262

**Reviews :**

 **Snake557 :** I WISH humans had bars, that'd be so cool haha

 **Burgie :** Yes, the castle is definitely going to need baby proofing after this story is complete LOL

 **NightHex54 :** Aww yay! I'm glad! Thank you :D

 **chuckiboo :** You would be right! A Mr. Finnigan definitely dropped the ball, with said firewall - you'll find out xD

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **All I Believe In by Amadou Mariam The Magic Numbers**

* * *

 ***Chapter 261***

As a cool breeze whisked past Tessa's forehead, ultimately brushing her bangs to tickle her nose, she grimaced as she was gently rustled from her sleep. As her mind came back to the planet, and she quickly remembered just exactly where she was, she sagged her shoulders and was relieved to feel herself in the same exact position she had fallen asleep in; tightly snug in Zed's arms, against his slowly rising and falling broad chest. Tessa allowed her hearing to now soak into her surroundings, and with everyone likely still out like a light, she was pleased to hear the light breathings and snores of her travel mates. She smiled into Zed's chest, his cozy button-up was unbuttoned, which exposed the top fo his sculpted chest and cute little curls of blue chest hair.

With glee, Tessa knew she had at least another hour or two left of sleep, with the way the sun cast against the open-cavern wall the travel bunch lined. She smacked her lips, nuzzled her cold face and nose into Zed's extremely warm chest and grappled her lazy grip about his center. She was thrilled that her gentle stirring mustered Zed to tighten his loving embrace about her shoulders and neck, and with such, Tessa soaked into the lull of quiet she knew they likely were not going to be able to have again for a long time. Just as she began to get settled, she furrowed her brows as a feeling pinged her stomach. She immediately felt her heart sink in dread, the sheer fact that, of all things, of all timings, nausea had to suddenly creep up on her. Tessa largely glowered her closed-eyes and buried face into Zed's warm chest, angry thoughts began to swarm her mind.

Tessa heaved a long, silent, annoyed sigh into the top of Zed's bare chest as the two stirred in deeper snuggling in their faux fur-lined sleeping bag. In Zed's half awake stupor, he placed a sleepy, lazy kiss to Tessa's forehead, as if to silently assure her that everything will be alright and that she should likely afford herself just a little bit more sleep. Tessa hugged Zed tight and, the more she thought about her sudden spur of nausea, the more irritated she became. She felt tears of defeat hit her eyes. She was well aware getting sick, so far away from home, was something she literally could not swing. She allowed herself to soak in defeat as the nausea only made her wake up even more, the idea of falling back to sleep now a fleeting desire, too soon had it escaped, and the window of opportunity had very quickly vanished.

Tessa scrunched her eyes shut tight and buried harder into Zed's chest, as if somehow that would help her fall back asleep. She shifted her legs, to get comfortable, squeezed Zed's center and gently wormed her bare hands up into Zed's coat and shirt, so to get to the bare skin on his strong back. Once she had skin contact, she gently flared her silver coding, on her palms, and awaited the sweet sound of her's and Zed's heartbeats to ring in her ears, so to hopefully relax, though the second a rapid-fire thudding of a third heartbeat soaked into her brain, her eyes popped wide open in immediate, molten realization. She froze as she aimlessly stared headlong into Zed's bare collar bones, though as the information finally came rushing to her, she suddenly felt beyond elated as to just what this bout of routine morning sickness now sweetly entailed.

Tessa huffed a gentle, surprised breath into Zed's neck and allowed the widest, sleepiest smile to sprawl her cheeks. She bit her bottom lip, through said grin, scrunched her shoulders and squeezed Zed tight. She cued her entire attention past her's and Zed's heartbeats and solely focused on the sweet sound of their new baby's heartbeat confidently pounding away, it's rapid-fire flutter of squeezes that now coat her entire being with immeasurable love, Tessa felt tears sting her eyes, once more, though she allowed said tears to freely and proudly fall. She breathed a silent giggle and scolded herself for not realizing just what said morning nausea meant, sooner; the memories of just what had taken place before sunrise rushed through her thoughts, and although Tessa was absolutely certain any news of pregnancy would come a lot later, she was beyond thrilled the process of discovering her new loading bar was so quick.

"Tess?" Zed's gentle voice just barely whispered, and with such, Tessa raised her eyebrows in sleepy delight, tilted her head back and gained drowsy eye contact with Zed. He heaved a shaky chuckle and gently slid his arms down Tessa's back. With a look of whole, unadulterated delight, he shook his head a little and blurt a silent scoff of a chuckle, "I-Is that...?"

"Yeah," Tessa breathed onto Zed's warm face with an even warmer smile, and as Zed's hands gently cupped her jaws, he pulled her tight into a few loving smooches, morning breath and all. Tears welled in Tessa's eyes and dared to spill over as Zed gently reigned in the kisses and nuzzled his nose to hers, she continued on in their whispering tight proximity, "That came quick... It's only been, what, six or seven hours?"

"We are out here without a firewall or a brain stem," Zed joked in their silent whisperings, though it took all of Tessa's strength not to burst out in laughter. Zed's gentle hand finally crawled from her lower back to her middle, and as he struggled to get his bare hand onto her bare stomach, he finally met with her abdomen with his live-wired hand, soaked in the soothing sensation of their silver coding. With his touch right over her loading bar, the third heartbeat ringing in their ears increased in volume, and with such, Zed gently sagged his forehead into Tessa's and whispered onto the top of her nose, "There's no better sound in this entire Arcade..."

"It's go time, from here," Tessa huffed with a nervous smile, and though Zed bobbed a nod, the two remained snuggled tight into their little bubble of leveling romance. With the dewy look of sleepy delight plastered to both of their faces, Tessa couldn't help but grin into the scrufflies of Zed's impending chaotic facial hair, "Okay, let's bet... Boy or girl."

"Boy," Zed stated confidently, their whisperings were safer now due to the fact that Zed's hand wormed to pull the blankets over their heads, they carried on like adolescents trying not to be discovered during bed time.

"You think it'll be a boy?" Tessa pined with an endless amount of glee, "I disagree. I think it'll be a girl."

"I'll be in trouble, if it's a girl," Zed muttered with a gentle choke of a laugh, though Tessa gave him a bewildered smile through the glints of sunlight that peeked through the opening of their sleeping bag.

"Why?" Tessa hissed, her smile broadened as Zed shrugged and lulled his eyes closed.

"Having TWO fiery women to contend with?" Zed's voice rasped, Tessa rolled her eyes.

"How do you think I feel having two stubborn men to contend with?" Tessa silently blurt, the two continued to argue in quiet yet sharp, excitable whisperings, "At least if this baby is a girl, I'll have a teammate."

"Too bad we won't know the gender until we either win Sugar Rush over, go back to Dead Zed, orrr..." Zed trailed off nervously and hugged his arms tighter about Tessa, "Have the baby in Sugar Rush."

"It'll be a long, painful wait, either way," Tessa grumbled as she nuzzled her face into Zed's warm collar, once more, though before she could carry on, she suddenly could hear a gentle, familiar bout of sniffling near the gape of their sleeping bag's opening.

Tessa and Zed froze, though upon further inspection, it was clear one of the flyers knew the two mischievous lovers were awake, and as Tessa gently clawed the comfortable blankets off of their bodies, the two froze and were surprised to see all four flyers with their heads hovered tight over the two, their ears perked, their eyes awake with rising glee. Tessa breathed a gentle, bashful chuckle and struggled to sit up, though upon doing so, Lickity flattened her ears, sniffled her bat snout into Tessa's center and peered to her in gentle, loving question. Tessa quietly giggled, hugged Lickity's head to her body and felt Zed sit up next to her.

"Yes, it's true," Tessa eased in continued whispering as the gang about them continued to solidly snooze. Lickity perked her ears, peered up into Tessa's eyes with delight and awaited her conclusion, "It's a race against the clock, now."

"Are you..?" Royal quietly pressed, all four flyers held their tight eyes to Tessa and Zed, who were seemingly glowing, though still looked equally as exhausted.

"Baby number two, well on the way," Tessa bashfully smiled as she lifted her shirt a little, revealing a confidently glowing silver loading bar, and with such Lickity sagged her ears in continued delight and warmly nuzzled Tessa's center, once more; Zed lovingly joined in with his fatherly hand to his baby, as well.

"So exciting," Royal squeaked quietly as his wings popped upwards in surprise, though everyone awake largely flinched as his claws bumped with the top of the sloping cavern they were underneath, causing a few crumbles of pebbles to lightly coat the six with a cough of dust.

"I won't be able to go back to sleep," Zed stated as he squinted his eyes, fanned the air about him and choked a small noise as the air finally cleared, "Too much excitement. Too much to think about."

"We can surprise the group once everyone's awake," Tessa hummed gently, her tone just barley crawled above a whisper, "In the meantime, I'll get our stuff packed up."

"We gunna see Sugar Rush's castle today?" Royal pined as Tessa and Zed quietly stood and put on their warm boots, the cold air was still, for the most part.

"That's the plan," Tessa whispered with a smile, and although she was plagued with morning sickness, she was thrilled for it; she relished in every single aspect of pregnancy, due to the fact that not just a few months prior, she was unable to conceive.

"... Wonder if we'll bump into my dad," Royal stated gently as Lickity hung close to Tessa; Balba and Marble had slowly moseyed off, so to continue resting, though Tessa frowned and gently volleyed her drowsy eyes to Royal.

A gorgeous creature, Royal was a proper mixture of Orion's powerful stature, Lickity's agile body and a good splash of gold and bronze colorings all down his spine. His dewy, golden eyes held tight to Tessa's, his aunt, species removed, his bat ears sagged in hopeful curiosity, though Tessa sighed and gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm really not sure, love," Tessa prod softly, she shrugged and looked off, "Potentially, but... He doesn't know you even exist. I just hope you're not hoping for a big family reunion, Roy-boy..."

"I know," Royal sagged as Lickity lovingly eyed him with an apologetic twinkle in her eyes, "I just think it'd be cool to see the other half of, well... Me."

"He was a pretty cool dude," Tessa bobbed a nod and shrugged, she helped Zed fold up their blankets as they carried on in warm whisperings, "He was grouchy and didn't like visitors often, but... Once you got past his hard, chameleon exterior..."

"Gooey center?" Royal's ears perked once more, though Tessa gently nudged Lickity's cheek with her elbow.

"This old bat would know best," Tessa teased, Lickity largely rolled her eyes and looked off in disgruntled bashfulness.

"Hopefully he'll be excited to know I exist, then," Royal shrugged, he smiled with his fangs and looked off to the horizon, the sun looked as if it was well on it's way to wanting to set in the blue, frozen, minty sky, "Maybe after all this mess, he can show me JUST how to be a proper chameleon. I already know how to be a bat dragon."

"He'll show yah the ropes, I know it," Tessa encouraged, and although she had absolutely no idea the outcome, she knew placating Royal's desires were best, for now.

As the morning carried on, and one by one, the traveling group finally woke, Tessa and Zed broke the news to everyone about her pregnancy. While everyone was extremely excited, especially Vanellope and Ace, said two excited beings hovered near Tessa in rising worry and doting. As the group slowly woke and did their best to make sure everything was packed up tight, they bickered over the impending news of the gender of Tessa's and Zed's baby, though Tessa slowly started to discover that she was beginning to trip over Ace's and Vanellope's feet, alongside their tedious, nervous hovering.

"Lemme see it, again," Vanellope prod, Tessa largely slumped her shoulders, looked up to Sugar Rush's sky and gave up trying to shoo her mother's hands away, for the fourteenth time. Vanellope lifted Tessa's shirt, eyed Tessa's gloriously glowing, cute, silver loading bar. Vanellope rubbed her chin in contemplation, narrowed her gaze on the confident loading bar and hummed noise of inquiry.

"Three percent," Vanellope slowly trailed, Ace eagerly peered over Vanellope's shoulder and smiled in continued excitement for his new sibling, though Vanellope finally stood and was greet with Tessa's now fully annoyed, disgruntled smile, "I-I mean, seems a little low... How many hours have passed, since... Well..."

"Mom," Tessa grunted, Ace huffed a chuckle and backed down, he knew when his mother's last button was about to be pushed.

"I'm just worried, c'mon, this is the first time I'm experiencing one of my children like ACTUALLY being pregnant, in real time," Vanellope rushed, she cupped her hands together before reaching out and grappling Tessa's shoulders, she lovingly shook her head and hooked her own hazel eyes into Tessa's, "I'm just excited and I want to make sure you stay healthy through this process! I've had three children, please just let me dote on you. I just want to stay informed, I want a play-by-play."

"You want a play-by-play mom?" Tessa muttered with a cocky smile, and although Vanellope eagerly nodded, Ace raised his eyebrows in dewy, nervous surprise and scrunched his shoulders to his head in impending dread, "Okay, well... Zed and I made it to the hot springs, and once we were in the water, Zed held me up against a smooth rock and-"

"NOT that kind of play-by-play!" Vanellope loudly squealed as she slapped her hands to her ears, though she shot Ace a wildly disturbed look over her shoulder and was surprised to see he was already prepared with his hands over his ears.

"It's been about eight hours, mom," Tessa giggled she gently tucked her shirt back to normality and fumbled to zip up her coat, something her mother kept unzipping, "The baby is at three percent, that is normal for the small amount of time that has passed."

"How much is the bar supposed to progress a day?" Ace innocently inquired, Tessa was well aware this was for future reference.

"About seven percent, love, but it can definitely vary due to a number of things," Tessa cooed, she eyed her mother and giggled, "By the end of the day, if the baby is still at three percent, THEN we can maybe feel confused. Worry? No. Confused? Sure."

"You sure about all of this, Tess?" Vanellope prod nervously as she scurried to keep up with her first born, though Tessa giggled and knew to just allow her mother to keep tight to her heels; she was thrilled Ace seemed to begin to drop the chase.

"Well, mom, there's no undo button on this bad boy," Tessa teased with an encouraging smile, though she furrowed her brow and looked off in contemplation, "Or girl. I'm convinced it's a girl."

"Go with your gut, typically it's always right," Vanellope shrugged as she fell into step with Tessa, though she noticed Tessa was beginning to stray from the group, "Where are you going?"

"I have to pee," Tessa blurt, she cocked an eyebrow and eyed her mother in whole, playful irritation, "You, uh, worried the baby might load all the way whilst I'm gone? Y'gunna come help me pee, mom?"

"Oh, User, no, geez," Vanellope muttered in a huff as she blurt a laugh, immediately turned heel and left her daughter to her privacy.

Tessa huffed a small giggle and turned to continue on towards a private alcove of rocks, a designated, vast area they dedicated for bathroom breaks. Just as Tessa was about to round a corner and slip down the snowy hill, to begin her trek to said designated area, a small voice from behind her called out. Tessa raised her eyebrows, halted her steps and smiled to find Libby hustling to keep up with Tessa. Tessa inwardly groaned as her bladder practically screamed at her to tell Libby to wait, though she froze and felt worry hit her skin once she noticed the urgency in Libby's footsteps.

"Hey, babe, what's up?" Tessa cooed softly to her surrogate, Libby's footsteps hustled in her thick boots, her coat was zipped tight to her collar, the look of dewy almost delighted concern hung tight to her demeanor. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and heaved a small giggle as Libby finally came within a few feet of her, "You look worried, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just... I-I really need to talk to you," Libby's warm voice glossed over Tessa's, a touch of maturity was added to her tone, and as Tessa long blinked to assess the gentle, subtle switch up, she lovingly reached her hand out to Libby's and gave her an apologetic look.

"Can it wait? I really have to go to the bathroom," Tessa softly pleaded with a shy smile, and although Libby nodded and acted as if that would be alright, Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in concern as she noticed tears begin to well in Libby's eyes. Tessa gently gripped her hand tight to Libby's and now knew that using the restroom would have to wait, she hung tighter to Libby's gravity and soaked her motherly concern to her seemingly shivering figure, "You're worrying me, what's going on?"

"Can you, uh... I-I really just... Need to tell someone," Libby meeped softly, and although tears welled in her eyes, a cute, bashful smile sprawled her red cheeks. Tessa titled her head up and peered at Libby down the bridge of her nose, and with such, she lazily gaped and froze in said posture.

"What's going on here," Tessa mumbled, her disposition was frozen in concern, she felt her heart begin to race with the sheer fact that Libby has never acted this way before.

"W-Well, I guess... I just noticed Vanellope doting on you a bunch," Libby shrugged, she heaved a gentle giggle, and although she was trying hard not to let it happen, a small tear escaped her glassy eyes. Libby huffed a shaky breath and wiped away her tear with the glove of her trembling hand, "I guess... She's really excited you're pregnant. I mean, we all are, but wow... Moms take it to another level."

"I know, it's... I should be flattered, I'm so glad she can experience this with me. Although this isn't her first grandchild, it IS her first time fully experiencing the whole process," Tessa stated in a humble, kind tone as she held tight to Libby's hand, she shrugged and knew she should calm down showing with how quickly it was irritating her, "I guess I just need to put myself in her shoes. In the future, if you and Ace start having babies, I'm positive I'll be glued to your hip for the entirety of your pregnancy."

With such gentle words, Libby's dewy, bashful, glassy eyes slowly slid from the cool, fluffy snow underneath their still feet. Tessa huffed a fogged giggle at said rhetorical statement, though as hers and Libby's eyes held super glued to each others, Tessa's naive smile gently began to sag into a washed look of hot realization. Both women stood in silence with each other, hand in hand, and although the cogs began to turn in Tessa's brain, she opened her mouth to slowly let the question rise from her throat, though somehow the realness of this now silent conversation begged for the continued pause, the soak of the warm, fragile, exciting reality that had been laid on the both of them. Libby gently cocked a white eyebrow with a warm smile, she wrinkled her nose and hoped that the radiating glow, that eked off of her, certainly wasn't blinding Tessa in this instance.


	263. Chapter 263

**Reviews :**

 **chuckiboo** : You shall find out :D right about now!

 **Burgie** : YAY I'm glad! Thank you!

 **Snake557** : aww wow! Thank you friend, that means a lot to me!

 **NightHex54** : EXCITE!

* * *

 **A/N:** hopefully you guys will be thrilled to know that... I have the very first chapter of Out Of The Blue written! Feels REALLY WEIRD BUT REALLY GOOD.

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **When You Come Home by Trevor Dahl**

 **Heart Of Courage by Two Steps From Hell**

* * *

 ***Chapter 263***

With a wide gaze, both girls peered hard into each other's eyes, a whole entire slew of emotions simply heated the cold, frigid Sugar Rush air about them, and just before Tessa was about to blurt out her loud, questioning inquiries, she halted the tensing of her vocal cords and let Libby's fragile demeanor hit her head on. She bit her bottom lip in riled reservation and let her shaky hands reach for Libby's. In a gentle squeeze, she huffed a shaky whisper of a question.

"Libby, a-are you... Pregnant?" Tessa whispered, though her heart practically leapt clear out of her throat the second Libby's bashful smile broadened, alongside a confident nod. Tessa huffed a started chuckle, held her own forehead in disbelief and staggered on a few stutters, all exasperated breaths that seemed to want to start a billion new sentences and questions.

"I promise I'm not trying to steal your thunder," Libby's trembling voice seemed scared though entirely elated, all in one emotion, and before Tessa could properly explode, she shook her head in solid disagreeing, grappled Libby's hand and began to drag her away from the sight of the rest of the group. As the two girls gently stumbled down the snowy bank, they hooked a sharp turn and safely huddled with each other behind a massive jut of dark rock, it concealed them both visibly and audibly; Libby's cute, fragile voice continued on, "I-I didn't think Ace and I would be subject to the whole 'no firewall' drama, we just... I-I don't know what we were thinking, we just made up and... Assumed our User powers could potentially block the potential for pregnancy and-"

"I can't believe you're going to have a baby!" Tessa suddenly blurt, though as quietly as she could, and although Libby was rushing to nervously explain herself to her swap-mate's mother, she sagged her shoulders in relief and felt her heart soar with the gentle welling of tears in Tessa's eyes, "Holy USER I'm... I'm going to have a grand baby!"

"Mom," Libby started, as if she had more news to break to her, though Tessa successfully gripped Libby into a tight hug about her arms and lower chest. Tessa buried her face into Libby's shoulder and squealed a beyond excited noise of pure glee.

"We're going to be moms together, this is so AWESOME!" Tessa squeaked as she squeezed Libby and jostled her around a bit, though as she pulled away, Libby's eager nodding began to look nervous and timid; Tessa furrowed her brow and shook her head, her hot tears began to nearly freeze as they reached her jaws, "Are you excited? You... You weren't ready for this, were you."

"Well, no, it's not anything like that, I just..." Libby heaved a shaky sigh, looked off for a moment of contemplation and dragged her sheepish, smiling eyes back to Tessa's, "... You're the first person I've told."

Tessa huffed an exhale of whole surprise, shook her head and staggered on a few startled breaths of disbelief, and before she could allow the whole feeling of sorrow and displacement coat over her, she furrowed her eyebrows and knew there had to be a reason Ace wasn't the first person to know she was pregnant. Tessa simply recalled five minutes ago, when Vanellope and Ace were doting on her, their whole focus was on the idea of Tessa's and Zed's new baby. She knew that Ace wouldn't be doting on his own mother's pregnancy if his very own swap-mate was also pregnant. The cogs began to turn, though it still left Tessa in mild confusion.

"You don't want to tell Ace? He'll flip out," Tessa whispered as she breathed a giggle, shook her head and squeezed Libby's arms.

"Oh, he'll freak out, alright," Libby uttered through the grit of her teeth with a small smile, though Tessa narrowed her gaze and smiled.

"Are you worried about the time constraint?" Tessa huffed gently, she tried her very hardest to relax and not make too much noise, else someone was nearby and they weren't aware.

"Well, that, and... I-I mean I guess it's just kind of a lot to take in," Libby staggered, she shrugged and looked down to her hands with a becoming, bashful smile, "I've always wanted babies, but... I-I know Ace and I will certainly have our hands full."

"Well, I know a baby is a lot of work, but you guys will have the support of the whole group, you know that right?" Tessa huffed, she shook her head and peered hard into Libby's eyes, as if to beg that her motherly presence was reassuring enough, "I-I'm... I'm absolutely HONORED that you told me first, Libs, but... You really need to tell Ace that you're about to have his baby."

"Oh, I will, no of course," Libby breathed shakily, she couldn't seem to wipe the silly smile from her face, the look of pure glow simply coat both women, and it was in this sneaky instance of fleeting eye contact and shallow breathing did Tessa know something else was up, "I literally found out I was pregnant not five minutes ago, while I was changing my clothes... It's just a lot to take in, the fact that Arcade is about to get User babies."

"Baby," Tessa gingerly corrected, though just as she was expecting Libby to urgently agree that Tessa was correct and it was simply a slip up, Libby cocked an eyebrow and remained frozen tight to Tessa's eye contact. Tessa raised her eyebrows slowly in heated surprise, sagged her shoulders in the roll of realization and heaved a fogged, shaky breath to the wind, "B-Babies...?"

"Surprise," Libby's wide smile could hardly be contained, and as she gingerly lifted her shirt, Tessas eyes glossed to Libby's lower stomach. Confidently plastered to the underside of her skin was not one but two golden little loading bars. Tessa froze and felt as if her entire world was now suddenly turned upside down, though with the gap of shocked silence, Libby blurt a giggle and shrugged, "Betcha weren't expecting to get two grand babies at once, huh."

"T-two...?" Tessa nearly couldn't get the words out, though before she could practically do cartwheels around the place, her teary, dewy eyes peered hard into Libby's as both women were practically riled with all sorts of emotions, "Y-You're having... Two?!"

"Two," Libby blurt with a hard giggle, as if she was wholly excited and terrified in one emotion, though both girls equally laughed with the same conflicting emotions and grappled each other into a big, swaying hug. Libby grinned onto Tessa's shoulder and felt relief that her own surrogate was excited for this news, even though the circumstances made it difficult. She sighed and knew Ace was the absolute next person to tell, though she felt her stomach knot with tension at the idea of it all, "I'm so excited, I don't know what I'm going to tell Ace. How do you think he'll take it?"

"You kidding? He's going to shit his pants!" Tessa heaved a laugh as both girls pulled away, though Tessa made sure to grapple Libby's hands tight, for assurance, "He'll be floored... Sure, this is trying times, but... It'll probably light a fire under his ass, to be honest. The kid now has two extra little lives to think about."

"This game now has TWO angry pregnant women to storm the castle," Libby wrinkled her nose and gave Tessa a riled, excited look of determination, and with such, Tessa's heart just soared, "Not only am I a User, I have two extra little Users hanging out with me."

"Super User," Tessa and Libby blurt into girly laughter, though Libby sagged her shoulders and looked off to Sugar Rush's sunset with a sigh of relief.

"Please, um... Please keep this a secret, mom," Libby begged gently, to which Tessa urgently nodded in agreeing, "I don't know when I'll be telling Ace this, but... Until then, I'd appreciate it if this was kept under wraps."

"Do you want to tell Zed yourself?" Tessa prod, she grimaced and knew keeping that massive of a secret from Zed was likely going to be incredibly hard, though she knew she'd do it for Libby's sake.

"I'll tell Zed after I tell Ace," Libby nodded, "Shouldn't be too long, I guess... I would just like to sit with this feeling and really wrap my mind around it."

"I don't blame you," Tessa huffed gently, "Zed was practically last to know that I was pregnant with Ace."

"Really?" Libby's wide, curious smile broadened as Tessa sighed and guiltily looked off.

"Lickity was the first to know," Tessa giggled as Libby raised her eyebrows in soft surprise, "She was with me when I found out."

"Wow," Libby rubbed her forehead, "Okay, so I don't feel so incredibly bad..."

"Just make sure Ace is next on the list," Tessa confirmed, Libby nodded diligently, "The only reason Zed was nearly last to know was because he lost his memory... And I had to explain the situation to his brothers in order to get Zed's memories back."

"Sticky situation," Libby furrowed her brow and gave Tessa a confused, inquiring look, "You never told me that story before."

"It was like over the course of five chapters," Tessa waved her hand, both girls slowly came out from their hiding spot, "I'll tell yah once we have more downtime."

"Thanks, mom, for... Well..." Libby gripped Tessa's upper arm and halted her from bringing the two girls out from their hiding spot. Tessa stoped her movement, lovingly peered up into Libby's eyes and smiled, an unconditional, no strings attached smile that Libby knew she could whole heartedly count on. She sighed a sigh of relief, sagged her shoulders and slid her hand down Tessa's arm, to her hand, "For being awesome... For supporting me, and, I'm really glad we can do this together."

"It'll be so fun," Tessa squealed quietly, she gripped Libby's hand and jostled her arm around, "Once we either settle into Sugar Rush, or go back to Dead Zed, we can help each other decorate the nurseries. It'll be great!"

"I didn't even begin to think about stuff like that," Libby's eyes lit up with glee, though as they came around their hiding spot, the knew their excited to-be mothers musings would have to come to an end, "Hopefully we can talk more about it, sometime."

"Don't worry, we can always find time to sneak in a private chat about it," Tessa assured as they pushed up the snowy bank they had skid don moments prior.

* * *

"Wanna see something cool?" Turbo uttered with a gentle smile, and as Nox, Vanellope, Ace and Zed lazily hung near him, they followed his line of sight as Turbo pointed, far off into the distance.

As the four stood on a taller outcropping of dark, jagged rock, they squinted their eyes and really tried to see just what Turbo was pointing at, in the distance. As the sunny fog quickly whisked about them, they stood solid still and tried their very hardest to make out just what was lying behind the thick, cold fog. Vanellope shield her eyes against the harsh, orange setting sun, though just as her pupils tightened from the glint of heavenly light that flickered across their faces, and just what could be seen on the horizon was something the lot of them thought they'd never see ever again. Sugar Rush's castle, in all of it's white, gorgeous glory, sat like a beacon, far on the horizon, cast ominously in the glow of The End's void. Vanellope held her breath, clenched her teeth and furrowed her brow as something in her heart ignited, the true feeling of protectiveness, she glowered across the snowy, barren wasteland and knew somehow, someway, this was their chance to take back everything that had been stolen from them.

"Wow," Ace huffed in a whisper as everyone stood in awe of it's massiveness, even with just how small it was on the horizon, just still how far away it was. Ace shook his head and ogled it's spires, how incredible of a structure it was, and it was in this raw instance did Ace truly get to understand his roots, his mother's origin, his grandmother's pride, he long-blinked and soaked it all in as he softly continued, "I imagined something entirely different..."

"A moat?" Turbo choked with a small laugh, ultimately easing the tension of the group; everyone fell into gentle laughter, though they held their eyes in a vice grip on the castle's glistening white spires, as if looking away would simply have it swallowed by fog, never to be seen ever again.

"Tessa wants one," Vanellope grumbled, she eyed Zed as he shot her a sheepish, knowing smile, "Once those crowns are handed over, I won't have a say."

"Oh, c'mon, yes you will," Zed rebutted gently, he shrugged and glanced Ace a small smile, "Just because you won't be Queen anymore doesn't make you unimportant. You'd still be Sugar Rush's predecessor."

"As well as Libby," Nox added tenderly, for the sake of Turbo's and Ace's feelings, though with such, both men locked into each other's eyes in a knowing way.

"It's true," Ace stated warmly, and with such, Turbo nodded gently, once to him, in return.

"What a strange web we weave," Turbo sighed, his breath fogged before him and was swiftly carried away, though he cocked an eyebrow the second the sound of another pair of boots approached, the crunching of snow was loudly apparent.

"Well I'll be," Rancis grunted as he dusted his hands off, put them to his hips in pride and inhaled Sugar Rush's cold air, "There she is... As gorgeous as I remember."

"It's REALLY weird seeing the castle," Zed shook his head and sighed, the fleeting feeling of winning, and losing, hit him in waves of whole uncertainty, "Wait 'till Tess sees this."

"We're almost there," Turbo huffed, though he shook his head and glared the castle down, "But we still got a long way to go..."

"Hopefully this will be a short fight," Rancis grunted as he successfully sheathed his jade swords, they glistened in the hot orange sunset before being fully covered by his protective, leather sheaths strapped to his back.

"It will, we have a formidable team," Zed assured in positivity, though Turbo cocked an eyebrow and gave Zed a nervous look.

"Lash has Orion, the entire code room, and the ability to teleport at a whim," Turbo grumbled, everyone's spirits nervously sagged, "Why do you think the game is so rearranged... With his powers combined into the code room, he was able to practically turn Sugar Rush upside down in a matter of seconds."

"So, is this all in vain?" Vanellope prod nervously as the rest of the traveling group made their way up the hill, to join the rest of the team.

"It's not in vain, we just have to work together, we all have to be on the same page," Turbo blurt in rising frustration, he turned around and gently began gesturing to the rest of the group that finally eased into the rest, "We have four flyers, two Users, three Queens... A whole team of fighters so willing to bend over backwards."

"And what about you?" Rancis prod as he crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow in Turbo's direction; everyone fell silent and peered to their long lost TurboTime champion.

Turbo's chest heaved a little, the air about him fogged and whisked away, and as his handsome golden eyes looked about to everyone, he knew this next step, this next battle, was his true moment of redemption. He heaved a final, clarified breath, shook his head and dared to let a sneaky smile sprawl his face. Turbo knew full well everyone had warily accepted the task of trusting Turbo, no matter how difficult it may be; everyone but Rancis. He felt a chill go down his spine, the very feeling of deja vu, he gently looked down to the snow before he reached for Tessa's hand, successfully pulled her to the front of the group and had her stand firm at his side. He smiled down into her eyes, held her hand tight and knew this symbolism would hit home, for Rancis.

"Together, we can win back this game," Turbo started as he kept his hand gripped in Tessa's, she peered up at him in whole curiosity before both beings gently tossed their gazes to Rancis. He stood frozen solid, with his arms crossed, as if he was uncertain just how to take in just what was being recreated before him. Turbo peered to Rancis's eyes, bobbed a nod and gingerly outstretched his right hand, for a hand shake, "What do yah say?"

Rancis furrowed his brow and felt his heart jump in a rile of emotion that hit him like a brick wall. Horrid flash backs of Hero's Duty's code room came rushing him, the menacing stance Radex had before him, whilst he held Tessa's shivering code box. In a matter of fleeting seconds, the fog whipped about their bodies, ultimately clearing the negative memories and replacing the image in Rancis's retinas with something new, something wholesome. Turbo stood, just like all those years ago, his hand outstretched, so patiently waiting for camaraderie, though instead of his hands gripped to Tessa's code box, he lovingly had her hand squeezed in his left one, as if to prove that this stance had a similar wanted outcome, though the route taken was different, honest, wholesome.

Rancis sagged his shoulders, gently dropped his arms from their crossed position and peered hard into Turbo's honest, inquisitive eyes. Turbo's tight-lipped expression showed he meant business, and although Rancis's swords were properly sheathed, like all that time ago, and he could so easily psych Turbo out and slice his head clean from his body, he resorted to breathing a calming breath and honestly reaching his hand out. As if the final piece to the puzzle, the last strand of code needed for this plan to work, Rancis gently sagged his hand tight into Turbo's, and in a firm shake, both men finally solidified their stance, erasing the past of their conflict, and finally made the group whole. Turbo beamed a warm smile, as did Rancis, and as everyone came about the three to cheer and get amped, Tessa squeezed Turbo's hand. Although she wasn't a living being in that dreaded time, in Hero's Duty, she still felt the impact. She gently looked off into the distance, her beckoning castle sat in it's pristine prettiness; she bobbed a nod in it's direction, vowing she was on her way, to redeem her rights back as future Queen.


	264. Chapter 264

**Reviews :**

 **NightHex54 :** Yeppers! Stay tuned! ;)

 **Kaoru-Yuki :** Thank you SO much! Good to see you again, hope you're well :D

 **Snake557 :** Yes, that is correct!

 **Burgie :** Very true! Ace accidentally finds out, actually haha. Thank you!

 **chuckiboo :** You will definitely ee him soon! I need to finish that one WIP of him. Once I finish it, I'll reveal his name! He is a sweetie, that is for sure :) And thanks for all your support! It really means a lot!

* * *

 **Song Listened To :**

 **Neera Rescues the Orphans by James Newton Howard (the beginning - GORGEOUS score)**

 **Natural by Imagine Dragons (when shit goes down lol)**

* * *

 ***Chapter 264***

After about an hour of flying, the group finally was within the castle's gravity. So to potentially avoid being spotted, they took to Sugar Rush's snowy, jagged earth and continued the rest of the gap on foot. With the rest of the group in hot pursuit of the castle, dead ahead, finally a massive, towering perch in their graces, Tessa hung back. For the safety of the group, she knew, as leader, she needed to keep a watchful eye on the back of the pack, due to Nox previously spotting some wildlife, even this far out. With her larger hands tucked tight into the pockets of her thick, protective coat, the fur of her hood tightly bristled to her red cheeks. Her teeth chattered, she felt her cold toes practically scream with rage over the fact that thick snow boots were bound to them. She heaved a sharp, fogged breath, cast her eyes upwards and was greet with the ominous, nostalgic sight of her gorgeous home.

Her heart near leapt clear out of her chest. The cold, white spires that hung high over head, she could swear the whole thing was practically glowing. A sight she only dreamed of, until now, she was absolutely certain this wasn't reality. With a hopeful glare to her gorgeous spires, her heart continued to pound with rising ferocity. She knew, full well, she was not to leave without putting up her best fight possible, and now that she was here, right at the threshold, she knew it was go time. She knew full well it was do or die, and it was either win or game-over trying. She furrowed her brow as tears stung her eyes, and although she was well aware her new pregnancy was now tossing her emotions and hormones around, she knew this was dire, this was something genuine to be felt. She allowed tears to cascade down her cheeks, her beautiful home was so close, yet so far. Beyond those walls was her familiar warm bedroom, an escape before she had a committed fiancé, a fully grown man she calls her child, as well as a new baby and grand babies on the way, she grimaced and wondered just where she would be had her and Zed not made that one, drastic mistake of swapping their source codes... How incredibly different absolutely everything would be.

In the time she had her neck cranked to peer up to her beautiful spires, she hadn't noticed her youngest sister stop and hang back, to await their rightful Queen's presence. Tessa flinched and caught eyes with Koko, her stark figure stood out on the piercing white snowy bank. Tessa forced a small smile and suddenly felt a weird twist of fate. She wondered just how Koko was taking this in, Orph, Ace, Nox... Tessa was absolutely certain this was all a dream come true to the individuals who have never even seen the castle with their own eyes, she wondered just what kind of a surreal experience this would be for them, and if they really truly believed the castle was this incredibly massive as stories lead on.

"This can't be it," Koko huffed in pure bewilderment as the rest of the crew was now over the snowy bank, nearly out of sight.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" Tessa blurt with a fog of a small laugh, she shook her head and tucked her hands deeper into her warm pockets, "I nearly forgot just how huge it was."

"I-I mean, I know mom mapped it out for me, and made clear that it was definitely a sight to behold, but, wow..." Koko breathed, long and hard, and as Tessa finally came within a few feet of her, both girls stopped to peer up at the side of the castle, in which they were quickly approaching. Koko shook her head in continued disbelief and long-blinked, as if this was all a dream, "W-We... LIVE here?"

"This is home," Tessa's voice croaked, though she cocked an eyebrow and gave the castle a hard, glowering side eye as she pulled her pants up a little, due to the struggle of the uphill trek. She grunted a fogged breath and shook her head in rising, protective dismay, "He'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers."

"What exactly are we up against, here?" Koko staggered in worry, and as Tessa pulled her belt and pants to correction, both girls continued onward, Koko's long, chestnut braid spilled out of her fur-lined hood, "I-I mean... Turbo was sort of filling us in, but the group now fell silent, up ahead, due to just how close we are to the castle, now."

"I really have no genuine idea," Tessa muttered, "If we're up against anyone similar to Turbo, and just how incredible his powers were, then, well... It's going to take an army."

"Our army?" Koko quipped, she furrowed her brow and gently peered to her oldest sister in rising concern, Tessa set her dull glare dead ahead and bobbed a nod.

"I'm hoping our team has enough numbers, I'm wondering if a scattering technique will be best," Tessa began to gently discuss, "Once we're inside, maybe splitting off into groups is smart, instead of us all charging in one mass...?"

"Maybe have a handful of chargers, some others that lurk off and find weak points," Koko shrugged, both girls tossed their gaze up the shaded, snowy slope to find that Marble was quietly waiting for the two princesses to catch up, "After all... Nox and I have the power of invisibility on our side."

"This is true," Tessa huffed as they finally began to reach the top of the bank, where Marble patiently waited, her gorgeous, dark, feathery wings ruffled in the snowy wind and hung tight to her body, "We have to come up with a quick game plan... Depending on the state in which the Great Hall is in, shouldn't be too hard to navigate just what we're up against."

"Turbo DID say something about Orion not really being in his right mind," Koko grimaced, the two came within Marble's stoic presence, "Something to look out for, I guess... I've never met this creature, so... Seems unpredictable to me."

"He's unpredictable as it is," Tessa eased with a soft, quiet laugh, and as they came within fifty feet of Sugar Rush's towering walls, she felt her heart squeeze in a new rush of fear, "If he's not in his right mind, on top of it all, well, then... We've gotta stay sharper than sharp. He's a formidable beast, that's for sure."

"Even more so than the four beasts we have with us?" Koko quietly pressed as her, Marble and Tessa slowly sagged into the travel group, who also quietly whispered amongst themselves in baited, nervous agitation.

"He's about as big as all four of them combined," Tessa stated through the grit of her teeth as her hazel eyes nervously sunk deep into Koko's honey brow gaze, both sisters sagged into a demeanor of swallowing dread, though Tessa knew she needed to keep everyone's spirits afloat, "We have numbers, agility, ability and the element of surprise on our side... We can't squander it now."

"Alright, chief," Orph called out as quietly as he could, everyone's line of sight gently hooked straight to Tessa, and although Koko was stood directly next to her and they were forging into the rest of the group, Koko crossed her arms and peered to her older sister with great pride; Orph put his hands on his hips, everyone's upbeat, positive demeanor's eked of readiness, their hopeful gazes confidently pierced to Tessa's direction in anticipated wait as Orph continued on, "Y'got your battalion... What's the game plan?"

"I'd be lying if I said I had one," Tessa blurt a small chuckle, though as the quiet group only barely huffed laughter alongside her, Tessa's glassy, hazel eyes dragged up the castle's never-ending white walls, gorgeous crystalized sugar-bricks that were near-impenetrable. The way the white, glistening flakes of snow rose off the castle's spires, the glow of The End's incredibly heavenly void that cast it's glory all over the face of her home, she felt her heart surge with rising energy, and with such, she knew it was go time the second a challenging smile graced her face, "I'm training to be the Queen of this incredible building before us... I've got to think on my toes."

"We're all ears," Vanellope proudly spat in her direction, everyone nodded and kept their eyes tight to Tessa, and with such, Tessa felt a sweep of dignity and diligence urgently rush through her's and her new baby's coding.

She peered to the group before her and was absolutely floored this was the image hitting her retinas. Her long lost home stood confidently behind the team of family she had so diligently held together, for so long, and although she knew the rest of her crew were with her in spirit, in her heart, she felt the surge of support and was well aware it all came to this. She clenched her fists at her sides, inhaled a deep breath of Sugar Rush's beckoning cold air and briefly smiled to the castle's spires.

"We have, with us, a total of seven glitch-wrecker hybrids, two of which have the powers of invisibility," Tessa began to instruct, she gestured to Nox and Koko, respectively, she stepped out to the circle that had gathered about her, as their Queen, she held her head high and tried not to speak too loudly, "We have someone who can alter time, two master swordsmen, a dual-whip wielder, four flying beasts, and two Users..."

"It's in the bag," Zed's deep voice softly encouraged, everyone cooed noises of riled agreeing and bobbed nods.

"The Great Hall is massive, there are several corridors to scatter and hide down, but our main goal is to get to the code room, which is dead ahead from the front door... On the other side of The Great Hall," Tessa instructed, "I have no idea where Orion or Lash will remain, but it's wise, when once inside, we slip to dark corners, dark corridors, stay out of the open field of the Hall... It's massive, so choose a side wisely, cause once you've chosen, you shouldn't cross over."

"I'll head for The Hull," Vanellope instructed, Rancis gently nudged her arm as if to include himself in on that venture; Vanellope bobbed a nod at Rancis and peered straight into Tessa's eyes, "It's the extension of the code room... If I can get inside, I can potentially gain control."

"Mom and Uncle Rancis will then head for The Hull, in mom and dad's old bedroom... As for everyone else, we'll head straight for the code room," Tessa eased, "Keep your wits about you, stay hidden... I'm sure what Lash wants is either the Queen or the princess, so..."

"Where will you be? What's your route?" Libby tenderly inquired, the lilt of worry in her voice had everyone's nervous stares hook tight to Tessa's, and with such, she inhaled a solid breath and near-held it as she huffed her answer.

"I'm the lure," Tessa stated.

"Mom," Ace stabbed in solid worry, though he fell sharply short in his pleas once Tessa's hand gently went up; he raised his eyebrows and let his tight-lipped appearance clearly state to everyone that even as a User, he didn't hold a candle to the hierarchy over him.

"Behind an angler's obvious, dangling light is a whole entire mouth of daggers," Tessa prominently smiled and gave her eye contact to every single one of her soldiers. She shook her head and sighed, "I'll be the obvious one to enter... Everyone else will slip in behind. We fall back on my word."

"Hi dad, nice to meet you, hopefully we can squeeze into the code room, thanks," Royal playfully muttered through his fangs, everyone quietly stifled laughter.

"More or less," Tessa huffed, she held out her palm, face down, and mischievously eyed each one of her family members, "Bring it in."

Through nervous shuffling, the circle squeezed tight with Tessa at the center, and as everyone piled their hands on top of one another, the dragons came about the circle with wings draped about their backs. With Tessa's hand on bottom, she eyed everyone in her group and bobbed a few nods as everyone's excited, terrified looks of now rising adrenaline became apparent. This was it. The final battle, the end all, Tessa knew they had to give it their all, and although two days ago, everyone could've bravely said they were ready for this, Tessa was well aware everyone was now absolutely certain this surreal experience was about to hand everyone's emotions its ass. Nonetheless, Tessa held her breath and jostled the pile of hands atop of hers.

"This is the do or die... No one here is safe from a game over, not the princess, not the Queen, not Sweet Street's Queen, not our Users, not even Turbo himself," Tessa huffed softly, she glanced to Turbo and noticed his eyes nervously hook to hers, the reality of it all now hitting them in the face, "We don't have a choice but to come out of this successful, or to not come out at all... Keep your wits about you, watch out for your neighbor, and understand that all bets are off... Ready?"

"No," The whole group blurt into gentle laughter, Tessa beamed and shook her head.

"Me neither," Tessa huffed with a wide, nervous smile as she bowed everyone's hands and prepared for the toss up, "Game on."

Although the castle's gorgeous front stoop had a large, greeting area outside, before the gates, it all seemed to have crumbled into The End. Sugar Rush's castle's stoop had maybe six steps that fell directly off the edge of the cliffs, into the void. With near blinding light that made it difficult to navigate, Tessa was able to sidle to a nearby step, a broad, stable platform she was grateful to finally come to grips with. Her heart raced in pure terror as the rest of the group hung back and watched her take nervous shuffling steps merely feet from a straight edge drop, straight into the glowing, white void of a game over beneath her. Once she was stable, she panted and peered up to the castle's massive doors, beckoning her to come forth, to win it all back, to open it up and see just what had become of her home. She heaved nervous breaths as the wind viciously licked at her back, her hair whipped about, she was absolutely certain the heavenly glow against the face of her castle was simply a mocking point for Lash.

With a shaky breath through her nose to steady her racing heart, she felt her pulse pound in her jugular, her coding went ballistic with the idea that she was definitely not alone in this venture, and further more, she climbed the steps with the whole idea of not only winning over the game for her peers hot on her heels, but for her unborn coding in which she delicately harbored. Protectiveness skyrocketed in her blood, she stepped up the final step and felt that surge of pure, unadulterated power course through her wrecking bones. Through the grit of her teeth, she shoved open her castle doors with force, they both swung open, The End's glorious light cast into the haunting sight of her dusty, untouched Great Hall. Her shadow cast nearly all the way down the hall, cold, snowy dust kicked up in a flurry of unsettlement, and with such, she inhaled a deep breath, held it, and dared to welcome herself home.

Tessa clenched her fists, allowed her eyes to adjust from the stark glowing whiteness to the dark, hidden curse her castle was in, and as she finally came to grips with everything, she focused her pupils tight to the door of the code room, dead ahead. She knew this was no time for lallygagging, for nostalgic time-turned strolls through her castle, she desperately tried not to curiously look around, she had one destination and one destination only. Although she was certain the crew behind her would potentially make noise with their own entrances, she was absolutely floored to only be cued to their presences by their shadows on the dusty, golden tiles undertow. She snuck a proud smile, allowed her eyes to just briefly scan the area, and was absolutely thrilled everyone had fallen into sync with each other. She made sure she was the center piece of this war path, The End's glow cast upon Sugar Rush's future Queen as she made her presence so dangerously known, Tessa held her head high and felt success even on the brink of it all; she knew, no matter what, she had made it home, whether it be for one long lifetime, or one fleeting moment.

Ace lead the group to the left, Libby lead another half of the pack to the right. All four flyers slipped in last, and although not each creature had silent flight, they still were successful in lofting their way to the Great Hall's incredible, vaulted, chandelier-lined ceilings. Vanellope and Rancis silently skipped ahead of Libby, at her cue, and as they did everything they could to move silently, with speed, they urgently made their way to the spiral staircase that lead to Ralph and Vanellope's old bedroom. Like Tessa's struggles, all the two wanted to do was to stop and take everything in, the fact that their home was now something they were inside, they shook their wants and focused on hustling for the end goal. With tip-toeing silence, they made their way up the staircase and did everything they could to keep their panting as quieted as could be, as well. Once the two made it to the landing, they inched closer to Vanellope's and Ralph's opened bedroom door, it mysteriously hung open, agape as if previously used, and with this realization, they recognized that this area of the castle looked kept up and cleaner than the dusty Great Hall underneath.

Vanellope held her breath, gently shoved her hand to Rancis's chest and halted his movement. He furrowed his brow, gestured his hand in confusion, and as she slowly mouthed the words 'someone's in there', they both held their breath and stared at the door, agape. A shadow of a man gently crossed the room, a moseying stroll that looked unassuming and non-worrisome, and with such, Vanellope furrowed her brow in rising hatred and confidently stepped out. Just as she was about to viciously swing the door open, wreck the crap out of the place, really show Lash what for, she felt her body freeze in time, and in the matter of a fraction of a second, the two were suddenly teleported to the castle's gaping front doors. Vanellope huffed a startled breath as she urgently stumbled to gain her footing, she peered hard into The Great Hall's darkness and panted in a rise of whole confusion. Rancis urgently shot her a look, as if to clearly state that the whole clan had been discovered, and with such, they threw their terrified gaze to Tessa, who was now easily three-fourths of the way down the Hall.

Tessa flinched and heard urgent footsteps from behind her, and as she whirled around to see just who it was, she furrowed her brow in whole confusion at the sight of her uncle and mother staggering into the tiles of the castle. She shook her head and could've sworn the two had successfully slipped in thirty seconds ago, though with the sight of her disheveled elders, she felt her blood run cold. The castle was pin-prick silent, not a single presence could be heard, and with this, Tessa knew it was a bad omen. Just as she was about to turn back around and continue on her path to the code room, a deep ruble of a growl slowly coat the walls of The Great Hall, a growl that simply could not be emit from one of her four flyers, a guttural depth that only one creature could achieve, Tessa heaved a trembling breath of staggering fear and slowly dragged her hazel eyes to the doors of the code room, ones of which began to slowly slide open.

Tessa panted, and although her code room could be seen, she felt her stomach dip to pure dread as she could see each and every single code box sag by their strings, as if simply a depleted plant that so desperately needed water, and at the center of this dying plant was a massive, tumorous leech of a code box. Tessa grit her teeth in a rise of multitudinous emotions, and before she could act on any one of them, a massive, dark figure sagged from the ceiling above the entry way of the code room, just inside. Tessa stood her ground as said massive creature crawled from the depths of his hiding spot, gorgeous black scales that camouflaged him with his surroundings, Tessa visibly shook as Orion's slow, massive, swaying, lizard-like body slithered into view. He grumbled another intimidating growl, his fangs clearly showed, and although Tessa was positive he wasn't in his right mind, it was only further confirmed with how barbarically he licked his lips, he flashed his teeth and continued to snarl; Tessa furrowed her brow and knew Orion was a creature of intellect, one who prided himself with his wit and words and not his booming growl and flashy fangs.

"So nice of you to join us," a voice came from inside the code room, a roll of sarcastic delight, and with such call of a stranger's voice, Tessa clenched her fists and began to take a few steps backwards, so to gain a bit more of a battle ground, "I was beginning to think you'd never arrive... Didn't happen to find my lousy older brother's corpse out there, amidst the snow, didja?"

Tessa panted through her nose, her heart rate was through the roof, she clenched her fists tighter and sagged into her mother's and uncle's presence; they stood their ground alongside Tessa as they kept their eyes tight to the fight, dead ahead. Orion finally came out of the crouch of the hallway and stood to his full height, his large tail lazily curled to the back of his body, though he shifted on his feet and continued to snarl, as if he was so simply awaiting orders to lunge, and with such Tessa desperately tried to keep from feeling light-headed the second Lash's glowing yellow eyes could be seen coming out from inside Sugar Rush's depleted, dying code room. Tessa glared him down and so desperately wanted to rush the both of them, though she took this quick second to assess where the rest of her team was currently.

"How cute, you have two puppy-dogs," Lash cheerily stated, and in the snap of his fingers, both Marble and Balba were teleported in the half way point between Tessa and Orion, and with such, both wolves shook their heads in solid confusion and froze in rising fear. Before anything could be done, they immediately began to scramble, to try and scatter, though Lash only then teleported them, again, though this time they were stationed at the castle's gaping front doors. Lash chuckled and came more into the light, near Orion's left side, "Cute, cute... Got some glitchers, wreckers, and wow... Even two Users?"

With the snap of his fingers, everyone in the group was suddenly teleported behind Tessa, Rancis and Vanellope, which also included Royal and Lickity. Lash blurt a loud laugh as everyone was paralyzed in his continuous loop of teleportation, and although he seemed at ease, in the comfort of his own new home, he looked on the brink of pure, unadulterated craziness. His golden eyes glowed in a rise of adrenaline, though his square pupils shook in continued agitation, as if he maybe hadn't slept in what seemed to be months. He was about Nox's height, though he had Turbo's bigger build. His shorter, lighter grey hair was kept tidy, though the sleeves of his hoodie looked as if he had picked them to sheer threads, a compulsive disorder of fidgeting agitation.

"You even found my baby brother, Nitro!" Lash huffed a loud laugh, though he meanly waved across the hall and tried to get Nox's attention, "Too bad our little family reunion has to be so estranged!"

"You're outnumbered, give it up," Tessa stabbed as she bravely stepped out, though with such, Orion barked a loud roar, hunkered down and tried his very hardest to startle Tessa, though when it was clear she wasn't going to bend to his game face, Lash furrowed his brow in rising annoyance and quickly zapped Tessa right back to her previous starting point. Tessa huffed a loud, dire call of whole irritation and allowed her silver coding to surge on her arms, a show of power and utilization, "You're a COWARD! Are you going to fight me like a man, or hide behind your stupid teleportation trick?!"

"I'll be hiding behind my stupid teleportation trick, thank you," Lash quipped as he snapped his fingers, and with this cue, Orion grumbled a noise of scheming delight and suddenly lunged for the group, "Well... That and one other thing, as I'm sure you've noticed is now hurtling towards you."

Tessa raised her eyebrows in whole surprise, and as the group was now gently released of their teleportation hold because Lash's smiling face so eagerly focused on the huge fight at hand, everyone scattered. Tessa crouched to the ground in readiness, soaked her legs and arms in her silver coding and was thrilled that her mother and uncle darted in opposite directions. Once the thunderous booms of Orion's footsteps were nearly on top of her, Tessa threw her arms out, gripped Orion's massive chameleon legs in her's and Zed's silver coded grip and did everything to trip him up. Orion came crashing to The Great Hall's tiles with a bang, jaw first, and as his whole body flopped with the reverberating bang of bass, the chandeliers overhead tinkled with the earthquake. Tessa's footwork urgently made a beeline escape about Orion, though she kept her coding tight to Orion's and did everything to keep him grounded.

In a free for all, everyone beelined for Lash, glitching, wrecking, fighting, User powers and all, though like a game of ping pong, Lash was so flawlessly successful in zipping every single threat away, just with the flick of the wrist. Tessa urgently looked over her shoulder and could see her group doing everything they could to at least get close enough to Lash, whilst staying alive, though in the mistake of not watching where she was going, she stumbled straight into one of The Great Hall's pillars. She huffed a shaky breath, grappled her trembling hands to the wide base of it and peered hard in the direction Orion laid, and with yet another snap of Lash's fingers, Orion scrambled to his feet, pinpointed Tessa's whereabouts and did everything he could to take yet another dive for her. Tessa uttered a nervous holler, glitch-hopped in the direction of the castle's still gaping doors and was successful in dodging Orion's bumbling figure.

Orion's loud, rumbling roar uttered it's pure disdain to the ceilings as he crumbled into the base of the pillar, and as bits of the ceiling began to fall about The Great Hall, Tessa covered her head with her hands and squinted through the lightly falling debris. She noticed her team exhausting their avenues, Lash so easily just flickered them away like deletable files, she furrowed her eyebrows and knew she had to just at least get her coding on his, to hold him in suspended animation. Just as she was about to jolt outwards and rush Lash, from down the stretch of hall, a massive crackling of stone came crashing down before her, nearly clipping the top of her head. Tessa uttered a scared noise of urgency, backstepped a few times and tried to readjust. Just before she was about to step out, once more, Orion's scrambling feet came to correction, and in the urgent grunts of his snarling, he beelined for Tessa, once more.

Tessa clenched her fist and uttered a hard yell of whole frustration for this matter, she now viewed Orion as a nuisance, simply slowing her from getting to Lash, though before she could skillfully grip her coding to Orion's clumsy chameleon feet, in which were pounding towards her, she largely flinched as Royal suddenly came to a skidding halt just before her, his scales were puffed in whole, riled agitation, his tail was curled tight to his body as his gorgeous wings were sprawled up and out, to make himself look big. With more vocal depth and piercing loudness than Tessa has ever heard out of Royal, he bravely challenged his father. With fangs wholly shown, he roared with every single last ounce of his fiber in raging protection for his aunt Tessa, and with such, Tessa's stumbling feet nearly had her knees buckling to the ground in awe over the fact that said act of bravery stopped Orion dead in his tracks.

Orion peered hard down to Royal in solid confusion, as if Royal was simply in his way, and although he panted through his dragon-like snout, Royal's brave show seemed to ease Orion's warpath, halting him directly in it. Once Orion seemingly calmed, Royal's roaring slipped to near-foaming at the mouth snarling, steam rose from the gaps of his dagger-like teeth and bat-like snout, he glared Orion down as if to simply beg him to try and harm Tessa, though in this gentle lull of confusion, Tessa urgently peered up to Orion and felt her heart swell with a rise of renewal. Tessa raised her eyebrows in whole surprise as Orion's demeanor seemed to sag, as if a curse had lowly been lifted off of him, and with this, he peered down to Royal in such a way that Tessa was absolutely uncertain was even possible, from crusty, grumpy, ol' Orion. Tessa worried for this lull, she could begin to feel her adrenaline rush subside with the onslaught of trembling limbs and nausea, though with this, both enraged creatures began to sag in a rise of warming realization.

Orion huffed a hard breath through all his panting, let his mouth gently hang agape in a roll of release, and as his eyes finally began to look unclouded, he staggered to look about for the one being he had been bowing to, for the past year and a half. In a roll of seething eye contact, Orion dragged his gaze to Lash, across the way, and felt the switch up. With a hard glower, Orion grit his fangs, inhaled a deep, shaky breath and allowed his old self to emit a genuine snarl; his now agile footwork began to swiftly storm in Lash's direction, and with the change up, Tessa gasped, cupped her hands over her mouth and loudly called out Orion's name in a mix of confused, delighted terror. She held her breath and was absolutely certain said incredible being, whom of which had finally come to his senses, was now set to barrel down their enemy, though like clock work, Lash's look of complete, bewildered horror was concluded with the mere-simple teleportation of Orion's now hurtling body. In the blink of an eye, Tessa was suddenly greet with Orion's whole face and body, mid lunge, directly aimed for Tessa and Royal.

Tessa uttered a hard noise of fear, did everything her coding could afford to tuck and roll out of the barreling of Orion's massive body, which was now rocketing towards her and Royal. Although she was able to just barely scrape by, Royal's chameleon paws slipped and slid about the glossy, dusty tiles underneath, and with a thunderous crash, Orion slammed face and body first into the side of Royal. Both creatures slid at a speed that was nearly un-comprehendable, a rolling, grunting flail of wings tails and legs, Tessa uttered a yell of whole horror as they came upon the castle's open doors without showing signs of slowing. Tessa scrambled to her feet, outreached her hand and felt as if her feet could not move fast enough, and before she knew it, both large creatures burst past the castle's door's massive frames, rapidly sagged down half of the stoop of the castle and dipped into the whiteness of Sugar Rush's endless void. Tessa froze as her pupils grew tight in frozen terror, she glitch-hopped to the scene and prayed they had somehow caught the cliff before falling into the nothingness.

Orion loudly garbled a noise of struggle as his chameleon paws did everything they could to grapple with the frozen, jagged rocks of the cliffside, his tail largely dangled into the white void of The End. He largely panted, the feeling of pure terror glossed him, and just as he looked up to Sugar Rush's sky to begin climbing up the cliff, he could feel the rocks he was grappling angrily settle, as if they were due to shifting and coming loose from the mountain side. Orion froze and heaved his hot, terrified breath into the rock. He shook his head, swallowed hard and, although he had just previously come to, he felt his heart race with the sheer obvious he had just been graced with, the fact that he had a son. Orion grit his teeth and knew he had to help the gang win this battle, one of which he unwillingly was hindering them from. Just as he was about to dare climbing up the rocks, once more, he flinched as a noise, farther below him, was apparent.

"HELP!" Royal loudly urged in whole terror, he grunted a growl of sheer pain, and as Orion cranked his neck and looked further down the cliff, he heaved a cooing whimper of fear as the white void was now directly underneath them. Royal staggered a noise and tried his best to get words out, though after so long of being robbed of the ability to talk, he felt frustrated at how slowly words were coming back to him. Royal's body was grappled to the rocks, directly underneath Orion, though it was clear Royal was bleeding. Royal heaved a shaky breath and tried his hardest to continue climbing, "My wing is broken, I-I can't get up! Please help me, please help me!"

"I-I'll help you," Orion staggered, the foreign feeling of language that came to him made him feel even more out of breath, though Orion shut his eyes tight and knew there was a tough decision to be made, here.

Orion glared down the rocks he was on, threw his gaze up to the jagged remains of the stoop they had fallen from and sighed a long hot sigh of acceptance. He bobbed a nod to himself, sagged his demeanor and allowed his tail to gingerly unravel. With as much care as he could, he struggled to get his strong, long chameleon tail tight about Royal's belly, and with such, Royal huffed a handful of notions of gratitude, knowing full well his own dad had fortunately snapped out of the brain washing spell he had seemingly been under. Royal began to try and help himself climb up the cliff, with the aid of Orion's tail securely around him, though just as he noticed that Orion wasn't doing his part of climbing to safety, as well, Royal froze and felt cold, hard realization wash over him like a dreaded veil of fate.

"Goodbye, son," Orion's gentle voice grumbled as his tail squeezed a bit tighter about Royal's body, he huffed a nervous chuckle and bobbed a nod, "Kickass, for me, okay?"

Royal opened his mouth to utter a trembling notion of worry, though before he could, Orion held his breath, tensed his body, and in a single recoil, he used every single last ounce of his strength to lift Royal from the vertical edge and practically hurl him upwards to safety. With such momentum given to the cliffside, the near-vertical grip underneath Orion's grip shifted like a landslide, and in a single motion, the cliffside crumbled into The End's void, taking a brave Orion with it. Royal grunted as he harshly hit the snow on the other side of the crumbling stoop, though with such, he coughed a noise of whole entire disheartened terror, peered over his shoulder and scrambled to get away from the continuously crumbling cliffside. Royal largely panted as his golden eyes pierced the glowing white cliffside in which his father was previously gripped to, crumbling pieces of debris dribbled into the void after him, and with the information that continued to hit Royal's brain like a molten poker, he grimaced a noise of whole despair.

Unbeknownst to Royal, Tessa had a front row seat to the tail end of said mess. Tessa loudly uttered Orion's name and scrambled to get to the stoop in time, though as she grappled the railings of the crumbled stoop, she peered down into the windy void with never-ending tears that streamed her face. She heavily panted and uttered soft calls of despair, she shook her head and felt every single ounce of her being go cold; she knew somehow this fight was not going to be fair, was not going to allow everyone to come out unscathed, though she knew absolutely nothing could prepare her for the cold hard realization of death. Tessa squinted her eyes to Sugar Rush's sun, across the void, and as it burned her glassy, tired eyes, she long-blinked in the turn to face Lash head on. With the turn of her heels, the fire in her heart, she was suddenly graced with the familiar feeling of cold-blooded teleportation, Lash's extraordinarily easy out.

Tessa gasped a startled noise and urgently back stepped in whole terror as her entire surroundings changed. From climate to colors, every single aspect of her surroundings were entirely different, and as the realization of what just happened came rushing to her, she dared to look about, for the rest of her teammates. In cold realization, the whole group had been so starkly teleported to the hot, red, winding raceways of the Gumball Gorge. With desert-like heat and dryness, everyone was now sat in thick, heavy winter clothes that now acted as personal saunas. Stood in a panting, disheveled cluster of a group behind her was every single last one of her warriors, though they all peered to her in near-suspended animation as to just how confusing the throw around was, and as everyone slowly began to un-tense and realize just where they had been teleported, Tessa grappled her hair and grit her teeth in a blood-boiling rise of unadulterated frustration and rage.

With every single last fiber of her power, both wrecking and glitching, she slammed her fists to the red tracks underneath, sending shards of the red asphalt flying in whole anger. She uttered a hard, desperate cry of untamed rage, and as she finally came up for air, she heavily panted; her chest heaved, her tear-soaked cheeks were now sticky from the sweaty, desert heat, she shook her head and was previously so confident this was the end. So sure that that castle was hers for the taking, she looked about their surroundings and felt the happy vats of gumballs, high above them, cheerily mock them of their failed efforts. Tessa seethed, the heat of Sugar Rush's now blazing sun didn't have anything on the fire that raged in her heart.


End file.
